Best Practices in Technology

Business email compromise (BEC), also known as imposter email, is an emerging global threat. The FBI estimates that this growing problem has already hit more than 22,000 victims and caused more than $3 billion in losses around the world. (See Public Service Announcement, alert #I-061416-PSA.)

Do it yourself? Or hire a professional? It's the age old question. For home improvement projects that don't necessarily require specific skills, you can save money if you do it yourself, plus enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you put your own sweat equity into it. This makes sense for some things, but not others. Even the most avid home improvement buffs can recall projects they wished they had hired someone to do for them, when they think back to how much time and money they spent on something that really didn't come out that great (and how frustrating the whole experience was).

Undoubtedly you've seen the news about the spread of the WannaCry / WannaCrypt ransomware threatening businesses and government entities across the globe.

A common need businesses may be trying to fulfill when seeking IT services is managed hosting. Forward-thinking businesses are realizing they can keep expenses in check while strengthening security by using a shared data center infrastructure. A company that requires the use of a data center understands the cost benefits and security advantages of this service over building and maintaining a company’s own data center to house servers, storage, and networking equipment. With managed hosting, businesses get a reliable, secure environment for critical business systems with maximum uptime and reduced operational exposure. At the same time, expenses are controlled by sharing the costs of space, power, and connectivity with other firms.

Many IT service providers that started out in the break/fix model have simply slapped on the MSP (managed service provider) label as a way to upsell their services. Similarly, as cybersecurity has become a hot topic and data breaches are in the news every day, many MSPs have started to bill themselves as an MSSP (managed security service provider). What are the differences in these categories?