CALL US: 216-397-4080  | CLIENT HELP DESK: 216-539-3686

Thoughts From Abbott’s Inbox March 11th, 2022

Thoughts From My Inbox

March 11th, 2022

Marathons, Job Openings, and Bad Passwords

I can’t seem to get through my inbox on a daily basis, but unfortunately for you, it’s all work-related stuff.  The interesting facts, useless tidbits, random sports (I did get something about the Slap Fighting Championships this week, but that was to dumb to even include), and crazy real estate listings have been awfully quiet of late.  If you have something worthy of sharing, please don’t hesitate to send it my way!

 

Something About…

 

Passwords
As seen in the graphic above, a password containing six characters or less can now be cracked instantly.  (If the research is correct, I should be good for at least 34 years on most of my passwords.)  If you expect to have a very long life, you might want to go with a combination of number/upper/lower/symbol that’s at least 12 characters.  That should do the trick.

 

90%

90% of managed IT services providers admit to having been hit with a successful cyber attack in the past 18 months.  And yet only 40% use multifactor authentication on their own networks.  Anybody in this industry knows that the FBI has had us on high alert for quite some time (hackers figure “why go after individual targets when we can go after an MSP and get access to ALL of their clients?”), yet many still don’t bother to take the proper precautions on their own networks.  If they won’t secure their own networks, why would anybody think they can properly protect their clients?  

 

Many of the prospects we speak with are reluctant to change providers. They figure “my partner hasn’t screwed anything up too badly, yet, so why change?”  Generally speaking, the $hit has to hit the fan for somebody to make a change. In many cases, it has to hit the fan twice.  I still can’t figure out why people think  that “they haven’t screwed up too badly, yet” is acceptable.

  

 

Tennessee Marathon

The Barkley Marathons in Tennessee recently wrapped up, and not one person finished the race.  Only 40 runners are allowed to enter in any given year, and this makes five years in a row without a finisher.  The goal is to finish five 20 mile loops through the woods in 60 hours.  With vertical climbs totaling almost 60,000 feet.  And most of it takes place in the dark.  Sounds like an absolute joy.

 

 

We’re Hiring

Our sales team is killing it right now, and that means we need to hire more engineers (they’re the smart people that make it easy for us to sell what Ashton offers).  We hire for “attitude rather than aptitude”.  You might have every Microsoft certification there is, but if you can’t speak to our clients on their level (usually not technical) and show some empathy when they’re having problems (why else would they call us), you’re probably not a good fit.

 

Over the years, we’ve hired country club managers, line chefs, truck stop managers, and jewerly sales people.  They’ve been interested in technology (and have been quick learners), but more importantly, they offer great customer service and want to solve problems.  If you know somebody that might be interested, please let us know, or share this email with them.

 

 
Phishing Stats

Facebook is the most commonly impersonated company when it comes to phishing.  Makes sense, considering how many active users they have.  The same research also shows that phishing attempts are significantly higher during the work week than on weekends, and that they increase as the week goes on.  This makes sense too; phishers rely on people being too busy multi-tasking at work to pay attention to what they’re doing.  The busier somebody is, the more likely that they’ll overlook the obvious signs of a phish and provide important credentials to a hacker.
Today is another Friday that I had on the calendar as a day off for skiing.  But the ridiculously warm weather put the kibosh on those plans.  At least I’m not sitting watching the snow fall like the last time we skipped ski plans.  On the bright side, baseball is now officially around the corner.  Finally, don’t forget to set your clock ahead one hour when you go to bed on Saturday night!

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Jim

Jim

Related Posts