IT, MSP & MSSP Industry Notes for January 10th 2022

Sponsored by

January 10th, 2022

Arcoa Group

Why partnering with ARCOA makes sense
Electronics Recycling is an important and profitable part of the IT asset lifecycle, but it can be overwhelming with all you already do, varying state regulations, and the limited resources at hand. That’s where ARCOA comes in. When you partner with ARCOA, you get all the benefits of a big company without any of the capital investment. We’ve been doing this since 1989 and have the expertise, certifications, and nationwide resources to get the most for all your clients’ retired IT assets. Plus, positioning your clients as environmental stewards not only elevates their appeal to consumers, it meets government requirements and avoids fines.

What partnering with ARCOA looks like
Our role is to make it easy for you to bring more value to your clients. We work with you to help stretch your clients’ IT budget by reducing the total cost of ownership of their electronics. We’re experts at identifying and implementing the solutions your clients need for the end-of-use remarketing, recovery, and recycling of their technology assets. The sooner you involve ARCOA, the sooner you and your clients.

NAKA Continues to Grow Through Acquisition

• NAKA Technologies, aglobal provider of IT solutions, it has acquired Northern Star Technology Group
• Northern Star Technology Group, a niche IT services provider headquartered on Long Island, New York
• NAKA team of 75 delivers managed and staffing services, including a unique approach that integrates Artificial Intelligence (AI) into its Managed Services platform
• Northern Star was founded in 2010 by Charles Ferretti and specializes in the small business technology needs of medical and dental services, real estate professionals and fire protection agencies

5 Cloud Native Trends to Watch out for in 2022

• Reported on thenewstack.io
• Trend 1: Rise of WebAssembly in the Cloud Native Environment
• New Distributions of Kubernetes
• Increased Focus on Cloud Native Security
• Kubevirt Going Mainstream
• GitOps Becomes the Standard for Continuous Deployment

Cary Area Chamber hosts ribbon cutting for StratusComm-Managed IT Services

• Cary-Grove Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new office location of StratusComm -- Managed IT Services
• StratusComm -- Managed IT Services offers fully managed IT support for small and medium sized businesses
• Reported on Dailyherald.com

New printer for smartphones

Portable inkless printer, named PoooliPrinter, is compatible with all kinds of smartphones

• uses thermal printing technology to print photos, images, to-do lists, notes, PDFs & more
• uses special paper and does not have toner or ink cartridges
• pricing not announced

In Memory of Al Scibetta

• Al co-founded Copier Fax Business Technologies with his wife, Andrea Scibetta in 1990 as a Konica Minolta dealer.  Over the past 30 years, the company has grown to over 32 employees and has evolved as one of the top office technology providers in the region

With digital on the rise, knowledge workers need the tools to thrive

• The COVID-19 pandemic has taught everyone around the world one thing: Digital processes are essential for organizations to thrive
• Why use an electronic signature?
• Electronic signature integration

Intel CEO comments on chip shortage

• Interview of Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel Corp., by Nikkei Asia Review magazine
• Computer chip shortage is set to last until 2023
• “The overall semiconductor shortage is quite significant and the semiconductor industry was growing about 5% per year before COVID”
• “COVID disrupted the supply chains, causing it to negative”
• “Demand exploded to 20% year over year and disrupted supply chains created a very large gap... and that exploding demand has persisted”
• “It just takes time to build this capacity to respond to the spike”

New Ricoh SP C840DNM Color Check MICR Printer

• From Rosetta Technologies
• CPAs, financial institutions, payroll companies, property management firms and businesses cutting hundreds of checks, EOBs or claim checks every month
• Color print with MICR black toner
• can eliminate pre-printed check stock,  changing stocks over and over during the workday
• Optional; CheckStream Color Plus Software
• Only available through Rosetta

Breaches caused by fax continue

• Article published by Cabin Radio News network
• Northwest Territories Healthcare System of Canada is under investigation for
  breaches caused by faxing document to wrong place
• Privacy Commissioner Elaine Keenan Bengts stated that 9 of the 22 reported large healthcare privacy breaches during past year had involved faxed PHI falling into wrong hands
• “Not infrequently, personal health information has been unlawfully disclosed when using fax machines to transmit personal health information”; stated Commissioner Andrew Fox
• Officials are calling on government legislators to implement better guidelines and call for health professionals to stop using fax machines

Will chip shortages cause supply glut?

• Article published by Nikkei Asia magazine
• Current computer chip shortage is causing a massive investment in new chip manufacturing plants
• “It took 50 years for the industry to grow to half a trillion dollars today, and now it is estimated that the industry will grow to a trillion in roughly eight years”; stated Tom Caulfield, CEO of GlobalFoundries in Singapore
• Construction on close to 30 new fabs will start by end of 2022

Chinese print cartridge makers in trouble

• The China Labor Watch group is reporting that two un-named printer toner cartridge makers in Zhuai, China were cited for serious labor violations
• Investigation discovered “just the tip of the iceberg”
• Undercover investigators were used
• Problems included:
  • False pay stubs
  • Failure to provide insurance
  • Insufficient safety and health training
  • Age discrimination
  • Excessive overtime
  • No overtime pay
  • No paid holidays

IT Systems Engineer Wanted

Stratix Systems

IT Systems Engineer

King of Prussia, PA

Employer est.:$50K - $75K

IT Systems Engineer

Docufree Announces Strategic Partnership with Allied Global

• Announced a partnership with Allied Global, a provider of business support and IT technology services headquartered in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Central America
• Will provide Allied Global with the ability to offer Docufree’s cloud-based document-management solutions
• Docufree® Document Cloud platform delivers modern SaaS technologies and digital services

Cybersecurity

• Comparitech published research on US education vertical:
  • Since 2005, K-12 school districts, colleges and universities have experienced more than 1,850 large breaches of student info
  • 6 million students have been impacted
• CyberPeace Institute published new data on cyberattacks in Healthcare Industry:
  • Large attacks happen at rate of 3.8 per week
  • At least 39 different ransomware groups are attacking industry
  • 12 ransomware groups stated that they would not target healthcare providers, but yet do so anyway
  • 19% of healthcare organizations admit that cyberattacks result in cancelled patient visits
    • 14% have patients redirected
    • 80% have PHI exposed
    • 20% of all ransomware victims are in healthcare industry
  • Florida Digestive Health Specialists notified 212,500 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
  • Lincoln Park First Aid Squad of New Jersey notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after its was inadvertently made available on a public accessible website.
  • Harbor Health of Massachusetts notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack on its ScansStat Technologies system.
  • Advocate Aurora Health of Illinois notified 1,500 patients that their PHI was exposed in a mailing error.
  • Medical Review Institute of America, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Shutterfly Corp, headquartered in Redwood City, CA, notified an unknown number of customers that that info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Weddell Pediatric Dental Specialists of Carmel, Indiana notified 5,356 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
  • Southern Orthopaedic Associates of Paducah, Kentucky, notified 106,910 patients that their PHI wax exposed after email phishing attack.
  • Texas ENT notified 535,489 patients that their PHI was exposed in a cyber attack.
  • Duneland Public Schools of Indiana notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Evanston Township School District of Illinois notified 1,100 students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Luxemborg-Casco School District of Wisconsin notified 1,399 students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • McMenamins, which operates hotels and brewpubs, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, notified an unknown number of customers that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Baltimore County Police Department of Maryland announced that former officer Deandre Ross was sentenced to 3 years in prison for stealing identities
  • Coffeyville School District of Kansas notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Perth Amboy School District of New Jersey notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Puget Sound School District of Washington state notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Mascoutah School District of Illinois notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Monterey Peninsula School District of California notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • CrowdStrike is reporting that Chinese ransomware group, Aquatic Panda, is using the newly discovered Log4j vulnerability to attack endpoints and enter networks in the U.S.
  • Haywood County School District of North Carolina notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack
  • Kearsarge Regional School District of New Hampshire notified 1,825 students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack that impacted 274,000 people.
  • Bansley & Kierner Accounting Firm, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, was sued by some of its
  • customers after their info was exposed after cyber attack.
  • Eduro Healthcare of Salt Lake City, Utah notified 8,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • CompuGroup Medical Software announced it was hit by ransomware, and notified an unknown number of its healthcare provider customers.
  • Brown County of South Dakota notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack
  • West Virginia State Government notified its 60,000 employees that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
  • The New Jersey Office of Information Technology notified citizens that they may not be able to receive printed state documents as its subcontractor, RR Donnelly, was hit by cyber attack.
  • Crawford County of Arkansas notified its citizens that their info may have been exposed after cyberattack.
  • Rhode Island Public Transit Authority notified “thousands” or riders that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Positive Technologies published research that 93% of penetration tested computer networks are vulnerable to some type of security breach.
  • Fort Smith Health Centre of Fort Smith, Canada notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI wasexposed after paper medical records were discovered spread across the floor in a staff washroom.
  • SonicWall notified an unknown number of customers of potential security vulnerabilities in its SMA 100 series of remote access devices
  • HP warned of vulnerabilities with its 9000 EPYC server hardware
  • Fitch Ratings reports that an unknown number of healthcare and finance organizations are impacted by recent breach of human resource management solutions provider, Kronos.