So far, 2015 has been rela�vely calm compared to the

hackfest that was 2014. However, we’re slightly more

than halfway through the year and there’s s�ll plenty of

�me for hackers to make short work of vulnerable net-

works. All it takes is a single mistake to expose your busi-

ness’s network to a host of different threats. Under-

standing what these threats are and how to handle them

is of the utmost importance. Calyp�x Security explains in

-depth how some of these threats will react to the

measures taken by even the most cau�ous businesses.

Phishing Emails O en Pose as Your IT Department

Hackers are thinking logically when it comes to phishing scams, and who be)er to

impersonate than your trusted IT department? They realize that you’ll turn to

them for help, and that you might willingly give away creden�als to your IT depart-

ment in order to access your infrastructure to perform “maintenance” or “resolve

a cri�cal issue.” If you feel your IT department shouldn’t be privy to certain infor-

ma�on they are reques�ng, or if you receive suspicious emails from them concern-

ing the integrity of your network, reach out to them via the phone number you

have on record rather than the one which might be in the email you’ve received.

(Continued on page 2)

September 2015

TECHMinutes

This Issue:

Ground Swell is Moving!

Security Problems that Shape the

Way Companies View Cybersecurity

in 2015

Business Con�nuity Planning

Implementa�on Challenges

Using Technology to Boost Staff

Efficiency

Business Con�nuity Planning

(BCP) Implementa�on Challenges

Business con�nuity planning (BCP)

is cri�cal to all companies regard-

less of size. If disaster were to

strike, an effec�ve business con�-

nuity plan would protect your

valuable data and prevent your

company from dealing with long-

term, catastrophic consequences.

The implementa�on of a BCP pre-

sents challenges in itself. You’ll

need to address the following

issues to ensure that your organi-

za�on is on the right track to build

and maintain a successful busi-

ness con�nuity plan.

Challenge #1: Prohibi�ve costs

Business con�nuity planning has

become exponen�ally expensive

as availability requirements in-

crease. Many solu�ons require

substan�al investments on the

installa�on and maintenance of

addi�onal hardware, so=ware,

and data center infrastructure.

These requirements drive up the

cost of business con�nuity, and

many company owners are reluc-

tant to invest in protec�ve

measures.

The solu�on

(Continued on page 4)

Security Problems That Shape the Way Companies View

Cybersecurity in 2015

Ground Swell is pleased to announce that we will be moving to a new loca-

�on on October 1, 2015. Our new address will be:

2703 Fire Rd Bldg 1

Egg Harbor Twp. NJ 08234

Our phone number, 609-487-9100 and email address’ will remain the same.

Feel free to give us a call if you have any ques�ons.

Ground Swell is Moving!

Page 2

Using Technology to Boost Staff Efficiency

ble. If you need to discuss big pro-

jects or issues, face-to-face commu-

nica�on is likely the best choice. You

can simply send a quick message for

more trivial conversa�ons, saving

�me and allowing you to get more

work done.

Install Video Conferencing

Traveling to offsite mee�ngs and

training sessions takes �me. Rather

than commu�ng for hours outside

your office opt for a networked

phone solu�on that offers video calls

and conferencing. This way you can

hold a video conference to discuss

business ma)ers from the comfort

and convenience of your office. You

can also take things up a notch and

equip the conference room with

tools to pull up documents and have

them displayed on a big screen so

Businesses that are winning in to-

day’s marketplace are the ones that

make technology work for them, not

the other way round. When used

correctly, technology can make every

task much faster to execute, from

communica�ng with customers to

sending messages, gathering infor-

ma�on and more. If you’re looking to

increase staff efficiency, consider the

following methods to implement

technology into your day-to-day

business opera�ons.

Change Office Communica�on

In order to increase efficiency set up

instant messaging so=ware such as

Skype on your employees’ work-

sta�ons. This allows them to send

instant messages to coworkers in-

stead of having to get up from their

desks to see if the person is availa-

Security Problems That Shape the Way Companies View Cybersecurity in 2015

that everyone in the mee�ng can

follow the conversa�on with ease.

Upgrade Worksta�ons

Outdated technologies and work-

sta�ons limit your business’s pro-

gress and are a hindrance to devel-

oping knowledgeable and efficient

employees. Aging phone systems

and slow networks can frustrate

your team and bring produc�vity to

a halt. It’s important to take the

�me to assess your current work-

sta�ons, applica�ons, hardware and

tools. This doesn’t mean that you

have to replace every worksta�ons

but you should replace obsolete

equipment with more up-to-date

machines. In addi�on, make sure all

so=ware and applica�ons are up-to

-date to ensure maximum efficiency

and employee sa�sfac�on.

Hackers Won’t Need Your Card to

Scam You

Believe it or not, card-not-present

(CNP) fraud is the real deal, and

growing more common. According to

Verizon’s 2015 PCI compliance re-

port, payment fraud due to lost or

stolen cards is decreasing, while

fraud stemming from CNP situa�ons

only grows more prevalent. These

sta�s�cs reflect a shi= in the manner

through which hackers steal infor-

ma�on (at least, in Canada it does).

This change in tac�cs likely reflects

hackers’ adapta�on to the increase

in card security.

VPNs Are Being Targeted

(Continued from page 1) Some VPNs can be cracked if the

hacker has access to sophis�cated

tools. One way this happens is when

you use a VPN that only requires a

username and password, rather than

a more secure one which also uses

two-factor authen�ca�on. It’s rec-

ommended that you always use two-

factor authen�ca�on, especially

when accessing corporate data

through a mobile device.

Retail and Financial Hacks Are

Growing More Common

Many big-box stores, like Target and

Home Depot, have been hacked over

the past year, and this trend will only

con�nue in 2015. In fact, not too

long ago, the IRS was hacked in an

event which allowed hackers to ac-

cess tax informa�on for over

100,000 taxpayers. Businesses that

take advantage of POS (point-of sale)

systems like cash registers and card

readers will need to emphasize secu-

rity and make it a top priority. Other-

wise, you could face fines for allow-

ing confiden�al informa�on like

credit card numbers and Social Secu-

rity numbers of customers to be sto-

len.

If you’re not sure how to take the

fight to 2015’s ongoing security

threats there’s s�ll �me to reduce

your network security risk. Give

Ground Swell a call at 609.487.9100

to learn more.

PAGE 3

How Fast Can Your Business Recover from a Data Breach

loss in the event of a disaster.

The BDR solu�on enables rapid data

recovery, which helps your business

get back on its feet following a data

breach. It does this by ac�ng as your

server in the event of a data breach

or hardware failure. Your data is

restored to the device which tempo-

rarily resolves your down�me while

an executable gameplan is rolled

out to address any hardware issues.

For more informa�on about how

your business can protect itself from

data the= and loss give Ground Swell

a call at 609.487.9100

Naturally, the first thing you want to

do in the event of a data the= is

consult your current backup and

recovery solu�on. However, you

might be distraught if the recovery

process is long, and you might run

into complica�ons if your data back-

ups are out-of-date. While this is

vastly superior to losing all of your

data permanently, you want to re-

cover as much data as possible in

order to minimize your overall loss-

es.

If your business has no discernible

data backup and disaster recovery

plan in place, you stand to lose eve-

rything in an instant. You should

never underes�mate the value of

your business’s data. A company

normally holds onto financial infor-

ma�on of clients, Social Security

numbers of employees and other

sensi�ve informa�on which can be

very lucra�ve to hackers when sold

on the Black Market. This is more

than enough reason for a hacker to

try to access your network.

When your business network faces

a data breach you need a lifeline to

hold onto. This is what Ground

Swell’s Backup and Disaster Recov-

ery (BDR) solu�on accomplishes. In

terms of recovery speed, you won’t

find a be)er resolu�on for your

business’s troubles. The BDR takes

con�nuous snapshots of your data

throughout the day then sends

them to an external data center for

secure storage un�l they’re needed.

This means that your data is always

up to date, which minimizes data

How much

thought

have you

honestly

put into

your busi-

ness’s data

recovery

procedure? It’s likely that you, like

many other businesses out there,

are taking a minimalist approach

with both your data backup and dis-

aster recovery. It’s not that you

aren’t aware that they’re a good

thing; you might just feel that you

don’t need it because you feel hack-

ers have no reason to compromise

your data.

Unfortunately, that’s what hackers

are coun�ng on: complacency.

One of the many reasons your busi-

ness needs a data recovery solu�on

in place is data the= from hackers. If

this occurs, you won’t be able to

access mission-cri�cal informa�on

that’s necessary for opera�ons.

That’s not men�oning the compli-

ance problems you’ll find yourself in

shortly following the breach, espe-

cially if sensi�ve customer infor-

ma�on was stolen.

“if your business has no

discernible data backup

and disaster recovery

plan in place, you stand

to lose everything in an

instant.”

“The BDR solu�on en-

ables rapid data recov-

ery which helps your

business get back on

its feet following a da-

ta breach...”

PAGE 4

Business Con�nuity Planning (BCP)

Implementa�on Challenges

About

Ground Swell We are a technology

consul�ng firm

specializing in

technology

implementa�on and

management for

businesses.

We're known for

providing big-

business, Enterprise-

Level IT services to

small and medium-

sized businesses at an

affordable price.

Ground Swell will

provide your

organiza�on with

flexible IT support

that helps keep you

compe��ve without

breaking the bank.

Please note our new address

2703 Fire Rd Bldg 1

Egg Harbor Twp. NJ 08234

609.487.9100

facebook.gswell.net

linkedin.gswell.net

twiCer.gswell.net

newsleCer@gswell.net

create a long-las�ng BCP pro-

gram, you need to get every-

one on the same page by em-

phasizing the importance of

the plan in an easy-to-

understand way.

Business con�nuity planning

is one of the most important

things you need to have in

place. You never know when,

or in what form, a disaster will

strike - all the more reason to

take a preventa�ve approach

to securing your company and

all you’ve worked for.

Need a reliable partner to

take care of all your business

con�nuity planning needs?

Get in touch with Ground

Swell today - we have the

experience and exper�se to

prepare and protect your

company.

Instead of relying on costly

physical servers to accommo-

date your backups, consider

using efficient and affordable

cloud compu�ng solu�ons.

You can transfer your im-

portant business files to the

cloud and eliminate the ex-

pense of having to install and

manage hardware infrastruc-

ture and so=ware licenses.

Challenge #2: High Complexi-

ty

Tradi�onal business con�nui-

ty planning is complex to im-

plement, manage and exe-

cute. From managing the re-

covery infrastructure to up-

da�ng disaster recovery docu-

menta�on and tes�ng the

BCP to find and close poten-

�al loopholes The prospect of

embarking on a BCP project

can be daun�ng and the

whole experience can prove

�me consuming.

Combined with the pressure

of your ordinary day-to-day

du�es it can seem almost im-

possible to focus your a)en-

�on on ini�a�ng a BCP.

The solu�on

(Continued from page 1) With all this in mind, it makes

more sense to hire a profes-

sional IT service provider to

plan, implement and execute

your business con�nuity plan.

This way you can leverage

their experience and exper�se

to ensure that, in the event of

a disaster, your company will

be able to get back on its feet

and resume business opera-

�ons as quickly as possible.

Challenge #3: Lack of staff

involvement

There are so many require-

ments to be considered in a

business con�nuity plan. The

more employees your organi-

za�on has, the harder it is to

communicate the essence of

the plan for everyone to un-

derstand. Staff involvement

isn’t an op�on - it’s an abso-

lute necessity if you wish for a

successful BCP implementa-

�on!

The solu�on

Depending on the size of your

organiza�on, you can either

hold a company mee�ng to

announce the essen�als of

your BCP, or schedule a

mee�ng with key staff mem-

bers who take an ac�ve role

in the planning process. To

Justin Tinel, President