What the FCC Has Done On Thursday, February 25th, the FCC unanimously voted to give low-income households a discount on broadband internet service as a $3.2 billion part of the $900 billion that Congress earmarked for coronavirus relief in December. With up to $50 available to these households (or $75 for those on tribal lands) each month and a one-time $100 discount on a computer or tablet, this program will hopefully assist people in staying safe as the pandemic drags on. Considering that the average bill for stand-alone broadband service was calculated to be around $66 per month by the Wall Street Journal, it should come as no surprise that this is too much for many households to swing. Laying the numbers out like this makes it clear that the Internet is a costly investment, even in the best of times. The list of eligible households covers those that are already receiving low-income Internet benefits or pandemic relief recipients, as well as those who are eligible for free and reduced school lunches, Medicaid, SNAP, and Pell Grant recipients, and anyone who found themselves unemployed by the pandemic. Set to open up in a few short months, this program isn?t without its flaws. First of all, the $3.2 billion won?t last very long when you divide it up amongst 117 million households that meet the eligibility requirements. Once that $3.2 billion is gone, the program is slated to end. Deeper Connectivity Issues This program also does little to address another, arguably larger issue?the fact that millions of families don?t have any reliable means of accessing broadband at all. With so many now working and learning remotely, we?ll likely see some considerable impacts due to this coming to the surface. While the Federal Communications Commission has estimated that 18 million people lack reliable enough connections to access the Internet from home, the method they used to measure would allow these figures to be inaccurately skewed. The reason is this: these figures are based on ZIP code-based census blocks. In order to be counted as broadband-compatible, only a single household needs to have such Internet services available within the block. However, in sparsely-populated areas it isn?t uncommon for census blocks to stretch hundreds of square miles, indicating that this metric is far from effective. Hopefully, this discount will be the first step to a more accessible Internet service with more equity for all, as the need has never been more well-defined. Here, we?ll turn it over to you: are these steps the start of effective change? Let us know in the comments what you think about it.

Pinned Browser Tabs Most times, you?re going online to do a set list of things, using just a few certain websites more than most others. Studies have shown as much. However, if a user prefers to keep these tabs open throughout their browsing session, it is too simple to accidentally close it out when trying to navigate between them. This is where the benefits of pinning a browser tab become apparent. By pinning a browser tab, your tab can no longer be closed out and the website name is removed so that it takes up less space and leaves more room for other tabs. Pinning a tab is simple: Right-click on the tab Select Pin tab from the drop-down When you want to unpin your tab, follow the same process, and simply select the correct option from the same drop-down. If a tab has been pinned, any internal links (directing to a page on the same website) will open in that tab, while external links will open in a new, unpinned tab. Interested in learning more about how your technology can work harder for you? Reach out to White Mountain IT Services today by calling (603) 889-0800.

Let?s go into why this is, and what these practices should look like. How an Employee?s Security Habits Impact the Business? Security Overall Okay, stay with us here?there are a few steps that we need to go through to get from point A to point B. Chances are that your team members are likely somewhat lax in their security practices when their own data is concerned. This means we can confidently say that, without oversight, simplicity will likely win out over the admittedly less convenient best practices. While you should be ensuring that all devices that connect to your business network are updated and abide by certain best practices, like password quality and the like, you aren?t exactly standing over their shoulder while they?re browsing from home. With so many people now working remotely?potentially from devices they own, not the ones you?ve provided?this can quickly become an issue. With poorly managed and maintained devices accessing your business? resources, you are exposed to greater risks. Obviously, this isn?t acceptable. To help minimize the impact that lax security practices could potentially have, you need to reinforce the importance of properly adhering to what is recommended in the office while at home. Best Practices That Your Employees Need to Abide by at Home, Too Password Hygiene Don?t reuse passwords Update passwords somewhat regularly Use an approved password manager to help simplify this compliance Supplement your passwords with some form of 2FA/MFA Precautionary Measures Avoid any publicly accessible wireless networks Think before you click when browsing the Internet or checking emails Use a Virtual Private Network (or VPN) to securely connect to your infrastructure Always keep an up-to-date antivirus and firewall installed Regularly update your software Browsing Practices Avoid insecure websites (those beginning with ?http? instead of ?https?) Keep personally identifiable information (PII) private Understand what a phishing attack is, and how to spot them Keep work devices dedicated to work purposes Interested in learning more about any of these practices? Give White Mountain IT Services a call to discuss your options with us, along with any of your other business-IT related questions. Dial (603) 889-0800 today.

Prioritize Security Your business? most valuable asset is in many ways its data?an importance that needs to be acknowledged and respected by everyone working there. Data security hinges on adherence to a great many best practices that address so much, from password creation to threat awareness to the importance of proper authentication. It will help to fully educate your team about the gravity of such topics, boosting their awareness by honing in on the consequential outcomes and how these measures help keep the company?and by extension, their jobs?safe. Checking up on and evaluating your team?s preparedness is also important, as the feedback you provide could just be what prevents a serious data issue in the future. Emphasize Consistency While the tools provided by Microsoft, Google, and Apple are more compatible with one another than ever before, it is in no way convenient to have your business spread amongst the different operating systems and environments. On the contrary?this can easily open the door to issues and user error creating larger problems. Establishing standard operating procedures pertaining to everything from your preferred equipment to the workflows that are carried out is important. If your processes are not consistent, data could be lost, misplaced, or otherwise rendered inaccessible. Making sure that approved company workflows are put in place and followed will be key to maintaining productivity and collaboration. Enable Mobility Finally, with work processes now possible from so many more places, ensuring that your team can work from effectively anywhere is a major benefit that shouldn?t be passed up on. With benefits to flexibility and productivity at stake, enabling mobile operations is almost a no-brainer for today?s most agile businesses. White Mountain IT Services can provide you and your team members the tools needed to support these practices. Learn more by calling (603) 889-0800 today.

What Can I Do to Stop Scammy Robocallers? There?s some good news. All four major US carriers have free spam call blocking of some sort. On top of that, thanks to 2019?s Traced Act, law enforcement has been granted even more power to fight back against the entities that turn our phones against us. Google and Apple have gotten involved too, offering features to prevent unknown callers and to redirect spam calls. More features and tools are on the way, and the Traced Act hasn?t even been fully implemented across the board yet. In other words, there?s hope for the future, but it might take a while. First of all, let?s hit some of the basics that will help protect you, and hopefully slow down calls like these: Don?t answer calls from unknown or blocked numbers. If you don?t feed the trolls, they might go away. Keep your contacts updated. When someone changes their number, get in the habit of updating their contact. This way, you are less likely to need to pick up if you don?t recognize the number. These might not work for everybody?what if you use your cell phone to conduct business, and new prospects are calling you all the time? You should at least follow these tactics: Hang up immediately if you think the call is a robocall. The reason these calls keep happening is because they are successful to a certain degree. If we all strive to not get caught, there will be less incentive for robocalls to happen in the first place. Don?t respond, and definitely don?t answer any questions that could be answered with ?yes.? The caller might be recording you. They already know your phone number, and maybe more. If they can capture your voice, they could use it for nefarious purposes. Check with Your Carrier As mentioned, the four major carriers in the United States have free call blocking capabilities, as well as premium services. Frankly, we strongly feel that the consumer shouldn?t have to pay, and that it?s up to the carriers to solve this annoying problem, but a few dollars a month might be worth the peace of mind. Sprint – Sprint recently merged with T-Mobile, and because of this, Sprint?s Call Screener is free for Sprint customers. In time, Sprint customers will be able to use T-Mobile?s Scam Shield. It?s not often that huge mergers like this benefit the consumer, so if you are on either Sprint or T-Mobile, definitely check out some of the other perks you might have. Right now, however, Sprint offers Call Screener Pro for $3/month. It labels or blocks suspected spam calls, and lets you report spam calls to improve the system over time. We noticed Sprint?s page for their Call Screener app has moved since we last bookmarked it, so chances are you may need to search for it. T-Mobile – Mentioned above, T-Mobile?s offering is called Scam Shield. It?s free for all T-Mobile customers, and gives you full caller ID and can block some scams before your phone even rings, and it gives you a proxy number that you can use when you don?t want to share your private phone number. AT&T – AT&T offers their Call Protect app. There is a free version that will block known spam numbers, or […]