TechTidBit - Tips and advice for small business computing - Tech Experts™ - Monroe Michigan - Page 22 of 97

Goodbye 2020! Here’s How To Boost Productivity In 2021

January 29, 2021

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

What a year we’ve left behind. Thankfully.

Although we didn’t have control over many of the negatives, there were some positive changes we could implement, especially with our businesses.

Many businesses now have people working from home on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. We’ve seen offices downsize and change. More flexible locations and schedules are being implemented.

As much as no one asked for this, it’s been great to see how many businesses that we work closely with have adapted and become more flexible.

This flexibility often results in a more motivated, engaged workforce who really appreciate the ability to work different hours and often work from home (WFH). [Read more…] about Goodbye 2020! Here’s How To Boost Productivity In 2021

Network Changes Can Affect More Than Your Internet Connection

January 29, 2021

Mark Funchion is a network technician at Tech Experts.

There are some areas of your technology that you may think of as “your area” to handle, but often, what might seem like a minor change or swap can be more complicated. This is especially true when it comes to any changes you make to your location that involve your network or Internet in any way. When it comes to these, we may be able to assist or at least make the transition easier.

One example of this is your Internet service and your Internet provider. Maybe you have Service A, but Service B calls and offers you more speed for less money. Sounds great! You sign up and schedule the install. Service B shows up, installs new equipment, and leaves after testing the connection from their device. The next thing you know, your PCs are not working, your phones are having issues, and no one is happy with the change.

The cause of the issues? That equipment relies on the Network Address of your Internet device (your modem), and when you change providers, this information changes too. The same thing can happen even if you are just upgrading or getting new equipment from the same provider. When they come out and do the basic set-up at your home, everything typically reconnects fine, but at your business, there are usually too many moving parts for that to work.

This also applies if you change your phone system. If you have an old style phone system and are switching to an IP-based phone system or you move from one IP provider to another, there are rules in place on your equipment that would prevent this change from working properly.

The easiest way to lessen the chance of issues is to call or email us first as far ahead as possible. We can assist in the transition and make it easier on you and your staff. In addition, planning ahead avoids a disaster where your location suddenly goes down and everyone is scrambling to find the cause.

Sometimes, it may not seem like we need to be involved – especially when, on the surface, it seems like a simple swap or adjustment – but it’s much better for us to be available for you in case of an issue. Your network is full of tiny moving parts that are reliant on other tiny parts, so often, things that may not seem like they would be affected can be.

Allowing us to use our expertise and experience not only simplifies your day, but also makes sure you get the right solution for your business rather than relying on the cable, Internet, or phone company to make a recommendation when they do not know your business like we do.

Remember: we are your partner, and the happier your network is the happier we all are. Please reach out when you’re considering a change in your network, Internet, or phones, so we can make sure the change goes as smoothly as possible and doesn’t leave you scrambling after the fact.

Does Your Team Need An At Home VoIP Upgrade?

January 29, 2021

As work from home (WFH) rolls into another year, don’t forget to look at the phones your team use.

You don’t just have to default to them using their mobile. There’s a huge amount of choice available.

For example, you could easily let them access your business’s usual VoIP phone network from their home. So, people can still direct dial them on the same number.

There are huge benefits to this. Apart from helping them to compartmentalize work calls and personal calls, the sound quality of calls on VoIP can be significantly better than on a cell phone.

In terms of the equipment needed for this, that can be tailored to each person’s personal preferences. Some will want a traditional handset. That’s easily done. Others will prefer a headset. And some may just want the VoIP software on their laptop and not have a “proper” phone at all.

All these options (and more) are easy, and allow you to give each member of your team the setup that suits them.

Hardware Shortages Continue Amid Pandemic

January 29, 2021

When the pandemic hit and lockdowns were enforced, many people moved to working from home, including students.

Businesses and schools had to adapt to their new circumstances and embrace remote functionality to continue on.

So what does this have to do with a hardware shortage?

Many students were supplied Chromebooks by the school, and if they didn’t already have enough, schools suddenly needed devices for their student body.

And that’s on top of folks needing laptops to work from home. Everybody who didn’t already have a laptop suddenly needed one.

This demand continues to be a problem for manufacturers. Companies like HP and Dell, two of the three largest PC manufacturers (Lenovo being the third), have been reporting issues with PC parts.

When the pandemic first hit, there was a shortage of many components, but RAM stood out as one of the shortest supplies. Recently, CPUs and boards have had issues.

It’s difficult to adequately meet demand when your product is missing essential parts – but that demand is persistent and isn’t just going to go away while we’re still working and learning remotely. Much like the craze we’ve been seeing for recent video game consoles, devices are selling fast when they are available.

HP reports that its PC sales are up 7% annually overall with a 25% increase in notebook sales and a 31% decline in desktops. This is a good indicator that people are prioritizing being able to work anywhere, whether that’s the office or between different rooms at home.

HP also reported that their Chromebook sales more than doubled this year. The PCs and Chromebooks are flying off the shelf.

Dell reports 14% consumer revenue growth and 5% commercial. The commercial increase is directly related to government orders, as well as schools; those large orders for notebooks or Chromebooks pushed Dell’s commercial sales.

Dell also reported double-digit growth in major categories because of the need to work from home. They had four different models that exceeded the double-digit growth reported.
With all of the increase in sales, it is understandable that there is a shortage. It wasn’t only Dell and HP experiencing the shortage either.

High-end gaming PCs are becoming hard and harder to equip as the high-end equipment is also harder and harder to come by.

Companies like NVidia are struggling to keep GDDR6, the RAM used in video cards, readily available.

Nvidia also has a new desktop PC, which has been unavailable too. Along with AMD’s new RX6000, these items are not only out-of-stock, but are commanding a premium on the resale market.

Those who CAN get them are profiting off the demand (again, much like the people buying up and reselling PS5s and Xbox consoles).

Even Apple is having supply issues. It was reported that supplies are still low for Macbooks.

We’re seeing the pandemic’s impact in areas most people wouldn’t consider and watching it happen to companies we would expect to be invulnerable.

Things will eventually even out and stabilize, but until then, we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out, just like everything else during this pandemic.

AI Will Affect Every Business In The Years Ahead

January 29, 2021

Artificial intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to learn and adapt their behavior as they gain experience.

The code that powers AI gets smarter and smarter as it’s exposed to more data and scenarios.

As computers have developed more processing power, AI has become useful in lots of different ways. We believe every business will be using some form of AI in the years ahead.

AI is already being applied in many different industries to carry out a range of specific tasks with more and more use cases expected to emerge over the coming years as the technology gets more sophisticated.

AI is embraced by businesses because it can make their products and processes much smarter.

It can also save lots of time and remove the need for employees to do repetitive, manual tasks.

Using AI can optimize existing business processes and result in a significant boost in how your business performs.

A key feature of many AI applications is the ability to process huge amounts of data very quickly. This can give you real-time insights into opportunities and challenges as they occur.
Plus, the information can help you plan more quickly and with more clarity. So, this is all well and good for big businesses… but how will you use AI in YOUR business?

The chances are that you’re already using some form of AI in your business. It’s increasingly built into the software that we all rely on every day.

But are you taking full advantage of what’s available? As a business, we track the latest applications that use AI to help protect us from cybercrime and help staff collaborate and communicate better, to get their jobs done faster.

Let’s talk about the latest smart applications that can help you.

While many types of businesses are using AI to improve a wide range of processes in a variety of different settings, banking, retail, and healthcare offer good examples of how AI can be used.

Many online retailers use AI to offer personalized shopping recommendations. These recommendation algorithms analyze data on previous clicks and purchases.

The more recommendations are tailored to your personal tastes… the more you end up buying.

With a huge number of transactions flowing through the global financial system each day, banks are increasingly relying on machine learning and AI to automatically detect fraud.

Working in real-time, AI helps banks to block dodgy transactions before they happen.

This is key as stolen money can be difficult to track down and get back once it’s left the victim’s account.

Artificial intelligence is also transforming healthcare.

By giving medical professionals accurate data and insights, they can work faster while providing high-quality care to more patients. It also helps doctors make better treatment decisions and diagnose patients with increased speed and accuracy.

AI can help to encourage healthy living by coaching people on actions they can take to improve their health. For example, a smartwatch may learn an individual’s behaviour patterns, and send well-timed notifications to start exercising if it notices they’ve been sitting still for too long.

Would Your Business Survive The 4 Beer Test This Christmas?

December 1, 2020

So, it’s unlikely you’ll be having a traditional office Christmas party this year. Thank COVID, you party-pooper.

But I’m sure at least some of your team will find a way to celebrate together over a few beers after work one day.

And that’s why it’s worth asking if your business can pass the four beer test.

What’s that? Four beers is about the stage where people start to “relax” so much, they start to forget the important stuff. Like picking up their laptop bag when they leave the bar or restaurant.

Laptops and mobile devices get left in bars and restaurants all the time, especially on dark winter nights like these.

Thing is – depending on your IT setup, a lost laptop can either be a minor inconvenience. Or a complete disaster.

How can you tell which? By asking these 3 questions:

• Is it encrypted?
• Is it password protected?
• Can the data be wiped remotely?

If it’s a “yes” to all three, you can relax. It’s annoying you’ve lost your device… but your business’s data is safe. No one can access it.

And if you can’t positively answer all three, there’s a problem. These days, the loss of data is a much bigger deal than the loss of a device.

If you’re not 100% sure you can answer all 3 questions with a big fat YES… then give us a call. We can check for you.

Pandemic Continues To Affect Business Models (Even Microsoft’s)

December 1, 2020

Jason Cooley is Support Services Manager for Tech Experts.

The global pandemic continues on, and here in the United States, we are once again seeing numbers surge after a few months on the decline.

With the holiday season approaching, many are changing and cancelling their usual plans. Many employees are still working from home when possible. Everyone – from tech giants to a small mom-and-pop business on the corner – have been affected in some way.

So, with a reduced workforce, what does that mean for a company like Microsoft? For starters, they are pushing back end-of-support dates. One of which is Windows 10 1803, which had its support extended by six months.

This is partly due to the impact the pandemic has had on Microsoft, but beyond that, it is because many businesses cannot operate normally right now. This is obviously problematic on many levels. The last thing a business owner or company needs is to push out updates without the proper support in place.

Productivity may be down in some cases as people adjust to workflow changes and remote working, but many have become more comfortable with their new normal. They have hit their stride, if they missed a step at all, and Microsoft has opted not to disrupt that.

If a giant like Microsoft is adjusting their business models and plans, the impact is sure to reach the little guys. Although a majority of businesses rely on technology and computers in some capacity, not everyone has the capability or the support needed to move to a completely remote business model, even temporarily.

For a managed service provider like Tech Experts, managing clients remotely has been our primary focus for years. There will always be times that even we need to physically be somewhere to perform certain tasks, but in a pandemic, even for us, that number has decreased.

Some industries are more reliant on physical presence to be effective, which completely shakes up their operations.

In Monroe, schools have now switched to all online classes. Most students were already primarily remote, and due to surging cases, they have now switch to online.

I sat in on parent teacher conferences last week. During the conferences, I spoke to different teachers, and I gained some perspective on how the pandemic has affected their classes and their interactions with students.

More than one teacher specifically mentioned how, even on Zoom, it feels like they are teaching to an empty room or a black screen. Participation is down, but usually, school work comes in without issue.

Remote capabilities are in place, but it’s a very different experience than sitting in classrooms with peers.

Whether you’re an IT pro, doctor, lawyer, insurance agent, teacher, or student, your days this year surely look a lot different than they have in the past. We’re getting by as well as we can under the circumstances, trying to make things work with what we have.

Even with a vaccine on the way, things may never be exactly the same again. Work-from-home positions may become more popular or widely offered. Traveling for meetings will be less likely as many companies have gotten used to teleconferencing. Some students may flourish in online school and cause the industry to expand.

Changes aren’t always easy, but hopefully, the things that can be improved will be. No matter how it has affected you, the pandemic will not be missed.

Happy Holidays: The Season Of Cyberattacks

December 1, 2020

The year 2020 has, in many ways, been the year of COVID. Whether or not you have had COVID-19, it is a safe bet that your life has in some way been impacted by the pandemic.

As is usually the case, cybercriminals are at the forefront of exploiting every opportunity they can.

A look at Google trends for coronavirus (https://trends.google.com/trends/story/US_cu_4Rjdh3ABAABMHM_en) shows how prevalent the topic is and continues to be.

This desire for information has led to a third of the cyberattacks in the United States (and a quarter of the attacks in the UK) being coronavirus-related. Like most cybersecurity attacks, these are often of the ransomware variety.

These attacks are increasingly targeting heath care facilities, but anyone can be a target. Since these medical facilities are overwhelmed and COVID leads most of the news today, people are on data overload while trying to manage their immediate concerns – and can become complacent when dealing with potential threats.

As we must remain vigilant in keeping ourselves medically safe, we must do the same to keep ourselves technologically safe. A few best practices are:

• Don’t open an attachment unless you know who it is from and you are expecting it.

• Use the same level of caution with email messages that instruct you to enable macros before downloading Word or Excel attachments as you would with a live cobra. Don’t touch it!

• Use anti-virus software on your machine, and make sure it’s kept up-to-date with the latest virus definitions.

• If you receive an attachment from someone you don’t know, don’t open it. Delete it immediately.

• Learn how to recognize phishing:

– Messages that contain threats to shut your account down

– Requests for personal information such as passwords or Social Security numbers

– Words like “Urgent” – a false sense of urgency will encourage you to act

– Forged email addresses

– Poor writing or bad grammar

• Hover your mouse over links before you click on them to see if the URL looks legitimate.

• Instead of clicking on links, open a new browser session and manually type in the address.

• Don’t click the “Unsubscribe” link in a spam email. It would only let the spammer know your address is legitimate, which could lead to you receiving more spam.

• Understand that reputable businesses will never ask for personal information via email.

• Don’t send personal information in an email message.

Tech Experts can assist with keeping you safe by providing support, running backups, and ensuring that your devices and software are up-to-date.

However, even with these safeguards in place, it is important that you do your part and do your best to act responsibly and thoughtfully when dealing with technology.

Messages that ask you to click for COVID news, updates, cures, etc. that you are not expecting should be treated as a potential threat. Obtain news from trusted sites.

While our interest in COVID is high, that is what makes it such an effective method of lowering people’s guards. Relatedly, as we head into the holiday season, watch out for “There is a problem with your delivery – click here” emails and other similar traps.

If cybercriminals, hackers, and spammers can find an opportunity, they’ll take advantage of it regardless of a global pandemic or the holidays. You’ve got enough on your plate; staying vigilant will go a long way in preventing the headaches of cyberattacks or identity theft.

Four Signs You’re Under Attack From Ransomware

December 1, 2020

You’ve probably heard a lot about ransomware recently. This is the computer attack where a hacker locks you out of your systems and data. And you must pay a ransom, typically in Bitcoin, to get access again.

While it’s not a new crime, it’s one of the fastest growing crimes online because it’s so lucrative to criminals. Thanks to COVID and work-from-home, more and more businesses are unintentionally opening themselves up to the threat.

In fact, it’s estimated there are more than a hundred calls to insurers every day relating to problems caused by ransomware. Unless you take necessary precautions, your business could fall victim.

But how do you know you’re not already under attack? Because here’s something most people don’t realize about ransomware. If a hacker gets access to your systems today, they won’t launch the attack right away. It can take around 60 to 100 days – if not longer – from the time you’re breached, to the delivery of ransomware.

You might be wondering why these cybercriminals spend such a long time launching their attack. They spend weeks or more just skulking around, investigating your network for weaknesses, and waiting for just the right time to maximize their profit.

So how do you know if you’re under attack? And what do you do if you are? Here are four of the best ways for you to check that your network is safe and secure.

Check for open RDP links
What’s an RDP link and how do you open or close it? We don’t want to get too techy here, so put simply, an RDP (or Remote Desktop Protocol) is Microsoft technology that allows a local computer to connect to and control a remote PC over a network or the Internet.

You’re probably utilizing this kind of thing if you’ve had any of your people working from home this year, as it makes remote access a lot easier. But RDP links left open to the Internet are a very common route for cybercriminals to enter your network.

Look for unexpected software
One of the methods ransomware gangs use to take control of your system is certain software tools. It’s important that you use a network scanner to check exactly what’s running and who’s running it.

Often, cybercriminals will take control of just one PC first, perhaps using a phishing email to persuade someone to click on a bad link without realizing it. Once they have control of one PC, they can then target the entire network.

Criminals also utilize tools to steal your passwords and log-in credentials. If you spot anything unfamiliar anywhere in your system, contact your IT support partner, who can investigate further.

Monitor your administrators
Your network administrators typically have the authority over which applications are downloaded to your network. So what’s the best way for hackers to download the applications they need? They create a new administrator account for themselves.

Then they can download whichever tools they need to compromise your network.

Check for disabled tools and software
Once the cybercriminals have administrator rights, they can locate and disable your security software. You can tell that an attack is close to being launched if something called Active Directory and your domain controllers are disabled.

Next, any backup data the criminals have found will be corrupted. And any systems that automatically deploy software will also be disabled to stop your attempts to update your computers after an attack.

It’s worth remembering that this will all be done slowly. Your hackers will take their time because that makes it much harder to detect them.

Once an attack has been launched and your data held to ransom, most of the time there’s little you can do other than attempt to restore backups. Or pay the ransom.

The hackers have normally been so thorough with their preparation that even the best IT security specialists have few options open to them.

So, once you’ve detected that something might be wrong, what can you do to stop an attack from being launched?

You can force a password change across your core systems, which many times will also throw your attackers out.

Monitor your administrator accounts. This may sound like a simple step, but you’d be surprised at how often it’s neglected.

Keep all of your software and security patched and updated. It’s very tempting to click ‘later’ on updates. But saving a little time now is not worth the huge amount of time and money that you’ll lose should you become the victim of a ransomware attack.

Implement multi-factor authentication across all of your applications, if you haven’t already. This adds another level of security for your network and helps to prevent unauthorized access.

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