litechsol, Author at LI Technology Solutions

How to Fix CVE-2022-30190 Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool Vulnerability

litechsol on June 20, 2022

Modern computer systems are incredibly complex. Even individuals with lots of IT experience know that security breaches slip through the cracks all the time. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the latest Microsoft CVE-2022-30190 diagnostic tool vulnerability.

This vulnerability was only recently discovered. Fortunately, no major breaches or security disasters have occurred due to it so far. That said, your organization needs to know how to close this vulnerability – and how to prevent future cybersecurity breaches from affecting you in the future.

CVE-2022-30190 Vulnerability Explained

CVE-2022-30190 refers to a recently discovered vulnerability in the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool or MSDT. This is potentially dangerous since many organizations use the MSDT regularly to identify issues with their software or computer systems.

The vulnerability works like this:

When a user calls the MSDT using a URL protocol, the CVE-2022-30190 remote code execution vulnerability appears. MSDT can be called from many different applications, like Microsoft Word, and may be called intentionally or unintentionally
The CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability allows attackers to run or apply arbitrary code strings with any of the privileges included within the calling application, even if the attacker doesn’t have those privileges personally.
In theory, an attacker could run code that could widen the vulnerability and cause other problems. For example, an attacker can install programs, change or delete data, create new accounts, and more

In other words, the CVE-2022-30190 MSDT vulnerability allows hackers far greater access to computer systems than they would normally receive. As a result, many managed security services providers, like LI Tech, have worked quickly and effectively to find and apply solutions.

Current CVE-2022-30190 Workaround

Currently, there is a Microsoft-endorsed workaround for the CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability. It operates by disabling the MSDT URL protocol.

By disabling the URL protocol, troubleshooters cannot launch as links, including links that launch through the operating system (OS). Note that troubleshooters may still be accessed by computer operators using the Get Help application or through standard system settings. Other troubleshooters may also allow troubleshooting access.

To disable your system’s MSDT URL protocol:

Run the Command Prompt as an Administrator
Then back up the registry key. To do this, execute this command: “reg export HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/ms-msdt filename”
Then execute this command: “reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/ms-msdt/f”

Once applied, the MSDT troubleshooter may not be launched through standard means, and the vulnerability should be closed until a longer-term solution is discovered and implemented.

Should you need to undo this workaround, you can:

Run the Command Prompt as an Administrator
Then execute this command: “reg import filename”

In both cases, replace “filename” with the file you wish to troubleshoot.

For more information about this workaround and the CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability, visit Microsoft’s official page.

How to Fix the CVE-2022-30190 Vulnerability Long-Term

Although the above workaround is very beneficial, it does not solve the CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability in the long term. The only way to solve these vulnerabilities is to ensure that you have IT staff on hand constantly scanning for potential problems and closing breaches before they become issues.

That’s a tall order, especially if your business focuses on another industry or niche aside from IT security. But what if you didn’t have to assign people to do this critical task themselves?

Instead, you can rely on experts in IT security and managed software services: LI Tech Solutions.

The Benefits of LI Tech’s Managed Services | The Best MSP in New York City

As the go-to managed IT services provider in Long Island for many companies, LI Tech is well equipped to assist with your security and vulnerability patching needs.

In fact, we’ve already got on top of the CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability. As soon as it was announced, our experts got to work:

Identifying what the problem was
Determining how best to close the issue
Using Microsoft’s workaround where appropriate

To the benefit of our clients, we rapidly applied a patch to close the vulnerability. We did this after confirming that none of our clients had suffered data losses or other security breaches due to the CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability in the first place.

That’s because, as a dedicated Long Island-managed IT services company, LI Tech is proactive compared to reactive. What does this mean?

Callout 3: Hooded hacker in cyberspace in front of black laptop - 2 facts given about important of managed services like LI Tech Solutions to monitor for problems

In short, our proactive approach allows us to identify and solve security issues before they negatively affect our client companies. We prioritize developing new approaches to security problems and evolving alongside malware and other cyber threats rather than letting those malicious parties set the pace of the digital arms race.

In contrast, a reactive approach usually leads to much higher costs in the long run. Companies must first become aware of security breaches, oftentimes after the damage has already been done, and then patch those breaches after the fact.

LI Tech’s proactive approach is exactly why you should rely on us to patch the CVE-2022-30190 and similar vulnerabilities for your company in the future. Instead of waiting for official Microsoft recommendations or trying to discern the right course of action yourself, why not leave it to the experts?

Even better, when you hire LI Tech Solutions, you don’t just get vulnerability patching. You also receive expert assistance and services like:

Cloud infrastructure services, enabling you to benefit from the best software access without having to increase your on-site costs
24/7 data protection and backup services, thus ensuring the security and fidelity of vital company data and customer privacy information
Security best practices training for your staff. This training can ensure that your organization will not remain vulnerable to basic cyber threats, like phishing emails
And more

Contact Long Island Tech Solutions For Help

Ultimately, the CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability demonstrates the importance of having managed services providers working around the clock for your organization. To make sure your company doesn’t suffer any adverse effects from the CVE-2022-30190 vulnerability, contact LI Tech Solutions today.

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Transformation on Long Island, NY

litechsol on May 26, 2022

Every business needs to be prepared for the worst. It’s not enough to have a simple data backup app for your servers or customer data. You need to have a detailed disaster recovery plan and business continuity plan ready to go if disaster strikes.

In addition, it’s often wise to practice business continuity transformation. By constantly improving and evolving your business continuity plan, your organization will be better equipped to handle new cyber threats on the horizon.

But that’s a lot of responsibility and work, especially for smaller organizations that may not have the manpower to focus on all of these elements. Fortunately, managed IT service providers in Long Island can provide your enterprise with the disaster recovery and business continuity transformation services you need.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

Business continuity means ensuring that your business’s operations remain stable and available to customers during a disaster or IT issue. A good business continuity plan includes several key components:

One or more recovery personnel, who manage the recovery process to restore systems ASAP
A detailed recovery procedure to help restore key business functions and to maintain continuity of business operations as much as possible
A data backup plan and method. This allows the affected organization to recover valuable data and ensure its security seamlessly

Callout 1: Data loss prevention concept - Business continuity plans are vital - 2 reasons

Business continuity plans are vital so that companies don’t lose customers during service or power outages and so they don’t lose control of security in the event of a cyberattack.

Business Continuity Transformation – Why It’s Critical

Business continuity transformation means applying new techniques, technologies, and strategies to expand your enterprise’s ability to stay operational in a crisis.

More specifically, business continuity transformation means improving your current continuity plans. In this way, you can optimize your public-facing performance even if your company is currently backing up data, recovering from a cyberattack, or handling some other disaster.

The IT and cyber threat landscapes are constantly changing. It can be challenging for enterprises to always be innovating with their business continuity plans and procedures when they’re focused on so many other aspects of business operations.

What Is a Disaster Recovery Plan?

Disaster recovery plans emphasize restoring data access and security and ensuring the stability of IT infrastructure in the aftermath of a disaster.

In other words:

Business continuity prioritizes maintaining business operations throughout a disaster as well as possible to minimize consumer disruptions/security breaches
Disaster recovery means recovering data and restoring operational status after a disaster has concluded/security has been restored

Disaster recovery is also vital because many cyberattacks target vulnerable consumer data or valuable enterprise systems. Having a recovery plan in place may allow businesses to:

Secure their data more readily, minimizing the likelihood of a major or permanent breach
Restore business operations that consumers or employees rely on
Shore up security processes to prevent follow-up cyberattacks from being successful

The Importance of Disaster Recovery Planning and Leadership | Long Island Tech Solutions Explains

Just like disaster or emergency plans for real-world crises, disaster recovery planning and leadership is also important for IT disasters. The best disaster recovery plans include:

Employee safety measures
Drills for cybersecurity or data protection
Purchasing supplies
Readying IT infrastructure
Coming up with response plans to fight back against malware and other cyberattacks
Methods to restore backed up data quickly
And more

However, even the best disaster recovery plans are only successful under the right leadership.

Organizations should ensure that at least one individual is placed in charge of disaster recovery planning and implementation. When a disaster strikes, that individual can quickly give orders and marshal security measures without unnecessary deliberation.

Benefits of Managed Service Providers for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Managed service providers offer a wide range of benefits for companies just like yours. They can also provide specific advantages for business continuity planning and transformation, as well as disaster recovery procedures.

Business Continuity Testing | LI Tech Solutions

For example, managed service providers like LI Tech Solutions offer BCT or business continuity testing. This can provide your employees with key insights into their preparedness for potential disruption.

When you hire LI Tech, our cyber experts will help your team find good solutions for potential disasters, discover how to maintain services in the wake of a crisis, and much more. Plus, a managed service provider in Long Island, NY can help you run regular business continuity tests without interrupting your core business operations.

Perfect Implementation of Disaster Recovery Plans

Disaster recovery plans are only worthwhile if you can implement them properly. That’s easier said than done, especially if your employees are not properly trained on how to do so.

Managed service providers can implement your disaster recovery plans to the letter, ensuring that data is backed up properly, that IT infrastructure comes online in the right order, and that security is restored at the earliest opportunity.

End-to-End Encryption for Data Security

As experienced disaster recovery experts, LI Tech Solutions can provide end-to-end data security encryption. This flexible safeguard is perfect for any data environment, whether your business relies on cloud servers, hybrid servers, on-premises servers, or virtual servers.

Fewer Manpower Requirements from Your Organization

Perhaps most important of all, managed service providers reduce the disaster recovery and business continuity planning manpower needed from your organization.

When you offload the burden of these procedures to a trusted managed service provider, your employees can instead focus on other elements of your business. You can prioritize delivering great experiences and products to your customers without having to worry so much about IT security.

Instead, your managed IT services provider can tackle the tough elements of disaster recovery and business continuity planning/transformation.

LI Tech Solutions | Best Data Protection Services in New York

No matter your business’s size or focus, LI Tech Solutions offers the best managed IT services in Long Island. Our data protection solutions, business continuity planning and testing, and other services allow us to provide your business with the support it needs to anticipate and overcome disasters in the future. Contact us today for more information!

Digital Transformation: What It Is and How It Helps Your Business

litechsol on April 25, 2022

Technology continues to evolve and more companies than ever before are pursuing digital transformation. They’re using new tools and processes to take full advantage of the modern technologies and systems available to organizations of all sizes.

But what exactly is digital transformation, and how can it help your business thrive in today’s market? LI Tech Solutions answers both of these questions and more in detail.

Digital Transformations | LI Tech Solutions Breaks it Down

Digital transformation means something different to every organization. But overall, it involves transitioning your company’s current tech stack to a modern tech stack, as well as leaning further into modern digital technology use.

For example, a company might practice digital transformation by taking advantage of cloud technology and data storage. Using these tools, the company then enables most of its employee base to work remotely.

Callout 1: Abstract digital transformation technology background - Digital transformation quote from text

It can include adjustments or alterations to processes and procedures, using new tools instead of old ones, and changing company culture to adapt to modern digital technology.

The Four Areas of Digital Transformation

Broadly speaking, there are four primary areas of digital transformation. Your organization may see changes in all of these areas or just some of them.

Collaboration Transformation

Digital collaboration transformation occurs as you use collaboration and project management platforms ranging from Microsoft Teams to Microsoft 365 and more. Even communication platforms like Slack can help you enact a shift toward digital collaboration transformation.

Think of this element of transformation as shifting the way your team members collaborate and do work together, even when not in the same office environment.

Business Transformation Consultant’s Guide: Microsoft vs Google Workspace in Long Island, NY

Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Transformation

Digital transformation also affects disaster recovery and business continuity. Cloud security, new antivirus software, and adaptable IT infrastructure are all some of the rewards that come from pursuing digital transformation.

Digital transformation processes enable organizations to be flexible, adaptable, and more secure. Furthermore, organizations can be more responsive and ensure that employees maintain productivity even in the event of a data crash, website failure, or security breach.

Cybersecurity Transformation

Speaking of security, digital transformations impact cybersecurity massively. As your business goes increasingly digital, cybersecurity solutions such as digital hygiene processes, cloud security, and managed security services all become more important.

This is just one of the many reasons why managed IT services providers such as LI Tech Solutions are valuable to modern organizations. Managed service providers can take care of your cybersecurity needs without massively ballooning your company budget or resource requirements.

Cloud Transformation

Lastly, digital transformation heavily impacts company cloud usage. Cloud computing can accelerate digital transformation and help your business automate more processes than ever, freeing up additional manpower and leading to greater productivity.

Furthermore, cloud technologies enable you to upgrade your IT systems, streamline employee management and hiring practices, and enjoy greater digital security.

Each of these areas is important and should be pursued by your company at the earliest opportunity.

Trends and Predictions in IT Outsource Services for Microsoft AI

How Does Digital Transformation Help Your Business? New York’s Best MSP Answers

What about specific benefits that digital transformation brings to your company? There are six major advantages that you might see after transforming your company digitally in the above four areas.

Improved Resource Management

Firstly, your company could see improved resource management. As you leverage cloud technologies and other digital transformation tools, your data and important company files will be more secure and organized.

Your company will be better able to integrate applications and databases into centralized repositories. These repositories, in turn, will enable faster data access and management even from employees around the world.

Better Data Collection and Analytics

Furthermore, transforming digitally will allow your company to collect more data and analyze it with more accuracy. You can create systems to gather the right data, not just any data, and incorporate it into your business intelligence efforts at high levels.

Using automation tools, new data storage techniques, and other practices, you’ll understand your target audience better, track important KPIs more efficiently, and see other benefits.

Better Customer Experience

Even better, digital transformation allows your company to provide a better customer experience across the board. Tools such as chatbots, for example, enable faster customer service response times for your website visitors.

New digital tools also enable you to customize the customer experiences you provide to site visitors. Better customer experiences mean more profits for you in the long run.

Digitization of Culture

Your company’s culture will change for the better. For example, remote work tools and a digital-first workplace both allow your company employees to work anywhere around the world without compromising security or productivity.

In turn, this may enable you to broaden your candidate search for top team members and make your company a more attractive place to work.

More Productivity and Profits

Digital transformation should lead your company to more productivity and profits, as well. As employees do great work from around the world and take advantage of streamlining tools, they’ll get more work done in the same amount of time plus spend less time on rote, monotonous tasks best left to automation technology.

More productivity, of course, oftentimes leads to more profits both in the short and long term.

Increased Agility

Lastly, your company will benefit from boosted agility as it digitally transforms. You can improve your speed-to-market for new products, plus adopt continuous improvement or CI strategies.

The result? More innovation and adaptation to adjust to evolving market and customer demands.

Contact LI Tech For The Best MSP in Long Island, NY

All in all, digital transformation is a net benefit for all organizations, including your own. You can accelerate this transformation for your company by taking advantage of managed services providers like LI Tech Solutions.

As a trusted IT managed service provider in Long Island, New York, we’re well-equipped and ready to assist with your digital transformation efforts from start to finish. Whether you need managed security, cloud server administration, upgrades, or something else entirely, we can help.

Contact us today for more information and further details on how we can help your business transform.

6 Questions to Ask Before Implementing a Technology Change

litechsol on April 18, 2022

It can be exciting to introduce new technology into your business. Finding a solution that will help your team members do their jobs more efficiently and effectively by filling a gap in your technology infrastructure is certainly an achievement. However, before you get carried away with quickly implementing your new solution to reap the benefits, there are a few things you should know before a technology change.

When introducing new technology into your IT infrastructure, keep in mind that change can be difficult for individuals. It can be hard to predict whether end-users will readily accept or resist the change. Before implementing new technology, you need a well-planned change management strategy to help you achieve success and get the most out of your investment.

Change management is an approach that deals with changes or transformations in organizational processes, objectives, and technology. The goal of change management is to devise strategies to implement and govern transformation while helping people adjust to it.

There are a few factors to consider before beginning your change management journey.

Ask These Questions Before Making a Technology Change:

What is being changed?

It’s critical to review your business environment first to identify critical areas that require a technological refresh as soon as possible.

Assume you are starting a transition from backup solution “X” to backup solution “Y.” Before implementation, spend some time assessing what the backup solution “X” lacks, why it needs an update, and how important it is.

What will this change mean for people, processes, and technology?

Communication is essential for successfully driving technological change. Make sure you develop strategies to help your employees adapt to any changes.

Examine technology mapping and dependencies to ensure you understand the implications of pulling systems offline for updates. Also, determine the processes that need to be modified and the individuals who oversee them.

Who will manage the change?

Identify change leaders and include their contact information in all change communications. It’s a great idea to have an executive sponsor guide your project forward and hold you accountable for deviations from your objectives.

When is the best time to implement this change?

It’s critical to determine the best time to implement a change. A lot of care must go into deciding when to introduce a transformation.

If you’re about to embark on a new transition, but your employees are still dealing with the effects of previous changes, it may be a good idea to postpone the planned transformation if possible. On the flip side, if your employees have adjusted well to a recent change, then introducing a new transition could work out just as well.

How long will the change take?

A change must not be too quick, causing confusion and employee frustration, or too slow, diluting the entire purpose of the transformation. Setting a realistic deadline and striving to meet it is critical.

Who will reach out to support if something goes wrong?

No change is immune to unexpected setbacks. That’s why it is critical to have emergency contacts of people with various skillsets to call upon in the event of a mishap. However, finding people with the necessary skillsets and knowledge base is tricky.

Collaboration with a managed service provider (MSP) who can support you in emergency and non-emergency situations can be a good idea.

Find the Right Partner

Change is a challenging experience. You risk damaging key processes and losing valuable team members to burnout if you don’t have a good change management strategy in place. As experts with years of experience and subject knowledge, we may be exactly what your company needs.

Feel free to contact us for a consultation on change management. LI Tech Solutions offers comprehensive solutions for companies of all sizes that are ready to scale. Call us today. 516-210-6400

5 Ways MSPs Can Support Hybrid Workplaces

litechsol on April 11, 2022

The hybrid workplace isn’t going away. The hybridization of many industries was already a growing trend prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the pandemic solidified that trend into a full-blown economic revolution.

In many industries ranging from tech to finance and more, hybrid workplaces allow employees to work remotely some of the time and in the office the rest of the time. The benefits are numerous, ranging from increased worker flexibility to reduced resource consumption and more.

However, hybrid workplaces can be even more beneficial for your organization when you employ managed services providers like LI Tech Solutions. Let’s take a look at five key ways that MSPs can support hybrid workplaces just like yours.

Callout 1: Hybrid employee working at home on laptop - Hybrid workplace definition quote from text

Cloud Infrastructure and Support | New York’s Best MSP Explains

For starters, managed service providers can offer excellent cloud infrastructure and ongoing support. Cloud infrastructure, software, and other services are most important for hybrid workplaces.

Why? Because through the cloud, organization employees can access the same resources, use the same software, and use all the same files whether they work from home or at the office. Cloud access means that all employees can work together no matter where their computers or end terminals happen to be.

Of course, it takes a dedicated IT team to manage cloud infrastructure and offer 24/7 support. That’s where a managed services provider comes in.

MSPs can help your cloud infrastructure work for your company by:

Ensuring that software updates happen consistently and regularly
Monitoring the cloud for potential glitches or cyberattacks
Helping team members learn how to access the cloud or how to download the appropriate software to their devices
And much more

On top of all that, managed services providers can ensure that your cloud resources scale with your organization. Therefore, if you want to stick with a hybrid workplace over the next few years, your cloud infrastructure can grow with your company. An MSP can make that future a reality more easily than ever.

Callout 2: Dark blue background - Cloud benefits for hybrid employees

Security Updates, Monitoring, and Training

Perhaps more importantly, managed services providers can offer regular security updates for important antivirus and anti-malware measures. These include antivirus software like firewalls, phishing protection for company emails, and much more.

The cybersecurity landscape is always evolving, which means security updates must be implemented and installed as soon as they become available. But it can be tough to keep track of which programs or security software need updates. Your MSP can do all that for you, freeing up your people to work on other tasks.

Digital Hygiene & Long Island Tech Solutions

In addition, MSPs like LI Tech offer 24/7 monitoring for your cloud infrastructure and company systems. This monitoring will ensure that you are alerted whenever there is a potential cyber breach and that cyber breaches will be much less likely to succeed.

In the event of a successful cyberattack, the monitoring from a managed services provider will help you prevent it from occurring in the future.

Of course, many cybersecurity breaches occur because of employee mistakes. To that end, MSPs such as LI Tech Solutions offer security training for your employees. These training seminars can teach the basics of good digital hygiene, like how to build strong passwords and how not to log workplace computers via vulnerable public networks.

10 Things to Consider Before Hiring an IT Support Company in Long Island, NY

Callout 3: Cloud technology concept - MSPs take care of security updates

Workforce Analytics

On top of all that, MSPs can provide crucial workforce analytics services for your growth and understanding. For example, MSPs can gather data about:

How your employees use their time
How your software benefits your company
How your data is stored and how it is retrieved
And much more

All of that data, once properly analyzed, can help you make better decisions for your company. Managed services providers can even help improve your data management and storage policies so they’re more efficient for your workers. This will improve productivity for your hybrid workforce.

Project Management Services and Software

Any manager or executive who oversees a hybrid workforce knows the difficulty of ensuring that all employees are on the same page. Project management becomes a little more difficult when employees work from different places, despite all the other benefits associated with allowing a hybrid workplace.

However, managed services providers can offer project management and organizational services, or connect you to project management software via the cloud. Either of these solutions will help your remote and in-office employees collaborate just as efficiently in a hybrid workplace as they would in a traditional office environment.

Project management services and software help ensure that:

Everyone knows what projects they should be working on
Project deadlines are met properly
Project reports are sent to appropriate leaders or supervisors when needed
Supervisors can reassign individuals or rebalance workloads as necessary
And more

All of those benefits will make your hybrid workforce just as good as it was before you made the transition. MSPs support hybrid workplaces to help your organization’s productivity flow.

Callout 4: Hybrid employee working at home on laptop - Managed Service Provides - 3 benefits listed

Increased Organizational Productivity

Lastly, MSPs can support your hybrid workplace by improving organizational productivity across the board. In effect, MSPs take a lot of the busy work or manual tasks of cloud support and cybersecurity away from your team.

Instead, your employees can focus on the core aspect of your business that net you the most profits. Imagine what you could do if your IT personnel could focus on building a new website or online marketing instead of having to monitor security 24/7.

In addition, MSPs support hybrid workplaces by providing value by overseeing your cloud infrastructure. In this way, your workforce can take advantage of the technologies of the cloud without having to continually update it and monitor it for stability.

Bottom line: by hiring an MSP, your hybrid workplace will enjoy greater operational flexibility. Your employees, meanwhile, can be reassigned to other elements of your business depending on what you need.

Contact LI Tech Solutions For The Best MSP in New York

Ultimately, managed services providers are valuable for any companies that use hybrid workplaces. If you’ve decided to allow your workforce the flexibility and other benefits of hybridization, consider hiring an MSP for even greater improvements.

As a well-known managed IT services provider in Long Island, we’re well-equipped and ready to assist your hybrid workplace starting today. Contact us for more information!

Why Outsource Your Cyber Security Needs?

litechsol on March 28, 2022

Modern cyber security is more important than ever, but it’s also more expensive and resource-intensive. These days, many companies find it tough to maintain in-house IT or cyber security departments, especially if they aren’t focused on cyber security themselves. There may be an alternative solution: outsource your cyber security needs. Today, let’s break down the benefits of outsourcing cyber security to managed service providers like LI Tech Solutions.

More Predictable Costs | Long Island Tech Solutions Explains How:

For starters, outsourcing your cyber security may lead to more predictable – and therefore manageable – costs for online security. When your in-house team handles cyber security, they’ll produce bills sporadically for things like software updates, training the team on new initiatives, and for purchasing new security products.

If you pay a flat, regular fee to a managed service provider, your cyber security costs are more predictable. For smaller companies or organizations whose budgets are already thin, this can be a major benefit.

Callout 1: Benefit of Managed Services predictable cyber security costs fact

Regular Updates and Improvements

Furthermore, outsourcing your cyber security needs to a managed service provider may help you benefit from more regular security updates and improvements.

Malware evolves constantly, so security efforts must also evolve in tandem with cyber threats. This is often accomplished through updates and patches. But it can be tough for your team, especially if they have other things to juggle, to remember these updates and shore up your cyber defenses regularly.

A managed services provider will ensure that cyber security software is updated when needed and improvements are implemented ASAP. In this way, your business will use the most appropriate digital security at all times. But your team won’t have to worry about it since these concerns will be handled by your managed services squad.

Refocused Productivity

By freeing up that manpower in your team, you’ll be able to refocus the extra productivity on other elements of your business, including product design and development, marketing, or something else entirely. It’s up to you!

That refocused productivity can save you a lot of money in the long run, and may also lead to increased profits later down the road. Refocused productivity is crucial for startups that have small teams. For example, if your organization only has 50 people, can you really afford to have 10 of them dedicated to IT security 24/7?

Callout 2: Hands of keyboard with encryption symbol - Productivity benefits with managed services- 2 listed

Instead, outsourcing your cyber security needs to a managed service provider allows everyone on your team to be focused on your business goals. You can still rest assured that your cyber security needs will be taken care of.

Managed services providers employ experts in the field. In most cases, you will find that the cyber security results from a managed services provider are superior to what you can produce with your own, in-house team.

Get The Best 24/7 IT Security with LI Tech Solutions

Speaking of IT security 24/7, managed services providers offer maintenance and security responsiveness 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Even if the rest of your team is out of the office, your managed services provider can:

Respond to sudden attacks or security threats on your business and digital infrastructure
Communicate with executives when needed
Ensure constant vigilance, even during the late hours of the evening or early hours of the morning

This, in turn, allows you to ensure that your staff enjoys a manageable schedule and that someone doesn’t have to be on hand at midnight to oversee a security patch. Plus, 24/7 security oversight means that malware or other digital attacks will be less likely to succeed and breakthrough digital defenses.

Callout 3: Cyber security concept - 2 benefits with 24/7 cyber security services

Resource Scalability

As your business grows, IT security scalability will become a more important concern. After all, the more business architecture you have and the more files you need to protect, the more robust your cyber security efforts need to be as well.

Fortunately, outsourcing your cyber security efforts to a managed services provider means scalability comes with the package. As your resource needs grow, your managed services provider will update your software, offer new security measures, and assign more people to your business.

Iterated Threat Detection/Responses

One of the big benefits of outsourcing your cyber security needs is improved cyber security results. As your managed services provider learns your business and the types of threats you encounter, it will:

Continually iterate on its threat detection methods, enabling it to counter cyber threats before they become real issues
Continually iterate on its response times and effectiveness. If a cyber threat does take hold, your managed services provider will be able to respond more capable as it gets more practice

In other words, the longer you stick with a managed services provider, the better security responses you’ll see across your organization. Remember, your business’s team can focus on other aspects of your organization all the while.

LI Tech: More Experienced Responses | The Best MSP in New York

On top of that, managed services providers employ experienced IT security professionals. If your business is not focused on IT security or does something completely different, the security specialists from a managed services provider will be far and away better for intercepting and fixing security issues.

This is more important than ever, especially given the increased sophistication of modern cyber threats.

Digital Transformation in Healthcare: MSPs’ Role in Long Island

Callout 4: IT security quote from text

Regulatory Compliance Assistance

Perhaps most importantly, outsourcing cyber security also means outsourcing compliance with the CCPA, GDPR, and other current or prospective legislation. Many organizations need to be careful not to break these regulations, or else they may face heavy fines.

But compliance is an evolving thing. When you outsource cyber security, your managed services team will ensure that you always remain compliant regarding consumer data privacy and protection policies.

Outsource Cybersecurity with Long Island Tech Solutions | New York’s Best

Ultimately, outsourcing your cyber security needs is a great choice, even if your company works in the IT industry. Giving cyber security responsibilities to a specialized, 24/7 team could be the best thing you can do for your budget, your team management, and your goals.

Fortunately, LI Tech Solutions offers expert cyber security protection. If you need managed IT services in Long Island, we can help. Contact us today for more information!

Best Practices for Securing a Cloud Environment

litechsol on March 17, 2022

Modern enterprises want to take advantage of the unique benefits and conveniences offered by the cloud. However, you need to know how to secure a cloud environment for your company if you want to store and retrieve your data safely in the future.

Not sure where to start? Let’s break down some of the best practices for securing a cloud environment. Many of these practices are already leveraged by managed tech services such as LI Tech Solutions. But you can also implement these practices yourself.

Implement Encryption at All Endpoints | Long Island Tech’s Best Tip

For starters, any secure cloud system will have thorough encryption for all endpoints, including those for both users and corporate staff. Encryption scrambles important corporate or private data, preventing anyone who scoops the data from being able to read it without an encryption key.

This is crucial because, whenever you use cloud services, you send data back and forth between a network in the cloud. Encryption helps ensure that the data stays safe and secure even while using cloud services regularly.

Callout 1: Blue digital data security - Encryption helps ensure data stays safe and secure in a secure cloud environment

Secure User Endpoints

Similarly, companies need to secure user endpoints, such as mobile phones, desktops and laptops, and any other user devices. Endpoint security can range from antivirus software to fingerprint scanners and more.

Regardless, boosting endpoint security is vital since it reduces the likelihood of cyber breaches via employee computers. These are some of the easiest means for cybercriminals to get access to company data, so organizations need to make it tougher for them.

Choose the Right Provider

Of course, picking the right cloud services provider is also key to enjoying a secure cloud environment. Different providers will emphasize different security techniques or bring different technologies to the table.

For example, LI Tech Solutions has a detailed list of security best practices for cloud environments, such as two-factor authentication processes and cloud security awareness training. That’s one reason why LI Tech Solutions is the go-to choice for Long Island managed services.

Callout 2: Mobile phone security with lock - Secure user endpoints facts

Define Usage Policies for the Cloud

But corporate executives can also take security into their own hands. For example, you can write a detailed list of usage policies for all members of your organization. These usage policies will break down:

Who is allowed access to the cloud environment
When cloud access is permitted
What data is allowed to be transferred between your network and the cloud
And so on

Defining usage policies is important since it prevents employees from making simple mistakes or from breaching security protocols unknowingly. Once your policies are defined, you can teach employees the right way to use your cloud network or fire employees who fail to abide by security standards.

Digital Hygiene | How The Best MSP in New York Does It

Employee knowledge is further highlighted with digital hygiene. Digital hygiene includes:

Knowing how to create strong passwords
Knowing not to leave security badges or other corporate security tools lying around
How to use a VPN in some cases
When not to connect a work computer or terminal to a public network (like a coffee house Wi-Fi network)

Corporate executives should regularly hold digital hygiene seminars to make sure their employees are always kept abreast of updated digital hygiene protocols. Practicing digital hygiene is important for everyone in your company, so make sure that you know how to practice it as well!

Set Data Control and Access Policies

Business executives should also maintain strict control of data transfer and access privileges between the company network and the cloud servers. Specifically, you should write down a set of data control and access policies for your entire corporation/team.

These policies will:

List who’s allowed to access critical or sensitive data, especially data for customers
Define who’s allowed to transfer data between the company network and the cloud

In general, it’s wise to only give these privileges to certain trusted individuals. That way, there are fewer opportunities for malicious actors to get access to sensitive company data.

Callout 3: Cloud computing security lock- Define usage policies fact

Malware Protection

Naturally, malware protection for your company servers and your cloud access points is just as important as it is for everyday computing or Internet surfing. Anti-malware software and tools are very important, especially because malware viruses are constantly updating and evolving.

Luckily, many managed service providers already include malware protection by default. But even if you don’t have a managed service provider, you should implement malware protection for your cloud services ASAP.

Enable Security Logs | LI Tech Solutions’ Easiest Tip

Security logs are important tools to help you determine what the security vulnerability was after a breach or security malfunction. Security logs:

May help you catch who breached your servers or sensitive data
Can be very important during audits or security tests

In some cases, security logs may even help you update or upgrade your security measures before a major attack occurs. Make sure your IT security team or managed services provider has security logs enabled from the start.

Implement Regular Audits/Security Checks

Speaking of audits and tests, your organization should run regular security checks and audits to:

Anticipate and check for potential vulnerabilities
Ensure that obvious entrances to your network are sealed up
Make sure that security software or detection tools are working as advertised

All of this can help prevent an attack from occurring in the first place, which is always cheaper than recovering from a cyber-attack after the fact.

Callout 4: Update defenses regularly - 2 facts - blue background

Update Defenses Regularly

Lastly, anyone using a cloud environment should update their antivirus and other defenses regularly. Updates are important because they include fixes for newly discovered vulnerabilities and because they prevent malicious actors from exploiting security gaps.

If you have a managed services team running your cloud services, they should include software and network updates as part of their packages.

Contact LI Tech Solutions For The Best MSP in Long Island, New York

Of course, you can make things easy for your organization by contacting LI Tech Solutions today. As experts in cloud infrastructure and managed services, we’re well equipped and ready to provide your organization with reliable access to a secure cloud environment for all of your data storage needs.

Why wait? Contact LI Tech Solutions today!

3 Benefits of Conducting a Technology Audit

litechsol on March 7, 2022

When was the last time you conducted a comprehensive technology audit? If it’s been a while or hasn’t happened at all, you’re probably vulnerable to a cyberattack. Cybercrime shows no signs of slowing down and is expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion per year by 2025.* Technology audits have become a necessity.

Are you confident that your organization is secure with the current remote and hybrid work environments? This is where a technology audit can give you peace of mind. An IT audit is a thorough analysis and assessment of an organization’s IT infrastructure, policies and procedures.

Importance of Technology Audits

Here are five reasons why a technology audit is essential to organizational resilience and overall success:

Detects security vulnerabilities
Ensures that the organization is up to date on security measures
Establishes the foundation for the organization’s new security policies
Prepares the organization to respond quickly and effectively in the event of a cyberattack
Helps maintain compliance with various security regulations

Benefits of Technology Audits

Comprehensive technology audits have three key benefits:

1. No Surprises

IT components that we use and trust every day may have hidden threats that we can easily overlook. If not addressed early on, such threats can quickly escalate into a full-fledged data breach. An IT audit is extremely beneficial when it comes to addressing this particular concern.

A properly planned auditing process creates a map of your IT environment that helps you understand how everything connects and which areas expose you to threats. This allows you to focus your remediation efforts where they are needed the most.

Consider this: What if one of your top executives was secretly selling all your intellectual property ideas to your main competitor? That could sink your company or significantly reduce your profit potential. Unmapped and unaccounted-for technology landscapes can lead to similar outcomes.

To avoid this, regularly monitor, update, patch, and clean up the proverbial dust in your infrastructure. You might soon discover that someone intentionally or unintentionally downloaded a piece of malicious code that’s spreading like wildfire across your network, waiting for the perfect moment to demand a ransom or continue spying and stealing your best ideas.

2. Data-Driven Decision Making

A properly conducted audit will provide you with valuable data that you can use to make core business decisions. Its value extends to security budgeting as well. A data-driven approach to developing cybersecurity strategies can assist you in making more informed budget decisions. You’ll have a better idea of where to spend your money.

An audit can also help you prioritize your goals based on what’s most pressing, exposing vulnerabilities or what’s causing productivity loss.

3. A Vision for the Future

An audit can lay the groundwork for a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is a technique for evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of your business. It’s a powerful tool that can assist you in determining what your company excels at right now and formulating an effective strategy for the future. You can read more in our blog; The Latest Technologies in IT Solutions for Businesses on Long Island, NY.

Armed with a thorough understanding of your technology’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you can begin planning years in advance and share the vision with team members to keep them motivated.

Now that you understand the benefits of conducting a technology audit and may be considering auditing your organization’s technology, contact LI Tech Solutions for complete data protection services.

Are you ready to start planning your technology audit? Contact us today for a free assessment.

Source:

* Cybersecurity Ventures

6 Major Tools for Enterprise Data Protection

litechsol on February 24, 2022

For the modern enterprise, data protection is of the utmost importance. Keeping your company’s data safe isn’t just important for your operations and the security of your customers. It’s also necessary so you can adhere to new regulations and guidelines like the GDPR.

However, cyber threats are also evolving at a breakneck pace. It can be difficult to know what tools you should prioritize or what services you should employ to maximize enterprise data protection.

Today, let’s break down six important tools you should use for protecting your company’s critical data.

Ransomware Protection | New York’s Best MSP Explains

First, ransomware must remain at the top of your cybersecurity team’s awareness. Ransomware threats are constantly evolving and viruses or malware can enter your company’s systems in a variety of ways, such as:

Phishing emails
Viruses from sketchy websites
Bad digital hygiene from employees
And more

Ransomware viruses often take or delete critical data, then hold copies hostage to extract a ransom from your company. Don’t let this happen to you. Instead, your business should invest in quality ransomware protection, such as ongoing digital hygiene seminars, antivirus software, firewalls, and managed security services.

Callout 1: Data protection privacy concept - Ransomware threats can enter your company's system in variety of ways - 3 bullet points

As a bonus, defending yourself against ransomware may prevent you from having to pay excessive fines or fees for losing control of valuable customer data or personal information.

On-Premises and Cloud Backup Architecture

Even the most robust digital systems will sometimes collapse or fail, whether it’s from resource overdrawing or power grid issues. When that happens, your critical data has to be backed up in more ways than one.

By backing up important data, you can bring your website or servers back online almost instantaneously once things are fixed. More importantly, you can restore the most recent version of your site or IT infrastructure using backed-up data.

That backed-up data is also important for your customers. If a customer needs to access important data, you’ll have it ready for them since it will be backed up and restored to its usual location on your company’s servers or IT architecture.

You should invest in both on-premises and cloud backup architecture for the best results. On-premises backup architecture gives you direct control over data backups, but cloud backup architecture:

Often comes with additional security
Is not subject to the same collapse conditions as your on-premises architecture
Can be overseen and controlled by a managed services provider like LI Tech

With both backup systems enabled, your company will rarely if ever, lose any critical data, even in the event of a major crash or system collapse.

Callout 2: Cloud backup with padlock icon - On-premises and cloud backup architecture - 2 points from text

Ongoing, Continuous Critical Data Protection

Your most important data shouldn’t just be backed up once a week or even once per day. It should instead be backed up in near real-time. This enables you to restore any critical data, whether for your company or your customers, at practically any point in time.

Continuous data protection does just this. It always backs up critical files almost instantaneously, so the most recent version of data is always stored somewhere else, typically in the cloud or off-site.

As you employ continuous data protection, you’ll also find that your IT infrastructure is further fortified against other cyber threats, like ransomware attacks. There’s no reason not to use continuous data protection in this day and age if you have any critical files for your business or customers.

Data Encryption

Another aspect of continuous enterprise data protection means employing end-to-end data encryption for all workplace devices, plus any cloud server access points. End-to-end data encryption means securing files or workstations at both ends of access, not just employee terminals, for example.

End-to-end data encryption is also useful if some or all of your workforce does work remotely. Ransomware or other cyber threats are oftentimes picked up at vulnerable public access points, such as coffee shop servers or unsecured work laptops.

End-to-end data encryption ensures that these potential vulnerabilities won’t negatively affect your enterprise or result in data theft.

Callout 3: Important data from text on blurred cloud technology background

Self-Directed Healing

It’s also important to lean into self-directed healing or self-healing IT infrastructure. Machine learning and data analytics innovations now allow systems or IT infrastructure to heal themselves by:

Managing their resources more effectively, especially to prevent server or infrastructure crashes
Resolving datacenter limitations
Ensuring operational consistency
Balancing performance levels throughout computer infrastructure
And more

In short, self-directed healing is a novel way for your enterprise’s data to remain secure and safe. Your IT infrastructure will monitor itself for any potential problems and send a warning if there’s a catastrophic issue coming ahead.

Managed service providers often employ self-directed healing protocols to enterprise IT infrastructure. That’s just another benefit of hiring a managed service provider for your organization.

Managed Resource Scaling

Lastly, all enterprises should leverage managed resource scaling like never before. This is especially important for small businesses that hope for rapid growth in the future.

Even with the best planning, spikes in usage can sometimes cause catastrophic and cascading failures in IT infrastructure, leading to server outages, website wipes, and lost data.

Managed services providers can employ resource scaling to ensure your enterprise always has the server resources it needs no matter how much traffic or attention it gets. This can also protect against certain types of cyber threats, like DDoS attacks.

But even beyond protecting your organization’s data, resource scaling is cost-efficient and allows your enterprise to better predict ongoing server resource costs. This, in turn, may help you budget more effectively in the future.

Callout 4: Managed Resource Scaling info from text

Contact Long Island Tech For The Best Data Protection Solutions in NY

At the end of the day, the most important data protection solutions are all available from managed service providers like LI Tech. As the ideal managed IT services provider for Long Island businesses, LI Tech is well equipped and ready to help your enterprise protect its data in more ways than one.

With our managed services and cloud operations, your data will be secured from attacks, backed up multiple times and insulated against crashes, and more. Contact us today to learn more or to set up a consultation – we’ll find the perfect solution for your company’s unique needs.

Top 4 Tech Trend Predictions for 2022

litechsol on February 14, 2022

Over the last few decades, technology has been a driving force in business transformation and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. The fact that direct digital transformation investments are projected to total $7 trillion between 2020 and 2023 demonstrates this.¹If you want your firm to succeed, you must have the appropriate technologies to help you keep up with the changing business world. Let’s take a look at the tech trend predictions for 2022.

In the present scenario, your technology must enable you to overcome three recent pandemic-induced issues:

Supply chain disruptions

In 2021, supply chain interruptions cost businesses throughout the world an average of $184 million.²

The great resignation

In September 2021, 4.4 million people resigned from their jobs in the United States alone, setting a new record.³

A rise in ransomware attacks

Ransomware affected 68.5% of businesses in 2021.⁴

Businesses must keep up with the demands of the evolving technology landscape if they wish to achieve their goals and remain competitive despite the changes brought about by the pandemic.

Track the latest technological trends to know if you are moving in the right direction. Having a managed service provider (MSP) on your side allows your business to stay up to date without you having to do much heavy lifting.

Top 4 tech trend predictions for 2022⁵

Third-party risks will increase

In 2022, third parties will be involved in 60% of security incidents. This means that firms that fail to invest in the risk management trifecta of people, processes, and technology may face cyberattacks.

Proactive businesses will include risk assessment, supply chain mapping, real-time risk intelligence, and business continuity management in their IT stack (rather than a single application like Excel).

One-third of companies will fail at implementing “work from anywhere”

To successfully and securely empower remote workers, organizations need to deliver:

A precisely designed digital workplace that allows for seamless working from anywhere
A leadership team capable of leading a virtual team
An organization with high levels of digital literacy across all departments
A thorough mastery of work-from-anywhere concepts

However, a third of the companies still lag in these areas.

Cloud-native takes center stage in enterprise cloud

Cloud customers will change their business strategy to be completely cloud-native rather than using the cloud for only a portion of their portfolio.

Also, cloud-native adoption is predicted to reach 50% of enterprise organizations by 2022, spanning all major technology domains such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things.

Tech execs leap from digital to human-centered technology transformations

In 2022, technology executives will concentrate on fixing long-term problems. The best will embrace a customer-centric approach to technology, allowing their organization to quickly reconfigure business structures and capabilities to meet future customer and employee needs with adaptability, innovation, and resilience.

Collaborate for success

If you are in NYC or Long Island and want to get your technology infrastructure ready for a successful year, you’ll need the help of a dependable managed service provider (MSP). Feel free to contact us to set up a free consultation. Our expertise and skillsets may be precisely what your company needs to help remote workers thrive.

Sources:

Statista (worldwide-digital-transformation-market-size)
Statista (cost-supply-chain-disruption-country)
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, 2021
Statista (businesses-ransomware-attack-rate)
Predictions 2022, Forrester