Email and Spam

Shared Responsibility and The Importance of Email Backup for Microsoft Office 365

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Image showing the concept of the shared responsibility model for Microsoft 365 Office, and depicting the responsibility of Microsoft and that of the consumers of its cloud services.

Protecting Your Business Data: The Importance of Shared Responsibility and Third-Party Email Backup Solutions for Microsoft Office 365

Businesses rely heavily on cloud-based solutions like Microsoft Office 365 for their day-to-day operations. With its suite of productivity tools and collaborative features, Office 365 has become a cornerstone for many organizations, enabling seamless communication, document sharing, and project management. However, amidst the convenience and efficiency it offers, there lies a critical aspect that business owners often overlook: shared responsibility for data protection.

Understanding Shared Responsibility

When it comes to cloud services like Office 365, there’s a common misconception that data protection is solely the responsibility of the service provider. While Microsoft does implement robust security measures to safeguard your data against external threats, such as encryption, threat detection, and compliance certifications, the responsibility for certain aspects of data protection falls on the shoulders of the user – that’s you, the business owner.

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Spam: Strategies For Reducing Unsolicited Emails

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Mail box with no spam sign

Spam is a common, and often frustrating, side effect to having an email account. Although you will probably not be able to eliminate it, there are ways to reduce it.

What is spam?

Spam is the electronic version of “junk mail.” The term spam refers to unsolicited, often unwanted, email messages. Spam does not necessarily contain viruses so some valid messages from legitimate sources could fall into this category.

How can you reduce the amount of spam?

  • Be careful about releasing your email address

    Think twice before you respond to any request for your email address, on the web, verbally, or on paper.
    Spammers can harvest any email address posted on a website or buy a list of victims from unscrupulous vendors who sell their mailing list.
    When you give your email address to a company, or a store, that information is often entered into a database so that customer information and preferences can be tracked. If these email databases are sold to or shared with other companies, you can receive email that you didn’t request.
    So the next time you make a purchase and they ask you whether you want an emailed or a printed receipt, choose “Print only”.

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Why Small Businesses Should Protect Employee Personal Information

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Shield protecting personal information

While corporate executives have picked up practical tips on how their company can secure and protect the personal information it keeps, leaders of small businesses and organizations have to do more to protect the personal information of their employees.

But some business owners may still be wondering why data security should be at the top of their agenda. Two reasons show why your company should strive to safeguard personal information.

First, good security is just plain good business. Aware of the risk of identity theft, today’s customers are concerned about their privacy.

As any business that has experienced a breach, and the theft of personal information has learned, customers prefer companies that demonstrate a commitment to security.

For the same reasons, customers will think twice before doing business with a company that has experienced a privacy breach. Given this choice, many businesses find it more cost-effective to secure the information they have rather than try to repair the damage and rebuild consumer confidence after a data loss or breach.

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The Challenges of Data Leakage Prevention for Small Businesses

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Hard drive with technicians trying to stop data leakage

With the rapid advances in technology and the attendant interconnected nature of computer systems, many business owners are becoming increasingly aware of the dire need to control the flow of information into, through and out of their enterprises, and challenges of trying to prevent data leakage.

For years, the focus of the business owner was on how to stop viruses, spam, network intrusions etc. Now the new threat is massive data leakage. This new threat affects all kinds of businesses large and small. According to a recent International Data Corporation (IDC) report, over 80 percent of respondents to a survey acknowledged that the fear of data loss and leakage was one of the biggest challenges facing their establishments. Of these, over 50 percent admitted that they were already victims of data leakage incidents.

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Phishing And Spam Emails Are Dangerous For Small Businesses

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Cyber criminal using a phishing hook on endpoints

Email is critical to an organization. Phishing provides a way for cyber criminals to use email as a disguise to try to sneak by and steal business data.

There are only so many ways to break into a bank. You can march through the door. You can climb through a window. You can tunnel through the floor.

There is the service entrance, the employee entrance, and access on the roof.

Criminals who want to rob a bank will probably use an open route – such as a side door. It’s easier than breaking down a wall.

Cyber criminals who want to break into your computer network face a similar challenge. They need to enter. They can look for a weakness in your network – maybe a vulnerability in your server – but it’s easier for them to use an open route. Email is one of their favorites.

Email is a door into your computer network. Data passes through it every day. If criminals want to break in, some will throw on a disguise and try to sneak by.

By pretending to be someone else, such as someone you respect, they will try to earn enough of your trust to steal from you.

This is called phishing.

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The Business Case for EndPoint Security in Small Organizations

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According to BAE Systems, almost 50 percent of small businesses have experienced a cyber attack, and as much as 60 percent of hacked small- and medium-sized businesses go out of business after six months. By deploying endpoint security solutions, most cyber attack attempts can be prevented.

Devices and services protected by endpoint security solutions

Faced with limited IT personnel and budget, small business environment usually end up with non-standard computer configurations, inadequate or non-existent security policies, old equipment etc.

The impact of the failure of an endpoint on business processes can be a little scary sometimes. A good example is a call I got from a friend the other day. The boss’s computer had a couple of viruses and they had to disconnect the computer from the network.

Of course that meant business had to come to a halt because everything was on the boss’s computer. There were no anti-virus software on any of the workstations and of course no firewall of any kind, so it was free for all.

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