Happy Wednesday and welcome back to another exciting edition of PTG Tech Talk! As we continue to procrastinate buying holiday gifts for our loved ones, we wanted to talk about something your business shouldn’t procrastinate on-- an Incident Response Plan.
Our early present to you, our lovely readers, is to help you get started on that incident response plan so you don’t have to show insurance a picture of the plan that’s been “delayed in shipping”.
Today, we’ll discuss
😯 Situations where it’s okay to lie?!
😡 Let’s talk about %!$#
💁 Forgetting Marsha, Meeting PAM
TECH TIP
Let's be honest about lying
Today’s tech tip goes against everything you were ever taught growing up- it’s okay to lie. Well, it’s okay to lie specifically on security questions. We’re talking about those questions they make you answer after submitting your password: In what city were you born? What is the name of your pet? What’s the name of your favorite MSP?
The reason why honesty isn’t the best policy while answering these questions is just how available a lot of that information is. You’ve likely posted adorable pictures of your pooch, Charlie Corgnelius Mcnolegs (can you guess what kind of dog?). Your hometown is plastered in your bio. And the name of your favorite MSP is pretty obvious 😉.
There are a few approaches to making these security questions more secure.
Make them up
What city were you born in? Obviously the Scandinavian Kingdom of Arendelle.
What is the name of your pet? Duke of Wesselton
Mother’s maiden name? ELSA ❄️
Use your password manager
This method not only gives you very hard-to-guess security questions- they’re also conveniently saved where the rest of your passwords are.
You can also take advantage of the “notes” feature in most password managers to safely jot down your made up answers.
HEADLINES
Breach reporting (now faster)
As breaches continue to ramp up in regularity and severity, the FCC is continuing to propose new reforms to help protect our PII (personally identifiable information) and ideally reduce the impact of cyber security incidents. More below:
The good, the Bad and the Ugly in Cybersecurity | SentinalOne
Key Takeaways:
The good news is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing several new ideas for breach reporting requirements for U.S. telecom providers to better protect customers and reduce the impact of security incidents.
The bad news is that over 1300 domains have been compromised this week alone in an ongoing threat, as info-stealing malware has grown in popularity with cybercriminals. They prefer tools that pry legitimate credentials and cookies out of users’ hands.
Even cyber criminals make New Year's Resolutions of their own. Their list would look something like...
The most dangerous cyber security threats of 2023 | CSHub
Key Takeaways:
Smart Devices are a Hacking Target: Tina Grant, quality assessor at UK-based aerospace company Aerospheres forecasts that cyber-attacks targeting smart devices will predominantly affect autonomous devices with multiple points of attack like smart cars.
Phishing and Social Engineering: Ernie Moran, general manager of automated prepaid card fraud protection software Arden, believes that 2023 will continue to see a rise in phishing attacks due to more people turning to cybercrime for financial gain.
Attacks on Cloud Security: The Revolut data breach in September 2022 affected just 0.16 percent of its customers, but this translated into the personal data of more than 50,000 users being accessed.
Lack of Cyber Security Knowledge: Human error isn’t just a common factor in security breaches, it’s essentially THE problem. In 2022, research by the World Economic Forum found that 95 percent of cyber security issues could be traced back to human error.
Remember back in grade school, you learned about how all rectangles are squares but not all... wait, no, all squares are rectangles but not all... Anyway, the point is sometimes things are difficult to understand.
Here at PTG, we pride ourselves on unscrambling the proverbial egg. Understanding the differences between Microsoft 365, Office 365, and Office 2021 is an egg we can unscramble! And while we like to mix metaphors, our goal is never to mix you up about the topic at hand.
So here’s a little breakdown of why you should by Microsoft 365 vs. Office 2021:
Why Buy Microsoft 365:
Collaborate like never before
Using tools like Microsoft Teams, your group will be able to work together instantly and across every platform you’ve got on every element of your projects.
Work from anywhere – literally
There aren’t many places you can go to without an internet connection these days, and if your office DNA says WFH is A-OK, you’ve likely seen folks check in from some wild places.
Why Buy Office 2021:
Buy it once, never buy it again
The reality is buying your product means you have a fixed cost, and in a lot of businesses fixed costs are better. We get it.
Work offline and access extra features
The basic free version of Microsoft Office may allow you to work online, but that’s it. The Office Online-only suite also lacks some important features, such as the table of contents or bibliography in Word, advanced formula or chart tools in Excel, and rich formatting in PowerPoint.
Still uncertain which offering is best for your team or business? Read the full blog here, and you can also always give us a call at (864) 552-1291 and we'll help you evaluate your capabilities and options. Following us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter for plenty more updates and tech-related news!
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