“The most important element about working with a SOC is transparency. Business owners need to sit down with whoever is managing their network on a monthly basis to find out a few key pieces of information, including: 1) What threats were detected? 2) How have they been managed? 3) What have we learned and how will we optimize to enhance our security?”

This new regulation demands transparency and responsible data practices on the behalf of all companies that do business in the EU. Some examples of GDPR in effect are 1) Requiring all subscribers to opt-in again to receiving all newsletters/marketing emails/etc. and 2) Companies need to report any major data breaches to all of their customers within 72 hours of the breach occurring.

In layman’s terms, WaaS virtualizes every component on a desktop computer. So instead of having a physical component such as servers on-site, which can become obsolete, security-breached or malfunctioning, all components are run through the cloud. For end users, this means that every single component of an employee’s workstation will be available to them, regardless of where they’re located or which device they happen to have with them. Everything resides in the cloud including all software, data, file sharing capabilities, Microsoft programs, and line of business software.

According to CNN Money, “Unemployment inched down to 4.1%” which is the lowest unemployment rate in the last 17 years. Furthermore, Goldman Sachs predicts the unemployment rate to tumble to 3.5% by the end of 2019. The last time unemployment was 3.5% was December 1969, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While business owners have always understood the need to protect their businesses from malware, short for “malicious software”, ransomware is a new tactic that hackers are using to attack businesses in an especially wicked way. Essentially, an employee will receive an email with a deceptive link, labeled “See Resume Here” or “Download Report Now”, and then upon clicking the link, a ransomware application will be installed immediately on the computer. Then, the software can remain hidden for several days, until it is activated. At that moment, the ransomware application will hijack critical files, remove them from the network, encrypt them so no other computers can access them and then hackers will send an email demanding payment for the release of the missing files. The biggest problem with this type of cyber-attack is that it leaves absolutely no leverage to the business owner. Even if they pay the “ransom”, hackers don’t necessarily unlock the files every time. “This is a huge problem that could have drastic impact on an organization and the craziest thing we notice is that there is such a simple solution,” stated John Coleman, Director at Jolee Electronics Inc.

Insufficient Solutions
Traditional support options such as a one man IT consultant, or a one or two person in-house IT department cannot effectively handle the occasional network breakdowns that are bound to occur. This is especially true when compared to a team of external resources that proactively monitor the SMB’s installed technology at all times.