“Never before in the history of humankind have people across the world been subjected to extortion on a massive scale as they are today.” That’s what The Evolution of Ransomware, a study by Mountain View, California-based cybersecurity firm Symantec, reported recently.
If you have any illusions that your company is safe from cyber-attack in 2017, consider just a few findings stated in a recent report by the Herjavec Group, a global information security firm:
Efficient Escrow of California was forced to close its doors and lay off its entire staff when cybercriminals nabbed $1.5 million from its bank account. The thieves gained access to the escrow company’s bank data using a form of “Trojan horse” malware. Once the hackers broke in, they wired $432,215 from the firm’s bank to an account in Moscow. That was followed by two more transfers totaling $1.1 million, this time to banks in Heilongjiang Province in China, near the Russian border. The company recovered the first transfer, but not the next two. They were shocked to discover that, unlike with consumer accounts, banks are under no obligation to recoup losses in a cybertheft against a commercial account. That meant a loss of $1.1 million, in a year when they expected to clear less than half that. Unable to replace the funds, they were shut down by state regulators just three days after reporting the loss. Net result? The two brothers who owned the firm lost their nine-person staff and faced mounting attorneys’ fees nearing the total amount of the funds recovered, with no immediate way to return their customers’ money.
We are looking forward to attending this great event and hope you will join us. It is a must attend event for leaders that want to Scale-Up. We are particularly interested in meeting Patrick Lencioni. For more info: gazelles.com/summits/growth-2016
How To Have The Vision, Tenacity And Courage To Achieve Your Own (Seemingly Impossible) Moon Shot
Recently I had the opportunity of meeting Buzz Aldrin. He is 86 years old and still going 90 miles an hour. How much energy are you putting into everyday?
Buzz is a big thinker. He is always thinking outside the box. This thinking got him to the moon. How far will your thinking take you?
The 7 Most Critical IT Security Protections Every Business Must Have In Place Now To Protect Themselves From Cybercrime, Data Breaches And Hacker Attacks
You, the CEO of a small business, are under attack. Right now, extremely dangerous and well-funded cybercrime rings in China, Russia and the Ukraine are using sophisticated software systems to hack into thousands of small businesses like yours to steal credit cards, client information, and swindle money directly out of your bank account. Some are even being funded by their own government to attack American businesses.
Your Computer Network Is Being Haunted! (And It’s Worse Than Ghosts And Goblins)
Your small business is under attack. Right now, extremely dangerous and well-funded cybercrime rings are suing sophisticated techniques to hack into thousands of small businesses to steal credit cards, blackmail you to recover data and swindle money directly out of your bank account.
82,000 NEW malware threats are being released every single day and HALF of the cyber-attacks occurring are aimed at small businesses just like yours. You just don’t hear about it because it’s kept quiet for fear of bad PR, lawsuits and sheer embarrassment.
Could The Dog Days Of Summer Be A Threat To Your Business?
**How To Ensure The Heat Doesn’t Fry Your Server (And Your Profits!)
With the “dog days” of summer upon us, most business owners are looking for ways to keep their company’s sales and profits HOT, while keeping their IT expenses COOL. But if proper attention is not given to your server and network equipment during the summer, all that heat outside can actually bring your company’s growth to a grinding halt and increase your IT expenses significantly.
Take the mystery out of small business finance with this no-frills guide to understanding the numbers that will guide your business out of any financial black hole. Author Greg Crabtree, a successful accountant, small business advisor, and popular presenter, shows you how to use your firm’s key financial indicators as a basis for smart business decisions as you grow your firm from start-up to $5 million (and more!) in annual revenue.
The Single Most Dangerous Assumption Businesses Make About Bank Security That Can Cause Them To Lose ALL Their Money
Here’s a shocker to most business owners: Your bank often can NOT reclaim money stolen from your bank account due to fraud or cyber-crime. That means if money gets drafted from your business bank account from a hacker, phishing attack, identity theft or by any other means, you have little to no chance of getting it back.
5 Smart Tips To Know Before Moving Your Data To A Cloud-Based Application
Cloud computing is all the rage these days, and while some companies are moving their whole IT infrastructure to the cloud, many others are choosing to streamline their businesses by moving individual business applications.
If you are considering moving any of your company’s software applications “to the cloud,” make sure to consider these 5 tips BEFORE pulling the trigger:
In Pat’s latest best-seller, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business, he makes an overwhelming case that organizational health will surpass all other disciplines in business as the greatest opportunity for improvement and competitive advantage. Drawing on his extensive consulting experience and reaffirming many of the themes cultivated in his other best-selling books, Pat reveals the four actionable steps to achieving long-term, sustainable success. (From tablegroup.com/oh)
Have you ever run into a virtual wall when searching for information on the Internet? With billions of websites online, finding good, relevant information online can sometimes be akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
But take heart! Here are 7 little-known secrets that will help you find what you are looking for in no time at all.
1. Use the “Advanced Search” tool Almost all search engines have an “advanced search” tool that will provide you with more options for filtering information and websites. This will help you narrow down your search and eliminate irrelevant, off-topic websites.
An IMPORTANT Security Warning For Businesses Running Windows Server 2003
If your organization is currently running Microsoft Server 2003 on one or more servers in your office, you need to know about a dangerous security threat to your organization that must be addressed very soon. Please take a moment to read this important announcement.
As your local Microsoft Registered Partner, we are aggressively reaching out to all businesses within the Greater New Orleans Area that use Microsoft Windows Server 2003 to alert you to this serious security risk to your organization and inform you about what you need to do now to protect your company.
5 Easy Things You Should Do To Protect Your Business Now
Let’s face it: no one likes to think about bad things happening to them, much less plan for them. But since September is National Disaster Preparedness Month, we want to give you a quick “brush-up” on some simple things you can (and should!) be doing to protect your business.
1.Review Your Business Insurance Carefully. Most businesses carry some type of general liability insurance that would pay them if their building and the things in it were damaged. However, many businesses do not have enough coverage to replace all the computer equipment and devices, desks, art, supplies and other things they’ve accumulated over the years that are housed in their office. Make sure you review your policy every year and keep in mind new additions and assets you’ve accumulated during that year.
The 3 Biggest Problems New Orleans and Northshore CEOs Have With Most IT Firms If you are a highly successful, results-oriented CEO who wants to focus your time, energy and money on growing your company, but find yourself constantly distracted and slowed down by chronic computer problems and incompetent IT support, then you probably don’t need us to tell you how frustrating that is.
Our research shows that most successful New Orleans and Northshore CEOs have 3 big problems when dealing with most IT support companies. See if you agree…
What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm
This month, I am recommending that all business owners and top executives read Verne Harnish’s book “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits”.
Last month I was honored to hear Mr. Harnish speak live about The Most Powerful, Proven Way To Secure Rapid, Profitable Growth For Your Business. I took so many notes and gained lots of valuable information. I have already started to implement some of his ideas at Ener Systems. I wanted to share Mr. Harnish’s book with all of you. I know you will take away many great ideas that you can implement.
The Single Most Dangerous Assumption Businesses Make About Bank Security That Can Cause Them To Lose ALL Their Money
Here’s a shocker to most business owners: You’re bank often can NOT reclaim money stolen from your bank account due to fraud or cyber-crime. That means if money gets drafted from your business bank account from a hacker, phishing attack, identity theft or by any other means, you have little to no chance of getting it back.
9 Steps To Take Now To Be Certain Your Finances Are Protected Online
Seems like we’ve been inundated over the past 6 months with rampant cybertheft. Target, Nieman Marcus, Yahoo and even mysterious $9.84 credit-card charges. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, this is most likely the norm going forward and not just a blip on the radar.
So, how can you stay protected online? While there is no way to absolutely, positively, 100% stay safe online, by taking these 9 steps, you will be as safe as possible.at night knowing you have a way to continue to operate when disaster strikes.
Spring begins on March 20th! It’s not too late to prepare for those pop-up storms that occur randomly at this time of year often resulting in everything from ice damage to lightening fires. During this time of year the threat of fire, flood, severe storms, water damage from office sprinklers, and even theft is very real.
One of the most valuable assets for any company is its data. Hardware and software can easily be replaced, but a company’s data cannot!
How Long Would It Really Take To Crack Your “Strong” Password?
How many @’s, %’s and other crazy symbols are in your password right now? Are they really all that necessary? According to a recent Carnegie Mellon study, the answer is no. The only thing that really influences your password strength is its length! Not whether it has X minimum characters or Y maximum characters. And not whether it has a kazillion combinations of numbers, letters and other doodads that are bound to confuse most of your employees.
If you’re planning on heading out of town – or simply to the coffee shop to work – here are a few tips to keep in mind.
1. Protect your devices from thieves. All mobile devices should be passcode-protected and loaded with apps that will help you track and find them in case they get lost or stolen. For iPads and iPhones, there’s the free Find My iPhone. Android users can try Lookout Mobile Security. These apps allow you to remotely wipe the device in case they fall into the wrong hands; you definitely don’t want to expose yourself to identity theft or allow someone access to your company’s network and client data. Also, never leave your device anywhere you wouldn’t leave your wallet.
5 Steps To Moving From Your iPhone To An Android Phone
Android phones have come a long way in the last few years, and the Apple iPhone may have lost a bit of the pizazz that it had just a few years back as the new phone on the block.
If you’re thinking of making the jump from iPhone to Android, here are 5 critical areas of your phone you need to consider before you move:
Would You Rather Text Than Talk? Essential Tips For Business Texting
You use your iPhone or Android for everything else. Your spouse even texts you to grab some milk at the store or to tell you they’ll be gone when you get home. It’s quick, easy and gets the job done. Why not in business too?
If you’re going to text for business purposes, follow these 7 texting tips to keep it professional:
What You Need To Know About The New Security Breach Notification Laws
It’s Monday morning and one of your employees notifies you that they lost their laptop at a Starbucks over the weekend, apologizing profusely. Aside from the cost and inconvenience of buying a new laptop, could you be on the hook for bigger costs, and should you notify all your clients? Maybe, depending on where you live and what type of data you had stored on that laptop.
Top 4 Threats Attacking Your Network And What To Do About Them
#1 Overconfidence
User overconfidence in security products is the top threat to your network. Failure to “practice safe software” results in nuisance attacks like porn storms (unstoppable rapid fire pornographic pop-ups) and more subtle key loggers that steal passwords. Surveys promising free stuff, result in theft of information like your mother’s maiden name, high school, etc. used to answer common security questions leading to theft of otherwise secure data. Think before you click!
A Seattle company was recently broken into and a stash of old laptops was stolen. Just a typical everyday crime by typical everyday thieves. These laptops weren’t even being used by anyone in the company. The crime turned out to be anything but ordinary when those same thieves (cyber-criminals) used data from the laptops to obtain information and siphon money out of the company via fraudulent payroll transactions. On top of stealing money, they also managed to steal employee identities.
Apples are picked on crowded subways, in quiet parks, on busy street corners, in loud bars. Apples are picked while people are talking on the phone, the picker dashing past and doing the deed in midstride.
I’m not talking about Red Delicious apples. I’m referring to the Apple iPhone. Many major cities have seen an increase in the crime rate because of the Apple iPhone. In New York City alone in 2012 there were 16,000 Apple “pickings”, or 14% of all crimes.
Tips For Handling, Storing, and Disposing Of Confidential Documents
In the past 10 years, over 10,000 new regulations have been placed on the books by local, state and federal agencies pertaining to the handling, storage, and disposal of confidential client, patient, and employee documents. A few examples are:
• SEC Rule 17a-4 Electronic Storage of Broker Dealer Records Graham-Leach-Bliley Act • Financial Services Modernization Act • Sarbanes-Oxley Act • DOD 5015.2 Department of Defense • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) • Fair Labor Standards Act • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Act • Payment Card Industry Data Security (PCI DSS)
It’s lunch time and you stop by your favorite café to check e-mail and grab a bite to eat. You settle in at a table when your pickup number is called. Returning to your table, you find your laptop and appetite—has disappeared! Okay, maybe you’re not foolish enough to leave your laptop unattended in a public place, but one of your employees might think it’s okay to leave a laptop or PDA in their car, a hotel room, or in their gym bag and end up exposing your company’s data and network to thieves. If it hasn’t happened to you or someone you know, according to the FBI, it will. Maybe you have a backup of the data, but now detailed information about you, your family, your business and your clients is in the hands of a criminal intent on stealing your money, identity or worse. There is a lot of software and hardware that protects your data from being stolen by online criminals, but how do you protect your data when someone steals your physical laptop or PDA? Until now, your only recourse was to change the passwords to your network, financial websites, etc., watch your credit report and cross your fingers hoping for the best. But thanks to new security software, you can instantly erase all of the data on your laptop or PDA preventing thieves from accessing the data. Here’s how it works: Special security software is installed on your laptop that checks for your “kill” command whenever it connects to the Internet. This happens even before Windows prompts for the user name and password. If it receives the “kill” message, the data on your computer is instantly destroyed. You may not get your laptop back, but you’ll prevent the thief from stealing the information it contains. If you’re a business, check out Absolute Software’s Computrace and Novell’s ZENworks. Both should be installed and configured by your system administrator or a computer consultant. If you want to protect your home computer or personal laptop, use zTrace’s zControl. Although designed for the general public, it can be confusing to install and configure so seek the help of a professional. In the PDA world, there’s remoteProtect from sCPsOFT for Windows CE, Windows Mobile and Pocket PC devices or Bluefish’s Central for the Palm Treo. If your PDA is stolen, you simply text a message to it that includes your password and the PDA is reset it to its blank factory default condition. What could be easier? As with all theft and hacker deterrents, thieves can circumvent this software by downloading your data before connecting the device to the Internet. Surprisingly, the typical thief isn’t smart enough to know this. So, for absolute security, data encryption remains the most reliable form of protection. Encrypted data is unreadable to thieves unless they have your encryption key. There are pros and cons to both approaches, but it’s important for you to have SOME protection. For help in determining the best solution for you, give us a call: 985-871-0333.
1. You try to enter your password on the microwave. 2. You have 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three. 3. You consider “mouse elbow” a sports injury. 4. Your daughter is selling Girl Scout Cookies on her Web site. 5. The concept of using real money is becoming foreign to you. 6. Cleaning up the dining area means getting the fast food bags out of the back seat of your car. 7. The only jokes you “hear” come by e-mail. 8. Your cereal box says, “visit us online”, and you do. 9. You consider 2nd day air delivery painfully slow. 10. The reason you don’t keep in touch with some of your family: They don’t have e-mail addresses. 11. You chat with a stranger from South Africa, but you haven’t spoken to your next door neighbor in more than a year. 12. The computer you bought last week is now outdated and selling for half price. 13. You instant message your son in his room saying dinner is ready. He replied back to ask what you’re having. 14. You consider naming your daughter “Dot” and your son “Com.” 15. You order take-out food online. 16. Your family pet runs on batteries. 17. You can have more meaningful conversations with your car than your spouse. 18. You start calling telemarketers “spammers”. 19. You’ve never actually met your spouse in person. 20. You can turn your lights on, open the garage door, turn up your stereo, and see your back yard without leaving your computer. 21. You have 5 remote controls in your living room to operate one TV. 22. Your dog has an e-mail address. 23. Your idea of a great first date involves a cup of coffee and a chat room. 24. Your legs have fallen off from lack of use.
Warning: If You’ve Downloaded Free Software From The Internet, Your Computer May Be At Risk For Viruses, Hackers, and Spyware!
We’ve all heard the saying that the best things in life are free, but I’m not sure they were referring to software.
Freeware (free software, not to be confused with open source software) such as the AVG anti-virus free edition, Spybot, and Ad-Aware are all programs you can download to your PC for the ultimate discount: free. However, you get what you pay for.
I would like to recommend “Great by Choice” by Jim Collins. This book and all of the books Jim Collins has written are invaluable to building a Great company. Mr. Collins has many insights and observations that can help take your business from being a “Good” company to a “Great” company. This year we sent all of our clients “Great by Choice” on audio CD as a Christmas gift. Now everyone is talking about 20-Mile Marches, oxygen canisters and triangles and how they will help make their businesses more successful. I hope you decide to take your business and life from Good to Great. Mr. Collins can help you with the first step if you choose to read his book.
Why You Should Avoid Using A Debit Card When Shopping Online
If you shop online (and these days, who doesn’t?), you’ll want to make sure you use a credit card instead of a debit card to protect yourself from online scams and rip offs. The biggest advantage credit cards offer is a buffer for payment. By law, your maximum loss if your credit card number is stolen is $50, and most credit card companies and banks will cover the entire cost.
How To Avoid The Top 5 Budget Busting, Stress-Inducing Mistakes When Moving Your Office
Moving is always a pain, but it doesn’t have to be a horrific, expensive experience. The number one lament from someone who’s experienced a “bad” move is, “I didn’t know I needed to…” followed closely by “I completely forgot that…” In other words, it’s what you don’t do that makes the move a disaster.
To make your move easy and effortless, here are the 5 most common mistakes you want to avoid:
In today’s fast pace world, signing documents electronically can help you keep up with the pace. So what is an electronically signed document, anyway? An electronically signed document will not allow changes to be made to the document after you have signed it.
So if someone sends you a contract via email. You can review the contract and electronically sign the document and return it via email. You do not need to print the file out, sign it with a pen, scan it and email the file back. You can sign it without paper and pen. You will have a copy of the document as you agreed to it as well as any other party that is involved. All parties will know that it was your signature, by third party verification.
As we are just getting over the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, I wanted to share 3 of the lessons that we confirmed as we helped our clients get back up and running. Hurricane Isaac confirmed 3 of Ener Systems’ best practices.
1. Having a backup internet connection does make a difference. Having both Charter and AT&T internet connections, kept us from being totally out of commission during Isaac’s aftermath. Our clients with redundant internet connections had the same experience.
5 Smart Tips to Know before Moving Your Data to a Cloud-Based Application
1. Back It Up! Migrating data to any new location is a mess and anything can (and usually does) go wrong. Therefore, make sure you have good, recent backup copies of everything before you make the move.
2. Maintain an On-site Copy At first, moving to the cloud can be a bit scary. What can help mitigate the risk (and the fear) is keeping a local, on-site copy of your data and network image on an NAS (network-attached storage) device so that you have a local on-site copy in addition to the working cloud copy.
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter: Can Employers Demand Employees Give Up Their Login Info?
Here’s a new question that’s being discussed in the courts: Do employers have the right to ask new hires for their username and password to various social media sites? According to the state of Maryland, the answer is, “No.”
Recently the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation that prevents employers in the state from asking prospective employees for their login information for various social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter.
Now that school is out, thousands of children will be surfing the Internet in their free time.
Although the Internet provides a tremendous learning tool for children, left unchecked it can also expose them to inappropriate material and unscrupulous individuals looking to exploit innocent children.
The statistics of online abuse towards children are alarming. According to a new survey conducted by NetAlert, nearly one child in every five using the Internet has been approached online by a stranger, and 47 per cent of children have been exposed to material that is pornographic, sexually explicit, violent, hateful, or that encourages them to participate in dangerous or illegal activities.
9 Warning Signs Your Computer Is Infected With Spyware
Spyware is Internet jargon for hidden programs that advertisers install on your PC without your permission to spy on you, gather information, and report this information about you and your online activities to a third party.
Spyware is NOT harmless; it can be responsible for delivering a boatload of spam, altering your web browser, slowing down your PC, and serving up a bounty of pop-up ads. In some of the more extreme cases, spyware can also steal your identity, passwords, e-mail address book, and even use your PC for illegal activities.
Benjamin Zander has been the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic since 1979. His insights for classical music and leadership can be applied in any leadership role.
As conductor, Zander’s job is to awaken the possibilities in others. As he says in the TED video, “ the conductor does not make any sounds.” It is up to him to make sure the musicians have the information they need do their best.
Learning from your peers is better than learning from your own mistakes.
I am a firm believer in peer groups. I always suggest that business owners look for peer groups in their industries. These groups can be invaluable. They can push you to get the impossible done. Your peers can also help you when you need it, because they have been there too.
Peer groups can allow you and your business to build a nationwide network.
5 Ways To Keep Your Laptop Running – Without Plugging It In
On the road, in the airport, at a client’s site, or simply at home on the couch … these are places you can’t or don’t want to – plug in your laptop. Want to keep your laptop running as long as possible without searching for an outlet? Here are five tips to help:
1) Keep your screen dim. A laptop’s backlight requires a lot of power. Reducing the brightness conserves battery life. 2) Turn off unused hardware. Your Bluetooth and your Wi-Fi receiver can both be turned off if not in use. Unplug your external mouse or other device. Mute the PC’s sound system. Not only will these steps save power, they will avoid annoying everyone else around you. 3) Don’t multitask. Run as few programs as you can get away with. Stick to one application (word processor, browser, or whatever) if possible. (If online keep your antivirus and firewall on in the background.) 4) Avoid multimedia. Save your photo editing and video watching for when you have AC power. These tasks use immense battery life. To listen to music, use your iPod (or similar device). 5) Sleep, standby or hibernate. Sleep mode (a/k/a “standby” in XP) keeps your PC on. It still uses power, just less than normal. Hibernate uses no power initially, but a lot of battery life to start back up.
What is your Centerpoint? Meet Blue Angels Pilot, John Foley
Recently while in Dallas at an industry conference for Tigerpaw Software, I had the great pleasure of hearing John Foley speak in person. He is Amazing and the focus that the Blue Angels have is Amazing. When the Blue Angels fly in formation, they start with the planes at 36 inches apart and get the planes as close as 18 inches apart. It must take incredible focus to achieve such precision. John explains that for every show, the Blue Angels have a centerpoint that everyone remains focused on. This centerpoint allows all of the pilots to focus on one thing and achieve unbelievable accuracy. Just imagine what you could do with that kind of focus. What is your centerpoint? What are you going to focus on that will make you achieve unbelievable goals?
According to a University of Utah study, you can increase your efficiency (or your employees’ efficiency) by 25% just by adding a second monitor. With multiple monitors, you can get more done since you aren’t minimizing and maximizing all day long. Therefore, adding monitors can be a money maker for your company.
The study documentation states that 108 university and non-university personnel participated in a comparison of single monitor, multi-monitor and multi-monitor with Hydravision display configurations. Respondents edited slide shows, spreadsheets and text documents in a simulation of office work using each of the display arrays. Performance measures—including task time, editing time, number of edits completed and number of errors made, as well as usability measures evaluating effectiveness, comfort, learning ease, time to productivity, quickness of recovery from mistakes, ease of task tracking, ability to maintain task focus and ease of movement among sources—were combined into an overall evaluation of productivity. Multi-screens scored significantly higher on every measure. Respondents got on task quicker, did the work faster and got more of the work done with fewer errors in multi-screen configurations than with a single screen.
E-mail driving you crazy? Every time you delete one, do five more show up? Are you finding it impossible to answer every e-mail you receive? If this is you, then here are 10 tips to reduce e-mail overload.
1- Get a good spam filter. Even if it saves you just 10 minutes a day, that adds up to over 59 hours a year. 2- Cancel subscriptions to unwanted mailing lists. Also, make sure you are careful to check the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” box when purchasing items online. 3- Ask your friends to remove you from joke groups or chain messages. 4- Don’t post or publish your e-mail on websites. 5- Don’t respond to every e-mail you receive. Yes, it’s okay NOT to respond to some e-mails. 6- Be succinct. Restrict your messages to a few sentences. If you can’t, pick up the phone or talk in person. 7- Take advantage of subject lines. If possible, put your question in the subject line of your message. Here’s another tip: create a set of codes with your co-workers and place them in the subject line to help them process and prioritize messages. For example, use “FYI” for informational messages. Use “AR” for action required and “URG” for urgent messages. 8- Block time to answer your e-mail and fight the temptation to check your e-mail every few minutes. 9- Respond to messages when you open them so you only read them once. 10- Set time aside in the morning and the evening to process your inbox. Shoot for a completely empty inbox. File messages you need to keep and set reminders for messages that require you to follow up.
What every business owner needs to know about tying shoes
I thought I would try something a little different for this post. Please watch the video to get the most out of your day. Steve Miller from The Adventure introduced me to TED a couple of weeks ago. Steve is a great guy with a huge sense of humor. I thought I would share some of the humor with you.
4 Questions About Backups That You Should Know The Answers To
The old saying, “Pack your own parachute,” comes to mind when I think of data backups or, more specifically, data RECOVERY. However, how many people actually know how to pack their data backup “parachute.
Since the absolute WORST time to check your backups is AFTER a data disaster, all business owners ought to know the answers to the following questions NOW so they aren’t unpleasantly surprised later when data gets erased and they’re scrambling to get back up and running:
Should You Leave Your Computer On At Night Or Turn It Off?
I’ve been asked by clients whether or not they should leave their computer on all the time or turn it off when they are not using it.
Several years ago I would have told my clients to turn their machines off to save power. But with the proliferation of viruses and threats over the last few years, I have changed my mind.
What’s the most common password? You guessed it…”password.” Obviously this is not the best way to protect yourself against hackers and online thieves. But even if you don’t use the word “password,” you might be using an equally easy password to decipher.
We suggest you DON’T use the following passwords for really important web sites, such as your online banking web site or other financially related sites.
Ads for fake antivirus and antispyware programs are multiplying!
How to avoid getting tricked?
Many “reputable” sites are compromised and the owners don’t know it. So it’s not always where you surf. Here are four tips that may help you avoid getting infected.
Keep your computer updated with the latest antivirus and antispyware software, and be sure to use a good firewall.
Never open an email attachment unless you are POSITIVE about the source.
Do NOT click on any pop-up that advertises antivirus or antispyware software. If a virus alert appears on your screen. DON’T click on it, even to “close” it. Instead click the browser “X” button in the far upper right corner of the browser screen. Then call your computer guy.
Do not download freeware or shareware unless you know it’s from a reputable source. Many freeware and shareware programs come bundled with spyware, adware, or fake antivirus programs.
The best prevention is your own skepticism. The rule is: IF IN DOUBT, DON’T!
Both cars and computers are indispensible, complex and will eventually break.
Do you change the oil in your car? You probably do. But WHY? You do this to prevent problems that you MIGHT have in the future.
When was the last time you changed the oil in your computer? I know computers don’t have oil. But they do have parts and software that break … usually at the worst possible time.
With the new year upon us, many of you may have upgraded your old PCs for shiny new ones. So what should you do about that old PC left over?
Whatever you do, don’t just throw it into a dumpster! Not only is it an environmental hazard you could be fined for, but you also don’t want complete strangers getting access to your old files, passwords, financial information, and e-mails.
If you’ve been an iTunes and iPod customer for any length of time, you’ll quickly rack up the number of songs, videos, and audio books in your library. And, in no time flat, you can end up spending a small fortune.
But be warned! Most iTunes customers don’t realize that Apple will NOT allow you to re-download the music you’ve paid for, even if you lose every file because your computer dies, gets fried, infected, or destroyed.
Now that we’re at the height of cold and flu season, you might want to take a closer look at what’s living on your keyboard. A series of studies called “Germs in the Workplace,” found that the following four office surfaces had the most bacteria (in this order):
1. Your Phone 2. Your Desk 3. Your Computer Keyboard 4. Your Computer Mouse
Obviously these are items you touch all day, every day. Germs and dirt from your hands and mouth get transferred easily on to these items, and vice-versa, making them breeding grounds for harmful bacteria.
E-mail is quickly becoming the #1 way we communicate with friends, family, co-workers, employees, and clients. But be careful! E-mail messages cannot accurately deliver the tone of your message and what you thought was funny sarcasm may be interpreted as an insult to your reader.
More than 80 years have passed since Emily Post wrote her first book on etiquette. Back then, the rules had more to do with how to properly introduce someone and which fork to use at a dinner party. But with the introduction of new communication tools comes new rules. Below are 19 quick tips and rules for what is—and isn’t—acceptable behavior when using e-mail.
“5 Easy Ways to Avoid Getting an Avalanche of Spam”
Spam e-mails are not only annoying and time consuming, but they’re also becoming more dangerous to your personal privacy and the security of your computer. Millions of computers users are getting infected, spoofed, and tricked by spam e-mails every year, forcing the user to pay hefty fees to clean and restore their PCs back to working order.
“The UPS Your Business Can’t Be Without (And, No, I’m Not Talking About The Post Office)”
A UPS, or uninterruptible power supply, is a battery backup power source for computers, servers and network equipment. When the power goes out, a UPS will keep your equipment going long enough to save any documents and shut down the machine properly. Why should you care?
Because, if you are actively working on a document when the power goes out, 1 of 3 things could happen.
“What Every Business Owner MUST Know To Protect Against Online Identity Theft”
All it takes is one innocent security slip by you or one of your employees to instantly give online criminals the information they need to access your network and steal your identity. In no time at all, they can gain enough information to max out your credit cards, wipe out your bank accounts, and completely obliterate your business and personal credit. They can even use your identity to commit further crimes such as forgery, stealing from other businesses, or online scams. This nightmare can take months – sometimes years – to clean up and can destroy your credit and good name.
