Most common IT challenges for lawyers in 2021
The legal industry is what we, in the tech industry, call ‘late adopters’ when it comes to modernizing their business with newer technologies. Traditionally, legal professionals were not very tech-savvy, and were dependent heavily on the physical handling of documents. Now is the time to spread awareness of the technologies that are available to the legal industry to prepare present lawyers, and future generations of lawyers with the most appropriate technologies. Let’s explore the most common IT challenges that today’s law firm are currently experiencing, and ultimately help suggest the right solutions they need to empower their practice.
Data Leaks
Data leaks or “data breaches” are the most common result of cyber-attacks. A data leak happens when a hacker has accessed sensitive information of a company, and in many cases, has released the information into the public domain without permission.
The legal industry is a prime target for hackers because of the nature of their business. They deal with sensitive, and confidential information on a daily basis. Due to the lack of security used by many law firms, it is easy for hackers to perform data breaches via malware, phishing, and even denial of service. An email security suite like ExchangeDefender PRO would protect a law firm from email-borne attacks, phishing attempts, and would most definitely prevent data leaks.
Phishing Scams
Phishing attacks have taken over the internet in terms of being the most popular form of cyber-attack. It is the most common way for hackers to win your sensitive information. In fact, Verizon’s most recent Data Breach report claimed that 70% of data breaches involved Phishing.
A phishing scam is when a hacker sends a fake email that appears to be coming from a trustworthy company. The user clicks on the link inside of the email, is presented with a fake landing page, and is deceived into entering their login credentials, or credit card information.
Document Management
Overcoming document management challenges are a major struggle for law firms as the industry has been extremely dependent on physical document copies. The accumulation of these documents as records are proving disastrous for legal practices that have been in business for years. ExchangeDefender’s Web File Server solution would take care of any document management issues. It offers unlimited storage, is extremely secure, and can provide limited access to a lawyer’s clients for seamless collaboration.
Compliance
Compliance is a major issue for law firms when it comes to the technology aspect. They are responsible for ensuring that their IT solutions are secure enough to keep data safe, and is secure enough to prevent a data breach. This is difficult when many firms do not currently use an advanced email security suite. As cybersecurity providers, it is our duty to keep law firms safe and to ensure that they adhere to state, federal, and international regulations.
Phishing protection gets new terminology
At ExchangeDefender, we are unique just like our clients. Our team members are all from different nationalities, backgrounds, and expertise.
We do not aim to offend or demoralize any individual or groups, unless they are spammers or hackers. 🙂
Some of the industry standard terms used in the backend, that have been part of IT for decades, may sound offensive to clients in the modern workplace. Non-technical clients who are not accustomated to traditional IT terms are rightfully shocked when they see terms like “master-slave replication”, “whitelist”, and other similar racially sensitive wording.
SPAM filtering and email security should not be offending our clients so we’ve gone through an audit of our web site, our portals, our mobile apps, and our backend in an effort to rephrase some of the industry terms that may be offensive.
Our client base has changed over the past 24 years, (our services are predominantly used by non-technical staff) and this was a part of our larger effort to make ExchangeDefender more user-friendly.
We want to make our services more accessible for users that have never used ExchangeDefender, or an enterprise security software; you will see fewer IT acronyms. Instead, we’re rephrasing our services to sound like spoken English, for example: To block senders from sending you SPAM you will now add their address to a “Block list”.
Top 3 most profitable solutions in 2021
The most profitable ExchangeDefender solutions for 2021 will certainly not surprise you. Most of us have had to change how we work, and where we work from, because of the covid-19 pandemic. These special circumstances have caused an increase in demand for some IT solutions over others. Our recent survey data shows that our top three most profitable solutions this year focus on data security, and business continuity.
ExchangeDefender PRO
ExchangeDefender PRO is our pride and joy of our entire service portfolio. It provides clients with advanced email security that protects their organization. ExchangeDefender PRO is compatible with all major email service providers, including Outlook and G-suite for business. Email-borne threats like SPAM, viruses, malware, phishing, spoofing, and more are prevented by our all-in-one email protection. 70% of our partners this year have indicated that selling email security features, like SPAM filtering, and Anti-Virus has made their IT business profitable.
Corporate Encryption
Keeping company, and client data safe has become the forefront of security solutions this year. Hackers are on the rise, and the need to secure information is more critical now than ever. ExchangeDefender Corporate Encryption is the second best-selling solution in our service portfolio this year. Encryption enables businesses to encrypt emails simply, and share documents safely from a secure portal, or inside of Outlook with a one-click encrypt option. A whopping 83% of our partners noted in the survey that they are currently selling ExchangeDefender Encryption, or have recently added the service to their MSP business.
Live Archive
Our rising star, Live Archive has been voted ‘rookie of the year’ for its email continuity benefits. ExchangeDefender Live Archive provides organizations with email outage protection, the ability to send and receive email during a service outage. The market demand has skyrocketed for businesses that require that company email be available at all times. The continuity solution is always on, provides real-time archiving, and includes up to one year of rolling storage. Partners took advantage of the high demand, and saw an increase of new clients ready to pay for the ability to prevent email outages as they work from home. The shocking low price for the service made it a no-brainer for businesses who need to keep their organization sending and receiving email without interruption.
ExchangeDefender Support
We are stepping up our game when it comes to ExchangeDefender support, making it faster and easier to get answers and support when you need it, how you need it.
It’s no secret that we’ve spent most of our Covid-19 time improving the user experience and making our products and services easier to use, manage, and support. We’ve upgraded documentation, our portals, our web sites, and even created automated troubleshooting apps that help you fix issues without waiting on or dealing with support.
Starting Wednesday, October 6th, 2021 the support experience will change for the better as well. Our primary goal with this update is to speed up the resolution time (time between problem being reported and it being fixed). We’re trying to create a more predictable and flexible way getting help from us regardless of how technical you are.
Enhancements
Sidebar
Over 80% of our support requests are answered by pointing users to documentation. With that in mind, we’ve redesigned the process to better identify the service, issue, and the user that is experiencing the problem. The system automatically reviews everything as you’re opening the ticket and advises if there are known issues with your account/configuration, and provides links to documentation and fixes. We expect this to be very popular with our growing service providers (we’ll train your staff for you!)
Collateral
If everything appears to be correct (we cannot replicate the issue remotely and the issue is on the client device or network that we do not have access to), the ticket process will immediately ask for additional collateral and troubleshooting info. The goal here is to collect enough information to get the issue addressed right away instead of going back and forth.
We also tried to strike a balance across our client base when it comes to technical expertise and urgency. If you have a problem that is urgent and you want us to drop everything to help you – we can do it! If you’re not very technical, or not in a rush, or don’t have the time to do diagnostics – we can help.
Summary
We’re been quite busy during Covid-19 lock/slow-down and we wanted to do something to improve the experience and quality of our technical support. The new system puts you in control of the support. You choose how urgent the issue is, how much diagnostic information you provide, and the service level you need. We’re going for a win-win with this release: giving you more control, more access, more flexibility, more documentation – and a faster resolution time for the end user.
Due soon: ExchangeDefender DMARC Compliance
As you have noticed, DMARC is quickly becoming a requirement for reliable email delivery. On November 1st, 2021 the ExchangeDefender network will only relay and support domain names in compliance with DMARC requirements. These standards help address the risk of having the domain hijacked, used in a phishing campaign, and destroyed sender reputation.
The process takes less than 5 minutes (it’s just two DNS records) and it will make sure your mail doesn’t bounce or end up in Junk.
If you know what you’re doing, here is a quick guide:
https://www.exchangedefender.com/docs/dmarc
If you would like us to do it for you, please submit your request:
https://www.exchangedefender.com/security-lockdown
For more info, please see below:
Blog: ExchangeDefender Security Compliance
Webinar: New Email Authorization Standards (20 min)
P.S. Now would also be a great time to review your user accounts and confirm everything is correct. After November 1st, we will only be able to relay mail for known users and domains that pass DMARC (SPF + DKIM) validation.
Sharing ExchangeDefender services on social media just got easier
Our marketing team has just released a collection of digital assets made specifically for our ExchangeDefender partners. The new marketing collateral was created to provide our clients an easy way to promote Exchangedefender services online, particularly via their social media channels.
What is a digital asset?
A digital asset is Marketing’s fancy way of saying “any design that is in digital format”. Digital assets are created electronically, and come with a right to use, this means you can share them at your discretion. The top five most common types of digital assets are images, PDFs, videos, presentations, graphics, and audio files.
The collection of social media posts is available on our Marketing page, and is free of charge. Further, on this page – you’ll find tons of marketing collateral that is ready to be downloaded immediately. Each of our solutions has a data sheet available that provides an overview of the service for you to share with your clients. Additionally, if you would like to have your marketing collateral branded with your own company logo, you can submit a marketing request.
How to use
There are plenty of ways to share the new social media posts. We have taken all of the hard work out of promoting our services via facebook, twitter, linkedin, instagram and more! You can see from our own facebook page (@exchangedefender) that we share these types of posts every day. We also use these designs inside of our newsletters to highlight particular services, or features. (ExchangeDefender uses constant contact for email newsletters, you can also use mailchimp as well to accomplish the same thing.)
Another way to use our digital collateral is via text message. If you use sms texting, like ExchangeDefender SMS Proxy you can instantly send an SMS with an image post. Sharing these posts via text will assure you that your client has seen the information you sent. (About 90% of people open their text messages within just a few minutes.)
Ready to get started? Here’s what to do next:
To start posting, please visit www.exchangedefender.com/marketing and navigate to the “Digital Assets” section of the page. To download, simply select the file, and it will automatically download. You should be able to locate these files on your computer in the downloads folder.
ExchangeDefender Security Compliance
ExchangeDefender is helping our clients and partners comply with email validation & authorization requirements. DMARC (SPF + DKIM) help prevent unauthorized hijacking/spoofing of your domain name and are used by email services to separate legitimate email from SPAM.
We’ll offer assistance for SPF + DKIM
In order to assure reliable email delivery, ExchangeDefender is offering assistance with SPF + DKIM rollout from September 20th through October 20th. All domains must be brought to compliance by October 30th, 2021 in order to continue relaying mail through ExchangeDefender. We’ll even do it for you, for free.
For more information on our new email security standards, please see our DMARC webinar, and read our DMARC guide.
Every domain that uses ExchangeDefender to send or receive email is required to update their SPF and DKIM records. Failure to comply will result in having your email bounced.
How to get started:
Step 1: Contact your DNS Administrator
You will need to contact your DNS administrator or DNS hosting provider to create the following DNS records:
SPF Record
DNS Record Type: TXT
DNS Record Value: “v=spf1 include:proxy.exchangedefender.com -all”DKIM Record
DNS Record Type: TXT
DNS Record Hostname: default._domainkey
DNS Record Value: “v=DKIM1; k=rsa; s=email; p=MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAwkMvl3dS3g9XbhxtD16tSx/l+s0cxVv73/NCHywH2HFED61k+orBj4QY96FJcUD7MOwmwjC7Igtz5P9fVOLFoMr+d8g8c5J5OIA8Xj2ap4jsEnSF3rRrCNJDxojPvtGA1+ENwGpheHtniZG/fgVguDL+M1zXNRsYTybzKwU49tmP4RyIFIC8NEV7jqrGSVWpQSXc12JlvmLQX1J5tdnWvTR7/NGOzyth0rYP1STKj1hHU9ZVN+x8VFiumlPdpDQBMn5Bzu/Cs6pzrSHJqGBcVer4mccpnCOX9bG3sR7wU6nDIv3rvwIlfBymylcZruJvjsXZAZaameUBpgGgmibpkwIDAQAB”
Step 2: Validate your DNS records
After the DNS records are published please validate them using public tools like MX Toolbox (https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx) or DMARC Analyzer (https://www.dmarcanalyzer.com/dkim/dkim-checker/). Until your DNS records validate, you are not in compliance and will have issues with email delivery.
Step 3: Turn on DKIM signing
After your DNS records have been published and validated, you will need to turn on DKIM signing. Go to https://admin.exchangedefender.com, login as Domain Administrator and go to Mail Flow -> DKIM Signature.
Finally, click on Accounts and confirm that all your email addresses are listed and associated with appropriate users.
We’d love to help, if you’d like us to take care of this for you free of charge please fill out this form:
https://www.exchangedefender.com/security-lockdown
[WEBINAR] How to: Comply with new email authorization standards
Welcome to 2021: Comply with the industry security standards or your mail gets bounced.
Believe it or not, that’s the best case scenario: When you actually know your email wasn’t delivered.
Most of the time, though, your sender reputation is scored by internal/proprietary lists and the message is just moved to trash. Worst case scenarios – where hackers are using your domain and email address as impersonations (to launch attacks) or to fool internal employees.
ExchangeDefender has always provided technology and policies to help manage this, but few of our partners have fully adopted it. We have been seeing an escalation in attacks over the past year and it’s only a matter until these security gaps are exploited.
We don’t want to see that happen to you. It is important enough that we are willing to help tighten your security and deploy auth protocols on your behalf, free of charge. Only catch is, it has to be completed by October 31st, 2021.
Too good to be true? Tune into our webinar next Thursday to get the specifics about what needs to be done and how. We will be covering:
– Best practices for email deliverability
– Required DNS records for SPF & DKIM
– Review of domain security policies
– Email delivery troubleshooting
Please register for the webinar:
XD Security Standards Compliance
Thursday, September 16, 2021 (Noon EST)
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3868159289922543632
We cannot overstate the importance of getting this done. ExchangeDefender (and practically everyone else) will no longer relay mail beyond 2021 without valid email authorization DNS records in place. Don’t wait until December and face expensive consulting contracts, we can handle this for free now and it will take less than 10 minutes of your time. That is how committed we are to keeping you secure and your email arriving where you send it, in the Inbox, every time.
P.S. We strongly encourage you to attend the webinar live so you can ask questions. As DNS is not something we host/offer please keep in mind that our support team will not assist or troubleshoot DNS issues for you.
‘Starter Kits’ ready to help new MSPs speed up onboarding
The average sales process for B2B contains seven steps – from prospecting and targeting, to presenting services, to finally landing the sale. Here at ExchangeDefender, we completely understand how tricky the sales process can be. We created Starter Kits for each of our solutions to help our new partners get started as quick as possible. As part of our onboarding, we offer every MSP partner access to our complimentary starter guides available to view or download at any time.
What is a Starter Kit?
A starter kit includes useful information about the company, and their products and services. This guide provides a quick snapshot on a particular ExchangeDefender service, and provides helpful tidbits on how to sell the solution to clients.
Your starter kit will help you understand how a service works — including summaries of its main features, and real benefits to the client. It also offers useful insight on how to identify customers that are ready for our services. How? It provides client profile data, and offers advice on what to look for with your prospective clients. ExchangeDefender has gathered this sales data over many years of business, and has identified the main selling factors to help our partners sell easier.
Benefits of Using a Starter Kit
There are many benefits to using a starter kit to help speed up the onboarding process with ExchangeDefender. We think of our starter kits as sales enablement guides that give MSPs the right information, at the right time to help conquer opportunities with new clients. We hope to create a sense of confidence for our partners by providing helpful links to important details about ExchangeDefender services. Managed service providers will get key facts, learn about the real-world benefits of our solutions, and be able to understand selling opportunities that are available. The kit also includes technical information on each service to prepare partners to deploy ExchangeDefender for new customers.
Where to Access
We provide easy access to ExchangeDefender Starter Kits. Simply visit our Marketing page made exclusively for Partners. There, you can access marketing documents designed to help you seal the deal with the option to instantly download them. As a registered MSP, you can request to have ExchangeDefender marketing collateral branded with your own company logo for free. You can submit your request by completing the mini form at the bottom of the page – simply select the collateral you would like branded, and upload your logo.
To access ExchangeDefender Starter Kits, please click here.
ExchangeDefender Latest New Releases – Mid 2021
This summer has been hot for ExchangeDefender, like really hot. Yes, we do live in sunny Orlando, but we’re raving about our newest releases. We have been focusing on making processes easier for both our partners and our clients. “Keep it simple, stupid.”, has been our motto and we hope that our new releases are a reflection of that mantra. The uncertainty and added stress that the pandemic has caused, is what inspired us to look inside of our company, how we offer our services, and support.
We created a Desktop SPAM manager.
To be fair, we created a desktop application to manage your SPAM about ten years ago. We retired it, and decided that we needed to design a new and improved management system. The ExchangeDefender Desktop SPAM Manager is a multi-platform app that works well with Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is designed to provide users SPAM notifications. The manager lets you know when there is SPAM waiting, and allows users a secure way to access, read, reply, and forward messages. Interested in getting desktop notifications? Please open a ticket at https://support.exchangedefender.com, and we’ll send you a link!
We added Starter kits to our Marketing Collateral.
Did you know that we have a special section on our website for Marketing collateral? (www.exchangedefender.com/marketing) This page features a collection of sales support tools to help our partners sell ExchangeDefender services. We recently designed Starter Kits that provide useful information on our solutions. Whether you are a new partner, or a veteran – Starter Kits contain valuable material that can be shared with prospective clients. If you are an active partner, marketing collateral is available to you for free. You can even get your sales documentation branded with your logo. Simply visit the Marketing page, and submit your request.
We were featured on CBS, FOX, and NBC news.
Recently, ExchangeDefender was showcased on several U.S news outlets for the surge of new partnerships we are experiencing. We believe that the rise of popularity for our partner program has been due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Managed Service Providers, like most other businesses, are searching for ways to lower their costs, and boost their service offerings. Our partner program is free, and has always been free with the confidence that our clients would be able to focus on building their business. ExchangeDefender hopes to build meaningful relationships with MSPs who are seeking to build their business, while keeping IT costs down. To read more about our latest news coverage, please click here.