You?ve heard it said that it?s a best security practice to routinely change your passwords. The idea here is that, if a password were stolen, then it would lose its value when the user goes to change it. While this sounds like solid logic, new research shows that it may actually be better NOT to change your passwords. This may be a hard pill to swallow for IT administrators who have always required users to change their passwords every few months or so. However, seeing as this practice could make accounts less secure, it?s worth considering. The idea behind this theory is that, whenever a user goes to change their password, they?re often rushed or annoyed and end up creating a new password that?s less secure. The Washington Post puts it like this: ?Forcing people to keep changing their passwords can result in workers coming up with, well, bad passwords.? Think about it, how often have you changed your password, only to change it from a complex password to one that?s easier to remember? Or, have you ever kept the same password and just added a number at the end of your new password? This covert move will do little to deter a hacker. Carnegie Mellon University researched this topic and found that users who felt annoyed by having to change their password created new passwords that were 46 percent less secure. Plus, let?s consider the hypothetical situation of a hacker actually stealing your password. Truth be told, once they?ve gotten a hold of your login credentials, they?ll try to exploit the password as soon as they can. If they?re successful, they?ll pose as you and change the account?s password, thus locking you out of it. In an all-too-common situation like this, the fact that you?re scheduled to change your password at the end of the month won?t change anything. Additionally, ZDNet points out yet another way that regularly changing passwords can make matters worse: ?Regularly changed passwords are more likely to be written down or forgotten.? Basically, having a password written down on a scrap piece of paper is a bad security move because it adds another way for the credentials to be lost or stolen. Whether you do or don?t ask employees to change their passwords is your prerogative. However, moving forward it would be in everybody?s best interest to focus on additional ways to secure your network, instead of relying solely on passwords. This can be done by implementing multi-factor authentication, which can include SMS messaging, phone calls, emails, and even biometrics with passwords. With additional security measures like these in place, it won?t matter much if a hacker stole your password because they would need additional forms of identification to make it work. To maximize your company?s network security efforts, contact Info Advantage at (585) 254-8710.
Google released a new version of Gmail last week with some improvements to both their webpage and mobile formats. This new version is the largest Gmail update in recent history, and focuses on adding new security and productivity features for their 1.2 billion users. Here are some of the newest features available with the new update: -Easy Attachments: Attachments from an email can now be viewed and downloaded directly from the inbox. This allows you to easily access your attachments without having to scroll through the thread to find them. -Snooze: This feature allows you to ?snooze? messages, allowing you to send away messages away for a later time. After the ?snooze? period is up, the email is re-delivered to your inbox. -Nudge: Google uses their artificial intelligence to inform you about important messages you may have missed. The subject line will show you how many days it?s been since you?ve responded and will prompt you to write a reply. -Smart Replies for Web: Released last year on their mobile app, Google is now introducing smart replies for their web app as well. This feature will offer users three potential replies based on the content of the email received. -Mobile High Priority Notifications: Utilizing their powerful AI tools to give you high-priority emails, which will only send you notifications for important emails. -Google Alerts for Risky Emails: A new security tool; Google?s AI will detect that an email may be risky, warning you from clicking any links if you aren?t certain of the authenticity. -Confidential mode: This mode will cause emails to ?self-destruct? after they have been received, making it more secure for when you have to send private information. It also allows you to send a confidential message, which forbids the recipient from forwarding, copying, downloading, or printing your message. These new features can be accessed on the current Gmail applications by clicking ?Try New Gmail? under the settings options.
How often does your technology experience trouble? If your business is constantly dealing with technical hiccups, your assets that are meant to be a boon to your organization, can quickly become a nuisance that holds you back. How can you take better care of your technology, and use it to usher in a new era of productivity? First, we might need to explain the nature of break-fix IT services. This is what you normally get when you take your technology to traditional tech support. They?ll take a look at your technology, tell you what?s wrong, and provide their services for a hefty cost. They won?t take measures to help you mitigate your technology problems down the road. After all, their livelihood depends on your technology breaking down, so why should they have your budget?s best interests in mind? The other type of IT service seeks to do exactly that; managed IT wants to prevent issues from becoming major problems that cause downtime. This enables your business to save money and time by not having to deal with near-constant technology troubles. The idea is to use preventative maintenance in order to detect minor issues, and resolve the overarching cause, before they can escalate into costly problems that could derail your budget. Some examples of effective managed service offerings include: Server hosting: Your server units are used for the storage and transportation of critical data, so it makes sense to take proper care of them. However, the average small or medium-sized business might not have the staff or skillset necessary to care for or accommodate the physical server component. Businesses will often outsource this responsibility to guarantee the consistent uptime of crucial systems. Network security: Do you know the difference between viruses, malware, trojans, phishing scams, and other online threats? This is one of the many reasons why organizations would rather outsource their network security to cyber security professionals. Managing and maintaining a security solution that includes a firewall, antivirus, spam blocker, and content filter, can be tiring and knowledge-intensive. Remote maintenance and management: Often times, business professionals might be able to effectively use technology, but don?t notice telltale signs of degradation. Many of these signs can be spotted remotely, and the patches can swiftly be administered without a costly on-site appointment. Backup and disaster recovery: Small businesses need to preserve their data at all costs. It?s been proven that businesses that fail to restore their data following a loss incident are likely to go out of business within one year. This is why so many organizations turn to outsourced managed IT services to handle data backup. With Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR), backups can be taken as often as every fifteen minutes, and data can be rapidly deployed in the event of a data loss incident. Does your business have trouble managing and maintaining its critical technology assets? With Info Advantage, we try to make it as easy for you as possible. To learn more about any of the above services, and more, reach out to us at (585) 254-8710.
Business phones are very different today than the telecommunications systems of the past. Today, many small to mid sized businesses are using internet based technologies such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) in order to simplify their communication and seamlessly synergize with the rest of their business activities. For those who don’t know about how businesses can benefit VoIP systems, we’ll help by breaking it down. Types of Phones Hardphone These are the phones in the ‘traditional’ sense; a desk phone connected directly to your business’ IP network. These phones are easy to learn and can be used to call internationally, at a cheaper price than a direct phone line. Many modern hardphone systems have newer technologies such as built-in displays, touch screens, and a variety of other features that are seamlessly integrated into one complete phone system. Softphone Softphones are the same basic principle of a hardphone system, without the designated desk phone. With a softphone system, users can use software programs to turn almost any mobile device into a work phone. This includes laptops, PCs, tablets, and smart phones. All you have to do is set up with a headset or a mic and speakers and you will be able to make and take business calls wherever you go. Which is Better? Just like in most cases, the type of VoIP system that is best for you depends on your business’ needs. There are a few questions you will have to ask yourself about your business to determine what is the best system for you. The first question is whether or not your employees are always on the move and rely on mobile communication. If you have staff that is always on the move, you will likely benefit from a softphone system. That way, your employees can be connected to their work phone no matter where they are. However, if your employees tend to stay in the office at their desk, it may make the most sense to use a hardphone system. The next questions you need to answer are if you need connectivity to your business line at all times. Since hardphones are a part of the work desk, once you leave the office you will have no access to the business line. However, with a softphone system you can have connectivity 24/7, even when you’re not at work. The final question deals with your total IT budget. If you are a brand new company, or are looking to completely upgrade an antiquated system, then it may be more beneficial to impliment a softphone system. This will allow you to start up your business line right away, without forcing you to dip into your budget to buy all new deskphones. However, many modern work phones have the ability to seamlessly switch over to a VoIP line. In that case, it may make sense for you to use the phones you already have and switch to a hardphone VoIP system. Interested in learning more about VoIP? Unsure of which VoIP system will benefit you the most? Contact Info Advantage today at (585) 254-8710 to speak with a telecommunications expert who can help answer any questions you may have about VoIP services.
If small- and medium-sized businesses think cyber security is impossible to manage now, just think about what it was like before the internet provided a way to receive IT support remotely. In today?s business landscape, enterprise-level solutions and security can be delivered from almost anywhere in the world. Read on to find out why that?s even safer than you realize. Hands-on managementUnless 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 vulnerabilitiesCloud 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 continuityThe 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.