Walsh IT Group Blog

How much does your business spend annually on data storage and data warehousing? Considering the fact that we live in a society where immense amounts of data are stored and housed online, you might be surprised by how much you actually spend on this incredibly important aspect of running a business. In fact, we’re willing to bet that you’re spending too much.

Chances are, you’ve at least heard the term firewall before. A fairly recent term, it was first used as a computing term in the 1983 movie WarGames before it was ever introduced into mainstream computing. Thanks Matthew Broderick! Since then, the term has expanded and grown to include a variety of approaches. Let’s dig into what a firewall does, as far as each of the various types are concerned.

There comes a time when every good piece of technology needs to be replaced, whether it’s due to hardware failure or it’s simply obsolete. When this happens, it is critical that you take measures to safeguard data located on your old devices by properly deleting it. But before we get into that, let’s discuss some of the steps you want to take prior to deleting your data, as well as what the process entails.

While most people may be most familiar with the concept of the blockchain thanks to cryptocurrencies—particularly with the recent behaviors of some coins—this first application of the blockchain has blossomed into many others with great potential. Let’s go over what blockchain technology is, how it works, and how it can benefit businesses of all kinds.

Data is one of—if not the—most essential resources a business has, which means it is essential that you take the steps to protect it in every way possible from every potential threat. This includes those that could originate from within your own organization. Let’s consider the case of Xiaorong You, who was recently convicted of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft by a federal jury.

If there is one kind of online scam that people need to be more cognizant about, it would be phishing—where a scammer tries to hack the user instead of the computer, tricking them into sharing sensitive information. Phishing can come in enough forms that it has splintered into a few different varieties to watch out for. Let’s go over what a basic phishing attack looks like, some of the different types you may encounter, and how to deal with such an attack appropriately.

I bet you can’t name the amount of network switches at your office. How many licenses of Office do you have? Do you know if your router warranty has lapsed?

Unless you’re very, very new here, you’ve probably seen how much we prioritize that a business prepares a comprehensive data backup strategy to help secure its continuity. Many recent events have only reinforced the importance of such a backup strategy, so let’s take a few minutes to review what needs to go into yours.

“Knowledge is power.” This theme has been demonstrated countless times throughout history, from the huge conflicts that spanned the globe, to the meteoric rises that many businesses have seen, down to the conversations held at the dinner table. Knowledge simply makes things go better for you, which is why it is so helpful for businesses to have a knowledge base at their disposal. Today, your IT can give you even more opportunities to use information to your advantage.

As a consumer, how concerned are you about the care that businesses give to your data privacy. Very? You aren’t the only one. 87 percent of Americans see their data privacy as a human right.

More than ever, data fuels business decision making. To get the best use out of the data your business collects, automated tools can be used. This eliminates the (often impossible) task of manually getting the data together and then analyzing it. Today, we’ll talk about data automation and how rethinking how you look at your data can really help your business improve its operations.

Internet-based companies have access to an audience that, at the very least, are extremely trusting of them. There is an expectation that these businesses will fulfill their promises while also protecting the information that their customers and clients provide to them, but are these expectations well-founded? Let’s consider common collection practices companies deploy and how you can keep yourself safe.

As businesses have come to rely on increasing amounts of data, the importance of keeping this data organized and usable has also increased. Therefore, databases are a critical consideration for any business that wants to gain as much value as they can from their collected data. However, a database can only be useful if a database management system is involved. Let’s go into why this is.

Data accessibility has never been easier for both you and your workforce, but how do you know if this convenience isn’t also benefitting cybercriminals? Your mobile device contains a vast amount of sensitive information and files which need to be kept secure. This presents the need for some sort of secure management system, which in the tech world is referred to as Mobile Information Management, or MIM.

The term “hacker” has firmly become a part of the public lexicon, thanks largely in part to pop culture and its liberal use of the term. However, the use of the term so frequently has effectively diluted its meaning to “someone good with computers.” In order to keep your business secure against the hackers of the real world, it may help to understand the motivations behind their activities.

There are many reasons that businesses today are adopting various managed IT services, if not electing for a comprehensive managed service agreement. One major reason is that working with a managed service provider allows businesses to do more concerning their data - whether that’s storing it, protecting it, or putting it to use. 

Do you know the phrase, “Locks only keep out the honest?” The idea is that even though you lock your doors, there is only a thin layer of glass and good intentions stopping a criminal from entering your home through a window.

With data starting to be treated more like a commodity, companies are spending more time and money attempting to secure the data they have. Some organizations aren’t successful. In 2018, over 446.5 million records were exposed, even as data breaches dropped by 23 percent to 1,244. Back in early May we took a look at data breaches over the first four months of the year. Today, we update this list.

Ransomware has become a favorite attack vector for hackers - after all, for them, it’s pretty much a no loss game. They either get paid, or they move on to their next target. Unfortunately, cyberattackers that dispatch ransomware often do get paid, and these payments can sometimes come from a surprising source: cybersecurity firms.

Now that we have access to better file storage and management than the file cabinets that we’ve historically utilized, our capabilities have increased exponentially… assuming, of course, that our better file storage and management solutions are kept organized. As this organization is so crucial to successfully undergoing your operations, we’re offering a few tips to help you keep your files in order.