LetMeIn101: How the Bad Guys Get Your Password

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Passwords are essential to our cybersafety. We all know it, but if you’re like the rest of the digital society, you probably have dozens of passwords to remember. It’s a lot. So, you might take shortcuts.  We understand. But taking advantage of our laissez-faire attitude is one way bad guys access your passwords.

Incredibly, there are still people out there using “password” or “123456” in their access credentials. Some people don’t change the default passwords on their devices when they first set them up. So, anyone can pick up a router, look at the sticker identifying the password, and access that network.  Even if the bad guys are not around to physically look at your device, they can hack into your network from the outside and wreak some real havoc.

Tip: Avoid the obvious passwords! When you have to create a password, make an effort. When it’s time to update a password, don’t ignore it and change it now. Steer clear of simple, easily guessed patterns.

Cybercriminals can also guess your password. With a little bit of research about you online, they can make some informed guesses. Common passwords include pet names, birthdays, and anniversaries. These are all easy to find via your social media accounts.

Tip: Be careful what you share on social media! Don’t befriend strangers, as you are giving them access to a goldmine of info for personalizing an attack on you.

If that doesn’t work, criminals may try brute force. They might get really sophisticated and script an automation bot to run thousands of password permutations until they get a hit. The software will try a long list of common passwords and run through dictionary words to gain access to your stuff.  Not cool.

Tip: Use a complex password with numbers, letters, and symbols or a passphrase. A passphrase is typically at least 19 characters long but is more memorable, as it unique to you.  Try some song lyrics and some meaningful numbers.

The criminal may also be working with info from a data breach. In early 2019, a security researcher found more than 2.7 billion email/password pairs available on the Dark Web. Criminals accessing that database could use the data as a starting point, as many people duplicate their passwords across accounts.  So once a bad guy gets into one account, they can keep going and try other accounts.

Tip: Use a unique password for each site. Yes, that’s overwhelming to remember, and that’s also why you should use a password manager to keep track of it all for you.  A password manager is a piece of software that runs on your computer and smartphone and records and manages your website logins, making your life easier.  You can create a Master password that opens the vault to all your other passwords.  You can also simply use a notepad or password book.  Less sophisticated and convenient, but gets the job done.

Criminals can also access your account if you’ve used a hacked public computer.  The bad guys may have installed a key logger on the computer. The logger records every key you press on the keyboard. Or they might have compromised a router or server to be able to see your information if you’ve connected to free wifi (we say that’s always a No-No!).

Tip: Be cautious about your online activity on computers or networks you don’t trust.

Of course, there’s one more method of getting your password that we haven’t addressed yet. It’s the familiar phishing attack. For instance, you get an email that looks like it was sent by your bank or other familiar place. Phishing typically has an urgent message and a link that directs you to what looks like a credible page.  You click a link and it asks for your email address and email password.  Once you’ve done that, you gave the bad guys your credentials.

Tip: Pay attention to who is sending the email and hover the mouse over the link to see where it goes. If you are concerned about your bank account, for example, open up a browser and type the URL manually rather than clicking the link.  Or if you’re really nervous, call the number on the back of your credit card or ATM card and ask the bank if they sent you the email.  Another trick is to simply hit the REPLY button and see where the email is going…if it looks sketchy and unusual it’s probably bad.

 

One of our favorite exercises is to have everyone change their email and banking passwords when you change the clocks for daylight savings.  That way your oldest password is just 6 months and you will be familiar with the process in case you’re away from your computer and need to get into one of your accounts.

Finally, turning on 2FA (2-factor Authentication) or MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) is a great way to secure your accounts.  Basically, when you login to your email or bank it will send a one-time code to your cell phone in order to get into the account.  So, if a bad guy tries to hack into your account, he won’t be able to because he needs the code sent to your phone.  It’s a good thing.

 

These tips can help you to protect your valuable passwords. Still, setting up a password manager and amping up your internet security can help too. Need support getting ahead of the cybercriminals?  Contact our experts today! Call us at (732) 747-0020.

Does Mesh Wi-Fi Make Sense in Your Home?

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Wi-Fi is a top contender for a technology most of us rely upon. After all, Wi-Fi often provides our wireless high-speed internet and network connections. Without Wi-Fi we’d be stuck watching another reality TV show on a cable-connected device. We couldn’t work from wherever we wanted in our homes.

Well, just when you were becoming familiar with Wi-Fi, the technology is adapting. Now, you might want to consider Mesh Wi-Fi for your home. If you live in a big house or an apartment with thick interior walls, or your living space is spread out over multiple stories, you may have experienced dead spots.

Enter Mesh Wi-Fi. Traditional Wi-Fi relies on a single device to broadcast your Wi-Fi signal, aka your router. If you were having connectivity issues, you might have invested in a Wi-Fi booster or Wi-Fi extender, but now you can reach far areas with a Wi-Fi Mesh system.  Besides, those boosters, repeaters and extenders seemed to only work in limited cases…and never well or long-term.

Mesh networks aren’t a new thing, really. They’re already in use in businesses, hotels, hospitals, college campuses and on military bases with their own isolated networks. But now you can also optimize home connectivity with Mesh Wi-Fi.

How Mesh Wi-Fi works

With Mesh Wi-Fi, you’ll place several smaller, connected devices around the house. Instead of having one main router, you’ll have many access points (also known as satellites) capturing and rebroadcasting the routing signals you need for whole-house connectivity.

Benefits of Mesh Wi-Fi

Having ready access to a strong, reliable Wi-Fi signal wherever you are in your home is a good thing, but that’s not the only advantage of Mesh Wi-Fi. Other benefits include:

  • Greater speed. With all access points broadcasting the same signal, you can cut the lag from having multiple, simultaneous connectivity requests. This is HUGE!
  • Better coverage. Typical Mesh Wi-Fi devices can cover homes 4,000 to 6,000 square feet and more!
  • Ease of use. The typical Mesh router system is automated and provides a mobile app for easy management, even remotely. You can make changes, monitor activity and even pause the internet for the kids and make them do homework!
  • Integration with other Smart Home devices such as Alexa is often a feature.

Securing your Mesh Wi-Fi

Just as with traditional Wi-Fi, the security of your Mesh Wi-Fi will depend on your keeping your router devices safe. This means:

  • Changing the device’s administrative credentials and password from their default settings;
  • Setting up devices to automatically check for and install security updates;
  • Changing the Wi-Fi network name to something unique, not something that immediately identifies the network as yours (e.g. if you live at 804 Water Street, don’t call your network 804 Water);
  • Setting up a guest Wi-Fi network allowing visitors to log on to that instead of providing every guest to your home with your access credentials.

Mesh Wi-Fi is also known as whole-house Wi-Fi, but you may not need this expansive solution. Consider this…how often do you have connectivity issues? How many Wi-Fi dead zones are you dealing with? What’s your budget? And do you really want several more devices around your house?  You just might need only to set up your traditional router more efficiently in terms of placement.

Want to learn more about dealing with slow internet connectivity or Wi-Fi dead spots in your home? Give us a call at (732) 747-0020 or visit www.tworivercomputer.com. Our experts can help you decide on the best Wi-Fi connectivity option for your needs.

5 Computer Myths Debunked

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Common urban myths would have us believe alligators live in sewers or people put razor blades in kids’ candy. Common misconceptions about computers are just as persistent. Here are several IT myths debunked for your benefit.

 #1 A slow-running computer has a virus

A virus can be to blame. Spyware or other malware can also cause a computer to slow down. However, there are also many other reasons your computer might run slower:

  • You may have a lot of programs that start up when you boot up the computer. You could remove or disable programs that start every time.
  • The computer has gone into power save mode every night, but you haven’t rebooted the computer in a long time. We recommend restarting your computer once a week to keep it running well.
  • There are many programs running in the background. On a Windows PC, you can go into task manager and see what is running and the computer resources in use.
  • A security utility is running. If it’s an antivirus scanner, let the scan finish first, then see if your computer speed improves. Routine scans are necessary to maintain security, but when they run on older computers it can really slow them down while it’s running.
  • Temporary files or other junk are taking up too much hard drive space. Your computer needs at least 200–500MB of free space on the hard drive to be able to move and manage files. An annual clean-up or tune-up should ensure that you don’t have too little free space to operate properly.
  • Your computer doesn’t have enough RAM to run programs within memory. If your computer has to swap information on the hard drive to get enough memory to run programs, it’s going to work slower. Computers with only 4gb of RAM these days fall into this category. 8gb is almost a must and more is always better.
  • The computer is old. You may need to upgrade to a computer that can handle current software needs without slowing to a snail’s pace. Or you can upgrade what you have by adding a fast SSD hard disk to replace your older mechanical hard drive.  That can keep your computer running super-fast and keep it out of the landfill.

 #2 Macs don’t get viruses

Many Apple owners believe their Macintosh computers are immune to viruses. Not true! Macs do get viruses and can get malware infections; they are simply targeted less than PCs. Why? There are many more computers running Windows, which means a bigger, easier target for cybercriminals.

As Apple’s market share rises, the threat to Macs is growing. Apple works to protect its users from malware, but you still need to use caution with downloads and when clicking on links from unknown sources.

 #3 My Windows registry needs cleaning up

Registry cleaning companies will say that scanning your Windows registry can speed up the computer and avoid error messages. The cleaner finds unused registry keys and any malware remnants for removal.

But let’s consider the fact that Microsoft has not released its own registry cleaner. Why not? Because it’s really not necessary. Worse still, going in to clean your registry (when you don’t know what you’re doing) can actually do serious damage.  This was an issue years ago back when Windows 98 and Windows XP were still prevalent, but it’s no longer the case.

 #4 My laptop battery needs to be dead before I recharge if I want it to last longer

This was once true. Nickel-cadmium batteries suffered from what was called a “memory effect.” If discharged and recharged to the same point several times, they would remember that point in the future and not go further.

Now, however, laptops typically come with lithium-ion (or Li-ion) batteries. They don’t suffer from this memory effect. In fact, they function better with partial discharge instead of letting the battery run down to zero.  We still recommend that new laptops should fully discharge and recharge 3 times when you first start using them to increase battery life.

#5 I don’t have anything hackers would want

Cybersecurity should be a priority for everyone, not only large companies and government agencies. Let’s put it this way:

  • Do you have any money?
  • Do you have an identity that cybercriminals could use to access money or sell for money?
  • Do you work anywhere?

Hackers have all kinds of ways to profit from your data or from hijacking your computer’s processing power. They can turn your computer into part of a bot network or use your information as a bridge into a business target’s system.

 

Keep all your computers at top speed with the best security measures in place with the help of our experts. Contact us today at (732) 747-0020 or visit www.tworivercomputer.com

Windows keyboard shortcuts

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Time for What Matters: Essential Windows Shortcuts

The average person spends 90,000 hours at work. These hours can cost us sleep, affect our mood, and cause us to gain weight. Oh, and work can cause stress, too. We can’t give you a “get out of work free” card, but these essential Windows keyboard shortcuts will help you save time. Some of us LOVE the keyboard shortcuts, while others use the right-mouse button click for these functions.  We’ll focus on the keyboard shortcuts in this month’s TechTalk.

By gaining efficiency at your computer, you may find you have more time for what matters. At work, this may be devising new innovations or getting out in the field to visit a customer or vendor. At home, these shortcuts can free up time to play a board game with the kids or do some serious NetFlix bingwatching!

So, try these out and see if they make sense and save you time also.  We know they will, so try them out!

Ctrl + C to Copy

Use your mouse cursor to highlight the particular text/table/image/file that you want to copy. Once you highlight the area you want, press the Ctrl and the letter C to perform the “copy” function.  See Ctrl + V to Paste below for the next step.

Ctrl + X to Cut

Think about X marking the spot in the text where you want to cut words, an image, or a website address. Drag your cursor over the selection to highlight the particular text/table/image/file (or a part of it). Once you highlight the area you want, press the Ctrl and the letter X to perform the “cut” function.  The highlighted area will disappear or “cut” from the page.  If you don’t want it at all, the cut function is another version of delete. Therefore, you do nothing more.  But if you want to move or paste the selection elsewhere, this is your first step.  See Ctrl + V to Paste below for the next step.

Ctrl + V to Paste

With this simple shortcut you can place the information you just copied (Ctrl + C) or cut (Ctrl + X) anywhere you want. The important thing to remember is that the paste function only holds one selection in memory. So, if you cut a phrase from one place, don’t get distracted by an image you want to copy or other text to cut. You want to paste what you have first, then go back and copy or cut the next thing so as not to risk risking losing anything.

Ctrl + Z to Undo

If only this shortcut was available in real life. We could retract that thing we inadvertently said to Uncle Steve, or take out the salt we put in a recipe instead of sugar, or avoid leaving the house for the gym without our running shoes.  This would truly be amazing!

Still, Windows users are able to undo their most recent action with this key combination. Whichever Windows program you’re in, you can use Ctrl + Z to reverse your last action. So if you deleted something by accident…inserted something by accident…or just decided that the colors you just picked or the font change you just made in your resume don’t look good, then just Ctrl+Z to “undo” it.  In fact, you can keep hitting Ctrl+Z and undo the last bunch of changes you made.

Alt + Tab to Switch Screens

There are many things you can do with Windows. Perhaps you’re multitasking and you have a PowerPoint open, as well as an Excel spreadsheet, and Internet Explorer, too. By pressing Alt and then the Tab key, you can switch between tabs or screens. If you hold down the Alt button while tapping Tab, you’ll scroll through all screens.  I will press and hold the Alt key and tap TAB without letting go of Alt.  All the open windows appear in a nice grid.  Keep holding Alt and then tap TAB to move the highlighted box to the program you want to switch to and release the keys to open it!  This is my favorite and I use it all the time.  Perfect for going back and forth between 2 programs.

Ctrl + F to Find

This is another one we’d love to see in the real world. Using the find shortcut calls up a pop-up box where you can enter text or numbers. You can use this shortcut to find what you’re looking for on a Web page, in a PDF document, or in your rough draft of a speech. In fact, you’ll be able to see how many times your search text appears and easily toggle from one selection to the next.

Ctrl + Mouse to Zoom

Forget your reading glasses? Having a tough time locating the right tiny file on your desktop? You can zoom in with this shortcut. Using this shortcut on your desktop makes files and folders larger. In your internet browser, this function zooms in on the page. You can leave it zoomed in or zoom back out when you’re done.  So, press Ctrl key and hold it while you scroll the mouse wheel, but move slowly or things will shrink or expand too quickly on you!

 

Want to know more about Windows and technology to streamline processes? Our experts can help you find the right computer solutions for your home or office. Contact us at (732) 747-0020 today!

Windows 7 support ends on January 14, 2020

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Every software product has a birth...and a death.  They fitting call the death part "end of life".  Windows 7 will become EOL on January 14, 2020.

Your only options for your existing Windows 7 computer are to upgrade it or replace it.  PCs tend to last about 3-5 years in a business and about 5-7 years in home, though your results may vary.  Economy brand computers don't last nearly as long as more robust "rocketship" computers do.  It comes down to what you spent when you bought it.  Deciding on whether or not to upgrade it or replace it depends on you...and the computer.  Above all...don't panic.  The Windows 10 interface is very similar to Windows 7 in its "look and feel" so it's not a big learning curve.

If the computer has "good bones", meaning a multi-core Intel processor (i-3, i-5 or i-7) and 8gb of RAM, it is a candidate for the upgrade.  You need to be happy with the end result, so starting off with a good foundation is key.  Sometimes we see PCs that have good bones may also need more speed, so a hardware upgrade may be necessary for you to be truly happy.  Give us a call or click the link below to check your Windows version.  You can also click the button below to contact us to see if your PC is upgradable or not.  We can offer advice on what new computer to pick and how to make a smooth transition to the new Windows 10 operating system.

Check your Windows version here

Contact Us

Why is my new laptop so slow?

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Your old computer is beginning to slow down. So, you invest in a shiny new laptop. The clouds part and the sun shines down on this bright and lovely new device. Everything will be faster and easier. Only, from the first day you got it, the new laptop is really lagging behind. Why is it running so slow? One of these might be the reason.

 

#1 Not enough computing power. 

In many cases, the laptop doesn’t have enough RAM (Random Access Memory). RAM is the computer’s main memory. This helps your computer do more at once. Information from the operating system, application programs and data are kept here, when in use, for quicker processing.  In this case, more is always better, but never the total answer to why things are slow.

RAM is like the computer’s short-term memory, while the hard drive is the long-term memory. Just as the human brain can’t hold everything in short-term memory, RAM can get overloaded too. When this happens on your laptop, the computer processor needs to go to the hard drive. This slows things down because hard drives are slower than RAM.

Resolution: You might see 4GB, 8GB, 16GB or more of RAM available. How much you need is going to depend on what you plan on doing with the computer. For a laptop with Windows 10, we recommend at least 8GB of RAM, but 16GB is more comfortable for a better experience.  Not all laptops will let you access the RAM to make an upgrade…they may solder it directly to the main circuit board. When you can, though, upgrading memory can be a quick and affordable way to get a boost in performance.

Another reason the laptop might be slow is the processor installed inside.  That’s the computer chip that completes all the instructions you give it.  Intel and AMD are the manufacturers we see the most of.  The more you spend, the better the processor will be and that equates directly to MORE POWER.  Think of it like an engine in a car.  A car or truck with a V8 engine is the most powerful (and most expensive), then the V6 (more middle of the road) and the V4 (for economy).  Then there’s variations like turbo and hybrids, but the brute force of a fast processor will always win the day!

Resolution: None.  These chips installed are determined when the laptop is purchased and CANNOT be upgraded.

 

#2 Mechanical hard drive. 

Often it’s a single part that is letting you down. With a less expensive computer, manufacturers skimp. While it’s less common these days, some laptops will come with a mechanical hard drive. Especially those under $500.  You might think of this like a record player with a needle reading the vinyl album. Since something is moving to find data, the laptop runs slower than it would with a Solid State Drive (SSD), which has no moving parts.  Think of the difference between and old floppy disk drive and the new USB flash drives.  The floppy disk required a mechanical “heads” to read and write the data onto the magnetic media inside the plastic case.  A USB flash drive, or thumb drive, uses solid state storage that’s super-fast and has no moving parts to slow you down.

Resolution: In many cases, a mechanical hard drive can be easily upgraded to an SSD. However, some super slim laptops have limited upgradability.  The cost to value ratio is very high with this kind of upgrade and you won’t be unhappy if you do this.  Whether it’s a new laptop or one you’ve had for a while, an SSD upgrade makes it 8-10 times faster right away!

 

#3 Bloatware. 

Retailers like to tout all the bells and whistles that come with their laptops, especially those units bought from the big box stores or from TV shopping networks. So, when you turn on your laptop for the first time, you may notice there’s already a lot of software preloaded. Much of it you’ll probably never use. Maybe there are toolbars you don’t need, games you’ll never use, or stock widgets that you couldn’t care less about. These examples of bloatware slow down your computer.

The third-party applications are a revenue source for the manufacturer, but don’t always help you. Microsoft, for instance, sells a line of computers that come without any pre-installed third-party software. Computerworld reported those PCs “start up 104% faster, shut down 35% faster and have 28 minutes more battery life.”

Resolution: When you get a new laptop, check out the pre-installed software before you add your own. Determine what the existing software will do and uninstall anything that you won’t want.

 

If your laptop is slow on the first startup, this may be due to system updates finishing up. For instance, a Windows 10 automatic update to bolster the security of the computer. You can’t do much about these, but look on the bright side, your laptop security is current! Be patient and allow the updates to finish.  That may be all you need to make your new laptop run as it should.

 

Improved speed is a main reason to invest in a new laptop. Don’t let a lagging laptop disrupt your productivity. We can help with a slow running laptop.

Instead of wasting valuable time waiting on a slow computer, give us a call at (732) 747-0020!

Should you love your external hard drive?

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More about data backup.  Because it’s important, that’s why!

 

I wrote about this last month…Backup, what Backup?  I’m following up with one of the easiest things you can do to protect your family’s precious memories…and your boring work stuff.  Start with an external hard drive…and learn how to feed and care for it too…

 

External hard drives free up storage, offer portability, and provide a lifeline in case of computer disaster. It pays to take good care of these compact, convenient devices.

Here are some helpful strategies.

 

  1. Don’t knock the drive.

Depending on the type of drive you have, impact could damage it. The hard drive’s mechanical guts work a little like a record player. Envision a spinning platter and a needle reading it. If you bumped into a record player back in the day, the needle would drag across the surface and possibly cause a forever “skip” in the song(s).  Note, you don’t have to worry about this with a Solid State Drive (SSD) as there are no moving parts, so consider investing in those to get both reliability AND better performance.

 

  1. Don’t pull.

You can damage the drive port with a hard or sideways yank on its USB plug. Remove the device cable with a gentle pull, and NOT on the cable, but on the rubber connector on the end of the cable. It’s best to unplug the drive cable when it’s not in use. Then, when you are reconnecting the external drive, inspect the connector before plugging the cable back in. Look for any damage, debris, or corrosion to help maximize the device’s lifespan.

 

  1. Don’t skip steps.

You may be in a hurry, but always take the time to remove the hard drive from your desktop before physically unplugging it. On Windows, you’ll usually right click on the drive and press Eject. For Macs, you can drag the drive icon to the recycle bin (which changes to an eject button).  Never unplug the drive while moving data to or from the hard drive unless you want to risk data corruption.

 

  1. Don’t suffocate the drive.

Ever put your hand on the hard drive after prolonged use? It’s hot. Don’t immediately store it away in a bag or tight space. Give it some time to cool off first.  When it’s out, and in use, keep the drive’s vents clear of other objects so that it has some airflow. Set it on a flat, level surface. Avoid placing it on paper, towels, or other cloth items that could add to its heat levels.

 

  1. Don’t take the drive swimming.

OK, you’re probably not going to do that. Yet it’s our way of reminding you that condensation is an enemy to your hard drive. Hard drive failures can be caused by environmental factors such as temperature and air quality too.

 

  1. Don’t expect immortality or invincibility.

A hard drive isn’t going to last forever. They aren’t built for that. They can also get lost or stolen. Don’t let one external hard drive be the only place you are backing up your data.

Have a backup on your computer, on the drive, and a copy in the cloud. Then, you’ll always be ready to move on to a new drive that you will love with the same care and consideration outlined above.

 

If you need help deciding on the best hard drive for your needs, give us a call at (732) 747-0200.  

 

Backup? What backup?

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The look on peoples’ faces when they come to us with a computer whose hard drive has crashed, and we ask if they have a backup is heartbreaking.  They often answer no and we don’t understand why more folks don’t place the importance on backing up their data that they should.  My dentist says, “only brush the teeth you want to keep”.  That’s the same sentiment with your data…”only backup the stuff you wanna protect”.

 

Why You Need to Backup

Disruptions of any kind can be costly in either real money or emotional drama. The disaster might take one of several shapes:

  1. Natural (e.g. wildfires, floods, earthquakes, or hurricanes)
  2. On-site (e.g. hardware/software failure, power outage, inability to access building)
  3. Employee or family member-driven (e.g. damaging mistakes or intentional sabotage by a disgruntled employee or angry teenager!)
  4. Cyber-attack (e.g. data breach, ransomware, or distributed denial of service attack).

Regardless, the best backup solution can help reduce downtime, damage…and drama.

 

Approaches to Backup

There are several off-the-shelf backup options you can use. Let’s consider the pros and cons of the most popular ones.

USB Thumb Drives — Also known as “flash drives,” “pen drives,” or “memory sticks,” these thumb-sized devices are compact and portable. But…they have size limitations compared to hard drives. Also, the mobility makes them easy to lose (which can actually set the disaster scenario in motion).

Additionally, a USB thumb drive is robust when not plugged in, but more vulnerable when attached. If someone inadvertently snaps the drive or employs too much force, they can put the data on that backup at risk.

The cheap ones also tend to be slow, which can make backing up sluggish.

USB Hard Drives — Portable hard drives increase the data storage available, often at a decent price. They are designed to be compact and mobile. You can prioritize durability, processing speed, storage volumes and more.

Hard drives are less likely to get damaged than a thumb drive. If knocked or jostled, the cables are flexible. Still, a hard drive can be prone to physical failure. Selecting an external solid slate drive (SSD) can help since it has no moving parts. Information is stored instead on microchips.

Networked Attached Storage (NAS) – This can be a great solution when 2 or more computers need to be backed up.  Basically, it’s a hard drive in a box that attaches to your network router.  Your wired and wifi computers can connect to it and perform a routine backup each night.  These can be costly, but there’s no denying their value when protecting multiple computers is your goal.

Cloud Storage — Backing up to the cloud stores data on an external, secure server. If thieves take your computers and USB backup, you can still access your data on the cloud. Cloud storage providers build in redundancy to ensure your backup remains safe.

Most cloud storage services back up to secure centers with thousands of servers storing data. Oh, and they’ll have their own server backups too, just in case they’re the ones hit by a disaster. The providers also encrypt data during transit to further ensure compliance and security.

Migrating to a third-party cloud storage service also cuts the clutter at your premises. You can count on expert help to ensure security and compliance. Plus, you can cut operational costs by offloading in-house storage or external hard drive expenses.

 

OK, so what’s the best answer? 

Don’t think disaster won’t strike your home or business. Research has found data loss and downtime are most often caused by:

  • Hardware failures (45% of total unplanned downtime)
  • Loss of power (35%)
  • Software failure (34%)
  • Data corruption (24%)
  • External security breaches (23%)
  • Accidental user error (20%).

We recommend the 3-2-1 backup strategy. This means having 3 copies of your data. Two (2) of these would be located on different devices (e.g. on your computer and on a backup drive). The other remaining backup copy (1) would be secured offsite, in the cloud.

 

Want to secure your data the right way and avoid the drama? Give us a call at (732) 747-0020 to set this up and put you at ease. 

 

All these passwords are driving me nuts!

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We’ve all experienced this…we don’t remember the password for something.  So, we try to reset it, but nothing happens.  Or if we do get something to happen, we can’t complete the reset because we can’t answer the security challenge questions; our first car, favorite restaurant in college or favorite teacher.  Arghhhh!

What many folks have done over time is to reuse the same password…because it’s easy to remember just 1 password, right?  That’s a time bomb waiting to happen.  If you have your email address in your left hand and your email password in your right hand, you can NEVER USE THOSE for other accounts like Amazon or NetFlix or Bob’s Guitar City.  If one of those places gets hacked, the bad guys will try to login to the email address from your left hand and use the password you gave from your right hand.  And if they’re successful, really bad things can happen.  Sometimes its as silly as your email address sending out Dr. Oz diet pills to all your contacts.  Other times they hijack your email and start telling your broker to transfer money to an off-shore account…yikes!

In the beginning when we started using passwords for our AOL or CompuServ account (I know I’m going far back), there was no criteria for the password.  So, you used your pet’s name or maybe a combo of your birthday and your favorite sports teams.  Mine was 1969mets for a long time!  Then we needed passwords for a bunch of other things besides the internet and email.  Some of those sites required a username and a password.  Sometimes, and now almost exclusively, they want a valid email address as the username and a complex password to go along with it.  Then the passwords you used to use were no longer acceptable and they needed to be longer and have capital letters, and numbers and sometimes symbols.  Now it starts to get unmanageable.  So, what’s a person to do?

So you started a password list.  Or maybe it’s just a collection of sticky notes under your desk blotter.  Or maybe it’s a special password book with so many of things crossed out you’re not sure if the password you have is for the bank, your email or the locker at the gym!  Since many of the websites want you to make the password more complex, we are having to change them often.  Sometimes they want you to link the login to your cell phone so if you want to try and login or change a password, you have to put in a code that comes to your cell phone.  That’s called 2-factor authentication and it’s a good thing but it’s also getting really complicated.

Enter the password manager.

It’s just like it sounds.  It manages all the passwords we have.  To open up the list, or as many call it, “the vault”, you only need a single password.  Then the system can create complex passwords that are ridiculously hard to hack…or remember.  But you won’t need to remember all those complex passwords, you just need to remember the password to open the vault.

The way it works is you download and install the software (we like LastPass and 1Password) and it will let you create an account and your vault password.  Then it attaches to your web browser.  Each time you put in a username and password into a website, it asks if you want to save it.  Then you can make the password more complex if you like…crazy complex too if you want!  And here’s the fun part…then you go to that website the next time it automatically fills in your username and password.

But wait, there’s more!

Go to your other computer or even your smartphone and download the software or the app.  Sign in with your vault password and every password you have in there is available on the other devices too!  You can even use your fingerprint on most smartphones to put in the password.  It’s a real time and sanity saver.

But what if I forget my vault password?  That spells big trouble.  You should be able to reset it with your email address and by answering the security questions, but the password company doesn’t know it and can’t reset it for you.  Hard for you to change means harder for he bad guys to hack…and that’s a good thing.  A really cool aside…you can assign a family member or loved one as an emergency contact so they can get your passwords if something happens to you.  They won’t be able to see the passwords (usually) but will be able to get into the accounts already setup in your vault.  That could be HUGE!

What if the password manager website gets hacked, won’t they steal ALL MY PASSWORDS?  Nope, they can’t because all the data is encrypted.  Even if they do get hacked, there’s nothing the bad guys can do with the data because it’s all scrambled up.

So anyway, get rid of the sticky notes, password book and all the headaches.  Consider a password manager and spend your brain power not trying to remember passwords but figuring out what to buy for dinner…or who to pick for the Final 4 in March Madness.

Managed Services for Computers – a Dragon for Home and Business

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This may or may not be something you want to do.  The question is do you NEED it?  Let me first explain what it is.

Managed Services is the process of providing computer hardware and software (collectively known as IT) support to a company.  Everything from managing the anti-virus software on your computer, your hosted website and email, not to mention the most popular use of this…replacing or augmenting your own in-house IT department.

Most businesses are in the business of doing what they do best…and it’s usually not IT support, unless they’re an IT company (duh).  So instead of paying a staff to manage the internet, network/wifi, website, email, software questions and hardware problems, businesses will contract for Managed Services.  Those companies are known as MSPs…Managed Service Providers.  Many things are being outsourced these days.  In fact, it’s been going on for decades.  MSPs have been developing over the last decade, with a big growth spurt in just the past few years.  Breakthroughs in technology, inexpensive online storage and super-fast internet have helped to make this a viable alternative for many businesses.  Why pay a staff that needs sick and vacation days, not to mention benefits and other related things provided to an employee when you can outsource it?  Signing on with an MSP can let your business do what they do best.  Period.

Some micro-businesses (less than 10 people), like retirement specialists, wealth managers and other financial services providers often broker for a bigger firm and have security rules they need to abide by.  Having an MSP handle the complex firewall needs, data encryption and protection can be a blessing for these “little guys” because the costs to bring that in-house can be overwhelming.  Yet they need to be compliant with the brokers demands.  Surprise audits by the broker reveal shortcomings that threaten their dealership.

Generic businesses have concerns beyond the simple management of their IT stuff.  They too need to be concerned about exposing their clients’ data to the “bad guys”.  That can be a big problem if you’re storing Social Security numbers, birth dates and credit card information.  If that gets out, identity theft is sure to follow and your business will be liable for the damages.  We always recommend that clients storing this type of data seek out a Cyber insurance policy.  That’s not enough though because if you haven’t adequately protected your network and the data, the policy won’t pay if you get breached.  And speaking of breached…

A breach is when bad guys get past your network security and start poking around your internal network and computers until they find some data.  Often times they will then encrypt your data making it impossible to open and then try to sell you the key to unlock it.  It’s a dirty, dirty business and is happening all over to small and large businesses alike.  It’s called Ransomware and can cost thousands of dollars.  If one of your employees clicks on a bad link in an email or social media post taking them to a poison website, that can start this nastiness.  If your network typically allows for remote access by employees, you are particularly prone to an attack because the access exists, even if there’s username/password to get in.  The bad guys are good at “brute force” attacks that can crack that info and get in.  You need to treat your business like a medieval castle; you need a moat, a drawbridge, vats of hot oil, archers in the towers and my favorite…a dragon!  Just a lock on your front door is not enough for these types of attacks.

An MSP can provide network protection, hardware support, handle software installations and questions and perhaps the most important thing is protecting you from yourself with managed anti-virus and web-filtering to make sure if you do click that bad link it will prevent any bad stuff from coming back in.

 

What about a home user…do they need an MSP?  Maybe not to the extent a micro-business needs it, unless there’s a home-based business being run out of the house.  Home users still may need or want robust network security as well as support when something goes wrong.  The needs of the home user are a bit different, if not the same but on a smaller scale than a business.  They still need a managed anti-virus, web-filter and a good firewall to be truly protected.  Maybe just a moat and a drawbridge will do.  But a dragon would be super-cool!

Home users are also worried about identity theft and password management (jeez, what a mess that has become for us all), not to mention internet access rules for the kids.  Seeking out a company that can put a security blanket around your house (maybe decorated with dragons?) can be very comforting.  With all the tech in our homes these days, the concept of a breach using those devices is becoming more and more possible.

 

So, do what you do best and let the MSP handle the rest.  And don’t forget the dragon!