Six Gmail tips your business needs
For most small-business owners, processing email takes up a good chunk of the day. If you use Gmail, you’re already working with a powerful platform with numerous productivity-enhancing features. But what if you could streamline the process even further while ensuring each message is dealt with appropriately? These Gmail tips will do the trick. Undo Send We’ve all had an email or two we wish we could take back. Gmail has a neat feature that gives you a short period of time to recall a mistakenly sent message. After activating Undo Send, quickly retrieve the email and it’s as if nothing ever happened. Canned Responses Dubbed as ‘email for the truly lazy,’ Canned Responses is a Gmail Labs feature that allows you to save time and reuse an email that you designate as a Canned Response. Working like an email template, it saves copious amounts of time since you won’t have to retype the same responses over and over again. It comes in handy for businesses that send plenty of routine emails. Send large attachments with Google Drive With Gmail, users can easily send attachments reaching 25 MB. But say you have a huge zip file for a photo shoot that the clients want to review — you’re going to need more space. If you use Google Drive with your Google account, you can send larger files on Gmail. Copy the large file to your Google Drive, then click Compose in Gmail and type your message. When you’re ready to attach the large file, click the Google Drive icon (next to the Attachment icon that looks like a paper clip). Insert the files you want to attach and send your message. Turn on Priority Inbox As hinted in the name, Priority Inbox will organize your messages by their importance. You’ll be able to divide your inbox into five sections, where the messages will be displayed in the following order: 1. important and unread messages, 2. starred messages, 3. [customizable section], 4. [customizable section], 5. everything else. To enable it, go to Settings > Inbox > Inbox Type and choose Priority Inbox. Back up your messages If you ever need to back up or migrate your Gmail messages, Gmvault can help. It is an open source solution that can back up your entire Gmail directory or just a handful of messages. The email data is then available whenever you need to restore or recreate your Gmail folders. You can also use it to migrate messages from one account to another. Gmail Labs To get the latest Gmail features, you should sign up for Gmail Labs. This is where Google tests up-and-coming features before making them part of Gmail. Access Gmail Labs by heading over to Settings. Spending the right amount of time with emails while managing other crucial business areas is a balancing act many business owners find difficult. If you have questions or need further assistance regarding Gmail or IT in general, feel free to contact us. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Ad blocker is coming to Chrome
Pop-up ads and videos can easily turn people away from a website. Google knows this and has come up with a solution set to launch early next year. With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about Chrome’s ad blocker. What is it? Ad blocker from Chrome actually works like an ad filter, meaning it won’t block all ads from the website, only ones that are determined to be too intrusive, like video autoplay with sound as well as interstitials that take up the entire screen. A group called the Coalition for Better Ads, which consists of Google, Facebook, News Corp, The Washington Post, and other members will decide whether or not the ads are to be blocked. According to Sridhar Ramaswamy, the executive in charge of Google’s ads, even ads owned or served by Google will be blocked if they don’t meet the new guidelines. How will it work? From a consumer’s end, you won’t have to do anything except for updating your Chrome browser. For publishers, Google will provide a tool that you can run to find out if your site’s ads are violating the guidelines. The blocker will apply to both desktop and mobile experiences. What are the benefits of Chrome ad blocker? Bad ads slow down the web, make it annoying to browse, and drive consumers to install ad blockers that remove all advertisements. If that continues, publishers will face major obstacles since nearly all websites rely on ads to stay alive. With Chrome’s ad blocker, wholesale ad blocking can be controlled to please both consumers and publishers. Users get a better web browsing experience and publishers can continue to make profits through online ad sales. But isn’t Google already using third-party ad-blocking extensions? Yes, but this means they have to pay third-party ad blockers — like Adblock Plus — a certain amount of fee to whitelist ads for the privilege of working around their filters. With their own ad blocker, this can be eliminated once and for all. Are there potential drawbacks? It’s undeniable that Chrome’s ad blocker gives Google lots of power to determine ad standards for everyone. It comes to no surprise that there are skeptics who don’t trust one company to act in everyone’s interest. And while Google assures that even its own ads will be removed if they violate the rules, the fact that Google itself is an ad company with nearly 89 percent of its revenues coming from online ads doesn’t boost its credibility to industry peers. Publishers will have fewer options to monetize their sites once Chrome’s ad blocker is implemented. To help, Google will include an option for visitors to pay websites that they’re blocking ads on called Funding Choices. However, a similar feature called Google Contributor has been tested a couple years ago with no signs of catching on so we doubt that Funding Choices will differ. Despite expected criticism, Chrome’s ad blocker will likely result in a better web browsing experience. And as always, if you have any questions about the web, or IT in general, just give us a call and we’ll be happy to help. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
5 ways to ensure the Cloud’s affordability
Cloud computing saves businesses a considerable amount of money, which explains its rise in popularity over the years. What many business owners fail to realize is that there are hidden costs associated with Cloud services. And while they might seem insignificant at first, they can add up to a staggering amount if left unchecked. Minimize your cloud expenditures with these five tips: No standalones Cloud services come in various shapes and sizes, many of which are standalones that can contribute to rising costs. Opt for a service provider that offers a suite of products that all work together. They are often less expensive than a group of standalone products. Another benefit of working with a provider is that you receive a single point of contact to resolve your issues quickly and effectively. Experience matters If you have to integrate a standalone Cloud service into your system, make sure you hire an experienced integration consultant for the job since they will be able to finish the job quicker, thus making it cheaper. Integration mishaps can cause serious downtime which drains a lot of money. Backups are important Performing endless backups will definitely waste cloud storage space. That’s why it’s important to examine your Cloud storage data by asking the following questions: How many versions of this data do you need to store for the long-term? The more versions you store, the more it costs. What regulatory demands do you need to meet? Some data may need to be accessible for up to three years, whereas other data can be deleted after 30 days. How quickly do you need to access your backup? If you can wait for a day or two, archive that data to a less expensive service or offline at your provider’s data center. Remove users Many Cloud service providers charge by the number of users in your system. By neglecting to manage the list of users, you could end up paying for people who no longer work for you. Implement processes that remove users when they are terminated and consider scheduling a regular audit. Ideally, this should be once every six months to a year, to ensure that your Cloud user list is up-to-date. Monitor proactively Ask your Cloud provider whether they can proactively monitor your account to notify you of potential issues before they cause problems. This is especially important if you have a pay-as-you-go license that charges based on resource and storage usage. Utilizing the right technology resources is vital to your business’s success, and so is knowing how to prevent them from racking up a staggering monthly bill. If you wish to enjoy all the benefits Cloud computing can provide your business without breaking the bank, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
SEO considerations for your sites’ images
When working with web platforms like WordPress, there are three letters that induce anxiety in any business owner: SEO (search engine optimization). It’s one of the most confusing aspects of running a modern business, and web apps that rate your SEO with no more than a red or green light don’t make it any easier. Read on to find out whether your site’s images are the cause of that annoying red light. Do my images really affect my SEO? One of the reasons images tend to be overlooked when auditing SEO is because it’s easy to forget just how many your website has. Maybe when you first built your site you had a few photos on your homepage, but nowhere else. Over time however, you probably added countless visual elements in blog posts, landing pages and team photos — drastically increasing the influence of your images on your SEO. Image resolution and load speed The first thing to check is how your images affect your site’s speed. If you’re using ultra high-resolution photos, users on mobile devices or satellite data connections will have trouble loading your site. Site load times affect your site’s ranking on Google, so make sure to pare them down to a more reasonable resolution and save them as web-friendly file types (GIF, JPEG and PNG). Keywords and image title The days of keyword-stuffing are long gone, but that doesn’t mean you can get away with uploading images with filenames like DSC2558.jpg. Before uploading an image to your site, make sure to name it something relevant to the content, such as gym-trainer-helping-lift.jpg or call-center-customer-service.jpg. This makes it easier for search engines to derive information about the content from the images on a page. “Alt text” and title text Even though Google is getting better at recognizing image content without any help from text identifiers, describing your images in your website’s backend is still important for SEO. Every image on your site should have as much text-based information as possible without disrupting the user experience. To see how this works in WordPress, open up your site dashboard and click on Media. This will display all the images, videos and audio on your site. Select any photo and click “Edit more details.” Whatever you include in the Caption field will be shown below the image, so make sure it corresponds with your content. If it doesn’t work with the content, skip it. In this case user experience takes priority over SEO. The Alternative Text and Description fields will be shown to visitors only if the image doesn’t load or if they select it manually. They may not seem all that important, but these should be considered non-negotiable for SEO purposes. Check that your site is doing all these things before requesting another SEO report. If your score changes, start regularly auditing your image optimizations. If you’re still seeing red, there are a number of web- and cloud-based platforms that can help you improve your content. Give us a call today to find out more! Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Web browser cybersecurity, ranked
Cybersecurity didn’t become more important in light of the WannaCry ransomware epidemic, it just became more visible to the average internet user. If like so many others, you’re auditing the security of business’s software, web browsers are a great place to start. Learn more about how your browser choice stacks up in your security comparison. Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)/Edge Despite their nearly identical logos, Edge and IE are actually different browsers with vastly different security strategies. Microsoft’s legacy browser, IE, isn’t even fully supported anymore. The most recent version still gets occasional updates, but experts don’t expect that to last for long. If any website or services claims to require IE to run, consider that a possible red flag. Windows 10’s default browser, Edge, is a different story. This browser uses a technology called virtualization to create safe spaces to open and test links before granting a website’s programming code full access to a computer and user. Edge is based on the same software as IE, and the majority of its security improvements come from scrapping the browser’s customizability. If you’re okay with a fairly inflexible browsing experience, Edge is a good option. Apple Safari Safari is to Macintosh computers what IE is to Windows machines. Safari comes pre-installed on OS X and it has a long history of battling malware. Its security programming has been bested a number of times, but usually in research settings. The commonly held belief is that Safari just doesn’t have enough users to make it a profitable target. Apple has a history of responding quickly to malware, but we don’t recommend leaving anything to chance. Mozilla Firefox One of the earlier third-party web browsers to gain popularity was Firefox. Unfortunately, it just can’t keep up with the competition. In just one example, all the data from browser plugins is stored in the same location, which means a compromised add-on could easily gain access to the data stored in a password manager. One of the reasons that Firefox continues to stick around is its commitment to privacy. All the other browsers on this list profit from analyzing (and sometimes selling) your browsing habits, while Firefox has cornered the market on privacy. Security and privacy should never be confused, but if the latter is more important to you and you aren’t installing third-party plugins, Mozilla is an OK option. Google Chrome Chrome is used by almost two-thirds of all internet users, and for good reason. Like Edge, Chrome also uses virtualization to create a quarantined space between the internet and your computer. Additionally, Google issues routine security updates to its browser more frequently than any of the others on this list. There is near unanimous consent among experts that Chrome is the safest of all web browsers. Privacy however, is a whole other ball game. Pretty much every action you take using the Chrome browser is tracked, stored and analyzed. That’s not to say that your email isn’t encrypted or your saved passwords aren’t safe, it just means you have much less control over your internet identity. Being aware of how your web browser stacks up against its competitors is only a fraction of the battle. WannaCry spread to uninfected systems through a gap in the Windows security framework, and most other ransomware infections prey on human error. What your business needs is a comprehensive security audit. For more information, call us today. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
The cloud is more secure than you think
Even to this day, the perception of cloud technology suffers from a reputation for bad security. But as time goes on we’re beginning to see that cloud security is almost always better than that of local area networks. So whether you’re considering a cloud web server or internet-based productivity software, take a minute to learn why the cloud your best option. Hands-on management Unless you have an overinflated budget, relying on local copies of data and software means IT staff are forced to spread themselves across a bevy of different technologies. For example, one or two in-house tech support employees can’t become experts in one service or solution without sacrificing others. If they focus on just cybersecurity, the quality of hardware maintenance and helpdesk service are going to take a nosedive. However, Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) benefit from economies of scale. CSPs maintain tens, sometimes thousands, of servers and can hire technicians who specialize in every subset of cloud technology. Fewer vulnerabilities Cloud security isn’t superior just because more technicians are watching over servers. When all the facets of your business’s IT are in one place, the vulnerabilities associated with each technology get mixed together to drastically increase your risk exposure. For example, a server sitting on the same network as workstations could be compromised by an employee downloading malware. And this exposure extends to physical security as well. The more employees you have who aren’t trained in cyber security, the more likely it is that one of them will leave a server room unlocked or unsecured. CSPs exist solely to provide their clients with cloud services. There are no untrained employees and there are significantly fewer access points to the network. Business continuity The same technology that allows you to access data from anywhere in the world also allows you to erect a wall between your local network and your data backups. Most modern iterations of malware are programmed to aggressively replicate themselves, and the best way to combat this is by quarantining your backups in the cloud. This is commonly referred to as data redundancy in the cybersecurity world, and nowhere is it as easy to achieve as in the cloud. The cloud doesn’t only keep your data safe from the spread of malware, it also keeps data safe from natural and manmade disasters. When data is stored in the cloud, employees will still have access to it in the event that your local workstations or servers go down. The cloud has come a long way over the years. It’s not just the security that has gotten better; customized software, platforms and half a dozen other services can be delivered via the cloud. Whatever it is you need, we can secure and manage it for you. Call us today. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
An essential checklist for WordPress users
Wake up. Take a shower. Get dressed. These are just some of the numerous tasks we do every single day. They may not be fun, but they are essential to our daily routine. Managing a website is very much the same. By going through the necessary steps, you can ensure the speed and security of your website. Also, it doesn’t take long to complete! Make backups It’s crucial that you perform a daily offsite backup of your WordPress files and database. This ensures data security in the event of a network breach or natural disaster and facilitates the resumption of your business’s regular operations. Although plugins like BackUpWordPress and hosting servers like SiteGround automate the backup process, you should still perform manual backups. Verify backups Not only should you be making backups, you should also be verifying them. By doing so, you are making sure that the backed up files are going where they are supposed to, and backups are being restored. The last thing you need is a failed backup strategy on the day you need it most! Daily security reports If you ask any cybersecurity expert, “Is it crucial to maintain a daily network security report?” the answer will be a resounding YES. While you might not have enough time to carry out thorough inspections and create these reports yourself, you can rely on security monitoring services like Securi. Not only does it carry out the inspections, it sends an SMS notification of any suspicious activity and even emails you a daily status report. Malware scans Cybercriminals are growing in both number and sophistication. With every passing day, new strains of malware are developed and released onto small- or medium-sized businesses. Unless you are a bonafide hacker yourself, detecting malware might be a little tricky. WordPress plugins like Wordfence keeps your website safe using the latest firewall rules, malware signatures, and malicious IP addresses. Speed audits Slow and steady might be qualities valued by some, but not so much for your website. Plugins like Google PageSpeed Insights test how fast your site loads. Because if it takes more than five seconds, you should consider implementing caching and other measures to speed up your site. Slow sites put off visitors and lower search rankings. Review your site For this step, sit down with an impartial friend and let them explore your website. A fresh pair of eyes might highlight issues you might have overlooked, such as forgetting to update the copyright date in your footer. Forbes, National Geographic, and The New York Times are all powered by WordPress, which means you are in good company. By sticking to the checklist, you too can harness the power of this online, open-source website creation tool. Or, instead of signing up for half a dozen services that need daily check-ins, why not have us take care of all of it for you? If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to send us an email or give us a call! Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Google Chrome gets new features
Google releases a new version of Chrome almost every month. Some updates involve minor bug fixes and improvements, while others feature many more exciting additions. For its latest release, version 57, Google announced some serious upgrades to Chrome, and here are the three we think you’ll be more interested in. More power consumption improvements Google’s browser is a known battery hog. At one point it got so bad that Microsoft was publicly criticizing Chrome engineers for destroying laptop battery performance. Part of the problem is that Chrome allocates far more processing power to tabs running in the background than do other browsers. Google’s browser now limits power devoted to unopened tabs at 1% of CPU consumption. But if you’re using minimized tabs to stream music or video, don’t worry, Chrome won’t limit these. Engineers claim this change will “lead to 25 percent fewer busy background tabs.” Chrome for iOS gets a “Save for Later” feature In what is probably a delayed attempt to catch up to iOS’s native Safari browser, the newest version of Chrome for Apple devices will feature offline reading. To add to your reading list, just tap the Share icon in the upper right hand corner of the browser and select “Read Later.” Even if you don’t have internet, you can view content from both the Unread and Pages You’ve Read sections of your reading list. Although not quite as convenient, earlier versions of Chrome on Android have a roundabout way of doing the same thing. When clicking the the download icon under the Menu dropdown, Chrome saves offline pages in local storage. Better graphics on desktops Chrome is also getting a serious boost in terms of visual processing power. Google’s browser now supports WebGL 2.0, which improves the speed, textures, and animated effects of elements on websites. Support for WebGL has yet to make its way to mobile versions of the browser, but desktop improvements should put graphics on par with the 3D graphics in most modern games. Firefox and Opera already support this standard, but its addition to the most popular browser on the internet creates a huge incentive for web designers to push the visual boundaries. For those who have been in the small- and medium-sized business field for a while, it’s tempting to think that browser improvements really aren’t that big of a deal. But in an age when the majority of work is done inside of browsers rather than software, how you surf matters. For all the best news and tips, get in touch with us today! Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
What you need to know about Cloudbleed
Internet security company Cloudflare revealed a major flaw in their system. The so-called ‘Cloudbleed’ vulnerability leaked customer information from thousands of websites, according to Cloudflare researchers. Fortunately, there have been no signs of exploitation, but that doesn’t mean you should be complacent. Here’s everything you need to know about Cloudbleed. What is Cloudbleed? Although it’s technically similar to Heartbleed, a bug that compromised millions of websites and accounts, Cloudbleed is less severe. Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy discovered that several Cloudflare-hosted websites, including Fitbit, Uber, and OkCupid, were inadvertently leaking customer information and saving them within the source code. For example, when a person visits a bugged Uber page, the website code could contain data and login credentials from another user who recently visited the page. The data may be hidden between several lines of code, but a skilled hacker can easily find it. Exploiting it, however, is more difficult. The Cloudbleed bug collects random bits of data, which may or may not contain any sensitive information, making it a less attractive point of attack for cybercriminals. Over time, a cybercriminal may be able to compile enough information to exploit, but it doesn’t seem to be a viable option for targeted attacks. The response According to Cloudflare, Cloudbleed was triggered 1,240,00 times and found in 6,400 websites between September 22 and February 18. After the bug was discovered, the internet security company quickly alerted affected websites, fixed the code, removed cached pages from search engines, and monitored client websites for any strange website activity. Cloudflare-hosted websites also checked what data was leaked and reassured customers that there was minimal impact to their private information. What can you do? While Cloudflare and other companies are telling everyone that the possibility of Cloudbleed attacks and password leaks is low, you should still ensure your account is safe. Start by setting stronger passwords with a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Make sure to set unique passwords for every online service, especially for any of your accounts that use Cloudflare. Whenever possible, use two-factor verification to keep your account secure even if someone gets a hold of your password. And, last but not least, contact us for any cybersecurity, cloud, and website issues. We aim to make your internet and cloud experience as safe as possible. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.
Vulnerabilities on WordPress websites
“Easy-to-use,” “SEO-friendly,” “open-source,” and “customizable.” These are some of the words that best describe WordPress, currently the most popular Content Management Solutions (CMS) platform. With thousands of websites affected in a recently launched series of attacks, “easy to target,” “hackers’ favorite,” and “prone to attacks” could soon be used to define the experience of running a WordPress website. WordPress attacks by the numbers In 4 separate attacks, an estimated 40,000 websites were compromised, defacing 67,000 web pages, which has quickly gone up to 1.5 million. A security release update, WordPress 4.7.2, was immediately launched to mitigate the flaw, but not everyone was able to deploy it on time, thus inflating the number of corrupted web pages. Although WordPress took measures to ensure that the vulnerability would go unnoticed, hackers found a way to get around the initial fixes and exploited the sites that remained unpatched. Those who haven’t applied WordPress’s latest security release were the ones most harmed by the defacement campaigns, and it soon became highly publicized. Steps taken Fixes have been deployed and stronger patches are in the works, but hackers do not just sit around and wait to be taken down. In fact, more attacks are being launched concurrently with security developers’ attempts to strengthen blocking rules. In preparation for further exploits, WordPress liaised with cybersecurity firms to implement protective measures. Google did their part by announcing via Google Search Console the critical security updates that webmasters must install to protect against the WordPress-specific attacks. Meanwhile, web application vendors and web hosting companies are poised to protect their customers from attacks by installing web filters on their customers’ web servers. Despite these measures, the attacks are expected to continue and the masterminds behind them will come up with strategies more insidious than merely modifying several web pages. Updating security patches that can effectively alleviate the vulnerabilities’ impact will also take time to develop and launch. The importance of patches Some attacks may cause a blip on your business’s networks, while others might cause its demise. From all these attacks, one lesson is worth emphasizing: Applying the most up-to-date patches is critical to your systems’ security and business’s survival. Unpatched systems are the easiest targets for hackers who are always on the lookout for vulnerabilities to exploit. If your organization lacks the capacity to manually update security patches, consider deploying patch management software. Keeping all your software updated with the latest patches may seem like an insurmountable task, but the price of neglecting it can cost you dearly. WordPress remains the most widely used CMS and its popularity is not going to wane anytime soon. If your website runs on WordPress and you’re considering security options that will ensure your company is poised to handle breaches, contact us for advice. Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.