People often ask me what's on my mind, what I'm working on, and what's "new and exciting." Since I'm not big on social media, this is how I share these things a few times a year.

What Happens in Vegas Makes Front Page News

Recently, both MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas were victims of separate cyberattacks, resulting in disruptions to systems at many major Las Vegas hotels including reservations, key cards, elevators, and slot machines. One would assume that large businesses like these have strong cybersecurity measures in place, and may wonder, “How could something like this happen?” (here’s one theory).

The sad reality is that for every cyberattack that does make the news, there are hundreds more that don’t, especially those happening to small and mid-sized businesses and impacting livelihoods and jobs. The good news is that there are some cybersecurity best practices and systems that provide a significant amount of protection, yet are relatively inexpensive.

However…

As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, more common, and ransom demands more expensive, not only is cyber insurance becoming more expensive for businesses (we’ve seen rates increase up to 30% since 2021), but carriers are also becoming much more stringent with their policies. Before issuing a policy, they may ask detailed questions to potential policyholders, increase exclusions, and we’ve even seen them auditing their customers’ IT to verify that they actually have the proper measures in place. You can learn which questions to ask and learn from the experts here.

Why Backup Your Cloud?

Backing up on-premise IT systems, such as servers and applications, is a no brainer; you need the ability to restore your data if a system is attacked or something goes wrong. There’s a common belief that cloud-based systems are automatically backed up and the customer doesn’t need to worry about backups; however, this isn’t always the case, especially with the large public cloud providers.

Most cloud providers clearly state in their terms of service (which often go unread) that they are only responsible for the integrity of their system, not for their customers’ data. We’ve seen instances where data within cloud applications was lost (sometimes the client’s fault, sometimes not), or where entire virtual servers went offline due to ”technical issues” and the cloud provider was unable or unwilling to restore the data.

Whenever utilizing cloud, it’s important to ensure that your data is properly backed up and most importantly, have a restoration plan in place. For the large public clouds, there are many backup options available.

Look and Sound Great in Video Calls

It’s been more than 3 years since video calling (mainly Zoom and Microsoft Teams) became mainstream, and many of us spend hours a day on video calls. I still often get asked for the best camera and audio equipment. Personally, I use a Logitech C270 camera and H390 wired headset (each around $30). While Bluetooth is more convenient, I’ve found that wired USB headsets work best with computers; they provide the best sound quality, are the most reliable, and I don’t have to worry about batteries dying (often at the worst possible time).

Thanks for reading.
- Morris Tabush