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What is Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)?
When it comes to cybersecurity, the terms and acronyms thrown around by professionals can seem confusing, making the entire concept of security a daunting one to understand. Two-factor authentication, or 2FA, can be one of those terms. Simply put, it is the process of using not one method of securing...
What are IoT devices?
"IoT" is a relatively new term, one that many of us may be unfamiliar with. However, there is a good chance that you're using at least one IoT device on a daily basis! The simplest definition of an IoT (Internet of Things) device is any object that can connect to...
Work From Home Tools
During the second week of March 2020, Next Century Technologies shifted its workforce to work-from-home status and put a halt to almost all on-site visits. Staying productive and communicating well while at home is quite the challenge. We leveraged our existing technology to make this happen but still ran into...
What is incident response?
What are the steps of an incident response plan? While every organization may have different structures and terminology, generic steps of most plans include: Preparation - compile a list of assets, and identify risks to those assets.Detection - discover and analyze the security incident.Containment, Eradication, and Recovery - contain the...
Windows 7 End of Life Creates New Opportunities for Scammers
They say when one door closes another one opens, but in this case, it's a window. On January 14th, 2020, Microsoft ended its support for Windows 7. Since Microsoft is no longer offering patches or security updates for vulnerabilities identified in Windows 7, hackers have a new way of gaining...
What is a VPN?
Most of us try to keep our personal information and work information safe and private. Makes sense! Nobody wants a stranger peeping over their shoulder watching what sites they access and what data they are entering. Unfortunately, being on an unsecured internet connection, that scenario is a realistic probability. VPN...
Using Telehealth During the COVID-19 Crisis
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the HHS Office for Civil Rights has announced that for HIPAA-covered healthcare providers, a Notification of Enforcement Discretion will be applied that relaxes the HIPAA compliance in relation to telehealth. This notice covers "all services that a covered health care provider, in their professional...
How To Safely Work Remotely
Effective Immediately It's important that ALL employees understand their organization's expectations when working from home, and that ALL employees practice safe cybersecurity to ensure their data stays protected. All those organizations with remote workers should have a Remote Work Policy in place that outlines those expectations and employees should be...
Work from Home Case Study
Thanks to the Coronavirus, work from home has taken on a new significance. Most companies from the services industries must adapt to work from home or risk a shutdown from local governments trying to keep people out of the workplace. In this blog we will do a case study on...
Cybercriminals Now Demand Ransoms from Patients
At first, you might chuckle thinking, there is no way this is true. But unfortunately, you soon find out that this “warning” is anything but a joke. Now, you’ve got to be asking yourself, how could this happen? You may start thinking about all the accounts you have online. Facebook,...
What is the difference between a vulnerability scan and a penetration test (pentest)?
What is a vulnerability scan? Vulnerabilities are flaws in software that can be exploited by hackers to gain access to your network or sensitive data including protected health information (PHI). Vulnerabilities can be in computer operating systems such as Microsoft Windows XP, 7, 8, 10 or Windows Server. They can...
Risk Analysis: What you need to know
You’ve likely heard of a risk analysis. Hopefully, you’ve also performed one for your organization. Whether you’ve been helping your organization work on its HIPAA compliance or dealing with financial regulations or government contracts, performing a risk analysis should be a high-priority item on your business’s to-do list. So, what...