Consider, for a moment, these three ways that the Internet has changed our lives. Be sure to ask yourself (and be honest) if you truly think that we?re better off. Increased Productivity…One of the biggest advantages of the Internet is that people can be productive from anywhere they have access to it. This includes places that may have once been inaccessible, or even inhospitable: beaches while on vacation, hotels while away on business, or even the car. If you?re looking at the Internet from a purely business standpoint, the Internet is great. Your employees can be as productive as they want, whenever they want. They can always be connected to the office. However, is it wise for this mindset of ubiquity to be so predominant in the business world? What about the human experience? When you can?t go a few minutes without receiving a phone call, email, or text message on your smartphone, you can?t help but feel a longing for simpler times. ? Yet Productivity DecreasesThe Internet is a great tool that provides many opportunities to get work done, but it?s notorious for being a massive distraction for workers. With the advent of online distractions like memes, you might find your workers would rather have a good laugh than do their jobs properly. For example, at the end of your work day, how many tabs does your browser window have open? The average office worker?s screen is often full of relevant (or irrelevant) news articles, YouTube videos, instant messaging conversations, social media, and so much more. The main problem is that small distractions from the Internet become a major issue for productivity. It?s been proven that it can take anywhere from five minutes to fifteen minutes for a worker to refocus on a single task when they?ve been distracted by something, whether it be a meme on the Internet or an IM from a coworker. All of these distractions eventually lead to getting less work done. Instantaneous Access to InformationThanks to the Internet, the world?s information and media coverage is at your fingertips. This is a great step forward, but what are the real benefits of this? Perhaps all of this information isn?t good for our brains, and it?s making us too lazy to work hard for our information. Here are two sobering statistics from List25:50 percent of Internet users quit waiting for a video to load after 10 seconds.The average shot length in an English-language film has decreased from 12 seconds in 1930 to only about 2 seconds in 2015. Even if the Internet is capable of satisfying our constant thirst for something to do, it?s making patience a rare trait to find. We don?t think that it?s out of bounds to say that this is a bad thing. Now that you understand the scope of these issues, how big of a problem are they in your office? Is your staff being productive, or are they too distracted to get good work done? Is their work cutting into leisure time? Would your team rather perform a Google search for the answer to a question than ask their direct supervisor about it? These are all questions that you should be asking. If you contact White Mountain IT Services, we can help you mitigate online distractions and keep the Internet a productive place […]

If you?ve never checked on your company?s online reputation, you may be in for a surprise. Just because everything is hunky dory around the office, doesn?t mean that these feelings translate to the online realm. The Internet gives a dissatisfied customer or a former employee with an ax to grind a platform to express their views, and if you?re unaware that such a platform even exists, then your reputation may be taking a hit without you even knowing it. By properly managing your company?s online reputation, you?ll be able to effectively perform damage control in such scenarios, or better yet, capitalize on the good things that are said about your company. Begin With GoogleTo get started managing your company?s online reputation, try searching for your organization?s name in Google Search. If you?ve never done this before, you may have a surprise or two awaiting you. Although, unless a user review has generated a lot of Internet traffic, you probably won?t come across it on the first or second page of Google. Instead, you?ll likely find search results for your company?s website, your information on a listing service (like Yellow Pages), your location on Google Maps, your Google Plus account, and perhaps your company?s social media accounts. Therefore, in order to get to the parts of the Internet where people are talking about you, you?ll more than likely have to dig deeper. You can get more specific with your Google search by including the name of your city or whatever product or service it is that your business specializes in. This will take you to some different web pages, and perhaps introduce you to websites that you never even knew existed (which you?re mentioned on), like review websites such as Yelp. To go even deeper with Google, you can look for search results that took place within a specific timeframe. Do this in Google Search by going to Search Tools > Any time. From here, you can narrow down your search to include results from the past hour, or all the way up to the past year. You can even go to Custom range… to narrow down your search to specific dates. One way that this can be helpful is by searching for dates that your business gave people reason to talk about you, like your company?s busy season, a major promotion, getting covered by the local news, or even after parting ways with a problem employee. And while it?s one thing to search for what?s been said about you online, it?s completely another thing to stay on top of what is being said about you. To manage your online reputation in real time, Google offers a helpful tool known as Google Alerts, which can be found here: https://www.google.com/alerts To use Google Alerts to manage your company?s online reputation, simply add your company?s name or product in the form and sign up to be notified via email every time Google indexes something new about what you specified. This is a great way to nip reputation problems in the bud by being the first to see what?s been said about you as soon as it?s posted. Don?t Forget About Your Company?s Social Media Accounts Too many businesses make the mistake of setting up a social media account just for the sake of having […]

Not Having a CaseFor too many users, purchasing a case for their mobile device is an afterthought. After all, one doesn?t daydream about protective cases in the same way they do about a smartphone?s latest features. By skipping out on a case, your phone will have zero protection for the next time it?s dropped, which, let?s face it, is a matter of ?when,? not ?if.? Mobile device cases are inexpensive, and even having a cheap case is better than having no case. You have no excuse not to have a case for your smartphone… unless you?re this poor chap. Pro tip: For maximum protection of your smartphone, look into purchasing a military-grade case. Exposing Your Device to Extreme TemperaturesMobile devices aren?t designed to handle extreme temperatures. A smartphone will overheat at 113 degrees Fahrenheit, which can easily be reached inside of a car on a hot summer day. When temperatures dip down to -40 degrees, a smartphone could cease working. Keep this in mind the next time you venture into extreme weather conditions, or even leave your phone in direct sunlight. Never Turning Off Your DeviceWith PCs, it?s perfectly fine to rarely shut them down (and some would argue that it?s for the best). However, this rule doesn?t apply to smartphones. Instead, smartphones should be periodically turned off and on. TechRepublic explains: ?At least once a week, reboot that device or (even better) shut it down for 30 minutes or so. Doing this will ensure that caches are cleared and subsystems are properly restarted. Shutting down the device once a week will aid with the longevity of the RAM on the device and allow certain diagnostics to be run at boot.? Transporting Your Phone in Your PocketsSliding your phone into the pockets of your pants certainly is convenient, but keep in mind that doing so comes with a risk. For example, placing your device in your back pocket will put it at risk of being broken if you forget to take it out before sitting down, and the phone can easily fall out of the side pockets if you bend your legs in just the right way. Also, on very rare occasions, smartphones have spontaneously combusted inside the pockets of pants. Even shirt pockets are a bad place to keep your phone, they can fall out way too easily. A better way to transport your device is in a purse, messenger bag, or belt clip. Forgetting About MalwareWhile it?s true that mobile devices aren?t targeted by hackers the same way they attack PCs, that doesn?t mean your smartphone is exempt from attacks. Too often, mobile device users will completely ignore the threat of malware, despite the fact that threats for mobile devices are growing rapidly. To protect your smartphone from such threats, you should at least have a mobile security solution installed and run regular scans. Also, make sure to only install apps from reputable developers. By avoiding these common smartphone mistakes, you?ll be sure to keep your mobile device in tip-top shape for years to come. For more tips and best practices, contact White Mountain IT Services and subscribe to our blog.

Important issues to consider The QuickTime vulnerability on Windows highlights a few important issues regarding cyber security and older software. Are security updates available? Uninstalling QuickTime isn’t merely a temporary measure that will protect you until a new security update gets released. Although Apple contains to provide support and updates for QuickTime run on Mac OS X, they’re no longer coming out with security updates for QuickTime on Windows. The program for Windows is essentially abandoned; there’s no reason to keep it on your computer. Whatever software you run on your computer, make sure it’s still supported. Without software updates, which often include patches for security vulnerabilities, you’re stuck running older versions of a program. Older software is usually riddled with security holes, leaving you vulnerable to all kinds of attacks. With malicious code, hackers can shut down your system, wipe out your hard drive, and steal or tamper with data. How much time does it take you to respond to security alerts? Whenever you hear about a new vulnerability, you must respond as soon as possible. Hackers operate quickly to exploit known weaknesses in a software program. Along with attending to news of known vulnerabilities, you should also stay alert to any decisions companies make to discontinue software support. Even if the company doesn’t make an official announcement, check when they’ve last updated a program and confirm its status. Apple, for instance, didn’t issue this latest warning; a federal agency did. You can’t always wait for a software company to inform you about a problem. To stay on top of cyber security alerts, it’s best to rely on dedicated IT support. IT professionals will review the software you’ve installed on your devices and ensure that it’s protected and up-to-date. People who use Windows may not even realize they still have QuickTime installed on their device. Furthermore, a program may work safely and effectively on one kind of device or system, but not on another. It’s important to make these distinctions when deciding how to react to a cyber security threat. Within hours of receiving this alert, we were able to send a command to uninstall QuickTime AND block it from ever running again, on over 4,000 windows computers that are currently under our White Mountain Managed IT service agreements.  So even if a user manages to unintentionally resinstall QuickTime, our system will prevent it from runining and will send an alert to let us know. Are you taking a layered approach to cyber security? These recent QuickTime vulnerabilities involve malicious code that can execute once people visit a certain website or opened an infected file. Although hackers can sometimes attack a system without the need for user interaction, in many cases, they rely on people to perform a specific action in order to launch a malware attack. Remain cautious about files and links sent via email, and take care when you’re browsing the Internet to avoid unfamiliar sites. Other defenses include an ongoing security awareness training program, updated anti-malware programs, firewalls, and Internet browsers that can detect and warn you about potentially corrupted sites. Your cyber security defenses should involve layers of protection, combining state-of-the-art software and safe computing habits. Want to see if your IT provider has really protected you from this threat?Try this simlple test; Check to see […]

Know Who to Contact for SupportAs a leader within your organization, you need to lead by example. You should be aware of who to contact within your company for any IT-related issues, and this contact information should be shared with other employees within your organization. By cooperating with IT, your business can improve operations so that you don?t encounter a roadblock when it comes time to upgrade to more recent technology, or perform maintenance on critical hardware and software. Working with VendorsDealing with vendors is part of doing business with technology. Your organization likely has several different vendors for your various hardware and software solutions. Knowing how to communicate with them is key to getting the most from your products. In other words, you should at least be privy to information concerning your organization?s relationship with its vendors. Basic Security Best PracticesThis is a part of business that all of your employees should be familiar with. Data security is one of the most crucial parts of running a business, and your team needs to understand this if you want to ensure maximum security. Examples of basic security best practices include the following: Employees should use long, complex passwords. Employees should use two-factor authentication. Employees should be able to identify potential online scams. Managing Laptops and Mobile DevicesIf your employees bring their own devices (BYOD) to the workplace for use on your company network, you have a responsibility to ensure that they?re following proper protocol. Do you have a BYOD policy? If not, you should consider setting one up. You need to have some sort of oversight in regards to what data is being used and accessed on what devices. The idea is to restrict the flow of data through permissions so that you can know how it?s being used, and to limit its exposure to threats. This might seem like a lot to take in, but you don?t have anything to worry about. Most of these issues can be resolved simply by having an IT technician on-hand to consult in times of need. If you don?t have an in-house IT department, this might seem like an impossible task. Thankfully, White Mountain IT Services makes it easy for your business to keep your technology functioning properly and running without incident; all thanks to outsourced managed IT services. White Mountain IT Services can handle the everyday management and maintenance of your IT systems, and act as a consultant, helping you make educated decisions about the future of your technology systems. For more information, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.