The widespread use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to access files remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic may have created a false sense of security.  Users would open their VPN client software, enter a password and gain "secure" access to the office network.  But at what cost?  Common problems with VPN  include inefficient user interfaces, dangerous firewall pinholes, and outdated software and security.

Premiums for cyber insurance are sky-rocketing and it's not because of inflation.

It has been a little over 1 year since the very public cyber-attack of Colonial Pipeline Co. that resulted in a $5M ransom demand. The effect that this hack and a subsequent string of high-profile attacks had on the cyber insurance market in 2021 is unprecedented.

Insurance companies were excited to enter this budding new market in the late twenty-teens. There was very little risk and plenty of interested buyers. This new coverage niche was highly profitable.

2021 was the year the working world went remote. 

As pandemic conditions continued to evolve throughout the year, so did the way we work. Employee expectations underwent a seismic shift, with many choosing to opt for more balance and flexibility in where and when they work. With nearly 70% of full-time U.S. workers having worked remotely - and many still doing so - employers have adjusted their workplaces to fit a new hybrid working model.

Passwords are everywhere. We use them to protect many aspects of our online lives, from everyday websites and social media accounts to more important sites like banking, shopping, and corporate network access.  Like most everything in cybersecurity, passwords have served their purpose for a time but when used alone, they have become a big vulnerability. A simple hack or database leak can release millions of passwords to the dark web in a matter of seconds.

Many in the sports world tell us  that "defense wins championships" and in some cases, this may be true - until it's not. The strategy of an aggressive attacking style of offense has two main advantages. One, you are distracting your opponent from their own attempts to score and two, you are focusing your team on the main path to a win; scoring points. The strategy that the best defense is a good offense can also be applied to cybersecurity. 

Think of a firewall as the moat that surrounds your castle. For pillagers to cross and storm the castle it just takes one village idiot to accidentally lower the draw bridge. What if you could stop them before they ever got to the lever?  In the cybersecurity realm, this is what DNS layer protection offers. Before we explain what DNS layer protection means, let's take a closer look at what DNS is.

It was another email from a vendor about a purchase order. She'd seen this same email a hundred times before. Why would she look more closely than the familiar logo and letterhead? After all, the dangerous stuff couldn't get past her company's firewall and spam filter. Or so she thought...

She didn't notice that the phony email address was from a .co instead of a .com. Flash forward one week.  After dozens of hours of lost business and a $16,000 ransom payment, the company was still digging out of the mess. 

With so many of us working from home it's imperative that we continue to remain vigilant and cyber-secure. Our clients have asked us to provide some basic steps we can take to protect ourselves while we work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic

Call Accounting:

Ever wonder why your customers complain that they are having a hard time reaching you? Maybe you lost a key customer or prospect because a phone call or voicemail wasn't returned? Call Accounting software or applications can track all of your calls from "cradle to grave" meaning that you can visually track a call from the point that it hit your phone system through the hang-up. Did it get to an extension? If so, which extension? Was a message left in the voicemail box? How long was the message? All of these questions can be answered with Call Accounting.