Cybersecurity for Small Businesses

Is your small business protected from ransomware?

Yes, you want to have good backups and antivirus software, but that by itself isn’t enough.  There are effective and cost-effective steps that a small business can take to up their level of security and protection, including:

• Download NSG’s security baseline for small businesses
• Backups, backups, backups!
• User training and awareness
• Password policies
• Multifactor Authentication
• Security software that is regularly updated and monitored
• DNS filtering
• Next generation firewall
• Patching policy
• Network monitoring
• Auditing and logging software
• Regular security reviews

Secure Your Business with an Ann Arbor Computer Service

Ready to secure your business?

Network Services Group is an Ann Arbor computer service that can help you defend your small business from and cyberattacks. Contact NSG today to discuss how you can take your cybersecurity to the next level.

Network Services for Cybersecurity

Are you up to date on best cybersecurity practice?

Cybersecurity is serious business.  Hackers, scammers, and ransomware are everywhere, and it seems like you can’t go more than a few days without hearing about some business being the victim of ransomware.  It almost seems like cybersecurity is a fulltime job and many industries have specific security requirements that would be difficult or impossible for a small business to meet.

What can you do to protect yourself as a small business?  The answer is to work with a qualified and knowledgeable network service and support company to take your cyber security to the next level.

Support Your Business with Computer Service in Ann Arbor

Ready to secure your business?

Network Services Group is an Ann Arbor computer service that can help you defend your small business from and cyberattacks. Contact NSG today to discuss how you can take your cybersecurity to the next level.

Keep Your Servers Up to Date

Reminder that on October 10th, 2023, Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 will no longer be supported.

Keeping your business on an outdated server means you’ll likely experience frequent crashes, incompatibility with new software, limited or terminated technical support, and (arguably most importantly) high vulnerability to ransomware and other cyberattacks. And those are just the bigger issues—issues with performance and efficiency are sure to plague you daily as well.

Update Your Business with Ann Arbor Tech Support

Network Services Group can help you migrate all your old system data to new software and hardware. Our priority is keeping your sensitive data safe and secure, as well as keeping your business running smoothly. Reach out to Ann Arbor tech support to speak with an IT expert, and we’ll help you make a plan to update your tech and protect your business. 

To get started, call (877) 815-6974 or submit a contact form here.

October 10th is End of Support for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2

Is your business still running on Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2?

According to Microsoft, support for these servers will end on October 10th, 2023. This means that after October 10th, they will no longer be getting security updates, non-security updates, bug fixes, or technical support. This makes all businesses running on these servers easy targets for hackers.

If your business is still running on a Server 2012 system chances are you’re relying on other old hardware and technology at your office. Keeping your hardware and software up to date is best business practice—relying on old, unsupported hardware automatically puts your business at significant risk.

Keep Your Business Secure with Ann Arbor Tech Support

Network Services Group can help you migrate all your old system data to new software and hardware. Our priority is keeping your sensitive data safe and secure, as well as keeping your business running smoothly. Reach out to Ann Arbor tech support to speak with an IT expert, and we’ll help you make a plan to update your tech and protect your business. 

To get started, call (877) 815-6974 or submit a contact form here.

The Lahaina Fires - Excerpt from Don's Experience

The day after the fires, one of our neighbors took his moped and drove into Lahaina.  The police tried to wave him off, but he kept going.  He took a bunch of pictures and videos and showed them to us when he returned.  Everyone in the neighborhood was squeezing in around him trying to look at his phone.  Sure enough, pretty much the entire town had burned down.

Think about this – there were no gas stations, no grocery stores, and no restaurants.  Everything was closed, because even the stores that didn’t burn down didn’t have power, and for the first week the roads were mostly closed so you couldn’t go anywhere.

Local volunteers started stepping up, gathering donations and making supply runs.  Various distribution hubs started popping up all over the place.  The locals organized and ran it all – the State and Federal governments were nowhere to be seen.

Continue reading Don’s story here.

The people in Lahaina are in need.  Some of them lost everything, and they could use your help.  If you can find it in your heart, please consider donating to one or more of the following charities.  The road ahead will be long, but with your help, the good people of Lahaina will recover and rebuild.  #LahainaStrong

• Honokowai Relief Fund: https://www.givesendgo.com/honokowairelief
• Mercy Chefs: https://give.mercychefs.com/maui_fires_web
• World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org/
• Maui Humane Society: https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/
• Maui Food Bank: https://mauifoodbank.org/

Network Services Group is an IT Support Specialist in Ann Arbor, Michigan

NSG has been helping local businesses with computer and network services for over 20 years. Our goal is to establish long-term relationships with our customers and assist them every step of the way in building their IT infrastructure. For more information, visit https://www.nsgroupllc.com/about 

The Lahaina Fires - Excerpt from Don's Experience

On the night of the fires in Maui and Lahaina, around 10:15 p.m., my wife and I were woken by a loud banging on our door.  It turns out it was our friends, Mark and Robyn, and they told us there was a huge fire in Lahaina, the entire city burned down, and they thought their house had burned down along with it.  They threw some stuff in their cars (including their kitty) and drove north to get away from the fire.

Of course, we took them in and were extremely grateful they were safe, but at the same time we were devastated to hear about the fire and the entire town burning down.  It takes a while for something like that to sink in.  “What do you mean, the entire town?  You probably just mean a couple of buildings, or maybe a couple of blocks?”  They made it clear that no, it was the whole town.  I can’t even imagine how they must’ve felt thinking that they had lost everything, but at least they were safe.

Continue reading Don’s story here.

The people in Lahaina are in need.  Some of them lost everything, and they could use your help.  If you can find it in your heart, please consider donating to one or more of the following charities.  The road ahead will be long, but with your help, the good people of Lahaina will recover and rebuild.  #LahainaStrong

• Honokowai Relief Fund: https://www.givesendgo.com/honokowairelief

• Mercy Chefs: https://give.mercychefs.com/maui_fires_web

• World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org/

• Maui Humane Society: https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/

• Maui Food Bank: https://mauifoodbank.org/

Network Services Group is an IT Support Specialist in Ann Arbor, Michigan

NSG has been helping local businesses with computer and network services for over 20 years. Our goal is to establish long-term relationships with our customers and assist them every step of the way in building their IT infrastructure. For more information, visit https://www.nsgroupllc.com/about

6 Steps for Backing Up Your Data

How often do you back up your data?

In terms of backups, you will want a reliable and comprehensive backup plan that meets the following metrics:

1. Identify all important data, and ensure it is stored in approved places that are included in your backups (e.g. shared network drive) as opposed to in your local “my documents” folder.
2. Business class backup software such as Veeam or Acronis that can make full system images, perform incremental backups, offer encryption, and feature granular restore capability (ability to restore the whole system or individual files).
3. Local backups are stored on separate network storage device that only your backup software knows about.  External drives plugged into your server or mapped network drives are just as likely to be encrypted as your server itself.
4. Off-site backups.  Make sure you have off-site backup capability, either to removable media that is regularly swapped and taken off-site, or cloud storage.
5. Off-line backups.  Sure, cloud backups are great and provide off-site capability.  But by definition, cloud backups mean “on-line,” and there is at least some possibility that anything that is online can be discovered and hacked.  Off-site backups (such as removable media that has been physically disconnected) cannot be hacked because they are physically unplugged and off-line.  This will save your day if all of your other backups get encrypted.
6. Make sure your IT support is competent and has experience backing up and restoring customer systems and data.  How does it work?  How long will it take?  Have you ever had to do it before?

Read more about protecting your data with backups here.

Reach Out to a Computer Service in Ann Arbor

If you miss even one of these, you are setting yourself up for a bad day.  But don’t despair – NSG can help.  If you aren’t 100% confident that you are fully protected, please reach out and let us know.  We’d be happy to review and discuss and come up with a plan to keep you safe and your data secure.

If you're ready for comprehensive computer service in Ann Arbor, contact NSG here!