Jump Lists are lists of recently opened items, such as files, folders, or websites, organized by the program that you used to open them. You can also pin favorites to a Jump List, so you can quickly get to the items that you use every day. Read more.

This just in: According to a recent CBS news report, copy and multi-function machines in offices contain a huge, unknown security risk that all businesses must address immediately or face the legal, financial, and PR repercussions of a security breach.

A Surprising Fact About Your Office Copier

     Nearly every printer, copier and multi-function machine manufactured after 2002 contains a hard drive that stores the images of every document you’ve ever copied, faxed, or scanned. These document images stay on that machine’s hard drive forever and can quickly and easily be reproduced with a little know-how. Surprisingly, this little fact has not received any press – until now.

A CBS Undercover Investigation

     In April of this year, a reporter went undercover to a New Jersey copier warehouse that had over 6,000 used copy machines in stock for resale. This investigation reveals a shocking fact – it’s incredibly easy for a person to retrieve and reproduce every single document ever scanned, copied, or faxed through the machines available for resale.

     As part of the investigation, the CBS reporter pulled 4 random machines that were available for sale and purchased them for approximately $300 each. These machines were immediately loaded onto a truck and delivered within 2 hours to this reporter’s office. Using a free application available online, he was able to access the hard drive of each machine and reproduce the documents within 30 minutes. What he uncovered was unbelievable.

Disturbing Facts Revealed By The Investigation

     They discovered that one of the machines was formerly owned by the City of Buffalo, New York, Sex Crimes Division. In no time at all they were able to access over 249,000 documents that passed through that machine, including lists of sex offenders and crime data. Another machine from the Buffalo PD Narcotics Division contained a list of drug raid targets. The third machine was from a construction company. It contained blueprints of buildings, over $40,000 in check copies, as well as pages of paystubs, names, and the social security numbers of employees.

     But the fourth machine was the most disturbing. It was previously owned by a New York health insurance firm and contained over 300 pages of detailed medical records including drug prescriptions, blood tests, and even a cancer diagnosis – all which blatantly violate the new HIPAA laws.

Know What Your Responsibility Is

     Before you trade in, resell or dispose of any office copier, scanner or multifunction machine you MUST make sure the hard drive is wiped clean of all information as you would any computer in your office. Failure to do so could result in damaging security breaches and identity theft for your company, staff, and customers. This goes DOUBLE if you use your office machines to scan, fax, or copy social security numbers, credit cards, or medical records of any kind.

     As always, we are here to assist you with all things digital. If you are getting ready to dispose of or trade in a copier, scanner, fax, or multi-function machine, give us a call at 702-869-3636. We can make sure your data is forever erased and inaccessible to criminals looking for an easy hit.

The security of your organization is not only threatened by malware, hacks, and network attacks, but also attacks via a technique called “social engineering”.

Be aware that hackers have another tool in their toolset that employs a particularly subtle, insidious way of compromising the security of your systems and network. Called social engineering, it’s the use of psychological tricks to deceive targets into revealing potentially compromising information about the systems in their organization. In practice, it can be as simple as a hacker calling an employee and asking subtle questions to gain information, or posing as someone trusted, perhaps as building maintenance, walking in the doors of an organization to directly gain access to systems—or even searching through the trash and refuse left behind by employees. The popularity of social networking has also increased the danger with the ease and convenience of creating connections to potentially trusting members of your organization.

However, there are some actions you can take to protect your business:

• Create a policy outlining the proper handling and sharing of information online as well as offline.
• Put systems and procedures in place to protect your systems if sensitive information does get out—such as the regular replacement of passwords.
• Educate your employees about the threat. You cannot solve a problem if your people do not know that a problem exists in the first place. Awareness can be your best defense.

Need to quickly find out what day it would be 45 days from now without counting squares on a calendar? Want to know how many days until a holiday, birthday, meeting, or other special event? The built-in calculator in Windows 7 can answer these questions. Read more.

If you ask most business owners what’s the biggest threat to their company’s network and data, they might say, “viruses, hackers and cyber criminals,” or perhaps
“faulty hardware, software and system failures”. But research is showing a much different reality.

According to a recent study published by Computer Economics (a research and metrics company for IT managers) revealed that employee sabotage – whether it be for financial gain, retribution or some other motivation – accounts for a bigger threat than viruses, hackers, hardware failures and natural disasters.
    
With so much critical data and operations tied up in a company’s network, internal sabotage from employees becomes an even greater risk. In a matter of minutes,
an employee can delete software or erase years of data vital to a company. They can purposefully download viruses or attempt to tarnish their employer’s reputation by posting pornography on their company’s web site or spamming all clients with racist, hateful and slanderous e-mails. Or they can simply download client lists and other confidential information and sell it to competitors, post it online or use it to start a competitive business.

What are the reasons why they do this? The biggest one given is simply “job dissatisfaction.” Another contributing factor seems to be the recent downturn in the economy. Cut backs, layoffs and fewer raises have given rise to employees stealing data, equipment or money. For example, a law firm recently discovered their internal IT person was purchasing computer equipment on the company’s credit card and reselling it on eBay. He had embezzled over $40,000 before the company caught up to what he was doing.

Another company suspected that one of their employees was stealing and suspended them from work until a further investigation could be conducted. When the employee caught wind of what was happening, they deleted over a year’s worth of company e-mails – all containing important client records and history – in an effort to cover their tracks. Fortunately this company had a solid backup system in place and was able to immediately recover all the data within a few hours.

To protect yourself, we strongly recommend you have an offsite backup of your data in place. Please give ITS a call today if you do not have a backup solution in place 702-869-3636

Who wants to find an extra hour of free time in their day, every day? Considering we’re all stressed out because there’s never enough time to get everything done, this is what I would call a “leading” question.

    So how can you do it? By looking at the seemingly innocent, time-sucking activities you are spending time on ever day and either automating them or speeding them to completion using technology. Can it really be that simple? It can, but you need to understand one critical factor first…

The “Latte” Factor

     Best-selling author David Bach coined this phrase in his book “The Automatic Millionaire.” The latte factor is based on the simple idea that all you need to do to become wealthy is take a hard look at the small things you spend your money on every day and see whether you could redirect that spending into savings.

     For example, a little $2 purchase made every day on common things like Starbucks (a latte), bottled water, fast food snacks, cigarettes, etc. REDIRECTED into an investment account earning 6% will become $10,199.30 in 10 years. If that’s true, why don’t MORE people do it? Because saving $2 a day seems so insignificant that people spend ALL their money on these things and then have nothing left over to invest.

5 Time-Saving Techie Tips
That Will Add An Hour Or MORE To Your Day

   So the question is, what are some small, time-saving technologies we can use to automate or speed up what we get done to save us that precious hour? Here are our 6 favorites:

1. Use an aggressive spam filter. Over 80% of the e-mails being sent daily are not-so-delicious spam. And if you’re like me, you’re getting dozens of these every day, which can easily add up to 5-10 minutes per day sifting, sorting through and deleting the spam from the e-mails you want.Plus, eliminating spam temptations from your STAFF will not only cut down on the time they waste on it, but will also drastically reduce your chances of getting viruses and spyware on your network.
   
2. Replace Old PCs. While it’s hard to truly estimate how much total time is wasted waiting on an old, slow computer to process tasks, start up, etc., I can tell ya, it adds up. Let’s say your old PC takes 10 seconds longer to process a task than a fresh, new one. Might not seem like a lot, but with users averaging 100-150 tasks a day conservatively are wasting 16-25 minutes a day. Add in the crashes and other problems old PCs cause and you’re probably closer to 30-35 minutes a day.
   
3. Maintain Your Network. Another tip that will save you a lot of time is patching, updating and optimizing your server and workstations. You’d be surprised how much slower even a new machine will start to run if not maintained properly.
   
4. Document management. This is a HUGE time-saver if you are a paper-heavy office (like attorneys, doctors, contractors, etc.). But even if you aren’t, scanning and storing paper documents so they can be searched on and located in seconds rather than minutes or hours is a HUGE time saver. Plus, it’s a greener solution, improves document security, enables users to access critical documents remotely AND (if that’s not enough) prevents important paper from loss or damage.
   
5. Implement SharePoint or Other Business Collaboration Software. Be honest: how much time is wasted in your office because people are duplicating efforts, can’t find information and documents they need or backtracking to FIX mistakes made? This, like time wasted on old PCs and downtime, may be hard to calculate, but I would conservatively guess that folks are wasting at least 30 minutes a day or MORE because of disorganization. That’s why we recommend growing companies implement some type of collaboration software that will help organize projects and information, making it easier for everyone to get on the same page .

Want To Implement Any Of These In Your Office?

      Give us a call at 702-869-3636 and we can show you how these technologies (and dozens of others we offer) can streamline your operations, saving you LOT of time!

Having an efficient IT system is one way a business can improve productivity and earn more. But IT technologies are constantly changing and upgrading, and those who don’t keep up can lose money in the process.

In this day and age, few businesses (if any) can survive without an IT arm. Every business, big or small, needs someone, or preferably a group of people, on hand to fix computer problems, check networks, monitor software – to generally make sure that their operations are running smoothly.

One question, though: have you ever stopped to consider whether the cost of maintaining your in-house IT system is worth it? For instance, consider your internet connection. Let’s say that a conservative estimate of the efficiency of your business without an internet connection is at 50%. And if your business makes a $1 million a year, then $500,000 depends on your internet connection. If your monthly bill for that connection is $500, or $6,000 annually, you earn $500,000 – $6,000 = $494,000. Now, if you decide to switch to a cheaper DSL connection, which is about $50 per month or $480 a year, you get a much higher figure: $499,520.

You could argue that the DSL is the wiser option, but when you look at a deeper level, a slower internet connection may also hamper your company’s productivity – let’s say, by 10%. So with only a DSL connection, your business operates at 90% of its total possible productivity. Considering the previous figures, a loss of 10% in productivity means a loss of $100,000. Subtract that savings from the DSL connection, $5,520 – you get a whopping loss of $94,480. So when you think you’re saving by getting a cheaper internet connection, you are actually losing more money. Inversely, if you subscribe to an even better connection that costs you $10,000, productivity can increase by $15,000.

The same principle applies when your IT infrastructure is not up to date, with slow computers, outdated software, and other problems. In a company with 10 employees who bring in an annual average of $65,000 each, even losing productivity for just 35 minutes a day due to IT handicaps can cost you $47,000. Hardly chump change! But hiring an IT provider who charges $20,000 a year can offset that lost productivity and even make your business run better, by as much as $27,000. It’s also noteworthy to mention that employing an IT firm can count as a legitimate business expense, thereby lowering your tax liability to about $8,000 if you peg corporate tax at 40%.

IT is important to a business. If you doubt that, just try doing without it for a week – just shut the whole thing down. For most, that’s out of the question, but operating with old software and hardware is almost just as bad. However, many businesses cannot spare the resources to continually upgrade their IT systems.

Enlisting the services of an IT firm changes all that. IT Service Providers are constantly on the lookout for better technologies – both hardware and software – that can make your business function much more efficiently and cost effectively. It’s what they do. And the costs are minimal. If you’re wondering how much better your company might operate with an IT Service Provider, we’ll be happy to sit down with you and run some numbers.

Seems like you can’t purchase any electronic device without being offered an extended warranty - but is it a good investment? According to a recent poll of over 2,000 readers of PC World magazine, 63% said they always go for the extended warranty plan; and of those who had to use it, 80% were satisfied with the service. Does that mean they are a good investment?

     In our opinion, extended warranties are not necessary since most bugs will reveal themselves within the first 90 days of purchasing a technical gadget, which is well within the normal warranty of the product. But if you feel better buying an extended warranty, here are 5 tips to follow:

1.      Read the terms before you buy: You don’t have to read the warranty in the checkout line - take it home. You can usually buy it later.

2.      Beware shipping charges: If the product needs to be sent in for service, you could get stuck with the tab.

3.      Look for accidental damage coverage: Most policies do not cover products that are damaged from falls or spilled coffee. If that option is available, you might have to pay more for it (a good idea, particularly for mobile devices that get abused).

4.      Look for extras: Many extended warranties cover replaceable items, such as bulbs in projectors which are expensive and can wear out.

5.      Check for the product’s reliability online first. If you are buying a quality product, an extended warranty might not be necessary. Obviously doing a little research and spending a bit more on a better built product will save you a lot of time and aggravation in the long run anyway. You can find some good information in PC World’s annual Reliability and Service survey and Consumer Reports’ reliability ratings.

Of course, you can always call us for our opinion since we have to fix the PCs, servers, and other gadgets for multiple clients!

Before you entrust your sensitive data to a “cloud” service provider, make sure you weigh the risks with the benefits.

“Cloud computing,” largely synonymous with Internet-based computing, has become a hot topic of discussion among many in the business community, with its promise of radically simplifying the access to, and use of, computing resources on demand. It’s no wonder then that it’s been small businesses, often without full-time IT resources of their own, that have been the first to adopt the concept. As a business owner, however, before you start moving critical data to the “cloud,” you’ll do well to bear in mind the risks that come with the computing model.

First is security and privacy—ask how the service provider ensures the confidentiality and integrity of your data while in their care. Do they provide backups? Can you back up your data yourself? Are their security processes and procedures reviewed and vetted by a third party?

Next is availability. Do they guarantee the uptime of their services—7 days a week, 24 hours a day? Do they provide a service level guarantee? Do they have processes in place to handle exceptional circumstances that can disrupt services, such as a natural disaster? Is support readily available to help in case you encounter any issues?

Finally, there’s cost. While pay-as-you go can be attractive, the total cost over time can add up. It’s worth thinking two to three years out and considering the total cost versus alternatives.

Asking these basic questions can go a long way in giving you peace of mind before you entrust your valuable data and core business systems to the care of others. If you’d like some help sorting all this out and making the best decision for your unique needs, give us a call.

To see images the way they are intended to be seen, calibrate your monitor so that what you see is what you get. Here’s how.

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