Suffolk Computer Consultants, Inc. Blog

With the papal conclave—the sequestered selection of a new pope by the Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals—beginning today, it seemed timely to consider how this centuries-old tradition has maintained its incredibly high level of secrecy and security over the years.

After all, there may be a few lessons and insights we can glean from their process and apply them to your business and its privacy.

We talk a lot about digital security for your business, but what about physical security? Are you doing all you can to secure your physical office location and the assets, resources, and employees within? Today, we want to discuss some of the options you have for controlling your physical infrastructure.

One of the greatest challenges for businesses is how they protect themselves from threats, including both the physical and digital spaces. Worse yet, the responsibility falls on more than just your IT department. Every employee needs to know and understand how their actions impact operational continuity and business success.

Malware sounds like one of those tech words people throw around, but don’t understand. Still, if you’re running a business or even just using the internet for work, you need to know what it is and how to deal with it. Malware is any kind of software designed to mess with your devices, steal your info, or hold your data hostage. Not fun.

Antivirus software is one of those things we all know we need, but have you ever stopped to think about how it actually works? Understanding the basics can help you appreciate why keeping it updated is so important. Today, we took a look at antivirus software.

Cybersecurity is a major issue for every for-profit, non-profit, and individual out there. There are near-constant threats coming at you every day, and if you don’t take this particular threat seriously, you will likely have a tough go of it if you want to use the Internet or online resources. The fact is that people absolutely need to be sure that you are doing everything you can to protect the data they give you. Let’s take a look at why just giving an apology isn’t cutting it when dealing with the protection of customer personal data.

Social media might connect people unlike any tool previously seen, but it’s not all sunshine and daisies. After all, this same revolution in communication has brought about one of the largest ways to scam unsuspecting users. Today, we want to take a look at how these social media scams work and what you can do to keep yourself safe.

Certain information needs to be well-known in the professional workplace at every level of an organization. Cybersecurity best practices are examples of such pieces of information.

Unfortunately, a recent survey has shown that a significant portion of adults in the United Kingdom—about one in three—failed a cybersecurity test. What’s worse, this test was designed for 11-year-olds

Let’s discuss what this means about modern security and how prepared modern businesses are… or aren’t.

Tax season is coming, at least in the United States, and while it’s not the most exciting time of the year, it’s important nonetheless. Hackers know this, too, so you might get some unsolicited text messages or emails claiming to be the Internal Revenue Service. Today, we want to highlight the importance of awareness this tax season, and what you should anticipate over the next couple of months.

While we may be IT professionals and—as such—take security extremely seriously, it can occasionally help to discuss business cybersecurity with a different approach… such as a daytime soap opera. What follows is one of these occasions.

Welcome to Oak Falls, a cozy little coastal hamlet shielded by the trees that give it its name. Unfortunately, these trees do little to protect the residents from the cyberthreats that loom over us all. Like bytes through the Internet, these are the Zero-Days of Our Lives.

Phishing attacks are the most common security risk your business faces, and if you’re not careful, you (or your employees) could fall victim to them with ease. All it takes is clicking on the wrong link or downloading the wrong file, and boom, your business is dealing with a full-blown security breach. To prevent this, we want to cover some of the major signs you’re dealing with a phishing message and what you can do about it.

Have you just purchased a new computer? That’s awesome! But what about your old one? You can’t just toss it in the trash—there’s a safe way to handle it to protect your personal info and help the environment. Let’s go over what you need to do.

Imagine one of your employees receiving a phishing message in their email inbox. Would they fall for it or report it to the appropriate individuals within your business? With phishing training, you can take the guesswork out of this scenario and know—for sure—that your team knows how to respond to a potential phishing scheme.

We frequently recommend using a password manager to help keep track of your credentials, given that you only use a standalone password manager—one that isn’t tied to a browser. Why the distinction?

It’s simple: it’s all in the interest of security, which means it is a rule that must be followed regardless of what browser you use.

If your business were breached by a cybercriminal, would you be able to figure out what caused the breach in the first place? If you don’t know the answer to this question, we have news for you—you’re far from the only one. A recent survey has shown that most security leaders (67% of those surveyed) don’t know what caused a cybersecurity incident, and it’s a problem that must be addressed.

Zero-trust is a data protection method that's becoming very popular in the tech world. It’s one of the best ways to keep your business safe from hackers. Let’s discuss how zero-trust started and why it’s important today.

When it comes to data access, there’s no good reason for everyone in your business to have access to all the files. There’s just too many risks involved, and you’re not about to make risk management the central part of your job duties. Therefore, it makes sense to limit who has access to what data based on their user role.

While there are plenty of cybersecurity protections for your business’ technology, it is just as critical that you and your team are prepared to stay as secure as possible. To accomplish this, we wanted to share a collection of cybersecurity basics to get you started on the right foot.

For your business to achieve true business continuity—meaning you can maintain your operations regardless of disasters or issues—a data backup is a critical element of your preparations.

As such, it is critical that your backup is designed to be as comprehensive and reliable as possible.

Data privacy is no laughing matter, and the more people learn about it, the more seriously they tend to take it. It’s quite common for you to face privacy threats in day-to-day life. Today, we want to look at some of the concerns that everyday users should be aware of with data privacy and what you can do to keep yourself safe.