iRobot Privacy

Concerns Page 2

International

Space Station Page 3

Your RMSCare Package

R M S A S S O C I A T E S , I N C .

September 2017 Issue 2808

What’s Inside

Meet Chandler

Kinsey Page 2

How “GUM” we chose to send you a special treat in this edition? Well this month, we have many reasons to celebrate! Labor Day is Monday, September 4. Read A Book Day is September 6, Teddy Bear Day is September 9, and Cheeseburger Day is September 18. BUT September 30 is National Chewing Gum Day so, because you are “EXTRA” special to us and we couldn’t “CHEWS” better clients, we decided to include a piece of chewing gum in this month’s Care Package. We hope this “BLOWS” you away so much that you’ll “STICK” with us! September is also Disaster Preparedness Month! Help us bring awareness to the seriousness of natural disasters, server crashes, hacker attacks, and other data-erasing tragedies.

In today’s world of rampant cyber-crime, every savvy business owner knows the necessity of locking down their data. Howev-er, we find that the cyber security technolo-gies used by the vast majority of businesses are woefully out of date. Sure, your current solution may have worked great, but digital threats to the safety of your company are constantly evolving. Criminals will eventual-ly attempt to breach your data — and your barriers are not as secure as you might think.

Before World War II, the Germans developed a technology that would prove to be a key player in the conflict: its family of infamous Enigma machines. These devices were composed primarily of a typewriter and a series of three or four rotors. German sol-diers would use the machine to encode vital messages to be sent covertly over the air-waves. The Germans were confident that the code could never be broken and used it for a vast array of top-secret communications.

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What Will You Do When Disaster Hits Your Business?

WE PRACTICALLY GUARANTEE IT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU

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Is Your Vacuum Cleaner Spying On You? Roomba is everyone’s favorite little robo vacuum cleaner that shuffles around the house all on its own. What you might not know is that Roomba has been mapping out rooms and col-lecting data since 2015. Now, the com-pany is looking to share those maps with Amazon, Apple, and Google.

Roomba has a few competitors, but they’ve focused on better cleaning, not spacial mapping. In 2015 iRobot added a camera, new sensors, and soft-ware that added the ability to map out a home and keep track of its own location. This enables Roomba to avoid knocking down lamps, bruising couch-

es, and damaging end tables. Roomba can also pause vacuuming, go to its dock to charge, and then head back to the same spot to finish. Smart little buggers.

At first glance, Roomba’s privacy policy seems clear. “You can control or stop the collection of usage data from your registered iRobot device, by disconnecting your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth from the app.” But some still have privacy concerns amidst the news that Roomba could look to sell data, a significant window into the lives of Roomba customers.

Chief Executive, Colin Angle states that he is “committed to the absolute privacy of our customer-related data… No data will be shared with third parties without the informed consent of our customers.” Right now, he emphasized, Roomba is focused on spacial mapping in order to “enable the Roomba to efficiently and effectively clean your home. In the future, with your permission, this information will enable the smart home and the devices within it to work better … But to be clear, this is only if you opt in…”

In the end, the popularity of smart assistants like Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod shows convenience trumps privacy every time. Just re-member that the Roomba knows what room your child is in, it’s the one where it bumps into all the toys on the floor.

Meet Chandler Kinsey at Ryan Capital Leasing Corporation. Chandler has been in business since 1988 providing leasing and financing solutions to thousands of

businesses across the country. Their tailored funding solutions have helped many RMS customers acquire the capital equipment necessary to operate their businesses. From competitive pricing to fast friendly service, Chandler would appreciate the opportunity to speak to you about your funding requirements. If you have questions about Ryan Capital programs, please feel free to give him a

call at (800) 541-6370.

Strategic Partnerships

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The code’s impenetrability didn’t last. The Polish decrypted the messages and shared these secrets with the British. A British code-breaking team constructed primi-tive computers that allowed them to decrypt the incredibly complicated German cipher system. After the capture of the U-110 warship and the seizure of its Enigma machine and codebooks, the British were able to glean information that shortened the war by two years, saving over 14 million lives.

Just like you, the Germans believed the systems they had put in place to defend their secrets were impene-trable. However, there were flaws in German procedure, mistakes made by Enigma operators, and failures to intro-duce changes into the Enigma formula that ultimately

allowed the Allies to crack the code once and for all. Take this as a cautionary tale: the most advanced, com-plex cryptography system in the world became obsolete within 10 years. The same goes for your potentially out-dated cyber security measures. You can bet criminals are constantly chipping away at the defenses of even the most powerful firewalls. Just look at the massive European cyber attack this past June, which infected computers from over 27 companies across the continent, including those of the largest oil company in Russia. The unimagi-nable cost of that attack is something you certainly don’t want your business to shoulder.

As technology evolves, so does crime. New threats arise each and every day. Essential solutions are available, but they are notably absent in older software developed at a time before these constantly morphing at-tacks even existed. Once the enemy has found a way to pick your lock, you need a new lock. Luckily, you have your trusty IT provider, constantly on the lookout for cut-ting-edge solutions that protect our clients from even the nastiest malware.

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Fancy a trip to the International Space Station? Now thanks to Google Street View, you can poke around the ISS from the comfort of your sofa.

Google worked with astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who spent six months on the ISS

as a flight engineer, to record the images that have been used to create the Street View tour of the space station. Pesquet says: “Because of the particular constraints of living and working in space, it wasn’t possible to collect Street View using Google’s usual methods.” He goes on to explain: “Instead, the Street View team worked with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to design a gravity-free method of collect-ing the imagery using DLSR cameras and equipment already on the ISS.”

The result is a pretty impressive experience when viewed in the browser: you can visit the cupola for a window out to the Earth, and float through the various modules. When you click on the Maps reference, the modules are located firmly on Earth rather than in space, but then it is called Google Earth – not Google Space.

Out Of This World…

Stre

et V

iew

Goe

s

Visit the International Space Station without leaving your house.

Business Disaster Continued…

RMS Associates, Inc.

1850 Lake Park Drive Suite 200 Smyrna, GA 30080 www.rmsatl.com Phone: 770.988.9640 Fax: 770.988.9695

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Services We Offer:

Cloud Solutions

Technology as a Service

Total Business Continuity Protection

Proactive Network Maintenance/Monitoring

Network Design & Implementation

Cyber Security

Help Desk

Hosted Phone Systems

Your RMSCare Package

We Would Love To Hear From YOU! If you have noticed an RMS associate going above and beyond the

ordinary for you either on-site or over the phone, please let us know

so we may reward them! Please e-mail me at rrowe@rmsatl.com.

Thanks!

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We’ve included a piece of gum in this month’s issue in honor of

National Chewing Gum Day!

Be safe and enjoy your Labor Day

weekends! September 30