TechTidBit - Tips and advice for small business computing - Tech Experts™ - Monroe Michigan - Page 20 of 99

Work-From-Home Precautions For Your Network

October 29, 2021

Mark Funchion is a network technician at Tech Experts.

As our world has shifted to a heavy work-from-home environment, it is important that you do what you can to make sure your business’s network is secure, whether your employees are working from home or in the office.

Working from home can pose many challenges. The first involves the device the employee uses. If they have a company-issued laptop and you implemented a VPN, then great, you’re fairly secure.

What do you do if they are using their own home PC? Do they have anti-virus? Are they accessing documents through a common cloud storage location, such as OneDrive or Dropbox?

If so, that can cause issues because that home PC may have other users who are not careful about what they download or what emails they open. If that PC is infected and your employee connects to shared storage, your business may become infected.

For these reasons, you should really consider only allowing access to your data over a VPN that your employees must log into. Do not share files through cloud storage unless you are sure the devices connecting are secure.

This means you may need to provide anti-virus to your users. Yes, it’s an expense, but it’s much cheaper than recovering from a ransomware attack because an employee’s 12-year-old downloaded a Fortnite “hack” to get more V-Bucks.

Next, push the use of two-factor authentication (2FA) and password managers. Having a simple password like “CompanyVPN1!” won’t cut it.

Force your users to use strong and varied passwords. Now, those can be difficult to remember, so it may be a good investment to look into a corporate password manager. This will securely store passwords and make it easier for employees to use stronger credentials.

In addition to better passwords, use 2FA. This security measure sends a verification code to your employee via email or text when they log into secure apps or websites. It’s another extra step, but again, the more precautions you take, the better off your security will be. Just because your employee logged in from home with a strong password doesn’t mean it’s actually your employee. That second authentication makes it much more difficult for the end user’s information to be gained by cybercriminals.

Educate your employees about using public Wi-Fi as well. It’s nice to sit in a comfy chair at Panera and enjoy a bagel and coffee while responding to emails, but who else is on that network? If they must do this, then using a VPN and 2FA are a must.

These are a lot of scary things, but don’t lose sleep. Be diligent in securing your network. If you allow work-from-home, be prepared to invest in setting up VPNs, 2FA, password managers, and anti-virus software for your employees. This time and due diligence will greatly help you prevent your data and network from becoming compromised.

Also, remember you are not in this alone: Tech Experts is here to help. If you want to secure your network for remote work, reach out to us at (734) 457-5000. We secured our own network so we can work remotely and have the expertise to help you do the same.

Modern Utilization Of Tech In Schools & Workplaces

October 29, 2021

Everywhere you look now, there is some type of technology in use and nearly every industry takes advantage of it. Between food delivery apps, the capability to review your accounts online, or the self-scan check-out lanes at the grocery store, we use technology every day and it’s all part of our common experience.

While we may overlook a lot of it in our daily lives, the right tech can make your professional life much easier and efficient. Convenience is one of the main reasons we innovate, right?

One way you can bring helpful tech into the work setting is by using a company-wide chat. You can have a group messaging system like Discord or Slack, but even a group chat over text messages can be a helpful addition in the right workplace.

A company-wide chat allows you to have conversations as needed and communicate with minimal interruptions. Questions, updates, and requests can be reviewed, then responded to a timely matter or addressed right away. It creates a “paper trail” as well, so past messages can be referenced easily.

With chat, you are able to touch base with your peers, employees, or bosses anywhere and anytime. Instead of having ten people trying to reach the same person all at once, they can send them a message and have a reply almost instantly. Unlike email, chat is less likely to be buried in conversation chains, coupons, and other mail.

Another good way to use modern technology is by utilizing remote access. Being able to work remotely is a huge time-saver and a great help for online collaboration, in both schools and the workplace. It allows us to work from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Remote learning is also a very good use of new technology because it allows students to work from home and have all of the same access to resources as if they were sitting in the classroom in front of a teacher. For working professionals, it’s the same – they can complete their work from anywhere as if they were sitting at their desk in the office.

Another great way that technology has influenced the workplace for the better is automation in repetitive tasks. Some examples are network monitoring, notifications, emails, file-sharing, and time management.

Automation allows employees to focus on critical tasks instead of repetitive, time-consuming ones that aren’t necessarily as important. It also prevents some things from falling through the cracks by sending reminders or by entirely handling a task without human intervention.

Automation can also take on many forms, and you may already be benefiting from it. One example of automation that we use at Tech Experts is that our incoming service tickets, sent via email, are automatically disseminated to the right team. If this was not set-up, someone would have to manually sort every ticket that came in. The programs and apps that you already use in your business may have options to make your life easier through automation, such as email rules in Outlook.

Current technology has come a long way. Copiers, calculators, and faxes used to be amazing, and now, some of us can work entirely off of the phone in our pocket. Sometimes, it may seem overwhelming, but even small tweaks – like email rules – can have a big impact. Embracing the efficiency of tech can give you freedom and time back so you can make the most of your work hours.

Using Public Wi-Fi? Consider A VPN

October 29, 2021

With more of us working remotely now, coffee shops are getting busier again as we look for somewhere other than home to work. But while it can be great for getting rid of distractions, it’s not so good for security.

That’s because public Wi-Fi is a hotspot for data theft. Any data sent over public Wi-Fi that doesn’t need a password to access is vulnerable to theft or manipulation from someone else using that network.

And it’s not just other Wi-Fi traffic you need to consider. There are also fake networks to be wary of. You think you’re connecting to the coffee shop’s Wi-Fi… but how do you know it isn’t a fake version with the same name?

As soon as you log on, they can suck up all of your credentials and any other personal data on your device.

If your team is using public Wi-Fi regularly, best practice is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to keep your data safe. This acts as a private tunnel for your device to connect to a private network, keeping your info safe.

Three Steps To Improve Your Ransomware Resilience

October 29, 2021

This is a cold hard fact: Ransomware is on the rise.

What is ransomware?

It’s where hackers break into your network, encrypt your data so you can’t access it, and then charge you a large ransom fee to unlock it. It’s the most disruptive and costly kind of attack you can imagine. And very hard to undo.

Why is it a big deal?

Ransomware attacks are dramatically up thanks to the pandemic. All the urgent changes that businesses went through last year created a perfect storm with plenty of new opportunities for cyber criminals.

Is my business really at risk?

Thanks to automated tools used by hackers, all businesses are being targeted all the time. In fact, hackers prefer to target small businesses as they typically invest less time and money into preventive security measures compared to large companies. It’s estimated a business is infected with ransomware every 14 seconds.

How can my business get infected with ransomware?

42% of ransomware comes from phishing emails. This is where you get a legitimate-looking email asking you to take a specific action. You only need to click a bad link once to let attackers quietly into your system. And it doesn’t have to be you who clicks… it could be any member of your team.

Why is it so hard to undo?

A ransomware attack takes weeks for the hackers to set up. Once inside a network, they stay hidden and take their time to make lots of changes. Essentially, they’re making it virtually impossible for an IT security company such as ours to undo the damage and kick them out once the attack has started. If you haven’t thoroughly prepared for a ransomware attack before it happens, you are much more likely to have to pay the fee.

How much is the typical ransom?

The hackers aren’t stupid. They know trying to get $150,000 out of a small business simply won’t happen. But you might stump up $10,000 just to end the hell of a ransomware attack. They will change their ransom demand based on how much money they believe a business has.

Of course, the ransom isn’t the only cost associated with an attack. There are countless indirect costs. Such as being unable to access your data or systems for a week or longer. How horrendous would it be if no one could do any work on their computer for a week? How would your customers react to that?

What can I do now to protect my business?

This is the most important question to ask. It’s virtually impossible to stop a ransomware attack from happening. But you can do an enormous amount of preparation, so if an attack does happen, it’s an inconvenience, not a catastrophe.

Here are the three steps we recommend for maximizing your ransomware resilience.

Act as if there’s no software protecting you

Software is essential to keep your business safe from all the cyber security threats. But there’s a downside of using this software – it can make you and your team complacent.

Actually, humans are the first defense against cyber-attacks. For example, if your team doesn’t click on a bad link in a phishing email in the first place, then you’re not relying on software to detect an attack and try to stop it.

This means basic training for everyone in the business, and then keeping them up-to-date with the latest threats.

Invest in the best data backup and recovery you can

Automatic off-site data backup is a business basic. When you have a working backup in place, it can be tempting not to give it a second thought.

But it’s worth remembering that cyber criminals will take any means necessary to get you to pay their ransom. That means they’ll target your backup files too. Including cloud-based data.

It’s critical that you create and implement a comprehensive back-up and recovery approach to all of your business data. The National Institute of Standards and Technology sets out a cyber security framework which includes best practices such as:

• Constant backups: Separate from the computers and ideally in the cloud
• Immutable storage: This means once created, backups can’t be changed
• Firewalls: To restrict what data gets in and out

Create a plan for cyber-attacks

When a cyber-attack happens, every second is crucial. The earlier you act, the less damage is caused.

So, prepare a detailed plan of action and make sure everyone knows what’s in it, where to find it, and how to trigger it.

Test your plan regularly to make sure of its effectiveness and remove any risk of failure by keeping at least three copies of it in different places. One should be a printout kept at someone’s home… just in case you have zero access to data storage.

Lessons Learned From The Colonial Oil Pipeline Attack

September 28, 2021

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

May 6, 2021 will be a day that goes down in history. This is the day the Colonial Oil Pipeline went down, causing a nationwide disruption. Even though the pipeline only services a portion of the east coast, the effects of the shutdown was felt across the country.

Gas prices skyrocketed, lines at gas stations were so long it took hours to get through, and gas stations were pumped dry as people bought gas and put it in whatever container they could gather just to assure themselves they would have enough to get through the closure.

If you think about it, this type of ripple effect is not confined to energy and utility providers. While the scale of the effect would not be at the level of the pipeline, the devastation it could leave in its wake for your business and your customers is just as likely. [Read more…] about Lessons Learned From The Colonial Oil Pipeline Attack

An Easier Way To Secure Your Password

September 28, 2021

Mark Funchion is a network technician at Tech Experts.

Between new threats and new tech, security is something that can always be improved upon to make sure your systems are as secure as possible. Passwords are the first level of security, and the area that seems to cause the most headache for end users and IT managers.

In an ideal world, every password would be super complex. For example, a 32-character randomized password with capital letters, lowercase letters, special characters, and numbers. This is possible with a password manager – or if you’re really skilled at memorizing random character strings (unlikely).

The reality is that this does not occur, leading to most of us using a password that is not as secure as hoped. There are a few ways that attackers gain access to our passwords, and the most common methods are an algorithm that “cracks” the password and guessing. Usually, these two are combined, creating databases that nefarious individuals can use for gaining access to your accounts.

The biggest issue with passwords is the human factor. We like things to be simple, so we use things that are familiar. When we have to change a password, we change it in predictable ways, and usually write it on a sticky note.

Let’s look at “Password” as a password. Yes, it’s terrible, but really, it’s eight characters with one capital letter. A password cracker will break “Password” the same as it will break “ushtGsgt.” The second example will just take a little longer to crack because programs try common words and phrases first, then start brute-forcing every combination.

Again, looking at human nature, if one hundred people are asked to make the word “Password” harder to guess, most will swap the “o” for a zero. That’s then added to the list of words and phrases checked first. If the same one hundred people are asked to add a special character and a number, most will probably create something like “Password1!”

Why? Because it is easy to remember, and the “1” and “!” are convenient. Since so many of us will use the same variations of passwords, these become common and therefore are more easily broken.

These reasons are why it’s recommended to use three uncommon, unassociated words as a password (and to not use that combination for all your passwords). For example: “GiraffeDiamondCoffee.” An algorithm will still crack this eventually, but it’s easier to remember and not easily guessed so it will take a while to crack.

The longer it takes, the less likely they will actually get to your data. By using three different random words for your passwords, it is much less likely that your combination of words ends up in the frequently used list, adding more security. You can also easily add numbers and special characters to meet security requirements as needed.

The best practice is to use a password manager and use super complex passwords. Otherwise, using three-word passwords like “GiraffeDiamondCoffee” can boost your security. It may look easy – but it is a 20-character password, so it’s more secure than “P@$$w0rd1!”

Computers that are cracking passwords will try every combination and can test over 100-million per second, so a 10-character password (even with numbers and special characters) only has so many combinations. However, a 20-character password using only capital and lowercase letters like “GiraffeDiamondCoffee” has even more. While the second password seems much easier to crack to the human eye, it’s much more complex in reality.

Do yourself a favor: change how you create your passwords and make your information that much more secure – without making it impossible for you to login to your applications and websites.

Don’t Let Working From Home Lower Your Guard

September 28, 2021

Wyatt Funchion is a help desk technician at Tech Experts.

When working from home or taking online classes for school, it is very easy for us to get caught up in our work and forget about the potential risks of using the Internet.

Whether you are using Zoom, assisting clients, writing assignments, or even just sending a simple email, cybercriminals have figured out ways to exploit our everyday tasks.

Email is one of the most vulnerable territories for users, and cybercriminals love it because it works. Phishing emails, which are emails that try to trick you out of your sensitive information, are one of the most common Internet threats and are easy to overlook if you’re overworked or in a hurry. Some can be extremely convincing, especially at a glance.

One of the best ways to keep your personal information and your work information protected is to avoid clicking links, opening attachments, and replying to emails when you don’t know where or who the email came from. Don’t provide them with extra information like a password, log-in, or anything else sensitive.

Cyberattacks are another common threat while working from home, and your computer and network are targeted just for existing. An easy way to prevent these attacks would be to use an antivirus suite.

These run in the background of your computer and automatically update themselves. They can protect against zero-day attacks (viruses taking advantage of security flaws before they are patched), malware, spyware, viruses, trojans, worms, and more. Some can alert you of phishing scams, including those sent via email, and alert you when a download is suspicious.

Something else that could put both your work and personal information at risk is your web camera. Cameras are used frequently for Zoom calls or Google Meets for both schools and employers and can be a huge risk if you have any documentation like passwords written in your workspace.

It’s also a big risk to your privacy in general, so make sure there isn’t anything else confidential in frame, such as personal phone numbers on a whiteboard.

A simple way to get rid of the potential risks would be to either unplug your webcam or cover it when it’s not being used. Sliding webcam covers are a good way to cover them and are fairly easy to install. They can be found in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

If your workspace is easily accessed by your family or you also use your personal computer for work, it can create threats for your company. Make sure to not leave your computer unlocked or open on any sensitive information that could be accessed by someone other than you. Another risk can be using your work account for personal use because you may not be as careful about what you access during your personal time versus work hours.

In the end, it is important to keep your work life or school life separate from your personal life.

Taking a few extra steps to make sure everything is secure can be the difference between a stolen identity or encrypted computer.

Changing Your Password Has Changed

September 28, 2021

If you didn’t know, changing your password regularly is so 2018. No, as ever in the world of tech, things have moved on and there are better, easier ways of doing it now.

We’re not suggesting you stick with the same password you’ve been using for the last 10 years. And certainly not suggesting you use the same password across multiple apps.

Today, the most secure way to keep your passwords un-hackable is to utilize a random generator for each new password. And then use a password manager to keep them all safe for you.

A random generator will create passwords you couldn’t possibly remember yourself – even if you could recite pi to 100 digits. They’re really… random. Which is perfect for keeping your accounts secure.

The password manager comes in and stores these passwords safely for you. So no more jotting down random characters in the back of a notebook.

Together, they make the perfect team. And we suggest that you get your own team to use them, now.

If you’re unsure how to set this up, or you would like some help to find the password manager that would be best for your business, call us at 734-457-5000. We’d love to help.

What’s Your Pocket-Sized Security Threat?

August 27, 2021

You guessed it. I’m talking about phones.

How many people in your business have a company-issued phone, or use their own to access company data like emails, client information, or documents? It’s probably a high number, right?

And your phone is a big risk to your data security. Smishing attacks (that’s the text message equivalent of a phishing email) increased 328% in 2020 and will probably significantly rise again this year.

That’s because it’s a goldmine for cyber criminals. 98% of text messages are read and 45% are responded to. So a smishing text is likely to yield good results for criminals.

Once your phone is infected, malware can monitor your calls and messages, download and delete your data, and if a phone is connected to your business network, the infection might even spread. [Read more…] about What’s Your Pocket-Sized Security Threat?

« Previous Page