Insurance is an area that can be beneficial to both individuals and companies in many scenarios, and one that's perhaps not considered as often as it should be in the business world is the realm of cybersecurity. Even if you're engaged in all the proper measures to protect your company's data and internal processes, keeping cyber insurance in case something goes wrong is often a highly prudent approach for business owners to take.
At JCIT, we're proud to offer a huge range of IT support and related managed IT services, with cybersecurity serving as just one of several key areas we manage on behalf of clients. We regularly assist clients with themes like cyber insurance and whether they should consider it, even if they're working with our experts for quality security measures. In today's part one of this two-part series, we'll go over some basics on cyber insurance and why it pays to hold it for your business; in part two, we'll look at the risks you're taking if you don't have it.
Just like other forms of insurance protect people or entities against various accidents or events, cyber insurance can provide a crucial layer of protection should something go wrong. In the business world, this sort of insurance can help cover many different types of expenses and damage that might result from an online incident involving your company's data or systems.
Some of the features of cyber insurance may include:
And just like other forms of insurance, you likely won't use cyber insurance often -- but it's better to be safe than sorry! Here are some other reasons why.
Quality cyber insurance programs also offer forms of analysis and services that can help your business avoid many kinds of cyber threats in the first place. These helpful programs are known as pre-threat services, and they're designed to identify whatever vulnerabilities may exist in your company's online security measures so that you can remedy them or take steps to prevent an incident from ever occurring.
Any good cyber insurance company will also have significant experience interfacing with IT teams and cyber security professionals, which can be a huge asset to your business. We regularly work with top cyber insurance firms, combining our team's knowledge of the business world with the special cyber insurance expertise these companies bring to the table.
For more on why cyber insurance is a program you must be considering for your business, or to learn about any of our IT support services, speak to the team at JCIT today.
In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the simple ways business owners and management can go about setting up a quality cybersecurity training program for employees. This form of security is vital for companies today, and ensuring all your employees have the proper training on it is extremely important.
At JCIT, we're proud to offer a variety of IT infrastructure and related services, including many occasions where we've assisted clients with not only their cybersecurity setup itself, but also how to train employees on it so they're familiar and can easily maintain it. Here are some additional tips we can offer to help you out in this area.
You can utilize your company's marketing team to leverage social media, internal distributions lists and other formats that help share cybersecurity content with employees. These might take the form of instructional videos, how-to guides, tips for safe browsing, suspicious activity guidelines, and more.
In many cases, this will help boost employee engagement with the training, but on top of that it'll also help them get familiar with the information in more informal ways. For example, your employees might enjoy watching an instructional video while they're riding the shuttle on their way to work, or browsing through a how-to guide while they wait for their morning coffee.
Another important concept to hit during your employee training sessions for cybersecurity is to tackle common misconceptions that employees have. In this way, you can help eliminate much of the confusion and ambiguity that tends to exist between cybersecurity education and general employee education.
For example, many employees might not know how to properly view email attachments before opening them; giving your workers a short PowerPoint presentation explaining the dangers of opening files from unknown sources or unverified senders can go a long way. The more aware your employees are of the potential issues, the less likely they'll be to fall victim to them.
Finally, as a business owner or manager, you should be aware of the significant risks that come with a lack of cybersecurity training for employees. In terms of the risks you face from a business perspective, hackers can steal confidential information such as customer lists and credit card information to commit fraud. Identity theft is also another major risk that stems from not having enough security measures in place at your organization.
Another troubling threat that might come about when employees aren't properly trained on cybersecurity is the increased risk of malware. Cyber criminals are becoming more sophisticated in their ability to spread viruses and other attacks through compromised accounts or email addresses, so it's important that you take steps to educate your employees about how to prevent this from happening.
For more on how to properly train your business's employees on cybersecurity, or to learn about any of our managed IT or related tech support services, speak to the staff at JCIT today.
There are several important elements that may play a role in training new employees for your organization, and one that's especially relevant to many businesses is ensuring employees are compliant with cybersecurity measures you have in place. Many cybercriminals are looking to exploit vulnerabilities caused by employees who aren't taking proper cybersecurity measures, so protecting from any risk here is of paramount importance.
At JCIT, we're proud to offer a variety of managed IT services and related solutions for all our Salt Lake City clients, including programs to help both business owners and employees understand basic online security and how to maintain it. We've helped many of our clients set up effective cybersecurity programs that their employees can easily follow, and we'll do the same for you. In this two-part blog series, we'll go over some of the most important concepts for setting up this program and ensuring your employees understand and comply with it.
One of the top factors to be constantly considering as you're setting up your employee cybersecurity program is ways to keep employees engaged with the information you're providing. It's a relatively simple concept, but effective engagement can be challenging to pull off, so it's important to take this factor into account from the very beginning of your planning process.
You have a variety of options for engaging employees with the material, and it's effective to utilize a combination of them all. Some standard practices you should always include are one-on-one meetings with managers, email updates, brief presentations by IT staff, and other similar methods. These are all good options to use within your cybersecurity training program, but it's especially important to make sure you keep things engaging for employees through the different forms of contact.
One method we strongly recommend is at least one session of basic training for each employee on simple cybersecurity best practices. These are just a few examples to get you started, but this is an effective way to create awareness around key issues that many employees may not have even considered yet.
Employees should always keep their software up-to-date, including all browsers, plugins, and other applications they use regularly. Many cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities in out-of-date software, so this is one of the most important steps employees can take to protect themselves online.
It's also essential that employees understand not to open attachments or click on links in emails from unknown senders. This is a common way for cybercriminals to install malware on a user's device, and it's one you should teach employees to avoid.
Another quality approach to cybersecurity engagement among employees: Rewarding those who are especially diligent about following best practices. You can easily set up metrics to monitor who demonstrates the most engagement with these training materials, and then find small ways to thank them for their efforts beyond just words of appreciation.
It's also worth considering some kind of incentive program that rewards employees who go above and beyond in helping you maintain strong cybersecurity measures. This could be something like a small bonus or extra paid time off, and it's a great way to show employees that you value their efforts in this area.
For more on how to set up a strong cybersecurity program for your employees, or to learn about any of our business VOIP or outsourced IT services in Salt Lake City, speak to the staff at JCIT today.
In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the simple IT qualities that are generally maintained by today's top companies. Proper IT solutions position your business for success in several ways, while a failure to maintain this area puts you at-risk not only of security threats, but also several other areas as well.
At JCIT, we offer a huge range of IT support and managed IT services for business clients throughout Salt Lake City and other parts of Utah, positioning them for quality responsiveness and several other major benefits that come with working with a quality partner like ours. What are some of the other top IT-related business qualities we'll help you achieve, and why are they important? Here's a primer.
Mobile technology is a huge part of the business world today, and both your employees and clients need to be able to access your network and information system from any location, whether it's a traditional laptop, smartphone or tablet. Our mobile devices management services will give you the flexibility you need to accomodate all of these areas without sacrificing performance -- we'll ensure that every device on our network has full security and access privileges at all times.
Competitive businesses are using tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and others that maximize productivity and make it easier to do business with customers anywhere. Our managed IT services will give you all of this, wherever you need it and whenever you need it.
The security of your company's data and IT practices is of paramount importance, and this is another area where our expertise can really shine. With extensive experience in all forms of data management, we make it our job to ensure that every possible security measure is taken on your behalf, maximizing the protection you need for your business and at a cost-effective price. From cloud data backups to protection tools like antivirus and more, we'll help you navigate the complex world of security so that your information is both protected and accessible to those who need it most.
Finally, some small businesses trying to manage IT on their own will struggle with the collection, streamlining and analysis of data to learn more about their businesses and set quality, realistic KPIs. This is yet another area where we can help you as your business partner -- with our data analytics tools, we'll be able to analyze your data and present it in a way that makes learning about your business simple and effective.
So if you're looking to take advantage of these and other top IT qualities, or just want to learn more about how we can help you compete in the modern business world, contact the team at JCIT today.
In today's modern world, technology is simply an unavoidable part of succeeding in the business realm. As a business owner or manager, the proper IT solutions can put your company in position for much greater success than it would be otherwise, allowing you to deliver quality products and services with robust internal operations.
At JCIT, we're proud to offer a wide range of managed IT services to bring your company a stable, consistent IT baseline at all times. Our services come a la carte, meaning you only pay for the specific solutions you require and never a penny more. The most successful companies today all share several basic IT characteristics -- what are these, and how will we help you achieve them? Here's a basic primer.
It's vital that your IT solutions are speedy and without major lag time, but it's of equal or even greater importance that such solutions are always available. Even one major IT failure on a single workstation can be a major problem for a business -- if this is allowed to happen on several computers, at different times throughout the day, in an enterprise environment with hundreds of employees, the problem only grows exponentially.
Speed and availability are in large part what we can provide you in your IT solutions from JCIT. We offer top-quality service that includes robust monitoring, ensuring that our clients never suffer from the "what if?" of IT problems. We identify possible issues before they even become major problems, avoiding downtime and lags that could lose you major chunks of business.
Growth is also a major part of the goals of nearly any business, and for this reason, IT practices need to be versatile and scalable. Your IT providers need to be able to grow with you as your company expands, not merely for the short term but well into the future. Modern cloud storage, for instance, is a perfect example of scalable service.
In addition, successful companies of all sizes need to be ready for the next big wave of technological advances without needing to make expensive or extensive overhauls.
Also vital here is your company's responsiveness, not only to customers but also to partners, employees and anyone else you communicate with regularly. A lack of responsiveness can cause a serious issue in the success of a company -- do you really want to tell your customers that their requests or concerns will take 3-5 days to process?
This is where JCIT's managed IT service shines - we're able to provide a personalized package catered to fit your company's specific needs, and we can do it without a lengthy wait time. By taking a proactive approach to your IT solutions, we can ensure that you're always staying ahead of the curve.
For more on any of our IT services or how we help you achieve success in this area, speak to the staff at JCIT today.
As remote work has increased over the past year and a half, there has also been a rise in email cybersecurity threats. One of these specific types that's increased significantly in frequency is known as spear phishing - what is this, why is it growing so much, and how can you protect yourself and your business from it?
At JCIT, we're proud to offer a wide variety of managed IT and tech support services, covering all your hardware, software, printers, VOIP and more. We're available in both remote and on-site settings throughout Salt Lake City, serving a wide range of clients. Keeping your email data safe and protected is just one part of our broad security programs -- what are we talking about when we refer to spear phishing for email attacks, and how can you protect yourself from these? Here's a primer.
Spear phishing refers to a scam technique that utilizes publicly available information to steal money or personal information from its targets. Scammers will find information on corporate websites, plus on locations like LinkedIn or Facebook, and then will adapt and use this information to send disguised emails, usually requesting some type of payment or financial transfers.
It's all done by disguising the email sender and content, making it look like a legitimate communication that would be missed if not read carefully. Spear phishing differs from traditional email scams in that it's highly targeted to specific people. This means that businesses whose employees are frequently moving or updating information online may be more susceptible to spear phishing - if someone's name, company info, phone numbers and other data changes often over the course of a few months (and is publicly visible), it leaves them more vulnerable to potentially catching a piece of a scammer's attention.
Spear phishing is one of several email scam methods where cybercriminals will imitate a trustworthy sender in order to get users to open an email and click a link or attachment. These links may be sent from seemingly legitimate sources, such as a bank or credit card company, which leads you to believe the email is secure and genuine. This can cause individuals or entities to send money or otherwise make imprudent moves that will directly hurt their business.
In many cases, your email spam filter will catch spear phishing attempts before they reach you. However, they can sometimes be cleverly disguised in ways that will allow them through, so it's important to take precautions:
For more on how to prevent spear phishing for you and your company, or to learn about any of our managed IT or support services in Salt Lake City, speak to the staff at JCIT today.
The euntrepueneial spirit is alive and well despite the challenges brought forth in 2020. You know what it takes to create and build a business, now how are you going to keep it running effectively? The answer: outsource IT management.
We at JCIT serve the Salt Lake City area and beyond offering expert support for your comprehensive IT needs. Curious about the services we offer to support your business? Keep reading.
In order for businesses to run at full capacity one of the best things it can do is to delegate tasks that can be taken care of by other professionals. Delegating IT Services is one of the most effective moves your business can make to set up and maintain your network.
“How to Delegate More Effectively In Your Business” is an article that was published by Forbes emphasizing the importance and the effectiveness of delegating tasks. The author, Mark Zwilling, is the CEO of a business that supports startup professionals and he knows a thing or two about business development.
A few points Zwilling endorses from one of his mentors:
If you choose to take advice from this expert, you’ll understand just how much time, energy, and money you will save by outsourcing IT needs within your business.
JCIT takes pride in employing certified and talented individuals who know what they are doing when it comes to the initial set up of your company’s network to the maintenance of it.
It’s safe to say that computers seem to have a mind of their own sometimes. Delegating challenging tasks of navigating hiccups within softwares and complicated hardware isn’t worth the headache, so leave that to the professionals.
Voice Over Internet Protocol, otherwise known as VOIP, will give your company’s communications a cohesive professionalism and increase the productivity of your operations.
VOIP software allows for voice calls, call recording, caller ID, emails, text messages, and more. One example of how businesses utilize VOIP is that it allows their employees to dial from their computer, speak with the individual, and have their call recorded...all through the software. Customer service is sure to improve with this capability!
A major concern of companies is the loss of important data and information. 50 years ago a fire burning through files in an office building was a business’s worst nightmare. Nowadays, a fire doesn’t even need to occur for the possible loss of data to occur. Like you, we care about the preservation of your company’s essential and even private information. Luckily our technicians and engineers can customize the perfect plan to protect your company from a catastrophic loss of data.
Are you thinking that comprehensive IT support is what you need to implement into your company? Are you ready to get that business running as effectively and efficiently as possible?
JCIT works with any budget! Just call us for a quote and let’s see what we can figure out for what your company needs to be successful.
