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While it is true that multifactor authentication (MFA) significantly improves account security, it is no excuse for people to be lax with their passwords. For instance, if a cybercriminal steals the smartphone you use to receive one-time passcodes, then MFA won’t trip them up at all

In short, it still pays to use strong passwords in conjunction with other cybersecurity measures to keep unauthorized users at bay.

Individuals and organizations in Missouri and across all states are inundated with cyberthreats every day — more than any IT security team can handle by their lonesome. Sure, they have a lot of tools already at their disposal. Firewalls keep unauthorized people away from networks, antivirus software destroys known malware, and even Google helps out by blocking hundreds of millions of spam daily.

As protests for racial justice and against police brutality continue to be staged in Kansas City, months after outrage was sparked by the killing of George Floyd, more companies are pledging their support for the Black Lives Movement on social media.

What do Zoom, Viber, Skype, Messenger, Google Meet, and FaceTime all have in common? Unbeknownst to most people, these video calling apps and features use one underlying technology: Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP.

In a nutshell, VoIP is the transmission of data packets over the internet to facilitate online communications such as video calls, voicemail, and chat messages.

Electing our nation’s leaders is the cornerstone of our democracy. Representation is so vital that women and minorities fought for suffrage, individuals would walk for miles just to get their vote in, and politicians would commit gerrymandering to skew representation.

Whether one is a businessperson or a scammer (or someone in the business of pursuing scammers), one would do well to go where the money is. Now that nearly four billion people are connected to the internet via their smartphones, it is only natural for cybercriminals to target these devices more.

In warfare, the larger an area is, the harder it is to defend. The same logic applies to cybersecurity: as you increase accessibility to your data, protecting that data becomes more difficult. Beyond desktops that remain in your office, now you have laptops and smartphones to worry about, too.

Modernizing your business with IT can be very fruitful. For instance, the internet allows you to reach more customers, marketing software lets you hone in on the highest-quality leads, and customer relation management software allows you to quickly and efficiently respond to clients’ questions and concerns.

Given how large tech firms employ tens of thousands of Americans, one would think that the composition of their workforces would more or less mirror the US population. However, despite Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter promising in 2014 to increase diversity among their hires, it appears upon first glance that the needle hasn’t moved very much for Black representation in six years*.

Let’s look at the numbers

According to the population estimates and projections of the US Census Bureau in 2017, non-Whites will make up over 21% of America by July 1, 2020 — with Blacks comprising over 12 percentage points.

Business owners in Kansas City know the importance of data security, but so much uncertainty surrounds what actually comprises a sufficient cybersecurity system. Especially now with COVID-19 making cybercriminals even more vicious and forcing companies to tighten belts, spending the right amount on cybersecurity is critical for business survival.