When organizations talk about AI readiness, the conversation often starts and ends with technology. Data platforms. Infrastructure. Tools. According to McKinsey’s State of AI in 2025 report, most organizations are still in pilot phases of AI utilization. A majority say they are using AI in at least one business function but at the enterprise level the majority are still experimenting or piloting stages with only one-third starting to scale their AI programs. Many AI initiatives struggle not because of technical limitations, but because the business isn’t fully prepared to lead the change. AI readiness is not an IT checkbox. It’s a business strategy decision. The common misconception about AI readiness It’s easy to assume that once the right tools are in place, AI success will follow. Technology is only one part of the equation when setting up your AI strategy. In fact, 86% of organizations delayed AI deployments by up to a year due to security and quality concerns. Often organizations say that enhancing their customer insights and personalization is their top AI but yet there is a 5.8% gap between what they hope to achieve and what they actually do. AI initiatives often fail when: Business goals are unclear Leadership expectations are misaligned Adoption isn’t planned Governance is an afterthought Teams don’t know how AI fits into daily work The future of your AI readiness depends on the actions you take today. Prioritizing data management and information governance, defining clear goals, and building a foundation of trust across your departments through training and setting clear expectations on how AI will be used in your organization. Most important is setting up safeguards to protect against potential risks and negative consequences. Why treating AI as “just IT” causes predictable problems When AI readiness is owned solely by IT, organizations often encounter: Misaligned expectations between business and technical teams Solutions that work technically but aren’t adopted Difficulty justifying ROI Unclear accountability for outcomes Increased risk as AI scales These challenges slow progress and erode confidence. A more practical way to approach AI readiness Business‑led AI readiness doesn’t require some magic tool or platform. It starts with structure. Effective organizations take a phased approach: Align leadership around goals and constraints Assess current capabilities across data, people, and operations Identify and prioritize high‑impact use cases Build a realistic roadmap for adoption and management This approach turns AI from a wish list into a manageable, outcome‑driven initiative. Making AI readiness actionable AI readiness is most powerful when it creates shared understanding. It brings business and IT together around what matters, what’s possible, and what comes next. When readiness is treated as a strategic exercise and not a technical audit, organizations are better positioned to invest confidently, adopt responsibly, and scale successfully. A structured readiness effort helps organizations move from curiosity to capability that is grounded in strategy, not hype. Reach out to ProCern today to see how we can assist with an AI Readiness Assessment.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a future discussion but a priority for many organizations. But while interest in AI is high, results often fall short. Not usually because the deployment doesn’t work, but because organizations aren’t fully ready to apply it in ways that deliver real business value. According to the Cisco AI Readiness Index 2025, only a small fraction of businesses (8-13%) are fully prepared to deploy and scale AI effectively yet nearly 78% of organizations have reported using AI. On top of that, many companies lack the governance needed when implementing AI practices. Before investing in pilots, platforms, or large‑scale initiatives, it’s worth taking a step back. An AI readiness self‑check helps leadership teams surface gaps, align expectations, and determine whether the organization is prepared to move from experimentation to execution. This isn’t about scoring your organization for the sake of a number. It’s about clarity. Why an AI readiness self‑check matters AI initiatives often stall when organizations jump straight to tools. Readiness, however, spans much more than technology. It includes strategy, data, governance, skills, operating models, and leadership alignment. A quick self‑check helps answer a critical question: Are we positioned to turn AI into outcomes or are we just exploring? Below are ten practical questions every executive team should be able to answer before scaling AI. The AI Readiness Self‑Check: 1. Do we have clearly defined business outcomes for AI? Strong readiness starts with intent. Teams should be able to articulate what they want AI to improve. Is it efficiency, accuracy, speed, risk reduction, customer satisfaction, or something else? If success can’t be described in business terms, it will be difficult to measure or sustain. 2. Have we identified which workflows are best suited for AI? Not every process will benefit from automation or intelligence. Organizations that succeed with AI focus on specific, high‑impact workflows rather than applying AI broadly. Readiness means knowing where AI fits and why. 3. Is leadership aligned with priorities and expectations? AI initiatives touch multiple parts of the business. Without leadership alignment on goals, risk tolerance, and investment expectations, projects often lose momentum. Executive consensus is one of the strongest predictors of AI success. 4. Do we understand the quality and availability of our data? AI depends on usable, accessible, and trustworthy data. Readiness requires clarity around data ownership, consistency, and relevance to the intended use cases. Many organizations underestimate this step. 5. Do we have governance in place for AI decisions? As AI becomes embedded in operations, organizations need to know who approves use cases, monitors performance, and manages risk. Governance doesn’t slow innovation; it enables responsible scaling. 6. Do we have the right mix of skills to support AI over time? AI readiness is not just a data science problem. It requires collaboration across business, IT, security, and operations. Organizations should assess whether they have the skills to deploy, manage, and evolve AI. Think beyond the launch step and into the future. 7. Is there a plan for how AI will be used in your daily operations? AI creates value only when it’s adopted. Readiness includes understanding how AI outputs will be used, by whom, and how decisions or workflows will change as a result. Without this, AI often becomes “shelfware.” 8. Can our infrastructure and support model handle AI at scale? Whether AI is deployed on‑premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid model, organizations need confidence that their environment can support growth, performance, and reliability over time. Readiness considers future scale, not just current capability. 9. Do we know how success will be measured? AI initiatives should have clear success metrics tied to business impact and adoption. Beyond the technical aspects of AI, what metrics will be important for your organization to measure when it comes to utilizing AI. For example, quicker response time for customers or decreased time spent on reporting. Readiness means defining what “working” looks like before deployment begins. 10. Do we have a roadmap beyond the first win? Early success is important, but sustained value comes from sequencing initiatives over time. Organizations that plan beyond the first use case are better positioned to mature their AI capabilities. A roadmap turns momentum into strategy. Interpreting your answers If several of these questions were difficult to answer or brought up topics that you did not consider when utilizing AI. It’s a sign that your organization may want to think through its AI initiatives a bit more. A structured readiness approach can help translate these open questions into priorities, actions, and sequencing. Turning insight into action An AI readiness assessment is a starting point. The real value comes from converting insight into a clear path forward. You want to align leadership, validate assumptions, and build an actionable roadmap. Organizations that approach readiness thoughtfully tend to move faster, spend more wisely, and see stronger long‑term results from AI. If your answers raised questions around alignment, data, or next steps, a structured AI readiness assessment can help transform uncertainty into a practical, business‑led roadmap. Reach out to ProCern today to inquire about our AI Readiness Assessment and taking the first steps towards using artificial intelligence at your organization.
Ransomware incidents increased ~34% year-over-year (2024 → 2025). Recovery costs commonly reach hundreds of thousands to millions, depending on downtime and data loss. Attackers increasingly use double extortion (encrypt + steal data). Cyber security is quickly becoming one of the most important investments for companies large and small. Organizations now rely on a multilayered cybersecurity approach that includes employee training, endpoint protection platforms, advanced threat detection (EDR/XDR), spam filtering, identity controls like MFA, and a robust backup strategy. But once data is compromised, the most reliable way to recover quickly is still to restore from clean, verified backups. How does Veeam backup help protect data against ransomware? Immutable backups Immutable backups are copies of your data that cannot be altered or deleted for a defined retention period. Veeam provides immutability through multiple options, including Linux Hardened Repositories and Object Storage with Object Lock capabilities. These technologies prevent any user—even an administrator or a ransomware process—from modifying or encrypting your backup files. Immutability ensures you always have clean, recoverable data no matter what happens in production. Air-Gapping Air-gapping keeps backup copies isolated from the network, preventing ransomware from reaching them. Traditional air-gapping uses tape media that is removed and stored offline after each backup. Today, organizations also use rotated external drives or cloud object storage tiers that remain disconnected or isolated except during backup jobs. These offline or semi-offline copies ensure that at least one version of your data remains untouched by any attack. Veeam ONE Detecting ransomware early can be challenging. Veeam ONE provides continuous monitoring and now includes advanced anomaly-detection capabilities that use behavioral analytics to identify suspicious activity. By tracking metrics such as CPU spikes, abnormal write patterns, or unusual data change rates, Veeam ONE can alert administrators in real time and help stop an attack before it spreads. Veeam SureBackup SureBackup is a feature of Veeam that allows you to create a sandbox to test your backups before restoring them to production. It can run virus and malware scans on backup sets, automatically or manually. It ensures your data is not infected without the need to restore the data somewhere first. Secure Restore Secure Restore scans backup data for malware during the recovery process, ensuring you don’t accidentally reintroduce infected files into production. Veeam now supports multiple anti-malware engines and integrates the latest virus definitions at restore time. This gives you an added layer of assurance that the data you are recovering is clean—even if the original backup was created before a threat was known. Veeam DataLabs Unsure of a workload, or suspect it may be infected? DataLabs gives you the ability to restore the data to a fully secured and isolated environment to test. A fully isolated sandbox lets you run any tests you want without impacting production systems, so you can make sure your workloads are uninfected before you restore them. Ransomware protection alliance Veeam is part of a group of leading hardware and software companies, like HPE, Cisco, and AWS, that work together to make sure their products integrate using the highest security standards possible. They bring together the most powerful recovery solutions to combat ransomware. Veeam Backup & Replication is a powerful tool in the fight against ransomware, but its effectiveness depends on how it is implemented. Following modern best practices—such as the 3-2-1-1-0 rule (three copies of data, on two media types, one off-site, one immutable or offline, and zero backup-verification errors)—dramatically improves your ability to recover quickly. Combine immutability, air-gapping, monitoring, secure restore features, and regular testing to ensure your organization is prepared long before an attack ever happens. Contact ProCern to find out more about Veeam backup and recovery solutions for your organization.
Microsoft OneDrive Microsoft OneDrive has become one of the most useful tools in the Microsoft 365 suite. It is being used by more companies every day. Between the robust feature set and the constant updates, it is easily on par with other cloud storage solutions. It is offered as part of every Office 365 plan. So for any Office 365 user, there is no reason not to use it. Originally rolled out under the name SkyDrive in 2007, legal issues led Microsoft to settle for the name OneDrive instead. Just like many other MS products, two version of OneDrive are offered, a consumer edition and an enterprise edition. Both versions are very similar but have some key differences. The enterprise edition is much better for businesses. The most important difference is the ability to centrally manage the entire organization’s OneDrive. Over the years since its release, Microsoft has been constantly adding new features. So what do people like most about OneDrive? Local Sync folder When OneDrive is installed, it creates a OneDrive folder on your computer. This folder acts like a regular file folder. It looks just like any folder you would find in your favorites bar, like the documents or downloads folders. This folder also syncs all of its contents to OneDrive’s cloud storage. So not only is it easy to use, it is also accessible from any computer. You just need to log in. With 1TB free with all Office 365 subscriptions (5GB free for regular users), most users will be able to fit most, if not all, of their files in the singular folder. OneDrive also supports multiple folders within the OneDrive directory. This allows you to keep everything organized the way you like it. Files on demand To keep local storage usage low, files are moved up into OneDrive until you use them. Files are not automatically kept on your local drive unless you specifically choose a file or folder to “always keep on this device”. You can still see and browse to all of your files. They download immediately when opened. You can switch between keeping files on your local drive and keeping them in OneDrive just by right clicking the file or folder and choosing the correct option. No need to worry about needing files when you are offline, as long as you are prepared. Sync existing folders A recent addition to OneDrive is the ability to sync folders other than the OneDrive folder. The most useful folders being the my documents and pictures folders. This is an easy way to backup valuable pictures and documents that don’t necessarily fit into your organization of the OneDrive folder. You can even sync these folders between computers. I use it to sync my desktop backgrounds across all computers. If I find an awesome picture that would make a great background, I just save it into my backgrounds folder. It syncs to OneDrive and automatically adds to my desktop background slideshow on both my work computer and personal computer. Sharing files In both editions of OneDrive, sharing files is as easy as right clicking a file and clicking sharing. There are multiple options when sharing. This includes a read-only version or an editable version, a password protected version, and a version that is only usable by a single person. You can set all sorts of permissions, especially in the enterprise version. Access controls are immensely important in the business world when sharing sensitive information. Even better, these access controls can be controlled by an admin. This gives businesses more control over who sees your data and how. Creating shared folders One of the easiest ways to share files is to create a shared folder that multiple people can access. Whether you want to create a folder for a single team, a whole department, or even the whole company, the process is fairly easy. One creates the folder and adds the correct names to the list of users. All users will have access to the folder and all files within, with varying levels of permissions. You may want some users to only have read access, while others get write access. Linked content OneDrive gives you the ability to create a link to a file and send that to someone else to access it. This is particularly useful when trying to email files to someone else, especially someone outside of your organization. Not only is this convenient, it adds another layer of security to emailing files. It saves space in everyone mailbox by eliminating attaching large files. OneDrive has come a long way in the last few years. Once it was overshadowed by other cloud storage services like Dropbox or Box. Now with its integration with Microsoft 365 and robust security features, it is easily one of the leaders in the space. It is clear that this is a core application in the Microsoft Office suite. I think you will find its an extremely useful tool in the business world. Looking to migrate to Microsoft 365 and see the advantages of OneDrive? Contact ProCern for more information.
Phishing emails are one of the most common types of cyberattacks that people face on a regular basis. These fraudulent emails are designed to look like they are from a legitimate source to trick people into revealing personal information, such as usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers. In this blog post, we will discuss six ways to identify phishing emails and protect yourself from falling victim to these scams. 6 Ways to Identify Phishing Emails 1. Check the sender’s email address. One of the easiest ways to identify a phishing email is to check the sender’s email address. Phishing emails often use fake email addresses that are like legitimate ones. For example, an email from “[email protected]” (notice the second “L”). By hovering over the sender’s name or email address, you can see if the address matches the legitimate one. 2. Look for spelling and grammar errors. Phishing emails often contain spelling and grammar errors. This is because scammers may not have English as their first language, or they may be using automated tools to create these emails. If you notice any typos or grammatical errors, this should be a red flag that the email is not legitimate. 3. Beware of urgent or threatening language. Phishing emails often use urgent or threatening language to pressure you into taking immediate action. For example, an email may claim that your account has been hacked and that you need to change your password immediately. If you receive an email that uses this type of language, take a step back and assess the situation before taking any action. 4. Don’t click on links or download attachments. Phishing emails often contain links or attachments that lead to malware or fake login pages. If you receive an email that contains a link or attachment, do not click on it. Instead, hover over the link to see where it leads, or download the attachment to a sandbox environment or virus scanner to check for potential threats. 5. Verify requests for personal information. Phishing emails often ask for personal information, such as your username, password, or credit card number. Legitimate companies will never ask you to provide this information via email. If you receive an email asking for personal information, do not provide it. Instead, go directly to the company’s website and log in to your account to see if there are any legitimate requests for information. 6. Check for generic greetings. Phishing emails often use generic greetings, such as “Dear Sir/Madam” or “Dear Customer,” instead of addressing you by name. If you receive an email that uses a generic greeting, this should be a red flag that the email is not legitimate. Legitimate emails will typically address you by name. In conclusion, phishing emails are a common threat to your online security. By following these six tips, you can identify and avoid phishing emails, protecting your personal information and your online security. Remember to always be cautious when opening emails from unfamiliar senders, and to verify any requests for personal information before providing it. Stay safe online! Source: Protect yourself from phishing – Microsoft Support
In 2025, U.S. manufacturers are already reporting $50 billion per year in lost revenue due to downtime— and nearly a third of that stems from equipment failures.1 AI has been hailed as a way to turn those losses around—and ease the wider pressures that erode productivity and margins. But despite its transformative potential, adoption remains low in the sector, with only 29% of manufacturers using AI/ML at the facility or network level.2 At first glance, that slow uptake might seem like hesitation or lack of vision. But it may point to a different issue entirely—a lack of infrastructure needed to support AI at scale. The Hidden Barrier AI doesn’t fail because the models are wrong. It fails because the systems underneath them aren’t built to carry the load. To run AI in a modern factory, the infrastructure needs to be able to handle streams of sensor data, shift with demand or supply changes in real time, and protect sensitive information in a highly connected ecosystem. Most manufacturing environments weren’t designed for that. They’re still running on aging servers, siloed systems, and patchwork fixes layered one on top of the other. Those systems struggle to handle today’s workloads. Add AI into the mix, and instead of unlocking efficiency, it creates bottlenecks, burns through energy, and stalls projects that were supposed to prove ROI. What Smarter Infrastructure Makes Possible Only with the right foundation can the power of AI be unleashed in a way that delivers tangible business benefits. Here’s what that looks like: Production keeps moving when supply chains slip or demand swings. Systems adjust in real time, so schedules don’t fall apart over a late truck or a sudden spike in orders. Problems get caught early. Small deviations trigger action before they snowball into a line stoppage, protecting output and avoiding expensive scrambles. Capacity scales cleanly. Systems expand without the sprawl of extra racks or runaway complexity. Efficiency and sustainability rise together. Smarter compute uses less energy and reduces waste while maintaining throughput—good for margins and for the report you owe investors and regulators. Putting it into Practice The question isn’t whether AI belongs in manufacturing—it does. The real question is whether your factory can make it work. That takes infrastructure built with AI in mind and a partner who knows how to put it into play. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) ProLiant Compute Gen12 provides the foundation manufacturers need to run demanding AI workloads with stability, efficiency, and security. ProCern Technology Solutions makes sure that foundation is configured, deployed, and supported in the context of your operation. Together, HPE and ProCern make AI practical—giving you a clear path from early adoption to long-term advantage. 1 https://zipdo.co/manufacturing-downtime-statistics/ 2 https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/manufacturing-industrial-products/2025-smart-manufacturing-survey.html Read more about how industry leaders in manufacturing are unlocking AI ambitions. Download eBrief Industry Report – AI in Manufacturing × Close
I remember when I was a kid and a popular toy that everyone loved to play around with was the Magic 8 Ball. You would ask it a multitude of yes or no questions to get its prediction for the future. It is certain. Outlook Good. Don’t Count on It. Better Not Tell you Now. These were just a few of the answers from the “wise” ball with a floating icosahedron (20 faced) inside. I’m sure we have all had times in our life personally or professionally where we wish we had a “Magic 8 Ball” to guide us through life. In a sense, we do have some tools out there that can help us forecast for the future which brings in the idea of Predictive Analytics. A tool that has actually been used for centuries without many of us knowing about it. In your everyday life, I’m sure you could find at least a few ways in which predictive analytics is used. From ads that come up to predict your future shopping habits to the increase or decrease of your credit score. What is Predictive Analytics? There are a few definitions out there but most define it as the following: Predictive Analytics is the practice of extracting information from existing data sets in order to determine patterns and predict future outcomes and trends. Predictive Analytics can not tell you what will definitively happen in the future but serve as a guide on the odds or risks of future events or occurrences. The accuracy and usability of the forecast is highly dependent about on the level of data and the quality of assumptions. Often the unknown event of interest is in the future, but predictive analytics can be applied to any type of unknown whether it be in the past, present or future. For example, it can be used after a crime has been committed or after credit fraud has occurred. The core of predictive analytics relies on capturing data from past occurrences and using that data to predict the unknown outcome. History of Predictive Analytics Some will say that Predictive Analytics have been around since the 1940’s but others believe that it started back in 1689. A company you may have heard of, Lloyd’s of London, began the process which we know call underwriting. During this time period, shipping and trade was primarily conducted by traveling the seas. Financial bankers would accept risk on a given sea voyage in exchange for a premium which was written on a Lloyd’s slip. Lloyd’s of London would obtain information regarding shipping news. This data would help forecast the risk of a particular sea voyage. As I mentioned, others feel it started in the 1940’s when governments started using computational models. See the infographic below on the evolution of Predictive Analytics. With the advent of AI, more data can be processed than ever before since it can operate without human intervention. The future of predictive analytics is endless. In fact, according to a report issued by Zion Market Research, the global market for Predictive Analytics is expected to reach approximately $10.95 billion by 2022. This is growing at a company annual growth rate of around 21 percent between 2016 and 2022. How is Predictive Analytics Used Today? There are many industries and professions that are currently using Predictive Analytics. Companies are trying to seek an edge in our very competitive market where they are fighting to survive and withstand long-standing problems. Here are just a few of today’s Applications: Automotive: Driver Assistance Technology where sensor data is analyzed to build assistance algorithms. Aerospace: Using it to Improve aircraft up-time and reduce maintenance costs. Child Care: Flagging high risk cases for potential child abuse. Energy Production: Forecasting Electricity price and demand. Financial sector: Credit risk models, identifying the most effective collection agencies, fraud protection, underwriting and project risk management are just a few of the uses. Industrial Automation and Machinery: Predicting machine failures. Law Enforcement: Crime Trend Data is used to define neighborhoods that may need additional protection at certain times of the year. Marketing: Through data analysis marketers can predict customer buying habits, determine customer life cycles, and mitigate issues that could cause a loss of customer. By analyzing a customers’ spending, usage and other behavior this can lead to cross sales of additional products. Marketers are also using analytics to help identify the most effective combination of marketing tactics to target a given customer. Medical: 93 percent of Healthcare Executives have stated that predictive analytics is important to their business’ future. A 2017 Society of Actuaries report discovered that over half of healthcare executives (57%) already using predictive analytics believe that the technology will help them to save 15 percent or more of their total budget over the next five years. It is currently being used to determine which patients are at risk of developing certain conditions like diabetes, asthma, heart disease and more. Predictive Analytics and IT IT Professionals around the world are constantly looking for tools to save them from a plethora of challenges. Outages, slow response time and network attacks are just a few of the problems impacting the IT world. Predictive Analytics can come in to help with some of these issues. Will Predictive Analytics Continue to be used in the future? All Signs Point to Yes!
Ocean waters are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising. Warmer global temperatures affect our water supplies, agriculture, power and transportation systems, the natural environment, and even our own health and safety. Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree 1: Climate-warming trends over the past century are mostly due to human activities. While technology has played its part in causing climate change it can also help us get to solutions. Here are five initiatives taking place in the technology community that can fight climate change: 5 Initiatives in the Technology Community to Fight Climate Change 1. Data centers The world’s most influential companies including Apple, NIKE, IKEA, Johnson & Johnson, and Starbucks, representing over US $1 trillion in annual revenue, are committed to 100% renewable power. Much of the energy used in data centers is not from the actual technology. Instead, it’s from cooling the servers. As well as delivering on emission reduction goals, renewable power can help manage fluctuating energy costs, improve reputation and provide energy security. It also shows business leadership on climate change. This could have massive impact if paired alongside robust government policy that boosts confidence and enables long-term investments. 2. Mobile apps It takes some digging to find apps that will help you create real change on a daily basis, but they’re out there. Here are some examples of apps that can help you monitor and reduce your carbon footprint and waste: Oroeco is an app that tracks your carbon footprint by placing a carbon value on everything you buy, eat, and do, and then shows you how you compare with your neighbors. PaperKarma is an easy way to cut paper waste. Take a photo of your junk mail, send it through the app, and PaperKarma will figure out what it is and take you off the mailing list. GiveO2 tracks your carbon footprint as you travel. Turn on the tracker when you start a new trip, and it will automatically calculate a timeline of your carbon usage. At the end, you can “offset” it by supporting a sustainable project of your choice. 3. IoT Monitoring our energy usage makes it possible to be smarter about it. Take Nest, for instance. While an un-programmed thermostat can waste 20% of heating and cooling, Nest tackles the issue with a smart thermostat that learns your patterns and automatically adjusts to save energy. The Internet of Things can save energy and carbon footprints with things as simple as using an app to turn off the lights or with apps like IFTTT, which hooks up to many different types of systems. The IoT can also involve monitoring your sprinkler system to save water, or use sensors to tell you to take a different route when driving to avoid idling in traffic and wasting gas. 4. Open source movement Open data and open source technologies are a huge way to accelerate environmental research and innovation. Take Tesla, for example. By opening the company’s patents to everyone, Elon Musk wanted to make sure electric vehicles succeeded faster. 5. Mapping Interactive maps really drive home the point of climate change and can lead the way to remedies. Map layers defining vegetation, soil type, geology, precipitation, and human infrastructure can help model and plan for future change. New mapping technology can make us safer and less reliant on fossil fuels. The U.S Geologic Survey’s 3D Elevation Program is being developed to use advanced mapping to better update hazard maps for floods and earthquakes and find out where the best areas for solar and wind farms. As you can see, many of these things only require small changes from individuals in order to make a difference for our climate. Some will require much more intentional decisions from businesses. The good news, however, is that with this intentionality, individuals and corporations alike can take action to help our climate. If we’re all in this together, perhaps it’s time that we take a look – individually and corporately – at how we can make a difference. 1. J. Cook, et al, “Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming,” Environmental Research Letters Vol. 11 No. 4, (13 April 2016); DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/11/4/048002
It’s that item on your to do list that you often ignore and say you will do later – software updates. Not only may you be missing out on the latest improvements, but you can create a major security risk for your organization by ignoring these updates. One of the largest data breaches on record is the Equifax data breach in 2017. It exposed the personal information of 147 million people. Hackers were able to get in due to a known system vulnerability for which a security patch had been issued two months before the breach. Unfortunately, no one at Equifax applied the patch. It cost the company $700 million in a settlement reached with the FTC. Nearly 60% of data breaches are the result of unpatched vulnerabilities. Before you get distracted by another project or think that you can wait to do your next update, here are a few reasons why software updates matter. Security Security is the number one reason to make sure you take care of updates as soon as possible. Software vulnerabilities often give cyber criminals access to one’s computer and plant malware. Malware enables one to take control of computers and steal information. It also can encrypt files, documents and other programs so they are unusable. Security patches block these open doors in the software to protect a device from attacks. Risks from third-party vendors account for over two-thirds of all data breaches today. Third-party applications often interact with the internet. This makes them highly vulnerable to ransomware. Hackers know companies often overlook updating various programs that don’t seem important. Cybercriminals want to exploit the most vulnerabilities as possible simultaneously. They are constantly searching for popular third-party programs. They will jump on an opportunity to hack millions of users who delayed updating their software. New Features On a positive side, software updates can give you access to the latest improvements and remove the old ones that are out of date. A software program may get a new shot of stability — no more crashing. Or an update might boost program performance — more speed. Some of these new features could save you time and most importantly enable the software to keep working and not shut down. Protect Your Data Your Data is your most valuable asset at any organization. Often hackers will search for personal data such as financial information, passwords, usernames or other documents with sensitive information. They will look to sell this information to the dark web and commit crimes. Allowing your customer’s information to be vulnerable can impact your company’s reputation and future business. Improve Performance Just like your vehicle needs regular maintenance to help improve its performance, your software can benefit from updates. Bugs are often found in programs or enhancements are made to improve the overall experience. Ensure Compatability With technology constantly changing, often older software will not be compatible with new technologies without the appropriate update. Microsoft, Google and Apple are frequently updating their technology interfaces. Most of us use multiple devices so compatibility is essential. Don’t Fall for Fake Update Messages It important to update your software but beware of fake messages or popups out there. Pop-ups are typically a scam to get you to click somewhere that you should not. Close the pop-up and go directly to the vendor website to look for downloads. There a suspicious emails making their rounds stating that your updates are past due and make an update now. It is best to reach out to the vendor directly. You may have the option with some software to do automatic updates. Some software makes it possible to choose the time of day you update or even how often. Scheduling and automating your updates this way will make them less of a nuisance. Take Time to Update Like ignoring the check engine light on your car is something you shouldn’t do, the same goes for software updates. They can help protect personal information as well as company data. Contact ProCern to find out more about how we can help.
With the increasing importance of digital technologies in healthcare, cybersecurity has taken center stage. For long-term care and post-acute care providers, maintaining compliance with healthcare regulations isn’t just a matter of ticking off checkboxes. It’s about ensuring patient safety, trust, and the integrity of sensitive patient data. In today’s post, we’ll delve deep into the confluence of compliance and cybersecurity, highlighting their significance for healthcare providers and how ProCern assists in this journey. Healthcare Compliance and Cybersecurity HIPAA and Beyond: Understanding Regulatory Requirements At the heart of healthcare regulations in the U.S. is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This act ensures the privacy and security of patients’ health information. But compliance doesn’t stop at HIPAA. Other regulations, both national and state-specific, may also apply. Staying updated with these rules and ensuring adherence is critical. At ProCern, we take pride in helping providers stay informed and aligned with these regulations, ensuring patient data remains protected. Risk Assessment: Pinpointing Vulnerabilities Every healthcare organization, regardless of its size, has vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities could range from outdated software to weak password practices among staff. Conducting regular risk assessments helps in identifying these vulnerabilities and the compliance gaps that might exist. With ProCern’s proactive monitoring, we’re able to spot and address potential issues, helping providers keep their defenses robust and compliance in check. Cybersecurity Training: Building a Compliance-Centric Culture One of the most significant vulnerabilities in any organization isn’t technical—it’s human. Employees can inadvertently create security risks. This makes cybersecurity training essential. At ProCern, we believe in empowering staff with knowledge, ensuring that every team member understands the importance of regulations and the role they play in maintaining compliance. Incident Response Planning: Preparing for the Inevitable In today’s digital landscape, it’s not a matter of if a cybersecurity incident will happen, but when. Having a robust incident response plan is crucial. ProCern aids providers in creating a compliance-focused response strategy, ensuring a swift and effective reaction in line with regulatory requirements. Auditing and Reporting: Keeping Compliance in Check Regular auditing and reporting aren’t just about meeting regulatory demands. They offer a clear picture of where an organization stands. At ProCern, we take the hassle out of this process, ensuring providers continuously meet and exceed the required standards. Cybersecurity isn’t a standalone endeavor. For long-term care and post-acute care providers, it’s intimately tied with compliance. By understanding and implementing the elements discussed in this post, healthcare organizations can fortify their defenses. And with ProCern by your side, you can be confident in your cybersecurity measures and compliance adherence. Remember, this blog entry was crafted to offer insights and actionable steps. By addressing these specific aspects of cybersecurity relevant to your industry, we aim to help you enhance your cybersecurity measures and ensure continuous compliance with healthcare regulations. Stay vigilant, stay safe.
Defending Against Online Threats in Long-Term Care and Post-Acute Care In today’s digital world, safeguarding your healthcare organization, especially long-term and post-acute care facilities, from cyber threats is crucial. Among the various risks, phishing attacks pose a constant and severe danger. In this blog post, we’ll explore phishing attacks, providing insights to help you recognize, defend against, and minimize their impact on your facility’s operations and patient data. Enhancing Security with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) provides an added layer of protection for your email accounts and systems. MFA requires users to provide two or more forms of identification before granting access. Even if a cybercriminal obtains login credentials, they won’t be able to access accounts without the additional authentication step. Reporting Incidents If a phishing attempt succeeds, having an incident response plan is crucial. Establish clear protocols for reporting security incidents, including phishing attacks. A swift response can help mitigate potential damage and prevent further compromise of sensitive data. In conclusion, phishing attacks pose a significant threat to healthcare facilities. However, with proper education, vigilance, and security measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to these scams. By understanding phishing, recognizing phishing emails, providing employee training, implementing MFA, and establishing incident reporting procedures, your long-term care or post-acute care facility can bolster its cybersecurity defenses, protecting patient data and organizational integrity. Stay safe, stay informed, and remain vigilant in the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats. Educating Employees is Crucial Education is vital in defending against phishing attacks. Investing in ongoing training for your team is essential to ensure they are well informed about the risks and prevention measures. Consider the following steps: Conduct Phishing Awareness Workshops: Arrange workshops or training sessions that simulate phishing attacks to help employees recognize and respond to phishing attempts. Teach Safe Email Practices: Train employees to avoid clicking suspicious links or downloading attachments from unknown sources. Please encourage them to verify the legitimacy of email requests. Establish Reporting Procedures: Make sure your team knows how to report suspected phishing attempts promptly. Create a clear and user-friendly reporting protocol. Enhancing Security with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) provides an added layer of protection for your email accounts and systems. MFA requires users to provide two or more forms of identification before granting access. Even if a cybercriminal obtains login credentials, they won’t be able to access accounts without the additional authentication step. Reporting Incidents If a phishing attempt succeeds, having an incident response plan is crucial. Establish clear protocols for reporting security incidents, including phishing attacks. A swift response can help mitigate potential damage and prevent further compromise of sensitive data. In conclusion, phishing attacks pose a significant threat to healthcare facilities. However, with proper education, vigilance, and security measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to these scams. By understanding phishing, recognizing phishing emails, providing employee training, implementing MFA, and establishing incident reporting procedures, your long-term care or post-acute care facility can bolster its cybersecurity defenses, protecting patient data and organizational integrity. Stay safe, stay informed, and remain vigilant in the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats. Understanding Phishing Phishing is a cyber-attack method that tricks individuals into sharing sensitive information through deceptive tactics, such as usernames, passwords, or financial details. Attackers often impersonate trusted sources like colleagues, banks, or government agencies, aiming to compromise security by encouraging actions such as clicking on harmful links, downloading infected files, or divulging confidential information. Spotting Phishing Emails Recognizing phishing emails is the first step in defending against this cyber threat. Here are some essential tips to help you and your team identify suspicious emails: 1. Check the Sender’s Address: Scrutinize the sender’s email address carefully, as phishers often use addresses that resemble legitimate ones but contain minor misspellings or alterations. 2. Watch for Generic Greetings: Avoid emails using generic greetings like “Dear User” instead of addressing you by name. Legitimate organizations typically personalize their communications. 3. Verify Links and Hover Over Them: Hover your mouse pointer over any links in the email to see the actual URL. Ensure it matches the official website of the supposed sender. 4. Beware of Urgency and Threats: Phishing emails often create a sense of urgency or threat to pressure recipients into quick actions. Stay wary of messages that demand immediate responses. 5. Check for Spelling and Grammar Mistakes: Phishers might overlook details. Poorly written emails with spelling and grammar mistakes can signal a potential threat. Educating Employees is Crucial Education is vital in defending against phishing attacks. Investing in ongoing training for your team is essential to ensure they are well informed about the risks and prevention measures. Consider the following steps: Conduct Phishing Awareness Workshops: Arrange workshops or training sessions that simulate phishing attacks to help employees recognize and respond to phishing attempts. Teach Safe Email Practices: Train employees to avoid clicking suspicious links or downloading attachments from unknown sources. Please encourage them to verify the legitimacy of email requests. Establish Reporting Procedures: Make sure your team knows how to report suspected phishing attempts promptly. Create a clear and user-friendly reporting protocol. Enhancing Security with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) provides an added layer of protection for your email accounts and systems. MFA requires users to provide two or more forms of identification before granting access. Even if a cybercriminal obtains login credentials, they won’t be able to access accounts without the additional authentication step. Reporting Incidents If a phishing attempt succeeds, having an incident response plan is crucial. Establish clear protocols for reporting security incidents, including phishing attacks. A swift response can help mitigate potential damage and prevent further compromise of sensitive data. In conclusion, phishing attacks pose a significant threat to healthcare facilities. However, with proper education, vigilance, and security measures, you can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to these scams. By understanding phishing, recognizing phishing emails, providing employee training, implementing MFA, and establishing incident reporting procedures, your long-term care or post-acute care facility can bolster its cybersecurity
“Keep the malware, ya filthy animal” is NOT a line uttered in the 1990 Christmas Classic, Home Alone….but it should be! Well…not really. The internet was still in its infancy in 1990 and infection of computers and networks by malicious software was still a relatively new concept (the term “malware” was first coined only months before Home Alone’s theatrical release). The line would DEFINITELY apply today, however. As nearly everything is operated online, to some extent, and network security is becoming more important than ever! Thankfully, there are high-end tools we use today to ensure that we can control and monitor what devices are accessing our networks. Review how these devices are behaving while on the network. Give the ability to remove said devices if malicious activity is detected. Little Human ClearPass There are numerous blogs and articles that explain how the entire plot of Home Alone would not have occurred had the technology that we use today been available. I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole here. Instead I am going to use the film as an analogy for technology itself…namely HPE Aruba Networking’s security platform “ClearPass”. I’m doing this because I think it makes some of the nuances of the technology easier to understand and because I just feel like it, ok? So, sit back, grab a cheese pizza, and put on some after-shave…I’m about to tell you all about the story of Kevin McCallister, “The Little Human ClearPass”. For those of you that don’t know, HPE Aruba Networking ClearPass is a policy management platform that allows network admins to onboard new devices, grant varying access levels, and help keep their networks secure. It can be dissected into three primary security functions: Identify, Enforce and Protect. And I will use Kevin McCallister to demonstrate each process. Identify Much of Kevin’s success in thwarting full-grown men who are attempting to rob his parent’s house, stems from the fact that he is a very observant little fella. He notices the highly suspicious “Wet Bandits” following him. Kevin monitors their behavior and overhears their conversations. Preemptively, he defends his family home based on his findings. His observations operate in much the same way as ClearPass. ClearPass helps identify what devices are trying to access the network. These findings include where the devices are connecting from and device-specific information such as IP address, OS, type and model name etc. Enforce The key for the “Wet Bandits” to successfully loot all of the luxurious homes in Kevin’s neighborhood while they are all vacant for the holidays. If you’re a burglar…you’re not going to attempt to waltz into a house full of people and hope you go unnoticed, are you? Remember when Kevin turns on every single light in his house and makes it look like there’s an epic party occurring there? Bingo. The burglar policy seems to be: “if the place is occupied, don’t risk it.” Networks have policies too. Ones that can similarly prevent unwanted visitors. ClearPass allows you to enforce these network policies during the onboarding of new devices. Rules can be put into place that define what type of devices users can onboard, how many, and who may onboard a device. After this, access can be enforced in a number of ways. A simple portal can be used or the more secure method of using encryption in the authentication process. Protect The final area of focus in ClearPass security is “Protect”. With ClearPass OnGuard, one can define the “health level” a device must have in order to gain access to the network. The health of individual devices that are connected to the network is crucial to network security. If a device that is attempting to connect does not meet these requirements, it is not allowed on the network. Moreover, policy controls and threat remediation give real-time insight into the activity on the network, allowing threats to be quickly identified. This allows the IT staff to quickly block traffic or disconnect devices if unusual network behavior is detected. What does all that mean in layman’s terms and can I use a metaphor? Sure thing! If you see suspicious folks skulking around your residence, you better ice down your steps, heat your doorknobs and place Christmas ornaments by the windows to discourage unwanted entry. If those crafty villains still a manage to gain entry, you better have some Micro Machines strewn across the floor and have a tarantula handy. It worked for Kevin McCallister and it can work for you and your network! HPE Aruba Networking is just one of the many great vendors that ProCern works with daily. Contact us today for all of your IT needs. Including, but not limited to, cyber security. If you find yourself “home alone” just think, “what would Kevin do?”.