The Datamax Thinking Blog

Good IT security practices require more than just a bundle of technology tossed at a potential problem.

Author and Poet Rumi once wrote: “I’ve said before that every craftsman searches for what’s not there to practice his craft.”

Do their values reflect a commitment to maximizing your return on technology investment? Is their communication – and their approach – crystal clear?

Pardon the inevitable pun. But does your technology partner have a 2020 vision, at least for your business? Does their vision match your's?

In other words, can they:

• Speak to the true challenges of your industry and your specific organization?
• Identify opportunities for creating more efficient business processes, and make relevant technology recommendations that are relevant to YOU?  
• Maintain accountability with proven results?

To remain secure against increasingly-sophisticated attacks, organizations need to take a more practical approach: One that involves heightened employee awareness and full executive stewardship of a collaborative, company-wide security initiative.

IT Security: It can often still be considered an “IT issue.”

But it’s more than that. Just as revenue and performance are routinely reviewed, assessed and collaborated on, security should be a talking point inside the executive boardroom and an initiative that involves all employees. It’s not just an IT issue. It’s a business issue that involves your entire organization.

Reputable technology partners don’t just talk a big game. They measure their performance constantly. And then they prove it on the course by sharing a variety of valuable, game-changing metrics with you, the client.

Tiger Woods’ emotional victory at the Master’s Sunday was a seminal moment in American sports history.

The emotional moments following his final putt – from the family embraces to the chants of “Tiger!” from the crowd - swept the sports world with a comeback story for the ages. Perhaps lost in this dramatic vignette over the weekend were the tireless hours that went into fine-tuning his mechanics day by day, shot by shot. And using technology to his advantage.

Beyond the infrastructure in place, what about employee education? What is your company doing to educate its team for recognizing and avoiding these sly, malicious tactics?

Human error. It’s an inevitable part of life and conducting business every day.

We’re only human, after all.

But such human error can be especially damaging in today’s cybersecurity climate. According to Verizon’s 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report, phishing or other forms of social engineering cause 93% of all data breaches. This means that employee negligence is generating a majority of cyber attacks. It's possibly only a matter of time before one of your employees is hoodwinked by human-manipulating tactics.

While the 4Cs in education help empower students to be think-tanks of tomorrow, the 4Cs of business technology should and can liberate your on-campus technology team to apply these classroom initiatives.

As educators further pursue the ideal 21st century learning environment, one won’t dig far without uncovering the 4Cs.

The 4Cs – critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication - have been adopted and implemented into the curriculum of school districts and professional development programs for years. Established by the National Education Association and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, these four components are a guide post for choosing specific tools, software and curriculum for the modern day, technologically advanced environment of today’s youth.

Your business technology partner should play a key role in helping bring those 4Cs to light. 

Social Engineering is really no different than any old school scam from the past, other than modern technology is the setting (for the modern attack)." - Justin Huffaker, Vice President of Strategic Technology, Datamax Inc.

Most recall the Martin Scorsese film “Catch Me if You Can,” which follows New York teen Frank Abagnale (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor and a Louisiana parish prosecutor to successfully execute million-dollar cons.

Abagnale’s ploys, while sophisticated, relied heavily on the ingrained, trusting nature of humans to carry out his elaborate schemes: Much like Social Engineering in 2018, some 60 years after Abagnale’s antics.

The study found that seventy-four percent (74%) of employees felt they were asked to do things on the job for which they were not properly trained.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you say you've got advanced service training certification(s)—so what. If those certifications were worth their salt, everyone would be pursuing achievement, touting the distinction, and donning the emblems."—Naysayers International

As it stands, many service providers don’t seem interested (or perhaps capable) unless such certifications are required or mandatory by the suppliers and manufacturers they represent. Mandatory certifications may ensure compliance but not necessarily commitment to learning—which is the point. The fact is the vast majority of advanced technical training certifications in arenas like the copier industry are dealer-voluntary. So what does it say about those who don’t voluntarily participate in them? Whether cost, commitment or perceived lack of value from, oh the way, the OEM, we think that's a pretty revealing question.