There are plenty of reasons why you may want to do this. Perhaps you?d like a second phone number that you can use to sign up for promotions, just to keep your primary phone number off of the lists of annoying telemarketers. Maybe you want to take calls from your business phone on your personal smartphone. Regardless, the technology you need to do so is very accessible and easy to set up. Call TransferThis technology has been around for far longer than smartphones, and comes with most phone plans. If your current phone system supports it, you?ll be able to set up forwarding for calls to your personal cell phone. This can allow you to accept business calls, even while you?re out of the office. Granted, this feature does have a catch. It might be great for receiving phone calls, but it doesn?t necessarily allow you to make calls from your device using the transferred phone number. There are plenty of business phone solutions that are designed specifically for this situation, like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Solutions like these are dynamic and responsive enough to make it easy to manage a second phone number. Second Phone Number AppsIf you just want a second phone number for personal use, there are plenty of great options that can give you similar functionality. Here are a few of the most popular options: Google Voice and Hangouts: You can use your Google account to set up a second Google Voice phone number, which you can then use through Google Hangouts to make and receive phone calls. This is a great option for those who are already fully using their Google accounts, and it?s free. Sideline: Sideline might only provide the basics, but it gives you a second phone number. You can make and receive calls, and have a voicemail, but that?s about all it can do. It?s $3/month, so it?s an inexpensive option? that is, if you can get around the advertisements. Line 2: Line 2 offers more features than the previous examples, which make it a better solution if you?re willing to shell out some extra cash for it. Line 2 has two plans: a $10/month plan, which provides a personal number, and $15/month, which provides a business line. Many smartphone users may find the mobile app and online dashboard desirable. Skype Number: Skype has made it quite easy to get a second phone number, and if you?re already using it for video chat, you may as well use it for your second phone number solution. An online Skype number offers a robust set of features at $6/month, which makes it both affordable and convenient. If you want to put a second phone number on your smartphone, as you can see, you have several options to consider. However, if your business wants the most dynamic phone solution that can benefit your entire infrastructure, there?s only one option. White Mountain IT Services suggests implementing a Voice over Internet Protocol solution for your communication needs. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Every security professional?s worst nightmare consists of the National Security Agency (NSA) being hacked. While there?s no proof that the NSA itself has been hacked, there is some evidence to suggest that some of the exploits used by the agency are up for grabs on the black market. What this means is that a lucky group of hackers could potentially get their hands on some very dangerous tools. Of course, there?s no guaranteeing that the tools obtained are actually tools used by the NSA. Unfortunately, there could be a hint of truth to these claims. After all, security researchers have found that some of the sample files provided by the hackers do contain some actual, legitimate exploits. Some of them even include exploits for widely-used security services and firewall solutions, which could be dangerous if acquired by hackers who are more interested in using them than making a profit. The hackers who obtained these exploits claim to have stolen them from the Equation Group, a cyber-espionage group that reportedly may be tied to the NSA. The Equation Group is known as the hackers who, according to Kaspersky Lab, probably helped to develop the Stuxnet computer worm, and are known to deal with advanced malware. Apparently, a group of hackers, known as the “Shadow Brokers”, are looking to auction off these cyber weapons to the highest bidder. Specifically, the exploits on sale are designed to target firewall technology from big names such as Cisco, Juniper, Fortinet, and a Chinese brand called Topsec. Security professionals are calling the code legitimate, and one even managed to confirm that one of the exploits has an IP address that?s registered to the United States Department of Defense. It?s thought that the exploits were found on an infrastructure they were monitoring, and thus gave the hackers exactly what they needed to turn a profit. The hackers are currently offering the exploits on the black market in exchange for Bitcoin, but there?s no guarantee that they will make good on their promise and hand them over. Some professionals even believe that it?s an elaborate scam. The NSA hasn?t confirmed any affiliation with the Equation Group or the exploits stolen, so who knows if the Shadow Brokers are telling the truth about any of this? The Shadow Brokers claim that they will publicly expose these exploits if they can get 1 million Bitcoins. Can you imagine the sort of chaos that could be unleashed should they make good on their threat to reveal this information? Hackers would have government-grade espionage technology at their fingertips; and until patches are released for the exploits, hackers could mercilessly assault systems that fail to keep themselves safe, and even those that are. How secure are your mission-critical files? To find out, contact White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.

Disasters are an unfortunate part of doing business in a technology-heavy workplace environment. You need to expect the worst, but it?s often difficult to predict what types of disasters your organization will have to endure. There are a few universal disasters that you?ll encounter, regardless of where in the world your business operates. Here are four of the most common ways that your business could lose data, and how disaster recovery thwarts them at every turn. Natural DisastersAll you have to do is watch the local weather channel to get a glimpse of just how unpredictable and apocalyptic natural disasters can be. One minute the sun could be shining, and the next your business could be assaulted by roaring torrents and flash flood warnings. Or, the earth would quake under your feet and you?d never know until it?s too late to do something about it. An even more common occurrence would be an electrical storm or a power outage, which could threaten to bring down your technology or fry its circuitry. The point is that it?s next to impossible to predict what effect a natural disaster could have on your business, but the fact remains that it?s most certainly nothing good. Hardware FailuresAnother common problem for businesses that rely on technology is the hardware failure. If you have resource-intensive servers that are responsible for the brunt of your network operations, you might already be intimately familiar with the devastating effects of a hardware failure. No technology can last forever, so when an untimely hardware failure claims the lives of your server units or workstations, you?ll need to be prepared. User ErrorIn much the same way as hardware failure, user error needs to be expected and planned for. You can?t realistically expect your users to never make mistakes. It?s part of human nature. People might accidentally misplace files or hand over credentials to threatening entities. Regardless of how they do so, user error is one of the primary reasons for data losses and data breaches, so it?s crucial that you prepare for this by educating your team on best practices, and implementing data backup. Hacking AttacksYou might not expect to become the victim of a hacking attack, but no matter how large your business is, you need to consider yourself a target. As long as you deal with sensitive credentials like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and other financial or personally identifiable information, you have something of value to hackers. When a hacker attacks, they can either steal or delete your data, so it?s best to have a backup stored in the event of something like this. Regardless of how your data is lost, you?ll need a way to recover it. The best way for a SMB is to reach out to White Mountain IT Services. We can equip your business with the dynamic BDR solution you need to keep your organization afloat, even when you think that your business will sink. Our BDR solution features only the best and brightest features for your data infrastructure, including fast and efficient recovery times, multiple backups taken per day, and off-site, cloud-based storage. With BDR, you?ll know that your data is safely stored, just in case you need it. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Depending on who you?re addressing and the context of the email, there are a few different ways you can approach your email heading. One surefire way is to make the subject line relatable and personable. According to Unbounce, a message with the subject line, ?Steve, where are you?? achieved a 43 percent open rate, compared to a Mailchimp report citing the industry average to be 24 percent. This is due to both the personalization of the subject line, as well as the perception that, by not reading the email, the recipient will miss out in some way. Another great way to reach your email recipient is to include a detail about their recent activities with you. You can use the subject line to catch their attention. For example, you can ask them how their experience was, and customize it to make sure that the message doesn?t get identified as spam. You can do this if someone has recently purchased a new product or service from your company. Doing so establishes a personal connection, and can inspire the recipient to take further action. Offering a special benefit, like a limited time offer or important information, can also inspire a reader to open the email. Perhaps you could try educating them on how best to perform a certain task or even a surprising fact. Whatever you decide to include, make sure that it?s either useful or interesting. On the other hand, if your email is conveying bad news to the reader, it?s best to be honest at all times, as well as authoritative. If the service that you provide is disrupted, it?s best to let them know about the issue, as well as any plans that you have to resolve it. Basically, the thing to remember is that your message, including the subject line, should be tailored to meet the expectations of the recipient. No two people are the same, and you will have varying purposes in reaching out to them. Your mission should be to make all of your recipients feel like they?re special; otherwise, they?ll suspect that you?re emailing everyone in your contacts, and assume that the message isn?t genuine. This can cause them to put your message in the back of their mind (or in the spam folder). What are some of your favorite ways to get your emails read? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog for more great technology tips and tricks.

It was expressed that, in comparison to its previous incarnations, Windows 10 is much more difficult to break into. That hasn?t stopped some hackers from trying, though. Among the Black Hat hackers at the convention were many who had tried to pinpoint potential outlets for malicious threats, and while they still managed to come up with a couple of solutions, it became clear that Windows 10 is much more challenging for hackers to infiltrate. Below are a few of the proposed attack models, and how Windows 10 challenges them. Windows 10 Uses Built-In Anti-Malware ToolsWindows 10 uses what?s called the antimalware scan interface (AMSI), which is capable of identifying and capturing malicious scripts in memory. The idea is that applications can access this information, and any antivirus or antimalware program can process it. For example, Windows Defender and AVG use AMSI. The reason that this is such a huge problem for hackers is that many prefer to use script-based attacks. The kicker here is that while AMSI is a valuable tool to detect and prevent attacks, it requires secondary security protocol in order to be most effective. While it?s great for detecting scripts executed in PowerShell, since PowerShell records logs, it still requires someone to regularly monitor the logs in order for it to be most effective. Active DirectoryActive Directory is a crucial part of how Windows administration functions, and it?s useful for both managing workloads in the cloud, and controlling identity and authentication management on in-house networks. Microsoft Azure uses Active Directory, which can provide exceptional security for an Azure-based cloud computing platform. The problem that admins run into in most circumstances is that any user account can access Active Directory unless the administrator removes those permissions. Therefore, it falls to your IT administrators to ensure that the credentials for your Active Directory authentication are secured and to control user permissions to mitigate potential access to AD. VirtualizationVirtualization-based security is a series of security features that are built into the hypervisor of Windows 10. In essence, Hyper-V can create a virtual machine that isn?t connected to the root partition. This virtual machine can then execute security commands as needed. The idea here is that Hyper-V creates a virtual machine that can?t be compromised, even if the root partition has been taken over. It?s a way of minimizing the extent of data breaches, should they happen in the first place. Of course, if the root contains credentials that allow hackers to access the virtual machine, it?s all over. Therefore, administrators need to take measures to ensure that hackers cannot access the VBS machine. Of course, no matter how secure an OS is, hackers will always find a way to get in. One way or another, criminals who are determined to bypass defenses will create a way to do so. Microsoft patches known vulnerabilities as soon as they?re discovered to be active, so it comes down to outplaying the opponent. Hackers will inevitably find ways to crack Windows 10?s innate security, so it?s your responsibility to complement your OS?s security with your own solutions. If you need assistance securing your Windows 10 devices, or any other workstations, servers, or network components, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.