Blue Ridge Technology

What’s the Big Deal with Biometrics? Biometrics are a big deal. Even if they aren’t using the term biometrics, more and more digital apps and services are starting to offer some form of biometric authentication as a way of logging in. But just why is this a big deal? We’ve shared here numerous times about how bad the old username and password system is, so we won’t rehash all those details today. Just know that the old system is really, really bad, and we need a modern alternative. Biometrics could be a big part of that alternative — which is why they’re a big deal. Done right, biometrics offer us an extremely reliable system for authentication that’s far more secure than the old faithful password. Here’s what you need to know. What Are Biometrics? The term biometrics describes the practice of identifying, recognizing, or authenticating an individual using attributes unique to that individual, such as fingerprints, retina scans, or 3D face modeling, typically for security purposes. If...

Do you ever get tired of passwords? It seems like even in the best-case scenario where you’re doing everything you can to practice good password hygiene, it’s always frustrating. You’re constantly juggling tons of usernames and passwords, struggling to memorize them, failing to type them in quite right, or getting confused about which passwords all belong with which sites. Or you might be secretly operating in a much worse scenario: you know you can’t keep that many passwords, memorized, so you reuse one password across many of your accounts. No judgment here: the data is clear that lots and lots of people do this, even if they know they shouldn’t. Most People Struggle One of Two Ways The truth is, if you fall into either of these categories, you’re far from alone. Most people struggle with password use, falling into one of these two ditches. Either they’re struggling with password overload — because it is legitimately impossible to memorize hundreds of unique username and password com...

Microsoft 365 makes Multi-Factor Authentication easier We wrote just last week about how crucial it is to implement multifactor authentication (MFA) wherever possible in your business. If you missed that post, check it out now (Have You Implemented MFA Yet? ) — we won’t rehash all of that news here. Still, we figure there’s a sizable group of businesses that fall into one of these categories: Still on the fence about MFA Convinced MFA is important but unsure how to get started In the middle of implementing MFA, and it’s not going well Already implemented MFA, but people are complaining or bypassing it If any of those sound familiar, we have great news: if you’re using Microsoft 365, things are about to get a lot easier. Here’s what you need to know. MFA Already Available Throughout Microsoft 365 First, it’s worth mentioning that MFA isn’t brand-new for M365 users. Microsoft already supported a few different kinds of next-gen authentication, including MFA. Maybe you never got around to ...

Is your security focusing on the right things? There’s a big problem with the way that many businesses approach cybersecurity policy and protections. Are you making this key mistake? Today’s post covers what many businesses get wrong about digital security — and how you can avoid making the same mistake. Doors and Windows Have Limitations There was once a church that kept discovering strange things missing from storage areas—especially the freezers where they kept food to serve to people in need. They wondered if it was mice, squirrels, maybe raccoons, but they couldn’t figure it out. The problem went on for months. Eventually they discovered the real culprit when maintenance found a human-sized makeshift bed up in the rafters. A guy on the run had been hiding out, helping himself to items from the cafeteria. Creepy, right? A stranger secretly living in a building where families and young children attend every week. This church locked its doors every night. But locks alone didn’t stop ...

The Biggest Security Threat to your business might be on your payroll Your biggest security threat may well be on your payroll right now. Without proper training, your own well-intentioned employees can unknowingly open you up to attack. Rarer (but much worse), someone on your payroll could be intentionally working against you as a malicious insider. Here are five strategies to mitigate internal threats and increase your overall cybersecurity health. 1. Commit to Ongoing Cybersecurity Education Investing in ongoing cybersecurity education for your team is the most important thing you can do to reduce the risk of accidental exposure. In today’s connected environment, there are more bad actors out there than ever before. Scammers are getting more sophisticated, too. One 10-minute training session once a year isn’t going to cut it. Cybersecurity training must be thorough, and it must be carried out frequently. Most importantly, though: everyone — and we mean everyone — in your organizatio...

When it comes to protecting your assets, your best bet is a multi-layered security or defense approach. Multi-layered security refers to a security system that uses numerous components to shield multiple levels or operational layers. The term can also refer to the term “defensive depth", which is based on slightly different ideas, many of which are used to mitigate threats, delay or prevent threats. Security classes can also be called defense layers. Secure Your Network with a multi-layered security approach. How multi-layered security network defense works Ensuring that multiple layers are included in network security should guarantee that each defense component is supported in the event of a failure or lack of coverage. The benefit of a multi-layered security solution is that it monitors and secure your data from breaches that singular focused defense systems lack. According to this assumption, each layer in the multifaceted security approach focuses on precise areas of security...