MSP, MSSP & IT Industry Notes

October 11th, 2020

Sponsored by

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 will see better results.

Domain Computer Services merges with Tier One Technology to create MSP platform

• Domain Computer Services, announced it has merged with Maryland-based Tier One Technology Partners
• The company also announced a recapitalization in partnership with Frontenac, a Chicago-based private equity firm
• Financial terms were not disclosed
• Domain Computer Services based in New Jersey and Tier One Technology based in Markland

Avasant's SD-WAN Managed Services 2020 RadarView™ Recognizes Key Service Providers ...

• Avasant has unveiled SD-WAN Managed Services 2020 RadarView™, its flagship report that recognizes 27 leading service providers as having brought the most value to the market over the past 12 months
• Avasant evaluated over 36 providers using three key dimensions: Practice maturity, partnership ecosystem, and investment, and innovation
• Leaders: AT&T, HCL, IBM, Orange Business Services, and TCS
• Innovators: Lumen Technologies, Infosys, Masergy, NTT, Tata Communication, Tech Mahindra, Verizon, and Wipro
• Disruptors: Aryaka, BT, Cato Networks, GTT, Mphasis, Telefonica, T-Systems, Windstream, and Zensar
• Challengers: Atos, CBTS, Hughes System, Microland, and Telstra

WheelHouse IT, Managed Service Specialists, Recognized for 2020 Achievements

• WheelHouse IT the company has ranked #94 on the ChannelFutures MSP 501
• QWas also recognized by a place on the prestigious 2017 Inc. 500 List of America's Fastest-Growing Companies and continues to make the list

DocuWare grows cloud business

• DocuWare, now a division of Ricoh, announced that the number of new cloud customers is up 24.3% compared to last year
• Offers a cloud-based subscription to its document management/electronic content management system

Epicor ECM Recognized as a Leader in the Nucleus Research Content Management Technology ...

• Epicor Software Corporation announced it was named by Nucleus Research to the "Leaders" quadrant of its Content Management Technology Value Matrix published in July 2020
• Position is based on the evaluation of the Epicor ECM platform, formerly known as DocStar ECM
• Nucleus Research is a global provider of investigative, case-based technology research and advisory services

TBI Adds Armor's Leading Cybersecurity Software to Provider Portfolio

• TBI announces the addition of Armor® to its provider portfolio. Armor is a global cybersecurity software company
• Flagship product, Armor Anywhere, is used by over 1,000 organizations in 40 countries, providing them with threat detection and response and helping them meet their compliance requirements

Eliassen Group Continues to Expand Presence in St. Louis Market

• Eliassen Group LLC has agreed to acquire Ferguson Consulting, Inc. ("Ferguson Consulting"), an IT consulting firm based in the  Louisarea
• Founded in 1994, Ferguson Consulting is a locally owned and managed IT consulting firm. The company provides IT contractors for staff augmentation positions of Fortune 400 companies in  Louis
• Eliassen Group provides strategic consulting and talent solutions to drive our clients' innovation and business results

VPLS Acquires ZR Systems and expands its Managed IT services in Hawaii

• VPLS, a cloud-to-edge computing and solutions provider, announced its acquisition of ZR Systems, an Aiea-based managed IT services company
• VPLS expands its data center footprint into Hawaii, bringing its total number of global sites to 19
• ZR Systems will be known as “ZR Systems, a VPLS company” for a short period following this acquisition

Synoptek Certified as Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Services Provider

• Synoptek, announced it has become certified as a Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP)
• Certification signifies Synoptek’s expertise in cloud services and designates it as a top global MSP to its Microsoft customers

Fennia Mutual Insurance Company selects CGI for IT managed services to drive digitization and ...

• CGI will assume responsibility for a majority of Fennia's IT services under a contract valued at approximately 48 million euros
• CGI will manage Fennia's application development and maintenance services and also provide support services for Fennia's end-users and operating environments

FileTrail Continues Long-standing Commitment to Industry and Community Outreach amid Pandemic

• FileTrail, the leader in next-generation information governance and records management software for law firms and highly regulated industries, announces its continued support of key partners and professional associations with sponsorship investments in their upcoming events, all of which are virtual due to the ongoing pandemic

Summitas Wins Private Asset Management's 2020 "Best Document/Content Management Service ...

• Summitas has been named "Best Document/Content Management Service or Tool" by Private Asset Management magazine (PAM) at the 2020 PAM Awards
• In 2019, Summitas won PAM's "Best Client Service" award and was also named "Best Client Communications" byFamily Wealth Report

InEight Reimagines Capital Project Document Management with All-New InEight Document

• InEight unveiled the all-new InEight Document featuring a host of new capabilities as well as a ground-up user experience (UX) redesign powered by a simplified user interface (UI)
  • Collaborative Document Management
  • Project Correspondence
  • Transmittals and Packages
  • Review and Approval

Quanton acquires Probity Consulting's automation managed services business

• Business process automation consultancy Quanton is acquiring Probotics, Wellington-based Probity Consulting’s automation managed services and delivery division

TPx Brings Managed Detection and Response to Managed Security Services Portfolio

• TPx announces that it has strengthened its managed security services with the addition of enterprise-class managed detection and response (MDR) to it's MSx Firewall and MSx Endpoint services
• In addition to MDR, TPx MSx Firewall and Endpoint services has been expanded to include additional features to enhance security risk profiles
• MSx Firewall now includes:
• • Secure SD-WAN, which leverages cost-effective bandwidth and encrypted traffic while also layering on security inspection
  • Monthly vulnerability scans
  • High-performance next-generation firewalls that deliver greater throughput at lower cost
  • Fully managed, self-managed and co-managed options
• MSx Endpoints now includes:
  • Security Awarness training, including monthly phishing simulations and courses with automated reporting
  • DNS Protection that protects remote users and devices from Internet threats

Kodak Alaris remote scanner management

• Now offering Managed Print Services Capture Agent
  • Allows Alaris scanners to be integrated into device monitoring solutions used by managed print services dealers
  • Subscription based model
  • Real time status
  • Usage reporting
  • Multi feed and jam reports & alerts

Paper superior to laptop for learning

• Research published by Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
  • students who write by hand learn and remember more than those that use computers
  • pen and paper sparking activity in part of the brain responsible for attention
  • approximately 45 US states currently do not require schools to teach students
    handwriting
  • data showed an increase of activity in the sensorimotor parts of the brain, which is involved with processing, attention and language
  • found that the act is beneficial for adults, suggesting they will remember contents better after writing them down
  • EEG was used to track and record brain wave activity using a hood fitted with more than 250 electrodes attached to the outer lining
  • Each examination took 45 minutes per person, and the researchers received 500 data points per second

Cybersecurity Update

US District Attorney announced that Richard Liriano was sentenced to 30 months in prison and a $351,850.25 fine for illegally accessing the PHI of patients while he worked for the Hospital For Special Surgery in New York.

The City of Odessa, Texas notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed in recent breach.

People of Praise, located in South Bend, IN, notified an unknown number of members that their info was exposed after hacking incident.

The University Hospital of New Jersey announced it paid $670,000 to hackers to regain control of network after ransomware attack.

Legacy Community Health, with 15 locations in Texas, notified an unknown number of patients that that PHI may have been exposed after email phishing attack.

Recover Our Youth, with locations in North and South Carolina, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Tyler Technologies, a fed gov contractor headquartered in Plano, TX, notified an unknown number of customers that it was hit by ransomware.

Century Specialty Script of Tuckahoe, NY notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.

Minnesota Department of Health notified “hundreds” of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after it was emailed to incorrect people.

Valley Bank of Alabama notified an unknown number of customers that their info may have been exposed after hacking incident.

Arthur Gallagher Insurance, headquartered in Rolling Meadows, IL, notified an
unknown number of customers that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.

Martin County government of Florida notified an unknown number of citizens that their info was compromised after hacking incident.

Miracle Systems, a government contractor in Arlington, VA notified an unknown number of customers that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.

Montgomery County government of Tennessee notified an unknown of citizens that their info was compromised after data security incident.

State agencies in the state of Washington notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after email phishing attack.

Monroe County Mental Health of New York notified an unknown number of patients their PHI was illegally disclosed by an employee.

UCare of Minnesota notified 4,806 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.

Clark County Public School District of Nevada notified an unknown number of
students that their info was posted on web after school refused to pay ransom to hackers.

Universal Health Services (aka UHS), which owns 400 healthcare facilities across the U.S. and is headquartered in King of Prussia, PA, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.

The Valley Health System of Las Vegas, NV notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed during ransomware attack.

Ashtabula County Medical Center of Ohio notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.

Magnolia Pediatrics of Louisiana notified 23,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after two cybersecurity incidents.

Anthem Insurance, headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, agreed to pay $39.5 million to settle a HIPAA lawsuit regarding a breach that exposed PHI of 78.8 million patients.

Police departments in Minnesota, Delaware, Arizona, Indiana, Colorado and
Pennsylvania an interruption to their 911 services this past Monday night due to cyber incident.

Microsoft is reporting that 52% of all nation-state cyberattacks are coming from Russia.
o 12% = from China
o 11% = from North Korea
o Claims that it stopped 13 billion malicious and suspicious emails in 2019

Pen Test Security of London, England, published report detailing how they were able to hack into an Internet connected coffee maker, the iKettle from Smarter Inc.

Cache Creek Casino Resort of California was forced to shut down after ransomware attack.

MSP IT & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

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 will see better results.

Xantrion Named to MSSP Alert's Top MSSPs List for 3rd Year in a Row

• MSSP Alert, published by After Nines Inc., has named Xantrion to the Top 250 MSSPs list for 2020
• Highlights from the associated MSSP Alert research include:
• MSSP Revenue Growth: MSSP honorees, on average, expect to generate $19.15 million in revenue for 2020, up 16% from $16.47 million in 2019.
• Geography: Honorees are headquartered in 25 different countries -- up from 19 countries in the 2019 report.
• Profits: 84% of MSSPs surveyed expect to be profitable for fiscal year 2020.
• Security Operations Centers: 67% have in-house SOCs, 24% are hybrid, 6% completely outsource their SOCs, and 3% are reevaluating their SOC strategies.
• Cyberattack Trends: The most frequent attacks targeting MSSP customers in 2020 include phishing (95%), vulnerability (76%) and ransomware (69%) attacks.
• Cybersecurity Solutions: In a continued sign of market fragmentation, MSSP survey participants mentioned 129 different hardware, software, cloud, and services vendors that assist their cybersecurity efforts -- up from 95 in 2019.
• M&A: Mergers, acquisitions and private equity investments continue to accelerate across the MSSP landscape. Twenty high-profile deals involving MSSP 250 honorees have surfaced since last year's report

Y Soft And Ricoh Unveil Updated Embedded Terminal Functionality For Ricoh Devices

• Y Soft Corporation, today announced that the updated YSoft SAFEQ 6 Embedded Terminal for Ricoh multifunction devices
• The updated YSoft SAFEQ Embedded Terminalfor Ricoh is an Android-based software application integrated into the multifunction device (MFD)
• Utilizes the softkey, touch, and swipe operation capabilities of the Ricoh MFD's Smart Operation Panel to deliver a seamless and efficient user experience
• With SAFEQ Embedded Terminal, Ricoh MFD users can leverage SAFEQ authentication for secure and convenient access control and safe and personalized access to device and application functions, confidential documents, scan, and fax destinations

Konica Minolta and Kronos Announce Strategic Alliance

• Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), today announced a strategic alliance with Kronos Incorporated (Kronos) to support safer return to work initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Technology collaboration will initially be available in the U.S. and Canada, where more and more states and provinces are executing reopening strategies
• This includes routine wellness questionnaires for all employees and visitors and daily temperature checks, which can be completed with Konica Minolta thermal imaging solutions

HP Unveils New Innovations for Businesses Adapting to Rapidly Evolving Workstyles and Workforces

• HP intro'd a range of enhanced PC solutions
• The HP ProBook 635 Aero G7
• HP ProBook 600 G8 and 400 G8 PC Series
• HP EliteDesk 805 G6 Series
• HP ProDesk 405 G6 Series
• HP E24t G4 Touch Monitor
• HP E24d and E27d
• HP LaserJet Enterprise 400 Series
• HP's other new Print innovations include

ZorroSign Partners with DocuXplorer to Provide Seamless Integration of Document Management ...

• ZorroSign, Inc. announced a new strategic partnership with DocuXplorer, a leading Document Management Solution
• DocuXplorer’s native integration with ZorroSign will allow a seamless process from document management through to encrypted electronic signing of documents

Indata announces software release

• INDATA, announced a software release providing enhanced functionality and productivity improvements
• INDATA utilizes NLP (Natural Language Processing), a subfield of AI, to offer improvements in important areas by automating complex workflows and eliminating keystrokes

Collabrance Brings Together Cybersecurity Experts to Share MSSP Best Practices for IT Channel

• Collabrance LLC, announced a free online event focused on best practices for technology providers to grow their IT business with cybersecurity
• MSSP Acceleratorwill feature different cybersecurity industry thought leaders from: CharTec, Pax8, ID Agent, Solar Winds, Fortinet, Datto, and GreatAmerica
  • MSSP Accelerator
    October 7^th, 2020
    9:00AM – 4:00PM
    collabrance.com/mssp-accelerator

Konica Minolta Offers LTE Connected Chromebooks to Help Conquer the Digital Divide

• Through its alliance with Sector 5, All Covered will offer LTE connected Chromebooks to its education customers in the United States
• All Covered (All Covered) is proud to announce its reseller partnership with Sector 5, Inc. (Sector 5), which sells cellular connected Chromebooks
• Working toward providing every K-12 child with an internet-enabled Chromebook device

Toshiba Information Systems (Japan) Integrates Verimatrix's Whitebox Cryptographic Key ...

• Verimatrix announced that its value-added reseller, Japan-based Toshiba Information Systems (Japan) Corporation, has implemented Verimatrix Whiteboxcryptographic key protection technology inside consumer printers
• Whitebox is part of the Verimatrix Application Shielding family of solutions

Kognos Emerges from Stealth, Launches Cybersecurity Industry's First Autonomous XDR Platform ...

• Kognos launched the Autonomous XDR Investigator, a platform backed by security-aware AI that empowers customers to automatically detect, investigate and respond to attack campaigns in real time
• Founded by CEO Rakesh Nair, former Head of Engineering at Netwitness/RSA, Kognos was built by security practitioners for security practitioners

Mandiant Introduces New Cybersecurity Services for Microsoft Customers

• Mandiant® announced new cybersecurity services to support Microsoft technologies
• new services bring together Mandiant expertise and intelligence with Microsoft security products to provide security capabilities
• Mandiant Managed Defense will include support for additional Microsoft Security solutions to ensure holistic protection for customers

Cybrary Survey Finds Cybersecurity Skills Gap Threatens Job Effectiveness Amidst Increasing ...

Cybrary, released the findings from the "Cybrary Skills Gap Research Survey and Report

Green House Data Expands Services, Footprint, Rebrands as Lunavi as it Helps Organizations ...

• Green House Data, is rebranding to unify its recently acquired companies and nine locations throughout North America under one brand name –
• The company’s new name, Lunavi, combines two critical attributes "Lu" meaning light and "Navi" meaning navigation

Synoptek Partners With NPWR Group to Extend Salesforce Capabilities

• Synoptek, announces its strategic partnership with Orange County-based boutique Salesforce Partner, NPWR Group
• Combining Synoptek’s global delivery and scale with NPWR Group’s deep Salesforce consulting and design expertise will enable Synoptek to expand its Salesforce portfolio

Beachhead Solutions Launches Co-Managed IT Services (CoMITs) Capabilities for MSPs; Immediately Available Within the SimplySecure for MSPs™ Platform

• Beachhead Solutions announced that MSPs can now provide co-managed IT services (CoMITs) using the SimplySecure for MSPs™ platform whenever they and their clients desire the capability
• Beachhead’s CoMITs functionality provides a framework for MSPs to efficiently grant change control privileges to the internal IT staff of MSPs’ clients while still ensuring the MSP steers all security policy and strategy decisions
• Beachhead’s CoMITs offering places a protective framework around the activities of businesses whose MSPs grant them change control privileges

Cybersecurity Update

The federal Office for Civil Rights (under Department of Health & Human Services) announced following settlements based on HIPAA violation investigations: o $15,000 = All Inclusive Medical Services of California

• $70,000 = Northeast Behavioral Health, part of Beth Israel Lahey Health of Massachusetts
• $3500 = Dr. Patricia King Psychiatric Clinic of Chesapeake, VA
• $10,000 = Wise Psychiatry of Centennial, CA
• $38,000 = Housing Works Health of New York

Bay Area Medical center, part of Advocate Aurora Health, in Marinette, Wisconsin, notified 2,979 patients that their PHI was exposed after paper medical records were discovered left behind in former facility.

Fairfax County Public School District of Virginia notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare of Charleston, SC notified 93,000 patients their PHI was exposed after hacking incident.

Geisinger Health location in Berwick, Pennsylvania notified 700 patients that a former employee illegally accessed their PHI.

Community Medical Centers of California notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.

Children’s Minnesota Hospital notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.

Hebrew SeniorLife of Massachusetts notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.

Augusta University Medical Center of Georgia notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.

The University Hospital of New Jersey notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Artech Information Systems of Morristown, NJ notified an unknown number of employees and customers that this info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

ZDNet magazine published results of study of COVID-19 era security issues: o 40% increase in unsecure remote desktop PCs (working from home employees)

o 400% increase in brute force attacks using remote desktop protocol

o 667% increase in email phishing attacks

o 3 times more employees clicking on email phishing schemes during pandemic

o 90% of COVID-19 created domains on the Internet are scams

o 72% more ransomware attacks

DarkTracer Research reported that it found data from 605 companies posted on the Dark Web as a result of ransomware attacks successfully being completed by 14 different hacking groups this year.

Floral Park-Bellerose Public School District of New York notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Crowdstrike report shows: o During first half of 2020, they found 41,000 intrusions (up 15%) by hackers that were hands-on, meaning human hackers actively explored systems themselves, rather than using botnets

Dunkin’s Brands Inc. of Canton, Mass, agreed to pay $650,000 to state of New York to settle data breach negligence lawsuit.

Jekyll Island Authority of Brunswick, Georgia notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Federal prosecutors have charged 5 hackers in China with breaching more than 100 companies in the U.S. Since there is no extradition policy with China, arresting them will be impossible if they stay in China.

Erlanger Health of Chattanooga, TN notified 4,938 patients that their PHI was exposed after a CD-ROM was misplaced that had their records.

A former patient of St. Louis, Missouri-based BJC HealthCare filed a class-action lawsuit against the health system over a cybersecurity incident o

• BJC HealthCare reported three employees' email accounts were breached on May 5 and may have exposed PHI
• The information included patient names, medical records, clinical information, insurance information and Social Security numbers.
• plaintiffs are seeking financial compensation, lifetime consumer credit protection and monitoring services and restitution.

Facebook has been accused of spying on its Instagram users for 'market research' by secretly accessing their mobile cameras through the app, according to a new lawsuit filed in San Francisco, CA

• is accused of intentionally activating smartphone cameras to collect 'lucrative and valuable data that it would not otherwise have access to', Bloomberg reported.

The Veteran Affairs Department notified 46,000 veteran patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.

Spectrum Health of Michigan notified its patients of a “vishing” scam, where criminals are pretending to be hospital employees and calling patients in attempt to steal PHI.

Millstone Township School District of New Jersey notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Somerset Hills School District of NJ notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Newhall School District of Valencia, CA notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

West County School District of Missouri notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

St. Louis County government offices of Missouri notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

West Mifflin Area School District of Pennsylavania notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

The City of Carmel government in Indiana notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Skidmore-Tynan School District of Texas notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Guilford Technical Community College of Jamestown, NC notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack

Feds now call out printers/MFPs/faxes in SRA

• The federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) unveiled version 3.2 of its Security Risk Assessment (SRA) tool that healthcare providers are to use when conducting a HIPAA risk assessment
• The new version now actually mentions printers, copiers and fax machines as part of the “assets” that a healthcare organization is supposed to list and what the security status of the device is if it handles PHI (protected health information)
• The tool also requires a listing of all vendor contacts that are involved

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials.

Applied Imaging acquires Florida-based office technology dealer

• Applied Imaging acquired Upstream Office Solutions, which is headquartered in Tampa Bay
• The acquisition gives Applied Imaging a total of 14 offices spread throughout Michigan, Ohio and Florida
• Applied Imaging offers services including copier and printer sales, document management, managed IT services and document shredding

Netsurion Named to MSSP Alert's Top 250 MSSPs List for 2020 Fourth-Annual List Honors ...

• MSSP Alert, published by After Nines Inc., has named Netsurion to the Top 250 MSSPs list for 2020
• The list and research identify and honor the top MSSPs, managed detection and response (MDR) and Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) providers worldwide
• The rankings are based on MSSP Alert’s 2020 readership survey combined with the digital media site’s global editorial coverage of managed security services providers

Accenture Named a Leader in European Managed Security Services by Independent Research Firm

• Named a Leader in the latest Forrester Research report on European Managed Security Services
• The report — “The Forrester Wave™: European Managed Security Services Providers, Q3 2020” — evaluates Accenture prior to the company’s Symantec CSS business acquisition
• Accenture’s strength is in its high flexibility, customer focus, and a strong emphasis on automation

BearingPoint expands its portfolio in the area of new ways of working

• BearingPoint announced today that it has acquired Paris-based Steerio, an engagement platform (SaaS)
• The acquisition is part of a bigger strategic move: the independent consulting firm has been investing for years in new and better ways of working
• Steerio joins BearingPoint’s portfolio of team and project management assets such as Active Managerand enhances its People & Strategy offering

Managed IoT connectivity from Telenor Connexion now available in AWS Marketplace

• By 2025, more than 5 billion cellular Internet of Things (IoT) connections are forecasted globally, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report
• Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) today announced it will now enable the sale of managed connectivity for its CSP partners, available in Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace
• AWS Marketplaceis a digital catalog with thousands of software listings from independent software vendors that make it easy to find, test, buy, and deploy software that runs on AWS

NTT Communications Honored in Two Categories by the Frost & Sullivan 2020 Asia Pacific Best ...

• NTT Group(TOKYO: 9432), announced today that it was recognized as the award recipient for 2020 Japan IoT Service Provider of the Year and 2020 Japan Data Center Service Provider of the Year by the Frost & Sullivan 2020 Asia Pacific Best Practices Awards program
• NTT Com was named 2020 Japan IoT Service Provider of the Year for the second year in a row.

Introducing Fiverr Business, a New Platform Targeting Team Collaboration for The Future of Work

• Announcing the official launch of Fiverr Business™
• designed for corporate teams and departments to collaborate with each other while managing projects with freelance talent
• Per a recent survey Fiverr conducted of over 2,000 businesses globally, 52% said they are allocating more budget to freelance services

ePlus Delivers Managed Powered Protection for Enhanced Business Continuity

• ePlus inc. (NASDAQ NGS: PLUS– news) today announced that it has extended its Managed Services
• Capabilities to include proactive monitoring, management, and remediation of APC by Schneider Electricuninterruptible power supply (UPS) devices

TierPoint Announces Cloud to Cloud Recovery Powered by Dell EMC RecoverPoint

• Tier Point announced its newest service: Cloud to Cloud Recovery powered by Dell EMC RecoverPoint
• Replicating to a TierPoint-managed Hosted Private Cloud built on the Dell VxRail platform
• Offers a cost-effective way to leverage Dell EMC RecoverPoint, achieving real-time protection per VMware virtual machine and recovery time objectives (RTOs) as low as 15 minutes

TPx Achieves HIPAA Compliance for Managed SD-WAN & Firewall Solutions

• Announced today that it has attained the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) attestation for its Managed SD-WAN and Firewall solutions
• Healthcare continues to be a prime magnet for cyberattacks, with electronic health records being a lucrative target
• Verified by a third-party audit, TPx's attestation confirms that technical, physical and administrative safeguards, as well as company policies and procedures, meet HIPAA requirements

Check Point To Buy Secure Remote Access Startup Odo Security

• Check Point Aoftware Technologies agrees to purchase cybersecurity startup Odo Security
• San Carlos, Calif. based platform vendor said Tel Aviv, Israel-based Odo has developed a cloud-based, clientless secure service edge (SASE) technology that secure remove access

DataTribe Co-Founder Named A Finalist in the 2020 Maryland Cybersecurity Awards ...

• Announced the Maryland Cybersecurity Awards has named its Co-Founder and Investment Board Member, Mike Janke, a Finalist in the category of Cybersecurity Champion of the Year Award
• The competition is poised to identify and curate Pre-Series A, seed high-technology start-ups with a vision to disrupt cybersecurity and data science

Mopria mobile printing update

• The Mopria Alliance announced that Google Android 11 operating system, used by mobile devices, offers new features for printing and scanning
• Share-to-Print feature enables users to print images and documents from thousands of social media and productivity applications directly from device
• Allows users to share files such as JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF and PDF
• Supports specific enhancements to ensure best fit and higher resolution
• Users are able to select and install additional print services directly in their print workflow to enable more printer/MFP features

Panasonic Webinar | Win with our Scanning Solutions

Panasonic gives you winning advantages against the competition by creating better solutions for your customers. Panasonic's scanning solutions give your clients the ability to better allocate their resources, minimize time spent on document management, and give them easier access with better clarity to their m

Cybersecurity Update

• Adobe Corp. notified customers that it has fixed 5 critical flaws that would allow hackers to run JavaScript in browser
  • Would allow hackers to steal info, and move laterally through network
• Microsoft notified users that specially crafted Windows 10 themes and theme packs could be used in “Pass-the-Hash” hacking incidents
  • Could steal Windows account credentials from unsuspecting users
• IBM is warning users of new Raccoon malware, which can attack TLS 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 protocols
  • TLS 1.3 is considered safe
• KPMG is warning users of a new ransomware gang named ProLock
  • Original name was PwndLocker
  • Uses a “big game hunting” methodology
  • Ransom demands range from $400,000 to $1 million
• UF (University of Florida) Health of Gainesville, FL notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after breach.
• Bitdefender Software’s Mid-Year Threat Landscape Report:
  • 715% increase in detected and blocked ransomware attacks in 2020 vs. 2019
  • New ransomware gangs include; Sodinokigi, REvil, Zepto, DoppelPaymer and
    Cryptolocker
  • 1 billion samples of malware samples are roaming the Internet
  • 23% increase in ransomware overall
  • 49% of information security professional worry about their organization’s
    readiness
• ZDNet magazine reports that 41% of all cyber insurance claims made in first half of 2020 were for ransomware attacks.
  • Increase of 260%
  • Average ransom demand increasing 47%
• NorthShore University Health notified 348,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after data breach.
• Catholic Health of Buffalo, NY notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after breach.
• University of Kentucky HealthCare notified 163,000 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Main Line Health of Pennsylvania notified 60,595 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Imperium Health of Louisville, KY notified 139,000 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Baton Rouge Clinic of Louisiana notified 308,000 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Lukes Hospital Health System of Kansas City, Missouri notified 360,212 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• MultCare of Washington notified 176,677 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Atrium Health of Charlotte, NC notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Moffitt Cancer Center of Tampa, FL notified 4,056 patients that their PHI was exposed after hacking incident.
• Adams Memorial Hospital of Indiana notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Hartford Public School District of CT notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
• Toledo Public School District of Ohio notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
• Pickens County School District of South Carolina notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
• Sherry Russell, a widow from Woodstock, NY, filed a lawsuit against HealthAlliance Hospital of NY
  • Claims that hospital is denying access to the PHI of her now deceased husband, who died from cancer
• Hennepin Healthcare (aka Hennepin County Medical Center) of Minnesota, reported that it fired an unknown number of employees after they illegally accessed the PHI of George Floyd, who died while in custody of Minneapolis, MN police.
• UT (University of Texas) Health San Antonio notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Equinix, which operates 50 data centers in the U.S., announced it was hit by Netwalker Ransomware, and hackers demanding $4.5M in ransom
• Trinity Area School District of Pennsylvania notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Razer Gaming, headquartered in Irvine, CA, notified 100,000 online gaming customers that their info may have been exposed after email phishing attack.
• Enloe Medical Center of Chico, CA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after security breach.
• Inova Health System of Falls Church, VA notified 1,045,270 patients that their PHI was exposed after data breach.
• Chesterfield County Public Schools of Virginia notified an unknown number of
  students that their info may have been exposed after breach.
• Fort Dodge Community School District of Des Moines, IA notified an unknown
  number of students that their info may have been exposed after cyberattack.

Not a lot happened today and that's probably because I had a nagging sinus headache for most of the day.  It wasn't until about three PM that my head cleared a bit and I was able to log a few calls and emails to finish the day.

For most of the day I concentrated and getting additional research and information to clients that I wanted to move forward. 

For one account I put together two simple word documents for each device.  Each file made reference of the existing device situation for each device and then proposed upgrade for each device.  It has to be simple because the information was not going to the decision maker but a "gatekeeper".  

Both of these devices were interesting since the one A3 black MFP had close to a million prints and the other A4 MFP was closing on on 600K.  The A3 was almost ten years old and the A4 was close to six years old.  I received an email back later in the day stating that they would run it up the ladder.

My day wasn't all that bad since I was able to add another three opportunities for about $13K. Not a lot in the revenue department but it was something.

I have this saying that when it get's tough out there and that means whether you're negotiating or every opportunity is stalled.  The it's time to drop back to your value points. Those value points when negotiating  is to tell the client(s) why your company or product is the best product for them.  When it comes to having every opportunity stalled then it's time to get back to sales 101.  That sales 101 tool is your friend the telephone.

Recently Greg Walters and I had a chat about business in general and he asked me for a line or two about sales.  Greg was working with another industry rag and wanted a quote from someone who's been working through COVID19 in copier sales.

I can't post the entire article but with Greg's permission I can post a snippet and a link back to the other site.

Cold Calling Post COVID-19 is More of the Same

There is great pressure in the sales realm no matter what you’re selling.  But for those of us in the imaging industry, the stress is exacerbated.  Our volumes were dropping before COVID-19, consolidation was a daily occurrence, and layoffs happened almost every month.  COVID-19 kicked all that into high gear, accelerating the transformation in a most turbulent way.

Today the talk about town is working from home, the death of the office and surviving the next month.  Few meetings are centered on new copiers and toner supply management. you can read the rest here

So for those that may need a little encouragement or help I found this blog to be a good tool for the rookies, the novices and even the tenured like me.

I also took a snap shot of the the paragraph that starts with "Warm up the Call".  It's not that I didn't know about it but more about it being a gentle reminder to use it more often when calling.

Down to six selling days left in the month and there is still much work to be done.

-=Good Selling-=

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials.

IDC report on mobile workers

• S. mobile worker population will increase from 78.5 million in 2020 to 93.5 million in 2024
• Will account for 60% of total U.S. workforce
• 87% of U.S. enterprises expect their employees to continue working from home 3 or more days per week once mandatory pandemic closures are lifted

Keypoint Intelligence Announces Winners of New Buyers Lab PaceSetter Awards in Three Categories of Managed Services

• The winners for 2020–2021
  • KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS U.S.A., INC.
    BLI PaceSetter 2020–2021 in Managed IT Services

• HP INC.
  BLI PaceSetter 2020–2021 in Managed Print Services
• RICOH USA, INC.
  BLI PaceSetter 2020–2021 in Business Process Services
• XEROX CORPORATION
  BLI PaceSetter 2020–2021 in Business Process Services
  BLI PaceSetter 2020–2021 in Managed Print Services

To determine the vendors that lead the market in each category, Keypoint Intelligence invited the leading document imaging OEMs to participate in an in-depth study that covered areas such as portfolio of offerings, primary differentiators, go-to-market strategy, ability to accommodate remote employees, and much more. Keypoint Intelligence analysts then applied a proprietary scoring rubric to determine the winners.

Crawford Technologies and Nuxeo partner to provide document management solution

• Crawford Technologies and Nuxeo, are collaborating to develop a new integration that will allow organizations to move their high-volume documents and customer service data
• CCM Gateway for Nuxeo integrates Crawford Technologies’ transformation, indexing, and document classification techniques with Nuxeo’s robust cloud-native platform
• solution makes it possible for enterprises to move from problematic legacy storage systems to a modern, cloud-based, natively web-enabled solution to accelerate digital transformation initiatives

SolarWinds Backup Recovery Testing Adoption Underscores MSP Security Growth Opportunities

• MSPs replace manual backup verfication with efficient automated testing
• Reports in June 2020, with more than 3,110 devices currently enabled

Ontrack Announces Global Data Recovery Agreement With Toshiba

• Announced the provision of data recovery services to customers of Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation hard disk drive products
• Toshiba customers will receive the following benefits when choosing Ontrack
• Free shipping of their Toshiba hard disk drive (where Ontrack operates)
• Free consultation and evaluation of the media
• An exclusive 10% discount off Ontrack Data Recovery services
• A dedicated Data Services Representative to help at every stage
• Fixed pricing, with no hidden charges
• No recovery, no fee policy
• Data recovery services performed by expert engineers
• Complete end-to-end security and peace of mind

Ricoh Canada joins Vizetto Inc. rBoard™ Alliance

• Announced that it has joined Vizetto Inc.'s rBoard alliance
• rBoard alliance is a group of technology companies that share a common commitment towards promoting the highest standards and user experience for team collaboration
• Ricoh Canada certified rBoard^TMsolutions integrate with display, touch and computing technologies

Lead for IT Services in Colorado

• Information Technology Staff Augmentation

Free Educational Event Helps IT Service Providers Scale with Managed Security Services

• GreatAmerica Master Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP), announced a free online event focused on best practices for technology providers to grow their IT business with cybersecurity
• MSSP Accelerator will feature different cybersecurity industry thought leaders from: CharTec, Pax8, ID Agent, SolarWindsFortinet, Datto, PathShare HR Services, and GreatAmerica
• MSSP Accelerator is designed to educate progressive technology providers how they can capture more opportunities with cybersecurity

Konica Minolta Expands Portfolio of Software Solutions with Introduction of PaperVision Enterprise

• Konica Minolta Business Solutions (Canada) Ltd. (Konica Minolta) announced that it will begin offering PaperVision Enterprise
• PaperVision Enterprise, a Content Services Platform (CSP) or Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
• PaperVision Enterprise delivers any document, anywhere, anytime – including email

DataTribe Announces Third Annual Cybersecurity Start-Up Challenge

• DataTribe announces the launch of it's third annual DataTribe Challenge
• Competition to identify and curate Pre-Series A, seed high-technology start-ups with vision to disrupt cybersecurity and data science
• Three finalists will split $20K in prize money, one winner will be eligible for receive up to $2 million in seed capital from DataTribe

Trump administration introduces cybersecurity policy for space systems

• Space Policy Directive- 5 (SPD-5) puts in place key systems for global communications, navigation, weather monitoring, and other critical services
• Trump administration announced a new cybersecurity policy for systems used in space

About 56000 records hacked at Northwestern Memorial HealthCare system

• Notified the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about a data breach
• Blackbaud provides software to manage fundraising databases and said it notified the healthcare provider that in mid-July

Panasonic Webinar | Win with our Scanning Solutions

• Panasonic gives you winning advantages against the competition by creating better solutions for your customers. Panasonic's scanning solutions give your clients the ability to better allocate their resources, minimize time spent on document management, and give them easier access with better clarity to their most important information

Cybersecurity Update

• Advocate Aurora Health of Wisconsin & Illinois notified 1,907 patients that their PHI was exposed after a mailing error by Diamond Healthcare Communications.
• The Idaho Board of Nursing reported a potential breach exposing info on nurses in the state, being used by a hacking group to extort funds.
• The Philadelphia Archdiocese of Pennsylvania notified 47 clergy abuse victims that their info was exposed after email leak.
• Morgan Stanley, headquartered in New York City, NY, was sued by current and former customers who had their confidential info exposed during recent data breaches.
• BeneSys, headquartered in Troy, MI, notified 1,070 patients that their PHI was exposed during recent data leak.
• The Connection Inc., headquartered in Middletown, CT, notified an unknown number of patients their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
• Summit Medical Associates of Fort Wayne, IN notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
• Hoag Clinic of Costa Mesa, CA notified 730 patients that their PHI was exposed after laptop computer was stolen.
• USA Today newspaper reports that hacking attacks on hospitals for PHI increased during the pandemic
  • 80% of medical practices have been victims of cyberattacks
  • 51% reported patient safety concerns from attacks
  • 20% had business interrupted for more than 5 hours
  • 6000% increase in spam attacks
  • 75% increase in security incidents
  • $50 each being paid by hackers for PHI
• The American Payroll Association, headquartered in San Antonio, TX notified 20,000 members that their info may have been exposed after discovery of skimmer malware on its website.
• Cook Children’s Medical Center of Fort Worth, TX notified 1,768 patients that their PHI was exposed after a box of medical records were stolen.
• Utah Pathology Services of Salt Lake City, UT notified 112,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after hacking incident.
• United Memorial Medical Center of Houston, TX notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after a ransomware attack.
• Greenville Technical College of South Carolina notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after a ransomware attack.
• Selma Unified School District of Selma, CA notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after a ransomware attack.
• University of Virginia reported that one of its researchers was arrested after attempting to board a flight to China with stolen materials.
• The City of Rocky Mount in North Carolina notified an unknown number of citizens that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
• Sudhish Kasaba Ramesh, former Cisco Corp. employee, pleaded guilty to deploying malware to shut down 16,000 Cisco WebEx Teams accounts and deletion of 456 virtual machines.
  • Faces 5 years in prison and deportation.
• Ponemon Institute report states that average global cost of insider-caused breach is up 31% to $11.45 million
  • Frequency of incidents up 47%
  • Average of $211,533 per company cost per year
  • Average incident takes 77 days to contain
• ZDNet magazine reports on BEC (business email compromise) hacking attacks:
• Average attempt is now $80,000
• Use email phishing attacks that focus on stealing login credentials
• Then distribute malware
• New BEC hacking group is Cosmic Lynx of Russia
• Crowdstrike Security is reporting that an Iranian hacking group, named Pioneer Kitten (aka Fox Kitten or Parisite) is now selling access to compromised companies on the Dark Web.
• Bryan Connor Herrell of Aurora, CO was sentenced to 11 years in prison for selling stolen items on the Dark Web.
• Palau Corp. of Orlando, FL notified an unknown number of customers that their info was accessed during a recent cybersecurity incident.
• Amphastar Pharmaceuticals of Rancho Cucamonga, CA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been accessed during recent cybersecurity incident.
• Mansfield City School District of Ohio notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been access after ransomware attack.
• Somerset Berkley Regional School District of Massachusetts notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
• Jewish Federation of Greater Washington in Maryland reported that it lost $7.5 million after cyberattack.
• Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR notified 1,700 students that their info was accessed during recent hacking incident.
• Northwestern Memorial Healthcare of Chicago, IL notified 55,983 patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
• Spectrum Health of Grand Rapids, MI notified 52,500 patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
• Roper St. Francis Hospital of Charleston, SC notified 6,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
• Miami-Dade School District of Florida announced that David Oliveros, a student, was arrested and charged with conducting 8 cyberattacks on the schools.
• University of Illinois at Chicago Pain Clinic is being sued by a former patient, Bianca Anderson, for allegedly changing her medical records to wrongly label her as a cocaine user.
• The federal government is warning U.S. universities, such as University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, that the Chinese government is ramping up its hacking attempts in order to steal COVID-19 vaccine research.
• Hamilton Health Center of Harrisburg, PA notified 10,393 patients that their PHI was exposed during recent email phishing attack.
• Assured Imaging of Tucson, Arizona notified 245,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes for August 23rd, 2020

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials.

Toshiba exits laptop business

• Toshiba has confirmed that it is exiting the laptop business. The company that started making laptops back in 1985
• Toshiba started making laptops back in 1985 ruled the laptop market until brands like Asus, Dell, Apple, Lenovo and HP entered
• Toshiba sold it’s PC business to Sharp for around 36 million back in 2018

Canon Admits Ransomware Attack in Employee Note, Report

• According to Bleeping Computer, the camera-maker has circulated a noteto employees confirming that ransomware is to blame for outages across its main U.S. website, email, collaboration platforms and various internal systems

Buchanan Technologies Ranked Among World's Most Elite 501 Managed Service Providers

• Buchanan Technologies named to 2020 annual Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings
• Channel Futures, Channel Partners Online, Channel Partners Conference & Expo and Channel Partners Evolution are part of Informa Tech, a market-leading B2B information provider with depth and specialization in the Information and Communications (ICT) Technology sector
• The 2020 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by Channel Futures and its sister site, Channel Partners. Data was collected online from Mar. 1 through June 30, 2018

Perspecta awarded $112 million contract to provide full-scope managed IT services for data center ...

• Announced today that it has been awarded a new Data Center Two (DC2) Support Services contract from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• The indefinite delivery / indefinite quantity contract has a two-year base with two six-month option periods and a potential ceiling value of $112 million
• Perspecta will provide DHS headquarters and all authorized components with full-scope managed services to support DC2 operations and consolidation.

OpenText Enters Agreement to Serve as the Platform of Choice for Enterprise Information ...

• Announced that U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) will extend deployment of OpenText™ Content Suiteand OpenText™ AppWorks to support the agency's enterprise information management requirements
• OpenText Content Suite is a content services platform that provides a foundation to manage the lifecycle, distribution, and use of information across organizations

Valeo Networks Acquires Network Management Services, Further Expanding National MSSP Footprint

• Announced the acquisition of Eureka, California-based managed service provider, Network Management Services (NMS). Financial terms are not being released
• The NMS brand will continue to operate as a DBA Valeo Networks Company and maintain its Eureka, CAheadquarters

C Spire Business Named One of World's Top Managed Service Providers in 2020

• C Spire Business has been selected for the seventh consecutive year as one of the world's premier managed service providers by Channel Futures
• The 2020 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by Channel Futures and its sister site, Channel Partners. Data was collected online from March 1 through June 30
• MSP 501 list recognizes top managed service providers based on metrics, including recurring revenue, growth and other factors

Edge Ranked #16 Among the World's Most Elite 501 Managed Service Providers

• Edge Technology Group, named as Managed Service Providers on the prestigious 2020 annual Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings
• Ranked 16^th

• The 2020 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by Channel Futures and its sister site, Channel Partners. Data was collected online from March 1 through June 30
• MSP 501 list recognizes top managed service providers based on metrics, including recurring revenue, growth and other factors

Eacs launches new 24/7 Managed Services support

• Managed Services Provider eacs has unveiled a new round-the-clock service model (Channel Pro)
• Founded in 1994, eacs supplies practical, innovative and cost-effective Managed Services and IT solutions to mid-market businesses across all sectors

Ricoh Streamline NX Client Tool/Streamline NX PC Client privilege escalation

• A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Ricoh Streamline NX Client Tool and Streamline NX PC Client(the affected version unknown)
• Weakness was released 08/04/2020

SilverSun Technologies Acquires Prairie Technology Solutions Group

• Acquired Prairie Technologies Solutions Group, LLC (“PT”), a Chicago-based managed services provider ("MSP") which provides managed IT services, cybersecurity, business continuity & BDR
• Financial terms not released

Xantrion Inc. Among World's Elite Managed Service Providers 9 Years in a Row

• Named as one of the world's premier managed service providers on the prestigious 13th-annual Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings
• MSPmentor 501 list for the ninth time
• The 2020 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by Channel Futures and its sister site, Channel Partners. Data was collected online from March 1 through June 30
• MSP 501 list recognizes top managed service providers based on metrics, including recurring revenue, growth and other factors

RevBits Named Winner as Top 100 Cybersecurity Startup for 2020

• Announced that is has been named a Top 100 Cybersecurity Startup for 2020
• Cyber Defense Magazine's 8th year of honoring cybersecurity innovators, in this case the Black Unicorn Awards for 2020
• Cyber Defense Magazine was founded in 2012 by Gary S. Miliefsky, globally recognized cyber security thought leader, inventor and entrepreneur and continues to be the premier source of IT Security information

Satori Cyber Named Winner as Top 100 Cybersecurity Startup for 2020

• Announced that they have been named a Top 100 Cybersecurity Startup for 2020
• Cyber Defense Magazine's 8th year of honoring cybersecurity innovators, in this case the Black Unicorn Awards for 2020
• Cyber Defense Magazine was founded in 2012 by Gary S. Miliefsky, globally recognized cyber security thought leader, inventor and entrepreneur and continues to be the premier source of IT Security information

Ransomware gang publishes tens of GBs of internal data from LG and Xerox

• The operators of the Maze ransomware have published today tens of GB of internal data from the networks of enterprise business giants LG and Xerox following two failed extortion attempts
• Hackers leaked 50.2 GB they claim to have stolen from LG's internal network, and 25.8 GB of Xerox data

New Collabrance Customer Portal Enables MSPs to Gain Knowledge, Resources & Tools to Help Scale IT Business Faster

• Announced the release of their new customer portal build to help MSPs enhance their IT business practices and scale faster
• Collabrance Portal will proactively provide MSPs answers to their questions, and the ability to quickly find the most up-to-date and accurate information

The TNS Group Ranked Among World's Most Elite 501 Managed Service Providers

• Named as one of the world’s premier managed service providers on the prestigious 2020 annual Channel Futures MSP 501 rankings
• The 2020 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by Channel Futures and its sister site, Channel Partners. Data was collected online from March 1 through June 30
• MSP 501 list recognizes top managed service providers based on metrics, including recurring revenue, growth and other factors

Xerox security issue in MFPs/printers

• Company sent out a bulletin warning that some of its devices are at risk from the Ripple20 security vulnerability
• Ripple20 affects devices that use Treck Software to manage their TCP/IP stack
• The bulletin lists a number of devices that are made by Fujifilm for Xerox that have this issue
• ‘we are in process of preparing new firmware

Cybersecurity Update

• Beaumont Health of Michigan notified 6,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after an email phishing attack
• Lifespan Health System, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, agree to pay $1.04 million fine to the feds regarding HIPAA violations, as a result of a breach in April of 2017
• National Cardiovascular Partners, with corporate offices in Minnesota and Arizona, notified 78,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after an email phishing attack
• Apple is warning its smartphone customers that the Instagram app may have accessed the camera in their iPhone even when it was not in use
• US HealthCenter, headquartered in St. Thiensville, Wisconsin, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after email phishing attack
• Avon Cosmetics announced that a misconfigured server exposed 19 million records on Internet impacting an unknown number of customers
• Advanced Intelligence LLC published report warning of a new ransomware, named Phobos, which takes advantage of poorly secured Remote Desktop Protocol
• The FBI sent out alert warning about discovery of new network protocols that have been abused to launch DDoS (distributed denial of service) hacking attacks o CoAP (constrained application protocol)

o WS-DD (web services dynamic discovery)

o ARMS (Apple remote management service)

o Jenkins (web based automation software)

• Microsoft announced it is working on fix for security issue in new Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise, located in the Windows Sandbox and Windows Defender Application Guard
• The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued alert warning users of F5 Network’s BIG-IP ADC (application delivery controller) for security vulnerability
• Dave.com, a banking service, notified an unknown number of customers that their info may have been exposed after security incident
• CVS Pharmacy notified 21,289 customers that their PHI was exposed after several of its stores were vandalized during riots in several cities
• Cub Foods notified an unknown number of its Pharmacy department customers that their info was exposed after looting of its stores in Minnesota during rioting
• Walgreens notified customers of 180 of its stores, that their PHI may have been exposed as a result of riots in cities across the U.S. where stores were vandalized
• Kaspersky Security published report warning users that North Korean hackers, named the Lazarus Group, are behind the new VHD ransomware
• IBM published new Data Breach Report o Healthcare vertical continued to rack up the highest average data breach costs, up 10% to $7.13 million in total cost Average of 329 days before discovering breach of PHI
  • 50% of breaches were malicious
  •  23% = “system glitch”
  •  27% = human error
• Recorded Future Security reported that Chinese hackers infiltrated the Catholic Church network in the Vatican, including the Holy See’s Study Mission
• Athens ISD (school district) of Texas notified an known number of students that their info may have been exposed after a ransomware attack, and admitted to paying hackers $50,000 to restore systems
• The Vermont Department of Taxes notified an unknown number of citizens that their info was exposed after hacking incident
• Las Cruces Middle School of New Mexico admitted that a Zoom meeting it was holding with parents and teachers was hacke
• The George W. Bush Center in Dallas, TX announced it was hit by ransomware, and personal info was stolen from donors
• Sheldon Independent School District of Houston, TX notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after hacking incident
• Morgan Stanley, headquartered in New York City, NY, was hit by a class action lawsuit from customers claiming negligence after a last breach
• GEDmatch, headquartered in Lake Worth, FL, notified an unknown number of patients that their info may have been exposed after a breach
• A Florida teen hacked the Twitter accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls to scam people around globe out of more than $100,000 in Bitcoin, authorities said Friday

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials.

Laserfiche Spark Invites Change-Makers to Reimagine the Digital Workplace

• Announced registration is open for Laserfiche Spark, a free video broadcast showcasing digital transformation tools and trends and the latest developments in Laserfiche software
• Under the theme "Be the Change," Laserfiche Spark will present strategies for innovating and adapting to new ways of working
• Laserfiche Spark will be broadcast twice on  19, 2020, from 10-11:30 a.m. EDTand from 2-3:30 p.m. PDT

New Hampshire's Department of Labor Partners with ImageSoft to Renovate 20-Year-Old ...

• Approximately 50 percent of the NH DOL staff are working remotely amidst the Coronavirus pandemic
• Currently in phase two of the discovery stage, the NH DOL is expected to be live with its digital OnBase solution in March 2021

Onix Achieves the Managed Services Provider Status in the Google Cloud Partner Advantage ...

• Announced that it has achieved the Managed Services Provider status in the Google Cloud Partner Advantage Program
• Headquartered in Lakewood, Ohio, Onix serves its customers with virtual teams in major metro areas, including Atlanta, Austin, San Francisco, Boston, Chicagoand New York. Onix also has Canadian offices in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa

Trustwave Positioned as a Leader in Global Managed Security Services

• Announced that the company was named a Leader in the latest Forrester Research, Inc. evaluation of global managed security service providers
• The Forrester Wave™: Global Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs), Q3 20201, included 15 vendors in the assessment who were evaluated on 26 individual criteria grouped into three high-level categories including current offering, strategy, and market presence
• The Trustwave Fusion platform, a cloud-based cybersecurity platform, serves as the cornerstone for the company's managed security services
• Trustwave (trustwave.com) is a cybersecurity and managed security services provider

Ascend Technologies Acquires Infogressive

• Announced its merger with Infogressive, Inc., a provider of cybersecurity solutions
• Transaction was facilitated by IT ExchangeNet(ITX), a leading mid-market mergers and acquisitions firm specializing in the sale of MSSPs, MSPs, and Microsoft channel partners
• The combined organizations will have over 150 U.S.-based technical and security professionals, with offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Lincoln, Nebraska

Offensive Security Acquires Open Source Security Training Project VulnHub

• Announced it has acquired open source security training resource hub VulnHub
• Acquisition is part of OffSec’s ongoing mission to provide practical training content to aspiring cybersecurity professionals
• VulnHub is an open source, continually updated catalog of IT assets that are legally hackable, breakable, and exploitable by design
• All VulnHub content will remain available for free in keeping with OffSec’s commitment to open source

Qualys Acquires Software Assets of Spell Security

• Announced it acquired the software assets of Spell Security, an endpoint detection and response start-up
• Further strengthens Qualys' security and threat research, advances endpoint behavior detection capabilities
• Spell Security employees have joined Qualys, including founder Rajesh Mony as CTO, Malware Detection Solutions

CSPi Technology Solutions Recognized on CRN's 2020 MSP500 List

• Announced today that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named it to its 2020 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the Security 100 category.
• This annual list is divided into three categories: the MSP Pioneer 250 who are focused primarily on the SMB market; the MSP Elite 150, large data center-focused on- and off-premises; and the Managed Security 100 made up of off-premises-focused, cloud-based IT security services
• The full 2020 MSP500 can be viewed online at crn.com/msp500.

BDO Launches Athenagy™—The New Business Intelligence Platform for Managed Services

• Announced the launch of Athenagy™, its proprietary business intelligence platform for legal professionals
• Designed to integrate with a highly secure, customized Relativity®One environment

Xamin's Latest Whitepaper Urges Financial Institutions to Re-Shape Their Disaster Recovery and ...

• Announced today the availability of the final whitepaperin its five-part series, “Rise of the Remote Workforce: Don’t Forget About Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
• Xamin’s latest whitepaper offers guidance on necessary components of DR/BC testing and planning, assesses the impact of the pandemic and evaluates potential scenarios to help financial institutions plan for the future

Cybersecurity Update

• HIPAA & Cybersecurity Update - Walmart was sued for allegedly violating California’s new data breach law, in regards to lack of proper security with a large amount of customers have their info exposed
• Walmart notified an unknown number of pharmacy customers that their PHI was

exposed after several of its California stores were looted by rioters

• Garmin, headquartered in Olathe, KS, announced it was hit by ransomware, which may

expose info of customers of its smartwatches and wearables

• ForgeRock 2020 Consumer Identity Breach Report:
• healthcare accounts for 51% of data breaches in 2020
• cost the healthcare industry nearly $18 billion
• each breached record costing about $429
• second most breached vertical proved to be banking/insurance/financial at 12%.
• Malwarebytes Security published report on malware:
• AveMaria is remote access Trojan available for purchase on Dark Web for
• $23/month
• NetWiredRC malware is used by Iranian sponsored hackers
• LokiBot uses stenography to hide malicious code inside images
• AZORult is being used in COVID-19 themed attacks
• Danabot has been used in malicious PowerPoint presentations
• US HealthCenter, headquartered in St. Thiensville, Wisconsin, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after email phishing attack

• Carbon Black Security reports that the Dark Web now has sites selling tax information of people in the U.S., charging anywhere from $50 to $10,000 for content lists

• Positive Technologies reports that 34% of all cyberattacks are ransomware driven during last 90 days

• VPNMentor reported that a group of free VPN apps exposed the private data of millions of users, after more than a terabyte of info was left open on the Internet.

• Tencent is reporting that hackers have created “BadPower” malware, that can infect the firmware of fast chargers (used by owners of laptops, smartphones, etc.) and cause them to overheat, melt components and even set devices on fire.

• Skybox Security report claims a 73% increase in new types of file-encryption malware/ransomware

• Diebold Nixdorf is warning users of its ATM machines that criminals are stealing money by connecting a black box to a USB port hidden behind the front of the machine.

• Federal judge approved a $117.5 million deal to resolve a lawsuit filed against Yahoo Corp. over a data breach that exposed info on 194 million users The law firm who was class counsel received $23 million for their efforts

• U.S. officials ordered the Chinese government to close a consulate office in Houston, TX claiming that it had people inside stealing intellectual property from unnamed companies and organizations in the U.S.

• Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi of China were both accused by US Department of Justice of working with Chinese government to hacking into organizations worldwide to steal COVID-19 vaccine information

• Joshua Polloso Epifaniou was extradited from the country of Cyprus to the U.S. to face charges of implementing ransomware attacks on organizations in Arizona and Georgia

• Montana Veterans Affairs Health Care System, headquartered in Fort Harrison, MT notified 1,501 patients that their PHI was exposed after malware attack

• Lorien Health Services, headquartered in Ellicott City, MD, notified 47,754 patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.

• Smartwatch and wearables maker Garmin, headquartered in Olathe, Kansas, has shut down several of its services on July 23 to deal with a ransomware attack that has encrypted its internal network and some production systems

• First American Financial Corp., headquartered in Santa Ana, CA, is being charged by the New York State Department of Financial Services regarding a breach that exposed 885 million records.

• Metropolitan Community Health Services/Agape Health Services of Washington, NC, has agreed to pay $25,000 to feds to settle HIPAA fines regarding breach of 1,263 patients’ PHI

• CSO (chief security officer) magazine published article about threat of hackers using RDP (MS Windows remote desktop protocol) to hack into systems. Hijack attempts involve attacker “resuming” disconnected RDP session. Hacker can get into device or system without having to steal the user’s credentials

• Skybox Security published report on discovered security vulnerabilities: First half of 2020 say a 34% increase in security vulnerability reports. Expected to reach 20,000 published vulnerabilities by end of 2020 (this includes vulnerabilities found in printers and MFPs)

• CaptainU, an online high school recruitment data, headquartered in Denver, CO, announced that its database has inadvertently exposed the info on nearly 1 million students across the U.S.

• University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City reported third reported email hack of the system this year affected the information of 10,000 patients’ PHI

• Gulf Coast Cath Lab of Port Arthur, TX, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack

• Wall Street Journal published report:
  • 80% now view ransomware as a high risk
  • Less than 2/3’s of companies have a cybersecurity program
  • 72% have identified critical data assets
  • 45% of smaller companies do not test for email phishing attacks
  • 90% of attacks start with email phishing or social media attack
  • Ransomware causes an average of 121 days of downtime
  • Average ransomware payment in 2020 is $250,000
  • Cost of cyber attack averages $8500 per hour
• The Cooke County Sheriff’s Office in Texas notified an unknown number of citizensband employees that their info may have been exposed after data breach
• GreatHorn published results of survey that shows 36% of respondents say they are seeing email threats coming into their inboxes every day
• Barracuda and UC Berkeley published study which found that just over a third of hacked corporate email accounts sustained attacks for more than a week, during which time attackers would monitor how the organization did business so that they could launch subsequent phishing attacks

• CouchSurfing, an online service that lets users find free lodgings, is investigating a security breach after hackers began selling the details of 17 million users on Telegram channels and hacking forums.

• Ruhr University Bochum of Germany research shows that 15 out of 28 desktop PDF viewer applications are vulnerable to a new attack that lets malicious threat actors modify the content of digitally signed PDF documents.

• The National Cyber Security Centre of England research shows that more than 70% of sports institutions worldwide have been the victim of some kind of attempted cyberattack or hacking incident over the past 12 months.

• Cisco published results of security survey:
  • 77% use over 25 disparate security tools
  • 79% say it is challenging to orchestrate security alerts
  • 69% say 2 or 3 people are involved in a security incident

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials.

NEC Provides Secure Document Management and Sharing Service "Obbligato/Collaboration ...

• NEC Corporation announced the sales launch of a collaboration software as a service (SaaS) platform, the "Obbligato/Collaboration Platform," in China
• Enables central management of technical information for products, such as drawings, specifications, and bill of materials (BOM)
• NEC will promote sales among international manufacturers who are seeking to advance in the Chinese market

 Datto Acquires Gluh to Drive MSP Growth

• Announced its acquisition of Gluh Pty Ltd, an Australia-based company
• Gluh has a real-time platform that enables MSPs to simplify the procurement of IT products and services
• Gluh’s technology automates the processes of product selection, quoting, and sales of IT products and services for MSP clients
• Gluh is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and will maintain its Melbourne operations

Hyland wins ECM contract

• Award from New Mexico Higher Education Department
• Implemented the OnBase ECM (electronic content management) solution including a no-
  code, digital student credentialing system using blockchain
• Will be used by
• Northern New Mexico College
• Santa Fe College
• Mesalands College
• San Juan College
• Ayurvedic College

Lightstream Launches Network Managed Services

• Announced the launch of Lightstream Network Managed Services(NMS)
• Customizable managed-services solution helps organizations of all sizes to better manage risk by improving their network's availability, efficiency and technology implementation as well as addressing overspending
• Lightstream NMS is delivered through two tiers of services via its 24/7/365 Network Operations Center
• MNP has grown to more than 85 locations and 5,500 employees coast-to-coast.

CyberSeek™ Data Confirms the Ever-Present Need to Expand Cybersecurity Talent Pipeline

• S. employers advertised nearly 508,000 job openings for cybersecurity workers between June 2019through May 2020
• Currently 922,720 workers employed in cybersecurity-related jobs in the same time period.
• Created in 2016, CyberSeek is a joint initiative between the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education(NICE), led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); 

Datto Spotlights Partner Experience in SaaS Protection 2.5 Release

• Announced the availability of the next version of Datto SaaS Protection that improves the user experience by making it more intuitive to manage and easier to integrate into existing systems
• Datto’s 2020 Global State of the MSP Report, respondents said that 62% of their clients are currently using Microsoft365 cloud services and they expect that 70% will be using them within two years

          Key Datto SaaS Protection updates include:

• Streamlined Client Onboarding: Protect clients' critical cloud data in a matter of minutes with a simplified setup and an easy click-through onboarding process
• Flexible Retention: Users choose between settings that allow for infinite cloud retention and as well as time-based retention to provide flexibility in meeting the individual needs of each end client
• Intuitive, User-Friendly Management Portal: Quickly and easily determine the number of licenses in use, gauge profitability, and view clients’ backup status all from a single view

Open Systems is Among the First MSSPs Joining the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association as ...

• Announced that it, and its Born in the Cloud division, are among a select group of managed security service providers (MSSP) invited to join the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA) ecosystem in a pilot program
• Open Systems’ MDR services utilize the Microsoft Azure Sentinel cloud-native SIEM and SOAR solution

Apogee Managed Campus Services Help Colleges and Universities Meet Intensifying Connectivity ...

• State of Higher Education Strategic Planning Study conducted by Apogee suggests that higher education may not be technologically prepared for a rapid and dramatic shift to blended learning

Cybersecurity Update

• - IDG publishes result of survey showing that the most important tech project for CIO’s is Cybersecurity. Other projects of less importance included:
  o Business intelligence
  o Workflow automation
  o Artificial intelligence
  o Cloud
• 68% will be increasing their spend on cybersecurity in next 12 months
• Modern Healthcare published report that claims 744,500 patients had their PHI as a result of a breach in the month of June, 2020
• The U.S. is considering banning the TikTok app, as it is made by a Chinese company, and could be used by the Chinese government to surveil users and capture info on their mobile device.
• Sonic, the national fast food chain, lost an attempt to dismiss a negligence claim
  o Financial institutions are pursuing Sonic over a huge data breach in 2017 that
  exposed credit/debit card info from 325 locations
• Florida Orthopedic Institute is being sued for $99 million by patients after their PHI was exposed during recent breach.
• OpenClinic GA, which provides an open source integrated hospital information management system, notified its customers that it discovered 12 security vulnerabilities.
• Roseland Community Hospital of Chicago, IL reported that it lost Internet and phone system services for 24 hours after a car crash cut out services.
• Gemini Advisory reported that a hacking group named “Keeper” is exposing info on 184,000 customers stolen from 570 online stores.
• Agari Security published report that a Russian hacking group named “Cosmic Lynx” is targeting organizations in 46 countries with coronavirus themed email phishing attacks.
• The US Secret Service sent out a security alert that hackers have been attacking managed IT service providers in the U.S. Hackers gain access and then use a springboard to the internal networks of their customers.
• DXC Technology, a business process outsourcing company headquartered in Tysons, VA, notified an unknown number of its customers that its info may have been exposed after it was hit by ransomware.
• Digital Shadows published report stating that more than 15 billion username and password pairs are for sale on the Dark Web.
• The U.S. Department of Justice announced it has indicted Andrey Turchin of Kazakhstan for allegedly being a hacker named “fxmsp”, for stealing from 300 different organizations.
• Kaspersky Security reports that 14.8% of users of products running Android OS who were targeted by malware, were left with undeletable files.
  o “A system partition infection entails a high level of risk for the users of infected devices, as a security solution cannot access the system directories, meaning it cannot remove the malicious files”
• Pearson Education suffered a breach exposing info on 13,000 students.
• Malwarebytes is warning consumers that some smartphones running Android have unremovable malware bundled in the phone.
• Salinas Valley Memorial Health System of California notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after an email phishing attack.
• Providence Health Plan of Oregon notified almost 50,000 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.
• Healthcare Fiscal Management Inc. of Wilmington, NC notified 58,000 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
• Friendship Community Care of Russellville, AR notified 9,745 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
• Independence Blue Cross of Philadelphia, PA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed due to hacking incident.
• Hacker named Trorice Crawford of San Diego, CA was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison for stealing identities from U.S. service members and using them to steal millions of dollars from their bank accounts.

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials.

Respond Software revamps SOC staffing and addresses critical analyst shortage Managed security services provider uses a virtual analyst product from Respond So

• The MSSP has incorporated Respond Software's technology into its managed detection and response (MDR) service (reported on ITweb.co.za)
• Respond Analyst monitored 138M events, escalating just nine incidents in a one-month period. That is the equivalent of 2 000 human analysts working 24×7 to cover 138M events in one month
• Respond Software's offering acts as a virtual analyst, emulating a seasoned analyst's judgement and analysing more data without adding personnel, according to the company

 HP CEO interviewed in CRN magazine

• Plan for “as-a-service” acceleration according to CEO Enrique Lores
• Hopes to combine managed print with Instant Ink program
• The COVID-19 crisis has brought the opportunity to the forefront for the company and its channel partners
• Countless businesses continuing to work from home and customers looking to reduce costs
• "What we have seen as a consequence of the pandemic is significant growth in anything that has to do with as-a-service--whether it's Device-as-a-Service, managed print services or subscriptions"
• "Clearly, customers are shifting in this direction very fast."
• Many clients are now asking us to enable their employees to be able to print from home
• They want to make sure that the cost of printing is paid by the company
• That the printing happens in a secure way

New York Managed IT Service Provider Reviews What Is Structured Cabling

• SeaGlass Technology, recently released a new informational article that discusses what is structured cabling and how properly setting it up can be a difference-maker for your company's organization
• Hope it will be used as an informational resource for managers at tech companies who are looking for a more in-depth understanding of the process
• They explain how important it is to maximize the organization of your cabling in order to maintain efficiency and minimize the chance of cable errors that result in network crashes

MNP acquires managed IT solutions firm Next Digital

• Accounting and consulting firm MNP has acquired Next Digital, an Alberta-based managed IT solutions company
• Next Digital’s leadership team – Andrew Jackson, Shawn Kubiski, and John McLaughlin – will join MNP as partners
• MNP in May acquired T4G, a Toronto-based applied data firm, adding 100 professionals
• MNP has grown to more than 85 locations and 5,500 employees coast-to-coast.

COVID-19 Affected Businesses Rescued by Managed IT Services Companies Like iTecs Promus

• iTecs Promus, a subsidiary of iTecs IT Outsourcing and Support, is a white-glove control-panel-less cloud hosting provider
• iTecs employee monitoring services allow managers a 360 real-time view of how the staff is performing when they are connected
• Many have resorted to having employees use their home computer to dial into the corporate office and access resources; however, this opens them up to a sleuth of security vulnerabilities

$12 Billion Intelligence IT Contract Out for Bid

• Defense Intelligence Agency bid out its $12.6 billion Solutions for the Information Technology Enterprise III, or SITE III, information technology services contract this week

• The multiple-award contract—a third iteration of the DIA’s SITE and E-SITE contract vehicles that date back to 2010
• According to the solicitation, the contract will provide “managed services directed towards improving integration, information sharing, and information safeguarding through the use of a streamlined information technology approach.”

NITOROM Launches NiTO, a Powerful, Next-Generation Monitoring Platform for Virtual, Cloud and ...

• NITOROM Inc., a global provider of next-generation IT infrastructure monitoring software, announces the launch of NiTO
• NiTO is a SaaS-based and affordable integrated infrastructure monitoring solution
• NiTO is being used across a broad range of global public and private sector industries, including municipal governments, legal, manufacturing, entertainment and telecom

NiTO Features Include:

• Real time, high-resolution monitoring for Windows and Linux
• Ping, and TCP uptime
• SNMP network monitoring
• VMware & Hyper-V host and guest monitoring
• AWS & Azure cloud monitoring
• Website monitoring & SSL certificate checks
• Log file monitoring
• Parenting & flapping detection
• Event escalation
• Custom metrics
• Detailed historical data
• Performance reports

Managed Office Experts Novatech Announces New Atlanta Call Center, Expanding Support and Maximizing Business Continuity

• Novatec announced the debut of a new Atlanta Call Center that will provide support for Managed IT and Managed Print customers
• The center will both expand Novatech's support capabilities and serve as a redundant call center for the firm's primary call center in Nashville, Tenn
• The platform will be delivered by RingCentral, the Unified Communications

'Keeper' hacking group behind hacks at 570 online stores

• Hacking group known as "Keeper" is responsible for security breaches at more than 570 online e-commerce portals over the last three years (reported on ZDnet.com)
• These types of attacks are what the cyber-security community calls web skimming, e-skimming, or "Magecart" intrusions
• In a report published today by threat intelligence firm Gemini Advisory, the company says that Keeper has been operating since at least April 2017, and continues to operate even today

GRM Document Management Launches Zappix Back To Work Solution To Help With COVID-19 ...

• Zappix launched a mobile-based visual solution to help GRM Document Management adapt their workforce management to COVID-19
• Zappix “Back To Work” Solution delivers proactive daily symptom assessments pushed to employees via dynamic SMS or email links to keep employees, visitors, and customers in multiple GRM locations across the US, Brazil, Peru, and Colombia safe
• The Back to Work Solution leverages end-to-end automation to keep the employee assessment process fast and simple for all involved

ERMProtect Cybersecurity Solutions Chosen to Sell Powerful Breach Assessment Tool by Lumu

• EMRProtect announced today that it is partnering with Lumu to offer customers an AI-powered Continuous Compromise Assessment tool
• Lumu product systematically collects and analyzes a wide range of network metadata sources for confirmed indications of compromise in real-time
• ERMProtect will re-sell Lumu products as well as use the Lumu Insight product for specific engagements
• To kick off the partnership, Lumu and ERMProtect are sponsoring the Illumination Virtual Summit at 11 a.m. on July 16 th featuring Lane Bess, former CEO of Palo Alto Networks

MSP Xchanging attacked in ransomware incident

• Xchanging, a managed services provider (MSP) specialising in the insurance and financial services industry
• Owned by US-based services provider DXC, alerted authorities to the incident on the evening of Sunday 5 July 2020

Syncro's Next-Gen MSP Platform Sees Massive Growth in 2020

• According to recent studies, the growth of the Remote Monitoring & Management (RMM) and Professional Services Automation (PSA) software space is experiencing vast changes in 2020
• MSPs finding segregated RMMs and PSAs too difficult to manage
• Combines a full-featured PSA and embedded RMM

Channel Partner Insight Honors StorageCraft with Top MSP Innovation Award

• StorageCraft ShadowXafe wins in “Best Backup/Continuity Offering” category
• The annual awards are independently judged and honor vendors, distributors, and managed service providers (MSPs) across the United States

Konica Minolta announces new Channel partnership with Manchester-based specialist managed ...

• Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Limited announces its new Channel partner, Manchester-based specialist managed print and IT services provider ITECH Managed Services
• partnership is a key part of Konica Minolta’s continued expansion of the Channel market

Cybersecurity Update

• Legacy Community Health Services, headquartered in Houston, TX, is notifying 19,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack
• UnityPoint Health, headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, announced it agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle a class action lawsuit regarding a recent breach that exposed PHI of 1.4 million patients
• Bleeping Computer magazine is reporting that a hacker group has posted the databases from 14 different companies and posted them for sales on the Dark Web
• The State of Texas Court System and the Texas Department of Transportation both notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after being hit by Ransom X ransomware
• Iowa Total Care notified 11,581 patients that their PHI was exposed after an email emailed the info without authorization.
• UF Health (University of Florida Health of Gainesville and Jacksonville) notified 54,002 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack
• UCSF Health (University of California – San Francisco) announced that it paid $1.14 million to a hacker to reclaim control of network after being hit by ransomware. Unknown how many patients had their PHI at risk
• Urban Choice Charter School of Rochester, NY notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after being illegally accessed by a former employee
• OneClass, a national eLearning platform, notified over 1 million students that their info may have been exposed after accidentally made available on Internet to public
• The Maine State Police notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after data breach of its Maine Information and Analysis Center website
• North Shore Pain Management, headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts, notified 12,472 patients that their PHI was stolen after ransomware attack
• US Cyber Command is warning that foreign state-sponsored hacking groups will try to exploit new security bug found in PAN-OS, the operating system running on firewalls and enterprise VPN appliances from Palo Alto Networks
• Federal Trade Commission is warning users of TikTok app that its use of HTTP to move sensitive data across the Internet is allowing videos and other content to be tracked and altered
• IOActive Security is warning that hackers are now trying to inject code into bar code scanners, in attempt to gain access to networks
• Lucy Security is reporting that SQL databases from 945 websites have been stolen and are now for sale on the Dark Web
• Sergey Medvedev (aka Stells, Segmed, Serjbear), originally from Russia, pleaded guilty in a U.S. court for his role in an international cyber theft ring (aka Infraud, Obnon, Rector, Helkern), causing loss of $568 million from various organizations
• Symantec Corp. is reporting that 31 large organizations (including those on Fortune 500 list) have been hit by WastedLocker ransomware
• ZDNet magazine published results of research that shows that one out of every 142 passwords is the classic "123456" string
• Bleeping Computer magazine published article that researchers have discovered a new Mac malware that encrypts files on compromised systems like a piece of ransomware, but also allows its operators to steal data and take full control of an infected device
• Initially named EvilQuest, the malware was later renamed ThiefQuest to avoid confusion as EvilQuest is the name of a video game
• ZDNet is reporting that a hacker uploaded ransom notes on 22,900 MongoDB databases left exposed online, which is 47% of all MongoDB databases online

May 30th, 2020

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials.

ABBYY releases FineReader Server 14.2

• Launches new version of FineReader Server to streamline document workflows
• ABBYY’sFineReader Server 14.2 automatically converts large-scale collections of documents into accessible and searchable digital repositories, enabling seamless enterprise-wide document processes
• dedicated webpage for OCR and file conversion which enables employees to convert documents whenever they need to
• Offers digital signature support allowing users to sign batch documents automatically

Zscaler Acquires Edgewise Networks

• Zscaler provides cloud security
• Edgework Networks provides application to application communications for public cloud and date centers
• Edgewise discovers individual applications and their legitimate communication patterns and, using AIand machine learning algorithms
• “Edgewise is highly innovative technology that enables application segmentation without having to do traditional network segmentation which is often done with virtual firewalls

Fortune 500 company NTT discloses security breach

• Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT), the 64th biggest company in the world, according to the Fortune 500 list, has disclosed today a security breach
• NTT says hackers gained access to its internal network and stole information on 621 customers from its communications subsidiary, NTT Communications
• The hack took place on May 7, and NTT says it became of the intrusion four days later, on May 11
• The company says hackers breached several layers of its IT infrastructure and reached an internal Active Directory

Greater Cincinnati university among 5 in US recognized for IT innovation

• Northern Kentucky University’s Office of Information Technology is one of five universities to to be honored with the CIO 100 Award for 2020
• Sponsored by CIO Magazine
• The magazine’s annual CIO 100 Award celebrates 100 premier organizations and teams that are using IT to deliver business value

Tasan Promoted to Lead IT Strategy of Core Banking Tech at DCI

• Data Center Inc. (DCI), the privately-owned developer of iCore360® core banking software
• Named Sencer Tasan its newest Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to lead the company's core IT infrastructure and digital ecosystem
• DCI is the developer of the award-winning iCore360® core banking software and related technologies for community banks nationwide

Aptum Launches Managed DevOps Service Powered by CloudOps to Simplify and Streamline ...

• Aptum, a global hybrid cloud and managed services provider
• launched its Managed DevOps Service in partnership with CloudOps, a cloud consulting and professional services company specializing in DevOps
• The Managed DevOps Service offers a cloud-based DevOps platform that allows customers to automate their development pipelines and reduce application delivery times
• Managed DevOps Service from Aptum is a fully managed stack, running on cloud infrastructure

Aptum’s Managed DevOps Service solves several common DevOps challenges for customers:

DISYS Managed Services Re-Launched as D2M

• D2Mannounces its re-launch as an independent division of DISYS and with expanded services
• D2M is an outcome-driven service and solution partner that serves enterprises across their Information Technology operations
• The re-launch is a strategic growth plan initiative for 2020
• D2M is headquartered in McLean, VA, with more than 45 offices worldwide

CloudShark Integrates with Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR to Accelerate Incident Response

• -QA Cafe, a provider of innovative test and analysis software solutions for communication and information technology teams
• announced that CloudShark Enterprise, a secure packet analysis and management platform designed for increasing team efficiency, is now integrated with Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR (previously Demisto)
• Using CloudShark, analysts can share packet captures more easily and perform retrospective analysis across historical data without the need for additional software
• Cortex XSOAR is an extended security orchestration, automation, and response platform that unifies case management, automation, real-time collaboration, and threat intel management
• Palo Alto Networks and QA Cafe will host a joint webinar demonstrating the Cortex XSOAR and CloudShark integration on Wednesday, June 17, at 11:00 a.m. PT. Interested parties can register here

IT Tech Packaging, Inc. Signs Letter of Intent to Acquire Intelligent Healthcare IT Solution Provider

• IT Tech Packaging, Inc. (NYSE MKT: ITP) ("IT Tech Packaging" or "the Company"), a leading manufacturer and distributor of diversified paper products in North China
• announced that its operating entity in China, Hebei Baoding Dongfang Paper Milling Company Limited ("Dongfang Paper"), has entered into a letter of intent to acquire 60% equity interest in Baoding Huizhi Ruixing Information Technology Co., Ltd
• a new high technology company with registered capital of RMB10 millionfocused on providing intelligent healthcare IT solutions to hospitals, medical institutions, government agencies, enterprises and public institutions in China

Next-Generation Cloud Printing brings driverless printing to ThinPrint's ezeep platform

• ThinPrint’s ezeep for Azure, the company’s platform for cloud printing developed specifically for Microsoft’s Windows Virtual Desktop
• First cloud printing solution to enable print rendering to take place entirely in the cloud
• new ezeep Hub to be used in branches and remote offices as a plug-and-play device for immediate network printer availability
• With ezeep’s new cloud rendering, almost all existing and new printer models can now be addressed with their individual characteristics

Sharp IT budget cuts expected in wake of COVID-19

• Posted in CIO
• Gartner and IDC have revised their forecasts for 2020 in the wake of the pandemic, and the outlook is grim
• Worldwide enterprise IT spending, including telecommunications and business services, rose 5.0 percent year on year in 2019
• Four months later, IDC now expects overall 2020 IT spending to drop by 5.1 percent
• Gartner is even more pessimistic, expecting worldwide IT spending to fall by 8 percent this year, compared with a rise of 1 percent it calculated for 2019

Cybersecurity: Half of employees admit they are cutting corners when working from home

• Posted on ZDNet
• Analysis by researchers at cybersecurity company Tessian reveals that 52% of employees believe they can get away with riskier behaviour when working from home
• According to Tessian's The State of Data Loss Report, some of the top reasons employees aren't completely following the same safe data practices as usual include working from their own device

Wipro positioned as Leader for Public Cloud Infrastructure Professional and Managed Services

• Wipro Limited, a global information technology
• Positioned as a 'Leader' in Gartner's 2020 Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure Professional and Managed Services, Worldwide
• This Magic Quadrant is focused on MSPs that have deep technical expertise with hyperscale providers, effective cloud management platforms (CMPs), and managed services that leverage automation, where possible

Lead for Information Technology Services in Pennsylvania

• Click here (Premium Content)

Department of Justice Awards Leidos Follow-On Managed IT Service Contract

• Leidos (NYSE:LDOS), a FORTUNE^® 500 science and technology leader, was awarded the Enterprise Standard Architecture V (ESA V) task order to provide managed IT services for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) within the Department of Justice (DOJ)
• single award hybrid task order has one ten-month and two one-year base periods of performance followed by six one-year option periods
• It includes a ceiling value not to exceed $850 million. Work will be performed in Washington, D.C. and Clinton, Miss., supporting both domestic and international customer sites

MSP & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

ARCOA Group is here to help you successfully manage your IT Asset Disposition process. We help you recover value from retired electronic equipment through responsible methods of reuse and recycling.  We ensure proper handling of assets which may contain data, while being environment stewards for assets that have no reuse value and are headed for recycling. We’ve built a robust de-manufacturing process to offer additional options for asset value recovery by disassembling equipment for commodity grade materials, which can be diverted from landfills and be used to create new base materials. You can find out more here.

RBRO Solutions helps the world's largest law firm migrate to the iManage Cloud

• RBRO provides end-to-end solutions for iManage for more than 15 years
• RBRO Solutions based in Pickering, Ontario, Canada
• Announces engagement with world’s largest law firm of Baker McKenzie
• Project to consolidate and migrate Baker McKenzie’s 70+ libraries to the iManage Cloud

NetDocuments Joins Onit's Strategic Alliance Program as Newest Partner

• Onit, Inc., based in Houston, Texas provides enterprise workflow solutions, enterprise legal management, contract lifecycle management and business process automation
• Announces NetDocuments is joining Onit’s Strategic Alliance Program
• NetDocuments servers more than 2,750 clients worldwide and provides legal cloud based content services and platform

Zeal Announces Box Integration Combining Contract Data With Unified Cloud Content Management

• Zeal announces they were selected to join Box’s Technology Partner Program
• Zeal is a collaborative cloud-based contract management platform that uses machine learning to help companies automate contract functions, analyze contract data and build workflows that enhance compliance and accelerate sales

Synoptek Named to ChannelE2E Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs: 2020 Edition

• Synoptek is a global systems integrator, also provides managed IT services
• Named to After Nines Inc.’s ChannelE2E Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs list and research (http://www.channelE2E.com/top100) for 2020
• This year’s research revealed several key MSP market trends

PrivX® chosen as the Privileged Access Management solution by Fujitsu for their Customer Management Environment (CME) platform

• COM today announced that Fujitsu has selected to implement PrivX as a critical tool in their CME environment
• COM helps organizations access, secure, and control their digital core – their critical data, applications, and services
• PrivX is lean, quick-to-implement, and easy-to-use access management software for privileged access to on-premise and cloud environments.

ADDING MULTIMEDIA NTT and Tanium Announce Intent for Strategic Partnership to Deploy Security Solutions for the Smart World

• NTT Corporation (“NTT”) and Tanium Inc. (“Tanium”) today announced their intention to enter into a strategic partnership to provide secure, highly reliable solutions for IT, IoT and OT environments to support Smart World deployments
• NTT is a Global Technology and Business Solutions Provider
• Tanium offers a unified endpoint management and security platform that is built for the world's most demanding IT environments

Server Central Turning Group Provides Managed IT Services to Essential Chicago Businesses

• Sever Central Turing Group based in Chicago, IL., provides managed IT infrastructure service
• Announced its Essential Chicago initiative to provide managed IT services to Chicago essential businesses for the remainder of 2020

ASC receives highest Security Certification for Information Technology from the US Department of ...

• ACS is a worldwide software provider in the field of omni-channel recording, quality management, and analytics
• Announces approval and certification by the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) of the United States
• The Joint Interoperability Test Command is a wing of the DoD of Defense of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)

Jitterbit Announces Next-Generation MSP Partner Program to Help More Businesses Achieve ROI From Integration

• Jitterbit based in Alameda, California
• Announced a next-generation managed service provider (MSP) partner program

• • Partner readiness assessment and training program
  • Partner solution template dev/ops methodology 
  • Best practices around designing, demos and delivery of new solutions
  • Go-to-market plans with seller toolkits
• Cloud for Good, which specializes in creating transformation value in the nonprofit and higher education sectors using Salesforce technologies, was among the first partners announced as part of the MSP program

Xantrion Named to the ChannelE2E's 2019 Top Vertical Market MSPs List Managed Service Provider Ranks #33

• Xantrion located in Oakland,Califorinia and provides cybersecurity, technical support and outsourced IT services
• After Nines Inc. provides timeless IT guidance for strategic partners and IT security professionals across ChannelE2E (ChannelE2E.com) and MSSP Alert (www.MSSPAlert.com)
• named to After Nines Inc.'s ChannelE2E Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs list and research (http://www.channelE2E.com/top100) for 2019

Cybersecurity Updates

• Aurora Medical Center Bay Area of Marinette, WI notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after an email phishing attack
• Beaumont Health of Detroit, MI notified 112,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after an email phishing attack
• Brandywine Counseling of Wilmington, DE, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack
• The Horst Gortz Institute reports it found security vulnerability in Xilinx FPGA (field programmable gate array) chips commonly used in control systems, could data centers, cellular base stations, medical devices and aviation systems

• Microsoft is warning customers of an uptick in malware attacks using Trickbot to deliver ransomware
• PrimoHoagies Inc., headquartered in Westville, NJ, with locations in 8 states on East Coast, notified customers that their card payment info was exposed after hacking incident
• Cognizant Inc., a national managed IT services headquartered in Teaneck, NJ, notified an unknown number of customers that their info may have been exposed after a Maze ransomware attack
• Banner Health agreed to pay $8.9 million to settle claims made after breach exposed PHI of 2.9 million patients
• Mercy Health of Muskegon, Michigan announced that it had fired a nurse named Justin Howe after illegally accessing the PHI of multiple patients
• CTI League announced it has struck down more than 2800 cybercriminal assets on the Internet and identified 2000 security vulnerabilities in healthcare organizations
• Bloomberg News reports a 4300% increase in spam email related to COVID-19.
  - Google reports that more than 4300 domains related to federal stimulus packages, many of them are malicious as hackers try to cash in on COVID-19 pandemic
• Trustwave reports on 2019 cybersecurity:
  • 18% of network compromises in U.S. were ransomware, up 4%
  • 17% of attacks focused on financial data
  • Attackers were able to work inside the network for average of 86 days
  • 28% of email was spam
• The Small Business Administration notified 7,913 businesses that their info was compromised after a breach
• Bitdefender is reported that a spearfishing campaign named “Agent Tesla” is targeting oil and gas companies
• Confiant Security published report stating that 60 Revive ad servers have been compromised by the Tag Barnackle hacker group to insert malicious ads into online ad inventory to direct unsuspecting viewers to malware download sites read the rest here