Tag: password management

Cutting-Edge IT Trends to Look For In 2020

IT Trends 2020

As technology continues to expand beyond our wildest imaginations, there remains a singular focus when it comes to its development: human experience. At its core, technological improvements sprout from a very human desire to protect ourselves and our information, to experience the world through a new perspective and most importantly, to enhance communication across offices, countries and oceans. 

With this perspective in mind, we’ve put together some of the most cutting-edge and pivotal IT trends for the coming year in order to keep you and your business prepared for what’s ahead in the world of technology and communication.

 

5G

The global adoption of this new mobile network generation is highly anticipated in the coming year, and, while its faster connection is certainly a plus, 5G is taking a novel approach to change the tech landscape. 

Along with the natural evolution from its predecessor, 5G at its core is meant to enhance mobile broadband communications, massive machine-type communications and ultra-low latency communications. In other words, this highly-flexible network – according to Atos – is expected to be able to deliver the wireless capacity needed for streaming eight million 3D videos, well-connected video conferencing and so much more. What’s more, 5G will cut network latency to around 10 milliseconds end-to-end and is projected to save up to 90% energy. 

Of course, a new type of network will require new types of hardware. That’s where Gage comes in. We’ll help you determine what hardware you’ll be able to keep and what you’ll have to replace to accommodate the new 5G capacity, so your business will be ready to handle the 4G to 5G switch with ease.

 

Blockchain

Enabling blockchain technology provides both you and your clients with a transparent, secure way to store records of all kinds while removing the need to involve a third party. Blockchain has no single point of failure; it acts as a point of access between peers and has a variety of access parameters.

Blockchain can be used to record and store all manner of confidential data, including payment, bookkeeping and cryptocurrency information as well as intellectual property, health care information and supply chain authentication. 

According to Atos, companies should experiment cautiously with blockchain, identifying advantageous use cases. If a use case implies a group of users with a common goal, including a need to store global information, and there is a lack of trust between these users (no one is certain that another user is not going to change data afterward to his benefit), then blockchain is a good candidate.

Integrating blockchain alongside Gage’s Insite IT management suite is an excellent way to even further the protection provided to your business and your customers, providing all your day-to-day operations with a sort of tech security blanket.

 

Voice over Internet Protocol

This next system is already very familiar to the Gage team. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is one of our primary services in the form of Gage Cloud Voice. By utilizing the cloud, our VoIP system provides remote access to your business anytime, anywhere and on any device with a plethora of carrier-class mobility and collaboration features. 

VoIP provides advanced security and high-quality calls, without requiring a complicated or costly set-up. Gage Cloud Voice goes the extra mile by giving you a variety of options to personalize your service to exactly what your business needs. Whether it’s call recording or web and video collaboration, adding any of these to our 70+ standard features and always-at-your-side customer support will help extend your office to wherever you go.

 

Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs)

With the myriad of security breaches in digital databases, it’s no surprise that technology surrounding user security has become a primary focus for developers across the board. More than just password management, utilizing PETs in your daily business is now becoming a crucial part of creating and sustaining trusting relationships with both clients and employees. 

Through the use of various PETs, individuals are able to exchange personal data through digital platforms with peace-of-mind while companies can still implement data monetization business models that comply with continually-improving data protection legislation. Atos notes that the PETs like ‘pseudonymization’ and ‘data minimization’ will mold themselves to fit government regulations right out of the box. 

What’s changing most about PETs is not only how they’re used, but when they’re used. The majority of PETs are applied only after a major security breach occurs. With this coming push in regulations as well as the constantly-growing concern for online privacy, PETs are now becoming part of any base system set-up.

 


 

As the business world continues to digitally expand, Gage knows how important it is that our clients don’t get passed up by progress. We are right by your side, learning and adapting to join tech leaders across the business world. In the end, technology is only as good as the people who take care of it, which is why Gage puts our customers at the forefront of all that we do. 

At Gage, communication is our personal business. Let us help you make it yours. Check out our services and see how we can help you. We’re available 24/7 to support you and your business.

The Ins and Outs of Password Management

Password Blog Graphic

When you think about data and account security, the first thing that usually comes to mind is passwords. In a culture with data-mining and account hacking, it’s now more important than ever to create a company-wide password management process to counteract these threats.

In 2017, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) changed its position on organizational password management. NIST is now against using a system of forced password complexity as well as a periodic password-change schedule. This may sound counter-productive, but NIST posits that most users tend to reuse their lengthy passwords on multiple domains. In other words, if one password is decrypted, then the others may easily follow. 

There are still plenty of other options available, but which works best for you? We’ll break down the pros and cons of password management solutions so you don’t have to.

 

Is There a “Perfect Password”?

Two of the leading experts in password encryption – Kevin Mitnick, the chief hacking officer of KnowBe4 and security pundit Frank Abagnale – expect the concept of passwords to altogether fizzle out in the future, but they still have suggestions as to what your best options are until then. Mitnick first recommends using 25-character passphrases rather than complex character sequences. 

“The 25-character password is for the initial login to the user workstation; then you should have another password for the password,” Mitnick said. “The user only has to remember two pass-sentences, and the manager will take those credentials.” 

Mitnick’s idea hints at a concept agreed upon by both himself and Abagnale: multi-factor authentication. This process requires at least two different types of credentials to complete the login process.

Even with multi-factor authentication, Mitnick still strongly suggests implementing the First IDentity Online (FIDO) Alliance’s Universal Second Factor (U2F) protocol to prevent security breaches through web-based platforms.

 

Are Password Managers Worth It?

Abagnale, already disillusioned by the concept of passwords as a whole, sees password managers as a weak attempt at masking the issue.

“Some of the password vaults have been breached already, which emphasizes my former point about why passwords are bad for our security,” he said. “I think that we should move beyond static passwords and not succumb to password vaults as our solution. It makes me nervous to store all my passwords in one place and protect that with…a password.”

Password managers may be the best opportunity to test out a multifactor authentication system, where the login for the password manager might be a fingerprint scan, while the passwords within the manager consist of Mitnick’s suggested 25-character passphrases. Mitnick warns that, even with this method, the most important thing is to protect your computer from malware. 

 

The Passwordless Future is on Its Way

While a world without passwords may seem like a far-off dream, there are companies already at the forefront of this development. One such company called Trusona prides itself on its focus on the user experience. Abagnale is one of the firm’s advisers and expects the full switch to come in the next five years. 

“The technology is already here, and now needs to be implemented,” he said. “There is a reason to think that passwords may remain in legacy systems for years to come, as the cost of ripping them out is too high. Nonetheless, passwordless logins are the way of the future, and companies would adopt this method once they realize the benefits.” 

 

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Passwords won’t be going away anytime soon, and there are several options to help protect yourself and your business as best you can in the meantime. Combining password managers, the passphrase method, and multifactor identification, you can create as strong of a data-barrier as possible.

Here at GAGE, our InSite program allows us to take care of problems even before you notice them. We’re available 24/7 to support you and your business.