by Sean Murray | Jul 15, 2021 | Uncategorized
Cyber Security with One Password Login
Think of That… One Secure Password
• One of our premier vendors, Evolve IP, has acquired Clearlogin, an identity authentication provider. If you are not familiar with identity authentication, the technology essentially integrates and unifies application usernames and passwords. This provides IT with a more secure environment and makes them much more efficient. Clearlogin meets compliance regulations for over 4,000+ enterprise applications including healthcare and finance!
• Here are some important notes
• Makes Employees more efficient
o Provides a simple login portal with a unified password for all your critical cloud applications
• Makes IT more efficient
o Reduces support calls for username & password resets
o Supports more than 4,000+ applications out of the box and provides standards-based options to add your own
o Integrate multiple cloud applications with existing internal or external directories including Active Directory, Azure, Amazon, or Google
• Increases security and supports compliance
o Allows IT to create a single, secure authentication policy across multiple cloud applications
o Customize user access to applications and domains
o Leverage advanced authentication features to block unauthorized access
o View reports on questionable activity like unsuccessful login attempts and password changes
WHO WE ARE?
Here are two videos that succinctly explain what we do for our clients. I hope you find them helpful.
First video on auditing
– https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7S2PmT_Wo7fU3g2b25ybjdTMWc/view?usp=sharing
Second video on cloud services/IT
– https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7S2PmT_Wo7fcTJHeEVHUTBVekk/view?usp=sharing
Just hit control and then click…. Then hit enter to view
by Sean Murray | Jul 14, 2021 | Uncategorized
International Law Firm Drives Communications Reliability Across 60+ Worldwide Locations; Saves Over $300,000 a Year.
Leverages Evolve IP’s Integrated Communications Solution for IP Phone System, Unified Communications and Collaboration, and Contact Center
Ogletree Deakins, an international law firm with thousands of employees,
was using a “hodge-podge” of communications solutions to serve 60+ locations around the globe, according to Ken Schultz, Chief Information Officer. Each location had a different system and frequent outages left Ogletree Deakins struggling to recover. Ken said, “it was once or twice a day we had an outage somewhere in the world.”
Reliability, Reliability, Reliability
This was a major impediment to client relations and the handling of time- sensitive issues. When Ken started as CIO at Ogletree Deakins, he recognized that, “the #1 problem was the reliability of the communications and contact center. For a law firm to be losing calls, that is a really big problem.”
While Ogletree Deakins had exceptional resources and expertise to serve their clients, communication difficulties directly impacted their ability to do so successfully. Not only did their external communications suffer, internal collaboration became impaired as well. As Ken noted, “people tended to be a lot more siloed.”
Recognizing the impact of these issues, Ogletree Deakins underwent a vigorous process to replace their disparate systems with an integrated IP phone and contact center solution.
They ultimately chose to deploy the Evolve IP OneCloud™ which runs on the world’s largest, most stable, and scalable communications platform from Cisco, and provided the firm with multiple cloud computing options as well.
Worldwide Improvements
Ogletree Deakins deployed Evolve IP’s unified phone and contact center across 60 locations including London, Berlin, Toronto, Paris, Mexico City, and St. Thomas and saw immediate improvements.
“We went with Evolve IP because of their stability and reliability. We knew we wanted a hosted solution and Evolve IP was the perfect fit,” said Ken.
Today, in addition to the security provided by having their phones and contact center running in the cloud, each location is implementing redundancies to provide a backup network.
All employees also have a unified communications application on their mobile phone. In this way, even in a blackout, Ogletree Deakins’ lawyers are able to take calls wherever they’re located.
“We thought about hosting a solution ourselves, but we didn’t have the stomach to do it right. We would need a lot of infrastructure and the right hires. Even then we wouldn’t be able to match the reliability of Evolve IP,” said Schultz.
Immediate Results
Financial Savings – Ogletree Deakins not only received one of the world’s leading IP phone systems and contact centers, they saved over $300,000 annually. “It makes it easy to sell to the board,” noted Schultz.
Stability – Since switching to Evolve IP, Ogletree Deakins has gone from experiencing daily system outages to none at all. “We haven’t had any system outages and can forward calls from the main number to another location if there’s a disaster or business continuity issue.”
Mobile Access – Thanks to the Evolve IP collaboration and unified communications mobile application Ogletree Deakins attorneys can receive office calls out of pocket, anytime. “Single number follow has been great. The attorneys all have the app on their phone, so they can see any call coming in no matter where they are.”
More Collaboration – Internal connectivity between locations has become easier and more reliable. Schultz noted, “we are able to do a better job collaborating and we feel more connected; more a part of the same organization.”
Ken Schultz
CIO of Ogletree Deakins
“That’s the type of proposition I like to bring to a Board of Directors. When I can say, ’we can get everything new, be completely redundant, it can meet all of our needs, and oh, by the way we are going to save over $300,000 a year.’ It makes it easy for me to sell!”
Applied Consulting Group 888 208 0020 [email protected] acginfo.biz 1
LOCATION:
Headquartered in San Diego, California with multiple locations around the world
INDUSTRY:
Ogletree Deakins specializes in labor and employment counsel. No matter the company size, their pledge is to understand their client’s business and objectives.
CUSTOMER PROFILE:
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
Client feedback has earned the firm multiple accolades in publications such as U.S. News – Best Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, Legal 500, and many others.
GLOBAL COVERAGE
Access lawyers who are admitted to practice in all 50 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, England, France, Germany, Mexico, and Canada.
CLIENT-FOCUSED PLEDGE
Our attorneys pledge to provide our clients with value, innovation, quality, collaboration, and effective communication.
PRODUCTS
• IP Phone System
• Unified Communications and Collaboration
• Evolve Contact Suite – Contact Center as a Service
BUSINESS SITUATION
• Ogletree Deakins had an unreliable phone system and contact center and experienced regular outages. With thousands of employees and 60+ locations, they needed a reliable, unified system that promoted stability and connectivity.
SOLUTION
• Ogletree Deakins deployed Evolve IP’s integrated IP phone system, collaboration service, and contact center across their worldwide locations.
BENEFITS
• Financial Savings – In addition to gaining a world-class IP phone system, unified communications and collaboration tool and Gartner- noted contact Center, Ogletree Deakins is saving $300,000/ year.
• Stability – Since switching to Evolve IP, Ogletree Deakins has gone from experiencing frequent outages to none at all.
• Mobile Access – Thanks to the Evolve IP mobile unified communications app, Ogletree Deakins attorneys can receive office calls out of pocket, virtually anywhere, anytime.
• More Collaboration – Internal connectivity between locations has become easy and reliable.
ABOUT EVOLVE IP
The Cloud is no longer about buying individual services. It’s now about building a strategy around multiple cloud services and integrating them together to make IT more efficient. Evolve IP delivers customized strategies and integrated services for both cloud computing and communications. Solutions that are designed to work together, with your current infrastructure, and with the applications you already use in your business. Disaster Recovery, Contact Center, Unified Communications, Desktops and Infrastructure
… Experience Cloud as a Strategy™
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by Sean Murray | Jul 13, 2021 | Uncategorized
OVERVIEW OF THE ISSUES SURROUNDING CYBER-SECURITY
In 2012, a New Jersey man hacked into several accounting firms stealing the tax forms and personal information of over a thousand clients. He used this information to file more than $6 million in fake tax returns. He also sold the pilfered data to other hackers on the dark web. He was eventually caught by the FBI, but the damage to these clients was done. The accounting firms involved had to notify their customers that they had been breached, and that they were the root cause of their tax fraud nightmares. These victims were also left to wonder what other attacks were waiting for them now that their data was in the hands of other malicious sources who had purchased their confidential information.
This incident is not unique. Incidents of hacking and cyber-breaches are on the rise across all industries and for companies of all sizes. Accounting firms face the standard cyber-risks that all industries with internet-facing systems are exposed to, but they also face unique risks based on the nature of their work and the data that they possess, as outlined herein.
Our cyber-security providers have seen these issues first-hand. They have performed proactive security assessments and penetration tests1 for many forward-thinking accounting firms and have been involved in cyber-breach incident responses for companies who have already fallen victim to malicious cyber-attacks. This case study seeks to outline the issues we have found and bring further attention to both the gravity of this situation and the need for action by those organizations who are not fully cognizant of this risk or who falsely assume they are safe.
In performing security assessments and tests, our partners AT&T, Verizon, grid32, have all found that almost uniformly, our clients in the Accounting Industry have had vulnerabilities in their systems that would allow malicious attackers to gain access to a dangerous set of data and access, including:
• Access to company records, including financials, partner compensation, payroll records, and employee social security numbers and confidential information.
• Access to client data, including financials, tax records, data files, and access credentials.
• Ability to access banking and financial accounts, transfer money out, and re-route inbound funds.
• Access to IT administrator accounts, allowing full control of networks and all resources.
• Access to user accounts, including emails, network access, and all assigned capabilities.
• Full control over networks, devices, phone systems, and security systems.
Having access to all these items at once is obviously troubling and it could be severely damaging in the wrong hands. Damages could include financial losses, lawsuits, government-imposed fines, embarrassment, and job loss. All this access and information was gained remotely, without our attack team ever setting foot in the facilities. Thankfully, our trusted professionals were able to provide remediation steps to our clients to close the security gaps and limit the likelihood that these attacks would occur in the real world. Unfortunately, far too many organizations are not taking the proper steps to prevent similar attacks. The issue looks to only be getting worse as attackers recognize the pervasiveness of vulnerabilities and caches of valuable data in this industry.
UNIQUE FACTORS AFFECTING ACCOUNTING FIRMS
Besides the standard risks inherent to all industries with internet-facing systems, accounting firms faces additional threats due to the volume and types of data that they typically house. As seen in the previous example, hackers are heavily targeting tax information so that they can file fraudulent tax returns. In 2013, the IRS paid $5.8 billion out in fraudulent tax returns. In addition, they prevented a further $24.2 billion, making a total of $30 billion in fraudulent federal tax returns filed. There are a significant number of fraudulent returns being filed at the state level as well, to such a degree that Turbo Tax had to temporarily stop processing state returns in 2015. The IRS and individual states are getting better at detecting and preventing tax fraud, but this is only increasing the volume of attempts. Whereas hackers used to try to file, for example, three returns for $10,000 each, for a payoff of $30,000, now they need to file thirty returns, for $5,000 each, to get a similar return. This need to file a larger number of returns means that the attackers need to gain access to large caches of tax-payer data. Accounting firms are a perfect source for this, putting them squarely in the crosshairs of a malicious underworld that is becoming increasingly more organized and sophisticated.
In addition to the threat brought on by tax fraud, hackers have learned that breaching an accounting firm can have a similar payoff to breaching scores of companies and individuals, since you not only get the firm’s data, but usually troves of data on their clients. Besides tax fraud, there is also typically data attackers can access to perpetuate other cyber-crimes. This includes banking credentials, which can be used to perpetuate another trending attack, wire transfer fraud. Other sensitive data that hackers may be after includes personally identifiable information, employee records, business plans, intellectual property, or access credentials for client networks and resources.
These factors make accounting firms a certain target for malicious attackers, and there is an absolute need for all accounting firms to take proactive steps to protect their data, and the data of their clients, from prying eyes. Breaches can expose accounting firms to the direct costs of damage, claims for damages from clients or third-parties, costs of compliance or fines from statues or regulations, and damage to their image and reputation.
Besides the obvious need for accounting firms to protect their own information and that of their clients, being savvy with cybersecurity is simply good business. Clients depend on accounting firms for advisement on many topics, including cybersecurity. Letting clients know that a firm takes cybersecurity seriously, proactively addressing threats, can be part of the marketing pitch to help attract and retain clients. It can even create billable services, as many accounting firms offer cybersecurity services, including many that upsell security services to their client-base.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
There are a few basic steps accounting firms should be taking to help mitigate this risk:
1. Have an Information Security Committee that meets regularly and includes key personnel and staff from relevant departments.
2. Have a written Information Security Program, with documented policies and procedures, as well as risk analyses and contingency plans.
3. Have a Penetration Test performed annually by an independent security firm, and ensure the remediation steps that come from the test are activated?
4. Train all staff on Cyber-Security Awareness.
5. Use strong and unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication whenever possible.
6. Encrypt data when transmitted and when stored, especially data that resides on mobile devices such as laptops.
7. Allocate the proper funds for cyber-security.
1WHAT IS A PENETRATION TEST?
A Penetration Test is a security exercise where a team of highly trained security experts attempt to hack into the client’s network to find security weaknesses. The intent is to discover ways that a real-world attacker might be able to compromise the systems. The highly trained security team is careful not to cause any actual harm and a report is provided detailing all the vulnerabilities and weaknesses found and recommending what needs to be done to fix them.
In-house I.T. staff are usually pressured to make things functional and easy-to-use, which diametrically oppose security. Also, it is difficult for an organization’s own IT staff to objectively look at their own systems from an outsider’s perspective. Just like a CFO needs a CPA firm to review their financials, senior IT leadership benefits from having a team of certified security experts independently test their system to give them valuable insight.
by Sean Murray | Jul 4, 2021 | Uncategorized
Over Your Head in Overhead Costs? We Can Fix That!
We Have Been Helping Companies Reduce cost and Improve Telecom for Over 40 Years.
We are totally agnostic as to the solution you need.
• Do you know all the telecom options available?
• Are you relying on a vendor to tell you what you need?
• Are you doing all the legwork to discern the differences between all the vendors?
Do you know the reputations of the various telecommunication companies? Applied Consulting Group knows the industry inside and out. Whether your business is at one location with 5 phone lines, or an international company with locations around the world, our group will expertly assess the needs of your organization and guide you to the best options available.
Perhaps you just need to reduce your telecom and IT costs or wonder if you are being billed correctly. A large percentage of our clients are billed incorrectly. Managed services can reduce and fix your budget at a definite annual budget number.
So whether you are trying to reduce you’re IT / Telecom/ Internet costs, are looking for a new carrier, a new telecom system, an internet solution, or simply want to review your current bills– we can help.
With over 40 years’ experience in telecom consulting, installation and auditing, we are well positioned to provide solutions to many telecom problems, issues or situations..
We can consult and /or generate an RFP (request for proposal) and solicit bids in the following areas: Local and Long-Distance service/VoIP service with the best carrier for your specific requirements.
We are not aligned with any carrier or service provider. We analyze your bills and seek refunds and lower rates, either with your current carrier/service provider, or with one or more companies that can provide you with the services you need at a price that fits your budget. We have a proven track record of securing refunds and lower rates for our clients.
Telephone system design/bid, either Hosted or Non-Hosted solutions. Also: broadband requirements via internet, Fiber, etc, FIOS, DSL, or Ethernet. Take advantage of the high security and reliability of a data center to host critical infrastructure, with fully dedicated power and network access ensuring uninterrupted service.
Whether you have 5 phones in one office or 2000 phones around the globe, we can help find the right system for you. In addition, we provide call-handling solutions including, but not limited to, automated systems and call center design. We also devote resources to departmental call handling needs and goals, as well as proper interfacing to your customers We provided one of the first private telephone systems to a public school in Northern New Jersey in 1974.
