July 26th, 2024 → 1:35 pm @ kamind // No Comments
If the software your organization used to close deals and pay employees unexpectedly went down and you had no idea when it would be fixed, what would you do? Could you continue doing business? How much money would you lose? Unfortunately, in June, this happened to over 15,000 US- and Canada-based car dealerships when two cyber-attacks occurred on the popular industry software provider, CDK Global. This software attack shut down the sales, financing and payroll systems for thousands of dealers, forcing them to either stop business or revert to the old-fashioned pen-and-paper method. This incident should be a wake-up call for all small business owners, highlighting the importance of robust cybersecurity measures. What Happened? The initial attack occurred on the evening of Tuesday, June 18. Once it was detected, CDK Global immediately took the correct action, bringing the entire system offline to investigate the issue. The system was up and […]
July 26th, 2024 → 1:33 pm @ kamind // No Comments
Is your organization currently bleeding money due to its reliance on outdated technology? The answer is likely yes. A recent survey by Deloitte revealed that a staggering 82% of companies failed to meet their cost-reduction targets last year, with an inefficient technology infrastructure being the primary culprit. The 2024 poll of nearly 300 business leaders on business margin improvement and technology transformation efforts revealed that challenges with their technology infrastructure are the biggest barrier to organizations seeking to improve margins by cutting costs. This same study found that over 50% of the respondents reported that leveraging data and generative AI strategies for improving margins would be their focus for 2024. What does this tell us? Organizations are looking to adopt new, automated, AI-powered ways of doing business to save money and improve efficiency but are held back by antiquated technology. Why Should Businesses Upgrade Their Technology? Legacy systems, typically categorized […]
July 20th, 2024 → 3:16 am @ kamind // No Comments
In the wee hours of Friday morning, July 19th, the world succumbed to what is now possibly the world’s largest security breach. In fact, it is deemed to be even larger than that of the Solar Winds Attack, in which thousands of individuals and businesses were impacted. But with this one that happened today, countries all over the world were impacted by a cataclysmic chain of events. So, you may be wondering, what exactly happened? Although details are still emerging, and will continue to do so even into next week, it appears that this is a “Supply Chain Attack”. This is where the Cyberattacker exploits just one or two points of weaknesses in a software package, and deploys the malicious payload. Once this has been achieved, it spreads like wildfire in just a matter of minutes, crippling businesses both large and small, as we are seeing so far. A Supply […]
July 10th, 2024 → 8:53 pm @ kamind // No Comments
Introduction For those of use in the technology world, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the biggest buzzword of late, as well as the hottest trend. Microsoft is a pioneer in this field, driven by its partnership with OpenAI (the creators of ChatGPT). They have just announced a new product called the “Purview AI Hub”, and will be reviewed in further detail in this article. What Is It? The technical definition of the Microsoft Purview AI Hub is as : “Microsoft Purview to mitigate and manage the risks associated with AI usage, and implement corresponding protection and governance controls.” (SOURCE: 1). In other words, it is an all-encompassing tool deployed into your Azure Cloud Environment so that you can keep a visual eye on what is happening with all of the AI based applications that run from within it. From there, it will allow you to into compliance easily comply with […]
July 10th, 2024 → 10:17 am @ kamind // No Comments
Conditional Access (CA) is a security policy enforcement solution available with your Azure AD Premium P1 or Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription. Once users initiate the log-in process with a password, the application employs If/Then logic to grant access or deny access based on certain conditions or “signals.” Common Conditions Correct Username and Password Location of Login Device itself is Compliant Common Actions Present MFA Challenge Bypass MFA Deny Access Examples If employee logs in with a device that’s assigned to them, in the correct country, and on a compliant network, they bypass MFA If employee logs in with a device that’s assigned to them, in the correct country, but they are not on a compliant network they must complete an MFA challenge. If employee logs in with a device that’s assigned to them, but not in the correct country, they are denied access. Conditional Access Data Hierarchy Guard+ View Conditional Access […]
June 28th, 2024 → 2:35 pm @ kamind // No Comments
A recent report from Check Point Research revealed a shocking statistic – the Microsoft-owned business platform LinkedIn is impersonated in nearly half of all phishing attacks globally. One of the ways scammers leverage LinkedIn to deploy their phishing attack is when they zero in on anyone seeking a new job or career change. While e-mails like “You have 1 new invitation” or “Your profile has been viewed by 63 people” can be authentic, it’s critical to verify the e-mail address it’s sent from to ensure that it’s genuinely from LinkedIn. These impersonators will send e-mails that look identical to the real ones, with links to fake LinkedIn pages that will rip off your information as soon as you enter it. Another way cybercriminals leverage LinkedIn is by creating fake profiles and messaging people about job opportunities. Once you’re on the hook, they’ll either ask for a small payment upfront to […]
June 28th, 2024 → 2:33 pm @ kamind // No Comments
The massive wave of layoffs in 2024 brings a cybersecurity threat that most business owners aren’t focusing on – offboarding employees. Even big-time brands that you would expect to have top-of-the-line cybersecurity systems, processes and procedures in place fail to adequately protect themselves from insider threats. This August marks a year since two disgruntled Tesla employees went rogue after being let go and exposed the personal information – including names, addresses, phone numbers and even the Social Security numbers – of over 75,000 people, including employees. And, of course, the issue is expected to get worse. According to NerdWallet, as of May 24, 2024, 298 US-based tech companies have laid off 84,600 workers and counting. This includes major layoffs at big companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft, as well as smaller tech start-ups. In total, around 257,254 jobs were eliminated in the first quarter of 2024 alone. Whether or not […]
June 20th, 2024 → 10:47 pm @ kamind // No Comments
Introduction In today’s digital world, many businesses are now deploying devices more than ever before. Some of these could be the traditional hard-wired ones, wireless ones, and even those that are virtualized. But, manually deploying all of them can be a very time consuming and labor-intensive task, especially if you have a lot of them. This is where Microsoft Autopilot comes into play, and is further reviewed in this article. What Is Microsoft Autopilot? Microsoft defines it as follows: “Windows Autopilot is a collection of technologies used to set up and pre-configure new devices, getting them ready for productive use. Windows Autopilot can be used to deploy Windows PCs or HoloLens 2 devices.” (SOURCE: 1). How It Works Imagine this kind of scenario: Suppose you have outsourced all of your Cloud based Infrastructure to a CSP (Cloud Services Provider), such as KAMIND IT. You are in need of other resources, […]
June 10th, 2024 → 3:52 pm @ kamind // No Comments
There is no doubt that with an M365 subscription that you procure, there are a lot of cool features that come with it. One of the new features is “Microsoft Bookings” which can be used to book meetings with other people. What Is Microsoft Bookings? Microsoft defines it as follows: “Microsoft Bookings makes scheduling and managing appointments a breeze. It helps you schedule and manage appointments with your customers, clients, or colleagues. Whether you need to book time to meet people or set aside time for different meetings, Bookings makes it easy and convenient for both you and your attendees.” (SOURCE: 1). Some of the functionalities of it include: A web-based interface so that you can access it from anywhere, provided you have a good network connection. It integrates easily with Outlook. With this, your coworkers, customers, and prospects can see your schedule, which allows for the “booking” of meetings. […]
June 6th, 2024 → 10:54 pm @ kamind // No Comments
There is no doubt that Microsoft has a lot of licensing and subscription plans for their various M365 products, and it can cause quite a bit of confusion for the end user. In this article, we attempt to resolve some of these issues by focusing on the Defender Vulnerability Management package. What Is Defender Vulnerability Management? Before we get started into the details of the licensing, it is first important to review what the actual package is. It is technically defined as follows: “Defender Vulnerability Management delivers asset visibility, intelligent assessments, and built-in remediation tools for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and network devices.” (SOURCE: 1). In other words, this is an all-encompassing package that takes all of the following in order to give you and your IT Security team a holistic view of all the Cyber vulnerabilities that your business could be facing: Threat Intelligence; The statistical odds of […]
