What are the Security Threats of Work from Home?

With COVID-19 changing the way we work, employees using personal devices at home expose themselves to greater security risks.  Rest assured hackers and malware programs are working overtime to exploit gaps and security oversights.

So what should employers do to ensure their systems remain free of hacks, ransomware attacks, and viruses?

Some employees may think their home is secure and private, however, they most likely will still be less secure than any corporate infrastructures.  Employees’ home offices probably don’t have hardware firewalls in place, multifactor authentications, or VPN’s.   These should all be considered and implemented by someone who is well versed in IT.

One of the most prevalent problems facing employees working at home is email scams.  Yes, they have been around forever but are problematic and sophisticated.  Today’s “scammers” are getting smarter and some phishing scams are created to take advantage of the current work from home scenarios.  These scams can include names of company personnel and may send users to a fake login portal or ask workers to forward login information.

In today’s climate, companies are faced with making things up as they go along because often, they don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to the growing number of work from home offices.  It would be prudent to educate employees on current cyber-crimes and offer training to ensure best practices are adhered to. Multifactor authentication is a key component to prevent attacks.

It is important to provide the necessary steps to in keeping your systems secure and this should never come at the cost of security.  Remote work policies should be monitored and updated often.  Security is never complete because the latest generation of cyber-criminals are bolder and can adapt to endless scenarios.

This is where a company like Protected Harbor can help.  Protected Harbor helps businesses across the US address their current IT needs by building custom, cost-effective solutions.  Our unique technology experts evaluate current systems, determine the needs then design cost-effective solutions. On average, we are able to save clients up to 30% on IT costs while increasing their security, productivity, and durability.  We work with many internal IT departments, freeing them up to concentrate on daily workloads while we do the heavy lifting.  www.protectedharbor.com

Protected Harbor’s New PBX Phone System

Protected Harbor is proud to introduce a state of the art phone system 3CX.  It is available to all our current clients and anyone in the market looking to upgrade their current set up.  Protected Harbor partnered with 3CX, and provides system configuration and support.

The benefits of this new phone system are plentiful, starting with the end-user being in complete control.  This PBX can be installed on-premise and virtualized on a Linux or Windows platform.   It is easily set up via iOS and Android apps for remote work via QR code.  Staff can easily be added, and voicemail can be set up in minutes.  The user management is simple and easy which will save countless hours of work.

The biggest benefit perhaps, of our system is that it has a softphone so you can make and receive business calls from your PC, tablet or smartphone.  There is no need to be tied to a hard physical phone in your office.  It’s perfect for businesses that have employees working from home during COVID-19.

Moreover, many of the phone features that other vendors classify as add-ons, such as video conferencing, iOS and Android mobile apps or call center features, are included with Protected Harbor’s PBX. So, there are no hidden costs for the features you need.

Switching to this configuration makes complete sense when you compare pricing to that of other PBX vendors such as 8×8 and Avaya. Our system provides a complete unified communications solution that is easy to manage, flexible and affordable. Whether you are a small business or a large enterprise, you can save thousands and avoid all the hassle of purchasing additional extensions and add-ons as your business grows.

Think less about maintaining your PBX, and more about your business – call or email us today to find out more about Protected Harbor’s new phone system! www.protectedharbor.com

WHY IS 99.99% UPTIME IMPORTANT?

Today, businesses of all sizes have grown more reliant on their technology and no business, no matter the size wants to see their systems or site offerings offline – even for a few minutes.  This is why uptime has become vital.  For many companies, uptime is not a preference, it’s a necessity.

Uptime is important because the cost and consequences of downtime can cripple a business, however, no business in any industry can guarantee absolute perfection. Even with tremendous precautions and redundancies in place, systems can fail.  Natural disasters or other mitigating factors out of our control that may require a quick re-boot can’t always be predicted or prevented.

In order to evade debilitating periods of downtime, businesses must employ the most current technologies, designed with uptime in mind, or utilize a managed service provider well versed in the latest technology and long term solutions.

It is no secret that businesses look for 99.99% uptime.  If this percentage seems unrealistic, the additional decimals make a huge difference. The reality is that .1% of downtime is an unacceptable percentage for most companies.  When businesses encounter downtime, they cannot provide services to their customers.  Customers have short memories and as a result, may be tempted to take their dollars elsewhere if they cannot get what they want in a timely manner.

Not only is losing customers disastrous, but productivity can suffer as well.  This is never a good combination.  The average cost of downtime across businesses of all sizes and all industries is around $5,600 per minute.

When a customer selects a company, they need to trust that they are working with a professional and capable organization. Not being able to access a company’s website or employees telling customers they cannot help them at the moment they called does not ensure shopper confidence. This damage can be irreversible to a business’s reputation.

Given that the consequences of downtime are so costly, it’s easy to understand why achieving near-perfect uptime is so important. In order to completely avoid all of the costs and consequences associated with downtime, businesses need to be aiming for uptime of at least 99.99%. While these consequences may seem a bit disheartening, the good news is that there are ways to avoid them. Get connected to our data center and solve your issue.

Protected Harbor helps businesses across the US address their current IT needs by building custom, cost-effective solutions.  Our unique technology experts evaluate current systems, determine the needs then design cost-effective solutions. On average, we are able to save clients up to 30% on IT costs while increasing their security, productivity and durability.  We work with many internal IT departments, freeing them up to concentrate on daily workloads while we do the heavy lifting.  www.protectedharbor.com

Why Virtualization Should Be Considered?

Changing your IT environment to one that is Virtual allows you to instantly access nearly endless system resources that make for all-around optimal performance for your business. Virtualization also gets rid of potentially hazardous server rooms, cables, and bulky hardware; reducing overall IT costs as well as management expenditures.

First, let’s take a look at what Virtualization actually is.  Virtualization is the process of migrating physical systems into a virtual environment. Essentially, it is the creation of a virtual device, resource, or operating system. By providing a virtual view of your systems, this allows you to turn one server into a host for a group of servers that all share the same resources.

By concentrating your storage and systems on servers and installing virtual machines (VMs) to end-users, costs of your systems/infrastructure will be reduced while, management, security, uptime and control, will all be optimized and faster.

Often, many think of virtualization as the actual cloud, however, the cloud is just a piece of virtualization.  The most vital function of virtualization is the ability to run multiple operating systems and or applications on a single server.  In doing this, productivity can be achieved by fewer servers.  Overall, application performance will typically improve as a result of technology that balances resources and delivers what the end-user needs.

Virtualization is a solution for many organizations, however, it’s not for every business.  So how do you determine if this application is right for your environment?

1. If your company relies on multiple servers and is using laptops and networks, virtualizing the environment will immediately reduce capital costs since there will no longer be the need to pay upfront for hardware.
2. Virtual environments enable you to run multiple operating systems on the same hardware, hence increasing the flexibility of your infrastructure. Many businesses spend a ton of money on an extra room to store large server racks, wires and pay IT personnel to maintain everything. In this scenario, virtualization will help reduce hardware costs while freeing up room space that can be utilized for other things.
3. Infrastructure environments that are virtualized allow for rapid and simple scaling – up or down. If your server needs more processing or memory, resources can be easily added.  The days of needing to physically add CPUs or RAM would be over because this concept is done with physical servers.
4. Most maintenance tasks can be managed easily off-site and don’t require sending techs on site (another cost-saving feature). Also, the maintenance tasks can also be set up to run themselves across a variety of scenarios.

Why would you NOT virtualize?

If you run a very small business or a simple server scenario you might not need virtualization.  While virtualization will save you money, there are set up costs involved. Perhaps you are not prepared for those expenditures at your current juncture.  There is no point in virtualizing your systems if you can’t afford the tools and management systems required to support the technology.

Another reason would be if your software license does not allow you to run on virtual machines. It is always best to avoid anything that could breach your software license agreement, so be sure to check this before moving forward with virtualizing.

Protected Harbor delivers end to end IT solutions ranging from custom-designed systems, data center management, disaster recovery, ransomware protection, cloud services and more.  On average, we save clients up to 30% on IT costs while increasing their productivity, durability and sustainability.  Let our unique technology experts evaluate your current systems and design cost-effective, secure options.

If you are looking to learn more about virtualization solutions, contact Protected Harbor.  www.protectedharbor.com  845-573-1098

Keep Your Business Running – Prepare for The Worst

Since the face of how we do business has changed because of COVID-19, businesses should think about (and hopefully prepare for) cyberattacks and security breaches. Having a disaster recovery plan in place to restore critical information is a good place to start.  However, in these times this is simply not enough.

This is why it’s important to have a 360 business continuity plan ready.

Here are some devastating facts from Bureau of Labor, PC Mag, Gartner, Unitrends and TechRadar:

• Every year, 20% of businesses experience system loss from events such as fires, floods, outages, etc. These types of occurrences not only result in loss of data, but they displace employees and shatter operations
• 60% of companies that lose their data will shut down within 6 months
• Only 35% of Small Businesses have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan in place, according to Gartner
• The cost of losing critical applications has been estimated by experts at more than $5,000 per minute
• Network downtime costs 80% of small and medium businesses at least $20,000 per hour

If these facts are not enough to ensure a business continuity plan is in place, then you are rolling the dice in a game you will not win.  It is not a matter IF something will happen its WHEN.

A business continuity plan creates a means of keeping your business operational during a crisis. In addition, the plan should include protocols for your devices, communication channels, office setup – including employees, and more.

If you’re currently experiencing unexplained system slow-downs, unexplained outages and trying to maintain normal computer functions, then your system needs definite attention, and you probably don’t have a continuity plan in place. It’s not too late to start, but understand it’s going to take some time and effort but the end result will be invaluable.

This is where Protected Harbor can help. We deliver end to end IT solutions ranging from custom designed systems, data center management, disaster recovery, ransomware protection, cloud services and more.  On average, we save clients up to 30% on IT costs while increasing their productivity, durability and sustainability.  Let our unique technology experts evaluate your current systems and design cost-effective, secure options.

With us, you can be sure your systems will run during a crisis.  Contact us today to find out more.  www.protectedharbor.com

Disadvantages of AWS, Azure, and Other Big Brand Hosting

When it comes to hosting for a business, you don’t want to use just anyone. There are many critical factors to consider including security, stability, uptime, scalability, and more. Because of this, many businesses gravitate towards big, established brands for hosting and management such as Amazon’s AWS or Microsoft’s Azure. But they don’t tell you the disadvantages of AWS.

Companies like these can likely provide well beyond your technical needs. That’s not to say they’re all the exact same. Azure caters to Microsoft products, allowing large companies to move their Windows-based infrastructure online more easily but you’re unaware of Azure hosting drawbacks. Meanwhile, AWS boasts their general flexibility and universal capabilities. The real question here is are cloud services secure?

Each brand has its unique strengths and problems with cloud hosting. When it comes to cloud hosting disadvantages, however, there are some overlapping issues that basically any large-scale hosting company deals with.

Overwhelming Options

Right from the start, many businesses are overwhelmed with the variety of packages and services offered by large hosting companies. AWS, for example, greets you with an entire library of services and products to choose from. Simply trying to find basic website hosting proves to be difficult and confusing that is one of the disadvantages of AWS.

Unclear Pricing Structures

Equally confusing are the pricing structures. Many companies try to sign you up on free trials or temporary discount pricing, only for you to discover the true inflated price months down the road.

These companies also tend to work off a pay-per-use model. In other words, the more data you process and store, the more your hosting costs. While it sounds nice in theory, as you only pay for what you use, it can make it very difficult to predict your monthly costs as prices fluctuate.

It also leaves you severely exposed to DDoS attacks.

DDoS attacks infect a large number of devices with malware and then use them to unleash a coordinated flood of traffic on an unsuspecting network. In addition to slowing down and (likely) crashing your systems, it results in a massage spike of data use.

The average size of a DDoS attack is 2.5 gigabits per second. If you’re being charged per data used, you’ll be left with a very large hosting bill following a DDoS attack.

Advanced Knowledge

Once you’ve figured out what your business needs, the real difficultly begins. Within any given service, there are countless add-ons, tools, settings, and more. While this provides a lot of flexibility and customization, it requires a lot of work and understanding. The deeper your needs go, the deeper your understanding needs to be.

Each platform is different, which means you either need to hire someone who is experienced on a particular platform, or you’ll need to invest in training a current employee. The question is, are cloud services secure? Do you want someone learning a new platform as they’re managing your IT needs?

Support Problems

Platforms like AWS and Azure do offer their own technical support, should you require it. In fact, they often provide a certain amount of free support when you sign up. However, those hours can quickly be eaten up during the onboarding process. After that, you’ll pay for support.

Things can get very expensive very quickly, and it is one of the problems with cloud hosting.

A better solution is generally to find a third party to help manage and maintain your hosting needs. This can provide more affordable support, but it also adds complexity to your hosting management and expenses.

A Simpler, Yet Powerful Hosting Solution

At Protected Harbor, we provide straightforward, yet diverse hosting solutions for businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re a start-up or an enterprise, we have the capabilities to meet your specific needs.

We operate under flat rate costs, so you know exactly what you’ll pay every month. We can even bundle in support hours so that you get professional assistance when you need it. As your company grows, we can easily scale our services with you.

While our initial costs may seem higher, they’re generally cheaper in the long run. Best of all, they’re much less stressful to understand and manage. After all, ETS exists to provide Stress-Free IT. For hosting, computer services, and technical support in Dayton, Ohio, and beyond, contact ETS today.

Go Phishing

With COVID-19 changing the way many businesses are forced to work, phishing attacks have increased significantly while becoming more complex. Hackers often look at crises as opportunities and COVID-19 is no different. Attackers are using names of coworkers and companies to fool people into thinking they’re legitimate emails. With many employees working from home and logging in, there is an increased reliance on remote system tools, and phishing scams have evolved to mimic them.

Stressful times are upon us and there is no letup in sight. As a result, IT staff are finding themselves overwhelmed as they address a multitude of system issues, software problems, and new problems stemming from employees working remotely. Many employees are using personal devices, which are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. To be truly prepared for remote work and sophisticated threats, businesses need to analyze their weaknesses and implement proper cybersecurity approaches.

At PROTECTED HARBOR, we provide custom solutions to cyber-attacks, ransomware and other debilitating infrastructure issues. Our team of IT professionals ensures your infrastructure is secure through the creation and implementation of security policies. We analyze and remediate risks to keep you safe. On average, we save our clients up to 30% on IT costs while increasing their security, productivity, durability and sustainability. We are an extension of many IT departments, freeing them up to concentrate on daily work while we do the heavy infrastructure lifting.

Contact us today to find out more, www.protectedharbor.com

What Does Downtime Cost the Average Business?

How did Twitter get hacked?

On July 15^th many Twitter accounts were compromised.  How did this happen to a company like Twitter?

‘This was the worst social media hack ever happened in history’

The security involvement of the hack are also wide-reaching, not just for Twitter but for other social platforms.

Early suggestions are the hackers managed to access administration privileges, which allowed them to bypass the passwords of any account they wanted.

Twitter appeared to confirm this in a tweet saying: “We detected what we believe to be a co-ordinated social-engineering attack by people who successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools.”

As we generate more content online we are creating a larger digital footprint.  These attackers simply contacted Twitter and asked for the names of key personal, the head of the customer service, their CIO, etc.  Once the attackers knew the identity of key individuals they then researched their web pages, Facebook links, LinkedIn profiles, etc.

The attackers were able to gain enough information from those pages to be able to correctly answer Twitter’s support questions and gain access to those accounts.

Once the attackers had access to an Admin account they could reset end-user accounts and then login as those users.  It was that easy.

Some questions that should be asked; What would have helped prevent this disaster?  Is your system(s) vulnerable to a similar attack?   How can your system(s) be protected?

2FA or Two Factor Authentication would have stopped this attack.  With 2FA the mobile device is registered to the account and the login is not possible until a code on the mobile device is entered.

At Protected Harbor we support 2FA for all systems, allowing our customers to be safe, secure, and protected, as in Protected Harbor.