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We are proud to announce Josh Layton as our newest employee here at Integrated Computer Consulting (ICC). He will be working in the Business Development department to assist in growing our clientele here in northern Colorado.

Josh comes to us from Limon, Colorado. He studied Finance at the University of Denver and has held various positions in multiple industries before becoming an IT technician and then moving into sales. Josh has experience in healthcare IT solutions and with a background in finance can assist clients in understanding their system and cost analysis.

Josh will bring professionalism, attention to detail, and great communication to our clients to make the overall sales process an enjoyable experience.

When Josh is not selling IT solutions, he enjoys spending time with his fiancé, Jennifer, and his 9- year old daughter, Adilynn as well as going to the gym, golfing, hiking, and wake surfing. He also has four pets: a 2.5-year-old puggle named, Henri, a 7-month-old golden retriever named Dug, and two fish names Glowie and ‘Merica.

We are so happy to have Josh Layton on our ICC team!

With the majority of work being completed online with access to company information, assessing your cybersecurity risk is critically important for keeping your company’s private and valuable information safe.

What is a Cyber Security Risk Assessment?

A Cyber Security Risk Assessment is a service that ICC provides to assess the data that is at risk when a cyber breach occurs.

What does a Cyber Security Risk Assessment entail?

ICC uses leading assessment tools that run in your environment for a period of days to gather information. ICC will compile the results and present this information in an easy to understand format. ICC’s assessment includes:

Data Risk Assessment – Data such as PHI, payment info, health records, photos, addresses, names, SSNs, etc. will be assessed. If that data is not properly protected or destroyed if not needed, it can lead to serious financial implications.

Fake Phishing Test – Since 91% of attacks come though employees clicking on malicious links, phishing tests are important for assessing risk.

Patch Management Status – The status of an operating system and application patches is a huge factor in the overall strength of a network’s ability to ward off attacks.  If the operating system is outdated or the patches are not current, this is a huge vulnerability and can leave your business exposed to malware/ransomware.  Additionally, updates for applications like Java and Adobe are two avenues hackers will use to gain access.

Dark Web Scan – What data has been compromised from employees and the business.

Scanning Network Port and Service – Yes, if certain ports are left open, someone can gain access to your network simply by typing an IP address in their browser’s address bar.  ICC examines the vulnerable ports which can allow access to sensitive information.

Network Mapping – ICC will provide a network diagram for you to see how the network is connected and where the emphasis should be directed.

Reporting – ICC will compile a detailed report of all findings as well as any recommendations for a secure computing environment.

Incident Response Plan – This is an additional service ICC can provide to your cybersecurity assessment.  ICC will outline a very detailed set of instructions in case of a variety of scenarios such as a breach, physical theft, server crash, cyber-attack, or even natural disasters. This service is not included in the assessment.

The I.T. landscape has changed and a cybersecurity risk assessment is critical.  Cyber-attacks have increased by 72%, especially with COVID-19.  With technology being such a crucial component of any business’s ability to operate, proper management and security practices are important for the health of a business’s network and the safety of patient/client data.  Many businesses feel as though they are not a target or simply choose not to employ the resources to protect themselves against an attack. This will have a significant financial impact when data or the network are compromised. For more information on ICC’s cybersecurity risk assessment, give us a call at 970.821.8592 or contact us at info@iccusa.net.

With working from home being the norm these days, it is important that you keep your home WiFi network safe. Many remote employees are accessing onsite servers and cloud resources or other important and confidential information that if leaked, could cause harm to their work and their company’s business. Here are a few steps to make sure that your home WiFi network is updated and secure.

Change the Administrator Password for Your Router

Administrator passwords are different from the one you use to connect to your router and WiFi. Administrator passwords are fairly common and any novice or advanced hacker can easily find this password. Changing this password will help to keep your WiFi network safe.

Follow these steps to change the administrator password:

1. Look for the label on your router with the IP address, administrator username, and password
2. Open a new tab in your web browser
3. Enter the IP address in the web address bar
4. Enter the administrator username and password on the login screen
5. Look for the administration area and change the password. Make sure you set a long password using a variation of letters, symbols, and numbers.
6. Make sure to disable remote administration. This allows someone from outside your home to connect to your WiFi and access information.

Update Firmware

When you are logged in to change your administrator password, make sure to update your router’s firmware. There may be fixes or updates needed since it was last updated. It is essential to update your router’s firmware to protect it from threats. In the administrator window, you should be able to locate where to perform this update. We recommend setting your router to auto update if possible.

Configure WiFi Security Settings

There are three settings that you should make sure to check: SSID, encryption method, and WiFi password.

1. WPA3 is the newest wireless encryption standard but most routers offer WPA2 encryption so that is the best selection. Be sure to select WPA2-PSK, WPA2-PSK (AES), or WPA2-personal.
2. Be sure to change your wireless password to something more complex using letters, symbols, and numbers.
3. Change the SSID or name of your wireless network to something generic and hard to identify.

If you have any additional questions about how to keep your home WiFi network secure or if you need any assistance, contact the IT team at Integrated Computer Consulting (ICC) at info@iccusa.net or 970.821.8592.

Working from home these days is slowly becoming the new normal. With the recent virus threat, majority of businesses have sent their employees home to work from a more safe and comfortable space. However, when working from home, employees don’t have access to some of the hardware needed to conduct business effectively on a daily business. They are also scrambling to set-up an in-home office to create a productive and reliable workspace.

Integrated Computer Consulting or ICC has seen an influx over the last week for remote phone systems as more people are working from home. Voice over IP or VoIP phone systems use the internet and not a traditional phone line, so you can access to your office’s phone system anywhere with an internet connection. VoIP systems have many benefits that allow you to continue to work remotely and conduct business as usual. The benefits include:

• Setting up a fully functional phone system in less than a day.
• Installing the computer application and mobile application allows employees to make and receive calls through their computer or cellphone app without revealing their cellphone number.
• Voicemail can be sent to email as an audio file or transcription.
• The ability to set up a custom call flow.
• Calls can be parked or transferred.
• Calls can be recorded if you wish to do so.
• Instant messaging and video conferencing (up to 50 users) allows for an easier way to communicate with our employees and hold meetings.
• Once you are back in your office, the same configurations can be set but with the use of a new desk phone.
• Compliant with HIPAA.

VoIP or remote phone systems are an easy way to keep your employees connected and to keep your company doing business. Now through June 30, 2020, Polycom is offering a $35/phone rebate when you purchase more than 5 phones. If you are looking for more information on remote phone systems or VoIP, call ICC at 970.821.8592 or email us today at tylerharnden@iccusa.net.

With the current state of the world, many employees are being encouraged to work remotely. Working remotely allows the flexibility of location whether it is in your own home or at a local coffee shop. You can access company files, video chat with co-workers, and have the freedom to work when and where you want. On the flip side, working remotely can pose some risks to your company’s private information.

It’s important to follow this checklist when working from home to help keep your company’s important information and data safe:

I.T. Checklist

• Enable local encryption
• Make sure admin accounts are confirmed with strong passwords
• Limit external sharing of Cloud applications (OneDrive, SharePoint, etc.)
• Enable MDM for remote wipe capabilities
• Review and enable remote endpoint security tools that can be centrally reviewed and monitored (RMM, SentinelOne, NovaSOC, etc)
• Provide ability to securely exchange files and information externally and internally (i.e. OneDrive, DLP, email encryption, etc)
• Enable Multifactor Authentication for remote connectivity. Make sure authentication expires after 4-8 hours of use
• Review incident response procedure with all relevant parties

Employee Checklist

• Secure workspace
• Ability to lock laptop and any business relevant information when not in use
• Safely perform conversations without visitors eavesdropping or shoulder surfing
• Wireless Security
• Change default Wi-Fi Router passwords
• Enable WPA-2 or higher encryption; Strong WEP password
• Ensure your local router firmware is updated
• Personal Device Security
• Update IOT Device firmware (Smart Thermostats, etc).
• Ensure default passwords are changed
• Update software on all devices within your home network (Corporate laptop, IOT devices, personal laptops/tablets, etc)
• Review corporate policies and procedures

Security Awareness

• Corporate vs personal
• Do not share your corporate laptop for use with family or friends
• Limit social media use
• Don’t reveal business itineraries, corporate info, daily routines, etc.

Integrated Computer Consulting (ICC) is here to help. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call if you have any questions or need more information about safely working remotely. Contact us at 970.821.8592 or at info@iccusa.net.

Backing up your digital files is super important to keep a copy of your company’s important and private information. If suddenly your computer or network goes down and files are lost, it is key to have that information backed up in some form or another. The two main options for backup storage are off-site or on-site backups.

Offsite backups are a secondary location that houses your company’s data. The benefits of off-site storage include the ability to access the information from any location via the internet or FTP. It is a safer place to house the data in case an event occurs at your business’ location. Offsite backups can also be accessed by many other remote locations. On the other hand, the risk of offsite storage includes the servers being down for maintenance at a time when you may need to access the files. This may be unfortunate if you need immediate access to files; however, most clients are notified in advance that access may be limited so they are able to plan better.

Onsite backups are physically located at your place of business. This includes saving information to external hard drives, DVDs, and CDs. The benefits to on-site backups are that the files are readily available, it is a more cost-effective option and no internet is needed to access them. However, on-site backups could be lost if a catastrophic event were to occur such as a fire, flood, or robbery.

When choosing a backup system, it is up to you and your business if an offsite or onsite backup is the better option for you. Depending on budget or if you have remote employees, one option may make more sense for your company than the other. Either way, backing up your system is a must for any and all businesses. If you have any questions on the system that is right for you, contact Integrated Computer Consulting or ICC today! 970.821.8592

Cyber threats are becoming more prevalent in today’s internet world. According to Cybintsolutions.com, “64% of companies have experienced web-based attacks, 62% phishing & social engineering attacks, 59% malicious code and botnets and 51% denial of service attacks.” Integrated Computer Consulting (ICC) has recently had a handful of businesses that have experienced a cyber threat in one form or another.

Examples of the situations and outcomes below:

• ICC Customer: Gift card scam – Successful, $1000 payment
• ICC Customer: Domain name spoof – Averted
• ICC Customer: Extortion emails containing old passwords – Averted
• Some customers and some non-customers: Business Email Compromise – Mostly averted, one $42k payment
• Non-customer: Ransomware – Successful, $6000 payment. Another requested $12k and lost all data
• Non-customer: Banking Trojan – Successful, Emotet virus on 30+ machines
• Non-customer: Remote Desktop brute-force – Successful, attacker gained access to PC and attempted a lateral move to other machines/server

The cost to protect your personal and your businesses’ important information is minimal compared to the cost to recover from an attack. ICC recently worked with a customer in Fort Collins, dealing with an Emotet virus that could cost up to $1 million to remediate. Fortunately, ICC was able to effectively mitigate the virus for substantially less. For a cost way less than $1 million, ICC was able to save the company money and the potential risk of shutting down their company.

Cybersecurity is no joke and businesses should make sure they are protected to save themselves from the potential loss of time and money in the future. Let ICC evaluate your company’s security measures today. 970.821.8592 or info@iccusa.net.

We asked Patrick a handful of questions to learn a little bit more about him!

In a nutshell, my job entails: Helping businesses run smoothly by providing technical support
How long you’ve been with ICC: started on 7/29/2019
Hometown: Loveland, CO
In my spare time, you can find me: Mountain or road biking, hiking, camping, rock climbing, and woodworking
Pets? None currently, but I grew up with 2 springer spaniels and would like to get a dog of my own
If you looked at my desk right now, you’d find: A water bottle, a coffee mug, a Cloud9 coaster and various chargers, cables, and storage disks
Fun facts about me: I made my desk and table at home and have completed an IronMan triathlon and would like to do more
Preferred OS? Windows 10
Connect with me on: LinkedIn      https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-o-brien-b1a060161/

If you or your business are still saving documents and files just to your computer or desktop, it’s time you learn about all the benefits of “the cloud.” Cloud computing uses distributed resources like data centers and remote servers to complete a variety of tasks such as saving files, providing web page content on-demand, or performing calculations.

Server Insurance

Can you guarantee that your in-house servers will never break down unexpectedly? If they do, how fast will you be able to get the servers back up and running and recover the lost information? There is no guarantee that any saved data can be recovered if it is not saved on a cloud system. Although cloud servers are not 100% disaster-free, they can greatly minimize the negative impacts associated with server failures.

For example, many cloud hosting services have multiple locations with servers that save your information. Even if one or two of those locations shut down, there would still be other locations that are safely hosting your information. Single locations also have backup power generation to ensure they continue sending information after utilities going down. Advanced mechanisms are also designed to restart automatically, notify technicians of any repeated problems, and collect diagnostic information. The power of using cloud hosting allows for easy recovery and minimized damage from server issues.

Increased Speed

Cloud hosting provides services that can increase the speed of your website’s services. CDNs or content delivery networks, host data such as images, sound, streaming video, and other media content. Cloud-based CDNs are used for many eCommerce sites for their reviews, demonstration videos, and product photos. These cloud hosting services allow for faster data access because they can detect which server is closest to a user to provide them with the quickest services available. This also allows for minimized delays, small page loading times, and spreads out the demand for local hosts.

Information Access Anywhere

A major limit of saving information to a laptop or desktop is that data is only accessible on that specific device. Cloud hosting provides the opportunity for your saved information to be reached from any location after you log into your server. This can benefit a business who has a mobile workforce or multiple storefronts and can access their company’s data from all their locations. For a retail business with several stores, it allows their employees to submit location-specific data, performance reports, or product counts straight to their corporate headquarters.

Guaranteed Security

Although cloud hosting may sound like anyone can access your information, it is built with a foundation of strict security guidelines. Cloud hosting has security measures that meet the requirements from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI), Defense Security Service (DSS), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These hosting services provide privacy for health care records, secure payment processing, and personal records and files.

Switching to Cloud Hosting

Moving your system and files over to a cloud hosting server is a complex process. ICC (Integrated Computer Consulting) is a professional and responsive company that offers a full range of IT support and consultation services including cloud hosting. Learn more about our services and how they can help you take advantage of cloud computing.

Moving offices is no small task. With furniture, desks, files, and more it can be hard to stay organized and make sure everything moves to the new location smoothly. However, an important part of the move is your IT office move logistics. Phones, computers, internet access and more are all important to have up and running as soon as possible to not interfere with daily operations. That’s where ICC can help!

ICC can help make your business’ move painless and worry-free. By following these steps when switching over your IT, your business should be up and running in no time.

1. Check out your new office or work with contractors to make sure there are enough power outlets, data jacks for the I.T. Infrastructure.
2. ICC will work with your internet service provider to make sure they are aware of the timing of your move.
3. Take an inventory of your current IT equipment and assess if you will need when moving to your new office. Also, if you were considering an upgrade in IT services and equipment, now is the best time to start new.
4. Make sure to back up your files before moving offices to ensure that information does not get lost.
5. ICC can assist with packing up your workstations and unpacking to make sure the equipment gets to its new office safely and is all in one place.
6. Once on-site, ICC’s IT support team will test your phones, cables, networks, firewalls, and security to make sure everything is running safely and smoothly.

ICC offers a full range of IT support and consultation services in the northern Colorado and Wyoming area. Contact us for IT support services today at 970-821-8592.