The shifts in business over the past six months have really left some businesses in flux. Larger businesses, with more access to more resources and far more capital have more people in leadership positions that are better positioned to get through tough periods than smaller businesses do. That?s why it is so important to have strong leadership. Let?s look at a couple of questions that you should ask yourself to help you get through this stressful period.  What Direction Is Your Company Going In? One of the most important functions business leaders have is to give direction. Obviously, businesses are top-down structures with solid leaders setting a course?whether it is reasonable or aggressive?with goals and objectives that are designed to bring success. Typically, the more involved business leaders are in the decision-making process, the more engaged subordinates will be.  Good leadership isn?t just about setting a course, it is also about providing feedback. Most workers don?t like to be micromanaged, but some actually need the constant direction of decision makers in order to fit into the operational environment. Knowing how your managers work, and how they relate to their staff is an extremely important part of running a business. You don?t have to have your fingers in every pie, just the ones that need the most attention. More than that, for smaller companies, the way decision makers lead sets the tone for the entire business. The manner in which business is conducted takes on the personality of the people that are in charge. Some businesses have laid back administration and take on a more relaxed presence, while others are led by aggressive people and have strict procedures that set the tone for business delivery.  Are You Good or Are You a Goof? Business owners and decision makers are being asked to do more with less right now, and it is a difficult task. Keeping calm through tough times is the measure of a great leader, and right now many leaders? patience is being tested. Regardless of how stressed a business? decision makers are, there are some very definite variables that define a good leader. They include: Taking responsibility – Leadership in business is a responsibility. People depend on your ability to make decisions and set the tone for how the business will be run. This means being responsible with your investments, your project timelines, and your decorum. Today, workers are not going to continue working for people they don?t respect, so be a person that a majority of people can respect and you will cultivate positive relationships with your workers. Showing foresight – One of the most important parts of leading any team is the ability to see what is coming and making the requisite adjustments. This is more crucial in a small business where the buck typically stops with very few people. Being able to adjust to the ebbs and flows in business is important to keep it above water, even when the world seems to be working against you. Being receptive – Being a good communicator may be the best feature of any good leader. It is an invaluable quality, especially in a small business, where leaders will have to interact with customers, vendors, and staff. Since small business owners and decision makers need to handle a vast […]

Introducing Confidential Mode in Gmail We?re all familiar with the secret agent that has a mission briefing that will self-destruct when it finishes. Made popular recently by the Mission Impossible franchise of movies, Gmail now gives users the ability to essentially do this. Users that don?t want messages to disintegrate over time can also send a passcode via text message that the recipient must enter to read the contents of the email. Pretty useful stuff. Using Gmail?s Confidential Mode Once you have the Compose window up, you will want to click on the little icon of the padlock and clock next to the Send button. This will toggle confidential mode on/off. Clicking on it will bring up a compose window in Confidential mode. From here you can set the message?s expiration date if you so choose. It ranges from a day to five years, and you can select to provide a passcode for further security. If you do select to have a passcode, you will then be prompted to enter the phone numbers for both your phone and the recipient. On mobile, Gmail offers additional confidentiality, using a similar process. To compose a confidential email, open the three-dot menu and select Confidential mode, and then select the preferences you?d like for that particular message.  Obviously, this doesn?t guarantee security, but it will go above and beyond just sending a standard email.  If you would like more tips and tricks, subscribe to our blog and check back to our site regularly.

What Are the Key Parts of Data Backup? The ideal data backup solution consists of three major parts, all of which have important roles to play in its eventual success. These three variables are: Incremental backups: Backups that are taken periodically throughout the workday are your best bet to minimize data lost to disasters. The more data you can protect, the better, after all. These backups should be taken as often as every fifteen minutes to guarantee minimal data loss. Quick data recovery: Your ideal backup solution needs to have rapid data recovery that can be implemented within a moment?s notice. This is to minimize downtime, which can be devastating to a business? bottom line if it is left unresolved for any amount of time. Testing to ensure proper backups: Your organization should periodically test backups to make sure they are working effectively.  Why Testing is Important Testing any system for problems is a good practice, but this goes double for data backup. Your business relies on its IT and its data, and there are dozens upon dozens of potential situations that could lead to data loss. Something as simple as a power surge can fry the components of a system, creating a scramble to get the data off of the device. Sure, there are steps you can take to protect all of your IT infrastructure against threats, but the BDR (backup and disaster recovery) service gives you a chance to protect your assets with one solution.  If you don?t test your backup system, you could think that you are protected when you aren?t. When a circumstance comes where you need to recover data–and it will come–if you don?t have a properly functioning backup system in place, you are going to lose assets. It?s that simple. Testing your backup ensures that your backup platform is working as intended. Not only does it give you the peace of mind that you are protected should something happen, it actually works to find functionality problems that can literally save your business. At White Mountain IT Services, our technicians want all of our clients to have a backup platform that makes data backup and recovery simple. If you want to protect your company?s assets to ensure that, should something happen with your data, your organization has the resources in place to be back in action fast, call us today at (603) 889-0800.

For your business? data and operations to remain secure, you will need to take a two-pronged approach?both teaching your team to avoid phishing and evaluating them on their overall preparedness through simulated attacks. How a Phishing Attack is Carried Out To start, let?s review the overall process that the average phishing attack tends to follow: Posing as someone else, an attacker sends a message. This message can be written in a few different ways, framed as an enticing offer, a very unremarkable email, or a serious alert. Whatever the case may be, the user is encouraged to react by opening an attachment or following a link. Because these elements are what introduces the actual threat, these emails can often bypass security protocols and reach the unsuspecting target. This?and the fact that a phishing attack against you is practically guaranteed to happen at some point?is precisely why it is so important that your team is prepared to spot them as they come in. Elements to Identifying a Potential Phishing Attack Have Your Team Think Like a Hacker Hackers and scammers are unfortunately very crafty when it comes to their schemes, often tying in current events to add some perceived legitimacy. The past year has seen no shortage of COVID-19-themed phishing attacks, seeming to offer updates and information. Hackers rely on user panic and impulsive reactions, so reinforce the importance that your users take an extended look at them before acting on them. Demonstrate Risky Links Hackers will also commonly use spoofed links to fool their targets. A spoofed link can take a few forms, but regardless of how it looks, it will direct a user to a website different from the one they expected to go to. Spotting these links can be tricky, so here are a few best practices to follow. Let?s assume that the spoofed link is meant to look like one that directs to the payment application Venmo as we go through some examples: If the email is from Venmo, a link should lead back to venmo.com or accounts.venmo.com. If there is anything strange between ?venmo? and the ?.com? then something is suspicious. There should also be a forward slash (/) after the ?.com.? If the URL was something like venmo.com.mailru382.co/something, then you are being spoofed. Everyone handles their domains a little differently, but use this as a rule of thumb: venmo.com – Safe venmo.com/activatecard – Safe business.venmo.com – Safe business.venmo.com/retail – Safe venmo.com.activatecard.net – Suspicious! (notice the dot immediately after Venmo?s domain name) venmo.com.activatecard.net/secure – Suspicious! venmo.com/activatecard/tinyurl.com/retail – Suspicious! Don?t trust dots after the domain! vemno.com ? Suspicious! Be careful to pay attention to the spelling! As you can imagine, some of these tricks are easier to spot than others, so extra diligence will be called for here. Provide Your Team with Approved Links To be particularly cautious, you could also consider giving your team the safe versions of the URLs they are to use. That way, they can seriously investigate the validity of an email without exposing themselves to risk. Maintain Secure Password Standards Finally, you need to ensure that your team?s passwords are secure enough that your business isn?t vulnerable that way?because if passwords are too easy to deduce, there isn?t going to be any need for phishing in the first place. Your team should […]

BDR (or backup and disaster recovery) won?t necessarily prevent any disasters, mind you. What it will do is help prevent any disasters that do strike from halting your operations indefinitely. The fundamentals of a successful BDR include the following: Your data is saved in a minimum of three places: the original copy on your network infrastructure, along with additional copies in an on-premises backup and a cloud-based backup. Backups are automatically updated in increments throughout the day, not just after the day ends. Your cloud backup can take over for your on-site infrastructure, enabling you to continue operations if your local solutions were to fail. This provides your business with some significant benefits. Reliability and Flexibility With data being so particularly critical to a business? success, it is important to keep it protected against all kinds of situations. With the BDR solution, data will be kept safe?and with the BDR also capable of acting as a server for you, downtime can be mitigated. Simplicity The whole point of the BDR is to keep your business? data safe in case of disaster, so it only makes sense to keep this process as simple as possible. In exchange for a predictable monthly fee, your data remains protected and accessible to you even if something were to happen to your original copy. Restoring your data from the BDR is also a very simple process, whether it is stored in the cloud or your on-site backup. Cost Efficacy Finally?and arguably, most importantly?maintaining a BDR is one of the most effective means of controlling your investments. Because BDR is billed as a service, it is considered an operational expense and requires no additional investments into the hardware and software required. Interested in finding out more about BDR and other means of protecting your business? data? Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 today.