The iPhone 11 Is Here But Is It Worth the Upgrade?
Apple has rolled out the new iPhone 11, but many iPhone users are wondering whether its enhancements are worth the cost of an upgrade. Here is how the phone compares to its predecessor.
Using Strong Passwords Is Not Always Enough to Stay Secure
Cybercriminals commonly use compromised passwords in cyberattacks. For example, in ransomware attacks, compromised passwords have now surpassed phishing scams as the No. 1 way to gain access to the systems in which the ransomware is planted, according to F-Secure’s “Attack Landscape H1 2019” report. And compromised passwords is No. 2 on hackers’ list of tools to use to gain access…
OneDrive Versus SharePoint Online
I am so excited about OneDrive, my cloud-based file sharing and storage application. Accessing it is as easy as logging into Office.com on my home computer or opening the OneDrive app on my work computer or phone. And now that I’ve been using it a while, I can’t imagine using anything else – it makes my life easier and allows me…
Mitigating the Risk of a Ransomware Attack
Xantrion’s cybersecurity program takes a risk based approach to preventing, detecting and recovering from a potential ransomware attack. We provide multilayered protections which consider the various methods criminals might use to penetrate a client’s network and protect against each of these attack vectors. We monitor client systems so that, should compromise occur, it can be quickly detected and shut down. Even…
3 Ways to Cultivate a Collaborative Workforce
In a study conducted by Microsoft and YouGov, more than 14,000 people in seven countries shared their views on collaboration and the tools they use to achieve it. The results reveal three insights that can help you cultivate a collaborative workforce: 1. Different Generations Prefer Different Collaboration Tools The Microsoft-YouGov study found that the collaboration tools people use most often…
15 Keyboard Shortcuts for Microsoft Excel and Word
Microsoft Word and Excel have been around for a long time, so they have many features, including more than 200 keyboard shortcuts. Using these shortcuts can save you time because you just need to press a combination of keys to perform an action. While trying to remember every single shortcut is impractical, it pays to learn the shortcuts for operations…
5 Ways to Ensure Your Data is Safe in the Cloud
While there are many services that fall under cloud computing, businesses often use the cloud to store data. Although security experts note that storing data in the cloud is a relatively safe practice, businesses should still take certain measures to protect their files. Here are five things you can do to help keep your business’s data safe in the cloud:…
Are your Employees Inadvertently Exposing Data?
The number is eye-opening: 83% of companies believe that employee errors have put sensitive business and customer data at risk of exposure, according to a study by Egress. More than 1,000 security professionals at US-based companies participated in this study. The study also identified the technologies that most often involved in this type of accidental data leak. Email services provided…
How to Choose Default Apps in Windows 10
It is common for people to have multiple apps that perform the same function on their Windows 10 computers. For instance, people might have several web browsers or email apps. Similarly, people often can open certain types of files with more than one program. For instance, they can open PDF files with a web browser such as Google Chrome or…
3 Ways Your iPhone Can Keep you Organized
If your iPhone is running iOS 11 or later, you can use it for more than just staying in touch with the office. Here are 3 features you can use to help your business trip go more smoothly: 1. Check a Flight’s Status If you are traveling by plane, you can use your iPhone to check your flight’s status before…
Is the Desktop Computer Becoming Obsolete?
The fate of the desktop computer has been the topic of debate for several years. Knowing both sides of the argument can be beneficial when you need to purchase new computing devices for your business. Why Some People Believe the Desktop Computer’s Days Are Numbered Some people believe it is only a matter of time before desktop computers become obsolete,…
The Five Most Important Files to Back Up
While regular backups are an important part of any disaster recovery plan, not every file on your system is mission critical. It’s always good practice to back up your systems daily, but often that isn’t practical or doable. Whether because of financial or time constraints, full backups often have to be done less frequently. So which files should you backup…
What you Need to Know About Google Tracking Your Location
Google is tracking the whereabouts of billions of its customers, even when they tell the tech giant not to. Here is what you need to know about this practice, including how to minimize the amount of data being stored about you. What the Commotion Is and Isn’t About When people use Google’s apps and services, the company collects data about…
How to Stop Annoying Chrome Website Notifications
If you use the Internet regularly, you have probably encountered them — those pesky boxes that pop up when you visit a website for the first time and it wants to send you notifications. Fortunately, it is easy to stop these notifications from appearing if you use the Google Chrome web browser. Open your browser and follow these steps: Click…
10 Keyboard Shortcuts for Most Browsers
You can use many of the same keyboard shortcuts when working in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox web browsers. Here are 10 keyboard shortcuts that are handy as well as easy to remember: 1. F3 Pressing F3 in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox opens the search box so that you can search for text on a web page. Once…
Select the Best Backup Solution for Your Business’s Laptops
Ever since laptops first came on the market there have been challenges reliably backing up the data to protect against loss or failure. The reality today is that laptop backup solutions are still not flawless and shouldn’t be exclusively relied on to limit the risks of data loss or corruption. For example: Manual backup (for example to USB) suffers both…
What Is Digital Transformation and Why Are Companies Pursuing It?
To understand what is meant by the term “digital transformation”, it is helpful to know what it is not. If a company simply moves applications to the cloud, upgrades its IT infrastructure, or implements some other one-off IT project, it is not digitally transforming itself. Digital transformation involves more than just adding new digital technologies to business operations. It requires…
5 Ways to Spend Less Time Dealing With Emails
Business professionals often spend a lot of time reading and responding to emails. If you are one of them, follow the 5 tips below to reduce the amount of time you spend dealing with emails. 1. Read and Respond to Emails Only at Designated Times When you get a notification that an email has arrived, what do you do? If…
What does Downtime Really Cost your Business?
When preparing your technology budget, it is useful to know the costs associated with downtime. This information can help you prioritize IT expenditures so that critical systems and operations receive the funding needed to keep them running efficiently. Knowing the downtime costs can also motivate you to create business continuity and disaster recovery plans if you have not created them…
Cryptojacking: The new Ransomware and what to do About it?
Cryptojacking might not seem as dangerous as ransomware or data breaches since cybercriminals are stealing a computer’s processing power rather than money or data. However, companies that dismiss this threat might be putting their businesses at risk. Cryptojacking malware is becoming increasingly sophisticated, which could spell trouble for companies unprepared for it. The Changing Face of Cryptojacking Cryptojacking was born…
Data Backups vs. Replication: Which do you need?
Data backups and replication are both related to disaster recovery, but they aren’t the same thing. There are important differences in what they are used for and how they are set up. Only by understanding the differences can you determine whether your business needs just one solution or both of them. Data Backups Data backups involve copying both critical and…
How to Develop a Vendor Risk Management Program
If you’re like most businesses, you have a variety of third-parties that you rely on to support your core business functions. And in many cases, they have the ability to connect to your network. By providing them remote access, you are effectively increasing your potential attack surface for cybercriminals to exploit. So what happens if their systems aren’t secure? They…
How to Get the Most from your Cloud Services Investment
Companies often turn to the cloud to save money. However, many businesses spend more than they need to on cloud services. Analysts have found that companies overspend by an average of 35%. Why Companies Overspend There are several reasons why companies spend more money than necessary on cloud services. For starters, companies often over-provision. They pay for more storage space…
Microsoft Office 2019 vs Office 365
Do you want to replace an old version of Microsoft Office on your company’s computers or add this productivity suite to some new machines? If so, you might be wondering whether it is better to use Office 2019, which Microsoft released in the fall of 2018, or Office 365. Here is what you need to know to make the best…
Things to Consider when Moving Documents to the Cloud
With cloud storage, your business’s files will always be backed up and easily accessible regardless of where you are. Find out what you should consider when making the transition to storing documents in the cloud. Does your business have numerous file cabinets stuffed with documents, making it hard to find the files you need? If so, you might consider storing…
Nine Easy Steps to a Realistic IT Budget
If you struggle annually to develop an IT budget that allocates the right amount of money to the right things, following these nine steps will make sure you arrive at the right answers year after year. 1. Talk to your staff. IT can’t develop a plan to serve its customers (i.e. your employees) without knowing what they need and how…
Technology Move Tips – Minimize the Business Interruption and Hassle
Update your phone number Ensure you can transfer your current phone number(s), local phone service and features, such as voice mail, to your new location. If not, get new ones and arrange for call forwarding for at least 90 days. Ensure you can transfer your local long distance and long-distance services at the same time. This is usually a good…
Supercharge Teamwork Securely
Microsoft has been around a long time. Some view them as past their prime and losing ground to Google. When I tell you the latest version of Microsoft Office is actually something to write home about, I don’t expect to get more than a, “I’ve heard that before?” Let’s see if I can change your mind. Best Microsoft Office release…
How the Latest, Greatest Smartphones Stack Up
If you’re tempted by the newest high-end smartphones, here’s what CRN’s reviewer has to say about them: In trying to compare Samsung’s top-of-the-line offering to Apple’s, the reviewer notes that the Galaxy Note8, which starts at $930, is only slightly less expensive than the iPhone X, which will start at $999. The Galaxy Note8 is an Android phone that packs…
Shadow IT: What You Don’t See Can Hurt You
Shadow IT is any technology used by employees that your IT department doesn’t know about. That would never happen to us, you may say — but you’re probably wrong. According to Gartner, most companies hugely underestimate how much shadow IT their employees are using. And that’s a big problem, because what you don’t know about, you can’t secure. Outsourcing your…
