Keep Your Phone Locked and Protected You might know some people who don?t lock their smartphones, and it?s a huge mistake to leave something so simple out of your mobile device travel strategy. What would happen if you were to lose your device? What if it were stolen by someone hoping to make a quick buck off your device or the data it holds? We recommend using multi-factor authentication for your phone, including a passcode and a biometric measure of some kind. In fact, you should be using multi-factor authentication for just about any device or account where it?s available. Use a Virtual Private Network Businesses need to keep connected to a wireless network in order to stay connected to their home base, but the problem is that a lot of the wireless connections out there are unsecured and dangerous for devices with sensitive information on them. When you use a virtual private network, you can encrypt data that is sent to and from your device, allowing for the secure transmission of information while out of the office. Turn Off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth When Not in Use Many people tend to keep their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled at all times, even when they are not actively being used. This is dangerous, as devices can automatically connect to networks that might be considered risky. We recommend just disabling these connections when not in use. Your battery will also last longer, as your devices will not be actively seeking out connections while out and about. Use a Mobile Device Management System Any number of issues could occur when you are on the road. Even if you just set down your device for a moment, someone could pick it up and walk away with it, putting the data on it at risk. A mobile device management tool can help mitigate these dangers somewhat. It won?t help you get your device back, but it will protect the data stored on it in the event of theft. Your mobile device management solution should include the whitelisting and blacklisting of applications, remote wiping of lost or stolen devices, and device location services. White Mountain IT Services can work with your business to ensure that mobile devices are not the reason why your employees fear traveling. To learn more about how we can help you stay safe while on the go, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Monitor Failed Password Attempts Nobody likes dealing with passwords, this much is beyond doubt, but it also must be said that they are an essential element in your business? security protections. This is because they not only help to prevent unwelcome access to your resources, they can also help you to identify if you are actively being targeted? particularly while you have remote employees accessing your network. Here?s the crux of the issue: devices that have remote desktop protocols enabled on them (like the ones your remote users would have) are very easy for attackers to find, and then target. Such devices are commonly targeted by brute force attacks. In such an attack, a hacker will basically spam a password requirement with every possible option until the correct password is found. When your remote protocols are properly configured, too many failed password attempts would lock down the device and send you a notification to let you know that so many failed attempts were just made. At that point, you could reach out to the user and confirm that they were simply having a problem typing in their password correctly, and that it?s okay to let them wait until the device allows them to log in again. However, if the user wasn?t having any such problems, you would know that their credentials may have been breached. Without this kind of oversight, however, a brute force attack could potentially go on and on with no warning to you that you were under attack. Keep an Eye on Your Traffic While experienced hackers are able to hide their location to avoid raising suspicion, there are many times that they neglect to do so. Maybe a hacker lacks the technical skill necessary, or the attack is so broadly waged that they just don?t bother covering their tracks. This is precisely why it is so crucial that you keep a close watch over your system and its logs so that you can spot and investigate any out-of-place activity. For instance, if your technology has never interfaced with a server in a given country, but now regularly contacts a domain that is sourced there, you should see it as a warning of a serious potential security issue. Actively Make Things More Challenging for Cybercriminals Here?s the thing: the more difficult you make it for a cybercriminal to gain access to your network, the less likely it is that one will manage to do so. There are various ways to accomplish this. For example, in terms of your remote desktop protocols, you should customize the configuration you use rather than relying on the default. Password timeouts and two-factor authentication are wise to enforce, as are access controls on your internal resources. Cumulatively, these kinds of protections will help keep your business much more secure than it would be otherwise. Looking for more assistance with your business? security? Reach out to us. We have experience in implementing the kind of protections that modern businesses need to survive. Find out what we can do for you by calling (603) 889-0800 today.

Reliability A lot of businesses need to print little things, and many have begun to move to a more paperless environment. Then there are some businesses that absolutely rely on their printers and copiers. For these companies, finding a maintenance solution is difficult. The first variable any business owner or decision maker should consider is the availability of the maintenance provider. Printers are notorious for having maintenance issues so being able to keep lines of communication open is essential to ensure that you get the service you need when you need it.  Expertise This variable is a must. A company that fixes copiers and printers needs to have technicians on staff that are proficient in fixing copiers and printers; it?s that simple. Shockingly, there are companies that will advertise that they offer printer and copier maintenance services, but when it comes down to it, there is no experience doing so, and that will substantially increase the cost, not only for the service, but also for the time your machines remain down.  Dedication For any maintenance provider, time is money, but for whatever reason some companies don?t act like it. You will want a provider that does a lot of the heavy lifting by monitoring systems remotely. Printers and copiers don?t always malfunction on the hardware side, but when they do, a solid maintenance provider has the part you need in stock so that your printer or copier isn?t down for more than a few hours.  Overall Value Printer maintenance can get expensive. That?s why it is important to find companies that can provide you with the value you need to not only keep your printers and copiers in operational order, but also extend beyond that so that you can justify the growing expense of maintenance for these machines. At White Mountain IT Services, we offer comprehensive managed IT services that can help you get the IT support you need, including for your copiers and printers. If you would like more information about copier and printer support or what it takes to keep your business? technology up and working for you, give us a call today at (603) 889-0800.

The Western Digital My Book NAS device gives users the ability to remotely access their files, even if the NAS device is secured with a firewall or router. Essentially it is a consumer-based external hard drive that you could potentially access from outside your home network. Bleeping Computer reports that some users cannot access their devices due to what appears to be a factory reset, and they received an ?Invalid Password? notification upon login. Some users have tried using the default login credentials, too, but to no avail.  After a little digging on the users? end, they discovered that their devices received a remote command to perform a factory reset. Bleeping Computer calls this attack an odd one as far as remote attacks go, mostly because the device targeted is secured behind a firewall and communications funnel through the My Book Live cloud servers. This has led some users to believe that the Western Digital servers were hacked, but it is odd that the extent of the damage is only deleted files rather than installed ransomware or other threats. Although Western Digital is investigating the attack, Bleeping Computer does detail a statement issued by the company, stating the following: ?If you own a WD My Book Live NAS device, Western Digital strongly recommends that you disconnect the device from the Internet. ?At this time, we recommend you disconnect your My Book Live and My Book Live Duo from the Internet to protect your data on the device,? Western Digital said in an advisory.? These WD My Book Live Devices have not received updates since 2015, so vulnerabilities are not entirely unexpected. However, this is more or less a wakeup call for those who have been considering an upgrade for the device. In general, you don?t want to utilize devices that are not actively being supported by the manufacturer, as failing to receive said security updates could result in situations like the one we?ve detailed above. You should also make sure that you are deploying said updates as they are released, as not doing so is the equivalent of using unsupported technology solutions. Remember, it is your responsibility to protect your data! It?s also imperative that you always store all of your important data on at least two separate devices, or even three for most businesses. Since the device in this case was an external hard drive, hopefully the majority of users were using it as a backup, but we?re afraid that isn?t always going to be the case. Don?t rely on a single drive to store your data! Need a Hand with Updates and Maintenance? If your business is ready to start taking its technology updates seriously, White Mountain IT Services can help you deploy updates or potentially even upgrade to new hardware to minimize the odds of security issues arising. To learn more about how we can help you keep your infrastructure as secure as possible, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.

Why Do People Prefer Mobile?  It?s a simple question with a pretty simple answer. You can take these devices nearly anywhere and can do a lot of the things you can do on a PC. If you consider the importance of content delivery nowadays, these devices probably hold more value for businesses than any other devices in history.  Additionally, think about the amount of applications in the app stores…nearly two million in the Apple App Store and nearly three million in the Google Play Store. That?s a lot of software available for what is supposed to be a telephone. There are productivity apps, communications apps, banking and shopping apps. In fact, if you really think about it, you can do about anything you need to do?computing wise?on a smartphone today. This has created a massive online economy that checks in at around $2 trillion in the U.S. alone. Overall, the mobile device has been a major reason that there has been such a massive shift in the way people do things. Mobile Computing Mobile computing has been ?cool? for a long time, but the advent of the smartphone in the mid-2000s really changed the way people handle their computing. The development of apps that were specifically designed for mobile devices expanded business? reach and gave consumers a new way to interface with their companies.  Then came social media.  Social media might just be the biggest driving force in mobile. People of all ages use social media proficiently nowadays. In fact, in the workplace this has been seen as both a major distraction and a massive benefit. There are many different facets to social media, but ultimately the massive popularity of social media has resulted in the acceptance that mobile devices are here to stay and that fighting back about mobile device use is a futile experience. This is one reason why businesses have chosen to utilize mobile rather than stymie the use of it.  Another factor in the growth of mobile for business is the development of applications that work both on PC and on mobile. These applications make it possible to do a lot of things that simply weren?t possible only a few short years ago. Even the most anti-mobile business owner can?t deny that it is arguably the best platform for communications. Not only is it a phone, there are literally thousands of productivity and communication apps to choose from. In fact, some applications that are designed for use on mobile devices have factored this in and allow for interesting integrations that can streamline a lot of business processes. Email, conferencing, messaging, collaboration apps, analytics, authentication, even productivity apps are optimized for mobile devices and can bring a lot of value to businesses. What?s more, mobile marketing is one of the fastest-growing forms of advertising out there. Taking advantage of that is in the best interest of most small and medium-sized businesses. What You Need to Know About Going Mobile If you haven?t seen the demand yet, you aren?t alone. Many smaller organizations have reported that their customers haven?t shown a demand for mobile communications or payment options. Until they see customer demand increase, using mobile for business may not seem like a priority. It absolutely should be. If you are looking to leverage mobile technology to improve […]