Blog

Bryley’s getting ready for the 2023 Corridor 9/495 Business Expo. Please join Roy and Tom April 4th 4 PM-7 PM at the DoubleTree Hotel, 5400 Computer Dr, Westborough. Registration is free … [1 min. read]

Not hobbled by a natural emergency, an employee error or cyberattack – or at least not disrupted for long, that’s what Bryley means by your business’ continuity.

To achieve business continuity, Bryley advocates a layered approach to networking. But backup remains the heart, the most essential part, of business continuity.

Bryley is regularly recognized by its clients for its calmness in difficult circumstances. But it’s no great mystery what’s partly at the back of us bringing that attitude: we know that we have multiple tested, monitored ways of recovering data. So how about you? [6 min. read]

Thursday, February 2, 4:00 – 5:00 PM Bryley President Garin Livingstone will present along with VP Roy Pacitto via Zoom on cybersecurity best practices – several of these practices you can use right away.

Because of its relative wealth, our New England region is hard-hit by cyberattacks.

Roy will present – including bringing examples Bryley’s encountered – on Business Email Compromise (when addresses you trust are spoofed to get you to divulge information).

Garin will present steps you can take to protect your business from the rise in ransomware incidents … [2 min. read]

Here are some highlights of what’s been covered in this space in the year gone bye-bye.

Bryley at Thirty-Five

This was the second year under Garin Livingstone’s leadership. Garin has set Bryley’s trajectory: “to make the complexities of networking and security easier for clients to understand. Without the give-and-take of good communication, it’s easy to miss information that might make network management better for our clients …” [7 min. read]

You’ve probably heard about Microsoft 365 (sometimes called Office 365), the cloud-based subscription service that has Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and other applications.

But is it worth the time, effort and cost to switch to a cloud-based version? Here are some reasons to consider this Microsoft offering? [4 min. read]

Tom Barnes was recently named Manager of Client Services. Tom joined Bryley Systems in 2020 as a Business Development Representative. Within a year he transitioned to a role as a Client Success Specialist where his success advocating for Bryley clients earned him favorable notice and his current role.

Tom has had a diverse career that has included software troubleshooting, RV sales and running his own business. He achieved a BS (Summa Cum Laude) in Psychology from UMass Amherst … [4 min. read]

… and enough power to make these marks

–Mona Lisa Vito, My Cousin Vinny

MFA: Each Criterion Brings You Closer to the Truth

A Decatur, Illinois manufacturer that had been hit with ransomware in May, was in July sued by Travelers Insurance for having misrepresented the extent to which it was protected by MFA (multifactor authentication). Travelers said the manufacturer had violated the terms of its cyberinsurance policy. The parties came to an adjudicated agreement to nullify the policy; Travelers did not need to cover any of the ransomware losses. … [6 min. read]

Most corporate networks are structured the same way: highly reinforced perimeter, and highly vulnerable interior

“In the zero-trust model, every network and every user are considered hostile,” said Bryley engineer Myk Dinis. Windows 11 offers new ways of achieving zero trust, but Myk said, “baked into Windows is an easy-to-see instance of zero-trust. You have three default network security levels: private, work and public. Depending on which of those network types that you declare you’re in, right down the line it strengthens the firewall. So in a private network your firewall is going to be the least restrictive; it will allow the most access both ways. Work allows a little less access. And with public nothing’s allowed; everything has to be proven with certificates; public is built according to a zero-trust networking model …” [5 min. read]

Yes, Compliance Is Like Eating All Your Vegetables

Compliance is something someone else makes you do, AKA yuck.

Compliance is laws, regulations, contracts and insurance policy terms. And failure to adhere leads to penalties, lawsuits, investigations and the chance insurance won’t cover your claims. Yuck.

But Compliance Is Meant to Keep You from Being Easy Pickings to a Hacker

Think about it from the other point of view. By making nice with compliance (like eating your kale) you can avoid fines and penalties, improve operational safety, cut your risk of cyber-attack, improve public relations, prevent attrition of clients who will more and more need their suppliers to be compliant and, if needed, make sure liability insurance claims are paid. So really compliance is one of those business rarities that can demonstrate a measurable return-on-investment … [5 min. read]