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Secure Windows and Office for your work from home staff

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Secure Windows and Office for your work from home staff

Microsoft’s software offerings are filled with features that allow and even augment enterprise work from home (WFH) setups without sacrificing security. Here are some updates about the company’s applications, as well as other common third-party applications in the Windows and Office ecosystems, which will ensure data security when you’re working remotely.

Before the pandemic broke out, companies across the United States had already been on the lookout for remote work possibilities, because of the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of the cloud. Back then, the technology was used to take advantage of market and location opportunities, but with entire cities going on lockdown to stem the transmission velocity of the coronavirus, enterprises across the continent have turned to digital solutions for their respective workforces to remain productive at home.

Microsoft’s Windows and Office 365 engineers have geared both sets of software to be user-friendly across different platforms — and by extension, many Windows-ready third-party applications enjoy the same benefit. For many organizations, especially small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), this means no need to switch to a more remote-friendly system. But because of the suddenness of the transition, there are questions whether Windows, Office, and other supported software have ample security features in place.

Windows 10 1709

Microsoft announced in mid-March that Windows 10 version 1709 (Fall Creators Update) will remain supported for six more months, in anticipation of the socioeconomic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tech giant also stated that vital updates will continue for version 1709 through its regular channels, namely Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), and the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Through the service coverage extension, Windows 10 version 1709 can still be managed through all supported versions of Microsoft Configuration Manager. This will allow users to retain existing management workflows until October 30, 2020.

Remote-ready setups

Virtual private networks (VPNs) and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections are necessities for work from home setups, but this has left many IT managers worried about security risks. Experts have suggested deploying a trial version of Windows Server 2016 or 2019 as a workaround. This server software has remote desktop services that are bundled with remote desktop gateway (RDG) and RDWeb technologies, ensuring encrypted remote access.

Microsoft has also published optimization instructions for Office 365 users to properly implement VPN split tunneling for their remote work setups. Routing Office 365 applications — such as Teams, SharePoint Online, and Exchange Online — through a split VPN tunnel ensures that the most critical, high-volume Office 365 traffic is quickly patched through to the company server, and not left at risk of loss that stems from the common customer-performance and network capacity issues many enterprise-level clients report.

Other practical tips for WFH

Remote performance depends largely on home internet performance, so that matter boils down to the reliability and speed of your employees’ internet providers’ services. Your staff can take steps to limit their bandwidth loads, such as by not using video streaming services while working, cutting down the recording quality of home security cameras from HD to standard definition, and allowing office IT to remotely optimize the personal devices your employees intend to use for remote work.

Lastly, consulting with your IT partner will surely put you in a better position to cope with the demands of remote work. Managed IT services providers (MSPs) like us are regular remote access practitioners. We handle remote services on a daily basis and provide you with valuable insights on how to keep your business running smoothly through these trying times. Contact us today to learn more.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

How much internet bandwidth do you need for remote work?

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How much internet bandwidth do you need for remote work?

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed businesses to adopt remote work setups. But with the sudden move, employees are finding out that they don’t have adequate resources to work from home, specifically due to poor or limited internet access. So that you don’t encounter the same issue, find out how much internet bandwidth you need to work from home.

What is bandwidth?

Bandwidth refers to the maximum data transfer rate possible in a network or internet connection. It indicates the amount of data that can be sent over a connection in a given amount of time, and is usually expressed in bits per second (bps) or bytes per second (Bps).

Imagine two computers with the same internet speed at 100 megabit per second (Mbps): the first computer only has a 50 Mbps bandwidth, while the second one has 100 Mbps. If they were to download the same 500 Megabit (Mb) file, the first computer would be able to do it in 10 seconds, while the second one could do it in just five.

This is because the first computer’s bandwidth is capped at 50 Mbps — even if the internet was fast, the limit of transfer would still be low. Therefore, the higher the bandwidth, the more data can be sent over a connection, contributing to faster uploads and downloads, and overall better internet experience.

How much bandwidth do you need for remote working?

The answer to this question isn’t clear cut. The biggest considerations are the type of work that you do and the apps that you use. If your job mostly consists of sending emails, editing and writing on Google Docs, and communicating on Slack, then you can do your job with ease even with a low bandwidth. On the other hand, if you frequently attend meetings through video calls, then you’d definitely need a plan with higher bandwidth.

Once you have a clear picture of how much data you send and receive on an average work day, you can start looking for plans that can support your needs. And while you definitely don’t need to conduct virtual meetings in 4K quality, you also won’t want your clients and colleagues to appear pixelated during a meeting. Neither would you want a session that gets choppy or cut off mid-conversation.

Here are the minimum requirements for the most common video chat apps used by remote workers today:

For 1:1 video calling:

    • 600 Kbps (up/down) for high-quality video
    • 1.2 Mbps (up/down) for 720p HD video
    • Receiving 1080p HD video requires 1.8 Mbps (up/down)
    • Sending 1080p HD video requires 1.8 Mbps (up/down)

For group video calling:

    • 800 Kbps/1.0 Mbps (up/down) for high-quality video
    • For 720p HD video: 1.5 Mbps (up/down)
    • Receiving 1080p HD video requires 2.5 Mbps (up/down)
    • Sending 1080p HD video requires 3.0 Mbps (up/down)

HD video quality  

    • Outbound signals must always meet a 3.2 Mbps bandwidth requirement. 
    • Inbound signals: 2.6 Mbps with two participants; 3.2 Mbps with five participants; and 4.0 Mbps with 10 participants

Standard definition (SD) video quality

    • Outbound signals must always meet a 1 Mbps bandwidth requirement.
    • Inbound signals: 1 Mbps with two participants; 1.5 Mbps with five participants; and 2 Mbps with 10 participants

Video calling

    • HD: 1.2 Mbps (up/down)
    • SD: 400 Kbps (up/down)
    • The more participants, the higher the bandwidth requirement for downloads: 512 Kbps for three participants; 2 Mbps for five participants; and 4 Mbps for seven people. Upload requirements remain constant at 128 Kbps.

Teams requires the same upload and download internet bandwidth for the following scenarios:

      • 30 Kbps for peer-to-peer audio calling
      • 1.2 Mbps for peer-to-peer HD-quality video calling at 720p 
      • 1.5 Mbps for peer-to-peer HD-quality video calling at 1080p
      • 500 Kbps/1 Mbps for group video calling

If you’re worried about your internet bandwidth, you can opt for audio calls instead of video calls. This considerably helps lower the information you need to upload and download. For more tips and solutions on how you can work from home without a hitch, call us. We’d be happy to help.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Remote working: Will it be the new norm?

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Remote working: Will it be the new norm?

Flexible work setups have often been the subject of debate — employees want the option to work away from the office at least some of the time, but many businesses value well-founded methods and processes. Will the world’s largest work from home experiment change that?

Enforced flexibility

A pandemic is one of the most socially, economically, and politically disruptive events that could ever happen. Infections and fatalities constantly increase, business operations are shut down, and scientists race against time to find a cure.

Companies lucky enough to remain operational still face a significant challenge: maintaining business continuity. For most, the simplest way to achieve this is by moving their business resources online and adopting an effective remote work strategy.

With resilience and careful decision-making — as well as the right tools and processes — you might just find your employees more productive, less stressed out by work, and expressive as ever.

A wealth of benefits

Remote work offers several benefits for both employees and employers. In addition to saving time and eradicating commute-related stress, remote work can improve employee productivity. A number of studies reveal that the freedom to create a comfortable environment and schedule encourages employees to perform at their best.

At the same time, employers benefit from reduced overhead expenses while also having access to a wider pool of applicants. Because workplace flexibility is among the top considerations of many young job seekers, remote work arrangements would be right up their alley.

Employers can also hire outside of reasonable commuting distance, as employees won’t have to report to the office as frequently, if not at all. What’s more, mandatory daily attendance is going out of fashion — more businesses are now prioritizing performance over hours clocked in. Many prefer focusing on the quality of outputs rather than just keeping people in the office from 9 to 5.

Businesses reap great rewards for recognizing performance instead of just presence. This approach makes for more engaged, efficient, and satisfied employees, consequently creating a healthy and progressive company culture.

Encouraging development

Many businesses believe that a traditional office setup helps bring about better relationships and collaborations. However, data actually points out that interpersonal behavior and communication — not solely proximity — are the key drivers of trust and teamwork.

Traditional work arrangements also make it easier for managers to look after their employees — it’s easy to see who is and isn’t at their workstation during office hours. However, mandating work hours and location makes sense only for time-sensitive and location-dependent jobs like retail, manual labor, and healthcare, where employees need to be physically present.

Meanwhile, for knowledge workers whose jobs involve non-routine problem solving, an office cube isn’t always the most conducive environment for devising solutions and innovations. Sometimes, the best and most unique ideas come from exposure to the surroundings, people, and events outside the confines of an office.

Embracing change

Being forced to adopt a work from home policy in the face of a global crisis isn’t an ideal circumstance to test the waters. Full-time remote work doesn’t and won’t work for all businesses. But this shouldn’t stop you from accomplishing projects and sustaining productivity and efficiency. Leverage your resources to help you weather the storm and emerge stronger than before.

Though we have yet to see if remote work is here to stay, it’s currently a nonnegotiable aspect of the corporate setup, and we should learn how to make the most out of it.

Having a strong strategy in place and the right tools and equipment are crucial to ensure effective communication, collaboration, and management. Our experts can help you configure the perfect remote working setup for your business. Call us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

How to work from home securely

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How to work from home securely

Encouraging staff to work from home is extremely vital in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. By minimizing social interactions and contact risks, you can reduce the spread of the virus. But be warned. Transitioning from a fully managed business environment to a home office can leave you vulnerable to cyberattacks and online scams. Here’s what you and your staff must do to mitigate the cybersecurity risks.

Fortify user accounts

When everyone is working remotely, user accounts must be properly secured. One way to achieve this is by setting at least 12-character long passwords with numbers and special characters mixed in to make them more difficult to guess. More importantly, these passwords must be unique to each account, to minimize the damage if hackers do manage to compromise one set of credentials. If you find it difficult to generate and remember login details for all your accounts, consider password managers like LastPass, Dashlane, and Keeper.

To further strengthen your accounts, however, you’ll also need to enable multifactor authentication (MFA). This adds another layer of identity verification — like fingerprint scans or one-time activation codes generated by SMS — to make it more difficult for cybercriminals to hijack your accounts.

Use a virtual private network (VPN)

VPNs are primarily known for circumventing geographic restrictions on location-specific websites and streaming services, but they’re also a crucial tool for remote workers. A reliable VPN creates secure connections between devices and networks by encrypting internet traffic. This hides web activity from prying eyes, protecting your employees’ online privacy, and mitigating the risk of hackers stealing company information.

Patch your software regularly

Although installing software updates can be a major nuisance, they cover critical weaknesses and protect your systems from the latest threats. Most apps now offer an automatic update feature so you don’t have to manually patch your software.

Another option for your business is patch management software. These track patches on employee devices and distribute the most recent updates on a company-wide scale.

Set up firewalls and antivirus software

Make sure to enable firewalls in your operating systems and hardware. These provide a strong layer of protection between your device and the internet, preventing malicious programs and other network threats from reaching your device. Your managed IT services provider (MSP) may also provide third-party firewalls in case your computers don’t have any built in by default.

In addition to firewalls, you’ll also want to implement antivirus software to detect and remove any malicious programs that do manage to find their way onto your device. Just remember to constantly update the software so it can effectively detect the newest malware.

Secure home routers

Home Wi-Fi routers are not as thoroughly secured as their business counterparts so take extra precautions to safeguard them. For starters, change your router password as soon as possible because hackers can easily break into them once they know the router model. You should also install the latest firmware updates to eliminate any security vulnerabilities.

Finally, check whether your router has Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) encryption settings to secure inbound and outbound traffic. If your router doesn’t have this setting, you’re overdue for an upgrade.

Back up your data

Important files must be backed up regularly in the cloud and your external hard drive. This way, you’ll always have a copy of your files in case of a major data loss incident like ransomware or a power outage.

Watch out for online scams

The biggest threat remote workers face is online scams. Phishing emails may entice you with free coronavirus test kits in exchange for personal information. Some cybercriminals may even masquerade as legitimate companies, CEOs, or friends to trick you into clicking on dangerous links and attachments.

To avoid these threats, you must be critical of everything you see online. Look for any suspicious links and attachments, grammatical errors in the email body, and misspelled email addresses. Plus, never give out sensitive information to an unsolicited email, text message, or phone call.

Working from home poses many cybersecurity challenges for businesses, but you don’t have to address them alone. If you need guidance with setting up firewalls, avoiding scams, and even enabling MFA, we can provide the IT support you need in this difficult time. Call us now.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Our favorite remote working tools

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Our favorite remote working tools

Remote work is on the rise like never before as companies are pressured to sustain operations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. But even before massive business disruptions, remote working has been a growing trend. Many have been enjoying work-from-home setups with the help of the right tools. This article is a list of our favorites.

For both employers and employees, a remote working arrangement has attractive benefits. Organizations can tap into a potentially larger labor pool, hiring from just about anywhere and finding highly skilled talent at lower rates.

Fifty percent of remote workers reported increased job satisfaction and had 13.5 percent more calls completed. Being spared the stress of a daily commute and having a better work-life balance are factors to their happiness, and therefore, better productivity.

In the face of natural calamities, outages, and the ongoing pandemic, a distributed workforce becomes a necessary business continuity measure — a means to protect employees and keep productivity up, even as normal facilities remain unavailable.

But all of this was only possible because we have the technologies to support remote work. Barriers to remote working have been brought down by the advancement of remote working tools. With a plethora of software to choose from, we’ve selected the ones that help your remote teams thrive.

Remote desktop applications

Accessing your work computer while on the go or out of the office was once unheard of. Remote desktop apps have made it possible, allowing users to work remotely on a computer through another device and from any location.

Our picks: TeamViewer and Splashtop
Team Viewer has capabilities such as screen sharing, file transfer, wake-on-LAN, and clipboard transfer. Free for personal use, the app is easy to set up and is available for multiple operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Android. Meanwhile, Splashtop has similar capabilities but with the added benefit of “low-latency” transfers or the transfer of a high volume of data and messages with minimal delay.

Real-time communication and collaboration software

Every successful organization needs to communicate. When communication breaks down, productivity and engagement suffer. Given the lack of face-to-face contact, regular, real-time communication is arguably more critical for remote teams and their managers. The following apps make it possible, seamless, and simple.

Our picks: Slack, Mattermost, RocketChat, Microsoft Teams, and Join.me
Deemed the alternative to email, Slack is the leader of the pack, with its robust API that allows integration with countless applications. Its basic functionality enables remote workers to direct message (DM) or create “collaboration hubs” around departments, projects, or any topic. Mattermost and Rocket Chat are open source tools that recreate many of Slack’s capabilities.

Microsoft Teams and Join.me are well-known video chat and conferencing apps. However, as a full collaboration and communication suite, Teams offers more for Windows users. It allows VoIP, direct and group messages, and integration with all the Office 365 apps. Not only is Join.me a free video-conferencing app, but it also allows participants to use a cool brainstorming feature called “whiteboarding” for real-time interaction on a shared document.

Project management essentials

When you’re managing a team of dozens located in different parts of the globe, things can start to fall apart quickly. Time differences and distance can create significant complexity if you lack the right tools. These two apps can help you overcome the challenges and streamline project organization and collaboration.

Our picks: Basecamp and Trello
Basecamp is a web-based management tool for planning and collaboration on projects. There’s no installation needed, just your regular web browser to access its powerful core functions that include task management, messaging, collaboration, file sharing, scheduling, quick search, and reporting.

Trello’s overall shining feature is its simplicity. The web-based tool’s approach to project management is built around one concept: the bulletin board. Users can create boards that represent projects and each board can be populated with cards assigned to specific members and customized with deadlines, comments, and attachments.

With the current global crisis, remote working tools have become even more crucial to sustaining productivity, accomplishing projects, and solidifying distributed teams. It’s important your organization chooses ones that are well-suited to budget, infrastructure, and goals. Our experts can help make a proper assessment and configure the perfect remote working setup. Talk to us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Letting your staff work from home? Here’s the gear they’ll need

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Letting your staff work from home? Here’s the gear they’ll need

At the office, everything employees need to get work done is provided by the company. They have their PCs, standard keyboards, mice, and perhaps headsets if they do lots of calls. However, circumstances like community quarantines during viral outbreaks may force you to have staff work from their homes. Question is, what hardware must they have for their very own work-from-home setups? Beyond the obvious items such as a PC or laptop and a smartphone to help them keep in touch with superiors and colleagues, here’s what you’ll need them to get.

A reliable keyboard and mouse

PC users obviously need external keyboards to operate their machines and work on files, but there are laptop users who splurge on external keyboards because they prefer how these feel or love to customize some or all of the keys.

Some aspects you want your staff to consider when choosing a keyboard are:

  • Interface – Is it wired or wireless? They won’t have to worry about a power source with wired boards, though battery-powered ones can easily last a year. Choosing a wireless one will mostly depend on whether or not they like to move around and still type away as normal.
  • Comfort and ergonomics – How do the keys feel on their fingertips? There’s now a wide variety of key types to suit their fancy. And if they’re worried about carpal tunnel syndrome, there are now keyboards with keys laid out like a very wide V so that users can hold their wrists at more natural angles.
  • Extras – Does it come with a number keypad and/or a trackpad? Does typing fill the room with sound, or is it muffled and silent? Make sure that the keyboard they choose has at least the things that would help them do their job, and at most make them happy whenever they have to work.

When picking a mouse, they’ll want to think about interface, comfort, and ergonomics, too. And while some are satisfied with a trackball or trackpad, the majority might prefer the ease of use a mouse offers. They’ll most likely have to work for hours on end, so it all boils down to what they’re most comfortable with.

A computer monitor (or two)

PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones all have their own screens, though most prefer screens they can easily read from and use. If your employees are among the lucky ones who work on a file with one screen while using another one to display their references, then they might find it difficult to go back to a single-monitor setup. Thankfully, replicating a dual-monitor setup is just a matter of getting another monitor, connecting it to their computer, and adjusting their display settings.

Of course, setting up dual monitors is their prerogative. If they’re buying monitors, screen aspects to consider are size, aspect ratio (i.e., the proportions of its width and height, resolution (i.e., image quality), and interface (although ports mismatching video cables is a problem that’s easily fixed with adaptors).

However, they don’t even have to buy a new screen if they have a smart TV or a TV they’ve connected to a Chromecast or other similar device. Laptops running on Windows can detect such internet-connected devices, and all they have to do is go to Settings > System > Display > Multiple displays, then adjust their settings as they like.

Webcam and headset

If an employee’s computer doesn’t come with a web camera, they’ll most likely have to purchase one separately, especially if you regularly keep in touch with your team via video conferencing. They’ll need to primarily consider video resolution and sound quality, plus other features such as noise cancellation and autofocus. To reduce external distractions, they might want to use a headset, though isolating themselves in a room and hanging a “Do not disturb” sign might work just as well.

Letting your staff work at home can be a big boon for your company — provided that employees set their devices up properly and that you have a good remote work policy in place. If you’re interested in taking full advantage of remote work but don’t know where to start, talk to our experts. We’re more than happy to help.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Cloud use surges during COVID-19 pandemic

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Cloud use surges during COVID-19 pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads to more nations worldwide, millions of businesses turn to the internet as their employees are forced to work from home. Is the World Wide Web ready for the sudden increase in demand for cloud-based services?

Even before the pandemic, many companies were already turning to online productivity and collaboration tools for their business. While projections on how long this pandemic will force people to stay in their homes vary, it is certain that for the next month or so, cloud usage will continue to rise. This has many people worried that the internet is not ready for this sudden increase in activity.

What you should and shouldn’t be concerned about

The internet’s performance depends on many things, including network infrastructure, how things are wired up, and points of presence.

  • Will the internet collapse? Experts say this is unlikely. In fact, the internet is built to survive such surges in activity.
  • Will it affect the quality of service? Yes, but it depends on the network infrastructure, the level of demand, and the ability of providers to scale up rapidly. In areas with inadequate or weak infrastructure but with a lot of users, expect to experience a slower internet because response time takes longer. But for those whose infrastructure allows them to make use of multiple paths, they can continue business as usual.
  • Can teleworking solutions cope with the demand? It depends on how capable they are of scaling horizontally; meaning, if they can distribute the load to different parts of their network. For cloud-based providers, that should not be difficult.
  • Will the increased demand mean that businesses with their data in the cloud will have a harder time retrieving their data? Businesses that use a private cloud to store their data (often for cybersecurity reasons) will not be affected because they have their own dedicated connections. But those who use the public cloud to store their data may be affected.

How companies are preparing for this surge in cloud service usage

Since the pandemic is global, all areas are affected, even those with a strong infrastructure backbone. But how they are affected varies.

  • Companies that are already using the cloud extensively are the most ready for this new normal of working from home. Having a multi-cloud infrastructure makes them even more nimble to adjust to the increase in demand.
  • Global corporations with a presence in different parts of the world, including areas with inadequate infrastructure, will experience connectivity issues. The solution is for them to redirect traffic to their areas with better-developed backbones.
  • Companies offering Unified-Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) and Containers-as-a-Service (CaaS) like Google, Microsoft, Zoom, 8×8, Amazon Web Services, and IBM, to name a few, need to boost their distributed capacities to accommodate the increase in telecommuting.
  • Cloud-based services are elastic, meaning they are quick to scale up or down. But the speed in which companies are able to scale up will depend on their network architecture and the kinds of services they offer.
  • Some Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers, like Salesforce and Dropbox, are using a data-driven approach to manage their infrastructure and internet traffic. They incorporate real-time data to determine where to route their traffic so as to decongest their system and ensure consistent and reliable performance overall.
  • The challenge is for providers to look for new and innovative ways to manage their traffic and resources. They should also look for ways to deploy new infrastructure to areas with slower, unpredictable internet service.

This work-from-home situation looks like it will last longer than just a couple of weeks. If you need help to set up your business for remote working, talk to our experts today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

COVID-19’s huge impact on businesses

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COVID-19’s huge impact on businesses

The coronavirus pandemic is affecting individuals and businesses worldwide. As COVID-19 continues to spread, the private and public sectors are exerting great efforts to cope with present and future challenges. This includes leveraging technology resources. Here are some of the ways the pandemic will impact technology use.

Increased reliance on communications technology
The need for remote interactions and stronger communications technology will inevitably increase. Businesses are expected to immediately adopt things like 5G technology to enhance communication speeds and performance.

Meanwhile, specific industries like healthcare will adopt technologies that optimize current processes. This includes using telehealth platforms that will let healthcare providers diagnose and issue prescriptions remotely. To do that, they need 5G-powered systems that will efficiently facilitate consultations.

Many companies have already shifted to remote work setups. Business leaders now and in the foreseeable future will use more platforms that efficiently facilitate collaboration with colleagues, business partners, and customers. Tools that will let them achieve this include teleconferencing solutions like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and others.

Digital ways to network
Now that many businesses of all sizes have shifted to remote work, it follows that events, conferences, and a variety of gatherings worldwide such as tech conferences have been canceled. This is to curb the fast spread of the coronavirus.

Certain organizations will forgo in-person networking events and business meetings and will explore online avenues to maintain business opportunities. Again, this could mean turning to telecommunications tech that offers reliable connectivity and fast speeds.

A boost in cashless transactions
Paying in cash is quickly becoming a thing of the past due to recommendations of healthcare authorities like the World Health Organization (WHO). This is to limit the spread of the virus that can spread through cash. More than ever, businesses must explore ways to implement measures that restrict cash payments, if not eliminate them altogether.

In other words, contactless payments will now be the norm in many countries around the world. This certainly applies to small businesses, too. Because of the pandemic, businesses across industries are expected to quickly adopt mobile payments and other forms of electronic payments.

Growth in eCommerce
As the general public drastically limits time spent outdoors, brick-and-mortar stores experience less and less foot traffic. Businesses that have adapted to new ways of product and service delivery would find themselves increasingly maximizing online purchase options for their customers.

However, the logistics involved in delivering goods and services could prove overwhelming for many businesses. For instance, they may have to adjust order fulfillment models to align with shifting demands. That could mean increasing the workforce in charge of eCommerce operations. Therefore, those that are able to boost their online shopping operations must take steps to enhance their online selling capabilities to meet unpredictable surges in demand.

In a time of crisis, businesses must explore the many ways technology can help sustain operations; whether it be in terms of maintaining communications, delivering goods and services, and gearing up for a drastically changed future.

Call our IT experts today and let us know how you want your tech resources to aid you in these tough times.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Why autocomplete passwords are risky

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Why autocomplete passwords are risky

Many people use auto-fill passwords for their convenience. What you might not know is that hackers and advertisers can use them to get access to websites and other applications and gather sensitive information. Learn more about the risks of using autocomplete passwords.

Why auto-fill passwords are so dangerous

Certain web browsers have integrated features that enable usernames and passwords to be automatically entered into a web form. There are also password manager applications that have made it easy to access login credentials. But these aren’t completely safe. They can become a liability if hackers gain access to computers or browsers.

For example, if a hacker gains access to just one account, it’ll be easier for them to obtain access to other accounts because the autocomplete feature will fill in all other saved credentials.

Tricking a browser or password manager into giving up saved information is incredibly simple. All a hacker needs to do is place an invisible form on a compromised webpage to collect users’ login information.

Using auto-fill to track users

For over a decade, there’s been a password security tug-of-war between hackers and cybersecurity professionals. Little do users know that shrewd digital marketers also use password auto-fill to track user activity.

Digital marketing groups AdThink and OnAudience have been placing these invisible login forms on websites to monitor the sites that users visit. AdThink and OnAudience track people based on the usernames in hidden auto-fill forms and sell the information they gather to advertisers. While the intention is not to steal passwords, there’s always the likelihood of exposure.

One simple security tip for today

A quick and effective way to improve your account security is to turn off auto-fill in your web browser. Here’s how to do it:

  • If you’re using Chrome – Open the Settings window, click Advanced, and select the appropriate settings under Manage Passwords.
  • If you’re using Firefox – Open the Options window, click Privacy, and under the History heading, select “Firefox will: Use custom settings for history.” In the new window, disable “Remember search and form history.”
  • If you’re using Safari – Open the Preferences window, select the Auto-fill tab, and turn off all the features related to usernames and passwords.

Being cautious about your password security habits can go a long way in protecting your sensitive data. For managed, 24/7 cybersecurity assistance that goes far beyond protecting your privacy, call us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto

Security tips for businesses that use IoT devices

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Security tips for businesses that use IoT devices

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are increasingly becoming a ubiquitous part of modern offices. Make sure that they don’t become entry points for hackers with the following tips.

Set passwords

Many users fail to realize that they can set passwords for IoT devices. Failing to do so makes their gadgets easy to hack. You have to make sure to create strong passwords — preferably with a combination of upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols — and also put a smart and proactive password policy in place. Make use of all security options at your disposal, such as two-factor authentication (2FA) and regular password resets.

Disable Universal Plug and Play

Universal Plug and Pay (UPnP) helps IoT gadgets discover and connect with other network devices. However, this feature can also be exploited as a gateway for hackers to infiltrate your devices and network. To prevent this, disable this feature.

Create a separate network

It’s a good idea to keep your IoT devices connected to a network separate from your main office network. This way, gadgets can connect to the internet but won’t have access to mission-critical files.

You can also invest in device access management tools. These allow you to control which devices can access what data, and prevent unauthorized access.

Update your firmware

You need to keep your software up to date if you want to secure your devices against cyberattacks. Manufacturers regularly release patches for the latest vulnerabilities, so make it a habit to check and install IoT firmware updates regularly.

If you have several devices, use patch management software to automate patch distribution and schedule regular updates.

Unplug it

Simply disconnecting your devices or turning them off when not in use can significantly reduce your vulnerability to cyberattacks. It removes potential entry points into your network and minimizes the chances of unauthorized access to your network.

With the advent of IoT devices in homes and offices, hackers also developed more cunning ways to exploit them. Adopting the abovementioned security habits can prevent a variety of IoT attacks, but if you need to beef up your security, contact us today. We have robust security solutions to keep your hardware and systems safe.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.


Source: Pronto