Has Your Email Been Hijacked?

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A common complaint by many users in recent months has been spam emails appearing to come from their own accounts. Despite not knowing why, reports of friends, family, and contacts receiving spam email that appears to come from them has worried many people.

Some have had their accounts suspended or shut down by their service providers as a result. For many, this experience can be highly disruptive. It’s a problem that can cause many issues in both your professional and personal life.

The key to defense is learning how these attacks happen, and figuring out what you can do to protect yourself and your contacts against them.

Hackers Using Your Email Against You

Scammers that send out spam messages are continually looking for ways to make the process faster, cheaper, and more efficient. It’s the best way in which they can make more money every day by scamming unsuspecting victims for even more cash.

One of the most efficient ways they do this is by hijacking ready-made trusted email accounts like your own. Hackers have several tools at their disposal to attempt to hijack your accounts.

Some of the principles which make email fast and easy to use means that details, such as those in the ‘from’ field, are easy to fake. A hacker might change the information supplied to make it appear as if the email comes from anyone.

There’s not much you can do to defend your email against such an attack. However, you can work to verify that an email, even one you expect to receive, does come from the person you believe it to be. If your email provider flags up an incoming email as ‘suspicious’, or ‘untrustworthy’, it may well be.  A good spam filter service like our N-Line Spam Control can filter out many fake emails before they get to your inbox.

Stolen Credentials

Hackers often buy large bundles of email addresses and passwords from the dark web. Leaked emails are often put up for sale following hacks of major companies and service providers.

The value of these details comes from passwords being unlikely to have been changed, the details attached to them are trusted, and often give hackers access to additional services too.

How To Detect an Email Intrusion

It can take a long time before you’re aware that malicious hackers are using your details. You might even be the last person in your contacts to know.

The first sign to look out for is a large number of unexpected emails in your inbox. These are likely replies to emails you never sent in the first place. Out of office, automatic responses, people complaining about spam, and people responding to the email as if it were genuine may all come to you first.

Keep a close eye on unexpected emails appearing suddenly in either your inbox or outbox. A hacker may be spear-phishing someone that you do business with or trust. By acting as you, using your address and details, they may be able to divert payments or confidential information to their accounts instead.

Protecting Yourself Against Hackers, Attackers, And Hijackers

Sometimes your computer might have been compromised to give hackers access to your services. Malicious software may have infected your machine to steal data and infect your contacts.

Take extra care to change your passwords if you believe your email has been accessed by a hacker. Use a different, more secure password for your email than you do for every other service. Your email account is often the key to accessing many of the services you use most.

Run a virus scan and maintain security updates if you think your computer could have been infected. Have your machine and services looked at by a professional if you believe there is a risk your data is being used?

N-Line Technologies is here to help you protect your email with business-grade email solutions from Microsoft Office 365.  If you think your email could have been hijacked, or your details used elsewhere, click HERE give us a call at 432-279-0671 to clean up today.

We have been serving Midland, Odessa, and the Permian Basin since 2001!

Handle with Care: Sending Data Securely

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In our digital economy, we send and receive information quickly online. The Internet offers immediate communication with colleagues, clients, vendors, and other strategic partners. Yet we shouldn’t prioritize convenience over data security.

What data do you send in a day’s worth of emails? Sensitive data you send might include:

  • personally identifiable information (PII);
  • credit card or payment card information;
  • attorney-client privileged information;
  • IT security information;
  • protected health information;
  • human subject research;
  • loan or job application data;
  • proprietary business knowledge.

The problem is people sending without thinking about the security of the transmission. One way to gauge the need for security is to consider how you might send that same information via the postal service. Would you put that data on a postcard that anyone could read? Or would you send a sealed, certified mailing and require the recipient’s signature?

Transmitting data on the Internet in plain text is like the postcard – anyone can read the information. And before you think that no one can actually see your data in transit, think about where you are sending from. Your office network may be password protected and secure, but what if someone waiting for their coffee at Starbucks opens the message using the free Wi-Fi network?

Anyone can intercept communications on open networks with the right tools. This type of cyberattack is common enough to merit its own name: a “man-in-the-middle” attack.

So, how can you stay safe when sending sensitive data?

Embrace encryption. Encrypting the data is like sending that sensitive information in a locked box. Encryption encodes the information to add a level of security. If encrypted data is intercepted, the scrambled data is unreadable by unauthorized users. Only a user with the correct decryption key can access the text.

Encryption also provides additional confirmation that the information is coming from a reliable source.

Your business should also require Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) for sending and receiving large or numerous digital files. You may have heard of FTP, but this file transfer protocol is not encrypted. SFTP is the secure version of FTP, as it encrypts the files in transit. If a nefarious entity does intercept the files, it won’t be able to read them without the decryption key.

Specifically, encourage your employees to:

  • use encrypted email only (common providers such as Gmail and Office 365 support it; others require third-party apps or services);
  • encrypt files before sending to the cloud (in case accounts are breached or services hacked);
  • never open business communications on unsecured Wi-Fi networks install and use VPN software to browse more securely when using free Wi-Fi;
  • keep good track of laptops and other portable devices and use drive encryption, such as BitLocker, in case – with encryption, a lost laptop or stolen thumb drive is more secure, and criminals will have a difficult time stealing sensitive information, too;
  • control data access – grant permission to view, edit, or send files with sensitive information only to users who need that data for their jobs.

N-Line Technologies is here to help your business securely send and receive sensitive information using state of the art and easy to use Encryption with Microsoft Office 365. We are THE experts here in Midland, Odessa, and the Permian Basin in cloud services and IT security.

Click HERE to Contact us today or call us at 432-279-0671!

Get your free Business Continuity Planning eBook!

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Is your business ready in the event of a disaster? You may think you are. Perhaps you have a data backup somewhere. Maybe even more than one!

But, do you have a business continuity plan?

A business continuity plan is a process to follow if a disaster strikes.  It’s not just about restoring your backups, but also what happens if you can’t get back into the building? What if there is no power?  What if a disgruntled employee sabotaged your systems?

We wrote an eGuide about why you need to ensure your business has a continuity plan in place — before something actually does go wrong.

 

 

Download it today using the form below.

Download your Free eBook!

5 Tech Travel Tips You Can Use

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It’s Summer Time and that means you’ll probably be going on vacation soon.  Traveling with family and friends to some nice beach or mountain getaway far far away from the oil patch.  For most people, this also means making sure your tech is packed and ready for the adventure. Smartphones, ebook readers, tablets, laptops, and smartwatches are now so light and portable that you’d never think of leaving them behind, plus they can add a ton of value your experience.

At N-Line we know having tech issues on vacation is a serious downer so here are a few tips to consider before you hit the road.

1. Backup to the cloud

While you’re jet setting around, relaxing on a beach or hiking your way to freedom, your tech is always going to be exposed to a level of risk. This might range from accidentally leaving your laptop at a cafe to having it stolen from your bag, but either way, the problem is the same – your data is now gone. If you’ve backed up your devices to the cloud (eg Evernote, Microsoft OneNote or Google Drive) you’ll be able to access your files easily and securely from anywhere.

Hot tip: Scan or save important documents like itineraries and passports to the cloud.

2. Pack the right cables

Begging random strangers for a loan of their cable isn’t much fun, so remember to bring the exact cables and chargers you’ll need. Most smartphones and tablets use universal plugs like Micro USB, USB C or Apple Lightning, so you can get away with only packing one cable. Many locations now offer powered USB ports, but be sure to also pack the right charger as well, it’s a convenience you’ll appreciate. If you’re traveling overseas and the socket is different, remember to pack a plug converter, and depending on your destination, you might even find the voltage is different. It’s a good idea to check whether you also need a voltage converter before you try and charge.

3. Download offline data

It’s no secret that global roaming can give nasty bill shocks. The easy access data you normally use over Wi-Fi or get included in your cell plan has us all accustomed to being connected. While traveling, you might find yourself in a location where data costs a fortune or it’s not available at all. Download any files you might need, including important documents like itineraries and bookings, so that you can access them even without a connection.

4. Update and scan

Just like you’d make sure you’ve got the right vaccinations and travel gear, make sure your tech is ready to travel too. Set aside a few minutes to run updates for your operating systems and apps, as well as your anti-virus. Go one step further and run a manual anti-virus scan too. The last thing you want to deal with one your trip is a cyber attack! While you’re doing your pro-active thing, turn on password protection for all devices so that only you can unlock them.

Hot tip: Use a complex password that is hard for thieves to guess.

5. Mark your territory

Almost exactly the way it sounds, let everyone know this tech belongs to you. Write your cell number on portable devices in case you get separated so whoever finds it can give you a quick call and save the day. Don’t want to use permanent marker on your shiny tech? Grab some sticky labels you can peel off when you get home.

You can also get little Bluetooth tracking tags to stick to your gear, so that if you ever lose something you can chase it down. Similarly, you might like to consider enabling the Find My iPhone feature on Apple devices or Find My Device for Google. Having this feature switched on also means you can disable your device remotely, an excellent security option if it’s been stolen.

Need help preparing your tech for travel?
Click HERE or Give us a call at 432-279-0671

Don’t Get Hooked by Spear-Phishing Attacks

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Phishing attacks have been around for a long time in IT.  Designed to steal your credentials or trick you into installing malicious software, they have persisted in the IT world precisely because they have been so devastatingly simple and effective.  Today, a more modern and more effective version of the same attack is commonly used.

A typical phishing attack involves an attacker sending out a malicious email to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of users.  The attacker’s email is designed to look like it comes from a bank, financial service, or even the tax office. Often aiming to trick you into logging in to a fake online service, a phishing attack captures the login details you enter so an attacker may use them to enter the genuine service later.

By sending out tens of thousands of emails at a time, attackers can guarantee that even if only one half of one percent of people fall for it, there is a lot of profit to be made by draining accounts.  Spear phishing is a more modern, more sophisticated, and far more dangerous form of the attack.  It’s typically targeted at businesses and their staff.

A Convincing, Dangerous Attack

While a traditional phishing attack throws out a broad net in the hope of capturing as many credentials as possible, spear phishing is targeted and precise.  The attack is aimed towards convincing a single business, department, or individual that a fraudulent email or website is genuine.

The attacker focuses on building a relationship and establishing trust with the target.  By building trust and convincing the target that they are who they are pretending to be, the user is more likely to open attachments, follow links, or provide sensitive details.

They do this by carefully researching your company and its key officers.  Often using Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other online sources of information so that they can successfully imitate someone you or your employees will trust such a key vendor or business partner, or even a fellow employee.

Consider how many times you have followed a link or opened an attachment just because it has come from a contact you have trusted before.

A Trusted E-mail

The malicious email can appear to come from a vendor you deal with regularly.  It may even look like an invoice you are expecting to receive.  Often attackers can simply substitute the vendors’ banking details for their own, hoping the target will not notice the difference.

Such an attack is very difficult to detect.  It takes a keen eye, strong working knowledge, and constant awareness to keep your company protected.  Even a single small mistake by an unaware member of staff can compromise your business accounts.

Defending Your Business

The key to stopping a spear phishing attack is education.  Learning attack techniques, and how to protect against them is the single biggest thing you can do to enhance business security.

Whenever you deal with a vendor in a business transaction, you should always consider important questions before proceeding.  Are you expecting this email?  Is the vendor attempting to rush you into a quick decision or transaction?  Have you checked all the details are correct and as you expected?  Sometimes a simple query to the vendor can protect you against worst-case scenarios.

In many cases, a phishing attack can be halted in its tracks with a strong IT security package.  Web and spam filtering can prevent malicious emails and links from entering the network, shutting attacks down before any damage can be done.

Good Security Practice

As with many types of IT threats, good security practices help mitigate damage.  Locking down security to ensure employees only access the systems they need helps to prevent damage from spreading across the network.

Enforcing unique and strong passwords prevents leaked credentials from affecting systems related to the one that has been compromised.  Getting employees set up with a password manager and good security policies can do the world of good to boost your security to the level it needs to be.

N-Line Technologies has the tools and know how to help protect your company from sophisticated Spear-Phishing attacks. 

Don’t wait until they attack.
Contact us today at 432-279-0671 to audit your security practices.

Protecting Your Customers and Your Business Too

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Security and privacy are at the very top of our priorities when considering business IT needs. Major data leaks are in mainstream news on a near-daily basis and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of customers, are impacted every time they happen. Our number one goal is to make sure our businesses are kept out of danger.

Major institutions, such as multi-national banks and credit card companies, are expected to handle your data well. Unfortunately, less secured businesses require access to our data too.

Even just booking into a hotel often requires you to leave your name, address, date of birth, passport number, and credit card details. These few pieces of information are more than enough to steal your identity, start a line of credit, and access many of your vital services. You can often only hope your chosen hotel handles your information as well as your bank does.

Securing Your Business with Smarter Thinking

There is no way to change how your favorite hotel service operates, but you can affect your own business to improve its security for your customers.

You don’t need the manpower or funding of a major banking chain to handle data securely. With simple tweaks and powerful changes, you can minimize the chances of your business suffering a data breach big enough close your doors for good.

By stepping up IT security to meet modern threats, you can help to limit your liability, put customer’s minds at ease and give your firm a competitive advantage. Should hackers attack, the work you do today will limit the damage and help you to weather the storm.

Limit Your Data Collection

The single most important thing to consider when securing your business is how much data do you really need to hold anyway? Carefully consider the value of every piece of personal information you collect in any given transaction. Do you have a use for everything you ask for?

Emails, addresses, and contact numbers are useful for receipts and marketing, but additional data many firms collect is often useless and wasteful. Each piece of unnecessary data you hold represents additional value to hackers and thieves. While you may be unable to use your own stored data, hackers will find great value in gathering more personal information.  This increases your liability without adding any extra value.

Consider Your Access Requirements

Think carefully about who has access to the information within your business and precisely why they need to access it. Often security problems begin when employees have blanket privileges to access everything within the firm.

Access restrictions should be specific to the company structure.  Low-level employees should be limited to only what is strictly required for their role. Managers, for example, are likely to need systems that their junior staff cannot access.

Physical access restrictions are critical too. Unattended computers and mobile devices should require a password or identity verification to log on.

Treating Data with Care

The way you treat your data in day-to-day business reflects the impact hackers or IT disaster will have on your business when it is lost. Do you know where your backups are, and when they were last tested? Firms often first know they are in trouble when they realize all their data is stored on a business laptop or device that could be easily lost or stolen. Some firms maintain backups on USB drives or shuttle a portable hard drive between home and work.

These solutions should have no place in a professional business environment. Proper data care means regular, tested backups that are secure against fire, theft, or online hacks. Data on laptops and cell phones should be encrypted that way if lost or stolen the thieves can’t get at the data. Protecting your customers and your business is all about the smart application of IT knowledge in a cost-effective and efficient way.

N-Line Technologies has been helping businesses in Midland, Odessa, and the Permian Basin since 2001.
We can help you to lock down your business to protect the most valuable assets your business owns, data.

Click HERE or Call us at 432-279-0671

 

 

Keeping Control of Your Business with Office 365

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Office 365 represents a complete shift in the way we interact with modern business computing. If you haven’t been introduced to it yet, now could be the time. Similar to the Microsoft Office desktop package that businesses have relied on for decades; Office 365 does even more to provide the critical tools you need to modernize your business environment and take control of your business.

Built with the cloud in mind, Office 365 allows you to access and modify your documents from any computer, tablet, or smartphone worldwide. These same cloud capabilities bring benefits to collaboration too. Groups and teams can work on a single document or group of files at the same time to maximize productivity and save time ahead of tight deadlines.

Safety, accessibility, and productivity are some of the amazing benefits Office 365 has introduced to modern business. Each one has clear, but obvious benefits that can be applied.

This article breaks down the less obvious, but equally important aspects of Office 365 that could apply within your firm. These features, unique to cloud-ready office packages, allow you to regain and maintain control of your business in any working environment.

 

Bringing You Additional Resources

There are times on projects where you need to collaborate with external contractors. Whether utilizing a skilled sales copywriter, data entry processor, or extra software developer; your business should be able to make full use of a boost in manpower when it needs it. To do this, you need to provide access to internal resources and systems.

A difficult balancing act comes from providing useful access without exposing confidential or sensitive data held internally. More than just personal preference, restricting access to sensitive data can be a key requirement of modern regulations governing business and commerce.

Rather than providing open access to everything you hold, Office 365 makes it possible to share individual files or entire folders one at a time.  Privacy settings give you the power to tailor the amount of system access you provide right down to the individual file.

Files can be protected with edit only or view only access to protect data against unintentional, malicious, or unauthorized changes. When the project reaches its conclusion, access rights for external users can be revoked to revert documents and files to internal staff access only.

 

Keep Everything Together in The Right Place

Making use of Office 365 provides your business with a single, central platform for company communication and data storage.  A unified system means less business time spent on staff training and getting to know the system.

Using a single system means your data is always located in a location where you know how to access it. Data transfer and file sharing are made easy for everyone across the firm. Simply modifying permissions or sharing links provides access to critical files to anyone with an authorized account.

 

Account Based Service

Office 365 accounts-based services make reflecting the structure of your physical business in its digital systems simple and straightforward. Using your unique domain to identify your business, each staff member can be reachable to both internal staff and external firms.

For Example, jane@yourbusinessname.com may be the address of your sales coordinator or financial director. Using a unique business-based address provides both a professional point of contact and a useful account management system. It also provides a simple way to redirect inquiries within the company.

If  jane@yourbusinessname.com was the primary point of contact for suppliers to your business, vital emails might otherwise be ignored or lost completely when Jane is unavailable.  Office 365 services make it easy to redirect all emails sent to Jane’s address to emma@yourbusinessname.com instead.

These simple but highly effective tools make sure you don’t miss vital communications from suppliers, contractors, or customers. This suite of tools gives you a competitive advantage to ensure queries never ‘fall through the cracks’ and your business retains a highly professional reputation.

Keeping in complete control of your business doesn’t have to mean sacrificing extra hours, laborious micromanagement, or building complex and costly systems.  Office 365 allows you to keep control of your business easily and without hassle.

N-Line Technologies are experts in the implementation of Office 365, which ensures you and your staff have all the productivity tools you need, whether you’re in the office, on the road, or working remotely from a home office.

You’ll be surprised at the difference Office 365 can make to the way you manage your firm.  Click here or call us at 432-279-0671 today to help set you up and running using Office 365 the right way.  We Service Midland, Odessa, and the Permian Basin

Stop the Inbox Insanity: Tips for Better Email Management

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A staggering 269 billion emails are sent every day. Your business is receiving only a small fraction of those emails. Yet your staff likely feel as if at least 269 of those are coming their way daily. In fact, the typical employee in 2018 received 90 emails and sent out 40.

Email is a powerful tool. But its help with doing business ever faster creates added business pressure. Consider these five strategies for better email management.

  1. Don’t start your day with email. Many people do. It’s how they set up for the day. However, beginning the day with a cup of coffee and clicking through your inbox, can backfire. Many of those emails become items on your to-do list. You put off important tasks from your day responding to other people’s requests. Plan your day around your business needs first. Even knock off some of the more important tasks, before diving into that inbox!
  2. Think twice about checking email constantly. It’s tempting to open emails as soon as they arrive. But, you only want to tackle your inbox when you have the time to take action. If you open an email planning to get back to it later, you’ll likely forget. When you have to revisit an email to remind yourself what it’s about, you’re doubling the time you spend on that message. Avoid interrupting your momentum by turning off email alert notifications and phone badges. Instead, set regular times to read and respond to accumulated emails.
  3. Write clear, concise emails. Avoid contributing to a colleague’s inbox chaos. Provide as much relevant information as possible. Now, that doesn’t mean writing a War and Peace-length email. Focus your message for your audience, anticipate questions, and answer in that email. Starting the message with an informative subject line can make a big difference too.
  4. Save time with reusable messages. You often end up answering the same questions over and again. Create templated emails that you can have at the ready to provide relevant details. Depending on your email software, this capability may be built in or you may need to add a plug-in.
  5. Use filters and folders to sort email. Learn how to use automatically filter your messages into the appropriate folders. For example, if the email is from accounting@yourbusiness.com then send it to your “Accounting” folder. This can save hundreds of hours a year. The better your folder system, the less time you’ll spend looking for specific emails when you need them. In Outlook and Office 365, you can also set up a filter to change the color of email for different senders. Your boss could be red, and you’d know to handle that one first. Also, you can save lots of time by setting up strong filters for junk and spam. Unsubscribe from mailing lists that you don’t need any longer. Cleaning out the clutter can make your inbox much less overwhelming.  Even better is to have a spam filtering service such as our own N-Line Spam Control that can filter out the junk BEFORE it hits your mailbox so that you never have to deal with it.

Email is an essential tool in business today. Don’t let it become a drain on your energy and attention. Make the most of the time you spend in your inbox with smart strategies for email management.

We can help you select the right email and useful mailbox management tools.

Stop working your email and make it work for you!

Click HERE or Give us a call at 432-279-0671.

 

IT Problems Your Managed Service Provider Can Solve

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Unlike quick-fix IT relationships, a managed service provider isn’t there just to solve short-term problems and leave. Your managed service provider is your IT’s mountain Sherpa, there to guide your business through the ever-changing technology landscape.

Like a mountain guide, your managed service provider gives you a detailed route that will help your business climb to new heights. The secret to a great business is avoiding the pitfalls, dead-ends, and traps inherent in bad IT.

Removing IT Worries

Technology in business presents both new solutions and new problems too. We are more efficient and more productive today than we’ve ever been before. On the other hand, we are also more vulnerable and more exposed to malware and hackers than in previous years too.

Major hacks of large firms are in the news almost daily, they affect millions of customers worldwide, and even large firms seem to struggle with the fallout incurred after a major breach. Our number one priority is ensuring that the customers, suppliers, and business partners of our businesses can rest at ease.

We remove your IT worries, secure your data, and keep your systems safe so you can focus solely on your business. Our methods let you return to the passion which makes your business great while sleeping soundly at night knowing your systems are in good hands.

Improve Stability

Slow computers and bad networks can be some of the most frustrating daily nuisances around. As a workplace obstacle, it annoys employees, saps morale, and spoils even the best working environment.

The cause of these network niggles can be as varied as the networks themselves. In some cases, the router is overloaded, a switch may be poorly configured, or a device is misbehaving and spoiling the network. Poor IT reduces your effectiveness and efficiency in a number of ways. There is a tangible loss that comes from under-performing systems, often more than can be measured in slow downloads and long uploads.

Simple diagnostics and a little troubleshooting can get to the heart of the problem fast. For little cost and a short amount of time, longstanding IT issues holding up your business can be eliminated for good.

Reducing Costs

Every business and it’s IT needs are unique and challenging in different ways. We look closely at what your business requires and tailor our services to eliminate inefficiencies, stamp out problems, and ramp up your potential.

Whether you are paying too much for your internet plan, wasting data on unnecessary services, or not getting the most from expensive packages, we can give you the knowledge and control to get back on track.

Many of our businesses benefit from analysis which shows the rewards cloud services can bring in day-to-day work. For a huge number of companies, this has led to significant cost savings almost overnight. Eliminating power-hungry servers, reducing equipment maintenance, and lowering your data needs can add up to big improvements.

Maintaining a Watchful Eye

By learning your systems, monitoring hardware activity, and looking after your IT on an ongoing basis, we are able to establish regular parameters for what to expect and what problems look out for in your specific systems.

With a close eye, we can aim to prevent problems from occurring even before they happen. Rising temperatures, increases in noise, and frequently occurring errors combined with powerful diagnostic tools provide us with the data we need to determine when your hardware is creeping towards the end of its service life.

Using regular maintenance, we can bring down service costs with smaller routine upgrades. These changes replace big budget blow-outs that occur when catastrophic failure happens across the system.

Maintaining your reputation for never losing data, always being available, and keeping a professional attitude is more than a happy side effect.

N-Line Technologies is your IT service provider.  We can boost your IT to new heights in more ways than you can imagine. Give us a call at 432-279-0671  or click HERE today to talk about the IT problems we can solve for you.

3 Steps to Securing Cloud Data

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Businesses are no longer confusing “the cloud” with those puffy white things in the sky. For many, the cloud is a backbone business tool. Yet, some worry about storing their data on the Internet using cloud technologies. Consider these approaches to boost business confidence in cloud data security.

#1 Encrypt Business Data

The cloud is a lucrative potential target for cybercriminals. Many enterprises have turned to this technology. In North America, nearly 60% of enterprises now rely on public cloud platforms. That’s a fivefold increase over five years, according to Forresters’ Cloud Computing 2019 Predictions.

Some cloud service providers will promise to encrypt your data in transmission. Take this precaution further by encrypting data before it’s sent to the cloud. Encrypting data turns it into another form of code. Only the person with the correct password can decrypt it. If you use a modern encryption standard, it will be extremely challenging for a hacker to break the code.

Plus, encrypting on your end first ensures the cloud storage provider only stores encrypted data. So, if their storage gets hacked, or one of their employees goes rogue, they aren’t able to read your business data. That is unless they have the decryption password. Make sure the password is strong. Don’t be one of those people still using “password” or “123456789”!

#2 Have a Backup

Many businesses store data on the cloud as a precaution to have redundancy. Yet, it’s a good idea to have another backup copy offsite too. Just in case.

In some cases, businesses have migrated almost entirely to the cloud. All their software and files live on the cloud and they have no other copy. Don’t let this happen to you. We recommend the 3-2-1 backup strategy. This means, even for cloud-reliant businesses, having 3 copies of your data. One would be on the cloud. The other two (2) would be on different devices (e.g. on your local computer and on a backup drive).

#3 Know your Responsibilities

The cloud is a shared technology model. Partner with a cloud service provider with stringent security. At the same time, don’t count on the cloud provider to do everything. Clearly identify security roles and responsibilities. The Cloud Security Alliance reminds us that this can depend on the cloud model you’re using:

  • Software as a Service — The provider is largely responsible for security. After all, the user can only access the applications.
  • Platform as a Service — The cloud partner secures the platform. Your business must configure its own security for anything implemented on the platform. This includes securing the database, managing account access, and authentication methods.
  • Infrastructure as a Service — You’re responsible for everything built on the provider’s infrastructure. They will likely monitor their perimeter for attacks, but the rest is your job.

Cloud technology offers several advantages:

  • Enables IT to scale without investing in equipment, software, employee training, or taking up valuable office footprint
  • Offers peace of mind that data will always be available regardless of conditions at a particular business location
  • Provides up-to-date technology users can access from any device, anywhere, anytime — as long as they have an Internet connection

The cloud revolution has come. When you join the ranks of those migrating data to the cloud, do so with these safety suggestions in mind.

 

Need help securing your data?

Whether you’re backing up locally or on the cloud

we have a plan tailored just for your business.

Give us a call at 432-279-0671.

 

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