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Financial Institutions Waging War on Ransomware

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The content of this blog post is based on our recent webinar that you can watch here. 

Cybercriminals follow where the money is. With all the money involved in financial institutions, it is no surprise they are one of the most threatened organizations. 

It is vitally important to make sure your financial institution remains secure and compliant against cyber threats and has a security response plan in place in case you do suffer an attack.

Don’t Play the Blame Game

There is no room for passing blame when getting to the bottom of a security issue or vulnerability. Blaming discourages people from coming forward and getting all the information IT security professionals need to solve the problem. The person who is attacked is the victim, and the victim should never be blamed.

The Journey: Constant Patching and Configuration

Constantly patching and configuring vulnerabilities in your network is one way to keep your institution safe from attacks. New threats come along constantly, but so do new patches and protection procedures. Staying on top of it could be what saves your institution from an attack. 

It is a constant journey—there is no destination. Simple policies can go a long way for security preparation. Security awareness training for employees on a regular basis, phishing tests, audit firewalls, vulnerability tests, and risk assessments are all simple low-costing steps to take to better prepare, educate, and protect your institution. 

What you Should Look for in a Cyber Security Partner

Whether it is data, physical assets, or personal information—it is important to define what you are trying to secure when looking for a cybersecurity partner and where that information is. It is also helpful to contact their past or current clients and see what their experience was like. 

Cloud Data, Responsibility, and Cyber Insurance 

Cloud services are incredibly helpful for business. However, moving data to the cloud is moving your data to another data center—this does not mean you are no longer responsible for it. The same compliance and checks are expected. You are still liable for the security of your data.

When it comes to the cloud, it is important to know exactly what your cloud provider’s patch strategy is and know if there have been background checks on their employees. Your cyber insurance should not be your cyber response policy. 

It is also very important to name someone in your institution responsible for security. It has to be made a key responsibility and an organizational value and have someone be in charge of it. You could hire security staff, train everyone and make everyone responsible, or get managed security services. 

Common Threats to the Financial Industry 

There are many cybersecurity threats to financial institutions. SQL injection, credential phishing, credit card manipulation or theft, and remote employees’ login information are some of the most prevalent threats facing the financial industry. 

Credibility and Insurance when Breached 

Having IT security, executives, and public relations professionals involved in the conversation is vitally important when it comes to a response to a crisis. Having an outline and knowledge about what should be said to the customers and consumers to keep credibility after a disaster should be part of an insurance policy. 

It is important to publicly respond correctly when something happens. Cyber insurance has to be looked at from an executive and PR perspective as well as a technical one.  

The financial industry is a massive target for cybercriminals. ISG Technology has the proper security controls and preparation for cybersecurity attacks that are essential for your institution’s protection and can be your guard against cyber criminals. Contact us today for a consultation with our experts and see how we can help keep your institution safe. 

Educators Waging War on Ransomware

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The content in this blog is based on a recent webinar hosted by ISG Technology that you can watch here.

With the development and innovation of technology that we see in our world today, there are dangerous innovations being developed as well—cyber attacks. As technology becomes more and more prominent, so do cybercriminals. 

No matter what industry you are in, every business needs to be prepared and have the right cybersecurity protocols and protections in place. Even those working in education. 

Though educators do not seem like targets to cyber criminals—no industry is safe from cyber-attacks unless the right measures are put in place. Everyone is a target. 

The Explosion of Online Education Resources

If you consider the spectrum of education from kindergarten to higher education, there is an incredible amount of educational resources out there. Though students have started to return to schools after the pandemic, the expansion of online resources has not stopped. 

Ransomware has also become very prevalent in the education space. There is a lot of sensitive information involved with education. In K-12 education, one in every three devices contains some kind of sensitive data. 

How Hackers Can Get in Through and Securing IoT

Ransomware attacks are happening everywhere and from every point. There are countless points of entry to your network. 

The network that the devices in your school are connected to, or the Internet of Things (IoT), is very important to consider. It could be a point of entry for ransomware attacks that is not secure. It can feel overwhelming, but there has to be a plan put in place and effective implementation to make sure your network is secure. 

Double Extortion

If you fall victim to ransomware, hackers lock up your data and force you to pay for the encryption. What’s happening now is hackers are copying our data—and once you pay for the encryption—they threaten to expose your sensitive data unless you pay more. This is called Double Extortion.

There are a lot of malware encounters in the education space as well. 5.5 million encounters were reported just from May to June this year.  

K-12 Cyber Security Act

The CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) is coming out with guidelines and toolkits to address and prepare for cybersecurity issues schools are facing. However, the problem is so great that schools need to go deeper. 

Higher Education Institutions Have Unique Data

In higher education, there is a lot of data and research involved – sensitive information about students and teachers. A lot of this data can be very useful for cybercriminals.

Policy and Procedure and The Consequences of not Protecting Infrastructure

When it comes to vulnerability, it is important to find a security provider that exposes you to the holes in your system. With so many threats, the policy and its process is the key. Phishing simulation software can also be very helpful to stay on guard against attacks. 

Failing to protect your infrastructure is going to bring consequences. Whether that be at the cost of time, money, or reputation. It puts your people at risk. 

Fundamentals, Visibility, and Tracking – The Keys to Success

Setting up fundamental security measures can make a huge difference in protecting your network. Measures such as an active directory, MFA, and a password protection policy. Getting these elements down will allow you to focus on the larger issues facing your organization. 

Making your IT infrastructure 100% visible to those in charge of security operations and having the ability to track and gather the metrics can dramatically change your protection and security. The two most important metrics in security operations are the time it takes to detect an issue and the time it takes to remediate (response time). 

ISG Technology has the tools and expertise to work with your organization to make sure the proper controls are in place to protect and prepare your infrastructure against cyber attacks. 

To find out more about how to protect and prepare your organization and its students against cyber threats and ransomware, contact us today.

Having trouble managing data volume?

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As a growing number of businesses across just about all industries adopt new tech trends like bring-your-own-device policies, big data analytics and the Internet of Things, the volume of information stored by such organizations is reaching increasingly high levels.

In an attempt to manage the growing amounts of data, many companies have scaled their existing IT infrastructure by incorporating disparate systems on outdated technology. This creates overly complex IT environments and puts even more strain on storage setups and IT administrators.

Produced in Partnership with VMWare

So what are enterprises to do? The current business environment calls for faster and more agile access to critical data. To gain the competitive advantages necessary to stay ahead of the game, many organizations are deploying converged infrastructure.

Moving to a converged infrastructure

Instead of buying one-off machines and separate CPU, storage and network components and having to configure them all, converged infrastructure allows IT administrators to access an preconfigured, integrated experience in a box. A growing number of enterprises are seeing the advantages to implementing converged infrastructure, according to research firm IDC.

Converged systems scale out performance and capacity by virtualizing computing and storage power across multiple nodes. Data protection and failover are managed between the nodes, and clients typically must start with a minimum of three to account for availability. Once the system has been implemented, users can add nodes on an individual basis in order to increase storage and computing resources.

There are a variety of benefits to converged infrastructure:

  • Faster Provisioning: By employing a converged infrastructure model, a job that may have once required a provisioning time of three weeks can be cut down to less than an hour in some instances.
  • Lowers costs: With convergence, fewer single-use components are needed, and fewer components will be used in the data center overall. This decrease means fewer components to manage, troubleshoot and operate, as well as a reduction in the physical footprint of the data center or other IT facility.
  • Simpler management infrastructure: A converged infrastructure centralizes the management of servers, networks and storage, creating more streamlined daily maintenance. This requires less personnel and a lower knowledge base as opposed to traditional upkeep, freeing up skilled tech workers for more business-critical functions.
  • Quicker IT response: Creates a more agile way to respond to changes in the marketplace or with business priorities.
  • Reduced siloing of IT teams: Instead of managing storage and CPU separately, everything is done together. Fewer overall IT resources are needed with converged infrastructure and more knowledge and cross-training becomes available throughout the business.
  • Improved control: Control is now centralized and management of multiple functions and devices can take place at one time.
  • Scalability and flexibility: Allows the capacity of the entire data center or IT footprint to be quickly adjusted to meet client demands.

Produced in Partnership with VMWare

Converged infrastructure offers business considerable savings as opposed to traditional approaches. As the market continues to evolve, systems will become simplified and more third-party integrators will emerge to take over the task from in-house teams. This will lead to increased options and lower costs.

Modern converged systems focus management on virtual machines, moving commodity computing resources and disks to the background. As the market continues to grow, more options will emerge that offer both options in combined nodes, enabling improved scalability. Sometimes referred to as hyperconvergence, this unites storage, computing a networking in a single unit around a hypervisor that takes care of all of the management duties.

With enterprise data volumes increasing all the time and as the need for reliable, agile and secure management solutions become more important, working with a third-party service provider to create a converged infrastructure solution is more often than not the best way for business to access competitive advantages.

Everything you need to know about VoIP phone systems

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As internet speeds and capacities increase and technologies and costs improve, more and more businesses are cutting the cord from traditional phone systems. They are choosing to adopt Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems.
Just the same, it’s smart to determine if the hype is justified. How good are the monetary savings? How seamlessly will it integrate with your current or future business technology? Is VoIP secure?
Before you make any decision regarding changes to your business phone systems, take a look at the pros and cons of VoIP.

How it works

VoIP works by converting voice into digital data and sending it through your Internet connection via the router.
VoIP allows for normal phone calls through the internet with all of the options usually enjoyed by business’s traditional PBX systems including voicemail, call waiting, call forwarding, conference calling, caller ID, and more.
In addition, VoIP software integrates well with desktop computers for use as “softphones”. The only requirement is that they have voice and audio input/output capabilities.

“The last decade saw a splurge of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) businesses mushrooming around the world.” – Forbes

Setting it up

Setting up a VoIP is fairly simple. You need a reliable internet connection with decent bandwidth. Most VoIP providers handle delivering calls and software needs—particularly if you’re using plug-and-play phones certified for that service provider.
Generally, there are no other hardware requirements aside from the phones themselves.
If you opt for a self-hosted, onsite VoIP system, it gets a little more involved. You’ll need to get a VoIP-friendly version of the private branch exchange (PBX) phone system many businesses already use to handle routing your calls to the appropriate phones on the network as well as a PTSN gateway to sit between the VoIP PBX software and the traditional public switch telephone network.
If you don’t wish to host your PBX software on your server, you can opt for a cloud-based phone system. That way, all of the hosting and management is done through a cloud service provider and paid on a subscription basis.
Whatever option you choose, managing the network phones and extensions is fairly simple and you can do further fine-tuning via your provider’s online account interface.
The IP phones themselves usually come in two forms. Most look very much like the traditional desktop business phone with all of the usual features—speakerphone, hold and transfer buttons, multi-caller functions, etc. Some even allow for video conferencing which comes in useful for demos, sales pitches, or just providing a human face to communication.
The other option is “softphones” which are software-based clients installed on computers and mobile devices. These offer the same full functionality as the desktop phones, plus often have instant messaging capability and, with video input available, allow for face-to-face video conferencing.

VoIP versus POTS

It’s common that when a new technology hits the scene that debate erupts over which is better. POTS is an acronym for Pretty Old Phone System, also known as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). This has been the way businesses have handled communication since the days of Alexander Graham Bell. For that reason alone, many are hesitant to make the switch.
But how do the differences really compare for business? There are actually some solid reasons for POTS.
For one, there is continuity of business and of service. VoIP won’t work without an internet connection. Which means it’s not only vulnerable to network issues but power failures as well. POTS are much more dependable in these cases and allow businesses to maintain phone communication even when the internet is down.
911 calls can also be more reliable over landlines, whereas e911 calls are vulnerable to power or internet outages. For these reasons some companies, like alarm companies, require a landline in order to maintain their security monitoring.
And, in some cases, voice quality over POTS is still superior, but this may change as VoIP continues to evolve.
On the other side, VoIP offers a number of benefits not readily available to POTS subscribers.

What are the benefits of VoIP?

There’s a reason why so many businesses are adopting VoIP technology. While there exist a few pros to maintaining a POTS subscription, the benefits of switching to VoIP outnumber them.

Low cost

Generally, VoIP systems are just cheaper than traditional phone systems. There is less hardware to purchase, and, in most cases, VoIP hosts don’t require any new hardware at all. If they do, it’s usually readily available hardware that’s not locked down with propriatary limitations.
When managing remote employees—even far-flung remote employees—there is no extra cost due to distance. Because the voice and data are being sent via the internet, there are no long distance fee considerations. New York calling Los Angeles is the same as calling across the street. In fact, most VoIP services offer free calls to coworkers regardless of location.
Monthly subscription fees are lower as well, and often don’t require a contract.
Much can depend on the amount of phone traffic you regularly have. At worst, you’re not likely to be spending more than you already are. However, you’ll have the added value VoIP can bring you.

“The advancements in technology have greatly helped small business owners to realize increased productivity and lower cost structure in all sectors.” – CIO

Mobility

VoIP is particularly suited for those employees who are not tethered to a desk or traditional office setup.
Many providers offer dedicated apps for sending and receiving calls from remote locations using their data connection and mobile devices including those devices that fall under your business’s BYOD policies. You can set these apps to right simultaneously with an office phone. Apps can even function as a standalone extension.
Likewise, video conferencing options are available for salespeople to run demos and pitches with the same ease and low cost as voice communications from wherever is most convenient or effective, saving on both time and travel.
Being away from the phone is not a problem as voicemail and instant messaging can be converted to email or text messaging and sent to any device specified.

Scalability

You won’t have to worry about installing additional hardware to accommodate new extensions when your business requires them. VoIP service expansion is as simple and inexpensive as purchasing another certified phone with plug-and-play adaptability. At most, connecting a VoIP-enabled phone to your network will require tweaking a few settings. You could also install the softphone client software onto additional networked computers.
VoIP allows for adding or removing any number of phones and extensions. So you can do what makes the most sense for your business’s current needs.

Integration with unified communications systems

If your business uses or is considering implementing a unified communications (UC) system, VoIP fits in well and may already be part of its infrastructure. Because both the UC system and VoIP rely on network connectivity and management, including both makes sense, and both use many of the same communication features such as instant messaging, call management, video calling and conferencing, and mobility.
VoIP becomes another tool for enhancing collaborative workflow and business productivity.

“Today’s small businesses have extensive options for selecting a business phone system, particularly now that cloud-hosted VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solutions are so prominent in the marketplace.” – TechRepublic

Security on VoIP networks

When it comes to the security of your VoIP system, much of that is in the hands of the user. Many VoIP services don’t come with internal security obstacles for cybercriminals to overcome. For that, you need to rely on those same security protocols and best practices as usual.
You’ll want the usual robust firewall protections on your network and employee education regarding phishing scams and malware attacks. You can consider encryption and VPN options as well.
Taken as a whole, however, VoIP is as secure as traditional telephony.

Is VoIP for you?

VoIP is such a rapidly developing technology and is being adopted at a growing rate among companies worldwide. As such, it has been suggested that it may supplant POTS in time. You may want to consider making the switch. It’s simple, given the low costs, the flexibility, and multitude of services available with VoIP systems
As with any business decision, you should do the research and consult with your experts. You’ll likely find that companies dedicated to keeping a competitive edge and looking to take every advantage possible to strengthen their business are adopting VoIP as a useful tool.
 

The presidential debate and the future of American cybersecurity

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Cybersecurity is becoming less of an individual problem and more of an issue that entire states need to deal with. Due to the importance of this issue, both presidential candidates were asked in the recent debate to discuss the current state of cybersecurity within the U.S. as well as what they plan to do when they get into the Oval Office. Their responses – as well as their previous actions – could very well foretell the future of America’s cybersecurity efforts.

Both candidates need to study up

During the debate, moderator Lester Holt asked the candidates about their opinions concerning the current state of U.S. cybersecurity. Hillary Clinton was quick to jump on Russia as a major antagonist. In fact, she went so far as to blame Putin himself for the hack levied against the Democratic National Convention. She also took a very hard line against anyone considering a cyberattack against America, saying that the U.S. would not “sit idly by” and allow foreign entities to breach private American data.

That said, Clinton has certainly had trouble with cybersecurity in the past. She set up her own private email server against State Department regulations, which was eventually compromised by a hacker.

Clinton has been hacked before. A hacker was able to gain access to Clinton’s private email server.

Donald Trump was also adamant that America needs to improve its defenses, although his response was slightly different. As Government Technology’s Eyragon Eidam pointed out, Trump brought up the uncertainty of cyberattacks like the one that befell the DNC. When discussing this attack, the candidate said it could have been anyone from Russia to Iran or even “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.”

While it’s certainly true that America’s enemies are no longer visible on a map, broadly painting hackers as obese people downplays the importance of this issue.

New federal CISO’s job hangs in the balance

Although both of the candidates will continue to duke it out, the current president has decided to take action. President Obama has created the position of federal chief information security officer, and he’s appointed retired Brigadier General Gregory J. Touhill to the post. Touhill has more than 30 years of experience in the U.S. military, much of which was spent within IT. He’s also been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, according to his biography on the Air Force’s website. This position is meant to come up with a uniform cybersecurity plan for federal government organizations.

“The federal CISO is an appointed position.”

While it’s certainly good to see the White House attempting to tackle the widespread security problems present across the government, the federal CISO is an appointed position. This means the current president is allowed to choose who can fulfill the role, which puts Touhill in a tenuous position. The next president will enter office on January 20, 2017, which means Touhill has around four months to implement some changes.

Whether the next president keeps Touhill will depend entirely on who wins. If Trump is voted into office, he’ll most likely want a fresh slate and appoint his own CISO. There’s a good chance that Clinton will do the same – however, she’s probably Touhill’s only hope at job security. He’ll have to make some huge leaps in the next few months if he hopes to impress.

Could a network assessment have saved Southwest from major downtime?

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Southwest Airlines has been having a pretty turbulent few weeks. First, starting on July 20, the organization had one of the largest IT outages ever to affect a major airline. Now, two unions associated with the company are demanding that CEO Gary Kelly step down or be fired, according to David Koenig of The Tribune of San Luis Obispo.

Although it was originally estimated that the downtime cost as little as $5 million, one Southwest representative stated that it’s most likely going to be “into the tens of millions.” With so much money being lost to a technical failure, the question remains: How did this happen, and was it preventable?

One router started all the trouble

Koenig reported that all of these IT issues stemmed from a single router. Basically, this piece of equipment failed in an unpredictable way, which eventually led to other systems being knocked offline. Southwest is keeping specific details about this undisclosed, but the scale of this particular outage suggests that the network associated with this router was not properly set up.

“Companies need multiple points of failure to accommodate for a singular outage.”

As their name implies, these devices route information to their intended destinations. Data generally is bounced between multiple locations before arriving where it’s being sent. Generally, this means you have multiple points of failure to accommodate for a singular outage. If it’s true that one router’s downing caused this event, then Southwest most likely had a poorly engineered network. FlightStats stated that around 8,000 flights were affected in this incident, and a single router simply should not have the ability to affect that many planes.

The conclusion to be made here is that Southwest should have tested its network more rigorously. Network assessments are incredibly important in order to determine weak points within a particular IT system, such as how one router could be made accountable for thousands of flights. Simple tests such as these could have easily uncovered this point of failure, allowing Southwest to take actions to mitigate the risks of such a catastrophic outage.

Network assessments can prevent more than downtime

Although downtime is certainly something businesses should work to avoid, it isn’t the only problem that network assessments can unveil. These tests also help companies determine their preparedness in terms of cybersecurity. Perhaps the best recent example of this is the massive heist levied against Bangladesh Bank.

At its most basic, hackers gained access to a global banking system and basically tricked financial institutions into sending money to fraudulent accounts. When all was said and done, the criminals involved in this got away with $81 million, according to Serajul Quadir of Reuters. After some investigation, it was discovered that the bank was relying on $10 network switches for the banking system. On top of that, Bangladesh Bank had no firewall protecting private financial data.

This is one of the biggest heists in history. Hackers got away with millions from Bangladesh Bank.

IT companies are generally surprised to hear when small businesses don’t have firewalls, so the thought of a multi-billion dollar corporation lacking these most basic of cybersecurity tools is simply mind-boggling. To top this off, the heist could have been so much worse. The criminals were originally trying to get closer to $1 billion dollars, but their plans were foiled when they accidentally misspelled the name of a financial institution.

Simple mistakes such as those made by Bangladesh Bank are exactly what network assessments are designed to catch. IT employees at these organizations often need to focus on keeping systems running, and cybersecurity can sometimes take a backseat. As this incident shows, this can often have disastrous results, and companies need to be aware of the consequences of letting something like this go under the radar.

Let ISG Technology help preserve your company’s image

Clearly, missing even the smallest detail in your network’s setup could seriously affect both your company’s finances and its client-facing image. No one wants to put their money in a bank that can’t keep it safe, and consumers certainly don’t want to spend money on an airline that has a history of leaving passengers stranded. As such, it might be time to have your company’s IT infrastructure checked out by an experienced professional.

ISG Technology’s experts have spent years investigating and solving some of the most complex network problems out there, and we can help make sure your company’s name isn’t dragged through the mud. If you’d like to find out how you can benefit from a free consultation, contact one of our representatives today.

Schedule Your Free Consultation with ISG

How can your company benefit from hyperconvergence?

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Computing resources are very often mismanaged within the business world. Considering just under one-third of all servers haven’t processed data within the last six months, it’s clear that there are a lot of inefficiencies within enterprise IT. This kind of ineffective model is exactly what hyperconvergence is meant to solve.

Combining all computing, storage and other IT resources into a singular device is allowing companies to get more creative with their technology solutions. To that end, let’s take a peek at what the average organization can get out of hyperconvergence:

Simplify IT operations

One of the great benefits of hyperconvergence is that it helps IT employees immensely cut down on the number of individualized resources they need to deal with. A hyperconverged infrastructure allows workers the unique opportunity of handling all of these components through a centralized platform. This increases efficiency and enables staff members the ability to treat IT resources as if they were a singular system.

Hyperconvergence makes IT work easier. Allowing resources to be accessed through a singular platform allows employees to keep it all together with ease.

Scale up efficiently

Another great advantage of working in a hyperconverged environment is the fact that these systems can be very easily scaled up or down according to a company’s needs or desires. Organizations need to be constantly growing and innovating in order to continue operations, and scaling up IT needs is simply a requirement of modern business. Due to the fact that hyperconverged infrastructure growth simply requires the acquisition of new nodes, the employees can rest assured they’ll have the resources they need to get the job done.

“Hyperconverged systems can be very easily scaled up or down.”

What’s more, companies from all over the world are seeing just how easy it is to grow under a hyperconverged model. A study conducted by ActualTech Media found that 42 percent of IT workers thought it was easier to scale up within their hyperconverged infrastructure than it was to do so in other IT schemes.

It would appear that many within the business technology community don’t know about this benefit. The same study also found that only 6 percent of respondents stated that scalability was a driving force behind the switch to hyperconvergence. Clearly, this topic needs to reach a wider audience.

This is of course only a taste of what a hyperconverged infrastructure can give to the modern business. That said, this technology has far-reaching implications for many organizations, and its benefits should be carefully studied by those wishing to increase efficiency.

Data dilemma: Where does police body camera footage go?

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As recording technologies get smaller and cheaper, giving police officers cameras to wear on their bodies at all times is quickly becoming a reality. These devices have incredible implications, both for average citizens and for officers, as they allow the courts to cut through all the drama and hearsay in order to get to the truth of what exactly happened. That said, there are a few obstacles standing in the way of widespread body camera deployment.

One of the biggest issues currently facing departments wishing to bring these gadgets to the field is the storage of the video itself. Having a camera running at all times during an officer’s shift creates a lot of footage, and simply deleting this because “nothing happened” isn’t an option. After all, an officer could have recorded something of import without even noticing it. So how extensive is this storage problem, and what can police departments do to ease such a transition?

How much data can a police department generate?

Before delving into the more nuanced discussions of data storage, it’s vital to first understand exactly how much data the average police station can create. Each department will obviously have its own special needs, but a good place to start is the analysis of the Chula Vista, California, police department’s data storage given by Lieutenant Vern Sallee in Police Chief Magazine.

Sallee stated that his station had 200 sworn police officers that were using body cameras in their daily rounds. After playing around with their current setup, Sallee’s department found that a 30-minute video demands around 800 MB of storage. Accounting for all officers with cameras, Chula Vista could generate around 33 TB of data annually. To put this in perspective, Sallee stated that this is roughly the same size as 17 million photographs.

Again, it’s important to remember that this is a rough estimate for a single town. Chula Vista has just over 265,000 citizens, making it larger than the average American city. That said, such a population pales in comparison to the 8.5 million people living in New York City, and implementing a police body camera initiative in this kind of metropolis would be a whole different ball game. What’s more, these larger cities are the ones that need body cameras the most, as they generally have more violent crime requiring forceful police intervention. Clearly, simply finding a place to put all this data is going to be a challenge.

Data storage has its woes. Keeping large portions of data for long stretches of time can be difficult.

Privacy and security are huge concerns

Another major concern with these body cameras is the privacy of the people involved in the recordings. As stated, departments can’t delete a video until they are absolutely sure that nothing on it could possibly be useful in the future. This means that the actions of a lot of innocent people are going to be recorded and stored, and this has certain civil rights groups worried.

In fact, a coalition of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Civil Liberties Union presented some guidelines to legislators in 2015 attempting to govern how these recordings are treated. The group wanted to prevent an overreaching use of facial recognition software, as well as ensure officers were only allowed to watch their videos from the day after filing a report, according to CNN.

“Police officers have the right to discuss personal matters without being listened to.”

On top of that, it’s important to remember that police officers have rights, too. These men and women will be recorded at all times during their shift, which means any private conversations they’ve had with their partners could easily be viewed by a third party. These people have the right to discuss personal matters without being listened to after the fact, and officers shouldn’t live in fear that their superiors will eavesdrop on some conversation that they don’t agree with.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, all of this is for naught if police departments can’t keep the video files secure. A malicious individual or group could do a lot of damage with the ability to map out an officer’s day-to-day duties, and departments must therefore do everything in their power to ensure these criminals are kept at bay.

Partnering with the right company is crucial

Clearly, there are a lot of challenges to overcome when implementing a body camera initiative. That said, the pros definitely outweigh the cons if police administrators are willing to find the right partner for the job. Any officials looking for a company to assist them in their transition should definitely check out the data storage services offered by ISG Technology. We have years of experience storing information for companies from all kinds of industries, and we pride ourselves on our ability to keep our clients’ data safe. Contact us today and find out what an ISG Technology solution can do for your department.

What does an ISG network assessment look like?

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Business technology has become incredibly complex in the past few years. Companies often fall victim to their own success, growing so quickly that the IT department can’t keep up. This can often lead to the network infrastructure being put on the back burner while employees work daily just to keep operations afloat.

Organizations often don’t have the time or expertise to evaluate their own infrastructure, which is why ISG Technology offers comprehensive network assessments. But what do one of these examinations look like, and what can companies get out of them? Let’s take a look:

“No two companies are going to have the same needs.”

What’s the first step?

The problem with laying out a first step for such a complex process is the fact that no two companies are going to have the same needs. A network assessment could mean checking the local compute environment, but it could also have to do with looking at a business’s circuit load. One section of the assessment could be as simple as determining whether or not a physical system has single points of failure.

This is why ISG recommends that companies that come to us looking for a network assessment should first determine what their end goals are. Administrators may not be able to completely vocalize what they need, but they should at least have an idea of what they’re after. Basically, the point of this exercise is to get the organization from its current state to its future state. If we know what a company’s intended future state is, we can recommend clear and decisive actions officials should take in order to get there.

What kinds of issues does the average company run into?

Although each organization is going to have its own unique situation, there are some pretty common problems that our engineers run into on a regular basis. One of the most apparent has to do with mobile devices and their use for work purposes. The Pew Research Center found that just under 70 percent of American adults currently own a smartphone, which means a majority of office workers currently have such a device in their pockets at all times.

Due to the advanced capabilities of these devices, workers are increasingly using their smartphones to access company data. The problem with this is that these employees very rarely take any measures to protect their phones. An infographic from Consumer Reports found that 34 percent of smartphone owners didn’t take any sort of security measures with their phones, and that’s including a screen lock with a four-digit password. Therefore, companies that aren’t taking proactive steps to secure private data from stolen or lost phones are at significant risk of a data breach.

Another major issue we often see is businesses not controlling network physical access in the right way. Many companies are now relying on voice-over-Internet-protocol technology, which allows workers to speak to clients via the Internet. It’s an amazing technology with multiple uses, but IP phones can also be an access point for criminals. These devices require a cable connection in order to get on the Internet. This means that anyone with the ability to get into the office could potentially plug a laptop into one of these cords and instantly access the entire network.

Cybercriminals often break into offices to steal data. Hackers don’t just use computers to commit their crimes.

This is of course a very specific example, but it shows that companies often aren’t thinking of network security correctly. The reality of the situation is that hackers really don’t care how they gain access to a business’s information. Whether it’s by stealing an employee’s phone or dressing up as a janitor to plug into the network after hours, a criminal with enough initiative will find whatever holes exist in current security standards and exploit them.

ISG has the experience needed to do the job right

An ISG network assessment has one major component that sets us apart from other companies: experience. The average ISG engineer has been with the company for eight or nine years, which means they know our network assessment playbook backward and forward. They’ve seen all the classic mistakes – as well as some unconventional ones – and they know what the modern business needs to solve these problems.

When you work with ISG, you can rest assured that you’re dealing with some of the most experienced professionals in the field. If you’d like to see what this wealth of knowledge can do for you, contact an ISG network expert and set up your free IT infrastructure assessment today.





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