You work on important things. Let?s all work together to make sure they stay safe and secure. Don?t Share Confidential Information Don?t provide sensitive company or customer information in unsolicited emails or phone calls. It?s important to remember that the bad guys can be very convincing and what they do tricks a lot of users. Being on the lookout for anything suspicious will help protect confidential information. Emailing usernames and passwords is never a good idea. Be especially cautious of suspicious emails that look like they are from PayPal or a bank. Use Strong Passwords Don?t reuse the same password for multiple accounts. Passwords should contain capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Passwords should not contain personally identifiable information like social security numbers or dates of birth. Avoid Accessing Sensitive Information on Unprotected Computers Hotel business centers and Internet cafes typically aren?t regulated or secure. Accessing sensitive information on public devices could allow others to access it as well. Malicious software could allow others to snoop on what you are doing, and gather usernames, passwords, and credit card information. Ask your IT department about establishing a VPN to allow safe access while traveling. Avoid Leaving Sensitive Information Lying Around Don?t keep passwords on sticky notes. Shred documents that contain confidential information. Don?t leave mobile devices, laptops, or desktops unlocked when you aren?t at them. Use Windows key + L to quickly lock your computer when stepping away. Small devices like phones, portable hard drives, and flash drives are easy to lose or steal. Be wary of this while traveling. Report Anything Suspicious to IT If we know about it, we can fix it quickly before it becomes a bigger problem. If you?ve lost your smartphone or another device, report it immediately. **Note: If you have a service agreement with White Mountain IT Services that includes end-user support, don?t hesitate to provide our number and support email so your staff can put in tickets. Phone: (603) 889-0800 Email: su*****@wh******.com

It helps to know why you need to be on the lookout, of course. Spam makes for a great medium to move threats such as ransomware, viruses, and other major problems for your business. Spam is an effective way to spread threats due to how easy it is to send countless messages to all sorts of users. This increases the likelihood of any number of users downloading the attachment, along with all of its malevolent contents. Ransomware is most at home on business workstations that have downloaded infected attachments. For example, you might receive a message from someone who wants to send your business a resume–perhaps a ?prospective employee.? If your HR department doesn?t know what signs to look for, they could unwittingly download the attachment and infect their systems with ransomware. To make matters worse, a spam filter might not even be able to flag these phishing messages as dangerous since they are designed specifically to not be detected. You should keep an eye out for messages that claim to be receipts, shipping information, resumes/CVs, or other important information that you would normally keep an eye out for. Hackers know that you need this information, so they can take advantage of it to pull a fast one on you. The best way to keep your business from suffering due to spam and phishing attacks is to both educate your employees and implement solutions designed to prevent spam from hitting the inbox. For the first, you can hold seminars on how to increase awareness of online threats. You should be teaching your employees not to open attachments from unknown senders. They should only do so after it has been deemed safe enough. For spam and phishing protection, White Mountain IT Services can provide the requisite support. We can help you integrate an enterprise-level spam blocker and content filter to keep all but the most dangerous messages from entering your network in the first place. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

The reason why you want to make sure IT is being profitable for your business is because you run the risk of it being overlooked otherwise. After all, if it?s not being valuable or making any money for your business, why bother investing in it? To answer these questions, you should ask yourself the following questions: Do you have any services that aren?t being utilized properly? How much waste is accruing due to software solutions that aren?t being used? How often do you replace hardware? If it?s not being replaced periodically, you run the risk of hardware failure or other issues. How much do you pay for technology that isn?t offering a return on investment? For example, it?s one thing to pay for services that save time, but another thing entirely to pay for a convenience that isn?t necessary or producing enough value. Basically, it all starts with asking yourself how your technology is affecting your bottom line. What is that new software solution really doing for your business? Is it allowing you to free up funds that would be better spent elsewhere? A great example of this is automation; more businesses than ever before are trying to take advantage of automation, which lets them free up key staff and personal from more menial and time-consuming tasks. Too many businesses still take advantage of break-fix solutions; wasting money on IT maintenance. The break-fix model of IT support might appear to offer a semblance of value in the moment, as you?re receiving service that?s needed as soon as possible. Yet, the issue here lies in the fact that you?re waiting until technology has already broken down before you do anything about it. This leads to wasted capital and resources, including downtime, hardware replacements, and so much more–all because issues weren?t solved properly before they grew out of hand. One of the best ways to gain value from your business? technological investments is to implement managed IT services from White Mountain IT Services. What this does is essentially eliminate the costs of running an IT department, additional salaries of technicians, and the general upkeep costs of your organization?s infrastructure. It replaces these costs with a single monthly payment. You then receive services as per your service level agreement. We can perform a variety of services for your business, including: Remote monitoring and management Backup and disaster recovery Network security Email management And more! To learn more about IT management, call us today at (603) 889-0800

Here are some of the reasons why a public Wi-Fi connection isn?t as secure as you might hope it will be, and what can be done to limit the risk factor. The Real Dangers of Public Wi-FiIf you stop into a location just to use their Wi-Fi connection with your smartphone, you?re doing so because you would rather use their connection than your own mobile data plan. You might choose to stop into the local coffee shop with hopes that you can find a connection. There is one, but it?s not protected by a password. This might come off as convenient, but it should also create a red flag in your mind. There is always the chance that your activity is being monitored by nosy onlookers. Hackers tend to gravitate toward busy public wireless connections for the express purpose of stealing information and looking for sensitive data. There?s nothing keeping a hacker from accessing these networks, as they are practically devoid of any security features. Your business needs to have measures put into place to ensure that this doesn’t become a detriment to your organization. Password Protection is ImportantYour in-house network is secure because you require credentials to access it. These passwords should always be implemented. If you don?t, it could mean that your organization?s network is wide open to anyone who wants to use it. We actually recommend setting up multiple wireless networks; one for your in-house employees, and one for your office?s visitors. You can even partition off your network so that specific resources are delegated to both your in-house workers and your visitors. If you?re accessing a public wireless connection, it?s important that your business has an encryption solution put into place to make sure that any data sent to, and received by, your devices is protected. If there is a wireless access point available, make sure that you don?t connect to it unless it requires a password. Just ask around the establishment if you need one. Implement a Virtual Private NetworkA VPN is the best way to make sure that your company?s data is secure while out of the office and on unprotected networks. VPNs take advantage of encryption by scrambling your data while it?s in transit. Anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of your data will only see a jumbled mess, making a VPN an incredibly valuable solution. Does your company need a VPN? White Mountain IT Services can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

The reason why businesses might not want to implement an antivirus solution is a rather silly one. They might believe that they are too small of a target to be noticed by hackers, but this is simply not the case. Even the smallest of businesses have data that is of considerable value for hackers. That?s the reason why information like Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and other personally identifiable information is sold on the black market. Therefore, any organization that stores this information is at risk to threats–and let?s face it, pretty much all companies have this information somewhere on their infrastructure. Basically, there?s no reason to put your company at unnecessary risk. Antivirus is an ideal way to mitigate common threats that your organization could come into contact with. Antivirus is a bit more reactive compared to other security measures, but it?s an important one nonetheless. The longer you let threats linger on your network, the more danger your company is exposed to. Here are some of the many cyberthreats that can be eliminated with the use of antivirus software. Viruses: Viruses are bits of code that can be anything from funny, to inconvenient, to downright threatening. There are too many varieties of viruses to share here, but know that just about all of them will harm your network. Malware: Malware, or malicious software, comes in a huge variety, and as such, it?s hard to truly prepare for all of them. You can be certain of one thing, though; the name ?malicious? software is no joke. Spyware: Spyware is a variant of malware that is designed to infiltrate and lurk on a network to steal information. As such, it?s capable of being a considerable issue for your organization. Trojan: Like spyware, a trojan is designed to hide on a network and open up the way for a future attack at a later date. This provides you with the opportunity to root it out and eliminate it before it causes problems. More advanced threats are a bit more difficult to remove from your network. Ransomware is almost impossible to remove. This always highlights the importance of a multi-faceted security system that includes not just reactive software like antivirus, but proactive solutions like firewalls, spam blockers, and content filters. Thankfully, these enterprise-level solutions are easy enough to take advantage of, and it?s all thanks to a Unified Threat Management (UTM) tool. A UTM is a valuable tool that lets your organization take advantage of powerful enterprise-level solutions without breaking the budget. To get started with a UTM, contact White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.