Cybersecurity is the practice of maintaining control over computer systems and data integrity while minimizing the risk of unauthorized access or damage through malicious attacks. A cybersecurity policy defines a set of security practices used by employees, contractors, partners, users, and third parties interacting with your organization’s network(s). The goal of a well-written cyber policy should be simple. Ensure you are keeping up with current best practices so as not to put your business at risk due to outdated policies unintentionally. The following are cybersecurity policies to consider implementing for remote employees.

Access Control Policy

Your company may have an existing access control policy that includes guidelines on who can enter specific areas of your network where sensitive information or assets reside. In general, if you do not limit entry based on precise job functions and responsibilities, it will be difficult for management to ensure that only the desired people are accessing certain areas of your network when necessary for their job function. Your access control policy must also address how often individuals can change their passwords, which services they can use to connect to your networks, what types of devices they can use to connect to the Internet, and whether your staff can get online from home computers or mobile devices, and much more.

Administrator Rights Policy

This policy addresses administrators’ rights and privileges to manage a network. A good administrator rights policy outlines what administrators can and cannot do on the network, including installing software, configuring network settings, backing up files or databases, performing backups, etc. An example of a lousy admin rights policy would let anyone add new accounts or modify user accounts without first getting approval. A good policy might require all changes to be approved. Make sure you understand the implications of this policy before you roll out any updates or changes.

Audit Log Policy

If you allow employees to connect to your network via public WiFi hotspots like coffee shops, airports, or hotels, consider setting up a policy that requires them to log into each site beforehand. Otherwise, they may leave valuable files, such as credit card numbers, customer or vendor records, bank statements, or personally identifiable information, publicly available because they connected through a wireless connection. Some companies even go further than requiring people to log in to a VPN, requiring them to identify themselves using their valid work email address and password before accessing anything work related.

Data Loss Prevention Policy

DLP is a technology that monitors file transfers and automatically blocks certain types of content from being transferred between different locations within your network (for instance, blocking malware attachments). It’s important to note that this policy does not prevent employees from transferring sensitive data outside of the company but instead prevents the transfer of potentially illegal or harmful files inside the firewall. Any time someone needs to send sensitive data outside of the firewall, they should obtain explicit permission from IT.

Data Security Policy

All of your employee’s data belongs to them but ultimately it belongs to the company too, so ensure you give them adequate privacy options to protect that data. You can implement policies regarding when and how frequently they can access their Gmail account, calendar, contacts, voicemail, and other electronic communications tools; whether they can back up their data remotely; what operating systems and applications their device(s) can utilize; and more. Giving your employee secure tools to utilize to store and manage their data can be a great start to ensuring they are more secure when working from home.

The blue light eye injury is no mere coincidence. You may be at risk of blue light eye injury if you spend several hours on your computer. Your computer screen naturally emits blue lights. And if you stare at it for too long, it will hurt your eyes. In addition, light is thought to cause sleeplessness. Other harmful effects of blue light on the eyes may exist, although eye injury is the most common.

What is Blue Light?

Visible light is created by combining several wavelengths. Blue light is the most energetic component of the light spectrum. As a result, it can rapidly pierce the retina towards the back of the eyes. Unfortunately, unlike other hazardous wavelengths, blue light cannot be stopped by other elements of the eyes, such as the lens and cornea.

How to Protect Eyes from Blue Light

There are several technologies available that will filter Blue Light for you. We’ll guide you through the five major techniques to filter blue light and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each approach.

1. Make use of Flux Software

Flux is a fantastic tool for protecting your eyes from blue light while working on your laptop or desktop PC. Flux filters your computer screen to make it cooler, warmer, and more attractive. Blue light is blocked by the filters, which protect your eyes from further harm. The Flux app may be a better alternative if you don’t want to strain, have a lengthy headache, or sleep poorly. Furthermore, the software is simple, handy, and effective, allowing you to enjoy working on your computer.

2. Wear Eyeglasses with the Correct Prescription

Squinting at screens for long periods is harmful to your eyes. If you wear glasses to correct your vision, be sure the prescription is for a distance of at least an arm’s length between your eyes and the screen. The majority of glasses are made for longer distances. Consider talking to an expert for advice on which glasses are suitable for looking at screens for long periods of time.

3. Change the screen settings

If your screen appears dull or too bright, adjust the brightness to match the ambient light. A greater brightness level indicates that your computer or smartphone screen emits more blue light. The blue light filter option is becoming more common on computer screens. If this is accessible, make sure to enable it.

4. Lighting the Room

The brightness of your room’s lighting must match the brightness of your screen. When operating electronic devices, strive for a consistent brightness level since low ambient light tricks your eyes into allowing in more blue light. Do not adjust your computer screen’s lighting from the normal level whatsoever. Instead, ensure your room is properly lit.

5. Let Your Eyes Rest

How can you avoid digital blue light overexposure? One simple method is to follow the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, take a 20-minute break from your computer and gaze at anything 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. This method can reduce eye strain while also being a regular reminder to limit your exposure to blue light.

Conclusion

Excessive blue light exposure can lead to digital eye strain (computer vision syndrome) and retinal cell damage (which can increase the risk for issues like macular degeneration). There are, however, a few things that can help lessen the risk of problems, such as the ones discussed above.

tekRESCUE has been nominated for two separate Best of Hays awards this year, and your votes will help decide who wins. Curious what we’ve been nominated for and how you can help determine the final Best of Hays 2021 winners? Just keep reading!

tekRESCUE Best of Hays Nominations

Below are the categories tekRESCUE has been nominated for in Best of Hays 2021. To vote, simply follow the links and select “Vote” for your candidate of choice. You will be prompted to log in with a valid email.

BEST TECH SUPPORT

BEST COMPUTER REPAIR

Haven’t voted in Best of Hays before? Here’s what it’s all about

Every year the citizens of Hays County, Texas vote to choose the best businesses in a variety of categories for the previous year (in other words, the businesses you’re voting for in 2022 will be receiving awards for their performance in 2021).

The contest is administered by the local newspaper, the San Marcos Daily Record. Voting has historically taken place by newspaper ballot, but this year the contest has gone digital. If you’re concerned about being able to access Best of Hays online, your San Marcos Public Library has guest computers available for use daily.

This year, nominations for Best of Hays took place early in February. After nominations closed, the top three businesses in each category were determined. Voting to determine the final winner in each category will take until the March 11th at midnight, after which the final tally will be determined by the San Marcos Daily Record.

Be a part of the results and vote!

Who is tekRESCUE?

tekRESCUE is a web developer and IT service provider based in San Marcos, Texas. We have been serving the hill country and beyond for nearly a decade. Our team is proud to provide the best IT, digital marketing, and web design services possible to clients across a wide variety of different specialties.

Interested in learning more about our services?

Managed IT Services

To keep your business running smoothly, your technology needs to be secure and up-to-date. tekRESCUE offers IT service options for businesses of all sizes. We keep your devices safe and running smoothly so you can concentrate on your customers.

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Website Design & Development

Whether you need web hosting, a website redesign, or a whole new website built from the ground up, tekRESCUE is here to help. Our expert designers have built countless sites for a variety of business, all made to fit your brand and perform well in today’s online market.

SEE PORTFOLIO

Digital Marketing

Our experienced team is available to help with a wide range of digital marketing campaigns. From search engine optimization (SEO) and social media management (SMM) to geofenced ad campaigns, we’re here to make sure your brand gets seen in online.

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Need more information about how technology services can benefit your business? Contact tekRESCUE to speak to a professional who can help!

Search engine optimization is a significant factor in the success of any online business. If your website is not well optimized for search engines, it will be challenging to get the desired traffic. SEO’s first and foremost objective is to get more traffic to the website. Community outreach is an excellent way to achieve this objective and increase your brand visibility. Most companies that are marketing to an online customer base believe that SEO helps them acquire more traffic.

What is SEO Outreach

The term “SEO outreach” is used for the process of getting your website “link” published on websites that are highly trafficked. This is done to ensure that the SEO effort that your company has made is magnified. This is done, for example, by getting your website’s link on blogs and news websites otherwise known as backlinking. Once this is done, syndicated blogs and social media profiles are used to post updates, otherwise known as Community Outreach. Community outreach is an extension of SEO outreach in which you send out a “press release” in the form of posting optimized original content to all your social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google Plus. There are no limits on the number of times a press release on social media can be forwarded to other websites in most cases. That is why this is such an effective strategy for SEO.

Why is SEO Outreach Important for SEO?

SEO outreach with the assistance of an Austin SEO Company helps in boosting your brand visibility. When you reach out to relevant people with SEO strategies, they can spread the word about your website and assist you in getting more traffic. You can also use this opportunity to promote your business and increase sales and revenue. When you engage in community outreach, you need to get active on social media platforms such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., and create an account for your business. A value of community outreach lies in connecting with other people from different industries so that they can provide valuable feedback about your product or service.

Backlinks You Can Get Through SEO Outreach

There are numerous ways through which you can get backlinks. The most common one is to ask your friends and colleagues to share the link of your website on their social media profiles. You can also add your website link to your social media profiles. The other method is to accept guest posts from different websites. You must provide high-quality content in exchange for a link. By doing this, you will be able to establish a good rapport with the website owner, and they will be more likely to share your links with their readers and in the process form more backlinks for your SEO endeavors. Backlinks can be a driving search engine optimization force when it comes to driving traffic and your website’s search visibility on search engine services in Austin.

Launching Successful SEO Outreach Campaigns

The most effective way is to write articles and post them on relevant sites. However, digital marketing in the form of SEO is not limited to writing content for blogs in Austin, Texas. You have to share your business with people who are actively looking for new products and services. This can be achieved by distributing quality articles through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. You can also send emails to various bloggers in your niche and ask them to share your content on their blogs.

SEO In Austin, TX

If you are a business owner and looking for something new and exciting to do, partnering with a Austin SEO Company and starting SEO outreach is a perfect option for you. It is all about engaging with people and helping them get what they want from your website. By adding search engine optimization services to your current outreach program in Austin, you will also get more traffic for your website and increase sales and revenue.

Interested in increasing traffic to your website but not sure how to start? TekRESCUE can help! We are an SEO and Digital Marketing company in Austin, Texas & we can get your rankings up and help you reach your customer base more effectively! Give us a call today or visit our website.

UPDATED 12-30-2021.

There is a fault (maybe it’s a feature) in most later versions of Windows that allows someone with physical access to the computer to change the passwords of users, create new users, and elevate users to administrators. This article will show you how to do this. We are not going to go into extreme detail on this. We are going to assume that you have some basic computer repair skills. We are a San Marcos, TX based managed IT Support business, so we use this hack very often.

Time to Complete: 30 minutes or less
Difficulty level: Medium
Tools needed: A Windows Install Disk that matches the operation system on the computer

Note: This method works with several Windows OS’s. We are going to show you how to do it on a Windows 10 computer.

Step 1 – Replace Utilman.exe with CMD.exe

Boot into the install CD or USB Installer that matches your operating system. If you do not have one there are several tutorials out there that can help you make one.

Click on Troubleshoot, then Advanced options, and finally Command Prompt.

At the command prompt type the following command:

copy c:windowssystem32utilman.exe c:

…and press Enter. You should see a “1 file(s) copied ” confirmation.

Now type this command and hit Enter:

copy c:windowssystem32cmd.exe c:windowssystem32utilman.exe

Answer with Y to the question about overwriting of the utilman.exe file. You should now see another file copy confirmation.

Reboot the computer normally into Windows.

Step 2 – Manipulate the users you need

NOTE: The following NET commands still work for Windows 11 but for Windows 11 you will need to boot into “Safe Mode with Networking” to use them! Thanks Andrew for the tip!

When the Windows logon screen is available, click the Ease of Access icon at the bottom-left corner of the screen. An ADMINISTRATOR Command Prompt will open. There are several commands you might need to use below. In them replace “myuser” with the actual username. Replace “newpassword” with your desired password.

Enter the following command to get a list of users:

net user 

Enter the following command to change the password of an existing user.

net user myuser newpassword

Enter the following command to create a new user:

net user myuser newpassword /add 

Enter the following command to elevate an existing user to an administrator:

net localgroup administrators myuser /add 

Once you have ran than commands that you need to run, log in and double check your work.

Step 3 – Putting Utilman.exe Back

Reboot into the install CD or USB Installer that you used earlier.

Click on Troubleshoot, then Advanced options, and finally Command Prompt.

At the command prompt type the following command:

copy c:utilman.exe c:windowssystem32utilman.exe

Confirm the overwriting by answering Yes. Reboot your computer. Profit!

Difference Between Cache and Cookies

Computers use various technologies to store data and facilitate faster web browsing. Two of these technologies are cookies and cache. Both cookies and cache are means of storing data from your website on a guest’s device.

Defining Browser Cache

Browser cache is the temporary storage location of Internet files that are stored by the client machine (your computer). When you visit a web page, the browser cache stores those cache files in a specific folder. Cache allows for quicker access to commonly requested files. Like when you visit a website with a JPG image logo, your computer will download the image and store it in a specialized folder on your computer called a cache folder.

This makes it easier to access the logo each time you visit that web page. The cache file could also store other things. Things such as video files, JavaScript files, CSS files, images, and different sorts of media that are delivered on the internet.

How Cache Works

Imagine you’re researching an assignment, and you need to consult a book from the library. You could go to the library every time you need a piece of information, but instead, you will most likely take the book home with you and put it on your desk for faster access. In this example, your desk becomes a cache. Instead of making round trips to the library, which slows your progress, you will grab the book straight from your desk. This example intuitively helps you understand how cache works.

Defining Browser Cookies

The second technology is browser cookies. Browser cookies are small files stored on a guest’s device which contain specific data about a particular client. The server stores this information. When you visit a website, its server can store a file on your computer. This file can then be used for various actions. Browser cookies’ main function is to store text-based data like sessions, IDs, web visit histories, IP addresses, and many more. Cookies also enable the collection of more accurate data collection by owners of specific websites.

Their Functionality

As you visit a website for the first time, for this example, an online store, the website utilizes a unique identity code to plant a cookie in your computer hard drive. The website then uses this identification code to monitor all of your sessions. This helps monitor activities such as what products you choose to view or put in your online shopping cart, among other things you may have looked at while on the site. With this, you will get similar suggested items despite leaving the website and then returning to it.

Types of Cookies

There are two main categories of cookies:

Session cookies: A session cookie is stored in the guests’ machine but never actually saved. It is only operational during a visit to the website by the guest. But when the guest closes their browser, the session cookie becomes unavailable permanently.

Persistent cookies: This type of cookie stays on the guest’s machine while active and persists for a while on occasional visits to the website. Despite its persistent nature, this cookie has an expiration date.

Both cookies and cache are technologies that have paved the way for more accessible access to internet services. Despite their almost similar functions, these technologies work differently. It is important to know the difference between the two in order to enhance your understanding of the way your devices store information from visited websites.

tekRESCUE was once again a contender in the Hays county “Best of Hays” awards this year. Our team was excited to receive top recognition in three categories for 2020! These included:

Best Security Company

BEST COMPUTER TECH SUPPORT

bEST cOMPUTER rEPAIR

Best Community Volunteer

In addition to these company-wide distinctions, our own IT technician Austin Koester was awarded Best Community Volunteer for his work with Family 4 Life, a non-profit organization dedicated to reuniting siblings separated by adoption. 

tekRESCUE is proud to accept these awards, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to the voters of Hays county for voting us “Best of Hays” once again this year! We are delighted to continue offering the best technology services to our community in 2021.

About Best of Hays

The Best of Hays contest takes place in Hays county every spring. Historically Hays county residents voted via newspaper ballots for businesses in a wide range of categories, from best overall company to best sweet tea. However, for the last two years all voting has been done digitally with great success in participation. 

Residents nominate their favorite businesses for each category and after the nomination period (dates vary by year) voters choose between the top three businesses nominated for each category to determine Best of Hays winners. Voting maintenance, final tallies, and award distribution is all completed by the San Marcos Daily Record. 

About tekRESCUE

tekRESCUE is headquartered in San Marcos, TX and has been serving Hays county and the surrounding Central Texas areas for over a decade under the leadership of CEO Randy Bryan. Randy already had a long history of technology expertise when he decided to start tekRESCUE. In his experience he saw business after business struggle to deal with the many aspects of technology necessary to succeed in the digital world. His dream in starting tekRESCUE was to offer a way for businesses of any size to get support and find solutions for any of their technology needs – all in one place.

Today tekRESCUE has evolved into a complete technology provider, offering everything from top of the line cybersecurity solutions to all-in-one digital marketing. We serve businesses across Texas and look forward to expanding further in the future. 

Seeking technology solutions for your business? Schedule a 20 minute strategy call with Randy to discuss options for your business. For more information about services we offer, please see below.

Schedule Your 20 Minute Strategy Call

SCHEDULE NOW

Our Services

Cybersecurity

tekRESCUE now offers complete cybersecurity for businesses. This includes network and device protection, managed IT for your office, threat detection and incident response, as well as assistance maintaining HIPAA compliance. tekRESCUE is a HIPAA compliant business.

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Website Development

Whether you need a brand new website for your business or need a touch up for an existing website, tekRESCUE can help. We specialize in sleek, modern sites and offer security and hosting options for those that need it.

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Digital Marketing

Our team of experts work to improve your presence online using time-tested SEO techniques, social media management, and targeted ad campaigns. From getting your business to #1 in Google to improving your social media audience and interaction, we’re a one-stop-shop for your digital marketing needs.

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Cybersecurity plays an important role in ensuring that unauthorized individuals cannot access your data. By encrypting your data, your information will be safe from the wrong hands.

Not all encryption is the same, however, and some types are more secure or practical than others. The most common ones include RSA, AES, and DES. Below, we’ll delve a bit deeper into these main types of encryption to give you a better understanding of the options available when it comes to protecting your data.

RSA Encryption

An acronym for “Rivest-Shamir-Adleman” encryption, this technique is commonly used to safeguard data that is sent online, and it usually utilizes public and private keys. If you are on the receiving end, you will have a private key that will be used to decode the message sent by the other party. Through RSA encryption, information can be sent between two different parties who don’t know each other. It’s perfect if both parties need to communicate while ensuring their sensitive data does not fall into the wrong hands because of a data breach.

If you want to make RSA encryption a part of your routine, you should first understand the basics. For some people, this encryption technique can be used to verify a digital signature. It will allow you to be sure that the person you are communicating with is who they say they are. This encryption technique can take a while to encrypt data, so it is not advisable for large files.

AES Encryption

Advanced Encryption Standard or AES is among the most secure encryption types commonly used today. Security organizations and the government usually use this encryption type to ensure the communication from one person to another is classified. AES utilizes key encryption that is symmetric, and the party on the receiving end usually receives a key to decode the sent data.

With AES encryption, the data is encrypted into a single block. The size of the blocks varies, and there are different rounds for each encryption method. The rounds entail changing the plaintext data into ciphered text.

The majority of data tools present in the market today utilize AES data encryption. While it’s still possible to use other methods, AES is highly recommended. It can be used in different applications, and for its price, the encryption method is secure and widely accepted.

DES Encryption

Short for Data Encryption Standard, DES is a standard encryption form that was formulated during the 1970s. Currently, it is not considered secure enough by today’s standards. It can only encrypt 56-bits of data, and it can be easily hacked. Despite some of these issues, this encryption method served as the basis for more encryption tools that would build on top of its foundation.

A more modern take on DES is Triple Data Encryption Standard, which uses three 56-bit keys instead of just one. The only issue with 3DES is that it will take a considerable amount of time to encrypt the data. And although the shorter blocks have been encrypted three times, hackers can still access the secured information.

Additional Encryption Types

There are additional encryption tools present in the market, such as the so-called “fishes.” These tools use a different type of technology to encrypt data, and they are common among programmers and web developers. They also come in handy when protecting passwords. These encryption techniques are not patented, so they can be used for free by any interested party.

Conclusion

As a consumer, you don’t need to worry about understanding everything that encryption entails. Just make sure you are familiar with the basics so that you can select security and privacy products that will suit your needs.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR CYBERSECURITY FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS IN SAN MARCOS TX, CONSIDER CONTACTING TEKRESCUE TODAY!

When it comes to the day-to-day security of your company’s data, it is critical that its content is protected whether proprietary or not. Whether it’s protection against cyber attacks, corrupt software, or even general concern from fire and natural disasters, there are a lot of reasons you need to back up your data for your organization. The question is always where to start and whom to go to make it happen.

Why Backups are Important

Some of the most common reasons why organizations do not back up their data can be things such as the belief that their data is secure, or even citing cost as a negative factor. But ultimately the main reason in business is that people just simply forget because they believe the odds of needing backup data are rare to none. While for most it is very unlikely you will ever need to access backup data, you do not want to be caught in a situation where your company is the small statistic of organizations that for some reason lost their data and could not retrieve any of it.

Backing Up Personal Non-Proprietary Data

There are a few ways to back up your data, depending on the amount of data and how proprietary it might be. For personal use, it is still recommended that a flash drive is one of the cheapest and convenient ways to back up data. This is a good system to use if the data is less proprietary in nature and you find yourself out of the office often for work, whether it be travel or telecommuting. This is always the cheapest and easiest way to backup data.

Backing Up Personal Proprietary Data

If data is proprietary but still for personal use, it is recommended to use a cloud-based storage system. There are some more common names like Dropbox, but for professional use, you could utilize larger-scale cloud-based storage systems such as Microsoft Azure and OneDrive, or Amazon Web Services applications. These days there are many entities that you can use and can be scalable and relatively cheap based on how much data you have. Cloud-based storage is also convenient for privacy.

Backing Up Proprietary Company Data

Finally, if you are looking to store private data for your company, you can always encrypt your data for extra security before placing it in cloud-based backup storage. Many of these same companies mentioned earlier are good at providing these extra layers of security so that your data is always protected both physically and from potential data breaches. While the costs of these extra services will ultimately become a bigger expense to maintain, you cannot put a price on security.

Backups Are Worth the Price

So overall, backing up data is a simple yet effective way to protect your organization from any potential actions that might compromise your company or personal data. There is always a risk that is associated with your company’s data getting exposed or altered from physical damage or cyber attacks, and data backup is a small price to pay to avoid compromised data or worse—corrupt or erased data. So, don’t waste any more time and backup your organization’s data today.

If you’re looking for IT support or tech services for your company in Austin Texas, consider contacting tekRESCUE today!

Ransomware is a threat that happens all too often against businesses and other organizations so that cybercriminals can make a quick buck. In many cases, the victim is forced to pay a ransom in order to regain access to his or her data after it’s been encrypted by malicious software. Since this type of attack is becoming all too common, it’s important that your organization is prepared for it and that you know what to do if you become a target for a ransomware attack.

1. Educate Your Employees

Make sure to explain to your employees what malware will look like that may indicate a potential ransomware attack. They will probably receive an email that has a fictitious link that leads to the ransomware. These emails are considered phishing schemes, and it is important to safeguard against them. Make sure that your employees know exactly what these emails may look like and that they know how to avoid a response.

2. Enhance Security

Make sure that your organization is utilizing security measures in order to defend against all kinds of cyber attacks, including ransomware. If you do not maintain a high standard of security, you run the risk of falling victim to ransomware, especially if you just use antivirus software and nothing else. Make sure that you frequently update your software to ensure it is working its best and all security vulnerabilities are patched. Make sure that your software is set up manually as well so that you can manually turn off the firewall in case an attack comes to your organization as well.

3. Create Backups

You need to regularly create a backup that has secure storage of your organization’s data and your employees’ data. A ransomware attack works best when there is only one copy of the secure data, so when you have a backup, you will face a minimal loss to your organization and a lesser amount of damage. You can even consider software that will backup your data automatically on a regular basis either locally, in a cloud service, or both.

4. Monitor

It is also important to consistently have something or someone who is able to monitor the data at your organization. There are pieces of software that are called SIEM tools that are made to respond automatically to any malware attack that they detect, including ransomware. They will look for unexpected logins or unauthorized file sharing to a data source. They will then respond and make the necessary changes to protect your organization and your employees from the impending attack.

5. Make Patches

Last but not least, your organization needs to have a system in place that can monitor security patches and manage these patches easily. Develop a system that will manage patches, prioritizing those that are in immediate need of an update or a fix so that ransomware does not occur. Make sure to use a patch as soon as it comes available in order to minimize the chances of a successful attack. When the attack comes, the patch can lock your data down so that it remains safe against hackers.

Final Thoughts

Ransomware can cause serious financial damage to your organization if you do not take the necessary precautions to prepare for it and protect against it. Being faced with the choice of losing access to all of your company’s data or paying a ridiculous ransom can be a frightening prospect. By following the steps above, however, you can help keep your data private and to ensure your employees do not give away this information.

When starting or running a business, one would want to do everything they can to protect the valuable data on company computers and other devices used for work purposes. That is where enterprise antivirus software comes in. It can help protect the company and personal data that might be at risk if the business becomes the target of a cyber attack. A good enterprise antivirus software program can help protect sensitive data from all sorts of threats, including phishing attempts, trojans, worms, and other malware attacks. New types of viruses are introduced into the world every day, which is why it is necessary to always be protected. When protecting important information on company computers and networks, enterprise antivirus is the best solution for that problem.

Device Scanning: Humble Beginnings

Antivirus has improved and evolved since its creation. The original purpose of antivirus software was to scan every single file daily while running in the background to make sure there were not any infected files already on the device. Although this was a great way to secure a system at first, many malware creators found loopholes in the security system that made the antivirus software unable to detect and get rid of the infected code. On top of this, simply scanning existing files offered no way to protect against new files coming into the device or network. It took a long time before antivirus software truly became a game-changer in stopping malware.

Heuristic Scanning: The Game-Changer

One way in which antivirus software improved is the added capability of scanning both emails and downloads coming through any app connected to the internet. Now software security companies that offer antivirus protection have multiple security methods that make it difficult for someone to get access to personal data. The heuristic scan was the biggest game-changer in advancing antivirus software. This technological innovation has the capability of detecting new threats even if the software has never detected this type of threat before now. Although heuristic scanning can help protect someone from accidentally downloading a virus, it is not perfect. The heuristic might detect malware that is not malware. An example could be the heuristic flagging and reporting a new Apple update for the computer. While the heuristic is not perfect, it does make it easier to detect unwelcomed intrusions.

Compromised Devices & Inside Threats: The Weaknesses

Antivirus software offers protection for one’s data from many sides of the aisle, but there are some things it can’t protect the data from. One of the things antivirus software can’t protect from is compromised devices. If someone has an unprotected device and connects to a company’s WIFI or wired network, then the data on all connected devices could be compromised. Another thing the program can’t protect from is inside threats. The purpose of antivirus software is to protect from outside threats, not inside ones. If an employee decides to do a cyber-attack, or if a malicious actor obtains employee login credentials, then they could get access to the secure data from the inside. That is why it is very important to watch employees and their behaviors and educate them on best security practices.

Final Thoughts

Although even the best enterprise antivirus software is not perfect and can’t fully protect one’s business or personal files, it is the best thing available. Why take the chance of having information stolen when there are antivirus programs available to greatly reduce the risks? Anybody’s information can get stolen, and although no piece of software can magically protect against all possible threats, you can rest much easier knowing that a good antivirus program is doing its part to help protect your company’s valuable data around the clock.

If you’re looking for IT consulting services in Austin Texas, consider contacting tekRESCUE, your cybersecurity company, to see how we can help!

Before getting into the weeds of HSTS, let’s talk a little about a protocol called HTTPS. Today, everyone and their mother knows that, unless you see that padlock icon next to your browser’s location bar, your communication is not secure and should not be trusted. But very few people understand the meaning of the word “secure” here, or how these security features work.

What is HTTPS, and Why Is It Important?

Think about a very simple scenario. You need to check your web based email account, and this service provider doesn’t support HTTPS, only HTTP. You need to log in to get your mail. As you’re presented with a sign-in form, you type in your username as johnsmith1 as well as your top secret password, which is fluffy2009. Upon submitting your info, the same exact characters go out of your computer and hit the internet as:

j-o-h-n-s-m-i-t-h-1[space]f-l-u-f-f-y-2-0-0-9

You know that the internet is full of bad people, right? And you know that they are waiting for opportunities like this to steal people’s passwords, right? With the simplest of software, they can grab your credentials and pretend to be you to snoop into your email messages when you are not around. You can say, “so what? I have nothing to hide in my email.” Consider that in this hypothetical scenario, your bank account is tied to the same email address. Does it scare you now? It should. The crooks can request a password change and get it in your email. Two seconds later, you can kiss your money in the bank goodbye.

Using HTTPS changes the clear text string above into something like this, referred to as encryption:

Ac89c278dbc4b8c5b0c3fd4b8580b92edd00bc5806a96d6662adfbee248b9afe9f7c9

It’s all thanks to that letter “s” at the end of “http.” Good luck getting a username or password out of this string now, Mr. Crook.

What Is HSTS Then, and Why Is It Important?

HSTS is an acronym that stands for HTTP Strict Transport Security. Technically speaking, it is a response header sent by the website to the browser, telling the browser that this site can only be contacted via HTTPS protocol, not by plain text HTTP.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the subject matter with an example. Imagine you want to go visit google.com to run a search. You go to the address bar of your browser and usually type google.com, hit enter and voila, you are there. You do not think about http:// or https:// protocol specification when you are typing the URL you want to go to.

So far, so good, right? websites who prefer https protocol communication generally use a 301 redirect command that changes the URL’s protocol to https and sends your browser back an encrypted response along with the SSL certificate information. This allows your browser to understand how to communicate with this website. Basically, the http communication is transferred to https communication automatically, without the end user doing anything.

Well then, no-harm, no-foul, right? Not necessarily. In the time it takes for the website to switch to https by redirecting via 301 status, there are few milliseconds of time delay. Then there’s the time required for the site to send the SSL certificate header back to the browser. If the website is a valuable target, those few milliseconds are almost a lifetime for a malicious actor with an extremely powerful computer system to intercept the communication and insert itself between the user and the server. This is the basic definition of “man in the middle” attack vector.

On the other hand, if the browser knows that the site is accepting https communications only, by the way of an HSTS table, it starts the communication directly with https:// protocol lead, avoiding the the http to https transfer event time gap. This leaves the malicious listeners of the network traffic with nothing to listen to.

It is an added level of security in layman’s terms.

How Does Using HSTS Headers benefit Your Website?

First and foremost, HSTS makes your website virtually impenetrable by the man-in-the-middle attack method. This should give your site’s visitors an extra level of reassurance, especially if your site is an e-commerce site where monetary transactions take place.

Other than the security aspect, by skipping that few milliseconds of delay at the beginning, you shave off quite considerable time of page load traffic. In a day like today, where a website’s presence in search engines is greatly influenced by page load times, this increase in page load speed is as valuable as gold. Did you know that an average website load time today is 15.3 seconds? Did you also know that an average internet user hits the back button or leaves the site if they can not see the page in 3 seconds or less?

Do you really want to lose customers because your site exposes their information to hackers and loads slowly? Probably not.

Between better page load times and improved security, what is there not to like about implementing HSTS? Of course your site can benefit from HSTS headers.

Many businesses might no longer provide their employees option to choose if they would like to work from home or at the office. Some have had to overnight move a large portion of their business around to accommodate employees working from home in an effort to keep their businesses running. One thing that can help with this is by moving to the cloud. This can allow company resource to be accessed in different areas (file sharing, employee management, customer management, security, and collaboration), and ultimately provide shared benefits.

Start with the Professionals

To start, you should have an IT professional look over whatever systems you are using in order to make sure you transition effectively so your employees are secure and not at risk of leaking information. One of the biggest reasons to move to the cloud is of course the fact that this will let your employees work from home during coronavirus since all they would need to work effectively is a computer.

Mitigate Damage

Another big benefit you might see from working at home is that it can limit the amount of damage that data loss can cause. Data recovery is made far easier by making sure you are keeping backups offline and off-site in the cloud, which is part of our policy for protecting any business. This allows you to be ready to handle any disasters that may come your way, and limit down time.

Increased Security

Using the cloud can also help ensure that your files are more secure from external sources allowing you to have greater limits on what each person can access. This will limit the possibility of someone hacking into your network. It also means that if someone loses physical access to a laptop, that they can make sure that they are wiped or any access to data the laptop has is now revoked so that the laptop is useless. Although this gives you more fidelity to protect the company data, we still strongly recommend you secure each of your employees machines. It’s important to keep them informed on how they can avoid getting viruses, how they can make sure that they do not get their passwords phished, as well as use proper password protocol. From within a company, you can now ensure that only the correct person is getting access to a specific document, and that sensitive information isn’t being shared to the wrong person. 

Keep it Updated

Maintenance, especially on-site maintenance, can be accomplished by using cloud services which offer automatic updates since they simply push out updates through their websites without needing everyone to download updates, or the need to install updates on local networks. Since changes are pushed out through the cloud, you can scale up or down more easily, decreasing costs when you have unused space, and upgrade cost when you need to scale up. 

These are just some of the benefits of using the cloud for you company. You will notice that by using network optimized software that receive automatic updates, your employees will be able to organize and format items more clearly while the company remains secure.

Looking for data security and cloud structure for your small business? Consider contacting tekRESCUE, your IT and managed service provider, to see how we can help.

As virtual schooling becomes more common, Chromebooks have become the device of choice for schoolwork at home. While many schools offer devices for students to use at no extra charge, these are often times very low budget machines that aren’t always the best tools for the job. If you or your child could use a device upgrade for virtual schooling this year, check out the infographic below to find tekRESCUE’s recommended Chromebooks for children of all grade levels and college students alike.

If you’re using a screen reader or would prefer to read our recommendations in text form rather than an image, scroll below the infographic for a transcription of its content. Note that tekRESCUE is not affiliated with or sponsored by any of the brands or products featured here.

What is a Chromebook?

A Chromebook is a simple-to-use laptop that runs on Google’s Chrome operating system. They’re streamlined for online work and recreation, but offer less versatility and power than Windows laptops and MacBooks.

Chromebook Pros (Compared to Windows & Mac Devices)

• Lower Prices
• Faster Startup Times
• Easier to Learn and Use the Operating System
• Fewer Distractions from Schoolwork

Chromebook Cons (Compared to Windows & Mac Devices)

• Limited App Support (limited to Google Play Store and web apps)
• Less Computing Power (CPU / GPU / RAM memory)
• Limited Support for Hardware Accessories

Features to Consider

When considering a Chromebook for yourself or your child, it’s a good idea to consider the following features / specs and ask yourself these questions:

Practicality

• How portable is it?
• Can the keyboard detach to create a tablet?
• How durable is it?

Screen

• How large is the screen?
• How good is the display quality and resolution?
• Is it a touch screen with stylus compatibility?

Style

• Is the casing metal or plastic?
• What colors are available?
• Would a teen use it, or would they be embarrassed to be seen holding it?

Power

• What processor is inside?
• Can the device multitask?
• Can it play games after homework is finished?

Storage

• How much internal storage space does it have?
• Is the drive a solid state drive (SSD)?
• Can its storage be upgraded, or are more expensive variations with more storage available?

Extras

• Does it come with or support any notable accessories?
• Does it have any special features to its design, such as a swiveling screen?
• Does it have extra USB drives for connecting accessories?

For Elementary School Students: Lenovo Chromebook Duet

Small and lightweight, this 2-in-1 tablet is perfect for small hands to carry. It includes plenty of storage space and features like front and rear facing cameras to support the latest kids’ education apps.

• Great Practicality—Being a small and lightweight tablet, this device maximizes portability. It includes a keyboard attachment for track pad and keyboard navigation.
• Modest Screen—While a resolution of 1920 x 1200 is impressive for a 10.1-inch touch screen, this LCD display doesn’t offer the best picture quality on the market.
• Modest Style—While there are no colorful variations available, kids can express their personality through the variety of case / stand accessories this tablet works with.
• Modest Power—While an off-brand MediaTek Helio P60T processor won’t provide the same kind of multitasking as an Intel chip might, 4GB of system memory is good enough to run most Chromebook apps with no trouble at all.
• Great Storage—If the already impressive 128GB of internal flash storage isn’t enough, this device comes with a free 100GB Google One trial for backing up files in Google’s cloud servers.
• Great Extras—A combination of front and rear-facing cameras allow for all kinds of possibilities from video calls with family members to augmented reality education apps. A lack of an audio jack is made up for with an included adapter if headphones are needed.

Find this device on BestBuy.com.

For Middle School Students: Acer Chromebook Spin 11

A lack of power and storage is made up for with lots of unique features and accessories all rolled into a portable package that’ll make classmates jealous.

• Great Practicality—This laptop’s compact, portable size is supplemented by a hinge design that allows for 360° rotation, allowing it to be used as a versatile tablet or laptop.
• Modest Screen—With an unimpressive 1366 x 768 resolution, its 11.6-inch LED backlit screen won’t provide the greatest display quality. On the other hand, touch functionality and stylus compatibility make this a substance-over-style screen.
• Great Style—A sleek, attractive design and the above-mentioned 360° screen rotation give this device a real “wow” factor—an asset that might come in handy when trying to impress a middle schooler.
• Modest Power—With Intel’s budget Celeron N3350 processor and the standard Chromebook 4GB of system memory, this laptop can run most supported apps flawlessly, although it isn’t the best when it comes to multitasking.
• Modest Storage—A lackluster 32GB of internal flash memory is offset by a 128GB SD card that comes packaged with the device. Plenty of storage as long as your child doesn’t lose the card.
• Great Extras—This Chromebook comes packaged with all kinds of accessories, from a protective case to extra USB ports and even a supported Wacom stylus.

For High School Students: HP Chromebook 15

With a beautiful display, backlit keyboard and lots of power, this option doesn’t sacrifice on style or versatility—great for school work and after-school recreation alike.

• Modest Practicality—While this laptop offers lots of power for the price, its relatively large and heavy build make it much less portable than the other devices featured here.
• Great Screen—With a full 1920 x 1080 HD resolution, its 15.6” WLED-backlit touch screen offers excellent display quality and touch input versatility all in one package.
• Great Style—A sleek and colorful design set this machine apart from the solid grays of most Chromebooks, and an LED-backlit keyboard offers a stylish coat of icing on the already attractive cake.
• Great Power—While 4GB of system memory may not be impressive, an honest-to-goodness Intel Core i3-8130U processor really shows what it’s capable of in a device that runs the lightweight Chrome OS.
• Great Storage—If the onboard 128GB of internal flash memory isn’t enough, a 100GB Google One trial allows for a versatile, cloud-based option for extending your storage capacity.
• Modest Extras—While this laptop doesn’t come with any unique or flashy accessories, it does boast a full keyboard with a numeric key pad as well as an audio jack adapter—two things that most Chromebooks forego in favor of portability.

Find this device on Amazon.com.

For College Students: Samsung Chromebook 4

This no-frills, no-nonsense option offers a large full HD (FHD) screen at a low price. It’s great for note-taking as well as using all of the web apps you need to stay organized throughout the semester.

• Great Practicality—While this laptop may have a large screen, it still manages to be thin and lightweight. The fact that it has no extra frills or features means you’ll get an excellent device at a very low price.
• Great Screen—This huge 15.6-inch screen boasts full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a minimal bezel, allowing for a beautiful, distraction-free display.
• Modest Style—With a standard gray body and a no-nonsense, basic design, this laptop isn’t going to turn any heads. Its thin, sleek build, on the other hand, ensures that you’ll have an attractive design, even if it is basic.
• Modest Power—With a standard 4GB system memory and Intel’s budget Celeron N4000 processor, this Chromebook won’t be up to too much multitasking—which may end up being a good thing if you’re trying to focus on class work without any distractions.
• Modest Storage—A humble 32GB of internal flash memory should be enough for storing class notes and project files, but more expensive device models with more built-in storage are available if you need more room.
• Modest Extras—This laptop keeps its price low by minimizing its extra features, but it still offers 2USB-C ports for hardware accessories as well as Gigabit Wi-Fi compatibility—useful for virtual meetings with classmates during group projects.

Find this device on Samsung.com.

We hope you found these recommendations helpful in your search for the right virtual schooling device. If you know anyone who could benefit from this sort of information, feel free to share this article or repost the infographic on whatever channel or platform you prefer. And if you need more technology advice or recommendations like these, don’t hesitate to contact a technician at tekRESCUE.

While generally we will not tell someone what specific browser they should use, there are situations that make it clear for some people that one option is better than others. Most browsers that exist today have some upsides with limited downsides, but there are downsides in some form for each browser. In the past, there were generally more downsides, but today, most web browsers adhere to a certain set of uniformed standards.

Google Chrome

One of the most commonly used browsers now is Google Chrome. Chrome is fairly lightweight, simple, and almost every web developer will use Google Chrome as a template, meaning there is little worry that something will not be compatible with Google Chrome. Another great reason to use Google Chrome is the fact that it automatically will work with all Google Apps, and can sync with Mobile Chrome. It also has a huge extension store, with some of the most uniform design standards meaning that their extensions will work for a long time, and offers the widest range of browser extensions. 

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is another great option for anyone who is interested in privacy protection. One very cool feature is that it will alert you if your email is involved in a data breach, something that happens more often than not. This is something that most people do not realize can happen, but often times websites that you viewed years ago, will ultimately be hacked, and if you used the same password on this obscure or even mainstream website as you did for your email, you will ultimately end up getting hacked, and be unable to access tons of other websites. It also has auto-block for pop-up ads, and can also stops fingerprinting, meaning that you will not be recognized across websites as being the same person, protecting your privacy. 

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is Microsoft’s latest browser. In the past, it was not a very great option, but they have added many new features. This browser now offers a very interesting feature called “NewsGuard”, a bipartisan review of news websites that allows you to see if a news organization is reputable, or if it simply puts out opinion pieces, and how often they put out false news. It is running on Chromium, meaning it shares many features with Chrome itself, as well as Firefox. It is also fairly lightweight, but not the most lightweight option. It also now has add-ons available to it. 

Opera

Opera is a lightweight browser that has some cool built-in features and also runs on Chromium. Among these features is the ability to use a built-in VPN, great for getting around local content locks when something isn’t available in your country, or when you do not want your internet provider to know exactly what you are looking up. It is speedy, lightweight, and has a built-in ad blocker. While not everyone develops for it specifically, the fact it is Chromium means it doesn’t matter as much since it is built on a common platform. 

For many people interested in having a mobile app developed, one of their main goals is to reach the widest audience possible and have the biggest impact with their app. This impact might be different for others depending on their type of business. For example, a business app might be to provide coupons or access member plans, while a service or utility app might seek to provide a service in the app itself and provide utility directly; the goal itself is still to reach the widest number of people in regards to your business. If you are developing your app for one specific platform, you might be limiting the reach that your app can have. Developing an app with cross platform in mind can have the bonus of allowing your app to be used as a web app as well as a native phone app.

One for All

One benefit of working in a cross-platform development environment is that it allows you to reuse your code base, meaning that you can save time while developing the app. Because Android, web, and iOS normally use different programming languages, you will end up needing to develop every app from start each time you create for a new platform. The only thing that will be shared between platforms is the graphics and content that you use, but not the code base, meaning instead of building 1 app, you are really developing 2 or 3 different apps altogether. Reusing code means cutting down the time that you must spend slowly transforming each module into a whole other language. By cutting down the work you have to do, you can save time, resulting in quicker development time to get a beta app out, quicker to get feedback, quicker to implement changes, and quicker to ultimately get into the app store. When you are using a single script, you will save time and get your app out the door quicker.

Saving Costly Developers

This process of saving work and time also means that you are saving money. Since often time it is not the same developer that know both iOS programming (Cocoa language) and Android languages (Java), so to develop without developing cross-platform means that you need more than 1 developer to create your app. The fact that not every language has the same capability, something that might be easily done using one language, might be more difficult to do on another.

Rather than each app being different because it is built in a different language, you can have the same look between different platforms. Achieving this same look will not cost you development time, which also helps your brand maintain its design standards. The fact that it is uniform also means that when it comes time to push out updates, you will only have to develop the update one time, saving you both in development and in managing costs for the app.

While most people understand physical hygiene, far fewer have heard of “digital hygiene.”

Digital Hygiene is the process of keeping your digital presence safe, clean, and organized. This can include organizing emails and files, changing what you share with certain accounts, or even using new apps to improve your digital security.

The Benefits Of Good Digital Hygiene

Good digital hygiene is an important part of keeping your information safe online. Everything you do online can potentially expose you to scams or cyber attacks, from sending an email to visiting your favorite social media account.

Ditching your digital junk and keeping better track of what information you share helps to minimize these threats. It can also be pretty satisfying to whittle a massive pile of backlogged emails down to a small list of important exchanges.

Tips to Improve Your Digital Hygiene

Clean Up Your Inbox

No matter who your email provider is, it’s important to remember that emails can share a lot of information. Just accidentally getting your email address on a list circulated by third-party advertisers can lead to security issues. To improve your digital hygiene, try these steps:

• Unsubscribe from emails that are no longer relevant. The weekly newsletters from a magazine subscription you no longer have are just going to keep piling up and causing clutter.
• Check email settings in accounts you still use. If you love Pinterest but don’t want to keep deleting multiple pin suggestions emailed to you daily, change your account settings to turn off these emails.
• Take note of emails from any accounts you’ve forgotten about or no longer need. It’s important to know where your information is still live online.
• Organize your inbox into categories with at least one dedicated to account management and security features.

Cutting down the number of emails you receive and organizing them appropriately decreases the chances that you’ll respond to a scam. If you know who you’re receiving emails from, you’re more likely to notice out of place messages from dangerous sources.

Update Your Gear

Always keep your devices, software, and apps up to date. When your laptop recommends a system update, don’t keep rescheduling the update for months. Updates can contain important security patches without which your information could be vulnerable.

NOTE: A security update doesn’t mean your device wasn’t secure before. It means there are new, up to date ways available to prevent new tactics by scammers and hackers to access your information.

As for old, unused devices, do a factory reset. This keeps random strangers from stumbling onto your digital info should it ever be recycled, donated, or sold.

Delete Old Accounts

Every account you use online, from email to social media to games, has access to some of your information, at the very least your email address. While many of us wouldn’t consider our email address to be “sensitive information” it’s important to keep track of who can access any of your information as much as possible.

While you cannot control what companies do with your data, you can limit which companies your data goes to. Start by getting a list of old accounts you no longer use. Sign into those old accounts, clear any data you can, unsubscribe from their emails, and request the account be removed. Most apps will provide a downloadable archive of your activity on their service if you like.

Some companies will continue to keep some of your information from the account, but deleting these old accounts will prevent this information remaining live online for others to find.

Get a Password Manager

Now that you’ve culled your old emails and accounts, you can focus on active accounts. This is where a password manager is useful.

A password manager is an app that will store and encrypt your login information. Many password managers offer browser extensions that let you autofill login fields when accessing your favorite accounts. This way your password always remains encrypted.

Mixing strong passwords with multiple managers is an effective way to keep yourself guarded online. While some browsers offer password managers, an independent manager is preferable.

Just add your pruned list of accounts and apps to your password manager and then use it to generate a new password. Most managers will auto-update whenever you create a new password and can also work across multiple devices.

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

This security measure requires more than just a password to gain access. Since passwords can be used anywhere, requiring a texted message or a fingerprint greatly stops bad actors from getting into your accounts. If your MFA grants backup codes, type them into your password manager.

Review Privacy and Security on All Accounts/Social Media

While your apps and accounts have a lot of info on you, you can gain some control over them. Check if your apps and accounts allow you to veil critical info like your address or birthday from general users and toggle those as secret as you need. Some accounts, such as Google, allow users to control limited information gathered about their data, so be sure to take advantage of those settings where they exist.

Looking for more information about keeping your digital hygiene in top shape? Contact tekRESCUE, a Managed IT support company in Austin, TX, to learn how we can help.

Maintaining your cyber security while working from home, especially from a personal device, is of paramount importance. Not only could your personal information be compromised, but security breaches can jeopardize entire companies. No one wants to risk their information being stolen. Fortunately, there are several easy ways to help protect yourself and your business.

Protect Your Passwords

Compromised passwords are one of the biggest threats to cyber security, so it’s important to maintain good digital hygiene with your passwords. Following these few tips can help keep your passwords safe:

Use a Complicated Password

While you may be tempted to choose something memorable, such as a birth date or a first pet’s name, passwords that are easy to remember are easy to crack. In 2020 most MSPs recommend that passwords be at least twenty characters long and contain numbers, upper and lowercase letters, and special characters (where allowed).

Never Reuse Passwords

We’ve all heard this before, and yet some technology users are still tempted to use one password for multiple accounts. It is important to use a different password for every account so that in the event that one is compromised, you won’t lose access to everything.

Use a Password Keeper

Remembering all those unique and complicated passwords would be nearly impossible, and carrying written passwords everywhere you go isn’t any safer than having an easy password or one used among multiple accounts. Instead, use a password keeper, which will encrypt and store your passwords for you. We recommend trying LastPass.

Dodge Phishing Attacks

Phishing is a technique used by cyber-criminals to impersonate a legitimate institution in order to get private information from unwary victims. Phishing attacks can occur via phone, text, or most commonly, email. The only way to avoid these attacks is to recognize them as what they are. Here’s how to recognize a phishing email:

Check the Sender’s Email Address

If you receive an email from a sender you haven’t communicated with before or don’t recognize, beware. Always check the email address, not just the name that shows up in your inbox view. If the name is something normal (“John Doe”) but the email address is “xjdc23340@hotmail.com” you may be looking at a phishing attempt. 

Don’t Be Fooled by Official Logos

It’s easy enough to look up an Amazon logo in Google Images and illegally use it in an email to entice people into thinking the email is legitimate. Official emails from established companies will always come from a company email address, never from a personal one. 

Pay Attention to Spelling & Grammar Errors

Many times (though not always) phishing emails will contain a plethora of spelling errors in the body text of the email. Some sentences may not even make complete sense. This can be one of the first and most noticeable signs that the email you’ve received is a phishing attempt.

Beware of Links in the Email

Never click on a link in an email you suspect to be a phishing attempt. Even if you think there’s a chance the email may be legitimate, it’s much safer to contact a company through an official contact method found on their website rather than follow a suspicious link. Phishing links can lead you to websites that will try to steal your information, or even download malware onto your computer.

Beware of Phone Numbers in the Email

Some phishing emails even provide a phone number to call for those that don’t want to click a link. This can lead to stealing your information over the phone. If you are really concerned the email may be legitimate, contact the company through an official channel, not one provided in the suspicious email.

Use AntiVirus Protection for Your Device

Protecting your device with antivirus software is of the utmost importance. Antivirus software helps keep your personal information secure, and also sensitive business information if you have it on your personal computer. 

There is a wide range of malware that can infect your computer, sometimes without your even realizing it has been infected. Antivirus software will attempt to block malware installations from malicious sources. You can also set your antivirus program to regularly scan your device for suspicious applications and files.

Here are some popular antivirus programs you can use to protect your device:

Bitdefender

Bitdefender is an excellent antivirus software. They offer both free and paid plans depending on the level of protection you want. Their malware detection engine is highly touted, which makes both their paid and free options popular choices for protecting your devices. 

Check out Bitdefender.

Avast

Avast also offers free and paid plans. The free plan has a lot of extra features (including a password manager) compared to other free antivirus software. However, users should be aware that Avast Free Antivirus prompts often (very often) to upgrade to the paid plan, which can annoy some users.

Check out Avast.

Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes also offers free and paid plans. However, users should note that a free option is not currently available for the entire antivirus software, only for the malware-removal tool. This makes the free tool an excellent option to use alongside your antivirus software.

Check out Malwarebytes.

! – Think your device is already infected? Contact tekRESCUE to speak to an IT technician who can help.

Conclusion

In closing, keeping your technology secure is important, especially while so many employees are working from home for the first time. Small slip ups can lead to huge security breaches for large and small businesses. Keeping your passwords safe, avoiding phishing attempts, and protecting your information with antivirus software will help prevent these security issues.

Ready to take your device and network security to the next level? Contact tekRESCUE to learn about our managed IT solutions for keeping your business safe.

A good internet connection is the backbone of efficiency, especially when getting things done relies on the internet. With the demand for faster internet growing, so are the technological advancements trying to meet this demand. People want to send messages to get responses instantly and conveniently. In the beginning, all connections were made through cables. You could only access the internet by connecting your PC to an Ethernet cable. Then came the wireless connections, WiFi, which makes it possible to connect and access the internet wirelessly. While WiFi had an overwhelming reception, it did not phase out the use of Ethernet. In this article, we compare and contrast WiFi and Ethernet in detail.

Ethernet Vs. Wi-Fi

WiFi is the most common type of internet connection. It was introduced in 1999 and connects devices without a physical connection. Ethernet connects devices using LAN. It was introduced in 1973 and allows transmission of data over a network.
When comparing WiFi and Ethernet, several factors stand out.

Speed

Ethernet is slightly faster as cables are connected directly to the machine. Wireless networks tend to be a bit slower. Ethernet connections can provide speeds of up to 1000Mbps while Wireless connections with a standard of 802.11g had a theoretical standing of a maximum of 54Mbps. With the latest WiFi standard, WiFi speeds are matching up to their competitors with speeds of up t 3200Mbps.
WiFi speed can also be affected by the number of users connected. Ethernet, on the other hand, is stable as each user is directly connected on their own.

Convenience

Ethernet connections tend to be more stable in comparison to WiFi connections. Ethernet connections usually deliver a consistent speed when downloading or streaming files.
WiFi signals can be affected by external environmental factors. You will quickly notice instability in your connection when you move the router even around your home. While you can stabilize this by identifying one spot with the best connection and sticking to it, it can be challenging to achieve the stability that you can get with Ethernet connections.
On the other hand, WiFi networks are convenient as you do not need a cable to connect to your device. With a password, you can access the internet even on smaller devices such as your phone. This is not possible with Ethernet cables.
There is also no need for multiple cables to allow individual access.

Security

Ethernet connections are generally more secure as any data sent over an Ethernet connection can only be accessed by devices that are physically connected to that network. This minimizes any chances of attacks, data loss, or hacking.
WiFi is an open network, and data is not safe in such networks. It would be best if you were sure that data is encrypted when sending data over an open network. It can even be a lot riskier to send data over a Public WiFi.

Other factors to consider:

• Latency-Latency is the speed with which traffic travels from one destination to another. Wireless connections(WiFi)can have delays as they are not as stable as wired connections(Ethernet).
• Portability-With a WiFi router, you can efficiently work from anywhere provided there is a signal. Ethernet connections will require you to set up near the cable.

Summary

Both WiFi and Ethernet have their strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, your choice of whether to go wireless or wired will depend on your needs along with the practicality of the application.

Times are changing, and businesses are coming up with digitized ways of doing work. Meanwhile, remote working is becoming the norm for modern organizations that look forward to managing their workforce at the lowest cost. However, working remotely presents a unique challenge because of the information security threat. When employees work from home, they are exposed to cyber attacks due to the lack of security controls afforded by an office network environment. Here are some strategies your business can implement to protect your employees when they work outside the office.

Discourage Use of Public Wi-Fi

While most employees isolate themselves socially while working from home, the use of public Wi-Fi is very common among remote workers. A pubic connection increases security risk because other people can access the same network. This potentially allows anyone to easily access crucial company data if there is no firewall. In addition to this, an interested party on the same public system may monitor your workplace data hits and traffic. It is therefore safer to encourage the use of personal networks or hot spots that will ensure that your employees’ data is encrypted.

Enforce Strong Password Security

Password safety is a very reliable means of protecting organizational data. As such, offering password security training is an important step in ensuring that your remote employees’ data is protected. Changing passwords regularly is more crucial now than ever before to ensure maximum security; this should be done every month or after a few months.

Another way to mitigate data security risk is by using a password manager that randomly generates passwords while also storing all the passwords safely. This way, employees will access the company data securely without needing to struggle with remembering all those different passwords every day.

Enforce Use of 2-Factor Authentication

Most companies are currently relying on a two-factor authentication (2FA) approach to secure their data. This ensures that the user’s identity is first confirmed through username and password, then another piece of information is requested, such as a PIN or a “secret question.” With 2FA, passwords cannot be stolen or compromised since it is unlikely that an attacker can guess the correct PIN or question’s answer. You may take a step further by considering a multi-factor authentication, which requires additional verification, such as voice, fingerprint, or retina verification.

Educate your Workforce

Another way of ensuring that your remote workers’ data is safe is to make sure they know how to recognize and stop any security threats. This may require a long-term training and refreshers that help the staff identify the changing risks in the digital working arena. Also, you need a remote work policy that includes security updates, internet access guidelines, and particular messaging applications that would ensure every employee avoids any insecure data access methods. The more informed your team is about cyber security, the more they will be keen on data protection.

Use Encryption Software

Another way to protect remote workers is through the use of encryption software. In case an individual’s device is lost or stolen, the information on the device should never find its way into the wrong hands or cause data breaches. By using encryption software, you will be able to protect the company data against any unauthorized access. Additionally, the programs used for communication should have end-to-end encryption to avoid data leakage.