Some less evident IT warnings when business travel increases

Ensure that the team members that travel are employing MFA, and VPNs

The hackers will act as CEO when the boss is away.

 

Additionally, because so many people post selfies and location data on social media, fraudsters can choose the right moments to play bossfake.

 

When it’s simpler than ever to locate the OOO executive, IT professionals must have verification procedures in place to demonstrate that the boss who is drinking a margarita on a beach and asking for crucial information is, in fact, the boss who is sipping a margarita on a beach and asking for crucial information.

 

According to executives of emerging security trends, they say “always assume bad guys will know if somebody is on travel.”

According to these executives, they say Harry Houdini gave his wife a secret codeword so that anyone claiming to have had touch with the escape artist in the afterlife would have the credentials to back up their claims.

An agreed-upon spoken code can assist a business get out of a fraud situation and verify the connection, whether an executive texts for a wire transfer or a CFO emails for a sales presentation.

An IT professional-familiar travel check list can and should now include a spoken password:

  •  Avoid using free WiFi and utilize VPNs to encrypt your traffic.
  • Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) to safeguard against any compromised credentials.
  • Keep your devices nearby. Taking an interview from the airport, Doug Saylors, partner at the consulting ISC, noticed an abandoned device and said, “Like literally across from me, there’s a laptop on a table.”

While MFA safeguards access to a lost laptop and VPNs can thwart man-in-the-middle attacks, organizations lost $2.4 billion due to corporate email intrusion.
When a vendor sends an invoice or a CEO asks an assistant to buy gift cards for staff awards, the request looks to be legitimate in a business email compromise (BEC) fraud

 

A “CEO fraud” ring that impersonated executives and asked the accounting department for last-minute wire modifications was busted by Europol in February.

An attacker might generate a false feeling of urgency if a group is aware that the boss is away. Hey, we’ve had to turn this money over to a vendor by midnight, might be the subject of a phishing SMS or email sent to a CFO.

Hou-dun-it? According to the chief experience officer of Sectigo, employees in dubious situations should start the dialogue, not click any links, and go “out-of-band” and beyond the initial communication.

“When someone claiming to be someone you know and trust asks you for money or sensitive information, but the situation seems unique and irregular…The red flags should rise, particularly when they convey a sense of urgency.

Even calling the boss may not be a sufficient guarantee. A late 2022 VMware analysis found that respondents experienced a 13% increase in malicious deepfakes, of which slightly less than half were audio-based.

Encourage staff to phone them, email a Slack, or do the Houdini.

 

Assume that their vacation plans are known, and prepare a plan of action to handle it just in case.

Looking to discuss VPNS and remote working ? Contact the professional IT specialists at ETV Software, Inc. at 903-531-0377


Does Your IT Team face difficulties and possibilities with data retention management?

Look at your data right away. Take a good, hard look at it.

There are numerous alternatives available to businesses and organizations interested in data retention management, but no definite defining standard. That’s the kind of thing that makes data management specialists sympathetic to teams using their data to make judgments.

The difficulty there is that if something goes wrong you will need everything from your incorporation documents from the beginning of the business, which could be more than 20 years old, to your current contract, and what you [are] supposed to be working on, if something goes wrong, you’re going to need to have records plain in simple.

Divergent opinions. There is no set rule for how long to keep data or why to do so, and businesses and organizations may do so for a variety of reasons.

According to data managers, the retention problem is largely divided between operational and legal considerations. The latter includes a plethora of available signposting as to how long you should be keeping stuff that is unclear. But some fundamentals are included for a reason.

From a financial perspective, you can’t go wrong if you keep critical company data for seven years.

Although seven years isn’t a requirement, it’s a general suggestion that will keep you compliant enough to avoid problems on that side, and keep you on the right side of data risk on the other. Because there isn’t a universally applicable answer.

Because of the expansion of privacy laws and increased public knowledge of privacy issues,this is becoming a more and more complicated space.

Data retention management specialists, whether they are experts or merely employees of IT teams, face issues that are neither exciting nor seductive. They are just the end result of managing a company’s IT requirements on a daily basis. However, if you take a bigger picture into consideration, you’ll see a more complicated picture with multi-layered solutions. When you couple that with the generally lackadaisical attitude many employees have toward IT, disaster may be on the horizon.

Keeping privacy in mind, don’t submit your source code to ChatGPT to determine whether it’s acceptable. People will start providing more data, which will expose their businesses even more.

 

A higher level of data risk may be required by businesses and organizations with more complex and ambitious aims, which security teams are less likely to accept.

 

Depending on how product lines are developed or whatever product or service you provide, you might be able to mine that data for certain insights. This could be motivation on the business side of an organization to retain certain data types in the hope that it may serve them well in the future.

However, be cautioned that keeping sensitive data carries hazards. IT teams must categorize the data and weigh the advantages of retaining it against the retention policies. There must always be a balance between the amount of danger that may be accepted and the potential rewards.

Consider this as an opportunity that lies within the data that someone is in possession of. But that chance will always exist only in theory.

Looking to discuss your data management ? Contact the professional data management specialists at ETV Software, Inc. at 903-531-0377


How To Get Your Business On The Right Track

Finding it hard to focus on getting your business on the right track? We have the steps you can take to get things moving forward.

When you're the owner or even the leader of a business, it can be very stressful to try and keep everything in order while at the same time making sure everything is moving in the right direction. The pressure to be successful can take its toll on anyone, so we have compiled ways in which you can take hold of your business and get things moving. It's extremely important to have goals for your company, but what happens when your goals are too extreme or unrealistic? Try setting more attainable goals for your business, this will ensure that your mission is digestible and less scary for employees, and will help to get the ball rolling more easily. This step is even more important when first starting your business because your daily routine will be changing and it is harder to manage daily tasks.

Perhaps an even more important task that business owners should make a priority is growing and accumulating a community. This community can involve groups, investors, partners, and most importantly passionate customers. Each one of these community members will help to pave the way for the advancement of your business, and the good part is that each business can select the right community members for them depending upon their unique set of needs. And finally, making sure that you surround yourself with supportive family friends and community groups that will understand your need to stay focused on your business.

If you're starting a business for the first time this step could be the most important. Giving yourself the freedom to blur the line between personal and professional work-life balance could greatly benefit your company in the early stages. If you have your own business, it's probably a good bet that you are already excellent at these three points. That being said, it can only benefit your company to remind yourself that it's okay to not be a perfectionist. Remind yourself that not everything has to be perfect in order to begin or move forward with your business.

 

 


Malware And Its Impact On Your Business

Malware is a tiny risk with a giant impact on small businesses...

One thing that is sure to put your business on halt is being attacked on a technological level. Our businesses today rely more and more on the internet to survive and flourish. If you lose your data, your inventory, your customer information, this could be a turning point for your company, but not in a good way. This is a never-ending threat because just like our useful technology, the tactics of criminals continue to gain sophistication. More and more organizations are becoming a target; from small and new companies to the federal government. No one is immune to losing their data, money and even reputation on the internet today. It's not a matter of IF it's going to happen, its WHEN, and more importantly how you handle that situation if you let your companies data become susceptible to threats. Not only are small businesses at risk, but larger businesses often become a target. Interestingly enough, some of the top targets for cyber attacks are financial services, information and communications technology, manufacturing, retail, and professional services. According to the 2018 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index, a data breach in 2017 ended up costing the businesses affected an average of $3.7 million.

Other organizations that are often affected by malware are state capitals and local governments. The fact of the matter is that cybercrime is everywhere. This may all be a daunting realization if you are a new business, or even an older business just now beginning to take the step to better security. If you ever need assistance in improving your security or getting rid of an attack that has already happened. give us a call or check out our website for more information!

https://www.etvsoftware.com/data-and-network-security/


Want To Encourage More Great Ideas In Your Workplace?

Here are some valuable strategies for organizational leaders who want to encourage creativity and diversity in the workplace.

One of the most important things every leader should always be doing in their business is to keep asking questions. Never forget to ask questions to yourself as well as your team members. Asking questions can help focus attention to important goals and milestones. It also allows for more meaningful input from everyone in the team; leaving no one excluded! Another thing that would benefit a leader is to keep in mind that it’s okay to have a little room for errors. If there is no space allowed to make errors, important things can get pushed to the side or neglected and only realized when it's too late.

Constructive conflict is another surprising thing in the workplace that can be beneficial. As long as the conflict is being used in a proactive way it can be used to establish a business rationale. Business leaders can do this by letting team members know that even if they disagree, their input is valuable. This relates also to having an open door policy in the workplace. If a leader admits consistently that they are not omnipotent and do not have the whole story at all times; this can only be beneficial in the workplace. Having open conversations with team members expressing your interest in hearing their side can cause creativity and new ideas to form in the workplace.

And finally, keep in mind to never disregard or dismiss ideas that come from members of the team. It is true that internal ideas can seem threatening at first. Leaders do not want to admit that an idea of a subordinate may have bee better than theirs. This is a mistake many leaders make; it can cause you to miss out on great ideas that would be perfect for the organization as a whole.

All in all, it's up to a leader to direct the team and the organization to reach milestones and knock down walls. Never forget that being compassionate and powerful do not have to be mutually exclusive.

Learn more here


Need a way to grow your business and streamline your process?

It's a great time to have your own business. Each year reveals an ever-growing plethora of applications and technologies designed specifically for new or small businesses. Here are three apps that can help!

Ever find yourself getting lost or distracted on your current go-to social media platform when trying to share moments with friends or colleagues? If so, the Capsure app will be perfect for you. It's an ad-free app that allows users to selectively organize their memories, ideas, and conversations.

An entrepreneur favorite is Google Keep. This app allows you to record, edit, share and even collaborate on any device at all times. With this app, teams will find it much easier to break down ideas and create action plans.

Our last app is Mixmax; if your business is always scheduling meetings this app is what you need. This is an email too that allows for quick scheduling at the click of a button. It also allows for easier follow-up decisions by showing you when the message was read.

These apps are all free with an optional upgrade!

Find out more about these apps here


NASA has just reached its 60-year mark!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the direction the organization is planning on taking; it looks like they are well on their way to having another prolific 60 years ahead of them. NASA plans to incorporate more commercial services into their programs. This is in efforts to create new technologies and markets that have never been offered before. This will enable small companies to provide NASA services such as launch and landing platforms. This new process hopes to free up department workload so that more cutting edge pursuits can be put on the agenda.

We here at ETV Software are AMAZED by everything they've said is on the horizon...

Read more here: https://www.cnet.com/…/nasa-turns-60-and-its-reinventing-i…/