IT, Cybersecurity
& Compliance Insights from Integris

Every day, there’s another screaming headline about “the biggest data breach in history.” This time, however, it really may be “the big one.” In August 2024, a dark web hacker dumped 2.7 billion data records—including Social Security numbers—on a dark web forum. This information allegedly came from a background-checking service called National Public Data. Each…

After the freedom people experienced from remote work during the pandemic, the “return to office mandates” many companies are trotting out are flopping. Hard. Recent mutinies against the RTOs imposed by Amazon and Dell are great examples. When employees were given the ultimatum “return to office full time, or lose out on the eligibility for…

On July 19, 2024, Cybersecurity software company CrowdStrike made history. They were responsible for the world’s most significant global computer outage. It’s as bad as it sounds—with millions of computers they’d sworn to protect suddenly in a “blue screen of death reboot loop.” The net effects hit some of the world’s most critical organizations—including airlines,…

Will my company need to spend more on its cyber risk insurance or not? Every company shopping for cyber risk insurance wonders about this, especially given the security risks of AI and major global outages that come out of the blue, like the recent CrowdStrike outage that snarled global business for days. With the additional…

By now, you’ve probably read the headlines about the CrowdStrike outage, billed as the largest global outage event in history. Causing 8.5 million Microsoft-enabled machines to lapse into an infinite “blue screen of death” loop, this horrific system crash affected nearly 25,000 international flights, disabled emergency call centers, blocked customer logins for banks, delayed stock…

If you’ve been putting off cybersecurity investments for your small company, the time to invest is now. There’s never been a more critical time to address your small business cybersecurity. Consider these facts: The average cost for a data breach for a US company in 2024 is $4.45 million—IBM 60 % of companies lack a…

We’ve all been there. You’re shutting down a project and accidentally clicked “don’t save” in Microsoft Word instead of “save.” Suddenly, you’re faced with the queasy prospect of losing hours of work. But it doesn’t have to be. There’s more than one way to recover a document created in Microsoft Word. Stick with us, and…

The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) reports over 963,000 unique phishing sites worldwide were detected in the first quarter of 2024, collectively sending out billions of spam emails a day. Is this number scary? You bet. But it’s the growing sophistication of these social engineering attempts that’s more frightening, yet. Social engineering, as it is often…

How much could AI-driven models like Copilot for M365, Google Gemini, or Apple Intelligence improve the productivity at your bank? The jury is still out on that one, but initial experiments place the overall AI-driven productivity gains for the US economy at between 8 and 36 percent, according to a recent release from the Federal…

Community banks and credit unions have a time-honored reputation for being cautious about new technologies. Rightly so. The security risks from developing tech can be enormous for financial institutions. Perhaps that’s why I get such shocked reactions from our banking clients when I advise them to jump into new generative AI tools like Microsoft Copilot…

As the buzz around AI grows, I’ve had the good fortune of speaking at tech events all around the country. Everyone is full of excitement and questions about AI and AI readiness. With the massive productivity gains predicted with AI platforms like Copilot for Microsoft 365 (M365), there’s good reason for optimism. Yet, the more…

Imagine having an AI assistant that seamlessly integrates with your Teams workflow, pulling from your notes, existing documents, and databases to enhance collaboration. That’s the power of Copilot for Microsoft Teams, and it’s poised to revolutionize your work.   What is Copilot for Microsoft Teams? As anyone who’s worked with Teams knows, preparing for meetings…

Imagine having an AI assistant that seamlessly integrates with your PowerPoint workflow, pulling from your notes, existing documents, and databases to create compelling presentations. That’s the power of Copilot for PowerPoint, and it’s set to revolutionize how you work with slides. Anyone who’s worked with PowerPoint knows the unique pain of editing pages of research…

Imagine having an AI-powered assistant streamlining your email management, optimizing your time, and enhancing your communication. That’s the promise of Copilot for Outlook, a groundbreaking feature designed to revolutionize your email experience. Whether you’re an IT manager or a busy professional, Copilot can help you stay organized, respond effectively, and make the most of your…

Imagine having an AI assistant that pulls from your notes, marries them to an existing document format, and writes a document for you. That’s the power of Copilot for Microsoft Word, which is planned for rollout in 2024 for those who buy the Copilot M365 license. Instead of spending hours reading over reference documents and…