PC Matic – Digital IT News

PC Matic Selected by NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to Demonstrate Zero Trust Architectures

Leigh Porter — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 19:48:01 +0000

PC Matic, announced it has been selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) to participate in their Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture Project.

A collaboration amongst many industry leaders in cybersecurity, PC Matic will join seventeen other companies to develop practical approaches to designing and implementing zero-trust architectures. The approaches designed by these organizations will result in a cybersecurity practice guide published by the NCCoE for government and enterprise organizations who seek to implement a zero-trust architecture.

“Since inception, PC Matic has utilized a zero-trust approach to stop malicious cyber threats such as ransomware,” said PC Matic CEO Rob Cheng. “Understanding just how effective this framework has been for our own customers, we are very grateful to the NCCoE for the opportunity to contribute to this project. We look forward to working together with the NCCoE and our other project partners to showcase the capabilities of and implementation strategies for zero trust architectures.”

Through its engagement in the project, PC Matic will assist the NCCoE in achieving the program’s objectives:

Demonstrate an example implementation(s) of a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), using commercially available technology components designed and deployed according to the zero trust concepts and tenets described in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-207, Zero Trust Architecture.
Demonstrate various types of user access to enterprise resources (e.g., data sources, computing services, and IoT devices) spread across boundaries, from on premises to multiple cloud environments, all confined by policy based security constraints orchestrated by leveraging zero trust principles and approaches.
Publish a NIST Cybersecurity Practice Guide, a publicly available description of the practical steps needed to implement a cybersecurity reference design that addresses this challenge.

“Implementing a zero-trust architecture has become a federal cybersecurity mandate and a business imperative,” said Natalia Martin, Acting Director of the NCCoE. “We are excited to work with industry demonstrating various approaches to implementing a zero-trust architecture using a diverse mix of vendor products and capabilities, and share ‘how to’ guidance and lessons learned from the experience.”

In response to an open call in the Federal Register, PC Matic submitted its capabilities as it relates to the Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture Project. Following such submission, PC Matic was invited to sign a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), allowing them to participate in this project.

More information on the project may be found here.

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PC Matic Survey: 20% of Employers Never Require Employees to Change Passwords

Leigh Porter — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 20:52:45 +0000

PC Matic, announced the release of its third annual report analyzing users and their password habits and hygiene. The report found that nearly 30% of Americans aren’t sure when they last changed their passwords, or never have at all. The survey also revealed lax corporate passwords, finding that nearly a fifth of employers nationwide never require their employees to change their passwords.

The sixteen-page report presents the results of a nationally distributed survey by which 2,500 Americans were asked about their password behaviors and tendencies. The findings, fielded in May 2021, found that nearly 30% of Americans aren’t sure when they last changed their passwords, or never have at all. The survey also revealed lax corporate password policies, finding that nearly a fifth of employers nationwide never require their employees to change their passwords.

More key findings from the report are as follows:

Nearly 60% of those surveys responded that they have never changed their home Wi-Fi password, or that it hasn’t been changed since setup. In 2020, 50% of those surveys responded in this same manner.
40% of respondents indicated that they are using the password lockout feature on both their work and home computers. This number is up from 25% responding that they used this feature in 2020’s survey results.
Just shy of 45% of employers don’t require their employees to utilize a Virtual Private Network (VPN). 2020’s survey results showed just a slightly higher number of respondent’s employers requiring a VPN, with 46% affirming they were required to use the security tool.
More than 50% of respondents admit to checking personal e-mail accounts at work. This number remains virtually unchanged from 2020’s survey results, and still presents an imminent threat to corporate networks.

“As employees’ transition from work-from-home to in-office work environments again, it is the perfect time implement password policies and procedures that can keep employees and corporate networks safe,” said Rob Cheng, CEO and Founder of PC Matic. “The 2021 Password Habits and Hygiene Report aimed to understand the policies and procedures being implemented and abided by users across the nation and provides further insight into how corporate IT professionals can protect networks from cybercriminals.”

More findings and the complete report may be found here.

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Majority of Americans Not Confident in U.S. Government’s Cybersecurity Preparedness Says PC Matic Survey

Leigh Porter — Wed, 05 May 2021 15:35:07 +0000

American cybersecurity firm, PC Matic, released the findings of a public opinion survey which sought to understand public opinion of cybersecurity as it relates to state and federal government preparedness and practices.

In a recent study conducted by cybersecurity firm, PC Matic, 57% of Americans responded that they do not believe the United States Federal Government is prepared to defend itself from cyber threats

The report, entitled “Americans on Cybersecurity,” presents the results of a nationally distributed survey by which nearly 1,400 Americans, representing all 50 states, responded. The findings, which were gathered in March 2021, signal that a majority of Americans lack confidence in government institutions and their abilities to defend themselves from cyber-threats.

Key findings from the report are as follows:

57% of Americans responded that they do not believe the United States Federal Government is prepared to defend itself from cyber threats
Nearly 61% of Americans believe the federal government should be doing more to protect American citizens from cyber threats
46% of IT professionals lack confidence in the United States Government’s ability to defend itself against a cyber attack
Just over 40% of Americans would like to see the United States Congress pass cybersecurity-related legislation
Only a quarter of Americans believe Congress needs to allocate more funding to preventing cybersecurity attacks

“It is imperative that Americans have confidence in their government’s ability to defend itself against cyber threats,” said Rob Cheng, CEO and Founder of PC Matic. “Cybersecurity is the most imminent threat to our national security, and considering the findings of this survey, it’s important systems be reworked to provide better security and to instill more confidence from the public.”

More results and the full report may be found here.

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PC Matic Survey Finds One Year After Onset of COVID-19 Pandemic, Employer Work from Home Cybersecurity Practices Remain Inadequate

Leigh Porter — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 23:42:26 +0000

American cybersecurity firm, PC Matic, announced the release of its second annual report analyzing trends between cybersecurity and employees who are working from home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

A follow up to research released by the firm in May 2020, the eleven-page report bears the name COVID-19: Cybersecurity in the Remote Workforce and presents the results of a nationally distributed survey by which nearly 6,000 individuals responded. The findings, gathered in March 2021, indicate that nearly one year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 35% of Americans are still working from home. This, all while ransomware attacks, many of which were successfully executed by targeting remote workers, saw a near 435% increase last year.

Key findings from the report are as follows:

Nearly half of employers continue to fall short on providing remote workers with technical assistance. In 2020, 47% of respondents indicated they were not receiving technical assistance from their employer. In 2021, this number ticked up slightly to 49% of remote workers responding that they were not receiving technical assistance from their employer.
Six of every ten remote workers are using a personal device for work purposes. Nearly 62% of remote workers in both 2020 and 2021 indicated that their employer didn’t issue a device (computer, tablet, etc.) for work purposes, and instead required they use their personal devices.
Less than ten percent of respondents were provided an antivirus software solution for the personal device they use for work purposes. In 2020, 7% of respondents who use their personal devices for work purposes responded that their employer provided them with an antivirus solution. In 2021, 9% responded in the same manner.

“Work from home is here to stay,” said Rob Cheng, CEO and Founder of PC Matic. “As threat-actors continue to target remote workers, and as the number of ransomware attacks continues to surge, it is imperative that employers take these threats seriously. The time is now to educate employees of the risks and to invest in proactive solutions designed to thwart these modern-day threats.”

More findings and the complete report may be found here.

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PC Matic Launches New User Interface

Taylor Graham — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 15:20:59 +0000

American cybersecurity firm, PC Matic, announced and released PC Matic 4.0, a next generation user interface for its home cybersecurity solution.

PC Matic 4.0 delivers a more dependable and accessible cybersecurity solution to users via an entirely refreshed user interface and a host of performance enhancements. Released worldwide to new and existing customers, PC Matic 4.0 features updates such as:

A larger and more expansive user interface
Updated maintenance statistics that make it easier for users to understand what PC Matic has done on their device (malware removed, vulnerabilities patched, drivers updated, etc.)
An easier to use and more conveniently placed scan feature
Simplified, one-click access to PC Matic’s customer support team
Enhanced navigation features which streamline the customer’s ability to utilize the product

“Our customers and their experience are our top priority,” said Rob Cheng, CEO and Founder of PC Matic. “These product enhancements, paired with our cutting-edge technology, are part of our ongoing commitment to best-serving and protecting our users from cyber threats that continue to evolve in complexity and frequency every day.”

More information on PC Matic 4.0 may be found at www.pcmatic.com.

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