SMART Blog

Wireless Internet signals, referred to as Wi-Fi, are commonplace in the office. Even organizations that don’t need access to the Internet, like restaurants and coffee shops, have wireless connections available for customer use. However, just because you can connect to free Wi-Fi, doesn’t mean that you should.

For years hackers have found ways to infiltrate and steal money from ATMs, but the latest tact is so dangerous that even the Secret Service has issued a warning about it.

Is your business still using tape as its primary method of data backup? If so, you could be missing out on a more reliable, less time-consuming alternative. Image-based, or “snapshot” backup solutions are the optimal way to guarantee the continuity of your organization’s data infrastructure.

Volkswagen has teamed up with three Israeli cybersecurity experts to form Cymotive, a company dedicated to creating solutions for preventing cyber attacks against computerized cars.

The more you use your device, the more often you reach for your charger for an afternoon plug-in session. For business owners who are increasingly using their smartphones as their primary work device, a short battery lifespan can impact effectiveness and productivity. Enter Android Doze, a new feature that could improve your battery life.

Since its invention in 1898 by Edwin G. Seibels, the storage solution of choice in many office environments has been the filing cabinet. However, there is a better option available with far greater utility in the modern office: the document management solution.

Insider threats are defined as internal threats that could come in the form of either malicious or negligent users. Perhaps an employee recently quit and left the office in a flurry of madness, or maybe you have employees who just don’t care to follow security best practices. Either way, insider threats are major problems that need to be addressed.

You may have heard about CEO fraud, which is commonly referred to as “whaling.” It’s like a phishing scheme, but on a much more intricate scale. Instead of faking the identity of another employee, or someone from a financial institution or government agency, the hacker will try to use the identity of a business owner or CEO instead. The idea is to use an employee’s fear of confrontation and eagerness to comply with requests to the hacker’s advantage--and you’d be surprised by how often it works.

Cloud Management
The cloud continues to increase in popularity, in part due to the overwhelming convenience that it provides for small businesses. When your workforce needs to be agile, they need access to data and applications on the move. This means that they can be productive anytime, anywhere. However, managing a cloud server can be a daunting task for a business that doesn’t have a full-time internal IT department. Outsourcing this responsibility to a managed service provider lets your business focus on productivity, rather than managing your technology.

Payment via mobile device is gaining in popularity thanks to the latest smartphones making it easier than ever to pay bills or send money whenever needed. Yet, this trend also presents an interesting conundrum. What’s the best way to make mobile payments, and how can they be processed with minimal chance of being compromised?

When your organization is suffering with failing computer hardware, you will almost certainly experience increased downtime that will result in operational inefficiency and an overall lack of productivity. In order to keep your business technology properly working for you, you will need access to knowledgeable technicians and their years of IT expertise.

Data backup and disaster recovery are critical to the success of the modern business, but so many organizations still don’t see the importance of maintaining copies of their data infrastructure, or simply don’t think that they will fall victim to a data loss incident. Unfortunately, in this case, we have to insist that you consider data backup and disaster recovery; it’s not a matter of if you lose your data, but when.

Does the U.S. Constitution allow the American government to access the electronic devices of its citizens? Based on comments by FBI Director James Comey during Symantec’s Annual Government Symposium, it certainly does.

Instant messaging, once primarily used for social interaction, is finding a place in daily business communications. A survey from BetterCloud and reported by ITProPortal showed that over half of users believe instant messaging will become the new email in the office, which, when you think of how useful email is in the business environment, is an impressive statement. The problem lies in showing users how to leverage best practices for their instant messaging solution, and managing perhaps the biggest downside of all: how distracting it can be.

One of the most common threats to sensitive corporate data comes from within your organization in the form of user error. It is, in fact, the leading cause of data loss and security-related problems for business.

Anthony and Sonia Alika recently found out that the Internal Revenue Service is not an organization to mess with. Having been busted for filing fraudulent tax returns through the often-exploited Get Transcript site managed by the IRS, the couple will spend some time in the slammer in addition to paying restitution.

As perhaps the most widely-used computing tool in the workplace, Windows remains a huge target for hackers of all kinds. Criminals are always trying to uncover vulnerabilities in the operating system, but this time around, Microsoft has truly outdone themselves. Windows 10’s built-in security, according to hackers at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, allows for the most secure Windows operating system in several years.

We've been told for years it’s best to routinely change your passwords. That way, if a password were stolen, it would lose its value when the user goes to change it. While this sounds logical, new research shows that sometimes it may actually be better NOT to change your passwords.

Security professionals have been at war with hackers ever since the Internet was created, but a recent NATO decision has affirmed the fact that cybersecurity is a real-world problem, and one that needs to be fixed. Just like land, air, and sea, cyberspace has become a battlefield, albeit a very different kind.

Disasters are an unfortunate part of doing business in a technology-heavy workplace. You need to expect the worst, but it’s often difficult to predict what types of disasters your organization will have to endure. There are a few universal disasters that you’ll encounter, regardless of where your business operates.