Directive Blogs

There are an unfortunate number of cyber threats out there; protecting your company’s network from these threats is paramount. In order to find out how acquainted you are with the malicious programs and attacks that could harm your business, we’ve devised this quick quiz to test your knowledge.

They say that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and matters of cyber security are no exception. Threats will often follow trends, and so by reviewing what has happened in the past, we may be able to glean some insight into what will be important in the future.

Doing business in this day and age depends more and more on your ability to connect to the Internet. It is also essential that your connectivity speeds are able to keep up with your business needs. For many operating in New York State, this has been a problem, but no longer.

When it comes to using technology to improve your business, it’s hard to beat the benefits that cloud computing provides. The cloud can help to boost your functionality in a variety of ways. As a result, cloud technologies have seen explosive adoption rates--and it’s no wonder, when you consider what the cloud is capable of, and how it can benefit your workforce.

In February, the New York State Office of the Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Spectrum-Time Warner Cable and its parent company, Charter Communications, alleging that the company has been systematically defrauding customers since 2012 by promising and charging for Internet speeds that it knew it couldn’t offer. This case of fraud raises an important question, “How do you know if you’re really getting the Internet speed you’re paying for?”

When your technology breaks down, can you rely on your IT provider to be there in a moment’s notice? What if you need someone to talk you through a troubleshooting procedure? During the weekday you expect them to be available, but what if you’re burning the candle at both ends over a weekend to finish an important project? Furthermore, your office might be closed, but your IT infrastructure still needs to be attended to.

Small businesses today have a lot more to worry about than they did twenty, or even ten years ago. Threats have grown so sophisticated that it can be difficult to gauge just how vulnerable your organization is to them. It’s especially important that your organization protects itself from the dangers that lurk within emails, tucked behind thinly-veiled schemes and honeyed words.

So, you’ve just finished up a huge, potentially career-altering project. Your finger is poised over the mouse, ready to click ‘save,’ when suddenly your entire project disappears. Turns out, a critical issue just killed your network, your progress, and your mood. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to keep this from happening?

In the course of doing business your organization needs to lean on its communications investments. Efficient discourse between vendors, clients, and employees allows for productive action to be made quickly. If you have recently decided to deploy a feature-rich hosted VoIP business phone platform because of its ubiquity, you have to be cognizant of how to best secure your solution. Here are three variables that help you get the most out of your hosted VoIP solution.

Let’s say you get a bill in the mail for technology support, but you don’t necessarily know why you got it. Pretty troubling, right? Clearly someone in your organization isn’t privy about the proper method of getting help for their technology, but if you regularly work with a break-fix IT provider, this kind of correspondence (and cost) is unavoidable. Thankfully, there’s a simple solution to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again.

The small business is under siege. Many small business owners do what they can to compete, but it seems like there is no solution for their revenue woes, as larger organizations are able to attract a larger part of the market share. This has been the case for some time, but there are market forces at work today that make it even more difficult for businesses to contend with competitors that have more resources.

Too many businesses suffer due to issues with their information technology. The IT department, that is supposed to be innovating, is just too swamped down solving immediate technical problems to do so. However, if left unchecked, having an IT management deficit could swiftly create larger problems throughout your organization.

While news sources might lead the layman to believe that most issues facing the typical SMB come from cyber criminals lurking online, the reality is far less dramatic. However, this misconception makes these issues no less serious, and still things to prepare for. Let’s review some of the most common causes of technological issues in the office environment.

New technology paves the way for businesses to leverage their resources in exciting ways. Of course, it’s impossible to take advantage of these benefits if you don’t even know these new technologies exist. Therefore, to help you achieve an edge over your competition, consider how these four new technologies can enhance your business model.

The cloud has seen explosive use of its services and solutions since it was first introduced, and for good reason--it offers benefits that are too useful for a business to pass up. These benefits vary, but all serve a singular purpose: to make the user’s experience easier. Here are some of the ways that the cloud can enhance the daily operations of your business.

So you keep hearing about the need for a firewall, but maybe you’re not exactly sure what it is or even what it does. As a business owner, you don’t need to fully grasp the complexities of network security in order to effectively manage your company. Although, it is beneficial for every business owner to understand the basics of what a firewall is, along with a working knowledge of how it protects an organization’s IT infrastructure.

A small business is just as susceptible to the many problems that face large enterprises, and the dangers only multiply with the more technology you implement in the office. The larger your network gets, the more difficult data distribution and storage becomes. The more employees you work with, the more devices that will appear in the office. The more data you work with, the more likely you are to get hacked. These are all very real risks. What are you doing to protect your company from these threats?

You’re in the middle of a project when your computer starts acting up. You smack it around a little bit to see if that has any effect, but it only makes the problem worse. Suddenly, there’s a blue screen and you have no clue what to do. What happened to your data? What will happen to your project? What will you do about the workstation replacement? Read on to find out.

Let’s say that you receive an email from a software vendor, say, Microsoft. When you are contacted by a major company like this, do you automatically assume that it’s secure, or are you skeptical that it’s a scam? Ordinarily, it might not seem like a big issue, but all it takes is one click on an infected attachment or malicious link to infect your business’s infrastructure.

Is your business prepared to handle all kind of online threats? A recent study shows that it probably isn’t. According to the think tank Ponemon Institute, four out of five businesses don’t have the infrastructure or security experts they need to spot and prevent incoming cyber attacks from succeeding. This is a significant statistic that can’t be ignored, especially if you want to secure your business.