SHARE:  
Databranch Monthly Tech Talk
IT Solutions for the Workplace

February | 2023

What's Inside?

01 - Monthly Update from Mike

02 - Introducing Lisa to the Databranch Team

03 - New Service Workflow for Clients

04 - Changes to the Authenticator App

05 - Mitigating the Cost of Data Breaches

Did you know?


Google receives over 99,000 search results every single second!

Introducing Lisa to the Databranch Team!

When did you join the Databranch team?


January, 2023


What do you like best about Databranch?


I like the atmosphere; everyone is very helpful and they make you feel like you are part of a family.


How would you describe your role at Databranch?

 

I am the Purchasing & Receiving Clerk at Databranch, also the first person you would see if you came to visit or called us on the phone.

Click here to read more about Lisa!

Monthly Update from Mike

Vulnerabilities are an unfortunate side effect of all the technological advancements these days.


Software developers rush out their next releases, then hackers comb that code for vulnerabilities they can exploit.


In 2022, there were estimated to be over 22,500 IT security vulnerabilities worldwide.


These vulnerabilities act as gateways to cybercriminals.


They use them to find backdoors into a system, elevate privileges, and enable other types of breaches.


Staying on top of them takes a comprehensive vulnerability management strategy that begins with an assessment.


By proactively assessing, identifying, and fixing vulnerabilities in your network, you can greatly improve cybersecurity.


It’s also a requirement for complying with many types of data privacy regulations.


You can read more about the benefits of executing a vulnerability assessment here.


Would you like some help with a vulnerability assessment? Reply to this email, give us a call at 716-373-4467 x 115, or visit us here to schedule a chat.


Regards,

Mike Wilson

President - Databranch

New Service Workflow for Clients

Databranch is excited to announce that in March we will be introducing a new workflow for service tickets to better serve our clients and improve the service experience with Databranch.


During some service engagements, our engineers will require additional information or testing from a client to complete the service ticket and confirm resolution. In March, tickets that get moved to this status will send an automatic follow-up to the user associated to the ticket for five days until we are able to proceed with next steps. If a response is not received after five days, the ticket will close and can be re-opened at any time.


If you have any question about this new service process, please reach out to your dedicated account manager or respond to this email.

Upcoming Changes to Microsoft's

Authenticator App

Microsoft has announced an upcoming change to the default method used in its Authenticator App. Starting May 8th, 2023, users will be required to input a verification number into the authenticator app. This date was previously February 27th, but Microsoft recently released a revision to the start date.


This number matching method is replacing the approve/deny push notification sent to mobile devices. Number matching is a key security upgrade to traditional second factor notifications in Microsoft Authenticator.


Microsoft will remove the admin controls and enforce the number match experience tenant-wide for all users starting May 8th, 2023. 


Please note that this change will occur for both PCs and mobile devices. No action is required by the end users, this change will happen automatically by Microsoft.


If you have any questions regarding this upcoming change, or need any assistance, please contact Databranch Service at 716-373-4467 x4.

Four Proven Ways to Mitigate the Costs

of a Data Breach

No business wants to suffer a data breach. But unfortunately, in today’s environment, it’s difficult to completely avoid them. Approximately 83% of organizations have experienced more than one data breach. (IBM Security 2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report)


These breaches hurt businesses in many ways. First, there is the immediate cost of remediating the breach. Then, there are the lost productivity costs. You can add lost business on top of that along with lost customer trust. A business could also have extensive legal costs associated with a breach.


Visit our website here to see what the cost of downtime would be for your business.


According to IBM Security’s report, the cost of a data breach climbed again in 2022. The global cost of one breach is now $4.35 million, up 2.6% from last year. If your business is in the U.S., the cost rises to $9.44 million. In Canada, the average data breach costs companies $5.64 million.


Costs for smaller companies tend to be a little lower. But breaches are often more devastating to SMBs. They don’t have the same resources that larger companies do to offset all those costs.


It’s estimated that 60% of small companies go out of business within six months of a cybersecurity breach.


Companies don’t need to resign themselves to the impending doom of a data breach. There are some proven tactics they can take to mitigate the costs. These cybersecurity practices can limit the damage of a cyberattack. 


All these findings come from the IBM Security report. They include hard facts on the benefits of bolstering your cybersecurity strategy.


Cybersecurity Tactics to Reduce the Impact of a Breach


Use a Hybrid Cloud Approach


Most organizations use the cloud for data storage and business processes. Researchers found that 45% of all data breaches happen in the cloud. But all cloud strategies are not created equally.


Breaches in the public cloud cost significantly more than those in a hybrid cloud. What is a hybrid cloud? It means that some data and processes are in a public cloud, and some are in a private cloud environment.


What some may find surprising is that using a hybrid cloud approach was also better than a private cloud.



Put in Place a Disaster Recovery Plan & Practice It


You don’t need to be a large enterprise to create an Disaster Recovery (DR) plan. The DR plan is a set of instructions for employees to follow should any number of cybersecurity incidents occur.


Along with this, it is the Business Continuity Solution put in place by the business to monitor backup processes, implement recovery objectives and restore your data to its former state.


Here is an example. In the case of ransomware, the first step should be disconnecting the infected device. DR plans improve the speed and effectiveness of a response in the face of a security crisis.


Having a practiced Disaster Recovery plan reduces the cost of a data breach by an average of $2.66 million per incident.


Need help setting up your Disaster Recovery plan? We’re ready to help you with a custom-built business continuity solution that meets the needs of your unique business. Give our experts a call at 716-373-4467 x115 or click here to get started.


Adopt a Zero Trust Security Approach


Zero trust is a collection of security protocols that work together to fortify a network. An example of a few of these are:


Approximately 79% of critical infrastructure organizations haven’t adopted zero trust. Doing so can significantly reduce data breach costs. Organizations that don’t deploy zero trust tactics pay about $1 million more per data breach. 


Use Tools with Security AI & Automation


Using the right security tools can make a big difference in the cost incurred during a data breach. Using tools that deploy security AI and automation brought the biggest cost savings.


Data breach expense lowered by 65.2% thanks to security AI and automation solutions. These types of solutions include tools like advanced threat protection (ATP). They can also include applications that hunt out threats and automate the response.


Here at Databranch, we use a number of automated remote monitoring tools that will inspect your system 24/7, 365 days a year to help prevent attacks from happening to your organization. Click here to learn more.


How to Get Started Improving Your Cyber Resilience


Many of these ways to lower data breach costs are simply best practices. You can get started by taking them one at a time and rolling out upgrades to your cybersecurity strategy.


Databranch will even help you put together a roadmap to achieve this in the most efficient way possible. Address the “low-hanging fruit” first. Then, move on to longer-term projects.


As an example, “low-hanging fruit” would be putting multi-factor authentication in place. It’s low-cost and easy to put in place. It also significantly reduces the risk of a cloud breach.


A longer-term project might be creating an incident response plan. Then, you would set up a schedule to have your team drill on the plan regularly. During those drills, you could work out any kinks.


Need Help Improving Your Security & Reducing Risk?


Working with Databranch can take a lot of the security burden off your shoulders. Contact us today at 716-373-4467 x 115 or info@databranch.com to discuss your security needs.



Article used with permission from The Technology Press.

Technology Trivia


Where did the word “Bluetooth” originally come from?


The first person to email us at info@databranch.com and give a correct answer gets a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

Need a Laugh?


Did you hear about the Monkeys that shared an Amazon account?

 



They were Prime-Mates


If you were forwarded this email from one of our great Databranch clients and would like to receive future updates, reply to this email and we will add you to the list!
Databranch | www.databranch.com
Facebook  Twitter  Linkedin