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MSP, MSSP & IT Industry Notes for October 4th, 2020

 

MSP, MSSP & IT Industry Notes

October 4th, 2020

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

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What partnering with ARCOA looks like
Our role is to make it easy for you to bring more value to your clients. We work with you to help stretch your clients’ IT budget by reducing the total cost of ownership of their electronics. We’re experts at identifying and implementing the solutions your clients need for the end-of-use remarketing, recovery, and recycling of their technology assets. The sooner you involve ARCOA, the sooner you and your clients will see better results.

TPx Brings Managed Detection and Response to Managed Security Services Portfolio

  • TPx announced today that it has strengthened its managed security services with the addition of enterprise-class managed detection and response (MDR) to its MSx Firewalland MSx Endpoint services

MSx Firewall now includes:

  • Secure SD-WAN, which leverages cost-effective bandwidth and encrypted traffic while also layering on security inspection
  • Monthly vulnerability scans
  • High-performance next-generation firewalls that deliver greater throughput at lower cost
  • Fully managed, self-managed and co-managed options

MSx Endpoints now includes:

  • Security Awareness Training, including monthly phishing simulations and courses with automated reporting
  • DNS Protection that protects remote users and devices from Internet threat

eMazzanti Shares 4 Ways Managed Services Improve Cyber Security

  • A NYC area IT consultantdiscusses four ways that using a managed services provider (MSP) improve business cyber security in a new article on the eMazzanti Technologies website
  • “In late 2019, (ISC)2, a major nonprofit organization of cyber security professionals, conducted a study of the cyber security workforce. The study showed that the skills gap continues to widen. In fact, to adequately meet the data security needs of American organizations, the cyber security workforce would need to increase by 62 percent.”
  • “Another significant way that managed services improve cyber security involves system monitoring. A reputable MSP will provide monitoring not just during business hours, but 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Using machine learning, for instance, your MSP can identify unusual activity and proactively address issues even before a breach occurs.”

NuMSP Presents the First AI-Based Managed IT Service, Now Available for All New Orleans Area ...

  • NuMSP announces it is now available to support local businesses in the New Orleansarea
  • All business owners in the New Orleans area can now get a free network services assessmentwith no commitment

General Dynamics Information Technology awarded $306 million Department of Veterans Affairs ...

  • General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), a business unit of General Dynamics announced today it was awarded the File Conversion Services task order under the Veterans Intake, Conversion, and Communication Services (VICCS) program by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA)
  • The single award under the VICCS indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is valued at $306 millionover five years
  • GDIT will leverage managed services and artificial intelligence to digitally convert historical veteran records, automate data extraction of existing records and process Official Military Personnel File requests in support of veteran benefits claims processing

Carahsoft Awarded Information Technology Enterprise Solutions – Software 2 Contract to Support ...

  • Carahsoft announced the;ve been awarded an IT Enterprise Solutions -Software 2 (ITES-SW2) contract with the US Army Computer Hardware3 Enterprise and Solutions (CHESS)
  • The contract is effective through August 30, 2025 with a five-year option period for a ten-year total period of performance

STL Acquires Wendelin Consulting Group, Inc., an Illinois-based Technology Consulting Company

  • STL announced today that it has agreed to acquire Wendelin Consulting Group, Inc.
  • Acquisition brings STL additional professional and technical consulting capabilities to complement and expand its existing Managed IT services throughout the Midwest
  • Wendelin will join the STL Management team as the Chief Information Officer, where he will focus on the growth of a Client Solutions team that provides strategic management of STL’s partners

ePlus enhances its Managed Cloud Security Service portfolio by adding Alert Logic MDR

  • ePlusannounced that it has strengthened its Managed Cloud Security Service portfolio by adding a market-leading managed detection and response (MDR) solution to its lineup of capabilities

Fabasoft Approve Garners Top Positioning in SoftwareReviews' ECM Leaders Quadrant

  • Fabasoft Approve is a cloud-based software product for managing technical documentation and data in industry
  • SoftwareReviewsis a division of Info-Tech Research Group, an international IT research and consulting firm

Document Management Systems Are Not All Created Equal: Graham Selects WorldView as Their ECM Vendor

  • Graham Healthcare Group launches WorldView Ltd. as their document management solution
  • Selected WorldView to help their Patient Records Teams optimize their day-to-day

Comodo Announces Cyfyx as First Master MSSP Partner in North America

  • Comodo announced a partnership with Cyfyx Cybersecurity, as its first Master MSSP in North America
  • Comodo and Cyfyx will bring Comodo’s entire range of cybersecurity solutions, including the Dragon platform with advanced endpoint protection (AEP) and SOC-as-a-Platform (SOCaaP™) to the MSP ecosystem
  • Will enable any MSP to turn into a full MSSP without upfront capital expenses or additional hires, driving additional high-margin monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and growth

Konica Minolta Named to MSSP Alert’s Top 250 MSSPs List for 2020

  • Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.(Konica Minolta) announced today that MSSP Alert, published by After Nines Inc., has named Konica Minolta and All Covered, its IT Services Division, in the top 100 of the Top 250 MSSPs list for 2020
  • Marks the fourth-annual list honoring leading MSSPs, managed detection and response (MDR) and Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) providers worldwide
  • The rankings are based on MSSP Alert’s 2020 readership survey combined with the digital media site’s global editorial coverage of managed security services providers
  • The list has expanded from 2019 (200 honorees) and 2018-2017 (100 honorees) amid MSSP Alert’s continued, organic readership growth

 

Tech Data Taps Ex-Lexmark, Lenovo Exec to Health Endpoint Unit

  • Global distributorTech Data is bringing on former Lenovo and Lexmark executive Sammy Kinlaw to head its endpoint business in the Americas region

CalTech Completes MSP Verify Certification with SOC 2 Type X Audit

  • CalTech today announced that it has successfully completed the MSPAlliance's MSP Verify Program (MSPCV) certification and SOC 2 Type X
  • MSP Verify Program offers vendor agnostic certification for Cloud and Managed Services Practitioners Worldwide; Provides Quality Assurance, and Stamp of Reliability for Current, Potential Customers
  • The UCS consists of 10 control objectives and underlying controls that constitute crucial building blocks of a successful managed services (and cloud computing) practice
  • MSPAlliance® is a global industry association and accrediting body for the Cyber Security, Cloud Computing and Managed Services Provider (MSP) industry

Midmarket IT Challenges Identified in New IT Spend Management Benchmark Report

  • vCom Solutions, released its first IT Spend Management Benchmark Report, based on the results of a survey of 175 mid-market organizations
  • Report also reveals that when asked to rank their IT focus over a 12-24 month period, IT management identified Mobile, SaaS, and Collaboration

CETech is Top Winner in Both “Best IT Outsourcing Firm” & “Best IT Cybersecurity Firm” in ...

NexusTek Acquires IT Services Firm, Symmetrix Solutions

  • NexusTek, announced that it has acquired Symmetrix Solutions, an IT services company headquartered in Denver, CO.
  • NexusTek is backed by private equity firm Abry Partners based out of Boston, MA

DocuWare Cloud Solutions Ensure Business Continuity for Thousands of Remote Workers

  • DocuWare grew their number of new cloud customers by 24.3 percent compared to the same period in 2019
  • DocuWare saw continuous usage of its cloud platform from customers through the wave of lockdowns in the first half of 2020 with every week showing millions of documents added and tens of thousands of users accessing their business information
  • Volumes have increased 50% and 30% respectively as of September
  • Estimated that the global mobile workforce will reach nearly two billion workers by the year 2022
  • DocuWare conducted a survey of over 500 US business owners/managers to evaluate how well they were supporting their mobile workforces
    • 73 percent of businesses said they considered cloud-based tools “very” to “extremely” valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic
    • 29 percent reported feeling completely prepared for their employees to work from home
    • 18 percentof businesses surveyed felt they were “mostly” or “completely” unprepared for their employees to work from home
    • 21 percent had not implemented any digital tools for remote work

Cybersecurity Updates

  • Department of Health & Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) stated that
  • so far in 2020, the PHI (protected health information) of 13.7 million patients hasbeen affected by data breaches. Causes:
    • 66% = hacking
    • 21% = unauthorized access/disclosure
    • 7% = theft3% = improper disposal
    • 3% = loss
  • Premera Blue Cross, headquartered in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, paid the largest HIPAA fine in history, when it agreed to pay the feds $6.85 million in regards to breach that exposed PHI of 10.4 million patients.
  • Community Health Services (CHS), a chain of hospitals, with headquarters in Brentwood, Tennessee, agreed to pay the feds $2.3 million HIPAA fine in regards to breach that exposed PHI of 6 million patients.
  • Children’s Minnesota notified 160,000 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware incident.
  • Allina Health of Minnesota notified 200,000 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware incident.
  • University of Missouri Health notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware incident.
  • Gillette Children’s Specialty Hospital of Minnesota notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware incident.
  • Regions Health of Minnesota notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware incident.
  • Nebraska Medicine notified patients that they have suffered a “security incident” and gave no other details.
  • Hennepin County Medical Center of Minnesota admitted that it had to fire 5 employees for illegally accessing the PHI of George Floyd.
  • Starling Physicians of New Britain, CT notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware incident.
  • Our Lady of the Lake Hospital of Louisiana notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware incident.
  • Valpraiso Community School District of California notified an unknown number ofstudents that their info may have been exposed after a 13 year old student was arrested For hacking into network.
  • Check Point Research published report entitled “Online Attacks Hit Education Sector Worldwide”
  • Significant rise (30%) in cyberattacks against schools, colleges and universities
  • Hackers see opportunity to disrupt online education and potentially earn a ransom for ending the attack
  • Cisco Corp. published report warning that remote code execution and defense evasion are top tactics now being used in hacking attacks on corporate endpoints
  • This includes printers, MFPs and faxes.
  • Intsights Security is reporting rise of hacking groups in the country of India, which are attacking organizations in the U.S. and include:
  • Dropping Elephant
  • Viceroy Tiger
  • Dark Basin
  • ArbiterSports, headquartered in Sandy, Utah, is notifying 540,000 sports referees in the U.S. that their confidential info may have been accessed after ransomware attack.
  • Montefiore Medical Center of New York notified 4,000 patients that their PHI was stolen by a former employee.
  • IPC Photonics Corp. of Oxford, Mass notified an unknown number of employees and customers
  • Integris Baptist Medical Center of Oklahoma City, OK notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after a portable hard drive was stolen.
  • Spokane Regional Health District notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after it was accidentally emailed to school administrators of Northeast Washington Educational School District.
  • Community Health Services (CHS), a chain of hospitals headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, agreed to pay $2.3 million to feds to settle HIPAA non-compliance charges after a breach that impacted 6 million patients.
  • Clair County Government of Alabama notified an unknown number of citizens that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Regional West Health Care of Nebraska notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after “computer outage”
  • Nebraska Medicine and Great Plains Health of Nebraska notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after “computer outage”
  • Athens Orthopedic Clinic of Georgia agreed to pay $1.5 million to feds to settle HIPAA violation charges over a ransomware attack that exposed PHI of 655,000 patients.
  • Caron Treatment Centers, headquartered in Wemersville, PA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware incident.
  • HIPAA Journal reports that in August, 2020, there was a 63.9% increase in breached medical records.
    • 2,167,179 records (PHI) were exposed, stolen or illegally disclosed.
  • Forrester Research published report on breaches in 2019:
    • 21% = stolen or lost assets
    • 33% = external attack
    • 21% = 3rd party attack or incident
    • 25% = internal incident.
  • Malwarebytes Security published results of survey:What impact is COVID-19 having on your cybersecurity team (both personally and professionally)?:
    • 90% – A slight rise in the team’s anxiety and stress levels
    • 79% – Little or no added anxiety and stress on the team
    • 95% – A moderate rise in the team’s anxiety and stress levels
    • 94% – The team is now facing major anxiety and stress
    • 20% of organizations experienced breach due to remote worker
    • 24% of respondents saying they paid unexpected expenses to address a cybersecurity breach or malware attack following shelter-in-place orders.
    • 28% of respondents admitted they’re using personal devices for work-related activities more than their work-issued devices
    • 61% of respondents’ organizations did not urge employees to use antivirus solutions on their personal devices, further compounding the increase in attack surface with a lack of adequate protection.
  • Misty Dawn Bacon, 44, of Morristown, Tennessee pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, health care fraud and identity theft in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, TN.
    • Posed as a registered nurse and worked for years at several East Tennessee healthcare institutions
    • She could face up to 45 years in prison.
  • The Department of Homeland Security issued an Emergency Directive requiring federal agencies to install fixes for Netlogon vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server
  • Only 44% of healthcare facilities adhere to NIST (national institute of standards and technology) cybersecurity framework standards according to report from CynergisTek.
    • 76% conform with HIPAA Security Rule

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