Tag: cyberattacks

Arctic Wolf & GAGE Conducted a Webinar Explaining the Risks of Cyber Attacks on Businesses

November 18, 2022

In case you missed it, Arctic Wolf and GAGE conducted a joint webinar explaining the risks of cyber attacks on businesses, big and small.

What would happen to your business if you fell under a cyber attack? Do you have backups? Do you use cloud-based systems? Are you insured against cyber attacks? If you answered no to any of these questions, you might need to consider securing your business against cybercriminals.

It’s not a level playing field, cybercriminals are not some far-off entity you never have to worry about. They are businesses set up in foreign countries that target individuals and companies of all capacities to cause financial damage. Attacks are increasing and the level of security around what companies are doing to protect themselves is starting to heat up. Insurers are reducing coverage and increasing the costs of policies against these attacks and will evaluate your technology similar to a credit check.

So, what do you do? Educating and preparing your employees to stop social engineering attacks like phishing is critical since 90% of attacks target employees. Cloud-based systems such as DropBox, Google Drive, etc., and having backups make it harder for hackers to manipulate. Most importantly, having a company with the right resources in place to help you stay secure is vital to keeping your operations running. With GAGE and Arctic Wolf partnering together, we are constantly looking for cracks and monitoring the dark web to help customers and manage their vulnerability. Pick a framework, and be proactive about risk management to protect your business.

Protecting Patient Data With the Latest in Cybersecure Technology

May 10, 2021

Recent studies show startling statistics in the healthcare industry’s ability to safeguard patient records. According to a 2020 study by Black Book Market Research, experts found that 82% of hospital CIOs in inpatient facilities under 150 staffed beds and 90% of practice administrators collectively, state they are not even close to spending an adequate amount on protecting patient records from a data breach. Additionally, 90% of health systems and hospital employees who shifted to a work-at-home assignment due to the pandemic, did not receive any updated guidelines or training on the increasing risk of accessing sensitive patient data compromising systems.

Healthcare organizations are primary targets for identity theft because of the value of the data they store. This is no secret to healthcare providers and policies like HIPAA have been legislative attempts to encourage providers to better safeguard this information; however, healthcare organizations can only protect patient data to the level at which they understand the latest cybersecurity methods and to the level at which their technology functions. In other words, since healthcare providers are rightfully focused on increasing patient health and well-being, the strength of their IT network often takes a backseat in terms of priority. This dynamic leads to ignored IT networks, outdated technology, and a perfect target for cybercriminals. Due to an increase in the frequency of cyberattacks on healthcare providers. Providers are under more pressure than ever before to adequately safeguard sensitive information. However, the challenge is that they lack the extra time required to become IT experts themselves and they also lack the extra financial resources required to hire internal IT staff that can keep pace with the new innovations in cybercrime.

“The reason that healthcare providers choose us is because they want to keep their focus on serving patients and they want to know that their information and technology is completely protected,” stated Jason Landry, VP of Sales of Gage. “Physicians should not be focused on their IT infrastructure, nor should they have to operate with lingering fears of compliance or audits. It’s a waste of their talents, time and contribution to society. We’ve spent decades focusing on finding the right technology tools, cybersecurity enhancements and best practices to keep patients, providers and staff safe from cyberattack,” concluded Mr. Landry.

ABOUT GAGE

GAGE is a full-service telecommunications and IT services company that has helped businesses since 1980. Founded in Baton Rouge, the company’s original mission continues today, which is to provide the very best products and services that enable its clients to increase their profitability, obtain a competitive advantage, and improve employee productivity. Gage has served the Louisiana business community for over 40 years through a culture of striving towards excellence and unparalleled commitment to customer service.

Gage works with companies of all sizes with business phone systems, computer networks, managed IT services, structured cabling and standby generators. The company conducts a complete needs analysis to ensure that each customer implements the right technology to meet their needs now and into the future. Gage has been recognized with numerous industry awards and has become one of the region’s leading technology services companies.
For more information on Gage, please call (225) 753-4243 or visit www.gage.cloud

The 3 Best Practices for Email Phishing Attacks

April 26, 2019

Phishing News

 

Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers. According to PhishMe research, “91% of the time, phishing emails are behind successful cyber attacks.”

The overwhelming majority of security breaches caused by phishing are completely avoidable. While cybercriminals have grown more sophisticated in their approach, the average attack consists of the same key ingredients: an undereducated employee, effective bait and a temporary lapse in judgment. While we are in the business of securing an organization’s entire network and protecting them from any threats whatsoever, there are some initial steps that will safeguard a company without costing much time, energy or capital expenditure. These measures we’d like to share are extremely easy to implement and are excellent first steps in protecting a company from cybercrime.

 

The “From” Field

The first sign to look for is the sender’s name in the “From” field of the email. Cybercriminals often use misspelled email addresses, such as JohnnyStealyastuff@gmaail.com, for example, in order to deceive the receiver into thinking that the email is coming from a reputable company. At a quick glance, many recipients won’t recognize the typo in the address field and they’ll open the email which opens them up to the bait.

 

Hover Your Mouse Over Link

The next step for employees is to hover their mouse over links, instead of clicking them without thinking about it. Lots of hackers use very long links or they hope that the recipient will just click on the link right away instead of previewing the destination by hovering above and making sure that the domains match where they expect to be directed. If the preview link looks suspicious, that’s probably because it isn’t a legitimate offer. We recommend deleting these types of emails.

 

Look in the Footer

The final step for employees is to look in the footer. One of the current laws around email marketing requires senders to leave a physical address within the footer of the email. This is often left-out by cybercriminals and is a very easy way to tell if the email is a phishing attempt. Furthermore, there should also be an “Unsubscribe” button at the bottom of the email, which is another step that most hackers ignore.

 

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By simply addressing these three initial steps, SMBs can avoid the vast majority of cyber attacks coming at their business. They are some of the simplest, yet most effective ways of minimizing risk within an organization. If all organizations were even this educated about cyber attacks, we would see a dramatic drop in incidents. Contact us or give us a call to find the right solution for your business.

Gage Protects SMBs From Windows 7 End of Life

March 7, 2019

Baton Rouge, LA – March 2019 – Gage a leading managed technology services provider (MTSP), is helping small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) secure their organizations from cyber-attacks, by addressing the Windows 7 “End of Life” policy that will begin in January of 2020. Microsoft has announced that they will cease supporting the software, providing updates, enhancing security features and the software will essentially become obsolete. SMBs need to be aware of this transition because cybercriminals are constantly inventing new methods and techniques to exploit weak infrastructure. If a business doesn’t adapt and bring in technology that can keep pace with the ever-evolving security threats that the modern business faces, they will eventually become a “sitting duck” for cyber attacks.

Many businesses handle problems like this in the same manner that they handle all other problems. Ignore it until they suffer a minor consequence, and after they feel some of the pain, then they react and begin solving the problem. However, this is a very dangerous strategy to utilize given the potential consequences. For example, we can look at the costs that some major players have paid for insecure infrastructure. According to Time Magazine, “The Equifax breach cost the company over $4 billion in total.” While small businesses can’t withstand losses like that, there’s also a stronger push from authorities for tighter cybersecurity measures, bigger fines and harsher penalties for lax policies.

“Business owners need to act, now,” advised Jason Landry, VP of Sales of Gage. “Indecision is also decision. The majority of Windows 7 users will migrate to the cloud which coincidentally will provide many increases in security capabilities that could greatly reduce their need for ad-hoc security features, driving total cost down. However, the key to a successful transition is starting early because these things take time. Unfortunately, businesses who decide not to act, may place themselves in even graver danger because they will be extremely susceptible to cyber attacks, precisely because Windows 7 is obsolete technology and it may be too late.”

 

 

ABOUT GAGE

GAGE is a full-service telecommunications and IT services company that has helped businesses since 1980.  Founded in Baton Rouge, the company’s original mission continues today, which is to provide the very best products and services that enable its clients to increase their profitability, obtain a competitive advantage, and improve employee productivity. Gage has served the Louisiana business community for nearly 40 years through a culture of striving towards excellence and unparalleled commitment to customer service.

Gage works with companies of all sizes with business phone systems, computer networks, managed IT services, structured cabling and standby generators. The company conducts a complete needs analysis to ensure that each customer implements the right technology to meet their needs now and into the future.  Gage has been recognized with numerous industry awards and has become one of the region’s leading technology services companies.

For more information on Gage, please call (225) 753-4243 or visit www.gagetelephone.com