In fact, considering all of the holidays enforced by the Catholic Church, and life events like weddings and births that required celebration and time off from work, the medieval peasant worked, on average, a mere 150 days per year. This translates to more than half of the year being spent not working. To be sure, working only 150 days sounds pretty sweet. This leads us to ask a tantalizing question: given the chance, would you give up modern conveniences and adopt the medieval lifestyle in order to gain an extra 110 days off? When approaching this hypothetical scenario, the first thing you must realize is that, for medieval peasants, these were not paid days off. Therefore, adopting the medieval work schedule would mean not having enough funds to travel or do the pricy leisure activities afforded modern workers. To give you an idea of your time-off options as a medieval peasant, consider how they spent their downtime. Essentially, they tried to make the best of it by attending local events (sort of like a staycation). Also, the pace of life for the medieval peasant was much, much slower; they would take their sweet time when it came to eating meals together (fast food and microwaves were obviously not a thing), and afternoon naps were super common. Lynn Parramore of Evonomics gives this assessment of how peasants spent their time off: ?Weddings, wakes and births might mean a week off quaffing ale to celebrate, and when wandering jugglers or sporting events came to town, the peasant expected time off for entertainment.? Okay, so this poor-yet-pleasant life of leisure doesn’t sound too bad, and perhaps even appealing for most. But you might change your mind when you consider the treacherous downsides of, you know, being a medieval peasant. Here?s a short list of medieval dangers from History Extra magazine: Plague: The deadly bubonic plague caused oozing swellings (buboes) all over the body. With the septicaemic plague, victims suffered from skin that was darkly discoloured (turning black) as a result of toxins in the bloodstream. Famine: Faced with dwindling food supplies due to bad weather and poor harvests, people starved or barely survived on meagre rations like bark, berries and inferior corn and wheat damaged by mildew. Childbirth: Giving birth was incredibly perilous. Breech presentations of the baby during labour often proved fatal for both mother and child. Labour could go on for several days, and some women eventually died of exhaustion. Infancy and childhood: Infancy was particularly dangerous during the Middle Ages ? mortality was terribly high. Based on surviving written records alone, scholars have estimated that 20-to-30 percent of children under seven died, but the actual figure is almost certainly higher. Violence: Medieval violence took many forms. Street violence and brawls in taverns were not uncommon. Vassals might also revolt against their lords. Likewise, urban unrest also led to uprisings. Early or sudden death: Sudden or premature death was common in the medieval period… Peasants in the English manor of Halesowen might hope to reach the age of 50, but by contrast poor tenants in the same manor could hope to live only about 40 years. Those of even lower status (cottagers) could live a mere 30 years. So, from a civilization standpoint, there appears to be a trade off. A […]

With these two technologies, your organization can maximize its security and ensure that hackers have a difficult time brute-forcing their way into your network infrastructure. Two-Factor AuthenticationWhat two-factor authentication entails is using secondary credentials to protect your network or online accounts. This could be in the form of an SMS message, a phone call, or an email, which has a constantly-shifting credential that?s required to log into your online accounts. Anyone who doesn?t have these credentials cannot access the network or your account. The main idea with two-factor authentication is to make it as difficult as possible for hackers to break into your accounts. By implementing physical devices like your smartphone, you make it virtually impossible for hackers to access your account, as they would need access to both your physical device and your other account credentials. With a two-factor authentication solution from White Mountain IT Services, your organization can better protect its important information and limit your data?s exposure to potential threats. Password ManagersThe average complex password is usually very long, and has several different upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Naturally, passwords like these are difficult to crack for hackers, but impossible for users to remember. Furthermore, you should never use the same password for more than one account, which means that you?ll have even more trouble than usual remembering all of these passwords. The best way to keep track of passwords is with a password manager solution, a great tool that makes it easy to store and utilize complex passwords. With an enterprise-level password manager from White Mountain IT Services, you can equip your business with complex passwords that are necessary to protect your critical assets from potential danger. Password managers store your credentials in a secure database, and then retrieves them individually when it comes time to use them. This keeps your credentials both secure and easily accessible for when you need them. It?s the easiest way to reap the benefits of complex passwords without having to remember multiple credentials for each account you have. If your business is having trouble with passwords, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800. We can equip your business with the solutions necessary to optimize network security and ensure minimal data risk.

This is primarily due to the fact that file storage systems are becoming increasingly reliant on connected digital systems. Traditional file storage systems are inefficient and susceptible to all sorts of problems; primarily user error, document destruction, and theft. While digital systems are now capable of more efficiently storing sensitive patient data, this comes at the major risk of hacking attacks. Cyber criminals understand how valuable personally identifiable information is, making healthcare institutions lucrative targets. In particular, hospitals are feeling the effects of hacking attacks–mainly due to the crippling effects of ransomware. Hackers understand how crucial a hospital?s data is to its operations, so they?re more likely to shell out huge amounts of revenue in order to save their data from ransomware. In most cases (this goes for larger enterprises too), hospitals have little choice but to comply with a hacker?s demands. To protect the data of patients in healthcare networks and systems, HIPAA governs guidelines for how organizations protect sensitive data. Here are some tips to help you keep your business HIPAA compliant. Use a quality data backup and disaster recovery solution. You want to make sure that your business is equipped with tools to not only back up, but also restore, your critical and sensitive data. This includes making sure that you have an optimal recovery point objective, as well as a quality recovery time objective. Lastly, you need your data stored not just on-site, but also in the cloud or an external data center for safe keeping. Implement enterprise-level security solutions. Regardless of whether or not your business handles sensitive data, you should always be using security solutions like firewalls, antivirus, and spam blocking technology. A Unified Threat Management solution is a great way to take advantage of preventative security solutions. Use encryption. Often times, organizations won?t see the need to encrypt their data specifically because they?re already using other security measures. They don?t think that there?s a chance that their data will be stolen. While HIPAA doesn?t necessarily call for encryption, we highly recommend it. Encryption makes any stolen data practically impossible to decipher–or, at least, not worth the hacker?s effort. Consult professionals in the IT field. Your business or organization specializes in a particular craft–not IT security. Therefore, it makes sense to bring in IT professionals who have been around the block a time or two to guarantee that you don?t overlook the details of HIPAA compliance. If your business is having trouble keeping up with HIPAA compliance, White Mountain IT Services can help. We understand the ins and outs of HIPAA compliance and want to ensure that your practice doesn?t get stuck with budget-breaking fines from failing to adhere to HIPAA standards. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

First thing?s first; you?ll need a can of compressed air, as well as some lint-free wipes. For more heavy-duty cleaning, you?ll want to pick up a small screwdriver, cotton swabs, and isopropyl alcohol. It?s especially important that you make sure it?s isopropyl and NOT ethyl-based. Cleaning the DesktopBefore we get started, you should be aware that there?s a chance you?ll be dealing with complex, electrical equipment. Therefore, be sure to power down your system before you get started. This means that you?re powering down the machine, turning off the surge protector, and unplugging all components from the outlet. Take a static-free dust cloth and wipe the dust off of the case?s exterior. You can use the cans of compressed air to blow dust away from any external vents you see. Go in with cotton swabs to soften the dust up and use the compressed air to get rid of the rest. When you use the compressed air, be sure not that you don?t blow air on the components for too long. Some of the more sensitive parts of a computer won?t appreciate the pressure. In general, you should be careful when dealing with your electronics, as you might be in for a shock when you come into contact with wires. Be sure to frequently touch metal and plastic frameworks so as to keep your body equalized–this helps you avoid static shocks. Once you?ve finished cleaning the innards, close the case back up and go over it once more with a cloth. Clean Your ScreenSome people like to use their fingers to point to objects on their screen. While this is helpful for identifying things, it?s bad for your monitor, as this inevitably leads to fingerprints and smudges on the screen. Cleaning your screen isn?t much more complicated than wiping down your home?s windows, but there are still some specifications to account for. If you?re using an LCD display, start by mixing together a half-and-half solution of distilled water and white vinegar. Use this mixture and a microfiber cloth to wipe down the screen. You?ll be surprised by how well this works to get rid of dust. On another note, never spray liquid on a device. Always use a damp cloth, as you?ll have better control over the liquid this way. Key-ping the Keyboard and Mouse CleanOut of your entire PC, the keyboard and the mouse will probably take the most abuse. Keyboards are often cited as carrying more bacteria than your average toilet seat, which is alarming, to say the least. Unplug the keyboard from the system and turn it upside-down. Then, gently shake your keyboard. This will let loose any crumbs or skin particles that were trapped under the keys. If you?d rather just use compressed air, that?s also an option. If you think you?re finished with the keyboard, think again–we?re just getting started. If your keyboard uses a membrane style, you can remove the keys to get a thorough cleaning underneath. Just make sure that you have some sort of record of the keyboard?s layout. Otherwise, you might accidentally misplace keys, which could lead to all sorts of problems. Removing the keys is as simple as placing a small flat-head screwdriver underneath each of them and gently prying them from their place in the keyboard. Just note that […]

You might be surprised by the reason, and it?s the fact that hackers quite simply don?t care what the size of your company is. They don?t care which industry you?re in or what you do. Regardless of whether or not you?re a startup or a major service provider for your region, your business holds information that hackers will find valuable. This is what hackers care about most–how much value you can provide them with, and you can be sure that it?s a dangerous gambit to not prepare for the worst. But what data do you have that could be so valuable to hackers? Information that?s managed by human resources, like Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, are all great ways to either steal an identity or attempt targeted spear-phishing attacks. Furthermore, the finance department might have access to payment information for both your business and your clients, which could lead to a major problem should this information get out of your grasp. Still, it?s worth mentioning that hackers can use plenty of other tactics at their disposal to find a way into your network, be it through viruses, malware, spyware, or otherwise. They probably won?t target specific data, and in most cases, it?s not even your particular business they?re after. Often times, these types of scams are designed to be one-size-fits-all in nature, and the spam message that you see in your inbox was probably sent out to a bunch of other businesses, too. Think of it like a fisherman; they don?t necessary know what they?re going to catch, but they?ll do whatever it takes to catch at least something. In this case, it?s a literal phishing email, which convinces the user to click on a link, download an infected attachment, or navigate to a malicious website. It will be rare that your business experiences a legitimate, direct hack tailored to infiltrate your specific network. Thanks to this oversight, it?s possible for your business to cover plenty of ground in the cybersecurity department by following a few easy steps. The first is that you implement a plethora of proactive security measures that are designed to keep issues from both happening in the first place, and from escalating into major problems. This includes firewalls, spam blocking, and content filtering to minimize exposure to threats and to keep them out of your network, and an antivirus solution just in case things go south. You might be a smaller target, but you?re still a target nonetheless. Be sure that your small business implements these security solutions, or you could be putting your entire network at risk. White Mountain IT Services can help you implement enterprise-level security measures, like our Unified Threat Management solution, that can handle all of the above threats and then some. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.