Cybersecurity is not just for the IT group. Digital threats are getting bigger and scarier and they target everyone. Here's how HR can help spread the word and raise vigilance.

Using any digital device — computer, laptop, tablet, phone — makes every employee a target. Hackers, criminals, and cyberthieves hope some employee will be the weak link that opens doors into a lucrative target.

Here's what the HR team needs to know and how they can work with IT to spread the word and raise vigilance inside your business.

Why is this a concern now?

• The IT team would argue that security has always been a concern. However, what has changed is everyone's involvement in the digital world.
• Technology platforms are bigger targets than ever given the criticality of items they control and store.
• Date volume and value has grown exponentially. This is the goldmine criminals want to tap.
• Our digital work interconnects us. These connections entice hackers. A small-value target can be the gateway to a more lucrative mark.
• Hackers and cyberthieves are more sophisticated, better organized, better funded, and harder to catch.

What makes a weak link?

• Employees who don't understand how they are targets. Employees rarely think about cybersecurity. Education goes a long way in helping them understand how and why hackers try to attack a company through its employees.
• People who click before they think. Hackers are more clever than ever. They often send phishing emails that look legitimate. It only takes one click done without thinking to open up a security hole.
• Staff who believe security is IT's job. Many staff assume that IT bears the responsibility for corporate security. In today's interconnected world, however, security is everyone's job.

How can HR help?

• Clearly state security policies. Work with IT to understand why security policies are in place and then explain them in simple terms to employees.
• Show the ways hackers target employees. Share real-life examples with employees so they can see how simple it is for hackers to gain entry.
• Educate employees early and often. Security training is not a one-and-done deal. It requires vigilance and repetition to be sure employees understand their role in keeping the business secure.
• Call in the experts when you need help. If you don't feel comfortable with this topic, don't think you have the expertise, or simply want to cover your bases, it's okay to call in an expert.

Develop your Cybersecurity Framework

Supply chain attacks, ransomware attacks, phishing, data breaches; all these types of attacks are on the rise, thanks to the expansion of the connected world. With greater expansion comes greater security risk. Many risk factors are out there today, and data is potentially at risk more than ever. Having strong cybersecurity governance in place is a requirement for every business.

Many organizations recognize the need for governance programs, but it’s hard to know where to start. Read on to learn how to develop an action plan, and how Magenium Solutions can help you along the path to a well-defined cybersecurity framework.

Where do you start?

Make a cybersecurity action plan, creating an accountability framework for your organization. This will involve planning, action, audits, testing, review, and follow-up.

1. Assign senior leadership responsibility for understanding and managing cybersecurity risks facing the company and understanding compliance obligations.
2. Perform an early-stage audit to understand and inventory critical data and digital assets. Recognize how data flows and identify internal and external risks.
3. Adopt core internal policies and governance structures: information security, privacy governance, vendor management, and incident response.
4. Prepare a detailed, thorough, and step-by-step incident response plan for use in the event of an incident.
5. Identify outside counsel and vendors to enhance the company’s readiness in the event of an incident.
6. Conduct periodic response exercises to test the incident response plan. Involve key internal and external stakeholders, including both technical and non-technical responders. Plan to conduct these exercises at least annually.
7. Consider obtaining cyber-insurance and require partners and vendors to obtain adequate cyber-insurance.
8. Implement, test, and protect your data recovery infrastructure to guard against business disruption and critical data loss.
9. Review reporting obligations and prepare template notices for use with regulators, consumers, and contractual partners in the event of an incident.
10. Conduct regular stress tests, penetration tests, audits, assessments, and reviews with management.
11. Actively monitor security events, including identifying, responding to, tracking, and reporting security incidents.
12. Implement a vendor management program to ensure vendors are appropriately safeguarding data and digital assets against risks.
13. Mitigate risks by monitoring and implementing technical best practices and maintaining a forward-looking threat assessment program.
14. Build a cybersecurity review into the process of on-boarding new projects or vendors.
15. Conduct semi-annual reviews with management regarding cyber-risk.

Stay vigilant

Once your structure is in place, be sure to review all the steps regularly, and keep the stakeholders well-informed about your cybersecurity health. Modify the plan as necessary when you identify weak points, and be sure to test your results from all angles. Exposure can occur from the endpoints utilized by employees, tools and applications used to manage IT infrastructure, commercial enterprises, or interconnectivity between different components spread across cloud landscapes. Additionally, several risk factors are related to the individuals who operate, manage, or even simply use any of the organizational services or assets on a daily basis.
Cyberthreats are penetrating organizations from every corner and the workforce is more widespread and at-risk than ever before. This makes a well-defined cybersecurity framework essential in every organization, and the forward-thinking enterprises are putting in the time and effort to establish a solid framework for their IT and business ecosystem

How well does your home network handle the stress of multiple devices and multiple family members all trying to stream high definition videos, participate in video conferencing, and play online games with friends simultaneously?

With an increasing number of businesses and schools worldwide moving to remote workplace and homeschooling situations due to the existing global pandemic, the urgent need to improve home network speeds and capabilities for things such as video conferencing with Microsoft Teams has become paramount. Having the right network hardware can help maximize the existing capabilities of your connected devices and subscribed services. If you find your existing setup is insufficient for the new load being placed upon it, consider upgrading your hardware to match!

READ MORE HERE

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the CDC is recommending social distancing and encouraging people to work from home if possible. This of course is with the hope of flattening the infection curve and giving hospitals, health providers, and government agencies a chance to keep up and reduce overall fatalities. Last Wednesday, Microsoft asked 50,000 Seattle-area employees to stay home and use Microsoft Teams...

Read More Here

Microsoft had teased back in November that it's newly rebuilt Microsoft Edge browser would release in January. Now, the Chromium-based browser is available for both Windows and Mac users alike. Anyone looking to install the new version can simply head over to the Microsoft Edge site and download it for free.
How Does Chromium Edge Perform?

As a major Gold-certified partner to Microsoft we test things pretty heavily prior to rollout and over the last few months - I can say I'm happy with how this browser performs. Dynamics 365 pages load quickly as do all of the other Microsoft services I frequently use such as SharePoint, Stream, and PowerBI. The same is true of most personal sites I visit from banking to news. Not surprisingly, pages load just as quickly as they do in Chrome.

 

Read More Here

As one of the nation’s leading engineering and technology incubators, Innovation Park at Notre Dame is now using DXNotifi from Magenium Solutions to power its digital displays throughout the 55,000 square foot facility.

The following is a review of the Orbi router and satellite (RBK50). We have been having issues with a very old secondary router since moving into our 111-year old house 3 years ago. It seemed like every few days, we would have to reset the secondary router again because it lost its signal. Some days, this included multiple attempts before finally getting a stable connection. Finding something that could project through my 3 stories of lath and plaster (and cement in some areas) walls was difficult, and I’m happy to say that the Orbi stood up and accepted the challenge!

Setup was fast and easy. The Orbi brought a page up in my web browser and ran me through the setup. I was given the option to download NETGEAR Genie as part of the router setup. It even brought me to a page where it scanned for updates and allowed me to click “update all” for the firmware updates. I was completely finished in approximately 45 minutes. This included plugging in and setting up the router in my home office, placing and connecting the satellite in a second floor bedroom, downloading NETGEAR Genie on 2 separate devices (my desktop PC running Windows 10 and my mobile phone running Android 6.0.1), setting up an account with OpenDNS to set up parental controls, and adding the network to the immediately available devices (3 mobile phones, 2 laptops, and 1 desktop PC). It was not clear if I was setting it up in Router mode or Access Point mode, but I did find that information later while playing with the settings.

All testing was completed with the Orbi in router mode and placed up against my Xfinity modem/router (both devices broadcasting their own networks in an effort to test for interference from either device).

Despite the construction of my house and the Orbi Router’s placement, I had no problems accessing the network and getting amazing speeds on my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Through the original network on my Xfinity provided router, I was receiving download speeds between 25Mbps-57Mbps. Through the Orbi, I was receiving download speeds of approximately 125Mbps. Upload speeds were consistently around 25Mbps from each router. It did not seem to matter whether I was on the first floor with the router or on the second floor with the satellite, the speeds were consistent.

To test how far the network would reach, I went exploring with my Galaxy S7. I was able to connect to the network inside my detached garage with all the doors closed and in the park behind my house. This was the furthest connection, likely because the Orbi satellite was placed on a dresser near the back window on the second floor. I was able to go about 4 houses down in the other directions before losing the connection (the network was discoverable for several more houses, just couldn’t connect past the 4th house).  Tests on an older model iPad, which has no internet access other than through WiFi, got similar results.

I subsequently tested placing the Orbi Satellite in my detached garage (located approximately 40 feet from my backdoor) with all the house and metal garage doors fully closed. The Orbi Satellite had no problem locating the signal and forming a solid connection, allowing us full access inside the enclosed garage.

Downloading files showed blazing fast speeds. An approximately 58MB app update (the largest I’ve noted while connected to my Orbi network) took 2 seconds to download.

The only issue I’ve found is that, when adding the network manually to a device after disabling the SSID broadcast, I had to be aware of the case-sensitive nature of the SSID name in order for it to locate the hidden network. I also found that Netgear Genie app on my phone (didn’t seem to be an issue on my desktop) was insisting that the satellite, my desktop computer that the router is hardwired into, and my mobile phone all had 0% signal despite being able to use the devices and my mobile phone showing showing a solid, full connection with no issues. I imagine this may resolve itself or be remedied with an update to the app, but it didn't affect functionality at all. Additionally, OpenDNS was blocking sites like Accuweather.com despite my changing the settings to “none” under parental controls for each device (I had to turn off Live Parental Controls entirely to remedy this. I haven't heard of others experiencing this issue but wanted to mention it.)

In conclusion, I have been thoroughly pleased with the functionality and connection strength of the Orbi system and highly recommend it for those with larger homes, those with many connected devices, and for those running multiple high-bandwidth applications across multiple devices.

You can find more information on Orbi at NETGEAR's official site.
Via: MyOpenRouter

Hello Folks,

 

I Have a Sony Projection screen television KP-57ws510 with a convergence problem. Back in February of 2013 the Convergence IC's took a dump and i replaced them with Oem Sonyo IC's and everything worked great until last week when the convergence went out again.

I opened the back of the television and noticed that one of the convergence chips and its heatsink was ice cold leading me to believe that one of the pico fuses dropped out.

Sure enough one of the pico fuses on the powersupply board was dead which powers the cold chip. (i tested it with a multimeter)

So i replaced the 5amp pico fuse and the television and its picture worked beautifully for about 20 Minutes before the same fuse blew again? Any ideas what might be causing the fuse to blow? Any suggestions on what i should troubleshoot next?

Any help is appreciated as is your time!

-Here in Philly

The human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text – and it takes just 13 milliseconds to see an image. Digital signage is an ideal way to drive communication and create sales opportunities.
Companies across the world are employing it in their offices, stores, and branch locations – and encountering challenges along the way. How do I update dozens, or even thousands of locations simultaneously? How do I track my campaigns? How much expensive architecture will I need to manage the service? DXNotifi has come up with the answer.
DXNotifi leverages the power of the Microsoft Azure Cloud to create, manage, and display digital content across multiple devices, locations, and networks, spanning everything from indoor and outdoor TV’s to multiscreen room systems and touch panels. No on-premise server infrastructure is required!

DXNotifi’s cloud-based DNA empowers it to be the world’s most robust, scalable, secure, and user friendly platform for digital signage. If your current signage solution isn’t allowing your business to drive revenue, reduce risk, or reduce costs – they can help.

The feature-rich content management platform of DXNotifi combined with responsive design philosophy makes scheduling and managing your digital messaging feel like second nature… even from a phone or tablet. Content and device playlists can be managed and monitored from virtually anywhere, with the ability to quickly and reliably distribute mass notifications across thousands of locations – even large videos or rich media.
They apply process and technology to enhance the way you work. We partner together with you to develop your unique DXNotifi digital signage solution, as part of your team. We’ll guide you through
each step of the process to ensure you are delivered the exact solution for your needs.
Learn how DXNotifi and Magenium can empower you to securely deliver dynamic content to your customers, reduce the cost of costly traditional programs, drive revenue through targeted, efficient
campaigns, and allow you to focus on your business.

Features:;

•  Powered by Windows 10 and Microsoft Azure
•  Update Easily… From Anywhere
•  Hardware Agnostic: Run from Any Windows 10 Device
•  No Server Infrastructure
•  Amazon Echo Integration + Environmental Sound Masking
•  Open API
•  Geofencing Capability
•  Real Time Data Analytics
•  QR Code Embedding
•  Secured Wired and Wireless Connections over HTTPS
•  Endless possibilities with contained, scalable costs

Check out DXNotifi today

Apple is diving into the world of personal finance (in due time) as it has been developing a person to person payment service which will operate under the label of Apple Pay.  This is coming under much speculation as Apple has applied for a patent for their person-to-person payment system which is speculated to be secured by Touch ID.   This brings up an interesting thought of Apple starting a bank.  Although this maybe a far off thought for many Apple users, this push for market share has started the conversation.  With Apples application for a personal transfer system, organizations like PayPal may begin to feel the heat of completion.   Along side this brings an interesting thought.  As in the past it might have been just as difficult for a computer company to start a bank as it would have been for a bank to start a computer company.  As online based personal banking becomes more widely used by millennials across the world we could see the benefit of having development teams on hand to build a banking platform for use within a single operating system.     Nothing is set in stone as of yet but this push would be an interesting concept to see develop within the industries of both personal banking and computer manufactures.  Only time will tell.