When it comes to computers and other similar systems, many business owners know they have to think seriously about security. However, they often lack the time or funds to actually take the necessary steps to ensure their systems are as secure as they should be. The fact is that security can be as costly or as affordable as you make it out to be. There are certainly numerous security related steps you can implement that won't cost a fortune.

Here are five low-cost things you can do to ensure that your business is secure.

1. Communication is key Many companies take adequate steps to ensure that their systems are adequately protected. The thing is, many security breaches come from within the company. If your employees keep passwords written on pieces of paper that they leave lying around their desks, this is a security issue. It is a good idea to agree with employees where to keep important information and ensure they follow these rules.

Beyond that, if you implement security changes or new systems e.g., new virus scanning software, it is important that you talk to your staff to ensure they know how the system works and how they can use it. You would be surprised at how much effective communication can help to minimize security issues, and best of all? It's free!

2. Educate your staff One of the more common security issues comes from spam and malware found in emails. It is a good idea to educate your staff on how to spot these different types of emails and other malicious websites, as well as how to avoid them.

It is worthwhile ensuring that your employees know their roles when it comes to security too. If you have a secretary who you believe is responsible for ensuring the office is locked at the end of the night, take steps to ensure that this person understands their responsibilities. The same goes for computers your staff use: If they are responsible for conducting security scans let them know this. While this may take some time, the cost is low to free.

3. Keep track of your keys To ensure the security of your IT systems and your physical office, you should keep control of your keys. That is, both the physical keys and those associated with your software (the codes you enter to verify software and unlock full versions).

Keep track of which staff members have a key to the office and if possible number them. The goal here is to know where your keys are at any given time, and if a staff member changes employers make sure you ask for them back.

Many software keys or licenses are single use only. If you invest in software and an employees steals this along with the key, you will likely have to purchase the software again. A good tip is to keep software keys secure and separate from the software itself. The best part about this step is that the cost of doing this is minimal.

4. Keep your software updated Hackers can be a lazy bunch. They will often target those with out of date software, because it's usually easier to hack. To reduce the chance of being hacked, you should take steps to ensure that your software is up-to-date. This includes your virus and malware scanners, as well as browsers and even software you don't use.

Get your staff to perform a 'software audit' on their computers on a regular basis. This means going through their computer and properly uninstalling software that they don't use, while also taking time to ensure their system is completely updated. This step is easy to implement and will cost you next to nothing.

5. Keep important systems off site Many small to medium businesses keep their servers on site. While this is convenient as your systems are right there and easily accessible, this could also create a security issue. One way to minimize this is to work with an IT partner who can host your systems or servers off site or in the cloud. While this involves some cost, working with an IT partner could save you profits and productivity in the long run, as good providers will ensure that your systems are secure and working properly.

If you are looking to make your systems more secure, please contact us today. We may have a solution that will work for your business.

The Internet has undoubtedly made our lives easier, and some would even say better. It is a bit of a double edged sword however, as we have seen an increase in the number of security breaches and hacks exposing our information. One way to minimize data being exposed or stolen is to use different passwords for every site. While this is advisable and fine in theory, it can be a pain to actually keep track of all of your different passwords in reality. That's where a password management system can help. The next decision is what type of password management system you should use.

Below is a brief overview of the four types of password management system you can use.

1. Cloud or Internet-based These systems are usually cloud based and accessed through an app or browser plugin. Apps ordinarily store your passwords, or generate one to use, and will automatically apply this when you visit a site that requires a password. These systems are great for breaking the one password habit, However, because they store all of your passwords in one place, they could become a target for hackers.

2. Cloud or Internet-based with two-factor authentication The next step up from the cloud-based password management system is one that supports two-factor authentication. Your passwords are still stored in the cloud, but you will need to provide another piece of information before you can access sites.

The interesting thing is that many of the cloud based password systems actually offer this in their premium offerings. So, not only do you get better password protection, but it's with the same system meaning you likely won't have to switch.

The cloud based systems are a good idea if you use more than one system on a regular basis and if you work from outside of the office.

3. Computer-based Computer-based password management systems are similar to the cloud versions, only the passwords are stored on your computer, and accessed using a master password. Because many hackers usually don't go after individual hard drives - they have to get through your network and then find the program and try to break the password - the chances of your passwords being exposed are minimized.

The only problem with systems like these is that you normally have to log in for the service to work. If you forget to log out and someone walks by, they will be able to access everything. However, for the manager who wants a secure system, this is a better option than the cloud based versions.

4. USB-based There are a number of USB devices that have a smart card in them that can store passwords. When you plug in the USB to your computer, the software on the USB can input the stored passwords when needed. These devices are typically more expensive, with some costing as much as USD$100, but they offer the highest amount of security as your passwords are kept with you.

The main downside to these devices is that they aren't the biggest and are usually about the size of a standard USB stick. This means that they are easier to lose, making getting your passwords back even tougher.

If you are looking for a better way to keep track of your passwords, please contact us today to see how we can help.

Cyber crime has been around since the very early days of the Internet and has it has become an increasingly serious problem as the number of Internet users has increased. This trend is likely to continue, and you can be guaranteed that you'll continue to see news about websites being hacked and valuable information exposed. One of the latest sites to be hacked is LivingSocial.

LivingSocial is a daily deals website that focuses on bringing bargains and original deals to users based on their geographical location. In late April, news broke that the website had suffered a massive cyber attack with 50 million accounts being compromised.

From the reports we have seen, the attack targeted accounts world-wide with only account holders in Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines being unaffected. An email sent out by Tim O'Shaughnessy, LivingSocial's CEO shortly after the incident said, "We recently experienced a cyber-attack on our computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some customer data from our servers. We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate this issue."

The company assured users that their credit card data had not been compromised, as they are kept in another database. Account passwords were also encrypted, which means they are harder to crack but not impossible.

What should you do? If you have a LivingSocial account, we recommend that you go and change your password immediately. This can be done by:

1. Going to LivingSocial's forgot your password page.
2. Entering the email address you used to sign up for the account with.
3. Pressing Reset Password.
4. Checking your email for an email from LivingSocial and following the instructions in the email.

It is advisable to pick a new password, one that is as different as possible from your old password and, as always, the longer, the better.

Is there anything I can to do protect my company? If you are a business owner who has websites that encourage customers to sign up for updates, accounts, etc. you may be wondering how you can keep your user's information secure from cyber attack. In truth, you can't keep your important information 100% secure, if a hacker is committed enough, they will be able to get the information they need or wreak the havoc they want to. But what you can do is to make it as hard as possible for cybercriminals to get your information. This could be as simple as using multiple databases to store different bits of information, or as complex as using the latest encryption methods and systems.

Each business is unique, and the best way to ensure your valuable data is secure is to work with an IT partner who takes the time to get to know your security needs and develop a solution that is as near to 100% secure as possible.

If you are worried about the security of your systems, contact us today. We may have the perfect solution that will meet your needs and budget.

Chances are high that you already take great steps to ensure that your network and systems are secure from threats. But, do you take the same steps to ensure that your accounts like email, social media, bank, etc. are also secure? The weakest link of these accounts is the password, and that's exactly where most hackers strike. Is your password secure?

If you want to minimize the chances of your password being hacked, here are five things you should NOT do.

1. Don't pick short passwords

While short passwords are easier to remember, they are also easier and quicker to hack. The most common way to hack passwords is by using brute force: Developing a list of every possible password, then trying this list with a username.

Using a mid-range computer like the one many have on their desk, with a normal Internet connection, you can develop a list of all potential passwords astonishingly quickly. For example it would take 11.9 seconds to generate a list of all possible passwords using five lowercase characters (a,b,c,d,etc.) only. It will take about 2.15 hours to develop a list of all possible passwords using five of any computer character. Once a hacker has the list, they just have to try every potential password with your user name.

On the other hand, a list of all 8 character passwords with at least one special character (!,@,%,etc.) and one capital letter would take this computer 2.14 centuries to develop. In other words, the longer the password, the harder it will be to hack. That being said, longer passwords aren't impossible to hack, they just take more time. So, most hackers will usually go after the shorter passwords first.

2. Don't use the same password

The way most hackers work is that they assume users have the same password for different accounts. If they can get one password, it's as simple as looking through that account's information for any related accounts and trying the original password with the other accounts. If one of these happens to be your email where you have kept bank information, you will likely see your bank account drained.

It's therefore important to use a different password for every online account. They key here is to try and use a password that's as different as possible. Don't just add a number or character onto the end of a word. If you have trouble remembering all of your passwords, try using a password manager like LastPass.

3. Don't use words from the dictionary or all numbers

This article published last year on ZDnet highlights the 25 most popular passwords. Notice that more than 15 contain words from the dictionary, and most of the rest are strings of common numbers. To have a secure password, most security experts agree that you should not use words from the dictionary or number combinations that are beside each other (e.g., 1234).

4. Don't use standard number substitutions

Some users have passwords where they replace letters with a number that looks similar, for example: h31lo (hello). Most new password hacking tools actually have combinations like this built in and will try a normal word, followed by replacing letters with similar numbers. It’s best to avoid this.

5. Don't use available information as a password

What we mean by this is using information that can be easily found on the Internet. For example, doing a quick search for your name will likely return your email address and social media profiles. If you have pictures of your kids, spouse, pets, family, their dates of birth, etc. on your Facebook profile and have put their names in captions, it's possible for a hacker to see this (assuming the pictures are shared with the public).

You can bet that they will try these names as your password. You would be surprised with the amount of personal information on the web. We suggest searching for yourself using your email address(s), social media profile names, etc. and seeing what information can be found. If your passwords are close to what you find, it would be a good idea to change them immediately.

There are numerous things you can do to minimize the chance that your passwords are stolen and accounts hacked.

 

Business owners and managers have many concerns they must address on a regular basis, or at least be aware of. Some of security concerns revolve around fraud, more specifically email fraud. While this isn't a new concept, email fraud and scam occurrences are on the rise, and it is vital to know how to spot them.

Here's five tips to help you spot email frauds or scams.

Look at the email address One of the easiest ways to spot a fraudulent email or scam is by looking at the email address of the sender. Many credit card application scams use third party email services like Gmail or Yahoo. Some scammers go so far as to set up accounts in the name of the company e.g., AMEX_121@gmail.com.

Sophisticated scammers will actually try to copy the legitimate company's email account - a practice called spoofing. They will usually have a few changes like a missing letter from the address, or an extra . added.

The easiest thing you can do is look for the sender's site on the Internet. For example: You get an email from AMEX OPEN (American Express's small business credit card) and notice that the sender's email address just doesn't look right. Go to Google and search for amex fraud. You'll likely find the fraud page which tells you exactly how the company sends emails. If the sender is a smaller company, most of these will have email contact addresses right on the site, take a look and compare the two. If they are different, the email is likely a scam.

Look at the sender's website If you think an email is fraudulent, try looking up the website associated with the sender. Should you be unable to find the site, it's likely a scam.

If you find a website, click through some pages to see if there is anything that looks out of place. For example a website selling a new financial service has pages with Coming Soon or you get errors when you try to load the page. If it looks fishy, it likely is - delete the email.

It would also be a good idea to go to archive.org's Wayback Machine, copy and paste the website's URL into the The Wayback Machine Search bar and hit Take me back. This will bring up previous versions of the website. If you see that the site in question was something completely different a few months to a year ago (e.g., it is a financial services page now, but six months ago it was a page selling prescription drugs), chances are high it's a fraud.

Call them Many scammers will put phone numbers into emails to make them look more legitimate. If you are unsure about whether this email is legitimate or not, why not try calling the number? Many scammers run more than one fraud operating at the same time and may answer the phone with another name, or not at all.

Similarly, if you call a local number of a supposedly small business and get routed directly to voicemail, it's likely fraud.

Look carefully at the body of the message The body of the email can also be a great way to suss out email scammers and potential fraud. Because many fraudulent emails originate outside of the major English speaking countries, there will often be language that just sounds different from the way people write in your area. One great example of this would be a line like 'We wish to sell you a great product.'

You should also look for spelling errors, grammar mistakes or inconsistencies. While some fraudulent emails will have minor spelling inconsistencies, others will spell common words wrong. If you see mistakes like 'our product are a great deals', this should raise a warning flag.

Spelling and grammar errors are a part of business communication, so don't expect a perfect email from all companies, especially if you see that the company is located overseas. It's the emails with mistakes supposedly coming from companies in your area that should really raise alarm.

The sender asks for money or passwords It's kind of an unwritten rule that when sending out emails you never ask for a person's credit card number or account passwords. Banks, large companies and many social networks will never ask you for passwords or account information, credit card numbers, pin codes, etc of any kind over email. If you notice that an email selling something asks for you to reply with a credit card details so you can make a purchase, it's best to delete the email as it's likely a fraud.

Email fraud is a big deal, and unfortunately it will likely become even more common in the near future. This means you should be able to spot potentially fraudulent emails. If you think an email is a scam, it's best to just delete it immediately. Don't respond or forward it to colleagues or employees. If you need to let people know, write another email that describes the suspected email but has no links. You can also forward a screenshot to your colleagues or friends to illustrate the scam.

Looking for more ways you can protect your company? Contact us today. We can work with you to develop a security system that will meet your needs.

Productivity is something many business owners and their employees strive for. Most would be out of work if they weren't productive. Two of the most common productivity tools are email and the calendar. The only problem is email is usually separate from the calendar app and it can be a pain to switch between the two. If you are a Google Apps user, there is an app that brings the two together to help make you more productive.

You may be familiar with the app Boomerang which allows you to schedule emails to be sent later. Well, the developers of Boomerang also offer Boomerang Calendar for Google Calendar. This app brings three great productivity enhancing features.

One-click scheduling of meetings Gmail users know that when you are reading an email and need to look up a date, you can't easily do so directly from your email. Boomerang Calendar adds an option to 'suggest meeting times' directly in the email draft window. Pressing suggest meeting times will bring up a pop-up window of Google Calendar with lets you select different potential meeting times.

You can then generate a template in the email which will contain the suggested times. This is a lot easier than switching back and forth between tabs and sending more than one email to figure out a time and date.

Smart email scanning Another cool feature of this app is that it scans your emails for dates and will give you the option to create meetings or events directly from your email. Alternatively, clicking on the time will open your calendar in a pop-up window to the date and time to show you if you have any conflicting appointments. You can also suggest alternative times if there is a schedule conflict.

Better group planning Collaboration and teamwork are crucial these days, but it can be a chore to get employees from different departments together at the same time. This app allows you to create a group event right from Gmail with the press of a button. Pressing the Plan Group Event button will open a pop-up where you can invite team members, name the event and propose dates and times.

When you send the email, recipients will be able to sign up for the time they like, allowing you to keep track of it. This helps the group pick a time that works, and reduces the number of emails that go back and forth, which means you can spend more time on managing your business.

Boomerang Calendar is currently only available for Gmail users, and is in Open Beta testing, meaning it's free. There is no word on when, or if, this will be released for Outlook users, however the chances are high that there will be an app coming soon. If you would like to install this app, check out the website here. And if you would like to learn how our tech products and services can help you be more productive at work, please contact us today.

To many, the entrepreneur is viewed with admiration and jealousy. How come you have to work long hours for a company that doesn't really care about you while the entrepreneur gets to run their own life and have a seemingly perfect work-life? This view, as many business owners know, is often a laughable one as work-life balance can be non-existent. It doesn't have to be this way however and with a little work on your productivity you can actually get something akin to a good balance.

Here are three tips to help small business owners or managers be more productive and from that achieve a more desirable work-life balance.

Learn how you spend your time To be productive, you need to know how you spend your time. The easiest way to do this is to keep a log, or journal, of what you do each day. You should include everything you do in relation to work, including: travel time, Facebook breaks, time spent checking emails, meetings, etc.

The goal here is twofold. Firstly, you get a solid glimpse of how you spend each day; secondly, you can see if there is anything you do that takes up way too much time. Some experts suggest you do this for a week at least. To get the best results though, it would be better to do this for at least two weeks to a month.

There are a number of different ways you can go about journaling your activities. For the old-fashioned among us, go buy a day-timer that has at least one page per each day. For the more technical, your email programs like Outlook or Gmail have powerful calendars that you can record activities on. For the mobile crowd, mobile versions of Outlook, Google Calendar or even your phone's native calendar app will work great.

When you have your day timer/calendar app, it's time to start recording your activities. Record when you start one, and when you finish. From there, clearly label the activity. Over a few weeks, or even days, you will begin to see a clear picture of how you spend your time.

Plan to be more productive After you have figured out where you spend your time, you can begin to schedule around your strengths and weaknesses. The key here is to schedule time that is uninterrupted so you can focus on one task. If you find that you are checking your email every five minutes, it may be a good idea to schedule time in the morning and just after lunch for checking and replying to emails. When you aren't in that time period, you can work in a focused way on something else.

By sticking to a more rigid schedule you will find your productivity starts to rise. If you are having a tough time keeping to a set schedule, try using the pomodoro technique. This is where you set a certain amount of time for one task, and gradually increase the amount of time you focus on that task.

Play off your strengths If you are a small business owner, chances are you wear lots of hats. One minute you're wearing a spiffy salesperson hat while the next you're wearing an HR hat. This constant switching of roles, or doing everything yourself, is not good business practice.

If you are aware that you are constantly spending time on bookkeeping and yet hardly get anything done because you lack the necessary accounting skills, it may be a good idea to look into hiring a part-time accountant.

Many business owners struggle with delegation, as they feel the need to control everything. One way to challenge this idea is by looking at your hourly rate. If you charge $100 an hour and an accountant is $50 an hour, it makes sense to hire the accountant instead.

By outsourcing, you will find that you have more time to focus on what you're good at. As a result your productivity will rise and a better work-life balance will soon follow. If you'd like to learn more about how our IT systems can help make you even more productive, please contact us.

When is the best time to buy tech? That's right, the first few months of a new year are a great time to buy new technology for the office. This would have been a fairly easy task 10 years ago, as choice was considerably more limited. Now there are so many different kinds of technological devices that it can be hard to pick what will be best for your employees. Have no fear, we are here to help.

When shopping for new technology it's beneficial to know what types of devices are out there and what circumstances they are ideal for. Below is a list of the major categories of technical devices available.

Thin clients Thin clients are a type of computer where the computing power is stored on a server. On an employee's desk there will usually be a monitor, mouse and keyboard that they use to access the system - hosted on the server. These systems are typically low power, but are generally cheap to run and maintain. Any updates are done on the server and are instantly accessible to all users. The beauty of thin clients is that the servers don't have to be in your office. They can be in another location, managed by another company - where everything runs in the cloud. Because of this, thin clients are becoming an increasingly popular option.

Due to shared resources, thin clients are ideal for positions that only require minimal computing power. For example: retail operations, restaurants, sales departments, finance departments, etc. For positions that rely on computer processing power, use programs like CAD, or use legacy systems thin clients aren't a good choice.

Desktops Desktops are the standard in the majority of offices mainly because they offer solid computing power and systems meet the needs of a wide variety of budgets and needs. Desktops can take up space and businesses usually require a solid management plan to ensure every desktop is secure and using the same software.

Desktops are ideal for employees that need computing power, or who have resource intensive roles e.g., engineers who use CAD, designers who use Photoshop Suite, etc. Desktops are not a good solution for employees who are out of the office extended periods of time, or if you have limited physical space.

Laptops Laptops are portable, relatively cheap and can do nearly everything a desktop can. Their size means they are popular with mobile employees, e.g., salespeople, franchise owners, board members, etc. While laptops can handle many of the same tasks as their larger cousins, they do struggle with multi-tasking. If you need to have more than one window or program open it can be annoying having to constantly switch.

Tablets The iPad has shown that the tablet is here to stay, with some companies even being able to do away with the laptop. Like the bigger laptop, tablets are designed to be mobile and are ideal for keeping in touch with the office while on the road. They are perfect for employees who give lots of presentations or need to multi-task. Where they lack is in document creation and editing. While this can be done on tablets, it just takes time and a whole lot of patience.

If you have a mobile workforce that doesn't need to change documents on a regular basis e.g., salespeople at trade shows, tablets are a great choice.

Smartphones It's pretty clear that the smartphone is ideal for nearly every company. Users can check and reply to email, look at most files and many have even started to use it as their main phone. If you have employees that need to be connected to the office e.g., doctors or support staff, the smartphone is a great way for them to stay in touch while not having to be in the office.

With the sheer number of devices and uses, you can guarantee that different positions will require/benefit from different tools, and you should take this into account when looking to buy new devices. The other thing that works well is to adopt a multiple device scheme where users have complementary devices. For example, you can have one desktop for two sales staff who also have a tablet. They can use the tablet while out of the office and the desktop for heavier tasks when in the office.

The key here is to pick devices that will best complement your employees, and allow them to be productive wherever they may be. If you're looking to purchase new devices for your office this holiday season, why not contact us? We may have the perfect solution for you.

For many, social media is a deeply ingrained part of daily life. For companies it's become an integral part of their marketing and communications strategy. Because of this, the security of these services is something users expect. 99% of the time. However, there are breaches that can cause trouble for users.

It only took one month for the first major security breach of a social network, and this time it happened to Twitter. On the first of February, Twitter announced on their blog that slightly over 250,000 accounts had been compromised.

At this time, Twitter doesn't know who is responsible for the attack but according to the blog post they know that, "The attackers may have had access to limited user information – usernames, email addresses, session tokens and encrypted/salted versions of passwords."

Yes, the hackers did get access to passwords, although the company noted that they got the 'encrypted/salted' versions, this means they didn't actually get the passwords themselves. To get the account passwords they would have to decrypt the information first, something many hacker's don't bother with.

What does this mean for my company? If you or your company has a Twitter account, you would have already have received an email if your account was breached. While 250,000 sounds like a high number, keep in mind that there are over 72 million active accounts (users who post more than once a week).

While this is a drop in the proverbial bucket, it's still a security threat that you should act upon. At the very least you should take steps to change your password. You can do this by logging into Twitter and pressing the cog in the top right of the tool bar. Select Settings followed by Password. Enter your current password, followed by a new password and verify it. Press Save changes and you are done.

It is a good idea to pick a completely new password, one with numbers, letters and if possible special characters like !, $ or ^. At the very least, it should be different from any other passwords you use.

Looking to learn more about the security breach or if Twitter is right for your business? Give us a shout, we'd be happy to talk social media with you.