IT Services Model Where Everyone Wins – And Where You Lose Big

If you’re a business owner, there’s probably a good chance you spent time figuring out the IT needs of your business. It’s not as easy as searching online and picking the cheapest option or the company with the best reviews. The cheap option may not provide the IT services you need to keep your business at the top of its game, and the best-reviewed business may be too expensive or offer services that are completely unnecessary for your business.

To put it simply, if you want to get the most out of your IT support services, you must do some research. If you haven’t spent a lot of time in the world of IT, it can be difficult to figure out where to even begin with your research. If you’ve found yourself in this situation previously or are preparing to open a new business and are interested in your IT support options, we’ve got you covered. We’ve put together the three most common forms of IT support and explain the benefits and drawbacks of each so you can confidently decide on the best option for your business.

Managed IT Services

In this option, the IT services company takes over the role of your in-house IT department for a fixed and agreed-upon monthly rate. They’ll install, support and maintain all the users, devices and PCs connected to your network on a routine basis. They will even take care of your hardware and software needs for an extra cost. If you’re trying to plan for a monthly budget or want routine maintenance and IT support, this option will work wonders for your business.

It’s my sincere belief that the managed IT approach is undoubtedly the most cost-effective and smartest option for any business. With managed IT services, your business will be protected from IT-related problems, and they will keep your systems up and running. They can prevent common “disasters” such as lost devices, hardware failures, fires, natural disasters and a host of other issues that can interrupt or outright destroy your IT infrastructure and the data it holds.

Technology As A Service

Another option that might work really well for your business is using a company that offers technology as a service. With these companies, you’ll get everything that managed IT services offer but with the addition of new hardware, software and support. This service ensures that your business is always up-to-date with the newest software and hardware. The greatest benefit of technology as a service is that you’ll avoid the heavy cost of new hardware and software when you need it, but you will be paying far more for the same hardware and software over time. You’ll also need to pay attention to the services they offer to ensure they can provide what you need and that it does not cost extra.

Time And Materials

Time and materials are often referred to as the “break-fix” method. This essentially means that you pay an agreed-upon hourly rate for a technician to “fix” a problem when something “breaks.” It’s a simple and straightforward way to pay for IT services Myrtle Beach SC but often doesn’t work in your favor and can lead you to pay more for basic services.

I would only recommend the time-and-materials approach if you already have an IT team and you need additional support for a problem that your current IT team doesn’t have the time or expertise to handle. Under the break-fix model, the IT company has no immediate need to stabilize your network because they are getting paid hourly. The break-fix model is unable to supply ongoing maintenance and monitoring, which computer networks need to stay secure.

Choosing the right IT option for your business can take time and is certainly not something you want to rush into. Take your time and do your research to find the best option to fit your needs. If you’re unsure of where to even begin – or need some help navigating the sometimes confusing world of IT support – give us a call. We would be glad to help you find the IT support you need.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you are interested in getting expert support from IT specialists.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 420-9760
https://www.spartantec.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence, Charleston

• Want to learn more about our IT Services?

  Submit this form and we'll contact you, or give us a call at 843.418.4792

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IT Services Myrtle Beach SC

Do you want to be proactive? You should consider getting IT services Myrtle Beach SC.

It's important to not waste your time and technology.

While technology can be useful for many reasons, we believe that one thing your IT must always do is save time. It seems that there are always enough hours in a day. Good technology should help you get things done quickly and share your workload, so it flows seamlessly and is well spent.

Sometimes technology can just waste your time.

It is best to prevent problems from arising in the first place. In our years of being in business, we have seen many IT issues. Instead of fighting them every day, we developed proactive solutions to stop them from ever happening.

SpartanTec, Inc. uses best practices that we have developed in the past to ensure you do not suffer. To minimize interruptions and catch problems before they become serious, we offer 24/7 monitoring and maintenance. We can focus our efforts on improving your efficiency and productivity, so we spend more time focusing our attention.

Plan for the Problems You've Never Seen

We save every solution to an IT problem that we have solved for our clients. This allows us to share our knowledge with everyone and prevents many problems from causing disruption for clients.

We will analyze your entire system to find solutions and prevent problems from arising.

Even though we may not be able to prevent all problems, we have a lot of experience with them and can help you deal quickly with any issues that arise.

So that our services are reliable and efficient, we recommend only using products and technologies we know. We can share more information the better we are able to.

Technology Maintenance at its Best

Regular maintenance is one of the most effective ways to prevent IT support issues from developing. Regular maintenance is as easy as checking in every once in a while, looking at the entire system for a few moments, then making adjustments.

Your entire system is regularly inspected for possible problems.

So that your applications and systems run efficiently and are protected from possible threats, we implement the proper updates and upgrades.

Technology refreshes are also planned for the future, in order to replace outdated technology before they disrupt your business.

Keep alert

Our proactive actions will prevent many problems. We're good at what our do. However, we cannot stop every problem. We must be alert to IT problems as quickly as possible and ready to handle them.

We monitor your system remotely 24/7 so we are notified immediately if our tools detect a problem.

IT problems are often not detected and resolved quickly.

Remote support also makes it simple to resolve problems right away without ever having to visit your office.

Cloud Security

Safeguarding your data. Security is a key part of every cloud security strategy. SpartanTec, Inc. provides the stability and security your business needs, whether you use public hosting providers or a private platform for controlling proprietary data. Our experts will work closely with you to determine the needs of your company and offer best-in class security, such as Identity and Access Management and high availability.

Office 365

It is crucial to choose the best email plan for your company. It is the foundation of all communication. It is the foundation of collaboration. It is the foundation of productivity. Microsoft Office 365 is a leading business email platform because of its powerful capabilities. Office 365 allows companies of any size to increase productivity and reduce costs in a competitive market. We are an Office 365 provider and can assist you in optimizing this platform so that your company has the flexibility, reliability, security, and efficiency it needs.

Data Recovery & Backup

Keep a copy of your data.

This is a very simple idea, but it may be difficult to implement successfully, depending on the business. You might work with sensitive information or proprietary data. Compliance-driven data may be required. Or business content must be available from many locations. What can you do to protect your data from the day and even minutes? Our team will work with you to determine mission-critical data, and then to create a backup plan that is in line with industry and company regulations. Remote backup and data security is possible, but you might need remote support. Let us help you choose the right path.

Business Continuity

Prepare for anything. You can quickly recover from any disruption in your network, business applications, or business process. A business continuity plan will help you prepare for the worst. A down system, whether it is caused by man or not, can seriously impact customer orders, vendor commitments and revenue goals, as well as your reputation. Our team develops business continuity plans that help you get back in business.

SpartanTec, Inc. can help your company benefit from its expertise and ethical standards. Contact us now to find out how we can assist you. Call (843) 420-9760 to schedule a free, no-obligation assessment of your company's systems or send us an email at info@spartantec.com.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 420-9760
https://www.spartantec.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence, Charleston

• Want to learn more about our IT Services?

  Submit this form and we'll contact you, or give us a call at 843.418.4792

• Name*
• Company*
• Email*
• Phone

Related Posts

• Lenscrafters, Luxottica Eyewear Patients Had Information Breached
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New Malware Is Using CSV Files To Infect Users

Researchers have spotted a new phishing campaign you should be aware of.

What sets this one apart is that the hackers are using a lowly but specially crafted CSV file to infect machines. They are installing the BazarBackdoor malware. If you're not familiar with the term CSV stands for "Comma Separated Values" and it's a text file format that can be loaded into Excel.

If you open the file in a text editor, you'll simply see alphanumeric values separated by commas with the first line generally being the headers for the spreadsheet. Open the same file in Excel and it will separate the data into neat rows and columns.

CSV files are popular because they make it relatively easy to export data from one application and import it into another. Since the files are text only most people consider them to be relatively harmless and are generally not all that cautious when opening them.

Microsoft Excel supports a feature called Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) which can be used to execute commands whose output is inputted into the open spreadsheet including CSV files.

Hackers are always on the lookout for new angles to play and have naturally begun to abuse this feature. They execute commands that download malware on the devices of unsuspecting victims.

BazarBackdoor is a stealthy malware strain created by the TrickBot group. Its main purpose as the name suggests is to provide ongoing remote access to an internal device that can be used as a springboard for further lateral movement within a network.

The current campaign is centered around emails that pretend to be "Payment Remittance Advice" emails with links to remote sites that download a CSV file with innocuous names like "document-2196t6.csv."

If this file is opened in notepad or word pad and examined, at first glance it will appear to be nothing more than a run of the mill CSV file. Unfortunately, embedded inside of it is a WMIC call in one of the columns of data that launches a PowerShell command and that's enough. That's all the hackers need to install the malware.

As always vigilance is your best defense against cyberattacks. Remind your employees not to open any emails from unknown or untrusted sources and not to download or open any attachments from those emails.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you want to protect your business against malware, phishing, and other online threats.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 420-9760
https://www.spartantec.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence, Charleston

Last Year Microsoft Blocked More Than 25 Billion Hacker Attacks

Individual users often don't have a good sense of the scope and scale of hacker attacks around the world.  The numbers may shock you.

According to Microsoft, in 2021 the company blocked more than 25.6 billion brute force authentication attacks against Azure AD users. They also and intercepted a staggering 35.7 billion phishing emails with Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

Vasu Jakkal is Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Security, Compliance, and Identity. Jakkal is both passionate and concerned about this subject.  The increase in the total number of attempts since the pandemic began has been breathtaking.

Unfortunately, Jakkal says that so far only a minority of Azure AD and Microsoft 365 users seem interested in taking steps to bolster their own security. Based on statistics gathered by Microsoft, only 22 percent of Azure AD users have activated MFA (multi-factor authentication) protocols. MFA  would keep their accounts safer and make it significantly more difficult for hackers to force their way in.

Here is how much more difficult it can be:

Google combined forces with researchers at New York University and the University of California to study that very topic. They discovered that MFA implementation can block up to 100 percent of automated bot attacks, 99 percent of bulk phishing attacks, and up to 66 percent of targeted attacks. That is an impressive level of protection for something that's so simple to implement and make use of!

The two big takeaways here are:

1. The total number of hacking attacks is increasing dramatically.
2. Although automated tools are getting progressively better at preventing many of them, end users have an important role to play too. Unfortunately, as of right now they're not.

Depressingly few users are taking even the most basic steps to better secure their accounts.  If you set one major IT security goal for the year, a very good one would be to do all you can to increase the percent of users at your firm who are taking advantage of MFA everywhere they can.

Contact SpartanTec, Inc. now if you need help in protecting your company against online threats.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 420-9760
https://www.spartantec.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence, Charleston

More Scammers Are Using Social Media To Target Victims

An increasing number of scammers are using social media to target victims and relying on social engineering tricks to convince people to part with their personal information or money.  The problem has grown serious enough that the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has issued a formal warning to consumers.

According to a recently released FTC report:

"More than 95,000 people reported about $770 million in losses to fraud initiated on social media platforms in 2021. 

Those losses account for about 25 percent of all reported losses to fraud in 2021 and represent a stunning eighteen-fold increase over 2017 reported losses. Reports are up for every age group, but people 18 to 39 were more than twice as likely as older adults to report losing money to these scams in 2021.

More than half of people who reported losses to investment scams in 2021 said the scam started on social media. Reports to the FTC show scammers use social media platforms to promote bogus investment opportunities and even to connect with people directly as supposed friends to encourage them to invest. 

People send money, often cryptocurrency, on promises of huge returns, but end up empty-handed."

Overall cryptocurrency scams are regarded as the number one threat for investors in 2022, according to a new report from the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA). However, the FTC is cautioning all users to exercise caution and develop better habits when scrolling through their favorite social media platform.

They recommend setting limits on who can see your posts, taking advantage of increasingly robust privacy controls, opting out of targeted advertising, and doing more due diligence on any company you plan on doing business with before buying anything from them.

It's good advice in general but it is especially important now given how prevalent social media-based attacks are becoming.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you need the help of IT support specialists to boost your cybersecurity.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 420-9760
https://www.spartantec.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence, Charleston

Mac Malware Is Becoming A Bigger Threat For Users

In late 2020 a new strain of malware called UpdateAgent appeared and began infecting Mac users.

Initially the strain wasn't all that worrisome.  It stole system information but it was by no means the worst threat on a Mac user's radar.

Since that time, the hackers behind the malicious code have been busy. UpdateAgent has received a few developments, with each one adding a new element of danger to the equation.  As things stand now UpdateAgent should be considered a serious threat to Mac users.

As of its latest iteration, UpdateAgent installs an annoyingly persistent adware strain called Adload. It has gained capabilities that make it easy for UpdateAgent to install other even more threatening and damaging payloads in the future.

Microsoft has been investigating and following the development of UpdateAgent.  The company has discovered that the hackers who created the strain are hosting a wide range of other payloads on Amazon Web Services' S3 and CloudFront services. While these have not yet been tied to UpdateAgent, it's a clear sign of the shape of things to come.

In addition to that, the code is now capable of fetching compressed zip files instead of .dmg files. It has been modified to prevent Gatekeeper from displaying pop-up warnings to users.  It can also inject persistent code inside background processes that are invisible to the user.

Microsoft had this to say about their study of the malware strain:

"UpdateAgent is uniquely characterized by its gradual upgrading of persistence techniques, a key feature that indicates this trojan will likely continue to use more sophisticated techniques in future campaigns. 

Like many information-stealers found on other platforms, the malware attempts to infiltrate macOS machines to steal data and it is associated with other types of malicious payloads, increasing the chances of multiple infections on a device."

If UpdateAgent wasn't on your radar before it certainly belongs there now.  It's one to watch  out for in the year ahead.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our IT support experts help protect your information by setting up the most effective cybersecurity measures.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 420-9760
https://www.spartantec.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence, Charleston

Apple Released A Fix For Multiple Zero Day Exploits

There's good news for Apple users.

The company has been busy and has recently released security updates that address two Zero-Day vulnerabilities. These are security flaws that could be exploited by hackers to cause no end of trouble to anybody running macOS or iOS.

The first Zero-Day addressed is being tracked as CVE-2022-22587 and is a nasty memory corruption bug that impacts macOS Monterey, iPadOS and iOS.

The second issue the company focused on was a Zero-Day bug in Safari's WebKit and it impacted users running iPadOS and iOS.  Tracked as CVE-2022-22594 this allowed websites to track your browsing activity and user identities in real time.

If you're running an OS version earlier than 15.3 you are vulnerable to both exploits. Note that Apple has found evidence that they are actively being exploited in the wild.  To protect yourself you'll want to update to 15.3 as soon as possible.

These two represent the first Zero-Day bugs that Apple has tackled in 2022 which makes them significant.  It's also proof positive that the company isn't sitting back and resting on its laurels.  They're actively taking the fight to the hackers and addressing security flaws head on and at a rapid clip.

It's very good to see but last year Apple seemed to be chasing an unending stream of Zero-Day flaws.  Here's hoping that this year will see relatively fewer of them. Even if that proves not to be the case, Apple has and continues to demonstrate how seriously they take the security of their user base.

Whatever happens, one thing we can say with certainty is that 2022 is bound to be an interesting year.

Again Kudos to Apple for their rapid response and if you're an Apple user check your OS version to make sure you're protected.

Whether you are using Apple devices or PC,s, you need network security. Contact us today for a complete network security report. It is well worth the time.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 420-9760
https://www.spartantec.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence, Charleston