What is Log4j? Cyber attackers are making hundreds of attempts every minute to try and exploit a critical security vulnerability in the Java logging library, Apache Log4j. The Log4j flaw (also now known as “Log4Shell”) is a vulnerability that can allow unauthenticated remote code execution and access to servers. Log4j is used in many forms … Read more
Posts by BenB
Acumatica, Azure, and an Upgraded Security Framework
The Inter-Continental Cigar Corporation (ICC) was established in 1996 and is one of the fastest growing companies in the US cigar market. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, ICC is home to one of the largest cooler and freezer facilities in the US. Its salesforce covers the entire continental United States and Al Capone cigars are available … Read more
Prepare for Ransomware: Beef Up Your Security with the Crestwood Cloud
One of the biggest threats to business continuity today is the threat of malware and ransomware. We’ve covered this topic a lot on our blog, but for good reason. Malware can halt operations with the single click of a link from a seemingly innocent email. Let’s look at some ways to ensure that you’re taking … Read more
Five Things You Should Turn On In Your Microsoft 365 Tenant
If you’re wondering what you can do to make your cloud environment more secure, you are certainly not alone. The incentives are higher than ever for attackers, and with the proliferation of internet connected platforms and applications, there are more avenues to exploit than ever before. Here are some tips you can use to reduce … Read more
Again, What IS Ransomware? A History Lesson in the Midst of Another Major Industry Attack
According to the Justice Department, ransomware attacks are now elevated to the same priority level of terrorism. Dealing with cybersecurity right now is as important to the US government as dealing with global terrorism after 9/11. So what gives? JBS, a Brazil-based company responsible for 1/5 of the United States’ cattle supply, was hit by … Read more
First-Hand Evidence of the Dangers of Ransomware: The Colonial Pipeline Story
If you live on the East coast, you likely had some early pandemic flashbacks recently; stories of a gas shortage threw people into a gas-buying frenzy (indeed making that gas shortage narrative a true one). Social media was filled with photos of people in pickup trucks filling barrels with gasoline and videos of motorists physically … Read more
The Rundown on Backups in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Database backups are an essential part of any business continuity and disaster recovery strategy. Using cloud products like Microsoft Business Central includes disaster recovery services such as backups and storage. Here is the overview of backups and restores for Business Central. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central online service uses Azure SQL Database as the underlying … Read more
Strengthen Your Business Security with Microsoft Secure Score
No matter what size your business is and which industry you’re in, the increase in remote workforces has also brought about an increase in hackers and ransomware attacks. Similar to the pandemic, hackers don’t discriminate, they target any and all businesses. Some data shows small to medium sized businesses are more of a target because … Read more
ATTENTION GP USERS: Word Templates Will Not Email/Print after Recent Office Update
Everyone on Dynamics GP should temporarily halt any updates to Microsoft Office. We’ve been hearing about an issue that cropped up in the early September builds of Microsoft Office that is causing Word templates to fail to print in Microsoft Dynamics GP. When Word Templates are opened either to screen, to file, or in an … Read more
Crestwood Cloud: Now Offering Multifactor Authentication (MFA) for Dynamics GP & SL
Every day we hear about systems being attacked by hackers. Securing your data is top priority. By hosting your Dynamics GP or SL system in the Crestwood Cloud, you get peace of mind that your system is secure. We already offer multifactor authentication and single sign on for Acumatica through Azure AD, but extending it … Read more
Getting to a Remote Workforce
We realize you might be tired of hearing about COVID-19, but if you need assistance getting your employees safe, secure, and reliable remote access so you can keep your business moving forward, we have a special offer for you. Crestwood, along with Microsoft, bring to you: Free Microsoft Office licenses for six months (including web … Read more
Intelligent enforcement of multifactor authentication with Azure Conditional Access and Acumatica
In today’s blog post we are going to explore some of the capabilities of Azure working together with Acumatica to provide an easy to use and secure way to log into Acumatica. You can use Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) as your identity provider for single sign on into Acumatica. But beyond that, we are … Read more
Are You Sure that You’re Really in the Cloud? A Gray Market Cloud Horror Story
You are a savvy business owner; your business processes and ERP are backed up in the cloud. You’ve seen the statistics, heard the horror stories, and you’ve made the necessary steps to feel secure. But what does “in the cloud” really mean? How secure is your data really? Gray Market Cloud Spells Doom for One … Read more
Easy & Low-Cost Protection against Ransomware
Every day, we hear horror stories about businesses losing money to ransomware attackers. All it takes is one person to open the wrong email and instantly, all your data is held captive unless you pay up. Recently, Riviera Beach, Florida was a victim of this type of attack, crippling the entire city’s computer system. It … Read more
Warning Signs You Might be Working with Fake Cloud Distribution Software
Distribution is a complicated business. Ensuring products flow properly, people work effectively, and cash moves smoothly is a necessity, but too often, processes get gummed up and technology becomes more of a hindrance than a help. This is especially true if you are relying on outdated or undersized technology for the job at hand. Unfortunately, … Read more
Dynamics GP and Forms Printer – it slices & it dices!
Every organization has unique business processes, and tailoring solutions to meet, automate, and scale those processes can be very rewarding wins for your organization. We had a rather unusual client requirement come through that we were able to accommodate in Microsoft Dynamics GP with the addition of Accountable Software’s Forms Printer application. The Problem A … Read more
Four ways to Secure your Office 365 environment
Have you ever received a suspicious email about your Office 365 account? It might seem legitimate, even with a Microsoft logo, but if you look close at the links or the email address it came from, it’s not from your company. Office 365 credentials are a hot commodity these days. You need look no further … Read more
Migrating from Legacy Software to the Cloud
With today’s rapidly changing business ecosystem, legacy ERP systems are giving way to cloud services. This shift is giving small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) all of the advantages known to larger competitors with the bandwidth and revenue to support such IT efforts. In fact, Gartner predicts 17.3% growth in 2019 to total $206.2 billion in … Read more
From Nightmare to Triumph – Disaster Recovery and Maintaining Business Continuity with the Crestwood Cloud
If someone asked you right now where your backups are located, would you know? Are you sure your ERP system even HAS reliable backups, with easy access should disaster strike? We don’t ask this to scare you, but we know from experience how critical having a reliable and robust backup plan in place is to … Read more
How Safe is Your Environment Against Attackers?
Even those lucky enough not to have first-hand experience know someone who has been affected by ransomware. The typical attack involves an email which at first glance appears legitimate and sent from a known contact. The user is tricked into opening email attachments or visiting malicious links that snuck through email filters. From there, the … Read more
Cloud Backup Solution: Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Vault
Data security and integrity is of paramount importance to any business. This is true whether your ERP system is on premise, in the cloud, or a combination of the two. In a previous blog, I talked about our Crestwood Cloud platform and the two complementary backup solutions that we designed to safeguard client data: SQL … Read more
RemoteApp – Remote Desktop Without the Desktop!
One of the concerns we hear from clients when moving to the cloud is they don’t want to make things different or harder on their users. The cloud tool that we recommend is RemoteApp. You might be used to Remote Desktop, which basically virtualized the desktop that you were accessing. RemoteApp uses the same protocol, … Read more
Crestwood Cloud Backups – Protecting Your Business 24×7
I’ve often said that “data you don’t have at least two copies of is data you don’t care about.” This simple maxim will go a long way to protect your family photos and other personal data. However, a reliable data security strategy for an enterprise – well, that can be more complicated. But it doesn’t … Read more
Migrating to the Crestwood Cloud, How Does It Work?
You may be wondering how Crestwood takes an on-premise application like the Microsoft Dynamics ERP software suite and migrates it to the cloud, maintaining business continuity during the transition, and how the move benefits your organization. Let’s take a look at the process. First Things First Crestwood will start by analyzing your existing system, taking … Read more