Everyone is online and the need for reliable internet security is greater than ever. Someone is becoming victim to a hacker every 39 seconds, according to a Clark School study at the University of Maryland, with hackers affecting one in three Americans every year. Small businesses are at a huge risk — 43% of cyber-attacks are targeted at them while a total of 64% of businesses reported experiencing web-based attacks. The importance of having reliable and manageable internet security cannot be understated.

Breaches in security are not an expense-free fix, either. Juniper Research estimates the average cost of a data breach will exceed $150 million in 2020.

Hackers don’t only target businesses either. Since 2013, approximately 3,809,448 records have been stolen every single day. Cyber-attacks largely contribute to stolen identities. In 2018, 680,000 people were victim to identity theft due to mobile account takeovers.

The United States is the top target for cyber-attacks. SteadyNet allows you to view global attacks blocked in real time so you can learn more about the risks poised to your network.

Thankfully, there are ways to protect yourself online.

​A firewall is the most basic and common method of blocking unwanted hackers and viruses. It is built into every security program available. It’s not an actual wall of fire in your computer, but that is a good way of thinking about it; it burns and deflects everything that you don’t want getting into your network. Unless you recently replaced your firewall or paid for an update it probably isn’t working properly.

A firewall protects vulnerable devices that are connected to the internet by protecting your computer from unwanted access, identifying and blocking undesirable content, preventing worms, viruses and malware and it helps keep your information private.

There are multiple types of firewalls, the most common are: client-based and appliance. A client firewall resides on your computer or device while appliance firewalls are often used on networks. Appliance firewalls have drastically changed over the last few years.

A smart firewall should be the baseline level of protection you have. It is a 20-year-old piece of technology and, in some cases, does need a boost to help performance, especially if you’re a user of cloud computing.

SteadyNet offers Cloud Firewall Protection to manage and monitor your device’s security from the cloud. It targets malicious activities as it happens and notifies you of risks in real time. Because it’s through the cloud, the service is 24 hours a day, seven days a week and runs autonomously.

There are hundreds of software programs that promise to offer internet security for your individual device. Many of them offer protection for up to 5 devices, making them perfect for your home network.

So which software program should you use to protect your home? PC Magazine ranked the top security suites in 2019. Here are the top three:

Bitdefender Internet Security offers VPN, firewall, antispam, and parental control. Bitdefender has outstanding scores in malware protection and antivirus tests and has multilayered ransomware protection. The drawbacks are that unlimited VPN access requires a separate subscription and parental control is not fully functional on iOS devices.

Symantec Norton 360 Deluxe offers full coverage with VPN, firewall, antispam, parental control, backups and tuning. Norton 360 has no limits to their VPNs, has top scores in malware protection and malicious URL tests and is self-sufficient. The cons are that security is limited on iOS devices and there is no parental control for macOS.

Kaspersky Internet Security has top-notch scores from four antivirus lab tests with the best anti-phishing score on the market. When it comes to mobile devices, Kaspersky offers unparalleled protection. The biggest drawback is that some features are not user friendly, making it difficult to find some settings.

All of the above options are client-based protection that offer private network protection across a public network. These options are good for protecting your home, but do not extend beyond that. If you’re connected to the internet at work, your device is still protected, but your network is not.

​As a business owner or school, it is always a good idea to double up and invest in a new tech type appliance firewall so your entire network and all of the devices on it are protected. SteadyNet partners with Comodo Cybersecurity so call SteadyNet customers have access to Comodo Dome Secure Web Gateway, which prevents persistent threats, infections, malware, ransomware and next-gen threats.

SteadyNet users are protected from the Shodan hacker database. Shodan is a search engine that allows hackers to view and track all of your connected devices. This protection through our cybersecurity package is real time and adds instant protection.

SteadyNet also has a nationwide ISP outage map. It is an included service using SteadyNet’s internal monitoring to give businesses and owners an insight into internet connectivity in real time of your entire neighborhood.

Contact us today if you want to give your network another level of protection through SteadyNet.

Selling SD-WAN to small businesses can be challenging for a number of reasons. Not only are SMBs concerned about employee productivity, but they also want a solution that is cost-effective and can give them the results they seek.

If you’re a reseller of our SD-WAN technology but need help improving sales, there are a few things you must consider. First and foremost, you must be able to explain and position SD-WAN to make sense for small businesses. Only then will prospects be able to resonate with the technology and their need for it. If you’re interested in learning more, continue reading.

Small businesses have a number of issues that need to be addressed, and they’re looking for the solution that will help alleviate their pain points. So what exactly do small businesses want? They want to be able to provide great service and support for their customers, have their employees stay engaged and productive, and to be profitable.

However, there are challenges that can get in the way of reaching their business objectives such as internet outages. That problem has the power to not only inhibit employee performance but also application performance. This is especially a concern for organizations that rely on the cloud.

Outages are more likely to occur when businesses don’t have a reliable, sustainable, and highly available internet connection to access their cloud applications. If they don’t have the right architecture to design their networks to be compatible with the cloud, they can run into outages.

An additional challenge for SMBs is existing vulnerability when they don’t have proper security. While small businesses want to be profitable, they don’t always want to spend money on security or technology. It’s important for them to note that small businesses are targeted by hackers just as much as big businesses, and according to a report from VIPRE, 66% of SMBs who experience a serious data breach are likely to either shut down for a day or go completely out of business.

But with SD-WAN, SMBs find the resources they need to address all of the above including increase application performance, getting failover, and more.

In order to make better SD-WAN sales, you must be knowledgable enough to communicate the service in a way that makes sense for an SMB. At SteadyNet, we want to give you the confidence to sell, which is why we’ll break down some sales points about our SD-WAN service to help you find success.

Resilient, reliable uptime: Failover, such as an internet connection, is something that you’re paying for but is just sitting there until it’s needed. SMBs often find themselves paying for bandwidth that they don’t use. And by selling resiliency, high availability, and business continuity – instead of failover, – you’ll be able to provide SMBs with a more cost-effective primary internet connection that can be used in an active-active scenario.

SD-WAN allows SMBs to use both internet connections simultaneously and load balance between the two so they’re actually using the bandwidth that they’re paying for. This benefit is a much better sell over just failover.

Application performance: Even in a scenario where an SMB’s connection doesn’t go down but still experiences degradation such as packet loss, jitter, and latency, the SD-WAN appliance will automatically route traffic in order to improve the application performance based on the best available connection. Increased performance application can benefit high performing applications as well as end users and organizations.

Cost-benefit: With SD-WAN, organizations that have traditionally purchased firewalls to build their VPN network or pay for their MPLS connection can create a highly available network by leveraging best-of-breed broadband connections. This not only allows SMBs to reduce the amount of spend but also helps improve availability, resulting in a cost benefit for the organization. SD-WAN allows for:

• More bandwidth
• Dual/diverse paths out of the network
• Secure encrypted network without the expense or reliance on a single telecom carrier

​If you’d like to learn more about selling SteadyNet’s SD-WAN with success, contact us today and we’d be glad to help. Understanding SD-WAN and its benefits more clearly will help give you the confidence to make better sales. Reach out today to get started.

​If you’re going through a network infrastructure upgrade, you may be wondering how to adequately consider software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) and how it compares to a virtual private network (VPN). While SD-WAN is the newer technology and often discussed as an upgrade from a VPN, there are some points you should consider. Here’s your guide to a clear understanding of SD-WAN versus VPN.

​The basic reasons for choosing a VPN are cost-effectiveness and their simplicity. They are also useful for dropping packets that don’t originate from authenticated endpoints. All traffic is encrypted at a high level, but the tradeoff is that a VPN often can be problematic when it comes to network performance.

VPNs prioritize traffic before it enters an encrypted tunnel, but once it has entered that tunnel, it can’t be prioritized further by the provider network. As a result, traffic is supported by the network at a reasonable performance level. This is a fine arrangement for small businesses using a single IP backbone, but if a company has multiple locations, there can be problems with latency on voice and video transmissions.

When evaluating SD-WAN versus VPN, it’s important to ask three key questions:

1. Is it necessary to guarantee application performance?
   
2. Is the client accessing cloud solutions or do they have a need for supporting remote, unsecured networks?
   
3. Is there a requirement to control their own WAN?

If you are using cloud applications or if you need remote access and granular security, SD-WAN might be a good option. Many SD-WAN solutions don’t have end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) like a Layer 3 multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) VPN, however, it does allow for the ability to manage network conditions and prioritize traffic at the local level. The local QoS for SD-WAN is far superior to that of a VPN because it has a granular level of support and features like application acceleration.

For organizations using cloud solutions, SD-WAN offers improved security as well as application awareness. SD-WAN is better for supporting mobile employees that may be working from home, a hotel, or a coffee shop. SD-WAN operators can restrict traffic based on the traffic type or a user profile.

One of the key considerations when evaluating SD-WAN versus VPN is the level of network connectivity flexibility available with SD-WAN. From MPLS to public internet, SD-WAN can help clients optimize their networks based on the traffic type.

SD-WAN also offers a unique distinction from VPNs in that it is self-healing, particularly if you’re using a SimpleWAN device. The self-healing aspect of SD-WAN further supports a level of reliability unseen with VPNs.

To learn more about navigating SD-WAN versus VPN, contact us at SimpleWAN. We can assist you as you walk clients through key network infrastructure decisions.

​For years, companies have gotten along well with standard router management systems. But now, a comparatively new entry in the field has provided several exciting advantages. It’s called a cloud-managed router, and it’s the kind of technology that will make users wonder how they ever got along without it.

Using a cloud-managed device allows users to incorporate some of the best features of cloud-based operation with on-premises hardware.

Remote management. Allowing for remote management capability means you can have the benefits of an on-call network management workforce without the Dilbert-esque working conditions of a permanent management team. IT can actually address many common issues from home, or from a mobile device, improving morale while providing necessary management.

Real-time defense. Remote management also means it’s possible to protect against attacks on the network in real-time, because it’s possible to see an attack in progress and take steps to protect the network from there.

Better support for dispersed networks. For organizations with multiple locations, the benefits of SD-WAN speak for themselves. A cloud-managed router, meanwhile, provides excellent SD-WAN support and support for geographically dispersed networks by virtue of remote management.

Downtime prevention. A little downtime is inevitable, but preventing it wherever possible is the ultimate goal of any network administrator. Another function of remote monitoring allows issues to be rectified quickly, bringing the network back up, sometimes before users even notice a problem.

Always up-to-date. Like any cloud-managed system, the onus is on the provider to offer the best user experience possible. Failure to do so results in lost business and a direct bottom-line hit. So, cloud-based providers make it a point to keep systems upgraded with the latest products, ensuring service is always at its peak.

Reliable cost figures. Another great feature about cloud-managed systems is that the bills are relatively stable. Most of the hardware cost is absorbed by the provider, which in turn charges fees to access services. Capital expenses instead become predictable, operational expenses.

​If you like what you’ve heard about what cloud-managed routers can do for you, then start the process of getting them in your business by contacting us at SteadyNet. Not only do we have cloud-managed routers to offer as part of our all-in-one SD-WAN operations, but we can also help you get them up and running by offering a dashboard that allows network management from a single portal. In addition, there’s firewall security that contributes to HIPAA and PCI compliance among other standards. Drop us a line today to get started with this powerful new technology.

As part of SteadyNet’s goal to deliver reliable, remotely-manageable IT solutions at low cost, SteadyNet has recently rolled out a new feature called Ubiquiti UniFi® Cloud Controller. This is a hosted service which uses the off-the-shelf Ubiquiti Controller software, and lets customers use their own UniFi-brand wireless products without needing to purchase or install their own controller. Its login and security system has also been integrated into the SteadyNet Dashboard so that customers do not need to remember additional passwords or web addresses.

The installation process is very straightforward: simply enable the feature by editing the SteadyNet Site, and then visit the UniFi® Controller link in the site’s management page. From there an Access Point may be added via its MAC ID, and within minutes the Controller will detect and adopt the new Access Point. One UniFi site and user is created for each SteadyNet site. Finally, a Wireless Network should be created inside of the Controller’s Settings link. If alerts are desired, the user account may be edited to include an email address. Ubiquiti alerts are currently separate from SteadyNet alerts.

Overall, behavior of the hosted Controller will be identical to a self-hosted controller. Any questions about the service or device adoption process may be sent to SteadyNet Support, and any questions about the actual controller or UniFi products themselves should be sent to Ubiquiti.

We hope that this new feature will simplify wireless deployments for our customers, and offer a turnkey remotely-manageable solution that practically installs itself while being extremely reliable and affordable.