Category Archives: Cyber / Tech

By Aleks Pavlinik, Chief Information Security Officer 

Why protect your personal digital life? Securing your personal life identity, passwords, and digital assets is crucial not only for your own safety but also for the security of your workplace. Think about it… we all access our work emails through our personal smartphones everyday. We reply to emails, we open attachments, we check our calendars for meetings. Some companies even allow their staff to use their own computers for work. But if compromised, these personal devices are a gateway for cybercriminals to infiltrate your workplace systems. 

Maintaining strong, unique passwords, requiring multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all accounts, and using strong security solutions for your personal devices helps you contribute to a more secure and resilient organizational infrastructure. Remember, your personal security practices are the first line of defense in protecting both your personal and professional life.

Everyone reading this has probably experienced a risk or an attempt of identity theft, financial loss, and unauthorized access to your accounts. Someone tried to login to your social media accounts, or your bank called you with a questionable fraud attempt. This is tenfold for a business. There’s a whole business market out there of hackers who make millions by exploiting businesses, holding their data at ransom and stopping them from working and serving their customers. 

Small businesses may think, “a hacker wouldn’t waste time going after my business. We aren’t big enough.” And that’s exactly the point. They know small businesses owners are not investing the resources in cybersecurity measures, so it’s easy for them. 

By Susan Elise Campbell

As technology improves how a business is run, installing cable to connect the new technologies improves with it. One local company at the forefront of that is Adirondack Cabling and Security, providing clients with innovative cabling solutions for the best of 40 years.

“In 1982 when my dad and uncle started the company, the big thing was the PDX telephone system so a business with one phone number could have an extension on every desk,” said Dave Womer. 

Dave is the son of Jack Womer who, along with his brother Bob, operated Adirondack Cabling until 2017 when Dave and his cousin Bob Jr. purchased the business from their retiring fathers. Dave is president and Bob Jr. is vice president of operations.

“My father and uncle saw there were many companies manufacturing the latest phone systems, but no one to install them,” Womer said. They formulated a business plan to meet that demand.

By the 1990s there were computers in every office that needed to be networked and Adirondack Cabling transitioned into another new market, he said. 

By Reg Harnish

It’s that time of year when many of us start evaluating the past year and what goals we want to aspire to in the next. And although cybersecurity might not have as much allure as a six-pack (depending on who you ask), it’s crucial for your business’s well-being.

With an estimated $3.1B in losses and rising from cybercrime–whether from financial fraud, ransomware, or breach– it’s important to understand the sheer scope of the challenge. Although small businesses are increasingly adopting and investing in cybersecurity, 62% of small businesses are affected by cybercrime because the reality is that the bad guys are getting better faster than we are. 

Embarking on a cybersecurity strategy can seem daunting, but at the core, we believe that cybersecurity success comes from doing the absolute minimum necessary to achieve your business mission.  At a high level that means understanding how cybersecurity is affecting and contributing to your mission, and proactively and methodically thinking about how to apply controls (whether HIPAA, PCI, or other industry regulations) to:

Protect your intellectual property 

Combat cybercrime 

Minimize disruption and loss

Protect against reputational issues

By Christine Graf

After spending more than a decade at the helm of Jolt Consulting Group, Jeff Oskin sold the IT consultancy firm in February 2022. By that time, his company had grown exponentially and had a staff of 50 employees. 

“I grew that company both organically and through acquisitions,” he said. “We did IT consulting, specifically sales force implementation consulting work for service-oriented organizations.”

While operating Jolt, Oskin also began working as an executive coach, establishing a peer advisory group for executives in the Capital Region.

“Many of the most well-known executives in the Capital District are in that group,” said Oskin. 

After selling Jolt Consultancy, he established Newlogiq, a business that provides cutting-edge AI consulting solutions to small and mid-sized businesses. 

“I wanted to continue this entrepreneurial bent,” he said. “When I was contemplating my next move, I ultimately landed on going to market with a consulting company that sat at the intersection of three things: people, process, and technology.”

“From the people side, it’s helping organizations through executive coaching and leadership development—helping that next generation leader to develop skills to help them elevate their capabilities so as to improve the overall health of the company they work for.”

When referring to process, Oskin said he has long been a believer that technology should support business process.

“I believe AI—artificial intelligence—is a huge opportunity moving forward for organizations to leverage technology to simplify, automate, and streamline business processes.”

Oskin received his certification as an AI expert from Blockchain, a large non-profit that sets the standards for the blockchain industry. 

“Blockchain itself is a type of technology, and Blockchain.org is a kind of a regulatory body from which AI has evolved,” he said. 

By Christine Graf

 In 2021, an estimated 37 percent businesses were the target of ransomware—a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. 

The price tag for these worldwide attacks was a staggering $20 billion. The dollar amount is expected to reach $265 billion by 2031, experts say.

In order to combat ransomware and other cybersecurity attacks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has partnered with members of the private sector. Through a program called InfraGard, they work together to protect the country’s critical infrastructure. 

Craig Stephenson, senior cybersecurity analyst at Tech II Business Services in Saratoga Springs, is a member of InfraGard. Tech II provides managed information technology services to small and medium sized businesses.

According to Stephenson, cyberattacks represent a clear and present danger to all companies regardless of size.

 “We are being inundated on a daily basis by bad actors from around the world. They are trying to steal the intellectual property from businesses or trying to get money from them. The FBI put together an unclassified video, and it’s an eye opener on how China is specifically and systematically trying to attack the United States in regards to stealing intellectual property.”

When it comes to ransomware, Stephenson said what he calls the “human firewall” is to blame for most attacks. 

BankWise Technology, a Saratoga Springs developer of advanced custom programming for banks, announced that it has provided the system development, integration, and support for the nation’s first wearable payment ring launched by the award-winning digital bank Quontic. 

The Quontic Pay Ring is an innovative payment technology that allows Quontic customers wearing the ring to conveniently wave their hand near a contactless terminal to make retail purchases. Officials said the process is like tapping a credit or debit card and can be used worldwide at any payment terminal that accepts contactless payments. 

The launch of this product required significant development effort to integrate the systems, streamline the operational processes and implement the safeguards necessary to both deliver the rings and to ensure their usefulness once deployed, according to BankWise. It provided the code and systems to manage key components of the product including customer authentication, ring ordering, sizing and fulfillment, ring activation, inventory management, integration with the bank’s core system, and customer communication updates via email or SMS on the pay ring’s order status.