Category Archives: Workplace / Legal / Security

By David Andrade

Why is a multi-layered approach so effective? It’s simple: redundancy. If one layer fails, others are there to catch the slack. It’s like having multiple locks on your door—each one adds an extra level of protection. By combining both physical and network security measures, you’re creating a fortress that’s tough to breach. Your business should be equipped with the right tools and technologies to keep threats out.

For a modern-day business, a robust security system isn’t just advisable; it’s necessary. You are trusted to protect your customers’ sensitive business data, your employees, and your assets. 

Network Security: 

Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and frequent. These attacks present in various forms suh as phishing, malware, ransomware, and direct hacking attempts. The risk of a successful attack leads to revenue loss, downtime, damage to your brand and reputation, and loss of trust from your customers. 80% of all cyber-attacks target the small and midsize business (SMB) market. Even more eye opening is 27 percent of SMBs report that they will be put of business from a cyber-attack. 

With virtually everything we do being done on computers and machines, we have to protect the systems we use. Firewalls scrutinize incoming and outgoing traffic to block unauthorized access, while VPNs encrypt your data to create a secure tunnel for information to travel across public networks while working remotely. Additionally, you need antivirus software, data backups, MFA (multi-factor authentication), employee cybersecurity awareness training, and more. The extensive and complex list of security solutions necessary to protect your IT infrastructure and sensitive business data can seem daunting. A Managed Service Provider (MSP), like StoredTech, will shoulder that responsibility for you. 

By Christine Graf

For more than two decades, Center for Security has been providing locksmith and security services to residential and commercial customers throughout the Capital Region. 

“My father (Tom Walsh) started on his own in the 1990s and then went into business with his partner, Scott Hogan,” said Patrick Walsh, manager and technician at Center for Security. 

After outgrowing their first shop in Clifton Park, the business relocated to a larger space at 1659 Route 9 in Clifton Park. The partners later added a second location at 16 Main Street in Queensbury. 

The company’s 15 employees have decades of experience, most having been with the company for many years.  

“We’ve had the same group of guys working for us for a long time,” said Walsh. “There’s a lot of on-the-job training, and it takes years to learn the ins and outs of locks. You learn a lot of it by being out on the road—learning how to pick locks in different ways.”

By Paul Post

A Queensbury firm and its Singapore-based partner are helping companies worldwide with a new high-tech hiring service that purports to find key employees quickly and efficiently while saving valuable time and money.

“Our first customer in New York City went from an average of two to three months per hire to just three days using our tool,” said Tim Montgomery, owner and president of TIMIT Solutions LLC. “Our primary target is businesses that hire a lot of people. We’ve initially engaged with some very large IT (information technology) companies in India.”

ConvInt.ai (Conversational Intelligence), founded and owned by Virender Aggarwal, of Singapore, uses artificial intelligence to locate top candidates not only for IT companies, but those in other industries such as insurance, healthcare and the rapidly expanding field of cannabis production.

“Many human resources people aren’t technically savvy and don’t know much about who you need to hire for the cannabis industry, the types of people and skills they need,” Montgomery said. “This tool makes them an expert in all of those areas because we’re asking expert questions on their behalf.”

By Rob shauger
Most businesses these days are very aware of security threats and have policies in place to keep themselves protected. However, even with these policies in place, there are many seemingly-innocent documents that are often forgotten about that can leave your business open to security breaches.
Here are five documents you should be shredding, but probably aren’t:
1. Junk mail. While junk mail seems harmless, enough personal data is usually included for identity thieves to use against you. For example, names and addresses are inserted into pre-approved credit card applications. It would be all too easy for a person to send in these applications and use them for their own personal gain.
2. Photos. Photos of employees, customers, and suppliers may seem harmless, but thieves can use these photos to make up an identity. Combine this with any other personal information they may have collected from your business, and you could be in trouble. Keep your employees and customers safe by shredding these photos instead of tossing them into the garbage.
3. Hiring information. When people apply for jobs a hard copy of their resume and other documents containing personal information is often left behind. This information would be all too easy for identity thieves to take advantage of. Keep these applications in a locked location and shred when no longer needed.

By Michael Cruz
The first reason is that you simply do not trust each other. In his breakthrough work, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team”, Patrick Lencioni wrote that the absence of trust is the biggest reason teams do not work well together. This is because we are not often trained to be vulnerable and to trust the people we work with. This means that everything else we try to do is built on a weak foundation.
The second dysfunction is fear of conflict. Again, we were taught in kindergarten that it is most important for everyone to get along. Even if that means holding back on contrary views. If we don’t trust each other, we cannot have intelligent debate about options to solving problems. This hurts the team because we do not bring our best ideas to the table.

By Christine Graf
According to a recent Gallup poll, approximately 70 percent of employees consider themselves “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” at work. In many instances, their disengagement is directly related to their company’s culture.

Culture can be defined in simple terms as a company’s personality. It is reflected in everything from dress code to office setup. Culture often develops organically over time, based on the traits of the people the company hires, experts say.

The importance of culture is often overlooked by many businesses. Yet it is culture that sets a company apart from its competition and enables it to attract the best talent, according to experts in the field. Because 30 percent of today’s workforce is made up of Millenials, culture has become especially important. According to Pew Research Center, Millenials want to work for companies that share their values. They also want to feel that their work has purpose and meaning.