Business Solutions & Software Group Blog

The one truth about technology is that it will always break--usually at the most inopportune time. When it does finally kick the bucket, how are you getting rid of it? It’s not as though you can just toss an old server or printer in the bin. Recycling your technology is the most responsible thing to do, but you have to be cognizant of the company you are trusting to dispose of your Compaq Presario from 1997, because they may not be doing what they are claiming to do; or worse yet, they may be trying to syphon data off your old hardware.

Email is a modern classic as far as business solutions are concerned, and you’d be hard-pressed to find an office that didn’t use it in some capacity or another. However, because email is so popular, it has become a favorite attack vector of malicious users. Fortunately, there are some basic practices that will help keep your email account secure and your communications private.

Follow Password Guidelines
As you might imagine, one of the most important, basic ways that you can lock down your email account is to ensure that your password is sufficiently strong. Too often, breach statistics (and similar data sets) reveal that passwords are still overwhelmingly insecure. Pet names, birthdays and anniversaries, and favorite sports teams are used as passwords far more than they should be, as are common keyboard patterns, like qwerty, asdf, and the like. Some minimal social engineering could very easily provide someone with access to an email account they have no business being in.

To counter this, avoid the temptation to resort to formulaic, easy-to-guess password systems - like, for instance, smushing your alma mater’s mascot together with the number of your childhood home. Again, these password conventions are the first things that a cybercriminal will try if they want to get into your email account. Instead, do your best to rely on an as-random-as-possible string of numbers and letters - creating a different one for each of your accounts. This will ensure that your passwords are as strong as possible with the added benefit of protecting the rest of your accounts if one of your passwords is discovered.

Of course, for the sake of pragmatism, is it totally realistic to remember a completely random string of alphanumeric characters for everything that requires a password? For many, it isn’t. That’s why many resort to using, rather than a password, a passphrase. A passphrase takes a sentence memorable to the individual and turns it into a mnemonic device. So, a fan of films by Rob Reiner could take a line from one of his works and create a password from it, like “uRdBS” or “HFSTC” from The Princess Bride, or “UCHTT” from A Few Good Men.

Avoid the Unknown
Once you’ve accessed your email, there are a few ways that you can avoid putting yourself at risk. One very important way is to avoid the links in email unless you have verified that they do, in fact, go to (and come from) where they appear to.

First, where will the included link direct you? Links can be tricky things, which makes them a favorite of cybercriminals to use in emails. If the link is attached to text, you should hover over it and peek at the status bar that pops up before clicking on it. While the text might say that it brings you to the sender’s official webpage, the link could very well actually direct you to a domain that uploads a virus into your system. If the status bar says that you will be directed to someplace that doesn’t look quite right, skip the link.

You also shouldn’t blindly open an email that hasn’t come from a known or verified source, and even that can now be dangerous. There is a tactic that can be used to great effect as a way to snare even the most cybersecurity-mindful targets called email spoofing. As its name suggests, email spoofing is the act of forging an email’s header so that it appears to have come from someone else, likely someone trusted enough that the email will be opened, read, and interacted with.

As a result, it is best to verify the email with the cited sender whenever possible, through a different means of communication. Whether that means a quick phone call or instant message before you open the email, it is better to be safe than it is to be sorry.

What are some other ways that you keep your email from becoming a security risk? Share them in the comments, and make sure you take a moment and subscribe to this blog!

Physical data backup can be a key part of data backup and disaster recovery. Even if you utilize the cloud for your business continuity solution, there can be no discrediting the importance of having physical data backup. A simple physical data backup can be effective under the right circumstances.

Spring is traditionally a time of rebirth and renewal, which has inspired the tradition of spring cleaning - starting fresh and organized after long months of darkness and cold. While the home is the traditional target of spring cleaning, people spend enough time at the office to make some cleaning worth it. In this blog, we’ll go over the benefits of a clean office, as well as how to achieve one.

Most businesses utilize the Internet in some fashion, and a slow connection can be a major annoyance and inconvenience. Thankfully, there are several ways that you can improve or troubleshoot your connection in the event that it’s suffering. Here are some of the ways you can make sure your Internet connection remains as consistent as possible.

Have you ever waited far too long for your Windows workstation to boot up? Chances are that you’ve seen first-hand how much time can be wasted during this process. If you want to save some time, you can review our three tips to help you speed up your Windows 10 computer’s boot time.

Here’s the thing about IT security: it requires a little more than a decent firewall and a reasonably-strong password. We talk a lot about how to ensure that your business’ network stays a top priority, and the best way to do that is to implement what we call a Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. An enterprise security system like a UTM can provide a considerable improvement for the way you protect your organization, but even something as simple as a little bit of user error could bypass these protocols.

Losing a smartphone can be a problem for anyone. For the modern business, it can really cause issues. Mobile devices are notorious for housing a lot of personal information, which makes them extraordinarily dangerous to lose track of. How much is at stake with mobile devices going missing; and, what kind of information is stored on these devices that makes them so dangerous to misplace?

January 28th marks Data Privacy Day, a day intended to raise awareness of the importance of data privacy and educate users and business owners of its benefits. Spearheaded by the National Cyber Security Alliance, there are plenty of lessons the NCSA has to share with businesses as this day puts their, and their clients’, privacy in the spotlight.

The NCSA, in conjunction with the U.S. Small Business Administration, provides a few guidelines for businesses to follow in order to preserve privacy as far as company data and personal information are concerned.

Protecting Your Business

Nearly every business collects and utilizes personal information from its clients, employees, and vendors. Therefore, it is also the responsibility of the business to make sure that this data remains private and secure. In this digital age, businesses need to be transparent with their data privacy policies, as even the accusation of a data loss event or misusing their information in any way can be catastrophic. There should never be a time that a customer could accuse you of collecting more data than they consented to, without you having proof that they had been notified and provided their consent. A privacy policy should be available for you to provide to your clients.

However, this needs to be more than a policy. It needs to become a tangible part of your organization, and enforced as such. Not only should you frequently remind your employees of the importance of privacy and data security, it should become integral to your company culture. As the NCSA and the SBA say, you should “communicate clearly and often what privacy means to your organization,” as well as being sure to “educate employees about their role in privacy [and] security...”

Your diligence should extend not only to your internal employees but also to any external (or third party) resources you may use. You need to ensure any of your partners or vendors with access to your network and its sensitive data are taking your security as seriously as you are. Many businesses require all external resources to sign a network use agreement that holds them liable in the event their actions result in a breach of privacy.

Privacy in the Home

Data security does not just apply to work done within the walls of your offices, either. You need to cultivate an even greater awareness and respect for privacy at home or while traveling, as well. Any device that is used for work must be treated with the same security-minded processes that you and your employees would subscribe to in the office.

Remind members of your household that they need to be careful with their personal information as well. While they may not have a company to manage, there are still plenty of consequences to deal with if their data is breached. Therefore, the entire family needs to be mindful about what they share online, avoiding sharing too much and keeping personal details close to the chest. This is especially true if you have children and teens under your care and supervision, as they could face a lifetime of ramifications.

Additionally, Business Solutions & Software Group understands how important your privacy truly is. When you have built up and maintained a business, you want to protect it, and maintaining data privacy can help keep both it and you safe. We appreciate how big of a commitment it is to be entrusted with that responsibility, and we’d embrace the chance to live up to it with your data.

Please, lean on Business Solutions & Software Group for more assistance and advice. Call us today at (954) 575-3992.

The term “best practice” has been used by businesses for years to describe the optimal way of performing a particular task. However, before fully adopting them into business operations, it is important for these practices to be examined and deemed to be beneficial to an individual company’s circumstances. If they are not, a company risks much by adopting a misplaced best practice.

You might think you know all of the tricks that a mouse is capable of, but you would be wrong. Here are some of the niftiest uses possible for your mouse.

Servers are responsible for the distribution and storage of your business’s data infrastructure, as well as the deployment of important applications and data. However, if your organization is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of these server units, you’ll be tasked with having the knowledge of how to keep them in optimal shape. We’ll discuss some of the ways you can better take care of your server units, as well as the optimal solution: server hosting.

Procuring equipment is a necessary part of managing any business, but this is often easier said than done. Your organization works with multiple vendors, which could be both confusing and time-consuming. How does your business manage its vendors, and is there a way to make this easier and more efficient?

Ransomware remains a very real threat, and is arguably only getting worse. Attacks are now able to come more frequently, and there are opportunities for even relative amateurs to level an attack against some unfortunate victim. However, this is not to say that there is nothing you can do to keep your business from becoming another cautionary tale.

You might spend a significant amount of time thinking about your business’s security practices, but the same can’t be said for your organization’s employees. Unless you give them a reason to care about security, they likely won’t. The resulting apathy could eventually become serious problems that could hinder operations in the long run, or worse, expose your business to threats that could put your employees and your clients in danger.

Many of those who are responsible for a business could tell you that managing it isn’t an easy task--and when IT is involved, it can very quickly get a lot more complicated. Of course, those that say that are more than likely using an antiquated, break-fix approach. Those who utilize managed IT services, however, will likely have a much different opinion.

Did you know? Today is National Clean Out Your Computer Day! As technology buffs ourselves, we want to spread the word about this annual opportunity to clean out the technology that your business uses on a daily basis. Here are five great ways to make sure that your computers are being properly maintained.

Last year’s United States’ tax season when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was breached and hackers used 464,000 stolen Social Security numbers to successfully E-file 101,000 fraudulent tax returns using false PINs. This incident should cause taxpayers to ask the question, “What’s the government doing to protect my tax returns?”

Microsoft’s Blue Screen of Death has haunted every version of Windows since Windows NT, way back in 1993. In recent times, despite the BSOD’s emoticon makeover in Windows 8 and Windows 10, the notification isn’t any less frustrating to encounter. When experiencing the dreaded BSOD, the question on every user’s mind is, “How do I fix it?”

It’s no secret that the screens of devices like smartphones, laptops, desktop monitors, and tablets, can contribute to eye pain and what’s called “digital eye strain.” In fact, in some extraordinary cases of prolonged screen use, smartphone use has even led to temporary blindness.