TechJournal, February 2022
What's New
PCSN has enjoyed immense success over the years, thanks to the business community in Houston, Texas and US.
I was thinking the other day how I came to the US in 1993 and at that time I couldn’t even have imagined the things we’ve done so far.
What’s next? Well, I think next we need to give back to the community. Over the next few months we’ll be doing webinars and seminars to give back to the business community. We’ll answer questions, feed you and arm you with some items that will impact the bottom line!
February 2022
This monthly publication provided courtesy of Nadeem Azhar, Owner of PC.Solutions.Net
Our Mission: To build a community of successful-minded entrepreneurs that inspires excellence, encourages collaboration and expands the capacity of all members to achieve great things.
Cyber Security Is More
Important Now Than Ever –
Is Your Business Prepared?
Over the past few years, instances of cyberthreats have increased at an alarming rate, and they don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Awareness around cyber security has certainly improved over the past year, with 9 in 10 Americans stating that they are somewhat concerned about hacking that involves their personal information, financial institutions, government agencies or certain utilities. But while awareness has increased, so have the rates of cyber-attacks.
Last year, people had more data breaches from January to October 2021 than in all of 2020. As we continue through 2022, there’s no reason to assume this year will be any different. In order to ensure that your business is protected this year and every year after, you should take the proper precautions
regarding cyber security. If your business falls prey to a cyber-attack, you risk tarnishing your brand’s reputation and will have customers questioning whether it’s safe to do business with you.
Below are a couple of the best cyber security practices you can put in place to fully prepare for cyber-attacks and threats.
HIRE A MANAGED SERVICES PROVIDER
Small and mid-size businesses have seen an increase in cyber-attacks since 2018, but larger corporations are no exception for hackers. The NBA, Kia Motors and the Colonial Pipeline are just a few examples of big businesses that fell victim to cyber-attacks last year. No matter if your business is big or small, hiring
an MSP is the most affordable and best way to protect your business.
MSPs are designed to identify and resolve any weak points in your IT infrastructure. MSPs are focused on being proactive and will also focus on IT support and advanced security. You’ll get around-the-clock monitoring, data encryption and backup, network and firewall protection, security awareness training and so much more. With MSPs, you get a team of dedicated IT professionals who are available to assist with any tech dilemmas that may arise. It’s the quickest and most cost-efficient way to fully protect your business.
TRAIN YOUR EMPLOYEES
If your employees have not been trained to be cyber-secure, they need to be trained on this subject immediately. Security should also be built into the devices they use to access company data. This becomes even more important if your employees are working remotely. Multifactor identification and ensuring that your employees create complex and non-repetitive passwords go a long way toward keeping your business protected.
“Multifactor identification and ensuring that your employees create complex and non-repetitive passwords go a long way toward keeping your business protected.”
Educate your employees about the most common forms of cyber-attacks. They should be aware of phishing e-mails and texts and should be taught to never open any links if they don’t know who the sender is. Hackers have also started to frequent social media, and they often target small businesses through various platforms. Make sure your employees aren’t clicking on any social media spam links that could put your network at risk. Lastly, make sure they aren’t accidentally downloading any malware that could create disastrous outcomes for your company.
A cyber-attack can have cataclysmic effects on a small business, and every business owner needs to make sure their network is protected. If you don’t know where to start, give us a call and we will find a way
to help you make your company as cyberprotected
as possible.
‘I DIDN’T KNOW’
Unfortunately, That Excuse Doesn’t Replenish Your Bank Account, Resolve A Data Breach Or Erase Any Fines And Lawsuits.
It’s
coming …
• That day a hacker steals critical data, rendering your office useless
• That day when your bank account or credit card is compromised
• Or that day when your customers’ private lives are uprooted
Cybercriminals and hackers are constantly inventing NEW ways to infiltrate your company, steal your assets and disrupt your life. The ONLY way to STOP THEM is this:
You Must Constantly Educate Yourself On How To Protect What’s Yours!
Does your services provider have a full security operations center and security information and event management services? These are critical in this day and age to keep what’s yours safe. Listen to this to see why SOC and SIEM are so important and information technology cannot be properly secured without them.
Which Cloud?
Just about a year ago the question used to be why cloud, now the most common question is which cloud.
We’ve migrated companies from server heavy software development industry to professional services providers like accounting and law firms.
As you may already know we got involved with cloud computing back when the only game in town was AWS. Now there are several players and every year we re-evaluate cloud providers to make sure they are still the best value.
For last few years we’ve seen the features and value of Azure cloud to be much better than rivals. A simple test is same spec machine in Azure cloud consistently performs better than a machine in AWS.
This is why we see companies moving from AWS to Azure but seldom from Azure to AWS.
Many IT providers do not do such testing and thus cannot advise clients on where they can get most value from a cloud provider. Does your IT provider or MSP do such assessments and advise you on cloud providers?
How To Create More Opportunities
To put it simply, in life, perspective is everything. Every activity, job and situation usually has multiple angles, depending on how you view it. By changing our perspective in our business and personal lives, we are creating a very positive mindset that will open us up to a plethora of new opportunities.
There’s a rocky cliff that rises up at the back of my property, and atop that small cliff is a boulder. I normally wouldn’t give a second thought to this giant rock that sits in my yard since it’s nonliving. I mean, it’s just a rock, right? But as I observed it more and more, my perspective completely changed.
You see, while the rock itself may be nonliving, it is actually thriving with life. There are beautifully colored skinks that
live in the crevices of the boulder, and I even saw a big black rat snake make its home there, too. When I took a second to think about it, I realized that this boulder sustains its own ecosystem.
By simply taking a moment to drop your own preconceived notions and making an effort to observe, you will find life and opportunities in something you may have previously missed. But changing your perspective is easier said than done. In order to change your perspective, you may have to do a little digging. You’ll have to evaluate why you see things the way you do. You may need to reach out to others and consider their perspectives to get an idea of how others think. And lastly, you’ll have to reform your own perspective so you can grow and find new opportunities.
Dig deeper within yourself and truly concentrate on what you’re focusing on so you will see so much more. You’ll quickly discover that the opportunities are endless.