These different types of legal software for lawyers can help you in making your legal practice more productive and easier to manage.
Published on October 29, 2021
Law firms or legal sectors, in general, are under massive transition thanks to the pandemic and constantly evolving technology. Therefore, with this transition comes the need for special systems to help handle increasing demands and complex legal activities. This is why there is an immense need for different types of legal software that can effectively manage different problems.
So, today in this post, we will explore different types of the best software for lawyers available. But more importantly, we will help you find which best software for lawyers is right for your office.
First of all, it is essential to know what each tool does in order to select the right legal software for your office. This is simply because the options are seemingly endless when it comes to choosing which legal software to go with for a particular problem.
With that said, here are some of the top legal software examples for lawyers-
Time is an integral part of any business, and being able to track time and effectively bill time worked will actually be great. Fortunately, there are several lawyer accounting software for tracking time and billing. However, it is crucial to define what type of time and billing software you actually need. This is simply because there are several kinds of accounting software for lawyers; some are ideally set to fit legal professionals while others can be used in any industry.
Therefore, how do you find lawyer accounting software that will suit you?
Well, it's easy. First, you need to determine what you expect your legal software solutions will accomplish. And so, if you just need something basic that will do the trick, then you can go for legal software solutions that can be used in any industry. Mind you, this kind of software will be cheaper than the one set basically for legal professionals. This means if you need legal software solutions with features that are specifically suitable to your field and help you deal with or complete other legal actions, then you will need to narrow down your field. By doing this, you will be able to enjoy more services apart from just timing and billing with this accounting software for lawyers.
To strengthen your case or argument, you will basically need to include legal sources in your legal documents. This is primarily necessary when dealing with elements of legal publishing or when presenting a case or information at federal court.
Generally, Legal sources help create a strong argument by providing sources of reference where your claim is right or supported. Therefore, to find these sources, you will need a legal citation generator software used by law firms that ideally helps generate reputable sources, like governments or the supreme court.
So, how does a legal citation generator software used by law firms work? You may ask!
Lawrina's legal citation generator software used by law firms is relatively straightforward to use, and here are the 3 steps on how to use it. First, the above link, which will take you over to the generator page and then:
Having a very document-centric advocacy software is very important in enhancing your legal organization as well as improving time management. Notably, a legal industry will be dealing with various confidential documents. And because of that, you will need to keep these documents secure, which allows you quick accessibility. Traditional methods, therefore, will not be the best solution to go within this case.
To solve this problem, there are different ideal examples of law firm software that you can use, such as Google Drive, that is free to use.  However, there are other proven solutions like Worldox and NetDocuments that are suitable for the legal industry.
The good thing about most of these law firm software is that they are cloud-based. Therefore, this means you can collaborate with your legal team on any project with ease via any of the best legal apps named above.
Legal software programs such as Microsoft Office Suite are some of the essential and most used law firm software solutions globally. The main benefits of these tools are to help you create, organize, and present your case facts or arguments.
This includes programs like:
However,  Google's G Suite, a top advocacy software, is currently one of the most used cloud-based solutions, with more people choosing it over other solutions. G Suite, the top advocate office management system, provides you with all advanced Google Workspace plans for your business. They have collaborated with tools like Gmail, Drive, Meet, Calendar, Chat, Docs, Sites, Slides, Sheets, Forms, and more.
Additionally, the advocate office management system offers different pricing points meaning you can find the ideal pricing point for your business without forgoing any essential services.
Nowadays, the online payment system is a common and must-have feature, especially if you offer your services online. In fact, about 60 percent of bills currently are mainly paid online or automatically. This is according to surveys by Claire Greene and Joanna Stavins on Consumer Payment Choice done in 2016 and 2017.
And so, based on these surveys, it is recommended that you have an online payment system for your clients. Payment systems such as LawPay online payment processing solution legal practice management software are perfect for you.
Allowing your clients to conveniently pay invoices from their mobile device or computer using eCheck, debit card, or credit card will eliminate barriers existing in an in-person transaction.
In conclusion, there are many types of law practice management software, with some offering one service while others offering multiple services. However, all you need to do is to define what you need and what you expect your law practice management software to accomplish for you. Doing this will eliminate lots of hassles involved in choosing the right one from various types of legal software tools.
Finally, these legal practice management software are suitable to be used by both big and small law firms.
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A ransomware victim called in the BlackBerry Incident Response (IR) team during this year’s 4th of July holiday weekend. We quickly realized we were investigating an attack by a previously unknown group, calling themselves "MONTI." They encrypted nearly 20 user hosts along with a multi-host VMware ESXi cluster that brought down over 20 servers.
Threat research shows that the only credible reference of the “Monti” ransomware group prior to today was a tweet from security researchers at MalwareHunterTeam, posted on June 30, 2022. The Twitter post mentioned the possibility that Monti ransomware may have had “5-10 victims in the past months,” though no data is publicly available on these victims.
Most Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) identified by the BlackBerry IR team in the Monti attack were also seen in previous Conti ransomware cases — except one: Monti threat actors leveraged the Action1 Remote Monitoring and Maintenance (RMM) agent.
This article provides a general overview of the incident, denotes the unique characteristics of this “new” threat actor group, and includes malware analysis of the payload used. We also include a breakdown of “Veeamp,” a password stealer malware targeting the Veeam data backup application, which was identified during the incident.
On July 5, 2022, a client engaged the BlackBerry® Security Services Incident Response team to perform a forensic investigation and respond to a ransomware-related security incident. The security incident occurred when a threat actor group calling itself “MONTI” obtained access to the client’s environment.
The threat actor apparently intruded via an exploitation of the well-known “Log4Shell” vulnerability (a.k.a. CVE-2021-44228) in the client’s internet-facing VMware Horizon virtualization system. At the time the BlackBerry team was engaged, the operators had already initially encrypted 18 user desktops. They also encrypted a three-server ESXi cluster that resulted in 21 virtualized servers being impacted. Figure 1 provides an overview of the incident.
Figure 1 – Overview of the “MONTI strain” ransomware incident
The threat actor initially obtained access to the client’s VMware Horizon Connection Broker server via Log4Shell exploitation on June 29, 2022. After entering the client’s environment, it installed the Google Chrome™ browser and used it to download attack tools to the server.
The threat actor also downloaded and installed two remote monitoring and maintenance (RMM) agents, AnyDesk and Action1, which we’ll describe in more detail later. It used these agents to establish persistence within the network and to facilitate additional remote access.
The attackers also used tooling they’d brought into the environment to dump credentials from memory and scan the network. They used Microsoft® Windows® built-in Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to connect to other servers, access data files on network shares, and eventually to deploy the “MONTI” strain of ransomware. The goal of this activity was to encrypt multiple hosts within the network (including Veeam-based backups).
The threat group referring to itself as “MONTI” is little-known within the threat intelligence community. The limited evidence we discovered regarding this threat actor indicates they emerged between May and June 2022.
Based on analysis conducted in this investigation, BlackBerry researchers believe that the Monti group has purposefully (and brazenly) mimicked the better-known "Conti" team’s tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), along with many of its tools and its ransomware encryptor payload.
It seems likely that attackers chose this blatant emulation strategy because of the availability of Conti group’s internal communications, chat logs, training guides, real-world identities, and source code — all of which were publicly leaked on the internet starting in February 2022. Having access to this trove of information effectively gave Monti threat actors a step-by-step guide to emulating Conti’s notoriously successful activities.
As a response to the data leak, the Conti group went into hiding. Currently, the original Conti ransomware operations group is believed to have dispersed and is no longer in business.
At the time of writing this report, public internet and darknet research revealed only a single mention of the Monti ransomware crew, in the form of a Twitter post from the account “MalwareHunterTeam” (@malwrhunterteam). This tweet, shown in Figure 2, includes a screenshot of the “MONTI strain” ransomware note, and alludes to possible re-use of the Conti codebase.
Figure 2 – A tweet from June 30, 2022, discussing “MONTI strain” of ransomware
Because a mountain of analysis already exists to explain Conti ransomware operations, we will focus on what makes the Monti group unique, and what you can expect when a “doppelganger” group such as this spins up operations.
The ransom note left by the threat actor is taken directly from previously seen Conti notes, with two minor changes:
As of July 5, 2022, the .onion domain provided for contacting Monti was unavailable. BlackBerry researchers were unable to find any indication that the domain was ever accessible. Public and darknet research, along with communications with fellow incident response firms, did not reveal any confirmation that the domain was up and running at any time.
Given the lack of evidence from other Monti cases, we might never know if the domain was ever accessible. If this is the case, the Monti group might have never been able to collect a ransom. (Should any researcher reading this article have information on a Monti domain/URL being accessible, we would love to hear from you.)
In addition to changes in the ransom note, the threat actor leveraged a commercial, cloud-based RMM platform called Action1, which has not previously been used in a ransomware attack. Ransomware actors, including Conti, commonly use commercial RMMs such as AnyDesk during their attacks. In fact, instructions for installation and configuration of the AnyDesk RMM are detailed in the “CobaltStrike MANUALS_V2 Active Directory” attack manual that was leaked from the Conti group in 2021. Figure 3 shows a screenshot from this manual, featuring AnyDesk installation instructions.
Figure 3 – Example of installation instructions for AnyDesk, as seen in a leaked “CobaltStrike MANUALS_V2 Active Directory” document
The names of the Action1 agent executables that threat actors used in the Monti attack matched those used by the RMM product itself. Specifically, the files found within the client environment were labeled “action1_agent.exe” and “action1_remote.exe.”
When ransomware actors change a file’s name, they often do not change the OriginalFileName value. This value is found within the portable executable’s (PE’s) resources. Though alteration of this value is possible, many actors leave these values alone. As such, you can often find a renamed file by querying against the OriginalFileName value via your endpoint detection and response (EDR) tool, or Sysmon, among other tools.
Figure 4 shows the file version information for action1_agent.exe, as seen on VirusTotal.
Figure 4 – action1_agent.exe file version information as seen on VirusTotal
An example Lucene-based query for the Elasticsearch search and analytics engine might be [OriginalFileName:"action1_agent.exe"]. (Keep this method in mind, as it is very handy during ransomware investigations.)
The attackers used two well-known temporary file transfer websites – dropmefiles.com[.]ua and temp[.]sh – to bring tools into the network and to exfiltrate data. They leveraged the Google Chrome web browser to access these sites and download tools.
The attackers’ choice to use Chrome™ rather than Internet Explorer (IE) may be due to the client’s implementation of Enhanced Security Configuration (ESC), an option that can be enabled on Windows servers that prohibits general internet browsing via IE. To bypass the ESC configuration, the attackers used Chrome, allowing them to freely browse web pages.
Table 1 lists the various tools leveraged by the Monti group.
Tool
Type
Details
Action1 RMM
RMM
– Commercial Remote Monitoring & Maintenance agent.
– Used by TAs to provide remote access to a victim network.
AnyDesk RMM
RMM
– Commercial Remote Monitoring & Maintenance agent.
– Used by TAs to provide remote access to a victim network.
Avast Anti-rootkit driver
Bypass Tool
– Avast’s Anti-rootkit library is useful for removing rootkits.
– Used by threat actors to remove endpoint security products such as antivirus (AV)/endpoint protection platforms (EPPs)/ endpoint protection and response (EDR), etc.
GMER
Bypass Tool
– Rootkit detector and remover
– Used by threat actors to remove endpoint security products such as AV/EPP/EDR, etc.
MEGASync
Data Theft
– MEGA.io’s proprietary file synchronization agent.
– Used by TAs to exfiltrate data from victim networks to cloud storage provider MEGA
Mimikatz
Credential Theft
– Free and open-source tool used to dump credentials, perform pass-the-hash/token attacks in networks, and generally obtain access to legitimate credentials
netscan
netscan64
Network Scanner
– SoftPerfect Network Scanner tool
– Used by threat actors to scan internal networks to identify sources for lateral movement
PSEXEC
Lateral Movement
– Microsoft "SysInternal" suite utility designed for administrators to run commands on remote systems and/or copy files to remote machines
– Commonly used by threat actors to run processes remotely and to facilitate lateral movement
PuTTY
Data Theft
– Data transfer tool commonly used by network administrators
– Used by threat actors to exfiltrate data from victim networks
Veeam-Get-Creds
Credential Theft
– Open-source PowerShell script designed to dump credentials from Veeam backup software
– See https://github.com/sadshade/veeam-creds
Veeamp
Credential Theft
– Custom Veeam password dumper written in Microsoft .NET
– Detailed in the Malware Analysis section found later in this article
WinRAR
Data Theft
– Commercial data archival tool popularized in the early days of the internet and still used by many entities
– Often used by threat actors to archive data prior to exfiltration
WinSCP
Data Theft
– Data transfer tool used by network administrators
– Used by threat actors to exfiltrate data from victim networks
Table 1 – Tools used by the Monti threat group
We reviewed various web browser-related files to analyze attacker access. For example, history and cache files from Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox browsers revealed files potentially accessed by attackers. BlackBerry researchers uncovered more than 250 URLs indicating systems and files the threat group likely accessed.
Using the forensic data available on the client’s system, we were able to identify a single instance of data exfiltration. The attacker dumped the process memory of the Local Security Authority Server Service (LSASS) on the Horizon Connection Broker server, to a file named “lsass.DMP.”
This filename (specifically with the uppercase file suffix) is the default name given to files created from memory dumps of the LSASS process, when using Windows Task Manager. While attackers can change this filename, when this default name is used, this gives a hint at the provenance of the file.
The memory pages allocated to the LSASS process include credentials stored in memory that Windows uses for various authentication and authorization procedures. As such, someone who dumps the memory for this process can recover plaintext credentials by using a tool such as Mimikatz to process the memory dump. Mimikatz can also use this file to facilitate Pass-the-Hash and similar attacks.
During data access analysis, BlackBerry researchers found that the threat actor accessed a URL associated with the DropMeFiles file-sharing website. Ransomware operators like this site because it offers temporary and anonymous file-sharing services. We visited the identified URL and confirmed that the attackers uploaded the dumped lsass.DMP file to the DropMeFiles site. Though users of this service can delete files at will, the threat actor neglected to do so. Thus, BlackBerry was able to obtain and review the exfiltrated memory dump.
Figure 5 is a screenshot of the DropMeFiles site showing the lsass.DMP file that the threat actor exfiltrated from the client’s Horizon Connection Broker server.
Figure 5 – Screenshot showing lsass.DMP exfiltration via DropMeFiles
Before we get into Monti’s reuse of Conti’s encryptor code, we want to point out a helpful trick that was made possible due to our awareness of that code re-use.
Because we were familiar with Conti v2 and v3 encryptor payloads, the BlackBerry IR team knew that Conti encryptor payloads do not always encrypt the entirety of each file. Source code analysis shows us that to determine which encryption methods to use, Conti payloads use a combination of a file’s location (on the disk or network), type (based on file suffix), and size.
For example, available ENCRYPT_MODES available in Conti v2 payloads include HEADER_ENCRYPT, PARTLY_ENCRYPT, and FULL_ENCRYPT. The PARTLY_ENCRYPT mode can be accompanied by a value of 20 or 50, indicating the percentage of the file that should be encrypted.
Researchers Luigi Martire, Carmelo Ragusa, and Luca Mella, from the cybersecurity company Yoroi, wrote a fantastic article named “Conti Ransomware Source Code: A Well-designed COTS Ransomware,” which provides insight into the code segments that help drive these encryption decisions. In the article, you will find examples of code segments such as the one shown in Figure 6, which details encryption mode selection based on file size.
Figure 6 – Screenshot from Martire, Ragusa, and Mella’s 2022 article that shows encryption mode selection based on file size
This knowledge allowed the BlackBerry IR team to extract full, unencrypted strings from encrypted log files.
The following command uses a simple grep query to identify the string “2022-0,” which was found at the beginning of each line in the VMware Horizon Debug logs. Notice that even though the log file included in the command below was encrypted, the command yielded over 137,000 lines of unencrypted log events.

This same methodology can be adapted to many other file types. Text (.txt) and general log files are obviously the best use case.
This isn’t just applicable to Monti or Conti. Many different ransomware encryptors use a similar process of selecting portions of each file to encrypt.
This possibility of decryption is just one of the many reasons why we recommend that ransomware victims back up files encrypted in these attacks. Yes, you read that right: the encrypted files.
Even if your encrypted files can’t be decrypted in this way, sometimes researchers are able to discover decryption methods that can be offered in stand-alone tools, and ransomware operations groups occasionally release their decryption keys. In any case, encrypted data that has been saved can be revisited and potentially decrypted at a later date.
The ransomware payload associated with this incident is a 32-bit Windows executable named “locker.exe.” At the time of writing this report, the malware is not publicly available. The threat actor downloaded this payload from temp[.]sh via the Chrome browser.
Upon execution, the malware encrypts files on disk, adds a “.PUUUK” extension to affected files’ names, and produces the following ransom note:  
Figure 6a – Monti ransom note
This ransom note is almost identical to the notes produced by some Conti ransomware variants, except it references a “MONTI strain” instead of a “CONTI strain.”
In light of the Conti leaks that occurred in February and March 2022, we decided to explore any connections between the executable we identified, publicly available Conti payloads, and the leaked source code.
Brief static analysis determined that our sample’s file name, file size, compile time, import table hash, and most section hashes (with the exception of the .data section) match the corresponding characteristics of the locker.exe executable included in the Conti v3 code leaks. These observations provided strong evidence that the executable we found is, in fact, a Conti v3 payload.
Further analysis of the leaked Conti executable revealed that, although the code within it was identical to the sample we discovered, execution of the Conti payload did not actually result in any file encryption.
A review of the leaked locker.exe’s .data section provided insight into the nature of this executable, as seen in Figure 7.
Figure 7 – Strings within the leaked locker.exe Conti v3 payload
The presence of the strings __DECRYPT_NOTE__, .EXTEN, and __publickey__ suggested that this file was intended as a template for a ransomware builder to generate functional payloads.
Although the Conti v3 leak did not include the compiled ransomware builder or its source, the Conti v2 leak did include the ransomware builder executable. Analysis of this executable confirmed that it was responsible for replacing the placeholder text mentioned above with actual values.
The decompiler excerpt in Figure 8 shows code within the Conti v2 builder that locates the text placeholders and replaces them with a generated RSA public key, RSA private key (for inclusion in the decryptor only) and ransom note text, respectively.
Figure 8 – Conti v2 builder decompiled code excerpt
After determining the origin of the payload file, we explored how the payload we found was likely generated. The attacker could have compiled the leaked v3 source as the first step to produce their payload. However, we suspect they took a different approach, because the compile time of the ransomware payload we found matches the compile time of the leaked Conti v3 locker.exe: Tue Jan 12 19:20:18 2021 UTC.
If the source code had been recompiled, this embedded timestamp would be more recent. This timestamp is consistent with others embedded in each executable. It also aligns with the time period when other Conti samples with the same import table hash (imphash – 5036747C069C42A5E12C38D94DB67FAD) were first submitted to VirusTotal. These observations suggest the timestamp was not manually stomped.
If the attacker did not recompile the available source code, we considered the possibility that they had access to a Conti v3 builder to generate the payload. Since we do not have access to a Conti v3 builder, we performed testing with the leaked v2 builder.
We built multiple payloads across a period of time and found that they all had the same, older compile time of Tue Sep 15 20:17:05 2020 UTC. While this timestamp differed from our sample and the leaked executable, it confirmed the possibility that the Conti v3 builder might also generate payloads with a consistent compile timestamp.
It might seem odd for a builder to maintain an old timestamp, but there is precedent for this approach. The Babuk ransomware builder, leaked in June 2021, produces executables with the same compile time, regardless of when the payload is built. In contrast, the Yashma ransomware builder, leaked in May 2022, generates executables that match the time the build was created. (See our earlier blog posts for more information on Yashma and Babuk.)
While the discussion thus far might suggest that the Monti attackers used a non-public Conti v3 builder, there is also reason to believe this was not the case. Instead, the attacker might have manually modified (e.g., using a hex editor) the leaked Conti v3 locker.exe executable. To explain this theory, some additional background is required.
One difference between Conti v2 and v3 payloads is the format of the embedded ransom note. In Conti v2 payloads, the ransom note text is stored as plaintext in the .data section of the PE file. In Conti v3 executables, the ransom note is encrypted using the ChaCha8 algorithm.
D.J. Bernstein created this algorithm and threat actors implemented it in both Conti v2 and v3 to encrypt files. In Conti v3, it’s also used to decrypt the instructions for payment.
Comparing the leaked v2 and v3 encryptor source code confirms that only v3 expects the ransom note to be encrypted. In the leaked Conti v2 search.cpp source file (shown in Figure 9 below), although there are several references to the word “Decrypt,” there is no actual decryption performed before the ransom note is written to disk.
Figure 9 – Conti v2 search.cpp with no ransom note decryption
In contrast, the leaked Conti v3 search.cpp source file (shown in Figure 10) includes code to perform ChaCha8 decryption:
Figure 10 – Conti v2 search.cpp with ransom note decryption
The ChaCha8 algorithm uses a 32-byte key and an 8-byte nonce. A nonce, or number used once, is similar to an initialization vector (IV). It is incorporated into the algorithm to add randomness, so that using the same key to encrypt the same content produces different ciphertext (i.e., it helps mitigate replay attacks).
The structure of the key, nonce, and encrypted text in a typical Conti v3 payload is shown in Figure 11 below. Only an excerpt of the ciphertext is shown.
Figure 11 – Typical Conti v3 payload with key and nonce
Compare the above values with the corresponding bytes in the payload we discovered, shown in Figure 12 below:
Figure 12 – Our payload with anomalous key and nonce values
As you can see, both the key and nonce in this payload are zero-byte values. Just as the Conti v2 builder dynamically generates the 4096-bit public RSA key before embedding it in the payload, we would also expect the ransom note key and nonce values to be generated during the build process.
This suggests that the attacker did not have access to the builder and instead manually inserted a ChaCha8 encrypted ransom note, file extension and RSA public key into the leaked Conti v3 locker.exe executable.
Due to the absence of a key and nonce, we crafted a signature to find samples that reference “MONTI.” In the payload discovered during this incident, the bytes 20 19 57 65 03 62 D0 AE F4 D1 68 are decrypted to “MONTI strain.”
Searching for these bytes on VirusTotal resulted in three files with the following SHA-256 hashes:
All files have a VirusTotal imphash (import hash) value that matches the payload we found. All files were also first submitted to VirusTotal in June 2022, the same month as the incident under investigation.
Among the samples on VirusTotal with the imphash 5036747C069C42A5E12C38D94DB67FAD, we did find one more sample that did not have a ChaCha8 key or nonce. It was first submitted to VirusTotal on 2022-04-26 20:13:02 UTC. However, the ransom note for this payload did not reference “MONTI” (or any “strain”), so the connection with the Monti actor is unclear.
During our investigation, we also found malware named veeamp.exe, with SHA-256 hash 9AA1F37517458D635EAE4F9B43CB4770880EA0EE171E7E4AD155BBDEE0CBE732. This file attempts to dump credentials from a SQL database for Veeam backup management software. (The credential dumper is briefly mentioned in this Symantec blog.)
Some researchers associate this malware with Yanluowang ransomware. It is important to clarify that this credential dumper might have been used by threat actors that also deployed Yanluowang ransomware, but veeamp.exe is not ransomware, and is only capable of dumping Veeam credentials.
The file is a 32-bit .NET binary. The code employs control-flow flattening, which is an obfuscation technique that makes it more challenging to understand the flow of execution.
When launched, the malware attempts a connection to a SQL database named VeeamBackup. If it cannot connect to the specified database, no further action is taken. However, if a connection is established, the file runs the following command:
select [user_name],[password],[description] FROM [VeeamBackup].[dbo].[Credentials]
The program then attempts to decrypt any user passwords that are returned by this command.
As discussed in this Veeam documentation, passwords can be encoded and/or encrypted using several approaches, including simple base64 encoding, or through the use of Microsoft’s ProtectedData class.
The credential dumper uses these approaches to attempt decryption. If it’s successful, it prints to the screen the following information:
It prints this information in the following format:
user: {0} encrypted pass: {1} decrypted pass: {2} description: {3}
The database name, SQL command, and output format string are all encoded in the executable, using a single-byte XOR key that varies for each string.
Two similar Veeam credential dumpers are currently available on VirusTotal (first link, second link). At the time of this writing, both have low detection rates (i.e., 15 detections or less). Both files have similar code to the credential dumper we found, but they are also obfuscated with Eazfuscator.NET.
While the activity of the Monti group itself seems to have been short lived, there is more we can learn from its copycat techniques. As additional Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) solution builders and source code become leaked, either publicly or privately, we could continue to see these doppelganger-like ransomware groups proliferate.
General familiarity with the TTPs of known groups can help us identify any unique traits of these lookalike crews. The more we can identify these unique traits, the better we will be able to associate known analysis methodologies with these new cases while keeping our eye out for differences.
The following YARA rules were authored by the BlackBerry Research & Intelligence Team to catch the threats described in this document:
rule monti_ransom {
      meta:
            description = "Detects `MONTI Strain` in ChaCha8 encrypted ransom note with no key and nonce"
            author = "BlackBerry Threat Research Team"
            date = "August 15, 2021"
            license = "This Yara rule is provided under the Apache License 2.0 (https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0) and open to any user or organization, as long as you use it under this license and ensure originator credit in any derivative to The BlackBerry Research & Intelligence Team"
      strings:
            $s = {20 19 57 65 03 62 D0 AE F4 D1 68}
      condition:
            uint16be(0) == 0x4d5a and filesize < 2MB
            and $s
}
rule veeam_dumper {
      meta:
            description = "Detects Veeam credential Dumper"
            author = "BlackBerry Threat Research Team"
            date = "August 15, 2021"
            license = "This Yara rule is provided under the Apache License 2.0 (https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0) and open to any user or organization, as long as you use it under this license and ensure originator credit in any derivative to The BlackBerry Research & Intelligence Team"
      strings:
            $s1 = "SqlCommand" fullword ascii wide
            $s2 = "SqlConnection" fullword ascii wide
            $s3 = "SqlDataReader" fullword ascii wide
            $s4 = "veeamp.exe" fullword ascii wide
            $s5 = "veeamp.pdb" fullword ascii wide
      condition:
            uint16be(0) == 0x4d5a and filesize < 60KB
            and 4 of them
}
 
"MONTI” payload SHA-256 hashes:
Veeam Credential Dumper SHA-256 hashes:
MalwareHunterTeam. (2022). “Monti strain.” Retrieved from https://twitter.com/malwrhunterteam/status/1542595315915710465?s=20&t=Y7d3POTgnMSB_JcyEeF5_g
Martire, Ragusa, & Mella. (2022). “Conti Ransomware Source Code: A Well-designed COTS Ransomware.” Retrieved from https://yoroi.company/research/conti-ransomware-source-code-a-well-designed-cots-ransomware/
If you’re battling this malware or a similar threat, you’ve come to the right place, regardless of your existing BlackBerry relationship.
The BlackBerry Incident Response team is made up of world-class consultants dedicated to handling response and containment services for a wide range of incidents, including ransomware and Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) cases.
We have a global consulting team standing by to assist you, providing around-the-clock support where required, as well as local assistance. Please contact us here: https://www.blackberry.com/us/en/forms/cylance/handraiser/emergency-incident-response-containment
Related Reading:
Principal Threat Researcher, BlackBerry
Anuj Soni is a Principal Threat Researcher at BlackBerry, where he performs malware research and reverse engineering. Anuj also brings his problem-solving abilities to his position as a SANS Certified Instructor, which gives him the opportunity to impart his deep technical knowledge and practical skills to students.
As a co-author and instructor for Reverse-Engineering Malware and instructor for Advanced Digital Forensics and Incident Response, Anuj emphasizes establishing goals for analysis, creating and following a process, and prioritizing tasks. In addition to teaching SANS courses, Anuj frequently presents at industry events such as the U.S. Cyber Crime Conference, SANS DFIR Summit, and the Computer and Enterprise Investigations Conference (CEIC).
Anuj holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, and has certifications in GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM) and as a EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE) and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). 
Ryan Chapman is Principal Incident Response & Forensics Consultant, BlackBerry.
As an author, instructor, and information security professional with over 18 years’ experience, Ryan runs and works incidents for clients to provide response, assessment, and training in the digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) realm at BlackBerry. His primary case types involve digital forensics investigations (e.g. ransomware cases), compromise assessments, business email compromises, tabletop exercises, and more. Ryan loves the fact that the security industry is an ever-evolving creature.
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SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — A new market study published by Global Industry Analysts Inc., (GIA) the premier market research company, today released its report titled “Cloud Enterprise Content Management – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics”. The report presents fresh perspectives on opportunities and challenges in a significantly transformed post COVID-19 marketplace.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
What’s New for 2022?

Edition: 9; Released: February 2022
Executive Pool: 85841
Companies: 418 – Players covered include Alfresco Software, Inc.; ASG Technologies; Box, Inc; Docuware GmbH; Epicor Software Corporation; Everteam Software; Fabsoft Software, Inc; Hyland Software, Inc; IBM Corporation; Laserfiche; Lexmark International, Inc; M-Files Corporation; Micro Strategies Inc; Microsoft Corporation; Newgen Software Technologies Limited; Nuxeo; Objective Corporation; OpenText Corporation; Oracle Corporation; SERgroup Holding International GmbH; Xerox Holdings Corporation and Others.
Coverage: All major geographies and key segments
Segments: Segment (Document Management, Workflow Management, Content Management, Digital Asset Management, Record Management, Case Management, Other Segments); Vertical (BFSI, Retail & Consumer Goods, IT & Telecom, Government & Public Sector, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Media & Entertainment, Other Verticals)
Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.
Complimentary Project Preview – This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass™ Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry
ABSTRACT-
Global Cloud Enterprise Content Management Market to Reach $97 Billion by 2026
Cloud-based enterprise content management (ECM) is poised to gather considerable momentum over the coming years as a result of the growing need to govern and manage burgeoning content volumes. While content generated globally is doubling every three months, around 80% of the content that needs to be leveraged by knowledge workers for revenue-generation and for meeting business goals remains unstructured. The staggering growth of the unstructured data is providing a major impetus to the cloud-based ECM market. The increasing transition from legacy towards cloud-based ECM is anticipated to be fueled by increasing amount of digital content and easier access to remote end-points coupled with the need for regulatory compliance and safeguard business-critical information. The shift toward cloud-based ECM is slated to help organizations in reaping the advantages of the next-generation platform while exploiting the content in a meaningful way. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Cloud Enterprise Content Management estimated at US$32.6 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$97 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 30.7% over the analysis period. Document Management, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record a 28.4% CAGR and reach US$23.3 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Workflow Management segment is readjusted to a revised 36.2% CAGR for the next 7-year period.
The U.S. Market is Estimated at $14.1 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $9.4 Billion by 2026
The Cloud Enterprise Content Management market in the U.S. is estimated at US$14.1 Billion in the year 2022. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$9.4 Billion by the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 37.5% over the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 27.9% and 28.8% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 28.2% CAGR. Companies in developing and developed markets alike are stepping up adoption of cloud based ECM to reduce the time spent for document management and boost efficiency and productivity. The transition to the cloud enables organizations to leverage an always-accessible platform and sophisticated resources to drive innovation and help employees in processing documents in an efficient manner. As cloud-based ECM allows employees to stay connected and collaborate from anywhere, they can complete workloads quickly for faster time-to-market.
Content Management Segment to Reach $17.1 Billion by the Year 2026
AI is increasingly being utilized in content management systems for processing as well as analysis of content in various forms. AI is employed in enterprise content management systems in several different ways, including content security, enterprise search, robotic process automation, and chatbots. Enriching content management systems with AI helps users in quickly identifying required information using data mining capabilities. AI can also contribute significantly in terms of securing content. In the global Content Management segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 34.2% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional account for a combined market size of US$2.3 Billion. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. Led by countries such as Australia, India, and South Korea, the market in Asia-Pacific is forecast to reach US$1.1 Billion by the year 2026.
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The latest business intelligence report on Construction Drawing Management Software market elaborates on factors responsible for industry growth such as the key growth catalysts, restraints, and opportunities. Moreover, it expands upon the data from the past years and current business scenario to deduce the performance of the industry over 2020-2025.
To calculate the industry size at a global level, an exhaustive analysis of the workings of this business sphere at regional as well as country-level is incorporated in the report. Proceeding further, the research literature scrutinizes the dominant players and evaluates the strategies adopted by them to stay put in the competitive arena. In addition, the current and projected impact of Covid-19 pandemic have been taken into consideration with a key emphasis on revenue generation prospects and methodologies to deal with changing landscape.
Key highlights from the TOC:

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Product terrain
Application scope
Regional outlook
Competitive landscape
To summarize, the authors of the report have inspected the Construction Drawing Management Software market through multiple segmentations, followed by extensive discussion on the industry supply & sales channel inclusive of upstream & downstream basics to aid businesses efficiently rollout their products and solutions to the marketplace.
The Construction Drawing Management Software market report wraps:
Industry with market definition, key elements such as market restraints, drivers, potential opportunities, challenges, trends in the Construction Drawing Management Software market, etc.
Construction Drawing Management Software market sectioning depending on product, application, geographical region, competitive market share
Construction Drawing Management Software market size, approximates, forecasts for the said frame of time
Distribution channel assessment of Construction Drawing Management Software market
Competitive analysis of crucial Construction Drawing Management Software market manufacturers, trends, company profiles, strategies, etc.
Factors accountable for the growth of the Construction Drawing Management Software market
The thorough assessment of prime Construction Drawing Management Software market geographically

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Federal technology leaders offer insights and thought leadership on a sharp rise in cyberattacks, the shift to hybrid work and much more.
An Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report found federal agencies need to make more progress on digitizing forms. 

Phil Goldstein is a former web editor of the CDW family of tech magazines and a veteran technology journalist. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and their animals: a dog named Brenna, and two cats, Grady and Princess.
It’s 2021, not 1991, yet many federal government forms are still stuck in the analog era, according to a recent report. The reliance on paper forms has only grown starker amid the coronavirus pandemic, when some government offices were shuttered for long periods, nixing in-person interactions.
According to a recent report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a technology policy think tank, many government forms are not fully compliant with the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA), a law passed in 2018 that required agencies to transition from paper forms to accessible, mobile-friendly, web-based forms within two years.
In a random sample of 1,348 forms, ITIF found that 1,052 (78 percent) were partially compliant with the law, and only 24 (less than 2 percent) were fully compliant.
“Digital solutions hold enormous promise to transform U.S. government services,” Ashley Johnson, policy analyst at ITIF and co-author of the report, tells Nextgov. “These solutions can streamline outdated processes and provide Americans with faster, more convenient, and more personalized access to their government.”
The report makes several recommendations to the executive branch and to Congress to increase the pace of digitization of forms, including that the federal CIO Council “should create a web-based-forms task force to track and expedite compliance, prioritizing forms the general public uses the most.” ITIF also recommends that Congress “require agencies to report detailed information on their compliance with 21st Century IDEA’s forms requirements.”
Under 21st Century IDEA, agencies are not required to provide information about their transition to web-based forms. Of the agencies that have provided specific numbers on how many forms they have made available in a compliant digital format — the Defense, Treasury and Veterans Affairs departments — “all report significantly lower numbers than the total number of forms our assessment found associated with each agency, indicating that agencies use a narrow definition of which of their forms are ‘related to serving the public,’” the ITIF report found.
For example, while ITIF’s assessment found 1,159 total forms associated with DOD, the DOD “claimed in its most recent 21st Century IDEA report that it has digitized all 139 of its forms related to serving the public,” ITIF states in the report.
ITIF found that only 2 percent of government forms in its sample are “fully compliant as an online form” and that “78 percent are partially compliant as a fillable PDF.”
“Most executive agencies have made significant progress toward making their forms available as fillable PDFs,” the report states. “But, although users may be able to fill out and submit these forms without printing, as long as the forms have e-signatures enabled, which most did not, this format does not fully comply with 21st Century IDEA’s mobile-friendliness requirement.”
The fault may not be entirely with the agencies themselves, ITIF suggests, noting that the Office of Management and Budget has not produced guidance for agencies to comply with 21st Century IDEA, as required by the law.
The law required OMB to issue implementation guidance by June 18, 2019, and members of Congress again asked on May 6, 2021, for guidance by June 20, 2021, according to ITIF.
“Both of those deadlines have now passed. It is likely that, without implementation guidance, agencies will continue to struggle to fully comply with 21st Century IDEA’s requirements,” the report states. “Moreover, as agencies continue to create forms without guidance, they will likely create many that do not comply with the law, which will create more unnecessary work for them in the future to recreate those forms in a mobile-friendly and accessible format.”
ITIF recommended that OMB issue implementation guidance for the law and that Congress hold oversight hearings on agencies’ compliance with 21st Century IDEA. ITIF also recommends that the Technology Modernization Board should issue grants to incentivize agencies to use login.gov, and that OMB should direct federal agencies to discontinue the use of fax machines.
RELATED: How did the U.S. Census Bureau carry out the first all-digital census?
Various technologies can help agencies accelerate the process of digitizing forms and making them accessible to government users and citizens alike.
Document management involves the “use of a computer system and software to store, manage and track electronic documents and electronic images of paper-based information captured through the use of a document scanner,” according to the Association for Intelligent Information Management.
An electronic document management system lets agencies store, access, index, search, retrieve, archive and delete documents. An EDMS is designed to let agencies convert physical documents into electronic forms that can be stored and accessed quickly.
Longstanding tools can also help agency IT teams transform paper forms and legacy processes into digital ones. As Adobe notes on its website, its Adobe Acrobat tool can help in this regard: “Whether it’s a scan of an existing manual document or a simple line form made with Microsoft Word, you can use the Prepare Form tool to create digital forms from your existing documents. Acrobat automatically recognizes form fields for things like text entries, checkboxes, radio buttons, and signatures.”
Adobe also points to its Adobe Experience Manager Forms solution as a way to enable agencies to author “web and mobile-responsive forms and documents via a create once, publish anywhere experience,” according to a 2018 report from the company and research firm IDC.
Adobe notes that while AEM Forms can be used for simple, transaction-based interactions, the solution can also be used “to simplify and streamline the complex transactions seen in regulated industries and government services,” with typical use cases including customer enrollment and onboarding, employee onboarding, customer service, and customer communications.
Management
30 Federal IT Influencers Worth a Follow in 2022
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Virtualization, Consolidation Help Agencies Cut Back on Physical Data Centers
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Each Friday, host Simon Thomsen and guest offer the weekly washup from Startup Daily TV.
Register now for a new digital event that shares the secrets of successful teams on Wednesday 15 June.
News » Topics » MYOB’s cloud focus continues with the acquisition of document management startup Nimbus
The value of the deal was not revealed by MYOB.
MYOB chief financial officer, Caroline Rawlinson, said the company’s investment was a move to accelerate the delivery of a cloud solution that had widespread customer demand and appeal.
“We know how important it is for our accountant and practice customers to have solutions which help their teams collaborate efficiently in distributed work environments, improve their client engagement and meet their document storage compliance obligations – Nimbus ticked all these boxes in spades,” she said.
 
The announcement follows a year where MYOB has made good on its promise to improve the connectivity capabilities, efficiencies and security of its Practice Solutions offering, and follows the acquisition of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution, Tall Emu.
Tall Emu delivers full end-to-end management of business operations, offering a customer relationship management tool with additional capabilities to link in key sales processes, providing a seamless, real-time view of the business operations.
Tall Emu’s unique functionality includes the ability to see and track multiple sales flows including marketing and lead management, quoting and selling, online payment, back-order handling, fulfilment and delivery and post-sales services.
The acquisition follows hot on the heels of MYOB’s purchase of practice management software GreatSoft, last year.
MYOB is owned by US private equity firm KKR in a $1.6 billion takeover that saw the company delisted from the ASX in 2019.

Cec Busby is a digital media professional with over twenty years experience. She is the editor of Kochies Business Builders and a fan of startups and small business.
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Organization is a key element of managing a successful business. Although every company has unique organizational needs, how you track, store and manage your internal documents can greatly impact the efficiency of your operations. Many small businesses turn to document management systems (DMS) to streamline these business processes. 
There is a wide variety of small business document management systems available to business owners, including free and paid versions. However, the best document management software for your business will primarily depend on which features you need. 
To help you choose a document management system, we spoke with small business owners about what benefits and features you should look for. 
 
Editor’s note: Looking for the right document management system for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.
A proper filing system is essential for any business, regardless of size or industry. According to Jim Collins, principal at Datamation Imaging Services, the key factors of proper filing are location, access and order. 
“Files should be in a location that ensures proximity to the employees who need to access them,” Collins said. “Files must be organized for efficient access and productivity, which includes how they are identified and how long they will be kept. [They] also must have structured order to ensure the desired content can be located reliably.” 
Although the general process of filing is similar for all businesses, you’ll need to evaluate specific factors, such as whether you should file documents by name, numerically or in chronological order. This filing system may differ across departments, but once you set a system, follow it consistently. 
Erica Gilliand, founder of Peachy Los Angeles, suggests developing a systematic process that you can stick to, like creating folders by specific categories. She provided examples of categories you can use for your filing system: 
Regardless of the filing system you choose, Jared Weitz, CEO and founder of United Capital Source, said it is important create a standardized template for labeling and files for consistency and compliance from all employees. 
A document management system is an integral part of your filing system. It is comprehensive software that helps you convert your office into a paperless one. This is better not only for the environment, but for your business. Having a single point of access for all your documents can streamline workflow and increase productivity. 
Document management platforms often include scanning capabilities to convert your physical documents into digital files. This saves you time that would otherwise be spent manually inputting information into a computer. The best software even has formatting capabilities to quickly convert your scanned documents into preferred or industry-specific templates. 
In addition to scanning documents, most document management systems let you import your current digital files into one unified system. These documents can be word processing files, spreadsheets, PDFs, images and more. 
After you have successfully imported a physical or digital document into your management system, anyone with the appropriate permissions can access it. Most document management software allows you to set permissions and restrictions for access and editing. This allows your team to collaborate on documents and track updated versions. 
Document management systems are beneficial for small businesses in more ways than one. With paperless document management, small businesses can streamline their operations, save time and reduce errors. Collins listed some of the primary DMS benefits as better security and backup for disaster recovery. He also said businesses can benefit from lower rent costs due to less required office space, and an increase in productivity due to immediate access. 
Document management systems can benefit your team by instilling an organizational flow for everyone to follow. Weitz said this organizational and paperless process can bring small businesses freedom and peace of mind. Weitz, among other business owners, also listed scalability as one of the biggest benefits of a DMS. 
“Your business will grow in time, and having proper documentation established will make this growth more fluid,” said Weitz. “The same goes if you plan to sell your business to a new owner or go through an acquisition. Having everything in a single system takes time to establish but will save you countless hours of work in the future.” 
Even if you can comfortably manage your filing by hand right now, that may not always be the case. You will likely need a document management system as your business scales up, and converting to a paperless office early on will simplify your process later down the line. A proper document management platform can also ensure you don’t lose records or damage important documents, as they will not be hard copies.  
Before choosing a document management system for your business, you should assess your document management needs. Not every document management program will fit your business, so identifying which features you need will help you narrow down your options. 
In addition to your current needs, be sure to list which advanced features you will want to implement later as your business expands. It is essential to choose document management software that can grow with your business, or you will eventually have to switch your software. 
The No. 1 feature to look for in a document management system is security. The last thing you want is to digitally file all your documents and then suffer a data breach. Look for software that places high emphasis on protecting your information. 
“Find a solution with a security plan that is established, yet flexible when needed,” said Weitz. “If you are [in] a heavily regulated industry such as finance or medical, you need security as a top priority. This looks like having the option to extend access to certain employees or groups.” 
In addition to security, Collins listed ease of use and uptime as key features. You should be able to easily access, manage and navigate your files as needed. Be realistic about the resources you can dedicate to manage your DMS. If you don’t have a lot of resources, Collins recommends researching web-based document management systems instead of using an in-house management solution. 
Since you will likely have multiple departments using your document management system across your company, Gilliand said a DMS should have collaboration and integration capabilities. Look for features like real-time live editing, file-sharing tools, integrations with other plugins, and the ability to add or restrict user access to certain documents. 
Gilliand also listed version control as a key aspect of document management. It is important to always have the latest versions of a document on file, whether you are viewing or editing. 
“Having the ability to download documents in other formats and going back to older versions in ‘history’ is super important for small businesses, because oftentimes someone will delete something, and going back to revert to the old version can save time and headaches,” said Gilliand. 
Weitz added that small business owners should be sure there are check-in and check-out files to track who last viewed or edited the content. This can reduce the potential of business errors. 
“The last thing you want is an old copy of [an] engineering drawing to be shared with a supplier and built off of by mistake,” Weitz said. 
The pricing for document management software varies by the type of hosting you need and how many people require access. Small businesses can choose between cloud-hosted and on-premise software; each option has its advantages and disadvantages. 
 
The number of users who need access can greatly affect your total cost, since monthly subscriptions are typically priced per user, per month. Most DMS companies offer tiered plans with varying levels of features and support, so the best plan for your business depends on your needs. 
Although many DMS features are necessary for businesses of any size or industry, there are a few notable features that small businesses should especially look for: 
As a small business, you probably don’t have a full IT team ready to troubleshoot and support your document management system. Find document management software that has a comprehensive support team to accommodate your support needs. 
Weitz said you will need software that can quickly upload all your information and support your expected growth. 
“Manually typing in all the files that you currently have would be a nightmare, so it is best to find a solution that offers scanning capabilities or an easy way to update what you have now with what you are moving towards,” he said. “Be sure that what you invest in today will support you as you reach your goals. I have seen many businesses invest in a small option only to outgrow it immediately.” 
Mistakes happen – your business needs to prepare for them. Since a poor reputation can destroy a small business, it is essential to find a secure DMS that has good security and disaster recovery features.   
“A DMS can provide a cost-effective disaster recovery system for critical information and data so you can be back on your feet faster than your competition,” said Collins. 
As your business grows, you will need to train new hires on your document management system. Employee onboarding will be a lot easier if your DMS is simple to implement, navigate and understand. 
“There are many misconceptions about document management systems, and the main misconception is that they’re complicated. This is simply not true,” said Collins. “A good DMS is very simple and easy to use. It is a tool to help employees find important content or documents when needed. If you’re using a cloud system, it’s a great way for employees to access content from anywhere, whether they’re remote or traveling.” 
To find the best document management system for your small business, it is important to do your research. Weitz recommends making a request for proposal (RFP) for the top vendors you are considering. 
“Once you have this information, schedule a demo with each one so that you can be very clear on how the software functions from a usability perspective,” he said. “Everything might sound great on paper, but the system may not be intuitive or easy to navigate.”
 
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Tony Fyler
@more__hybrid
fyler@hybrid.co
Teams can open up a whole new world of integrations.
If you run, or make decisions in, a small business, the chances are high you don’t think regularly about Teams integrations that can help make your life and business run more smoothly.
But #1, you probably should, because:
#2, they probably can.
But what are the “best” integrations out there that can turn Teams into more than it already is – a fairly revolutionary workplace communication and workflow planning tool?
This is where a disclaimer is necessary. There will be integrations that are of phenomenal use to your particular small business, that won’t help the business next door at all, and vice versa. So there needs to be an understanding that “your mileage may vary” when compiling any list of the best integrations for small businesses.
We’ve chosen a handful of reliable integrations that can deliver benefits to most small businesses, and one that’s specific to the technology sector.
One of the most important aspects of managing a small business is workflow and deadlines. If you’re not on top of your workflow, you’ll miss deadlines, and that could cost you a good reputation, as well as business both now and in the future.
Trello is a seemingly simple, user-friendly workflow management system, that’s actually more sophisticated than it first appears.
Based on a system of “cards,” it can help you keep track of who’s doing what, where they are in the process of doing it, how many people are working on any given project, and when they’re due to deliver it.
Integrating Trello with Teams allows not just management, but the teams and team members themselves to keep an eye on their workflow and productivity, and to form groups to talk projects through, to make sure they’re on top of the needs of each assignment.
That means integrating Trello with Teams combines an easy-to-use workflow management system and a communication tool that can go beneath the black-and-white of the workflow, to make sure work remains on target and improve both delivery, communication, and even in some cases, the mental health of team members, who can feel supported by the integration.
It’s worth differentiating Zoom.ai from the Zoom known by the world as the video connectivity service that swept the world during the pandemic. There’s room for both that and for Microsoft Teams in the world (and a Zoom-Teams integration is a powerful combination in its own right), but Zoom.ai is something slightly different.
It’s effectively a work-based equivalent of an Alexa or Siri. It may not play your favorite tracks for you, but once installed, it lives under the skin of your productivity software, like Teams.
And once it’s there, the AI is natural, so it acts as a virtual PA. You give it naturalistic typed commands and it can organize your day, your week, your month – or as far ahead as you care to go. Schedule meetings, book slots, rooms, or other spaces, set reminders of tasks, even give Zoom.ai your effective To Do List, and it will do what you tell it to do. It will schedule your meetings, sending invitations to others. It will find you slots for particular spaces or activities. And it will find you the files you need to be properly briefed.
That’s a powerful workplace efficiency tool, and integrating it into Teams gives it access to the data you need it to have – the documents, the contacts, etc – so that it can do its job. Which means so can you, with less stress or panic than you might previously have expected.
 
Everybody knows Twitter can be a great marketing tool, especially for small to medium businesses, who can use it to get themselves better known, and to connect and communicate directly with their users and even fans.
But you can also integrate Twitter into Teams, so that you don’t have to sit on Twitter, waiting for responses from clients or customers. The integration will send responses to your Twitter stories direct to you in Teams.
That means you can manage your Twitter feed and your customer feedback effectively, without needing to assign a member of staff to the job and pay them for it. The Twitter Teams integration can save you staffing expense and put you more immediately in touch with feedback from your clients or users.
Business and employment often depend on a signature on the dotted line. DocuSign is a 21^st century application of the principle, that allows for documents to be legally signed and binding in the electronic world.
That’s useful in its own right – especially in a world trying to limit its needless use of paper. With the DocuSign Teams integration though, you’re not waiting around for confirmation that any contract or agreement has been signed. DocuSign will send you a notification within your Teams account to tell you the document has been signed.
That’s important in the fast-paced world of modern business, because it allows you to move forward with plans, projects, even employment processes immediately, cutting down on stress and uncertainty within your small business. It can even make an enormous practical difference to your fortunes.
If you’re waiting for a funding decision and, for instance, you don’t get a phone call all day Friday, you could be facing a miserable, uncertain weekend. But getting the DocuSign notification at 4.55 means you can breathe again, and begin to plan how you take the business forward on Monday. That’s an integration worth having in your Teams arsenal.
GitHub is a collaboration tool for software designers. It helps them share code to work through, find issues and smooth out the development process. That’s a powerful tool to help small software businesses, especially with dispersed coders and designers, to pull their products together effectively and on time.
But you can also integrate GitHub into Teams, where you get notifications of changes to any of your shared code, and also a company-wide way to share code between specific development teams – and discuss it through chat groups or video calls as necessary.
GitHub is a highly effective tool in its own right, but by integrating it into Teams, you can create a double-stranded implementation that builds team spirit and can speed up the development of the software product into the bargain.
 
Microsoft Teams is a well-regarded communication and workflow tool in its own right. But by integrating it with a handful of other apps and programs, small businesses can multiply its practical impact on the way they work – and their bottom line – hugely. Just choose your integrations based on how you need to improve your own small business’ performance, and Teams will help you achieve your goals.
Tony Fyler
@more__hybrid
fyler@hybrid.co
7 September 2022
7 September 2022
7 September 2022

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