Grove Networks Blog

Nowadays, few things are as universally annoying as the constant stream of spam emails. From ludicrous pharmaceutical offers to urgent pleas for financial assistance from other nations’ royalty, our inboxes can often be likened to a digital landfill. What many people don't realize, however, is that behind this persistent nuisance lies a huge, and shockingly lucrative, industry.

Technology is woven into almost everything we do, from collaborating on projects to connecting with clients. Making sure we handle this technology correctly is important for the efficiency and security of your entire business. In this month’s newsletter, we just wanted to go through a couple of actions that can help any professional improve their technology.

There are a few occasions that we get a very apparent example of how important basic cybersecurity is, regardless of where you are, and this year’s National Football League draft is one such example.

For those who don’t follow the NFL or the draft proceedings, multiple draftees received prank calls during the process, although one in particular is applicable to businesses of all kinds. Let’s examine this situation to reinforce a few critical cybersecurity best practices.

Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is a common approach for businesses that want to take advantage of mobile technology to kickstart productivity. Instead of supplying each individual employee with company-owned devices, businesses allow employees to use their own devices for work-related purposes. While this is great on the budget, it’s only really effective (and safe) if the employee prioritizes security on their devices; otherwise, it’s a liability.

You open your email and you have a message claiming your bank account has been compromised. You click the link, log in, and, whoops, you just handed your credentials to a cybercriminal. You’ve been a victim of phishing, where scammers bait you with fake messages and reel you in like an unsuspecting fish. You don’t have to be their next catch. Here’s how to recognize and fight back against phishing attempts.

In business, paper tends to pile up, gets lost, and sometimes mysteriously multiplies overnight like gremlins exposed to water. If your business is drowning in paper or struggling to find important files, it might be time to consider digital document management. But when exactly does it make sense to invest in this technology? Let’s break it down.

If it feels like scammers are everywhere, it’s largely because they are. Every day, they’re cooking up new ways to trick people into giving up money, data, or access to their accounts. One of the biggest problems we run into is that we’re bombarded with so many scam warnings that we start tuning them out. That’s called threat fatigue, the phenomenon when you get so tired of hearing about security risks that you stop paying attention. That’s exactly what scammers want.

We’ve all had to confirm we’re not a computer when attempting to log into an account. This is the core purpose of what once was called CAPTCHA… the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. However, it seems surprising that computers don’t easily overcome these simple-seeming tests.

Let’s dig into why these simple tests actually are effective at differentiating between human users and automated bots.

In the United States, tax season is prime time for hackers to take advantage of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. They do this through all kinds of nefarious activities, such as phishing attacks conducted through text messages and emails claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service. If you want to avoid getting scammed this tax season, be sure to keep the following tips in mind to stay safe while you conduct your typical tax routines.

Imagine waking up one day to find your phone wiped clean with no contacts, no photos, and no messages. Now, picture this happening to an entire business, where all their files, data, and systems are gone. Scary, right? That’s why businesses need a Disaster Recovery (DR) system. It helps them bounce back when things go wrong. Here’s how to build one.

Your company’s ability to keep its digital information safe depends largely on how well its technology performs. This is why it’s crucial to teach your employees how to protect your company’s data. To start, it’s important to understand your organization’s security posture. This refers to how actively you or your team work to protect your online presence. With the growing use of cloud applications and remote work becoming more common, every employee plays a role in keeping the company secure. This month we talk a little bit about creating a security culture designed to keep your data and information systems secure. 

Running a business is already confusing enough without worrying about security at all times. Whether you’re a small business owner or a multi-level enterprise, security is just as important for all the same reasons. Today, we want to share a couple of security strategies you can implement today to feel better about the current state of your infrastructure moving forward.

Passwords are the most important security tool used to secure digital assets. They are critical for small businesses, as weak or mishandled credentials can lead to serious security problems. Everyone must understand and follow the best practices for creating and managing passwords. This month, we will go through a few of them.

Passwords protect nearly all of your accounts; or at least you hope that they do. Unfortunately, making a super-secure password that’s easy to remember can be harder than people expect. Oftentimes, it feels like you are constantly solving a puzzle. So then, how do you create passwords that keep hackers out without driving yourself crazy? In this month’s newsletter, we discuss this very problem.

We’re hoping that you are actually reading this post to prepare yourself if your business were to face a ransomware attack, but if you are suffering from one right now, we encourage you to reach out to us immediately, whether you are a client or not. Ransomware spreads quickly, and once it has infected a system, there really isn’t much you can do to stop it. However, there are steps you need to take to come back from this gracefully.

An operating system is the main program on any device, like a computer, phone, or tablet, that helps it work. It's what lets you open apps, go online, and get stuff done! For businesses, keeping their OS updated is super important. Here’s why:

The threat landscape is littered with organizations that have failed to adjust their security strategy to the most prevalent and modern threats. If you want to ensure you have the best chance at keeping your network and data secure, you need to build a strategy that actively addresses the threats that are actively trying to undermine your business’ security efforts. In today’s blog, we’ll discuss how to adjust to modern threats competently. 

You probably use your email every day without even thinking about it. Email is, however, one of the main places hackers go when they want to steal personal information. Here are three easy steps you can take to keep your email secure.

In June of this year, publisher Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, best known for its book series of the same name, filed for Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy and had many of its assets liquidated. One of these assets was the movie rental service Redbox and its eponymous scarlet rental kiosks, rendering the service defunct.

However, many kiosks remain standing outside businesses even now, which makes us wonder… what about all the data they collected while they were in use?

Remote work has proven incredibly useful over the past few years despite many employers having various concerns about its implementation. While these concerns vary, one prevalent one is how remote operations impact cybersecurity.

If you’re utilizing remote operations to any degree and aren’t concerned about cybersecurity, you must adjust this mindset and correct your approach.