As part of our effort to inform our clients about potential and serious cybersecurity issues, MCP provides advisories about vulnerabilities and exploits that could threaten the operations of their critical communications networks. Sign up to receive these advisories in your inbox as soon as they are released.
As part of our effort to inform our clients about potential and serious cybersecurity issues, MCP provides advisories about vulnerabilities and exploits that could threaten the operations of their critical communications networks. Sign up to receive these advisories in your inbox as soon as they are released.
This week, there is a new critical alert that requires the mission-critical community’s immediate attention.
Advisory Overview
The ransomware-as-a-service variant “Egregor” is spiking across the cybersecurity and information technology (IT) landscape after the shutdown of the notorious Maze ransomware campaign. Some major organizations have fallen victim to the malware, including Kmart, Cencosud (a retail giant in South America), Randstad NV (the world’s largest staffing company and owner of Monster.com), and Translink (Vancouver’s bus and rail transportation system).
The ransomware has been seen hijacking printers and repeatedly printing the ransom note. In the case of retail organizations, the ransom note has been printing on consumers’ receipts at checkout. Mission Critical Partners recommends deploying advanced endpoint protection to block ransomware pre-execution.
The term “baby boomer” applies to anyone born between 1946 and 1964. There have been a lot of us—according to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 73 million in total. And by 2030, all of the baby boomers will be 65 or older—which means that many are leaving the workforce. In fact, the Census Bureau estimates that about 10,000 people cross the age threshold every day. It further is estimated that about 365 Americans retire every hour. Consequently, every emergency communications center (ECC) needs to start planning now for the so-called “silver tsunami,” which promises to exacerbate the staffing shortages that many centers already are experiencing.
As part of our effort to inform our clients about potentially serious cybersecurity issues, MCP provides advisories about vulnerabilities and exploits that could threaten the operations of their critical communications networks. Sign up to receive these advisories in your inbox as soon as they are released.
Topics: Cybersecurity, Network Management, Fire and EMS, Healthcare
As we have previously discussed, emergency medical services (EMS) agencies are undergoing a seismic shift in the way they operate. While many of these changes can be directly attributed to the current landscape resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, some challenges facing agencies today are not new. One such challenge concerns the billing and reimbursement process.
Topics: Operations, Fire and EMS, Strategic Planning
Leadership has been defined by many people in many ways. A definition that I like goes like this: leadership is the ability to get people or organizations to do what they don’t naturally want to do, or to get them to do things that they don’t believe they can do.
At Mission Critical Partners, all of us are expected to “lead self,” i.e., to take ownership of one’s thoughts, actions and statements, while also having the discipline and drive necessary for meeting one’s responsibilities, both personally and professionally. But effective leaders understand that they can’t achieve their objectives by themselves. In other words, they need a team. And when leading a team, one’s mindset needs to shift from leading oneself to leading others. This is especially true for those working in the public safety sector.
To the average person, emergency medical services (EMS) always have looked the same, operating in the same way they always have—a 911 call is placed, an ambulance arrives, paramedics or emergency medical technicians (EMTs) assess the situation and provide pre-transport medical care, and the patient is transported to the hospital. What people don’t see are the changes occurring behind the scenes that already have begun to transform EMS delivery.
Topics: Operations, Fire and EMS
As part of our effort to inform our clients about potential and serious cybersecurity issues, MCP provides advisories about vulnerabilities and exploits that could threaten the operations of their mission-critical communications networks. Sign up to receive these advisories in your inbox as soon as they are released.
This week, there is a new critical alert that requires the mission-critical community’s immediate attention.
The average number of breached data records, including credentials, per U.S.-based company, is an astounding number—28,500.
As part of our ongoing effort to keep our clients informed about the latest cybersecurity threats, we issue advisories whenever new threats are detected. If you would like to receive such advisories in the future, update your preferences here.
A previous post examined some of the key technology factors that should be considered as the public safety community mulls how to evolve its communications capabilities going forward. This post explores operations, governance and funding considerations.
In a recent post, I touched upon some of the novel ways that the public safety community has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this post I’ll explore some of the most important lessons that have been learned.
First and foremost, all public safety agencies need continuity-of-operations (COOP) and disaster-recovery (DR) plans. We have roughly 150 subject-matter experts, and as they travel the country supporting clients, they often discover the complete lack of such plans and/or they come to realize that they haven’t been updated for quite some time. This always amazes me. Every agency should have such plans. As Benjamin Franklin said, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” While the pandemic has brought this need into sharp focus, there are many events—tornados, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, hazmat incidents—that could render an emergency communications center inoperable, inaccessible or uninhabitable.
How can we support your mission? From design and procurement to building and management, our national team of experts is here to help…because the mission matters.
A: 690 Grays Woods Blvd., Port Matilda, PA 16870
P: 888.862.7911
