Get your Windows 10 privacy back
Windows 10’s Cortana can be helpful with various tasks — from displaying accurate and personalized ads according to your online searches to spamming word suggestions based on your most common keystrokes. But this operating system may feel intrusive. The following tips should help you avoid being seen by Microsoft’s watchful eye. Turn personalized advertising off For those unaware, Windows 10 assigns each user an “advertising ID” that it uses to personalize your ad experience based on your recent browsing history. If you’re okay with seeing generic ads targeted to you based on demographics rather than your ID, we recommend turning this feature off. Here’s how to do it: Click on the magnifying glass symbol next to the Windows logo, at the bottom left of your screen. Next, type in “Privacy” — click on Privacy Settings, and select General. Turn off the option that states “Let apps use my advertising ID for experience across apps”. Lastly, open your web browser and go to this link. Once there, turn off the “Personalized ads wherever I use my Microsoft account” and “Personalized ads in this browser” options. This resets your ad ID, letting you surf the web without the targeted advertisements. Disable Cortana Voice-controlled digital assistants have become big business. Microsoft aims to capitalize on this market with Cortana, an incredibly resourceful built-in assistant that allows to you quickly set reminders, schedule events and send email, among many other intuitive features. It uses the information it collects similar to how Google’s Android-based assistant does it. However, it can become overbearing at times. To turn it off, click on the Cortana icon on the taskbar, followed by the notebook icon on the left-hand side of the pop-up panel. Click on Settings, which should present you with the option that says, “Cortana can give you suggestions, ideas, reminders, alerts and more”; you can actually just click the On/Off toggle, too. Once disabled, the Cortana option disappears and you’re now presented with a search bar, which you can use to search for things online or on your desktop. Stop peer-to-peer file sharing With P2P file sharing enabled, Windows 10 shares downloaded updates to your PC with other Windows 10 users by default. This helps other users update their systems faster, and speeds up your upgrade downloads, as well. However, if you are unhappy with your files being utilized by other users, you can turn it off. Head over to Settings once again. Click on Update and Security > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Choose how updates are delivered. By default, the option “Updates from more than one place” is on, followed by two options: “Distribute updates only to PCs on local network,” and “Shut off P2P updates entirely”. If you want to disable this feature entirely without worrying about specifics, then move the toggle to Off. If you want to share your files with PCs on your in-house network only, leave this option on and select the option that says “PCs on my local network.” For more detailed instructions on how to stop P2P updates, click here. Blunt Microsoft’s Edge Microsoft Edge is chock-full of features — such as Cortana Integration and typing prediction — which may make you uncomfortable, since all the features send data back to Microsoft. To turn off these intrusive functionalities, open Edge and click on the menu icon in the far right corner (three dots). Once in, click on View Advanced Settings. There you have the option to disable Adobe Flash — which stops those Flash cookies from going anywhere. You’ll also encounter a bunch of settings you might want to disable under the “Privacy and Services” section. These simple security tips will stop Microsoft from tracking your online activities for good! Don’t hesitate to contact us today for all matters security-related. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
9 Cybersecurity terms you need to know
Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. But you don’t need to be an IT expert to know how to protect yourself from a cyberattack. To help you get started, here are helpful terms you need to know so you’re not left in the dark, whether you’re teaching yourself how to update your anti-malware, updating your systems, or consulting your tech support. Malware For a long time, the phrase “computer virus” was misappropriated as a term to define every type of attack that intended to harm or hurt your computers and networks. A virus is actually a specific type of attack, or malware. Whereas a virus is designed to replicate itself, any software created for the purpose of destroying or unfairly accessing networks and data should be referred to as malware. Ransomware Don’t let all the other words ending in “ware” confuse you; they are all just subcategories of malware. Currently, one of the most popular of these is “ransomware,” which is malware that encrypts valuable data until a ransom is paid for its return. Intrusion protection system(IPS) There are several ways to safeguard your network from malware, but IPSs are quickly becoming one of the non-negotiables. IPSs sit inside of your company’s firewall and look for suspicious and malicious activity that can be halted before it can exploit or take advantage of a known vulnerability. Social engineering Not all types of malware rely solely on fancy computer programming. Experts agree that the majority of attacks require some form of what is called “social engineering” to be successful. Social engineering is the act of tricking people, rather than computers, into revealing sensitive or guarded information. Complicated software is totally unnecessary if you can just convince potential victims that you’re a security professional who needs their password to secure their account. Phishing Despite often relying on face-to-face interactions, social engineering does occasionally employ more technical methods. Phishing is the act of creating an application or website that impersonates a trustworthy and often well-known business in an attempt to elicit confidential information. Just because you received an email that says it’s from the IRS doesn’t mean it should be taken at face value — always verify the source of any service requesting your sensitive data. Antivirus Antivirus software is often misunderstood as a way to comprehensively secure your computers and workstations. These applications are just one piece of the cybersecurity puzzle and can only scan the drives on which they are installed for signs of well-known malware variants. Zero-day attacks Malware is most dangerous when it has been released but not yet discovered by cybersecurity experts. When a vulnerability is found within a piece of software, vendors will release an update to amend the gap in security. However, if cyberattackers release a piece of malware that has never been seen before, and if that malware exploits one of these holes before the vulnerability is addressed, it is called a zero-day attack. Patch When software developers discover a security vulnerability in their programming, they usually release a small file to update and “patch” this gap. Patches are essential to keeping your network secure from the vultures lurking on the internet. By checking for and installing patches as often as possible, you keep your software protected from the latest malware. Redundant data When antivirus software, patches, and intrusion detection fail to keep your information secure, there’s only one thing that will: quarantined off-site storage. Duplicating your data offline and storing it somewhere other than your business’s workspace ensures that if there is a malware infection, you’re equipped with backups. We aren’t just creating a glossary of cybersecurity terms; every day, we’re writing a new chapter to the history of this ever-evolving industry. And no matter what you might think, we are available to impart that knowledge on anyone who comes knocking. Get in touch with us today and find out just how we can help you with your IT woes. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Why you need the cloud?
Why you need the cloud? When talking to our clients, we have noticed that SMBs often think the cloud is something for their bigger counterparts to explore. We hear objections like, “But, it’s too complicated.”, “The cloud sounds expensive.”, “We are a small business, we don’t think we need the cloud.”, Hold on! In reality, it is the SMBs that benefit the most from the cloud. Here’s how… The cloud grows with you Yes, you may be a SMB today and perhaps a few desktops and in-house hard-disks are sufficient as of now. However, as you grow, your data storage needs will increase and you will need much more than a few external hard-disks. Servers become expensive and wholly owning one is not very cost-effective.Change the dynamic:he cloud grows with you–you can scale up or down on cloud usage easily and save on costs. Plus, when using cloud storage, you are sharing your server space with others, so you essentially pay for only what you use. Security is not your concern When you store your data in-house, the headache of security, backups and updates falls on you. However, with the cloud, all of that becomes your cloud service provider’s responsibility. You focus on running your business and your cloud service provider will take care of your data’s security and accessibility. . Accessibility When you store your data on the cloud, it is accessible from anywhere using the internet. That lends a lot of flexibility to you. You or your employees don’t have to be in the in the office or have immediate access to their computers to be able to work. A quick order can be processed or an invoice can be raised even using an iPad or a smartphone! So, don’t you think it may be beneficial to get a little ‘cloudy’? For more, download our whitepaper- Demystifying the cloud in layman’s terms https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0TD9Kobul-VcnNsNUk2djJqb2s
Declutter your Android device with folders
If your Android device has too many apps cluttering the homepage, finding the app you want to use can become difficult. Organize them by putting them in folders that make sense to you. Here’s how you can do it. Creating and naming folders On most devices, when you install a new app, the icon will be automatically added to your home screen, or to a screen where there is space. While this is useful, it can be a bit of a chore to find a specific app if you have dozens installed on your device. The easiest solution is to group icons together into a folder. This just takes three steps: Long-press an app you want to move into a folder (i.e., tap the app for a few seconds until you enter edit mode). Drag it over another app you want to group it with, and let go. You should see both of the icons appear inside a box. Tap Enter folder name and type the label for your folder. If you are going to use different folders, it is a good idea to pick names related to the apps they contain. For example, if you put all of your email apps in one folder, call the folder “Email.” This will make your apps easier to find. Adding/Removing apps from folders At the bottom of the box, you’ll see the “Add Apps” option. Press it, then tick the app or apps you want to include in your folder. Once you’ve made your pick, tap Add at the top-right corner of your screen. You can also add apps to your folder when you’re on your home screen. For every app you want to move, just long-press it, then drag and drop it into the folder of your choice. Lastly, to remove apps from folders, open the folder where the app is, long-press the app you want to take out, then press the “Remove from home” option. Moving folders You can move a folder’s location the same way you do so with an app: Tap and hold on the folder until the screen changes slightly and drag it to where you would like it to be. On newer versions of Android, the apps should all move to make room for the folder. Deleting folders Finally, you can delete a folder by either dragging all of the apps out of the folder, or pressing and holding on the folder until the screen changes and dragging it up to Remove. This will remove the folder and all the stored app icons, but it won’t delete the apps. If you have any questions about using an Android device, contact us today to see how we can help. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Why virtualization fails
Virtualization has become commonplace in small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). After all, the idea of gaining the benefits of having an IT infrastructure without actually having to purchase pricey and space-consuming physical equipment makes it an appealing option. While virtualization is popular, migrations from physical to virtual systems are not always successful. Following are six of the more popular reasons why they can fail. Resource distribution The way virtualization partitions systems can result in varied ways — some might function really well, and others might not provide users access to enough resources to meet their needs. Resource distribution problems often occur in the shift to virtualization and can be fixed by working on capacity planning with your service provider. VM Sprawl VM sprawl, the unchecked growth of virtual machines in a virtual environment, as any virtualization admin knows, can cripple an otherwise healthy environment. It is problematic because its underlying cause often stays hidden until it manifests in resource shortages. You should look at how virtual machines will be managed, who will be doing what, and what systems you’re going to use. One of the optimal times to develop an overall management plan is when you’re in a testing phase, before migration. Backward compatibility Using legacy systems can cause problems with newer virtualized software programs. Compatibility issues can be time-consuming and difficult to solve. A good provider may be able to suggest upgrades and workarounds to ensure that everything functions the way they should. Performance monitoring Virtualized systems don’t lend themselves to the same kind of performance monitoring as hardware like mainframes and hardware drives do. Try tools like VMmark to create benchmarks that measure performance on virtual networks and to monitor resource usage as well. Backup In a virtualized environment, there is no actual hard drive on which data and systems can be backed up. This means frequent software updates can make it difficult to access backup at times. Software programs like Windows Server Backup tools can make this process easier and allow backups to be stored in one place for easier tracking and access. Security Virtual systems could be vulnerable when users don’t keep them secure and apply best practices for passwords or downloads. Security then becomes a problem for virtualization, but the isolation of each VM by the system can mitigate security risks and prevent systems from getting breached or compromised. Unlike some tech solutions, virtualization is not really a “set it and forget it” type of solution. You will need to manage it from the start if you want to be able to get the most out of your systems. This includes ensuring resources are being allocated properly, machines are created and shut down properly, apps and systems are updated, and more. While virtualized solutions do require less management than their physical counterparts, they still require some management and you will need people to help you do that. One of the best solutions is to work with an IT partner like us who can help manage your systems and ensure that they are working efficiently. In fact, we offer a wide variety of virtualization solutions. We can take on your virtualization initiatives so that you can focus on running your business. If you would like to learn more, contact us today to see how we can help. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Increase your company’s reach with Google Posts
As a small- and medium-sized business, you can’t miss out on this opportunity to leverage Google’s search results. With Google Posts, businesses can create content highly ranked in Google search results for their names, even without having a website. Here’s how this works. What they can do Google Posts allow users to communicate directly in the search results. This differs from the Knowledge Panel since you can highlight content, information, products, or services. Google Post can appear on the search results, Knowledge Panel, or both. Google simply describes it as “up-to-date posts from verified people, places, or things, directly in search results.” These posts can be text, images, videos, events, or even animated GIFs. You can even add links on the posts to drive traffic to a particular page, service, or product. This enhanced format enables searchers to get information directly from you while complementing existing search results across the web. Postings Your posting instantly shows up in search results on both mobile and desktop platforms. You can then schedule the time and duration of the post with ease. This is a great feature that provides immediate access and can be particularly useful when you are planning to launch a product, open a pop-up store, or run a promotion. Also, Google Analytics will give you updates on how many people have seen and interacted with your content. Move over Google+ Google is finalizing the transition of businesses from Google+ to Google Posts. Once part of businesses’ social media strategy, big changes came to Google+. April 2, 2019 marked the official shut down of the consumer version of Google+. Small business will still be able to use Google+ to interact with customers, but only those who are G Suite Android users. Those same businesses can now use Google Posts as an easier way to communicate directly with prospects and customers in Google’s search results. Availability Google Posts is available to everyone with a Google My Business account. Log in or create a profile for your business. Once you’re in your account, Posts will be an option on the left hand navigation. It doesn’t take a lot of time to create a Post, so you can make it part of your social media promotional strategy. But you will have to create one in real time, since Google doesn’t allow third party tools like Hootsuite to post for you. Will Google Posts increase your SEO? Only time will tell if it will be as impactful as we hoped. As with Google + and Google Authorship, Google likes to test out new features, which sadly don’t always catch on. However, Google is always hungry for fresh content. As the number one driver of traffic for business, Google Posts makes sense. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Declutter your Mac with these 10 tips
Before long, your Mac will become too cluttered, making it too cumbersome to find the right applications, files, or links. Decluttering the items on your computer would do wonders for your productivity, creativity, and stress levels. But how do you do it? #1 Clean up your desktop The desktop is a convenient location for storing files and shortcuts, so it tends to become messy within a short amount of time. To declutter, identify which programs you rarely use and remove their icons from the desktop. As for your files, keep a weeks’ worth of items in a single folder, which you will name using the current date. Create another folder for the following week’s files and store your weekly folders in yet another folder. This keeps all your files within a single location on your desktop. Or you could use the Stacks introduced with the Mojave operating system. This feature organizes the items on your desktop into neat stacks classified according to file type. #2 Organize your files Files outside of your desktop that are not too important or you do not use often may be stored in external hard drives. Also, folders are ignored too often, so do not create a lot of them. If sub-folders are unnecessary, do not use them. #3 Reduce downloads and trash Your trash and download storage are probably two of the most convoluted locations on your Mac. Remove unnecessary files or, when possible, empty them altogether. This will not only tidy up your computer, but it will also give you back storage space for more important items. #4 Recover storage space In the Apple menu, go to About This Mac and click Storage. You will see how much free space you have and how much is occupied by different file categories. Clicking on Manage will show you ways to optimize your computer’s storage. #5 Delete old bookmarks Bookmarks are handy but most of them are just clutter. Identify the ones you do use regularly and delete the ones you don’t. In Safari, go to the Bookmarks menu and choose Edit Bookmarks. Right-click on the items you don’t need and remove them. You can also organize your bookmarks by placing them in folders. #6 Sort your emails Make it a habit to rid your inbox of unimportant emails. If you find ones you can answer within five minutes, do so. Those that would take much longer to respond to, you can transfer to a folder named “Work in Progress” or something similar and work on them when you have the time. Archive important emails using a separate folder. To reduce the number of emails you receive, unsubscribe to newsletters you don’t need. #7 Clear your RSS feed Updates from blogs and websites you follow take up space. Identify and sort out RSS feeds you don’t need. #8 Delete unused contacts You never know when you’ll need to reach out to someone in your network, so it’s great to have their contact details in your Mac. But if you have contacts whose face you don’t even remember anymore, it’s probably time to take them off your list and free up some space in the process. #9 Erase bad photos Photos are a great way to preserve memories, but they are taxing on your computer’s memory, too. Delete photos that are blurred or fuzzy, or those that you cannot use or do not consider valuable. You can also do the same to videos. #10 Uninstall unnecessary software If your computer has software you don’t use or is redundant, it’s best to just uninstall them. Besides freeing up space, doing so may also improve your computer’s performance. Get the most out of your Mac with advice from our IT experts. Call us today! Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Don’t sign up with that MSP just yet!
Don’t sign up with that MSP just yet! The decision to sign up with a MSP is a big one–you are essentially trusting someone with the backbone of your business–your technology infrastructure, so you need to make sure you pick someone with whom you can have a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship. This blog discusses what you need to know before you sign up with a MSP. Values: Your MSP is your technology partner and for your partnership to be smooth, make sure you pick a MSP whose core value system matches yours as a business. Knowledge, skill set and experience: Does your MSP have the skillset and the resources to cover all your IT needs? Are they experienced in working with SMBs? How long have they been in the business? Make sure you have satisfactory answers to these questions before you bring your MSP on board. Flexibility: Does your MSP let you pick and choose whatever services you want, or do they sell it as a fixed package? Having the option to choose what you want lets you invest your money where you really need to. Service and support: You are opting for a MSP so you can get solid IT support–the kind you can’t get with an in-house IT team owing to resource constraints. So, make sure your MSP will actually provide you that. Talking to their existing clients can help you figure out how good they are in terms of service and support. To have a MSP manage your IT needs successfully, you need to create a strong partnership with them, where they help you grow and are agile enough to scale up or down to suit your business demands. There are plenty of MSPs in the market, but not everyone will fit well with your needs. Our recent whitepaper explores this in detail as it discusses the 8 things you need to know before you partner with a MSP for your IT services. Please click here to download the whitepaper.
5 Ways to benefit from VoIP phones
If you’re making or receiving Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls, you may gather a lot of valuable data without knowing it. Whether you’re still getting accustomed to your new telephone system, or you’re simply unaware of your VoIP data, here are five things you can do to benefit from it. Time/Date data The information that nearly any VoIP system should be able to access easily are the time, date, and duration of calls. Since most businesses usually have tight budgets, they can learn a lot from analyzing this data to help decide how many employees are needed to answer the phones and at what particular times. For instance, most calls happen on Mondays, but the lines are usually dead by Tuesday afternoon. Knowing this can improve the way your staff works. Find the right time and day that calls are expected and days where no one has to work the phones. If you’re making outbound calls, pay close attention to the time that customers are most receptive. No one likes to get a call during dinner time, so don’t waste other people’s time. VoIP can help you refine your call schedule to ensure that you reach the person at the end of the line. Location data Location data is easy to track and a simple way to perfect your call strategy. Understanding how purchasing habits differ in various locations can improve your marketing, customer service, and client retention skills. Ask your VoIP service provider about call-routing options, so you can direct the call to the right person depending on the customer’s needs. With the right amount of preparation, you can help anyone regardless of that person’s location as if your company were right around the corner. Customer intelligence Combining VoIP services with your customer relationship management (CRM) software can reveal new data points. How many times have you called a support line regarding an issue and have had to explain your history with the company all over again? Even if you spoke to the same representative every time, the chances of the latter remembering you and your story are slim to none. With proper CRM integration, your VoIP system can route callers to the same service representative every time they call and provide your staff with a detailed support history. Customer habits/personalities Analyze call habits and predict how to contact and assist clients even before they need help. Match clients with your service and sales representatives based on their personalities. Take note of your employees’ age, gender and average call time to route customers to the best possible representative. Product/Service trends Whenever possible, tie data to specific products and services with every call and look for patterns that result in a successful connection. If you notice that most customers who bought your product come back to buy accessories within three months, don’t waste money marketing accessories during the original sale and trust what your data tells you. Follow up in a month and ask if they’re interested in that ancillary product. VoIP services track all your data, all the time. SMBs can easily view and analyze up-to-date data in no time. This can revolutionize how you design your customer interaction strategies. Do you feel like you could get a better ROI from your VoIP services by examining your call data? The solution may be as simple as organizing your usage statistics better, or as intricate as installing specialized analytics software. Regardless of how you want to go about it, we can help you, so contact us today! Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Choose the best Office 365 plan
Office 365 has become the go-to all-in-one tool for businesses in recent years. With different Office 365 plans — Business, Business Premium, Enterprise E1, E3, and E5 — you can have a set of services and features that are perfect for your business. We’ve summarized a list of the different features of each plan to help you select the right one. Business or Enterprise Office 365 Business and Enterprise are the obvious choices if you’re running cloud-based business systems. Both of these plans will give you access to the data management app Office Online and file hosting service OneDrive, but there are some notable differences between the two. Office 365 Enterprise E3 and E5 plans have unlimited archive and mail storage space, while Business plans have a 50 GB storage limit. Furthermore, Business plans don’t provide archive access from the Outlook client. In terms of SharePoint, a collaborative platform and document and storage system, Business plans are short on enterprise search, Excel services, and Visio — a diagramming and vector graphics app — features. They also lack in unified communication solutions, such as Power BI, an interactive data visualization tool, and Delve Analytics, which provides real-time work analytics to businesses. With these points in mind, it may seem like Enterprise subscriptions are superior — and in some ways, they are — but Business plans are more suited for smaller companies running on a tight budget. Office 365 Business and Business Premium cost $10 and $15 per user per month, respectively, while the highest-end Enterprise plan costs $35 per user per month. As a general rule, only consider subscribing to the Enterprise plans when your employee headcount exceeds 50 people and users require more storage space solutions. Otherwise, business plans are the perfect choice for you. E1, E3. or E5? Once you’ve decided to go for the Office 365 Enterprise plans, you need to choose which plan (E1, E2, or E5) suits your business requirements. E1 offers basic solutions, such as Outlook, Word, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Excel for only $8 per month. It also provides access to SharePoint Team sites, video conferencing, and Yammer for social media for businesses. E3, on the other hand, provides all E1 features together with data loss prevention, rights management, and encryption to ensure your business’s security and compliance. Lastly, E5 is a full enterprise-grade solution with all the aforementioned features plus analytics tools, advanced threat protection, flexible Skype for Business conferencing, and unified communications solutions. Small- and medium-sized businesses often select either E1 or E3 and subscribe to third-party applications for their cloud security and VoIP needs. But if you have the resources and prefer a single provider to manage your suite, the E5 plan is the way to go. Migrating to Office 365 is not an easy task, and if you’re still undecided about which plan to opt for, contact us today. We won’t just provide Office 365; we’ll also assess your business to find the best plan that fits your budget and business goals. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.