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While the banking institutions have to deal with stringent lending regulations, MPLs are relatively new, and use what is known as FinTech (financial technology) to lend, collect, and distribute the capital they have. Consumers are starting to catch on, and in all, over $7 trillion is at risk of being displaced from the financial services market as a result of the growth of these organizations. MPLs are in an advantageous position because they are in a position where they utilize modern technology which insulate them from runaway systemic risk inherent in non-regulated financial transactions. Today, legislators are trying to figure out ways to regulate these organizations that won?t necessarily hinder their ability to innovate, but will work to keep them from taking advantage of consumers. What is FinTech? FinTech is technology used to track and manage finances. Your credit card, your PayPal account, and your personal account dashboard on your bank?s website is all FinTech. Using technology for finances isn?t new, but like many other technologies that have advanced as hardware and software improvements have been made, it?s just being repurposed outside of the traditional banking structure. FinTech today covers a whole lot of ground. So while banks have been doing this for a long time MPLs are backed with enough VC to start a small country and that capital allows these organizations to invest like no independent companies have been able to before. It often provides nice returns for a lot of investors. So while it is an affront to the banks, investors aren?t having to limit their sights to banks for financial services. Nowadays, most of the money is flowing through asset managers who are taking the capital that is entrusted to them by investors and investing it in non-traditional ways through technology. Defining FinTech can be a challenge in itself as the language differs substantially depending on where the company operates and what type of lending facility it is being used for, but as far as the need to adhere to federal regulations, new FinTech models present gray areas that are likely going to have to be addressed at local or state levels as regulations haven?t been implemented yet. Federal investigators have been looking at the sector for much of the past five years. So while the traditional banking structures are threatened by these restrictions on what they can and can?t do with the capital, the new marketplace lenders have been able to do more with less. Payday Loans Independent lenders have been around forever. Tales around the shylock that will come and pay people a visit if you don?t pay their bookie are all over the culture. One lending organization that has been very controversial is the payday loan market. In essence a person that needs fast money can take out a short-term, high-interest loan. If they pay it back by the next paycheck, no harm, no foul, the lender takes its small fee and everyone is happy. The bad things start happening when they can?t pay the whole loan back on time. Once the loan is past due, it is basically renewed with interest added. Most of the people that will utilize this service need a couple hundred dollars quick and can?t wait until their next paycheck. If the borrower can?t pay, they are making […]

The traditional tape backup that many organizations still rely on them were once the gold standard of data backup and disaster recovery. Businesses would store data on magnetic tape reels and keep them stored on-site in the event of a disaster. The problem with this method is that it is both time-consuming, unreliable, and prone to user error–all traits that you certainly don?t want to deal with when your business?s future is on the line. The biggest issue with tape backup is that it isn?t automatic. Your employees would have to set a new tape every evening after hours to run the backup. This, of course, brings with it many other issues. Since employees are the ones doing it rather than an automated system, there is much more room for user error. All it takes is someone not setting the tape as needed to lose an entire day?s worth of progress. You don?t need us to tell you that this is an issue, especially if there are high-profile projects being worked on every day. Another big reason why tape backup is not the ideal way to secure your assets is because it is limited in its capacity for data storage. Due to how resource-intensive tape backups can be, they can generally only happen once at the end of the day, after all operations have ceased. This means that up to 24 hours of data could be lost in an instant. This might not seem like a big deal, but a lot can happen in one day. Furthermore, tape backups can be destroyed by a fire or flood–any situation that works to destroy your computing infrastructure. They need to be stored in a secure off-site location where they can be restored quickly in the event of a data loss incident. All of these issues are alleviated by working with a data backup and disaster recovery solution (BDR) from White Mountain IT Services. Thanks to cloud technology, we can augment your business? survivability with comprehensive and redundant data backup solutions designed to minimize downtime and data loss. Our network-attached BDR solution can take backups as often as every fifteen minutes so that you limit the amount of data you lose, while having solutions in place to ensure that no matter what your organization?s status, your up-to-date data is available for restoration quickly. To get started with our powerful data backup and disaster recovery service, call White Mountain IT Services?s IT professionals today at (603) 889-0800.

The Cybersmile Foundation was formed on June 17th, 2012, to help spread awareness of this problem and promote online inclusivity over toxic harassment and abuse. Unfortunately, their efforts are very much needed, as cyberbullying is still a pervasive problem. What is a Cyberbully? A cyberbully is pretty much what it sounds like: they are someone who torments others, causing them pain and angst, over a digital medium. Common media for a cyberbully to leverage include social media, online forums, and even texting and instant messaging. Since this form of harassment doesn?t require the bully and their target to be in the same place, there is a much greater timeframe of opportunity for this kind of bullying to take place. While many cyberbullies work alone, it isn?t uncommon for groups of people to engage in such activities cooperatively. Not only can this kind of bullying be very public, it can more insidiously be kept private, and many cyberbullies act anonymously to protect their own identities. Even worse, a total stranger may be the one to target someone as a victim of their attacks. What possibly makes cyberbullying so insidious, is the fact that the target may not even be aware that it is going on. If, for instance, nasty things are being said on a social media platform or profile that the target cannot access, the only way they will find out is if someone says something – which doesn?t always happen. Workplace Cyberbullying While it may be known best as something that kids and adolescents have to contend with, cyberbullying has been seen among all age groups. This has only become more true in an increasingly digital workplace, where tools like email, instant messaging, and social media are leveraged for their productivity benefits. Considering this increase, it comes as no surprise that the workplace is becoming prime hunting grounds for cyberbullies. A study that polled almost 3,000 people found that 96 percent – yes, 96 – had been on the receiving end of workplace bullying. Whether this cyberbullying takes the shape of gossip over instant messages between conspiring coworkers or a manager that sends abusive and unpleasant emails at intentionally inconvenient times, it creates a hostile work environment that erodes motivation and engagement and makes collaboration effectively impossible. What Can Be Done There are actions that both the recipient of cyberbullying and their employer can take to discourage this kind of unprofessional and hurtful behavior from occurring. First, if the recipient of this kind of abuse is aware of the situation, they need to keep a cooler head and speak up for themselves. Calmly, rationally, and politely, the recipient should inform the perpetrating coworker that the behavior is to stop. Taking the high road, as it is with most interpersonal confrontations, is the best option when harassment is involved. The receiving employee should also start collecting evidence. This will help them support their position if the time should come that they need to lodge a formal complaint. Keeping emails, social media posts, and other instances that they feel constitute abusive and hurtful behavior will give them what they need. Furthermore, they should also educate themselves on their rights as they pertain to their personal information. If some has been shared by the cyberbully, there could have been some laws broken. […]

First of all, if you work with a cloud provider, you?ll have to ask them specific questions about how compliance is handled. You should also make sure that any and all information you discuss with your cloud provider regarding compliance be put into a written agreement so that you can adequately document who is responsible for what. Here are some of the details that you will want to consider. The Cloud Can Be Interfered With Since data is being stored in an online environment, there will naturally be concerns regarding how it is being managed, maintained, stored, and transferred. Of course, this also means that any traffic going to and from the source of the data could be tampered with and cause problems. Data can be intercepted while it?s in transit, which is a considerable issue if you hope to remain compliant. Your goals should be to make sure that your data can?t be changed without your consent or knowledge. If you?d like to make sure that your organization is protected in the event of a cloud compliance mishap, start by thinking about the legal issues that could surface from not knowing who is hosting the data or how it?s maintained. It?s also critical that you understand who can see this data. The differences between the private and public cloud also make this a challenging prospect, as depending on the way it?s hosted, there could be further complications associated with it. For example, if someone else is hosting your data, are they the one responsible for its security? Ultimately, it all comes down to figuring out who is responsible for what–for compliance?s sake. What You Should Do The best way you can improve your organization?s cloud compliance is by taking the above ideas and applying them directly to how your business approached cloud-based data hosting. First, ask yourself just how much cloud computing your organization actually uses or needs. If certain data is particularly important, perhaps it?s better to simply host it in-house rather than rely on a third party to take care of it for you. The best way to achieve compliance is a proper blending of private and public cloud hosting, so knowing which data is most sensitive or important is of the utmost importance. Next, start thinking about who should be managing this data, as well as any agreements that you?ve made to ensure its safety. Is it an in-house department or an outsourced agency? Depending on whether it?s outsourced or not, you?ll need to make sure that you?re aware of whose responsibility it is to adhere to compliance guidelines. Furthermore, you should also plan for having data backups to protect assets in the event of the worst. To learn more about how you can ensure cloud compliance, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

To make sure that your business continuity plan is as effective as possible, you?ll want to be comprehensive. If you?re not, chances are that a disaster will still cause issues for you, whether it?s data loss or an inability to access important applications. A complete business continuity plan will consider the following information: Threat Matrix: What kind of threats will your business be targeted by? This shouldn?t be limited to just simple threats that can be prevented with little-to-no effort. You should consider all threats, from the smallest viruses to the most devastating vulnerabilities. Treat each and every one of these possible threats as major problems that need to be addressed in some way. Critical Processes: The next step is to identify what your workflows are and who is accomplishing them. What processes does your business absolutely need to keep going in a worst-case scenario? You should be able to both identify these and ensure that they can happen with minimal interruption. Command Chain: Who are your mission-critical personnel? Who is in charge in the event of a disaster? You should designate someone as the leader in these situations and make sure that everyone knows it. If you don?t do this, you run the risk of chaos taking over. Employee Safety and Evacuation: Employees are essential to the success of your business. If you don?t take their safety into consideration, you could be risking the future of your business. You should have an evacuation plan in place to keep them safe. Communication Plan and Contact Information: If you experience a disaster, everyone involved with your company will want to know. You should inform them of what?s happening and give them a timeframe for how long you suspect it to last. You should also have a plan in place to update them on major developments during this time. Backup Processes and Location: Do you have an off-site location where operations can continue uninterrupted? Is your data being backed up to an off-site location where it can be safe from external factors? In the event your office and internal data infrastructure is destroyed, you?ll want to have both of these to keep your organization going. Inventory and Infrastructure: Your business? infrastructure is full of moving parts. This includes hardware and software. You?ll need to make sure that any and all assets that your organization takes advantage of are accounted for. Having an inventory helps you assess a loss scenario when it comes time to order replacements or file insurance claims. End of Incident Criteria: You should have clearly defined terms that determine when your business is outside the realm of a disaster incident. You can start by creating a list of conditions that need to be fulfilled before declaring that your organization is no longer suffering from an incident. This keeps you from beginning the recovery process prematurely, potentially causing more damage in the long run. Post-Incident Debriefing: Once you?re in the clear, you should take some time to determine why the incident happened and how it could have been prevented. Consider ways that you can improve processes and reduce damage the next time something like this happens (and yes, there will always be a next time). You should put together a questionnaire for all of your contacts so that you can […]