Cyber-readiness is the art of taking the proper steps to ensure your business is as prepared as it can be. You need a secure plan which assures that you have completed all the steps to ensure that your environment is without any major faults. Yet, there is still one more significant step. You must do your research. Are your passwords at risk? Are you monitoring your network? What are your vendors doing to protect you? If you don't know the answer to these questions, then you are at risk. Cybercriminals know and understand the proper channels to take to deploy a successful attack. In the final part of our cyber-readiness series, we are exploring the vital research needed to help keep your business safe.

As most of us know, cyber threats are on the rise due to the many uncertainties in our world. To combat the imminent risk, last week, we began our three-part Cybersecurity Readiness series. Part one of the series covered the necessary groundwork for a successful cybersecurity readiness plan. Without a multi-dimensional plan, the flaws and holes will be prevalent in your security. With the right foundation in place, we can move on to part two, which includes the steps we need to take daily to sustain a robust security strategy.

Part-two of our cybersecurity readiness series includes the daily steps needed to help prevent a malicious cyberattack.

Cybersecurity threats are never-ending in today's world. In the past few weeks, we have discussed how cyber threats are up with the many uncertainties surrounding COVID-19. The issue with cyberthreats is that there will always be some form of uncertainty in our world, and the cybercriminals only need one hole or weak point to carry out a malicious plan. To help your team combat cybercrimes' imminent threat, we will be doing a three-part series on cyber readiness strategies. We will be attacking these steps sequentially each week. We hope that these steps will help keep you one step ahead of a malicious cyberattack.

As we have discussed many times before, there are not enough hours in the day to complete all of the tasks we and others put on our plates. We commit to so many things that unfortunately many fall through the cracks or get put on the back burner. Microsoft has come out with a solution to help us manage our tasks and time management. This new tool is called “Briefing Emails” and will be released later this summer.

COVID-19 changed a great deal for our world. Our world, as we knew it, was turned upside-down and inside-out in a matter of days. There was the apparent change in where we were working. Although, how we were working from home and functioning differently as an organization had us intrigued. We luckily can analyze these differences through Microsoft MyAnalytics. Last October, we dug into what Microsoft MyAnalytics is and how it works. It was fascinating to dig back into our “how I work” data and see how our work habits have changed throughout our work from home stent.

What is the Dark Web, and why is it a concern during this unprecedented time of COVID-19? The Dark Web is a way to search anonymously on the web through dark web software like TOR. The Dark web was initially created to allow our military spies to communicate anonymously. There was and still is a positive need for the Dark Web as it enables reporters and refugees to search and communicate without the fear of revealing their identity. Although, the Dark Web has grown to be a breeding ground for illegal activity, including the selling of illicit goods and cybercrimes.

Last month, we announced, with elated excitement, that Microsoft Teams would be releasing an update that will include an even more interactive virtual meeting experience. With our love for all things Teams, this was the news we were waiting to hear. With the ability to view nine participants on a Teams call, this enabled even more secure and efficient collaboration during our “Work from Home” stent. We were and still are jumping with joy over this announcement. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the announcement to be fulfilled.