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How Do You Know If The Cloud is Right for Your Company?
In today’s digital age, businesses face a critical decision when it comes to managing their data and applications: whether to embrace cloud computing or stick with traditional on-premises solutions. The cloud offers a wide range of benefits, including scalability, cost savings, and flexibility. But how do you know if it’s the right fit for your company? In this blog post, we’ll explore some key factors to consider in determining if the cloud is the right choice for your business.
Scalability:
One of the significant advantages of cloud computing is its scalability. With the cloud, you can easily scale your resources up or down based on your business needs. If your company experiences fluctuating demands or seasonal peaks, the cloud allows you to adjust your resources accordingly, ensuring optimal performance without unnecessary costs.
Cost Savings:
Cloud computing offers potential cost savings compared to traditional on-premises solutions. By moving to the cloud, you can eliminate the need for expensive hardware, maintenance, and infrastructure upgrades. Additionally, you pay only for the resources you use, providing a more cost-effective solution, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.
Flexibility and Accessibility:
The cloud enables your employees to access data and applications from anywhere, at any time, as long as they have an internet connection. This flexibility enhances collaboration and remote work capabilities, which have become increasingly important in today’s fast-paced business environment.
Security and Reliability:
Cloud service providers invest heavily in robust security measures and redundant infrastructure to protect your data. They often employ advanced encryption, regular backups, and disaster recovery plans to ensure high levels of data security and reliability. However, it is crucial to thoroughly research and choose a reputable cloud provider to mitigate potential risks.
IT Expertise and Maintenance:
With cloud computing, you can offload the burden of managing hardware and software updates to the cloud provider. This allows your IT team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than spending time on routine maintenance tasks.
Deciding whether the cloud is right for your company involves evaluating various factors such as scalability, cost savings, flexibility, security, and IT expertise. Consider your business needs, growth projections, and the potential benefits the cloud can offer. If your company requires agility, cost efficiency, and accessibility, the cloud may be the ideal solution to propel your business forward in the digital era. Remember to research and choose a reliable cloud provider to ensure a seamless and secure transition.
How JENLOR Can Help You Create An Ideal Hybrid Work Environment
Worldwide, businesses are aiming to develop a hybrid workforce that is robust, sustainable, and innovative and that enables workers to work well from any place.
Today’s workplace can be successful for teams of in-person and remote workers thanks to technology’s provision of team collaboration capabilities. Comprehensive hybrid work programs enable a customized work-life balance while enhancing the employee experience, and increasing agility and performance.
The future of work will undoubtedly involve a hybrid workforce, and the hybrid work environment is an exciting idea that encourages adaptability, flexibility, innovation, and productivity. JENLOR is here to help you create an ideal hybrid work environment.
Hybrid Workplace Technologies
Hybrid workforce technologies are important to support today’s emerging workplace realities. Employee experience comes first because employees make up the hybrid workforce.
The appropriate technology will help with recruiting, boost employee happiness and retention, inspire innovation, and provide businesses a competitive edge. Let’s examine the categories of technology that businesses must master.
Workplace Security
Corporate networks must prioritize security, but hybrid and remote work settings continually present problems that businesses haven’t managed to solve. In the past, data access was restricted to corporate-controlled channels and corporate networks were secure.
By decentralizing applications and data, hybrid workplace solutions have had to adapt to remote workers and cloud migration. Organizations should think about how they will secure critical data when it becomes accessible to dispersed staff. JENLOR can help you manage your data and keep it secure for yourself, your business, and your employees.
Communication and Collaboration
Team collaboration tools and applications have proliferated greatly since hybrid work has become widely used. Such as:
- The capability of monitoring development on common projects
- An effective method of file sharing
- Online whiteboards and instant messaging
- Allow staff to communicate independently or in groups using video and audio technologies
In hybrid teams, communication can be more difficult but is still necessary for teamwork. A fundamental set of guidelines for how employees should interact with one another during work hours will serve as a good foundation for maintaining order.
Smart Workplaces
Many companies were introducing telepresence even before a hybrid workplace was being used in case participants would be unable to attend a meeting. Collaboration and connection are no longer limited to a physical workplace, where employees might formerly meet in person over coffee to solve problems and strengthen their cultural and social ties.
Smart offices are one method used by hybrid workplace technologies to bring the two worlds together. A smart office is a high-tech setting where individuals can operate more effectively and efficiently with collaboration tools thanks to analytics and connected technologies.
How We Can Help
At JENLOR, we are here to help you set up the ideal hybrid workplace environment for your business. Contact us today for a free consultation to learn more about our services.
Ransomware Threats Hidden in Plain Sight
Recent Ransomware Attacks
From a recent attack on the San Francisco 49ers’ network to the IRS’s increased attempts to identify dark money and help bring ransomware groups to jail. Ransomware threats hidden in plain sight are an increasing but preventable threat that is a worldwide issue.
Cloud Infrastructures
Cloud infrastructures are constantly being attacked by ransomware developers who take advantage of known weaknesses in cloud applications, virtual machine software, and virtual machine orchestration software. Ransomware threat actors also target cloud accounts, cloud application programming interfaces (APIs), and data backup and storage systems. Threat actors target these specific systems to prohibit access to cloud resources and encrypt data.
Software Supply Chains
In 2021 Ransomware threat actors also targeted software supply chain businesses around the world.. By focusing on software supply chains, ransomware threat actors can expand the scope of their attacks by gaining access to several victims through a single initial breach.
Holidays and Weekends
Throughout 2021, the FBI and CISA noticed cybercriminals carrying out increasingly damaging assaults against US firms on holidays and weekends. Because there are fewer network defenders and IT support employees at victim firms, ransomware threat actors may perceive holidays and weekends as easy targets for ransomware attacks.
Conclusion
90% of malware attacks are preventable with the top recommendation being multi-factor authentication. This requires entering something you have in addition to a username and password before providing access. Examples of multi-factor authentication would be a trusted device or a software or hardware token. This makes it far more difficult for ransomware to establish a foothold and keeps you better protected. With a large number of attacks occurring daily, ransomware threats hidden in plain sight are an increasing but preventable threat. Contact JENLOR today to take steps to better protect yourself from ransomware attacks.
Cybersecurity Lessons from 3rd-Party Breaches in Big Retail
Cybersecurity Lessons in Big Retail
What can SMB’s learn from high-profile security breaches in large retail businesses? These cybersecurity lessons in retail can help prevent a security breach from occurring in your big retail business.
IT Retail Security Gaps
Retail IT security has traditionally been reactive and underfunded. From a technological standpoint, retailers have always approached PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance as a checkbox exercise. Compliant security has resulted in insufficient data protection and poorly integrated point-of-sale solutions that are dispersed across a large geographic area. Furthermore, due to deployment, maintenance, and training problems, endpoint security on point-of-sale systems is frequently overlooked. Retailers are hampered in mitigating security threats due to a lack of staffing and competing objectives, leaving many retailers to delegate important security duties to auditors, contractors, and stores.
Refund Fraud
Another common hacker tactic is refund fraud. What is the mechanism behind it? There are several choices, including:
A hacker makes a bogus receipt, which means you give them a refund for something they didn’t buy. On the dark web, some fraudulent receipts are for sale.
Someone purchases something with stolen credit card information and then requests a refund to be sent to a different card.
Someone makes it appear as if their package never arrived, leading you to issue a refund. If a person complains about your business on social media, this is a good strategy to use. When it happens once or twice, refund fraud may not seem like a big deal. Scammers and hackers, on the other hand, can work at any level, and you could end up losing a lot of money.
Third-Party Security is a Priority
Third-party IT security breaches have affected innumerable organizations, with high-profile breaches at Home Depot and others making national news. Other organizations that have experienced third-party data breaches include Amazon, T-Mobile, eBay, Macy’s, and Target, which demonstrates how prevalent they are in this day and age.
Key Takeaways for ALL organizations – retail or not
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Fraudulent actors are creative in the ways they seek to compromise business these days, and the level of access 3rd party vendors have at your organization matters. These are all key pieces of the puzzle when considering how secure you REALLY are. Reach out to JENLOR today to see how the lessons we’ve learned operating in the IT security landscape for over 20 years can benefit you and your organization for cybersecurity lessons in big retail.
How to Respond to a Phishing Attack
How to Respond to a Phishing Attack
Phishing is a common type of cybercrimal attack in which a victim is approached via email, phone, or text message by someone posing as a reputable individual or organization in order to obtain sensitive information, passwords, credit card numbers or other resources. Criminals frequently use the information they obtain to steal money, intellectual property, or a person’s identity.
Phishing attacks are far more common than you might think, so if this has happened to you, you’re not alone. Stay cool and understand that there are steps you can take to better position yourself as you deal with this difficult situation.
Keep Calm
Don’t be too hard on yourself if you fall victim to a phishing attack. They’ve gotten more sophisticated with every passing day. You’ll bounce back from this and you’ll learn from this experience. Take it one step at a time, and you’ll soon be able to put this behind you.
Have Your Computer Checked for Malware
Reaching out to your IT support team to have your system properly examined for malware or viruses is a good place to start. An experienced IT service provider will have navigated these waters before, and will do what is necessary to ensure that the problem is safely resolved.
New Passwords
Change all your passwords right away. All of them. Many phishing attacks work by tricking visitors into thinking they’re visiting a trusted website, such as a social media account or a bank account, in order to steal their login credentials. This information can then be used by attackers to get access to your other accounts.
Take the time to change your login credentials to prevent the offender from causing more harm, and don’t use the same username and password for all of your online accounts. The attacker will have an easier time stealing your identity and accessing your funds if you do.
Protect Yourself from Future Phishing Attacks
There are many things to learn from this experience. This is an excellent opportunity to learn how to respond to a phishing attack from your mistakes and harden your IT security posture with 2FA and next-generation security technologies. Contact JENLOR today to take your first steps towards making this phishing experience your last.
What Is The Right Way to Set Up Two-Factor Authentication?
Two-factor authentication (2FA) technologies offer the most effective methods we have today to ensure that users are who they claim to be, but not all solutions are created equal. Let’s take a look at a few kew bullet points to be mindful of when assessing your 2FA options.
When comparing different two-factor authentication methods, keep the following characteristics in mind:
Impact on Security
Effectiveness against risks linked to credential theft, and underlying security and dependability are the most crucial security characteristics of an authentication solution. The primary purpose is to lower your company’s risk of a data breach. It is not worth deploying (at any cost) a system that is readily bypassed or does not provide full protection.
Total Ownership Costs
For a two-factor system, the total cost of ownership (TCO) covers all direct and indirect costs of ownership, including upfront, capital, license, support, maintenance, and many other unknown charges over time, such as professional services and continuing operation and administration costs.
Business Initiatives that are Strategic
Consider how a new security solution will connect with current or future business efforts, such as legacy systems, bring your own device (BYOD), remote work, or the use of cloud apps, when assessing a new security solution.
Compliance regulations, which vary by sector and location, are another business driver to consider.
Value
The time spent implementing, installing, and adjusting to the solution is referred to as time to value or time to security. Determine how long it will take for your firm to reap the benefits of a two-factor authentication system in terms of security. This is especially crucial following a recent data breach or security incident.
Resources Needed
Consider how much time, money, and other resources you’ll need to connect your apps, manage users and devices, and maintain and monitor your system. Find out what your provider covers and where you need to fill in the blanks.
Getting Started – What You’ll Need.
Two-step verification requires an email address, a phone number, or an authenticator app (we recommend two separate email addresses, one for usual usage and one as a backup just in case).
Let’s turn on 2FA!
Two-factor authentication solutions from JENLOR combine straightforward usability with powerful security features to guard against the most recent attack tactics while also providing a frictionless authentication experience.
2021 Announcements for Microsoft Licensing
On January 1, 2022, Microsoft’s “Open License Program” will come to an end, affecting not just commercial clients but also the government, education, and charity organizations. The deadline to purchase or renew an Open License is December 31, 2021.
As part of its plan to phase down the Open License program in 2022, Microsoft is transferring perpetual license sales to its Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP) partners. These CSP partners can offer perpetual licenses to businesses through a separate scheme dubbed “Open Value,” which includes a Software Assurance (SA) purchasing option. Microsoft also allows CSPs to sell licenses through the “Open Value Subscription” program, which is a separate sales channel that doesn’t offer perpetual licenses but does cover SA.
Cloud Solution Provider Partner Role
After the Open License program ends, Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners will be the ones to offer perpetual licenses. Perpetual licenses are non-subscription licenses that do not expire after purchase. The term “perpetual license” refers to a license that is purchased only once and does not expire. It differs from subscription-based licensing, which is purchased on a monthly or annual basis and whose usage rights expire if the license is not renewed.
If businesses use Software Assurance (SA) with those perpetual licenses, which allows them to upgrade to the newest software release, SA will only be available through a separate program in 2022 than the Open License scheme.
Switching to the Open Value program, which offers a SA option for perpetual licenses, was advised in the statement.
The Open Value membership is similarly promoted as having a SA option, however, it does not include a perpetual software license.
If you have more questions about Microsoft Licensing, contact JENLOR today!
Reduce Capital Expenses with Cloud Computing Services
The field of IT infrastructure design and management continues to expand. Cloud computing has changed the way organizations see data storage and management as a fundamental and important element of IT infrastructure development. For companies with established IT departments and equipment, switching to a cloud setup may sound unnecessary and inconvenient. Here are a few great ways cloud computing may help you save money.
Expenses for staffing should be reduced.
A conventional IT department needs not just a significant quantity of gear and software, but also a big and expensive personnel. When it comes to operating a business, good IT personnel are a requirement, but they come at a hefty cost, and staffing budgets are generally the single largest expenditure for IT at firms. While shifting from an in-house process to the cloud does not remove staffing costs, it does result in a significant decrease. In the cloud computing world, this is just another example of economies of scale at work.
An organization that is better and faster
One of the most important aspects of operating a successful business is being organized, and cloud technology is highly helpful in this regard. The cloud can expand capacity for new projects without incurring the high capital expenses associated with establishing new divisions and computer systems within a corporation. Instead, cloud technology allows these new services to be introduced by simply altering orders.
Remove Redundancy Effortlessly
From additional employees and equipment to needless data processing, cloud computing may help a company minimize duplication in many areas. Backups and making extra copies “just in case” are a major concern for many businesses. Cloud backup services successfully reduce the additional cost here by instantly replicating data and apps and storing them in various data centers without imposing hardware expenses or additional time on their clients.
Getting More for Your Money
Managing the many IT services of a business requires computing systems, hardware, and software which all come with their own capacity issues, maintenance, and security concerns. When moving to cloud network management, these costs are in large part eliminated and taken over by the cloud computing service providers. Cloud computing also works specifically on economies of scale, loading systems for maximum utility. Workloads are shared through server infrastructure with a number of organizations and the cloud-computing provider is, thus, able to optimize all hardware needs at their data centers, passing on the savings to all their business clients.
Lower Power Costs
Switching to cloud computing has the added benefit of lowering a company’s power consumption. There is a decrease in hardware as more IT services migrate to cloud technologies. Running an in-house data center always results in servers that are less efficient than they should be, squandering energy. Cloud service providers, on the other hand, consume less energy since each server is fully utilized to manage the data of numerous firms, each of which claims a share of the savings.
Getting Cloud Computing Services
It’s no surprise that cloud computing services are the way of the future, given the numerous benefits they provide to organizations. With JENLOR’s Cloud Network Implementation Services, you can ensure that your company stays ahead of the curve. Our Pittsburgh IT professionals make cloud migration easier than ever before, providing tailored network consulting services to prevent downtime and keep your company ahead of the curve on all the latest IT trends. Call JENLOR now to book a True Network Evaluation and let us help you find possibilities to improve your company’s bottom line.
How to Stop a Data Breach
Almost every organization today collects and stores personal data about customers, workers, and others.
Data breaches — the theft, loss, or unauthorized publication of personal information — are becoming more common. It’s not simply a large business issue. Small and medium-sized firms, which have less data security capabilities, are more vulnerable.
As a result, it’s critical for businesses of all sizes to take precautions to avoid a data breach.
Here’s how to do it:
Limit who has access to your most sensitive information – Every employee used to have full access to all of the files on their computer. Companies are learning the hard way these days to prevent access to their more sensitive data. There’s no need for a mailroom staff person to see a customer’s financial information. When you limit who may see particular files, you reduce the number of employees who might click on a potentially hazardous link. Expect to see all records partitioned off in the future, so that only people who have a specific need for access will have it. This is a common-sense idea that businesses should have implemented years ago.
Create and update procedures – You may develop processes for data security standards and keep them up to date on a regular basis. This will make it very apparent what your company’s data requirements are. This will also demonstrate to your staff that you value data and remind them that they should do the same. Additionally, it is wise to consider using roles and permissions when it comes to accessing certain types of data.
Data backup and recovery – Malicious data breaches might sometimes wipe out all of your information. It’s critical to back up your data so that it can be retrieved quickly in the event of data loss, a server crash, or even a natural disaster. To safeguard you from losing vital data, your IT staff should have automatic offsite backup solutions in place on a regular basis.
Are you ready to protect yourself from Data Breach? Contact JENLOR today!
Protect Yourself From Ransomware Attacks
Is your computer protected against ransomware attacks? Ransomware is a type of malware (malicious software) which criminals use to extort money. It holds data to ransom using encryption or by locking users out of their device.
FedEx, UK hospitals, and other businesses were hit by a massive ransomware in May of 2017. Nearly 75,000 computers in 100 countries were affected by malware called WannaCry, which encrypts and locks a computer and demands a $300 ransom to unlock the computer.
Many of the computers attacked are breached because the latest Windows updates have not been implemented.
How do you protect yourself from Ransomware?
- Never click on unverified links – Avoid clicking links in spam emails or on unfamiliar websites. Downloads that start when you click on malicious links is one way that your computer could get infected.
- Do not open untrusted email attachments – Do not open email attachments from senders you do not trust. Look at who the email is from and confirm that the email address is correct. Be sure to assess whether an attachment looks genuine before opening it.
- Only download from sites you trust – To reduce the risk of downloading ransomware, do not download software or media files from unknown websites.
Take Your Protection Against Ransomware to the Next Level!
Hire a successful IT security company will help you find the solutions that match your budget and requirements – ensuring you pay for the correct amount of security you need.
Are you ready to protect yourself from Ransomware Attacks? Contact JENLOR today!