Change Your Mouse Speed Through the Control Panel All you have to do is navigate to the Control Panel. First, open up the app by searching for it in the search bar. You can then type Mouse Speed in the search bar of the Control Panel. You should see an option to adjust the mouse pointer?s display or speed. Click on the appropriate setting and adjust the slider to your preference. You can also change settings that allow you to see the location of the pointer when you press the CTRL key or hide the pointer when you are typing. Change Your Mouse Speed Through Settings Another way you can adjust the mouse settings is by opening up the Settings app. You can then click on Mouse in the left-hand column. You?ll see an option like Mouse Speed or Cursor Speed, depending on the device and the operating system. You can adjust the speed to your liking using the slider. It?s easy enough to make simple changes like these for productivity?s sake, but larger, more drastic changes should always be adjusted by your IT administrator. This will make sure that your changes don?t break your infrastructure or create even more problems for your organization. For more great tips, subscribe to White Mountain IT Services?s blog.

First, it is important that we understand what a data breach response plan is. A Data Breach Response Plan is a Field Guide to Business Continuity That?s really what it all boils down to?a data breach response plan is simply a collection of strategies that you?ll need to follow to mitigate the worst impacts of this data breach. Your response plan should specify the following: The definition you use to describe what qualifies as a breach The internal procedures used to share news of the breach The contact details for each member of the team responsible for dealing with the breach The procedures to identify the cause of the breach, to isolate all impacted systems, and to notify all required parties The list of reparations to be made to those whose data was impacted, like identity theft protections and credit monitoring Having this plan prepared can help you eliminate many of the high costs otherwise associated with breach response and management, while also helping you preserve your reputation and your business? all-important uptime. The Steps of Data Breach Response Development 1. Identify Potential Vulnerabilities If you want your breach response to be effective, you need to have an idea of what might lead to your business? data being breached?employee error or intent, data loss of all kinds, disruption of service?while also considering the outcomes, like a hit to your business? reputation and legal ramifications. 2. Assign Roles for Your Team Members Responding to a data breach needs to be an all-hands-on-deck situation, with people in all positions playing a part. Documenting the responsibilities of each team and department in your response plan will maintain transparency. 3. Have Assorted Protections in Place As we always recommend, there is an assortment of security solutions needed to keep as many threats as possible out of your network. Ensuring your team is compliant to stringent password policies, maintaining redundant copies of your data in both on- and off-site storage solutions, and a variety of other safeguards will be critical to your success. 4. Establish Processes From identifying that there is an issue and what caused it to communicating amongst the team to isolate and remove it, you need to have established processes that have been tested to be effective. You also have to ensure that you have a list of all parties that need to be notified after a breach takes place?government entities, business associates, and the media, if need be. 5. Review and Adjust Finally, you need to consider your breach response protocol to be a living process. With threats constantly evolving and advancing, you need to evaluate how effective your breach response tactics are and improve them periodically. We Can Help You Establish a Response for Data Breaches? Or, Ideally, Prevent Them Don?t just trust that you won?t be targeted. Reach out at (603) 889-0800 to find out more about our services.

Data Backup Solutions for Longevity Imagine what could happen to your business if you were to lose all access to your data. Even a disaster like a hardware failure could lead to data loss, and let?s not even get started on what could happen if your network were to fall victim to a malicious attack like a ransomware infection. In cases like this, it?s always in your best interest to have a data backup system in place. We recommend that you practice the 3-2-1 rule: three copies of your data, in two different locations, with one being stored offsite, preferably in an offsite data center to ensure that if you need to restore data quickly that it is ready and available.  Cloud Solutions for Anywhere Access If you can only do your job from your office, then you will be in for a rude awakening when you are forced into circumstances that prevent you from getting to the office? like, say, a global pandemic. In situations like these, having cloud-based solutions for anytime-anywhere access can make all the difference for your operations. Not only does it improve accessibility and reliability, as long as you have an Internet connection, it also dramatically improves productivity, as work can be done from anywhere on any device, as long as it supports an Internet browser. Basically, hosting data and applications in the cloud only helps your organization, and while you might have security concerns about its hosting, there are ways to get around these issues. Just ask one of our certified and trustworthy technicians about them! A Plan of Action, Just In Case You never know what could happen in business, so you?d best be prepared for just about anything. This includes having a plan for alternative operations in case your office isn?t accessible, having a clear line of succession in the event management is incapable of performing their duties, and ensuring continuity of your company?s vital operations in whatever capacity is necessary. A business continuity plan, thus, takes much more than just your technology into consideration; it?s a comprehensive look at your operations and how you can minimize the damage done by issues outside of your control. White Mountain IT Services knows that dealing with disasters can be difficult, and while we hope you never stare a disaster in the face, we want to make sure you are always as best prepared to do so as possible. To learn more about how we can help you confront any disasters, be they natural or man-made, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Assess and Identify Take some time to analyze your business? needs so you can identify where technology can make the most impact. The big thing is that you should not be wasting money on new technology that doesn’t yield a significant return on your investment. Businesses often implement solutions that create redundancies on their infrastructures. To prevent this from happening, take a look at your infrastructure?s current technology and see how it is working to support your goals. You?ll have to examine operations on multiple levels to ensure you get the full picture for how technology could impact all parts of your business, including human resources, database management, and communications. If you can understand your business inside and out, you can make better choices for technology implementation. Choose Reliable and Scalable Technology It?s not always about replacing every single piece of technology within your organization so that it can grow; chances are you already have technology that is just fine for your needs. It?s up to you to make the call as to what you can implement that is necessary and what is not. When you implement new technology, it should be reliable and scalable to suit your needs. Any investment will bring with it some sort of risk, and technology can potentially grow faster than expected. If you can implement solutions that offer flexibility, you should do so. You might be able to lease your equipment, which could lead to frequent refreshes, or you can host your infrastructure in the cloud. Any methods you can use to turn capital investments into operational expenses can help you with the sustained longevity of your IT operations. Necessity Over Vanity There are several opportunities for your business to implement new technology, but you should prioritize functionality over form. You should only implement technology that your business absolutely needs. If you cannot guarantee ROI from your technology, then perhaps it is better to place it on the sidelines until you learn more about it. For example, you might have different needs than other businesses if you have remote employees. You will need to equip them with the tools they need to collaborate effectively, as well as the solutions required to ensure security of your systems. You might also need to train them on how to use the technology. These are all things that your business needs to be successful, but they are grounded in the specific needs of your remote employees. White Mountain IT Services can help you determine the best technology solutions to implement for your business? goals. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

The Importance of Email Security The reason you?ll want to invest in your email?s security is best summed up by the fact that your business faces near-constant threats. The fact is that all it takes is one malicious email to get into the wrong inbox and your business is dealing with a full-on catastrophe. If your business has unsecured email accounts, it is basically an open invitation for malicious entities. What can you do to enhance the security of your email accounts? Let?s look at a few things: Identifying Phishing Attacks The first thing you can do to secure your business? email accounts is to properly train your employees about how to identify phishing attacks. A phishing attack is when cybercriminals send deceptive emails that are built to seem authentic, and by design, get people to act. They typically do this by having them click on a link in the body of the email or download an attachment to the email. Typically, these attacks are simply phishing for access to a network attached account where the cybercriminal can steal data or deploy malware.  You need to train them to: Check the sender – Do you recognize the sender and the address that the email comes from? If not, you will want to verify with the would-be sender before interacting with the email.  Check the links – By hovering your mouse over the links in the email, you can see the URL that the hyperlink goes to. If you don?t recognize it or it doesn?t match the text of the email, don?t click on it.  Check punctuation and grammar – Phishing emails tend to have grammar and punctuation issues that you would never see in professional correspondence. Many attacks come from foreign countries where English isn?t the first language. Take it slow – Phishing emails tend to create panic for users and that leads to impulsive action and then disaster. Train your employees to take it slow and if they find anything that doesn?t make complete sense in an email to report it to the IT staff. Better safe than sorry.  If your employees know how to spot probable phishing attacks and when to report suspect emails, you will be far ahead of most businesses when it comes to email security. Securing Your Email Backup If you didn?t know already, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (STMP) server enables the sending and receiving of emails. When someone in your organization sends an email, it is stored in the STMP server in plain text format. These backups are typically unprotected and available for access by anyone. That?s why it is important to add a layer of security?typically through encryption?to your email backups to ensure they are locked down.  Tighten Down Email Security There are sophisticated tools that help secure email servers with layers upon layers of security. These solutions, including dynamic spam filtering, can detect and block malicious emails. Tools such as password-protected attachments scans, page impersonation attack detection, and domain background checks can keep your organization?s email solution secure and mitigate the risks it could have to your network.  At White Mountain IT Services, we can help you get the secure email solution you need, help you plan your training, and much, much more. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 today to have a conversation […]