“It’s Halloween. Everyone’s entitled to one good scare.” – Sheriff Leigh Brackett
NOTE: To browse ALL past Newsletter topics that we have covered over the years, go here.
Ransomware
The threat of ransomware will never go away. A ransomware attack can render data inaccessible and systems inoperable. A reliable, accessible backup (or multiple backups, including online backup) can help, but it still may take a while to restore all data in case of an emergency. Good security, of course, is important and may thwart many threats, but, eventually good backup will be necessary, so don’t overlook it – ever.
Downtime
While so much attention is paid consistently by businesses to security and backup, unreliable systems and downtime are as much of a threat. The solution is to make sure that servers, workstations and any online services are examined and maintained consistently and that attention is paid to any errors that pop up in the logs, not just that people notice while using them. Don’t pray. Pay. Pay to replace old systems. And pay someone to maintain them. It is most often better and more cost-effective than doing it yourself.
Data loss
$hit happens. Drives fail. Entire systems fail. It is not just ransomware that is a threat. Or old systems. Sooner or later, some kind of storage device will fail. Or something will be deleted. Without being aware of where your data is stored and then properly implementing backup systems, something will go from bad to worse. This includes online data such as in Microsoft 365 or Google systems, which maintain backup data for a month or so (but which is generally hard to restore). There are backup systems designed specifically for these products, too. We can help.
Out-of-date or unpatched operating systems
There was a time a few years ago when we were helping people replace Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 systems with Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 2016 or 2019. This year and last year, we have helped others upgrade to Windows Server 2022, especially those running Server 2012 or Server 2012R2, which is now at end-of-life. Microsoft server operating systems have a support cycle of about 10 years and Microsoft will be releasing security updates for these as long as they are still supported.
New updates are released once a month, typically on the 2nd Tuesday each month. Client operating systems may download and install updates automatically, which is good, but this can also be handled by automation from us or from your IT provider. Server updates are a bit trickier. Servers can generally not be taken down easily during the week to apply updates and should not be restarting automatically whenever they want. For Grundig IT clients, we handle the patching on servers and do so over the weekend to minimize business interruption.
Zero-day threats
A zero-day threat exploits a vulnerability for which there is no known fix yet or has not yet been discovered. Occasionally, Microsoft will release a patch or update out of their normal cycle in order to address such a threat. If this happens, apply the fix immediately. Also, consider using anti-virus or anti-malware which is not purely signature-based but examines the behavior of the threat and can prevent it from doing damage using this behavioral examination (not by comparing to a prior list of known threats). Ask us about this and we can help you choose what protection is right for you and your business.
Tom Grundig – 925.528.9081 – tom@grundigit.com
