– Dipesh Shah
Chief Information Officer, Inventrust Properties
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Several high-profile organizations experienced data breaches in 2017. For instance, you probably saw media reports about data breaches involving Equifax or the InterContinental Hotel Group.
It isn’t enough to know that these breaches occurred. Companies and organizations need to pay attention to the mistakes that made the security breaches possible. That way, you can inspect your own company’s policies to make sure you protect yourself and your customers.
A 2017 data breach at Equifax, one of the world’s largest credit reporting companies, exposed the personal information of approximately 143 million Americans. The problem was deemed so important that Congress held several hearings to understand what had happened.
According to Equifax, the breach happened because of a flaw in one of the company’s web applications.
Obviously, Equifax didn’t get the help it needed closing common cybersecurity holes. The worst part, though, was how Equifax chose to handle the situation. Some of the company’s most egregious actions included:
The most important thing to learn from Equifax is how to behave after a breach happens. Basically, do the opposite of what Equifax did. The organization’s tarnished reputation may never recover.
InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) revealed in early 2017 that a data breach had affected 12 of its properties. Malware on the company’s servers had stolen credit card information from guests who used their cards at the hotels’ on-site restaurants and bars. Understandably, the announcement concerned thousands of people.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of IHG’s security problems. A couple of months later, the company admitted that the malware hadn’t attacked 12 of its locations. Instead, it had targeted 1,200 locations. The malware also did more than gather credit card information from restaurants and bars. It had stolen personal information from payments processed at hotels, too.
A better cybersecurity process would have likely uncovered the malware before it had a chance to affect so many people. Unfortunately, IHG didn’t have the IT security to identify the threat before it had an opportunity to spread from a handful of locations to thousands.
In 2017, ransomware became such a huge problem that it affected organizations in nearly 100 countries. Hospitals in Great Britain had to turn away patients because they couldn’t access their medical records. The malware also affected hospitals, police stations and businesses in the United States, Russia, Spain and Portugal. Overall, the ransomware affected about 57,000 networks around the world.
Educating employees to recognize phishing attempts is one of the most effective ways to prevent ransomware attacks. Organizations also need to update their systems and applications to patch security vulnerabilities.
Given the excessively wide reach of the 2017 attack, it’s obvious that most people don’t know how to protect themselves from ransomware.
If you’re worried that you don’t have the right technology or policies to protect your company from data breaches, contact your managed services provider to learn more about the most effective defenses. Without the right tools, you could fall victim to attacks just as easily as the organizations mentioned above.
We’ve warned you before that half of all small to midsize businesses have endured at least one cyberattack. But did you know that “the biggest cybersecurity threats are inside your company?”
That’s an eye-opening claim from a 2016 report by the Harvard Business Review. It’s also backed by data from IBM’s 2016 Cyber Security Intelligence Index. According to that report, some “60% of all attacks were carried out by insiders,” with 75 percent of those coming from malicious actors. (The rest were inadvertent—which is better but still bad.)
What’s more, these internal threats can be particularly harmful. A 2017 article from Tripwire stated that “53 percent of companies estimate remediation costs of $100,000 and more, with 12 percent estimating a cost of more than $1 million.”
Ouch.
On top of that, insider threats can go undetected for years on end. And guilt in such cases is really difficult to establish. It’s little wonder why an estimated “74 percent of companies feel that they are vulnerable to insider threats,” and a whopping 7 percent classify their vulnerability as “extreme.”
The conclusion?
While it’s critical to defend against external cybersecurity threats (and they are, generally speaking, more widely sensationalized), internal threats are just as important to catch. Today, we’ll be giving you a leg up by delving into what constitutes an internal threat and how you can mitigate the risks.
For a straightforward definition, we turn to SecureList:
“Internal threats include any harmful actions with data that violate at least one of the fundamental principles of information security (integrity, availability, and confidentiality) and originate from within a company’s information system.”
Easy enough to comprehend, but classifying internal threats goes even deeper. According to CSO, internal vulnerabilities come in three main flavors: accidental, negligent and malicious. Those first two have a degree of overlap, as there’s no ill will on the part of the employees who are responsible.
Accidental threats arise when employees aren’t well-educated on proper protocol (and, by extension, open your company to maladies like ransomware and phishing schemes). Negligent threats occur when employees understand the protocols but willfully ignore them in favor of completing a task the “easy way.”
Malicious threats, on the other hand, are a whole different ballgame.
The offending employee might be holding a grudge. They might have been paid off. Whatever the case, malicious instances are categorized by employees within your company who wish to intentionally cause damage. Those employees use their knowledge of your systems to further their less-than-well-intended goals.
The strategies you employ for mitigating internal threat risk will vary based on the types of danger we listed above.
For accidental and negligent threats, education and enforcement are key. As EY so succinctly put it, “education is prevention.” Getting employees up to speed is a great way to cut down on the mistakes that can put your organization in a cybersecurity predicament.
A solid IT support team can help with educational efforts. Combine that with a no-nonsense policy that reminds employees that cybersecurity rules are not to be taken lightly. That’s how to deal with a sizable portion of the internal risks your company faces.
Malicious threats require a different approach.
Preventing these are where background checks, employee monitoring and restricted access to various systems will benefit your overall preparedness. Again, leveraging IT pros to formulate a strategy will grant you significant benefit.
With the right methodologies in place, your vulnerability will diminish drastically.
– Mara Hauser
CEO & Founder, 25N Coworking
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Keeping your company running smoothly is a big task. Each individual department needs to run effectively, and all departments need to interact efficiently with each other. Cloud ERP is an effective method of keeping all areas of your business running smoothly.
This one tool really can transform how your business operates.
ERP is the acronym for “enterprise resource planning.”
ERP helps organize, oversee and manage all the individual processes that keep a company running effectively. This could include everything from human resources and finance to marketing and manufacturing.
ERP systems rely on a centralized database for keeping track of all the moving pieces. When used effectively, ERP enables better communication and collaboration.
ERP works by organizing and integrating a variety of data from several departments in your company. Traditional ERP software depends on a local server infrastructure. This would require an onsite server you’d have to manage and maintain.
The great thing about cloud ERP is that it’s just as effective as a legacy, onsite ERP, and it can work for a variety of industries. That includes finance, manufacturing, distributing and any other vertical that could benefit from ERP.
Doing business in the cloud allows companies to harness unprecedented levels of flexibility and agility. In fact, a cloud-based application, like cloud EPR, give SMBs access to enterprise level technology.
Cloud ERP offers customers an entire system that can work more effectively in unison. Utilizing a cloud ERP has several advantages notable advantages when compared with an ERP housed in an onsite server. These include:
While there are several advantages of using cloud ERP, there are a few challenges you’ll need to keep in mind.
Support, especially during the start-up phase, is crucial. You want to get things get off the ground smoothly. We advise including your managed IT services provider in the process right from the beginning. That ensures you have the support and guidance you need to make the most of cloud ERP.
Software and technology play an ever-increasing role in the business world. One of the most important technologies in today’s business environment is business intelligence software.
Here’s what you need to know about the basics of business intelligence and how some well-known companies have put it to work in their day-to-day operations.
Today, businesses of all sizes have access to mountains of data that were never readily available in the past. Business intelligence (BI) is a way to make sense of what these data points mean and turn them into insights that businesses can use in real-world decision-making.
Using analysis software, BI systems take raw data sets and use them to inform everything from marketing strategies to planning for possible future setbacks.
Want a few examples?
Though the concept itself may seem a bit vague, there are many examples of large businesses putting BI to work to solve concrete problems. One of the earliest examples you’ll find of a large enterprise using BI is Lowe’s, America’s second-largest home improvement store chain.
In 2007, the company started building a new data center in Texas specifically to expand on its already significant business intelligence capabilities. Like many retail chains, Lowe’s uses BI to optimize its supply chain efficiency and reduce the rate of fraudulent returns in its stores.
The Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks is also a prominent user of BI technology. Through its popular Loyalty Card program, Starbucks is able to amass individualized purchase data on millions of customers. Using this information and business intelligence software, the large coffee company can then predict what purchases and offers an individual customer is likely to be interested in. The company informs customers of the offers it believes they will want to take advantage of via mobile devices.
This system lets Starbucks draw existing customers into its stores more frequently and increase its volume of sales. In this capacity, BI has a use similar to traditional CRM systems. In fact, many businesses choose to combine BI and CRM systems to get the most out of their data.
One of the areas of business in which BI has been most effective is the finance industry. American Express has been a pioneer of business intelligence in this sector, using the technology to develop new payment service products and market offers to customers.
Rather impressively, the company’s experiments in the Australian market have rendered it capable of identifying up to 24% of all Australian users who will close their accounts within four months. Using that information, American Express can take effective steps to retain those customers who would otherwise be lost.
BI software also helps the credit card company detect fraud more accurately and thereby protect customers whose card information may have been compromised.
Last but not least among the companies that use BI is the online retail giant Amazon.
Much like Starbucks, Amazon uses business intelligence technology to personalize product recommendations and market products, but it also uses its BI software tools for logistical business decisions. In fact, in-depth data analysis is what enables Amazon’s massive supply chain to run smoothly.
From optimizing shipping routes to allocating inventory among warehouses, data and BI tools influence practically every step of Amazon’s supply process.
Amazingly, these are just a few of the many uses to which modern business intelligence software can be put. From finance to retail and even in the public sector, BI technology is helping organizations glean useful insights from their data.
If your business has large amounts of customer data but isn’t using it to increase profitability, now is the time to invest in BI software solutions and the IT support needed to implement them effectively.
Excellent customer service is an art. One that can be difficult to master. The good news is there are plenty of tools that can help you better serve your customers.
Our favorite is a CRM.
But CRMs are packed with features. It’s hard to know the best way to use such a robust tool. To help out, let’s explore the high points.
Here are our 4 favorite ways your CRM can help you improve your customer interactions.
When all of your customer data is in a single location, you spend less time searching for individual pieces of information. 360-degree customer profiles centralize customer information so that it’s all available on a convenient dashboard. In a single view, you can see email messages, order history, transactions, previous customer support interactions and more.
When a customer calls, you’ll be able to see every interaction you’ve ever had with them. All without having to dig for information.
“64.2% of companies rate CRM tools as impactful of very impactful.” — LinkedIn
Sales representatives need to be able to help customers no matter where they are—at their desks or out on the road. CRM systems are built with mobility in mind.
It doesn’t matter if your employees at a trade show, a client’s office, or in a cab on the way to a meeting. As long as they have an internet connection, your team can stay productive.
More and more CRMs are incorporating social media interaction. Why would you want to link your company’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn account with your CRM? So you can see how social media activity is affecting customer relationships.
For example, a lot of customers will take to social media when they have strong feels about a company. Every mention is an opportunity—even when customers are upset. If you can turn a bad experience into a good one right there in your Twitter feed, you’ll win that customer back as well as every other customer who’s paying attention.
“Customer relationship management (CRM) systems help you better understand your customers’ needs and how to meet those needs while enhancing your bottom line.” —CIO
Some customers will do absolutely anything to avoid making a phone call. That actually plays to your favor. Sure, you could tell insist that they call or email. Or you could create a knowledge management portal using your CRM.
Wiki-style knowledge management portals enable customers to access FAQs or troubleshooting information all on their own. Many CRM systems also let customers build their own online communities. These are spaces where customers can ask each other for help and provide your business feedback. An IT consultant with CRM experience can help you with setup.
If you’re not using your CRM to build brand loyalty and enhance your customer service efforts, you’re missing out. These 4 CRM features will allow you to tap into and improve your customer’s experience.
Happy customers are loyal customers. And the more loyal customers you have, the more you’ll be able to grow your business.
When it comes to selecting a gaming computer there are two options. Build a custom machine or purchase a pre-built model.
You don’t need a customized computer to play online games. But if you’re looking to optimize your gaming experience, a custom-built machine is the best way to get exactly what you want.
This same idea applies to businesses and custom mobile applications.
There are plenty of pre-designed apps that will likely work for your organization. And some of them, like Office 365, even allow for moderate customization.
But if it’s freedom you’re after, partnering with a professional to build an app for your business is the way to go.
“72% of SMB decision makers say that technology solutions can help them significantly improve business outcomes and/or run the business better.” – SMB Group
To show just how versatile a custom mobile app can be, we made a list of 4 SMBs that would benefit from one.
Keeping busy students and educators informed about important details and activity is a challenge many educational institutions struggle with. A custom mobile app can bolster school security while also keeping staff, students, and parents in-the-know about on-campus happenings.
Possible features:
Realtors need access to local housing market data on the go. A mobile application can provide convenient, reliable access to the property, client and area information they need when and where they need it.
Possible features:
HOAs are required to keep their residents informed about community issues, activities, and rules. A customized mobile application can help HOAs share relevant updates and encourage participation while giving residents access to basic community and local area information.
Possible features:
Thirty-minute doctor’s visits often aren’t enough time to gain a full picture of a patient’s condition. A mobile app can allow patients and doctors to exchange more data on health history, status, and symptoms, helping to better diagnose, manage and customize treatment.
“46% of healthcare professionals say they will introduce mobile apps into their practices over the next five years.” – Research Now Group
Possible features:
The bottom line is, custom mobile apps can help a variety of SMBs increase efficiency, mobility, and productivity.
“To really move the needle on productivity, companies need custom mobile apps that empower people to perform critical processes anytime and anywhere.” – CDW
If you think your business would benefit from one, reach out. We’re confident we can design a custom mobile app that incorporates all of the features your business needs to tackle projects and increase customer satisfaction.
Related Blog: Top 3 Signs Your Business Needs a Custom App
In the Oscar-winning drama The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin are two Harvard college students working to create what is now the most widely used social networking site in the world: Facebook.
There’s a scene from the film where a crowd of students cheer on five nerdy guys furiously typing on computers. Zuckerberg looks on while Saverin approaches him, asking what’s going on.
“They have 10 minutes to get root access to a Python web server, expose its SSL encryption, and then intercept all traffic over its secure port.”
Saverin replies, “They’re hacking.”
Turns out, these five guys are participating in a “hackathon.” One where, according to the rules, they take a shot every 30 or so seconds.
To these students, hacking is a game. Something fun to do at a party. In the business world, it’s anything but.
The possibility of a cybercriminal breaching your business network and gaining access to sensitive company data is very real. And very serious.
One of the ways a hacker can do this is through your enterprise resource planning software. We’re here to help you prevent that from happening.
Enterprise resource planning software has the potential to give an overview of your entire company-wide operations, including everything from customer and financial relationships to personal data, HR information and intellectual property.
A data breach that includes ERP records would have sweeping impact. Productivity takes a hit, your reputation suffers, and revenue could easily dip. And if your business is subject to compliance regulations, you could be looking at hefty violation fines, too.
The key to avoiding these headaches is a robust network and application security designed specifically to protect all your data, including the information managed by your ERP solution.
Here are 4 tips to help you better secure your ERP software.
Forgive the repetition, but this first tip is just that important. Update your network security and upgrade your application software to the most current release. Due to ERP’s integration into nearly every area of your company, a breach into one are of your network can expose your entire system to hackers.
Patching your system will protect against new malware threats and fix bugs. Plus, updates can introduce new software capabilities unavailable in previous versions.
Since enterprise resource planning software is massive, performing updates will take longer. Scheduling them outside of business hours will help you eliminate update-related downtime.
If anyone in your company can access all the information in your ERP, then in the famous words of NASA Mission Control, “Houston, we have a problem.” Allowing every employee to see every module’s information is a security risk. And, depending on the data, a potential compliance violation.
“66% of data protection leaders admit that employees are the weakest link in an enterprise’s security posture.” – Ponemon Institute
To prevent internal attacks or accidental data removal, define permissions for different features in your ERP and require employees to frequently change their passwords. If an employee doesn’t need access to certain information to do their job, they shouldn’t have it. An experienced professional can help you set up these permissions.
Piggybacking onto our previous point, it’s essential to acknowledge that employees pose a substantial security risk, so be sure you take into consideration segregation of duties when allocating permissions. Sure, your staff means well. But humans, by nature, have a larger predisposition for error than machines.
“60% of respondents believe employees lack adequate knowledge of cybersecurity risks.” – Ponemon Institute
That’s why it’s critical to train your team on cybersecurity best practices. If your team knows how to spot and report unusual activity in your ERP, you can greatly reduce a cyberattack’s damage.
Visibility is crucial. If an issue occurs, you’ll need to know where in order to resolve it. Real-time, internal reporting can help by letting you see problematic user activity as it happens and trace data quickly and efficiently. Run frequent audit reports in your most sensitive ERP modules.
For example, if users try to access data without the required permissions, you’ll know. Once you’re made aware, you can address the issue immediately, minimizing potential damage.
Taking a preventative approach is always the best way to approach network and application security. While there’s not a universal solution, these tips should provide you with a solid foundation for securing the sensitive data in your ERP.
Related Blog: The Advantages of ERP for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
If your business is on the right track, you already have a captivating, user-friendly website that is optimized for both desktop and mobile use. The next step in promoting a better relationship with employees, customers, and potential customers is to create a custom app that maximizes value through unique features and functions.
Here are 3 signs you are ready to talk about app development.
Keeping customers happy is one of your top priorities. To accomplish superior customer satisfaction you need to listen to your customers and provide solutions to their problems. If your customers are looking for easier ways to connect, make requests or complete a certain task, then it’s time to consider app development.
Here’s an example:
Breakdown: As a manufacturing company, you interact several times daily with customers to ensure complete orders.
Problem: Your customer wants to track order progress without having to send multiple inquiry emails or call your dedicated line.
Solution: You work with professionals to create an app that focuses solely on tracking progress of orders.
There’s a special anagram created by the Navy that is the secret to success in app development: KISS (keep it simple, stupid!).
When apps were first created, creators took an “everything but the kitchen sink” approach. This is the opposite of what you want. The entire concept of creating an app is to make things work easier and better for users – in this case, your customers. So, instead of creating one app that does everything, you will actually want to create multiple apps that are hyper-focused to address specific needs or outcomes.
In our example here, you want your customer to use the custom app to see the progress and status of their order as it moves through the inventory, production, packing and delivery processes. Paying an outstanding invoice or inquiring about product specifications should be addressed in a different app altogether.
Focus on your customer wants and needs, and your app will be a success.
In the same way that apps help connect customers in a one-touch approach, app development can also be effective for improving internal business.
Many companies have custom apps for office communication, human resources access, and presence. Here’s one example of how that might work:
Breakdown: Your mid-sized office requires constant communications between employees in different departments.
Problem: In the office, your employees communicate via an internal messaging system, but you don’t have a way for them to access messages out of the office without using company email via cell phone (security risks include internal theft and insider threats).
Solution: You work with professionals to create an internal communications app that accommodates your current cybersecurity protocols and mobile communication functionality. This app integrates with in-office tools to provide seamless communication between office and mobile environments.
Your employees deserve a quick and seamless workflow. Why? Time is money. If work satisfaction and efficiency run hand-in-hand, then creating apps for your employees is a no-brainer and it will save you money by improving productivity.
Mobile productivity essential in most industries now, with over 62% of companies utilizing mobile applications. One recent report showed that each company had an average of 10.6 apps. Don’t let that intimidate you, though. Start with the most important issues and address others as they arise. The important thing is to remember that one app will not, and shouldn’t, solve all problems.
Once you have your apps out there, you’ll find that you’ve succeeded in a few different ways.
First, you have put yourself out there in the mobile realm. That’s huge. In fact, you should have FOMO (fear of missing out) if you don’t have an app. Your competitors probably already do. Second, you’ve created a new connection and a sense intimacy. And finally, you have made it easier for customers and employees to collaborate and solve problems.
When it comes time to develop your app, you’ll need to work with a team that is experienced at providing the right design, content, and development to fit your specific business needs..
Whether the needs are driven by customer, staff or market requirements (or all of the above), we can assist. Here at CCS we have proven experience developing apps and we’d be happy to speak with you about how that process looks. Feel free to give us a call or shoot us a message.