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Managed IT Services

Which Internet Browser Is Best For IT Security?

For most users the Internet browser is one of the most utilized applications on their computer or mobile device. With the influx of aggressive problems, it is mighty useful to know which Internet browser is the best for keeping your data, identity, and network secure. Let’s take a look at the five most popular Internet browsers found on desktop and laptop computers and decipher which are the most reliable.

A Look at the Cybersecurity Industry

Since the landscape of the Internet is rife with threats, the risks an organization faces by not doing all they can to protect their information systems presents real organizational issues. As a result, the Internet security industry has expanded so far as it will do annual revenues of over $170 billion by 2020, with the Internet of Things presenting an ongoing security issue for most businesses.

For one indicator that gives away just how risky the Internet is for an organization, check out how much money is being spent on securing computers and networks. To address the innumerable threats, cybersecurity markets have begun to pop up for gadgets, appliances, cars, and other frequently utilized goods. Moreover, cybersecurity insurance is now being offered by major insurers. PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts that $7.5 billion will be spent on data insurance by 2020.

Another indicator that cybersecurity is prioritized by many businesses is how major financial institutions address these risks. Organizations like J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo, with their breadth of risk-averse financial services, spend upwards of $1.5 billion per year on cybersecurity.

Get Started with Internet Browser Security

The browser is generally the end point where the data stored on the Internet is disseminated to users. As a result, small businesses, who unlike major financial organizations (or most enterprise businesses), don’t have the financial resources to spare, have come to rely on their browser’s built-in security features to do a lot of the heavy lifting in their cybersecurity strategies. By understanding which browser gives you the best opportunity to succeed, you can be ahead of the game instead of constantly playing from a disadvantaged position and putting your data and network at risk.

Browsers

The most well-known browsers are the most utilized. Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari, Mozilla’s Firefox, and Microsoft’s new Edge browser are currently the most utilized browsers on computers that run Windows or macOS, while Chrome, Safari, and UCBrowser are most popular on mobile. We’ll take a look at some of these browsers (and their security features) to help you ascertain whether or not a particular browser will work for your needs.

The best protection is actually from producing secure connections. In the browser, any site that has a secure connection will feature the protocol “https://”. By encrypting data sent and received through the browser, it keeps the transmission of data from being intercepted, stolen, or leaked. In encrypting the exchange of information, it highlights the two variables that need to be present for secure browsing: identification and privacy.

We’ll go through the most popular browsers to see what they offer users in the way of security and privacy:

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is the most popular and utilized Internet browser in the world. For security’s sake, it features a powerful “sandbox”. The sandbox is an encrypted environment that attempts to keep the communication between the user and the website separate to offer another layer of security. Google also has the fastest response time to security vulnerabilities. One security problem users get into when using Chrome is if they use Chrome apps. The Chrome apps themselves may not be a vulnerability, but the more endpoints that potentially expose users, the higher the risk is.

Privacy in Google Chrome is another matter altogether. Google’s whole plan is to know as much as possible about each of their users, so privacy isn’t in the cards in that scenario. The complete lack of privacy you have in Chrome does provide some value to the user in the way of targeted advertisements, content, and more; but, if you are looking to stay off the grid, using Google Chrome isn’t going to facilitate that strategy at all.

Mozilla Firefox

Firefox’s usefulness is coming into question because of age. Firefox’s lack of a “sandbox” becomes a much bigger deal as more threats materialize, and more browsers utilize the technology. Firefox’s JavaScript plugins all share the same namespace, which can expose users that utilize them. In order to best utilize Firefox, understanding industry best practices and not diverting from them is suggested.

On the other hand, privacy in Firefox is the industry standard. Since it is open source software, and not tied to some major corporate entity, the not-for-profit’s software makes a point to protect the privacy of its users by not tracking or collecting much data at all.

Apple’s Safari

Apple had tried making Safari for other platforms, but they just couldn’t gain traction, so you’ll only find it as the default browser on every Apple product. For years, Apple’s claims that their products were the most secure held true, but today’s malware developers don’t ignore Safari any longer. Since macOS has become a target like any other computing platform, Apple has been extraordinarily good at providing timely patches and updates.

Apple is, like Google and Microsoft, tracking everything that you do in their software to help provide a better service. This obviously isn’t ideal for personal privacy, but on Apple’s devices, Safari is still the best functioning and most feature-rich browsing experience.

Opera

Developed before Microsoft launched Internet Explorer, Opera is the oldest browser on this list. Before it was retired, developers decided to overhaul the browser, and in 2013 they scrapped the proprietary engine that had run the software for the same engine that Chrome (and other browsers) use, Chromium. By adding the layer of security that comes with the Chromium sandbox, Opera has been able to sustain itself, and offers users security through obscurity.

Because of its obscure nature, privacy is less of an issue as well. They have a very conservative data collection policy which, despite the software not being open-sourced, does present users with privacy concerns some peace of mind.

Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer

Since so many computer users use Windows, Microsoft’s browsers generally are utilized, albeit with substantial frustration most of the time. The new Edge browser has replaced Internet Explorer and has enhanced security substantially. Time will tell if Microsoft’s browser will be a viable option for users, but currently Edge’s market share is middling. From a security standpoint the Edge browser utilizes the sandbox technology that the Chromium browsers do, and like Chrome, offers apps inside the software. The book is still out on Edge’s reliability and overall usability.

Privacy in Microsoft’s browsers is pretty much not there as they have adhered to the growing trend of collecting every piece of data that they can. There are options to make it less transparent, but users should be happy that Edge isn’t IE.

Security in your browser is something you cannot do without, but you will have to choose between open source software that keeps your user information private, or a more popular and transparent software that will enhance the usability of the product. For more information about Internet browsers, contact us today at 216-503-5150.

4 Reasons your Smartphone Is So Slow To Connect To the Internet

Have you ever gotten frustrated with your phone because the browser took more than five minutes to load? Before you start blaming your old phone, check out these four reasons that might be the cause of sluggish internet connection.

Router location

One simple yet overlooked reason why your WiFi-connected phone may be experiencing internet lag is because of your router’s location. Although WiFi has a range of up to 230 feet, the farther away you are from the router, the weaker the WiFi signal. Large objects like doors and walls situated in between you and the router can also weaken the WiFi signal.

It is recommended to place your router in a central location, preferably away from concrete and masonry walls or other big objects like a chimney. As the router signal radiates from all four sides, blocking any side with big objects will impact your WiFi’s signal quality and as a result your phone’s internet speed.

WiFi Noise

Did you know that home electronic appliances emit wireless signals at a frequency similar to your router’s (2.4 GHz)? So before deciding on your router’s location, determine whether there are any wireless devices nearby, as they emit signals that can interfere with your router’s signal. For example, even if the ideal location for your router is at the center of your house, you shouldn’t place it there if there’s a cordless phone nearby.

You can also set your router on a 5.0-GHz band, as this frequency is less prone to interference from other appliances. But before you start tuning it, make sure your phone supports 5.0 GHz; otherwise, it won’t be able to connect to the router.

Slow Network

Another reason for your phone’s slow internet is because of fluctuating network speed. Ask yourself these two questions to know the exact cause of this problem:
How many people are connecting to the router?
What are they doing over the internet?

You should increase your router’s internet bandwidth speed if you discover you have many users and all of them are either streaming movies or downloading computer games or software updates. This will allow every phone to enjoy faster internet speed.

If you’re outdoors, and you’re connected to a public WiFi, consider using your mobile data instead. You won’t have to share your internet when you use mobile data, enabling you to experience faster connectivity at all times as long as you have a high-speed data plan.

Too much cache

Last, you should check your phone’s cache if fixing your router, network, and positioning doesn’t improve your phone’s internet speed. Cache is a component in your phone that saves data from earlier searches in order to increase the speed of similar searches in the future. Although your phone becomes more efficient for that particular search, it also makes your phone much slower when you do other things that require the internet.

You can clear out your cache manually or use a cache cleaner app to thoroughly get rid of useless cache and optimize your phone’s internet speed. If you decide to download a cache cleaner app, make sure that it is reputable and trustworthy so you don’t accidentally download a malware-infiltrated app instead.

There are more reasons to your phone’s lagging internet speed. If your business relies heavily on fast mobile internet speed and you’re unable to fix the sluggish connection, call our experts today. We’re always ready to help you.

Is Switching to a Third Party Hardware Maintenance Provider a Good Idea?

IT managers usually face the fiscal pressure of reducing costs while improving operational efficiency. One of the major costs involves repairing and replacing system hardware components. Strategies that help in extending legacy hardware life cycles are gaining popularity. They allow organizations to continue using the hardware for a longer duration and thereby minimize the cost of IT.  While it’s difficult to maintain a balance between legacy and contemporary hardware, this complex environment invites major challenges, this complex environment is important to maximize the value of data center systems.

Hardware Maintenance

All of these strategies that aim at extending hardware life cycles focus on having alternative hardware maintenance plans. A major problem here is relying too much on the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). They undoubtedly offer best-of-the-class experience; however depending solely on the OEMs would leave the hardware uncovered once the end-of-service-life date arrives. Moreover, the extended warranties are way too expensive. A better solution would be to hire the services of third party providers. Let’s see how…

Reduced Costs

Cash is often a huge concern and bottom line for IT managers while aligning operations and business priorities. Getting Dell, HP, EMC support from third party IT Managed Service providers seems to be more budget-friendly.

Simplified Approach

While concerning with OEMs for managing extended warranties of the hardware of your data centers is difficult. It leaves the IT managers confused with many points of contact and complexity that eventually increases the gap. A third-party provider possess the capability to handle multiple device types at a time ensuring that the IT managers focus on their core tasks rather than communicating with many points of contact at the OEMs.

Flexibility

OEMs have their support models. However, they concentrate more on their business’ core competency – selling hardware. Maintenance is the secondary goal and they often have rigid maintenance plans while they strive to excel in their primary goals i.e. the operational sales. IT managed service providers promote support activities as their core competency and therefore can adapt easily to different client demands. IT managers can be more comfortable working with these third-party providers.

Value Addition

A third-party IT maintenance provider offers reliable plans at the best market value. A partnership with them also gives IT managers the access to refurbished parts, making component purchasing decisions, migrating data, and help them move hardware between facilities.

Although hardware maintenance may not seem to be the game changer or revenue generator for businesses, it helps IT manager greatly to simplify operations. Net Activity, Inc. is an IT Managed Service provider in Cleveland that conforms to the latest technological advancements while delivering best-in-class service to its clients around Ohio. Please contact Harry Bhatia at 888-545-5346 to discuss further or visit our website https://www.netactivity.us/it-managed-services/ for more information.

Is Ransomware a Threat to Enterprise Back-ups?

Recently, in May 2017 a ransomware named WannaCry was the matter of discussion among many organizations. The considerable damage WannaCry made to some of the corporate giants was constantly in the news and organizations were horrified due to the extensive loss in data. However, interestingly it didn’t take much time for the organizations to recover the lost data back from back-ups. Although this is a good thing, it may be an alarming situation if the enterprises are slowly adapting to ransomware, it is surely going to target advanced backup strategies.

Ransomware Threat

How could ransomware target system backups?

When the user attempts to hold data located at the target for ransom, it can be difficult for the target to restore it from the backup. Most of the home users and municipal corporations don’t invest heavily on data backup and recovery systems and rely on the basic, built-in protection for their computers, laptops, and servers. This basic system, known as Windows Volume Shadow Copy is present in the editions since Server 2003 and XP and stores pictures of the files on an endpoint. As it is commonly used by home users as well as small businesses, the ransomware such as WannaCry have tools to delete it.

Ransomware like Locky, WannaCry, Cryptolocker, and CryptXXX are capable of deleting the volume shadow copies with the help of strings in command line. This is probably the reason why some ransomware variants failed to make much profit as most enterprises use more robust protections than just shadow copies. WannaCry hit enterprises rather than attacking small businesses or home users and as a result global companies with thousands of employees fell victim to its attack. Within an enterprise, data backup adoption is at extremely high levels while cloud backup and recovery comprise a high percentage of cloud-based investments. Companies have the best potential to overcome a ransomware attack by restoring from backup.

Conclusively, with a malware like WannaCry, it’s proven by the ransomware authors they can attack enterprises. However, they don’t have a persistent mechanism. Additionally, the enterprise backups are too robust to cause much damage as they are capable of retrieving data from backups within a day at most. Although the enterprise backup systems are sufficiently secured, there’s something really to worry about as hackers intelligently innovate ways to overcome these technical obstacles. So, companies must be prepared with the possibility of ransomware attacking their backups for encryption or deletion.

Visit https://www.netactivity.us/microsoft-365-managed-security/ for more details about how Net Activity, Inc. is helping organizations stay protected from the malicious malware attacks.

Sophos Security Equipment – Security Made Simple

Choosing from the many brands of Unified Threat Management (UTM) is a tough task pertaining to the fact that many competitive companies have set their foothold on the market. The decision making process has become more difficult with overwhelming options available out there. To narrow down your quest for network security equipment, here is a proven technology that’s relied upon by many users for managing their IT security in a cost-efficient manner – Sophos.

Sophos Technologies, an international network security appliances provider features unified threat management appliances that offer user identity-based network security. Providing extensive security to individuals, it offers high-end security to organizations on a larger scale.

Sophos Security Equipment

However, before deciding on a UTM provider, you must consider the following parameters:

Intrusion prevention

The UTM provider must be capable of identifying malicious activity and log pertinent information about any fraudulent activity. The Sophos Security equipment performs the intrusion prevention that is a to menace entities and prevent their access. It bounces back intruders even before they enter your system and cause further damage.

Anti-Virus scanning

With the emergence of various kinds of malware, ransomware, backdoors, malicious LSPs, Trojans, etc. the role of anti-viruses expanded to implementing strategies to protect the PCs from other computer threats such as malicious and infected URLs, phishing attacks, electronic spamming, and advanced persistent threats.

Bandwidth adjusting

The UTM provider must detect the tempering of your internet service by an ISP. Sophos abates the traffic coming to a network to avoid congestion and allows intersections to perform smoothly.

Data loss prevention

Data loss prevention is a strategy that is used to prevent sending critical data across in a corporate network, accidently or maliciously. Your unified threat management provider should ensure NDA (non-disclosure agreement) that is capable of protecting proprietary information or any type of trade secrets.

Reporting

Many UTMs create reports that show how your network is being used. The implementation of reports involves extracting, transforming, and loading procedure (ETL). Reporting is very important for knowledge administration and business intelligence.Sophos tracks and stores all the information and facilitates easy retrieval.

Call us at 888-545-5346 to know more details or visit https://www.netactivity.us/services/it-managed-services to browse through our IT managed service offerings.

Beware of PC Registry Cleaners: Are They Safe?

Windows registry is a repository which collects massive data about your computer as it practically records everything that is performed on Windows. It is literally a cluttered space as Windows, by itself is not capable of cleaning the system efficiently as it’s always busy in creating new entries. Even though you uninstall a program or application, it leaves some unneeded pointers in the registry and thus slows down your system.

PC Registry Cleaners

To resolve this issue, many PC registry cleaners are marketed to the users with the claim that they would speed up the computer system making it function better. However, before making your decision to purchase or install a free PC cleaner on your computer system because above all claims they make everything depends on the condition of your registry and the effectiveness of the registry cleaner that you select. Another thing to be considered is that registry cleaners usually delete things from the registry. While most of the times it is safe, there are times when registry cleaners caused serious problems to the computers and their data. Though most of the modern PC registry cleaners feature built-in methods to reverse changes when things go against expectations, it is not recommended to invest in an advertised PC cleaning system. Being diligent while making your choice is the first step towards protecting your system from unwanted attacks. Also, remember to back up your registry before letting the cleaner to remove or delete entries. Doing this would save you even if the registry cleaner doesn’t have an ‘undo’ option, you can use the backed up registry file to restore it back.

One more important thing to be highlighted is that registry cleaners do not speed up the computers and so, you do not need to run them regularly. Hackers are talented enough to compromise the quality of the wide range of PC cleaning software as happened with CCleaner software in August and September wherein malicious hackers had illegally modified the version 5.33 of CCleaner software which was available for download for about a month.

Your computer data is precious and we, at Net Activity, Inc. recommend you not to install any PC registry cleaners without proper survey of their history. Also, think twice before going for cleaners that invest huge amounts on marketing and advertisements as they are no good.

Tips to Stay Connected During the Hurricane Attacks

With the recent Hurricane Irma striking the Florida and Harvey striking Texas, there was and still is a crisis as friends, family, and co-workers panicked as they were not and still are not able to connect to each other along with little to no communication to first responders for assistance. There was an is no power and offices weren’t and still aren’t able to function to their fullest capabilities.

Hurricane Attacks

In today’s internet dependent world, the effects of such powerful hurricanes are really devastating as cell phone apps wouldn’t work that could otherwise update users on the weather conditions. You cannot rely solely on your phones for news. Some reports also stated that storms from of Irma would drift towards northeast Ohio from Wednesday night into Thursday. It is important to follow certain steps that will help you stay connected even in this critical situation.

Net Activity’s (https://netactivity.us/) security officials have enlisted the below tips that would ensure your safety and enable you stay connected during hurricanes.

ENSURE THAT YOUR MOBILE PHONES ARE CHARGED ENOUGH AT ALL TIMES

At this time, you would require you cell phone the most. Hurricanes will strike at any hour and your power might get disconnected. So, it’s very important to have your cell phone fully charged at all times. It would be great if you can arrange additional power banks for backup if the power doesn’t regain for a couple of more days.

LIMIT TELEPHONE USAGE DURING THE DISASTER TIME

Although you want to use your phone to get safety updates from your loved ones during hurricanes, prefer text messages over calls to save battery. Avoid using social media except for weather updates. Every citizen in the affected area should try and minimize network usage as it leads to congestion.

RESET YOUR PHONE’S EMERGENCY CONTACTS

Reset your phone’s contacts to include the police department, fire department, hospital, and a primary contact. This step will help people get instant help if they need immediate assistance due the storm.

PRACTICE DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLANS

Businesses should mark it in their calendars. Annual or bi-annual disaster management sessions with enacting mock situations are sure to be of great help during actual disasters.

Top 5 Benefits of Outsourcing IT Through Managed Services

Just until a few years ago, business owners, especially the start-ups or ones who have small scale investments worried about the IT set up and resources that estimated a piled-up expense. However, with the concept of outsourcing all the IT tasks, it became easier and manageable. Outsourcing is a business strategy that has proven its efficiency in establishing businesses faster and allowing them to cut excess costs, thereby promoting a convincing business structure. IT managed service providers have performed outstandingly to offer more tangible benefits to small as well as large scale businesses.

IT managed service

Top 5 Benefits of Outsourcing IT Through Managed Services

Read further to understand the reason why outsourcing IT operations and maintenance has found greater acceptance in the past few years.

  1. Drastic Fall in Operational Costs:

    Moving the IT off-site can result in huge savings for businesses. As this is the main driver for decision making for small businesses, cost consideration draws in the interest of business owners. The hardware expenses, cabling, storage, datacenter, servers, etc. are taken care of by the cloud vendor.

  2. Inexpensive Upgrades:

    IT demands regular updates and outsourcing IT means the updates are the responsibility of the managed IT service provider and not the business. Sometimes, it is obvious for the non-IT persons to skip or ignore a few updates that could offer something more to their business. When trained IT professionals take charge of a company’s IT requirements, they become liable for any further upgrades, of course at a nominal fee.

  3. Undivided Attention on Core Business Activities:

    There’s intense competition on the market and survival of businesses depends on stringent lines. If non-IT people spend their precious time in understanding IT, they might lose on something that they are good at that would fetch better returns.

  4. Better Disaster Management:

    Natural disasters may occur at any time and could cost a huge loss to the business data. Most businesses are not well-equipped for recovery options in case of these unexpected disasters. Outsourcing to an IT expert would take this worry away as they are designed to handle such crisis without letting any harm done to your routine operations.

  5. Increased Productivity:

    Organizations who have a smooth IT infrastructure have reportedly been performing well consistently. A qualified managed service provider contributes so much to the business that the overall productivity automatically increases.

The Net Activity team complements core businesses by taking charge of their complete IT operations and has successfully partnered with hundreds of organizations to help them save considerably on their IT spending. You can benefit by hiring our reliable IT managed services. We are just a call away. Call us at 888-545-5346 to know more details or visit https://www.netactivity.us/services/it-managed-services to browse through our service offerings.

How To Choose Trusted Managed IT Service Provider For Your Business?

Today, business sizes are not big enough to be able to afford hiring and maintaining a team of professionally trained IT technicians with the infrastructure required for the same. Therefore, to focus on their core operations, many businesses are thinking intelligently and economically by hiring an outside firm to take care of the IT operations instead of investing substantially in IT. However, this must be a careful decision as with all the dependency on computers, networks, servers, emails, or VoIP systems. Businesses can’t imagine downtime in today’s 27 / 7 work environment. So, choosing a Managed IT Service Provider needs to have a thoughtful approach.

Trusted Managed IT Service Provider For Your Business

Here are some things to consider while making your selection

Technical Competence

The level of competence of a managed service provider should define their criteria to walk you through your selection list. The staff working at the provider ought to be well-trained and experienced enough to be able to handle your specific business needs.

Flexibility at Work

The managed service provider must serve you at any emergency hour instead of being available for certain hours when you are working too. You can work out these kinds of arrangements while signing the contract so that there are no complications or lapse in service.

Remote Monitoring

IT has advanced to a level that there’s no need for the IT technician to be present at your premises to solve an issue. By simply accessing your system remotely would resolve issues. With remote monitoring applications, your IT managed services provider can monitor systems hourly or minute by minute and alert you in case any ambiguities are observed.

Billing Methods

Once you’re confident about the quality of services provided by a Managed Service Provider, you must be assured of the genuineness of the amount they bill you for. For this, you must be aware about the market trends and have a fair idea of what costs how much. All said and done, it’s a sensitive matter and you get to know the pros and cons of the services provided by a Managed IT Service Provider only when you begin your contract with them. So, it is a wise choice to get along with an established and reliable IT Managed Services Provider like Net Activity, Inc. who are equipped with latest technology and trained professionals to work for business’s very crucial IT infrastructure. For more details, please visit https://www.netactivity.us/services/it-managed-services or discuss your business requirements with Harry Bhatia, President, Net Activity at 888-545-5346.

Staying Ahead of Cyber Threats – Cyber Attack Prevention Tips

Cyber threats have been and will be doing a great harm to mankind in this world of digitalization. As a matter of fact, cyber hackers are here to stay and destroying is their job; the only difference is that they have become more sophisticated. IT departments are focused on preventing cyber-attacks and it’s their main goal to protect their companies’ as well as employees’ data. They are committed to security and think more about corporate reputation, legal damage, and damage to customers.

Cyber Attack Prevention Tips

Cyber Attack Prevention Tips

Fetch a More Secured Storage Solution

Though the data that is in-transit is more susceptible to an attack, a hacker can easily target the data at rest – the primary as well as back up databases. The storage solutions used by companies must be founded on security which makes it feasible to set up network monitoring solutions and fosters a favorable platform for protecting data in-transit.

Thoroughly Understand Cyber Security Products and Techniques

Technology is inventing new threat-detecting products that are excellent at protecting data and network from known threats. However, they fail to detect zero-day threats and other newly emerging threats. There must be smarter monitoring solutions that are capable of tracking abnormalities that may or may not indicate harmful attacks.

Be Prepared with a Data Recovery Plan

IT hackers must find vulnerability and they hit it almost right – hundreds of thousands of times.So, companies need to be prepared for the fact that however talented and dedicated your IT team is, hackers will not let them rule. Therefore, having a plan of action is essential.

Participate in Openness of Communication about Breaches

Businesses generally do not open up about their security failures. Entities like banks must share cyber security information with each other which would curb the confidence of hackers.

Let us join hands together to face the all-time threat to data security. Visit https://www.netactivity.us/services/it-managed-services to secure your network and prevent your data from the cyber hackers. You can also talk to Harry Bhatia at 888-545-5346 to know Net Activity, Inc. can help managing your business’ security as all their clients across the United States have benefited a lot and saved considerably on their IT costs.

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