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2021 Ransomware Threats Against Business

Governments now list ransomware threats as a national risk that are to be considered high-profile and disruptive to all organizations.

The US Department of Justice has listed ransomware on the same level as terrorism. The UK GCHQ has ranked ransomware as the main threat facing businesses today.  The unfortunate reality is that cyber security is being forced to rethink their cyber security IT strategies to deal with ransomware as existing cyber security defenses have proven to be inadequate to protect businesses.

Many organizations use traditional anti-virus that are signature-based.  These traditional anti-virus defenses are slow, and static resulting in it being too slow against fast-moving sophisticated cyber-attacks and cyber threats.  As cyber criminals create new sophisticated cyber-attacks and continue to emerge, it is catching IT departments and managed IT services providers off guard.  The incredible speed and scale of cyber security attacks now mean that human cannot react in time to these cyber security threats.

The best managed IT services providers and managed security services providers use next generation with artificial intelligence (AI).  This brings in new advanced technology to help organizations understand that business is critical in empowering organizations to fight back against cyber criminals.

2021 Ransomware Threats Against Business 2

Interesting fact, cyber security professionals report that organizations will experience a ransomware attack every 11 seconds in 2021.  That is an increase from 40 seconds back in 2016.

What cyber security tools did business use to use to protect themselves?

In the past, the traditional IT security approach to defense was with the use of firewalls, traditional antivirus tools, email gateways and some preventative controls.  These setups can identify basic cyber threats using simple things such as pre-defined rules and signatures to stop simple ransomware.

Now organizations are faced with a much more robust issue such as having to proactively deal with email, cloud, network, and endpoint security.  Now IT departments and IT security professionals must account for employee behavior across a wide range of services and infrastructure.  It takes away the ability to isolate solutions due to the lack of visibility.

Are cyber criminals looking at remote workers?

Work from home and creative new working practices have increased the ransomware risk facing organizations.  These new hybrid working environments are giving users access to mission-critical infrastructure remotely resulting in sensitive data spread across different networks with little to no cyber security.  This has been a large front for cyber criminals to gain quick access via a well-known and offend little protected Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) exploitation.  The hackers either use accidental credential exposure or brute-forcing cyber-attack.

The most common cyber attach has been entry from ransomware email.  Cyber attackers have moved away from simple ‘pray-and-spray’ techniques and now create much more tailored and targeted cyber security campaigns that leverage the latest trends to get victims to engage with phishing campaigns and click malicious links.

2021 Ransomware Threats Against Business 3

Interesting fact, IT security experts report that global cyber-crime will reach $10.5 trillion by 2025.

Are cyber criminals are becoming more professionalism threat actors?

Why have cyber criminals been so successful?  Simple, they are smart and great actors.  Hackers are aware of the defensive cyber security tools that they are trying to evade.  It’s a game of cat and mouse. Their biggest target is always organizations using older legacy systems that are siloed.  Like any other industry, innovation is based on developing new cyber security defences against new developing threats.   This can include creating fileless malware and many other possible cyber security threats that can result in millions in profits for cyber criminals.

Cybercriminals have even launched “Ransomware-as-a-Service” as a service they can sell or lease to other hackers or affiliated services.   Many of these services also offer 24/7 helpdesks, ‘ethics’ codes, and reviews.  The launches a high-speed and advance ransomware and malware system available to lower end hackers.

How does an organization get protection from cyber criminals?

It is very important to understand that cyber security is a layered approach and no one single service or app will protect you from advanced cyber criminals.  Next generation anti-virus with built-in technology is used by thousands of organizations, managed IT services providers, and managed security services providers globally to stop ransomware seconds after it emerges.  This gives organizations 24/7/365 autonomous defense against their critical data and systems.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is an award-winning IT provider that is federally certified by the Canadian federal government under the CyberSecure Canada program.

Is your data in the dark web?  Let our complimentary data breach scan investigate if your credentials are compromised.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting firm that offers Managed IT ServicesTech Support Services, Cloud Services, Managed Security ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesBusiness continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), and Cyber Security Training and Dark Web Monitoring.

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Toronto Police Warning Businesses About Email Fraud

In a recent announcement, Toronto Police Services warning business about email fraud and how to protect your organization.

In the announcement, the Toronto Police Service is making investment firms and other businesses to be aware regarding an alarming rate of increased cyber criminals trying to use hacking techniques better known as ‘Email Compromise Fraud’ to impact organizations with a significant financial loss, reputation, down time, and loss in productivity.

Cyber criminals are conducting email fraud using the following methods:

Cyber Attack Method 1 – Email Impersonation

  • The cyber criminals will hack into a trusted supplier or legitimate client email system.
  • The hackers will send a fraudulent email to a target company with a statement of money owing.
  • The cyber criminals will then instruct the targeted organization make a payment or wire money to a different bank account.
  • The hacker will use a strange reason for the financial account change.
  • The cyber criminals are relying on the employee believing the email is legitimate, so they execute the payment.
  • Once the payment is sent, the cyber criminals control the new financial account.

A good cyber security policy to protect your business is to add verbal verification for all account changes or transfer over a certain amount. This will allow your employees verbally verify the change in financial changes.

Cyber Attack Method 2 – Impersonation of an Executive

  • The cyber criminals will hack as an executive’s email of an organization.
  • The hackers send an internal email requesting funds be transferred.
  • The cyber criminals will request the transfer be made to a personal account.
  • The hackers will investigate the account to send information to an employee with the responsibly of payments.
  • The cyber criminals rely on the employee completing the financial transfer as they believe it is legitimate.

A good cyber security policy is to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on email to mitigate the risk of email compromise.  You should also disable email forwarding of company email to a third-party email such as Gmail or Hotmail. Another cyber security policy is to follow the instruction in cyber attack method 1 and add a verbal verification of any financial changes.

Toronto Police Warning Businesses About Email Fraud Summary

In both cyber-attack methods, the cyber criminals achieve the ability to gather enough information by investigating the user’s emails and calendars to obtain the information necessary to facilitate a cyber-attack.

The reports to the Toronto Police Services show that cyber criminals avoid detection by changing the email rules and email settings including the ability to receive specific incoming emails.

In all these cyber security threats, the cyber criminals targeted organizations using specific IP addresses based in other provinces or countries.  Organizations should discuss with their managed IT services providers or IT department the use of conditional access to limit out of country IP addresses or improbable travel.

How can you use this Toronto Police Warning?

Here is a list of warnings all businesses should look out for when protecting themselves from cyber criminals:

  1. Have users watch this quick 7 minute Quick Security Awareness User Training
  2. Always exercise caution when someone requests substantial payments, transfers, or account changes.
  3. Always look to ensure email address and domains are accurate (example: sales@365it.ca vs. sales@356it.ca)
  4. Always be cautious of any “urgent” requests regarding financial information.
  5. Always be cautious if the authorizing contact is “not available” to verify the transaction.
  6. Always add verbal verification to any account changes.
  7. Always ensure your email is monitored from cyber security threats.

If you find your organization is part of such an attack, immediately contact your bank to have the transfer or payment reversed.

Here is a list of Canadian financial institutions fraud centres:

  • CIBC – 1-888-872-2422
  • RBC – 1-800-769-2511
  • BMO – 1-844-837-9228
  • TD – 1-888-751-9000
  • Scotia Bank – 1-800-472-6842

Full Toronto Police Service New Release – Police advising investment firms and other commercial businesses of increase in ‘Email Compromise Fraud’

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is federally certified by the Canadian federal government under the CyberSecure Canada program.

Let our complimentary data breach scan investigate if your credentials have been compromised by hackers.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is a leading IT consulting firm in Toronto that offers Managed IT ServicesTech Support Services, Cloud Services, Managed Security ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesBusiness continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), and Cyber Security Training and Dark Web Monitoring.

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What is FINTECH and how does it work

Fintech is one of the most fastest growing industries leaving many to ask what is fintech and how does it work?  The technology is amazing, and the security measures are even more impressive.

Fintech in simple terms is software and other modern technologies used by organizations that provide automated secure financial services.

In comparison to traditional banks, FinTech startups are more flexible and faster when it comes to implement new financial technology services based on the ever-changing demands of the world market.

Fintech is becoming a broad term as it now includes everything from mobile banking, insurance, cryptocurrency, and many different investment applications for organizations and users.

According to CB Insights, 41 Venture Capital (VC) fintech companies have a combined $154.1 billion.  CB Insights is an industry leading market intelligence platform that analyzes millions of data points to give real-time information on startups.

The major driving factor behind this is that many traditional banks are proactive supporters of Fintech technology.  They are investing, acquiring, and partnering with industry leaders such as fintech startups.  This opens up the market to digitally-minded clients while keeping them relevant in the financial sector.

What is FINTECH and how does it work (2)

What is a FINTECH company?

Fintech companies integrate the latest technology including blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), data mining, and data science into traditional financial sectors.  This makes them safer, faster, secure, and more efficient.  Fintech is one of the fastest-growing tech sectors as they are innovating area of finance including payments, loans, credit scoring, and stock trading.

How does FINTECH work?

Fintech is not a new industry, but it has evolved quickly by enabling technology for the financial world.  This varies depending on the application of the technology and services.  This includes utilizing machine learning algorithms, blockchain, data mining, and data science to handle everything from process credit risks to run hedge funds.

What is an example of FINTECH?

FinTech come from a combination of the words “financial” and “technology” and it applies to emerging technology that helps consumers or financial institutions deliver financial services using new methods that are faster and more secure than traditionally available.  A good example of fintech is the old method of walking into a bank to request your balance versus the ability to pull up that information in real-time on your phone.

Fintech includes everything from the ability to go online and see their financial transactions to apps that allow you to pay friends.   It also includes financial tools that allow financial institutions to make lending decisions or give investors the ability to do their own research, select stocks, or review their portfolio performance in real time.

What are examples of FINTECH?

What are FINTECH Technologies?

  1. FINTECH Artificial Intelligence (AI)

FINTECH uses artificial intelligence (AI) including machine learning (ML) as some to the most popular technologies as they offer as much larger landscape for advancements in the finance industry as developments continue.  Some of the fintech applications include credit scoring, fraud detection, regulatory compliance, and wealth management.

  1. FINTECH Big Data and Data Analytics

FINTECH big data and data analytics allow large datasets including consumer preferences, spending habits, and investment behavior to be extracted and used to develop predictive analytics.  The big data and data analytics helps formulating financial strategies for marketing and fraud detection algorithms.

  1. FINTECH Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

FINTECH robotic process automation (RPA) is the financial process of assigning manual and repetitive tasks to robotics to streamline workflows in financial institutions including:

  • Statistics and data collection
  • Regulatory compliance management
  • Communication and marketing
  • Transaction management
  1. FINTECH Blockchain

FINTECH blockchain technology is being adopted in the financial industry due to its capability to securely store transaction records and other sensitive financial data.  Every transaction is encrypted to reduce the chances of a successful cyberattack as it is the backbone of many cryptocurrencies.

What is FINTECH and how does it work (3)

What is the difference between FINTECH and traditional banking?

Traditional banking is focused on the interests of their shareholders while FINTECH promotes the needs of its end user.  According to a recent Business Insider survey, 89 percent said they used mobile banking while millennials are at 97 percent.

FINTECH has gained a lot of market recognition in the financial services sectors including payments, lending, investment, insurance and real estate. In the United States, FINTECH services offered payment processing for online retailers valued at $22.5 billion, $8 billion in cryptocurrency exchange services, and $4 billion in personal finance services such as credit scores.

What cyber security risks for FINTECH?

The FINTECH industry is growing at a rapid pace and disrupting the financial sector with new technology and billions in investment globally.

These FINTECH technology-led financial services are increasing transparency and efficiency by reducing costs of services as well as providing the most vulnerable access to financial products and services.  These FINTECH organizations have a unique combination of cyber security exposures that need to be proactively handled.

What is FINTECH Managed IT Services?

All organizations need proactive IT support and IT management however FINTECH managed IT services have to proactively work to ensure their clients have reduced their risks.   With the proper FINTECH managed IT services, organizations will be able to increase productivity with the right technology that aligns to their business goals.

Your managed IT services provider will ensure that nothing goes wrong and ensure nothing grinds to a halt.  This is where the benefit of FINTECH managed IT services works to help organizations.   The goal of the managed IT services provider is to proactively provide a safe, secure, IT environment supported by a real world knowledgeable technical support staff that can focus on the issue and maximize your organizations potential.

The goal is to eliminate the stress that poor IT service and support with 24/7 monitoring, cyber security, disaster recovery, cloud services, and business-continuity solutions tailored to your business.

Our managed IT services team will help your regulatory environment with the introduction of new technology, new products, and new opportunities that will exceed new regulatory exposures and requirements.  FINTECH companies are faced with the constant battle to ensure they keep on top of the IT implementation of suitable and satisfactory risk management systems.

As the FINTECH industry evolves rapidly, so will the regulatory environment and regulatory requirement.  These FINTECH companies will be faced with trying to keep pace with the regulations and the latest updates.

What Cyber Security is needed for a FINTECH company?

Given the nature of FINTECH operations, they are top level targets for cyber criminals.  Ransomware, network security, data breaches, and denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) should be a major concern for FINTECH companies.

FINTECH companies are based on innovative technology as it is an essential part of the business.  Innovative technology is the way that they have disrupted traditional financial services but it is also their biggest vulnerability.  If they experience technology failure, it can affect customers as they will not be able to access services resulting in lost income, loss of reputation, and lost customers.

Since FINTECH is an emerging market segment, they are likely not able to address all of their exposures in a single policy. Traditional financial institutions policies do not cover liability.  This can include technology failure, contractor liability, or even intellectual property (IP) infringement.  Policies related to technology are not likely to cover exposures from the provision of financial services products or advice.

FINTECH organizations need dedicated policies to manage their evolving cyber security risks so they can provide coverage for liability arising from financial and technology services, as well as management liability for possible theft of funds.

What Are the Hidden Cybersecurity Risks for Fintech?

FIINTECH services organizations have helped improve financial products and services for the consumer compared to traditional financial services such as the large banks.   The negative side to FINTECH services is that they face many cyber security risks and threats as most of them integrate into existing financial banking infrastructures.

  • FINTECH Third-Party Security Risks

Internal cyber security is not always enough.  Financial institutions face a larger issue as they are larger targets for cyber criminals.  When financial institutions leverage the latest FINTECH technology service that is not a trusted partner, there is an opportunity for the financial organization to lose data, experience service failure, as well as loss of reputation.  To reduce these cyber security risks, financial institutions need to evaluate the FINTECH organization as part of their risk management assessment to ensure their clients information is protected.

  • FINTECH Malware Attacks

Cyber criminals look at the SWIFT system.  Hackers are constantly testing financial organizations with constant malware cyber security attacks and hacking attempts.  SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) and is the most system used by banks and financial institutions to exchange vital financial information.   There have been recent cyberattacks on the SWIFT infrastructure that have shown that banks and financial institutions have vulnerabilities in their processes and policies giving the cybercriminals the advantage to launch malware attacks.

  • FINTECH Data Breaches

Data is king and this is what cybercriminals want to obtain. For financial institutions, data is of the upmost importance.  With the introduction of new financial services, this can increase the chances of more chances of data breaches.  If data is accessed, this would give cybercriminals groups access to payment card details and user information.

  • FINTECH Application Security Risk

FINTECH services and applications are used by banks to access the real-time financial information of their clients.  If the software is not secure or using an unsecure infrastructure, it can become prone to cyber security risk, cyber security attacks, or cyber security theft.  Hackers try to leverage the weak cyber security of the applications to steal the client data and other vital information used for fraud.

  • FINTECH Cloud Security Risks

Financial cloud services are a significant aspect of the financial industry including payment gateways, digital wallets, and secure online payments.  All organizations must maintain the confidentiality and security of financial data and client data at it is critical.  If an organization has a lack of adequate cyber security measures, this can result in the corruption or data leak of sensitive client financial information.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is one of Canada’s first Canadian federally certified CyberSecure Canada organizations.

Our complimentary data breach scan will look at the Darkweb to investigate if they are compromised.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s fastest growing leader in Managed IT ServicesTech Support Services, Cloud Services, Managed Security ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesBusiness continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), and Cyber Security Training and Dark Web Monitoring.

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What is Included in Managed IT Services

There are many different IT consulting services in that market to cover any organizations needs but what is included in managed IT services when considering it for your organization?

What Services Are Included in Managed IT Services?

Every year, organizations are increasing their IT budgets with over 90% of small to medium-sized businesses in Canada are using cloud-based business solutions.

Technology is a large role in the running of organizations of all sizes therefore more businesses are turning to companies that can offer managed IT services as they offer a wide variety of technical services experience.

What can you expect from your managed IT services provider?

There is a wide variety of services, but the most successful organizations use managed IT services providers to cover most of their IT needs as it is often included in managed IT solutions.

Here is a list of what to expect from a managed IT services provider:

  • Security and Compliance – Is your industry regulated or do you take cyber security seriously? With more digital data, the need for data security has grown year over year at an incredible rate.  Good IT management services will keep your data secure and reduce the risk of a data breach, hacking, ransomware, and data theft.  There are many different intrusion prevention and detection methods that can be used.  Managed IT services take charge using industry best practices to ensure your organization is complying with regulations.
  • Networking and Infrastructure – How is your network setup and how does your organization work with it? As organizations are more reliant on critical data, it is crucial that your network is robust enough for the task. Managed services will help your organization to proactively take care of your network to ensure that your uptime and security is maximized.  They will also ensure that your infrastructure will run your organization efficiently.
  • Disaster Recovery (DR Recovery) – Everything can be replaced but not when it comes to your data. Data loss is devastating to a business and the impact is tremendous. For example, if your experience a disaster like server loss, or damage to your premises.  All organizations need the ability to get things back up and running as quickly as possible.  You need to have a business continuity plan in place that can help keep the downtime to a bare minimum including failover measures.
  • Cloud Services – Almost every organization has a cloud service in their business in one way or another. It is not secret that cloud services reduce hardware costs and keep your data safe from loss. Industry leading IT managed services will offer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions.  This can include Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Azure, AWS, and much more.  These services allows your organization to access software and infrastructure through the cloud and reduce upfront costs as well as storage costs and energy consumption.
  • Remote Tech Support – With your team spread out working remotely, how are they support when technical support issues arise? Organizations need to ensure that when things go wrong for employees, they can contact a responsive managed IT services provider quickly.  Remote technical support is vital as it allows users to contact their remote managed services provider as soon as a technical support problem occurs.

What is Included in Managed IT Services (3)

What is meant by managed services?

The business concept of managed services is simple.  It is the business practice of outsourcing the responsibility for maintaining and managing IT infrastructure while anticipating the future needs and functions our business goals.  It is an alternative to unpredictable break fix model or on-demand IT outsourcing model.  This is when a managed IT services provider performs on-demand services and bills the customer only for the work done.  This goes against a business being proactive in nature towards IT management.

Using the managed IT services subscription model, an organization owns the IT infrastructure, and the system is being proactively managed by the Managed Services Provider (MSP).  The IT managed services provider delivers IT management and managed services under contract with a service-level agreement in place that states the performance and quality metrics of their relationship.

How Much Does Managed IT Services Cost?

Here is a loaded question as many managed IT services cost vary based on how the service is put together.  Most award-winning managed IT services providers take a simple approach with all in pricing.  Many businesses know that a managed IT services provider will save your businesses money as it will allow your organization to  outsource the daily IT management, monitoring, and functions to a team of technical support experts who are trained to different types of IT issues from the simple level 1 technical issues to the devastatingly complex level 3 issues.

The best way to get exact pricing for managed IT services may be a challenge for small and medium-sized businesses however you have to factor everything in including software they include, setting up new computers, and much more.  If you add all the costs, the cheapest option may be the most expensive over the long run.

Is SaaS a Managed service?

Correct, even if you are using an online cloud service such as Microsoft SharePoint, it still needs to manage for technical support issues and user technical support issues.  Even if you are taking preventative measures implemented by IT departments or managed IT services providers, there is always a chance of server downtime and network outages.  If an organization cannot prevent these technical support issues from occurring, the impact will be great, and this can be reduced through proactive server and network monitoring services using enterprise PSA (Professional Services Automation) and RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management) tools.

What exactly is proactive server and network monitoring?

Server monitoring proactively tracks many aspects of the health, performance, and security of the system.  This will track items such as memory, CPU, and disk usage.  It will also proactively monitor the performance and availability of business-critical systems to avoid bottlenecks.  This type of enterprise-class monitoring will efficiently determine where the issues lie as well as proactively address them through pre-configured automated scripts and system thresholds.

This gives organizations using managed IT services the ability to monitor their server details using SaaS software through server monitoring. When you partner with a managed IT service provider, they provide the software and license for each application they are required to run.  They are responsible for running proactive software that includes maintenance as well as upgrades.  Managed IT services put day-to-day operations with a MSP so they can use a strategic method for streamlined, efficient, and affordable IT operations.

With the use of managed IT services providers, they are in charge for the proactive configuration, proactive maintenance, proactive management, proactive support as well as seamless upgrades that is all included in a flat monthly price.  This will also include a more comprehensive and flexible operation of business functions such as security and network monitoring.

What are the types of managed services?

There are many definitions of when it comes to what are the types of managed services as it has changed over the years. There are complete managed services where they handle your entire It infrastructure to managed IT services supplementing your current internal IT department.   Not all organizations have the resources to build out their team of experts when it comes to small-to-mid-sized companies.

  • Managed Networks – The managed services provider will proactively handle the entire network including LAN, WAPs, backup and disaster recovery storage options.
  • Managed Security – The managed IT services provider will proactively manage your remote security infrastructure from Backup Disaster Recovery (BDR) as well as anti-malware and ransomware protection options to keep your system updated in real-time.
  • Managed Support Services – This IT managed services provider will help to cover all services related to IT help including troubleshooting to dealing with advanced technical support issues.
  • Managed Cloud Infrastructure – Managed IT services providers and managed cloud services providers are one in the same. They will offer a proactive view into your services as well as in-depth management of computing, storage, network, and IT management.  This can include other services such as virtualization services of apps, software, operating systems, and much more based on your business goals.

What is Included in Managed IT Services (2)

What is Managed IT Services?

Known by many different names, managed IT services is also referred to as outsourced IT, third-party IT support service, third party technical support and much more including MSP or managed service provider.

Leading Toronto managed IT services providers (MSP) offer a wide variety of IT services including from simple technical support, cybersecurity, VoIP, backup recovery, cybersecurity training, and more.  When organizations seek a long term outsourced IT support partner, they have strict budgets so they cannot hire an in-house IT team or they cannot hire the expertise and benefits a MSP will bring to the table.

Tech issues are not simple and can be challenging at times.  This is where a managed IT services provider can utilize their skill and experience by dealing with technology.

What are the benefits of Managed IT Support?

The biggest pro to using a managed IT support services allow organizations to fill the gap within their company.

A managed IT services provider offers a wide range of proven industry experience as well as knowledgeable technical support specialists and IT experts.  This broad range of expertise has the ability to deploy solutions and IT strategies that will allow your organization to elevate employee performance, security, and productivity across the board.

Managed IT support is also a cost-savings measure you do not need to hire and train internal staff as they can proactively address IT problems, network downtime, and performance issues all while ensuring your organization works as efficiently as possible.

If your organization is interested investing into a long-term business partnership with a managed provider, it is essential to establish criteria for what you need and ensure both organizations are in sync.  Your organizations need a clear understanding of what makes a third-party provider a trusted source is critical such as a managed services provider.

Here are some characteristics of top-performing managed providers in Toronto:

  • Responsive – The MSP will provide critical support under a 24-hour time frame. The faster response, the better.
  • Service Level Agreement – The MSP will offer flexible pricing models to meet your business needs.
  • Cyber Security – The MSP will handle all information for robust cyber security measures to combat data loss.
  • Backup Recovery – The MSP will ensure if you experience downtime, your information is safe.
  • MSP Options – The MSP will cover a wide range of IT services to ensure the most control of your assets.
  • Accessibility – The MSP will have secure access to your information from any secure point.

What are the benefits of managed IT services?

There are many benefits as a managed IT services provider is an important long-term investment for your business.  They will ensure that your organizations will use technology safety, use the full functionality, and use technology effectively.

An internal IT department may be able to support your business, however, outsourcing IT or using a managed IT services provider will bring long-term benefits.  A managed IT service provider will take the time to understand and work with you to accomplish your business goals using the following items listed below:

  1. Business Return on Investment – A managed IT service provider (MSP) offers far more robust IT resources to your business than a small IT department. They offer a larger team of proven IT professionals as well as access to the most cutting-edge technology solutions to empower your organization therefore protecting your organization from active cyber threats.
  2. Business Efficiency – By using outsourced IT or managed IT services provider, your business and employees can focus on your core offering rather than IT. Your MSP will ensure that your business is using industry best standards and regulations.  This will save you time, money, and resources as well as ensure that your technology is being properly proactively maintained resulting in less outages and increasing up-time.
  3. Business Productivity – Your managed services provider helps free up your teammates that have IT experience however they were hired for other tasks. These employees can easily get sidetracked with miscellaneous requests from coworkers causing a loss in productivity.
  4. Cyber Security Breaches – The MSP is aware that cybercrime is always evolving, and they will ensure they keep you as safe as possible by keeping everything up to date with the latest cyber security defenses.  The IT managed IT services provider will assist your staff in recognizing and avoiding the latest cyber security threats aimed at them and decrease the risk of a cyber security breach.
  5. Technical Expertise – A managed IT service technical employees will have real world experience and knowledge from a variety of different industries that can easily help out your organization. MSP employees must continually update their education and earn new certifications so they can offer a level of expertise.
  6. Cloud Services – The IT managed services provider is well aware of the fear of a cyber security and the possibility of a data breach. Cloud services are great, but it is imperative for employees who need to access websites and accounts via their mobile devices to understand the risk.
  7. Proactive Network Management – It is no secret that all IT systems need to be updated regularly to increase efficiency, cyber security, and avoid unnecessary down-time. To maximize up-time, system updates typically will need to be done after hours and on the backend without the employees noticing a performance degradation. Using internal IT department, this may cause overtime expenses or performance issues during business hours. Using a managed IT services provider, the team of qualified technical support professionals will perform the upgrades remotely when it is least disruptive to your organization.  This will ensure everything is maintained and up to date with no additional overtime costs.
  8. Business Leverage – Outsourcing IT allows your organization to focus on other aspects of your business so you can gain a competitive advantage. Cyber security is top-of-mind to your business, partners, employees, and clientele.  A safe and secure company who they can trust with their sensitive data is certainly more attractive than an untrustworthy one.  Your managed IT services provider can offer cyber security services, so you are able to gain access to the latest cyber security technology.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is one of Canada’s first Canadian federally certified CyberSecure Canada organizations.

Are your passwords or accounts compromised? Our complimentary data breach scan will look at the Darkweb to investigate if they are compromised.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is a leading Cloud Services Providers Toronto and Managed Security Services Toronto.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leader in Managed IT ServicesTech Support Services, Cloud Services, Managed Security ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesBusiness continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), and Cyber Security Training and Dark Web Monitoring.

We Make IT Simple!

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Blackmail Email Scam I sent you an email from your account

As cyber criminals raise their level of cyberattacks, it is common to see the blackmail email scam “I sent you an email from your account” and be worried about your privacy.

This is a very creative attack by hackers and cyber criminals as the email states, “I sent you an email from your account”.  The goal is to trick you into thinking that your device including computer and phone have been infected with malware.  They then treatment to release your private information and make it public.

Unfortunately, the claim from the cybercriminals is fake as you have not been hacked as they email states.  This is a simple attack from hackers trying nothing more than a scam trying to get you to send Bitcoins to these cyber criminals.

The black email scam “I sent you an email from your account” is also known as a “sextortion” email.

Blackmail Email Scam I sent you an email from your account 2

The black email scam reads as follows:

“Hi!

As you may have noticed, I sent you an email from your account. This means that I have full access to your account. I’ve been watching you for a few months now. The fact is that you were infected with njrat through an adult site that you visited. If you are not familiar with this, I will explain. Njrat gives me full access and control your device. This means that I can see everything on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it. I also have access to all your contacts and all your correspondence. I made a video showing how you satisfy yourself in the left half of the screen, and in the right half you see the video that you watched. With one click of the mouse, I can send this video to all your emails and contacts on social networks. I can also post access to all your e-mail correspondence and messengers that you use. If you want to prevent this, transfer the amount of 800 USD to my bitcoin address (if you do not know how to do this, write to Google: “Buy Bitcoin”).

My bitcoin address (BTC Wallet) is: 1F4fWnjTUK4Uvaa8Ew9pk7jurDXUBTGREX

After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and you will never hear me again. I give you 48 hours to pay.

I have a notice reading this letter, and the timer will work when you see this letter.

Filing a complaint somewhere does not make sense because this email cannot be tracked like my bitcoin address. I do not make any mistakes.

If I find that you have shared this message with someone else, the video will be immediately distributed.

Best regards!”

 

Do they have my password?

In order to make their claim more credible, the cyber criminals may include a password in this email they have accessed from a database of emails and stolen passwords.  They use these databases to scam millions of people out of funds using fear.  Want to check your status online? You can use Haveibeenpwned to check if your email or password was compromised in a data breach.

Very important that is the password emailed to you is one that you still use, stop using it immediately and change it immediately.  Cyber security professionals and managed IT services provider also highly recommended that you enable two-factor authentication for your email and online accounts whenever it is an option.

Should you pay the ransom?

According to Cyber Safe Canada and Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, you should never pay the ransom. If you pay the ransom, you are losing money and encouraging the cyber criminals to continue phishing other people as well as yourself.  There have also been cases of cybercriminals accepting the payment and not releasing the data.

You have ransomware, what should you do now?

Ignore the blackmail email scam “I sent you an email from your account” email and delete it from your Inbox.  You should also be careful that you have not downloaded any attachments or clicked on any links from this email as it can infect your computer immediately with malware.

If you are working with a good managed IT services provider, managed security services provider, or IT department, this should not be an issue.

If you do not have these resources, you can follow the links below to scan your device for malware and remove it for free.

Going to the cloud or worried about security?

We are your leading Cloud Services Providers Toronto and Managed Security Services Toronto.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesManaged Security ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support ServicesCloud ServicesBusiness continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), and Cyber Security Training and Dark Web Monitoring.

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Microsoft Teams Call Recording and Microsoft Teams Call Reporting

Many organizations are taking advantage of Microsoft’s new cloud-based phone system with the added ability of Microsoft Teams call recording and Microsoft Team call reporting.

Microsoft Teams Call Recording and Microsoft Teams Call Reporting (1)

How do I use Microsoft Teams call recording?

Organizations now can record in Microsoft Teams audio, screen sharing, and video that can provide valuable business insights.  This Microsoft Teams call recording solution will ensure compliance when recording in Microsoft Teams and it is designed to meet the ever-changing demands for compliance

What are the benefits of Microsoft Teams call recording?

  • No upfront costs for Microsoft Teams call recording. Microsoft call recording is a simple monthly recurring subscription. This allows organizations to spread the cost monthly with no large upfront costs, license fees, or technical support.
  • Cloud Connectivity for Microsoft Teams call recording. To compliment Microsoft cloud services, the call recording software is hosted in the cloud resulting in easy access to get your cloud solution up and running. It is as easy as connecting to your Microsoft Teams tenant.
  • No Maintenance for Microsoft Teams call recording. Organization gets the benefit that the solution is 100 percent on managed IT infrastructure resulting in no maintenance for the client, high availability, as well as removing the cost of maintaining the system inhouse.
  • No Upgrades for Microsoft Teams call recording. No upgrades and no downtime since the application is hosted and managed centrally therefore it will not affect the team’s productivity, workload, or add additional responsibility to your IT department or employee.
  • Easy Accessibility for Microsoft Teams call recording. Our solution is 100 percent cloud based allowing employees to access it from anywhere there with an internet connection which makes it an ideal productivity tool for remote workers or work-from-home (WFH).
  • Scalable Solution for Microsoft Teams call recording. Like all of Microsoft cloud services, the call recording solution is flexible and scalable to meet an organization every changing need as it can scale up or down to meet business demand.

Microsoft Teams Call Recording and Microsoft Teams Call Reporting (2)

What are the benefits of Microsoft Teams Call Reporting?

Successful organizations measure all parts of their business.  This allows them to continuously improve employee efforts and the client experience.  Our Microsoft Teams solution provides organizations the proper tools to capture and analyze business call information.

With access to key call metrics, organizations can proactively capture important information including key performance indicator (KPIs), employee performance, and scheduled call performance reports.  This will allow organizations to identify spikes in call traffic, unusual behaviour, and much more.

What are the benefits of Microsoft Teams call reporting?

  • Active Call Boards for Microsoft Teams Call Reporting. Organizations can access useful information on live call boards that will provide an overview of call and employee activity.
  • Lost Calls for Microsoft Teams Call Reporting. Did you customers hang up or drop a call? Now you can recover these business opportunities with reports that capture all call details including lost or dropped calls.  Now your team can call customers back as well as give you the opportunity to allocate adequate staff.
  • Review Historic information with Microsoft Teams Call Reporting. How is organization doing with call quality, time, and other metrics?  Organizations can confidently forecast company growth, schedule employees, and resources including extension allocation.  With proactive in-depth reports, organizations can have this information at their fingertips daily, weekly, and yearly.
  • Control Company Calls with Microsoft Teams Call Reporting. Are you losing business to customers on hold? Call reporting allows organizations to reduce wait times including the ability to move calls between queues, hunt groups, prioritize VIP callers, as well as bring ‘offline’ agents back online to tackle sudden spikes in traffic.

Successful organizations understand the power of real conversation when it comes to building successful client relationships.  With Microsoft Teams call recording and Microsoft Teams call reporting, organizations can manage calls and allocate the appropriate employees.  This results in less frustrated customers and staff.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is a Toronto award-winning IT provider that is federally certified by the Canadian federal government under the CyberSecure Canada program.

Is your corporate data in the dark web and your network compromised?

Let our complimentary data breach scan investigate if your credentials are compromised and listed on the dark web.

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Small Businesses Are Wanted by Cybercriminals

Cyber security breaches are serious and cost billions per year which is why small business are wanted by cybercriminals.

As organizations and governments commit to making the internet more secure for businesses. This is good news as cyber security breaches including ransomware are costing businesses billions of dollars per year therefore it is very important organizations take this cyber security threat seriously.

Governments may be assisting at securing the network, but a cyber security strategy is ultimately the responsibility of the organization.  Approximately 22 percent of businesses discuss cyber security matters at management level and with a managed IT services provider.

Organization with inadequate data privacy practices are 80 percent more likely to suffer a data breach than organizations that put importance behind privacy practices and policies.

Organizations with low privacy scores lost approximately 600 percent more records than high privacy scoring organizations.

Educational and government websites are more likely to experience a breach than commercial sites as they are larger targets.  As there is are constant data breaches and increased data security awareness, confidence in cyber security is going away.  Organizations that fail to protect sensitive data will face serious negative consequences from the employees, clients, and the public.

In an interesting turn of events, third parties are responsible for most data breaches as the average organization has over 700 different vendors according to an auditor’s association.  They stated that third parties were responsible for 75 percent of data breaches.

Many organizations are behind data privacy requirements and they need to prioritize industry leading privacy practices.  This will reduce the risk of security incidents, data breaches, and demonstrate trustworthiness to clients.

Organization management must rank data theft as the biggest cyber security threats they face from malware, hackers, and rogue employees.

 

Is there a fear of cybersecurity and data breaches?

  • 16 percent of large organizations suffered from successful cyberattacks last year.
  • 12 percent of medium organizations suffered from successful cyberattacks last year.
  • 4 percent of small organizations suffered from successful cyberattacks last year.
  • 9 percent of organizations surveyed stated they had fallen victim to a phishing attack last year.

Organizations must understand that protecting intellectual assets, customer details, and financial information is vital for their business.  Identity theft remains a large threat for individuals and businesses therefore organizations must take steps to protect.   Cybercriminals rely on the information they harvest from organizations to perpetrate these kinds of cyberattacks.

Besides healthcare, professional services find themselves vulnerable including accountants and law firms as the hold a lot of financial information.  A cyber security breach there can seriously cause damage and embarrassment if they leak their client’s information.

Organizations need to protect themselves as well as their information with security IT security policies, IT security procedures, cyber security training, and a commitment to ensuring they invest into IT security yearly.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is federally certified by the Canadian government under CyberSecure Canada certification.

Our free data breach scan today will look at the Darkweb to investigate if your passwords have been stolen in a data breach.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is a leading an industry awarded Managed IT ServicesManaged Security ServicesTech Support ServicesCloud Services, IT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing Services,  Business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), and Cyber Security Training and Dark Web Monitoring.

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When Two-factor Authentication Is Not Enough

Interesting to see an article stating when two-factor authentication is not enough but this is a reality organization must face to understand their cyber security.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) or multi-factor authentication has been one of the best and most secure go to gold standard of cybersecurity.   Many are still adopting it at a fast rate however there still are many not using it.

There are many cyber security solutions and services out there, but you cannot build any security solution without two-factor authentication enabled.

In an interesting turn of events, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology professor suggested two-factor authentication (2FA) can be manipulated by bad cyber criminals.  His business article makes a strong case that managed IT services providers (MSP), IT departments, and other IT security professionals should not take this potential weakness for granted.

It is important to understand the fact that two-factor authentication (2FA) is not 100 percent guaranteed and by no means is this a reason to stop using it as no security tool or service is perfect.  Two-factor authentication (2FA) is still worth using as it still significantly decreases the likelihood of account compromises.

A recent The New York Times article stated that 2019 was a tough year for two-factor authentication (2FA) as many organizations were enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) thinking it was enough and ignored that a smart cybercriminal could still get access to your account.

When Two-factor Authentication Is Not Enough 1

So, where does two-factor authentication (2FA) stand today in 2021?

An online cyber security service recently caught up with a couple of noted cybersecurity experts for their thoughts on the current state of two-factor authentication (2FA) and there were some interesting points.

They all confirmed that two-factor authentication (2FA) is not perfect, but it is still safer than not using it at all.

The battle against cybercriminals and hackers is an ongoing battle with no sight of the end.  Organizations need to increase their spending on their IT cyber security budgets and also measure if the in-house team can handle all the new threats.

Whether and organizations is using two-factor authentication (2FA) or other any other technology such as biometrics, if an organization does not have the business culture about cybersecurity, then it will not matter what cyber security service you pick.

Corporate users are not always safe, and cybercriminals will find a way to access the network.  It is very important to continue cyber security education as well as changing your IT best practices as a regular routine.

Organizations need to increase spending on their IT infrastructure as well as hire the right IT professionals to keep the system and data secure.   Your IT partner should continue education in cyber security knowledge and skills.

The most potent weapon organizations and managed IT services (MSP) can deploy is not technology, it is educational.

When two-factor authentication is not enough?  There are ways to make it better.

When you use two-factor authentication (2FA) for security purposes, you usually gat an SMS message.  This message can be intercepted and decoded by cyber criminals.   To get around this, some organizations use Virtual Private Networks (VPN) connections on all devices as this will encrypt the data from point-to-point.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is federally certified by the Canadian government under CyberSecure Canada certification.

Have Your Passwords Been Stolen in a Data Breach?

Our free data breach scan today will look at the Darkweb to investigate if your passwords have been stolen in a data breach.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is a leading Cloud Services Providers Toronto and Managed Security Services Toronto.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  offers industry leading Managed IT ServicesManaged Security ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support ServicesCloud ServicesBusiness continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), and Cyber Security Training and Dark Web Monitoring as an IT consulting boutique firm in Toronto.

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Microsoft Launches Windows 365 Cloud Desktop

Organizations are excited to see Microsoft launch Windows 365 cloud desktop as remote users will have easy access as well as increased simplified cyber security for organizations.

 

Does your organization work with remote desktop or use VPN for connectivity?  Now organizations have the option to use Windows 365 cloud desktop to stream apps, settings, and content.  This will give organizations the ability to be more agile, secure, and productive using Windows 365 Cloud PC.

Windows 365 cloud desktop gives organizations the power to combine the power and security of the cloud with the versatility and simplicity of the PC.  It enables a variety of new scenarios for business in the competitive world.

What is offered with Windows 365 cloud desktop according to Microsoft?

  • The ability to purchase, provision, and deploy in minutes.
  • The ability to launch automated operating system (OS) updates.
  • The ability to give users access anywhere to their personalized Windows desktop experience.
  • The ability to create custom configurations for an elastic workforce.
  • The ability to continue working from where the user left off on the device of your choice.
  • The ability to optimized user experience on Windows endpoints.
  • The ability to scale on a per-user pricing.

Windows 365 cloud desktop is offer in two packages. Windows 365 Business that is designed for small businesses that want to deploy cloud PCs for up to 300 seats.  The good news is there are no technology prerequisites for the organizations, simply purchase, deploy, and manage.  Windows 365 Business is simple as you do not need an Azure subscription or an Active Directory (AD) domain controller.  Windows 365 Enterprise gives an organization much more control however not as much as Azure Virtual Desktop.  The good news is the pricing is simple and cheaper than Azure Virtual Desktop.

Windows 365 Cloud Desktop work in synch with other Microsoft cloud services such as Microsoft 365, Office 365 or any of Microsoft cloud services.  Microsoft reported that they do not expect compatibility issues and expect the majority of users to use QuickBooks, Adobe Creative Suite, and other mainstream applications.

What is not a recommended environment for Windows 365 cloud desktop?

Microsoft does not recommend Windows 365 cloud desktop for intense data processing requirements.  The Windows 365 Business Plan comes with a data cap of 20GB per user per month on the low end and up to 70GB per user per month on the high end. This is based on downstream and not upstream. This will only cause issues for organizations that try to use it for video editing.

What are the benefits to Windows 365 cloud desktop?

  • Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) – Windows 365 cloud desktop is far more cost effective that Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS). For Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS), you have a monthly payment for the hardware, software, licensing, and commitment.
  • Company Supplied Computer – If any organization wants to compare to a physical system, we can do easy math here on the business case. We will us the following example:

Lenovo E15 with i5 processor, 8GB of ram, and 256 GB SSD with 3-year warranty will cost you $1,350. An equivalent Windows 365 cloud desktop with an instance of 2 vCPUs, 8GBs of RAM, and 256GB of cloud storage will cost you $54 a month.

At first glance based on three years, the Lenovo laptop wins as it will cost you $1,350 compared to Windows 365 cloud desktop at $1,944 over the same period.

On a long-term outlook, the organization does not have to worry about replacing a legacy system, losing a system, or damaged system.  This also give organizations to have employees use their own devices to access company data and resources securely.

This will also include the ability to use Windows 365 cloud desktop features such as the ability to revert to previous versions, take a system snapshot, or recover the system.  Organizations also have the ability to use Microsoft Defender software as it is built in.

Windows 365 cloud desktop has just opened the possibilities for companies to be more competitive using technology and the possibilities are endless.

Have Your Passwords Been Stolen in a Data Breach?

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Going to the cloud or worried about security?  365 iT SOLUTIONS  is one of Canada’s first organizations to be CyberSecure Canada certified by the Canadian government.

We are your leading Cloud Services Providers Toronto and Managed Security Services Toronto.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is a leading IT consulting boutique firm in Toronto offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesManaged Security ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support ServicesCloud ServicesBusiness continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), and Cyber Security Training and Dark Web Monitoring.

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Large Amounts of Corporate Data Are Stored on Employees USB Devices

As organizations try to keep their data safe from cyber criminals, there large amounts of corporate data stored on employees USB devices making security a large risk.

According to a report from an industry leading SaaS data protection company, there has been a 123 percent increase in the volume of data downloaded to USB devices by employees since the start of COVID-19.

Remote working and working from home (WFH) have become widespread due to coronavirus and many employees have been left to figure out how they have to deal with working remotely and remote file access.

According to the cyber security report, here are some interesting statistics:

  • 74 percent of that data is subject to data governance policies based on regulated industries.
  • 84 percent of cloud storage and USB devices have become the most preferred data storage after COVID-19.
  • 89 percent of data has moved outside an organization since the COVID-19
  • 80 percent of data hit the cloud or USB devices the first month following WHO‘s COVID-19 pandemic.
  • 72 percent increase of employees uploading a huge amount of data to the cloud,
  • 62 percent increase in malicious cyber security activity from external hackers.
  • 54 percent increase in incident response investigations required due to cyber security concerns.
  • 25 percent of small- to midsized-sized businesses (SMBs) use free cloud storage services.
  • 51 percent of companies use at least one cloud services storage platform.
  • 11 percent small- to midsized-sized businesses (SMBs) store banking data in cloud services.
  • 14 percent of organizations store medical records in free cloud storage services.
  • 87 percent believe the cloud is very secure when using use a free version of cloud storage services.

The good news is that organizations have accepted that the economic and health effects of COVID-19 however it now has them thinking outside the box when it comes to remote workers.  We may not know when something or this nature will ever happen again however remote employees trying to store classified data at across uncontrolled devices will always be an issue unless measures are taken.

Organizations management, IT departments, and managed IT services providers need to consider implementing data storage and security solutions that provide visibility into this behaviour.  This will ultimately give them full control and the potential to avoid a costly potential data breach.

Try our free data breach scan today and start protecting yourself from cybercriminals to find out if your passwords have been stolen in a Data Breach?

Going to the cloud or worried about security?  We are your leading Cloud Services Providers Toronto and Managed Security Services Toronto.

365 iT SOLUTIONS  is Toronto’s leading IT consulting boutique firm offering industry leading IT solutions including Managed IT ServicesManaged Security ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support ServicesCloud ServicesBusiness continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR), and Cyber Security Training and Dark Web Monitoring.

We Make IT Simple!