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Choosing the best MSP for your business

Choosing the best MSP for your business

Technology underpins nearly every aspect of modern business processes. The problem is that managing technology can be complex and tedious. This is where managed IT services providers (MSPs) come in. Whether a company needs software to record customers’ data, network infrastructure management, or cloud technology, MSPs can provide these services and much more.

MSPs defined

MSPs are companies composed of specialists from various IT fields. They deliver various IT services (e.g., cloud computing, cybersecurity, backup and disaster recovery) and proactively manage their clients’ IT systems under a subscription model.

Selecting the best MSP

While there are many MSPs out there, not all of them are equipped to meet your company’s unique needs. You can only achieve optimum IT results by selecting the right MSP.

Keep in mind these criteria when choosing an MSP:

  • Depth of skills and experience – Any MSP should have the skills and experience that go beyond basic software installation, maintenance, and upgrades. They should also have strong expertise in advanced IT functions, such as database management, cloud technology, security, and cross-platform integration, so they can keep up with your company’s growing IT requirements.
  • Financial stability – With IT being the backbone of your business operations, you need an IT partner who will be there for the long haul. Assess their stability by looking into their annual reports and financial statements. Check how many clients they have and their customer retention numbers. Also ask the MSP to provide customer references and testimonials.
  • Competitive service level agreement (SLA) – An SLA is a contract that dictates the standards that your MSP should be able to meet. It should be able to answer these questions: Do they offer 24/7 support? Can they conduct remote and on-site support? What is their guaranteed response and resolution times? If they fail to meet their committed service levels, are there corresponding rebates or penalties.
  • Third-party vendor partnerships – Pick an MSP with an ongoing relationship with the technology vendors (e.g., Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce) whose products you already use in your IT environment. What type of partnership does the MSP have with those vendors? The higher the partnership level, the more vendor certifications the provider has, which means they can bring a lot of expertise to your business.

Choosing the right provider is a very important step that will impact on the performance and success of your business. If you want to learn how MSPs can support your business, contact us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Distributed spam distraction hides illegal activities

Distributed spam distraction hides illegal activities

As annoying as spam email is, it’s usually pretty harmless. But hackers have been using a method called distributed spam distraction (DSD) where spam email is used to carry out illegal activities. Learn more about DSD and how you can safeguard your systems against it.

What is DSD?

DSD is a type of attack wherein cybercriminals inundate email inboxes with as many as 60,000 spam emails. These emails don’t contain dangerous links, ads, or attachments, just random excerpts of text taken from books and websites. But because of the sheer volume of these emails, deleting and blocking each one of them can be daunting. And worse, the email and IP addresses used to send them are all different, so victims can’t simply block a specific sender.

While these spam messages may seem like harmless annoyances, their true purpose is to draw victims’ attention away from what hackers are doing behind the scenes — which is to steal and use your personally identifiable information to conduct a raft of illegal activities. These include stealing money from your bank account or making unauthorized purchases in your name. In a DSD attack, the thousands of spam emails you get serve as a smokescreen that hides payment confirmation messages.

New tactics

Over the years, hackers have developed new DSD tactics. Several reports show that instead of nonsensical emails, hackers are using automated software to have their targets sign up for thousands of free accounts and newsletters to distract them with authentic messages. This allows DSD blasts to slip past spam filters that weed out the malicious code and text used in traditional DSD attacks.

Also, anyone can go on the dark web and pay for DSD services. For as little as $40, you can get a hacker to send out 20,000 spam emails to a specific target. All you need to do is provide the hacker with your target’s name, email address, and credit card number — all of which can also be purchased on the dark web.

How to protect yourself from DSD

DSD is a clear sign that your account has been hijacked, so whenever you receive dozens of emails in quick succession, contact your bank to cancel any unfamiliar transactions and change your login credentials as soon as possible. Also, you should update your anti-spam software (or get one if you don’t have one) to protect your inbox from future DSD attacks.

Hackers only initiate DSD attacks after they’ve obtained their target’s email address and personal information, so make sure your accounts and identity are well protected online. You should regularly change your passwords and PINs, enable multifactor authentication, set up SMS and/or email alerts for whenever online purchases are made in your name, and be careful about sharing personal information with others.

DSD is just one of many cyberthreats out there. For expert advice on how to ensure your safety and security online, get in touch with our team of IT professionals.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Get the most out of your new laptop with these tips

Get the most out of your new laptop with these tips

Laptops are prized for their small size, manageable weight, and handiness, but they don’t lag behind desktop computers in terms of performance either. Higher-end laptops, in particular, are just as capable of handling heavy apps and complex tasks as their bulkier desktop counterparts. If you want to bring out your portable machine’s potential and get the most out of its power, here are things you need to do.

1. Update your laptop’s operating system

One of the first things you should do before using your laptop is to update its operating system (OS). Assuming you did not purchase the laptop when it was first released, it will still be running an older OS. Because important patches and fixes are released with each new update, you must install the latest ones to ensure your laptop doesn’t have vulnerabilities that malicious third parties can exploit.

2. Remove bloatware

When turning on your laptop for the first time, you might notice that there are several preloaded software in the system — some of which you will probably never use. These are known as bloatware.

These apps take up a lot of your valuable drive space, so consider getting rid of them. The easiest way to do this is by downloading a bulk uninstaller, which allows you to check all the bloatware apps you don’t want and remove them in one fell swoop.

3. Install protection software

It’s no secret that there are cybercriminals who would steal sensitive data, such as your account credentials, protected health information, and sensitive company files. It is therefore necessary to protect yourself from losing important data from your computer. The solution to this is very simple. By installing antivirus software that can scan your computer at a scheduled time or whenever you feel like it, you can thwart potential attacks.

Not only is the data stored in your laptop vulnerable to cyberattacks, but there is always a chance that your laptop will get lost or stolen. While there are preventive steps you can take — such as being mindful while using your laptop in public places — installing anti-theft software like Find My Device for Windows 10 can help you locate your device if it’s ever stolen or misplaced.

4. Optimize your power settings

One of the most frequent problems that laptop users have is that their batteries run out of juice too fast. However, you can actually extend the battery life by making a few tweaks to your power settings.

Reduce your display brightness, but not so much that it causes eye and mental fatigue.
Use the Sleep or Hibernate mode for your operating system.

5. Set up a backup plan

Imagine spending months working on an important project and suddenly finding it corrupted because your laptop crashed. Deadlines will be missed. Profit margins will decrease. Customers will leave unhappy. And if worse comes to worst, you’ll be out of business.

Why add stress if you can prevent it from happening in the first place? By setting up an automatic backup system, you can regularly save all your important files. This way, you’d still be able to recover your data should anything happen to the original file.

You can also store all your important documents in the cloud, which ensures access whenever you need it, even if your laptop crashes or gets stolen.

Getting a new laptop can be fun, but the joy might be short-lived if you don’t set up any preventive measures from the start. Call us for information on how we can help you secure your company’s laptops today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Gmail hacks for busy workers

Gmail hacks for busy workers

Gmail is a staple for businesses nowadays; all stakeholders, from investors to clients to suppliers, use Gmail to manage their email. But despite its ubiquity, many users — especially smaller enterprises — can stand to improve their Gmail experience. The following tips can make your Gmail usage faster, simpler, and better for your needs.

Undo Send

In the fast-paced world of business, mistakes happen. And because everybody deserves a second chance at writing that email, Gmail has provided a way to recall sent emails — as long as you do it immediately after hitting Send.

To recall your email, simply click on Undo or View Message > Undo beside the “Message Sent” prompt at the bottom left of your screen.

Gmail templates

Gmail templates, formerly known as canned responses, are pre-written email formats that you can use as is or as the starting point of a fresh email. These are great for regular messages that follow a specific template. Instead of writing the same lines of text over and over again, you can simply choose any of the customizable templates with a click of your mouse.

Access your Gmail templates by composing a new email and clicking Templates > Insert Template.

Send large attachments with Google Drive

Need to send a high-resolution RAW image to a client but Gmail’s attachment size restrictions won’t let you? You can simply upload your files to Google Drive and click on Share to get a sharing link you can send to your client or your boss.

Alternatively, you can click on the Google Drive icon at the bottom of your email composition window and choose the files you wish to send.

Turn on Priority Inbox

The Priority Inbox feature organizes your messages by their importance using machine learning. You’ll be able to divide your inbox into five sections, where the messages will be displayed in the following order:

  1. Important and unread messages
  2. Starred messages
  3. [Customizable section]
  4. [Customizable section]
  5. Everything else

Enable advanced settings

Configuring Gmail’s Advanced Settings is an excellent way to increase email efficiency. Some of these features include Multiple Inboxes, Preview Pane, and custom keyboard shortcuts. Access them by going to Settings > Advanced.

Spending the right amount of time with emails while managing other crucial business areas is a balancing act many business owners find difficult. If you have questions or need further assistance regarding Gmail or IT in general, feel free to contact us.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

3 Disaster recovery myths, debunked

3 Disaster recovery myths, debunked

With advancements in cloud computing, disaster recovery (DR) has become more efficient and affordable than ever. But many business owners still cling to some DR myths that can safely be disregarded. Here are three of those myths, and the sooner you stop believing them, the better.

Myth 1: Tape backups are the best DR solution

Tape backups are physical objects that deteriorate over time. Try listening to a cassette tape from the ’90s. Its sound may be distorted already, or it probably doesn’t work at all. Similarly, your tape backups will start to fail as years pass. At first, only a few files will be affected, but you may gradually lose all your data.

It is also a common practice to store another set of tape backups outside your premises so that they will be safe in case a natural disaster befalls your office. However, if your storage spaces themselves are unsafe from natural disasters, this could pose a problem.

Unlike tape backups, cloud-based backups are safe from deterioration. They are also stored in multiple secured locations that are protected from natural disasters. This means your data backups are as safe as they can be.

What’s more, cloud-based backups save you time in several ways. Data is automatically backed up online, so you don’t need to manually copy information onto your tapes. You also won’t need to manage boxes of tapes, freeing you to focus on your assigned tasks.

Myth 2: The RTOs you want are too expensive

Essential to any DR plan are recovery time objectives (RTOs), or the ideal length of time needed to get everything up and running again to avoid serious losses. Before the cloud, a “swift” recovery time would take days and cost up to six figures.

Cloud and virtualization solutions have made this much more affordable and faster than ever before. Most DR providers can back up your critical data in an hour or two. And if you ever need to recover data, most services can do so in less than a day.

Myth 3: Disaster recovery is for big businesses, not SMBs

Because of the astronomical costs previously associated with DR, only big businesses could afford backup and recovery solutions. But now, the cloud has made these valuable services affordable for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). From dental offices to small retail operations, SMBs can now take advantage of the best DR solutions in the market. Advances in IT and the cloud have also eliminated the obstacles of complexity, costs, and insufficient IT resources.

We hope that by dispelling these myths, you’d be convinced to implement a disaster recovery plan (DRP) for your business. Not only is a DRP necessary to your business continuity, having one is also more affordable and efficient than ever. If you’d like to learn how our disaster recovery solutions can safeguard your business, send us a message and we’ll fill you in.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Your password may not be secure — update it now

Your password may not be secure — update it now

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) once said that a good password consisted of three things: upper- and lowercase letter, numbers, and symbols. However, the NIST recently reversed its stance on good passwords. Here’s why and what they are now recommending.

The problem

The issue isn’t that the NIST advised people to create easy-to-crack passwords, but their previous advice inadvertently made people create weak passwords using predictable capitalization, special characters, and numbers, like “P@ssW0rd1.”

Such a password may seem secure, but the strings of characters and numbers could easily be compromised by hackers using common algorithms.

What’s more, the NIST also recommended that people change their passwords regularly, but did not specify how and when to change them. Since many people thought their passwords were already secure because they’ve included special characters in them, most only added or changed one character.

The NIST essentially forced everyone to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember but easy for a hacker’s algorithm to crack.

Eventually, the institution admitted that this can cause more problems than solutions. It has reversed its stance on organizational password management requirements, and is now recommending banishing forced periodic password changes and getting rid of complexity requirements.

The solution

Security consultant Frank Abagnale and Chief Hacking Officer for KnowBe4 Kevin Mitnick both see a future without passwords. Both security experts advise enterprises to implement multifactor authentication in login policies.

This requires a user to present two valid credentials aside from a password to gain access to an account. This could be a code sent to the account owner’s smartphone, a login prompt on a mobile device, or a facial or a fingerprint scan. This way, hackers’ login efforts are futile unless they fulfill the succeeding security requirements.

Moreover, Mitnick recommended implementing long passphrases of 25 characters or more, such as “recedemarmaladecrockplacate” or “cavalryfigurineunderdoneexalted.” These are much more difficult to guess and less prone to hacking. As for the frequency of changing passphrases, it will depend on a company’s risk tolerance.

Simply put, passwords should be longer and include nonsensical phrases and English words that make it almost impossible for an automated system to crack.

You should also enforce the following security solutions within your company:

  • Single sign-on – allows users to securely access multiple accounts with one set of credentials
  • Account monitoring tools – recognizes suspicious activity and locks out hackers

When it comes to security, ignorance is your business’s kryptonite. If you’d like to learn about what else you can do to remain secure, just give us a call.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Make the most out of Outlook with these tips

Make the most out of Outlook with these tips

Millions of businesses worldwide use Microsoft Outlook, preferring the free web-based email and calendar service over its many competitors. Outlook also offers tasks and contacts management capabilities, among other nifty features that will help you work smarter and boost your efficiency. Let’s take a closer look at some tips to help you make the most of Outlook.

Organize your inbox

Is your Outlook inbox getting a little too cluttered for your liking? Use the Clean Up feature to tidy up your inbox.

From your inbox, click the Home tab and choose from one of three Clean Up options:

  • Clean Up Conversation – reviews an email thread or a conversation and deletes redundant messages
  • Clean Up Folder – reviews conversations in a selected folder and deletes redundant messages
  • Clean Up Folder & Subfolders – reviews all messages in a selected folder and any subfolders, and deletes redundant messages in all of them

Ignore conversations

Besides redundant messages, group conversations that aren’t relevant to you can clutter up your inbox. The Ignore button helps you organize your inbox and focus on relevant emails.

To activate this feature, select a message, then click Home > Ignore > Ignore Conversation. You can also do this by opening a message in a new window and clicking Ignore under the Delete function. You can easily revert this action by going to the Deleted Items folder and clicking Ignore > Stop Ignoring Conversation.

Send links to files

This function is especially useful when you need to send large files to your coworkers or clients. You can send a link to the file instead of the file itself as well as set permissions to allow recipients to edit and collaborate on linked files in real time.

To do this, upload the file you wish to send to OneDrive. Then from the message box, click Attach File > Browse web locations > OneDrive.

Schedule a Teams meeting

Teams is Microsoft’s unified communication and collaboration platform, and it includes the Outlook add-in. This feature allows you to set up Teams meetings directly from Outlook. It also lets you view, accept, or join meetings in either app.

To schedule a Teams meeting on Outlook, follow these steps:

  1. Switch to the calendar view on Outlook. Click the New Teams Meeting tab.
  2. Add individual participants or entire contact groups to the Required or Optional fields.
  3. Type in the topic, start time, and end time of the meeting. There’s no need to add the dial-in phone numbers and conferencing IDs to the invite, as Outlook does this automatically for you.
  4. Create a message inviting the recipients to the meeting, then click Send.

Tag contacts

To get the attention of a specific person in a group email or meeting invite, use the @Mention function. This works particularly well for emails sent to multiple recipients or if you want to convey the urgency of your message.

In the body of your email or invite message, type the @ symbol followed by the name of the person you want to tag (e.g., @johndoe). Doing so will highlight the name in the message and automatically add it to the To line of your message.

You can also search for messages you’re tagged in by selecting Filter Email from the Home tab, and then clicking Mentioned.

These are just some of the things you can do to improve your Outlook experience. For more on how to get the most out of Outlook and other Microsoft products, drop us a line today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Benefits of SaaS: What you should know

Benefits of SaaS: What you should know

Technology continues to create more solutions that enable businesses to cut costs and improve efficiency. One of those solutions is Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Learn more about what SaaS is, and how it benefits your business.

What is SaaS and what makes it appealing?

SaaS is a software delivery model that allows you, the user, to access software from any device through the internet. This gives you more flexibility since you don’t have to go to the office to use the software. You can work from anywhere as long as you can go online.

As opposed to a traditional on-premises setup where software is stored locally, SaaS is hosted in the cloud. By transferring software hosting to a third party, you’re outsourcing all the responsibilities that come with maintenance, such as upgrades and troubleshooting. In a way, getting SaaS is like renting a car: somebody else owns and spends for upkeep of the vehicle, but you get to drive it.

Shifting software ownership away from your business also changes how much you spend on it. With on-premises software, you purchase a license and pay yearly support fees, which can amount to 22% of the price of license fees (ouch!). With SaaS, you pay a monthly or annual subscription fee that covers licenses, support, and other fees. This is better since it allows you to spread out costs on a monthly basis, instead of purchasing expensive licenses outright and ending up with a huge maintenance bill every year.

Will my data be safe?

Some companies hesitate to switch to SaaS because of data security concerns. Who will own my data? Will my data be safe? What if the vendor goes out of business?

Here’s something for your peace of mind and safety: when you’re outsourcing your software to a SaaS vendor, you have to sign a service level agreement (SLA). This should specify that you own the data and that the vendor is obliged to provide access to your data even if the vendor suffers from extreme circumstances like economic difficulty or disasters.

Data hosted by a SaaS vendor will be more secure than that stored on the average SMB’s network. That’s because SaaS vendors regularly undergo strict security audits, forcing them to invest more in security, backup technology, and maintenance than a typical SMB.

Should I switch to SaaS or stick to on-premises?

SaaS is an ideal solution for small- and mid-sized businesses that want to reduce upfront costs. Large businesses or those with complex processes will benefit more from a traditional on-premises solution since it offers more functionality and allows for full customization.

Still unsure about whether SaaS is the right answer for your organization? Want to know more about SaaS before making the transition? Call us today! Our experts are ready to answer any questions you may have about SaaS.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Unpleasant-looking website elements you need to fix

Unpleasant-looking website elements you need to fix

Making a beautiful website is not just about aesthetics. It’s also about giving your site visitors and customers a great user experience while they browse your products and services. This is especially important now that people spend way more time browsing and shopping online than ever before. To keep your site aesthetically appealing and easy to use, consider enhancing these elements.

A variety of professional photos

From pictures of your products to team photos, high-quality images are arguably the most important thing on your website. Blurry, outdated, or irrelevant pictures tell your site visitors that you don’t care about their browsing experience. In-house photos are the best option, but stock images shouldn’t cause any problems as long as they are optimized for mobile viewing and relevant to your content.

Navigation

Aside from subpar images, linking to nonexistent pages is one of the best ways to turn site visitors away. Make sure it’s easy to navigate your site and remove outdated or irrelevant pages. You can’t sell 404 pages to customers, and if that’s all visitors can find, it’s game over.

Clear copywriting

The last thing you want to do is to confuse your customers, so it’s important to keep all of your product or service descriptions as straightforward and simple as possible. If what you’re selling has detailed information such as dimensions or technical requirements, make sure the description is easy to find but not obtrusive.

Promises to site visitors

Any website that ships products should make its returns policy as visible as possible. This establishes trust early. Explicitly stating terms of return is also important because some online shoppers make purchase decisions based solely on the clarity of a return policy.

Even if you don’t run an eCommerce site, you also need to prominently display privacy commitments, such as those mandated by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

About page

Your brand needs a story behind it that customers can relate to. Every company website should have an About Us page that describes your team, its culture, and what sets you apart from the competition. Whatever your story is, make sure it’s accessible from any page on your site.

Design

Not everyone is a web design expert, but in today’s gig economy, one is never too far away from such a career. If your budget is tight, there are DIY site builders specifically geared toward small businesses. Or with a relatively low monthly expenditure, you can hire a managed website provider.

With more revenue originating online, small- and medium-sized business owners can’t afford to overlook the importance of creating a fully functional website.

For more information on building a modern website, call us today!

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Fileless malware: The invisible threat

Fileless malware: The invisible threat

Scanning the files you download is not enough to detect malware these days. Hackers have found a clever way to get around antivirus and anti-malware software by using fileless malware. Since this malware is not as visible as traditional malware, it can infect your entire infrastructure without you even knowing. Let’s take a closer look at how fileless malware works and what you can do to defend against them.

What is fileless malware?

Fileless malware is malicious software that doesn’t rely on executable files to infect your infrastructure. Rather, it hides in your computer’s random access memory (RAM) and uses trusted, legitimate processes such as Microsoft Office macros, PowerShell, and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

Fileless malware isn’t as visible as traditional malware. They use a variety of techniques to stay persistent, and can adversely affect the integrity of a business’s processes and the infrastructures that run them. Because there are no files to trace, fileless malware escapes detection from most anti-malware programs, especially those that use the databases of precedent threats. Most automated sensors cannot recognize illicit scripts, and cybersecurity analysts who are trained to identify them usually have a hard time establishing where to look.

Fileless malware by the numbers

In November 2016, attacks using fileless malware saw a 13% uptick, according to a report by Trend Micro. Also, in the third quarter of 2016, attacks were 33% higher than in the first quarter. During the first quarter of 2017, more PowerShell-related attacks were reported on over 12,000 unique machines.

Kaspersky Lab uncovered over 140 infections across 40 different countries. Almost every instance of the fileless malware was found in financial institutions and worked toward obtaining login credentials. In the worst cases, infections had already gleaned enough information to allow cyberattackers to withdraw undisclosed sums of cash from ATMs.

In 2018, Trend Micro also detected a rising trend of fileless threats throughout the first half of the year.

Is your business at risk?

It is unlikely that your business has been targeted in the earliest stages of this strain of malware, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Businesses should practice defense in depth, where multilayered safeguards are implemented to reduce exposure and mitigate damage. But apart from cultivating a security-aware workforce, what actionable countermeasures can organizations carry out?

While your business might not be in immediate danger, you should employ solutions that analyze behavioral trends. It is also wise to invest in a managed services provider that offers 24/7 network monitoring, proper patches, and software updates. Call us today to get started.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto