Anyone whose company has suffered a ransomware attack can tell you that the negative effects are extensive. Ransomware attacks are costly, time-consuming, and damaging to your organization whether you pay the ransom or not. Losing your data would almost certainly be a complete disaster. The question, then, is a pressing one: How do you get your data back without paying the ransom?

As an IT service provider, you’re likely dealing with all you can handle. The good news is that implementing remote management is not one more thing on your to-do list; rather, it’s an essential tool for getting tasks off your list more quickly. This post will provide an overview of remote management solutions, essential components of a good, reliable solution, and best practices that will help you get the most out of your implementation.

IT professionals always search for the most efficient and cost-effective solutions, methods, and best practices. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) are related guidelines that can help in this pursuit. Both ITIL and ITSM revolve around providing IT services. Although they prioritize and attend to different things, ultimately, their goal is to improve both efficiency and efficacy. Read more about ITIL vs. ITSM below.

Threat actors use a number of different techniques to gain access to company networks so that they can deliver ransomware payloads. In this blog, we look at four of the most common techniques currently being used to attack networks. The intent is to help MSPs and IT admins understand where the threats are coming from, and then where to focus their attention in order to protect their (or their customers’) networks.

For IT professionals and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) charged with managing multiple systems, software installation can be a major time-suck. Utilizing package managers like Chocolatey can be a game changer. Yet, ensuring Chocolatey itself is installed or up to date can also pose a challenge. To streamline this process, we have designed a PowerShell script that makes installing and upgrading Chocolatey — and consequently, your desired applications — effortless.

Your organization depends on reliable network and endpoint security to ensure that all data is handled, stored, and protected properly. Generally, a comprehensive network security plan includes anti-virus software, access management, zero-trust policies, and endpoint security tools, among other things. A Firewall is considered to be one of the most important components of a network security plan.

Cloud storage involves storing your data on a server that belongs to a third-party cloud service provider (CSP) rather than on-premises. Because many CSPs have large numbers of servers available, it tends to be more cost effective to pay a recurring fee for off-site storage rather than storing all of your files locally. Additionally, many organizations use cloud backups to save space in local storage and to improve accessibility and availability.

For a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to grow, it must win new customers. However, each new customer brings more devices and users that require management, incident ticket resolution, and provisioning. If the above is actioned manually, an MSP requires dedicated staff to handle the new clients’ users, devices, resolve tickets and requests. Bearing in mind, each staff member can only support a certain number of users and devices.

Last month, at N-able’s Empower partner event in Prague, Chief Security Officer, Dave MacKinnon conducted a roundtable with executives from MSPs from the UK, Germany, Poland, and South Africa. The topic centered around artificial intelligence (AI) and initiated dialogue around whether they were planning to embrace AI and their concerns around the impact it could have on technology as a whole. After the event, I sat down with Dave to discuss some of the insights gained from the roundtable.

Secure remote access is now a necessity for organizations, especially since the hybrid work model is expected to grow from 42% in 2021 to 81% in 2024. To secure remote access and provide support for hybrid or fully remote teams, businesses rely on remote access protocols, such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). With this post, you can dive deeper into various aspects of RDP, such as pros/cons and use cases, and acquire a better understanding of this essential protocol.