3 Security Shortcomings to Sharing Files Over the Cloud

One major advantage of the cloud is that it allows users to easily share files. Although, due to just how easy it is to share files, this advantage may also prove to be a disadvantage, especially when inexperienced users are the ones doing the sharing. The next time your business shares a file with a cloud-based file sharing service, be sure to account for these three risks.

Files Shared to Accounts With Poor Password Security
Virtually every cloud service provides individual users with their own account in order to use the service. Each account is protected by a password, often times selected by the user. It is this password that stands between a hacker and the account information, which often includes files sent to the account by multiple users.

As you’re probably already aware, a lot rides on the strength of a password. Hastily made passwords can be easily cracked, and while you may have the most complex-secure password known to man, what guarantee do you have that the person you’re sharing the sensitive file with isn’t using the password “12345”?

From the perspective of an enterprise utilizing the cloud service for file sharing, the security of all the data stored in the cloud is only as good as the weakest password. Therefore, IT administrators will want to take action and make sure that every password connected to sensitive data in any way is strong, and that no sensitive data gets shared to an account with poor password security.

Files Shared With Unauthorized Hardware
An employee may think nothing about accessing their company cloud account using an old laptop at home that isn’t cleared with IT, and that’s a problem. Every new device that connects to your network opens up one more access point to your data. While this might not be much of a concern with a device that’s been cleared by IT, an unapproved device may be riddled with malware or have weak security protocols.

Think for moment if an employee is traveling and decides to check their company email over public Wi-Fi, or they may use the public PC found in the hotel lobby to send and receive files via their company cloud account. You can see how a seemingly innocent move like this can so easily put all of the data connected to the company’s cloud service at risk.

The Security of the Cloud Service Provider Itself
While you may have taken painstaking measures to secure your company’s cloud hosting solution, a random cloud-based file sharing service utilized by an employee may not have such high security standards. This can prove problematic, especially if multiple employees are utilizing multiple file sharing solutions. This is one reason why it’s a smart move to assign a designated cloud-based file sharing solution for your company. Otherwise, your employees may take matters into their own hands and share company files using whatever file sharing app is found on their mobile devices.

With these risks in mind, it’s imperative that you have a secure and uniformed file sharing solution in place. To get started with implementing such a solution, you’ll first want to ask questions like, who should be able to move files? Who is allowed to receive them? What protection needs to be in place when those files are on the move and at rest?

Tip of the Week: How to Locate Hard-to-Find Apps in Windows 10

Your workstation has all of the applications that you need to make it through the workday, but sometimes you’ll be pleasantly surprised by finding a program that you didn’t know was on there. If you’re looking for a specific application, or you just want to see what programs are installed on your workstation, be sure to keep reading for this week’s tip.

The Start menu may have once been absent from the main family of Windows operating systems, but it’s back in Windows 10, and better than ever. With Cortana integration and a built-in search feature, you’ll have no trouble finding exactly what you need, when you need it. We’ll go over some of the ways that you can navigate the Start menu to find your organization’s mission-critical applications in a quick, easy-to-find way.

The first way you can do this is by simply typing for the application that you’re looking for in the Search bar. This is the easiest way to find a specific app, but if you don’t know how to spell it, this might not be the easiest way or the ideal way to find it.

You can also just look through the complete list of programs that are on your computer easily enough. Just click on the Start menu and look in the right column--you’ll see your most used apps at the top, and toward the bottom, you’ll see an alphabetical list of programs on your computer. While you could scroll through these right now, just click on one of the letters in the headings, like A, and see what happens.

You’ll see the alphabet appear, which can be used to find the app that you’re looking for. If you know the first letter of the program, just click on it and you’ll be directed to a list of all programs on your PC that start with that letter. It’s convenient for when you need to find something, but aren’t quite sure where it is.

In general, you can count on Windows 10 to be a big improvement for your organization’s technology infrastructure, whether you’re hoping to improve your user experience or just want to upgrade to the latest operating system.

Are you looking to take advantage of Windows 10 for your business? If so, give us a call at (732) 360-2999. We’ll work with you to ensure that your organization’s technology assets are running at maximum capacity.

Or, if you can’t get enough of our technology tips and tricks, feel free to subscribe to our blog.

Alert: Largest Recorded Breach of Android Nets Hackers a Big Pay Day

A previously known malware called Ghost Push now has a component that has caused countless problems for over a million Android users. This component, called Gooligan, is the source of the trouble, and it adds to this chaos by infecting over 13,000 new devices every day.

Gooligan can steal the authentication tokens that are used to access information stored by Google’s most common offerings. Among these are Google Drive, Google Docs, Gmail, and the G-Suite.

Rather than using the vulnerability to steal data, the criminals seem content with just using the devices to install malicious apps from the Google Play store to generate ad revenue. In fact, according to reports, this primary reason to use Gooligan brings in about $320,000 every month for the fraudsters, which makes Gooligan perhaps the largest Android breach in its history.

Of course, we bet that you’re breathing in a sigh of relief, thanking your lucky stars that Gooligan hasn’t shown any signs of stealing data. When you think about it, this is pretty incredible, as Gooligan could potentially be accessing sensitive information that is stored anywhere on your Android device. Even Google believes that Gooligan is focused more on accruing revenue rather than stealing data, claiming “The motivation… is to promote apps, not steal information.”

Google has taken the initiative and removed apps that include Gooligan from the Play Store, but who knows what other threats are out there, just waiting to be installed on a device? Keeping these threats in mind is key, especially when you have employees using their own mobile devices to access company data. If your employees access the Play Store on their devices, you need to educate them on the effects of Gooligan and how to avoid becoming a victim.

This is why it’s so important that your organization is ready to handle employee devices by following a strong Bring Your Own Device policy. If you don’t already have a BYOD policy in place, be sure to implement one as soon as possible--one that requires any employees using their own devices for work purposes to go through IT and ensure that security protocol is followed closely.

These 3 Car Maintenance Principles Overlap Perfectly With IT Maintenance

Think of your business technology like a car. Sure, it’s a great way from getting from one location to another, but if it breaks down, you’re in big trouble financially. Even worse, you’re stuck without a vehicle for a certain amount of time. Can you imagine purchasing new hardware and losing precious productivity due to downtime?

Here are three ways that your technology failures can be just as painful as your car troubles.

Technology and Cars are Expensive
Your IT budget should be able to take into account the price tags on all of your mission-critical hardware solutions. If it doesn’t, you’re flirting with disaster. If you lose a server unit, your budget could be set back several months. This is one of the reasons why flexible payments are in such high demand among small businesses.

Compared to an automobile, you’re in a similar position. If you take proper care of your car, it can last for a respectable amount of time, depending of course on the make and model. If your car breaks down, it is expensive to fix. Constantly fixing your car becomes difficult to maintain, making smaller payments a better option.

Technology and Vehicles Are Both Necessary
While there are some exemptions, most offices will rely on their technology to carry operations. This is mainly due to technology becoming so prevalent in the business environment. Organizations use it to automate workflows and provide near-constant access to information or applications, making it not only required, but essential. If your technology breaks down, it’s unfortunate, but you won’t be able to access certain information until you’ve solved the issue.

Just like technology, your vehicle is needed to “make progress,” bringing you from one place to the next. Organizations in areas which have access to public transportation may not have to rely so much on vehicles, but the comparison still stands. If the subway is broken down, well… you’re still out of luck.

Technology and Vehicles Need Expert Attention
If you’ve ever tried to fix your car yourself, with no prior mechanical skills and only a handful of online tutorials and articles, you will still struggle. If you aren’t sure where your engine oil goes, you should probably leave your vehicle maintenance to an expert who knows what they’re doing. technology issues are in a similar vein of technical issues that need to be addressed by professionals. If you let just anyone tinker with your technology, you could experience more downtime than you’d prefer--particularly if the troubleshooting turns into more trouble.

Tip of the Week: Free App Lets You Schedule Your Phone’s Volume Level

Your cell phone rings while you’re in the middle of a meeting. Do you answer it? Regardless of if you do or not, the fact remains that it’s embarrassing and that it shouldn’t be happening in the first place. Thankfully, for Android users, you can turn your phone’s volume up or down by scheduling it.

An unexpected ring on your cellphone could disrupt countless types of meetings, but if your phone fails to ring at a critical time, you could miss an important phone call. This constant struggle to control your volume is something which you know you could do without, but how do you schedule your Android’s volume? Thanks to a third-party app titled Volume Scheduler, you can preset volume adjustments based on the time.

This works great when you know you have certain meetings or events coming up. If you know a meeting is coming in the afternoon, you can set the specific time of day when your phone’s volume will be decreased. If you think you’ll need to answer the phone in the event of an emergency, your phone will still be activated so you can make sure that whoever calls you will be able to reach you. It’s a great way to make sure that you don’t look like a jerk when your ringtone interrupts your employees during an important meeting.

This free app also makes sense from a financial standpoint. Since you pay nothing for it, and it works based on the device’s time settings, it won’t accrue any data charges or have any effect on your battery life. This is great, considering how you can know for sure whether your phone will be turned up or turned down.

Of course, another option that you can look into on Android is its Do Not Disturb feature, which lets you allow exceptions for certain notifications on your mobile devices, like alarms and emails. It’s a good way to keep your phone quiet at night while you’re trying to sleep.

What are some of your favorite ways to keep your phone from going off during inopportune times? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog for more great tips and tricks.

Are Your Breaks Not Quite Refreshing Enough? Try These 9 Apps!

There are remarkably few people on the planet capable of filling an entire workday with 100 percent productivity. The human body simply needs to be refreshed. Fortunately, there are a variety of techniques and technologies that let you do just that!

Give the Pomodoro Technique a Try
The benefits of a break can give an employee a definite advantage in completing the rest of their daily tasks, especially if a single task drags on and on for the majority of their day. Allowing their brain to take a rest from this single initiative and focus elsewhere, even briefly, can help prevent them from becoming sluggish and unproductive.

This is where the Pomodoro Technique comes in. Invented in the 1980s by Francesca Cirillo, and named for the tomato-like shape of a kitchen timer, the Pomodoro Technique’s claim to fame is the division of available time into work and break periods. The idea is to not only keep the brain fresh throughout the day, but also to better manage the amount of time spent on each task. After all, a deadline is often a very effective way to promote a focus-benefitting urgency in order to complete a goal.

The Technique dictates that a practitioner work dutifully for a set amount of time, break for another set time, repeating this pattern throughout their day.

Apps that Might Help

• ClearFocus: An Android app-based timer, ClearFocus uses the Pomodoro Technique without calling it the Pomodoro Technique. A user can set timers dedicated to certain tasks, and the app will count down until it’s time for a break, or to move on to the next task.
• Focus Booster: Available online or as a native download, Focus Booster also applies the Pomodoro Technique to benefit the user’s focus, with the added benefits of time tracking and reporting for use in a business setting. However, it is not a free solution. Subscriptions start at a rate of $2.99 per month.
• PomoDone: Another native web app that’s also available for download, PomoDone is another timer that a user can configure to suit their schedule, once it is established how long the subscription will be available.

Get Up and GoA great way to make sure that your break gives you a break from your task is to use it for exercise. Whether or not sitting is all that bad for you, it’s an accepted fact that a bit of movement certainly can’t hurt. If one of your business perks is a gym membership or access to a company exercise facility, commit to utilizing it whenever possible and stick to that schedule.

Of course, not all exercise requires equipment. A simple walk outside can give the body the break it needs and your brain the bonus of a change of scenery.

Apps that Might Help

• Wherever Workout: This Android app gives suggested exercise regimens for an assortment of scenarios, including a workout that can be done in the office. With options that range to accommodate almost any environment, you can get in a healthy bit of activity, wherever you happen to be, and all for free.
• Workout Trainer (Android and iOS): Another free-to-install app, Workout Trainer provides detailed descriptions of a variety of exercises, including those that can be done in the office. Plus, there is very little risk of performing an exercise incorrectly, as Workout Trainer provides plenty of resources to ensure that the user knows how to properly perform an exercise.
• Pedometer & Weight Loss Coach: (Android and iOS)This app serves as a simple step and calorie counter. Once this free app is open, it will track the user’s steps, no matter where they happen to go. Its “History” functions can even provide a pattern of behavior that can be used to make better decisions.

Just BreatheWorking in an office environment can admittedly be stressful. There are deadlines to meet, clients to appease, not to mention the savage jungle of office dynamics to navigate on a daily basis. The thing is, stress isn’t always part of the ideal state for productivity. As a result, employees need to have the chance to collect themselves and clear their heads. Breathing exercises have a long history of allowing just that. In fact, it may include some of the methods we’ve already discussed. The main focus here is that everyone is different, and may relax in different ways.

Apps that Might Help

• Calm: A simple web app that allows the user to listen to some pleasant ambient noises in order to catch their breath and refocus for a moment. Just for a moment, however, as Calm allows them to preprogram a periodic noise to remind them of where they are and what they need to be doing.
• Breathe2Relax: (Android and iOS) If an employee ever feels the need to just take a few deep breaths and refocus, this app can not only inform them on the adverse effects stress can incur within the body, it also provides access to some deep-breathing guides to stabilize their mood.
• Smart Breathe: (Android and iOS) Another deep-breathing app, Smart Breathe simply guides the user through a few simple, centering, deep-breathing exercises. While limited in its accessibility, this app does what it sets out to do. It also doesn’t hurt that the app is free to download and try out.

We all deserve a break every now and then, but there’s no reason that these breaks shouldn’t be used to our advantage in the workplace. These apps, and the strategies they rely on, might help even the most stressed and unproductive employee refocus on the task at hand.

3 Compelling Reasons Why Businesses Should Adopt Data Encryption

Data security is arguably one of the most important parts of running a business, especially when personally identifiable or confidential information is being shared across your network. Yet, some businesses continue to ignore security in favor of a “more convenient” approach which doesn’t hinder operations. When implemented properly, your security not only augments operations, but secures your organization’s data infrastructure.

One of the key ways that businesses secure information is through encryption. Encryption is when data is obfuscated so that hackers who steal information cannot read it. Encryption is best used combined with other security measures like a firewall and antivirus software--solutions designed to prevent data from being stolen in the first place.

Here are three reasons why encryption protocol is necessary for your business’s data infrastructure.

Encryption Improves Security
As we just mentioned, encryption is absolutely necessary, regardless of what kind of data your business dabbles in. You can’t take any risks, and encryption is just another preventative measure to take against the never-ending horde of cyber attacks. You can consider encryption a failsafe mechanism for your business’s data. In other words, even if hackers manage to get around your security measures, the encryption protocol will scramble your data so that it can’t be read. At this point, it becomes a matter of whether or not the hacker deems your data worthy of the time it would take to decrypt it. It’s safe to say that most hackers would rather go for data that garners a higher ROI.

Encryption Augments Compliance
You might be surprised to hear this, but encryption is actually not required for compliance with the various compliance laws like HIPAA. For the most part, compliance laws only call for the implementation of preventative solutions like firewalls and antivirus. However, it’s still important to consider encryption, as it’s certainly better than letting unencrypted files get stolen and sold on the black market.

Encryption Isn’t Necessary--It’s Expected
When you work with services that require sensitive information, do you expect that your information will remain secure? After all, it makes sense for a service like PayPal or Amazon to keep your payment credentials encrypted and secure from hacking attacks. Now, apply this to your own clients. They likely expect the same for credentials and data that you store. It would be a shame for you to report to your clients that their data has been stolen because your infrastructure lacked encryption. This is a situation that could cripple your reputation and lose you valuable clients.