Tag Archives: msp

Cybersecurity, Essential Eight

Does Essential Eight Impact my Business?

Does Essential Eight Impact my Business?

As a business owner or IT professional, you may have heard about Essential Eight, a set of Cyber Security strategies introduced by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) to help organisations protect themselves against cyberattacks. But you might be wondering, does the government’s recommendation of implementing Essential Eight affect my business? In this blog post, we will explore what Essential Eight is and whether it is relevant to your business.

What is Essential Eight?

Essential Eight is a set of eight Cyber Security strategies that the ACSC has identified as essential for organisations to protect themselves against cyberattacks. It was developed to help companies comply with Cyber Security laws, legislations and regulations. The strategies cover a range of security controls that should be implemented to mitigate against the most common cyber threats. Essential Eight is not a prescriptive set of rules, but rather a framework that organisations can use to identify and prioritise their security needs.

The eight strategies are:

  1. Application control
  2. Patching applications
  3. Configure Microsoft Office macro settings
  4. User application hardening
  5. Restricting administrative privileges
  6. Patch operating systems
  7. Multi-factor authentication
  8. Daily backups

Each strategy is designed to address a different aspect of Cyber Security and should be implemented according to the specific needs of your organisation.

By assessing your business against Essential Eight, your compliance with the strategies is measured in terms of its ‘Maturity Level,’ which ranges from zero to three.

Will Essential Eight impact my business?

Currently, Essential Eight is simply recommended guidelines for businesses to measure their Cyber Security maturity against and to give them steps to take to improve their position. We believe this recommendation will soon turn into a mandate, hence why it is something we push our new clients to adopt when we begin working with them. As an MSP that specialises in Cyber Security, these types of strategies are ones we implement anyway, but since they are now strongly recommended by the government, we try to show our clients, and any potential clients, the importance of seriously taking the time to invest in Cyber Security and to educate their staff about security methods.

For now, will Essential Eight affect your business? The short answer is yes. Even though it is only recommended, it’s recommended for a reason. With harsh penalties for businesses that fall victim to cyberattacks, it would be illogical not to start bringing Cyber Security measures into your company. The framework is centred around preventing attacks, limiting the impact of attacks and data availability, which are issues all businesses should be concerned about.

Insurance companies are now starting to mandate certain security measures, which are part of the Essential Eight, and without these measures, your insurance company will not pay you when a claim is made. Or, the insurance company will not renew your Cyber Security coverage. What we also notice is that many small businesses fill out their insurance questionnaire without consulting the right IT people, which often leads to incorrectly stated responses to some of the Cyber Security questions. In cases like these, while a Cyber Security policy is taken out, in the unfortunate event when the small business is attacked and compromised, the insurance company will not honour the covers.

Implementing Essential Eight will require time and resources from your organisation, however, the long-term benefits of implementing these strategies can far outweigh the initial investment.

By implementing Essential Eight, you can:

  1. Improve your Cyber Security posture: Implementing the Essential Eight can help improve your organisation’s Cyber Security posture, making it more difficult for cybercriminals to breach your network.
  2. Reduce the likelihood of a data breach: The Essential Eight strategies are designed to protect against the most common cyber threats, reducing the likelihood of a successful attack.
  3. Save money in the long run: The cost of a data breach can be significant, both in terms of financial costs and damage to your organisation’s reputation. By implementing Essential Eight, you can reduce the likelihood of a data breach, potentially saving your organisation significant costs in the long run.
  4. Privileged Access Management (PAM): By implementing Essential Eight, you thereby place administrative restrictions on applications, operating systems and devices on a user-by-user basis which allows for increased data security, increased control over operations, reduced risks stemming from human error, reduced cost due no more over expenditure on materials and resources and greater insight into how applications, systems and devices are used.
  5. Meet compliance requirements: Many regulatory requirements, such as the Australian Privacy Act 1988, require organisations to implement reasonable measures to protect personal information. Implementing Essential Eight can help your organisation meet these compliance requirements.

Challenges to implementing Essential Eight

While implementing Essential Eight can provide significant benefits, it is not without its challenges. Some of these include:

  1. Lack of resources: Implementing Essential Eight can require significant time and resources, which can be a challenge for small and medium-sized organisations.
  2. Complexity: Some of the Essential Eight strategies, such as application whitelisting and multi-factor authentication, can be complex to implement and manage.
  3. Resistance to change: Introducing new security measures can sometimes be met with resistance from employees who may see the measures as an inconvenience.
  4. Lack of understanding: Some organisations may not fully understand the risks posed by cyber threats and may not see the need for implementing Essential Eight.

Essential Eight is a set of Cyber Security strategies designed to help organisations protect themselves against cyberattacks. While implementing Essential Eight can require time and resources, the long-term benefits of improved Cyber Security posture and reduced likelihood of data breaches can far outweigh the initial investment. By implementing Essential Eight, businesses can better protect themselves against the most common cyber threats and meet regulatory compliance requirements. However, challenges such as lack of resources, complexity, resistance to change and lack of understanding can make implementing Essential Eight a challenge for some organisations.

IT Support, Managed IT Services, MSP

How long does it take to switch MSPs?

How long does it take to switch MSPs?

If this is the post you’re reading, you’re probably already with an MSP, so you know what one is. Essentially, a managed service provider is a company that handles all your IT needs for you, providing your business with all the IT expertise and support you need to keep running your business.

MSPs have a magnitude of features on offer, such as remote monitoring of your systems, regular back-ups of your data as well as protection of this data, cloud computing integration, network and infrastructure management, antivirus protection and if your MSP specialises in Cyber Security like Pronet Technology, then this is included too.

Handing the responsibility of your IT systems over to an MSP has many benefits for organisations. It enables you to focus on the day-to-day running of your business, on new projects and future growth without worrying about your IT systems and how they might hinder your efforts.

We have already written a post detailing when to consider switching your MSP (read here), but you might be confused and even wary about the change due to how long it will take to transition. Let us tell you this: the transition itself is barely any time at all and the MSP will ensure it’s a smooth transition.

Switching Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can be daunting for any business, but it doesn’t have to be a painful process. The length of time it takes to switch MSPs can vary depending on several factors, including the size of your business, the complexity of your IT infrastructure and the quality of your current MSP’s services.

Here’s what you can expect when switching MSPs:

Evaluation and Research (weeks to months)

Before making the switch, you must evaluate your current MSP’s services and research potential new MSPs. This can take several weeks or even months, depending on how thorough you want to be in your research. Read this article to learn how to find a good MSP for you.

You’ll need to review your current contract for what steps to take when ending the relationship as well as any costs associated with this. You need to assess your IT infrastructure to determine which of it is actually owned by you and determine your specific needs.

Selection Process (several weeks)

Once you’ve evaluated your current MSP and researched potential new ones, you’ll need to go through a selection process. This involves reaching out to potential MSPs, discussing your needs with them and requesting proposals. It can take several weeks to receive proposals and review them. Read out post about what to look for in an MSP here.

Once you have chosen an MSP, your business undergoes an initial assessment by the provider. This can take one to two days, but basically, the MSP will go through your systems to determine exactly what they need to do going forward, such as determine where they need to take over from the old MSP, how systems and hardware they will need to implement and where your business needs to improve. This allows them to also ensure you’re aware of all costs involved and what switching will entail. They will also inform you of any critical, important and minor risks they believe you must implement for them to work with you. After this, you are given the option to back out if you so wish. During this time, as a business, you get a sense of whether the MSP is right for you.

Now that you’ve selected your MSP and have signed the contract, it’s time to give your current provider a 30-day notice period, or however long is listed in the contract. Even if you have an unstable relationship with them, they are still a business and need time to transition. This gives the old MSP time to remove all its hardware and permissions from your business so that they no longer have any remote access to your systems.

Onboarding Process (a day to a month)

The actual onboarding process from your old MSP to your new one, depending on your company’s size, can take between a day and a month, but generally no more than a week. This is quite a seamless, smooth-sailing transition for your business as the MSP takes care of everything for you. They will often take control of any passwords, service subscriptions, cloud applications and systems and the length of time this takes depends on the amount of data you have and the complexity of your systems. They will need to make sure backups are going to them instead of the old MSP and set up remote access to be able to monitor your systems for any threats that arise.

MSPs will generally make sure the transition has as little impact on your business as possible, with the two companies coordinating with each other. There have been cases of the old MSP being quite uncooperative during this time, though, so keep that in mind.

Transition Process (up to a month)

After onboarding, the MSP will work with you to ensure you fix the critical risks within your business, ones they pointed out in their initial assessment, and they usually require these to be fixed within a week to a month. For any important issues, they will generally give you a quarter or two to fix and then for any minor issues, they will suggest you change these within 12 months, if ever.

In terms of the ‘training’ usually given, this is simply giving your staff information about how to contact the MSP if something arises. Businesses generally aren’t looking to change their software during a change of MSP, so there isn’t usually much training involved.

If you’re truly desperate for an MSP, you can sign a contract and have them all set up the next day, but the process of choosing a managed service provider should be tailored specifically for your business needs. Determine what you need in a provider and whether they are right for you. For example, if you’re a small or medium-sized business, a large, enterprise-level MSP might not be right for you and vice versa.

For a business, the entire switch of an MSP can take months but the actual onboarding process of an MSP can take anywhere from a day or two for smaller businesses to up to a month for larger ones, but generally, it takes about a week or two. It’s important to take the time to evaluate your current MSP, research potential new ones and go through a thorough selection process. Don’t let the time it takes deter you from taking the time and effort as switching MSPs can be well worth it in the long run if you find an MSP that is a better fit for your business needs. Remember to communicate effectively with your new MSP throughout the process and be patient as they work to transition your systems.

Your IT systems can make or break your business, so make sure you have a great MSP managing and monitoring them.

IT Support

How to incorporate IT concerns into risk management

How to incorporate IT concerns into risk management

Incorporating IT concerns into your company’s risk management strategy is essential to protecting your assets and minimising potential losses. Here are some steps to incorporate IT concerns into your risk management:

Identify

The first step is to identify your company’s top IT risks that could impact your business operations, such as data breaches, hardware failure and cyberattacks. We published a blog post detailing some of the top concerns of small and medium-sized businesses earlier this week, so brainstorm with your stakeholders as well as your Managed Service Provider what these are, then read our post to see if you’re missing anything. You can read that post here.

Other than this, you will want to identify IT use within your business. This includes internet banking, taxation, cloud hosting services, online stores and apps, social media, Point of Sale (POP), VOIP (Voice over Internet), NBN, mobile phones and computers. This helps you fully outline and visualise the amount of IT your organisation is truly reliant on as well as realise just how easily the risk of serious IT failure can impact your business’ trading.

Part of your risk management processes should be assessing the likelihood of these IT concerns occurring as well as the potential impacts they would have on your business operations, revenue and reputation. This helps you prioritise your efforts and resources to address the most critical IT risks.

If you have one, contact your IT provider

Once you’ve identified those, ask your IT provider about the strategies they have in place to prevent these risks from happening. If they don’t have anything or only have limited processes, you might want to discuss the reasons why this is and if you are not satisfied with their response, look at switching providers. When cyberattacks can cause your company to be in breach of The Privacy Act and when the Australian Government is likely to mandate strategies like the Essential Eight being implemented into businesses, it’s on you to ensure you’re well protected.

If you don’t have one, get an MSP

We have written articles about why an MSP is essential to your business, so make sure to read those if you don’t have one. When signing with an MSP, they set up practical IT risk management systems within your business. These include securing computers, servers and wireless networks, using anti-virus and anti-spyware protection and firewalls, updating software to the latest versions, using data backups, securing your passwords, implementing two-factor authentication, training staff in IT policies and procedures, using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) on websites and helping you understand the legal obligations for your business. 

Your business needs to ensure you have risk mitigation strategies in place to address the IT risks you have identified, and this should be in collaboration with your IT service provider. The Essential Eight strategies can become incredibly helpful in this stage as they detail a framework for your business to follow that is comprehensive and will keep your company safe.

The Prevention, Preparedness, Response, Recovery (PPRR) risk management model helps you identify risks to include in your business’ policies and procedures. You can implement policies such as the policy for use of software, bring your own device policy and information technology security policy, which gives staff something to follow to reduce or prevent IT risks.

Insure your business against IT risks

While strategies put in place are to prevent IT risks, there is always a chance that they will still happen and unfortunately, with so many variables outside your control, it’s no longer a matter of if, but when. This is why business insurance may provide another way to reduce risk to your business. It can help reduce company costs that could have you closing your business or paying a large amount of money. You might want to look into Business Interruption, Electronic Breakdown, IT Liability or Cyber Insurance.  

Monitoring and Reviews

Your MSP should then be regularly monitoring and reviewing these IT risks to ensure that the risk mitigation strategies that were put in place are effective and up-to-date. This may involve conducting vulnerability assessments, penetration testing and reviewing incident response plans. Don’t just leave this all to the MSP though, as when you receive your reports from the provider, make sure you are also going over these thoroughly to ensure that you are receiving the level of service from the provider that you agreed to and that you are satisfied that the risks are being properly monitored.

Communication

Communicate IT risks and risk management strategies with relevant stakeholders, such as employees, customers, partners and investors. If need be, involve your IT service provider in these meetings so that everyone is on board and so that you are both achieving the longevity goals you have set. This helps to build trust and demonstrate that your business takes IT risks seriously. You can even hold cyber security training for new staff and update staff and training manuals when new risks are introduced through meetings or company newsletters.

All in all, it’s important that, as a business, you continuously improve your IT risk management approach by learning from past incidents and industry best practices. This helps to ensure that your business remains resilient to new and emerging IT risks.

By incorporating IT concerns into risk management, businesses can ensure that their IT infrastructure is secure, reliable and efficient, reducing the likelihood of IT-related incidents and minimising their impact when they do occur. Like it or not, it’s technology, so something will likely occur, but risk management strategies ensure that your business is not damaged when it does.

IT Support, Managed IT Services

10 reasons why you should think about changing your MSP

10 reasons why you should think about changing your MSP

Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are essential for businesses in managing their IT infrastructure. As a business owner or decision-maker, you most likely already have your IT systems managed by a provider. There are times, however, which you may have already encountered, when it may be necessary to consider changing your MSP. Considering an IT provider should be driving your business forward with the latest technology and expert resources, you both should be on board with developing a long-term relationship as you really should not be switching providers every two years.

It can be a hassle for a business to change, which is the main reason many companies stick with providers that they are unhappy with. There’s also the worry of the new provider not being any better than the old one, but if you do your research and find a reputable MSP that works with companies of your size, you will find that the level of service is well worth the switch and will have you scratching your head thinking about why you didn’t change earlier. If you’re perfectly happy with your provider and have a great relationship with them as well as a detailed and collaborative action plan for the future, then feel free to skip this article.

If that’s not you, though, here are ten reasons why you should think about changing your MSP:

Poor communication

You should know what is happening in your business, even if processes are outsourced. Your MSP should provide reports on what is happening and respond whenever you have questions or concerns. Importantly, they should be responding quickly, especially in cases of an emergency. When time is money in business, you don’t want to be waiting on an unresponsive IT provider when all systems are down. Make sure your provider values communication.

Limited expertise

Part of working with a client is understanding their business’ technology needs as, this way, they’re able to provide your business with the most effective and customised solutions for your industry. This is an ongoing process as technology changes but if you find your MSP not educating themselves and adapting their services to your business needs, you might not be with the right provider. So, while your MSP might lack expertise in specific areas that are critical to your business, they should have at least some knowledge so they can give you guidance and IT consulting. If they have very basic expertise or none at it, you might want to consider a provider with a more comprehensive skill set.

Inflexibility

Your relationship with your provider should not feel transactional. It should be one where they are fully immersed in your business to allow them to understand what exactly your business requires. This allows them to meet these needs over time and change these as new opportunities arise that will help your business grow further. Technology is meant to help your business evolve and as your business grows, so does your tech, so they should be collaborating with key stakeholders to ensure you’re receiving the full benefits of an MSP.

Poor performance

When you initially began working with your IT support services provider, you would most likely have established a service level agreement (SLA) with them which holds the provider accountable for meeting the agreed expectations and meeting the agreed outcomes. If your MSP fails to deliver the promised level of service or doesn’t meet your expectations, the SLA will help you identify where they are falling short which then gives you a framework to pull them up on it.

Outdated technology

Technology is constantly changing and the fact of the matter is, sometimes, you don’t need the latest stuff. Despite that, while the technology needs of each business are different, there are core technologies that are crucial in this day and age. Your company should long ago have switched to Microsoft 365 as it’s essential in optimising workplace collaboration, and your MSP should be discussing the possibility of shifting systems to the cloud as it’s an easy and cost-effective way to access business tools. If you’ve heard of other companies in your industry working with technologies that are immensely benefitting their business operations, it might be time to find an IT provider that is looking out for your best interests in the long run.

Lack of scalability

For most businesses, your long-term goals often include growing and expanding, and alongside this, you need to ensure your IT strategy is growing with you. You can’t be trying to work around software that caters to only a dozen users when you now have 50. Even if your IT provider focuses on specific areas in both their business and yours, they should be working alongside you in your growth and updating your systems and needs as you go. An MSPs services must stay relevant and show strong results but if they are unable to scale their services to meet your business’s growth, it may be time to consider a provider that can handle your changing needs.

Hidden costs

As a Chief Financial Officer or decision-maker in your business, budgets and managing costs is a regular part of your role. Your MSP should be transparent about its fees, which should be a fixed-fee pricing model which has been tailored to the services and deliverables your business needs. You should not be receiving additional fees for services you thought were included or be receiving constant pricing increases. If this happens, the MSP may no longer be tailoring its services to your business needs and its lack of communication with you is a sign you might need to switch providers.

Lack of security

Sadly, it’s now part of life that scammers and hackers are trying to infiltrate your business. Your MSP must be implementing effective security and Cyber Security measures into your business, especially since last year the government implemented new legislation that means companies can face fines of $50 million if they fail to adequately protect people’s data. Your MSP should be having ongoing conversations with you about security and Cyber Security that are integrated into your long-term planning.  

Lack of backup and disaster recovery

Data loss can have a devastating impact on your business, such as reduced productivity, lost revenue and even lost customers and reputation. With risk management an essential part of running a business, it goes without saying that your IT provider must have processes in effect that regularly back up your data, whether that be daily, weekly or monthly backups and you should know where those backups are stored. If your MSP doesn’t have a robust backup and disaster recovery plan, it may be time to switch to a provider that can ensure your data is protected.

Poor value for money

This should have been a part of your research at the proposals stage when searching for an IT service provider in the first place, but if you have been in partnership with your provider for some years and feel as though you’re not receiving services that correlate with the amount you are paying, it might be time to browse other providers and see if you are receiving what they are offering. Cost should not be the only reason you change your MSP as you will generally find others with similar pricing. You might even be happy to throw money into your IT as long as issues get fixed, but when you’re seeing no outcomes, it may be time to consider a provider that offers better cost-benefit.

Changing your IT service provider can be challenging, but ensuring that your IT systems are in good hands is crucial. Hopefully, these ten warning signs are that final push over the edge to get you to switch your provider if you’re experiencing fluctuating levels of bad to good service, because really, what’s the point of having an MSP if you’re not receiving the benefits?

IT Support, Managed IT Services

How to find a good MSP for me?

How to find a good MSP for me?

While as a business owner or decision-maker in your business, you might not have the time to conduct thorough research on Managed Service providers (MSPs) near you, it’s a good idea that someone does, and does it thoroughly, as this is a company that will be maintaining your IT systems and working with you for years to come.

You’re going to want to know exactly who you’re working with, such as their service and their features, as well as how these features benefit you.

When passing on the task to someone, make sure you give them a list of exactly what you’re after, whether that be working with local providers only, whether you need 24/7 support and whether they are knowledgeable in the systems you use to run your business.

From there, you’re going to want to find out what sets them apart from others. This might not be any specific feature, as MSPs generally offer the same package, but there will often be something. Keep in mind that there are features that some providers will advertise boldly that all MSPs have, such as that they’re Microsoft Certified. Some will also feature an ‘award’ on their homepage, but this often isn’t a nationally given award, simply one given by someone or a business in the industry who has done a thorough review of all MSAs. They’re a good indication it’s a great MSP, but keep in mind that it’s generally not a regulated award.

A feature that might separate an MSP from others could be that they specialise in Cyber Security, as many MSPs only have limited Cyber Security measures in place and require your business to work with a separate company for those issues. Security and Cyber Security are two separate topics and many businesses confuse them as the same. Security mainly focuses on virus protection and firewalls, whereas Cyber Security digs deeper with Two-Factor Authentication and surveillance systems, among other things. With Cyber Security constantly evolving, your business must be up-to-date on the latest trends and practices in the field.  

It’s also important that the MSP you’re searching for is knowledgeable in your industry and your systems. While they won’t be experts in your systems, such as in SAP or Microsoft Dynamics, they should be familiar with them so that they can be the middle-man between the vendor and your company when something goes wrong with the system. You cannot expect the MSP to configure the entire system to your business though, that’s the role of the software vendor and, unfortunately, an expensive role. The MSP should be used to working with clients of your size too, as working with a large MSP as a smaller business, you might find that you’re pushed aside in favour of their larger, more profitable clients.

Market Research

Once you know what you want from an MSP, it’s time to do some market research.

During a conversation with a client, we started talking about how to find a company that you can trust and they said:

“Like most things, you go by recommendation. That’s always the first one. So, if you can’t go by recommendation, then you want to go by, ‘Who’s this company dealing with and what are they saying?’”

If you’re recommended an MSP, that’s always a great start, but when you’re not, it’s hard to find out who to trust, especially with possible fake reviews online. That being said, the place to start with is reviews as you can generally tell through reading when a review has been manufactured. Read what you can find on Google and CloudTango and then read through the company’s reviews and comments on their social media pages like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. An MSP will often have case studies or client reviews on its website to give proof of its track record too, so the clients can give you an understanding of what to expect. If you like, feel free to give the company a call to learn about their experience with the MSP.

Join Facebook, Reddit and Discord groups to see what people are saying about the MSP as well as who they are recommending in your area. While not always the case when it comes to business, many people don’t let their full opinions known about a product or service. It’s only when they’re anonymous or feeling comfortable that they can reveal their deeper inconveniences or desires, so browsing forum groups will often tell you these opinions. Even search on Quora or read through blog posts about the pros and cons of certain MSPs so that you’re adequately informed before you make your decision. 

Contact MSPs

Once you have settled on a few MSPs to sit down with, you should have a list of questions to ask them that will help you narrow down your choice. We’ve written an article about questions to ask when switching IT service providers, so have a read of that to get an idea of some questions. Find the article here. The post also details what to look for when searching for an MSP, such as responsiveness, proactivity and communication.

We hope this has given you an understanding of where to start when searching for an MSP for your business. It can be an incredibly daunting and frustrating process, as well as one that you probably don’t have time for. By now, though, you should know why it’s crucial to have a good MSP working with your business because as your business grows, so does your IT, and that IT needs to be managed efficiently. Feel free to read through the other blog posts on our website to learn of the risks posed to your business if your systems are not managed sufficiently as that might be just the push you need to get started in your search.  

IT Support, Managed IT Services

What is an MSP and do I need one?

What is an MSP and do I need one?

A Managed Service Provider is the partner you need for all your IT system needs.

When your business starts to grow, so does your information technology (IT) usage. Databases, documents, customer accounts, websites, the list is extensive and as a business owner myself, I know the feeling of not needing the added stress of figuring out what’s gone wrong with the company’s IT system when there are a multitude of other issues and jobs to work on.

To help with these issues, an IT infrastructure upgrade is worth looking into and what’s more, it might be due time to outsource the infrastructure altogether to a third-party company.

One of the ways to do this is through a Managed Service Provider, or an MSP. An MSP is a third-party company that provides IT services and support to businesses on a proactive basis, typically through a subscription-based model. MSPs offer a wide range of services, including network management, data backup and recovery, cybersecurity, cloud computing and help desk support. This means that you and your employees can continue about your day-to-day business requirements without needing to worry if something has gone wrong or, if it has, you can be rest assured that the issues will be resolved without damaging your business.

How do they work?

An MSP should work with your business to meet your IT needs. While it may seem like a risk that they have access to your system and data, it’s what they need to be able to ensure your systems run smoothly and stays secure so you can focus on the your actual role, managing your business. They can help oversee services like email, cybersecurity, your networks, data storage and cloud integration, software updates and updating old technology as well as giving you a virtual Chief Information Officer (CIO) to help steer your IT in the right direction and, ultimately, giving you the confidence you really need out of your technology.

Each MSP has different services and works with different size clients, so it’s good to do your research before signing a contract with one but, other than the reduced stress and worries about your IT operation, there are many other features and benefits of getting a professional and knowledgeable team to handle all your systems for you.

Features

There are many features that all MSPs will, or should, have that you will see when you’re researching. Here’s a few to get you started for your research:

UNLIMITED IT SUPPORT

Do you hate calling your IT help desk? Oftentimes, in retail stores, their help desk support is based overseas where the line might be crackling and you can barely hear and understand them, where they don’t understand what you mean as you’re not very technically inclined, you’re on hold for what feels like hours while there’s back and forth trying to explain what the situation is and on top of that, they can’t come out and fix your issue immediately as they’re the middle man and have to issue a ticket for someone to come out, whenever that may be.

A local MSP, on the other hand, allows you to receive immediate and responsive assistance when dealing with day-to-day technical issues and when an unforeseen event or cyberattack hits your business, you’re secure in the knowledge that your MSP have it under control with minimal drop in employee or company productivity, one of the major concerns in running a business.

Pronet Technology, for example, has an emergency 30-minute guaranteed response time, meaning you can get in-touch with experts within minutes of your issue occurring, while its Managed IT Services are designed to detect and solve most IT issues before they become a problem, meaning you will hardly ever require emergency assistance. Click here to see Pronet’s average response times for the last 30 days.

DATA BACKUP

I can safely say that most of us know how distressing it is to know you’ve lost a file that you’ve been working on for hours or even days. It’s incredibly frustrating clicking back into it and realising you either didn’t save it properly, it became corrupted or it’s somehow been deleted. For that reason, many of us now constantly back up our documents and data, but what about on a larger scale for your business?

Working with an MSP ensures your business is protected during a disaster, whether it be a data breach, a server crash, a fire or even someone internally jeopardising, accidently or purposefully, your business. They will regularly create quality-assured data backups, meaning you have recovery solutions for your data during disaster so that your client records, marketing resources, photos, accounting records, intellectual property and communication correspondences are all safe and your business can continue running smoothly.

CLOUD SERVICES

Cloud services allow your business to stop running your IT in-house, improves reliability and simplifies your IT, allows you to take control of your IT costs, allows you to work from any device, at home, in the office or overseas, allows for file sharing and, among other things, allows you to better control what users and employees can see and do.

CYBER SECURITY

Not many MSPs include fully integrated cyber security practice in their plans, with you often having to work with a separate company. Some companies, like Pronet Technology, however, do and will closely monitor your network and systems to ensure everything is running smoothly and if they do pick up something, they will be proactive in fixing the issue so that there is no delay and interruptions in the day-to-day, or long-term function, of your business. Cyber security enhancement is much more than virus protection and firewall configuration and management, so if you’re working with an MSP already, double check whether this is included.

Benefits

What we’ve just discussed are features, but what are the benefits to your small or medium-sized business in working with an MSP?

COST SAVING

MSPs can provide IT services at a lower cost than hiring and training in-house IT staff. MSPs also offer predictable, subscription-based pricing, whether that be monthly or yearly, or fixed or flexible plans, that can help businesses manage their IT costs more effectively. As a small or medium-sized enterprise owner or manager and reducing costs are a major role of your position, this is where an MSP can be incredibly valuable.

EXPERTISE AND RESOURCES

Rather than having one or multiple in-house IT managers, this full-time team is within the MSP who are IT professionals with specialized skills and experience that can provide a range of IT services and support. When needed, they can provide information to you and explain new technology and concepts so you’re onboard everything that is happening in your business. If you already have an MSP, ensure you’re contacting them when needed to ask any questions that might be bothering you. MSPs also have access to advanced tools and technologies that may be too expensive for SMEs to acquire on their own. You can even loan equipment from MSPs if you need.

PROACTIVE MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE

This feature is also a benefit as MSPs can monitor and maintain IT systems on a proactive basis, identifying and addressing potential issues before they become major problems. This can help prevent downtime, improve system performance, and reduce the risk of security breaches. For business executives in risk-reduction management, this is where your investments pay off. Once again, if you are already working with an MSP, ensure they are keeping up-to-date with new technology and software as cyber attacks evolve.

SCALABILITY

MSPs can provide IT services that scale up or down based on a business’s changing needs. This can help businesses manage their IT resources more effectively and respond quickly to changing market conditions. As your business grows, so does your IT, so your MSP will create a plan with you so you’re both in understanding and agreement about the changes coming in the future.

Should small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) partner with an MSP?

As shown, MSPs can benefit businesses of all sizes, especially SMEs that may not have the resources or expertise to manage their IT infrastructure in-house. It is due to this that MSPs can provide immense value to businesses in all sectors and is something executives should be looking at investing in, especially since risk management is a major aspect of their positions.

If your business is already working with an MSP, take some time to re-evaluate whether you are receiving the service your business requires and, if not, it might be time to switch providers.

Overall, working with an MSP can help businesses improve their IT infrastructure and operations while reducing costs and improving efficiency.

Cybersecurity, Managed IT Services

5 Crucial Cyber Security New Year’s Resolutions For 2023

We’ve all had those new year’s resolutions, we start strong for the first couple of weeks. Then quickly reminded by how busy being in business is and our priorities shift. Our good intentions slowly get forgotten about and never picked back up.

If you’re here, it’s because you want to do the most crucial thing you can for your business. Make sure your cyber security is up to snuff.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or want a fresh perspective, we’ve listed key goals you must work towards so that your cyber security resolutions will not die in spirit. Here is everything you need to get the ball rolling with your cyber security today.

Let’s be clear, this might be daunting, but let me remind you this isn’t a solo effort, cyber security is a collaborative process. Work with your IT provider, HR, and the entire team to discuss, brainstorm, and implement these tactics. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your cyber security. Take your time and get each step right from the start.

Here are 5 cyber security resolutions to prepare your business for online threats in 2023.

Perfect Your Password Policy

I get it, passwords, how boring. Listen though, I’m going to tell you something you probably haven’t heard before.

You’ve always been told for staff to change their passwords frequently, let’s scrap that. It’s obvious to both of us that getting staff to constantly change their passwords is nearly impossible, time-consuming, and annoying. Requiring frequent password changes only leads to users making small adjustments to their already simple, previous password, resulting in weaker security.

Users should have strong and unique passwords for each account. To help achieve this, only enforce password changes when there is suspicion that passwords may be compromised. Now, staff can focus on creating a stronger password, knowing it won’t need to be changed anytime soon.

A simple way to implement this? Promote the use of unique passwords by using a password manager, it will do all the hard work for you. They can create and store an unlimited amount of passwords for all staff, it’s a tool that will save your team loads of time.

If you’re a micro business there are lots of free password managers. If you have 10+ staff, you’ll need to pay for a business-based password manager. Our top business password manager recommendations are Keeper, Password Boss and LastPass. At Pronet we use Keeper for ourselves and all clients. Its extensive sweep of security features makes it one of the best options for cyber security.

Top it off with the security measure in our next resolution.

Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Do you know how you get a text asking to enter a 6-digit code after your login details? Yeah, that’s a form of MFA and it’s extremely important now.

So important that enabling MFA reduces the chance of your account being hacked by 99.9%. Hackers will not be able to access your account unless they are physically able to get your MFA-enabled device. Let’s be honest that won’t happen because I don’t think they’re leaving their bedroom anytime soon.

Making sure all your staff and all their accounts are set up with MFA is a MUST this year. It may not be something you can directly implement yourself, so make sure your IT team put it as a top priority. It’s on you to make it happen!

And a little bonus. Some of the current password manager apps allow you to use MFA within them. The same application can be used to enable strong passwords and implement MFA. Talk about cost-effectiveness.

Remove Old Users from Your Systems

One big cybersecurity resolution for the new year is to clean up all those old user accounts.

If your company has active accounts from old employees, it dramatically increases the potential vulnerabilities in your organisation. An attacker only needs to find one set of login details to gain access to your systems.

Let’s not waste any time with this one, start removing unnecessary accounts to reduce the risk of hackers infiltrating your network. That’s not all. If you want to stop this issue from coming back up there’s one more thing to do.

It’s even more important to change your policies to ensure the principle of least privilege is followed. What this means is that users should only have access to the resources they need to do their job. When that access is no longer needed it should be revoked.

This becomes especially important when employees change roles, leave the company, or are terminated. They may attempt to abuse their access and cause harm to your organisation through actions such as stealing or destroying data, planting malware, or other malicious actions.

Let’s get rid of those old accounts and get new policies in place to prevent the issue going forward.

Conduct A Risk Assessment

I do not doubt your business has experienced some kind of change over the year. Whether that means changes to your systems, structural arrangements, technology or more, your business is in a state of flux.

Due to that, a yearly risk assessment is so important. It gives your company a chance to take note of all of these changes and analyse the threats to your security.

Once your organisation has an updated view of the challenges it faces, it can plan successfully for the future. This may include adjusting security plans and policies to stay safe in the coming year.

Without conducting a risk assessment based on all the changes, it could cause you to focus in the completely wrong areas. Not only wasting time and resources but also leaving your business vulnerable in to threats.

Get that new year risk assessment done ASAP.

Quarterly Employee Training

This might seem daunting, but one, it’s the most important, and two, it’s not as hard as it seems.88% of data breaches are caused by employee mistakes. Human error is still the driving force for cyber security issues, you’re asking for problems by ignoring staff training.

When it comes to training staff, there are already so many resources online where the work is practically done for you! Videos, articles, and interactive quizzes are readily available and can be accessed at staff members’ own pace. All you need to do is point them in the right direction.

Be sure to make it relevant. Relate training materials to your staff’s job responsibilities and the types of threats your organisation is most likely to face. Of course, you’ll know exactly what kind of threats your business will face from that risk assessment. This will help ensure that the training sticks and that staff are more likely to use the skills they learn on the job.

Training provides a good opportunity to remind your staff of policies, but they also allow you to update them on the latest threats. Your employees are often the first line of defence in a cyberattack, so don’t underestimate their role when it comes to protecting your company.

Conclusion:

There you have it, our 5 cyber security New Year’s resolutions. 5 things that we believe are a must to implement to have the best chance of being protected this year. With cyber crimes predicted to soar in 2023, you don’t want to take any chances, especially with your business.

Remember what I said initially: cyber security is a collaborative effort. Work with others in your organisation to ensure this gets done, otherwise I can guarantee you will fall short. Tackle one at a time and get them right from the start. Good luck and I wish you a successful year ahead!

Cybersecurity, Managed IT Services

Christmas Crackdown: Why Business Owners Are Tightening the Rules for Online Shopping at Work 

It’s alarming to know that nearly half of social media users have fallen victim to shopping scams.  

It may seem like a good idea to avoid the shops at this time of year. If your employees are doing some last-minute Christmas shopping at work, it’s important to ensure that your business is protected. Online shopping scams are on the rise, especially this time of year. With the damages for business owners being so high, it’s not a risk you want to be taking. 

The Dangers of Online Shopping at Work 

Unfortunately, new research shows that 47% of people click on dangerous links. They think they’re getting a great deal, but instead, give up financial & personal details to cyber criminals. I know it’s the season of giving, but let’s not get too carried away.  

Your employees don’t only risk giving up their personal information, but risk your device and potentially exposing your company’s entire network to criminals.  

It’s not just shopping scams employees need to look out for. Phishing scams also manage to trick 36% of people into revealing personal data. Phishing scams are where you get an email that seems to be from someone or somewhere you trust, but it’s not. 

Remember that account you never made, emailing and asking you to update your payment details? You probably don’t remember it because good chance you never actually made the account. It’s just a scam.  

The same 36% have also fallen for gift card scams. Where criminals gain the trust of victims and try to persuade them to buy gift cards or online vouchers. Not in the Christmas spirit at all. 

See, with all the benefits online Christmas shopping can bring, there are a lot of nasties you and your staff need to be aware of.  Especially this time of year. 

The Damage It Can Bring to Your Company 

Let’s talk about what kind of damage you can expect, and it’s not pretty. If employees do happen to click on malicious links or download an infected file, the results for your business can be devastating.  

Cyber attacks are now so harmful that the risk goes beyond the loss of data and reputation. Once victim to attack, criminals can force you to cease your business operations altogether. The cost of downtime has proven to be enough to put people out of business for good. An astounding 60% of SMEs that fall victim to cyber attacks go out of business after the first 6 months. 

Yeah, not the kind of Christmas present you’d want, so let’s talk about how we can avoid this happening at your company. 

How You Can Lower the Risk Today  

Here are some ways to help you protect your employees, and more importantly your business this holiday season. 

While technical protections such as firewalls, antivirus, and strong password management are important, the focus needs to be on training your team. It should be known that the most effective defence is a team that can recognise a threat when they see one. Investing in your team’s training and education will help them stay vigilant and protect your organisation against potential attacks. 

Make sure your staff are aware of the latest scams and know what warning signs to look out for. At a minimum make sure all staff are  

  • Check website links are genuine 
  • Making sure websites are the real deal  
  • Being suspicious of offers that look too good to be true 

It is also important to have a plan in place that can be implemented as soon as a security breach is detected. All staff should know how to report incidents immediately and who to notify. The faster your team can respond, the more damage you can prevent and the associated costs that follow. In some cases, it may be possible to stop the breach before it negatively impacts your business altogether. By being prepared and having a clear plan of action, you can minimise the risks and protect your organisation. 

If you’re after the quickest way to make sure your team is keeping an eye out for scams, send a quick email reminder. Take the points from this article and forward them to your staff. Even better, forward the entire article! The best thing you can do is make them aware. 

There you have it, some easy ways to protect your business from online shopping scams. We hope you’ve been able to take something away or give you something to think about. 

Cybersecurity, Managed IT Services

Quick Tips for Employees to be Cyber Safe

Among all the components that a business needs to operate successfully, cybersecurity has now become one of those essential components. In the wake of COVID outbreak, businesses have stepped up their digital adoption, and threat actors are ready to grab the moment by going after companies of all sizes and industries. The year 2021 will go down in history as one of the most successful in terms of both security breaches and cyberattacks.

No matter what industry you’re in, attackers have no limits on what they may do. They just care about the data they can get their hands on and the money they can get for it. Even now, the attacks are getting more aggressive and smarter. If you are an employee of the company, then you must understand that you are on the front line of information security. Therefore, it’s important to stay on guard to help assure your company’s data is safe and secure. This article will focus on the best practices that employees should try to follow as human factors remains the primary reason for most of the cyberattacks happening in the world. Silly mistakes can bring devastating results and even complete closure of businesses in many cases. So, it is the duty of the employer and the employee too to be aware of cybersafe practices and follow them to remain safe. Let us start with these quick things:

Credit: Pronet Technology

Never Use the Company Email Outside of Work
For the sake of having all the updates in one single email, it is commonly seen that people use their work email for personal use, like for shopping, dining, etc. While it makes life easier, it’s also one of the riskiest things a person can do. Doing so unintentionally can put a business or corporation at risk. Your email can reveal confidential information about your company, which could cause the business to fail.

For instance, Australia’s one of the big universities, i.e., Deakin University was also a victim of cyberattack recently when an attacker used a staff member’s username and password to access student information via one of Deakin’s third-party providers. So, if you’re going to use your business email for personal purposes, think again about it.

Mind Your Clicks
It is human nature to click on pop-ups, links, and ads if we personally receive them to know what value they offer. And, hackers savagely target this weak point of humans, and just with one click, they get access to your company data in a matter of seconds. These can be delivery emails pretending to be from DHL or Amazon, amazing offers, and so on, all designed to entice the reader to click the link. So, if you ever get an email with a link in it that doesn’t pertain to you, I suggest avoiding forwarding or clicking on it, and only notifying your company’s security staff. This would allow your company to put a halt to the attack and prevent it from spreading further at the time it occurs.

For instance, this is the phishing email we received a few days ago where the hacker portrayed himself as the shipment company DHL, but our employees are well-educated about the cyber safe practices and no one clicked on the link. The catch here was that the email i.d. that was used to send did not belong to the DHL company and all our employees realised the same.

Credit: Pronet Technology

Educate Yourself About Phishing Scams
Phishing scams are the most common scams that result in a security breach. Hackers or phishers lure employees to click on links that ask you to enter personal or company information, and once the information is entered, the whole network of the business is exposed to the hackers. It is very crucial to understand the difference between a genuine link and a corrupted one. If you are unsure of the link or email you have received to fill in the details, I suggest you immediately consult your I.T. department to verify. This will help prevent any cyberattacks.

Use Strong Passwords
So, again, to make our lives easy, we all use the same passwords or common passwords at work and in our personal lives. It simplifies our lives and even the lives of hackers too. Keeping common passwords gives an open invitation for hackers to compromise all the accounts using that password and, through them, give access to your company’s or business data. The last thing anyone would want is to be held responsible for such a devastating setback for a firm. So, just be mindful when creating passwords for the tools and software you use at work.

Never Share Passwords
So, another human trait is to have passwords written somewhere or to share them with someone trustworthy (according to you), which is not at all a good practice. Being humans, you never know when a person’s intention changes and it might be too late before that person misuses the information you have shared. It is a good practice for both personal and professional life not to share passwords with anyone. 

Use 2FA While Logging into Devices, Software, etc.
An extremely safe option to use for staying safe in the present unsafe digital environment. You can try using different apps to have the authentication turned on for all of the logins. This will keep everything safe and even alert you instantly when there is an attempt to hack the accounts.

Make Sure all the Updates are Followed
Another thing that most of us ignore is the pop-up messages that come on our screen to update certain software, applications, etc. Usually, we all ignore or delay updating the installed software or applications, and this opens the gate for hackers to compromise the system from your machine, using your identity passwords, and have access to all your company’s sensitive data. If your company sends out instructions for any security updates, it is wise to install them all right away. Cyberthreats often take aim at your data. I am sure no one would want to be the reason for a cyberattack at their workplace, so next time when you see the update message on your screen, take the necessary action immediately.

Talk to Your I.T. Department
It is a good idea to learn more about the best practices to follow to be safe from cyberattacks online without any hesitation. Your I.T. department or I.T. partners will always advise you the best when it comes to cybersecurity. Reaching out to the I.T. department or person to alert them of any possible warnings is also advised to keep away any threats.

Use the Latest & Relevant Technology
Another major thing to keep in mind is to use the latest versions of tools, software, and technology in the workplace. If the licence of the software, applications, etc. you are using has expired or needs an update, do take the necessary action immediately as these outdated versions are most commonly used by hackers to attack. It is usually the duty of the I.T. department or external I.T. partner to suggest the best technology, but the employees should also be aware of putting forward any demand or need they have when it comes to technology they are using.

You Can Avoid a Data Breach

Having the right knowledge about how to identify spoofed content, links, emails, etc. is very crucial for strengthening your company’s defence against cyberattacks. Always remember: one corrupt click by you could let in a hacker and a single delay or failure to fix a flaw in time could become the primary reason for a cyberattack. So, take it as a part of your job to engage in safe online behaviour.

IT should be the backbone of every business and to help businesses leverage the same, Pronet Technology has been offering the best IT solutions along with cybersecurity tailored to your business needs and budget for more than 25 years now.

CALL US today at 03 9069 2188 to get a free consultation for your business IT requirements.

Stay tuned to our blogs to know interesting IT-related tips and facts.

References:

Graham, J. and Carey, A., 2022. Deakin University cyberattack: Hackers get details for 47,000 current and former students. [online] Theage.com.au. Available at: <https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/hackers-get-details-of-47-000-current-former-students-in-deakin-uni-cyberattack-20220713-p5b16v.html?fbclid=IwAR23ya2lPoU0L7_ZxQhFipMEtbQLzlS8hw0sbhU3OuYtiKYriSNnBJps3w4> [Accessed 24 July 2022].

2018. Silver Magic Keyboard. [image] Available at: <https://www.pexels.com/photo/silver-magic-keyboard-1109543/> [Accessed 25 July 2022].

Cybint. 2020. 15 Alarming Cyber Security Facts and Stats. [online] Available at: <https://www.cybintsolutions.com/cyber-security-facts-stats/> [Accessed 24 July 2022].

Managed IT Services

5 Key Signs to Check that Call for Changing Your MSP TODAY

With ever-increasing demand for MSP’s in the industry, there are MSP’s of all kinds today; small, big, specialised in an industry and much more, making it hard for businesses to select one. Choosing a managed service provider is a crucial decision for every business. One simply cannot go wrong in selecting an MSP as a business’s growth is majorly dependent on it. A company entrusts its IT infrastructure and management to its external IT partner i.e., MSP; therefore, the MSP must be reliable and capable of handling the duty.

Choosing the best MSP for your business promotes growth, however, choosing the wrong one will squander your time and money along with exposing the businesses to different types of vulnerabilities. To help you make the best decision for your business, we have compiled a list six primary services that your MSP should be providing to successfully help your business grow without any legal or technical issues. Let us take a look here:

  1. Making Technology the business’s backbone
    Obtaining assistance with IT and everything associated with technology is the key reason for using an MSP. And, it is expected of the service provider to offer the integration of relevant software, tools, equipment etc. to maximise technology’s effectiveness. Your managed service provider should ensure that technology is the strongest aspect of your business, causing no problems and being rapidly addressed if any do arise. Even small tech problems that make it hard for you and your staff to perform efficiently is not a good indicator, as it indicates that your existing managed service provider is failing to offer the core services.

  2. Regular IT strategic advices and implementation of Latest Technology
    Technology evolves and becomes obsolete on a daily basis; as a result, it is the responsibility of every MSP to make recommendations on the best IT solutions or tools to implement for risk-free and uninterrupted business conduct. Also, this does not imply that each new version of the tool, software, or system is more advantageous. It relies entirely on the requirements and kind of business you are doing. Therefore, if you are not receiving regular recommendations regarding new tools, software, etc. for the efficient running of your business, it demonstrates that your existing provider is unsuitable.

  3. Making Cloud Services as your main Strength
    Cloud services integration and usage has become one of the top requirements for businesses at present, and this trend is expected to grow in the future. There are definite benefits of using cloud services if relevant to the business. In case you are using cloud services then, having quick access to all the shared apps, software, storage, etc. is a must for all the employees. Providing easy access to these services for employees and leveraging the cloud as a competitive advantage should also be a top priority for your MSP.

  4. Testimonials (video) to prove their successful brand reputation
    As confirmation of a company’s selling points, testimonials play an important role in establishing trust between the buyer and seller. Every business has a list of satisfied customers who will provide positive testimonials, but you must be observant to determine the truth. As previously stated, every business has both satisfied and dissatisfied customers, but no one ever speaks out or displays testimonials from the latter. The catch is to ensure that the testimonials you are provided are from a larger organisation and are provided by a senior employee or a specialist. If you happen to receive video testimonials from your MSP, I would say it is the best. It is a big commitment for a client to create and share video testimonials, as it takes a lot of effort and an exceptional service offering for a client to create and share video testimonials.

  5. Multiple ways to contact the Customer Support team in case of critical issues
    Managed service provider’s main role is to support a business in every possible way to move and plan ahead. This is directly linked to the support services that it offers. An ideal MSP is constantly proactive in ensuring that the technical support team gives the customer’s issues their undivided attention. Once the problem has been resolved with fast response time and within the required timeframe, it is expected that the provider will do a follow-up to verify that the same problem does not reoccur. If you are not receiving this type of assistance from your MSP, you should reconsider, since it is one of the most significant considerations.

We recognise that selecting a managed service provider requires much planning, discussion, and confidence. It is akin to entrusting someone with the firm and granting them partial management. This is the type of relationship that, once formed, cannot be simply severed; in most circumstances, it lasts quite a while. Consequently, it is of the utmost necessity to examine everything and confirm the MSP’s services.

IT should be the backbone of every business and to help businesses leverage the same, Pronet Technology offers the best IT solutions tailored to your business needs and budget.

CALL US today at 03 9069 2188 to get a free consultation for your business IT requirements.

Stay tuned to our blogs for more information related to IT and Managed Services