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6 cybersecurity trends to stay on top of

Posted on October 16, 2023October 24, 2023 by Adriana Wong

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and digital, cybersecurity is essential – yet it is also becoming more complex.

As an experienced technology provider, we understand the challenges in determining where to prioritize security efforts within your business. With infrastructure, data, and cloud-based applications in the mix, there is a lot more to safeguard. We’re here to help: this Cybersecurity Month, we are spotlighting six crucial cybersecurity trends you need to stay informed about.

1. E-mail continues to be one of the most attacked avenues: these are the ways to increase your defense

According to Microsoft’s Digital Defense Report (2022), 35% of ransomware in 2022 involved the use of email. And according to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report, phishing attacks increased by 61% from 2021 to 2022.

It’s getting harder to tell the difference between real and malicious emails.

So, using safeguard like URL checking and disabling macros will help strengthen your security posture. Tackling more advanced email threats requires that you correlate email signals into broader incidents, visualize the attack, and understand how attackers are taking advantage of other parts of the environment to leverage legitimate resources.

We can help you keep your guard up as threat actors increase the quality of social engineering in their attacks, using AI and other tools to be more persuasive. Recommended products and solutions we offer to increase your defense against e-mail threats include Defender for Office 365, Cybersecurity Awareness trainings and Guardian 360 Data Defender.

2. Attacks targeting identity continue to grow in volume and variety

There were 921 password attacks per second in 2022, a 74% increase from 2021, says Microsoft’s report. Attackers are finding new ways to get past extra security measures like multi-factor authentication (MFA). Preventing identity attacks is more than just securing user accounts. You also need to secure cloud access and workload identities too. For instance, attackers frequently get access to third-party accounts and then use those credentials to infiltrate the cloud and steal data. Often, this is accomplished through workload identities, which can be overlooked in permissions auditing.

Let us help you ensure that you have complete visibility into your identity and access, to help you secure your business. Recommended products and solutions we offer to protect your business against identity attacks include Entra ID, Cyberscurity Awareness trainings, and Guardian 360 Data Defender.

3. Hybrid environments and shadow IT have increased endpoint blind spots

On average, 3500 devices are connected in an enterprise, but not protected by an endpoint detection and response agent. The increasing quantity of devices in today’s hybrid environments has made securing endpoints more challenging. Unmanaged servers and BYOD personal devices contribute to the shadow IT landscape—and are particularly appealing to threat actors. This challenge is on the rise, and we are ready to help you improve endpoint visibility and security hygiene. Contact us for a tailored solution for your business.

4. IoT devices are rapidly increasing, and so are IoT threats

IoT devices are often overlooked as an endpoint attack avenue. According to ‘The State of IoT/OT Cybersecurity in the Enterprise’ by Ponemon Institute, 60% of security employees say IoT and operational technology (OT) security is one of the least secured aspects of their infrastructure. While organizations are focusing on strengthening their routers and networks to make them harder to breach, IoT devices are becoming a threat target of choice. For instance, an IoT device can exploit vulnerabilities to turn IoT devices into proxies—using an exposed device as a foothold onto the network. Frequently, organizations often have no visibility into IoT devices, and can even contain dangerous vulnerabilities, such as outdated, unsupported software. Although some countries are introducing new regulations for IoT security, it’s crucial to gain a better understanding of all potential points of attack, and this includes paying attention to IoT devices. Contact us for a tailored solution for your business.

5. Protecting the cloud is critical, but complex

Organizations are rapidly shifting their infrastructure, application development, workloads, and data to the cloud. This significant change has created more opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit, often gaining access through permission security gaps. Among the various cloud attack areas, cloud app development and cloud storage are particularly vulnerable.

To enhance security for app development, we suggest adopting a “Shift-left” approach, which means focusing on security right from the beginning of the app development process.

We’re here to assist you in integrating your cloud and multi-cloud assets with your security tools. Products and solutions we offer to protect your business against identity attacks include Defender for Cloud, Azure Sentinel, and other tailor-made services. Contact us for a tailored solution for your business.

6. Securing the external attack surface is challenge on an internet-wide scale

Today, an organization’s external attack surface spans multiple clouds, complex digital supply chains and massive third-party networks. It encompasses more than just the organization’s own assets, and includes suppliers, partners, unmanaged personal employee devices, and newly acquired entities. Fact is, the internet is now part of the network, and despite its vast size, security teams must defend their organization’s presence throughout the internet with the same rigor as they do everything behind their firewalls.

Are you aware of your external connections and exposure? Let us help you gain more visibility into your external attack surface and identify vulnerabilities throughout the entirety of your environment and extended ecosystem. It encompasses more than just the organization’s own assets, and includes suppliers, partners, unmanaged personal employee devices, and newly acquired entities.

Learn more about what we can do to help secure your business. Connect with an expert here!

Our services and solutions help to keep your business protected. As a Microsoft partner, we’re here to help you take advantage of the Microsoft Security solutions that give your business the security strategies you need to keep up with evolving threats. We have the expertise to assess, pilot, and deploy the right Microsoft security solutions for your business, along with a variety of managed services to help streamline your security operations.

Microsoft 365 Copilot release date for enterprise customers has just been announced

Posted on September 21, 2023September 21, 2023 by Adriana Wong

Start the countdown! Microsoft 365 Copilot will be generally available for enterprise customers on November 1st, 2023! Find out how you can be one of the first to experience Microsoft 365 Copilot – get in contact with CSP Product Manager Dupal Persaud.

Get ready for your Copilot’s assistance when work becomes overwhelming. Whether you are using any of your favorite Office apps, Word, PowerPoint, Excel or Outlook, Copilot stands ready to help you navigate any task. In addition to the capabilities we’ve previously mentioned, Microsoft has now introduced Microsoft 365 Chat (previously called Business Chat). This powerful tool seamlessly consolidates your work data, rapidly connecting the dots across all your content, enabling you to kickstart any task with maximum efficiency.

See the Microsoft 365 Chat video below:

Your everyday AI companion
Microsoft 365 Copilot is under the Microsoft Copilot umbrella; a simple, seamless experience ‘that will uniquely incorporate the context and intelligence of the web, your work data and what you are doing in the moment on your PC to provide better assistance – with your privacy and security at the forefront’, says Microsoft. In addition to its integration with Microsoft 365, Copilot will also be accessible within Windows 11, as well as in the Edge browser and Bing search engine. Copilot will begin to roll out in its early form as part of a free update to Windows 11, starting September 26th. According to Microsoft, the new Windows 11 update will deliver of 150 new features. See the video below for a preview:

Read more about Microsoft’s latest announcements here. You can also read our previous blog post about Copilot, including more details about data and privacy, here.

Source: Microsoft

Eliminate work stress with an email signature management tool

Posted on September 4, 2023September 4, 2023 by Adriana Wong

Manually creating, updating, and maintaining email signatures for every employee within your organization can generate stress for those tasked with the responsibility. Additionally, the potential for errors significantly increases when manually overseeing each and every email signature within the organization. By streamlining and automating signatures, you ensure a consistent sign-off for all your company e-mails. Some platforms, such as Exclaimer, integrate with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Exchange.

E-mail signatures are no longer IT’s job, and why should they be?
There are so many ways to boost your brand with email signatures, so let the creatives manage it. At Inova Solutions, the Marketing team manages all company signatures with Exclaimer, keeping them up to date with our latest campaigns and news. Furthermore, we can create different groups for e-mail signatures, separate internal email signatures from external, add legal and compliance texts and use the built in analytics tool to see performance.

We’ve long ago given up manually managing signatures, as this is time-consuming and complicated to manage, and have been using Exclaimer as our email signature management tool for years. Here’s a couple of reasons why the Inova Solutions team is enthusiastic about this platform:

It helps us boost our marketing campaigns and news
Our email signatures have become another marketing channel we can use, because people spend lots of time viewing and responding to emails. Better yet, there’s no competition: when someone reads our email, they’re only seeing our content. That’s why we’ve seen great results from using banners and other marketing elements to boost our marketing campaigns with our email signatures. We also like to add important news and other highlights, such as our Microsoft Curaçao Partner of the Year win.
Adding consistency to our branding
Maintaining a consistent image in our marketing communication efforts is important. All employees use standardized signatures which naturally includes their contact information, but also our logo and other branding elements we use to support our marketing efforts.
Being able to create multiple e-mail templates
With Exclaimer, we are able to create multiple signature templates for internal or external e-mails and for senders in our Ecuador, Puerto Rico or Caribbean team. We can also narrow the settings down to exclude individual senders and implement advanced rules for each template.
Add the right legal and compliance messaging
Our compliance and legal messaging is included in our signatures, eliminating the compliance and legal risks of incorrect or missing e-mail disclaimers.
Limited technical knowledge needed
It’s easy to use Exclaimer’s drag-and-drop editor for designing our latest e-mail signature. We usually make changes to our signatures within minutes and are able to test the changes right within the tool.
Insights to help us make data-driven decisions
The analytics dashboard gives us insight into usage and engagement so we can track the effectives of our campaigns. We can see how many emails have been sent with a specific template, and the corresponding engagement rate.

How does Exclaimer connect with my Microsoft 365 or Exchange environment?
Here’s where our expertise comes in. We can help you set up your Exclaimer integration with Microsoft 365 or Exchange, enabling auto-updating so your sender details are always up to date. Of course, we have the inhouse experience to guide you in getting the best use of your Exclaimer subscription. Exclaimer’s available subscriptions are the Starter, Standard and Pro plan, depending on your business’ needs. Contact us to discuss the right plan for you.

Say goodbye to managing your email signatures manually! Let us help you integrate Exclaimer with your Microsoft 356 of Exchange environment. Contact us for a discovery call today!

These are the next steps in Microsoft’s legacy CSP commerce phase-out

Posted on August 23, 2023December 11, 2023 by Adriana Wong

As we’ve announced last year, Microsoft is bidding farewell to the CSP legacy platform and moving on to a New Commerce Experience.

A proactive approach with support from your account manager at Inova Solutions ensures smoother and simpler subscription management.

Take a look at the timeline:

Starting January 2024, public sector (academic, government community cloud, not-for-profit/charity) offers will be available in new commerce for new and renewing subscriptions.
From January 2024, Microsoft will begin automatic migration of all renewing commercial customers to the New Commerce Experience (NCE). Automatic migration for the public sector is set to start in July 2024. The NCE licensing model is built on an annual or multi-year commitment, aligned with other Microsoft agreements (Enterprise Agreement, Open Value Agreement). Automatic migration for the public sector is set to start in July 2024.

What’s changing, and what’s not?

All legacy subscriptions that are transitioned to the new commerce platform will be adjusted to align with the current annual term, and the quantity of seats will remain consistent with the previous CSP arrangement.
The migration, led by Microsoft, will occur on the date of subscription renewal, starting with subscriptions renewing in January 2024 and continuing throughout the entirety of the 2024 calendar year.
For all new or renewed subscriptions, you will be invoiced for the entire/remaining subscription term. Invoices for NCE products will not be integrated into your prepaid balance.
Once the migration is complete, you have a grace period of 168 hours to make changes to the subscription term or quantity, or if necessary, cancel the subscription.
After this 168–hour period, you will no longer have the option to cancel, reduce, or modify the subscription term. Any changes made during these initial 168 hours will result in pro-rated charges based on the subscription usage.

What are your action steps?

Update your accounting/finance department regarding the invoicing changes from a prepaid balance method and a monthly invoice to a subscription term method. A subscription term can be monthly, yearly, or triennial.
The benefits of proactively migrating your subscriptions include the ability to synchronize subscription end dates with the invoicing date, leading to a streamlined subscription management process.

Aspect	Legacy License Based	New Commerce Experience
Subscription term	Single annual commitment term	Flexible commitment terms: monthly, annual, triennial
Pricing	Monthly subscription, up to 20% higher	Competitive monthly subscription
Invoicing	Prepaid, replenished based on consumption	Invoiced for each subscription term
Subscription alignment	Subscriptions start and end on various days	Capability for subscription alignment with the same end/renewal date
Migration to NCE	Customers can initiate migration from legacy offers immediately

We are here to help! Book a transition meeting with our team:

We’re here to assist you through this transition. Have questions? Book a call with your dedicated account manager. Stay tuned for a smoother subscription journey ahead!

Why we’re excited about Microsoft 365 Copilot, and you should be too!

Posted on August 17, 2023September 11, 2023 by Adriana Wong

Sometimes, work gets to be too much, and you might need a helping hand – or Copilot. Microsoft 365 Copilot is integrated into your favorite Office apps, to help you focus on the most important work, and less on repetitive tasks.

Have you ever looked at a blank page – whether it was an e-mail, letter, or a presentation – and not known where to start? Have you ever gone through a day, or even a week feeling like you haven’t had the chance to do your most important work, because you were too preoccupied with meetings or repetitive tasks?

This is where Copilot comes in handy because it will work together with you so you:

Never have to start from scratch
Can optimize your time
Be better at the job you’re great at

CSP Product Manager Dupal Persaud shares his excitement about this new product:

It’s time to embark on a journey towards new heights of success and accomplishment. Microsoft 365 Copilot is a new AI-powered feature that helps you work smarter. This remarkable tool is set to revolutionize our approach, propelling us to unprecedented levels of productivity and innovation, securely designed to elevate your work efficiency.

Just as we mentioned earlier, one major highlight of Microsoft 365 Copilot is that it is integrated into our favorite Microsoft 365 apps, formerly known as the Office suite. Look and see for yourself how smoothly Copilot works together with Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and more!

You can embrace your writing brilliance thanks to Copilot in Word:

Draft a letter from a rough outline
Draft a proposal with data from a document or a spreadsheet
Edit existing text to make it clearer, or more concise, or formal

Copilot in PowerPoint can help you unlock the master presenter in you:

Transform existing text, such as a Word document, into a presentation
Add animations to your presentation
Shorten presentations into concise summaries
Adjust slide layouts

Uncover insightful analytics with Copilot in Excel:

Analyze and explore data
Identify key trends in data
Create insightful visuals and projections

Easily navigate your overflowing e-mail inbox with Copilot in Outlook:

Summarize long e-mail threads to understand the most important parts
Draft e-mail messages and responses to communicate better, faster, and easier
Adjust the tone and length of your e-mails

You can become the collaboration champion you’re meant to be with Copilot in Teams:

Create a new meeting agenda based on chat history
Create a meeting recap with key discussion points
Schedule follow-ups with the right persons
Create an action list based on decisions made

So, there you have it – a quick rundown of our excitement about Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Now let’s dive into the important stuff: what about data and privacy?

You get to enjoy all the AI capabilities of Copilot, without compromising your data. Microsoft 365 Copilot fits right in with Microsoft’s approach to enterprise-grade security, privacy, identity, compliance, and responsible AI. Your existing Microsoft 365 security, privacy, identity, and compliance protocols seamlessly roll over into Copilot. So, your data stays yours, as it’s isolated and protected within your Microsoft 365 tenant. Copilot also respects permission policies (group and individual) at the tenant level.

According to Microsoft, Copilot will be available for commercial customers for USD 30 per user per month for Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium customers when broadly available. As for exactly when – Microsoft has not released any details yet.

Stay connected with us for the latest updates about Copilot: follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.

Source: Microsoft
Image source: Microsoft

10 SharePoint Hacks to Increase Productivity and Collaboration

Posted on August 8, 2023August 9, 2023 by Adriana Wong

Microsoft’s SharePoint is an integral part any team’s effort to increase productivity and collaboration, and there’s a wealth of hidden capabilities that are waiting to be leveraged. As part of the Microsoft ecosystem, SharePoint helps you securely store, organize, access and share your documents — but there may be hidden features that your team may not be taking advantage of yet. In the past, we shared 10 insightful SharePoint hacks to increase productivity and collaboration. Today, we’re taking it a step further by providing valuable tips to empower you in securely leveraging the full potential of SharePoint!

1. Have clear processes in place. Make templates for SharePoint and set up business processes regarding when data is added to SharePoint.

2. Create teams to organize your SharePoint data and documents. Teams make it easy to distribute information only to those who need it, letting them focus specifically on the documents that they’re working on.

3. Organize your corporate data in SharePoint. SharePoint sites should serve as a corporate intranet and a focus of a lot of your company’s knowledge. Build as much core documentation as possible to acclimate your (new) employees.

4. Set up SharePoint alerts. Alerts on SharePoint will automatically notify you when specific documents are changed, making it easier for you to track the information that you need. Alerts can also be used on high-priority documents to make sure changes are validated.

5. Leverage a shared calendar in SharePoint. A shared SharePoint calendar system is one of the most in-demand features for SharePoint, as it makes it easier for everyone within a Microsoft team to work easily together.

6. Keep a consistent look and feel. Templates aren’t just there to customize a project. Consistency matters when it comes to productivity and efficiency. As new pages and sites are added to SharePoint, they should be audited to make sure that they follow the company’s style guide. Any deviation makes it harder to find information.

7. Always ensure mobile-friendliness. Some of the modifications you can make to SharePoint can make it more difficult to use on mobile devices. Always test on mobile devices first and avoid introducing any integration or changes that could make it more difficult for mobile users: people are working on-the-go more often than ever.

8. Leverage ambassadors to promote SharePoint use. Make sure that certain critical users are able to go to seminars and are updated on productivity and collaboration features within SharePoint. These ambassadors can then be used to train other users on the use of these new features and functionality, thereby improving collaboration in an on-going, continuous way.

9. Integrate with other Microsoft tools. Microsoft Teams, Viva Engage, and other Microsoft ecosystem technology can integrate well with SharePoint, making it a central hub for all of the user data. While SharePoint provides superb collaboration and document management features, Viva Engage and Microsoft Teams make it easier to communicate one-on-one and in groups: using them together gets the best of both worlds.

10. Start the day with SharePoint by adding daily content. If you add daily updates to the front page of SharePoint, users will be more likely to log in and start their day on the intranet. This ensures that users will always get the updates and announcements that they need right away, while also emphasizing the importance of SharePoint to their work. Often, using SharePoint for productivity relates directly to making sure employees are using the platform.

Extra tips to help you optimize your SharePoint use

• Manage document or folder access. You can manage access to your documents and folders on SharePoint, by right-clicking on a document or folder and clicking on ‘Manage access’. Finally, you can also remove access to a file you have previously granted access to via a shared link.

• Protect your data by disabling edits and downloads. When sharing a file, you might not want those you share it with to be able to edit or download the document. This is especially helpful if you are working with sensitive documents that you don’t want to end up on someone’s personal computer, or if you don’t want any unwanted edits in your documents. You can easily select if someone can edit or download your file prior to sharing.

• Promote SharePoint adoption. Educating your team on the use of SharePoint not only optimizes the productivity and collaboration that is possible with SharePoint but can also promote the use of SharePoint’s security features.

If you’re interested in document management with Microsoft SharePoint or would like to optimize your use of Microsoft 365, do not hesitate to contact us. As a dedicated Microsoft Solutions partner, a key part of our approach is leading by example – we actively employ the solutinos we offer. This practice grants us unparralleled insights into our products, empowering us to be advocates and share our expertise.

Securely store, organize, access and share your business documents. Connect with us to learn more about Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. You can also book a discovery call with one of our experts here.

Inova leverages in-house Microsoft licensing tools to serve customers more efficiently

Willemstad, Curaçao — Inova Solutions’ Licensing Team recently held their highly anticipated Licensing Week, bringing together team members from Curacao, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. There was one achievement to celebrate: Lydianne Navarro’s Partner Commercial Executive (P-CE) accreditation. This accreditation marks a milestone the entire Licensing Team at Inova Solutions now has their P-CE accreditation, enabling them to serve customers more efficiently and comprehensively in licensing matters.

According to Managing Director Hans Kruithof, this accomplishment further solidifies the Cloud and licensing solution provider as a trusted Microsoft partner in the Caribbean: “With Lydianne’s P-CE accreditation, all the licensing specialist at Inova Solutions also hold a P-CE status. This achievement reflects our commitment to local presence and reinforces our reputation in the region.”

The licensing team, consisting of Lydianne Navarro, Gregory Nieuw and Narda McMaster, plays a vital role within Inova Solutions, specializing in the intricate field of software licensing. According to Gregory, who is based in Curacao, their responsibilities range from studying and understanding software product licensing to creating quotes and placing orders. As P-CEs, all team members are now equipped with similar tools and resources as Microsoft’s in-house Commercial Executives. “This empowerment enables us to provide faster and better service to customers, without relying on external assistance for licensing matters, making the entire process more efficient”, says Nieuw.

Sharing knowledge and experience

Licensing Week served as a platform for knowledge sharing and updating the team on the latest developments in the licensing world. Additionally, the training sessions offered a platform for sharing experiences and knowledge. The team also underwent Software Asset Management (SAM) training, enabling them to assist customers in optimizing licensing and IT investments while ensuring compliance with Microsoft’s license requirements.

Moreover, the Licensing Week provided a valuable opportunity for team members to compare the diverse needs of businesses across different locations where Inova Solutions operates. The gathering was especially significant as Narda and Gregory met Lydianne in person for the first time, having previously collaborated with her remotely.

Lydianne, who received her P-CE license during the event, described the Licensing Week as a wonderful experience. She highlights the professional growth she gained in terms of providing enhanced service to her customers and supporting her team.

A challenging week

Narda reflects on the experience, stating, “I would call this licensing week successful. Even though there was a blackout, we kept going, we used our mobile hotspots and we just kept going. This experience brought us closer together as a team and will surely enhance our collaboration going forward.”

Inova Solutions’ Licensing team’s successful Licensing Week exemplifies their professionalism, dedication, and ability to thrive in challenging situations. Armed with newfound knowledge and strengthened bonds, they are well-positioned to excel moving, delivering exemplary support to Inova Solutions’ customers.

If you have any questions regarding the licenses your business requires, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Licensing Experts today! Click here to fill in a contact form. or book a discovery call with us!

About Inova Solutions

Inova Solutions is the Microsoft trusted provider of Cloud Solutions in the Caribbean and Ecuador. We are a Microsoft Solutions Partner with extensive knowledge of software licensing. Our mission is: “Empowering organizations of all sizes to create business advantages by adopting digital transformation”.
Inova Solutions’ unique formula is to assist organizations so they can lead the way through the smart use of technology, be able to continue to serve their customers and employees in the best way possible and ensure business continuity.