Author Archives: Megan Carnes

Sometimes it can be easy to take cybersecurity for granted, especially when you consider that built-in security features are more powerful than they have ever been. Unfortunately, if you think that cybersecurity is something that ends with the built-in security of your desktops and laptops, then you’re in for a rude awakening.

Most Devices Are Connected These Days

Besides older industrial machinery and equipment, just about all devices connected to your network communicate with each other in some way, thereby making them a cybersecurity risk. Individual workstations and desktops might be protected, but you also need to keep them updated, along with all of the other endpoints that might be connected to your network.

In fact, you might be surprised by some of the other devices that could potentially be threats to your network.

Network Printers Can Be Dangerous

Does the name Stackoverflowin ring a bell? Back in 2017, this hacker hijacked 150,000 printers all over the world from big brands like Canon, Brother, Epson, HP, and Samsung. They were then able to send documents to these printers to print out the messages. The attack might be harmless, but it showcases just how serious issues of cybersecurity with printers can be, as they can be controlled and manipulated in ways you might not expect.

In essence, the above attack could be categorized as a botnet, or a large group of infected devices from all over the Internet using their collective power to launch an attack against a network. This segues nicely into our next topic of discussion, the DDoS attack.

Internet of Things and Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS)

Just last year, the world saw the most massive DDoS attack yet. A DDoS attack is when countless devices—we’re talking hundreds, thousands, or even millions of infected devices—band together to launch all of their power against a website or service. It’s like when the grocery store has too much traffic and people get stuck waiting around in the aisles, or when a highway experiences traffic congestion.

Anyway, back to the attack. It went after its target with 17.2 million requests per second, three times larger than the largest DDoS attack which preceded it. With a varied list of compromised devices, including smart appliances and various Internet of Things devices such as smart light bulbs, thermostats, washing machines, and others that can connect to a smartphone, anyone with connected devices has reason to fear these attacks. And, of course, if a hacker can take over your washing machine, you bet they’re not going to be doing your chores for you. They’ll likely use it to gain deeper access to your network and create all kinds of problems for you.

Networking Equipment Like Routers, Switches, and Other Hardware

Any device which sends or receives network traffic throughout your office is going to be vulnerable, as it’s likely connected to your workstations, which your employees use on a day-to-day basis. Even in the home environment, you can expect there to be threats aplenty, as just last month a new type of malware was discovered making its home on consumer and small-business grade network routers. This particular threat allowed hackers to influence connected devices using the Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems.

The malware, an incredibly complicated and sophisticated threat called ZuoRAT, is believed to have been created by a major organization or perhaps even a nation-state. The threat is quite difficult to identify and detect, all while granting a considerable amount of control to any potential attacker, making it a dangerous combination of stealthy and powerful. It can also be used to roll out additional malware, bypassing security measures along the way.

Yes, Even the Bluetooth Earbuds

Bluetooth headphones might seem small and of little consequence, but even these devices can be vulnerable to threats. Take, for example, the vulnerability which was discovered within the microcontrollers of a handful of earbuds, allowing hackers to gain control over the device for the purposes of a botnet. The threat has only been used by researchers, but security experts were able to break into their own Bluetooth earbuds and disable the Bluetooth and wireless communications on the connected device. Imagine the repercussions this could have in the realm of a physical security system, where security cameras could be broken into and turned off.

Pretty scary stuff, although we would like to mention that we don’t bring this up to scare you—merely to open your eyes to the possibilities out there for hackers, which are seemingly infinite in scope.

It’s Never a Bad Time to Consider Your Cybersecurity Strategy

We know it can be a little unnerving to think about the many threats out there, but you don’t have to do it alone. Thrive is here to help you navigate the cybersecurity landscape. To learn more, contact Thrive.

Welcome back to another installment of our “Thrive Spotlight” blog series.

Our featured Thrive Employee is Courtney Gallant, Purchasing Manager at Thrive.

As Purchasing Manager, Courtney oversees the acquisition of all hardware, software and project equipment for Thrive’s customers. She also maintains a close relationship with Thrive’s suppliers that help balance costs and stock availability to meet project deadlines. In addition, Courtney works with the finance team to develop invoices and resolve any discrepancies.

Originally from Lakeville, MA, Courtney now lives in Attleboro, MA with her fiancé where you can often find her on the lake with her two dogs or on the hiking trails. She is a sports enthusiast and, depending on the season, enjoys wakeboarding, snowboarding and kiteboarding.

Hi Courtney! Can you tell us about your background and how you came to Thrive?

I previously worked at BJ Headquarters in the merchandising procurement department. In that role, I became inspired to learn more about technology in addition to advancing my procurement skills. I also have experience in the promotional products industry and spent time working at a calendar supply company. I have been with Thrive for almost four years.

Where did you go to school or get training?

I graduated from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.

What do you most enjoy about working for Thrive?

My team! I feel very fortunate to have a steady team that works closely together and communicates every day. Working at Thrive has given me a better understanding of how to accomplish tasks as a team while adjusting to new processes that help make our work more efficient.

Are you interested in learning more about Thrive? Click here!

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news, and continue checking our blog for more in our “Thrive Employee Spotlight” series. Until next time…

How does your company manage its technology? Does it struggle with the idea of managing multiple workstations, server units, networking components, mobile devices, and more? If so, then read on—we have some tips to help you better manage the many different technological parts of your organization.

Keep in mind that this is general advice that can be applied to just about any company. If you want specific advice, we are happy to have a discussion with you through a consultation!

Less Is More

The more complex an IT infrastructure gets, the more difficult it gets to manage. Therefore, to keep your infrastructure as easy to manage as possible, we recommend keeping things simple, or as simple as is appropriate for your business practices. The reason for this is that IT infrastructures with large amounts of varied software and hardware can be difficult to keep centralized and monitored without a dedicated technician to keep tabs on it.

Proactive is Better

If we asked you whether it is better to deal with problems that have derailed your productivity or to prevent them entirely and dodge that bullet, what would you say? Proactive maintenance is one of the most important parts of running any IT infrastructure. If problems persist and grow to be so bad that they cause downtime, then you are leaving money on the table and putting your business at risk. It’s better to just keep the issues from growing to become this bad in the first place.

Outsource When Necessary

We know that not all companies have access to the same talented group of IT technicians, and this lack of talent can often lead to businesses foregoing IT maintenance altogether or relying on existing resources that are not adequately trained or prepared to handle this responsibility. In situations like this, you can rely on outsourcing to an appropriate third party. Even if you have an in-house IT department, outsourcing can be a valuable investment to save your business

If you want to take the guesswork out of IT management, Thrive can help with that, too. Our trained technicians can provide all of the support you need to ensure maximum productivity and efficiency with your network and IT resources. To learn more, contact Thrive

Edge Technology Group will help introduce Thrive’s award-winning Cyber, Cloud & Automation Platform into Asia while amplifying their existing North American & UK Operations

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – June 30, 2022 – Thrive, a premier provider of Cybersecurity and Digital Transformation Managed Services, announced today that it has acquired Connecticut-based Edge Technology Group, a leading global technology advisory and fully-managed IT service provider for alternative investment managers. The acquisition of Edge Technology Group adds new global offices and data centers across the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, strengthening Thrive’s international presence for all customers. Edge clients, including hedge funds, private equity firms, family offices, and asset managers across the world, will now benefit from Thrive’s next-generation managed cybersecurity, collaboration, and cloud services.

Founded in 2007, Edge is a global technology advisory and fully managed Financial Services IT service provider that provides advisory services and cloud computing solutions to alternative investment managers. Edge serves more than 300 hedge fund, asset managers, private equity, REIT, and wealth management clientele, providing public cloud configurations that are designed to address the distinct business needs of this disparate client base. Edge Technology Group has 265 employees that include a team of client-centered IT strategists and engineers.

“Edge Technology Group is the leading Financial Industry MSP in the world,” said Rob Stephenson, Thrive’s CEO. “Their talented engineering and account management teams will now have access to the Thrive Automation Platform and our 24x7x365 comprehensive suite of Cybersecurity SOC services to enhance the Edge client experience.”

“As a founder-owned managed services provider, we are fully immersed in advancing clients’ alternative investment practices via our IT advisory services and cloud computing solutions,” said Jim Nekos, CEO, Edge Technology Group. “Edge is thrilled to join the Thrive family as their client-first commitment is perfectly aligned with ours and their advanced cybersecurity, automation, collaboration and managed services platform will expedite our customers’ Digital Transformation journey.”

Through this acquisition, Thrive will now have over 1,000 employees serving clients around the world, solidifying their position as the leading technology outsourcing provider for the Financial Industry. Edge Technology Group marks the fourth acquisition by Thrive in 2022 and cements Thrive’s global position as a leading technology provider delivering end-to-end managed services and unmatched expertise to drive secure digital transformation.

Canaccord Genuity served as the exclusive financial advisor to Edge. Dechert LLP served as legal counsel to Court Square Capital. Alliance Bernstein, Morgan Stanley, NXT, Northwestern Mutual and Churchill provided financing for the transaction.

For more information on Thrive, visit thrivenextgen.com.

About Thrive

Thrive is a leading provider of NextGen managed services designed to drive business outcomes through application enablement and optimization. The company’s Thrive5 Methodology utilizes a unique combination of its Application Performance Platform and strategic services to ensure each business application takes advantage of technology that enables peak performance, scale, and the highest level of security.

For more information, thrivenextgen.com.

Thrive: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram

About Edge Technology Group

Edge Technology Group is a sector-focused consultancy, exclusively representing alternative investment managers globally. Edge offers fully managed IT services and complete cloud solutions. The company delivers immediate, flexible and proprietary solutions that satisfy the needs of hedge funds, private equity firms, family offices and asset managers worldwide. Edge has 8 locations across Asia Pacific, Europe and the US, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, London, New York, San Francisco, Austin and Greenwich, CT.

About Court Square

Court Square is a middle market private equity firm with one of the most experienced investment teams in the industry. Since 1979, the team has completed over 235 investments, including several landmark transactions, and has developed numerous businesses into leaders in their respective markets. Court Square invests in companies that have compelling growth potential within the business services, general industrial, healthcare, and technology and telecommunications sectors. The firm has $7.0 billion of assets under management and is based in New York, N.Y. For more information on Court Square, please visit www.courtsquare.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Patrick Reilly

Zer0 to 5ive, for Thrive

patrick@0to5.com

732-687-4683

It’s fair to say that, across the board, times have been particularly tough as of late for businesses. On top of businesses having to fight through the socioeconomic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain issues, they also must juggle more data than ever.

In short, businesses need reliable and cost-effective ways to manage their critical technologies.

Managed Services Can Provide Modern Businesses with a Reprieve

Pardon me for asking about your financial situation, but how are you currently paying for your IT services? Is your current strategy sustainable over time? If yours is one of the many businesses who answer the first question with “on a case-by-case basis,” the answer to the second is almost certainly a resounding “no.”

The issue with pay-as-you-go IT services is that there’s no motivation for the provider to solve issues in the long term.

Think about it—when a company’s bottom line relies on your IT having issues every now and again, it goes against their best interests to prevent them. After all, if you don’t need them on a regular basis, their business model collapses.

Managed services, on the other hand, are designed to take the opposite tack. Rather than charging on a per-case basis for each issue you encounter, the all-inclusive nature of managed services ensures that your business is covered by a comprehensive agreement. So long as it falls under this agreement—and most things do—we’ll take care of it on your behalf.

This Predictability is Something that Today’s Businesses Need

As we’ve established, today’s times are uncertain—for many of us, in a way that is unprecedented in our memories. With this uncertainty, business can become far more challenging to maintain.

However, the predictability that our managed services can provide to what is commonly the most volatile part of a business’ budget makes it far easier to keep your business in the black. By eliminating the potential of a lot of the issues that would otherwise incur severe costs, managed services put your business in the position to succeed.

Contact Thrive today to learn more about our managed services, and what it takes to implement them.

As the leading CJIS Cloud, Datacenter & Managed Services Provider in Florida, DSM will provide Thrive with a State, Local & Education (SLED) platform from which to expand nationally

FOXBOROUGH, MASS. – June 24, 2022 – Thrive, a premier provider of NextGen Managed Services, announces today that it has acquired DSM, a Florida-based provider of managed IT services to State, Local, and Education (SLED) government agencies. The acquisition will enable DSM’s existing government and corporate clients to benefit from Thrive’s next-generation managed cybersecurity, global Cloud footprint, and Microsoft collaboration services while strengthening Thrive’s offering to SLED agencies across the US.

Founded in 1986, DSM has been helping clients achieve their IT goals by providing innovative solutions for data protection, disaster recovery, and managed cloud services bolstered by their CJIS compliant data centers. Focusing on data assurance, DSM offers clients the ability to survive and recover quickly from a data breach or ransomware attack, ensuring business continuity. DSM’s expert team of highly qualified professionals develop flexible and cost-effective solutions that address the challenges of customers that serve commercial, government, and CJIS-bound agencies.

“DSM is a leader in the SLED space with significant traction in the state of Florida. With this partnership, they’ll be able to augment their Cloud-based service offerings via Thrive’s SOC and comprehensive suite of cybersecurity services,” said Rob Stephenson, Thrive’s CEO. “DSM’s talented engineers and experienced management team will help to greatly enhance our rapidly growing Florida presence, as well as position the SLED vertical to go national under their leadership.”

“For over three decades, DSM’s primary objective for our clients has been to optimize their digital transformation and their journey to the Cloud,” said David Robinson, CEO and Founder of DSM. “We are delighted to be the newest members of the Thrive family as their dedication to providing a personalized IT path towards customer satisfaction complements our commitment to total IT peace of mind for our clients.”

Robinson and Greg Madden, DSM’s COO, will assume senior leadership roles and helm the newly established Thrive SLED group as a special unit focusing on existing government business in Florida, Alabama, and Massachusetts. In addition, Robinson and Madden will assist in Thrive’s expansion of state and local contracts up and down the East Coast.

DSM is now the third acquisition by Thrive in Florida in the last six months and builds upon its established presence in the Southeast region. Thrive is a security-first MSP that delivers comprehensive managed services and unmatched expertise to drive secure digital transformation for small to mid-sized enterprises across multiple industries. For more information on Thrive, visit thrivenextgen.com.

About Thrive

Thrive is a leading provider of NextGen managed services designed to drive business outcomes through application enablement and optimization. The company’s Thrive5 Methodology utilizes a unique combination of its Application Performance Platform and strategic services to ensure each business application takes advantage of technology that enables peak performance, scale, and the highest level of security. For more information, thrivenextgen.com.

Thrive: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram

About DSM

DSM redefines our client’s business outcomes that they consider possible from their IT infrastructure ensuring that their data is protected and available when and where they need it, saving time and money. As our clients embark on their journey to trusted data availability, DSM guides them, allowing them to focus on their core business, rather than the technology that runs it.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Patrick Reilly

Zer0 to 5ive, for Thrive

732-687-4683 | patrick@0to5.com

Businesses are rarely successful without the ones steering the ship having the ability to make great decisions. Whether it’s managing your workforce, supporting your customers, or procuring the right equipment to best facilitate productivity, good decision making will be at the heart of any organization’s success. Let’s examine how you can make better decisions as they pertain to your technology solutions.

The most important part of procuring any new technology solution is how it will impact your workflow. With so many technology solutions out there, you need to implement those that make sense for your business. To ensure this happens, consider the following four suggestions.

Consider Alternative Costs

Implementing a new solution is wonderful, but only if your staff know how to use it. If you try to implement a solution to enhance productivity, you’ll need to also consider the return on investment in terms of how much time you’ll have to spend getting your team on board with it, along with the time spent training and testing your staff on its use. It might not seem like an immediately apparent cost, but we assure you it is a very real one.

Involve the Right People In the Discussion

When discussing new technology implementations, it’s important to get the perspectives of the people who will be using it. This might mean asking your staff, particularly experienced employees, or other stakeholders and management. With these valuable perspectives on your side, you’ll be able to make the most educated decisions possible about any new technology implementation project.

Choose Your Partners Carefully

When it comes time to add new solutions to your infrastructure and processes, you’ll want to work with businesses that have your company’s best interests at heart. In other words, the vendors you work with should be invested in your company’s success rather than just looking for their next big sale.

Remember to Set Achievable Goals

Without realistic and achievable goals, any new technology implementation will be doomed to failure. Big changes might be a big deal for your business, but only if they have direction. Otherwise, you could wind up being mired in the processes that drag your business down and prevent it from making any forward progress. With clear objectives and goals, you’ll be able to optimize your chances for success.

When it comes to implementing new technology, it’s best to leave this important task to professional technicians with years of experience and expertise. Thrive can consult your organization on the best path forward. Contact Thrive to learn more about what we can do for your company.

Phishing attacks are serious business, so it is important that your team members know what they are, for one, and know how to spot them. To facilitate this, let’s review the signs of a phishing attack—or ideally, a phishing attempt (because by spotting it, you’re more able to stop it).

First, let’s quickly touch on what constitutes a phishing attack.

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a horribly common form of cyberattack that is used by cybercriminals to accomplish a variety of goals, whether it’s gaining access to a system or stealing data from your team members. Basically, by posing as a trusted party and communicating with your team members, the responsible cybercriminal leverages the imperfect human element to sidestep your cybersecurity.

Phishing, while perhaps most well-known as an email-centric threat, can take place in many forms and formats. In addition to phishing emails—which themselves come in numerous forms—phishing attacks can also come in the form of SMS messages, phone calls, and effectively any other means of communication.

This makes it crucial that your team is prepared to deal with these attempts—capable of spotting them and properly reacting by reporting their suspicions to your IT resource.

To this end, let’s go over a few ways that your team members can potentially catch a phishing attack before they fall for it.

Signs That a Phishing Attack is Targeting You

There are numerous signs that a message could potentially be a disguised phishing attack. Here’s a basic list of warning signs:

• A tone that doesn’t match the supposed sender
• Misspellings and other discrepancies in key details, like email addresses, domain names, and links
• Out-of-the-blue messages
• Egregious spelling and grammar errors
• Unexpected or out-of-context attachments
• Excessive urgency behind, or open threats as a consequence of, not complying with the message
• Ambiguous messages that motivate the recipient to investigate
• Unusual requests, or requests for explicitly sensitive information

It’s important that your team is aware of these warning signs and actively keeps them in mind when dealing with any business communications.

Thrive Is Here to Help Keep Your Team Safe!

Reach out to us to find out how we can assist you in maintaining your business’ security against threats of various kinds, including phishing attempts. CONTACT THRIVE today.

Welcome back to another installment of our “Thrive Spotlight” blog series.

Our featured Thrive Employee is Jenny Brackett, Client Success Manager.

Jenny describes working as a Client Success Manager at Thrive a bit like New England weather – you never know what the day will bring! The CSM team works hard to stay informed, build relationships, reduce churn and keeping our clients working and happy all in a very fast environment. Technology waits for no man.. or woman!

Jenny lives in Gorham, ME – just a few minutes outside of Portland. Now that her two boys are almost grown, she has a bit more time to spend tending to her flower gardens when the weather is fine. When the weather doesn’t cooperate – Jenny always has a project going – much to her husband’s dismay!

Hi Jenny! Can you tell us about your background and how you came to Thrive?

I came to Thrive by way of one of the first acquisitions back in 2018. Growing up and working in Vacationland (aka Maine!), I learned valuable customer service skills. You want to keep those good spenders… I mean clients, coming back!

Where did you go to school or get training?

Life! I haven’t quite decided what I want to do when I grow up yet. Anything and everything I have learned about technology has been patiently and freely explained to me by some incredible co-workers.

What do you most enjoy about working for Thrive?

That all depends on who’s behaving themselves that day… my colleagues, or the clients!

Any recent projects at Thrive that you can tell us about?

It’s an exciting time to be working at Thrive, from bringing new CSM’s into the fold, new companies, new clients – my coffee cup is always full trying to keep up!

Are you interested in learning more about Thrive? Click here!

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest news, and continue checking our blog for more in our “Thrive Employee Spotlight” series. Until next time…

Thrive is thrilled to announce that its Managed Endpoint Security and Response solution has won the 2022 Fortress Cyber Security Awards for the Endpoint Detection product category.

This distinguished awards program, sponsored by The Business Intelligence Group, identifies and rewards the world’s leading companies and products that are working to keep our data and electronic assets safe from the increasing threat of cybersecurity attacks.

Thrive’s Endpoint Detection (Managed Endpoint Security and Response) service provides proactive, real-time, fully-automated security with orchestrated incident response across all devices covering current and legacy operating systems. Powered by Fortinet’s FortiEDR platform, this unique service is the ONLY endpoint protection platform that delivers real-time threat protection for both pre- and post-infection.

Thrive is honored to have our expert and certified security professionals recognized for their around the clock work to protect our customers’ mission-critical infrastructure using a tailored and holistic end security solution.

“We are so proud to name Thrive as a winner in the 2022 Fortress Cyber Security Awards program,” said Maria Jimenez, Chief Nominations Officer, Business Intelligence Group. “As our society continues to evolve and become more reliant on networks and data, companies like Thrive are critical at providing the protection and trust consumers demand.”

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2022 Fortress Cyber Security Awards!