Windows 7 End of Life: What to Do If You Missed the Deadline

Eleven years ago in 2009, Microsoft released the operating system Windows 7. It was stable, functional, and compatible with software. In other words, everything a business computer system needs. Naturally, businesses build their software and internal tech stacks on computers that ran  Windows 7. And not just when it was new.

As newer versions of Windows were tried and cycled through, Windows 7 remained a reliable fallback. Many people built installations on Windows 7 when there were newer alternatives because of the stability. However, part of that stability was the fact that Microsoft has been supporting Windows 7 installations for the last decade. They have been providing performance and security patches to keep Windows 7 systems functional. Continue Reading

What Causes Social Engineering Hacks to Succeed?

Today, hacks and malware are everywhere. There is no tech stack a business can build that will be completely safe from the risk of hackers. Part of the reason for this is the social engineering trend. While your firewalls and network monitoring may be secure, your network must connect to the outside for the purpose of communication and data access. And through communication, hackers can gain access by manipulating employees. Emails, chat messages, and phone calls among other communication methods can all be used to socially engineer an employee into allowing malware or a live hacker to connect with your network. Continue Reading

5 Ways to Pair Your CRM with VOIP Business Features

Modern business communication goes above and beyond email and phone calls, and your small business’ CRM is at the center of this. No matter what communication channel you use, your CRM should be intimately involved in all client interactions. When a client contacts you through live chat, the CRM can and should be there. When a client is called by your sales team, the CRM can be there. The same applies when your business upgrades to a new VOIP communication suite. Continue Reading

Optimizing Security Protections of Windows 10

With its release of the “Windows 10” computer operating system in July 2015, Microsoft made bold, sweeping claims for its security features. After four years of “builds” that have extended the Windows 10 series, with some 900 million users, today, those security features have to say the least undergone sustained and varied test in practice.

There have been continual modifications and patches, of course, including a recent one that embarrassed the company by seeming, when installed, to disable a key Windows 10  security feature. Continue Reading

How to Social Engineer Your Team for Dedicated Cybersecurity

Modern businesses are now aware that employee participation is essential for cybersecurity. No matter how good your firewall and security procedures are, your company system can only protect each person and computer to the extent that they keep the security doors shut. If an employee answers one phishing email or opens one malicious link, they could put your entire secured business network at risk.

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8 Creative Ways to Use Your VOIP Plan for Business Purposes

Businesses have always been good at putting the tools at hand to good use. The more creatively you can think of your tool kit, the more you can accomplish. With the introduction of VOIP business plans and cloud communication platforms, that tool kit just got a lot more diverse.

No doubt, it’s time to start brainstorming not just how we can replace TelCo phone systems with the new software-stackable solution, but also creative ways to put VOIP’s capabilities to even greater use. Continue Reading

How to Transform Any Office Into a VOIP Video Conferencing Studio

Video conferencing is the wave of the future. In fact, the business world is so eager for video conferencing to become the primary form of communication that we’ve been fantasizing about it in sci-fi for decades before the technology was ready. So it’s no surprise that most quality business-suite VOIP packages include a section of features dedicated to video calls, video conferencing, and video telecommuting. Continue Reading

5 Reasons to Never Pay Ransomware Demands

In the last few years there have been a lot of news articles and upsetting stories about companies and their websites ravaged by the ransomware trend. While the tactic isn’t exactly new, this type of encryption-based malware has become an alarmingly popular trend among the hacker communities that target both businesses and private computers. The oh-so-clever idea is not just to do damage like worms that simply delete files or spyware that silently steals data. Instead, hackers stand a chance to directly make a little (or a lot) of cash off their victims by holding their precious files hostage and demanding a crypto-currency ransom.  Continue Reading

The 7 Types of Social Hacking

The 90% Dilemma

Human error accounts for 90% of all business data breaches. In study after study, we find that firewalls and monitoring and encryption can only do so much. But 90% of data breaches are primarily caused by employees and sometimes customers getting phished, hacked, and fooled. Verizon’s 2017 Data Breach Investigation Report found this, and Willis Towers Watson consultancy found this by examining insurance claims. A study done by the Kasperky cybersecurity firm found the same result. Every time we study the issue of security breaches, human error and social hacking victims make up 90% of the incidents. Continue Reading

11 Essential Ways to Secure BYODs and Protect your Workplace Network

From small businesses to international enterprises, the BYOD trend is a budget-smart and employee-flexible policy that can seriously expand your workforce capabilities. BYOD stands for Bring Your Own Device. It means that employees can use their own phones, laptops, and tablets to access work data and the workplace wifi network to do their job. BYOD saves the company money on providing devices and allows employees to use the devices they are most familiar with, and prevents having to juggle both personal and work devices. Continue Reading