Blue Ridge Technology

Passkeys could improve the way you work, forever Heads up: Passkeys are coming soon, and we’re getting a better idea of how and where these are going to start becoming useful for businesses and consumers alike. If you’re not sure what we mean by a passkey, here’s a refresher: We shared an introduction to passkeys a few months back when we told you that Microsoft, Google, and Apple were working to kill the password . Recently, Apple announced that passkeys are coming to its mobile and desktop operating systems in 2022 with the arrival of iOS/iPadOS 16 and macOS 13 in the early fall. “Coming soon” has officially been upgraded to “imminent arrival,” and it’s time for businesses to get a handle on how, whether, when, and where they might implement the new tech. Aren’t passkeys just fancy passwords? In the sense that they let people log into devices and sites, sure. But in every other sense, no: passkeys are a completely new technology that’s exponentially more secure than the old username...

Russian cyber-attack threat: White House advice to protect your business Cyberattacks are on the rise, and there’s an increased threat of attacks coming out of Russia right now, according to the Biden administration. As Russia grows increasingly combative and sanctions grow, the state and affiliated groups within it may crank up cyber intrusions soon. Many of these attacks are likely to be aimed at infrastructure like water or electricity or at other targets with ties to the federal government. But even businesses that don’t fit that profile should take this moment to secure their digital assets, according to the administration. Here’s what you need to know about the current recommendations coming out of the White House . Multi-Factor Authentication Matters If you haven’t yet implemented multi-factor authentication, or MFA, for your logins and key accounts, now is the time to do so. Without MFA, all the bad guys have to do is steal or guess the right combination of a username and a pas...

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security and authentication protocol that has grown significantly in popularity in the last few years. You’ve probably seen the term somewhere by now, and you may even have used it in your personal life. Now, it’s time to understand what this technology is and the basics of how it works. Because MFA has gone from “probably a good idea” to mission-critical: your business needs to switch to this more secure technology. Here’s why. Multi-Factor Authentication Defined Multi-factor authentication (MFA) s a method of establishing identity that requires more than one type, or factor, of identification. We know, this definition isn’t the most illuminating, so here’s an example or two. MFA is the technology in play when you log in to your bank or other secure site, and the website requires you to input a code that it texts or emails to you. Your login info is the first factor of identification or authentication, and the temporary code is the second. Or, wh...