Corporate, Enterprise & Healthcare Solutions

At AVLP, we recognize that your business will have its own individual way of working and will therefore need its own unique IT support and solutions. We provide personalized solutions to meet your corporate need. We try our best to provide that level of support to your company as if you had your own IT department. To ensure your productivity is our priority, we will work closely with you to optimize workflow throughout your office. Our approach to security is uncompromising. You can have peace of mind hiring us!


Our corporate IT solutions include:

And it doesn’t end there – with ever-changing technology, as well as hardware and software upgrades, you constantly have to plan ahead. The majority of businesses just don’t have the time or the resources to create the kind of comprehensive IT hosting services that AVLP can provide – nor would it make sense to try. Instead, those energies could be used to find new leads, grow sales and take on new endeavors.

Cybersecurity Awareness Training

A checklist of employee orientation and training for Cybersecurity for an organization - download the AVLP Cybersecurity Compliance Checklist

Pre-Employment Orientation:

Employee Orientation:

Ongoing Training:

By following this checklist, organizations can ensure that employees are properly oriented and trained to handle cybersecurity threats and protect sensitive information.


cybersecurity-awareness-training-for-employees-all-you-need-to-know
Financial Industries

FINANCIAL INDUTRIES         

The financial sector is made up of many different industries ranging from banks, investment houses, insurance companies, real estate brokers, consumer finance companies, mortgage lenders, and real estate investment trusts (REITs). 

Financial institutions are subjected to a level of regulatory burden and security compliance requirements that few other industries has to contend with. Since they’re a central target for attackers due to the money they move and the vast amounts of data they possess, they’ve become a central focus for regulators due to the danger to the global economy should one of them fall victim to a breach.



Compliance in Financial Services: Cybersecurity Laws and Regulations

Federal Trade Commission's enforcement of U.S. citizens financial privacy policy is built around the framework of seven key principles:

Financial Regulations and Compliance Requirements

A simplified regulatory checklist for financial institutions


Up-to-date Firmware, Operating System, Kernel, Security & Applications

Why bother updating?

Software runs the world. There was an estimated 230 billion app downloads in 2021 alone, up by over 63% since 2016. And it is claimed the average smartphone user has 40 separate apps installed. That is not to mention the other devices a company may be using: PCs and laptops, and other smart technology.

All of these applications need updating, as does the underlying operating system (OS), web browser and possibly firmware – a special type of software that hooks into device hardware. Multiply this across multiple machines and devices and those constant update pop-ups could understandably amount to a major productivity headache. But updates are essential for several reasons:

Software is written by humans. That means the underlying code is prone to human error. Sometimes these errors – known as software vulnerabilities, if not patched on a timely schedule – can be exploited by malicious hackers, who can then take advantage of these security flaws.

Such attacks can start with attempts to get people to click a malicious link, open an attachment in a message or lure them to specially crafted malicious websites. The end result can be remote code execution on vulnerable systems or malware downloaded to the device, which is designed to steal login information and any personal and financial data stored in the apps or on the device/PC.


That means threats such as:


Updates fix these vulnerability problems by upgrading your operating system and other software to the latest version, which “patches” the security issue in question.


Any shared computers at work that aren’t updated regularly could expose not just your accounts and personal and financial information to attackers, but also those of clienteles. Hackers may also hijack your email, messaging and accounts to send hidden malware to your contacts throughout the organization.


So, by keeping your devices and software on the most secure version, you’ll be doing your whole organization a favor, too.


Software updates don’t just keep your device secure. They are also issued to fix any performance issues the developers may have identified. So updating could help enhance your battery life, stop apps and other programs from crashing due to glitches, improve the speed at which pages load, and add a range of other functionality designed to make the user experience better.


Software developers also use updates to enable new features for their users.


AVLP insist that remote working employees use only corporate-owned devices, which will have their own update mechanisms. But some may allow staff to use their personal devices to connect to corporate networks and access business apps in the cloud. However, if these devices are not updated with the latest security definitions and codebase, there could be trouble.

An attacker could steal your corporate logins to access sensitive company data and systems. Or they could use the same access to infect the corporate network with malware. This could lead to a serious data breach or ransomware attack.

Through our innovation, research and developments, AVLP Team has come up with elegant, unobtrusive, yet powerful implementations of those Computer System (Windows) and Security updates. All our Windows 10 & 11 Systems come with fastest channel for security and protection database updates (happens in the background).



Encryption

While a financial institution’s defenses (implemented by AVLP) may prevent most attacks, encryption can provide an additional layer of security, making it more difficult for cybercriminals to steal data. For institutions computer systems AVLP implements a variation of device and disk encryptions depending on situations and susceptibility while maintaining excellent operational performance of the overall system.


Routers, Firewalls and Web Gateways

The minimum suggested requirements include:

Along those lines, when tasked with evaluating the effectiveness of a financial institution’s IT security, auditors will check that:

Banks and other organizations in the financial industry are also accountable under GLBA (The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) mandates for the deployment and ongoing maintenance of a firewall or anti-virus equivalent. 

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires financial institutions – companies that offer consumers financial products or services like loans, financial or investment advice, or insurance – to explain their information-sharing practices to their customers and to safeguard sensitive data.


Intrusion Detection

Financial institutions may use an intrusion detection system (IDS) to comply with their industries regulatory standards (when necessary), which calls for the use of “intrusion detection and/or intrusion prevention techniques to detect and/or prevent intrusions into the network.”

The firewall and IDS work together to prevent attacks. While the firewall works to prevent intrusions from outside the institution, the IDS monitors those that make it past the firewall for evidence of malicious intent. The deployment and ongoing maintenance of the IDS can help assess the types of connections a firewall blocks and what it finds permissible.


Logging and Data Collection

Under GLBA , all security event information must be logged and reviewed. The FFIEC also has guidelines in place for identifying specific log sources (including firewalls, IDS, and anti-spam) and analyzing them for potentially threatening network activity, as well as related procedures for incident response and reporting IOCs.


Required Policies and Processes

In accordance with GLBA, companies within the financial sector must establish and uphold security policies for incident reporting and response. In addition, any staff who process and/or stores GLBA data are expected to undergo annual security awareness training. These rules also apply to any third-party service provider handling GLBA data on behalf of another organization.

GLBA also requires timely patching for security updates. Similarly, AVLP requires the use of up-to-date security controls (like firewalls). Finally, FFIEC has guidelines that cover everything from end-of-life management for applications to version control and more.


Vendor Management

Since many financial institutions engage third parties to provide a broad range of products and services, many of the laws and regulations pertaining to information security require vendor due diligence. This is especially important because cybercriminals routinely exploit a third party’s weak security to gain access to the larger entities they serve.

In addition to conducting robust due diligence when onboarding a third party, institutions are also typically required to perform ongoing monitoring of the relationship.

While initial and ongoing due diligence can uncover potential weaknesses in a third party’s IT security program, it also sends a strong message to vendors regarding the priority a financial institution places on customer data security.


Other things to consider

To make matters easier for you and your institution, most AVLP managed and maintained devices and PCs today have automatic updates turned on by default. If for some reason yours doesn’t, a quick call to 307-223-2230 will connect you with one of our AVLP Team members to help set it up for you. Security always comes first with our service. Also consider:


Centralize Compliance Management - How AVLP can help

Companies in the financial sector must possess the ability to anticipate and respond to a broad range of threats while also taking steps to comply with increasingly onerous and complicated laws and regulations. That is where AVLP can help. Instead of creating and staffing an in-house IT & Security team from the ground up or attempting to identify, integrate, and train security personnel, get in touch with our team of security operations experts.

For more information and a list of actionable steps to take to enhance security at your organization, download our Financial Industry Cybersecurity Checklist and Guidelines (download).












HEALTHCARE INDUTRIES            

The healthcare sector consists of businesses that provide medical services, manufacture medical equipment or drugs, provide medical insurance, or otherwise facilitate the provision of healthcare to patients.

Healthcare Industries

HIPAA Compliance Checklist

HIPAA Compliance Checklist 2023 - download the AVLP HIPAA Compliance Checklist

If your organization is subject to the Administrative Simplification provisions of the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), it is recommended you review our 2023 HIPAA compliance checklist in order to ensure you comply with the provisions applicable to your organization´s operations.


Understanding HIPAA Compliance Checklist for Organizations

Our first HIPAA compliance checklist will help you determine whether or not your organization is subject to the Administrative Simplification provisions of HIPAA; and, if so, which provisions apply:


Is your organization the provider of an individual or group health plan, a health maintenance organization (HMO), an issuer of a Medicare supplemental policy, a federal or state-funded health program, a multi-employer welfare program, or a self-administered, employer-sponsored health plan with fifty or more plan members that pay the cost of medical care or medical items through insurance, reimbursement, or otherwise?

     or  ✘

Is your organization a health care clearinghouse, a billing service, a repricing company, a community health management information system, or a community health information system that processes – or facilitates the processing of – health information received from an entity in a nonstandard format into a standard transaction (or vice versa)?

    or  ✘

Are you, or is your organization a healthcare provider or pharmacy who furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care in the normal course of business – even if it is not the primary purpose of the organization – and who transmits health information in electronic form in connection with a transaction for which a HIPAA standard exists?

   or  ✘


If you have ticked any of the boxes in the above HIPAA compliance checklist for organizations, your organization is a Covered Entity and required to comply with the applicable Administrative Simplification provisions of the Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules.

Do you, or does your organization, create, receive, maintain, or transmit Protected Health Information – in any medium – in the fulfilment of a function, activity, or service for, or on behalf of a Covered Entity?

   or  ✘

Is your organization a health information organization, an e-prescribing gateway, or other organization that provides data transmission or data storage services with respect to Protected Health Information?

   or  ✘

Do you, or does your organization, provide subcontractor services for an organization of the types mentioned above that involve creating, receiving, maintaining, transmitting, using, or disclosing Protected Health Information?

   or  ✘

If you have ticked any of the boxes in the above HIPAA compliance checklist – and you have not already qualified as a Covered Entity – you or your organization are a Business Associate. As such, your organization must respect HIPAA requirements to comply with the applicable Administrative Simplification provisions of the Security and Breach Notification Rules and any Administrative Requirements or Privacy Rule provisions stipulated in a Business Associate Agreement.

If you have ticked none of the boxes in the above HIPAA compliance checklists, this does not necessarily mean you are not required to comply with some Administrative Simplification provisions of HIPAA. For example, vendors of personal health records (“PHRs”) and PHR-related entities are required to comply with the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule even though neither a Covered Entity nor a Business Associate.

HIPAA Privacy Rule Checklist

The following HIPAA Privacy Rule checklist should be regarded as a starting point for any subsequent HIPAA compliance checklist that may be more appropriate for your organization.


HIPAA IT compliance is more than simply implementing the Safeguards of the Security Rule. Often much more is required for IT departments to be HIPAA IT compliant. For example, as most PHI is now maintained on electronic systems, IT departments have to consider how best to respond to individuals exercising their rights to access, correct, and transfer PHI.

Consequently, IT departments may be responsible for determining what data is maintained in a designated record set, what happens to data excluded from the designated record set, how information collected orally or on paper is added to the designated record set, and how the process for accounting of disclosures is managed – all Privacy Rule issues.

Due to likely being involved in the transfer of ePHI to or from Business Associates, IT departments may need to be involved in the due diligence process and will likely be the first port of call in the event of a Business Associate security incident – so therefore may need to know which party will be responsible for complying with the breach notification requirements.

It is also possible that representatives from the IT department will be involved in selected health care operations in which PHI is used or disclosed permissibly (i.e., provider or health plan evaluations, fraud and abuse detection, business planning, etc.). Consequently, they may need to be aware of the Minimum Necessary Standards and rules concerning incidental disclosures.


Additional HIPAA IT Requirements

In addition to the above – and implementing the Safeguards of the Security Rule – additional HIPAA IT requirements may include updating existing security mechanisms to meet the requirements of a “recognized cybersecurity framework”, preparing legacy systems for migration to the cloud, and monitoring user activity.

Ultimately – once a recognized security framework in in place and legacy systems are migrated to the cloud – it may be possible to automate many monitoring tasks. However, due to the evolving nature of cyberthreats, it will not be possible to automate periodic risk assessments and analyses and may not be possible to adjust quickly to new forms of malware, ransomware, and phishing.

Additionally, cyberattacks are not the only things that are evolving. The healthcare and health insurance landscapes are also evolving with new rules and guidance frequently being issued by HHS´ Office for Civil Rights, CMS, and the FTC. Furthermore, it is not just federal laws that IT departments have to comply with, but state laws as well.


Bearing in mind the Security Rule´s “flexibility of approach”, that some smaller organizations will have limited resources, and that some larger organizations will have unique compliance challenges, there is no one-size-fits-all HIPAA IT compliance checklist. Nonetheless, here is a list of best practices that can help a typical IT department meet HIPAA IT requirements.


Security Risk Assessment Tool  --  from HealthIT.gov

HIPAA SECURITY CHECKLIST www.eset.com Things to know before you start a compliance initiative FOR HEALTHCARE   (click to download)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule requires that covered entities and its business associates conduct a risk assessment of their healthcare organization. A risk assessment helps your organization ensure it is compliant with HIPAA’s administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. A risk assessment also helps reveal areas where your organization’s protected health information (PHI) could be at risk. To learn more about the assessment process and how it benefits your organization, visit the Office for Civil Rights' official guidance.

What is the Security Risk Assessment Tool (SRA Tool)?

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), in collaboration with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), developed a downloadable Security Risk Assessment (SRA) Tool to help guide you through the process. The tool is designed to help healthcare providers conduct a security risk assessment as required by the HIPAA Security Rule and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program. The target audience of this tool is medium and small providers; thus, use of this tool may not be appropriate for larger organizations.

SRA Tool for Windows

The SRA Tool is a desktop application that walks users through the security risk assessment process using a simple, wizard-based approach. Users are guided through multiple-choice questions, threat and vulnerability assessments, and asset and vendor management. References and additional guidance are given along the way. Reports are available to save and print after the assessment is completed.

This application can be installed on computers running 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 7/8/10/11. All information entered into the tool is stored locally on the user's computer. HHS does not collect, view, store, or transmit any information entered into the SRA Tool.

Download Version 3.3 of the SRA Tool for Windows [.msi - 70.3 MB]

SRA Tool Excel Workbook

This version of the SRA Tool takes the same content from the Windows desktop application and presents it in a familiar spreadsheet format. The Excel Workbook contains conditional formatting and formulas to calculate and help identify risk in a similar fashion to the SRA Tool application. This version of the SRA Tool is intended to replace the legacy "Paper Version" and may be a good option for users who do not have access to Microsoft Windows or otherwise need more flexibility than is provided by the SRA Tool for Windows.

This workbook can be used on any computer using Microsoft Excel or another program capable of handling .xlsx files. Some features and formatting may only work in Excel.

Download Version 3.3 of the SRA Tool Excel Workbook [.xlsx - 128 KB]

SRA Tool User Guide

Download the SRA Tool User Guide for FAQs and details on how to install and use the SRA Tool application and SRA Tool Excel Workbook.

Download SRA Tool User Guide [.pdf - 6.4 MB].


LEGAL INDUTRIES      

The legal industry refers to the aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provide legal goods and services.

Legal Industries

Law Firm Data Security Compliance: Protecting the Confidentiality Of Personal Data

Law firms (Lawyers) constantly handle sensitive data that attracts hackers and malicious insiders. Every security breach leads to reputational losses, remediation costs, and penalties. That’s why cybersecurity at law firms is regulated by strict IT laws and requirements.

 

Complying with all necessary requirements and implementing protection measures that fit your organization is challenging. We overview the reasons for and types of security breaches in legal organizations and show you how to prevent them by implementing best practices for complying with IT requirements.


Security threats in the legal industry

Why is legal data under attack? 

The number of cybersecurity breaches in the legal industry has been growing for the past three years. According to the American Bar Association’s 2019 Legal Technology Survey Report, 26% of law firms report they’ve suffered from a breach at some point in their history. Another 19% say they don’t know whether their organization has been breached.

All of these incidents could have been mitigated with strong insider threat management and data protection tools. Deploying such tools is the demand of many cybersecurity regulations for law firms. 

Data protection compliance requirements to follow

What IT regulations should you follow?

Depending on your specialization, your law firm may work with various types of sensitive client information including personal, financial, and healthcare data. Each of these types of data is protected with security standards, laws, and regulations. Also, there are recommendations from key cybersecurity and legal organizations that law firms should follow.


Failure to comply with these cybersecurity compliance requirements may prove fatal for a law company. It can not only lead to legal trouble and investigations but can also damage the company’s reputation and cause a loss of clients. Let’s review key regulations, laws, and standards that apply to law firms.

US-based law firms have to follow the Model Rules of Professional Conduct developed by the American Bar Association — the biggest professional organization for lawyers in the US. The American Bar Association forms rules that make legal services ethical, efficient, and safe. Its Formal Opinions 477R and 483 describe mechanisms required to monitor for data breaches, implement security measures to stop them, notify clients of a breach, and remediate the damage of a breach. Both Formal Opinions oblige lawyers to “make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client.”

 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) established and maintains Special Publication 800-53, a complete set of cybersecurity practices and regulations for US federal agencies. Complying with these regulations is beneficial for all organizations: it verifies the effectiveness of implemented protection measures and provides a competitive advantage.

9 security best practices for data security compliance

Comply with regulations easily and effectively.

Improving cybersecurity controls may seem time-consuming and costly, but it’s still easier and safer than dealing with a security breach. That’s why it’s best to implement security practices, policies, and tools that help to detect and mitigate a breach before it happens.

 

For the legal industry, the set of required practices includes the following:

1. Perform background checks on new employees.

When hiring employees, the HR department has to check their backgrounds: previous employment, credentials, professional experience. Any difference between an employee’s resume and actual records may indicate dishonesty.

 

2. Identify sensitive data you store and process.

Law companies deal with tons of documents, and it’s impossible to ensure proper data protection before you detect which of those documents contain sensitive information. Such information includes: 

 

3. Encrypt sensitive data.

If a hacker or malicious insider obtains encrypted sensitive information, it will be impossible to read and use. To access such files, a user or server has to request access rights from a content owner (also a user or server). It’s best to encrypt data both at rest and in transit to ensure complex protection.

 

4. Verify user identities.

Hackers often steal user credentials to obtain elevated access rights. Also, employees may use shared accounts or colleagues’ profiles. Both cases present a security threat that can be mitigated with an identity verification tool such as two-factor authentication. It checks an additional factor (smartphone, biometric data) in addition to a password to positively authenticate a user.

 

5. Manage access granularly.

The idea of several access levels to corporate data is well-established in the legal industry. With digital data protection, it works the same way: security officers manage employees’ access to sensitive information and carefully adjust access level to the needs of each employee.

 

6. Deploy an activity monitoring solution.

A continuous user activity monitoring solution provides you with data on each action inside your protected perimeter. Such software deployed in a law firm monitors servers and endpoints, alerts security officers of suspicious user activity, records daily operations, and provides the means to review any security incident.


7. Pay special attention to privileged users.

Privileged users have access to an organization’s critical data and infrastructure, and thus pose a greater danger than ordinary users. That’s why privileged users in law firms need more severe data security measures: password management, manual access request approvals, personalized access rights, and more.

 

8. Control third-party actions.

Attacking an organization through a third-party vendor is a common attack vector. Subcontractors usually have elevated access rights in the client’s environment, but they don’t always pay attention to security. To avoid such incidents, check a vendor’s compliance with cybersecurity standards and enforce access management and activity monitoring.

 

9. Implement cybersecurity policies.

An incident response plan and insider threat protection program are essential security policies for a law firm to develop. They describe procedures for managing and mitigating threats, helping you keep security measures at a high level, avoid confusion during a breach, and reduce breach reaction times.

Need more security? 

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is an enterprise endpoint security platform designed to help enterprise networks prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats.

Defender for Endpoint uses the following combination of technology built into Windows 10 & 11 and Microsoft's robust cloud service:

Core Defender Vulnerability Management

Built-in core vulnerability management capabilities use a modern risk-based approach to the discovery, assessment, prioritization, and remediation of endpoint vulnerabilities and misconfigurations. To further enhance your ability to assess your security posture and reduce risk, a new Defender Vulnerability Management add-on for Plan 2 is available.

For more information on the different vulnerability management capabilities available to you, see Compare Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management offerings.

Attack surface reduction

The attack surface reduction set of capabilities provides the first line of defense in the stack. By ensuring configuration settings are properly set and exploit mitigation techniques are applied, the capabilities resist attacks and exploitation. This set of capabilities also includes network protection and web protection, which regulate access to malicious IP addresses, domains, and URLs.

Next-generation protection

To further reinforce the security perimeter of your network, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint uses next-generation protection designed to catch all types of emerging threats.


Endpoint detection and response

Endpoint detection and response capabilities are put in place to detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats that may have made it past the first two security pillars. Advanced hunting provides a query-based threat-hunting tool that lets you proactively find breaches and create custom detections.


Automated investigation and remediation

In conjunction with being able to quickly respond to advanced attacks, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers automatic investigation and remediation capabilities that help reduce the volume of alerts in minutes at scale.


Microsoft Secure Score for Devices

Defender for Endpoint includes Microsoft Secure Score for Devices to help you dynamically assess the security state of your enterprise network, identify unprotected systems, and take recommended actions to improve the overall security of your organization.


Microsoft Threat Experts

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's new managed threat hunting service provides proactive hunting, prioritization, and additional context and insights that further empower Security operation centers (SOCs) to identify and respond to threats quickly and accurately.

Microsoft Defender for Business

$7 / month

(Annual subscription–auto renews)

An easy-to-use standalone product that includes: 


Defender features:


Microsoft 365 Business Premium

$30 / month

(Annual subscription–auto renews)

A full-featured package to save time and keep you secure, Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes Microsoft Defender for Business, plus: 


Defender features:

Cybersecurity Resource and Reference Guide

This guide provides readily available and unclassified information pertaining to cybersecurity norms, best practices, security cooperation, policies and standards authored and adopted by the United States Government (USG), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and recognized international institutes and workforce development training resources provided by government, industry, and academia.

AVLP offers Complete, Round the Clock OT Security Solutions

What is Operational Technology (OT) Cybersecurity?

Operational technology (OT) cybersecurity references the software, hardware, practices, personnel, and services deployed to protect operational technology infrastructure, people, and data. 

Round the Clock OT Security Solutions
AVLP Enterprise Security

Supercharge your business dashboard with Power BI

What is Power BI?

Every AVLP Business PC comes with Power BI preinstalled

Power BI is a unified, scalable platform for self-service and enterprise business intelligence (BI). Connect to and visualize any data, and seamlessly infuse the visuals into the apps you use every day. 


Microsoft Power BI