Today, headlines about IT security breaches read very differently than just worms and viruses of early days. Nation states actors, organized crime syndicates and idealistic “hacktivists” have catapulted cybersecurity onto the global stage.

Complex attack methodologies coupled with sophisticated social engineering has resulted in the grim reality that vulnerabilities exist in every organization, regardless of size. Even worse, is that the average amount of time between a breach and discovery is eight months.

This rising trend of cyber attacks has led us to offer a new managed security service solution, VizionCare Secure. This solution can dramatically reduce your chance of suffering a severe breach and reduce the amount of time between a breach and discovery to minutes.

Our solution provides advanced threat intelligence and the same level of security as the largest companies in the world, all at a low monthly cost. Your data is protected in real-time and meets your regulatory audit and reporting requirements. This includes providing specific compliance reports you’ll need to pass HIPAA, PCI, FISMA and other audits.

To show business just how valuable it is, we offer a free, 30-Day Security Health Assessment for your business. During that time, we will assess your security posture, risk profile and identify potential gaps.

Contact us today at (402) 327-1880 for more information or to enroll in the free assessment.

Small businesses are a big market for cyber attacks.

Hackers have realized that smaller businesses are easier targets for cyber attacks. According to the Verizon 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), 61% of cyber attack victims are business with less than 1,000 employees.

So why are small business the target for these invasions? The answer is simple. Small businesses generally have weaker security. What weaknesses does your business have? Here are five of the most common:

1. Phishing still works. This year’s DBIR found that about 1 in 14 users were tricked into following a link or opening an attachment.
2. Weak passwords. Maybe it’s the amount of passwords we all have to remember or lack of creativty. Whatever it is, people are still failing to set strong enough passwords. Stats show 80% of hacking-related breaches leveraged either stolen passwords and/or weak or guessable passwords.
3. Old defenses aren’t working against new threats. Many companies are relaying on outdated cyber security defenses. You need a cyber security plan that keeps pace wit the ever-envolving hacker techniques.
4. Employees. Unfortunaly, many breaches are a result of employees or former employees who have access toinformation and use it to their benefit, which can often harm your business.
5. Physical theft. Whether deliberate or accidental, cyber security threats can start with hard copies or sensitive information landing in the wrong hands.

Though these statistics may be alarming, there are affordable solutions to insuring your business doesn’t become a victim to cyber attacks. DataVizion is now offering a new managed security service solution, VizionCare Secure. Our solution provides advanced threat intelligence and the same level of security as the largest companies in the world, all at a low monthly cost. 

To show businesses just how valuable it is, we offer a free 30-Day Security Health Assessment for your business. During that time, we will assess your security posture, risk profile and identify potential gaps.

You may think your small business is immune to a cyber attack, but in reality small businesses are becoming larger targets. Contact us today for more information or to enroll in the free assessment (402) 327-1880.

Cyber criminals are increasingly targeting private companies in hopes of easy access. Even basic oversights, such as leaving a laptop unattended or opening a spam email, could lead to a cyber attack and ultimately cause a financial loss for your company.

Having the right technology in place to prevent such attacks is a must. However, you should also provide basic training to employees, as they are a critical line of defense against cyber attacks. Here are five topics to cover.

1. Phishing and Spam

Hackers are coming up with increasingly clever scams using fake emails to try and gain access to your company’s network or employee information. Train your employees to spot these phishing attempts and to alert IT to any suspicious emails. You can even purchase phishing simulator training tools to test your employees’ awareness. The results will show what additional training and education may be needed.

2. Strong Passwords

Between work and personal use, it seems like we all have a million passwords to remember. To combat this, employees may be tempted to create an easy password used for multiple purposes. Train employees on the importance of using strong passwords and ways to secure where they store that information.

3. Reporting Problems

Employees may be hesitant to notify IT if they accidently clicked on something they shouldn't have. Or, they may not realize the risks involved with losing a flash drive with sensitive information. Take the time to educate employees and make sure they are comfortable reporting any, and all, security threats.

4. Public Wi-Fi

With the increase in workplace mobility comes an increase in usage of public Wi-Fi. While convenient, Wi-Fi in coffee shops, airports, hotels and elsewhere may not be secure. Educate employees on how to identify secure website and how to connect through a virtual private network (VPN).

5. Social Media

For starters, if you don’t have a social media policy in place, it’s time to implement one. Social media is ripe with hackers looking to elicit information from individuals. Just one click on a post that appears harmless could inadvertently spread malware. Educate employees on acceptable use of social media and have monitoring practices in place to minimize the risks.

It’s a good idea to continue to provide employees with ongoing training and information updates to keep IT security top of mind.

Do you have questions about your IT security? Give us a call to see how we can help.

Aruba ClearPass Helps You Embrace BYOD

Regardless if you run a bank, hospital or retail organization, one thing’s for certain: your employees and customers have come to expect Wi-Fi access. But if the thought of letting anyone and everyone onto your network scares you, you’re not alone.

With the Aruba ClearPass Access Management System you can embrace the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) culture allowing guest and employee-owned devices like smart phones, tablets and laptops onto your network without losing control and visibility.

Here’s five other key benefits ClearPass offers:

1. Customized Guest Access Portal

Use your company logo and branding or create unique data-entry fields that users have to fill out to log on. You can even post customized advertisements and offers or other targeted content to create a unique user experience.

2. Seamless Integration

ClearPass is available as both a hardware-based or virtual appliance and can be deployed with any existing network infrastructure from any major vendor, which means you don’t have to replace existing infrastructure.

3. Real-time Analytics

With ClearPass, you have the ability to see which devices have connected to your network in real-time, which can be helpful when it comes to reporting, planning, auditing and compliance.

4. Comprehensive Security

ClearPass has an abundance of security procedures in place to protect your network. You can ensure devices are compliant with your policies before they connect, set a policy according to device type, block applications that don’t meet company policy, provide different service levels based on the user and more.

5. Easy Troubleshooting

ClearPass provides advanced troubleshooting and the forensics needed to easily pinpoint the root cause of a user’s network access or authentication issue. Your IT department will thank you.

So whether you have 10 users or 10,000 on your network, ClearPass will help create a better user experience while keeping your network secure. Curious if ClearPass would work for your business? Contact your account manager today.

Here are 6 statistics you need to know.

Flexibility, scalability, mobility – the benefits of moving to a cloud-first network go on and on. If you’ve even been considering a cloud-first strategy, you’re probably already aware of at least some of these advantages. But these six key findings revealed in the RightScale 2016 State of the Cloud Report* may surprise you.

1. Security concerns are decreasing.

In past RightScale reports, security has always been the top concern among respondents. However, from 2014 to 2016, security concerns for Enterprise central IT teams, who typically have the most responsibility for security, declined from 47 percent to 37 percent. Is seems as cloud providers and best practices mature, security concerns will continue to decline.

2. Top cloud challenge cited is lack of resources/expertise.

Nearly 32 percent of respondents indicated lack of resources/expertise as their No. 1 cloud challenge, an increase from 27 percent last year. As companies continue to place higher demand on the cloud, the need for technical expertise has grown.

3. Cloud cost management is a significant challenge.

Cloud cost management as a challenge has steadily increased each year from 18 percent in 2013 to 26 percent in 2016. From reducing or eliminating data centers to utilizing flexible capacity, companies have significant opportunities for savings if they know what actions to take.

4. Cloud adoption is on the rise.

This year’s survey findings revealed that private cloud adoption increased from 63 percent to 77 percent, and hybrid cloud adoption increased from 58 percent to 71 percent since 2015. More enterprise workloads are also moving to the cloud – mainly the private cloud – from 22 percent to 31 percent since last year. Overall, 95 percent of respondents are using cloud, up from 93 percent last year.

5. Cloud users see increase in speed.

The survey findings show the two benefits that had the largest increase were faster access to infrastructure, which grew from 57 to 62 percent, and faster time-to market, which grew from 48 to 52 percent. 

6. Cloud initiatives differ based on company size.

The study showed that 2016 cloud priorities differed among Enterprises and SMBs. Enterprises, who generally have a larger number of applications, are more focused on moving more of those workloads to the cloud (57 percent). Small and Medium-sized Business (SMBs) indicated optimizing existing cloud use to achieve cost savings (43 percent) as their No.1 initiative.

Whether you’ve just starting to think about moving some applications to the cloud, have a robust cloud-first strategy in place, or you’re somewhere in-between – we can help. From cost savings to workplace efficiency, our experienced team of technical engineers will help you fully take advantage of all the benefits a cloud-first network can offer. 

* Source: RightScale 2016 State of the Cloud Report reveals results from a survey of 1,060 technical professionals across a broad cross-section of organizations about their adoption of cloud computing.

School districts, government agencies and utility companies are just some of the businesses making the headlines as the latest victims of ransomware, a malware that encrypts your files and limits or eliminates access. Victims are then forced to pay a ransom to regain access.

The inability to access important data and the loss of confidential or proprietary information can have a crippling effect on companies. But it’s not just businesses that are being targeted – home computers are also at risk. The loss of personal information, family photos, video and other information can be devastating.

What to look for:

Email attachments containing malware are often the culprit, but not always. Your computer could become infected simply by clicking on a compromised website, often being lured there by a phishing attempt.

How to protect yourself:

• Keep regular backups of your data, because without a backup, there is nothing to recover if your files become encrypted.
• Do not open suspect email attachments, even if you know the sender. Email accounts can get spoofed and attachments will look odd with references to attached resumes, tracking numbers, payroll information, photos, etc.
• Ensure your anti-virus software is enabled and up-to-date.
• Only download software from official sites you know and trust.
• Use the same precautions on your mobile phone as you would on your computer when using the Internet.

How to protect your company network:

• Raise awareness of ransomware and safe practices to protect the organization’s data.
• Provide corporate training for employees to help identify potential phishing attempts.
• Back up data and verify the integrity of your backups regularly.
• Patch operating system, software and firmware on digital devices.
• Ensure antivirus and anti-malware solutions are set to automatically update and conduct regular scans.
• Set access controls and network share permissions appropriately.
• Implement controls or software restriction policies to prevent programs from executing from common ransomware locations.

DataVizion provides a VizionVault Cloud Backup Service. This service provides daily backups of your files, which can be restored to safe versions if files have been encrypted. We also provide managed cloud-based antivirus, and robust firewall solutions for threat prevention. Questions or want to learn more? Give us a call.

Wireless mobility – what used to be a convenient feature – is now an expectation that’s changing the way we live and work. From restaurants and airplanes to college campuses and sporting events, today’s 24/7 connected world expects anytime, anywhere mobile access.

To increase their competitive advantage, businesses of all sizes need a reliable and secure wireless network infrastructure. Here are five must-have components:

1. Future proofing

All signs point to a steep upward trend in wireless usage. Your network needs to be scalable enough to allow for proper coverage and density requirements as needed. And trust us – you’ll need it.

2. Indoor and Outdoor Coverage

Business doesn’t stop at the door and neither should your wireless network coverage. Even if you don’t start with it, make sure to leave open the possibility of adding outdoor coverage from the same platform.

3. Centralized Management

Regardless of how many access points you have, you’ll need a way to effectively manage updates and configuration changes from one central location.

 4. Access Management

Help solve wireless security concerns with access management systems such as Aruba ClearPass, which allows you to assign a role to the wireless device based on how it’s authenticated.

5. Mobile Device Management (MDM)

With a network full of mobile devices each running their own applications and programs, you need a MDM system to monitor and manage access.

We’ve designed and installed wireless network systems for companies of all sizes across the U.S. So whether you’re starting fresh or your wireless network needs an upgrade, we can help.

For our clients, who already have a lot of on their plate, it can be overwhelming to keep pace with emerging trends in the Information Technology world. Don't worry. We’ve got you covered.

At DataVizion, we stay on top of the latest IT offerings from our partners to provide a level of service unachievable by many of our competitors. Here are just some of the recent certifications achieved.

David Andersen, Project Engineer, and Ken Cousino, Field Services Engineer, recently passed the Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE6) exam. From design and installation to configuration and troubleshooting, David and Ken possess a deep understanding of Palo Alto Networks technologies and can implement the best solutions to fit your needs.

DataVizion has been an Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, platinum partner since 2014, differentiating ourselves from our peers with the highest level of engineering and commitment to Aruba products.

Ethan Shold, Engineer, became our newest member of the DataVizion team to pass the Aruba Certified Mobility Professional (ACMP) exam. And Mat Lehn, Engineer, passed the Aruba Certified ClearPass Expert (ACCX) exam. We’re now more ready than ever to provide the expert support for any Aruba solution you decide to implement.

So whether you’re looking to increase mobility or implement an entirely new network infrastructure, we have the skills and expertise to help make it happen.

As the need for technology in the workplace continues to rise, so do the attempts of would-be phishers. They’re constantly crafting ways to use fake emails and clever scams to try and gain access to your company’s network or your personal information.

A recent report published by Software Advice, who surveyed employees to explore their awareness of phishing attacks, reveals some startling statistics.

Here are some of the key findings and tips to ensure you and your coworkers don’t fall victim to these scams.

About 39 percent of employees still open emails that they suspect might be fraudulent or contain malware.

Understand the goals of phishing attempts. Fraudulent emails often seek to:

• Infect your computer with spyware that can record your Internet activities or allow hackers access to your computer.
• Obtain and access your personal information such as credit card numbers, passwords and account numbers.

Only 36 percent of employees said they are “very confident” that they could recognize and resist a phishing attack.

Learn to recognize suspicious email. Here are a few tips to start:

• Look for misspellings and bad grammar. Legitimate emails from professional organizations are usually well written.
• Be aware of threats or requests for urgency. Cybercriminals often use threats that your security has been compromised and try to scare you into taking urgent action.
• Don’t click on suspicious links. If you see a link in an email, hover your cursor over it first to reveal the web address. Often it’s a series of cryptic numbers that looks nothing like the company website.

Just 39 percent of employees said they receive ongoing security awareness training or advice at their work more than once per year.

Look for opportunities to learn more about cyber security and share your knowledge.

• Read the news. Sadly, it’s full of stories about phishing scam victims. Share these examples and discuss ways you and your colleagues can avoid similar mistakes.
• If you’re a tech-savvy person, share your knowledge of phishing and network security with those who may not be.

Phishing attempts will continue to evolve. While it’s important to keep up-to-date with the latest in cyber security awareness, it’s also best to have technical controls in place. For more information on how to protect your company’s network or to implement security solutions, give us a call! We’d be happy to help.

When DataVizion was founded in 2001, we were purely a professional enterprise services organization. Over the years we continued to expand, and now — in addition to our services — we offer a long (and growing) list of the latest in technology products and wireless solutions.

In the past five years alone, we’ve experienced triple-digit growth. That meant adding several new team members and, while we enjoy each other’s company, we needed more space. In August, we moved our headquarters to a larger location here in Lincoln, Nebraska, and opened up a satellite location in Omaha.

Growth has also meant the need to update our website and tell you about our new offerings. And, because we love what we do and the industry changes so rapidly, we’re introducing this blog where we’ll share the latest in industry news, technology tips and tricks, security updates and new product features.

Please take some time to browse our updated site and check back often to read our blog. We also invite you to stop by our offices any time. We’ll be happy to tell you more about what we do and how we can help you build a better connection for your organization.