Up Times • August 2024

Bryley-curated stories from around the internet:

Seen this in a Zoom meeting? – A cat comes strutting across a coworker’s desk and stands there pretending to be oblivious to having interrupted the agenda. But with cats and tech, things can turn from cute to ugly in an instant.

I heard about one of these cat-astrophes: a worker was at his laptop with his coffee cup beside the computer. His cat jumped up and knocked the coffee over onto the laptop. Yes, the laptop was lost – electrical connections and liquids do not mix. But this laptop was fully backed-up through Bryley Backup and Data Recovery (BUDR). BUDR for Endpoints means not only documents and applications are recoverable, but also the laptop’s settings. So this person was up and running again as efficiently as possible.

The question for you is: do you have Bryley’s BUDR for Endpoints coverage for your devices? Have a pet? Doesn’t it seem worth looking into BUDR? Think about that, why don’t you, while laughing at other peoples’ cats-will-be-cats videos … [5 min. watch] youtube.com

HIPAA and PCI DSS Compliance, what you should know – Bryley’s Manager of Client Services Tom Barnes showed me this article that gives a good overview of two far-reaching compliancies with general guidance about whether you need to be concerned with meeting these standards.

HIPAA is a federal law that establishes rules and practices that must be followed if you collect, store and transmit protected health information. HIPAA applies to doctors, dentists, pharmacies, hospitals, etc, and also to third-party vendors that access a medical provider’s personally-identifiable health database.

While the core principles of HIPAA are clear, complexities arise in applying them to various data types and situations … if you are unsure about whether a certain type of data is protected or not, it’s best to err on the side of caution and apply strong security measures, according to IT industry trade journal channele2e.

PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) is a set of protocols established by the major credit card issuers to protect cardholder data. If your organization collects, stores or transmits cardholder data you must comply with PCI DSS. Non-compliance can result in loss of processing privileges and fines.

PCI DSS compliance includes building and maintaining a secure network, using strong encryption for cardholder data and periodic vulnerability assessments.

If you need help determining if your organization needs to comply with PCI DSS and/or HIPAA consult with Bryley … [9 min. read] channele2e.com

Freezing out the bad guys – In a company meeting, VP of Client Services Anna Darlagiannis-Livingstone spoke about the importance of placing a credit freeze with the three main credit bureaus. Anna explained that a freeze keeps criminals who may have gotten your personal information via a data breach from being able to open credit cards or get other loans in your name. And Anna asked me to share about credit freezes here.

The federal Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 contained the law that made credit freezes free. This was on the heels of the 148-million-record Equifax breach.

And for a fee every month from 2 of the 3 bureaus, they also offer credit locks that are similar, but are processed more quickly. Here’s a quick comparison of credit freezes and credit locks, both effective tactics for bolstering your personal security … [4 min. read] creditkarma.com

Remember those commercials with some kid with a cute wido wisp calling Stephen Gostkowski “Mr. Kathpehrthky”? Trying to make it seem local and lovable?

Kaspersky Labs to exit the US – The US government, once a client of Russian-headquartered Kaspersky Labs, has gradually stripped the antivirus company of its role in the US.

Citing national security concerns, last month the US Commerce Department announced a ban on the sale of Kaspersky software in the US. With the ban comes the end of virus-signature updates in the US, meaning the software’s virus-fighting effectiveness will shortly be out-of-date.

If your organization uses Kaspersky, Bryley can help it make the switch to another solution. Kaspersky made its name in part by not over-taxing system resources, Malwarebytes similarly is beyond speedy. Contact Roy Pacitto … [5 min. read] zetter-zeroday.com

Bryley’s Lawrence Strauss (left, behind the keyboards) played with the band Little Levity at WPI July 31 as part of the Summer Breeze Concert Series. This is the band’s sixth appearance as part of the lunchtime concerts. This year Worcester Polytech’s Registrar Michelle Borowski sang with the band on White Bird (originally from 1969 by It’s a Beautiful Day). Like that song, Little Levity plays a mix of early rock songs that also included Elvis’ That’s Alright, Ray Charles’ I’ve Got a Woman and the early Wilson Pickett single Let Me Be Your Boy … [2 min. read] wpi.edu

^{Note: The section directly above is Bryley’s curated list of external stories. Bryley does not take credit for the content of these stories, nor does it endorse or imply an affiliation with the authors or publications in which they appear.}