No Worries. We Got IT.

Change and uncertainty have been constant themes for nearly every business since the start of 2020. It's hard to find an industry or sector that has not had to navigate at least some small-scale transitions due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many business were prepared for a pivot to an online-heavy operational model. [...]

Last month, as many businesses were amending their operations to function in a global pandemic, we wrote about managing the transition to remote work and what small businesses needed to do to make the new arrangement possible. If there's one positive arising from the COVID-19 crisis, it's that many of us have been forced [...]

As little as two months ago, working from home was considered a job perk. Or, maybe even a recruiting tactic for prized new hires. Despite telecommuting becoming more and more accepted in office parks around the country, the custom was certainly not a taken-for-granted benefit. A lot has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic has erupted [...]

The jobs of IT professionals are hard enough. Forget for a moment that they operate in an industry where the rate of change is accelerating exponentially – Moore's Law states that computing capacity doubles every two years. Put aside the fact that the threat environment which they are paid to counteract increases in complexity every [...]

First, let us begin by paying our respects to a hard-working piece of software. The Windows 7 operating system first became available to consumers in October 2009. Since that time, the OS has supported millions of business and personal computers, offering Microsoft users an alternative to the less-popular and more-problematic Windows Vista. But, every beginning [...]

IT professionals are tasked with a very important job: protecting their companies' digital infrastructure and digital assets from all threats and intrusions. It's a big job. And, often, it's a thankless one. After all, in many cases, the only interactions co-workers have with IT staff is when something is wrong. Internet down? Call the IT [...]

"Cyber intrusions and attacks — many of them originating overseas — are targeting our businesses, stealing trade secrets, and costing American jobs. Iranian hackers have targeted American banks. The North Korean cyber attack on Sony Pictures destroyed data and disabled thousands of computers. In other recent breaches that have made headlines, more than 100 million [...]

Big plans for Halloween this year? The October 31st holiday is an annual pilgrimage to the Altar of the Sweet Tooth for the kids. For adults, on the other hand, the celebration is closer to a fetishization of all things horrifyingly scary. If you're a small business owner, or an executive tasked with keeping your [...]

At Beacon, our success hinges on how well we know our clients. That's what empowers us to anticipate their needs and deliver the right solution to the right problem at the right time. That doesn't just happen by accident. It happens with a purposeful effort to get to know and understand our clients, their business [...]

In the last decade, the healthcare industry has undergone a dramatic evolution in the way that medical records are managed. If you work in the medical field, whether as a doctor, nurse, technician or administrator, you could not escape the implication of the "big switch" to EMR (electronic medical records). The change from paper to [...]

Is your small business optimized for digital security and productivity? Pretty much every business takes measures to protect its network and IT infrastructure. With the extraordinary proliferation of malware and ransomware attacks in recent years, it's just prudent planning to set up strong defenses against potential intruders. Managed IT services, which focus on more mundane [...]

How do BITS customers really feel about the job we do for them? We're sure that almost every business asks itself a variation of the same question. After all, being successful is all about maintaining relationships. Here, at BITS, we really wanted to know the answer. So, we decided to take the radical step of, you [...]

Your company's email accounts represent some of the most vital assets of your business. They contain important client correspondence, extensive team processes and projects, working copies of various reports and deliverables, and a host of additional valuable bits of information. A loss of a record, or the inability to find or retrieve archived information, can [...]

Don't look now, but hurricane season is once again bearing down upon us. Last year was predicted to be a below-average season. Instead, the Atlantic Ocean spit out 15 named storms, including eight hurricanes. The damage sustained from 2018 tropical storms – which included, not one, but two major hurricanes (Florence and Michael) – reached [...]

“Necessity is the mother of invention” – English proverb Ever notice how one small change can cause a cascading series of bigger changes? It’s the classic butterfly effect in a nutshell – a butterfly flaps its wings in China, and 12 hours later a tornado hits, let’s say, Kansas. One small thing leads to a [...]

Some of the biggest companies in the world were hit by some of the biggest cyber security breaches in 2018. Of the 24 largest breaches of all time on the USA Today list, three of the top 10 occurred last year - Marriott, Under Armour and Quora. But it's not just the digital novices who [...]

Happy New Year! What are you looking to do better in 2019? The turn of the calendar tends to bring with it thoughts of personal growth and improvement.  But, for many business owners - their identity being tied directly to their enterprises - New Year's resolutions often translate to things they can do better for [...]

This time of year many of us are on the hunt for presents. Toys and games for kids, sparkly jewelry for the ladies in our lives, gadgets and sports gear for the guys, pictures of the grand-kids for the grandparents… a little something for everyone. It feels good to bring joy to your loved ones. While [...]

Let's be honest... blockchain is a confusing concept. Even for people who understand exactly how blockchain technology works, providing an easy to understand explanation is challenging. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, blockchain is relatively new tech, and new tech always takes a little while to sink into the public consciousness. We [...]

The cloud is a powerful method of computing. When the term first entered into wide usage, it was ambiguous. No one really knew what it meant. Or, if they understood the concept, most people had no idea how it worked. Today, we're past the stage of being mystified by the cloud. Most people get the [...]

Today's digital landscape is fraught with security pitfalls. In the pioneer days of the internet, hackers mostly went after digital conquests to gain notoriety or for the thrill of getting past the most advanced security setups of that early digital period. In 2018, however, that hacker mentality has long been replaced by a different ethos. [...]

Many companies rely on managed IT services to help them keep their computers secure and in peak performing conditions. It isn't too difficult to find a provider that can keep your software up to date, make sure the latest security patches are implemented, or execute regular data backups. The decision to "farm out" the upkeep [...]

For cyber-security professionals, 2017 may have been "The Year of the Data Breach." It's not that data breaches just started happening last year -- cyber-criminals have been at it for quite some time. But the number of high-profile breaches, as well as the sheer number of consumers being affected, seem to have hit an all-time [...]

Is Cloud-based Computing as Secure as Server Hosting? Security questions have hounded cloud services since their inception. But, is the cloud an inherently less secure method of computing than in-house servers? The answer differs depending on who you ask. A 2014 study by the information security-focused Ponemon Institute found that about half (51%) of IT [...]

Disaster Response Time If you've ever been in the unfavorable position of seeing your business IT infrastructure compromised, you understand the necessity of an expedient response from your IT vendor. If you haven't, thank goodness. Unfortunately, the rise in the number of successful web-based attacks increases the odds of you facing this situation sometime in [...]

Atlanta Ransomware Attack The ransomware attack that took hostage a number of vital computer systems in Atlanta last month wreaked havoc on residents and sent the city’s administration scrambling. What can we learn from the situation? Considering that city officials were aware as early as last summer that “severe and critical vulnerabilities” existed within the [...]

Your computer is acting funny. You can’t access certain files. Then, you receive a pop-up message. You read the message only to learn that your data has been encrypted and you no longer have access to it – UNLESS you send a large wad of cash to the hijacker in unmarked bit-bills. Unfortunately, bitcoin payments [...]

To say that 2017 was a bad year for cyber security is an understatement. Security breaches were national news this year, with vulnerabilities at Equifax and Uber leading the evening news. And North Carolina businesses were not immune to the problem. In North Carolina, the Theft Protection Act of 2005 requires that businesses report any [...]

Crypto mining is not against the law, nor is it a nefarious activity. At least not most of the time. But in order to fully understand why crypto mining can be a problem, we need to start from the beginning. Our story starts with the creation of a crypto currency called “Bitcoin”.  Like Paypal, Bitcoin [...]

With cloud services becoming more and more popular, this seems like a good time to review the options available to us. Perhaps, by comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the three most common computing solutions, you’ll get a better idea of the service or option that can best suit your business. Do I need dedicated [...]

If you haven't heard the particulars on the Equifax debacle, let me fill you in. There is a lesson to be learned for every business or institution possessing sensitive information. You may remember that the credit agency had a very serious hack in May or June of 2017. This hack affected over 143 million Americans [...]

Back in the 80’s, when someone hacked a website, they left a message not unlike graffiti. “Hackers rule” or something silly like that. It was relatively harmless. These days, hackers have grown up and hack with resolve. If they should deem your website or business counter to their beliefs, you could find yourself out of [...]

While advanced hackers may use malware, they often start by attempting to exploit the easiest point of entry. This typically includes phishing emails similar to the Google Docs email link that had Google on its toes recently. If your employees leave events such as this unreported, the consequences could be devastating to your cybersecurity. With [...]

Despite significant investment in cybersecurity, businesses are seeing more cyber-attacks that ever before. Remember back to Black Friday, October 21. We saw the largest DDoS attack of its kind, bringing down sites such as Twitter, Netflix and CNN. And things are trending worse. There were almost 1000 reported data breaches in 2016 according to the [...]

Applications are running slower. Productivity is suffering. So, you've decided to face the music and  update your network servers. But your business partner is singing a different tune. He wants to go with what’s trendy. It’s what all the kids are talking about, he says. It’s called Cloud Hosting. In our respective business spaces, we all [...]

You may be asking this very question as cyber criminals find more and more ways to access databases for valid email addresses to exploit. Spam emails, malware and phishing messages aren’t going away any time soon.  But you can take solace in the fact that your Outlook office suite has a spam filter feature enabled [...]

If you’re like most people, you know what a firewall does on a very basic level. However, many are unclear as to how they work – and in some cases, if they have one enabled in their network. Below, we’ll discuss the whys and wherefores regarding firewall protection and provide some clarity to anyone asking [...]

You’ve upgraded the computers in the office. Everyone is enjoying the high speed, bells and whistles that come along with the latest technology. In addition, you’ve decided to do the socially responsible thing and donate the old computers to charity. You’re feeling pretty good about yourself. Then it hits you…. The old, retired PCs may [...]

The importance of a sound email system for your business cannot be overstated. Each has its advantages. And while both hosted and local email solutions have their advantages, a 3rd party hosted solution has been an option exclusive to larger companies with more substantive budgets.  The good news is that a hosted email solution is [...]

If you’re currently running Windows 8 or 8.1 and didn’t update by summer of 2016, it’ll cost about $120 to upgrade to Windows 10. After the debacle that was Vista, one has to wonder if it’s worth updating to Windows 10 at any cost. Below, we’ll consider the pros and cons of updating to Windows [...]

A firewall is a network security system that monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic based on a set of security rules. A firewall acts as a barrier between trusted, secured internal networks and less scrupulous networks. These security measures work to prevent unauthorized access to or from private networks. They examine all messages entering or [...]

To say technology is a critical component in any small business today would be an understatement. However, there is an age-old question, “When should my company update its computer systems?” We all know the struggles we face using a computer that just isn’t quite up to snuff. We are all painfully aware of the early [...]

After 8.5 hours of hard labor at M3 on St. Patrick’s Day, our newborn officially arrived at 3:20pm, weighing in at a hefty 4,621 pounds. Under trusted and constant care, Team M3 delivered a bright, healthy and colorful addition to the Beacon family.  We are so thankful for all the attention we are receiving for our carefully wrapped [...]

Did you know $209 million was paid to ransomware criminals in Q1 2016? A ransomware attack is scary when it occurs. There is little that can be done to stop a ransomware attack that is in progress. The easiest way to mitigate the damage that can be done is preventative care. First, it is important to [...]

A common issue we hear from time to time is “why is my internet speed so slow”. A slow internet connection can be caused by many reasons. Internet speed can be influenced by a need for a higher tiered Internet Service, too many people using your connection and hardware issues. If you feel like your [...]