Month: January 2018

Now that we’ve covered what a Managed Service Provider is, let’s take a deeper look into how an MSP protects your company.

Let’s start with some of the simple things first, like how your hardware and software is protected.

Updates and Patches

Okay, this one is boring but absolutely critical. If you ignore all those little boxes in the corner that ask you to update software, you are in big trouble. The reason they pop up isn’t to annoy you (shocker, I know) but because there was a vulnerability identified and the software team made changes to address that issue. Sometimes the updates are frequent, and sometimes they don’t come around for a while. Regardless, you HAVE TO update your software as often as possible. You leave yourself open to attackers if you don’t.

How an MSP protects you: By partnering with an MSP, you’ll always stay up-to-date. Because of the proactive monitoring, your technology will be updated when needed. If there are any issues, you have a full support team to help. You won’t ever have to stress about that update again.

New Equipment

You may think that 8-year-old computer is perfectly fine to use, but old equipment can clog networks like hair clogs a drain. We all know that technology advances like the speed of light (hello new iPhone every 6 months) so think about that the next time you look at that 8-year-old piece of machinery.

And as much as we may love our workstation that we’ve become comfortable with over the years, it’s probably struggling under the weight of running newer and newer programs with its old operating system. It’s just the nature of the beast. So identifying those pieces of equipment that don’t make sense anymore really helps streamline your efficiency.

How an MSP protects you: When you partner with an MSP, you’ll get a very thorough audit into your current equipment and network. Pieces that are causing challenges will be identified, along with solutions to make sure those challenges disappear forever. And, by partnering with an MSP like ARRC Technology, you get equipment refreshes every three years. You’ll never run into an 8-year-old computer again, nor will you have to worry about it. With up-to-date equipment supporting your network and experts constantly monitoring your infrastructure, your chances of falling victim to a cybercriminal are slim to none.

Managed services is a term that makes absolutely no sense—unless you’re in the IT industry. So for those of us who don’t know what it means or why it’s important, let’s get right to it.

Managed services is fully outsourced IT that takes care of all the headaches you normally associate with technology. Basically, if it’s IT-related, managed services can make it better.

Now, a lot of people get the same look of confusion on their face when someone says managed services. And that’s normal. Just like the word jurisprudence make no sense to anyone but lawyers, or xerostomia makes no sense to anyone but those in the dental field.

But what exactly can managed services save your business from? Below are a few of the many benefits.

Managed services is well-known for one feature above all: proactive monitoring. With this feature, a group of technicians constantly monitor your technology to ensure nothing fails. If a potential problem surfaces, these technicians will be all over it before it turns into an issue. And sometimes, these advanced technicians might even fix the problem before you ever knew one existed.

Because of all this monitoring, you and your staff will experience very little downtime. Your IT is no longer sputtering out of control and choking on its lack of upkeep. It does what it should, when it should, no matter what. Why?  Because a group of technicians make sure that it does.

When you have fully managed technology, your technology is… well, fully managed. From routine maintenance and automatic upgrades to proactive monitoring and instant support, your technology remains consistent because it’s consistently taken care of.

In other words, hurdles are all but eliminated. Problems are identified and corrected immediately, and your business can remain productive and free of IT challenges and complications.

Sure, you might still have a piece of hardware break down on you from time to time. And yeah, your network might have an issue or two every now and then. But with managed services, this won’t cost you anything. It’s bundled into a flat, monthly rate that should only change if you decide to expand your business or upgrade your technology.

This means that those ridiculously large and out-of-control repair expenses go away completely. You finally have the full ability to successfully budget for your technology. No more guessing. No more hoping. No more praying. It is what it is and won’t change.

With the lovely combination of routine maintenance, proactive monitoring, and a flat, monthly rate, a fully managed technology solution removes the element of surprise from your IT. There will be no coming to work on a Monday morning only to discover a broken-down network. There will be no large repair fees to wait for. And there will be no dreading an eventual collapse of your data. Managed services isn’t a fan of surprises.

No more Googling. No more YouTube-ing. No more calling that friend of a friend. Managed services is managed by a group of professionals who are experts at what they do. You are no longer the wannabe IT guru, and you no longer have to act like you know what you’re doing.

So hire an MSP. If you need help or advice, just call us.

We’ve all struggled with a slow computer at one point or another. Whether we’re sitting at said-offender right now or can picture our first PC, a slow computer can cause untold frustration.

Many times, the computer isn’t the only issue. Networks, infrastructure, and other technical reasons (switches, routers, modems, etc.) can cause slow-as-molasses performance. Only a qualified technology company can truly diagnose those issues.

But if the challenge IS just your computer, here are four easy ways to boost that speed and relieve some stress.

Stop starting things that don’t need to be started.

When you turn on your computer, some programs are coded to run automatically. This could be anything from OneDrive and Spotify to Skype and Outlook. If you don’t actually need these programs to be running the moment you start your computer, then go into settings and disable the “Open on Start” function. By disabling them, you ease the initial workload your computer, making it faster for you to log in and actually get to work.

Get rid of any programs you do not use.

It’s perfectly normal to install apps and programs. Over time, though, you might stop using these apps altogether (if you ever even started using them to begin with). And once these unused apps and programs start to pile up, you might begin to feel the increasingly annoying effects of a slow computer.

So now is the time to go on an uninstalling spree. Get rid of all those apps and programs you don’t use or never used. This should help you free up space and get rid of unnecessary programs that may be running in the background and may be slowing down your computer in the process.

Run a quick scan on your computer.

A virus could very well be the cause of a slow computer. To determine whether or not this is the case for your PC, you should begin with a complete scan of your device. There are plenty of free options out there—some better than others—but you should really get on this ASAP.

In fact, if your computer ever starts to run slower, this should probably be the very first thing you do, even if you think it might just be that you’re running out of space. It’s better to cross this possibility off the list than to not know. And if anything seems out of the ordinary, contact a professional IT company. Malware has advanced to levels that free (or even paid) anti-virus software cannot handle.

Make sure everything is up-to-date.

This may sound like a broken record, but keeping everything updated (as annoying as it is) keeps you running smoothly. Whether it’s a driver, a program, or your browser, these things can cause a lot of problems if they’re severely out-of-date—like slowing down your computer. While small updates to these components won’t result in major speed improvements, it can add up over time. Do your very best to keep all facets of your PC up-to-date at all times. If it’s your browser or any programs you’ve downloaded, you can usually check to see if your version is up-to-date from the settings area.

You’ve probably heard a little something about cryptocurrency. Does Bitcoin ring a bell? The price of this and other cryptocurrencies has been soaring, and it’s driving a mania-style frenzy on Wall Street.

There is so much hype about alt-coins lately that there are now reports of people even taking out second mortgages and home equity lines to buy them. Crazy, right?

For years, financial analysts have warned people to stay away from cryptocurrency by arguing that it was too volatile to be a safe investment. However, with prices going sky-high, it’s hard for investors and entrepreneurs to sit on the sidelines while a major new asset class emerges.

However, before you get lured in by the shiny new penny, you need to understand the risks. Cryptocurrency markets aren’t just volatile, they are also extremely murky and riddled with fraud. Since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009, these markets have been plagued with cyberattacks and scams that have cost investors millions of dollars. To make matters worse, cryptocurrency isn’t protected by the FDIC, so losses due to theft are nearly impossible to get covered.

So how do these cybercriminals do it? There are two main ways cryptocurrency investors can lose their shirts to scammers, among the many.

The first is when hackers attack the infrastructure underpinning these coin markets, for example: exchanges, digital wallets, mining companies, web host services, etc. The second is when criminals target investors directly. There are a variety of these online scams, which often use social engineering tactics, but the primary ones to worry about are initial coin offering (ICO) fraud, phone-porting, fake wallets and malware.

While there’s not much investors can do to protect themselves against attacks on the cryptocurrency system, they can take measures to lower their own risk of falling for a targeted attack.

Here’s a breakdown of these four attacks and ways to reduce the threat:

Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Fraud

An ICO is when a newly invented cryptocurrency is launched to investors. Needless to say, this is an unregulated and risky activity all by itself, but it is also plagued by scammers. There are two ways ICO fraud happens. The first is when criminals create a fake ICO and steal any money that investors give them. This is what happened in December, when the SEC shut down the PlexCoin ICO, which it alleges was a $15 million fraud.

The second type of ICO fraud is when hackers “spoof,” or impersonate, a legitimate ICO and trick investors into paying them instead of the real company. This happened recently with messaging giant Kik’s ICO, which goes to show it can affect even well-established companies. Typically, cybercriminals will create a fake website or social media account and use phishing emails to promote a phony “pre-sale” offer or other trick.

Security tip: Do sufficient research on an ICO before buying in. Check industry sites like CoinDesk to verify the legitimacy of a claimed ICO. Don’t fall for hard-sell tactics or too-good-to-be-true offers, especially when received over email or social media messaging, as these are likely phishing attempts. See the SEC’s tips on ICO investments if you’d like more information.

Phone-porting

Cell phone identity theft, also known as “phone-porting,” is when criminals commandeer a person’s phone number by tricking the mobile provider into giving them control of the account. Once they have the phone number, they can reset the password to a digital wallet and drain the account. Since these cryptocurrency transactions can’t be reversed, the investor can lose everything. According to Federal Trade Commission statistics, phone-porting attacks in general rose by 256 percent between 2013 and 2016.

Security tip: Mobile providers usually recommend adding a unique PIN and verification question to the account to improve security. However, a better solution is to switch two-factor authentication from SMS to a third-party service like Google Authenticator.

Fake digital wallets

Cryptocurrency has to be stored somewhere, and investors often use virtual wallets. The problem is that fake wallets occasionally appear online or in mobile app stores, and they may steal investors’ savings. This happened recently with the bitcoin gold wallet scam, which reportedly stole $3 million. On December 10, the popular service MyEtherWallet warned customers about a fake MyEtherWallet digital wallet app, which had risen to No. 3 in the iOS App Store’s finance category.

Security tip: Before selecting a digital wallet provider, do your homework. Only use services that have a solid track record. Another option is to use an offline hardware wallet.

Bitcoin-stealing malware

Recently, a new category of malware has emerged that specializes in one activity—stealing bitcoins. It can do this in a few different ways, such as stealing log-in credentials or the wallet itself, or getting in the middle of a transaction.

Security tip: Use a robust antivirus program and an inbound/outbound firewall to protect your computer. Use two-factor authentication and a password manager to protect the log-in.

Cryptocurrency investors face a lot of risks, not the least of which is scamming. Since this market is largely unregulated and unprotected, it is up to individual investors to account for their own security. Follow the above tips, and also take additional measures, such as encrypting the internet connection with a VPN (virtual private network). It’s also not a bad idea to consider using a dedicated computer (i.e., it does nothing else but log in to your bitcoin account) to be safer when performing these transactions.