Let?s go over how these quizzes can easily obtain the information needed to gain access to a person?s social media profile. ?Your New Last Name is the Name of the High School You Attended!? The big problem with these quizzes is that, innocent as they may seem, a lot of the questions they ask line up with the security questions that numerous accounts?your bank and credit cards, for instance?will use to confirm your identity when you try to recover your password. Or, when ?you? try to recover your password. These security systems can?t tell who it is typing in these answers, they can only tell whether or not the provided answer matches the one they have on file. Your bank doesn?t know that you figured out what your superhero name would be and revealed your first pet?s name in doing so. From the bank?s perspective, you just forgot your password, and need to use your recovery questions to reset it. When you consider these online quizzes and the questions they frequently ask, they line up with the recovery questions that a lot of platforms request when resetting a password. Your first pet?s name, your mother?s maiden name, the model of your first car?all of these questions are commonly used as security measures. So, by sharing the answers to these questions in response to these quizzes, you are potentially giving someone easy access to your accounts. These Questions are Effectively Phishing on Social Media Phishing is nothing to take lightly in any of its forms?including that which appears on social media. It is important that you and your team always have an eye out for these attempts in the office and out. Keep an eye out for some of the hallmarks of a phishing attack?misspelled addresses, overly alarmist subject lines, and unprompted attachments?and impress these practices on your employees as well. Unfortunately, cyberthreats are not confined to either the office or the home, so vigilance is always somewhat necessary. However, White Mountain IT Services is here to help keep an eye on your work processes. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

Crystal Clear Video and Audio One problem with more antiquated conferencing solutions is that they didn?t guarantee the quality of the audio and video of the meetings. With so many people getting used to meeting virtually, it is important that they have the tools that allow for efficiency in a medium not known for it. White Mountain IT Services IT experts can help you get a solution that works for your needs as well as set you up with the networking specifications needed to facilitate a dynamic video conferencing platform. Presenting Capabilities Another big part of conducting positive virtual meetings is giving your presenters the ability to present visual aids. Nobody likes sitting around listening to people talk; even in person. Having a video conferencing solution that allows for interaction and collaboration can go a long way toward providing the positive experience you?re looking for.  Interactivity Amazing as the technology is, the video meeting can get dull pretty fast. Today?s workers are best when they are engaged. The best way to promote engagement is through interactivity. Giving the remote attendee the ability to interact with the presenter, whether that is through chat, emojis, or through audio commentary, it will help facilitate that interaction that they crave and that your team needs to not be alienated as they work from home.  Engagement Above All Else As cited previously, people enjoy meetings more when they are involved. When working with remote employees, presenters should do everything they can to get their audience involved in the discussion. More will be accomplished and employees will be more engaged, more driven, and produce better results if they feel they are a part of a team rather than just someone who has to check in to meetings. Get workers involved and you will get more out of them; even if they work remotely. If you would like to talk to one of our consultants about your video conferencing needs, your remote computing needs, or any other IT-related issue, give us a call today at (603) 889-0800.

Step One: Figure Out Where Your Weaknesses Lie First, you?ll want to figure out where your weaknesses are and what can be done to fix them. Threats are always growing more powerful in response to security researchers? attempts to counteract them, so figuring out where your infrastructure needs some updates will be critical to your success. Oftentimes a simple upgrade or patch is not the answer; sometimes you also need to provide additional training or update your processes. Basically, if you don?t know what the problem is, you can?t address it, so do your best to determine what they are. Step Two: Apply Trusted Methods that Meet Established Standards All things considered, it?s not that difficult to figure out what you need to do to protect your business. There are so many organizations and established best practices out there that it?s more of a matter of applying them in a way that works for your business. It always helps to give us a call, too, just in case you?re unsure of what to do! Any industry-based regulations and compliances can also help you make important decisions about your security standards. Things like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) apply to most businesses in operation today, and there are some industry-specific guidelines that could severely hinder one?s success if they are not followed. Be sure that you know what applies to your business and how. Step Three: Figure Out if You Have the Resources You Need It?s easy to feel overwhelmed by IT security, especially if your organization doesn?t have a dedicated in-house department whose sole purpose is to manage and maintain your technology systems, security included. Knowing what resources you have available to you will be paramount to your success in securing your business. Thankfully, you can rest assured that there are always options for your business, even if you are a small organization with a limited budget. Thanks to the managed service model, businesses of all types and sizes can take advantage of the same security features as enterprises. We can handle your security needs for you, and if you have an in-house team, they can focus on operations. Or, we can even switch these roles around?whichever you prefer! Step Four: Plan Your Cybersecurity?s Future Planning for cybersecurity after the fact isn?t ideal, but it?s better than not learning from your mistakes. However, the best approach is to future-proof your security strategy to prevent misfortunes like these from happening in the future. With a proactive approach, you can build a security plan and policies that can grow and evolve alongside the threats they are designed to face. Be sure to train your employees, too, as they are the ones who are on the frontlines more often than not. It never hurts to reevaluate your security strategy, especially considering the fast-paced nature of threat evolution. White Mountain IT Services is Here to Help You at Every Step White Mountain IT Services wants to help you secure your business. To learn more, ask us about our managed services by calling us at (603) 889-0800.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G With a foldable OLED screen, the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G is quite the device. It boasts an aluminum frame with a Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and back. While folded, the device has a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 832 x 2,268px display that refreshes at a rate of 120 hz. One of its biggest claims to fame is that you can do most anything you need right from the outside of the device. This device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chip, 12 GB of RAM, and either 256 or 512 GB of built-in storage, and it can be upgraded to the Android 12 and Samsung One UI operating system right out of the box. It also sports a pretty impressive camera with a 12 MP wide-angle lens with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), a 12 MP telephoto lens with 2x zoom and OIS, and a 12 MP ultra wide-angle lens. The front-facing camera on the large display is a 4 MP in-display wide-angle lens, while the cover camera is a 10 MP wide-angle lens. The battery is unfortunately an unimpressive 4,400 mAh with 25W fast charging?a battery life of about 7.5 hours. It has other features, though, including a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, IPX8 water resistance, Samsung?s DeX capability, and 5G. The Galaxy Z Fold3 5G is available in Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, Phantom Green, Thom Browne Edition, and an exclusive Wooyoungmi Edition. As for the price, the Galaxy Z Fold3 costs nearly $2,000 from Samsung and most major cell carriers.  Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5GBody:  Aluminum Frame, Gorilla Glass Victus front and back, plastic large displayDisplay: Closed – 6.2-inch Super AMOLED 2X, 120 Hz,  832 x 2,268 (~374 ppi); Open – 7.6-inch Super AMOLED 2X, 120 Hz, 1768 x 2208OS: Android 11; upgradable to Android 12, One UI 4.0Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888Memory: 12 GB RAM; 256-to-512 GB onboard storageExpandable Memory: NoCameras: Rear – 12 MP, 26mm, OIS; 12 MP 52mm 2x optical zoom OIS; 12 MP 123? ultrawide. Front of device – 10 MP 26mm; Front of folded display – 4 MP under-displaySounds: Stereo SoundBattery (battery endurance rating): 4,400 mAh (7.5 hours)Security: Side-mounted fingerprint sensorMiscellaneous: Samsung DeX, IPX8 water resistant, 24W fast charging Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 The Galaxy Z Flip3 is a classic flip phone in every sense of the word with an aluminum frame, plastic front, and a Gorilla Glass Victus back. The screen is a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a resolution of 1,080 x 2,640px and a 120Hz refresh rate, and just like the flip phones of old, the screen folds in half for protection. It has a 1.9-inch Super AMOLED screen for notifications, the time, and other quick-view information. The Flip3 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chip with 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 258 GB of storage, running the Android 11 operating system by default (it can be updated later) with Samsung?s One UI 4.0. The camera on this device leaves much to be desired, unfortunately. It only has a 12 MP wide-angle lens and a 12 MP ultra wide-angle lens, so it?s not incapable, while the selfie camera is a 10 MP wide-angle lens. The battery also suffers at 3,300 mAh and 15W fast charging for 69 hours of battery life. Available […]

The reason why a network audit is helpful for reducing hardware costs is that it gives you an idea of what your current resources are, how they are being used, and how they could better be utilized. Once you have a solid understanding of all this, it becomes much easier to see where you can make adjustments that improve your operations and your budget. Hardware virtualization, in particular, affords businesses plenty of chances to reduce costs through the cloud. For example, with hardware virtualization, you can take something that is typically quite costly, like running a server unit, and host it in the cloud. This provides access to the server?s resources via the Internet and frees you from hosting the physical hardware component. Furthermore, it provides a flexibility that is simply not possible with a physical machine, like the ability to run multiple operating systems on the same device. For businesses that run legacy applications that have been around for a long time, hardware virtualization is a particularly helpful tool. Sometimes you might have a server that needs to run a specific instance of an operating system that is no longer supported, just so you can utilize an application built specifically for your business many years ago. It can become difficult to secure these unsupported devices, and running an additional server (electricity, cooling, and maintenance included) just for one particular solution is not ideal. Hosting this server in the cloud frees up those resources and makes it much easier to secure, as it will be partitioned away from the rest of your online infrastructure. The last bit we want to mention here is that the latest and greatest tools on the market might not be suitable for all positions within your business. For example, a video editor might benefit from a powerful rig, but your typical office worker will likely not need 32GB of RAM and an intensive graphics card. Instead of upgrading all of your devices immediately, consider what the purpose of the device is going to be and how it will be used. This will save you costs in the long run. If you are ready to slim down your hardware expenses, White Mountain IT Services can help. We work with only the best and brightest hardware vendors to get the best solutions for our clients. Furthermore, we can help you migrate to the cloud if that is the best course of action for your particular business. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.