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December 6, 2021 In Managed IT Services By admin

How Smart is Your Smart Technology When It Comes to Network Security?

Smart devices have brought about unprecedented amounts of connectivity in aspects of running a business or owning a home that never could have been dreamed of in the past. People can now unlock their front doors, turn up their thermostats, and even switch the lights on and off through their smartphones. Unfortunately, the part that people don’t like to talk about with these applications and devices is security—big surprise, right?

Most consumers tend to lean toward technology that makes their living spaces easier to manage, but these technologies present their own set of problems and challenges, chief among them being security.

Connectivity Through the Cloud

Smart technology works by sending and receiving data from the chosen smart device, be it a thermostat or a video surveillance system, to your smartphone. It does this through the cloud, but there’s a catch—these connections are often unencrypted and unsecured, meaning that anyone who knows where to look can hijack the transmission and steal that data. If you are going to implement smart technology for your company or home, be sure to look for solutions that come with encryption capabilities, thus securing your connectivity through the cloud.

Be Careful About Permissions

Depending on the application, you might notice that it asks for permissions to use various other applications or hardware on your device, like the camera, microphone, or other data found on your device. Be very careful with these permissions. You must be sure of what permissions you are granting before you actually do so. Depending on what permissions are granted, you might accidentally opt into data harvesting. Furthermore, the more permissions you grant without understanding what they are doing, the more likely you are to get hacked, so it’s always better to err on the side of caution with smart technology.

You may have already noticed, but many of the challenges presented above can be mitigated through understanding the nature of what technology you are implementing and how you are using it. Always understand the details for any device you implement on your infrastructure before doing so, and if you don’t, consult professionals who make it their life’s work to help people like you improve their relationship with technology.

Net Activity can help you implement smart technology solutions for your office, but we can do so in a way that prioritizes security in all senses of the word. To learn more about what we can do to help you protect your business and its assets, reach out to us at 216-503-5150.

December 6, 2021 In Managed IT Services By admin

Disk Cleanup can make your slow PC fast again

The Disk Cleanup tool is a nifty feature that weeds out unneeded files such as cached web pages, temporary files, and deleted items in your Recycle Bin. Disk Cleanup can also determine which files can be removed from your hard disk to free up space. If you notice your Windows PC slowing down or performing below its optimal level, such files are likely the culprit. Here’s how to revitalize a slow PC.

How to run the Disk Cleanup tool

Disk Cleanup can easily be accessed through the Start menu or by searching Disk Cleanup. The tool selects Drive C by default, so make sure to choose the correct drive you want to clean out. Next to each file location is information about how much space it is taking up in your hard disk.

To access this tool on Windows 10, go to the Start menu, scroll to Windows Administrative Tools, then click Disk Cleanup.

Each file location has a corresponding checkbox that needs to be selected in order to delete the unnecessary files it contains. Upon clicking a file location, a description of the files it contains will appear at the bottom of the window so you will see the types of files you’ll be removing.

When Disk Cleanup is finished, you’ll need to restart your system to remove unnecessary Windows Update files. Remember, the Disk Cleanup tool only removes those Update files that are no longer needed, hence usually very few are deleted.

The benefits of Disk Cleanup

Why use Disk Cleanup when you can simply upgrade or replace your hard drive? That’s because doing so offers the following advantages:

Maximizes your drive’s memory – The ultimate benefits of cleaning up your disk are maximized computer storage space, increased speed, and improved functionality. These enable you to use your device at peak performance levels.
Makes your computer more reliable and secure – Some programs that are downloaded through the internet are often infected with viruses that can decrease your computer’s reliability. The Disk Cleanup tool can clean your computer and rid it of unwanted programs as well.
Saves time and increases efficiency – The traditional way of opening folders to find old files to delete may be enough for some, but not for those who prioritize productivity. Although files can be deleted manually, Disk Cleanup is simply much faster.
Saves money – Instead of buying and configuring a new drive, you can maximize the useful life of your current one.

The Disk Cleanup tool is as handy to launch and operate as any basic program. If you are looking to further improve the speed of your systems, contact Net Activity to learn more about our IT services.

December 2, 2021 In Managed IT Services, Office 365 By admin

How Does Microsoft 365 Defender Fight Phishing?

Phishing remains one of the top cyber threats to businesses today. To combat such attacks, Microsoft has armed Microsoft 365 Defender with powerful cybersecurity features. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Anti-phishing

The most dangerous types of phishing scams involve emails that are disguised to appear like it’s from an entity. An attacker may use cunning tactics, such as referring to the victims by their nickname. They may even take over actual email accounts and use these to trick their victims.

Through machine learning, Defender creates a list of contacts that users normally communicate with. It then employs an array of tools, including standard anti-malware solutions, to differentiate acceptable from suspicious behaviors.

Anti-spam

Since common phishing campaigns utilize spam emails to victimize people, blocking spam is a great way to protect your company from such attacks.

Defender’s anti-spam technology addresses the issue by examining both an email’s source and its contents. If an email is found to come from an untrustworthy source or has suspicious contents, it is automatically sent to the Spam folder. What’s more, this feature regularly checks the activity of people in your company to ensure that none of them sends out spam emails.

Anti-malware

Malware, such as ransomware and spyware, can spread via phishing emails. Ransomware locks systems and files from users until a ransom is paid. Spyware, on the other hand, steals data by recording keystrokes, copying clipboards, and taking screenshots, among other methods.

Defender employs a multilayered defense against both known and unknown types of malware. This covers the different stages of email transmission security, including filtering potentially harmful attachments, and real-time threat response. Microsoft also regularly deploys new definition updates to keep its defenses armed against the latest threats.

Sandbox

It’s not uncommon for some users to accidentally open a malicious email attachment, especially if they’re not careful.

Defender resolves this issue by opening all attachments in a sandbox first. This sandbox is an isolated environment, so if the attachment is malicious, it will only infect the sandbox and not your actual system. Microsoft will then warn you not to open the file. If it’s safe, you will be able to open it normally.

Safe Links

Instead of attachments, some phishing emails contain URLs that lead to fraudulent websites — often made to look like legitimate ones — that require victims to provide their personal information. Some of these URLs also lead to pages that download malware into a computer.

Through a process called URL detonation, Safe Links protects users by scanning the links in their emails and checking for malicious behavior, such as the transmission of malware. If the link opens a malicious website, Microsoft Defender will warn users not to visit it. Otherwise, users can open the destination URL normally. Even so, the service will rescan the link in the succeeding days and report any suspicious changes.

What’s great about Safe Links is that it also scans links in emails from people within your company and works on files uploaded to Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.

User Submissions

Defender allows you to set a specific mailbox to send emails you deem a threat. The User Submissions feature lets you set criteria for both malicious and safe email and identify mailboxes besides your spam folder to keep these messages in. This feature gives your administrators greater control over which emails to flag and which to report to Microsoft.

Enhanced Filtering

If your company uses third-party services to route emails to your on-premises environment before they are sent to Microsoft 365, you will benefit from Enhanced Filtering for Connectors. Defender uses inbound connectors to determine the trustworthiness of email sources. The more complex your routing scenario is, the more likely that an email’s inbound connectors will not reflect its real source.

Enhanced Filtering preserves authentication signals that may have been lost over the course of routing emails. This maximizes the effectiveness of Microsoft 365’s overall filtering capabilities, helping it detect spam and phishing emails.

If you need an email service that promotes efficiency while protecting your business, Net Activity can deploy and manage Microsoft 365 for you. Call us today to get started.

November 29, 2021 In Managed IT Services By admin

Google My Business App Changing to Google Business Profile

The Google My Business application has assisted business owners in managing their online presence for some time now, having gone through numerous name changes in its time. However, Google has one final change planned for its application.

Frankly, there will no longer be a Google My Business service before very long. Instead, business owners will have access to a web-based Google Business Profile sometime in 2022.

Google Business Profile is Intended to Simplify Things for Businesses

With the transition from a standalone application to an integrated Google Business Profile, all it will take for a business owner to access their online tools is to enter their company’s name into the Google Search Box. Doing so will return the typical results one might expect as well as the business-centric tools that Google has to offer.

With Google Business Profile in place, you’ll be able to do more to manage your online presence. For instance:

Google Search and Google Maps will be usable as a means of verifying your Google Business Profile.
Google Search can also be used to chat with customers through your Business Profile, with read receipts being controlled through Search and Maps.
Google is also experimenting with call history features and call forwarding.

This will also make any online marketing activities you undergo through Google easier for you to manage, with new tools like the local search campaign budget Performance Planner.

What Features are You Looking Forward to Most?

While this rebranding/migration will take a while to fully implement, it’s always good to remain apprised of these kinds of developments so you are in the best position to benefit from them. We’ll be there so you can be sure that you have the technology necessary to take full advantage of any opportunities that come your way.

Find out what Net Activity can do for your IT; give us a call at 216-503-5150 today.

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