Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

July 2023

Understanding and Preventing Email Spoofing Attacks

Now that most people are familiar with and thus able to avoid standard phishing attacks, malicious actors have shifted to something more insidious. Email spoofing is an attack in which attackers impersonate someone the target knows, is a much more subtle way to compromise a user’s credentials or device. Like phishing, however, once you know the signs of a spoofed email and train other users on how to spot them, addressing the issue is often straightforward.

You're Only as Strong as Your Weakest Link: The Importance of Vendor Risk Assessment

When you choose to work with another organization, for the sake of your reputation and security, you need to carefully vet each organization before finalizing the decision. Choosing a vendor with which to do business relies on that vendor ranking highly on a vendor risk assessment, which occurs when that vendor practices robust security, ensures compliance with local regulations, and implements effective policies and procedures to ensure smooth daily operations.

Mastering Patch Management - Best Practices for Corporate IT

In recent years, the number of cyberattacks has increased dramatically. These attacks can be costly and disruptive, and they can even lead to the loss of sensitive data. Patch management is one of the most effective ways to prevent these attacks, as it can help to close security vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit. However, patch management can be a complex and challenging process.

SOC 2 Compliance: Overview & Implementation

Security of data is essential in a business and technology environment where consumers are increasingly seeking cost-effective, secure, and scalable data storage solutions. Although you may think your security practices are effective, guidelines like SOC 2 can help you determine how well you’re really doing without the risk of any legal consequences or fines.

SaaS Backup: Complete Guide & Best Practices

The cloud is integral to many organizations, and a substantial number regularly use SaaS applications during daily business operations. However, not all organizations have implemented backups, which can create problems such as accidental deletion, security incidents, or hardware failure. SaaS providers do not solve these problems, so the best and easiest way to protect your organization from downtime and losses is to implement SaaS Backup.

Ransomware Backup: How to Prevent Disaster

Anyone whose company has suffered a ransomware attack can tell you that the negative effects are extensive. Ransomware attacks are costly, time-consuming, and damaging to your organization whether you pay the ransom or not. Losing your data would almost certainly be a complete disaster. The question, then, is a pressing one: How do you get your data back without paying the ransom?

Good to Great: Best Practices for Remote Management Success

As an IT service provider, you’re likely dealing with all you can handle. The good news is that implementing remote management is not one more thing on your to-do list; rather, it’s an essential tool for getting tasks off your list more quickly. This post will provide an overview of remote management solutions, essential components of a good, reliable solution, and best practices that will help you get the most out of your implementation.

ITIL vs ITSM: Explained for Professionals

IT professionals always search for the most efficient and cost-effective solutions, methods, and best practices. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) are related guidelines that can help in this pursuit. Both ITIL and ITSM revolve around providing IT services. Although they prioritize and attend to different things, ultimately, their goal is to improve both efficiency and efficacy. Read more about ITIL vs. ITSM below.

A Simple PowerShell Script for Installing Chocolatey

For IT professionals and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) charged with managing multiple systems, software installation can be a major time-suck. Utilizing package managers like Chocolatey can be a game changer. Yet, ensuring Chocolatey itself is installed or up to date can also pose a challenge. To streamline this process, we have designed a PowerShell script that makes installing and upgrading Chocolatey — and consequently, your desired applications — effortless.

What Is Cloud Storage?

Cloud storage involves storing your data on a server that belongs to a third-party cloud service provider (CSP) rather than on-premises. Because many CSPs have large numbers of servers available, it tends to be more cost effective to pay a recurring fee for off-site storage rather than storing all of your files locally. Additionally, many organizations use cloud backups to save space in local storage and to improve accessibility and availability.

What is a Firewall? Understanding Your Organization's First Line of Defense

Your organization depends on reliable network and endpoint security to ensure that all data is handled, stored, and protected properly. Generally, a comprehensive network security plan includes anti-virus software, access management, zero-trust policies, and endpoint security tools, among other things. A Firewall is considered to be one of the most important components of a network security plan.

What Is Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)?

Secure remote access is now a necessity for organizations, especially since the hybrid work model is expected to grow from 42% in 2021 to 81% in 2024. To secure remote access and provide support for hybrid or fully remote teams, businesses rely on remote access protocols, such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). With this post, you can dive deeper into various aspects of RDP, such as pros/cons and use cases, and acquire a better understanding of this essential protocol.

How to Control a PC Remotely

Providing IT support is a tough job, especially when devices in the IT environment you manage are all in separate locations. Luckily, that particular issue can be resolved by remotely taking control of the computers and endpoint devices you manage. Many possible methods and tools are available for remote control that enable you to access and control a device from anywhere.

What is Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR)?

Perhaps the worst IT scenario an organization can face is an unexpected and forced suspension of all its operations. The downtime that’s experienced in such a situation can lead to financial damages that far exceed those from lost data or hits to reputation. While cyberattacks vary in intensity and approach, downtime and catastrophic loss of data come in many more forms and are equally, if not more, difficult to avoid.

Unpatched Microsoft 0-Day: How to Mitigate CVE-2023-36884 with PowerShell

Microsoft's July 2023 Patch Tuesday updates highlighted several vulnerabilities under active exploitation, including one (or more?) that remains unpatched. Here's what you need to know about CVE-2023-36884, a zero-day vulnerability that attackers are exploiting to gain remote code execution via "specially-crafted" Microsoft Office documents.

What Is a Full Server Backup?

Today, data is one of the most valuable business assets. To ensure that the information stored in servers remains safe and accessible at all times, IT professionals rely on data backup. There are many types of data backup options for servers that save time and space, such as differential backup and incremental backup, but these do not capture the data in its entirety. Whenever IT teams need to capture all the data stored on a server, they conduct a full server backup.