Answers to the most common IT questions.

A vCISO, or virtual Chief Information Security Officer, is a senior-level cybersecurity expert who offers strategic guidance and oversight for an organization's information security program. This role is typically performed remotely or on a part-time basis. Essentially, a vCISO acts as a highly experienced cybersecurity architect for your business.

A regular CISO is an internal employee, while a vCISO is an external consultant working remotely on a contractual basis. A virtual chief information security officer or vCISO is an external information administrator who plans, manages, implements, maintains, develops, and communicates security programs.

The three types include Strategic CISO, Technical CISO, and Business Information Security Officer. 1. Strategic CISO Focus: Long-term vision and integration of security into the overall business strategy. 2. Technical CISO Focus: In-depth technical aspects of information security. 3. Business Information Security Officer (BISO) Focus: Bridging the gap between business units and the security function.

Virtual CISOs offer real benefits for SMBs, from reduced costs to scalability, improved risk management and strategy development. Opting for expertise on-demand can help small businesses keep pace and stay profitable across evolving global markets while maintaining compliance standards.

BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device, is a corporate IT policy that outlines the conditions under which employees, contractors, and other authorized users can use their personal devices—such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets—on the company network. A BYOD policy helps your business harness the benefits of personal device usage while maintaining control over data security and regulatory compliance. It supports a modern, flexible, and efficient work environment that can adapt to the evolving needs of your workforce.

This policy governs how these personal devices can access corporate data and applications to perform work-related tasks. BYOD aims to balance security and convenience, enabling users to use their preferred devices while ensuring that corporate information remains protected. It establishes guidelines for device compatibility, security measures, data access protocols, and user responsibilities, thereby facilitating a secure and efficient integration of personal devices into the corporate environment.

Enhanced Security: A BYOD policy establishes clear guidelines for device usage, ensuring that personal devices meet security standards. This helps protect sensitive corporate data from potential breaches or unauthorized access. Increased Productivity: Allowing employees to use their own devices can lead to increased productivity and job satisfaction. Employees are often more comfortable and efficient using familiar devices, which can streamline workflows and improve overall performance. Cost Savings: A BYOD policy can reduce the need for the company to provide and maintain a large inventory of devices. This can lead to significant cost savings on hardware purchases, maintenance, and IT support. Flexibility and Mobility: BYOD policies support a flexible work environment, enabling employees to work remotely or on-the-go. This can enhance work-life balance and ensure business continuity in various situations, such as during travel or unexpected events. Regulatory Compliance: A well-defined BYOD policy helps ensure that the company complies with relevant regulations and industry standards. It provides a framework for managing data access and handling, which is crucial for regulatory compliance and avoiding legal issues. Clear Expectations and Accountability: By establishing a BYOD policy, the company sets clear expectations for device usage, data security, and employee responsibilities. This reduces the risk of misunderstandings and ensures that employees are accountable for their actions. Efficient IT Management: A BYOD policy aids the IT department in managing and supporting a diverse range of devices. It provides guidelines for device compatibility, support protocols, and security measures, making it easier to manage the IT infrastructure.

Absolutely. Cybersecurity is what we do best! In order to keep our clients secure, we will write these policies specifically for your business, implement them for you and keep them up to date.

A cybersecurity risk assessment is a thorough evaluation that identifies vulnerabilities in your company's IT systems, ensuring protection against ransomware, hackers, and other cyber threats. It monitors the Dark Web for compromised credentials, checks the effectiveness of backups, tests employee phishing awareness, and ensures compliance with regulations. If issues are found, a remediation plan is proposed. This assessment provides an unbiased review of your security posture, offering actionable insights to safeguard your business against cyber-attacks.

• Assessing vulnerability to potential hacking attempts on critical resources like bank accounts and email. • Evaluating susceptibility to Executive Spear Phishing attacks. • Reviewing the effectiveness of current antivirus and firewall products against contemporary attack methods. • Determining the adequacy of cyber security insurance coverage based on existing protections. • Analyzing the readiness of resources, tools, and teams to protect company data and IT systems. • Assessing compliance with recent regulations like the Cyber Incident Reporting For Critical Infrastructure Act. • Identifying potential risks of credential exposure on the Dark Web. • Ensuring robust security measures against a spectrum of cyber threats, including viruses, worms, and insider sabotage. • Aligning with security guidelines such as CIS v8 controls and NIST 800-171. • Developing a comprehensive plan to prepare for and respond to hacker attacks. • Testing employee awareness and readiness to identify phishing emails. • Ensuring compliance with industry regulations like HIPAA, GLBA, and SOX while maintaining data integrity.

We will confidentially present you with a detailed report of any vulnerabilities, compliance issues, or any other problems that we might find. We will compile an action plan best suited to your business that will remediate the situation. We can implement the solutions for you or provide assistance to your internal IT team from start to finish.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA), also known as two-factor authentication (2FA), is a security mechanism that requires users to provide multiple forms of verification to access an account or system. This adds an extra layer of security beyond traditional username and password authentication.

1. User initiates login: The user attempts to log in to an account or system by providing their username and password as usual. 2. Additional verification requested: After entering their credentials, the user is prompted to provide an additional form of verification. This could be in the form of a one-time code sent via SMS or email, a push notification to a mobile app, or a code generated by an authenticator app. 3. Authentication completed: Once the user provides the required additional verification, the authentication process is completed, and access to the account or system is granted. The combination of multiple verification factors significantly enhances security compared to relying solely on passwords. Even if a hacker manages to obtain a user's password through methods like phishing or credential stuffing, they would still need access to the additional factor to successfully authenticate.

1. Something You Know: This factor involves information that only the user should know, such as a password or a personal identification number (PIN). 2. Something You Have: This factor requires possession of a physical device or token, such as a smartphone, security key, or smart card. The user must physically possess this item to complete the authentication process. 3. Something You Are: This factor relies on biometric characteristics unique to the user, such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or iris scans. Biometric authentication verifies the user's identity based on physiological or behavioral traits.

IoT or Internet of Things refers to devices with software, sensors, processing ability and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices over the internet. These devices include: smart phones, appliances, printers, security cameras, healthcare monitors, remote entry door locks, interactive learning systems and even some smart farming equipment just to name a few.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) - machine learning, natural language processing, neural networks Blockchain Technology -Cryptocurrencies, supply chain management, voting systems Quantum Computing - Superposition, quantum algorithms, quantum bits Big Data Analytics - Data mining, data visualization, predictive analytics Nanotechnology - Nanomedicine, nanomaterials, nanoelectronics Mobile Applications - Social networking, gaming apps E-Commerce Platforms - Online marketplaces, digital payments Business Intelligence Tools (BI) - Data visualization, interactive dashboards Autonomous Systems - Unmanned vehicles, drones, autonomous machines And a few others: Data science, Social Media Tech, Green Tech, Wearable Tech, 3D Printing, Edge Computing, Smart Cities, Artificial General Intelligence, Genetic Engineering, 5G Tech, Robotics and Automation, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality... just to name a few.

Companies use various information systems to manage and streamline their operations. Despite their diversity, most information systems share several fundamental components. These basic elements include: Hardware: This encompasses all the physical components that enable data access and communication, such as desktop computers, smartphones, routers, printers, flash drives, and modems. Software: These are the programs and applications that run on the hardware to perform various tasks. Processes: This includes the range of practices and procedures that companies implement to manage their information systems. Network Communications: Networks facilitate communication between all components of an information system. Data: This broad category includes all the information stored and processed within the system. Personnel: These are the individuals who access, use, and maintain the information system on a daily basis.

Turn Key Solutions was founded in 1999 in Baton Rouge, LA by Harold Robinson and Henry Overton. It all started with one small idea that turned into an amazing vision: To not only provide technology product solutions for businesses, but to SUPPORT the people behind the technology that does NOT stop at point of sale. We are now a full service Managed Services Provider with 3 physical office locations (Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Dallas) but we service the entire US with 18+ full time employees and growing.

Our large client roster consist of medical offices and facilities, manufacturing, city and state government, industrial, construction, law and finance. We provide support and services for businesses of all sizes. Our smaller clients have 15+ employees and our larger clients average 150-200+ employees.

Level 1: This is the very basic level of support for handling issues like password resets, software installs, printer issues and basic troubleshooting. Level 2: Provides more advanced technical assistance to end-users who require more in depth troubleshooting by a more experienced technician. Level 3: Tier 3 support consisting of experts who are well accomplished and extensively trained to handle the most complex of issues. Level 4: Tier 4 support is the highest level of IT support, consisting of Subject Matter Experts who are well accomplished and certified. They handle the most complex issues that require extensive technical knowledge or product expertise.

Our longest running client has been a partner of TKS for over 19 years. Our average client has been with us for 11+ years. We have 5 employees that have been with us for over 15 years. Our current employees have been with us for an average of 9+ years.

We answer our phones live 24x7, even on holidays and after hours. Our service level objective for getting a technician working on non-emergencies is 8 hours and for emergencies it is 2 hours. However, our actual historical average response time for non-emergencies is 1.4 hours and for emergencies it is just a few minutes (around 6 minutes to be exact). We RESOLVE non-emergency service request in less than 4 hours (3.6 hours on average). We RESOLVE emergency service tickets in less than an hour (38 minutes on average).

We provide over 100 services including Managed Services, Full Managed Cyber Security, Managed Compliance for 11+ frameworks and standards, Voice over IP Phone & Communications Services, Cloud Server and Data Hosting, Private Server Colocation, Cybersecurity Awareness Training & Testing, Firewalls & Infrastructure as a Service, Hardware As A Service, Backup & Disaster Recovery services, Hardware Inventory Reconciliation, Cyber Insurance Liability & Coverage Audits, Policy & Procedure Reviews, Vulnerability Management & Monitoring, and so much more.

Yes. We offer everything from emergency project work to small one off jobs that require specific knowledge from one of our experts. We can typically start working on emergency project tickets within hours or can usually be on-site within 40 miles of our home office the same day.

This depends on your use case & needs. Are you looking into HCI to replace your existing traditional virtualized or physical server? If so, we typically see that companies with a minimum of 5 virtualized server operating systems should consider HCI. Companies with more than 15 virtualized servers are almost always going to benefit from HCI. Are you looking into HCI to add edge computing, more flexibility or disaster recovery capabilities? Do you have a Storage Array Network that needs to be replaced? Have you received a VMWare license renewal quote that is a lot more than it used to be? Then HCI is definitely going to be a compelling alternative. We see clients in these situations saving between 25% and 50% by implementing or migrating to an HCI solution.

HCI solutions replace the need for physical server modules, hypervisors, Storage Array Networks and the Fibre Channel and Ethernet switches used to connect them all. As such, the virtualized Windows or Linux operating systems (OS) that run on an HCI environment will connect to other servers or systems in your environment just like any other OS.

Many manufacturers are selling Hyperconverged Infrastructure solutions. Turn Key Solutions has worked for many years with Scale Computing (https://www.scalecomputing.com/) as our preferred HCI partner.

We use a simple, tested and painless process to confirm exactly what you need and get our clients a very accurate quote. Step 1: Learning & Q&A: We’ll take the time to learn about your business and your needs and answer all your questions. Step 2: Fact-based Audit: When you’re ready we deploy a tool into your environment to determine exactly what your CPU, RAM, disk and network throughput and specification needs are. Then we custom engineer a solution that builds in the failover, growth and flexibility options that your business needs are. The biggest benefit of this process are that we can very accurately quote you exactly what you need.

Assess their knowledge and track record in handling network security threats and mitigating breaches.

Look for network & cybersecurity certifications such as CISSP or CompTIA to start.

Speak to clients who already work with the IT provider to get feedback on their delivery and performance.

Ask about their security measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, data encryption, and regular security audits.

Ensure they conduct thorough background checks on their technical team employees with access to your network to guarantee trustworthiness.

Ask about their response time in addressing issues and what level of support they provide during business hours vs. after hours.

Discuss their data backup and storage practices to ensure your critical information is safely stored and can be recovered if needed.

Ask about their procedures for handling data loss or system downtime and how quickly they can restore your network in the event of a disaster.

Ask how often they sit down with you to discuss how to help you manage risks and align your business goals with technology.

Discuss their approach to data privacy and confidentially to ensure they comply with regulations and protect your sensitive information.