Have you noticed consumer and business sites including mobile applications requiring multiple steps to verify who you are? Perhaps you’ve set-up a multi-step verification method to access your bank or Google email account?  This security measure is growing in popularity as most data breaches today begin with a set of compromised credentials. From financial institutions to online stores to social media sites, many businesses are now requiring multiple factors of verification to ensure a user is who they say they are, reducing the chances of a cybercriminal successfully gaining access to their networks.

Every year, Cyber Monday brings us incredible deals and discounts; however, it's also the time of year when cybercriminals increase their efforts to steal our money and confidential information. To stay safe while shopping online, keep the following cybersafety tips in mind.

Business networks are changing rapidly every day -  mobility, the cloud, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are creating this phenomenon that is causing companies to reevaluate efficiencies and security. As a result of these network design requirements, SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) is a great fit as it provides a dynamic control of the WAN for the end-user. In this blog article, I will go over the high-level basics of an SD-WAN which is quickly becoming a game changer for businesses everywhere.

Trends in Information Technology are continuously changing and, as a result, organizations are having to adapt to those changes. Let's look at the most prominent IT trends that are showing up today. 

Cloud-Based Modern Desktop

Many organizational networks are now cloud-based, allowing end users to connect from literally anywhere at any time, and with any device. Businesses who look towards enabling employees with a "Modern Desktop" environment typically want to meet these objectives:

Systems Engineering is paying special attention to a Cisco IOS XE Software Web UI Command Injection Vulnerability that was announced earlier this week. Also known as "ThrangryCat Vulnerability," it is serious enough to get the attention of the press. As quoted on ZDNet, "This vulnerability allows hackers to plant persistent "backdoors" on Cisco gear, even over the Internet, with no physical access to vulnerable devices."

Is your organization still operating with older versions of Microsoft Office, Exchange, or a Windows server? 

With the introduction of Microsoft Office 365, requirements are more stringent than ever before in remaining compatible with Microsoft’s cloud services. While Office 2013 does not reach end of extended support until April 11, 2023, as of October 13, 2020, Office 2013 will no longer work with Office 365. 

In this blog article, I will be discussing a collection of Microsoft-created technologies that have been coined as today's 'Modern Desktop.' This bundle includes email, collaboration tools, mobility, security, and much more. 

Five years ago, I wrote a blog post that summarized the risks of unmanaged data within IT environments. As a specialist working with Systems Engineering's FileProtect (cloud backup service), I’ve only seen this problem compound. The problem lies in the fact that the majority of businesses haven’t taken on the challenge of cleaning out their proverbial digital junk drawers.

When organizations decide to move data to the cloud, there are several benefits including cost efficiency and time savings. Consistent and frequent updates to make usability easier and friendlier is yet another benefit. For those organizations that have adopted Microsoft Office 365, (or better yet Microsoft 365, a.k.a. 'Modern Desktop') for example, you might have noticed that once a login occurs, the default page seen now is Office.com. As such, Microsoft announced the following explanation earlier this week: