Late in January, Twitter suffered down time causing users of the popular social media service to go through some pretty serious withdrawal.  However, this latest security breach caused alarm bells to go off throughout the business and casual Twitter universe.

Twitter claims they were the target of a sophisticated attack. The company wrote in their Twitter blog that they detected unusual patterns that led it to identify attempts to access user information.

Bob Lord, Twitter’s Director of Information Security wrote in the Twitter blog “We discovered one live attack and were able to shut it down in process moments later.” Further investigation identified that the attackers may have accessed some user information such as usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted passwords of approximately a quarter million Twitter users.

This Twitter attack was the work of seasoned Internet hackers and it is believed that it is part of the same attack that hit other leading websites recently.

Twitter also advices their users to avoid the use of websites that promise to get you lots of followers. These sites are known sources of spam.

Anything online must be secured including your corporate Twitter account. Our team of IT security professionals takes your corporate IT security seriously and this Twitter attack is another reminder of needing corporate IT security policies in place and regular tests implemented to ensure all systems work.

Do you have questions about your corporate IT security?

Give our team of IT security professionals a call and book a no obligation discussion and understand the risks that may impact your business.

When Twitter goes down, it is not life or death. The world will continue to spin on its axis and business will continue. Twitter’s outage will not bring your business to a grinding halt. However outages like this give business owners an opportunity to take stock in cloud services and wonder if the cloud is right for their business.

Cloud technologies we use in business must not be confused with general public services like Twitter and other social media platforms. Cloud services your business uses each day or those that you are currently reviewing are much different and must not be confused with Twitter. Business cloud services are a different beast all together.

Cloud services for business come with service level agreements guaranteeing uptime and ensuring business services are available. Not to say that outages will never occur, business also experiences outages when services are maintained in house. The service level agreement with your cloud service will outline what is acceptable downtime and when prolonged service interruptions occur is there any compensation due to your business.

Business cloud services are a great alternative for businesses looking for alternatives to services that were once onsite. Small businesses are attracted to cloud services because many services are offered on a monthly or annual subscription. This can save thousands in licensing fees and hardware costs. These subscription fees also allow a cloud service provider to have specialized service engineers to ensure maximum uptime is maintained.

Don’t let Twitter’s outages affect your final decision to move your business solutions to cloud technologies. We encourage you to speak with one of our IT professionals before you move towards cloud services. We are experts in helping you make the right IT decision.

Call us today to book a no obligation review on your entire business IT network.  We are here to help you make the right decisions.

Canada’s next Nortel? Not this time, although headlines around the world shouted the words – Research in Motion is gone. It doesn’t mean that the Canadian tech giant has closed their doors.

During the BlackBerry 10 launch on January 30, CEO Thorsten Heins announced the dropping of the iconic brand “Research in Motion” electing to go with the simple name “BlackBerry”.

The name change is part of the comeback plan for the recently troubled company. For those who follow RIM, now BlackBerry on the stock markets, look for BBRY on the NASDAQ and BB in Toronto.

The BlackBerry 10 operating system is the latest release for one of the business community’s most trusted mobile platforms. BlackBerry, a pioneer in the mobile computing market, set the stage for all the smart devices businesses use today.

What do you think about the BlackBerry these days? Is it still a relevant tool for business?

BlackBerry devices still allow business to communicate in a secure fashion. Touting the only encrypted channel for the flow of emails and chat, BlackBerry remains at the top of the list with corporations globally because of its security features.

What is special about the new BlackBerry 10?

The BlackBerry 10 has new software designed to let BlackBerry users multitask with ease and, according to BlackBerry, more effectively than on other smartphone devices, including the iPhone.

BlackBerry introduced two new models. A full touch screen device and one with their physical QWERTY keyboard design. The touch device will be the first device to hit the market with the keyboard version following a few weeks after.

To learn more about all the features found in the BlackBerry 10, visit http://us.blackberry.com.

Did you know that our IT consulting services include ensuring your BlackBerry and other mobile devices can connect to corporate networks and operate in a secure fashion on the network? Our team of highly skilled IT professionals will also ensure that your network is completely secured and all threats mitigated, even those from mobile devices. We offer complete management of your smartphones and mobile devices.

Priddle reports that IT security continues to be one of the top concerns for business leaders. Every day we hear about data loss from stolen systems, compromised IT security systems and simple user error. In 2013, small to large companies must pay attention to the threats that exist and learn how to secure their organizations.

Krempulec agrees that security is the number one concern for business. He also states that mobile device management will move from the whiteboard to planned project status in 2013 as business starts to realize the vulnerabilities with smartphones, tablets and other mobile solutions.

Additionally in 2013, rolling out server hardware continues to fade away as businesses of all sizes turn to virtual server environments to increase operational efficiencies and provide additional IT cost savings. The other question facing business owners is what to do with the traditional desktop computer? Virtual Desktops will also gain momentum in 2013 along with the rise of mobile computing.

When asked what security practice CTOs and IT managers should quit in 2013, Krempulec recommends that internal IT staff and their outsourced IT consulting firms have the entire team onboard when it comes to corporate IT security. Working it alone is over, IT involves all departments now from HR to Legal.

Krempulec also recommends that business professionals don’t assume that the latest and greatest smartphone or tablet application is secure. Mobile malware is growing at an exponential rate, especially on the Android platform. The Android app market is not locked down and any application can appear legitimate only to leave you vulnerable to a security breach or theft of personal information.

A good habit for all smartphone, tablet and regular computer users is to keep your system up to date by ensuring all patches are run and your technology is kept up to date. This goes for Apple, Windows and Android users.

And when it comes to cloud computing, business must combine onsite IT security solutions with cloud-based security services to ensure all levels of your corporate IT network is secure and free from potential threats.

Do you have questions about your IT security? Our team of IT and computer security specialists are here to help you by ensuring onsite computer networks and your cloud services are as secure as possible.

Call us today to book your no obligation IT security review with our team.

The US Government’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team is advising business and consumers to disable the Universal Plug and Play or UPnP along with additional features allowing devices from computers to printers to be accessible over the Internet.

UPnP is a communications protocol designed to let networks indentify and communicate with equipment. This feature, primarily used in home networks, reduces the complexities of setting up networks. According to Dave Marcus, Chief Architect of advanced research and threat intelligences at Intel’s McAfee says that hackers could have a field day once the vulnerability in network devices is exposed.

Businesses are aware of the threats that face their smartphones and computers but network devices are historically one of the last devices to receive updates, leaving their software or firmware out-of-date and potentially exposed to these sort of threats.

Once you disable the UPnP on your device it will have little or no impact on the operation of the device.

What is the risk?

Our clients are not at risk, our service teams ensure all patches and updates are applied regularly. In addition, our strict IT security standards limit exposure of threats outside the network.

If you are not a client of ours, you may be at risk. These flaws could allow hackers to access confidential information, steal passwords or take full control of your computer in addition to webcams, printers and security systems.

Security experts have not seen any early signs of the UPnP vulnerabilities being widely exploited. However, this may change once findings are made public.

We recommend checking all your devices including smart device such as web cameras, storage devices and even your smart TV at home. Many of these devices come shipped with the UPnP on by default and you may not be aware of this.

Do you have questions about your IT security? Call our team of IT security professionals to learn more about our fully managed IT services including IT security consulting.

A software developer thought that he would outsource his own job to China allowing him time to surf the web and shop online. While workers in China were taking on his duties for about one fifth of his six figure salary, this George Costanza-type worker goofed off throughout the day.

His company caught on to his antics after doing a security check sometime last year on its virtual private network logs. The company discovered an active VPN connection from Shenyang, China to this software developer’s computer that had been open for months.

IT security experts also discovered that the Chinese workers were connecting to the main company server using the employee’s login and password. Even though he was sitting at his desk, the login showed him signed on in China.

In addition to sharing his corporate login and password, the software developer also couriered his RSA security token to the Chinese workers allowing them to connect and maintain his regular nine to five workday while they were working the nightshift.

This once best developer in the firm lost his job and his six figure salary.

This article got us thinking about the importance of IT security and making sure access to the corporate network is as secure as possible.

When was the last time you had an audit or review done on your business network? Many businesses we run across do not have the proper IT security systems in place and many business owners have no idea what is happening on their corporate networks.

We are here to help ensure that all your IT security systems are setup properly and your business IT systems are routinely monitored preventing unauthorized access to your network and also to verify how your employees are using IT services from outside the office.

Call us today to book your no obligation IT security review by our team of IT security experts.

The new HIPAA security rules are not to be confused with Meaningful Use, but experts believe that combined, the two may encourage more providers to protect your medical records.

With these new HIPAA security regulations, many US healthcare organizations are working to ensure their medical or healthcare organizations are not at risk. Healthcare organizations are consulting security reviews and their own risk assessments.

One thing that will happen because of these new HIPAA security standards is an increase in HIPAA audits and increased penalties. A number of reported breaches recently shows that government organizations are sending a loud and clear message to the healthcare industry that it is time to comply.

Can your healthcare organization pass a HIPAA audit? When was the last time you had a risk assessment completed ensuring your data security was in order? As your trusted IT partner, we work hard to ensure all your IT security systems are functional and that all your business data is protected.

We work with businesses throughout the region providing IT security services and day-to-day IT support. If our team can help you, please give us a call to arrange a no obligation IT support review.

The new changes greatly enhance a patient’s privacy rights and protections, but also strengthen the ability for the HHS to vigorously enforce the HIPAA privacy and security protections, said Leon Rodriguez, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights in a recent article we learned about in the Healthcare IT News online magazine.

Since the implementation of HITECH, the mandate has been to do something far broader in focus than merely specific incident investigations. According to Rodriguez, the HHS has moved into an area of assertive enforcement.

The HHS will continue to levy monetary penalties to those who violate HIPAA regulations. Physicians, hospitals, health plans and state social service agencies are all in the sights of the HHS. Rodriguez mentioned that these monetary settlements will send a message to the industry regarding the importance of safeguarding patient records and privacy of information.

For additional information we welcome you to visit Tom Sullivan’s article in Healthcare IT news. Tom Sullivan reports on Government Health IT and is someone we pay close attention to regarding healthcare IT and how our IT services to healthcare and medical facilities are delivered to our clients.

When was the last time you had someone in to discuss your healthcare IT and ensure that your practice is taking all the required steps to provide compliance with HIPAA and HITECH standards? Not sure? Give us a call and our healthcare IT specialists can help and also ensure you are safeguarding your patient records properly and that all records are protected.

The right cloud technologies will help a business achieve a decrease in operating expenses related to IT support while providing small to midsize business with enterprise-grade solutions once only affordable to large companies.

In addition to immediate cost savings, businesses will also stay up to date with applications automatically without the costs related to purchasing new hardware every three to five years and investing in new software packages. Multi-tenant, shared cloud services provide a small to medium business with the latest technologies while paying a monthly fee or subscription to access the services.

Shared services may be acceptable to a smaller business however many companies are concerned about the security risks associated with moving company data to the cloud. These security concerns need to be addressed allowing small business owners to rest easy knowing their data is safe and secure.

Many of the leading cloud services companies have taken security very seriously and all the top cloud providers offer security measures that go much deeper compared to the days when businesses had inexpensive network routers or low end firewalls securing networks.

Is the cloud right for your business? This is a very important question and a question our experienced cloud consultants can help answer.

Can we help you figure out what cloud services are right for your business? Is it Microsoft Office365 or Google Apps? Is it a blend of onsite and cloud services? Or do you need your own private cloud? Our cloud consultants will help you, call us today to book a meeting.

On January 9, 2013 an unencrypted laptop was stolen from a physician’s car. The laptop contained patient information from the 311-bed hospital. The hospital, an academic medical center located at Stanford University, shared this HIPAA breach on Monday, January 21, 2013.

The stolen laptop may have contained information such as dates of birth, medical record numbers and other sensitive clinical data. Officials reported that the compromised information was primarily patient information from 2009.

Officials from the hospital continue to investigate alongside local law enforcement.

The hospital said in a press statement that they are taking additional steps to further strengthen their policies and controls with patient data including ensuring all computers and devices that contain medical information is encrypted.

Don’t become another HIPAA breach statistic. Take steps today to protect your patients and avoid costly penalties by ensuring your medical facility has taken the required steps to safeguard patient information. This includes conducting a HIPAA risk assessment, making sure all computers and devices are encrypted and ensuring all users take the required steps to ensure they are doing their part to safeguard patient records.

Our IT Security team are security experts, ensuring all your corporate data is completely protected and properly secured on your own servers, on storage devices or in the cloud. We help to secure not only medical information but all data in any size company, corporation or organization.

Our team of IT security experts are standing by to help you. We invite you to call us and book a no obligation IT security discussion with our team of security professionals.