Every year, organizations hope that statistics for data breaches will improve, that things will be better than the year before. And every year, they are dismayed to discover that even though they’re pulling in new cybersecurity tactics to thwart cyber attacks, so are hackers pulling in new methods to discover their organizations’ weakest vulnerabilities. It’s frustrating, to say the least. What’s...

Banks and financial institutions, take note: though the year is almost over, no one is safe from a data breach. Industries across the board have seen 4.5 million records stolen so far in 2018—a staggering 133% increase over those compromised in 2017 . As you create updated cybersecurity plans and data breach prevention strategies for the new year, it’s imperative to look at how you’re securing...

What’s the true cost of downtime for your organization? You may think of it in terms of lost revenue—according to studies released in the last couple years, the average cost of system-wide downtime is $100,000 an hour, and that’s on the low end (it can get up to $300,000 or more). But there are other factors involved in the price of downtime that can hurt a company’s productivity and resources...

“AS/400 is built to be safe and reliable.” “No one makes viruses for the IBM i. There are no known cases of malware, either.” “IBM has amazing IBM i server security, so we don’t have to worry about vulnerabilities.” Do these statements sound familiar? Perhaps you’ve come across these claims in the industry, heard someone say something similar at an event, or maybe even said it yourself. Whether it...

While several industries, including business and education, make up a big portion of yearly data breach counts, banks and credit unions aren’t left risk free. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), the banking/credit/financial sector totals 5.8% of 2017’s data breaches as of June 30, 2017. That’s up two percent from 2016’s first half, a bigger rise than every industry sector...

As we continue to put our data online, through social media channels, cloud storage, and email attachments, we open ourselves up to the possibility of data breaches and other attacks. The answer to this problem isn’t to stop using the internet, of course. But organizations today need to pay serious attention to their cybersecurity gaps, put guidelines in place to prevent a breach, and strategize...

EFSS (Enterprise File Sync and Share) and MFT (Managed File Transfer) are two terms that are frequently thrown around in the IT industry. Each solution is used to transfer files to multiple locations and devices, and they can both be deployed on-premises or in a cloud environment. These similarities inspire frequent questions. What are these solutions, exactly? What do they do, and when should you...

Since moving to Electronic Health Records and modern EHR technology, the healthcare industry has taken great strides to enhance patient care, internal workflows, and business-to-business communication. These improvements bring organizations closer and closer to full integration with others in the industry; a goal that will, once fully achieved, help streamline the data sent between patients...

It’s been nearly a week since Equifax went public with knowledge of a massive data breach—perhaps one of the biggest to date. There’s no word yet on who is or isn’t affected, but it’s very likely that 143 million Americans (45% of the U.S. population and 80% of those who have a credit report) are now at risk of identity theft. What data was compromised? SSNs, birth dates, and addresses for certain...

“ Your password will expire in X days .” That pop-up or email is all-too-familiar for employees at organizations requiring login credentials with the common “90- or 45-day rule” for changing or updating passwords. It’s a security best practice designed to help keep your accounts—and your organization—secure from hackers and nosy coworkers. But does it really? While the “90-day rule” has been...

Third party vendors are incredibly useful. They allow businesses to automate certain processes they can’t do themselves, like implement payroll services to compensate employees, and bridge gaps in their technology. But while the money, time, and brainpower freed up by outsourcing tasks is a huge positive, third party vendors have their downsides. There must be a mutual agreement between all...

Every organization dreams of how they’d like to implement cybersecurity successfully. In dreams, the execution is perfect: requirements would be met or exceeded, employees would be fully educated on security risks, and data would never be threatened by renegade phishing scams or careless user errors. But in reality, faced with time and resource constraints, it can be difficult for busy...

In a recent survey of UK workers, over half the employees who participated across 1,000 organizations admitted that they open suspicious email attachments. More than 80% also said they open strange attachments if the sender appears to be someone they know, and “one in five said the business they work for has no policy on how to handle email attachments, or they have not been made aware of it.”...

Compared to using a variety of standalone FTP and SFTP tools and scripts, managed file transfer (MFT) technology allows professionals to streamline how data is transferred. MFT helps organizations send and receive files in the cloud and across their private networks, create and control workflows, automate business processes, and centralize management from a single system. What is MFT? Managed file...

Anyone with an email account is used to spam. It happens one day: you get that first unsolicited email, and then a flood of ads, flash sale offers, and foreign bank transaction requests rushes into your inbox. In that moment, the battle for your virtual sanity begins. But while spam emails are mostly harmless—you tend to see them from a mile away and respond accordingly—spear phishing emails are...

Note from the Editor: This article shares highlights from an older report. For the latest on data security and best practices for keeping file transfers safe, visit our Data Security page or check out the latest additions to our blog . Do you ever wish you knew how other businesses are dealing with today’s security threats? The 2017 Cybersecurity Trends Report, recently released by Crowd Research...

Note from the Editor: This article shares highlights from an older report. For the latest on data security and best practices for keeping file transfers safe, visit our Data Security page or check out the latest additions to our blog . The 2017 Cybersecurity Trends Report was recently released by Crowd Research Partners. The report covers many aspects of cybersecurity, such as general security...

Securing information is rising in importance for organizations worldwide. Using outdated technology is extremely risky, yet many organizations continue to do so because of legacy systems that don’t allow them to upgrade, lack of resources and time to upgrade, or they are simply unaware of the risks. The commonly used SHA-1 algorithm is a perfect example of an obsolete encryption standard that...

Security professionals of today are inundated with headlines about the potential consequences of a data breach. Making headlines for a data breach can cost you – and more than just reparations or a fine. Data breaches are the worst of bad press and can impact your finances for years to come . A s security professionals work to manage vast amounts of data throughout various physical and virtual...

The privacy capabilities of encryption methods such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) allow organizations to achieve a hightened amount of data security and protection. There are various approaches and elements of comparison for these encryption methods , however, and each one comes with their own histories, features, and capabilities. These are: PGP, Open PGP, and GPG. Need to protect your files in...