by Felicien | May 24, 2018 | Education
Compliance Manager
Compliance Manager is a data tracking system designed by Microsoft to ensure companies adhere to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Organizations can sign up for paid Compliance Manager or subscribe to a free Compliance Manager via Microsoft tools such as Microsoft Azure, Dynamic 365 or Microsoft Cloud Services. Microsoft recently released the long-awaited office 365 GDPR Compliance Manager with a few upgrades. Professionals are eagerly trying it out and giving their opinions about this exciting new product. The compliance management tool is expected to attain general availability on different platforms in the course of 2018. Here’s a sneak peek at the basic attributes of this highly anticipated GDPR data protection compliance tool.
Relevance of the new Office 365 GDPR Compliance Manager
Microsoft finally unveiled their much-awaited General Data Protection Regulation program that experts have been so excited about. Shortly after, they announced its features in a blog post and details of the new features to help users get started. Most users do look forward to new office products, but this one has been designed to make compliance to the new GDPR regulations much easier. That makes it a valuable tool that every business needs. Most business owners confess that they don’t know enough about the new GDPR rules and they are not ready for the May 25 deadline.
One key attribute of the new Office 365 is that it will include the compliance manager which was first previewed in November 2017. To date, the compliance manager is available on Azure, Dynamics 365, and Office 365 Business. Plans are also underway to have it available for Enterprise Customers via public clouds in the near future.
So what’s all the fuss about the new Office 365 GDPR Compliance Manager?
Customers have complained about difficult-to-understand compliance challenges and the GDPR is admittedly a complex document. Microsoft has attempted to take some of the complexity and mystery out of these regulations so that business owners can comply without having to hire outside help.
The most common challenge has been the lack of in-house employees who understand how to prepare and fulfill these new regulations. Office 365 GDPR Compliance Manager is tailored to ensure end-to-end regulation compliance. It also effectively empowers your business to manage the three key components of compliance. As your business uses this product, it will continuously provide you with a risk assessment and score that can alert you if you aren’t in full compliance in some areas.
Advanced GDPR Compliance
Microsoft’s Compliance Manager was developed to track an organization’s IT systems in specific regard to the requirements of international standards for data protection. One major issue has been that many company owners have simply not taken steps to be ready for the May 25 deadline, when all web sites who do business with European companies must adhere to EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
To help with this problem, Microsoft has unveiled a special GDPR template which will effectively detect and categorize personal information in your data base relevant to GDPR. This is important because many companies are still somewhat careless with their customer’s personal data. According to GDPR, companies failing to provide adequate protection for customer data could face penalties of up to €20 million.
The Compliance Manager has two features that customers will use to scan and assess data risk:
Compliance Score- Users are now able to assess data risk on an interactive dashboard on the new Microsoft 365 GDPR.
Azure Information Protection Scanner- This feature identifies, classifies, labels and effectively protects both on-premises and hybrid user data. It periodically scans sensitive data on emails and attachments based on the organization’s policies.
New Admin Role of Compliance Manager
Along with these two outstanding updates to Microsoft Compliance Manager is a unified labelling tweak on the admin dashboard. Microsoft cited protection of documents as the main reason for unified labeling, which it denotes as information protection administration. In the past, security admins and global admins could access the systems as separate entities to the Azure data protection service. With the new Compliance Manager, the option of additional management access permission is missing on the Azure portal and PowerShell unifying security and global admin roles.
With this new set up, the compliance manager ensures consistency in the labeling of information for easy protection of data records. However, the unified admin labeling role is still on a preview phase. At the moment, it allows the admin to apply a data protection setting which differentiates security functions from general global admin functions on a single interface in line with GDPR. Microsoft’s compliance manager is now available for customers on a paid program and or a trial option for users of Microsoft cloud services.
The Future of Data Compliance
The number of customers and companies worried about cyber theft is growing. Consequently, there’s a rising need for tools that can help protect customer data. The GDPR attempts to do this. As long as data stays scattered across an organization’s systems, there’s a greater risk that it will be stolen or compromised in some way. Compliance with GDPR guidelines seeks to eliminate many of these risks. Though it will constitute a huge challenge for most website owners, the alternative is unacceptable. Hopefully, the new Office 365 GDPR Compliance Manager can take some of the confusion and apprehension out of the equation.
by Felicien | May 24, 2018 | Education
Excel Like A Pro Part III
This is the final of a three-part series about using Microsoft Excel 2016. It will cover some of the more advanced topics. If you aren’t great with numbers, don’t worry. Excel does the work for you. With the 2016 version of Excel, Microsoft really upped its game. Excel’s easy one-click access can be customized to provide the functionality you need.
If you haven’t read Part I and Part II of this series, it’s suggested that you do so. The webinar versions can also be found on our site or on YouTube.
This session will discuss the following:
More with Functions and Formulas
Naming Cells and Cell Ranges
Statistical Functions
Lookup and Reference Functions
Text Functions
Documenting and Auditing
Commenting
Auditing Features
Protection
Using Templates
Built-In Templates
Creating and Managing Templates
More With Functions And Formulas
Naming Cells And Cell Ranges
How do you name a cell? You do so by the cell’s coordinates, such as A2 or B3, etc. When you write formulas using Excel’s coordinates and ranges you are “speaking” Excel’s language. However, this can be cumbersome. For example, here G12 is significant because it refers to our Team Sales.
You can teach Excel to speak your language by naming the G12 cell Team Sales. This will have more meaning to you and your teammates. The benefits of naming cells in this fashion are that they are easier to remember, reduce the likelihood of errors, and use absolute references (by default).
To name our G12 cell Team Sales, right-click on the cell, choose Define Name, and type “Team Sales” into the dialog box. You can also add any comments you want here. Then click Ok.
Another way to do this is to click on the G12 cell and go up to the Name Box next to the Formula Bar, then type your name there.
And, there’s a third option at the top of the page called “Define Cells” that you can use.
Notice that there’s an underscore between Team and Sales (Team_Sales). There are some rules around naming cells:
You’re capped at 255 characters.
The names must start with a letter, underscore or a backslash ().
You can only use letters, numbers, underscores or periods.
Strings that are the same as a cell reference, for example B1, or have any of the following single letters (C,c,R,r) cannot be used as names.
How To Name A Range
Highlight an entire range of cells and name your range (we’re doing this in the upper left-hand corner).
Then you can easily use the name to produce the sum you need:
You won’t have to go back and forth from spreadsheet to spreadsheet clicking on specific cells to calculate your formula. You simply key in the name of the cell range you want to add. Just be sure to remember the names as you build your spreadsheets over time.
If you ever make a mistake or want to change names, you can go to Name Manager to do this.
Remember that if you move the cells, the name goes with it.
Statistical Functions
The three statistical functions are:
Average If
Count If
Sum If
The Average If can be used to figure out the average of a range based on certain criteria. Here we’re going calculate the Average If of the ERA of 20+ Game Winners from the spreadsheet we developed in our last session.
We’ve already named some of our cell ranges (wins, era). And we want to know the average greater than 19.
Hit Enter and you have the average.
You can use this feature across a wide variety of scenarios. For example, if you wanted to know the average sales of orders above a certain quantity – or units sold by a particular region, or the average profit by a distinct quarter.
Count If is used for finding answers to questions like, “How many orders did client x place?” “How many sales reps had sales of $1,000 or more this week?” or “How many times have the pitchers of the Philadelphia Phillies won the Cy Young Award?”
As you can imagine, it’s essential that you type in the text exactly the way you named that particular cell.
Hit Enter and you get your answer
Now we’re going to use the Sum If function to calculate the number of strikeouts by the pitchers on this list who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sum If is a good way to perform a number of real-world statistical analyses. For example, total commissions on sales above a certain price, or total bonuses due to reps who met a target goal, or total earnings in a particular quarter year-over-year.
Lookup and Reference Functions
These are designed to ease the finding and referencing of data, especially in large tables. Here, cells A1 and E3 relate to a variable interest rate that is paid on a bank account. For balances under $1,000, the interest rate is 3% – between $1,000 and $10,000, the interest rate is 4%, etc.
Cell A6 shows the balance of a specific account. The Lookup Function is used in B6. It looks up the interest rate and applies it to the account balance of $45,000. This is what the formula looks like in the bar at the top:
The vector form of the Excel Lookup Function can be used with any two arrays of data that have one-to-one matching values. For example, two columns of data, two rows of data, or even a column and a row would work, as long as the Lookup Vector is ordered (alphabetically or numerically), and the two data sets are the same length.
V Lookup and H Lookup are used to pull information into reports. We’re going to use Report Setup. Here, we have a worksheet that references salespeople, sales data, pricing, revenue, and the clients that they sold to. You’ll see on the top right where we set up a report with names referencing sales data.
You can access the sales reps in the drop-down menu. Pick a rep and use the V Lookup Function to find the price.
To Find Price, key in =vlookup and the corresponding cell number for Rep 16, plus the table array which is the entire table not including the header at the top.
Then you need the column index number. This is the number of columns to the right of your lookup value column, which is column A. It’s the 4th column from column A (Price).
Enter 4,
For range lookup we’re using true or false. We are entering false here.
Hit Enter and this is what you have for your Find Price value.
Now we’ll do a similar V Lookup for the Client. Copy and Paste:
Make the necessary changes in your formula:
Client 16 goes with Rep 16.
Note: If you change the Sales Rep, all the corresponding values will change.
If you have a lot of data and long tables, V Lookup helps you find information easily. The V stands for Vertical (or by column), because columns are vertical. H Lookup is for Horizontal-like column headers.
Text Functions
Text Functions contain some very powerful tools to adjust, rearrange and even combine data. These functions are used for worksheets that contain information and function as a database such as mailing lists, product catalogs, or even Cy Young Award Winners.
The first text function we’ll show you is concatenate. It links things together in a chain or series. Here, we have our Cy Young list. But we no longer need to see our Wins and Losses in a separate column.
To do this easily rather than manually, create a new column where your data will reside.
Hit Enter
Now, just go in and hide the Wins and Losses columns. Don’t delete them or your new column will have a reference error.
If you do want to delete the Wins and Losses columns, you must first make a new column. Copy the W-L numbers and Paste Value in the new column. This way you’ve moved from a formula to the new information. If you delete your source information without taking this step you’ll be left with nothing.
Combine as many columns as you need with the concatenate function to make the data appear as you need it to.
The Left Mid and Right Functions
These are used to tell Excel that you only want part of a text string in a particular cell. Here, we have a product list and product IDs that tell us the date of manufacturer, the item number, and the factory where it was made. We’re going to pull the data out so we can put it in columns to use in different ways.
We use the Mid Function here.
This works because each of the product IDs are the same length. If they were different lengths you’d have to do something more creative.
Documenting and Auditing
You want to make your Excel files easy to understand for both yourself and others who need to use them – and this includes auditors. An organized worksheet results in clear error-free data and functions.
Commenting
The purpose of commenting is to provide notes to yourself or especially to others. Comments can include reminders, explanations or suggestions.
You’ll find the New Comment button at the top under the Review Menu. Simply click the cell where you want the comment to go and click New Comment. Then type your comment and click outside the box to close it. The comment will disappear but it’s still there. Anywhere you see a red flag, there’s a comment.
If your name doesn’t appear in the comment, go to File>Options>General and personalize your copy of Excel (in this case Microsoft Office) under the User Name. You won’t need to go back and change each comment; Excel will do this for you.
To format a comment, click inside the comment box and a drop down will come up where you can format the text.
You can change the color of the box and lines around the box. Some managers have different colors for members of their teams.
If you change the default color, it will change that for all your Microsoft products.
To delete a comment, go to the cell that hosts it, then go up and hit delete.
If you have a lot of comments, grab the handle on the box and resize it.
Auditing
What we really mean is formula auditing. This is an advanced way to check your work.
The yellow diamond on the left of this cell indicates that there’s an error.
Or to find any errors, go to Formula Auditing in the top menu.
You have a number of helpful tools here. Trace Precedents shows where the formula looks for information. Click the formula you want and click Trace Precedents. It will display where your data came from.
Here’s a more complex formula and trace auditing:
To hide the arrows, click “Remove Arrows.”
Show Formulas
This expands all of your columns and shows all of them in a bigger way. You can go in and check your formulas on the fly very easily. Click Show Formulas again and the worksheet goes back to the way it was before.
Error Checking
This feature lets you check all formulas at once.
This makes it easy to find errors and correct them.
Evaluate Formula
This feature allows you to check a formula step-by-step. It shows the results of each individual part. It’s another great way to de-bug a formula that isn’t working for you. Click the formula you want to evaluate. Click Evaluate Formula and you’ll get a dialog box.
Click Evaluate and it will change the formula to the actual value that you can review. Each time you click Evaluate, it will take you through the steps of how you got to the final formula. You can trace your way through to see if you made any errors.
Protection
With protection you can lock in your changes in individual cells, spreadsheets, and entire workbooks. You can also protect comments from being moved or edited.
This is how to protect an entire workbook. It’s the highest level of protection.
You’ll want to do this if your workbook contains confidential information like:
Pre-released quarterly results
Employee salary tables
Staff member evaluations
Click File>Info>Protect Workbook>Encrypt with Password.
Enter your password and be sure to make note of it because it can’t be recovered if you lose it. You can use password management software to keep track of your passwords.
Once complete, click OK and your Protect Workbook function turns yellow indicating that you’ve protected your workbook.
To take off protection, retrace your steps.
You can also protect a current sheet you’re working on. It will take you back to your worksheet where you’ll be presented with a variety of options.
You can also protect cells and comments from this option.
In the same way you protected the worksheet, you can protect your workbook.
Using Templates
To see the variety of templates you can use in Excel, click File>New and you’ll be presented with a collection of 25 templates you can choose from.
For example, there’s a great Loan Amortization Schedule you can use. Formulas are built in for you. All you need to do is change the numbers.
You can also go online while inside Excel to find more. You don’t want to download templates from outside Excel because they may contain macros that are contaminated with viruses.
On the right side of the page, you have a huge selection to choose from.
It even provides employee time sheets you can use that can save you so much time trying to figure out formulas.
Creating and Managing Templates
Go to File>Info>Save As and save the template to your location, then save as an Excel Template.
Before you save as a template you want to:
Finalize the look and feel of your template
Use review and auditing tools
Remove unnecessary data and information
Unprotect cells and sheets as appropriate
Create comments as guides
Congratulations! Now you’re an Excel Pro! This completes our Excel Like a Pro Series. If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to contact our Excel 2016 experts.
by Felicien | May 23, 2018 | Education
This Ransomware Survival Guide will help your employees master the skills to prevent downloading or linking to malicious ransomware threats.
It will help them recognize phishing emails, malicious links and what to do when they find them. It will help you protect your organization and:
Prevent ransomware attacks.
Ensure your employees can continue working after an attack.
Store your data securely, so it’s safeguarded from ransomware threats.
You’ve surely seen the results of ransomware attacks in the news. These attacks are escalating, sophisticated and often successful. Ransomware attacks are increasing, and so are the ransoms to recover your data and get your network back up and running.
“Ransomware is the fastest growing malware threat, targeting users of all types—from the home user to the corporate network. On average, more than 4,000 ransomware attacks have occurred daily since January 1, 2016. This is a 300-percent increase over the approximately 1,000 attacks per day seen in 2015. There are very effective prevention and response actions that can significantly mitigate the risk posed to your organization.”5
If you think your small or mid-sized business won’t be attacked, you’re wrong. Hackers target organizations like yours because most aren’t armed to defend against ransomware attacks. It’s essential that you and your employees are educated and prepared to prevent becoming a victim of ransomware attack.
This Ransomware Survival Guide will arm you with the facts you need to defend against an attack.
Topics
WHAT IS RANSOMWARE?
TYPES OF RANSOMWARE
HOW RANSOMWARE IS DELIVERED
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS FROM A RANSOMWARE ATTACK
THE RIGHT KIND OF BACKUP SOLUTION – HOW TO PROTECT YOUR DATA
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO TO DEFEND AGAINST A RANSOMWARE ATTACK
ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DEFENSES YOUR MSP CAN DEPLOY
WHAT IS RANSOMWARE?
Ransomware comes in many different forms. It’s a type of malware that prohibits access to your computer devices unless you pay a ransom. Ransomware malware encrypts your data so you can’t use it. Once it does, it can travel throughout your network and encrypt other mapped and unmapped drives and bring your organization’s productivity to a halt.
You’ll know that ransomware has entered your computer because the hackers display a screen or webpage explaining how much you should pay to unlock your files (the ransom payment). These typically run in the $300-$500 range, but today some organizations are paying upwards of $1,000 per computer.
To avoid being caught by the FBI, the criminals demand that you pay the ransom with a form of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. Once your payment is verified, the hackers may send you decryption software to unlock your files. (Sometimes they don’t.)
With over 2,900 new forms of malware being reported, it’s hard to keep up with them all. The FBI urges business owners and individuals not to pay the ransom. However, if you do decide to pay, there is a chance that you still will not get your files back. 4
According to the FBI, businesses paid “more than $209 million in ransom payments” in the first three months of 2016 compared to $25 million in all of 2015.” 3 And they’ve established a pattern of attacking not only businesses (large and small) but:
Hospitals
Police stations
Schools
TYPES OF RANSOMWARE
Encrypting Ransomware
This is the most common type of ransomware. It encrypts your files and demands payment, typically in the form of Bitcoin to send you a decryption key.
Leakware (also called Doxware)
This is an upgraded version of encryption ransomware where the criminal threatens to release your confidential data on the web. This has the potential to create financial and data loss, and expose your trade secrets, source codes, and other confidential information. It typically causes reputational damage.
Mobile Ransomware
Ransomware is no longer constrained to desktop computers. Mobile ransomware is malware that steals sensitive data or locks a mobile device permanently and then demands payment before unlocking it. The incidence of mobile ransomware is increasing rapidly.
Wiper
This is a new form of ransomware that encrypts your system and completely deletes all of your data. Its motive is to erase your data, but it will still display a message asking for a ransom payment. NotPetya, first discovered in 2016, was wiper ransomware.
Locky
If your computers are infected by Locky, it will rename all of your important files and prevent you from opening them. It does this by encrypting files with the extension locky. You must purchase the decryption key to retrieve your files. To do this, you have to go to the Dark Web and pay $400+ in Bitcoin.
Cryptolocker
CryptoLocker infects computers that run Microsoft Windows. Like other forms of ransomware, you must pay the hackers to decrypt and recover your files. CryptoLocker spreads via fake phishing emails designed to mimic the look of those from legitimate businesses.
Cerber
This ransomware encrypts your files using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption. It demands a ransom of .059 Bitcoins (worth $500) and communicates via a text-to-speech voice message, a recording, a web page, or a plain text document. You can’t decrypt files unless you pay the ransom.
Ransom32
Ransom32 is a “ransomware-as-a-service” that lets criminals create their own type of ransomware. It uses JavaScript and can target computers that run Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
FakeBsod
FakeBsod locks your web browser. It tells you to go to a particular webpage (that contains the ransomware). The message says to “contact Microsoft technicians” about an “Error 333 Registry Failure of the operating system – Host: Blue screen Error 0x0000000CE”. When you call the phone number, you’ll be asked to pay a fee to fix the problem.
Non-Encrypting Ransomware
This type of ransomware doesn’t encrypt files. Instead, it blocks access to them and shows frustrating messages when you attempt to access them.
Here’s what the FBI tells us about ransomware: “The FBI and our federal, international, and private sector partners have taken proactive steps to neutralize some of the more significant ransomware scams through law enforcement actions against major botnets that facilitated the distribution and operation of ransomware.” 1
The FBI wants you to contact them if you’ve been victimized by ransomware or other forms of cyber fraud. You can do this via the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
HOW RANSOMWARE IS DELIVERED
Hackers primarily use the following attack vectors to infect computers: phishing emails, unpatched programs, compromised websites, poisoned online advertising and free software downloads. The infection begins when you or one of your employees opens an email attachment that contains ransomware. Once they do, the malicious virus automatically installs itself on the computer and encrypts all the files. If the computer is linked to others on your network, additional computers can be infected as well.
Phishing Emails
People are the weakest link in security because we’re trusting by nature. Cybercriminals send emails disguised as legitimate messages, hoping to entice the user to open an infected attachment or click a link that takes them to an infected website. Known as phishing, this tactic is highly effective. According to the Verizon 2017 Data Breach Investigation Report, phishing attacks continue to rise and 43% of all breaches they studied utilized phishing.6
Opening a phishing email isn’t enough to get a user infected with ransomware. Users must open the infected attachment or click the link that takes them to a compromised website.
This is the most common scenario. You’ll receive a realistic-looking email with a link or attachment that contains the ransomware. Hackers will often send a number of these links or attachments to hide the one with the malware. Once it’s clicked, the malicious software loads itself and the ransomware infection spreads throughout your files, locking them until you pay the ransom.
Drive-by-Downloads
If you unknowingly visit a realistic-looking website containing ransomware, it can load itself onto your computer. If you use an old browser, out-of-date software, or third-party applications, you’ll be more vulnerable. A hacker can detect a vulnerability and exploit it.
When a software vendor discovers this, they’ll release a patch to repair the issue, but by this time the criminal has already done their dirty work. Examples include unpatched versions of Adobe Flash, a bug in Java, an old web browser, or an unpatched operating system. Cybercriminals can automatically install ransomware when compromised websites are visited.
Free Software
Many people download free software. Some forms are legitimate, but others contain ransomware. They are especially prominent in broken versions of expensive games, free games, porn content, screensavers, or bogus software. By convincing the user that they should download the software, hackers can get past firewalls and email filters. You might not even know that they’ve done this until the ransomware activates weeks later.
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED
Tell your employees to let you know if they experience the following:
They can’t open their files, or they get error messages saying a file is corrupted or contains the wrong extension.
A window pops up with a ransomware program that they can’t close. This window may contain a message about paying a ransom to unlock files.
A message says that a countdown has started for a ransom to decrypt files and that it will increase over time.
They see files in their directories with names like “How to decrypt files.txt or decrypt_instructions.html.”
If you believe one or more computers has been infected, try these:
Unplug the infected computer from your network. You may also need to turn off all network access for all your computers until you know the virus is contained.
Set your Basic Input Output System (BIOS) time back if the ransomware has started a countdown. This will hopefully give you more time to recover your critical files and try to eliminate the malware. You can access your BIOS time through the BIOS Setup Utility on your computer.
Restore your files from your last backup. This is why it’s important to regularly backup your files to an enterprise-cloud solution. Make sure your most recent backup wasn’t infected.
You can use a disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS)
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS FROM A RANSOMWARE ATTACK
One of the most important things you can do is to have your IT Managed Services Provider deploy remote monitoring of your IT environment and implement a business continuity plan (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Plan (DR) in advance of an attack. Cybersecurity is all about your IT defense controls. If you can detect and block a potential infection, this is always the best defense. If you are infected, you’ll be able to continue working if you have a proper BCP in effect.
Make sure your most recent backup wasn’t infected. If you use a disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) solution, you can do this. You can quickly “spin up” the DR image on your computer in a self-contained virtual machine (VM), so you can inspect the DR image without exposing it to your entire network.
As mentioned previously, alert the FBI. Don’t pay the ransom. This is a mistake because you still may not get your files back and the criminals may continue to extort money from you.
THE RIGHT KIND OF BACKUP SOLUTION – HOW TO PROTECT YOUR DATA
As mentioned above, you’ll need this if your computer files get infected with ransomware or other forms of malware. Not all backup solutions are the same, especially when it comes to ransomware.
Your business requires an enterprise-grade version of a cloud backup solution. The limits of consumer backup solutions will reduce your ability to recover from a ransomware attack.
Many consumer-grade backup solutions save a limited history of files. When your files get infected, you’ll only have a recent backup that is probably infected as well. So, you won’t be able to restore your files.
The right enterprise-grade cloud backup solution will copy a complete version history of your data. Because you might not know that your files are infected until possibly weeks later, you can go back to a version before the infection occurred and restore your files if you use an enterprise-grade cloud solution.
Talk to your IT Managed Services Provider about this. They can help you use the cloud backup solution that’s best for your business.
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO TO DEFEND AGAINST A RANSOMWARE ATTACK
The good news is that there are best practices you can adopt to protect your business. Your IT Managed Services Provider can help you with these.
Implement an awareness and training program. Because end users are targets, employees should be aware of the threat of ransomware and how it is delivered.
Enable strong spam filters to prevent phishing emails (an attempt to obtain sensitive information electronically) from reaching employees and authenticate inbound email using technologies like Sender Policy Framework (SPF), Domain Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC), and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) to prevent email spoofing.
Scan all incoming and outgoing emails to detect threats and filter executable files (used to perform computer functions) from reaching employees.
Configure firewalls to block access to known malicious IP addresses.
Patch operating systems, software, and firmware on devices. Consider using a centralized patch management system.
Set anti-virus and anti-malware programs to conduct regular scans automatically.
Manage the use of privileged accounts based on the principle of least privilege: no employees should be assigned administrative access unless absolutely needed and those with a need for administrator accounts should only use them when necessary.
Configure access controls—including file, directory, and network share permissions with least privilege in mind. If an employee only needs to read specific files, the employee should not have write access to those files, directories, or shares.
Disable macro scripts (toolbar buttons and keyboard shortcut) from office files transmitted via email. Consider using Office Viewer software to open Microsoft Office files transmitted via email instead of full office suite applications.
Implement Software Restriction Policies (SRP)s or other controls to prevent programs from executing from common ransomware locations, such as temporary folders supporting popular Internet browsers or compression/decompression programs including the AppData/LocalAppData folder.
Consider disabling Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) if it is not being used.
Use application whitelisting, which only allows systems to execute programs known and permitted by security policies.
Execute operating system environments or specific programs in a virtualized environment.
Categorize data based on organizational value and implement physical and logical separation of networks and data for different organizational units. 2
Your IT MSP Can Provide Security Awareness Training for Your Employees.
Even if you use all the right technology solutions to safeguard your business data, your employees can still click on malicious links or visit websites containing ransomware. Cybersecurity Awareness Training should be conducted regularly as ransomware changes and is a moving target. All new employees should undergo this training, and it should be repeated once a year.
The FBI, U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council have put out guidance and best practices on how to help protect your systems from this growing threat.
Some of the basic defenses against ransomware include:
Educating all staff on the risks and how to use email and the web safely;
Making sure to regularly back up critical systems and data;
Maintaining up-to-date firewalls and anti-malware systems and protections;
Limiting the ability of users or IT systems to write onto servers or other systems;
Having a robust patch-management program;
Using web- and email-protection systems and software; and
Removing any device suspected of being infected from your systems.
ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL DEFENSES YOUR MSP CAN DEPLOY
Encrypt Your Data
If you have systems where users enter credentials, ensure this data is encrypted.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Require multi-factor authentication for all remote access to sites where your users must log in.
Block Websites
Ask your MSP to block “unrated” sites. This will reduce your exposure to ransomware.
Restrict IP Addresses
Ask your MSP to block outbound traffic that you have no business with, such as hacker-havens in Eastern Europe, Russia, etc.
Threat Detection & Alerts
Have a system for early detection and confirmation. In today’s threat environment, signature-based detection is not enough. Organizations that employ detection tactics experience improved speed and accuracy of response to ransomware threats.
Restrict Dangerous Software
Employ software “whitelisting” policies to block execution from suspicious ProgramData and Users.
Make Sure System Restoration Solutions Are Available Offline. This includes your backup software and license keys. Your MSP should refresh your backup tools every quarter.
Test Data Restores Offsite Every 3 Months. Make sure you can restore your systems from scratch.
Ask Your MSP To Make Sure Monitoring And Alerting Solutions Are Working. Log the right events on your perimeter devices, as well as on all your servers. This way your MSP will have the information you need to respond effectively.
Conduct Regular Penetration Tests. This is performed by simulating malicious ransomware and other attacks from your organization’s internal and external users.
The increased incidence and rapid evolution of ransomware have raised concerns and stakes for both small and large businesses. Of everything we’ve discussed here, the two most important things to do to protect your business are to use a solid, enterprise-grade cloud backup solution and to provide professional Security Awareness Training for your employees.
In any case, your IT Managed Services Provider is your best friend. They’ll help you fight and prevent ransomware and cybercrime of all kinds. Don’t wait to contact them.
References:
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/ransomware-on-the-rise
https://www.sba.gov/blogs/14-tips-protect-your-business-ransomware-attacks
https://www.ncua.gov/newsroom/Pages/ncua-report/2016/october/ransomware-serious-growing-threat.aspx
https://www.fbi.gov/audio-repository/news-podcasts-thisweek-ransomware-on-the-rise.mp3/view
https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ccips/file/872771/download
2017 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) from the Perspective of Exterior Security Perimeter
by Felicien | May 23, 2018 | Education
With the increase and diversification of consumer goods in the world today, there is a constant need for more manufacturing firms. Most manufacturing firms work around the clock and still can’t meet the needs of their customers. These companies play a big role in ensuring that the desires of consumers are met. Because of the urgent nature of manufacturing products, many manufacturers face numerous challenges.
These include:
Evolving consumer needs
Consumer’s tastes and needs are constantly evolving. Consumer needs are affected by factors such as the entertainment industry, the latest fashion trends, the weather, and even the environment in which the consumer lives. Manufacturing firms must constantly be scrambling to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers. This can be a daunting task. For most companies, it’s time-consuming and expensive to change the manufacturing process. Changes in consumer needs can either be systemic or abrupt. While systemic changes are predictable and somewhat easier to deal with, changes which occur abruptly pose the greatest challenge to manufacturing firms. Firms are forced to make unexpected modifications to their products and the process of production.
Technological changes
Like consumer needs, technology is constantly changing. Changes in technology are viewed positively in most circumstances. New technology can make doing certain jobs simpler while improving accuracy. Machines can now do the work of dozens of humans, reducing the number of people employed.
Technology, however, may have adverse effects on businesses in various ways. First of all, with technology comes the risk of cybercrime. Cyber-attacks are a constant threat that manufacturing firms have to be aware of. These attacks can have negative effects on the firm, including revealing their trade secrets or exposing their client list. This, in turn, can result in a loss of revenue and the company may be at a disadvantage in the marketplace.
Another problem associated with technology is the rate at which technology changes. Today, you may have the most modern equipment available, but all that could change with some new invention. Keeping up with changing technology in the world of manufacturing can be an expensive affair. Sometimes equipment can be modified and sometimes it must be replaced. This means that a manufacturing company must constantly be on the outlook for new and advanced technology and must have both the willingness and the money to purchase or upgrade their machinery. This can be costly.
Compliance with rules and regulations
Without a doubt, the manufacturing industry is one of the most regulated industries in any given country. Most governments exercise a lot of power in this area because of the effects that these firms’ products can have on consumers. Some rules and regulations affecting manufacturing firms include taxation, standardization rules, and consumer protection regulations. Manufacturing firms are also required to ensure that their premises are safe for workers. Accidents in large, busy manufacturing plants are common, but they do slow down the workflow. In some cases, the plant can be fined for not following the set human safety standards. Most of the time, compliance with these regulations is costly.
Competition
This has been a common problem for firms since time immemorial. Growth in the number of manufacturing firms is bound to increase competition. Competition in the world today, however, is not the same as in days past. With the fast adoption of the World Wide Web, it has become increasingly easier for competitors to market their products in a global marketplace. Manufacturing firms in China, for example, are extremely hard to beat on their prices and turnaround times. The Chinese do not have wage or safety laws. They can work their people around the clock and many do. Competitors in the United States will have a hard time matching the low prices of Chinese manufacturers. In the US, companies must observe OHSA safety laws and they must pay workers a minimum wage. This has led to most companies going overseas for their products and manufacturing needs.
Lack of adequately skilled personnel
One of the biggest problems faced by employers in the world today is the number of baby boomers attaining retirement age. Upon retiring, baby boomers leave a vacuum in the field, having taken their numerous years of experience with them. People taking over from the baby boomers, on the other hand, are not adequately prepared or skilled enough to fill in the gap left. Firms are thus spending a lot of money training the new workforce.
Inflation
Money is generally hard to come by for most people in the world today. Poor economic policies and poor implementation of sound economic rules has caused a rise in inflation rates over the years. When there is an improvement, it is usually by a rather small margin, which does not make much of an impact in the lives of most people. Manufacturing firms are hard hit by inflation. Firstly, the cost of raw materials that they depend on is likely to rise as a result of inflation. The cost of production, generally, also rises. This means a rise in the cost of the finished product. But because inflation affects everyone, consumers may not have enough money to purchase these higher priced items. Consumers can now surf the web and find cheaper products from all over the world.
Final thoughts
Manufacturing firms play a big role in every country’s economy. They ensure that there is always a supply to meet the growing demand. However, the problems they face each year make their work much more challenging. Juggling all the various components required for success can leave some manufacturers out in the cold.
by Felicien | May 23, 2018 | Education
Excel Like A Pro Part III
This is the final of a three-part series about using Microsoft Excel 2016. It will cover some of the more advanced topics. If you aren’t great with numbers, don’t worry. Excel does the work for you. With the 2016 version of Excel, Microsoft really upped its game. Excel’s easy one-click access can be customized to provide the functionality you need.
If you haven’t read Part I and Part II of this series, it’s suggested that you do so. The webinar versions can also be found on our site or on YouTube.
This session will discuss the following:
More with Functions and Formulas
Naming Cells and Cell Ranges
Statistical Functions
Lookup and Reference Functions
Text Functions
Documenting and Auditing
Commenting
Auditing Features
Protection
Using Templates
Built-In Templates
Creating and Managing Templates
More With Functions And Formulas
Naming Cells And Cell Ranges
How do you name a cell? You do so by the cell’s coordinates, such as A2 or B3, etc. When you write formulas using Excel’s coordinates and ranges you are “speaking” Excel’s language. However, this can be cumbersome. For example, here G12 is significant because it refers to our Team Sales.
You can teach Excel to speak your language by naming the G12 cell Team Sales. This will have more meaning to you and your teammates. The benefits of naming cells in this fashion are that they are easier to remember, reduce the likelihood of errors, and use absolute references (by default).
To name our G12 cell Team Sales, right-click on the cell, choose Define Name, and type “Team Sales” into the dialog box. You can also add any comments you want here. Then click Ok.
Another way to do this is to click on the G12 cell and go up to the Name Box next to the Formula Bar, then type your name there.
And, there’s a third option at the top of the page called “Define Cells” that you can use.
Notice that there’s an underscore between Team and Sales (Team_Sales). There are some rules around naming cells:
You’re capped at 255 characters.
The names must start with a letter, underscore or a backslash ().
You can only use letters, numbers, underscores or periods.
Strings that are the same as a cell reference, for example B1, or have any of the following single letters (C,c,R,r) cannot be used as names.
How To Name A Range
Highlight an entire range of cells and name your range (we’re doing this in the upper left-hand corner).
Then you can easily use the name to produce the sum you need:
You won’t have to go back and forth from spreadsheet to spreadsheet clicking on specific cells to calculate your formula. You simply key in the name of the cell range you want to add. Just be sure to remember the names as you build your spreadsheets over time.
If you ever make a mistake or want to change names, you can go to Name Manager to do this.
Remember that if you move the cells, the name goes with it.
Statistical Functions
The three statistical functions are:
Average If
Count If
Sum If
The Average If can be used to figure out the average of a range based on certain criteria. Here we’re going calculate the Average If of the ERA of 20+ Game Winners from the spreadsheet we developed in our last session.
We’ve already named some of our cell ranges (wins, era). And we want to know the average greater than 19.
Hit Enter and you have the average.
You can use this feature across a wide variety of scenarios. For example, if you wanted to know the average sales of orders above a certain quantity – or units sold by a particular region, or the average profit by a distinct quarter.
Count If is used for finding answers to questions like, “How many orders did client x place?” “How many sales reps had sales of $1,000 or more this week?” or “How many times have the pitchers of the Philadelphia Phillies won the Cy Young Award?”
As you can imagine, it’s essential that you type in the text exactly the way you named that particular cell.
Hit Enter and you get your answer
Now we’re going to use the Sum If function to calculate the number of strikeouts by the pitchers on this list who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sum If is a good way to perform a number of real-world statistical analyses. For example, total commissions on sales above a certain price, or total bonuses due to reps who met a target goal, or total earnings in a particular quarter year-over-year.
Lookup and Reference Functions
These are designed to ease the finding and referencing of data, especially in large tables. Here, cells A1 and E3 relate to a variable interest rate that is paid on a bank account. For balances under $1,000, the interest rate is 3% – between $1,000 and $10,000, the interest rate is 4%, etc.
Cell A6 shows the balance of a specific account. The Lookup Function is used in B6. It looks up the interest rate and applies it to the account balance of $45,000. This is what the formula looks like in the bar at the top:
The vector form of the Excel Lookup Function can be used with any two arrays of data that have one-to-one matching values. For example, two columns of data, two rows of data, or even a column and a row would work, as long as the Lookup Vector is ordered (alphabetically or numerically), and the two data sets are the same length.
V Lookup and H Lookup are used to pull information into reports. We’re going to use Report Setup. Here, we have a worksheet that references salespeople, sales data, pricing, revenue, and the clients that they sold to. You’ll see on the top right where we set up a report with names referencing sales data.
You can access the sales reps in the drop-down menu. Pick a rep and use the V Lookup Function to find the price.
To Find Price, key in =vlookup and the corresponding cell number for Rep 16, plus the table array which is the entire table not including the header at the top.
Then you need the column index number. This is the number of columns to the right of your lookup value column, which is column A. It’s the 4th column from column A (Price).
Enter 4,
For range lookup we’re using true or false. We are entering false here.
Hit Enter and this is what you have for your Find Price value.
Now we’ll do a similar V Lookup for the Client. Copy and Paste:
Make the necessary changes in your formula:
Client 16 goes with Rep 16.
Note: If you change the Sales Rep, all the corresponding values will change.
If you have a lot of data and long tables, V Lookup helps you find information easily. The V stands for Vertical (or by column), because columns are vertical. H Lookup is for Horizontal-like column headers.
Text Functions
Text Functions contain some very powerful tools to adjust, rearrange and even combine data. These functions are used for worksheets that contain information and function as a database such as mailing lists, product catalogs, or even Cy Young Award Winners.
The first text function we’ll show you is concatenate. It links things together in a chain or series. Here, we have our Cy Young list. But we no longer need to see our Wins and Losses in a separate column.
To do this easily rather than manually, create a new column where your data will reside.
Hit Enter
Now, just go in and hide the Wins and Losses columns. Don’t delete them or your new column will have a reference error.
If you do want to delete the Wins and Losses columns, you must first make a new column. Copy the W-L numbers and Paste Value in the new column. This way you’ve moved from a formula to the new information. If you delete your source information without taking this step you’ll be left with nothing.
Combine as many columns as you need with the concatenate function to make the data appear as you need it to.
The Left Mid and Right Functions
These are used to tell Excel that you only want part of a text string in a particular cell. Here, we have a product list and product IDs that tell us the date of manufacturer, the item number, and the factory where it was made. We’re going to pull the data out so we can put it in columns to use in different ways.
We use the Mid Function here.
This works because each of the product IDs are the same length. If they were different lengths you’d have to do something more creative.
Documenting and Auditing
You want to make your Excel files easy to understand for both yourself and others who need to use them – and this includes auditors. An organized worksheet results in clear error-free data and functions.
Commenting
The purpose of commenting is to provide notes to yourself or especially to others. Comments can include reminders, explanations or suggestions.
You’ll find the New Comment button at the top under the Review Menu. Simply click the cell where you want the comment to go and click New Comment. Then type your comment and click outside the box to close it. The comment will disappear but it’s still there. Anywhere you see a red flag, there’s a comment.
If your name doesn’t appear in the comment, go to File>Options>General and personalize your copy of Excel (in this case Microsoft Office) under the User Name. You won’t need to go back and change each comment; Excel will do this for you.
To format a comment, click inside the comment box and a drop down will come up where you can format the text.
You can change the color of the box and lines around the box. Some managers have different colors for members of their teams.
If you change the default color, it will change that for all your Microsoft products.
To delete a comment, go to the cell that hosts it, then go up and hit delete.
If you have a lot of comments, grab the handle on the box and resize it.
Auditing
What we really mean is formula auditing. This is an advanced way to check your work.
The yellow diamond on the left of this cell indicates that there’s an error.
Or to find any errors, go to Formula Auditing in the top menu.
You have a number of helpful tools here. Trace Precedents shows where the formula looks for information. Click the formula you want and click Trace Precedents. It will display where your data came from.
Here’s a more complex formula and trace auditing:
To hide the arrows, click “Remove Arrows.”
Show Formulas
This expands all of your columns and shows all of them in a bigger way. You can go in and check your formulas on the fly very easily. Click Show Formulas again and the worksheet goes back to the way it was before.
Error Checking
This feature lets you check all formulas at once.
This makes it easy to find errors and correct them.
Evaluate Formula
This feature allows you to check a formula step-by-step. It shows the results of each individual part. It’s another great way to de-bug a formula that isn’t working for you. Click the formula you want to evaluate. Click Evaluate Formula and you’ll get a dialog box.
Click Evaluate and it will change the formula to the actual value that you can review. Each time you click Evaluate, it will take you through the steps of how you got to the final formula. You can trace your way through to see if you made any errors.
Protection
With protection you can lock in your changes in individual cells, spreadsheets, and entire workbooks. You can also protect comments from being moved or edited.
This is how to protect an entire workbook. It’s the highest level of protection.
You’ll want to do this if your workbook contains confidential information like:
Pre-released quarterly results
Employee salary tables
Staff member evaluations
Click File>Info>Protect Workbook>Encrypt with Password.
Enter your password and be sure to make note of it because it can’t be recovered if you lose it. You can use password management software to keep track of your passwords.
Once complete, click OK and your Protect Workbook function turns yellow indicating that you’ve protected your workbook.
To take off protection, retrace your steps.
You can also protect a current sheet you’re working on. It will take you back to your worksheet where you’ll be presented with a variety of options.
You can also protect cells and comments from this option.
In the same way you protected the worksheet, you can protect your workbook.
Using Templates
To see the variety of templates you can use in Excel, click File>New and you’ll be presented with a collection of 25 templates you can choose from.
For example, there’s a great Loan Amortization Schedule you can use. Formulas are built in for you. All you need to do is change the numbers.
You can also go online while inside Excel to find more. You don’t want to download templates from outside Excel because they may contain macros that are contaminated with viruses.
On the right side of the page, you have a huge selection to choose from.
It even provides employee time sheets you can use that can save you so much time trying to figure out formulas.
Creating and Managing Templates
Go to File>Info>Save As and save the template to your location, then save as an Excel Template.
Before you save as a template you want to:
Finalize the look and feel of your template
Use review and auditing tools
Remove unnecessary data and information
Unprotect cells and sheets as appropriate
Create comments as guides
Congratulations! Now you’re an Excel Pro! This completes our Excel Like a Pro Series. If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to contact our Excel 2016 experts.
