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What if I told you that now is the best time to recruit top talent? You don't even need to invest in more hiring platforms or third-party services to do it. Despite the pandemic, Systems Engineering is continuing our recruitment efforts. We wanted to share our five most effective and low-resource recruitment strategies with you.

The cybercriminals have small businesses in their crosshairs. Verizon's Data Breach Investigative Reports states phishing is the number one cause of data breaches and 43% of cyberattacks are targeted at small to medium-sized businesses (SMB.) The frequency of attacks is on the rise and in today's COVID-19 environment, cybercriminals see this as an advantage and are taking the opportunity to attack.

05.01.20 UPDATE:  Beginning Thursday, May 21, 2020, Systems Engineering will be moving forward with our patching service changes. We initially scheduled these for March, but then delayed as we all adjusted to working from home due to the pandemic. Our patching service changes are in response to Microsoft's new way of servicing Windows, which you can read more about in this blog post.

Beginning Thursday, March 19, 2020 May 21, 2020, Systems Engineering will be enhancing our patching services. Before we communicate these enhancements, it's essential to understand the motivation behind them. Our patching service changes are in response to Microsoft's new way of servicing Windows known as Windows as a service.  

In 2016, Systems Engineering launched our first ever summer internship program, which has continued to grow and develop over the last four years. With unemployment levels for technology workers at record lows, and a steady increase in open tech positions, students have a unique opportunity with Systems Engineering to gain real-world experience through on-the-job training for a quick transition into full-time careers. Several of our past participants have chosen to take positions within Systems Engineering once they have completed formal studies, which is a testament to the strength of our program and the quality of candidates accepted into the summer internship.

You may recall from our previous blog post in October that Microsoft will replace the core terms of their customer agreement for all existing and new Microsoft customers after January 31, 2020. This new Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) is said to improve the purchase experience to better support all customers.

The time for planning has ended. Microsoft will no longer provide extended support for Windows 7. While Extended Security Updates (ESU) may be available for Professional and Enterprise editions of Windows 7 (for a maximum of three years from January 14, 2020), this option will come at an increasing cost to organizations.

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.

In 2018, there was 49.8 million tons of e-waste generated worldwide. The US contributed a staggering 10 million tons of this waste, and our share is growing. As environmental and health concerns arise over the ever-increasing e-waste, it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure its proper disposal.