10 Tech Jobs Small Businesses Must Outsource

IT outsourcing could be an excellent method for startups and small business to deal with tedious tasks while improving productivity and cutting back on costs. Outsourcing necessities that are all tech-related allows employees and small business owners to focus on responsibilities that are far more important like customer service, sales, and more, without the need to hire more in-house employees.

But all areas of the business must be outsourced. Handing off the incorrect tasks to a third party could hurt your company much more than it could help out. Listed below are 10 tech jobs that IT experts recommend small businesses to outsource.

Hire IT Outsourcing Services For These Tech Tasks

Infrastructure as a Service or IaaS

Outsourcing equipment like servers, hardware, as well as network systems to an infrastructure provider could help you save millions of dollars in labor and costs. Building your own infrastructure isn’t easy nor cheap. It will need not just a huge budget to buy and house them, but also heavy maintenance by skilled IT support professionals. By outsourcing, small businesses and startups could cut back on their budgets, because the infrastructure service provider does not only own the equipment but is also responsible for operating and troubleshooting the units. Users just have to pay on a subscription basis.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud computing lets businesses gain access to their required information anytime, anywhere, through the use of any device of their choosing. Hosting a cloud system is expensive and it could open up a company to security risks if the tech used is outdated. Through outsourcing, small businesses could concentrate on utilizing the cloud instead of maintaining it.

E-commerce Website Design

If you are not an expert in website development, then you must think about outsourcing the design of your e-commerce website to make sure that it does not only look great but also run efficiently and smoothly. This will help keep your clients from encountering problems as they browse or purchase products or services from your online store.

Website Updates

Together with building a well-designed website in the first place, it is crucial for businesses to make sure that their websites are updated, too. This could be a difficult job for those who don’t know what they’re doing. There is a lot to monitor to make sure that the website remains updated with the latest trends and changes in technology. Therefore, outsourcing these tasks could help you keep a strong presence online without getting in the way of other essential tasks.

Cybersecurity

Providers of managed IT services will inform you that your data is safe however, businesses must also outsource other important cybersecurity solutions. It is a smart move for companies to outsource their cybersecurity professionals instead of relying on the guarantees of IT vendors since there’s no company that could provide a 100% data safety guarantee.

Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication is a kind of security that asks users to provide two forms of identification if they want to access bank accounts or other confidential information. It could be in the form of a security code or a physical identification, or two different security codes.

QA Testing

If your team is devoting all of its time to creating products and apps, it could be a struggle to test each aspect to make sure that everything is perfect. Outsourcing can help keep your products and apps the best they could be without burning out your team.

Business Applications

It is expensive to develop an app. It seems like an excellent idea to develop apps that are tailored to your company operations and staff however, hiring a developer to create a business app needs a lot of time, patience, and money. Meanwhile, there’s a lot of extensive business applications that can be used for almost everything.

Projects Outside Your Expertise

IT experts are not professionals in all kinds of technologies. They might be knowledgeable in a certain area but that doesn’t automatically mean that they could handle a related project without any prior training. Given that, it’s better to outsource projects that are beyond your scope of expertise.

Tasks That Can’t Be Automated

In case you have a lot of cumbersome tasks to deal with, addressing them all yourself could be time consuming. If hiring another employee to get the job done for you is a waste of resources, then you should consider automating those tasks. If not, you should think about outsourcing.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Fayetteville if you are considering IT outsourcing any of these top 10 tech tasks.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Fayetteville, NC 28304
(910) 745-7776
http://manageditservicesfayetteville.com

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

Why Your Business Needs 24/7 Cybersecurity Monitoring

You can significantly improve your threat alerts plus spend more time creating effective cybersecurity strategies if you hire continuous monitoring with the help of a reliable security services provider. Listed below are five reasons why you should consider 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring.

The Dramatic Changes In The Cybersecurity Landscape

Companies face a threat landscape that’s never been seen before. Almost every month, there’s news about a massive data breach. Big firms are struggling to keep up with the rise of threats that hit their security teams on a daily basis.

Small and mid-size businesses are affected, too. As a matter of fact, cybercriminals are targeting SMBs since enterprise organizations have ramped up their cybersecurity Fayetteville NC defenses. Both SMBs and enterprise are facing several challenges. Plus, there’s that lack of internal resources as well as a small market for skilled IT experts who will manage everything. Having a security partner who will check your environment all day and night is what’s needed by businesses today. Experts have predicted that security outsourcing is going to be a major investment category in the coming years.

Strict Compliance and Regulatory Requirements

This year, security leaders are concentrating on dealing with the new compliance and regulatory requirements that may cost them millions in penalties and fines due to non-compliance. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is one of the first and most crucial new efforts in global regulation to have an effect on multinational businesses and organizations processing EU subject data. Aside from that, the United States is working on the Data Security and Breach Notification Act. The new bill is the first Federal regulation that will penalize firms that have been hacked.

Almost every country is now taking consumer data privacy and protection seriously thanks to the introduction of the new legislation that will hold organizations accountable. It’s crucial for your company to take steps to reduce the risk of data compromise and establish some security controls to protect the consumer data. That is why regular network and security monitoring from a reliable provider of managed IT services is a must.

Minimize Data Breaches

 

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A team of IT professionals who review security logs and events all day and night can assist you in improving your MTTD or Mean-Time-To-Detect. The 2017 Ponemon Cost of Data Breach Study said that the average MTTD for a survey of 491 firms was 191 days and had a range of 24 to 546 days. Think about a hacker within your environment in that particular time frame. What’s the extent of the damage that one hacker or more could do to your company? When a threat actor gains access to your business, they could cause a lot of problems on endpoints and systems and then steal your data or perhaps hold it at ransom.

Boost Your Mean-Time-To-Respond

The main metric for several security teams to assess their effectiveness is in terms of the Mean-Time-Detect as well as the Mean-Time-To-Respond. When your security team determines or detects threats and triggers an alert, it will then become a matter of how long is needed to contain and remediate the threat.

Some companies have invested millions in endpoint security, antivirus, and firewalls. However, these technologies can create thousands of alerts every day. This could cause your security or IT team to go through alert fatigue. But with 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring, your company can significantly improve your MTTR and MTTD with the appropriate alerts. A team of experts from a reliable IT consulting company can leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), orchestration, and automation to boost alerts and determine the events that are significant.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you have finally made the decision to work with a trustworthy team of IT experts who can take care of all your cybersecurity needs.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Fayetteville, NC 28304
(910) 745-7776
http://manageditservicesfayetteville.com

Cities Served:
Fayetteville, Spring Lake, Hope Mills, Dunn, Aberdeen, Southern Pines, Pinehurst, Sanford, Clinto

Payment Forms Cause Large Amount Of Online Data Breaches

When surveying the state of your company's security, it's important to understand what your biggest risks are, including data breach.

According to the 2019 Application Report published by F5 Labs, the answer is simple.
Fully 71 percent of all web-related data breaches in 2018 specifically targeted customers' financial information.

The single biggest culprit?  Formjacking.  According to F5's Senior Threat Evangelist, Davidd Warburton, formjacking attacks in the hacking community have exploded in popularity over the last two years.

A big part of the problem arises from the fact that most businesses have outsourced their shopping cart and credit card payment systems to third party vendors.  Developers make use of imported code libraries, and in some cases, access third party scripts hosted on the web.

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This has the advantage of saving companies money, but it simultaneously puts them in an awkward, vulnerable position. The majority of the code used to handle and process sensitive customer information exists outside the purview of IT security.  Companies simply have no way of controlling the code or verifying its safety.

Worse, cybersecurity hackers know that since most companies use the same small group of payment processing options, all they have to do is compromise a single component of one of those systems and they have access to a vast pool of information that spans multiple companies.

This is exactly how and why Magecart attacks have become so devastatingly effective, and it explains their meteoric rise in popularity.

Challenges Businesses Face For Data Breach

"Adequately detecting and mitigating injection flaws now depends on adapting assessments and controls - not just fixing code.  The more code we hand over to third parties, the less visibility and less control we have over it."

Unfortunately, there's no simple fix for that.  Companies are driven by necessity to seek the lowest cost solution.  It would be ruinously expensive for each company to create, manage and maintain their own custom payment processing solutions. But businesses always have the option to seek out IT services to help them boost their company's network security.

Make sure that your payment processing solutions are free from vulnerabilities. Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Fayetteville now. Let our team help you secure your business and lower your risk of experiencing online breach.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Fayetteville, NC 28304
(910) 745-7776
http://manageditservicesfayetteville.com

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

Reasons Why Businesses Fail Cybersecurity Tests

Every industry and companies of different sizes are being targeted by cybersecurity criminals. Just turn on your TV or check your social media and you’ll see reports about cyberattacks. These attacks are increasing in sophistication and number, and this trend is expected to continue.

So now is the time to have a plan. You can come up with one with the help of an IT Services Fayetteville NC company. Create a cybersecurity strategy that can provide your company with the foundation as well as the mandate to roll out good procedures and policies for enhancing resilience. When developing the strategy, here are the five common mistakes that you need to avoid.

 

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Cybersecurity Mistakes To Avoid At All Cost

Trusting your perimeter defense too much.

During the early stages of a data breach, it’s not the question of if but when. Cyber attackers would compromise your company’s first line of defense such as your internet saving services, email accounts, and employee workstations. Although it is important to set up your defenses on the perimeter, you can’t ignore attention on what takes place when a cybercriminal gets access to your network. Can you stop the attacker from going to a more sensitive part of your network that may lead to major damage? Contemporary networks need more than a single layer of defense to sufficiently protect your information as well as your computing resources.

Focusing on prevention and neglecting detection and response.

An initial attack will take minutes. The discovery as well as the response will take weeks and even months. A study even revealed that attack can be identified in an average of 256 days, which is too long. A cyberattack may not be noticeable, so your company should also focus on detection and response.

Depending too much on compliance.

Compliance will not guarantee protection against all cybersecurity threats. It is only the baseline requirement. Regulations are made to protect client and financial information. As technology continues to advance and your company continues to grow, a compliance mindset will put your business at risk. To protect your client data, operations and reputation, as well as confidential corporate data, you should go beyond compliance and opt for an offense-oriented method.

Failing to know the difference between vulnerability scanning and penetration testing.

The offense focused cybersecurity IT Support Fayetteville NC services are usually not defined clearly by those who procure or offer them, which leads to confusion. Penetration testing involves performing humans replicating the actions of cyberattackers. Meanwhile, a vulnerability scan involves an automated test, which is referred to as penetration test.

Not considering cybersecurity as a business risk.

Many companies consider cybersecurity as an IT problem. But it’s more than just an IT issue. The more connected you are, the more at risk you are of a cyberattack. They will use sophisticated methods to steal your employee and client data, trade secrets, intellectual property, and more. Aside from that, cybercriminals can take control of your physical assets such as phone systems, HVAC systems, door locks, and more.

 

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you want to boost your cybersecurity so your company is more prepared against online threats.

 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Fayetteville, NC 28304
(910) 745-7776
http://manageditservicesfayetteville.com

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

Fayetteville - How Can Small Businesses Secure Customer Data?

Are you doing everything you can to secure your customer information? In case you’re unsure if that’s what you’re doing then now is the perfect time to include it on your priority list. After all, you wouldn’t want your company to have problems with cybersecurity breach, right?

It is a time consuming process and can definitely affect you company’s bottom line? It could lead to reporting requirements as well as notifications to people whose data has been breached. Just be sure to consult your legal adviser. And since your clients trust you with their personal details daily, data breaches, as well as fraud pose a threat to the reputation of your business. Once again, in case you notice a breach, you must always talk to your legal adviser.

You might think data breaches only occur in large firms. The truth of the matter is that it can take place to companies of all sizes. The SEC said that one study discovered that 60% of all the targeted cybersecurity attacks happen to small businesses. Another study also learned that about 60% of those companies that have been hacked eventually go down. They only stay afloat for as long as six months and they shut down.

The first step when it comes to securing the data of your customers is to learn about data security. It is comprised of techniques and practices that prevent hackers from accessing your data. It could be in the form of a firewall or software that can detect suspicious activities and make sure that your payment devices are secured. It should also help monitor transactions constantly.

Computer Security and Data Security Tips

Know your data

Create a list of all the client data you collect or have stored. It includes things like physical addresses, names, phone numbers, email addresses, as well as billing information. Then you should list out where you are storing all of these details – if it is electronically stored or kept in a physical filing system. Be sure to be comprehensive. You need to know everything that you can access and where you can get it.

Restrict Access

Only your most trusted business partners and employees must have access to your client data. If you keep things in you file cabinet, on your computer, or perhaps in an online tool, be sure only a few people have the passwords, codes, or keys to these important files. And make sure that you have a thorough inventory of who have access to what. By doing so, if a person leaves the firm, you can easily change codes and the passwords so you can keep your things secured and protected.

Use Strong Passwords

You have heard this a lot of times before, however, it is crucial for you to create passwords that are guess proof. Your business name or perhaps a simple number combination will not cut it. You need to have strong passwords which are eight characters at least. It must contain both upper and lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers, too. You must likewise let two factor authentication, which is a security procedure that needs two ways of verification (usually a texted code and an email address) – to log in to any app that contain sensitive information.

Take Authenticated Payments

In terms of face to face transactions, you no longer need magnetic strip cards because it is already outdated and they are less secured. Fortunately, you have other options like EMV like chip cards as well as NFC like Apple Pay. Compared to magnetic strip cards, where the bank account information of a customer remains at the back of the card, the NFC and EMV transactions need authentication and that means they encrypt client account information as the payment is being processed.

You Must Be PCI Compliant

To ensure that business owners secure the data of their customers, credit card firms have developed a set of rules called the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS. The latter makes sure that companies that get, process, store, and transmit credit card information should keep a secured environment so the sensitive details won’t fall into the wrong hands. They have to follow security standards that all five major payment companies have developed through their organization.

Install Antivirus Software

You need to protect your computer through the installation of an anti-virus software. It doesn’t have to be expensive. There are several antivirus programs out there that are affordable. Don’t forget to consult with an IT support about the best software for your company.

Use Spam Filters

Everyone knows that they have to get rid of emails that look fishing. However, spammers are getting better these days and they now know how to make emails that look legit even though they are not. You can avoid falling prey to these scams by installing a reliable spam filter on your email system.

 

Call SpartanTec, Inc.  if you want to know what measures need to be set in place to ensure the security and protection of your client’s information.

 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Fayetteville, NC 28304
(910) 745-7776
http://manageditservicesfayetteville.com

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

Is Your Company Safe From Cyber Attack?

Cybersecurity threats are evolving and it’s becoming a huge problem for small businesses and the U.S. economy in general. The FBI’s Internet Crime Report said the cost of cybercrimes has reached about $2.7 billion.

Small businesses are the perfect target since they have the data that cybercriminals want and they generally lack the appropriate security infrastructure that larger businesses have.

The recent SBA survey revealed that 88% of the owners of small businesses felt that their companies were vulnerable to a cyberthreat. However, many small companies cannot afford to hire professional IT services Fayetteville NC, only have a small time to spend on cybersecurity, or they have no clue where to start.

You should begin by understanding the most common cyber threats, learning where your business is vulnerable, and take the needed steps to boost your cybersecurity.

Common Theats to Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity threats are always evolving however, business owners must at least know the most common types of cybersecurity threats.

Malware – is considered an umbrella term that refers to the software that is made to cause damage to a server, computer, client, or a computer network. Malware may include ransomware and viruses.

Viruses – viruses are programs that are harmful and are made to spread from one computer to another. They are made to provide access to your system.

Ransomware – it is a kind of malware that will infect and restrict access to a computer until you pay a ransom. It is delivered via phishing emails and will exploit the vulnerabilities in the software.

Phishing – it is a type of cyberattack that will use a malicious website or an email to infect your computer or device with malware or gather your confidential information. Phishing emails will appear as if they come from a legitimate company or someone you know. These emails will lure users to click on a link or even open an attachment that contains malicious code. After you run the code, your computer will be infected with malware.

 

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Cybersecurity: Evaluate Your Business Risk

The first thing you need to do to improve your cybersecurity is to know your company’s risk of a cyberattack and where you could make the biggest improvements. A cybersecurity risk assessment could check where a company is vulnerable and assist you in developing a plan of action, which would include user training, proper guidance on securing the email platforms and providing advice on protecting the information assets of the business.

Planning and Assessment Tools

There can never be a substitute for a dedicated IT team, whether it’s an employee or an external consultant. However, businesses with more limited means could still take measures that can improve their cybersecurity.

• Free 2 hour assessment
• Disaster Recovery Assessment

Cybersecurity Best Practices

Train your employees – emails and employees are the leading causes of data breaches for companies because they’re a direct path into your devices and systems. Training employees on the best practices when using the internet could go on a long way when preventing cybersecurity attacks.

The training should include:

• Identifying phishing email
• Practicing good browsing practices
• Avoiding any suspicious download
• Using strong passwords
• Protecting vendor information and sensitive customer data

Maintain good cybersecurity hygiene – you should make sure that your business is equipped with antispyware and antivirus software. Be sure to update them regularly. You should also use a firewall as well as encrypting information to safeguard your internet connection. If you have a wi-fi network, be sure that’s hidden and secure. You must set up the wireless access point or your router so that it won’t broadcast your network’s name, also called the service set identifier (SSID). Use strong passwords and multifactor authentication. You must also have a disaster recovery plan.

Protect Your Confidential Data and Back up The Rest

Back up your data – you should back up all the data on each of your computers. Data backup should be automatically done if possible or at least every week. It’s also helpful to keep copies either on the cloud or off site.

Secure payment processing – use only the most trusted and validated equipment, tools, and anti-fraud services. Ask your bank or card processors for help.

Control physical access – don’t allow unauthorized people to use or access your business computers. Lock laptops or computers when not in use. Create a different user account for every employee and you must require strong passwords, too.

 

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our team help improve your cybersecurity strategies and practices.

 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Fayetteville, NC 28304
(910) 745-7776
http://manageditservicesfayetteville.com

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

A Guide To IT Services Fayetteville NC

SpartanTec, Inc. helps your company remain profitable, productive, and safe through the smart and efficient use of technology and IT Services Fayetteville NC. For years, business of all sizes have depended on our wide array of managed IT services to deal with their IT challenges. Trust us to do the same for your company.

Strategic Guidance

We offer your business with unparalleled Managed IT Services, balanced perspective, technological expertise, as well as flexibility of use from co-managed IT and full service to consultative capacity for certain projects. Let our team help map out a plan that will advance your initiatives without disrupting your daily operations.

Proactive Managed IT Services Fayetteville NC

We offer round the clock monitoring to detect, fix, and address IT problems.

Our network operations center runs behind the scenes including installing virus patches and software updates so that your business will reach its optimal IT performance. A proactive method will improve operations and cut back on the downtime so your business is always moving forward.

Our objective is to fix possible issues before they affect your company with round the clock monitoring and regular maintenance of your network, servers, and devices. Our team is always ready to assist you anytime.

 

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Full Service Help Desk

Highly experienced and well trained managed IT support advisors that can help you 24/7.

It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, our Help Desk is here to assist you in troubleshooting your network and dealing with your IT issues so you can continue with your business. You will receive fast response, proactive, and clear communications, as well as a technology partner that is concentrated on being there for you whenever you need help.

Business Continuity

Protect your company by having a business continuity approach that will put the needed plan and technology in place to lower the downtime in case there’s a disaster. Do you back up your servers? Are your data on stored on-site? Can your business handle a major equipment failure that may be caused by flood, theft, lightning strike, or hard drive crash? Does that mean loss of productivity and revenue?

Security Services

SpartanTec, Inc.’s network security solutions can help protect your data. We specialize in planning, execution, auditing, tracking, and management of data and network security services. Security isn’t something that you can simply set once. It’s not a series of solutions tied together, either. At SpartanTec, Inc., our team believes that a proactive approach is needed to ensure your business safety and led to a well crafted security infrastructure.

Our team of IT experts will come up with a detailed strategy and perform a risk assessment so that your staff could return to work when disaster strikes.

Expert Technicians

Our team is composed of friendly and highly diversified IT technicians that are always ready to serve.

We Provide Top Quality IT Service

We have a simple value proposition. We maintain and monitor our servers, network, and devices proactively to secure your business revenue by ensuring business continuity.

Focus on growing your business while we take care of your business critical IT needs. We will strive to help your business achieve success.

 

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you want to know more about our IT services Fayetteville NC.

 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Fayetteville, NC 28304
(910) 745-7776
http://manageditservicesfayetteville.com

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence