WHAT DO YOU DO WITH ALL THAT DATA?

Megan Poljacik • November 4, 2024

Since the dawn of the digital age, companies have been storing data… and a lot of them are still storing that data 25+ years later. Should you really keep all that information? In some cases, it is legally necessary, and it is always a good idea to have backups for disaster recovery.


Companies need to store data for the long haul due to a variety of reasons. It is essential for legal and litigation purposes, such as dispute resolution, investigations, and can be used as evidence. And of course, long-term data storage plays a vital role in disaster recovery, ensuring that companies can quickly recover from data loss, cyber incidents, or natural disasters. Because of this, managing the data lifecycle effectively has become a critical aspect of business. A Data Lifecycle Management plan ensures that data remains secure, accessible, and compliant with regulations.


Forming a Data Lifecycle Management plan comes with its own set of challenges. Data is often spread across different systems, such as financial data stored in Quickbooks vs documents in Sharepoint or even email in O365. Stored data can be surmised into 3 categories: hot, warm and cold. Hot storage refers to data that is actively used or accessed frequently. An example would be a database. Warm storage is data that is accessed less frequently but still business critical. Cold storage is data that is saved for compliance or archival purposes. Companies must determine which category the data fits in and then choose the most appropriate and economical way to store it. Companies often use a combination of these storage tiers to optimize data management, meet varying access requirements, and control costs effectively.


The next step is determining where to house the data. Each category will have its own costs and options, depending on your budget. The market shift towards subscription-based data storage services over traditional on-premise solutions is significantly impacting business decisions. With subscription models, organizations can access scalable and cost-effective storage solutions without the high upfront costs associated with maintaining on-premise infrastructure. This shift allows companies to allocate their resources more efficiently, as they can pay for storage based on their actual usage, leading to greater flexibility and cost predictability in managing their data storage needs.


Lastly, when data has reached its end of life, a company must have a plan for destruction. Having a set policy on when and how to get rid of data is crucial—it helps protect sensitive data and ensures regulations are being met. Use a certified recycler to provide a certificate of destruction for any hard drives. Cloud service providers often offer data disposal such as overwriting data multiple times to prevent recovery and using encryption keys to render data unreadable. Be sure to outline a plan for internally tracking the data destruction process for visibility and accountability.


With the rapid growth of data, mastering Data Lifecycle Management is crucial for organizations to safely store their data while managing risks and ensuring compliance. By proactively addressing the challenges and implementing effective strategies, businesses can streamline their operations and enhance data security in today's data-driven world.


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ON PREM VS. SASE: WHICH FIREWALL IS RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

By Megan Poljacik • March 27, 2025
Three things in life are certain: death, taxes and the persistent threat of cyberattacks. There are many layers of defense in the onion of cyber security, but at the helm is your firewall. Traditionally firewalls have always been the piece of hardware acting as a barrier between your office network and the wilds of the internet. Then in 2020 the way we work was transformed forever by the global pandemic. Nearly a third of the workforce transitioned to remote, leaving offices empty. Many employees continue to work in non-traditional spaces to this day. How can we defend them against cyberattacks if they are outside the protective reach of an on premise firewall? A firewall is a network security device or software that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. Think of it as a moat with a bridge and a guard shack that surrounds a castle. The guards and the moat are the firewall, acting as a barrier and between a trusted internal network (the castle) and untrusted external networks (random people trying to get in), helping to prevent unauthorized access to and from the castle while allowing legitimate traffic to pass through. The outside forces have to “check in” with the guards before they can cross the moat and access the castle.

NEW MESSAGING GUIDELINES RELEASED

By Megan Poljacik • February 25, 2025
You may have heard recently that the FBI and Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency are recommending cell phone users use end to end encryption when sending text messages. Why are they doing this and how does it affect you and your business? In December of 2024 authorities revealed that Chinese hackers have breached at least 8 major telecom network infrastructures, including those of Verizon and AT&T. Known as Salt Typhoon, the nefarious actors used a “back door” that is used by U.S. foreign intelligence surveillance systems (yes that’s legal wiretapping). Senior officials within the US Government have admitted the hackers have had access since summer of 2024. It appears that they focused heavily on users in the Washington DC area.

IMPACTFUL VIRUSES IN HISTORY: HUMMINGBAD

By Megan Poljacik • December 19, 2024
Imagine a virus infecting over 85 million Android phones without anyone catching on. Believe it or not, this really happened in 2016! How could a virus be so easily distributed without human intervention? The HummingBad virus was a persistence rootkit, which is a very smart and nasty virus. It is difficult to find and even more difficult to remove. They embed themselves within the system without the users knowledge and they are designed to hide themselves and their activities, even from security software. A rootkit will take over an infected system on its own, or if it cannot gain root access, it will push a fake update prompt, tricking the user into installing. Once the malware has control of the device, it begins downloading and installing apps, and the lucrative business of conning users begins. The HummingBad virus was designed to click on the ads within the apps to generate advertising revenue. This inflated ad click and view counts, allowing the attackers to earn more revenue without actual user engagement. The malware also promoted and installed additional malicious
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