Info Advantage Blog

Have you signed up for our next in-person event? If not, you might want to check this out!

Featuring Unitrends and Arctic Wolf, this Lunch N’ Learn will focus on How To Mitigate Cyber Risk To Your Business. In honor of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we’re focusing on all things cyber so to help you strengthen your security posture. Now is the time to put extra emphasis on protection!

We are proud to partner with industry leaders to help get you everything you need to know.

A 2021 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards Gold Winner, Unitrends, introduces backup appliances and Cloud data protection that leverage cutting edge technology to automate manual tasks, eliminate management complexity, and deliver tested hardware and software resilience. They also offer effortless data protection, resilient protection built for the unexpected, and customer-driven innovation. With 30,000 customers and a 98% customer satisfaction, Unitrends provides leading solutions worldwide.

Named the 25^th Fastest Growing Company in North America on Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 500, Arctic Wolf is a market leader in security operations. Using the Cloud-native Arctic Wolf Platform, they help organizations end cyber risk by providing security operations as a concierge service. They also allow you to simplify your security operations with one platform, delivered by experts, leading to 90% less IT effort, and providing 24x7 security operations. Who wouldn’t want IT peace of mind like this?

Cybercrime continues to be a hot topic item in 2021. In fact, a report from McAfee indicated that cybercrime cost the global economy as much as $600 billion in 2017. That same report estimated that global cybercrime costs in 2021 would reach almost $6 trillion. Hackers are not slowing down now.

At Info Advantage, we stand behind the belief that cybersecurity is a priority that needs to be taken very seriously. This event will take place at the Del Monte Lodge in Pittsford, New York, on October 20^th from 11:30AM – 1:00PM. Register today to join us for lunch, networking, and engaging presentations about leading technology solutions that can benefit your business. We hope to see you there!

Fall is finally here and while some may be celebrating pumpkin spice flavors and Halloween, we’re celebrating Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Let this be a month where you focus on cybersecurity too.

Launched by the National Cyber Security Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in October 2004, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a broad effort to help all Americans stay safer and more secure online. This year’s theme “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.”

In today’s tech-fueled times, your homes, societal well-being, economic prosperity, and our nation’s security are all impacted by the internet. That’s why the National Cyber Security Alliance has chosen to focus on the role we all play in cybersecurity awareness as this year’s theme for the month.

You’ve heard all of the statistics before, but here are some of the ones we think you should see again:

1. The yearly cost of cybercrime in the U.S. is roughly $600 billion.
2. 43% of all cyberattacks directly target small businesses.
3. Human error results in 95% of all cybersecurity attacks.
4. Every 14 seconds ransomware infects a business computer.

The world has learned that small businesses need a multi-layered security approach. It must focus on everything from 24/7 Network Security and Unified Threat Management to Endpoint Security and Mobile Device Management to Email Encryption and Multi-Factor Authentication, and more.

Doing so requires making cybersecurity a priority – and looping in experts that know how to do it best.

Gone are the days were setting up antivirus and a firewall were enough. Today, you need 24/7, active, managed IT security solutions to protect all of your endpoints from both external and internal threats. Our iaGuardianSecure solution is a big piece of the puzzle – bringing together strategy and technology.

This month at Info Advantage, we’ll be sharing more tips that will empower you and your business to own your role in protecting your part of cyberspace by implementing stronger security practices, raising community awareness, educating vulnerable audiences, and training employees! We also have an in-person event later this month about Cybersecurity on October 20^th – sign up!

Make sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter to tune in for more!

Want to know more about an inventor and patent holder of technology that provides the highest levels of optimization, reliability, security, and acceleration of Wide Area Networks (WANs)?

FatPipe Networks provides software-defined networking (SD-WAN) for hybrid multi-line wide-area networks with high security – and Info Advantage is proud to partner alongside with them.

With products that cover an array of features and benefits for companies that run mission-critical applications over any type of WAN infrastructure, FatPipe Networks has ranked within the top quarter of Utah’s fastest growing companies for the past three years and was #189 on the Inc. 500’s Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S. list!

SD-WAN is similar to software-defined networking in that is decouples the wide area network from the underlying transport network. Companies use SD-WAN to create a software-defined overlay network that is independent from the carrier or physical underlying network. It provides organizations with multiple connections, centralized control, last mile connectivity, and major cost savings!

FatPipe’s SD-WAN solutions takes it a step further offering these key benefits:

• Simple to deploy, use, and manage
• Untethered connectivity to low TCO
• Secure, scalable, and flexible
• 18 years of deployment experience

At Info Advantage, we know how important it is to have good technology partners. That’s why we’re proud to share that market research organizations note the following about FatPipe’s strengths:

• A leading vendor for WAN link load balancing with very good WAN path control capabilities.
• Supports comprehensive application identification, classification, and control capabilities.
• Offers detailed network visibility and reporting capabilities.
• Solutions are easy to operate as all functions are integrated into one platform
• Provides a range of commonly used WAN features, including substantial storage for caching.

FatPipe Networks will be joining us on Wednesday, September 22^nd, for our Lunch-N’-Learn at The Del Monte Lodge in Pittsford, NY. FatPipe will join Scale Computing to provide guests with an opportunity to network while also observing presentations about leading technology solutions that can benefit YOU!

Are you interested in learning more about a leading IT solution that can benefit your business?

That’s exactly what why we want to tell you more about Scale Computing!

When ease of use, high availability, and total cost of ownership matters, Scale Computing HC3 is the ideal IT infrastructure platform for SMBs, distributed enterprises, and edge computing.  The HC3 software uses self-healing and automation to maximize application uptime and performance, simplify management, scale easily and quickly, and protect data. Info Advantage can help you adopt this.

IT infrastructure doesn’t have to be complex; with Scale Computing and our team of experts working together, you can achieve highly available infrastructure without connecting multiple vendors.

Our goal is to eliminate problems in the infrastructure in real-time, enabling applications to achieve maximum uptime even when local IT resources and staff are scarce. Key benefits include:

• Edge Computing: Improves response times and saves bandwidth.
• Virtualization Technology: Allows you to do more in this digital world.
• Business Resilience: Secures your spot in the digital transformation and scale your business.
• Data Protection: A simple, scalable, and highly available option for your valuable assets.
• Remote Work: Adapts your business goals to the new hybrid workforce we live in today.
• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: Solutions that fit your budget and allow you to work anywhere.

Scale Computing even ranked No. 1 on CRN’s 2021 Annual Report Card!

Info Advantage is excited to welcome Scale Computing to a Lunch N’ Learn at The Del Monte Lodge on Saturday, September 23^rd at 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM at 41 North Main Street in Pittsford, NY. This event will provide an opportunity to network while observing presentations about this leading solution!

You can register for the event or to speak with a member of our team regarding Scale Computing. Simply contact us for more information about how your business can better leverage technology!

At Info Advantage, we do IT services differently! One thing we’ve learned over the years is that we’re all in this together. We’ve been driven by the philosophy that if we help local businesses solve their IT issues so they can become more profitable and successful, then we will inherently grow with them.

And we have grown! But it’s not just because of the work we do, it’s because of the people we get to work with…YOU!

Thank you for working with us, thank you for supporting us, and thank you for following us. While technology is the focus of our business, it’s also allowed for us to connect more easily with our clients, families, and friends. Whether it’s our Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter, we try to share information with you that’s informative, insightful, and fun! We know it’s important for you to learn more about our technology services and solutions, but we also want you to learn more about who we are!

That’s why we don’t just share insight into what we offer our clients, but we also share latest tech tips, information on upcoming events, what the Info Advantage culture is like (serious, but fun!), and a lot of updates on Captain Jack, our fearless leader around the office. Visit our social media pages to see what that is all about!

If you don’t already follow us, then you should! The relationship between business and technology is constantly evolving and we know how important that is for your company. We also know that constant change can be stressful, so while always being informative, we also try to keep it light and fun too! Let us know what type of content you would like to see more of.

With advances in technology have come advances in how we communicate with our customers.

Info Advantage’s iaGuardianUC product offers a fully-hosted and completed managed solution to our customers.

Far too often, business owners find themselves in frustrating situations where their phone system can’t scale without incurring large upfront costs to upgrade and expand on the hardware. These types of barriers could slow down progress and leave your staff limping along until the work is paid for and completed. Modern-day VoIP solutions give you the flexibility to scale as you need to without massive upfront costs.

Between the quality and reliability of our product and the mobility of having a physical desk phone or a mobile application on your cell phone, the switch to VoIP really is a no-brainer. While some might shy away from the newer technology, switching from a landline to VoIP can take your company’s communication to the next level. Adding new users is done through the phone portal, and phones can be deployed as software on a computer or as an app on a mobile device (along with traditional desktop-based handsets).

Most importantly, we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Our tech team manages your telecommunication system and handles upgrades and software patches, as well as phone support as you and your team need it. We specialize in moving your telecom investment from a large capital expenditure to a nominal operating subscription that scales as you need it to!

As ransomware attacks continue to rise, cyber insurance is becoming a very important component for businesses of any size.

Cyber insurance simply is an insurance policy but instead of protecting your home or vehicle, this type of insurance helps mitigate any potential loss from a cyberattack or hack. Earlier this year, we witnessed one of the largest ransomware attacks on the U.S. energy industry, when the Colonial Pipeline was taken down for several days. Following those attacks, U.S. energy companies are “scrambling to buy more cyber insurance”, per Reuters.

Nick Economidis, Vice President of Cyber Liability at Crum & Forster, told Reuters that “only about half of the nation’s pipeline companies currently buy cyber insurance." That answer feels quite surprising on the surface but too often, companies are stuck with the “it can’t happen to us” mindset. If your company cannot see the forest through the trees, you might end up biting off more than you can chew. According to Purplesec, “due to the Covid-19 outbreak, an uptick in sophisticated email schemes by cybercriminals has emerged.” According to ABC News, “malicious emails are up 600% due to Covid-19.”

How do you know if cyber insurance is right for you? The answer is simple. Does your business send or store sensitive data? Do you work with private data that includes information about people?

Tech Jury reports that “over 2,100 data breaches in the healthcare industry have been reported since 2009.” BlueVoyant reports “the average cost of a ransomware attack in the higher education industry is $447,000.” According to the American Banker, “banks experienced a 520% increase in phishing and ransomware attempts between March and June in 2020.”

No industry is safe from ransomware. No company is safe from ransomware.

If you are not protected, it might be time for you to look into cyber insurance.

Any time you’re dealing with sensitive business data, you need to elevate your security measures!

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) makes it more difficult for hackers to access your company’s data, email addresses, files, credit card info, and other personal information. It stops 99.9% of attacks.

The key attack vector that MFA aims to protect is identity-based attacks, which occur when an attacker obtains a user’s credentials to perform malicious actions. Attackers are now able to steal intellectual property, delete major pieces of systems, hold systems hostage, and carry out actions as the user. Multi-Factor Authentication solutions are applications that you can add to your IT infrastructure to increase your overall security posture It’s broken down into three major categories:

• Something you know. (Password)
• Something you have. (Cell Phone, Smart Card)
• Something you are. (Fingerprint, Facial Recognition)

If you don’t believe us, even Google and Microsoft have gone on the record to talk about the benefits of MFA in this recent article from ZDNet. It can protect you from real-world attack scenarios like:

• Email Phishing Attacks and Wire Transfers
• Wireless Hijacking
• Disgruntled Employees

Studies have also shown that 42% of companies have experienced ransomware attacks, 81% of data breaches involve weak or stolen credentials, exfiltration by disgruntled employees is a real issue, and careless or distracted employees can fall victim to phishing scams. It’s time to strengthen your security, streamline access, make life easier for your IT department, while also ensuring compliance. At Info Advantage, we know that implementing Multi-Factor Authentication into your own access control features is a no-brainer, especially in 2021. Contact us to get started in minutes!

Are you looking for computer support? Do you keep running into a technical issue at work? Perhaps you’re interested in talking to an IT expert about the best way to leverage your technology? Some of the most day-to-day IT issues you experience can be resolved with the right support team - and IT support doesn’t need to be expensive or cause more headaches. Info Advantage makes it easy. In order to maximize your profitability, your business IT ecosystem has to be working efficiently at all times. We provide Outsourced IT Helpdesk Support, Professional Server Support, and 24/7 Help Desk!

Outsourced IT Helpdesk Support: Here to produce results, our flat-rate service plan will deliver your company enterprise-level IT support and solutions that are tailor-made to relieve all of your organization’s technology-induced pain points. Budget your IT with a predictable flat-rate service plan, reduce costly downtime, and ensure that your employees can focus on their task and not your IT!

Professional Server Support: Your servers are the center of your business infrastructure and need special attention to keep your data coordinated and moving efficiently. We specialize in remote and on-site server management and remediation services. You can maximize server uptime and get the peace of mind of knowing your servers are being watched 24x7x365. Extend the breadth of your computing infrastructure with powerful hypervisor technology. Our monthly flat rate services eliminate the per-incident charges that would normally hinder your organization’s overall ability to remain profitable!

24/7 Help Desk Support: Lastly, we really are a one-stop shop for all of your IT support needs. You can mitigate risk with remote support so solving IT problems doesn’t put stress on your internal staff. Our experienced technicians know that you need your IT up and running properly. With our comprehensive managed service plans, you can talk to one of our certified technicians any time you need it.

With Managed IT, you get full access to professional support, goal-oriented solutions, and downtime-preventing maintenance. No matter what you need, Info Advantage is here to help! Contact us today to get more information about our leading support team.

Do you know what it takes to master security in the business world? We believe it’s the “Three P’s” also known as your people, your processes, and your procedures! Here are a few facts for you to consider:

• Human error results in 95% of all cybersecurity attacks. (People)
• Every 14 seconds ransomware infects a business computer. (Processes)
• 43% of all attacks directly target small businesses. (Procedures)

Cybersecurity should be top priority for businesses of all shapes and sizes. To safeguard yourself against a data breach, you need an IT team to help guide you through the increasing threat environment. At Info Advantage, we understand that in order for cybersecurity to be effective, aside from the statistics above, you also need to be aware of some key elements from each of the Three P’s: 

People: Employees can represent one of your business’s greatest cybersecurity risks. Conducting regular training sessions throughout the year is a great way to keep employees aware of potential scams and ways that they can affect your business. Training programs can also go a long way towards creating a strong culture of cybersecurity within your organization. Well informed employees are an asset and form a terrific line of cybersecurity defense – think of them like a human firewall!

Processes: A series of strategies that allow you to proactively respond to cybersecurity incidents are imperative. They also help minimize the chance of a cybersecurity incident occurring in the first place! Do you have a healthy cybersecurity posture with the right policies in place, reoccurring trainings, and a set of standard behaviors to support every area of the business that uses technology? It’s critical to have a proven process and series of actions to follow so you can achieve specific security goals.

Procedures: How is your IT team approaching its cybersecurity strategy? Procedures should focus on the technology tools that can be automated to facilitate rapid detection and mitigation of threats. Your IT should be aligned with your business goals and have one system for analyzing and acting on threats and prioritizing your assets. The established way of efficiently doing daily operations should be aligned around the best use of your technology – and it starts with having the right-sized solutions in place.

If you have one major takeaway, let it be that it’s not enough to cover just one element. A business security strategy needs to have best practice when it comes to people, process, and procedures. If your business has mastered cybersecurity, then awesome. If not, are you ready to learn more about how we can assist you in these areas? Contact us today to make sure your business is protected.

We know how important it is to have the right ally to help guide your business.

At Info Advantage, we’ve been serving the IT industry since 1992, providing leading technology solutions, technical helpdesk support, and consulting to small and medium-sized business. Simply put, we help businesses improve their overall business strategy with the use of the right technology.

The Info Advantage Proven Process provides a clear roadmap to create consistency and deliver an optimal client experience. This is what we do best and how we do it and we want to share it with you. While that explains who we are and what we do, what really sets us apart are our 3 Uniques:

Our People Are Authentic: The entire Info Advantage organization has a dedicated focus on being human, it is even documented as one of our Core Values! We understand that we are all human and keep that in the forefront of our approach with every single business and their employees.

We Have Clients, Not Customers: A client values a vital partnership in which Info Advantage is an integral part of their corporate team. Clients rely on us for advice on best practices, budgeting, future planning, and goal setting. We consistently seek to convert procurement customers to strategic clients.

A Customized, Accommodating, Complete Technology Service Provider: We are consultants. We design, procure, install, and support technologies that connect businesses to their customers. Our differentiator is our ability to translate operational needs to technology initiatives, navigate manufacturers, and align the best solutions to solve business needs.

Is your business leveraging technology? Are you benefiting from the right-sized solutions? We’re driven by the philosophy that if we help your business to solve their IT issues so that you become more profitable and successful, then we will inherently grow along with you.

We only speak from experience and best practices that we’ve honed over the years to make our services work for YOUR business needs. To learn more about us, our leadership, our proven process, or our IT services, visit our website! We would love the chance to get to know you and your organization.

Back in April, we introduced you to our Core Values. As we continue to grow as a company, our team continues to grow within these core values. While we have broken down these core values before, what better way to dive deeper into these values than to ask our own team members what these values mean to them?

Passion: “When I think about Passion & Info Advantage, I think about the work we do as an organization and the clients we do the work for.  At all times, we strive to provide our clients with expert guidance, based upon best business practices, while also building valuable relationships.  In everything we do, we give our best so we all can achieve our best.” – Matt Christensen, Manager of Technical Services

Nimble: “Being able to stay current with the latest technologies. Ability to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously, and the skill of working on a single task but being aware of what is going on with other co-workers in your environment and being able to break away from your task to assist.” – Todd Glick, Senior Systems Engineer

Relentless Perseverance: “No matter what the issue is, our team at IA always looks for a solution. We never stop until a solution is found that supports and helps our clients be productive. We are relentless on making sure our clients are productive no matter the time or day!” – Tim Coffey, Systems Engineer

Teamwork: “Teamwork at Info Advantage is about being dedicated, driven and selfless. We are motivated to help each other succeed. Our team is incredibly flexible and tenacious when it comes to working an issue, whether it be the tenth time we have seen this type of issue or the first time for all of us.” – Shawn Ridgway, Helpdesk / Network Technician

Human: “Fulfilling the human part of the core values is the best part about working at Info Advantage. Whether it comes to looking out for a fellow team member in need or just lightening the mood on a tough day, I absolutely enjoy the ability to help everyone at the office. Not to mention, it never hurts to have a good laugh when you’re at the office!” – Ryan Wolfe, Helpdesk / Network Technician

In today’s business environment, antivirus software and firewall are no longer enough to protect you.

Info Advantage’s fully managed cybersecurity solutions are proven to solve all the common pain points for the modern business. Simply put, we can protect your endpoints from both external and internal threats. From mobile devices to unified threat management - and endpoint security to 24/7 network security - our managed cybersecurity solutions make protecting your business a priority. That’s just one of the reasons why you won’t want to miss our upcoming webinar.  

In partnership with Sophos, a worldwide leader in next-generation cybersecurity, we’re hosting a 45-minute webinar that will discuss the current threat environment, what threat hunting really is, why you need it, and some basics on how to do it effectively using leading solutions. We’ll just give you the facts.

Protecting more than 500,000 organizations and millions of consumers in more than 150 countries from today’s most advanced cyberthreats, Sophos delivers a broad portfolio of advanced products including Managed Threat Response (MTR). It provides 24/7 threat hunting, detection, and response that is delivered by an expert team as a fully managed service. This product helped deliver them as a winner of “Best Managed Security Services Offering” at the Channel Partner Insights Innovation Awards in 2020, just another reason why we’re proud to bring this solution to light in our upcoming webinar.

Speakers for the event will be Chris Chan, Manager of Solutions Sales at Info Advantage, and Joel Durant, Senior Sales Engineer at Sophos. Just 45 minutes to hear from experts and better protect yourself. Register today to reserve your spot and join us on June 30th!

We are currently on the search for new team members to join us at Info Advantage! All current job opportunities can be found here. As you think about applying for a job with us, the thought might cross your mind – why Info Advantage? Good thing for you, we have asked our team why they enjoy working with us to get you more acclimated with us.

The top answer, unsurprisingly, was “a great team."

We have mentioned it before and we will mention it again. Info Advantage is a team. We do not refer to ourselves as “employees” because that is not what we are. Our office supports each team member as if we were an actual family. We come to work daily to support each other in our roles to better serve the company. Essentially, the company as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

As a team, we make sure to spend time focusing on team building. This includes our “fun food Fridays.” During the summer, this includes grilling and playing games. We can often be found on a Friday afternoon playing cornhole or Kanjam in our parking lot, which never disappoints. Another popular reason to come work for Info Advantage? We have dogs at the office! More often than not, you will see three poodles running around the office and keeping the mood light. Spending 40 hours a week at the office is much easier when you have a furry friend to keep you company.

These are just a few of the many reasons you should come join our team at Info Advantage! Not only are we focused on our team but we also spend a large amount of time making sure we are learning about the latest and greatest technologies to ensure we provide the best solutions for our customers. Please feel free to share our current job openings with anyone you think might be a good fit! 

When is the last time you thought about your level of vulnerability to cyber threats?

Cyber threat hunting is an active search through your networks, endpoints, and databases to hunt malicious or risky activities that have dodged detection by your existing tools. Proactive cyber threat hunting tactics have evolved to use new threat intelligence on previously collected data to categorize potential threats in advance of attacks – and that’s something everyone should be thinking about.

In the VMware Global Threat Report, which interviewed over 3,000 IT leaders from 13 different countries, it found that 80% of internal IT teams are starting to formalize their processes and that trends are moving in the right direction for the industry overall. People now understand its importance. It’s easy to understand it once you’ve been breached – but we suggest not waiting for that to happen.

Having a good a security posture starts with gaining information. Info Advantage is able to tailor a security strategy paired with Sophos comprehensive threat analytics to help gain full visibility into your environment. Once our experienced technicians assess the capabilities your network requires, we implement the best solution.

Browse this Example Managed Threat Response (MTR) Monthly Report to see the threat data we focus on and how comprehensive it is. You deserve to know what’s happening in your business.

It’s also important to understand many businesses can’t afford to believe that their security system is impenetrable. You must remain vigilant for the next threat rather than sit back and wait for threats to strike. Could your organization benefit from improved cybersecurity protection? Are you ready to get a trusted, long-term solution in place? Contact us today to learn more.

The cybersecurity landscape is changing every single day. Many internal IT teams in small to medium sized businesses are stretched to their limits, finding it challenging to manage the multiplying threats and to decipher real risks from false alarms – and we know time is money.

Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) is a type of managed service that is cloud-based, built on a software-as-a-service platform, that goes beyond traditional managed security services. SOCaaS includes all of the monitoring and management of intrusion detection systems, firewalls, antivirus and antispam systems, virtual private networks, and advanced endpoint detection and response.

Info Advantage helps you bolster your security posture without adding another tool to your existing tech stack. By choosing SOCaaS, your organization is making a focused investment to reduce risk! This solution also helps to:

• Understand your business objectives and priorities.
• Define your priorities in terms of risk and threat intelligence.
• Establish your required service capabilities for current and long-term.
• Define your control and technology requirements based on your service capabilities.
• Review your technology to maximize your current investment and align with your goals.

You can download this Checklist For Outsourcing Your SOC for more details on key benefits.

Many organizations are waging an internal battle against the growing costs and complexity of their security architecture. Transforming your security operating model puts you back in control of detecting vulnerabilities and threats, and if the worst happens, it helps you to manage incidents with minimum impact on the business.

As a leading technology consulting company, Info Advantage helps businesses to improve operational efficiency, increase productivity, and strengthen network security using technology. Eliminate IT issues before they cause expensive downtime so you can continue to drive your business forward. Contact us today to learn more about Info Advantage and our SOCaaS capabilities so you can protect your business.

Over the past year, we at Info Advantage have taken the time to define what matters to us. Not only as team members but as people.

Throughout this process, we have created what we refer to as our “Core Values”. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a core value as, “a principle or belief that a person or organization views as being of central importance.” At Info Advantage, our core values not only represent who we are but what we do and how he handle obstacles in our path. We define our core values in five categories.

1. Passion
2. Nimble
3. Relentless Perseverance
4. Teamwork
5. Human

When walking throughout our office at 155 Sanford Street in downtown Rochester, you will find yourself reminded about these five core values. We are passionate about the work we do and the business we are in. Technology remains a quickly growing industry that provides many opportunities to learn. We display our ability to be nimble by always learning about new solutions, while evolving and adapting with the latest and greatest technologies. Our relentless perseverance is on display with our never quit attitudes. Our technicians and sales people are always looking for the best, most effective resolution for the end user.

Teamwork is the ability to work together and use the talents of others, putting clients’ needs first before those of any personal gain or accolades. We consider ourselves team members at Info Advantage, not employees. We do whatever it takes to make sure each employee is on-board and swimming with the current.

Last but certainly not least, we are respectful and approachable, while displaying integrity. We also happen to always maintain a sense of humor. In our offices, there is no such thing as a “stupid question”. We are always here to help teach the customers and put a smile on their face as well. We strive to make each end user’s experience with Info Advantage a special one.

In the coming weeks, we will dive deeper into each of the five core values by asking our team members what each core value means to them. Stay tuned to learn more about our core values and our individual team members!

One single vulnerability is all an attacker needs.

IT security is no longer about simply buying and installing the right firewall or antivirus software for your business, cybersecurity is now a constantly evolving necessity. In today’s business environment, your cybersecurity posture needs to be taken very seriously. Info Advantage can help with that.

Business of all sizes are now being targeted by cybercriminals, with smaller businesses becoming a more frequent target. Why is that? Unfortunately, small businesses are usually easier to break, and the payoff for the hacker is still worth the effort.

Is your cybersecurity protection where it needs to be?

These cybersecurity facts will further help you understand the recent increase and importance:

• The yearly cost of cybercrime is over $600 billion.
• Of all attacks, 43% directly target small businesses.
• Human error results in 95% of all cybersecurity attacks.
• Every 14 seconds ransomware infects a business computer.

At Info Advantage, we help businesses meet and exceed industry compliances. We’re committed to guarding your data, your staff, your customers, and we do so through 24/7 managed IT security.

Instead of just focusing on antivirus and firewall software, we focus on all aspects of IT security, including: Enterprise-Level Security, 24/7 Network Security, Unified Threat Management, Endpoint Security, Mobile Device Management, Email Encryption, Spam Protection, Compliance, Penetration Testing, and Multi-Factor Authentication. In fact, our iaGuardianSecure technology solution offers the ultimate package. With the massive rise in targeted phishing attacks, and the increase in connected endpoints across every network, don’t leave your cybersecurity to chance. Hackers will find you.

The Cloud is changing the face of business computing. The right hosted solution ensures your company is delivered a secure and efficient computing infrastructure that enables you to focus on your daily operations. It presents solutions for all common business needs; from e-mail, to communications, to a full-scale hosted infrastructure. It enhances productivity anywhere.

With that in mind, Info Advantage has partnered with Zadara, a vendor known to be one of tech’s fastest growing companies according to Deloitte. They are industry leader in Edge Computing, which is an open IT architecture that features decentralized processing power, enabling mobile computing and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. It allows data to be processed by a device itself or by a local computer or server, rather than being transmitted to a data center.

In just 10 years, Zadara has been able to establish over 300 edge Cloud locations, which provide on-demand, global cloud services. Their fully managed cloud services, which include computing, networking, storage, and more, are designed for service providers and the modern enterprise.

Join Linda Weller, President of Info Advantage, and Doug Jury, VP Partner Services at Zadara, for a quick 45-minute webinar to discover how we can deliver computing and storage options for your business! During the webinar, you will have a chance to participate in poll questions and win a prize. We will also raffle off one Amazon $25 gift card at the end!

Lastly, for anyone that attends the webinar and schedules a meeting within 14 days, they will receive 60 days of no cost for the zCompute or zStorage service – saving you money from the very start! It’s our mission to provide top performance and security, agile and infinite resources, and expert management 24/7/365. Our advantage is simple pricing, no hidden fees, enhanced data security, maximum flexibility, and so much more! We look forward to seeing you there.

You hear the ping and see the notification – YOUR PASSWORD WILL EXPIRE –  and that immediate feeling of dread settles in.

How difficult will it be this time to set a password? Which characters can I use? How many old passwords do I have to bypass?

There is a method behind the maddening nature of password resets, no matter how annoying it might end up being.

According to a 2019 Google & Harris Poll, 52% of users say they reuse the same password for multiple (but not all) accounts, while 13% of users reuse the same password for all their accounts. Between January and March 2019, Microsoft’s threat research team scanned all Microsoft user accounts and found that “44 million users were employing usernames and passwords that leaked online following security breaches at other online services.” In 2019, it was also reported that 42% of companies were breached by a bad password. A potential breach could cost you and your companies an unimaginable amount of time and money. Just how much though? We are glad you asked. In 2020, IBM and the Ponemon Institute Report that the average cost of a data breach is 3.86 million dollars.

The IBM & Ponemon study goes on to state that “nearly 40% of the average total cost of a data breach stem from lost business – including increased customer turnover, lost revenue due to system downtime and increased cost of acquiring new business due to diminished reputation.” It can all start with a compromised password – make sure you take that extra few minutes to come up with a new, complex password. Microsoft suggests at least 12 characters, a combination of case sensitive letters with numbers and symbols mixed in.

Shy away from the repeated passwords, names of fictional characters, family, friends. Take the extra step to protect yourself and your company.