New Cybersecurity Regulation in New York

December 20, 2018 Leave a Comment

Cybersecurity professionals are under constant pressure to protect the organization’s IT systems from attacks and vulnerabilities. Top-level executives demand breach-free infrastructures, while the market emphasizes privacy and security. If that weren’t enough, states are now implementing tougher cybersecurity regulations that add to the pressure.

New York Cybersecurity Regulation

Greensfelder Hemker & Gale PC, a law firm based in St. Louis, MO, provides excellent analysis of “Cybersecurity Requirements For Financial Services Companies,” the new cybersecurity regulation in New York state, which took effect on March 1, 2017.

To mitigate the loss of sensitive electronic data, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) set minimum regulatory information security standards.

All New York financial companies with more than 10 employees must abide by this new cybersecurity regulation by August 28^th, 2017. Within this short deadline, companies are required to meet three detailed cybersecurity criteria:

The organization must have a cybersecurity program
This program must maintain specific cybersecurity policies pertaining to the periodic risk assessment
The company must conduct a minimum of 2 vulnerability assessments per year

Similarly, recent regulation rulings in Colorado and Vermont also require financial firms to have annual cyber risk assessments and implement certain cybersecurity procedures.

To ensure the policies and programs are not overlooked, the regulation also requires these organizations to appoint a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to implement and manage the cybersecurity program.

What this Regulation Means

The state of New York, where so many key financial firms are headquartered, wants the financial firms doing business within the state to make information security more than a mere paper shuffle. Firms are required to not only hire cybersecurity teams, they must also perform risk assessments and then formulate strategies to address any vulnerabilities and protect sensitive client data.

While this may sound like common sense, many organizations have only paid lip service to cybersecurity up to this point, a policy that becomes riskier every day. The stakes are too high and the threats to security are too many to shrug off the responsibility of protecting one’s enterprise from a data breach.

To learn more about cybersecurity and how our product, EAGLE6, detects vulnerabilities before they expose your enterprise to risk, click here.

The Evolution of Software Development through the Decades

December 19, 2018 Leave a Comment

Software has come a long way since the first programs were written for World War II era computers the size of a food truck. As the rate of innovation threatens to shatter Moore’s law, it’s good to take a look back and remember the breakthroughs that got us to today.

How Experienced IT Support Sparks Innovation

December 19, 2018 Leave a Comment

As information technology evolves and expands into new spaces, the definition of IT support evolves with it, requiring administrators and other staff to keep up with the dizzying rate of change through the constant addition of new skills. To fall behind is to expose the organization to a host of problems, from crashes to cyber threats.

The U.S. Army Marketing and Research Group (AMRG) saw this challenge when they wanted to reach more potential recruits and engage them at a deeper level. They turned to Rivera Group’s experienced team of software developers and media specialists to manage the change to their systems, create more relevant content and maintain their cybersecurity posture as they achieved this goal.

Managing Change

AMRG wanted to upgrade their website, GoArmy.com, to create a better user-experience that was easier to navigate and more appealing to their target audience. Rivera Group stepped in to manage the maintenance and small-to-large project updates on a daily basis. For these cases, our experience allowed us to work quickly and accurately, which were critical to AMRG’s success.

Rivera Group also provided guidance on the technical requirements for all external projects, and our historical knowledge assisted in ARMG’s IT decision-making process. For large projects requiring multiple organizations, our team continues to coordinate with the other parties, offering technical support to keep AMRG’s online presence running smoothly.

Staying ahead of change is difficult, which is why a highly skilled IT staff is critical to meeting mission goals.

Creating Content

It’s not enough just to have an online presence—to succeed with a content marketing strategy, AMRG knew they had to create content that was relevant to their targets, and not only that, it had to find its way to them through relevant social media channels.

Rivera Group’s technical writers perform in-depth research to develop captivating content for the specific audience the Army wants to reach. Then, they adapt this content for the GoArmy.com website and the Army’s social sites like Facebook and Twitter. Our team of web designers, videographers and graphic specialists design and create engaging images, videos and web page layouts for the client’s website updates and PR material. To meet the Army’s branding standards, Rivera Group develops content plans for AMRG’s current and future project development, focusing on a web experience that engages users through multimedia content like videos and graphics.

With increasingly high amounts of traffic and clutter on the internet, earning attention is difficult, but having an experienced partner like Rivera Group makes it much easier to produce content that not only captures your targets’ attention but keeps them engaged.

Maintaining Cybersecurity

Recent high-profile hacking crimes have underscored just how high the stakes are when it comes to cybersecurity. Wanting to stay ahead of this disturbing trend, the Army recently launched a project called Hack the Army, where they tested their cyber defenses by offering incentives to anyone who hacks their computer systems. The projected resulted in the discovery of 122 vulnerabilities, of which 39 were assigned to Rivera Group to address.

The Rivera Group team managed to correct 94% of the assigned issues before the end of the given timeframe. Compared to the other IT service providers working on this same project, our team corrected the largest number of vulnerabilities in the quickest timespan.

It’s impossible to predict every possible cyber attack, which is why you want to have a team of experts who have the know-how to work quickly to diagnose the problem and get your systems back up and running.

Make the Most of Change in IT

Today, AMRG reaches more people with content that communicates the benefits of the Army in a more impactful way. This was made possible by being able to move quickly to make changes, to develop meaningful content that hit its mark and to defend the cyber posture of GoArmy.com.

How would you benefit from an improved IT infrastructure, online presence and more secure cyber posture? Take a look at what our IT experts can do for you. To learn more about how you can benefit from our experience leave a comment below or contact us directly.

How You Win More Contracts with SDVOSB

December 19, 2018 Leave a Comment

On average, $4.65 billion in contracts is awarded to Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) per year. With our deep roots in the U.S. military, Rivera Group is honored to be certified as an SDVOSB. Being an SDVOSB provides several significant benefits for three major players – government agencies, future contract partners and Rivera Group.

What is an SDVOSB?

To begin, an SDVOSB is characterized as a company that is owned by one or more veterans who were injured or disabled during their military service. Along with the necessary documentation, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has four requirements that must be met for verification.

Be classified as a small business by the Small Business Administration (SBA)
Be at least 51% owned by one or more Service-Disabled Veterans (SDV) who control management and daily business operations
The SDV must hold the highest officer position at the company
The company must be assigned to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

Government Agencies Meet Contracting Goals

Since the majority of Americans work for small businesses, the Federal Government has set various goals for small business participation in government contracting. By having a certain percentage of total procurement go to varying types of small businesses, the government is able to support these disadvantaged companies.

An SDVOSB Procurement Program was developed to allow contracting officers to award firms – like Rivera Group – a sole source or set-aside contract to reduce competition. From this, a required 3% minimum of the total prime contract awards must go to SDVOSB companies.

Additionally, set-aside requirements are placed on contracts based on the value of the goods and services the government wants to purchase. For example, any contract under $150,000 must be set-aside exclusively for small businesses. Also, any contract over that limit will go to a small business if there are two or more qualified, competing small businesses with similar market price, quality, and delivery, which is known as the Rule of Two.

Although total procurement spending has decreased, the amount of contracts going specifically to SDVOSB companies and partnerships is rising.

Ultimately, government agencies prefer to award their contracts to SDVOSB companies to meet their contracting goals and small business quotas. This results in a higher number of SDVOSBs being chosen for prime contract and subcontract awards.

Potential Partners Increase Contract Wins

Partnering with an SDVOSB like Rivera Group for a Request for Proposal (RFP) dramatically increases your chance to win contract awards.

Since many RFPs contain set-aside requirements that allow only small businesses to respond as the prime contractor, a partnership with an SDVOSB would let you submit your company for the contract award, limit the competition available and strengthen your likelihood for success.

From the viewpoint of government agencies, these partnerships are also more desirable since companies can use their unique capabilities to offer the best combination of performance, cost, and delivery.

In short, you’re more likely to win a contract with Rivera Group as the prime or subcontractor since many RFP opportunities require a small business. As a result, this restricts the pool of possible competitors, and it allows the two companies to share the risk of the project.

Rivera Group Receives More Contract Opportunities

Being an SDVOSB company offers many advantages for Rivera Group. First, some agencies favor companies with the SDVOSB status. The VA, for example, sets a priority for SDVOSBs, which means that each set-aside or sole source contract created by the VA goes directly to a qualified SDVOSB.

In addition, DoD contracting officers tend to prefer SDVOSB companies since the SDV better understands the military’s need for security risk reduction. Our company utilizes our extensive experience with the U.S. military to gain a greater understanding of the contract’s requirements and how to accomplish the contract’s objectives.

There are not many companies, especially in the IT industry, that are SDVOSB certified. This presents Rivera Group with ample opportunities for sole source and set-aside contracts. Plus, having this status provides a higher possibility of winning contract awards due to the government procurement quotas and preferences.

What to do Now

For your next RFP, choosing to partner with an SDVOSB company will greatly improve your chance of winning the contract award.

If you’re looking for an SDVOSB IT services contractor, try using a prime contract vehicle with preapproved small businesses including GSA 8(a) STARS II, GSA Schedule 70 and US Army CECOM SEC NEXGEN. To learn the benefits of using these contract vehicles, take a look at our GSA 8(a) STARS II blog post.

If you want to know more about SDVOSB certification or how Rivera Group can help you with your next contract, leave us a comment below or contact us.