Securely Communicate With Your Team While Working From Home!

srost • April 9, 2022

Microsoft Teams is a unified communication and collaboration solution that includes useful business utilities and features, such as text and video chat, file storage, and integrations with other applications.

As security is a top priority for any solution we vet and recommend to our clients, one of the key things we like about Teams is its security. It supports over 90 regulatory standards and laws, including HIPAA, GDPR, FedRAMP, SOC, and more, and is continuously updated for persistent security efforts.

If your organization is already using Office 365, chances are, you already have Teams as part of your subscription. Check out these additional features of Teams that could be useful for your organization, especially with staff who are working remotely.

For within your organization:

Text and video chats one on one with other staff
Group chats with multiple staff
Company work hub allows you to create smaller teams around departments or projects with different permissions levels for team members.
Create channels, which is where the bulk of the work gets done
Document and file storage/integration with Sharepoint, etc.
Text chat, postings to all team members (or tag individual members), audio or video meetings with screen sharing
Scheduled meetings (integrate with Outlook), ad hoc meetings

For outside your organization:

Hold team live events with up to 10,000 attendees
Designate producers and presenters
Take questions from attendees

With your board of directors:

Schedule and invite board members from your calendar right inside Teams
Hold board meeting virtually with audio/video and screen sharing
Post board files and information to a SharePoint site and link into Teams meeting
Up to 250 attendees
Record meetings to post later

These are just some of the main features of Teams that we’ve found our clients find the most useful. Want to see more? Contact us here! We’re happy to give you a demo and tour of the application and its many uses.

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ACC Technical Services celebrates 30+ years

By srost • September 9, 2022

Your partner in personalized IT solutions for 30+ years.

Is Your Business Ready for the SHIELD Act?

By srost • August 30, 2022

In 2019, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, signed the Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act, otherwise known as the SHIELD Act. The Act went into effect on March 21, 2020. The SHIELD Act is a required guideline set by NYS to further protect the identity and security of NYS individuals’ private information, whether your company resides in NYS or does any business with New York residents. “Any person or business that owns or licenses computerized data which includes private information of a resident of New York shall develop, implement and maintain reasonable safeguards to protect the security, confidentiality and integrity of the private information including, but not limited to, disposal of data." Private information includes social security numbers, driver's license numbers, account numbers, credit/debit card numbers, fingerprints, retina images (ex: face ID for smartphones), usernames/emails/passwords, and more. The goal of this act is to help further protect against identity theft. To reach guidelines stated in the SHIELD Act, NYS requires every business to have reasonable security measures in place. Businesses will be in compliance with the SHIELD Act if the proper security measures are set in place. Security measures as defined by this new law are: Designates one or more employees to coordinate the security program Identifies reasonably foreseeable internal and external risks Assesses the sufficiency of safeguards in place to control the identified risks Trains and manages employees in the security program practices and procedures Selects service providers capable of maintaining appropriate safeguards, and requires those safeguards by contract; and Adjusts the security program in light of business changes or new circumstances Your business will also be in compliance if you currently meet the requirements of: Title V of the Federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6801 to 6809) Regulations implementing the health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996 (45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164) Part Five Hundred of Title Twenty-Three of the official compilation of codes, rules and regulations of the state of New York (Cybersecurity Requirements for Financial Services Companies) Any other data security rules and regulations of, and the statutes administered by, any official department, division, commission or agency of the federal or New York state government as such rules, regulations or statutes are interpreted by such department, division, commission or agency or by the Federal or New York state courts. Any breach in security is now required to be reported directly to the New York State resident whose information allegedly was stolen. Failure to comply with the SHIELD Act will result in a fine from the New York State attorney general. Read the official SHIELD Act text here . ACC is dedicated to assisting our clients with their compliance requirements, including initial steps as well as ongoing efforts while needs change. Contact us here to start a discussion and request a compliance audit.

What is smishing and how do you protect yourself?

By srost • August 10, 2022

In the growing list of ways threat actors are trying to access and steal data and information, we want to take a minute to talk about attacks that happen on a device most of us carry around all day. Cell phones are increasingly targeted for phishing attacks via SMS (text messaging), also known as "smishing." Why? First of all, we’ve come to trust our smartphones as the device that solves a lot of our problems, like googling an actor we can’t remember the name of, or like replying to an email while on the go. By targeting a device we trust (whether subconsciously or not), the attacks are often more successful because we let our guard down. Secondly, because they’ve become almost as unique and valuable as social security numbers, cell phone numbers are highly sought after info in a data breach. The attacks happen for different reasons and use different techniques. The following is a list of just a few examples methods and contexts they come in: Unsolicited text messages from banks, service providers, and superiors. Most play upon some sense of fear, such as account cancellation, someone stealing money from your bank, being accused of a crime or wrongdoing, or harm to your family. Often, they will impose a sense of urgency to illicit a response. They will request that you text back or go to a link to fix or activate something. Anyone with an email address can send you a text message. All mobile providers have an email-to-text conversion address. There are many web/app-based free text messaging services that require no verification of identity to use. SMS is a major form of 2-factor authentication for applications; therefore, it’s a target. So, how do they obtain your mobile number? There are quite a few ways that you might not even think of because they’re so engrained in our everyday lives. 1. Many rewards programs utilize your cell phone number as your identity. Retailers with brick-and-mortar stores will ask for your phone number when you check out, and anyone nearby can hear it. 2. Most businesspeople list their cell phone number on their business cards, email signatures, and presentations they give. 3. We use our cell phone number at many publicly accessible locations, such as pizza shops, restaurants, doctors’ offices, hairdressers, and grocery stores. What can you do to protect yourself? Generally, you should avoid interacting with the message’s content or sender, but here are some specific actions. Do not rush to action; take your time evaluating a text. Do not reply to any texts that are unsolicited. Do not click on links from unsolicited texts. Report the suspicious number to your cell phone provider. Delete the message to avoid inadvertent responses. It's important to make sure your colleagues are educated about these risks and the protective measures they can take. We suggest sending this post to them or setting up a seminar in your office with ACC's cybersecurity experts.