Last year, remote working became a necessity due to the outbreak of the COVID-19. Many organizations quickly discovered that shifting towards working from home isn’t nearly as simple as allowing employees to use their personal devices for work-related purposes.

The year 2020 is (finally!) over, but the numerous COVID-19 cybersecurity threats it gave us are still with us, making life difficult for organizations large and small.

These threats are especially worrisome for healthcare providers, which are required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.

Here’s a common scenario: An organization hires one or two in-house IT professionals to support its IT needs. As the organization grows, its information technology infrastructure becomes more complex, and that’s when management typically chooses to either hire more in-house IT employees or outsource the entire IT to a managed service provider (MSP).

But there’s a third option, one that combines the benefits of having an in-house IT department with the flexibility and cost-efficiency of a third-party vendor.

The year 2020 will be remembered not just for the coronavirus pandemic but also for the massive disruption of established working habits caused by it. And wherever there is a disruption, there are cybercriminals whose goal is to take advantage of the chaos.

So proud of our team at Spectrum Technology Solutions for the hard work they put in during November that enabled us to donate 72 turkeys today to the Saint Mary’s Food Bank! Each turkey will serve about 14 meals, providing a total of 1,008 turkey meals to families in need this Thanks giving.

Most small and medium-sized businesses are no longer contemplating whether the cloud is worth their time and effort. Instead, they’re comparing different types of cloud computing, trying to figure out which one is the best for them.

Last year, 35 percent of SMBs embraced the hybrid cloud model, and everything indicates that its adoption will only continue to increase as more businesses learn about its benefits.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many organizations to rethink how they conduct their operations. As a result, remote working arrangements have skyrocketed, and more employees than ever before are now working from their homes, often using their own personal devices.

Ransomware attacks are one of the most dangerous malware threats today, and they are expected to cost organizations worldwide around $20 billion in damages by the end of 2021. As such, the question every organization should be asking is, “How can we protect our employees against this threat to prevent important data from becoming encrypted?”

The following five tips cover the primary ways organizations of all sizes can safeguard critical infrastructure against current and future ransomware attacks:

Back up all important data: The main reason why ransomware attacks are so effective is that organizations can’t afford to lose their data.