Network security becomes firm’s primary tech focus

BEST DEFENSE: Secure Future Tech Solutions President Eric M. Shorr decided in February that the firm’s old name, PC Troubleshooters, no longer fit its focus. “We’re protecting our clients’ futures by making sure they have a secure network, good backups and reliable systems,” said Shorr, above right, with bench technician Scott Robinson. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
BEST DEFENSE: Secure Future Tech Solutions President Eric M. Shorr decided in February that the firm’s old name, PC Troubleshooters, no longer fit its focus. “We’re protecting our clients’ futures by making sure they have a secure network, good backups and reliable systems,” said Shorr, above right, with bench technician Scott Robinson. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Four of Secure Future Tech Solutions’ business clients were attacked within a month this fall by CryptoWall – malware that appropriates computer data and tries to extort a ransom for it, said company President Eric M. Shorr.
All four businesses, already clients of the Warwick firm, had strong firewalls, antivirus and backup protection and were able to recover the data without having to submit to the ransom, Shorr said.
“You’re in a tough spot because if you don’t have a good backup, then you have a tough decision to make: Am I OK with losing the files or should I pay the ransom and get my files back,” Shorr said.
Security services are key to the 22-year-old business, so much so that in February Shorr incorporated the concept of a “secure future” into the company name. Before then, the firm had been known as PC Troubleshooters, and had built its reputation on providing “break and fix” repair services.
“Security is vital in this day and age,” Shorr said. “We are working to secure our clients’ networks and their futures, because if you don’t have a properly functioning network, there is no future for you. Very few businesses today can survive a catastrophic data loss or breach, so we’re protecting our clients’ futures by making sure they have a secure network, good backups and reliable systems.”
In the case of the CryptoWall, the malicious software’s attempt to gain access to business data is just the latest of many such attacks, Shorr said. With CryptoWall, all a vulnerable worker has to do is click on an email link, and the malware will connect to the computer, run behind the scenes, encrypting files, and then demand a ransom for those files, he explained.
“A lot of small businesses lack security,” Shorr said. “They’re considered low-hanging fruit. It’s easy to get in and compromise their networks and data. Every week, we have a company with some kind of security issue.”
The company has about 100 managed-services accounts under contract, and a couple of hundred accounts for firms that seek its services on an as-needed basis, he said.
Shorr started the company while still in his junior year majoring in political science at the University of Rhode Island. As a sophomore, he gained experience working at URI’s administrative computer center, where he maintained networks for administrators, students and faculty.
While in school he had been thinking about becoming a lawyer, but, having had a passion for computers since he was 8 years old, the decision to establish PC Troubleshooters came easily, he said.
“I spent the last 22 years becoming an expert in small- to midsize business IT,” he said. “Our focus is: You don’t have to go anywhere else. If we don’t do the work ourselves, we have a lot of great relationships with our partners: IBM, Microsoft, Lenovo, Access Communications.”
In 1998, Shorr met his future wife, Lisa, whom he married in 2000. She then joined the firm, providing “vast” knowledge and experience in sales and marketing, he said.
Shorr focuses on sales and running the business. As such, he works to promote the firm’s “comprehensive” services, which include selling cloud-based services for products from larger companies such as Dropbox or Microsoft Office 365, he said. Specialties include expertise working for property-management companies, law firms and private and charter schools, Shorr said.
“There’s a huge demand [for] moving to the cloud now because it allows a lot of benefits [that] on-premises systems don’t have,” he said. “You can work from anywhere. People don’t want the responsibility of owning their own servers and having them in their offices anymore.”
Another growing area of expertise is video surveillance, which the company first began offering five years ago with the evolution of a dramatic shift in the technology, which improved clarity and resolution of images, and thus, reliability and usage.
A couple dozen IT clients are also video-surveillance customers, he said. Ramping up did not require a major financial investment but did call for an investment in time and training to enable the service, he said.
For the future, he expects growth to continue in the security, cloud-computing and video-surveillance areas. He is hiring now for one or two network engineer positions, but is particularly interested in the soft skills, he said, “because at the end of the day, we’re solving problems for clients; we’re not just fixing things.” •COMPANY PROFILE
Secure Future Tech Solutions
OWNERS: Eric M. and Lisa A. Shorr
TYPE OF BUSINESS: IT network security
LOCATION: 110 Jefferson Blvd., Suite C, Warwick
EMPLOYEES: 14
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1992
ANNUAL SALES: $2.4 million

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