The Michigan IT Experts

What Is Blockchain?

For those who aren’t familiar with blockchain, it can be defined as a distributed database that stores data. Most data storage is centralized, but with blockchain each piece of information is stored on a “block” or what is known as a node. Each node is created when data is added to the chain (all the nodes are connected to other nodes). This chain of data isn’t controlled by one person, rather it is spread out and duplicated so that every entity that is represented on the blockchain has access to the complete record of it. Each node is encrypted and can’t be edited, so if some part of the information needs to be altered a new node is created.

Of course, the first technology that spawned from this was the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, but today it is being developed for many more applications. Let’s take a look at three:

Improving Banking

Blockchain technology is perfect for tracking financial transactions. Everyone that uses a checking account knows that they have a ledger that they need to update once they deposit or withdraw money from that account. Blockchain is set up to do this by nature. Each transaction gets its own node. Furthermore, since it’s a distributed system, it can work for multiple users at once, creating what are called smart contracts. Essentially, when two entities enter an agreement with stipulations, blockchain can trigger payment when the conditions are met, effectively automating the flow of capital. 

Improving Supply Chains

The past couple of years have wreaked havoc on supply chains, but blockchain technology is literally the perfect technology to help keep them running effectively. The distributed nature of a blockchain can work over multiple points on the supply chain, making it a great tool for both procurement and distribution. If companies can know the status, condition, and source of each product or component they receive, each member of a blockchain-linked supply chain can enjoy better transparency, improving the whole process.

Improving Healthcare

One of the first thoughts when blockchain was being considered a solution to data problems was how it would work in the healthcare system. Today, companies are creating applications that not only improve patient, care provider, insurance communication and give patients better control over their medical information, they are also creating solutions to better manage outpatient care. Security is a prime consideration when it comes to health records and the naturally secure blockchain technology appears to be a great solution to keep those records secure. 

Blockchain is exciting, but also taking quite a bit of time to move into the mainstream. What do you think about blockchain technology? Do you think that it can be the answer to a lot of society’s digital problems down the road? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and check back soon for more great technology content.

Let’s examine this trend of the “workation.” 

What is a Workation?

While a working vacation is by no means a new concept, the surge in remote work’s popularity has resulted in a similar surge in the concept of simply working remotely from a vacation destination. For instance, someone who works remotely could do so while at a beachside resort rather than in their home. As its name suggests, it’s a hybrid of the concepts of working and vacationing: a person can still accomplish their work-related tasks while also gaining many of the benefits that a vacation brings.

To be frank, a workation is a break from your typical workspace, not from work itself. It’s also not a replacement for actual time off, but it can be pretty nice to change the scenery every so often.

The benefits of a workation are pretty straightforward:

• By allowing the employee to engage in recreational activities when they aren’t working, they are able to be more relaxed when they are. Even the change in environment can have a positive impact on overall productivity.
• Offering the capability to partake in a workation can be a significant draw for new employees.
• A workation can also expand on the perspective that an employee has, not only refreshing them and their productivity but giving them new ideas to implement.

Having said that, there are a few drawbacks to the concept. For instance, there can often be delays in communication when people are working remotely—especially when they are on a vacation. Plus, the workation itself can create more challenges in terms of lining up schedules and effectively collaborating.

While the choice of whether or not to enact workations into your policies is your decision, we wanted to give you a few tips to help make these workations (or any remote work, for that matter) as effective as possible.

How to Ensure That Your Workation is Secure

Regardless of where this workation is taking place, your business’ security needs to be held in the utmost importance. That’s why we recommend a few basics you should implement for your benefit:

• Use a VPN - You want to ensure that your business’ communications remain secure, regardless of where your team members are working from. A virtual private network can help you accomplish as much.
• Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication - Multi-Factor Authentication (or MFA) is a great way to double-down on the protections that are afforded to you by your typical username-password authentication.
• Educate Your Team - Your team members will be your biggest vulnerability against cyberthreats, unless you train them to be an asset. Making sure they know how to spot threats, and how they should react when they do, will be crucial to preventing issues from arising… particularly while working remotely.

So, what’s your take on the workation? As a business owner, have you ever tried switching up the scenery while still getting work done? We can help you do so. To learn more, give us a call at 810-230-9455 today.

The direction was issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and it essentially assigned due dates ranging from November 2021 to May 2022. CISA is urging all federal agencies and organizations to resolve certain known and exploited vulnerabilities during this timeline. There are some notable exceptions for national security-related infrastructures, though.

The catalog of known, exploited vulnerabilities is located on CISA’s website. This catalog contains information on each known vulnerability, and all of them (around 300 or so) are all believed to pose some kind of threat to the federal government. The catalog also links to NIST database entries for guidance on how to apply these patches and resolve these vulnerabilities.

This is obviously a huge undertaking and one that could lead to miscommunications, confusion, and more throughout the patching process. This is especially true when you consider that each department is responsible for deploying their own updates and are only accountable to CISA. Even so, CISA is applying pressure on these organizations to meet specific criteria within a timeframe.

This timeline varies, but within 60 days, agencies must review and update their policies on vulnerability management, and these new policies must be made available to CISA upon request. Agencies must also have a policy in place for carrying out the directive issued by CISA. Organizations must identify who is responsible for this, as well as how they plan to track and report on the implementation process.

If you think patch management is difficult for governments, then imagine how difficult it can be for small businesses with more limited spending power and fewer resources at their disposal. SMBs tend to patch vulnerabilities when they have the time and resources to do so rather than when they need to be deployed, which is not the correct approach. For each day you don’t resolve a vulnerability, you are giving hackers countless opportunities to break into your network.

NuTech Services can help your business with patch implementation and update deployment. We can make this process automatic and easy to take advantage of. You’ll find that there are countless benefits to freeing yourself from the worries associated with technology management and maintenance, and trust us when we say you’ll never have to worry about patches or updates again.

To learn more, reach out to us at 810-230-9455.