Responding to Five Common Workforce Trends

“People are our most important asset.” You’ve heard that a million times. And, it’s true. How long can you survive if that vital resource is inadvertently allowed to become detached, devalued, and departed? Answer: Not very long. Preventing that outcome requires monitoring critical workforce trends and responding accordingly.

Here are five common workforce trends and their implications for your business.

Trend #1: Rise of remote working

COVID has put remote working and collaborative technology at the forefront of business processes and planning. Although the day will come when companies can once again welcome their full staff back into the office, many professionals expect remote working to remain more common than before.

Trend #2: Regulatory uncertainty

As the world deals with unprecedented changes brought on by COVID-19, regulatory uncertainty is at an all-time high. With the regulatory environment in a state of flux, employers have to take extra care to avoid running afoul of employment laws and incurring substantial penalties.

Trend #3: Multi-generation workforce

Members of each generation typically have different perspectives on work both because of their age and the formative experiences of their early adulthood. Distinct generational characteristics are often overstated but nevertheless result in age-based demographic diversity that must be considered to run a business optimally.

Trend #4: Reliance on contingent workers

The dynamic business climate has employers seeking greater workforce management flexibility, which is often achieved by hiring contingent or temporary workers. However, the practice is accompanied by different management, collaboration, and regulatory challenges compared to salaried workers.

Trend #5: Digital disruption in the workforce

As information technology grows ever more sophisticated, employees are forced to become computer technicians to hold down jobs that previously required a different set of skills. Such sweeping changes place new demands on workers and managers alike.

Responding to workforce trends

Consider the following HR functions: attendance and leave management, payroll, compensation, benefits, and talent acquisition. When the technology used to administer those HR functions is integrated, you’re better equipped to streamline workflows, make better decisions, improve compliance, and stay on top of workforce trends.

Looking to implement an integrated HR solution? Contact Yeo & Yeo Technology. Our Sage HRMS solution is a single source for flawless payroll processing, employee administration, registration, analysis, employee life-cycle management, and all other crucial employee-related information.

Information used in this article was provided by our partners at Sage.

How do you welcome a new employee you’ve never met face to face? It’s a question that companies everywhere are grappling with as the COVID-19 crisis forces them to work remotely. Figuring out how to find and hire new recruits in this environment is tough enough. How do you tackle remote onboarding once they’re ready to join the team?

To avoid the common pitfalls of remote onboarding, consider incorporating these steps into your process.

Prepare, prepare, prepare

You don’t want your employee’s first day to be filled with confusion and chaos, so take the time to make sure everything is in place before they log on.

If your company provides employees with the tech they need to perform their job, make sure it’s in their hands before their start date. The same goes for any documents they may need to sign or review. Most forms can now be signed virtually, so choose a service and advise new hires to create an account ahead of time.

Set clear expectations

We all know the feeling: It’s the first day of a new job, and you’re sitting at your desk trying to figure out what you’re supposed to be doing. Now imagine that same scenario, except the desk is your kitchen table and your nearest coworker is 100 miles away.

When onboarding employees remotely, it’s essential to set clear goals and expectations for the short and long term. Provide the new employee with a task calendar containing the objectives, and schedule regular one-on-one follow-ups to discuss progress and adjust expectations.

Meet small, then meet big

Even at a small company, meeting all of your new coworkers at once can be intimidating. On your new employee’s first day, start them off with small virtual meetings or phone calls with their team, supervisors, and direct reports. Save the full-staff introduction for later in the day. This way, they will have familiar faces to refer to when scanning the crowd.

Share your culture

Your culture makes your company unique. But without an office, how will new hires get a sense of that culture? To truly integrate new employees, it’s important to include aspects of your corporate culture into the remote onboarding process. This can be accomplished in several ways:

• Make a slideshow of pictures and videos showing your physical workspace and past social gatherings among coworkers.
• Host a virtual happy hour to welcome your new employees. Include games or activities to foster useful interactions.
• Create virtual versions of any office rituals, such as weekly group lunches or trivia nights.
• Randomly team up new hires with one or two other staff members for semi-private “Get to Know You” video chats.

Sooner or later, the day will come when companies can once again welcome their full staff back into the office. But even then, professionals expect remote working to remain more common than before. With that in mind, approach your remote onboarding protocol not just as an emergency measure but as an investment in your company’s future.

Need help onboarding remote employees? Contact Yeo and Yeo Technology. Our Sage HRMS solution is a single source for flawless payroll processing, employee administration, registration, analysis, employee life-cycle management, and all other crucial employee-related information.

Information used in this article was provided by our partners at Sage

Since the ’60s, businesses have used Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to align their business processes. But what does COVID mean for ERP, and can ERP be at the heart of agile working for post-coronavirus manufacturers?

As we explain below, there are four ways ERP can contribute to the resilience and reinvention of your post-coronavirus operation.

1. ERP creates flexible supply chains

COVID affected procurement, labor, sourcing, and logistics. Flexible supply chains help manage challenges like these by using external data to improve demand and supply forecasting.

For many businesses, the time to build a digital supply chain and become a smart, Industry 4.0 manufacturer is now. With the cloud, you can take advantage of real-time visibility, which is a real asset when managing supply chains.

2. Traceability leads to supply chain resilience

COVID accelerates interest in digital technologies as it becomes more difficult to perform traditional offline third-party food auditing and verification. With many consumers now eating at home rather than at restaurants, there’s an increased demand on manufacturers to provide safe food products directly to customers.

In increasingly variable supply chains, few sectors will honestly be able to say that they can trace every component of a product without digital assistance.

3. ERP and social distancing at work

COVID has put remote working and collaborative technology at the forefront of business processes and planning. Next-generation cloud ERP is at the center of workplace reinvention, allowing much of the work previously done on-site to now be performed remotely. ERP gives remote staff access to the information they need, no matter where they are.

4. Lean manufacturing leads the way to operational efficiencies

We are now in a cost-cutting era. Businesses are focusing on core activities and trimming the fat from operations to secure as long a financial runway as possible.

Lean processes reduce waste and minimize cost across the operation. If you’re looking to optimize:

• inventory holdings
• transport and distribution costs
• raw materials pricing and usage
• the time and motion involved in production processes

…or to obtain the data that will trim costs, ERP should be your starting point.

ERP is a way to bring data together – unlocking efficiencies to improve collaboration, increase teamwork, and build significant profits. Looking to implement an ERP solution? Yeo & Yeo Technology can help. Contact us to learn more.

Information used in this article was provided by our partners at Sage.

Clients of major software vendors take comfort whenever a vendor issues a security fix for a critical software vulnerability. They expect that software updates will keep attackers from stealing sensitive information. But new data from Google’s hacking team, Project Zero, suggests that security fixes are not as effective as they seem.

According to Google, “25 percent of the 0-days detected in 2020 were closely related to previously publicly disclosed vulnerabilities. In other words, 1 out of every 4 detected 0-day exploits could potentially have been avoided if a more thorough investigation and patching effort were explored.”

A correct patch is one that fixes a bug with complete accuracy, meaning the patch no longer allows any exploitation of the vulnerability. A comprehensive patch applies that fix everywhere it needs to be applied, covering all variants. A patch is considered complete only when it is both correct and comprehensive.

However, most vendors block only the path that is shown in the proof-of-concept or exploit sample, rather than fixing the vulnerability as a whole, which would block all paths. Across the industry, incomplete patches, that don’t correctly and comprehensively fix the root cause of a vulnerability, allow attackers to use 0-days against users with less effort.

Some of these 0-day exploits only had to change a line or two of code to have a new working 0-day exploit. For example, the same actor exploited similar vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer JScript four separate times from 2018 to 2020.

Preventing 0-day Attacks

The goal is to force attackers to start from scratch each time one of their exploits is detected: they’re forced to discover a whole new vulnerability, they have to invest the time in learning and analyzing a new attack surface and they must develop a brand new exploitation method. Making it harder to infiltrate the system decreases the likelihood of an attack.

Being able to correctly and comprehensively patch isn’t just flicking a switch: it requires investment, prioritization and planning. Yeo & Yeo Technology’s YeoCare Managed Services are designed to keep your network healthy and detect failures before they happen. Learn more about how YeoCare can help protect your organization.

Source: Cyberscoop

During the past two months, cyberattacks against healthcare organizations and companies involved in COVID-19 vaccine distribution have been on the rise.

From an upsurge in the registration of coronavirus-related malicious domains to fraudulent advertisements offering COVID vaccines for sale, we have seen an unprecedented increase in cyber-exploits seeking to compromise personal data, spread malware and steal money.

According to a new report published by Check Point Research, attacks targeting healthcare organizations have spiked by 45% since November 2020, making healthcare the most targeted industry by cybercriminals.

Of the attack vectors used, ransomware shows the largest increase and is the biggest threat to healthcare organizations when compared to other industry sectors. Ransomware attacks against hospitals and related organizations are particularly damaging, as any disruption to their systems could affect their ability to deliver critical care.

Unfortunately, cybercriminals will continue to exploit the world’s focus on the pandemic for their own illegal purposes. Both organizations and individuals must take precautions to protect themselves against online crime.

Stop cyberattacks in their tracks with YYTECH’s Security Awareness Training. Our training solution showcases best practices for a company’s first line of defense — its employees — and teaches them how to detect and prevent cyberattacks.

Learn more about how Security Awareness Training can help protect your organization.

In today’s day and age, we don’t go anywhere without our phones. Especially during the pandemic, we rely on our mobile devices to connect with family and friends. However, a 2020 study from the cloud security company Lookout suggests that our mobile devices are not as safe as we think.

According to Lookout, mobile phishing attacks grew 37% from Q4 2019 to Q1 2020, with much of this growth attributed to new attacks related to COVID-19. These attacks come from many mobile channels, including social media apps, gaming apps, banking apps and messaging services.

Common Mobile Phishing Attacks:

• URL Padding: The hacker uses a real and recognizably safe domain up front but then adds hyphens or other characters to conceal the malicious domain.
• Man-in-the-Middle Attack: A user receives a message from a trusted organization asking them to log in via their browser and verify account details. The link leads them to a malicious site that looks exactly like the organization’s real website.
• Overlay Attack: The attacker delivers a fake login screen inside the mobile app, placing the fake screen on top of the real screen.

While people are primed to receive phishing attacks on their desktop and laptop computers, they generally feel safer when using a mobile device. Regardless of what device you use, it’s important to stay vigilant online and think before you click. 

Stop cyberattacks in their tracks with YYTECH’s Security Awareness Training. Our training solution showcases best practices for a company’s first line of defense — its employees — and teaches them how to detect and prevent cyberattacks.

Learn more about how Security Awareness Training can help to protect your organization.

According to Spiceworks’ Annual Report on IT Budgets and Tech Trends, 88 percent of businesses will increase their IT spending in 2021. We have identified three key things to consider when planning your organization’s IT budget for the coming year.

1. Remote Work
The coronavirus has made it abundantly clear that the need to work remotely is no longer a perk or a convenience – it’s a necessity. A recent Intermedia survey found that more than half of U.S. small business owners believe working remotely is here to stay post-pandemic. However, equipping employees with the tools needed to work from home can be a large undertaking with updates to hardware and software. In 2021, 17 percent of total hardware budgets are expected to be allocated toward laptops, which allow employees to take their office anywhere.

2. Security Awareness Training
The business shifts ushered in by COVID-19 have also resulted in increased concerns among IT departments. Both ransomware and malware attacks have risen dramatically since the start of the pandemic. From a cybercrime perspective, working remotely generally isn’t as safe as working in the office. While adapting to working from home, employees may have let their usual security procedures slide. Education is a key factor in prevention, and  Security Awareness Training is a cost-effective way to train employees to notice warning signs and stop an attack before it strikes.

3. Cloud-based Services
Cloud computing centralizes information in a single cloud infrastructure that is easily retrievable for employees working from home. Cloud-based video conferencing software and phone systems can integrate all communication tools – desktop phones, mobile phones, and computers – into one manageable solution. Our cloud-based communication service, YeoVoice, allows mobile devices to interact seamlessly with the corporate phone system anywhere, anytime, and on any device, creating a more flexible workforce.

2020 has been full of change for the IT industry. Increased emphasis on remote working has resulted in new cybersecurity risks and software demands. YYTECH can help businesses identify the best solutions to these challenges. Learn more about our suite of services.

Data is commonly a company’s most valuable resource, and the level of effort made to protect it often means the difference between success and failure. In its Annual Data Security Report, GetApp surveyed 83 IT security managers to determine the top data security trends businesses should learn from going into the new year.

1. Remote work security is a top vulnerability. Every facet of life has been affected by COVID-19, including data security. Companies are urged to develop work-from-home policies and adopt software tools that ensure data is safe when accessed remotely.
2. Breaches are four times more likely for businesses allowing full data access. Employees should be allowed only the minimum level of data access needed to perform their jobs. Even something as simple as securing folders within Windows or limiting access to a shared Google Drive will strengthen security and decrease the chances of a data breach.
3. Data classification is not enough on its own. Sixty-two percent of companies with a data classification policy still provided employees access to more data than they needed. To protect data, companies must implement data classification policies and lock down access.
4. Cyberattacks continue to rise. Phishing schemes, account takeovers and ransomware attacks continue to hit businesses. Security Awareness Training can help employees recognize warning signs and stop these attacks before they strike.
5. Multifactor Authentication becomes more popular. The use of biometric data security measures increased from 27% in 2019 to 53% in 2020. This sharp increase may be driven in part by the increased use of laptops and mobile devices to support remote work, as these devices commonly include fingerprint and facial recognition security features.
6. Virtual training is the new norm. Offline modes of training, such as on-the-job and classroom instruction, saw decreases across the board. In contrast, the use of digital training tools (online training programs, webinars, etc.) saw an equivalent increase. 17% of businesses are even using Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for training purposes. 

Cybersecurity is more than just access controls and technology. It’s a mindset that starts with education and ends with execution. Stop cyberattacks in their tracks with YYTECH’s Security Awareness Training. Our training solution showcases best practices for a company’s first line of defense — its employees — and teaches them how to detect and prevent cyberattacks.

Source: GetApp Annual Security Report

One of the most prevalent means of cybercrime is phishing sites. Here, criminals create a seemingly authentic copy of a popular website to lure people into entering their sensitive data, be it account login credentials or credit card information.

Since the beginning of the year, Google has flagged 2.02 million phishing sites, averaging 46,000 sites per week, according to researchers at Atlas VPN. Researchers note that the number of phishing sites peaked at the start of the year, which correlates with the beginning of the pandemic.

Data also reveals that in the first half of 2020, there were two huge spikes in malicious websites, reaching over 58,000 detections per week at the peaks. Atlas VPN says the number of new phishing sites has been steadily increasing each year since 2015, but it’s now higher than it’s ever been.

To look at the broader perspective, Atlas VPN analyzed phishing site data since the first quarter of 2015. Their findings revealed that the year 2020 is, in fact, the year with most new phishing sites to date.

Researches attribute the spike in 2020 to the COVID-19 pandemic, as people are spending more time online and emotions are running high. Panic resulting from the pandemic often leads to irrational thinking, and people forget basic security steps. Users then download malicious files or try to purchase in-demand items from unsafe websites, in result becoming victims of a scam.

Google and other companies do a good job of tracking down malicious sites, but attackers can easily scale their operations and set up new sites to stay ahead of efforts to shut them down. New-school security awareness training can enable your employees to spot these sites on their own.

Stop cyberattacks in their tracks with Yeo & Yeo Technology’s Security Awareness Training. Our training solution showcases best practices for a company’s first line of defense — its employees — and teaches them how to detect and prevent cyberattacks.

Learn more about how Security Awareness Training can help protect your organization.

Information used in this article was provided by our partners at KnowBe4.

Social media provides a platform to connect with friends during the pandemic. But data from the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network suggests that social media websites and apps have become popular hangouts for scammers, too. According to the FTC, reports that people lost money due to social media scams more than tripled in the past year, with a sharp increase in the second quarter of 2020.

In 2019, total reported losses to social media scams reached $134 million. But reported losses reached record highs, climbing to nearly $117 million in just the first six months of 2020. In that time, the reported social media scams often related to online shopping, romance scams and supposed economic relief.

1. Online shopping. Online shopping scams occur when cybercriminals create illegitimate shops and trick victims into paying for products that are never delivered. Attackers can make realistic ads that are carefully targeted to reach a particular audience. They can even delete comments on these ads so that negative responses don’t show up and alert people to the con.
2. Romance scams. Romance scams typically start with a social media message or friend request. They often target people who are on dating sites. In Q2 of 2020, 2,621 people reported a monetary loss on a romance scam, a 19% increase over the previous quarterly high.
3. Economic relief. Economic relief scams offer so-called relief to people in need of cash. Scammers pretend to provide grant money and other giveaways, supposedly to help people during the pandemic. Messages can even come from friends who may have been hacked or don’t know the offer is a scam.

Cybercriminals continue to use the pandemic as an opportunity to take advantage of social media users. As always, be mindful when using social media for business or personal use.

Stop cyberattacks in their tracks with YYTECH’s Security Awareness Training. Our training solution showcases best practices for a company’s first line of defense — its employees — and teaches them how to detect and prevent cyberattacks.

Learn more about how Security Awareness Training can help protect your organization.

Some of the information used in this article was provided by our partners at KnowBe4.

CRM software offers your organization the tools you need to thrive in today’s business environment. It delivers critical information about your prospects and customers to the people who need it, when they need it. It tracks your follow-ups and reminders and ensures that no one misses a beat when it comes to taking care of business.

We now live in a customer experience economy. Prospects and customers are calling the shots, and competitors are just a click away. Businesses must provide consistent, high-quality experiences to drive sales. However, most companies can’t deliver these experiences by continuing to do business as usual.

Too many companies rely on silos of information, locked away in Outlook and Excel, invisible to members of other teams and departments. This limits their ability to respond quickly and accurately when customers need them. It doesn’t scale, resulting in missed opportunities and lost business, even from long-time customers.

CRM helps you

• Get organized and stay connected as a team
• Standardize, automate and track tasks
• Work from anywhere on any Internet-capable device
• Understand what your team is doing and how well it is working
• Stay connected to your customers

What does this mean for your business?

• Increased sales per salesperson
• Increased sales per customer
• Reduced customer turnover

YYYC Can Help You Implement a Customized CRM Software.

We offer two highly customizable CRM software options, Sage100 CRM and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales. Find out which CRM software would best fit your organization, contact YYTECH today.

Generally, there are two important elements when it comes to turning leads into customers and keeping them happy and loyal: strong personal skills and an efficient customer relationship management (CRM) software.

CRM is, in its broadest sense, a technological Rolodex that does much more. In effect, the software offers unified views of clients, contacts, calls and notes that make it simpler to keep track of the marketing pipeline from the first contact through the signing of a deal.

These systems allow you to manage your sales process more effectively and forecast sales and project revenue more accurately. They also free up sales reps to spend more time in the field closing deals.

But some specialists estimate that from 35 to 70 percent of businesses fail in their first attempts to install and operate a CRM. Among the reasons are:

1. Too much focus on technology. CRM applications come in various shapes and sizes, and you need to choose one that best suits your business and doesn’t have unnecessary bells and whistles. The primary functions of CRM systems are to streamline front-office operations, display key information about marketing, sales and customer support, and make your business processes more efficient and cost-effective. When considering a CRM application, if you don’t need a feature, don’t buy it.
2. Too little focus on the customer. The core of any CRM system is your company’s customers and their needs. A call-center can be a great help, provided it is customer friendly. If the system is too complicated it can alienate customers, sales leads, and your staff.
3. Too little preparation. The people who will be using the system will likely have different needs and expectations. For example, a CFO will want to view the entire pipeline to calculate budgets, while the sales team will be more interested in call scheduling and ease of data entry. Take your time to consider how everyone will use the system, how your IT staff will cope with it and whether you need to create new departments to deal with it.

YYYC Can Help You Implement a Customized CRM Software.

We offer two highly customizable CRM software options, Sage100 CRM, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales. Find out which CRM software would best fit your organization, contact YYTECH today.

Your sales team needs more than traditional sales force automation to respond to today’s unpredictable selling environment — rapidly changing buyer preferences, sudden changes in business outlook and fast-moving competitors. Dynamics 365 Sales is an adaptive selling solution that helps your team navigate the realities of modern selling.

Dynamics 365 Sales offers Enterprise-level value at SMB prices. It’s more powerful than typical SMB solutions and scales extremely well. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft programs that you know and love, creating a comfortable and intuitive experience for your team. As a Microsoft product, Dynamics 365 Sales receives continuous improvement and support, ensuring that your business has the best product available.

According to Gartner, Dynamics 365 Sales is a top leader in CRM, offering flexibility, integrations and capabilities that most software lacks. It provides a high-power, low-cost solution viable for any size business.

YYYC Can Help You Implement a Customized CRM Software.

Find out which CRM software would best fit your organization, contact YYTECH today.

According to Bitdefender’s Mid-Year Threat Landscape Report 2020, the first half of 2020 saw a 7x jump in the frequency of ransomware attacks compared to the same time in 2019. Likewise, the price of ransoms has jumped by an average of 60 percent, making it more expensive for organizations to get their stolen data back.

Both the pandemic and the shift to working from home play a significant role in the success rate of attacks, as users have their defenses down and have been overwhelmed by the unprecedented change in the way we all work and live. As we adjust to new work arrangements, here are ten useful tips to help you and your employees detect and prevent cyberattacks:

1. Don’t click on direct links (in emails, text messages, etc.), especially those asking you to enter sensitive information. It’s best to go directly to the source.
2. Don’t overshare on social media. These details can provide hackers with your location, ammunition to craft spear-phishing attacks and answers to security questions. Think before you share!
3. Don’t go “out of bounds” for communication. If you’re buying something on eBay and the other party wants to negotiate via email instead of the bidding system.
4. Never reuse passwords between any website or service.
5. Always be skeptical of any unexpected invoice, or request to get or pay for anything by using gift cards.
6. Never answer authentication recovery questions (e.g., What is your mother’s maiden name?) with real answers. Unfortunately, that means you’ll have to write down each question and answer for each website that requires them, but you’ll be far less likely to have your account hijacked.
7. It is OK to confirm an email sender’s request, even if it is your boss. Better safe than sorry.
8. Know who to report any suspicious emails to at your workplace. Don’t delete the email – report it.
9. Invest in a password management tool – ain’t nobody got the time to remember all those passwords!
10. Be vigilant with suspicious SMS messages. Your bank will NEVER ask you to access your account from an SMS.

With such massive increases in the number of cyberattacks in 2020, organizations should assume that ransomware and other scams will only become more prevalent, pervasive and profitable for the bad guys.

Stop cyberattacks in their tracks with YYTECH’s Security Awareness Training. Our training solution showcases best practices for a company’s first line of defense — its employees — and teaches them how to detect and prevent cyberattacks.

Learn more about how Security Awareness Training can help protect your organization.

Information used in this article was provided by our partners at KnowBe4.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have found themselves working from home. From a cybercrime perspective, working remotely generally isn’t as safe as working in the office. In fact, studies show that cyberattacks like ransomware are on the rise.

With the ever-increasing popularity of remote work, here are three reasons why cybersecurity monitoring is more important than ever before.

1. Increased efficiency and detection:

With more people working from home, more devices are being connected to your organization’s network. Security analysts can get stretched thin and hit efficiency roadblocks, especially as they gather and analyze alarm data from multiple platforms. Studies show the average time between a data breach and discovery is 205 days – that’s over 7 months! Continuous monitoring systems can help your organization immediately detect threats and stop them in their tracks.

2. Ensured industry compliance:

Organizations that fall under PCI, HIPAA or FFIEC regulations must implement technical safeguards to protect their clients’ data. If cybercriminals breach your organization, you must prove to authorities that you took measures to guard sensitive data. Utilizing continuous monitoring software helps fulfill these compliance requirements, making it easier to avoid fines after an attack.

3. Heightened security measures:

While adapting to working from home, employees may have let your usual security procedures slide, from accessing your company’s IT environment with personal Wi-Fi connections to using unprotected video conferencing tools. Continuous monitoring creates another security layer for your company and employees, especially as they work remotely.

YYYC can support your IT team in the defense against cyberattacks with YeoSecure.

Our comprehensive cybersecurity monitoring and compliance solution, YeoSecure, transforms the way companies detect, investigate and respond to cyber threats. YeoSecure provides 24/7/365, enterprise-grade cybersecurity monitoring and support while cutting costs and keeping your IT team from scrambling to detect and troubleshoot cyberattacks.

Learn more about how YeoSecure can help your organization detect, respond, and comply.

COVID-19 has forced educators to rethink how they teach and interact with students. As many children return to school, the main priority is keeping them safe without compromising their education.

Yeo & Yeo has partnered with Link Technologies to offer Ergotron mobile desks with clear vinyl safety shields. These desks allow teachers to easily arrange classrooms to meet social distancing requirements. They also decrease sedentary time, improving students’ physical health and engagement.

Safety Shield Features:

• Inexpensive added measure of protection
• Double polished, optically clear, high strength, automotive-grade vinyl
• Lightweight
• Combinations can be easily configured for a variety of desktop sizes and uses
• Excellent sound transmission as compared to polycarbonate
• Easily installed, removed and cleaned/disinfected
• UV resistant
• Made in Michigan

Optically clear, Smart Shield-protected mobile desks provide the flexibility and safety that our new normal demands. Learn more about YYTECH’s Ergonmic Solutions.

As COVID-19 forces businesses to rely on online systems to operate, ransomware attacks are on the rise. On October 1, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued an advisory statement to victims who may attempt to make ransomware payments.

According to the Treasury, paying cybercriminals encourages future attacks and does not guarantee that the victim will regain access to stolen data. Therefore, victims who pay the ransom to get their data back could face significant fines from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

How Can I Protect My Business?

Typically, ransomware takes over a victim’s machine and demands money in exchange for access to stolen information. The best way to prevent ransomware attacks is to create offline data copies, also known as air gap backups. The concept is simple: devices that aren’t connected to a network cannot be attacked remotely.

Using the 3 – 2 – 1 Backup Strategy

The most common way to create air gap backups is the 3 – 2 – 1 strategy. First, the company makes three copies of their data, one primary copy and two secondary copies. Next, the data is stored in at least two different types of media. One of these types of media is then kept offsite in a secure location.

YYYC can support your IT team in the defense against cyberattacks with YeoSecure.

Our comprehensive cybersecurity monitoring and compliance solution, YeoSecure, transforms the way companies detect, investigate and respond to cyber threats. YeoSecure provides 24/7/365, enterprise-grade cybersecurity monitoring and support while cutting costs and keeping your IT team from scrambling to detect and troubleshoot cyberattacks.

Learn more about how YeoSecure can help your organization detect, respond, and comply.