It seems that ever since the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine (1986), nuclear plants have cracked down on minimizing the chances of incidents. Barring Chernobyl, there has only been one other disaster that?s rated 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES), and that was the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011. These two are rated 7, the top of the scale, due to the disastrous effects that they had not only on the immediate vicinity, but also for the worldwide environment. The Chernobyl disaster was the result of an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction, which led to an enormous explosion that ejected fire and radioactive core material into the vicinity of the power plant. However, a significant portion of the damage caused by Chernobyl could have been prevented if the plant practiced better safety measures, and if there was a containment system in place to handle the worst-case scenario. On the other hand, the Fukushima incident was prepared to handle a failure of operations. The disaster was triggered by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the resulting tsunami. The plant at Fukushima had measures put in place to shut down the plant in the event of a disaster, but these measures were rendered useless by the awesome power of nature. The tsunamidamaged power lines and the backup generators, which led to heat decay, meltdowns, and major reactor damage. These disasters lead professionals to find solutions to new and emerging problems and to ensure that such catastrophes are prevented in the future. For example, the Fukushima incident forced plants to consider what would happen if power generators were flooded and rendered obsolete. In response, emergency off-site power generators and other equipment are planned to be implemented as soon as November 2016. Another way that nuclear plants have coped with these new risks is by allowing external third parties to investigate and manage the reliability of their backup systems. These investigators are in charge of making sure that any and all systems are properly maintained. They function in a similar manner to a business?s IT management, making sure that all systems are operating smoothly, and that no unauthorized changes are made to a functioning infrastructure. The main takeaway from this article is that nuclear plants expect the worst to happen, and they take steps to prevent it before it even takes place. This is the type of proactive stance that your business needs to take. Granted, there?s a lot more at stake if a nuclear power plant fails to function properly, but the fact remains that if your mission-critical systems fail, you could be experience significant downtime and increased costs. In order to keep your business functioning properly, White Mountain IT Services suggests utilizing a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solution that?s specifically designed to minimize downtime and data loss risk. The BDR takes regular backups of your business?s data and sends them to a secure, off-site data center, as well as to the cloud for quick recovery. In the event of a hardware failure or similar disaster, these backups can quickly be deployed to the BDR device, which can temporarily replace your server until you find a suitable replacement. Furthermore, you can compound the BDR solution with our remote monitoring and maintenance solution, which is designed to detect issues within your IT infrastructure and […]

Before we dig into the nitty-gritty details, let?s discuss why you would want to add a new Gmail account to your device in the first place. While Google doesn?t like it when someone has more than one Gmail account, users may need a second ?burner? account that?s used for junk mail and signing up for online promotions. Another example might be if your workplace uses Gmail as its preferred email client, and you want to add a work account to your smartphone. Adding your Gmail account to your device will also give you access to your email, calendar, and Google Drive all through your smartphone, even while you?re on the road for business purposes. Regardless of why you have more than one Gmail account, adding these accounts to your device can make for a significantly more convenient experience. Here?s how it?s done. Adding a New or Existing Gmail AccountWhen you?re ready to add your account to your smartphone, open the Gmail app. You should see your inbox for the default Google account set up on your phone. Check the side menu and tap the hamburger menu (the three-line menu in the top-left corner). Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, and select Settings. You?ll then see a list of your current accounts. Next, select Add account. Tap Google, and then select Next. Just follow the instructions displayed on the screen and you?ll be all set. Switching Between AccountsOnce you?ve added your new account to the Gmail app, you can easily switch between your account inboxes and accounts. Go back to the hamburger menu, and you will see your accounts in the form of icons at the top of it. All you need to do is tap the icon, or select the down arrow next to the icon, to see your inbox. It?s a pretty handy feature to have while on the move. For more great ways to improve your Android user experience, subscribe to White Mountain IT Services?s blog.

Business Application A clearly defined policy serves three business specific purposes: Expectations ? A good policy will establish the behavioral expectations of the employer regarding all email sent or received with corporate-owned equipment and services, as well as company email addresses. Security ? All policies should emphasize the need for users of all corporate-owned equipment and company email address to employ common sense awareness regarding modern cyber-threats. Well written policies will underscore that it is ultimately up to the user to ensure company equipment and email systems are not leveraged for malicious purposes. Liability ? A detailed policy will reduce a business?s liability by establishing that well-defined expectation?s, as well as consequences that will follow if/when the policy is breached, were clearly spelled out to all users upon employment, and routinely throughout their tenure. Technology Monitoring & Restrictions Regardless of the infrastructure used to provide email services (cloud, hosted, or on-premise), technology-based monitoring and communication restrictions must be utilized to ensure compliant business use. Restrictions should include: Suspicious Email ? Whether inbound or outbound, all suspicious emails need to be blocked. Blocking suspicious inbound emails will protect the organization from phishing and malware attacks.  Blocking suspicious outbound email will safeguard a business?s email domain reputation ? preventing it from being blacklisted and interrupting email flow. Emails Containing Protected Information ? The communication of protected information across digital media is heavily regulated in many industries ? HIPAA, SoX, and PCI-DSS are the most common examples. Technology restrictions must be in place to monitor for, and prevent the public exposure of, personally identifying information, financial information, Social Security numbers, private medical information, etc.  Failure to comply with these regulations, especially in the wake of a breach, comes with heavy financial penalties. Harassing & Unlawful Correspondence ? Threats and harassment (cyberbullying) is a well-documented issue in the US that comes with steep fines and penalties, depending on the outcome. Emails containing vulgarity or harassing/threatening language must be monitored for, reported on, and blocked to protect a business from civil and criminal prosecution.  Additional Items For Consideration There are several additional items your business should consider when creating a comprehensive policy: Training ? Many Federal regulations require that a business establishes and documents a routine training program to ensure that all staff members, individuals that may use corporate-owned equipment, and all users of company-owned digital communication systems are provided training covering the areas discussed in this article, as well as industry-specific topics. Insurance ? Even the best plans, policies, and practices cannot account for all eventualities or future threats. Maintaining a sufficient level of liability insurance is the only way to safeguard your business when something unforeseeable occurs. Assessment ? Certain regulations, such as HIPAA, require an organization to routinely review their policies, training, monitoring systems, and technology used to prevent the communication of protected information or harassing communication. Regulations aside, it is a good idea to, at the least, review your policies and procedures internally on a yearly basis. Takeaway  The general acceptance of email by businesses as the go-to tool for internal and external communication requires many companies in various industries to create and enforce well-documented policies to protect themselves, their customers, and their users. These policies should include language to cover common issues, such as expectations, security, and liability. Further monitoring […]

Many businesses still rely on the age-old practice of break-fix IT. These organizations are usually small and medium-sized businesses that don?t have the time or resources available to regularly resolve technology problems. They don?t fix issues until they absolutely have to, which can lead to problems becoming bigger than they need to be. SMBs often can?t do much to fix the problem, and they usually have to break their budget or hire expensive tech support to resolve the specific issue. Both of these situations are likely to cause trouble for your business, and technology that?s not properly maintained can lead to unforeseen consequences. For example, if your workstations aren?t being updated with the latest patches and security updates, you run the risk of a data breach, which could lead to data loss, theft, and hefty compliance fines. Another example would be your technology experiencing hardware failure, leading to both downtime and data loss. Businesses that can?t recover their lost data have a life expectancy of only one year following a data loss disaster, so replacing old technology only when it fails isn?t an option. In contrast, proactive managed IT helps businesses prevent issues that can explode into bigger, and more costly, problems down the line. This usually entails the complete and total management of all technological assets that a business has, including server hosting and maintenance, email management, network security management, backup and disaster recovery deployment, and so much more. The common ground for all of these services is that they?re designed to take the burden of technology management off of the SMB, so they can focus on what matters most; the business, and its continued operation. White Mountain IT Services is what you can call a managed service provider, or MSP. We specialize in helping organizations like yours manage their technology in cost-effective ways. By doing so, you can eliminate the unpredictable nature of managing your own technology and outsource the responsibility to experts who specialize in doing so. Rather than waste your IT budget on the up-front costs of new hardware and software solutions, you can instead invest this money into services that are budget-friendly, monthly payments. You essentially turn your business?s capital expenses into operating expenses. For more information about managed services or White Mountain IT Services, you can give us a call at (603) 889-0800. Our technicians would be happy to help you determine which path to choose.

So, what can the cloud offer in terms of lessons for your internal IT operations? How the Cloud Differs from Traditional ITThe cloud specializes in taking traditional elements of IT and transforming them into software solutions. In other words, these solutions are stored in the cloud and deployed on a per user basis. Basically, taking advantage of the cloud and virtualization technologies allow for greater agility, which your internal network can attempt to replicate. Since the cloud is a service that?s easily outsourced, businesses can take full advantage of cloud solutions without worrying about the upkeep or management of them. Compared to your business?s in-house network, the cloud is a more efficient manner of data deployment. As reported by CyberTrend: The reason why the cloud was able to arrive on the scene and help companies outsource so much of their infrastructure is because it can often offer performance and other benefits that internal IT teams simply can?t match. Traditionally, IT teams have had to deal with a ?procurement process? where they have to ?go out there, attain the hardware, and get it configured,? which requires quite a few manual activities to actually get everything online and to move the necessary workloads. In short, cloud computing is vastly more effective for both the deployment of data and applications, and the maintenance of your organization?s software solutions. White Mountain IT Services can help your business achieve the same level of success with both your cloud-based infrastructure and your own in-house IT. By outsourcing the hosting of your cloud and network infrastructure needs to us, we can increase your business agility and allow for far greater flexibility and cost savings. For example, virtualizing your business?s desktops allows you to use thin clients, which cut down on electricity and capital expenses. Furthermore, it?s much easier to deploy updates and patches, as the desktops are deployed from the cloud. By hosting applications in the cloud, you also open up the ability to work from home for your staff, further saving on energy costs. For more information about how White Mountain IT Services can simplify your network infrastructure and effectively utilize cloud computing, give us a call at (603) 889-0800. Together, we can help your business?s profits shoot sky-high.