Don’t Let Spam and a Messy Inbox Hinder Productivity

Email is a communication solution that clearly shows its age, but it’s still a vital component of the modern office. Despite your best efforts to find a better way to communicate, email is a staple that’s proving to be difficult, if not impossible, to adequately replace. Therefore, it makes the most sense to make using email as painless as possible. Here’s how it’s done.

There are a number of challenges presented by the modern email world, and many of them make it difficult to work with email at times.

The Looming Threat of Spam
Businesses all over the world are having trouble with limiting spam. In fact, more than 60 percent of emails that a business might receive can be classified as spam. So much time and resources are wasted on dealing with spam, to the point where it’s almost overwhelming how much it winds up costing you. While the situation has gotten better in recent years with the advent of spam protection solutions, it’s still challenging to keep wasteful messages out of your inbox in the first place. Furthermore, most spam messages contain threats like viruses, malware, spyware, and more, making it potentially very risky to manage these messages yourself.

This is why it’s important that your business eliminates the threat of spam altogether. Not only can it save your business plenty of time and money thanks to your staff not needing to handle these messages personally, but you’ll also limit the amount of threats that your organization is exposed to on a daily basis. Net It On’s spam protection solution can keep spam messages out of your inbox altogether, helping you stay productive and safe.

Email Archiving Management
What do you do with all of the emails that your team sends and receives on a daily basis? Just like with your business’s spam protection, you want to be sure that you have some oversight concerning your email storage. It’s a best practice to store any emails that you send and receive for a set amount of time, and for good reason. You want to be able to hold your staff accountable for messages that they send, and if these messages contain important information, it’s even more vital that you have this data available to you in the event of a disaster, like user error, in which all inbox messages are erased for whatever reason.

Net It On has a solution to this dilemma, too. Our email backup/archiving solution helps you ensure that your emails are stored somewhere safe for your later review. Plus, if you ever need to access old emails for some reason, you’ll be able to easily enough. Your messages, as per your specification, will be available and stored in a secure location, so you won’t need to worry about your messages falling into the hands of less savory entities.

Powerful spam protection and email archiving are only a few ways we can help your business fully leverage communication technology like email. Give Net It On a call at (732) 360-2999 and ask us how we can help your business take full advantage of its technology solutions.

Thanks to Google, Windows XP is About to Get Even More Risky to Use

It’s been over a year and a half since Microsoft gave up support on its extremely popular operating system, Windows XP. Without the necessary patches and security updates, Windows XP becomes a hazardous system to run for average users and business professionals. Now, things are about to get worse as Google cuts support for its popular web browser, Google Chrome, for Windows XP and several other older operating systems.

It’s reported that Google will cease to update Windows XP and other older Apple operating systems with the required patches and security updates for Google Chrome. This means that using Chrome on older operating systems will quickly become a liability, and hackers will find holes in your security much more easily than before. If you’re still using these operating systems when this happens, and you’re primarily using Google Chrome as a web browser, you’ll be in a very bad position security-wise. These changes are expected to occur sometime in April 2016, which just so happens to be the two-year anniversary for the end-of-support date of Windows XP.

The following operating systems will be affected by Google ending support for their Chrome web browser:

• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
• Mac OS 10.7 (Lion)
• Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion)

In other words, the only way to stay secure while enjoying the benefits of Google Chrome, is to use it on a supported operating system. This means updating your legacy hardware solutions to systems that can handle the latest operating systems, since they will be around for a while. The problem with this is that many businesses rely heavily on their legacy technology, and making such a dramatic change to their computing infrastructures isn’t an option if they want to keep operations pushing forward at full speed. When upgrading to more recent operating systems or modern hardware, legacy compatibility is a huge issue that needs to be addressed.

Besides the fact that many businesses feel comfortable with their technology, and don’t feel the need to replace it regularly, the primary problem with legacy technology is that updating is imperative, yet difficult to achieve realistically without the help of tech-savvy personnel. By eliminating support for antiquated operating systems like Windows XP,Google is giving its users an ultimatum: either upgrade to a more recent (and more secure) operating system, or forfeit the security (and performance) of Google Chrome by continuing to use an unsupported web browser. This might give users just the push they need, as being unable to safely use their favorite web browser can be annoying and frustrating.

Keep in mind that people who use the aforementioned operating systems will still be able to use Google Chrome, but not without forsaking security.

If you’re set on using Google Chrome, you want to make sure that you upgrade to systems that are supported. This goes for more than just Google Chrome, though; you want to make sure that all of your technology systems, including workstations and servers, are up to date and compatible with your legacy technology solutions. For help upgrading your technology systems to something from this decade, give Net It On a call at (732) 360-2999.

Tip of the Week: How to Uninstall Useless Apps in Windows 10

Due to users sometimes encountering useless, or potentially threatening, applications, (many of which might have come preinstalled on the device), all Windows users should know (or at least understand) how to remove unwanted programs and applications from their PCs. Fortunately, Windows 10 gives users plenty of options for uninstalling unwanted apps and programs.

Using the Start Menu
In Windows 10, one of the easiest ways to uninstall an unwanted program is through the Start menu. Open the Start menu and select All apps. Find the program or app you want to get rid of, right click it, and select uninstall. So long as it’s not a Windows default app, you can successfully uninstall it by clicking Uninstall. This opens a popup dialogue box that warns of the uninstallation. If you’re absolutely sure you no longer want or need the program, click Uninstall.

Next, you’ll be taken to the Programs and Features window, which is usually accessible through the Control Panel. Locate the app that you want to uninstall, select it, and click Uninstall. Another dialogue box will appear asking if you’re sure you want to Uninstall the program. Click Yes, and the process will be complete. Keep in mind that some programs will require an uninstallation wizard (and perhaps a system restart), which must be completed before the uninstallation is complete.

Using the Settings Menu
You can also go through your Settings menu to remove programs from your PC. Begin by going through Start > Settings, and then click Apps & Features. This should display a list of all programs on your PC. Use the search bar to find your program, or dig through the list of programs yourself. Once you’ve found it, you can click on the program and select Uninstall. Once again, a dialogue box will pop up asking if you’re sure you can to uninstall the program and all relevant information. Click Uninstall to finish the process.

Using the Control Panel
By using the Control Panel to uninstall programs and apps, make sure that you understand that you cannot use this method to uninstall Windows 10 apps. Click the Start menu and navigate to the Control Panel. Go to Programs and Features, select Uninstall a Program, and select the program you want to get rid of. Click Uninstall and work around the dialogue boxes to successfully uninstall the program.

For more great tips on how you can properly maintain and optimize your business’s technology, subscribe to our blog or call us at (732) 360-2999.

Virtualized Computing: Understanding the Differences Between VDI and DaaS

When it comes to implementing virtualization technology for your business, you’ve got multiple options to choose from, with two, in particular, standing out; virtualization desktop infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop as a Service (DaaS). Going with the right technology is paramount to the success of your business. Here are some tips on how to choose between the two.

To begin, let’s establish what the goal of virtualization is: doing more for less. With business technology, you’re going to want a solution that’s easy for the end user to understand, and simple to setup and maintain. Let’s dig into VDI and DaaS and discover how each of these solutions achieve these goals.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
The best way to picture VDI is to think about all of your organization’s virtualized desktops deployed from a centralized location within your in-house IT infrastructure. Virtualizing your network this way comes with advantages, like being able to apply software patches and updates to every connected desktop in one fell swoop. This is a huge timesaver compared to having to go from machine to machine in order to do menial tasks like updating a mission-critical app. Additionally, virtualizing your desktops in this manner saves on operating expenses by cutting back the number of machines you’ll have to operate.

The most appealing aspect of VDI is that it offers companies a level of control over their information that only comes from hosting one’s data in-house. This data can be overseen and managed by your own IT department, or by Net It On’s remote technicians if you’d prefer. As with any in-house IT infrastructure, the responsibility will fall upon you to make sure that the technology is properly managed. If you overlook this major aspect of managing and maintaining your in-house infrastructure, then the many benefits of virtualization would be lost to costly downtime.

Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
The advantage of DaaS comes from the fact that it’s an outsourced virtualized infrastructure. This frees up internal resources to not have to maintain additional in-house IT equipment. When this maintenance responsibility is outsourced to an outside IT provider like Net It On, more of your company’s resources are freed up to be allocated as you see fit. One additional benefit to DaaS is that the outsourced provider does the “computing heavy lifting” for you, meaning that you’re not stuck owning equipment that depreciates.

Making the Right Choice for Your Business
When choosing between these two models of desktop virtualization, it’s not necessarily a question of which one is better, but rather, which one is better for your business. To get to the bottom of this question, it’s a matter of looking at one’s budget. With VDI, you’re operating an in-house IT infrastructure and looking at significant up-front expenses, but if the system is maintained properly, then it’s a solid investment. With DaaS, you’re getting the benefits of desktop virtualization in the form of an operating expense, which helps free up capital.

Of course, every business is different and comes with its own set of unique computing needs. To that end, Net It On is here to walk you through the potentially perplexing problem of implementing enterprise-level technology. Call us today at (732) 360-2999 and be confident that your technology fits your virtualization needs.

Alert: Don’t Call Fake Technical Support Hotlines Provided By Malware

Computer users, beware; there’s an intrusive malware spreading across the Internet that’s capable of locking users out of their web browsers and redirecting them to fake IT support phone numbers. The hacker’s goal is likely to steal sensitive information from users, so it’s especially important that you don’t call this fake phone number.

Little do users know that this is a simple phishing scam tactic that uses the guise of a technology issue to extort important information from them. Phishing scams usually involve spam email campaigns that come with viruses or malware attached to the message, or executes through a form. Thankfully, phishing emails are pretty easy to spot if you know what to look for, and once the email is identified as a scam, you can delete it or ignore it.

The malware in question will activate when you least expect it, and it’s practically impossible to simply ignore (not that you would want to anyway). It can hit your PC without warning, even if it’s while you’re visiting a secure website like Facebook or Google. Once the malware activates, you’ll see what looks like the blue screen of death from Windows PCs. You’ll then be shown a fake tech support message that urges you to contact a displayed phone number to resolve the issue.

The blue screen can’t be closed out of or easily ignored; instead, the malware will completely freeze up the browser, leaving you with only two options to get rid of it. You could manually force the browser shut with the task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete), or restart your computer completely.

This kind of fear-mongering tactic is known as social engineering, a modern method for hackers who are trying to get past security measures by taking advantage of end-users. Social engineering attacks are designed to instigate an emotional response from the end-user, ranging from fear and frustration, to empathy and friendliness, depending on which medium the hacker is contacting the end-user from.

Having to use the aforementioned methods of bypassing this malware can have disastrous results, like causing downtime and deleting unsaved data. Furthermore, rebooting your system doesn’t guarantee that the malware is gone. If the malicious file is still on your computer, it will remain on the hard drive and could appear again at any moment. This is why, if you want to get rid of the malware for good, you need to eliminate the root cause of the problem by safely removing the infected file from your PC.

To reiterate; DON’T CALL THE PROVIDED PHONE NUMBER. The blog Delete Malware explains the risk: “If you call [the number] they won't actually remove adware from your computer. They will hijack your computer and steal all of your bank information and passwords. They are crooks, don't call them!”

Instead of relying on sketchy phone numbers in pop-ups on the website, you should contact the real IT professionals at (732) 360-2999. Calling a fake phone number is exposing your organization to the scam on a personal level. Hackers will take advantage of anyone who they think doesn’t know the slightest thing about IT-related issues like hacking attacks and social engineering scams, but it’s your organization’s unfamiliarity with your IT department that will really throw your business under the bus. Hackers want to instill confusion and panic in the hearts of your workers, which will ultimately lead to costly error.

Hackers posing as IT professionals isn’t an unheard-of concept. In fact, it’s one of the more common social engineering tactics that hackers try to pull off. Hackers count on your business’s employees to trust your IT support with sensitive information, making it a great cover for hackers… even if it’s spitting in the face of the legitimate IT professionals out there. You should make sure that your organization’s employees are familiar with your IT staff, as well as how to contact them if they need help. By doing so, you’ll be giving them contact information that they can cross reference for any potential social engineering hacks, like the “blue screen of death” malware.

By integrating proper monitoring and maintenance protocol for your business’s IT infrastructure, Net It On can help protect your business from hacks of all kinds, be it social engineering or more traditional campaigns. We can remotely locate and eliminate threats so that your organization can stay productive. Remember, you should only contact the real IT pros at (732) 360-2999 for any technology assistance.

 
Network security is more important today than it’s ever been before, especially in light of several concerning developments in targeted hacking attacks. Unfortunately, many employees (and even some employers) don’t know or understand how to follow various security best practices. By ensuring that every single one of your employees understands the importance of cybersecurity, you can exponentially increase your organization's network security.

The best part about educating your employees on how best to handle cyber security, is that it doesn’t have to be difficult. Even some basic security practices are capable of improving your data security and business continuity. Consider the following measures for enhancing your business’s data security.

Check your password security protocol: Your team members should always be using security-optimized passwords. This means using both upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Furthermore, no accounts should be using the same passwords. It might be difficult to remember so many complex passwords, but using an enterprise-level password manager can help with this.

• Monitor access logs: Your network has several users accessing it on a daily basis, including those who work remotely. They need access to mission-critical data and applications in order to facilitate operations. You should be keeping track of who accesses your network remotely, primarily because if hackers gain access to administrator credentials, they can potentially (and legitimately) access the network and bypass your security measures. If this happens, the only way to know is to monitor your access logs. Nobody should be accessing your network from the other side of the world.
• Restrict access on a user basis: How many of your employees are privy to information that they shouldn’t have access to? For example, no employees besides your human resources or financial departments need access to credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and so on. By limiting who within your organization has access to sensitive information, you can essentially limit its exposure to potentially hazardous threats.
• Integrate proper security measures: In cyber security, sometimes the most basic measures are the most effective. Are you using a firewall solution? Are you taking advantage of enterprise-level antivirus software? What about content filtering and spam blocking solutions? All of the above can be taken advantage of in a Unified Threat Management solution, which maximizes your data security.
• Monitor and maintain operating systems and software: When your business takes advantage of so many different pieces of software, you know that it can be a challenge to keep them all up to date and secure. If you fail to install the latest patches and security updates, your organization could be staring down the barrel of compliance fines and data breaches. Net It On has a remote monitoring and maintenance solution that’s designed to keep a close eye on your network, so that the moment critical patches and security updates are made available, they are deployed quickly and efficiently.

For more information about how you can keep your organization’s network secure from both internal and external threats, give us a call at (732) 360-2999.

Tip of the Week: You Won’t Believe These 4 Common Items that Mess With WiFi!

Wireless Internet access is something that a lot of people take for granted, yet we all complain about shoddy Internet connections from time to time. Little do they know that some of the most common issues with their wireless connection could be ordinary appliances and other conflicting technologies. You might be surprised by what they are!

Outdated Router Hardware
The technology that produces the wireless network, like your wireless router, could have a lot to do with the quality of your wireless signal. This is usually the case with businesses that haven’t updated their wireless technology since it was first installed. Old routers have trouble keeping up with the increasing traffic commands of growing networks, and this places too much strain on your aging network. This is why it’s so important to make sure that your business’s wireless solutions are always meeting the preferred specifications. Otherwise, it can lead to downtime and loss of access to critical systems. Periodically updating your router hardware is a solid way to minimize this risk. Net It On can aid your business in finding a new router that will meet your specific needs.

Ordinary Household Electronics
What many people don’t realize is that common appliances can potentially interfere with the quality of your wireless connection. Even something as simple as the break room microwave, or the cordless phones connected to your landline, can cause trouble for your wireless network. As reported by PCWorld, “Most problems with cordless phones and microwaves involve products that use the 2.4GHz band.” This is because microwaves and WiFi connections use the same frequency, and the problems are most often associated with 802.11b and 802.11g routers, Bluetooth devices, and so on. Other appliances that can mess with your wireless signal include, but are not limited to: baby monitors, electric blankets, toaster ovens, and much more.

Nearby Wireless Networks
In much the same way that household appliances cause wireless issues, other wireless connections are broadcast through the 2.4 GHz frequency. Just like a highway, this frequency has too much traffic and can quickly grow congested, especially in high-population neighborhoods. This has negative effects on the performance and range of your wireless connections. By taking advantage of a router that can handle both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies simultaneously, your business can free up room on its network by allowing your technology to run on two potential frequencies at once. This is ideal for a lot of networks thanks to many modern devices, like smartphones, wireless devices, gaming devices, and laptops, having the capability to function on both frequencies. Still, you should never purchase new hardware without first consulting technology professionals, like those at Net It On; especially when it concerns your business’s WiFi connection.

Walls and Other Physical Obstructions
Walls might be used to keep things out or section off your office, but they can block access to your wireless network if your router isn’t placed in the proper location. You want to place your router in a location that can broadcast WiFi to your entire office, plus any other locations that you want to be able to use it. Other obstacles that can get in the way are concrete and metal, so carefully consider the infrastructure of your office before committing to a router placement strategy.

Christmas Lights
We hate to seem like a Grinch, but ISPs and computer companies tend to get an increased number of calls around the holidays because Christmas lights can interfere with wireless signals. Blinking lights tend to cause the most issue, reducing the effectiveness of your WiFi by up to 25 percent. When decking your halls, keep in mind that being too festive could cause network issues.

If finding the right routers or hardware has you worried, don’t sweat it. Net It On has your back. For more information about our wireless networking service, give us a call at (732) 360-2999.