Does your firewall really work?

Something that your IT people may not be telling you, or they simply may not know, is the very real fact that for many SME businesses, firewalls are not the trusted enforcer they once were.

Not all firewalls are created equal and if you haven’t looked at this portion of your IT system recently your firewall may not be up to scratch exposing your business to unacceptable risks.

The next-generation firewall was essentially born out of a necessity to provide much needed visibility and control over users and their applications. However, it has been reported that as much as 90% of application traffic is unidentified.

So why is it that most of the traffic passing through a modern firewall remains unknown, unidentified or simply too generic to be classified or controlled?

Why application control matters

Firewalls have evolved, changing from outward looking perimeter sentries into network guardians that protect against threats from inside a network, as well as outside.

This change has been driven by the threat of malware, the danger posed by application vulnerabilities, the risk of data breaches and data loss, compliance obligations, and the need to optimize network performance.

To accomplish these things the firewall needs to provide visibility and control over users and their applications.

They use deep packet inspection to identify applications and associate them to users or hosts on a network, allowing administrators to do things like prioritizing the main business application needs over less important apps increasing protection and productivity.

This kind of control relies on your firewall being able to identify applications successfully.

So, what’s the problem?

Unfortunately, the cyber criminals have developed technology that gets around many of the detection methods outsmarting majority of the firewalls used in the SME market space.

It’s a situation that doesn’t just leave potential risks undetected, your essential business applications – things like ERP solutions or CRM software – can also go undetected, leaving their traffic to get crushed or squeezed out under the weight of web surfing and other less important or unwanted application traffic.

Without reliable, accurate identification abilities, your firewall has no idea what it’s dealing with and no control.

How big is the problem?

A leading Firewall manufacturer released results from a recent survey of mid-sized organizations to determine how much of their application traffic was going unidentified and uncontrolled. It showed:

That nearly 70% of organizations surveyed had a next-gen firewall or UTM with application awareness. Respondents revealed that, on average, 60% of traffic is going unidentified… and many organizations reported that up to 90% of their application traffic was unidentified.

If you’re concerned about the security, liability, or performance impact this lack of visibility is having on your business – you are not alone.

Your business is exposed to applications introducing high risk of security vulnerabilities, compliance risks caused by potentially inappropriate or illegal content, productivity impact or bandwidth consumption.

So not all Firewalls are created equal – the good news is that some are still and will remain in front of the cyber threats.

Make sure to ask your IT people how much application traffic is going through your firewall undetected – and if it’s high – how are they going to fix this?

SME security is critical. For more information regarding the new data breach reporting requirements, please use the following link.

https://insidesmallbusiness.com.au/planning-management/smes-urged-to-prepare-for-new-data-reporting-laws

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Ransomware continues to be a vicious worldwide cyber threat, and with new strains created every day, there are no signs it will slow down. The potential to fall victim to cyber extortion is high, with no business, industry, device, or operating system safe from ransomware.

The good news is everyone can be prepared for it.

Many small business owners fall into the trap of thinking, “Why would they target me?”. In reality, SMEs are more likely to pay moderate ransoms, as they are less likely to have adequate protection. Cyber-criminals know that SMEs collectively present a highly lucrative target.

Industry surveys have found even though fewer SMEs are paying ransoms, and more attacks are being reported, awareness of ransomware among SMEs remains low. Only 31 per cent of SMEs in Australia are ‘highly concerned’ about ransomware, meaning education is critically needed.

Here’s my advice: NEVER pay the ransom.

Doing so only tells the criminals you have valuable data, and you’re willing to spend the money to protect it. Once they’ve identified you as an easy target, they’ll come back again and again.

This is cyber extortion. And, let’s be clear, paying the ransom will not guarantee your data is returned. Take the 2016 Uber breach: the popular ride sharing company claims it secured the data of 57 million users by paying the ransom, but do you trust that your information is safe? There’s no honor among thieves.

So, what can you do to protect your business?

Research from Allianz Global Assistance (AGA) reveals that more than half of Australian small businesses are not adequately prepared for cyber-attacks. Firstly, it’s important to research, install and update front line security, such as firewalls and antivirus software. However, ransomware continues to outsmart the leading perimeter defenses, often through human error, so it’s essential that businesses include cyber-security training and a robust backup and disaster recovery solution in a multi-layered security strategy.

Even if businesses apply cyber-security best practices to limit the impact of ransomware attacks, they also need to be able to restore their systems as quickly as possible following an attack to minimise the cost of business downtime.

Disruptions to business continuity have the most significant financial impact on companies affected by ransomware (far more than the cost of paying a ransom – which you should NEVER do).

There are some great risk assessment tools available to help calculate the predicted recovery time and cost of downtime per hour for your business.

A reliable backup and recovery solution (BDR) is a key element in ransomware protection for businesses. When researching your solution, ensure it offers rapid image-based recovery so that you can spin up the most recent backup within minutes. Legacy backup solutions require new hardware to be ordered and installed, and infrastructure to be rebuilt – a process that usually takes days of downtime. A proper business continuity solution installed and managed by an IT specialist (such as an MSP) is critical to keeping your doors open, and keeping your money in your pocket.

Tech Precision Methodology:

We believe in developing a relationship of understanding with our clients. Being able to leverage technology so you the client receives outcome based solutions helping you drive your business forward. Providing IT Solutions with Integrity.

Tech Precision are IT service specialist, if you need help with IT support or guidance please contact us or call 1300 788 738.

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Tech trends Small and Medium size businesses need to be aware of in 2018

At this time of year, the heading reflects the most common question I’m asked by small and medium business owners (SME) – and rightly so for a SME.  Being aware of technology advancements could help your business realise 2018 as your best year yet.

While it seems a relatively simple topic – it’s actually an ever-evolving discussion as technology means so many different things to different people and different industries.

So, let’s keep focused on 101 business needs and remove topics like smart speakers, driver-less cars, smart homes etc.

When leveraged correctly, technology is an amazingly powerful business tool that can help your business deliver in areas such as superior customer service, greater staff productivity, help carve out competitive advantages, attract future employees, do more with less and many other key business deliverables.

Proactive Cyber-security:

Unfortunately, there will be more Cyber-crime in 2018 – it’s an absolute given. A more proactive approach to cyber-security will more than likely be one of the biggest trends in 2018 – if not the most important.

This prediction escalates when you consider the recent legislation introduced in Australia punishing businesses who fail to report data breaches. Coming into effect this February, it requires prompt data breach disclosures and comes with hefty fines of up to $360,000 for individuals and $1.8 million for companies.

If 2017 is anything to go by this is one of the most misunderstood areas for SME owners. With threats on the rise and laws coming into place you need to urgently address this area of your business. A proactive, comprehensive and holistic approach is required in 2018 and well beyond – so start now. More information is available at https://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/

Proactive Monitoring:  

For SME’s, staff and equipment productivity is a major key for ongoing success. Imagine one of your employees’ laptop is about to have a hard drive fail (and take all the work done on that big project with it). If you can be alerted to this risk before the failure you can take action before the issue is critical. This may be the same if you depend on machinery – be alerted before the issue becomes critical and money is lost.

Cloud:

The hype and reality of cloud will continue to roll through 2018. Private, Public and Hybrid solutions all have their own pro’s and con’s to take into account when deciding to move your applications away from on premise solutions. Every business has its own unique needs to be considered.

Throughout the year Edge Computing will be another consideration that will become more mainstream in this space.

Business Continuity:

With the mass adoption of technology, threats lurk around every corner. Planning and being prepared is the best way to eliminate extended unwanted downtime in your business. This can be critical to your overall business health in 2018.

Flexible working conditions:

More and more people are working remotely. SME’s will continue to embrace this trend in 2018 as not only does it reduce your own overhead (because you don’t require as much office space) it also helps employee productivity, improve the quality of their work and in some examples, helps with reducing stress levels. This trend toward flexibility will continue in 2018.

Tech Precision Methodology:

We believe in developing a relationship of understanding with our clients. Being able to leverage technology so you the client receives outcome based solutions helping you drive your business forward.

If you have any questions about these topics or other tech trends that you would like to discuss please contact us.

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Why updating your server could fix a lot of problems

You’ve probably heard your IT Provider advise you that your server should be replaced every 3-5 years, which seems pretty frequent, right? But trust us, there’s a method to this madness. Did you know that the cost of server support increases on an average of 200% when it’s more than 5 years old? This is simply because when a server’s old, it’s slow, and no matter how good your IT Provider is, your server is more inclined to fail – leading to complications like downtime, network outages and connectivity issues – all costing you in support and productivity.

It’s important that you’re able to recognise signs that your server needs replacing, as well as things you should consider before doing so. Being more knowledgeable will assist in making informed decisions, helping your business alleviate user-frustration, under-performing technology, and money wasted on support costs.

1. Does your business experience a lot of downtime?

When down time occurs it’s frustrating to all involved. It hinders staff productivity and places stress on the bottom line as you’re stuck paying staff while they are not working. Plus you cannot generate normal profits as you are unable to serve clients effectively. Other stresses occur like time lost time trouble shooting, connectivity issues etc.

2. Are your energy and support bills sky high?

In some cases the savings in support and energy bills from having up to date hardware and software can sometimes more than cover the cost of new servers.

3. Does your hardware allow for new software?

We’ve said it before and will say it a gain (again and again and again because it’s so important). Cybersecurity should be on top of your list of IT concerns. To be blunt when it comes to running old systems with old software you are far more vulnerable to cyber-attack. Simple straight forward fact.

4. Are vendors no longer willing to offer you support because you have an outdated operating system?

This point speaks volumes to common sense

5. Will your hardware sufficiently support your business progression?

Planning to expand staff, add new products, introduce new programs, old hardware and software may hold you back.

The good news is that these points are all things that can be avoided by investing in a new server. Although it may seem a big expense the savings you’ll make through improved productivity more than makes this up.

For more information or advise on your IT systems please contact us.

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Phishing is a way for hackers to gain protected information, tricking people into giving away bank credentials, social security numbers, passwords, and more. That’s why phishing emails are considered a main vehicle for identity theft. They look legitimate, and most people don’t realize it’s a scam until it’s too late. Phishing can be categorized in two different ways:

When it comes to phishing, the user is both the strongest defense and the weakest link. Hardware and software can only go so far to protect your systems, but if the user is knowledgeable, phishing can be more preventable.

Best Practices

Everyone receives phishing emails, so protecting yourself from an attack is important. Follow these best practices to reduce your chances of falling for a phishing scam.

•   Keep phishing training up to date. Take phishing training to familiarize yourself with threats. Educated users are harder to trick.

•   Don’t click on any suspicious emails. If you’re not expecting an email—don’t click! Instead check with the individual it came from (e.g. contact them on the phone or send them an instant message) and confirm the request before sending personal information. If the email is from a bank or another organization, navigate to their website in a separate browser to make sure you are going to the correct domain.

•   Take the time to look at the details. Phishing scams are so detrimental because if you miss one simple spelling error or don’t check a link, you could be in trouble. Most scams come from places you would normally trust, causing you to fill in the information without thinking about it. This is how cyber criminals prey on your trust.

•   Keep your information compartmentalized within your organization. If your employees don’t need information to complete their job, don’t give them access to it. Running your business on a less privileged basis will help minimize the chances of leaking confidential information.

Avoiding phishing scams from happening is no easy task. The best thing you can do for your staff is to educate them. If you educate them, they will be more likely to take the necessary precautions when they receive a suspicious email, and that will save you time and money in the end.

Need help or advice around IT related topics in your business? Contact Tech Precision (Contact us.) our focus is about making your business life easier

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How to strengthen the weak links in your IT security“

Shadow IT is the term used to describe IT systems that are built and used within businesses without explicit business approval. An example is an individual employee signing up for a cloud-based app without going through an approval process first.

Why is this a problem?

Relatively few organisations are able to track the cloud services that their employees purchase and use. When employees by-pass corporate IT policies, they unintentionally put their company data under threat. These employees are often battling red-tape which gets in the way of their own productivity, which is the ironically part of the problem.

How do you change these old habits?

You can have an amazing IT security plan but it’s worthless if users simply ignore it. Old habits die hard.

It’s all about education. And it’s often a painful process to avoid sounding like a school teacher:

“Don’t click on that”
“Think about your choices”

Help your employees:

All employees should have to go through basic cybersecurity training, which includes how to identify and react to a phishing attempt, which is a lead cause of ransomware infection.

Employees should know how to spot a malicious email and how to deal with it. This is an essential part of protecting your business against attacks and should become a fundamental practice in any business today.

Summary:

Businesses need to get their employees back under one security overlay to stop things getting out of control. That’s not a simple task given that the biggest threat to their own security is one they pay to walk through the doors every day.

For security advice and staff awareness training talk to Tech Precision as we can guide you through the security minefield. Contact us.

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Subscriber, “The 4 Main Benefits of IT Outsourcing”

The number of SME business owners opting for outsourced IT services continues to show a dramatic increase in number, not only because it reduces headaches for them, but also because of the monstrous increase in cyber security threats within this year alone.

Unless you’re an IT specialist business, setting up or extending out your own IT services department makes little business sense.

Here’s why and the 4 main benefits of IT Outsourcing:

1) Reduce and Control Costing

Outsourcing your IT services to a dependable partner allows you to control expenditure with a set amount each month. Running your own IT services department can be very expensive and the amount that you would pay for salaries alone may be as much, if not more than the IT partners monthly fee.

IT Partners can help you manage cash flow. Equipment and services can all be arranged to reduce impact on Capital Budgets. Gives you back control and confidence that your company is utilising current and correct IT tools to help with their productivity.

2) Maintaining Focus on Your Core Business

Your organisation may be in accounting, manufacturing, a law firm, it doesn’t matter. It’s your core competencies that you should be focusing on, not your IT services department.

Companies, especially small to medium sized businesses, have a limit to their resources and having an outsourced IT services partner means you don’t have to invest your limited time and effort (energy) on non-core activities.

When an IT partner has your back, you can focus on activities that would provide better returns as your resources have been freed up for other areas that can help the business grow and become even more successful.

3) Outcome Based Thinking Around Your Technology 

It’s a given the best MSP’s should have great technical skill and be across a number of business technologies. What you really need to look for are the IT partners who go beyond this.

Tech Precision provide outcome based results, our focus is to develop our understanding of your business so we can maximise any equipment or service you are already using and only recommend new offerings and processes when there are clear ROI benefits.

In other words, if you want to focus your time and effort on your core business while still building your company, Tech Precision smooth out the IT side of the business and give you back time by handling anything related to IT.

4) Better Productivity For All Departments

Think about not worrying about downtime, expenditure, and being able to focus on core competencies with your business. Think about increased productivity of your staff, about maximising money already spent on IT, about having a partner who provides independent non-biased advice.

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The relationship between computer hardware and software can be frustrating. Both require the other to function properly, but both also require individual attention. Virtualisation makes this relationship far more flexible, and we’ve got a rundown on a few of the best examples.

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The world of IT is developing at a rapid pace. It can be difficult for CFOs and business owners to know if they’re spending the right amount on their tech or if they’re being taken for a ride.

In this article, we’ll highlight not only how to ensure that you’re not overspending on your IT, but that you’re choosing the right IT for your company.

Here are a five red flags that show you’re spending too much on IT operating costs:

1. You don’t know what your IT requirements are to begin with

The most effective way to unnecessarily inflate operating costs is not knowing what you should be spending your budget on in the first place.

Your company should have an IT strategy that matches and complements your business strategy. This strategy should outline your IT goals in a way that guides your expenditure and makes it easier to track whether you’re getting the most bang for your buck.

2. Your technology is out of date

Maintenance costs far outweigh the cost of investing in new technology, not to mention you’re missing out on increased productivity and efficiency. But another, more reprehensible cost comes as a result of new technology being implemented without proper integration with the older underlying system.

This can slow your entire system and reduce its effectiveness. Investing in an experienced IT partner like Tech Precision is a great way to build your IT system from the ground up to avoid your older tech holding you back.

3. You’re spending a lot on systems and staff that you barely use

One of the primary benefits of technology is that you can do more with less. This is the entire ethos behind the lean methodology, and is an important approach for any modern business. But if your IT operating costs are bloated with tools and personnel that your business doesn’t need, then it undermines your entire financial strategy and wider business goals.

4. You don’t understand your IT system’s ROI

Even if you know that a certain IT investment is good for the business, it’s important to know exactly how it adds value.

Your financial planning should account for the expected and actual ROI of your IT system. This will inevitably be easier with communication and transparency between IT and finance departments, so encourage a culture of collaboration and teamwork.

Knowing how to measure your IT ROI will help you make more informed and effective IT finance decisions.

5. Your best people are doing grunt work

One of the defining features of an inefficient and wasteful IT department is when your highly qualified IT professionals spend countless hours on low-level tech support, maintenance and user error.

Your IT manager and CTO have more important things to do than play the role of a company-wide tech help desk.

It’s frustrating for them and increases your IT operating costs by stopping them from fulfilling their strategic role. You’re paying a high-end tech salary for someone to do basic tasks that could easily be taken care of through IT outsourcing.

Tech Precision has years of experience helping clients like you get more from your IT infrastructure and reduce your operating costs.

For a free diagnostic of your current IT processes, take our IT health check.

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Companies of all sizes are being hit by cyber-criminals and their data is being held for ransom. I talk with company owners and IT people everyday who say ‘it won’t happen to me’.

Unfortunately the chances of being hit are dramatically increasing every day (I’m not a betting man facts are facts).

Why is this happening? Without access to your data, your company cannot operate making your data more valuable to you than to anyone else. That is why hackers are after your data: so they can sell it back to you. They want to hold your business to ransom.

You just have to look at recent attacks in industries such as Pharmaceutical, Medical, Legal, Couriers, Protection Agencies, Government, Financial, Real-estate, etc to understand it doesn’t matter what industry you are in. If you are in business and use computers you are at risk and need to be prepared.

The breaches that have been reported in the media are just the tip of the iceberg.  The coming Mandatory Data Breach Notification rules – where even smaller businesses like yours may be legally obliged to disclose any data breaches (i.e. Ransomware/Crypto attacks) will help bring out the true depth of this issue.

https://www.oaic.gov.au/media-and-speeches/statements/mandatory-data-breach-notification

If your IT person or your IT partner is not helping you do this, well (to be blunt) you should change your IT partner… Yes, it’s that serious.

Then while it’s important to have protection, this protection is only as good as the operators using the system. Can you believe that over 80% of data breaches are as a result of human error?

Unfortunately in the case of cyber attacks, the old sayings of ‘what you don’t know can’t hurt you’ and ‘ignorance is bliss’ do not apply.

However, there is an easy low cost fix to help your staff, help you. Simply educate them and provide them with knowledge/power of what to look for and why.

Through necessity we have researched worldwide for powerful training tools that are simple to use and that can help people at all levels of IT understanding. We have now found one tool that can provide powerful results.

Tech Precision specialises in IT services for the SMB marketplace and we are here to help. If you would like access to this training tool, please contact us.

Tech Precision has been shortlisted by APAC CIO Outlook Magazine to be in their ”25 Most Promising IT Services Companies 2017″. Why is this so? Because a relationship of trust is so important. The only true way to measure service is actually experience it.

Cyber-security is a serious and costly issue. To take the first proactive step and start protecting your business, just contact us.

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