Tip of the Week: Get the Most From Your Company’s Email With These 3 Tools

As a small business grows and takes on more employees and adds more departments, one aspect that becomes increasingly difficult to manage is email. Essentially, you go from using a handful of email addresses to managing dozens of accounts. If it feels like you’re losing control of your company’s email situation, then you’ll want to implement the following email solutions.

Email Archiving
The email accounts of business owners are constantly getting bombarded from all sides. Emails dealing with sales tickets, vendors, employee issues, and even personal messages all pile up in the inbox and can feel a bit overwhelming, especially when many of these messages are too important to delete. This is precisely why every business owner should have an email archiving solution.

With email archiving, your messages are stored in a secure location that you can access as needed, and all of your saved emails are organized in such a way that you can easily find what you’re looking for. By enacting such a solution, your inbox will be less cluttered with old messages, which will help relieve the anxiety that comes with checking your inbox. Plus, think of how advantageous it would be to search your email archives for information regarding a super old issue that’s cropped up again and to find the relevant email within seconds (instead of having to continuously scroll through your inbox).

Multi-Factor Authentication
Securing your company’s email accounts should be at the top of every business owner’s to-do list. While there are many layers to securing a company’s network and taking advantage of all of them can get complicated, one simple-yet-effective security measure you can enact for all of your company’s email accounts is multi-factor authentication. This is a way of tying each account to a second security protocol (in addition to the standard username/password), like an SMS message sent to a mobile device. The advantage here is seen when a thief successfully steals user credentials and still won’t be able to access the account because they’re not in possession of the connected mobile device--an impossible heist for a hacker on the other side of the world.

Spam Filtering
Spam is a serious problem for businesses. In addition to being a major security risk, employees that have to deal with spam lose a lot of company time and precious productivity. When it comes to spam, the best approach to dealing with it is by eliminating it altogether. This can be accomplished easily enough by making sure you have a spam filtering solution in place.

These are just three ways that Net It On can assist your business with its email needs. As your organization continues to grow, you’re going to need enterprise-level technologies that can grow along with you. Net It On is standing by to equip your business with solutions that will improve efficiency, security, and overall productivity. Call us at (732) 360-2999 to set up your IT consultation today!

Scareware Isn’t Scary if You Know What to Look For

The popularity of security software has required malware distributors to be clever with their delivery methods. This is why rogue security software exists, and why you need to be absolutely certain that your network doesn’t have these fraudulent programs installed.

The concept of rogue software is very simple: online security and its importance have only grown in urgency in the last few years, especially with the news being filled with story after story of the damage the latest hacking attacks have caused. Therefore, when a message appears claiming that a virus was discovered on their computer and they need to download the latest “antimalware” tool (that is actually a malware delivery package), the target often clicks “Okay” without hesitation.

Technically speaking, rogue security software of this type is classified as a form of scareware, a classification it certainly lives up to through its reliance on intimidating its victims with tales of detected malware infections. The fact that these pieces of rogue software often earn their propagators a commission for spreading them, doesn’t make the situation any less concerning.

One rogue security software scam includes the software reporting viruses that aren’t there, or, even worse, were put there by the software itself. On the other hand, some of these programs will intentionally fail to report issues on your PC so that these issues can continue to propagate without your knowledge. Some programs even prevent legitimate antivirus software from updating, or can go so far as to prevent the user from visiting the websites of legitimate antivirus vendors.

Law enforcement has begun to take steps against these kinds of software, but due to a slow start on their part, your own vigilance is still your best defense. Kaspersky Lab has a useful list of known rogue security software, providing a list of software to avoid.

Domino’s Invests in a Global Fleet of Pizza Delivery Robots

On March 29th, Starship Technologies, a self-driving robotics company, announced a partnership with Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, a franchisor for the Domino’s Pizza brand in Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Japan, and Germany (totaling over 2,000 stores). This new affiliation allows Starship Technologies to build a fleet of autonomous delivery robots, helping Domino’s with its eventual delivery person shortage, based on the company’s growth estimates for the next 5-to-10 years.

Don Meij, Domino’s Group CEO and Managing Director says that, “Robotic delivery units will complement our existing delivery methods, including cars, scooters, and e-bikes, ensuring our customers can get the hottest, freshest-made pizza delivered directly to them, wherever they are.”

While this certainly sounds like an ideal world where all you have to do is turn around to get a fresh slice pizza, this news comes with a few caveats. For now, these robots will only be delivering pizzas to customers within a one-mile radius of Domino’s stores in select German and Dutch cities. In addition, these battery-powered robots can only navigate on sidewalks, can only get up to four miles per hour, and can only carry up to twenty pounds at a time--so go easy on the stuffed cheesy bread.

Other countries, including the U.S., have been experimenting with food delivery robots for the past year. In February, US-based companies Postmates and DoorDash began the testing of Starship Technologies’ delivery robots in Washington D.C. and Redwood City, respectively.

One reason why the U.S. isn’t seeing a larger rollout of these six-wheeled, three-foot tall delivery robots is due to state laws. A few days before the Starship Technologies/Domino’s Pizza Enterprises partnership was announced, Idaho became the second state to pass legislation permitting the use of unmanned, ground-based delivery robots (joining Virginia). Florida and Wisconsin might be next, with legislators in those respective states introducing similar bills within the past month.

Idaho’s new law also allows local municipalities to adopt their own regulations, giving towns the authority to limit the robots to certain speeds and to certain locations in the area. It’s clear that, as this type of technology continues to spread, state and municipal legislators will have much to discuss and deliberate over.

It’s also clear that while unmanned delivery robots can help restaurants and other companies with staffing, the need for technology maintenance will increase. Employees might be late to work or get lost on a delivery run, but they don’t run the risk of glitches or hacking (not to mention theft). As more and more robots are introduced into the workforce, IT companies can help keep your mechanical employees, and the machines that your human employees operate, up and running.

What do you think about robots delivering pizza? Clever marketing ploy by Domino’s, or an efficient way to feed the hungry masses? Share with us your thoughts in the comments below!

Tip of the Week: 4 Ways Google Maps Can Enhance Your Next Trip

Mapping the known world has long been an endeavor sought by explorers, but thanks to a relatively recent tool called Google Maps, anyone with knowledge of a smartphone can see the world at a glance. Granted, Google Maps isn’t the easiest tool to use, but if you follow these tips, you’ll feel like you have the whole world in the palm of your hand… literally.

Here are four great ways that you can maximize the value you get from Google Maps.

Plan Your Trip on Your PC and Send Directions to Your Phone
Chances are that you’ll be spending a lot of time on your computer when you’re planning a long trip, and Google Maps has made it so that you can easily send instructions from one device to another. Keep in mind that your smartphone has to be linked to your Google account to do so. All you have to do is select the route you want to take and then select Send directions to your phone. When it comes time to leave, all you’ll have to do is load the Google Maps app and you’ll be on your way.

Google Maps Can Track Your Parking Spot
Do you ever forget where you parked your car? When you park your vehicle, Google Maps will show you a message asking you if you’d prefer to save your parking location. If you decide to opt in, all you have to do is enter the information such as the lot number, a nearby landmark, and what time is left on your parking meter.

Download Google Maps for Offline Viewing
What if you lose Internet signal while you’re on the road? This can make it challenging to keep track of where you are and where you’re headed. Google Maps offers an offline mode that lets you navigate without an Internet connection. This also allows you to limit how much data you consume while out and about, which can be reason enough to access Google Maps while offline. You need to download the map data so that you’ll have access to it while offline. To do so, tap the Download button to save the map you’re looking at. To see what you’ve saved, tap the hamburger menu in the search bar and select Offline areas. In some cases, you can even navigate and search for destinations in this mode.

Avoid Highway Traffic and Paying Tolls
Did you know you can use Google Maps to avoid paying tolls? All you have to do is enter in your destination as usual and select Route options. You can then select a route based on three factors: highways, tolls, and ferries. This lets you take the route that is easiest to navigate and most convenient for you.

What are some of your favorite ways to use Google Maps? If you have any, let us know in the comments, and subscribe to our blog for more great tips and tricks.

3 Ways the Cloud Enhances Your Business

The cloud trend has been very friendly toward businesses, allowing organizations to fulfill many of their needs and simplify processes that were challenging them only a few years ago. If you’ve never considered the cloud for your organization, it’s time to rethink your choices and ask yourself why you’re hesitant when there are so many great benefits of cloud implementation.

The Cloud is Cost-Effective
The cloud itself is capable of helping your business cut out unnecessary costs. Furthermore, the cloud allows you to scale resources to match your business’s specific needs at any given moment, which makes sure that you don’t pay for what you don’t need. The capital saved can then be utilized for other endeavors.

The Cloud Offers a Variety of Uses
When you ask people about the cloud, the first thing they’ll think of is probably data storage. While this comes as a benefit to the average consumer, businesses can leverage the cloud in other great ways, like taking advantage of productivity applications and other software as a service. When you use SaaS, the applications rendered will always be in the form of their most recent version, so you’ll always be using up-to-date software.

In the realm of data backup and disaster recovery, you’ll be able to use the cloud to make great strides in business continuity. Thanks to the off-site nature of cloud-based data backup, you’ll be sure to recover from damages dealt to your on-site infrastructure. Furthermore, virtual assets allow your organization to ensure productivity even under the worst conditions.

Most cloud-based solutions are built with collaboration in mind. Since you can store files in shared locations, your employees can collaborate and work together on projects that demand access at all times. Better yet, this is all done remotely, so you can work together even when out of the office.

The Cloud Offers Security
Data is one of the most important assets you hold, and as such, it must be secured from any prying eyes. However, a lot of organizations tend to forget that both external cyber crime and internal user error are possible points of contention. The cloud allows you to limit access to data on a per-user basis so that users who have no business knowing sensitive information, don’t.

Don’t Assume Your New Device is Free of Malware

Imagine that, despite the extreme care you took to avoid threats from infecting your devices, they turned out to be infected anyway. However, what if the device had been infected before you had even gotten your hands on it?

This is the situation that two companies found themselves in after security researchers discovered malware on 40 different company-owned devices. The firm that made the discovery, Check Point, also determined that the malware had been installed at some point while the devices were still in the supply chain. Many of the devices required a full reinstall to get rid of the malicious programs, as system privileges were used to install them.

These devices included:

• Galaxy Notes 2, 3, 4, and 5
• Galaxy Note Edge
• Galaxy Tab 2 and S2
• Galaxy S7 and S4
• Galaxy A5
• LG G4
• Xiaomi MI 4i and Redmi
• ZTE x500
• Opportunities N3 and R7 Plus
• Vivo X6 Plus
• Nexus 5 and 5X
• Asus Zenfone 2
• Lenovo S90 and A850

Many of these devices were found to have many varieties of malware installed on them. While most were ad displaying programs and information-stealing varieties, both the Loki malware and Slocker mobile ransomware were also discovered.

These two companies, who have not been named, are by no means the first examples of production-stage malware installations. However, it does provide an excellent opportunity to revisit the importance of having all devices used for business purposes thoroughly vetted before putting them to use.

These unnamed companies serve as cautionary tales for businesses everywhere: you can never be too diligent in securing your technology. It is evident that malware distributors may be found everywhere, and they can be resourceful as they find new ways to introduce their tools into your systems. Also, this doesn’t mean if you have one of these devices, it’s definitely a risk to your data, but it is important to be aware that even a brand new device can already be infected, so centrally controlling access to your company data is very important.

What do you think? Are you concerned about the prospect of pre-installed malware being present in your company devices? Share what you think with us in the comments section.

$100 Million Hacking Incident Shows that No Company is Immune

It’s a tough lesson to learn, but almost any company is susceptible to cyber-attacks that take advantage of any security setup’s weakest link: the people involved. This lesson was most recently learned the hard way by two unnamed tech companies that fell victim to a phishing campaign that was allegedly run by Evaldas Rimasauskas, a Lithuanian man accused of stealing $100 million from them.

As Acting United States Attorney Joon H. Kim said, “This case should serve as a wake-up call to all companies--even the most sophisticated--that they too can be victims of phishing attacks by cyber criminals.” These words are only made more impactful by the fact that all the public knows about the two companies is that one of them is a “multinational online social media company” and the other a “multinational technology company.”

Rimasauskas is accused of orchestrating a phishing scheme that intended to sway his supposed victims into wiring large sums of money into accounts that he controlled in Latvia and Cyprus. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, this was accomplished by establishing a company in Latvia with the same name as a computer hardware manufacturer based in Asia, and telling the targeted companies that utilized the Asian computer manufacturer’s services that there were still balances to be paid. Once these funds were transferred, it seems that Rimasaukas would quickly disperse them into numerous other global bank accounts.

Due to his alleged use of these practices to defraud the two plaintiff companies, Rimasauskas faces a count of wire fraud potentially worth 20 years in prison, as well as three counts of money laundering, also worth a maximum of 20 years each, along with a single count of aggravated identity theft that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison.

This story has two major takeaways: the first has to do with the victims of this scam. Although they are not named specifically, they are specified as multinational. This means that they are almost certainly very large companies, and the fact that they have elected to remain anonymous suggests that they are easily recognizable. Companies of that scale have the means and opportunity to protect their assets, but despite these companies most likely having these protections in place, Rimasauskas (or whomever was responsible) still managed to bypass them by exploiting the human element these companies had in place.

This only goes to show that every company, regardless of its size, is only as secure as its weakest security feature allows. When the company can be described as small or medium-sized, it becomes even more important to ensure that its defenses are universally held to high standards, especially when the human element is involved. To combat this, you must be sure that your staff knows the ways to ensure company security by heart. In essence, you have to be sure that your workforce isn’t any less security-oriented than the rest of your security is.

The second takeaway has to do with the methodology used to extract so many funds from the defrauded businesses. Hackers are human, after all, and as a result will more than likely take the easiest path to reach their goals. For every attacker that prefers to go after a few large, high-value targets, there are plenty that don’t mind having their ill-gotten gains coming in from many more, much smaller targets. If given the choice between figuring out how to work around a company’s cybersecurity or moving on to find an easier target, the hacker in question could very well move along and leave that company untouched.

However, if all the hacker has to do is write a few deceptive emails and set up a few bank accounts, they are much more likely to stay with that target, take what they can, and move on to another unfortunate company to do the same.

Therefore, the lesson here is that the basics of cybersecurity can’t be ignored in favor of just having enterprise-level security solutions in place. Very rarely are companies breached due to a highly advanced-effort, more often, it’s because there was an overlooked issue that the perpetrator took advantage of.

Tip of the Week: 4 Fundamentals of Good Customer Service

Customer service can be tricky to gauge sometimes, as you don’t often hear about a consumer’s experience unless you provide exceptional service, or if you’re not providing good enough service. The problem here is that, unless you do something to improve the customer service you provide, you could very well lose them to your competition. What are some steps that your business can take to improve customer service?

We want to share four of the most basic attributes of customer service, and how technology can help you take full advantage of them.

Make Working with Your Business Easy
Customer service is a part of your business that demands a team of professional, personable employees that have great communication skills and magnetic personalities. It’s clear that customer service isn’t something that just any worker can do, so you’ll need to go out of your way to find people who enjoy working with others. Keeping employees who are easy to work with in direct contact with your customers will make it enjoyable for your consumers rather than awkward. Technology solutions that let your consumers rate the quality of service received through IM or cloud-based portal can give you a glimpse of who is great at working with your customers, and who isn’t.

Go Above and Beyond
When you start a relationship with a new customer, they form a set of expectations about what they will get out of their relationship with your organization. Therefore, you should make a conscious effort to not only meet these expectations, but to go above and beyond them. If you can’t show your clients or customers that you’re serious about maintaining a high quality of service, they will certainly find someone else who can deliver on their promises. Keep in mind that exceeding your customer’s expectations, rather than just barely meeting them, is capable of building much more brand loyalty, which can turn into more profits and loyal customers for years to come.

Always Be There for Answers
Customers enjoy 24/7 services, but don’t always get that from the many different brands that they are associated with. If your business can’t always be available to answer questions at any time of the day, it might be helpful to implement some sort of portal that they can access for all of their frequently asked questions, as well as more information that they can use to reach out to you at a better time.

An alternative is to equip your employees with mobile devices that can help them keep in touch with customers wherever they are, but keep in mind that it’s unlikely that they will want to deal with something like this if it’s not in their job description (or the customer’s service agreement). While the added personal touch of 24/7 service might be great for customer satisfaction, it’s often not feasible for some types of organizations. Instead, it’s better to just implement contact points, such as email addresses, phone numbers, live chat, and a service portal, all of which should be able to either provide the customer with answers, or tell them when to expect them.

Also, don’t forget about social media; it’s more viable for communicating with customers directly than it has ever been before.

Create a Flexible Work Environment
Creating a work environment that helps your employees deal with your consumers is also important to consider. This includes implementing technology that helps them share information and collaborate more easily, which helps all employees who have access to this data be able to more effectively work with clients. If you don’t do this, you’ll create parts of your business that house specific types of information, creating more work for those who need access to it in order to solve a problem. When someone can’t get the help they need, they will grow frustrated and remember the instance the next time they seek assistance, creating a sour relationship.

IBM Drops Bomb on the Industry By Storing Data on an Atom

Data storage has long been a major pain point for technology development, but a rather large (or small) breakthrough has resulted in data being stored on a single atom. The development comes from researchers at IBM, and it could have a potentially nuclear impact on the way that data storage functions.

The research team conducted experiments in regard to high-density storage in an attempt to see just how small they could go. The complex process yielded promising results, as they were able to store data on just a single atom.

Compare this to the current drives, made up of roughly 100,000 atoms, that are used to store a bit of data. Quite the improvement, huh?

An even more impressive feat was achieved in regard to the actual reading of the data. If bits are stored on two atoms, it’s possible that it can be read with only a nanometer in between the host atoms. Whether or not you understand all of the scientific or technical details, it’s clear that this means data could eventually be stored on very, very small mediums moving forward.

However, before you get too excited about these developments, we want to remind you that these are only experiments, not actual movements to make this type of data storage available to the public… yet. The technology used to store this data on an atom is incredibly sensitive, so much to the point where it just won’t work if it’s not in a controlled environment. In order for this type of technology to work, it needs to be stored at a very low temperature. Their sole goal was to find the smallest possible way to store data--not to find the smallest, commercially-viable way to store it.

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the option isn’t going to be seen at all. While it might be uncommon at best, the research has proven that it is possible, so who knows what researchers might come up with in the future to make this type of storage commonplace.

If you think about it, this trend is pretty much par for the course in terms of data storage. Just a few decades ago, you may have been storing information on a hard disk drive the size of a brick, when now you can hold that much data (and more) on a flash drive or SD card.

What are your thoughts on “atomic data?” Do you think the power of the atom can be harnessed to change computing as we know it? What kind of new and exciting technologies do you think that such a discovery will bring about? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog.

It’s Now Legal for ISPs to Sell Your Online Browsing History

Due to recent legislative activity, the rules and regulations that the Federal Communications Commission put in place to protect the personal data of Internet users have been struck down. This change now allows ISPs, or Internet Service Providers, to sell the browsing information of their customers to advertisers without consent--a move many consider to be a threat to net neutrality. This is what you need to know.

After a heavily partisan 215-to-205 vote in the House of Representatives and an equally partisan 50-to-48 Senate vote, the decision to allow ISPs to freely sell their customer’s browsing data passed, with President Trump signing it into law shortly afterwards. The previous set of rules that were in place did not bar ISPs from selling browsing data to advertisers, but they did require the ISP to secure permissions from users to do so. As a result, the rules previously implemented by the FCC were terminated, as many who opposed them argued that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should be the entity with jurisdiction. This is an opinion shared by the current FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, who supported the strikedown of these rules.

However, the FTC is currently prohibited from regulating ISPs, and no action has been taken to enable them to do so.

Political opinions of this matter are heavily mixed. On the one hand, those opposed to this new rule said that the browsing history of the consumer was the consumer’s business, and that there was no reason to share that browsing history with the ISP. Issues of privacy were also brought up, in the argument that a user’s medical or financial history could easily be surmised by the searches they execute.

On the other side of the aisle, those in support stated that the rules as they were before gave an unfair advantage to search engines and social media by allowing them to collect data that informs their advertising. As a result, it can be said that the government would be interfering with the free market. These rules also required notifications to be dispersed to customers in the event of a data breach, potentially leading to “notification fatigue” in the consumer.

The issue essentially boiled down to whether a company whose service you pay for should be able to take the same liberties with browsing history as a company that offers their services for free with the implicit agreement that they can sell your browsing data in return. The other major difference: ISPs have access to a much wider swathe of data than the search engines do, and could therefore profit off the entire history of their customers, rather than just their searches and social activity.

As the ISPs have claimed, this information could presumably lead to a more individualized and convenient browsing experience that brings the products and services a user has shown interest in to the forefront. However, many who opposed this ruling are simply uncomfortable with the thought of that much of their personal life being available to a corporation.

There are also many concerns about the prospects of this collected data falling into the wrong hands, especially considering that these rules will allow data from even sensitive and private materials, like emails, to be harvested and sold. What’s scariest is that this data wouldn’t even need to be hacked anymore to be used by someone with less-than-noble intentions. They could simply buy it.

Many ISPs have said that they simply intend to switch the opt-in option to an opt-out option, but many areas in the United States have limited options when it comes to selecting an ISP with decent services. In many cases, this means a user could easily be stuck with a provider that doesn’t necessarily provide that option.

What do you think? Is this enough to be considered an invasion of your privacy, or is this move set to improve your browsing experience through targeted ad delivery? Let us know in the comments.

Security and Productivity: How a Web Filtering Solution Benefits Your Business

As useful as the Internet is with helping a workforce complete their daily tasks, it is just as capable of having negative effects for your business. There is plenty of content online that has no place in the workplace, including plenty that serves as unwanted distractions. Fortunately, you can prevent your employees from lollygagging on the job with a fairly simple solution: web content filtering.

Web content filtering does exactly what it sounds like, it prevents your employees from accessing areas on the web that you don’t want them to access.

There are a few reasons that this is a useful feature to incorporate. Not only does it help reduce time wasted by procrastinating employees, but it also prevents your employees from visiting websites that present a risk to your business’ network security.

This is a particularly important consideration. Be honest with yourself: how many times have you found yourself clicking seemingly untrustworthy links out of boredom, curiosity, or even a determination to find what you’re looking for? Unfortunately, the Internet is quite unforgiving, and clicking the wrong link is all it would take to bring a storm of issues to your network. A content filter is a solid line of defense against these sites, as it will analyze each site’s content against your predetermined criteria before allowing a user access.

Of course, even though a web content filter is a good start, it is only part of what is necessary to build a comprehensive defense against online threats and vulnerabilities. The other necessary component your business needs to have in place is a reliable firewall. A firewall helps prevent incoming attacks from reaching and taking root in, your network.

In short, a web content filter prevents you (or your users) from visiting websites that have been deemed inappropriate or hazardous for the workplace. The firewall acts as a shield against external threats coming in over the Internet, blocking risk-laden content from entering your systems. In order for your network to be secure, both a web content filter and a firewall have to be in place. A comprehensive security solution like a UTM tool is a perfect way to cover both of these security needs.

Net It On can help. We can ensure that your network has the security it will need to keep threats out. These measures will protect your business while allowing your employees to remain focused on the task at hand. Give us a call at (732) 360-2999 to discuss implementing these measures for your business.

Tip of the Week: 8 Questions Every Business Should Ask of Their Potential IT Provider

It’s not unheard of for organizations to experience immense technological trouble that brings future potential problems into question. Surprises like these can spell trouble for businesses that are unprepared, especially considering the major damage it could cause to your budget. This forces you to ask yourself if you know what your current plan for IT covers, and what you want your provider to do to eliminate unexpected billing surprises.

To help you get the most out of your technology maintenance plan, we’ve put together a list of scenarios that you want to make sure is covered by your provider. This helps you avoid unnecessary payments that could pop-up on weekends, off-hours, or holidays.

What Your IT Provider Should Cover
IT providers determine how much service their clients get according to what’s called a service level agreement. This details what exactly is covered by your relationship with your managed service provider, but depending on their business model, it might be a bit more complicated than you initially think. You should always seek transparency with your IT provider, so be sure to reach out to them regarding any questions that you may have.

Listed below are questions that you want to ask your IT provider about regarding your service level agreement.

• Can your workers submit support tickets without exceeding a predetermined IT budget?
• How much are you charged for after hours, if at all, does this include weekends or holidays?
• Is there a limit placed on how much support you can receive and what happens when you do exceed this limit?
• Are you charged extra for data recovery when you need access to it during a disaster?
• Will the number of workstations covered change in the future, and will you be charged for any changes?
• Will you be charged for using backup solutions in virtual environments while your hardware is being replaced?
• Will you be charged for expanding your data storage?
• What kind of hardware maintenance agreement do you have, are there specific pieces of hardware that aren’t covered by your agreement?

What Services You Should Look For
Once you’ve ascertained which services you receive, you can ask your IT provider about which services you absolutely want. Here is a brief list that can help guide you in the right direction.

• Unlimited remote and on-site support
• Active Directory administration and maintenance
• File, folder, and share administration
• Security administration
• Network policy enforcement and administration
• Managed antivirus, spyware monitoring, maintenance, and removal
• Data backups as often as every 15 minutes
• Take backups of open documents without interruption
• Rapid data restoration
• Block inappropriate or dangerous web content in the workplace
• Intrusion security

Getting Back to the Basics for World Backup Day!

It’s a nightmare situation for any business owner when all of their essential data suddenly disappears. Fortunately, there are measures that you can take to turn this nightmare into an inconvenience. However, you must also be certain that these measures are adequate to keep your data safe, despite the worst of circumstances.

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Remember, there is a difference between a “disaster” and a “data disaster,” although the two are often connected in a cause-and-effect kind of way. A disaster is some event that puts a business in peril, oftentimes leading to a data disaster, where some large degree of data loss is experienced.

Keep in mind, a data disaster doesn't rely on a “typical” disaster in order to take place. Hardware failure, user error, and hacking attacks can all contribute to a data disaster.

Either way, nothing about any type of disaster is easily manageable. Either can have serious repercussions for your business if you don’t have a backup solution preemptively in place. However, this backup solution should meet certain criteria:

1. Backups should be taken multiple times a day, ideally as often as every 15 minutes.
2. It must be stored in multiple offsite locations. This will help keep your backup from being destroyed by the same disaster that took your original data.
3. It must be tested on a regular basis to make sure it works. Otherwise, you may as well not have one in the first place.

Keep in mind, maintaining a backup solution is only half of the business continuity battle. Preserving your data is important, but should a true disaster endanger your business, you’ll need a comprehensive Backup and Disaster Recovery plan.

Tablet Battle: Galaxy Tab S3 vs iPad Pro

Two of the primary developers of tablets--Apple and Samsung--have created two of the most popular devices out there: the iPad Pro and the Galaxy Tab S3. If you’re in need of a tablet, we can help you go over your options so that you choose the one that best suits your needs.

What’s Similar
These two tablets have a surprising amount in common. The display sizes for both devices are 9.7 inches, and both have an included stylus: the Apple Pencil and the Samsung S-Pen, respectively. Furthermore, both of these devices have fingerprint scanners. However, the similarities end here. Keep in mind that the iPad Pro does come in a larger size (12.9 inches), but for the sake of comparing the two, we’ll focus on the original model.

iPad Pro Specs
At the heart of the iPad Pro is the Dual-core 2.26 GHz Twister, and while it doesn’t offer any external memory, it does have much more built-in storage options than Samsung’s tablet, with the options for 32 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB onboard memory. With 4 GB of RAM, a 10-hour battery, and the capacity to run iOS 10.2, the iPad Pro has enough power to be a functional tablet if used in a way which lets it succeed. Plus, the Pro has built-in speakers, and plenty of other additional accessories are available.

Galaxy Tab S3 Specs
The innards of the Galaxy Tab S3 features a quad-core, 2.15 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, along with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of onboard storage. However, if you need more storage, unlike the iPad Pro, Samsung has you covered with microSD technology (up to 256 GB). Furthermore, the Galaxy Tab S3 uses Android 7 Nougat and boasts an impressive 12-hour battery life, as well as a quick charge feature. In essence, you can consider this tablet to be a part of the Samsung Galaxy Note family of mobile devices.

Which One is Right for You?
Ultimately, it comes down to preference. It would be best if you choose the tablet with the operating system that you’re used to. If you prefer Android, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 could make for a great experience. On the other hand, the iPad Pro would be invaluable for those who prefer Apple.

Tip of the Week: 3 Best Practices to Organize Your Files and Devices

It can be hard to accomplish work in a timely manner when your technology is a haphazard mess. To help with this, we’re devoting this week’s tip to three ways you can improve workflow by organizing your technology.

Make Sure Your Files Are Where They Need To Be
How do you organize your files? Is your desktop filled to the brim with icons, making it nearly impossible to find what it is you are looking for? This isn’t an unusual problem, but it is one that needs to be fixed in order to simplify your workflow, especially if you utilize an on premise shared network drive. In order to avoid misplaced files, wasted time, and general confusion, it’s best to educate every user on proper protocol for storing and sharing files before they access the shared drive.

For help with establishing an organized approach to file sharing that fits your company’s workflow, give Net It On a call at (732) 360-2999. Our trained IT technicians understand the ins and outs of computer networking, and can set up a system that maximizes efficiency, productivity, and communication. This includes backing up your files in order to safeguard your company from data loss.

Delete Unnecessary Programs and Applications
It’s the nature of doing business for computers to accumulate programs over time, and for some of these programs to fall out of use as they’re replaced by better software. In order to keep your system clear of clutter, it’s in your company’s best interest to remove unused and unnecessary programs from your network.

Also, following through with such a move helps improve your company’s security, seeing as you won’t have outdated apps on your network that don’t get updated (a major security risk). In order to safeguard your network from such a risk, we recommend performing regular network audits. Net It On can assist you with this too.

Keep Track and Get Rid of Unused Devices
Like software, mobile devices tend to be replaced by new and improved versions every so often. When you get a new device, what do you do with the old one? While you’ve got several options of what you can do with it (like repurposing it for a different need or keeping it on hand as a backup device), there are two fates that you don’t want for your old friend; losing track of it and disposing of it improperly. Devices that were once used for company purposes may have sensitive data still stored on them, or, just as bad, company-used apps that can access sensitive accounts without need of a password. You also don’t want to just chuck an old mobile device in the trash, seeing as computing technologies are made up of materials that are bad for the environment. Plus, if there is still a shred of company data on a trashed device, then you’ll have no idea of its fate once the trash man carries it away.

For help retiring an old device by wiping it clean of all company data, as well as recycling a device the right way so the environment isn’t harmed, Net It On is standing by to assist you.

Now that your devices and files are in order, you will experience the benefits of a workflow that’s more organized and more productive. Call us today at (732) 360-2999 for assistance with all of your company’s technology needs.