Dependable Support
We can help you fix almost any technology issue – including problems with server downtime, network performance, service availability, security integrity, and other IT infrastructure concerns.
Have an emergency? Call 1-888-256-3873 - send us a message - or click here to get help right now. close
We provide technology consulting, information security, and IT / network support services for medium-to-large organizations across America.
Practical Solutions
We offer flexible and comprehensive technology support and consulting services. Including IT and network support – as well as information security, security auditing, and infiltration testing.
Peace of Mind
We can come to your office, or guide you step-by-step over the phone. You cannot afford to risk your business continuity being compromised; which is why you need experts to minimize these risks.
Certified Expertise
We are highly experienced experts in the field, and we have the certifications to prove it. You can count on qualified service providers to help solve your particular technology problems..
Get Help Now
Server down? Network sluggish? Security compromised? Contact our emergency hotline and get the experts working on it
SCWOA provides technical support for a wide variety of issues – including information / data security, computer / network security, compliance audits, identity and access management, network infiltration testing, and general IT support.
Our technicians are available to answer all your security concerns and to help you secure your networks against data breaches and security attacks. Businesses today depend on the security integrity of their networks to ensure business continuity, reputational assurances, and comply with regulatory requirements.
Organizations simply cannot afford to have their network breached, or have sensitive data accessed by unauthorized people. Your ability to do business depends on this.
Our recommended reading list for organizations seeking to improve their information / data security integrity
2012 Data Breach Investigations Report from Verizon Business
The de facto source for the latest security information and data breach statistics that all businesses need to know about. You will find contributions from numerous international law enforcement agencies, which provides an excellent global perspective on data breaches that can destroy business reputations, brand equity, and customer relationships.
Security Threat Report 2013 from Sophos
In-depth analysis about a diverse range of security topics including malware attacks, java security vulnerabilities, mobile security risk issues, polymorphic and targeted attacks, OS X and Mac security issues, and many more topics of concern to the security conscious organization.
Information Security Shake-Up Report for 2013 from SBIC (PDF)
This special report from the Security for Business Innovation Council (SBIC) offers predictions for continuing cyber security challenges in the coming year. Important topics such as the rapid adoption of big data analytics, cloud computing, social media, and mobile access are discussed to highlight the growing complexity and attack surface of the enterprise security perimeter.
Emerging Cyber Threats 2013 from Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit 2012
An excellent report that highlights significant risks to online security, based on extensive academic research. The findings of this study focus on six key themes – information manipulation, supply chain insecurity, mobile and cloud security, medical data privacy, and aggressive malware.
Organizational Security Awareness Strategies from Gartner
Gartner addresses some of the key challenges of improving enterprise security, by defining and demonstrating ideal security behavior among users. Traditional security awareness programs have been known to fail improving organizational security integrity, and this report posits some interesting lessons learned from the fields of advertising and behavior management.
An excellent guideline from CSO Online regarding how to best construct a Penetration Testing Program. Whether you are running such a program to assure your data security integrity or to satisfy some regulatory or auditing requirements – you should know about what is actually involved in such a program. This guide will also help you get the most possible benefit when seeking outside network security consultations.
How to Write an Information Security Policy
Your information security policy forms the cornerstone of your entire information security strategy. This guideline from ComputerWorld will help you compose an information security policy document with well-defined actions and objectives – including how to mitigate the risks of enforcement and non-compliance concerns. A security professional can also assist you with developing such a policy.
There are two key elements to network security – configuring your system properly, and keeping track of traffic coming in and out of your network. This guide will help you understand the basics of configuring your network as correctly as possible, while discussing appropriate measures for detecting and reacting to suspicious network activity. There is a lot of information to cover, so seeking professional help is also tremendously beneficial.
Wireless technology has become ubiquitous in the corporate environment – however along with this convenience comes extra risk and potential for data breaches, especially when you add the complexity of adding multiple mobile devices to the mix. Many companies do not take appropriate measures to secure their wireless access, so this guide will show you some of the basic fundamentals of wireless security.
Voice-Over-IP (VOIP) is usually looked at as an excellent cost saving measure for the telephony needs of modern organizations. However using such services does carry more risk, and therefore extra security measures need to be taken in order to properly secure this business activity – for example data verification and network hardening to prevent DDoS attacks, corporate espionage, and phishing attacks.
Preventing malicious entities from collecting sensitive information is of paramount importance to any organization. This basic guide will show how you can keep your organization prepared and on guard from the most common phishing and pharming tactics. Preventing such data security breaches should be a priority for all organizations.
Identity Management in a nutshell is about administering individual identities within a network, such as user access accounts and access privileges. With the frequency of security breaches from identity theft sharply rising in recent years, all organizations can benefit from adopting a strict security policy regarding the usage and administration of user accounts.
How to Stop Social Engineering: The Basics
Social engineering is a very real and uncomfortably common security threat. Even the best security systems in the world can be undone by one clever act of social engineering – and this method works so well because it takes advantages of natural human behaviors. This basic guideline will help outline some of the more common tactics, while providing some tips to keep your organization on guard.
The Basics of Incident Detection, Response, and Data Forensics
Sadly in today’s always-on and ever-connected world – unauthorized access to corporate, educational, and government systems are a routine occurrence. This basic guideline discusses how to detect data breaches as efficiently as possible, respond to security incidents as quickly as possible, and show how to use digital forensics to trace the security breach to its source or cause.
Log Management Basics to Increase Security Integrity
System logs offer tremendous insight into what is going on in your company, while providing numerous security advantages. While gaining these advantages is pretty straightforward, organizations can quickly get overwhelmed with analyzing, managing, and evaluating with the vast amounts of data generated by system logs.
How to Develop a Security Awareness Program
Running an effective security awareness program is the best insurance for avoiding costly problems later on. However too often such awareness programs become overbearing and cumbersome – which can cause the opposite intended effect. This basic guideline offers some solid advice for developing a security awareness program that gets the right response from people.
Information System & Security Audit Basics
There are many reasons to run a security audit of your information systems and corporate network, whether for security assurances or for compliance / regulatory requirements. The scope of an information systems audit will depend on the objectives of that audit, and this guideline can help prepare you for determining those exact objectives – such as validating the correctness of system calculations, or that confidential data is not exposed.
Potentially an uncomfortable subject for some companies, yet an essential part of any security program. Fraud cases, outright theft, data manipulation, and even the occasional acts of revenge can and do occur more often than we might like to admit. This primer covers some of the basics of running an internal investigation, and provides many links for more detailed information.
2013 Security Threat Predictions from McAfee Labs (PDF)
An extensive report based on all the data gathered by McAfee on malware, vulnerabilities, and threats to access points, networks, email, mobile devices, and the web in 2012. McAfee researchers offer a range of bold predictions of what businesses should expect to encounter in 2013, as well as some interesting insights on how organizations can address these issues.
The Global State of Information Security 2013 from PWC
A fascinating look into what the various regions and industries are thinking about regarding information security concerns in 2013. You can also benchmark your own organization against the findings of all the other survey takers, or download the report separately for your reading pleasure. Over 9300 respondents (including CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, CISOs, CSOs, and VPs) from 128 countries took part in the survey, and you can see the results for yourself using the provided interactive charts.
SCWOA can assist you with developing or addressing any of these information / data security issues.
We help you ensure optimal and continuous operations for:
- Computers (including desktops, laptops, and mobile devices)
- Networks (including servers, cabling, and other data infrastructure)
- Databases (from both the hardware and software side)
- Microsoft, Linux, and Apple based platforms
- Cisco and Juniper based networking technology
We provide medium-to-large organizations with:
- General IT technology support (including software and web services)
- Network and networking technology support (including server support)
- IT security and data risk analysis, management, and consulting
- Compliance auditing, assessment, and consulting
- Outsourced IT helpdesk services
Breaking Down Data Security Breaches in Big Companies
There a number of surprising figures when you start to look into data security breaches. The 2012 Data Breach Investigation Report for example claims that 98% of all attacks stemmed from external sources, with only 4% of attacks implicating internal employees (less than 1% for business partners). An astonishing 58% of attacks were tied to various activist groups.
Even more interesting is that 96% of attacks were unsophisticated in nature, which strongly implies that the vast majority of victims were largely targets of opportunity rather than a specific choice. This issue is further compounded when you consider that 97% of all security attacks are avoidable through simple or intermediate controls.
What this means for large companies there is a pressing need to create and foster a data security culture that permeates throughout the organization. While it is impossible to create a perfect IT security system, you can certainly make it as hard as possible for someone to breach your internal security – and you do so using relatively simple tools and procedures.
True a lot of this is easier said than done. Though the solution in many cases might be simple, when you imagine that each “simple” solution or fix must then be replicated several hundred times (say on each server or access point) – along with the need to ensure that everyone is following the instituted security procedures at all times. The challenge of implementation and constant vigilance becomes quickly apparent.
The blame for such security breaches can easily be shared by everyone working in the organization, however in many (if not most) cases it is actually the top brass that are really the one’s implicated. Aside from being generally a juicer target for hackers and political activists – it is up to management to foster and enforce an effective security culture within their respective organizations.
It is also equally important that executive sit down and listen to their security professionals. The easy part is demanding “better security” – that hard part is understanding what that actually entails, and what needs to be done to achieve these results effectively and consistently.
All data quoted in this post come from the 2012 Data Breach Investigation Report from Verizon’s Business Services. Highly recommended reading if you’d like to investigate this issue in more depth. (Direct PDF Link)
For more information about this security issue, how counteract this security challenge, and / or for further insight into developing a consistent security culture. SCWOA on hand to give you the assistance you need to get the job done right.