3 Ways to Get More Done on Your Smartphone

Smartphones these days have a lot of computing power. They have enough to be a dynamic tool for today’s workers, but can also be a major distraction. Let’s take a look at 3 ways you can be more productive with your smartphone.

Find the Right Apps

If you are like most of the rest of the world, you have all manner of apps that you’ve downloaded on your phone. There are the normal apps like the email app, the browser, the app store app, and the messaging app. Then there are social media apps, games, productivity apps, dating apps, retail apps, and a slew of other apps that you don’t remember downloading as they have no purpose for you.

To use your smartphone as a productivity tool you will want to eliminate most of the distractions. Sure, you can still spend hours scrolling through the app stores looking for the right apps, but we’re guessing if you are making a conscious effort to use your smartphone for productivity, that you won’t be doing that. By eliminating a lot of the extra apps you currently have, you will be able to focus on the apps that remain, the ones that allow you to be productive.

Additionally, once you have the apps you want on the device, you then will want to arrange the apps in a manner that makes it simple for you to navigate to the apps that you need. For example, you can group social media apps together to keep them in one place rather than have them strewn about the device. This organization will come in handy when you are looking for the apps you need.

Disable Certain Notifications

Notifications are super useful, until they are a horrible distraction. Turning some of the more useless notifications off won’t hurt you, but leaving them on will hurt your ability to be productive. Turning off mobile notifications for your social media accounts (unless you need them for work) and your remaining mobile games is a solid practice that will cut down on distractions.

Update Software Regularly

The smartphone is increasingly being targeted as an attack vector to get onto business networks. For this reason you will want to ensure that your mobile OS is updated regularly and that the applications you depend on get their patches and updates. Typically, this process is handled automatically, but it’s smart to be sure to check. If you don’t use the app anymore, just get rid of it!

Smartphones will just become a bigger part of business in the future. Reach out anytime if we can be of help building your mobile computing capacity.

20% of Organizations Provided No Cybersecurity Guidance to Users Making the Shift to Working from Home

At a time when cyber risk is at its highest levels, new data shows how little organizations have done to ensure employees are prepared for cyber attack while working from home.

It’s somewhat understandable; when COVID-19 struck, organizations were scrambling to get themselves operational and weren’t focused on ensuring the same levels of corporate governance and cybersecurity. But, it’s still surprising to find out that little emphasis was put on educating users on the need to be vigilant.

According to security vendor Morphisec’s 2020 WFH Employee Cybersecurity Threat Index report, the majority of users (75%) are ready and willing to follow whatever security guidance is offered by IT, but half or less of employees are provided it:

• 56% of users were told to be wary of suspicious emails, attachments, or pop-ups
• 48% were told to make sure AV is running
• 46% were told to update software
• 20% weren’t told a single thing

So, at best, we have a little more than half of users being ever-so-slightly educated on cyberattacks, leaving the other 44% to fend for themselves and rely on their endpoint AV (which 52% weren’t told to check to make sure it’s running!).

This data jibes with similar reports detailing the complete lack of security awareness education for remote workers. At a time when users present one of the greatest risks to an organization, now is the time to invest in security awareness training that makes your logical perimeter (the user at their home, on their insecure WiFi, using their personal device) more secure.

Give Net Activity a call today to get started.

3 Critical Cyber Security Protections EVERY Business Must Have In Place NOW To Avoid Being Hacked

Five years ago, you might have had state-of-the-art security protecting your business and network. You had the latest malware protection, highly rated firewalls and a great data backup plan. Maybe you even had a handbook on how to address cyberthreats. You were set. But then you forgot to do one crucial thing: you didn’t stay up-to-date with your IT security policy.

This is a trap countless businesses fall into. They invest in great cyber security once. Five years ago, this was fantastic. The problem is that cyberthreats are constantly evolving. Methods used by hackers and cybercriminals have come a long way in the past five years. Criminals stay on top of what’s going on in the IT security industry. They are always looking for new ways to steal your data and make a quick buck at your expense.

What can you do to stay up-to-date in an ever-changing digital world? Here are three things every business must do to protect itself.

Understand The Threats

It’s easy to assume that hackers are trying to get into your network the “old-fashioned” way. You might picture them hacking your network trying to get your passwords and usernames or breaking through your firewall protection. While some hackers will do this (it’s easy for them if you use simple passwords), many of today’s cybercriminals rely on social engineering.

The most common form of social engineering is the phishing scam. The criminal sends you or your employees an e-mail, hoping someone will click a link or open an attached file. Cybercriminals have gotten VERY sophisticated. These e-mails can mimic the look of a legitimate e-mail from a legitimate business, such as the local bank you work with or another company you buy from (or that buys from you). Social engineering is all about tricking people.

This is why you need a cyber security handbook – one that is regularly updated. It’s something you can reference. Your team needs to know how to identify a phishing e-mail, and you need to have procedures in place for what to do if a questionable e-mail shows up. This helps keep your employees from becoming the weak link in your security setup.

Update, Update And Update

From software to hardware, you must stay updated. There is no such thing as “one-and-done” when it comes to network security. Something as simple as a wireless router can DESTROY your security if it’s not regularly updated. Hackers are always looking for vulnerabilities in both hardware and software, and when they find them, they WILL exploit them.

What happens when a piece of hardware (like a router) is no longer supported by the manufacturer? This occurs all the time, particularly as hardware ages. Manufacturers and developers drop support for their older technology so they can focus on their newer products. When they drop support for a product you use, this is a good indicator that you need to replace that piece of hardware. The same applies to software.

You might balk at the cost of buying new technology, but in the long run, the cost is well worth it. Think of the cost of buying a new router versus the cost of cleaning up after a data breach. Some small businesses never recover after a hack – it’s just too expensive. Keep your malware software updated, keep your firewall updated, keep your cloud backups updated and keep all your devices and software UPDATED!

Invest In Proactive Network Monitoring

When it comes to the security of your network and overall business, being proactive can make a huge difference. Proactive monitoring means your network is being watched 24/7. Every little ping or access to your network is watched and assessed. If a threat is found, then it can be stopped.

The great thing about proactive network monitoring is that you can customize it. Want to know about every threat? You can request a real-time report. Only want updates once a day or once a week? That can be done too! This approach means you have one less thing to think about. Someone is always keeping an eye on your network, making sure the bad guys stay out.

You might think, “How am I going to do all this?” You don’t have to go it alone – and you shouldn’t. Work with an IT services firm. Work together to find the best solutions for your business. When you work with IT specialists, you can rest assured your team will be updated on today’s threats. You’ll know your network – and everything connected to it – is updated. And you’ll know someone is watching over you. That’s the ultimate peace of mind.