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Sep
September 18, 2017
Here we go again, another major breach of private data. This time possibly impacting 40% of the people in the US. Someone, or perhaps several someones, may now have my name, Social Security number, birth date, address, credit card numbers and possibly my driver’s license number; and yours too. What to do now? The first thing you should do is log onto the Equifax site to see if you may have been impacted. Go to https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/potential-impact/ and type in your last name and the last 6 digits of your social security number.
What next? Do you sign up for a LifeLock type program? If you aren’t already on one, you really should be. Or do you just throw up your hands and assume there’s nothing you can do about it? I refer to this as breach fatigue. It’s a malady that we cannot afford in business.
Rather, this latest breach should renew our commitment to ensure that we are taking logical, appropriate measures to protect the data of our clients and employees. If you are using the same procedure for managing your IT systems that you used three years ago then you should already know that you are playing with fire. The only way to protect your network is to be certain you have implemented a layered security system. You need to be confident that your systems; all of your systems, not just servers but every endpoint including PC’s, tablets, laptops and smart phones must be proactively managed and monitored. Security patches and updates must be applied soon after their release.
Your staff must be educated through quarterly training on how to spot and thwart phishing attacks. Hacking is not just accomplished through technical means, like the Equifax breach, but also by social engineering techniques as was the case with Anthem. An employee clicked on a phishing email and caused 78 million medical records to fall into the wrong hands. Protecting your data isn’t cheap, but the alternative can be even more costly, affecting your business and your reputation. If you have been putting off your personal or business information security, this should be your data protection wake up call.
As President of NetCenergy, Don Nokes is responsible for ensuring client satisfaction, and overseeing company performance and direction. Prior to co-founding the firm with Dan Charland in 2003, Don held senior leadership positions with IT service firms ranging in size from $3 Billion to $10 Million in annual sales.
Nick Eckman joined NetCenergy in 2016 from an international gaming company. Nick’s experience with supervising and implementing secure, fiber and copper wire infrastructure services provides our clients with a team of highly trained and experienced technicians. In addition to the skills required to manage our infrastructure services department, Nick brings a very experienced and focused approach to project management and is a stickler for accurate documentation for every project designed and built by his team.
Peter Lachapelle joined NetCenergy in 2015 and is responsible for leading all of NetCenergy’s operations and accounting functions. Each department within NetCenergy reports through Lachapelle. He brings his years of experience to maintain a pragmatic, efficient, client-focused team at NetCenergy. Lachapelle joined NetCenergy after completing a 27-year career with a Rhode Island, federally-charted bank which culminated in his senior management position as COO and CFO for the bank.
Peter Nelson has 25+ years of technology and management experience and has been with NetCenergy since inception. Peter serves as the VP of Engineering at NetCenergy. His role consists of managing the engineering staff, driving the companies technology strategy, and ensuring NetCenergy keeps up to date on new technologies and solutions.
As a Founding Partner, Dan is a result oriented individual who is always focusing on what is best for his client. He understands that business applications empower an organization and that technology must support those critical business applications. Dan’s technology career started in 1990 at EMC Corporation. Through the years, he has represented technology and consulting services for several organizations until 2003, when he and Don Nokes founded NetCenergy.
With decades of hands-on HR experience, Margery Ahearn is our Director of Human Resources, overseeing all hiring of new positions for NetCenergy with a careful eye on sourcing technology savvy engineers and skilled office-based professionals who fit our company culture, understand our commitment to our clients, and bring their time and talents to our team. Margery has both a BA and MBA in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.