Collaboration is as important as ever, if not more so, to businesses of any size… and with so much work today being done digitally, this collaboration needs to be reliable. Add in the fact that so many people work remotely as often as they do, and it should be clear that all businesses need a means of securely collaborating as part of their successful operations.
Microsoft is once again finding ways to make life easier for your business with Windows 11.
If you ever work on your phone as well as your PC, you’re going to love the new “Hand Off” feature that’s being tested right now.
The idea is this: Let’s say you’re in a meeting or on the move. And you start working on something in Microsoft Word or another app on your phone. Once you get back to your PC, a notification will pop up asking if you want to keep working on the document – allowing you to switch between devices seamlessly.
This feature is made possible through OneDrive’s syncing function. It’s already compatible with Android phones, and it’s likely to work for iPhones too, although that’s not yet been confirmed.
Being able to jump between devices without losing track of work could be a great benefit, especially if your team works remotely.
Although it hasn’t been rolled out just yet, “Hand Off” has clear potential to be a valuable tool for businesses.
Ready to find out more ways Windows 11 could boost productivity in your business? We can help, get in touch.
Some websites have an orange icon with waves coming from a dot in the bottom-left corner. This icon is for an RSS feed. RSS feeds are great for users who want to add the website’s content to an RSS reader—but what does this even mean? Let’s find out.
Financial management and accounting are two business needs that apply to all organizations of any size or industry. Fortunately, these organizations have access to tools like Intuit QuickBooks to help them fill these needs in a way that is accessible and convenient.
Let’s review some shortcuts to help you be more productive in managing your business finances via QuickBooks.
Microsoft recently made changes to the Windows Start menu – and it caused a bit of an uproar.
Here’s what happened: Microsoft tried to streamline the Start menu by grouping related settings together. But they tucked the sign out option behind a three-dot menu, creating confusion for people trying to log out of their accounts.
Thankfully, Microsoft has listened to feedback and is now testing an update to put the sign out button back to where it was before.
This is good news for teams that have multiple profiles set up on one computer, making it easier to switch between accounts again.
These changes are part of a broader update to Windows 11 that’s currently being tested. The update will also bring in new features like media controls on the lock screen for when you’re playing music or videos, as well as the ability to share files directly from your search results.
These updates are great examples of small changes that can have a really positive impact on how your team works.
Is it time for you to move your business to Windows 11? We can help get you started, get in touch.
Successful businesses need to adjust to changes in the market, what customers want, and new industry trends. This means they have to know their business well and be willing to try new things. Let’s look at six key areas where businesses often make changes to stay successful.
Can you tell the difference between your colleagues and a scammer with access to their email account? This is essentially what a business email compromise attack involves—a scammer initiates a phishing scheme using an internal mode of communication. These scams are also observed in schools, making them dangerous in the education sector.
Downtime can be lethal to businesses, not only because too much can lead to failure, but it can easily waste a lot of your team’s time as everyone shifts gears to find a solution. This is why is it best to avoid it as often as possible.
That’s why we’re discussing three of the most prevalent causes of downtime, and what you can do to prevent them.
How cautious are you and your team with online security? You know about phishing scams, dodgy downloads, and not clicking suspicious links, right?
But an even sneakier new malware (that’s malicious software) wants to frustrate you into giving up your Google login details.
The malware doesn’t have a catchy name yet, but it’s part of a larger threat known as “Amadey”, and it’s been on the rise since August.
It forces your PC into something called “kiosk mode” (a setting often used on public computers that only lets you access one window). This allows it to lock your browser in full screen mode, hiding all your usual navigation buttons like the address bar and menus. Then you get sent to a fake Google password reset page.
Normally, you’d just hit the Esc or F11 keys to get out of full screen mode, right? Well, not this time. It won’t work if the malware has infected your PC. It wants to confuse you into thinking you must enter your password to solve the problem.
The password reset page will look like a real Google page. But the second you type in your details, they’ll be stolen by a second piece of malware hiding in the background, falling right into the hands of cyber criminals.
Pretty scary stuff.
But here’s the good news: You can break free without giving up your details.
If your browser gets stuck in full screen mode, try hitting ALT+TAB to switch tasks, or ALT+F4 to force the window to close. Otherwise, try closing it through your task manager (CTRL+ALT+DELETE).
If all else fails, just restart your PC by holding down the power button or unplugging it, then get an expert (like us) to look at the malware.
Prevention is always the best approach, though. Be wary if your computer starts behaving strangely, especially if your browser suddenly goes into full screen mode and won’t let you navigate away.
Avoid clicking on suspicious links or downloading attachments you aren’t sure about. And as tempting as it might be to get past an annoying screen, never enter your password unless you’re 100% sure the website is legit.
If you’d like us to teach your team how to avoid the latest scams, we can help. Get in touch.
Would you feel safe staying at a hotel that, instead of unique locks, each door used the same key as all of the others? Probably not—because if someone got in, they could take whatever they wanted. That’s similar to how old-school cybersecurity worked. Once someone got into a company’s network, they could access almost everything, making it easy for hackers to steal information. But today, many businesses use a better security framework called zero-trust security. In today’s blog, we discuss what zero-trust security is and why it’s safer.
For the longest time, smartphone manufacturers looked to develop devices that came with unique features in all different manners of form factors. Nowadays, however, there are very few phone manufacturers and those that are left have pretty much decided, for now, what the smartphone would look like. Even the ones that fold in half look and function pretty much the same. In this week’s blog, we will take a look at the declining innovation in the smartphone market and why it may not be a bad thing.
It can be difficult staying productive with all the things that happen day-in and day-out around your business. When your team is productive, it helps you stay focused and organized, and it can make a big difference in how successful you are. This week we break down just how keeping productivity levels high can make or break a business.
"I don’t need to worry about cybersecurity… my business is too small for hackers to target."
This is one of the most dangerous misconceptions a small business can have. If you believe this, you may not fully understand how modern cyberattacks work. Let’s break down why this mindset can leave your business vulnerable.
If you’ve ever tried to tweak a setting in Microsoft Edge and found yourself lost in all the options, this one’s for you.
Microsoft is cleaning up the Settings page, so you’ll no longer need to dig around in endless menus to find the setting you need.
What’s changing?
You’ll see a new quick access panel under the main Settings menu, giving you shortcuts to the features you’re likely to use the most.
Settings will also be split into smaller submenus, like “System and Performance” and “Appearance”, making it easier to find exactly what you want.
Better yet? The submenus will have their own quick access shortcuts too.
The improvements will give Google Chrome (which has been praised for its well-organized settings) a run for its money. So if your team doesn’t already use Edge as their default browser, it’s a great time to give it another try.
Microsoft is currently testing the update, and it should start rolling out soon. Once it does, you can expect much smoother navigation.
If you need help making the most of the new features in your business, we can help. Get in touch.
If there’s one thing that helps businesses establish consistent policies and strategy, it’s a good framework. You can use a framework for anything, including network security. Today, we want to walk you through the cybersecurity protection standards as they are outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology so you can better protect your business.
You might remember the buzz when Josh Allen, a digital artist, won first place at the 2022 Colorado State Fair for his digital artwork called "Théâtre D'opéra Spatial." The catch? He created the image using AI. Now, he’s in a fight with the Copyright Office to prove that his work deserves copyright protection.
Losing access to your business’s data – even temporarily – is a nightmare worthy of a horror movie.
Data backup tools create copies of your data and store them in a safe place. If something goes wrong, recovery tools will use these copies to restore your lost files.
So, if your business already uses backup and recovery tools, you’d think your data is safe… but this isn’t necessarily true.
A new report shows that some backup tools aren’t always as reliable as they should be. In fact, a third of all data losses are caused by backup-related issues. When people try to recover data, they discover it’s been lost or corrupted.
It’s not just corrupted backups that you should be aware of.
One of the biggest threats to businesses right now is ransomware. This is a type of malicious software (or "malware") that locks you out of your files unless you pay a ransom to regain access.
The report found that half of businesses using backup tools still ended up paying ransoms to retrieve their files, because it was faster than trying to use their own recovery tools. Even worse? Only a small number of businesses that paid ransoms were able to fully recover their data.
Backup tools are supposed to keep your data safe, so why are they unreliable for so many businesses?
Often, it’s because they haven’t been set up properly. And even when they are, they still need to be verified regularly to make sure they are still backing up your files.
Also, older backup and recovery tools can’t always keep up with today’s sophisticated cyber attacks.
Setting up and maintaining a reliable backup system can be complicated. IT experts (like us) can make sure your tools are running correctly every day.
We can also put in place extra safeguards such as continuous data protection (CDP). This constantly saves changes to your files, allowing you to go back in time and restore your data as it was just before an attack or loss.
This is something we do for businesses like yours every day. If you’d like us to help you too, get in touch.
Cybersecurity has to be a big deal for any business that uses IT, and today, who doesn’t? When your employees don’t follow cybersecurity rules, it can put your business in danger, like getting hacked or losing money. The first step is to figure out why employees aren’t following the rules. This could happen because they don’t know the rules, haven’t been trained enough, or think the rules are too hard or take too much time.
Does your business use Google Workspace for its productivity solution? If so, we’ve got a tip for you—several, in fact, as we explore the various shortcuts available to expedite your productivity. Let’s take a look at some of the lesser-known shortcuts and how your business can use them to power up its efficiency.
Nobody likes getting large support bills from technology companies—especially when they are unexpected. This is the case for both the business owners footing the bill and the employees who might be held responsible for racking up the bill in the first place. This puts SMBs in a bit of an impossible situation; either spend money to keep employees productive, or save money and suffer from productivity issues.
