Technology support is a necessity for a business that wants to stay operational. To this end, a quality help desk is vital. Unfortunately, not all help desks have the same level of quality and knowledge on how to best support your business. We’ve put together a list of traits that you should look for when it comes to finding the best help desk support for your business.

As businesses grow, the technology that they use needs to adjust. For example, once a business requires more than one computer, it needs a network. Once a business has multiple users trying to access the same information across multiple devices, it needs a server (or the cloud). Every step of growth requires more complexity when it comes to technology.

This is where an IT consultant comes in, and they can help you navigate the options and establish a budget for your technology as your business evolves and grows.

You might have spotted some news saying that Microsoft Windows 8 and Server 2012 are soon to reach their End of Life date… in fact, you probably heard it from us. However, not everyone may really know what this means, and how it can impact their organizations. In light of this, we wanted to give some context as to what a software title or operating system’s “End of Life” is, and what needs to happen in preparation for it.

Now that Visual Security Consulting, LLC has become a division of Dresner Group, they have added to our ability to deploy quality security camera solutions, and it seems like a good time to touch on why a managed service provider would be involved with this form of security. Let’s review how your IT and a modern security camera setup are related.

Cybersecurity is an important part of running a business, especially in today’s age of ransomware and other high-profile hacks. It stands to reason that you periodically assess how effective your security practices are and how well-prepared your team is to respond to threats, but how often should you do so? Let’s take a closer look.

A recent trend even amongst ransomware threats is that the FBI is issuing warnings regarding how dangerous it is or how difficult certain variants are. This particular threat—the OnePercent ransomware gang—is no exception. Let’s break down what you need to know about the OnePercent Group and how you can prepare to handle attacks not just from this threat, but most ransomware threats.

Cybersecurity has become front and center due to a rash of ransomware attacks hitting businesses, and more and more high-profile attacks happening every year. Despite the understandable concern, your business doesn't have to be a victim. By enabling 2FA, you can significantly reduce your exposure. Unfortunately, many companies feel that 2FA is too much of a hassle to implement and opt out. If you think this way, give us five minutes to convince you why 2FA is worth it.

If I were to take away all of your computers and workstations, would your business still have all of its data? What if I were to take your server out of the equation? What if I were to take your backup device? How long would it take for you to gain access to your files again?

This is exactly what ransomware does—your data across multiple devices can be lost instantly and hackers will extort you to get it back. But even if you are properly backed up, a disaster like this can do serious damage to your productivity and take a long time to recover from, if your backup solution isn’t properly implemented.

The first thing a ransomware attack does is lock down all of your data. This can also include your backup. Without a backup, you’re at their mercy. This is why the cloud (when utilized correctly) can be a critical part of your business continuity. Here are three reasons why backing up your data to the cloud keeps your data out of the hands of cybercriminals.

The pandemic has forced most Maryland businesses to re-evaluate how they can be productive when things are turned on their head. Many businesses have found success in embracing modern technology to keep collaboration and production going. Unfortunately, with the success technology brings, there is also increased exposure to compromise, as ransomware attacks are rising.

As Maryland businesses increase their reliance on technology, they have gained the attention of cyberhackers. The hackers are now holding networks hostage and demanding a ransom to release them. While any business can be a victim of a ransomware attack, there are currently three at-risk industries: hospitals, schools, and manufacturing. Here are tips to prevent ransomware attempts from succeeding.

As Maryland businesses continue to adapt to a challenging work environment, many of them are reevaluating what type of technology they are investing in. Instead of purchasing a traditional desktop or even a laptop, many are looking to high-end devices that serve as portable workstations. The Microsoft Surface line of devices stands out from the crowd. Not only do they offer a great bang for the buck, but they also give your remote workforce the flexibility they need to get the job done.

Being a small business doesn’t make you invisible to criminals on the Internet. You might think that being a smaller entity, serving only a local area, might not drive a lot of malicious attention to you, but it just isn’t the case today.

We have been observing a significant rise in reported phishing attacks from clients, prospects, and local businesses throughout Maryland. In fact, we’re not just seeing this happen in the larger cities, but the smaller, more rural areas as well.

Over the last couple of months, many Marylanders have been at the mercy of technology that wasn’t prepared to scale to pandemic-level proportions. Just one example is the Maryland Department of Labor website, which many users have needed to use in order to file for unemployment. While from an outsider’s perspective the site was designed to streamline the application process, the technology has been less than reliable for many people who are struggling to file, simply due to the massive number of users trying to access it at once.

Comprehensive IT support can often be defined by an alphabet soup of abbreviations, acronyms and technical jargon describing the variety of services offered. While the different services an MSP offers can sometimes seem unrelated, in today’s technologically-integrated business environment, all technology needs to be able to support each other.  The goal of comprehensive support is to develop an environment which allows your business to leverage its technology. Here are three services comprehensive IT support offers that will benefit your business.

It is a well-established and widely-known fact that your employees are some of the biggest threats to your business via the technology that they use each and every day. If your employees aren’t aware of the practices and policies that they need to follow to prevent these threats, you could find yourself in an unpleasant position. Here, we’ll review four categories of cybersecurity basics that everyone in an organization should abide by, and some tips to support each.

Back in August, hundreds of dentist offices across the United States were hit by a targeted ransomware attack. Dentists were left without access to patient information. The hacker group compromised an IT company to gain access - and this is the third time in the last few months that hackers have targeted IT companies to gain access to their clients.

In order for a business to remain competitive in today’s aggressive environment, it is crucial that it takes advantage of the solutions that are currently available, such as cloud computing. However, it isn’t enough to simply leverage these technologies - it also needs to be done securely. This is where two-factor authentication, 2-factor, or 2FA, comes into play.

Technology training is something that all employees have to go through at some point in their career, whether they are a CEO learning how to use a new solution, or an end user that uses it every day. However, we know that your employees don’t necessarily have time to sit down for training, as they likely have other responsibilities that must be tended to. How can you make sure technology training is a valuable investment on your part?