Managed IT Services Blog

IBM’s SecurityIntelligence reported some frightening statistics regarding data breaches in 2018. Although the time it takes to detect a data breach is down from years to 196 days, the cost of a breach has increased. On average, the cost of a compromised record is up to $148. This is tough news for most organizations to deal with, and experts expect the number of records compromised per breach to increase, as well.

These reasons alone make it more important than ever for organizations to stay informed about the latest trends in IT security. Considering the damage that can be done to the reputation of a business that is the victim of cybercrime, you have more reason than ever to understand what the threat landscape looks like for this year.

With 2020 being around the corner, it is important to mindful of the vast wave of Microsoft products which are being end of life.

Organizations turn to Microsoft because their product suite is able to check the boxes that IT staff, operational staff and procurement look for when making a purchase. Their server offerings, operating systems and applications make up the central core of many a business because they are known to be reliable, stable and capable for the task at hand.

Recently, Microsoft issued an end-of-life announcement that includes a number of products that a large percentage of organizations still rely on to handle day-to-day IT and end-user business functions. With a deadline of January 2020, this announcement has caught a number of organizations off guard or simply thrown businesses into a state of denial because they had not planned on upgrading or migrating away from any of the products mentioned in the announcement.

Cybersecurity is one of the main business concerns of the 21st century. Consumers, businesses, and employees are all driven by the internet and can access anything at any time. This 24/7 access can cause problems from external sources, such as hackers.

However, internal security threats open an organization to a breach. Here are a few tips for businesses to protect themselves from internal security threats.

There are many reasons why an organization may opt for a hybrid cloud environment. The company may feel safer keeping certain applications, infrastructure, or data on premises; there may be a technical need, such as reliance on legacy software, that requires a hybrid environment; or they might require on-premises data storage because of the various existing regulations.

Many businesses in the greater Boston area have found that outsourcing their IT support makes sense. When outsourcing, an organization looks to build a trusted partnership with a managed services provider who will then work with the company to take on IT-related tasks that the company doesn’t have the resources or budget to do in house.

Of course, it’s not just Boston businesses that are turning to this model. Thousands of organizations outside of Massachusetts rely on this service as well. Take a look at four reasons why outsourcing your IT support makes sense:

Every company I have worked for has decided to outsource their datacenter to a managed hosting provider, in some manner or another. Some only outsourced their websites, others went all in and had them manage their entire infrastructure. 

Most managed hosting providers will regulate everything from the operating system down the stack to the hardware, the cooling and the electrical for you. Many will use virtualization technology of some kind to help optimize usage and resources for you. They even help companies "right size" their virtualization environment when it goes into their hosting environment. 

Lily Hay Newman, in a recent article in Wired, pegs “poorly secured databases that connect directly to the internet” as a main culprit for many of today’s mega data breaches. Why? Robust database security offers a defense-in-depth strategy should an attacker breach your perimeter defenses. But if the security measures are left unused, the sensitive data presents an easy target for hackers to go after.

Businesses have a serious problem when it comes to IT. Seventy percent of IT managers agree that the speed of technology outpaces their workers’ skills, according to Upwork research. Boston-based companies are no stranger to this problem. Organizations across the region often find that their current teams lack the knowledge required to keep pace with newer technologies, or they have trouble hiring new employees to fill these needs.