It seems like you can’t go a week without hearing about some new security vulnerability or massive data breach. Naturally, this leads the average computer user to feel nervous, especially when dealing with sensitive information. With only a password standing between you and your account, hackers can easily access it if you’re careless. Two-factor authentication is the key to maximizing your online security.
Most online accounts allow you to set up some form of two-factor authentication, but today we’re going to concentrate on how to set it up on your Google account.
How It Works Google calls their two-factor authentication service, “2-Step Verification.” Basically, Google will require that you use more than one form of login credential before allowing access to your account. This generally comes in the form of an SMS message sent to your phone, a voice call, and more. Google can even provide you with a security key that you plug into your PC’s USB port as a two-factor authentication tool.
The plus side of this is that it makes it extremely difficult for hackers to access your account if the only credential they have is your password. This means that the hacker needs to work twice as hard and steal your actual hardware if they want to get into your account. This brings the chances of you getting hacked down to almost zero.
Besides that point, however, there’s quite literally no reason not to integrate two-factor authentication for any and all of your online accounts. Not only is it easy, but the benefits greatly outweigh the costs, if any. The prominent security threats and vulnerabilities that are prevalent throughout the business world should speak for themselves. Without two-factor authentication, you’re missing out on a vital, albeit basic, way of keeping your sensitive data safe.
How to Set Up Google’s 2-Step Verification In order to set up your Google 2-Step verification, all you need to do to get started is log into your Google account, then go to this URL.
Click on Start setup >> and Google can walk you through the rest. You’ll have to provide Google with your phone number so they can send you text messages when you attempt to log in. This means that you should probably have your phone on you, or at least nearby, when you begin the setup procedure.
Google’s 2-Step Verification can do a lot more than simple text messages, too. For instance, it allows you to use your landline phone system (if you still have one of those in your office) and receive automated voice calls from Google which contain your verification code. You can even print off a set of one-time codes for later use, if you’re planning on traveling a lot.
Again, most online accounts allow for two-factor authentication, so remember that it’s important and necessary to take all of the security precautions you can in the hostile environment that is online computing. You want only the best security to keep your data and your business safe from hackers, thieves, and scam artists. If you need help setting up two-factor authentication, NuTech Services can help your business integrate the best solutions possible. Just give us a call at 810.230.9455 to learn more.
When a print job doesn’t go exactly how you need it to, it’s normal to call your printer some choice words, which may include one of the many colorful synonyms for excrement. Perhaps this stems from a printing network and a toilet having a lot in common. How’s that you ask? Let’s clear the air and find out.
One major similarity between printers and toilets is that they both utilize connected systems. All of your printers are connected to your office’s server units, which in turn connect to your workstations and various devices. Likewise, all of your building’s toilets are connected by a series of pipes leading to one main pipe that exits your building. Just as multiple computers share the same printer, so too do multiple toilets share the same drain. In each example, both the printing signals and the flushed waste all go to one place.
What’s also true of each system is that they’re both susceptible to being overwhelmed. You’re familiar with what happens when your plumbing takes on more than it can it handle; the pipes back up and the contents of the toilet runneth over upon thy floor. At the risk of grossing out our readers, we will refrain from describing what this plumbing problem looks like.
It’s the engineer’s responsibility to design the plumbing system to handle the demands of every toilet–even if they all flush at the exact same time. In fact, for large structures housing hundreds of toilets, like sports stadiums, there’s a ceremony called a “super flush” that takes place before the stadium is opened. In a super flush event, the stadium’s plumbing systems are put to the ultimate test as hundreds of fans simultaneously flush every toilet.
As wacky as this sounds, a super flush has become a celebrated sports tradition. In 2011, Florida Atlantic University hosted a super flush to christen their new stadium. As seen from this video, the event meant sweet relief for the University’s administration as over 100 volunteers reported for duty and successfully flushed all 365 stalls. Go Owls!
Can your company’s network handle a virtual super flush? More commonly referred to as a virtual peak flow test, this is when a network is tested in order to find out how much traffic it can handle. This is a necessary and standard procedure when setting up any network. If your network can’t handle peak traffic, it will fail and cause downtime at the worst possible time, similar to a stadium’s plumbing failing during a playoff game.
Did you know that printing data sent over the network takes up significantly more bandwidth than the average office task? Unless you’ve got plenty of bandwidth to work with, it will be disastrous if every employee in your company clicked “print” at the same time. A network overload like this will cause print jobs to back up, along with your normal network traffic, causing a crash. You would need much more than a mop to clean up a mess like this.
To ease this burden from your network’s server units, NuTech Services offers a print server solution. This solution acts as a dedicated server to handle all of your company’s printing traffic, bypassing the need to run a print job through your regular server units that handle your company’s mission-critical, day-to-day operations.
A print server from NuTech Services will ease a lot of pressure off your company’s server units, which will free up bandwidth for work-related tasks so they can function at high flow speeds. Plus, it will make your printer operate smoother so that you’ll have less reason to get mad and call it something you’ll later regret.
Give your network the relief it’s begging for by calling NuTech Services at 810.230.9455.
Got a smartphone? Then you’ve probably snapped a selfie before, or, depending on the expectations of your social circles, you may have taken a few hundred of them… in one day. Today, selfies are all the rage and people are coming up with creative ways to take them, like these three exciting selfie technologies.
Before we reveal our three favorite selfie technologies, we should first do a little backtracking and provide a definition. After all, it’s a rather new trend. But in all actuality, the selfie has been with us for quite a while; it used to be called, “No one else wants to take my picture.” For an official definition of the word selfie, let’s turn to the Oxford Online Dictionary (yep, it’s a real word): A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.
The Selfie Sombrero
One of the hottest accessories in fashion today is the selfie sombrero. It’s a hat tasked by Acer to assist users with “creating the perfect social media moment.” To achieve this, a glittery-pink sombrero has room for an Acer Iconia A1-840 to hang from its brim. “The world’s first Selfie-Hat” can then be adjusted to allow the user to experiment with angles and lighting. As a bonus, when you’re not taking selfies with your sombrero, it comes with a smaller sombrero for your tablet.
The Selfie Brush
Good hair is a must for any successful selfie. This is exactly why the Selfie Brush was created. This is another example of a technology that combines a mobile device with an everyday item, like a hair brush. The Selfie Brush utilizes the flat side of the brush, which until now, has been wasted space. The Selfie Brush even comes with a small mirror so you can make sure your hair is perfect before you snap and share your pic. Granted, you might get a few weird looks for taking phone calls with your hair brush, but you can just tell onlookers that you’re a superspy–with fabulous hair.
The Selfie Stick
Finally, we come to the selfie stick. It’s a technology that may be a little more practical than the previous two techs. However, it will still get you some odd looks if you use it. The appeal of the selfie stick is that it allows the user to take a picture of themselves from a distance further than what their arms can reach. This allows you to snap a panoramic selfie without having to pass your camera on to another person. A typical selfie stick extends up to 39 inches and it works in conjunction with your camera’s timer. In fact, you may have even seen the selfie stick in action at your local tourist attractions.
What are your feelings about selfies? Are you on a quest to achieve the perfect selfie, or do you find the whole concept to be too narcissistic for your liking? Despite your feelings about selfies, it’s a trend that appears to be here to stay. This means that humans are guaranteed to come up with even more creative ways to take and share their favorite moments.
There are a lot of different threats out there: Viruses, malware, spyware, adware, the list goes on. While all of these threats are certainly problematic, some are more dangerous than others. In particular, advanced malware can be exceptionally devastating if they manage to inflict damage on your technology.
However, what makes advanced malware so much different from the garden variety? Processor magazine explores how small business and larger enterprises can protect themselves from these advanced threats. As defined by Robert Clyde, international vice president of ISACA, “The nature of advanced malware is that it’s targeted, it’s stealthy, it’s evasive, and it’s adaptive.” These traits combined make for an incredibly sly malware that’s difficult to detect and even harder to prevent.
Unlike ordinary malware, which is generally meant to disrupt whatever it affects and start all sorts of generic chaos, advanced malware usually has a specific goal to accomplish, and is aimed at specific targets. It’s more likely that these advanced threats are after specific information and are specifically designed to complete this task in the most effective way possible. These types of threats can also be considered “Advanced Persistent Threats,” a term used to describe malware which accomplishes its goal over an extended period of time rather than upon execution.
These types of threats are often complex and require a different approach than the standard malware. In fact, some infections can get worse if they’re detected, and they can hop from system to system in order to avoid detection. This makes locating and eliminating the threat difficult at best.
When such a threat knocks at your company’s door, the best way to handle it is with a four-front assault called our Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. With a powerful firewall at your disposal, your business has a dedicated bouncer to analyze data moving to and from your network. This prevents malicious entities from infiltrating (or leaving) your system when you’re on the hunt for them.
The next phase is when the enterprise-level antivirus solution kicks in. This eliminates threats that are detected on the network. If you suspect that there is a malicious entity lurking on your network, we can locate it with our remote monitoring service and eliminate it before it causes any noticeable damage. We also offer companies a free IT network assessment to locate threats and confirm your suspicions.
There are other preventative methods for keeping advanced malware from getting into your network. An advanced persistent threat might take the form of a spear-phishing tactic, where a hacker will target you specifically for your login credentials or sensitive information. Another preventative way is the spam blocking solution which is part of NuTech Services’s UTM. This keeps spam from even reaching your inbox, making spear-phishing attempts obsolete.
Finally, our web-blocking solution keeps your employees from navigating to insecure or otherwise threatening websites. A skilled hacker might try to gather information using a fake website, or by hiding attachments within permalinks. Our web-blocking solution has the power to keep your business secure while online.
If you’re concerned with how to protect your business’s data from both the garden-variety and advanced malware threats, give NuTech Services a call at 810.230.9455. We’ll help your business find the best solution to your security woes.
Wearable technology is still emerging, but a much different type of smart tech is coming soon. At the Kaspersky Labs Security Analyst Summit, the question of whether or not embedding technology in the human body is a viable concept was discussed in detail. This is supposedly the future of smart technology.
Hannes Sjoblad, a member of a Swedish group called BioNyfiken (warning: unless you speak Swedish, you might have trouble on this website), has implanted NFC (Near Field Communication) chips into his own hands in an attempt to back what he calls “biohacking.” This is the process of embedding technology into the human body to perform certain functions. This technology is still in development, but if it’s successful, we can expect to see “cyborg-like” results.
Sound too weird to be true? It’s a squeamish trend that’s happening all around the world. For proof, here’s a real video of YouTuber Mike James getting an xNT NFC chip implanted into his hand (skip the video if you don’t like needles).
According to ZDNet, over 300 Swedish citizens have volunteered to have these NFC chips implanted in their hands, specifically between the thumb and the forefinger. This project began as a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, and has quickly turned into a topic of interest. Sjoblad himself uses this chip for a number of things. He says he can use it to unlock his house doors, bike lock, and even for his shop memberships and business cards. How’s that for smart technology?
Sjoblad was quick to defend his organization’s ideas by explaining that cyborgs “are already among us,” in the form of people with pacemakers, insulin pumps, and other medical technologies. He also explains that this technology is rapidly becoming more affordable as time goes on, not unlike other technologies like computers and smartphones. In terms of privacy, we already have smartphones that are capable of sharing personal data; therefore, these NFC chips shouldn’t be a cause for concern.
Sjoblad hopes that embedded NFC chips will improve the way that humans perform day-to-day activities normally achieved through use of smartphones, without having to use the device itself. Devices “clutter up” these daily routines and complicate things. Even wearables are considered “clutter.” Sjoblad’s goal is to eliminate these devices and simplify tasks using his NFC chips.
You can imagine the possibilities for this type of technology in the future. One of the most notable possibilities is two-factor authentication. Imagine keeping your computer locked until you and your unique NFC chip are within range. Or, imagine accessing a bank account without fear that someone else has access to it. Whether or not this type of technology will become readily available for the public is another topic altogether, but there’s a very real possibility that this kind of authentication can change the way we use our technology.
What are your thoughts on turning NFC chips and the human body itself into an authentication tool? Let us know in the comments.
Bonus technology: Want to take advantage of NFC tech without the use of needles? Try the NFC Ring.
You pay your employees to come to the office and perform their daily duties, but how much of that time is actually being spent working? Every wasted minute cuts into your daily profits, which can waste countless minutes. If you want to get the most out of your team, there are several technology strategies that the modern business can take advantage of to maximize productivity.
Surveillance Cameras Depending on your productivity problem, there are varied levels of solutions which you might integrate. When the boss rarely makes rounds around the office, your team might be encouraged to “loaf around,” which is the act of wasting time. If you can’t leave the room for even a minute without your team goofing off, surveillance cameras might be the best way to set them straight.
This might be a worst-case scenario, but believe it or not, some offices need to take advantage of these kinds of solutions to maintain order. Surveillance systems are now much more cost-effective than in the past, so integrating one into your IT strategy is more affordable than it sounds. With a camera installed in the office, employees will understand that any loafing that’s performed in the office will be recorded, and incriminating evidence can and will be used against them when it comes time for a review. Some cameras can even allow you to watch a live feed of your office on your mobile device, which is ideal for the traveling business owner.
Automatic Door Locks One of the more common ways that employees tend to waste time is through their breaks. When it comes to extra time spent on breaks, every wasted minute can really add up. If every employee slacks off a few minutes here and there, it can add up quickly and cut into your company’s bottom line. Automatic locks on your organization’s doors can encourage your team to stop wasting time and get back to work.
After all, you aren’t paying them to be late and irresponsible. With automatic locks, you can set them to lock the door right at 8:00 a.m., or whenever your office opens. If they don’t make it to work on time, they’ll be forced to either endure the embarrassment of needing someone to let them in, or lose a day’s pay. They’ll quickly get the point. This might seem like an extreme measure, but it’s one that might be necessary. Just like surveillance cameras, these locks can be controlled remotely from your mobile devices if need be.
Content Filtering Your employees sit in front of a workstation all day in order to work, not browse the Internet searching for memes or wasting time on social media. Unfortunately, even the best employees can be susceptible to the allure of sites like Facebook, YouTube, BuzzFeed, and so on. Content filtering can be used to keep your team off of these websites, which can keep them on task. In fact, companies that have integrated a content filtering solution have seen productivity increase as much as 23 percent.
Unified Threat Management Content filtering is one of the many functions of NuTech Services’s Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. In addition to content filtering, the UTM provides users with an enterprise-level firewall, antivirus, and spam-blocking solutions. You can view how your team is taking advantage of your business’s network, including if they are streaming movies or playing games. By blocking these countless distractions, your team will have no choice but to focus on the task at hand.
Functioning Workstations This isn’t something you might immediately think of when it comes to workplace productivity. Sometimes the reason that your team might not get as much done as possible is because their technology isn’t working properly. A workstation that is bogged down and in need of maintenance can be a significantly difficult hurdle to jump for the average employee.
You don’t even want to think about the costs associated with hardware failure. It’s more efficient to simply make sure that all of your business’s technology operates in its intended fashion. NuTech Services can monitor and maintain your systems to make sure that all of the latest patches and updates are applied, which can increase both productivity and security.
With these five technologies, you’ll be able to help your team understand the value of productivity. For more information, give NuTech Services a call at 810.230.9455.
If you’re one of those people who are always checking their inbox, you might be dealing with a lot of unnecessary stress in the workplace. A study has linked constantly checking your email inbox to higher stress levels. While this might not come off as much of a surprise, researchers at the University of British Columbia have managed to put a number to the maximum amount of times you should be checking your email to minimize stress.
According to their test, the maximum number of times you should be checking your email for minimum stress levels is three times. The study involved 124 adult workers over a seven-day testing period, in which they were only able to check their email three times a day. Then, the following week, workers were encouraged to check their email inbox whenever they got a spare moment. This is generally how most workers are in the office. At the end of each workday, the test subjects were asked to fill out a short questionnaire about their current stress levels.
When encouraged to check their email as often as possible, the average worker checked their email 15 times throughout the day. Unsurprisingly, the primary reason checking email is so stressful for the average worker is that they have to constantly shift from urgent work tasks, to checking email, to personal matters. It’s no wonder that workers get so stressed out, especially when some email recipients expect immediate answers. This might be why, at first, workers were somewhat hesitant to only respond to their emails three times a day. In fact, according to Mashable, 92 percent of workers in the United States use email for inter-office communication, and as many as 183 billion emails are sent out on a daily basis. This root of email stress lies in the need to stay connected at the workplace.
Ideally, according to the study, workers should only have about three periods of email correspondence throughout the workday. To accomplish this, set aside a block of time at the beginning, middle, and end of your day to respond to emails that demand your attention. You might notice a significant decrease in stress. Unfortunately, not all business professionals can manage this with their busy schedules. If this is the case with you, here are some tips which might help you understand that your email inbox isn’t as important as it seems:
If it’s especially important, you’ll receive a phone call or instant message about the issue at hand. If you have something urgent which needs to get done, try making a phone call yourself, and save the time you might have wasted drafting the perfect email message.
You can’t afford to continuously respond to emails all day long. Continuously halting more important tasks isn’t ideal for productivity, concentration, or quality of work.
If it’s not marked as important, it’s probably not important.
If you can manage to move away from checking your email constantly, great. However, you still want to make sure that the messages you are receiving are real, legitimate messages. Spam is a problem which makes checking email slightly more stressful due to its potentially-disastrous nature and its reputation for being a time-waster. With an enterprise-level spam blocking solution from NuTech Services, you can mitigate the spam received during the workday and free up more time for important tasks.
If you’re ready to stop wasting time and dealing with unnecessary stress concerning your email inbox, give NuTech Services a call at 810.230.9455. We’ll work with you to manage your technology in the most efficient way possible.
Those who believe that smartphones are secure from threats are in for a rude awakening. Modern businesses need to apply adequate security practices to maximize the protection of mobile devices, or risk everything.
If a hacker were to somehow access a corporate mobile device, they could potentially compromise sensitive information. Would your business be able to recover from such an attack? You want to keep this situation from happening in the first place, instead of just hoping it doesn’t happen. Here are some ways you can keep your business’s sensitive data away from those who might try to steal it from your smartphone.
Integrate a Lock Code Naturally, the best way to keep strangers from accessing information on your phone is to set up a lock screen. There are a number of different lock screen options that you can select from, including entering a PIN number, dragging a specific pattern across the screen, and entering a full-fledged password. The type of authentication techniques available vary according to the device.
Try Data Encryption Most of the time, you can encrypt your smartphone or tablet pretty easily. This means that the device’s data will be inaccessible to anyone who doesn’t have the decryption key, or password. This is a surefire way to make stealing your data more difficult than it’s worth to most amateur hackers.
Disable Website Tracking in Your Browser Websites are known to collect information from you while you browse, and they use this information to deliver advertisements to you based on what you look at. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility to leak confidential information to the Internet. Your mobile browser should give you the Do Not Track option, which leaves it up to the website whether or not they will collect information from you. Most websites will listen to your preference, but this doesn’t always work.
If the Caller is Unknown, Don’t Answer the Call We’ve all experienced the irritation of answering calls from unknown numbers and listening to automated messages. However, in the rare moment that there’s actually someone else on the other end of the line, they are probably one of two things: A cold-caller trying to sell you something you don’t need, or a hacker who’s trying to trick you. These hackers often pose as representatives from organizations (like banks, charities, etc) and try to convince you to give up information regarding your account. Naturally, it’s best to avoid answering the phone if you don’t know the identity of whoever is on the other end. Besides, if it’s really important, they’ll leave a message or callback information, which you can cross-reference with information you find on the Internet.
Use GPS Tracking to Locate Your Lost Device Most modern smartphones, like those made by Android and Apple, come equipped with GPS tracking features that can be accessed online if you have misplaced your device. This can be helpful if someone has located your device, or if it’s simply inside the sofa. If someone has found it and hasn’t found a way to contact you, you can locate it with GPS. Problem solved. Although, it should be mentioned that the GPS tracking only really works if the device is turned on, so it’s not without its limits.
Keep Just Enough Contact Information in Your Device Once in a blue moon, you’ll meet a genuinely good person who wants to return devices that they’ve found lying around. If this is the case, they won’t know how to return it to you if you don’t give them a way to do so. Often, a simple name and alternative telephone number will be enough to help them get ahold of you. It’s important to not leave too much information in the device, or you could risk giving hackers everything they need to steal your identity.
Keep Your Device within Arms-Reach Finally, the easiest way to keep your device safe is to keep it on your person at all times (or at least within sight). This is especially important if you often work remotely from public places, like coffee shops, diners, etc. This is the best way to keep the common thief from gaining access to your device.
For those who don’t want to take any risks, a mobile device management solution from NuTech Services is the most comprehensive solution out there to keep your business’s mobile device safe and secure. We can whitelist and blacklist applications to let only specific ones gain access to confidential corporate information, and we can even integrate content filtering and spam blocking to help your team stay as safe as possible, even while out of the office. Last but not least, we can remotely wipe devices in a worst-case scenario.
For more information about how NuTech Services can keep your mobile devices secure from hackers, give us a call at 810.230.9455.
One of the most memorable Super Bowl XLIX commercials yet again came from Coca-Cola. In classic Coca-Cola fashion (pun intended), they premiered an inspirational video with the message, “Let’s all make the World Wide Web a better place, #MakeItHappy.” We can’t contest to Coke’s feel-good message, but as an IT Company, we must object to one horrifying aspect of this commercial.
To find out what’s got us so hot over here at NuTech Services, watch the commercial for yourself:
There. Right there at 0:16. Did you see it? We’re given an inside look at an absolutely gorgeous data center that seems to house most of the Internet, and who’s in charge of upkeeping this infrastructure? Apparently, it’s some wanna-be technician who thinks it’s okay to bring an open container in a data center container.
In the real world, no self-respecting data center would ever allow this. And not to be too picky, but we feel the need to point out that the volume in a data center of this size would be so loud that the tech wouldn’t be able to hear every beep and boink like he’s on the deck of the Starship Enterprise. In reality, the technician would need ear protection to dampen the noise coming from the thousands of server fans. But we digress.
Adding insult to injury is Coke’s absurd idea that spilling its soft drink inside a server will somehow cause “the happiness found in every bottle” to digitize and transform the Internet into a place of rainbows and participation ribbons. Granted, we’re just as sick of all the negativity on the web as the next user, and this snarky article probably isn’t doing much to #MakeItHappy; however, in all of our years of computer repair and seeing lots of computers fall victim to various spills, it’s our experience that not once has a spilled-drink scenario caused happiness.
In fact, we’ve seen the complete opposite to be the case as users of soaked computers become distraught and frustrated, expressing monitor-smashing and hate-filled-texting-like symptoms, similar to the behavior displayed at the intro of Coke’s commercial. Don’t take our word for it, see for yourself the look on the face of YouTuber Gail as she pleads with the Internet for help after destroying her laptop from having Coca-Cola “spilled all in it.”
It’s safe to say that Gail, aka “Southernstateofmind1,” isn’t happy from her Coca-Cola mishap. In fact, she’s “on the verge of tears,” and dem’ ain’t happy tears either.
After digging a little deeper on YouTube we come to TechRax’s channel and his pointless experiment of dousing a new iPhone 5 with Coca-Cola–shield your eyes, Apple enthusiasts.
Somehow, the iPhone survives its Coke bath. It could be due to the superb engineering on behalf of Apple, but we think it has more to do with the power of Bob Marley’s good vibes. We’re betting that your company’s server units couldn’t survive a Coke spill as well as this iPhone, as pointed out by these four YouTube users commenting on the Coca-Cola commercial.
TrevorSpace Animations: Whoever made this commercial clearly doesn’t know how computers work.
0yisaicai0: But seriously though, coming from one who works in a security firm, I cringed a bit when that bottle tipped over. That’s serious network damages, right there.
TECGaming: I tried this with my servers, it totally just fried them. Thanks a lot Coke for not brightening my day but costing me 25 Grand on my server.
Data Cave (an actual data center company) shares our sentiments: Coke’s Super Bowl commercial definitely had a great message overall, but not exactly the best message for having drinks inside of a data center. Server rooms are Coke-free zones!
We wholeheartedly agree with Data Cave on this one, and any techie that brings a drink into a server room should be #Fired.
Woops. I Really Did Spill Coke on My Computer. What Do I Do Next? The accidental spilling of drinks on computers is a common occurrence. Hundreds of PCs are needlessly damaged every day due to user negligence and a case of the clumsies. Sometimes a user gets lucky and can salvage their equipment, like with the iPhone user. Unfortunately, Gail’s scenario is more often the case with electronic circuitry being fried and the soaked equipment needing serious repair.
First thing’s first; if you spill liquid on your computer, power off your machine. One thing Coke got right is that a beverage in contact with electrical equipment produces sparks and a sizzly noise. Once the wet machine is turned off, dampen the outside of it with a dry cloth and be sure not to move it too much, or else risk the liquid seeping further into the machine.
If, and only if, you have the technical skills to open the case and dry your equipment out with a cloth and hair dryer, do so. Otherwise, we highly recommend that you take it to a professional so you don’t risk disrupting the insides and worsening the damage. Professional IT technicians will be able to accurately assess the damage and determine if it’s salvageable or not.
Our experience with spilled drinks informs us that there’s only one scenario where Coke spilled inside a server leads to happiness, and that’s after the fact when it’s remembered that the data is backed up and can easily be recovered, thanks to having a solution like our Backup and Disaster Recovery tool in place. #BePreparedForAnything
At the end of the day, we recommend that Coca-Cola stick to making feel-good commercials about singing songs and polar bears and leave the technical stuff to the IT professionals at NuTech Services.
Here’s a statistic that’s going to shock business owners. We hope you’re sitting down for this because we were blown away when we first heard it. Did you know that 70 percent of all online porn access happens during business hours? What does this mean for your company?
One thing that we hope this doesn’t mean is that your employees are using their work-issued computers to access and look at online pornography while on the clock. This would be a deliberate waste of your company’s time and resources, and it’s definitely not what you’re paying them to do. In fact, a guilty employee may even be subject to termination and litigation, depending on how grievous their offense is.
Take for example one of the most extreme and bizarre cases of employee misconduct that we’ve heard of. In 2009, two janitors working for the state of New York were busted for turning an unused room on government property into what police referred to as a “man cave.” In it, they would spend their work days napping, doing and selling drugs, and watching pornography. To make matters worse, the duo was brazen enough to try and bill their man cave time as overtime, which totalled a whopping $28,400.
http://prntscr.com/65uwpg
Egregious situations like this, along with even more-common occurrences like employees spending too much time watching YouTube videos, can be prevented with proper oversight. Does your company have a solution in place that will keep your workers honest? Whether you’re in the habit of walking around the office, looking over your team’s shoulders, or you have a firewall that monitors your employee’s Internet activity, you need to have some kind of deterrent in place that will discourage your staff from wasting company time and resources.
Now, we’re not saying that your employees are looking at porn every time you turn your back, or that they’ve converted your broom closet into a brothel. We’re just making the point that there are plenty of distractions on the Internet, and even honest, hardworking employees will benefit from having a technology in place that minimizes workplace distractions.
The kind of monitoring solution that your business needs is one that allows you to block all online distractions, like YouTube, Facebook, Netflix, etc., and especially pornographic websites. In addition to adult websites being in bad taste for the workplace, they’re notorious for containing some of the worst viruses and malware, and hackers know how to use porn to bait users into clicking malicious links that give them access to your company’s network.
Does your network monitoring solution allow you to monitor what websites your employees visit? Or do you depend on the ol’ walk-around-the-office-and-peer-over-the-shoulder method? You can’t stand behind their backs all day, and this strategy doesn’t make for a healthy work environment. To protect your network and keep your team on task, you need a solution that’s proven to accomplish both of these goals in a proficient manner.
NuTech Services’s Unified Threat Management security solution will let you specify who can access what on the Internet. Our solution encompasses a firewall, antivirus, spam protection, and content filtering to keep your employees productive, and your business safe.
If you want to learn more about how NuTech Services can help protect your business, we encourage you to get in touch with us at 810.230.9455.
Occupational burnout is a real risk for the busy business owner. Wikipedia defines it as, “Characterized by short-term exhaustion, lack of enthusiasm and motivation, feeling drained, and also may have the dimension of frustration and/or negative emotion and cynical behavior, and as a result reduced professional efficacy.” Can you relate? How can you prevent occupational burnout?
You might pride yourself on how many extra hours you put in each week, but pride can quickly take you to the burnout line. Before you know it, you’ve crossed that line and you’re terrorizing your workers. Okay, maybe it won’t get that bad around the office, but occupational burnout does negatively affect relationships and can unknowingly take you to some ugly places if left unchecked.
More than hurting your relationships, occupational burnout can negatively affect your company’s bottom line. This is ironic because the whole reason you may be working all those extra hours is to make more money. When you’re working so much that you’re essentially running on empty, you’re no longer doing yourself or anybody else any favors, so you might as well stop, take a break, and recharge.
Occupational burnout is similar to an illness that gets worse over time. Like an illness, it can be prevented if you notice the signs early on and take action. Here are five actions you can take to prevent occupational burnout.
Take frequent breaks.
Be physically active.
Get plenty of rest.
Foster a friendly work environment.
Shorten your commute.
Take Frequent Breaks It’s recommended by Inc. that workers take a break every twenty minutes. This may sound a little ridiculous, but that’s only if you’re defining a break to be an extended period of time, like twenty minutes-to-an-hour. Instead, a break can be just a step away from your computer and a lap around the room. A mini-break like this should be enough to reset your mind so you can better focus on your project and not get bogged down by being locked in on the same project for hours on end.
Be Physically Active You don’t have to become a bodybuilder or run a marathon to avoid office burnout, just some light physical activity will do the trick. It could be doing stretches, simple exercises like jumping jacks, brisk walking, anything that gets your heart pumping so you’re not sedentary at your desk all day long. Even making a switch to a standing desk can significantly boost your energy levels and help stave off occupational burnout. Remember, if you feel good, you’ll work well.
Get Plenty of Rest No matter how much caffeine you pump yourself full of, you have to succumb to sleep sometime. It may seem like you’re getting a lot done by forsaking sleep, but the reality of running on too little rest is that the quality of your work suffers (as well as your immune system). Additionally, not having enough sleep means you will crash hard and have a night or a weekend where you oversleep, which totally cancels out your marathon effort of not sleeping. It’s better to discipline your schedule and get regular sleep every night.
Foster a Friendly Work Environment A burned out worker is irritable and more susceptible to lash out at co-workers. This causes a chain reaction where everybody is on each other’s nerves, creating a toxic work environment. As the business owner, you set the culture for your company. If you’re emotionally healthy and not at risk of burnout, you’ll find it much easier to treat your employees well and the quality of their work will improve.
Shorten Your Commute Studies show that shorter commutes equate to a happier work experience. One reason for this is because of the stress that accompanies the commuting experience. Fighting traffic (not to mention the weather) and pushing yourself not to be late can really chip away at your positive outlook and lead to occupational burnout. Taking steps to shorten your commute and spend less time on the road will reduce your chance of burning out and doing something extreme, like road rage. Remember, the shortest commute is no commute; working from home is a great way to prevent office burnout.
While it’s normal to have a bad day and experience stress, it’s another thing entirely to reach the point of occupational burnout. Taking these five proactive measures will be good for your physical and emotional health, which will help keep things cool, calm, collected, and productive around the office.
What are some preventative measures you take to avoid occupational burnout? Share them with us in the comments.
Mobile devices have become such a popular computing medium that they’ve infiltrated the workplace. While the business owner might feel that these mobile devices can help employees gain more regular access to corporate data for more working hours, these same devices could potentially eat up those work hours with time wasted on mobile gaming or other recreational apps. What’s the truth about BYOD? Let’s find out.
Your employees have smartphones that are chock-full of productivity-boosting applications that have the potential to streamline the way they work throughout the day. However, these devices also come installed with other consumer-popular applications like YouTube, Facebook, Netflix, Twitter, and more, that are notorious for destroying productivity.
Let’s not forget the games that are compatible with smartphones, either. These devices are able to run certain games similar to those found on popular handheld gaming systems like the Nintendo 3DS. Obviously, playing these kinds of games while on the job doesn’t make the ideal worker, and as an employer, you’d quickly ban your team from engaging in such fruitless activities. Therefore, the smartphone should also be fairly limited in use in order to facilitate proper operations during the workday.
For example, let’s take a look at a report by Evolving Workforce Research:
Nearly 60 percent of employees feel work would be more enjoyable if they had a say in the technologies they used, while 60 percent feel they would be more productive with better IT resources (like BYOD).
Mobile device manufacturers love to use these kinds of statistics in order to show you, the business owner, how great mobile devices are for productivity. However, if you take a closer look at this quote, it states that 60 percent of employees feel they would be more productive. That’s like saying that you feel so great you believe you can fly; an over exaggeration that isn’t true.
Therefore, having a productivity-increasing device isn’t the same as using it for its intended purpose. It’s sort of like buying a nice new piece of fitness equipment, like a treadmill, and letting it sit in the corner collecting dust. Just because an employee has a sweet new smartphone, doesn’t mean that the only thing they’ll use that phone for at work is to be productive.
Of course, the opposite can be true as well. An employee can be more productive with BYOD, as displayed by this study from Cisco:
BYOD-ers save an average of 37 minutes per week with BYOD as it is currently implemented in their companies. The United States leads by far in terms of current productivity gains per BYOD user, with 81 minutes per week, followed by the United Kingdom at 51 minutes. In both of these countries, BYOD-ers posted impressive gains by working more efficiently and being more available to their colleagues and managers.
This study shows that there’s some proof that BYOD can be useful for employee productivity. BYOD can potentially save some time during the course of the workday. But, of course, the question that’s hovering over every employee’s head is whether or not they want to use their extra time for work, or to waste time on their phone.
One particular aspect of BYOD that business owners must always consider is the fact that more devices accessing your business’s network means that there are more avenues for threats to sneak into your systems. Security should be a top priority when using BYOD for anything, and if you don’t have security on your mind, productivity in-turn suffers due to vulnerabilities, threats, and hacks.
BYOD generally requires more measures that must be taken compared to companies who don’t allow it. Ultimately, it’s up to you as the business owner whether or not you want to allow your team to bring devices to the workplace. If you do, make sure your network is ready to deal with them.
If your business is on the fence about BYOD, contact NuTech Services at 810.230.9455. We can help you determine whether or not it’s worth the risk for your business, and how you can integrate corporate BYOD policies that maximize security.
Computers have become essential to our way of life. You can find them in everyone’s job, home, or even the palm of their hand. With this saturation, the computer has become something that people of only 50 short years ago, couldn’t even imagine. One way this shift has been most evident is in the cinema.
Movies capture the imagination of the most creative people on the planet and deliver those thoughts to audiences through images. Some of the most important social commentaries told today are done through film (or more apt, video). The evolution of computing can be seen if you look back on the roles computers played in movies about, you guessed it, computers. Here are four movies that capture just how different the perceptions of computers are today versus. 50 years ago.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 2001: A Space Odyssey has been listed by many filmmakers and movie critics as the quintessential science fiction film. In fact, directors from Steven Spielberg to James Cameron still consider the film to be groundbreaking in cinema. Stemming from Arthur C. Clarke’s short story, The Sentinel, 2001: A Space Odyssey represents a significant step forward in the way movies represented the dreams of “the future.” Directed by the late Stanley Kubrick, the movie takes audiences from the dawn of man to the outer reaches of space and presents some interesting claims about the future of computing.
The computer in the movie, Hal 9000 was the central computer in the Discovery One spacecraft. The artificially intelligent Hal states that, “The 9000 series is the most reliable computer ever made. No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error.” As the mission continues, it becomes evident that Hal has hatched a nefarious plan to succeed without the aid of his human counterparts, and begins to eliminate them.
Astronaut Dr. Dave Bowman then is forced to risk space exposure to ward against Hal’s nefarious attempt on his life and return to the ship. He then ensure’s Hal’s destruction in one of the most memorable moments ever filmed:
Kubrick and Clarke had hit some aspects of future computing on the head, such as the proliferation of tablet computers, the ability to use video communication over a network, and the use of a computer to control missions into deep space. The reality, however, is that these were all projected technologies at the time. The personal computer did not exist in the mid-to-late 1960s, so while AI seemed like a plausible technology in 1968, in 2015 humanity hasn’t been able to properly program a digitally run system to be truly “intelligent’.
WarGames (1983) About a decade and a half later, the personal computer was a concept many companies were trying to capitalize on. In fact, Compaq, the developer of the first IBM PC clone, set a then-record for business in a single year by a new company. The movie studios were no different in the timing of making movies featuring soon-to-be household devices.
WarGames follows the travails of David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) and his friend Jessica (Ally Sheedy) after David hacks into the NORAD computer looking to play games that, unbeknownst to him, were being used to educate the military supercomputer to think strategically. Along with regular computer games of the times, such as chess, backgammon, and the like, the WOPR (War Operation Plan Response) also had options for “Theaterwide Biotoxic and Chemical Warfare” and “Global Thermonuclear War.” When Lightman sees these he decides to try out the Global Thermonuclear War “game.”
Soon afterwards, Lightman is captured and held for espionage, since his tinkering inside the computer had let to a threat to national security. They decided to hold him until the higher-ups at NORAD can figure out what is going on. Lightman escapes and with help from Jennifer, they go looking for the developer of the software, Dr. Stephen Falken, who had been pronounced dead. They find him at a house in Goose Island, Oregon. David and Jennifer are able to convince him that he needs to go with them to help save the world.
When they get to NORAD, they inform the General in charge (Barry Corbin) that the computer is simulating nuclear war and will launch the nuclear-tipped missiles when it gets the code. In a brilliant move, Lightman and Falken program the computer to play tic-tac-toe which leads it to run the simulations of a no-win scenario in lieu of nuclear war. With the simulations all showing no winner, the WOPR shuts down and asks if they “wouldn’t prefer a nice game of chess.”
In this movie, the personal computer, specifically the IMSAI 8080 microcomputer, plays a key role in the narrative. It is one of the first movies depicting a PC as important and gives credence to what would become a neverending shift in the way society views computers.
The Matrix (1999) A decade and a half later, computers were in many homes and were being used for recreation as well as business. In fact, there was a time toward the end of 1999 when people were unsure whether the “advanced” society that had been built over the previous two decades would come crashing down, literally overnight (Y2K). The Matrix portrayed the computer as simply a vessel to something bigger. By this time broadband Internet was a relatively new technology, and capabilities for what you could do on the web had begun to grow by the day.
The Matrix is the story of Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), also known as the hacker Neo, who is summoned by his computer to “follow the white rabbit.” This leads to him meeting with a woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) at a club. She tells him she can show him the truth. He then is taken into custody by men in suits and is interrogated by one of them called Smith (Hugo Weaving). They tell him that they can help him if he’s agrees to cooperate. He rejects their offer and then is bugged and wakes up at home. He then meets with Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and is told that he can find out the truth, but he has to make a choice immediately.
It turns out the choice involves living in the real world, or the fake computer world (the only world Mr. Anderson knows). Basically, the world in which Anderson lives in is a digital one rather than the real world, which has been taken over by machines.
He is then released from the Matrix and joins the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar (those who are free from the rule of machines) and is told that he is “the one” (the person prophesized to free humanity from machine slavery). With the use of computers, the band of hackers is able to gain access to the Matrix and learn about the programming behind the platform. They often encounter sentient programs or what the team call “agents” who protect the integrity of the software from outside threats. Neo accepts his role as “the one” in this fight sequence with Agent Smith:
In our reality, the existence of relatively low-cost Internet access, coupled with the rapidly increasing capabilities of the Internet and computing technology, created a perfect storm for the Wachowskis to create a truly memorable, computer-themed film.
The Social Network (2010) The Social Network represents the final shift in the evolution of computers in modern cinema. The film, directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, follows Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) through his odyssey of creating Facebook. Although the movie is distinctly about Mark and Facebook, it signals a shift in cinema that even the creation of a piece of Internet-based software can be source material for a successful feature motion picture.
The film starts with Mark Zuckerberg as an undergraduate at Harvard. He creates facemash.com which presents a comparison of two girls from the college and asks which one is more attractive. He is caught and brought in front of the administrative board. He then gets approached by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) who are interested in utilizing his coding skills to build a social networking site for the students at Harvard.
From there, things move quickly. Mark develops thefacebook.com with his friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) as a social networking alternative to the more convoluted peer-to-peer sites that were popular at the time.
Mark then meets with Napster founder Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) and decides to move from Massachusetts to California and start working on Facebook full-time. After a while, Saverin is basically defrauded, creating the narrative of the movie which is Zuckerberg dealing with lawsuits from the Winklevoss’ and their partner Divya Narendra (Max Minghella) as well as a lawsuit by Saverin. The film wraps up with Facebook being a major success and the lawsuits being resolved.
You can see just how far computers in movies have come, from pure guesswork of the future of computing, through the advent of the PC, the birth of the Internet, to the modern day social media. Computers have gone from machines the size of a refrigerator and the cost of a small house to the palm of your hand (and even smaller). You don’t need status to own a computer nowadays; all you need is a smartphone. Movies have done a great job keeping track of the immense growth computers have made, from a “cool” business gadget to an essential part of a person’s day-to-day life.
Do you know of any other computer-themed movies that you think represent the changes in society over the past 50 years? Do you just have a favorite movie moment dealing with computers? Leave your thoughts or YouTube clips in the comments.
So you’ve got yourself a new Android device and you want to transfer all of your favorite media from your PC onto the device. How do you go about doing this? While there all several different ways you can transfer your files, one of the easiest ways is to take advantage of a program that’s already installed on your PC: Windows Media Player.
Why WMP is the Practical Choice It may be that you’ve not before considered WMP as an option to transfer your files onto your Android device. This is because Google, the makers of Android, would prefer oh so much that you use Google Play in conjunction with Google Drive, their cloud storage solution. While you can take the all-Google route to transfer and manage your media, and to be fair, a lot of users do, it might not be the best choice for everyone.
In particular, users that have a vast library of media to transfer and manage may frown on the monthly fees associated with Google Drive. Granted, Google’s rates are extremely reasonable and Drive storage is even free up to 15GB, but $1.99 per month for 100GB and $9.99 for 1TB can add up.
Another disadvantage about using the cloud for your mobile device’s media is that you will be dependant upon an Internet connection to access it. This isn’t an attractive option for people in areas with spotty coverage and users with a limited data plan that will quickly be consumed by accessing large files.
You’ve Got Some Free Options Without having to download any new software, you’ve already got some free options on your PC that will transfer your files from your PC to your Android device. First off, you can simply connect the Android device to your PC via USB or wireless connection and then drag and drop a file from one device to the other. This is an easy way to transfer a file. You can even select all of your files and transfer them with one big drag and drop. However, users that have a constantly-changing media library will quickly become annoyed at having to go through this process every time they add a new file.
How to Sync Your Media Using Windows Media Player If you have an ever-changing media library, you’re going to want to take advantage of an application that has a syncing feature, like Windows Media Player. To sync your Android device using WMP, open WMP and connect your device to the PC. If this is the first time connecting the device, then you may have to download and install a driver for it, which Windows will walk you through once a connection is detected.
With your device and PC successfully connected to each other and driver installed, go to the sync tab on the right side of the screen where you should see a graphic representing your device.
Underneath the Sync tab is a box icon with a green checkmark. Click on it for a drop down menu to appear. From here, select Set up sync…
Now you will want to go to the Device Setup menu. The default setting will allow the device and WMP to sync automatically, meaning that any change to either library will instantly be reflected in the corresponding library every time a connection is made. To activate this automatic sync feature, along with any other adjustments you wish to make, select the Finish button in the Device Setup menu.
Upon selecting the Finish button, your computer will jump into action and begin syncing your files. Once the sync is finished, you can disconnect your device and take all of your favorite media with you wherever you go. To access the media on your mobile device, you can use the standard media player on your device, or a host of other third party media players available on the App store.
The media player that someone uses to manage and play their digital content can vary greatly depending on the needs and preferences of the user. You might be more of an iTunes kind of person, or perhaps you’re happy with Google’s offerings. When selecting a media player, don’t forget about your faithful friend Windows Media Player. You may find yourself surprised that it can do exactly what you need it to.
The next major operating system to get the ax from Microsoft is Windows Server 2003. Slated to have its mainstream support ended on July 14th, businesses that currently use the software need to begin making plans to upgrade their system as soon as possible. With this server operating system no longer being supported by Microsoft, your data will be vulnerable to the latest online threats.
It’s best practice to upgrade your server’s OS (and all of your software for that matter) every time a new version is released–not every twelve years. One reason to upgrade is that the latest software is built to handle the demands of modern businesses, which gives you a competitive edge over companies running older software. Security is another big part of why you should upgrade, and in the case of Windows Server 2003, the need to upgrade by July 14th is urgent because Microsoft ending mainstream support means that they will no longer be providing security updates and patches to protect you from the latest threats.
If you want to dig in your heels and hang on to your precious Windows Server 2003, you have the option to purchase custom support from Microsoft. However, this isn’t a tangible option for the small business. According to Processor magazine, Microsoft is charging upwards of $200,000 for this service. Your business is better off just upgrading to the latest OS for your server, especially if you’re working in a field like health care that requires your technology to be up-to-date in order to comply with strict security standards.
Upgrading from Windows Server 2003 isn’t difficult, but it does require you to take an accurate assessment of your applications to find out if they can transfer to your new system. For example, you may run into some issues when attempting to move older applications that run off a 32-bit operating system to a newer OS. Issues like this can be worked around, but it requires the skills of a knowledgeable professional, which is time and expense that must be factored into the upgrading cost. When upgrading your server to a new OS, it’s best to go about it with a well-thought-out plan so that your upgrading process won’t run into any surprises that will take your server offline any longer than it needs to be.
NuTech Services can work with your business to make the upgrading process as quick, easy, and affordable as possible. We can come up with a time-saving plan that accounts for any discrepancies that might hinder the upgrading process of an older system, and we can migrate your data to a temporary server that your business can operate from while we equip your server with the latest OS. This way, the productivity of your business won’t skip a beat.
It may be that upgrading the software on an older server unit isn’t the most efficient option for your business. A lot has changed in twelve years, and your old server units have likely experienced some wear and tear and require more maintenance. Technologies like server virtualization and cloud computing may be a better data-hosting option for your business than trying to update your old system.
Whatever the best route is for your business, NuTech Services will guide you in it so that your organization isn’t stuck using older software that leaves your data vulnerable and your business inept. Call us today at 810.230.9455 to learn more.
Saving a little on your technology can go a long ways, but cutting too many corners can lead to additional problems and expensive downtime. Here are a few ways you can cut costs without creating long term issues.
Don’t be Afraid to Replace
Got an older PC that’s causing you a lot of issues? Older technology is typically more expensive to run, and after a while, it’s cheaper to simply buy a new desktop than it is to continue pouring money into something that always seems broken. It’s a great time to buy workstations, and if things are tight you can even buy refurbished desktops to keep costs low.
Enforce Energy Efficiency
If you reduce the amount of energy your technology uses each day, your utility bill from the electric company will decrease as well. Switching to LCD monitors (if you are still using old CRT dinosaurs), and enforcing company-wide policies to turn off monitors or put workstations to sleep at night can make a big difference.
Stop Dealing with Vendors
You hired your employees to work, not sit on the phone with a PC manufacturer because your hard drive crashed. Businesses waste money by paying employees to go around in circles with vendor tech support all the time. IT firms like NuTech Services build relationships with vendors and are able to get things done faster. This means issues get resolved quickly and your employees don’t need to deal with less-than-helpful support.
Stop Paying your Phone Bill
Yes, you heard us right. Cease paying your phone company by switching over to a VoIP solution instead. Small businesses save up to 80% on their telephone communication expenses, so the investment pays for itself quickly. Many VoIP systems allow your users to take their phone and use it anywhere, giving you increased flexibility and functionality.
Get Proactive Monitoring and Maintenance
Nearly all day-to-day IT issues can be completely prevented with just a little bit of maintenance. NuTech Services offers these services to our clients, reducing the amount of downtime they experience. Traditional computer support only fix computer issues when they arise. NuTech Services provides proactive monitoring and maintenance to ensure fewer issues plague your business.
When you mention the term ‘disaster recovery,’ most people think about the big ground-shattering events like earthquakes, fires, floods, tropical storms, etc. While these natural events are certainly disasters and devastating in their own right, smaller things can constitute as a disaster for your business, and they aren’t seasonal.
A calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship, as a flood, airplane crash, or business failure.
To NuTech Services, a disaster is anything that involves a major loss of data or major downtime. When one of our clients experience a server malfunction that leaves most employees sitting idle unable to work, that is a disaster.
The Cost of a Disaster
Downtime is a very terrible expense to not try to avoid. Try this simple formula for yourself:
Number of Employees Affected by an IT Outage X Average Employee Hourly Cost (NOT WAGES) + Average Company Hourly Income X Percentage of Income Lost Due to the IT Outage
This simple formula will tell you about how expensive every hour of downtime is for your company. The hardest value in the formula is understanding the percentage of income lost. Not all companies might have a figure, but you will want to consider it as you do the math. This doesn’t include the cost of repair, consultation, parts, or any of the remediation required to get things back up and running.
Disaster’s Harbinger
Disaster can strike from any direction. Hard drives can go, data can be corrupted, hardware can fail, and networks can go down, and systems can become infected with viruses and malware. User error can cause disaster, as well as theft and other malevolent activity. While companies should take precautions to safeguard themselves against threats both external and internal, and managed maintenance can prevent a lot of foreboding issues, having a solid disaster recovery plan can mean faster turnaround when there is devastating downtime.
Employing a disaster recovery plan starts with the data – your most important IT asset. Computers can be replaced, hardware can be repurchased and software can be reinstalled. Your data is the culmination of countless hours of work by all of your employees ever. It’s no wonder why most businesses that suffer a major data loss go out of business within the first year. You can lose your credibility, and things go into disarray. Data needs to be backed up.
Your backed up data should be archived regularly offsite. Most importantly, your backup solution needs to be easy to test, and tested regularly. You don’t want to find out your backups are corrupted when it is too late.
The time to put together your company’s disaster recovery solution is now. Contact NuTech Services at 810.230.9455 to talk about solutions for safeguarding your data and your business in the event of a disaster, large or small.
Your identity has quite a lot of value, especially in the wrong hands. Security firm ZoneAlarm put together some numbers in 2011 concerning identity fraud, and it even shocked us. Let’s talk about a few of these statistics and what it means.
First of all, what shocked us the most is that according to the FTC, in the United States, 9 million individuals have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft is a little different than identity fraud, however. Theft is when personal information is exposed and taken without permission. This is happening all the time by malicious software like spyware, but it can also happen when legitimate websites and services get infiltrated by cybercriminals. If a reputable online store (or even a database for a brick and mortar store) gets hacked into, your personal information can be stolen. That’s identity theft.
Identity fraud is when that data is misused for financial gain. This is when things start to get very dangerous. In 2009, $56 billion dollars were accumulated by cyber criminals through identity fraud. The good news is in 2010 that number went down to “only” $37 billion. What does that mean to the average person? On average, victims of identity fraud had $4,841 dollars stolen per victim. Trouble is, the world has had to improve drastically to protect consumers from identity fraud. This means higher costs of doing business which then get reflected on prices of products and services. In other words, because of identity fraud, we all lose.
How does your data get stolen? There are plenty of ways, but here are a few popular methods:
Hackers can pick up credentials via public Wi-Fi and public PCs.
Credit Card Skimming – a process that involves your credit card data being stolen when your credit card is swiped at a standard ATM or credit card terminal.
Selling or discarding used computer equipment that isn’t properly wiped can expose personal information.
Hackers can infiltrate networks and databases.
Dumpster diving and paper mail theft.
Malware and viruses
Phishing.
In almost half of reported identity theft cases, the victim knew the criminal.
What do you do if your identity is stolen?
Almost half of all reports of identity frauds are discovered by the user first, although banks and credit card companies have methods in place to stay on top of it as well. If your financial credentials are stolen, you need to contact your bank and/or credit card companies immediately, both by phone and in writing. You’ll want to file a police report with details about where your identity was stolen, what you believe was or could have been stolen, and documented proof of the crime.
You don’t want to risk identity fraud. Monitor your credit reports closely, shred sensitive mail and documents before throwing them away, and ensure your computers and network are running latest security updates and antivirus, as well as other security measures. For a complete review of your security, contact us at 810.230.9455 and we will help pinpoint vulnerabilities and fill in the cracks before a costly event occurs.
Sometimes when your workstation feels bogged down, a relatively cheap and simply hardware update can make a huge difference in performance. Adding more RAM (Random Access Memory, often just referred to as memory) can be a game changer for your bogged down PC.
There are several factors that contribute to the speed of a PC. Let’s very briefly break these down:
CPU/Processor
The CPU handles all of calculations a computer performs. These days consumer-class CPUs handle billions and even trillions of instructions per second. While dated processors can greatly influence the actual speed of a computer, if your PC is fairly new (as in 1 or 2 years old, and possibly older for higher end builds) it’s likely not bottlenecking your performance. Today, CPUs are equipped with two, four, or even more cores, which means the CPU can handle an more calculations exponentially and consume less electricity.
RAM/Memory
Random Access Memory is basically the short-term memory of your computer. While your computer is loading and running applications, they get stored in the RAM. The RAM is much faster than the hard drive, so your computer doesn’t need to spin it’s wheels looking for specific files and parts of applications. The more RAM you have, the more “stuff” that can be stored in it. The faster your RAM, the faster your computer can sift through the data that gets temporarily pushed into it. Once your RAM is full, your computer will depend on the hard drive to retrieve information, and that’s where things get sluggish. Once you stop running a program, it will remove itself from the RAM to free up some space for everything else running.
Hard Drive
The hard drive is the storage device of a computer. For extremely high-end PCs, the hard drive is the bottleneck. Hard drives, when compared to RAM, are very slow to access and write information. Once your computer needs to rely on your hard drive heavily for RAM, things are going to start getting bogged down. While it’s great that your PC can rely on your hard drive in this way for those times it needs some extra memory, it is likely this is the slowdown. Unfortunately, because hard drives are mechanical and have moving parts, there’s limitations to how fast science can make them perform. There are costly solid-state drives, but as a performance-improving factor on a standard workstation, typically solid state drives aren’t the cost-effective answer.
Of course, there are software factors as well. Malware and Spyware can bog down your system, and after a lot of use, temporary files can bog things down. Before upgrading hardware, you’ll want to have a technician run a quick evaluation on your PC – it’s possible a little cleanup can make all the difference in the world.
Otherwise, the next step is upgrading the RAM. RAM is usually relatively cheap, even to double or triple your existing RAM with faster, higher performance memory. Often the cost of the new RAM itself will be between $50 and $100, and more than likely less than that, and that’s for a substantial increase, but it depends on your PC.
Is your computer running slow? Does it get bogged down by the time you have all of your day-to-day applications open? Contact us at 810.230.9455 for a quick evaluation to see if a simple, cost-effective upgrade will help you perform your job more effectively.
It seems like you can’t go a week without hearing about some new security vulnerability or massive data breach. Naturally, this leads the average computer user to feel nervous, especially when dealing with sensitive information. With only a password standing between you and your account, hackers can easily access it if you’re careless. Two-factor authentication is the key to maximizing your online security.
It’s best practice to upgrade your server’s OS (and all of your software for that matter) every time a new version is released–not every twelve years. One reason to upgrade is that the latest software is built to handle the demands of modern businesses, which gives you a competitive edge over companies running older software. Security is another big part of why you should upgrade, and in the case of Windows Server 2003, the need to upgrade by July 14th is urgent because Microsoft ending mainstream support means that they will no longer be providing security updates and patches to protect you from the latest threats.
