Business Tech Support

01/23/2023

12/18/2019

Ransomware is a well-named type of cyberattack. Cybercriminals taking this approach kidnap your data. After accessing your network, they encrypt files and demand payment for the pa

11/29/2019

The time has come for the Fee-Only IT Advisor

Business owners need someone they can trust to help them navigate through all the various offerings of the tech world. Thankfully, the IT Advisor, known as a Managed Services Provider(MSP), is there to offer such advice.

Typically this is accomplished by the MSP buying technology services from technology companies(partners), marking the price up by adding profit margins, and re-selling these products(computers, firewalls, etc) and services (remote management, email, etc) to the end-user..the business owner(client).

An MSP offers a product ‘stack’ to the client, a menu of products and services basically, and the client picks and chooses from this stack. The net result is a monthly dollar price that the client pays on a monthly basis. Within that price contains the markup from which the MSP can use to run their own businesses and, hopefully, make a profit.

And while this is how most every MSP operates, it does come with significant downsides when you consider it from the client’s perspective.

For example, while the client may receive excellent products and services, they don’t really know what these actually cost. And this is because actual cost to the MSP is almost never disclosed to the client.

An MSP could pay $20 a month for a service, for example, and offer this service at a monthly rate of $50 to the client after adding a markup. This equates to a 150% markup. Some products/services offer more markup potential to the MSP while some offer less markup potential. The problem is not that the MSP earns a profit, it is that the client never knows what the markup is because it’s never disclosed.

Markup secrecy creates a conflict of interest. How does a client know the full story of why a particular product or service is being recommended when costs are not fully disclosed? They cannot. Financial motivations should be a part of the equation. Full disclosure of pricing is needed to eliminate this inherent conflict.

Commissions provide another source of conflict to the MSP. Because how much is the commission income to be earned from a particular product or service driving the recommendation?

In the world of finance and insurance, commission income drives everything and poses an obvious conflict not only because it can motivate the advisor to lean one way or the other, but also because the commissions are never disclosed to the client. How many times does the client really know what a financial planner is getting paid? Rarely.

A Fee-Only MSP, in contrast, resembles a fee-only financial planner in that there is a commitment to full disclosure of all costs including fees that the MSP earns. Fee-Only financial planners have been around for a couple of decades now and they take it a step further in pledging not to receive any compensation from third-parties which means no commissions at all. Similarly, Fee-Only MSP’s also pledge to never receive commissions.

With both fee-only financial planners and fee-only MSP’s, there is a commitment to only be paid by the client, never by others. Combine these commitments with a pledge to fully disclose all costs and you reduce conflicts of interest down to a minimum. Conflicts will still exist but they won’t be related to financial factors.

Full disclosure of costs and no commissions equal less conflicts.

This is a new concept to the world of the MSP. It’s a world that must stay on top of ever-changing technology and security protections. MSP partners and vendors number in the hundreds and new ones are constantly coming onto the scene. To better help the client and to level the playing field, it is important to reject secret markups and commissions and to place yourself on the client’s side of the table. This way you can better help the client to make sense of it all and to create their own stack based not just on client needs, but also on fully-disclosed cost information.

Andrew Orr is President of Business Tech Support(BTS). BTS is a Fee-Only IT Advisor and MSP located in St. Petersburg Florida. www.BTSmanaged.com

10/25/2019

Welcome to the solid state party

09/20/2019

The Dark Web and Its Impact on Your Business

Business owners today know the internet is not only a force for good. Some people exploit the Web for ill intent. They congregate on the Dark Web, and small businesses need to understand the risks.

What is the Dark Web?
You and your employees spend time daily on the Web. They’re researching clients, checking out competitors, and searching for information. They are not accessing the Dark Web. The Dark Web houses dangerous, often illegal activity. This includes black-market drug sales, illegal firearm sales, and illicit po*******hy.

The Dark Web’s collection of websites is inaccessible using standard search engines or browsers. Users employ a Tor or I2P encryption tool to hide their identity and activity, and they spoof IP addresses.

To go into the Dark Web, you also need to be using the Tor or I2P service. Plus, you’d need to know where to find the site you are looking for. There are Dark Web directories, but they are unreliable. The people on the Dark Web don’t want their victims to find them. Ultimately, it’s not somewhere you or your employees need to be.

So, why do you need to know about it? Because Dark Web users can buy:
usernames and passwords
counterfeit money
stolen credit card numbers or subscription credentials
software to break into people’s computers
operational, financial, or customer data
intellectual property or trade secrets

The Dark Web is also where someone can hire a hacker to attack your computers.

The Dark Web business risk
The Dark Web itself isn’t illegal, and not all its traffic is criminal. It is also visited by journalists and law enforcement agencies, and it’s used in countries prohibiting open communication.

Yet the number of Dark Web listings that could harm your business is growing. A 2019 research study found that 60% of all listings could harm enterprises, and the number of those Dark Web listings has risen by 20% since 2016.
Business risks from these Dark Web listings include:

undermining brand reputation
loss of competitive advantage
denial-of-service attack or malware disruption
IP theft
fraudulent activity

With media attention on data breaches impacting millions, it’s easy to think a small business is not at risk. However, bad actors don’t target a business for its size – they look for ease of access.

Dark Web information is up to twenty times more likely to come from an unreported breach. Privacy specialists told a Federal Trade Commission Conference victims included medical practices, retailers, school districts, restaurant chains, and other small businesses.

Reduce your risk
If your information ends up on the Dark Web, there’s little you can do about it. The bright side, at least, is that you would know that your business security has been compromised. Be proactive instead. Keep your security protections current, and install security patches regularly.

Consider a unified threat management (UTM) device, or UTM appliance. The UTM plugs into your network to serve as a gateway and protect your business from malware, illicit access, and other security risks.

Your UTM security appliance can provide:
application control
anti-malware scanning
URL and content filtering
data loss prevention
email security
wireless and remote access management

Or let a managed services provider (MSP) take care of all aspects of protecting your business. Pay a consistent monthly fee for an MSP to handle all your technology, patching, monitoring, and assessment needs.

Stay on top of the latest cybersecurity threats with an MSP, or learn more about installing a UTM. We can help protect you from the dangers of the Dark Web. Call us today at 727-498-4030.

Andrew C. Orr is President of Business Tech Support (BTS) located in downtown St. Petersburg, FL. BTS provides businesses quality and competent technology solutions. Andrew lives downtown with his wife Angela, his son Andrew Jr., and two dogs Georgia and William. www.BTSmanaged.com

09/16/2019

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09/14/2019

All those little devices you have around the house aren’t very secure.

From millions to billions, warn researchers, as the latest shocking IoT attack statistics are published.

09/14/2019

The attack quickly encrypted 158 workstations – and would have been worse had it struck later in the working day.

09/04/2019

You may not know this but my industry is under attack by Ransomware. This is an industry piece showing what companies are beginning to do to counter the threat.

Using the model of a neighborhood fire brigade in which everyone pitched in to keep the flames from spreading, ConnectWise Chief Information Security Officer John Ford hopes to create an organization that will collect reliable information about an attack as it happens, and share it with a community....