Blue Ridge Technology

Are you using Teams to share sensitive data? We love Microsoft Teams as a collaboration, chat, and video calling hub. The way it integrates deeply with everything else in Microsoft 365 is nearly miraculous when it works as it should, and the tool is one of the biggest influences on making our new way of working work well. But did you know that Microsoft Teams has a dark side? Don’t get us wrong: the app is well built and generally secure. But there are risks you should be aware of, mostly centering on how your employees use the app. Here’s what you need to know. What Are People Sharing? Understanding the risks of Teams starts with understanding what people are sharing on the app. Sensitive, Confidential, and Critical Information Recent research found that around half of employees admit to sharing sensitive company information on Teams. To be honest, we think that number is a little low. After all, Teams is specifically designed for sharing information within a company, so there’s no su...

Are you really downloading Zoom… or is it malware? We talk a lot on this blog about keeping your company’s digital assets secure — stuff like your network storage, client files, business data, and account access to the systems that keep business moving forward. And there’s a good reason for it: digital threats to your business are all around you, and they’re more significant and more dangerous than most business leaders realize. Today we’re looking at another threat that’s a little different from phishing attacks and business email compromise. Let’s examine what we’re calling business software impostors. The good news on this one is that there are two really great ways to avoid the threat — but you and every member of your team have to know how. What’s a Business Software Impostor? A business software impostor is a fake version of a popular business software product or digital tool, designed with the intent of perpetrating some kind of attack once installed. In other words, it’s malwar...

Some bosses think their people do less when working from home We’re all getting more familiar with remote and hybrid work — whether we want to or not. The pandemic was the initial catalyst for many businesses going remote, and those immediate health crisis concerns are more or less behind us now. But a good percentage of employees who got the taste of working from home really, really don’t want to come back to the office full-time. So the question many business owners are asking now is this: is work from home helping or hurting productivity and the bottom line? Big corporations are divided: Apple and Google want people back in the office, even though many employees are vocally pushing back (or even resigning). Other firms (like Twitter ) have announced they never plan to return to an in-office requirement for most roles. To help shed some light, another big tech firm — Microsoft — commissioned a serious, wide-ranging survey on the topic. What they found may or may not surprise you, but...

Android 13 is safer for your business Mobile devices can be a security threat to your business — but it’s hardly possible to force your people to never access business materials while on the go. Doing that might even threaten your business, making it harder for your sales force to close deals or for your management to resolve off-hours problems. If this conundrum — access versus security — is one that keeps you up at night, then Google’s recent announcement about a new version of Android will come as welcome news. Bottom line: Android 13 is on its way, and it brings numerous security enhancements that should eliminate some of those mobile security concerns. Here’s what you need to know as a business leader. Better IT Admin Controls The first big update is a little nerdy, but it’s an important one. Android 13 brings more robust admin controls to business devices running the OS. If your team members have work phones, your IT admin will be able to monitor security logs more efficiently an...

Make sure your cloud server is protected from this Here at Blue Ridge Technology, we’re big fans of the cloud. Cloud technologies can unlock so much potential for today’s businesses: file storage and even applications that can be accessed from anywhere, software tools that don’t have to be installed or updated on everyone’s laptops, and access to computing power to do seriously cool things that SMBs likely couldn’t afford to do on their own servers. For nerds like us, there’s plenty to geek out about with the cloud. But there are some security dangers associated with the cloud (at least, with using the cloud poorly), and we want our readers to know about them. Is the Cloud Secure? A whole lot of people have the idea that the cloud is less safe than the alternative. After all, if you’re putting all your sensitive data “out there” on the internet, isn’t it easier for the bad guys to steal? Hang with us for a second: while this is sort of exactly what we want to warn you about, it’s still...

What does Persistence mean in regards to a Cyber Attack? Persistence is a tactic that allows attackers to quietly maintain access to a system over time. This “dwell time” is often used to conduct additional research, explore the victim’s environment and determine what the best (i.e. the most profitable) next step should be. Hackers can spend 11-24 days in a network before being discovered! Right Click and save our Infographic The longer an attacker persists on a device, the more intel they’re able to gather—and the more damage they can ultimately do when deploying ransomware, stealing passwords or executing other malicious activity. Not to mention the amount of your Client’s information that they can absorb! Our security agents are always on guard against attack plans like this, shining a light on hidden trespassers and removing them. Give us a call to help get your business properly secured and constantly monitored, today!

FREE COMPLETE GUIDE DOWNLOAD! Phishing: we’ve talked about it before on the blog, and we’re talking about it again today — because it’s just that important. Even today, phishing remains the single greatest source of digital threats against your business. It’s the tactic scammers use to crack open the door. Once that door is open, they can launch any number of attacks: malware, spyware, ransomware, DDoS attacks, financial attacks, and many more. So today we’re giving you a crash course in phishing awareness, the top signs you and your team should watch out for in an effort to remain protected. What is phishing, again? Before we jump into awareness tactics, we’ll start with a quick definition. Phishing refers to any digital attack where the cyber criminals try to lure in unsuspecting users similar to how real-world fishing lures in fish. Here the bait is some urgent communication, usually via email, that tells the user about some big problem they need to solve right now . It usually look...