Capstone Works Blog

It was essentially what everyone expected Y2K to be, over 24 years ago.

The world’s biggest (so far) IT catastrophe forced hospitals to cancel surgeries, shuttered 911 call centers, crippled banks, and left travelers stranded at airports.

It wasn’t a cyberattack, and it didn’t come with a warning, but it had a massive impact on the world and is causing business owners and decision makers to think a little differently about their technology. Let’s talk about the CrowdStrike outage and what we all need to take away from this disaster.

At Capstone, we’re different from other IT companies. For us, it’s not about selling hardware or locking companies into a yearly contract. Instead, our goal is to help small businesses grow, utilizing technology to make them more effective. We take pride in being the shield between your business and the looming IT problems that you potentially face.

For smaller businesses especially, there has been a stigma when it comes to IT over the last several years. Business owners have a lot to contend with, and IT can seem like another roadblock—a necessary evil. IT is almost in the same vein as needing business insurance, except some business owners are even more willing to take the risk to skip proper IT management because the repercussions aren’t as clear and defined.

It’s time to stop looking at IT as an expense, and see it as an opportunity for your organization to accomplish more in the workday—it’s all about how well it is implemented and used.

As your business grows, or as you invest in expensive technology solutions to assist your business growth, you may need significantly more help managing, maintaining, and supporting the technology within your organization.

This usually happens when you outgrow your current computer support provider or get too busy to research, learn, and take care of everything yourself. Either way, you must focus on your business and need someone else to handle your IT.

Sure, you can hire internal IT staff; in some cases, that’s a pretty good call. We will discuss some pros and cons and alternative options before you spend a ton of money you don’t need to.

With the ever-changing landscape of technology and the increasing presence of cybersecurity threats, it's crucial to have a well-planned and strategic IT budget in place. Let’s discuss the steps you can take to plan your organization's 2024 IT budget to prevent excess costs and get the most out of your IT investment.

The last few years have seen an unsettling jump in cybercrime rates, with more businesses struck by various attacks, ransomware, and data breaches. Phishing attacks against end users haven’t slowed down, either—in fact, they’ve become effective enough that even the pros can be tricked. Let’s consider some of the cybercrime trends we anticipate to see in 2023.

Well sometimes we need to re-think our best practices and COVID-19 has forced us all to explore new ways to work, communicate, and manage.  We've been a Microsoft partner and Microsoft Teams user for many years now, but I underestimated how Microsoft Teams would be used to manage and lead a remote workforce in this uncertain world.

As we moved to a 100% remote workforce on March 9th, we did so with full confidence in our Business Continuity Plan, being able to maintain 100% of our service delivery without needing our physical office space.  But even I'm surprised at how well the team can communicate and deliver services from their homes!  With a combination of VoIP telephone, Microsoft Teams, and a VPN to our network, each team member can continue to engage and resolve client issues!  This includes handling proactive maintenance and communicating with clients via email, company desk phone, AND video calls/meetings. We've fully serving every need our Client's have encountered while navigating this new and exciting (OK scary) business situation.

This transition has I'm sure raised several though questions for you and your staff as well. However, we've found that we need access to 6 things to seamlessly work "together" while apart.

1. Well managed VoIP telephony - allowing for our phone tree to remain the same, outbound calls to come from our phone numbers, and provide a transparent Client experience.
2. A secure team virtual meeting tool, like Microsoft Teams, allowing for chat, file-sharing, face-to-face meetings, and collaboration.
3. Cloud services or VPN access to on-premise servers giving a remote work experience identical to being in the office.
4. Regular team "huddles" (daily all-hands check-ins) to chat, maintain interpersonal connections, and define priorities for each day.
5. Weekly public acknowledgment of individual contributions; we use a Microsoft Teams based peer review system and keep our eyes open for "great job" acknowledgments.
6. Metrics and performance KPIs to keep individual performance and contribution visible.

Your list may vary, but in combination with our culture and tools, we've found remote work to be more productive, more organized, and nearly as interactive as in-person work.  Many of these success factors depended heavily on technology.  Each of our clients faced similar but unique challenges in adjusting to a full or part-time remote workforce. An existing relationship with a prepared, forward-thinking Managed IT Service firm helped them be nimble and quickly react to changing conditions with little to no impact on overall productivity in the face of perhaps the biggest threat to all businesses in our community in my lifetime.  I'm proud of the accomplishments of my team, and the positive impact we've each had in assisting our many clients in navigating these waters of transition.

It’s no secret that your data is a hot commodity. Each day sophisticated cybercriminals attempt to make money by stealing your private information to pose as you, blackmail you, or simply sell your information to someone who will. If you want to stay in business, you’ll need to be able to thwart these attempts. But to do so, you must understand the increasingly advanced methods hackers use. In this two-part article, we’ll examine the techniques hackers are currently employing to gain access to your sensitive data.

Cracking Passwords

The fact that hackers might simply guess your passwords probably seems painfully obvious, but the hard truth is that many companies still lack proper password management. If your password is a series of common words, a dictionary attack can use algorithms to cycle through a word database and quickly discover your chosen phrase.

Simply adding some numbers won’t be enough, either, as hackers can up the ante with a brute force attack which allows them, with some additional computing power, to cycle through alpha-numeric combinations until they strike gold.

And if they are very determined and well equipped, a hacker can also use a rainbow table attack. When passwords are attempted, they are “hashed” to avoid sending the actual plaintext password over the communication line. In this type of attack, pre-computed tables are used to recover these hashes and reverse them to reduce guessing time and discover complex passwords.

To prevent these, you’ll need to create unique passwords that are more than ten characters long and have a mix of numbers, lowercase and uppercase letters, and symbols for each account. One popular trick for this is to think of a phrase and codify it. For example, “Cousin Greg lives in Seattle” becomes “C0u$iNGr3gLiV3SinS3ATtLE”.

Additionally, you should use multi-factor authentication whenever possible so that your password isn’t the only thing standing between an attacker and access to your accounts.

Phishing Schemes

One of the most common methods of data hacking, phishing scams are so effective, they’ve produced many high-profile data breaches including the hacking of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, who unknowingly gave up his Gmail password, and Snapchat, where an employee gave up payroll information that led to widespread identity theft.

In a phishing scheme, disguised e-mails are used to lure the recipient into a trap. Posing as a trusted source, such as someone you do business with, your bank, or your email provider, hackers trick you into providing them information directly, clicking a link that leads you to a fake site, or downloading an attachment that then allows them access to your system. One of the oldest tricks in the book, phishing is an evergreen technique that is continually being re-invented in order to become harder to spot.

The best way prevent being hooked in by a phishing scam is to study the way they are being used and stay vigilant. Make sure to check the spelling of URLs in email links and watch out for URL redirects. Keep your browsers up-to-date to ensure you have the most recent security patches and install anti-phishing toolbars on your browser that can run checks on sites you visit and compare them to a database of known phishing sites. And, of course, never give out personal information over email.

These are two of the most popular ways attackers attempt to gain access to your system but stay tuned for Part 2 of this article as we dive into three more sophisticated methods cyber attackers are currently using. Concerned you’re not as safe as you thought? Contact Capstone Works immediately. Our cybersecurity professionals have the expertise to make sure you’re one step ahead of the latest tricks, scams, and hacks that could threaten your business.

When you mention the term 'disaster recovery,' most people think about the big ground-shattering events like earthquakes, fires, floods, tropical storms, etc. While these natural events are certainly disasters and devastating in their own right, smaller things can constitute as a disaster for your business, and they aren't seasonal.

Saving a little on your technology can go a long ways, but cutting too many corners can lead to additional problems and expensive downtime. Here are a few ways you can cut costs without creating long term issues.

Don't be Afraid to Replace

Got an older PC that's causing you a lot of issues? Older technology is typically more expensive to run, and after a while, it's cheaper to simply buy a new desktop than it is to continue pouring money into something that always seems broken. It's a great time to buy workstations, and if things are tight you can even buy refurbished desktops to keep costs low.

We've all been through an office or personal a move at some point in our lives. Whether to go to school, follow a career opportunity, or simply move to a new house, most everyone has experienced it. Moving a company, however, presents some unique challenges as the move must have minimal impact on your team's ability to serve clients or sell products. We'll discuss the range of considerations and actions you need to take to make your move surprise and hassle free. Some of the items on this list are so obvious they will require little discussion, but others are hidden landmines that can significantly affect your relationship with your vendors and clients.

The FBI has issued alerts to all businesses about the spread of BEC scams.  One of the fastest growing hazards facing businesses today is the growth of Business Email Compromise or BEC scams.  According to the FBI, these scams have grown by more than 270% since the beginning of last year.  At their last reporting, more than 7,000 businesses have lost more than $1.2 billion in the last 2 years.  At Capstone Works we help you to manage your IT risks.  We are at the forefront of IT risk management; monitoring, assessing and evaluating threats to your network no matter where they may come from.  You can be confident knowing that Capstone Works is in your corner.  While these scams may, at first, seem less impressive than thefts perpetrated by sophisticated malware targeting banks and other large institutions; a BEC attack is, in reality, more vicious.  They are more versatile and can avoid the basic security steps taken by businesses and individuals.  Instead of simply targeting your machines, a BEC scam targets your people!  Criminals are convincing their victims to hand company money right over to them, and they have been very successful in doing so.  According to the FBI, “The scam has been reported in all 50 states and in 79 countries.  Fraudulent transfers have been reported going to 72 countries; however, the majority of the transfers are going to Asian banks located within China and Hong Kong.

Most small business owners believe cyberattacks are the concern of large corporations, however nothing could be further from the truth. According to Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report 71% of cyberattacks occur at businesses with less than 100 employees. [1]

Unfortunately, many “SMBs suffer from 'It can't happen to us' syndrome,” notes Robert Siciliano, security expert for McAfee. “They also typically don't have the resources to secure their networks to the degree a large enterprise would. But the information on their networks – and access to their bank accounts – still makes them a big target.” Even though it turns out SMB’s have a larger target on their backs than they realize, two thirds of SMBs surveyed by Symantec say they're not concerned about cyber threats; and more than 80 percent have no formal cyber security plan.

Have you ever heard that loud fan whine noise coming from your server room? Is it your IT infrastructure hard at work helping you to increase profits or is the sound of the “zombie” servers? A zombie, or comatose, server is a physical server that is running but has no external communications or visibility and contributes no computer resources; it essentially consumes electricity but serves no useful purpose. For something you have most likely never heard of, it’s a big problem. An estimated one in three servers in North America falls into the "undead" category. Given those odds, it’s likely that most businesses are running servers that are no longer doing anything relevant and could be decommissioned.

Angry customers, negative media coverage, frustrated employees, untold revenue lost, lingering anger from customers: that’s the status for Delta Airlines this week.  Of course this is not news to anyone; unless you have been living under a rock you have heard the numerous news reports detailing the Delta computer disaster.  Whether caused by a minor power outage at Delta headquarters or an internal computer hiccup, the airline was forced to cancel over 500 flights causing gridlock across America’s airports at the height of vacation season. You may not be running an international transportation corporation, but imagine what would happen to your clients if you had an unexpected IT failure.  Think something like this can’t happen to you? Think again.  The problem that Delta airlines faced was not the power outage at their headquarters; it was an inadequate IT Disaster Recovery Plan.  As a business owner you don’t want to be caught off guard in the middle of an IT nightmare.  An IT Disaster Recovery Plan may sound like a great idea, but you might not even know what one looks like, let alone know where to start.  Here at Capstone Works we are your IT partner and are ready to put together a comprehensive IT Disaster Recovery Plan.  The goal of any good plan is fivefold, it should:

As the line between working in-office and working from home becomes more and more blurred, a new trend in employee technology has begun to emerge – BYOD, or bring your own device. Many companies are offering their employees the option to bring their own devices into the office environment as it can improve both employee satisfaction and office productivity.  But CIOs still must consider three different basic set ups/options before taking the plunge:

IT disasters are devastating to the infrastructure of any organization.  In a modern office environment, IT is the hub of any type of business.  Disasters can disrupt IT processes to the point that businesses are significantly impacted.  When it comes to disaster recovery many firms believe they will never need a backup plan; convincing themselves that the likelihood of their organization being affected is minimal.  In reality, threats to your IT infrastructure are growing no matter what segment of the economy you operate within. 

Organizations today cannot successfully grow their business while neglecting their technology needs; though it is impossible to become an IT expert while remaining focused on your niche. The world of IT is constantly changing - from cloud computing, Big Data, mobility, the Internet of Things, and new data storage – options can be overwhelming for any SMB owner. Is it time for you to upgrade your data storage? Are you employing the best solution to fit your needs? As you evaluate your technology solutions, don’t forget about your data storage options.

Tablets are definitely becoming a staple in the consumer electronics world. For the longest time, the tablet PC was an expensive, clunky device that just didn't wow consumers. Some businesses had adopted tablets back in the day, but they were difficult to use, hard to support, and they simply didn't perform for the price tag. However, like many consumer electronics, Apple reinvigorated the tablet market with the original iPad, and now it would seem tablets are here to stay. The question is, are they right for businesses?