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Stay current with the latest in technology and cybersecurity.
One truism that can hurt any business is, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Often, over time, we work in systems we’ve grown used to, sacrificing potential productivity for familiarity and comfort. That’s what Tom Jarry, Director of Engineering, recently encountered with a mid-sized manufacturing client with about 50 employees. “We completed a Technology…
How to protect your business against ransomware attacks?
While businesses are prioritizing growth and profitability, hackers are working on extorting your company’s money. Their favorite tool to do so is ransomware. According to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, “50 to 70% of ransomware attacks were aimed at small and medium-sized companies.” So basically, no business is completely safe from ransomware. What is ransomware? …
Should you outsource your company’s cybersecurity?
More than likely, yes. Before we get to the reasons why, let’s just review some recent data on cybersecurity attacks. According to SentinelOne, the leading software provider in threat detection, most small to medium sized businesses (SMB’s) are extremely vulnerable to impending cybersecurity attacks. 32% of SMBs have suffered a cybersecurity attack in the past…
Why cybersecurity is VITAL to protecting cloud services.
A recent 2021 Netskope Cloud and Threat Report raised some eye-opening pieces of research. In 2021, 53% of all web traffic has been cloud-related, which increased the dangers of cyberattacks. It also revealed a 13% malware spike from cloud apps. Ray Canzanese, Netskope Threat Research Director, provided an interesting perspective on this subject. He stated,…
Takeaways from the SolarWinds ransomware hacks
In December of 2020, headlines revealed that a major software company, SolarWinds (SW), was hacked in 2019. SW provides a variety of system management tools for network and infrastructure monitoring. The reason this made headlines for multiple reasons. First, SW waited months to reveal they were breached. The hackers got into SolarWinds’ network via malicious code…
How to identify the latest phishing tactics
A recent 2021 phishing study reported that the cost of phishing more than tripled since 2015. The average annual cost of phishing increased from $3.8 million in 2015 to $14.8 million in 2021. Source: Ponemon Institute’s The 2021 Cost of Phishing Study In addition to these rising organizational costs, it also stated that nearly 65,343 wasted…
How to help remote workers feel more secure while working from home
In the spring of 2020, employers across the nation started implementing work-from-home options. By July 2020, a Gartner survey revealed that more than 80% of business leaders planned to continue a remote work option. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing businesses to keep employees on a remote basis, new cybersecurity challenges loomed large. Companies had to increase…
Cryptocurrency and IT Infrastructure For Businesses: How You Can Accept It and Profit From Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency isn’t going away anytime soon. With more providers of goods and services accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies now than ever before, businesses just like yours, need to be thinking about what you need in order to accept it as a payment type. Not only are large companies jumping on, but entire countries such as El Salvador are adopting cryptocurrencies to allow citizens…
Ransomware Issues for Businesses: Why Even the White House Is Getting Involved In Ransomware Prevention
A ransomware attack can be devastating to your business. Ransomware attacks can shut down your business for inconvenient periods of time, permanently damage your reputation, and open the door to more unfortunate yet preventable data breaches. Ransomware has become such a big issue for private companies that even the White House is getting involved. Earlier…
Controlling Your IT: Should You Outsource Your IT, Hire Internally, or Have a Hybrid?
Hire or outsource? Outsource or hire? We hear this question all the time from business owners, just like you. Here is what we DO know: It is a difficult question to answer with a lot of variables. Let’s talk about the pros and cons with the caveat that your own business may have different priorities and needs. IT costs vary…
Springfield Label and Tape Solves Technology Frustrations Through Partnership with Cooperative Systems
Springfield Label and Tape specializes in creating custom labels for a wide variety of clients. They were facing several technology issues that was starting to impact their productivity including help with IT support, internet and network performance, remote work access and cybersecurity. They heard about us and asked for help. How we did it: We installed a…
Paid Technology Assessments Vs. Free Technology Assessments: Which is better for your organization and why?
Technology. Some business professionals love it, some hate it. But why? There are many different explanations for this dynamic. IMHO, the lack of proper training & education are the biggest culprits. Part of our mission here at Cooperative Systems, is to ensure that our clients understand the work we do for them. We’ve found that…
Connecticut Underwriting Firm Partners with Cooperative Systems to Tackle Several Technology Pain Points
How we helped a Connecticut Underwriting Firm to modernize their IT infrastructure and network to increase daily productivity and respond to adverse events. HOVIN Underwriting offers professional life underwriting solutions for the life insurance industry. Their clients include multiple large and respected life insurance carriers that are experiencing and/or expecting staffing fluctuations or backlogs. HOVIN was facing four technology…