TechJournal, October 2019
What’s New
This week we are deep into securing your business.
We’ve had our security webinar and even though not a lot of things surprise me now, the participation and interest amazed me!
Keeping this in mind, we are contemplating doing a monthly security webinar so call us, email us or simply fill out our contact form on the site if this would be of interest to you. I’m thinking a webinar that covers types of breaches and emerging threats on a monthly basis and we may have branch off into other areas of interest.
October 2019
This monthly publication provided courtesy of Nadeem Azhar, Owner of PC.Solutions.Net
Our Mission: To build a community of successful-minded entrepreneurs that inspires excellence, encourages collaboration and expands the capacity of all members to achieve great things.
Employees Keeping
Your Data Safe?
... Don’t Count On It
Did you know that small businesses are more likely to be targeted by cybercriminals than any other business or organization? It’s true! While we hear about major breaches on the news, we don’t get to hear the stories of the businesses that struggle with hacking attempts and cyber-attacks.
Hackers love to go after small businesses for one very big reason: small businesses are less likely to invest in top-notch (or even worthwhile) cyber security. Hackers love this vulnerability.
According to the Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report, 43% of cyber-attacks hit small businesses. The reason comes down to many factors, but there are two in particular that hackers really dig into when going after targets: lack of resources and lack
you don’t have it. You want a training program that covers all your bases and gives your employees the knowledge and tools they need to keep themselves and your business secure. (Don’t know where to begin? Work with professional IT specialists. They know what your employees NEED to know!)
Another major security threat is phishing e-mails. On any given day, you and your employees can be on the receiving end of dozens, if not hundreds, of fraudulent e-mails. Data from Symantec shows that 71% of targeted cyber-attacks stem from phishing e-mails. While awareness regarding phishing scams is better than ever, it’s still far from perfect. And it doesn’t help that phishing e-mails have gotten more advanced.
Phishing e-mails are typically disguised as messages from a legitimate source, such as a
colleague, a bank or an online retailer. They try to trick recipients into clicking a link or opening a file (which you should NEVER do if you are not 100% sure about the source). But there are easy ways to identify scam e-mails:
1.They’re impersonal. They may be addressed to “customer,” “to whom it may concern” or “my friend.” But be careful – sometimes they are addressed properly and use your name.
2. They’re full of spelling and grammar errors. Not every phishing e-mail will have these errors, but it’s good to read e-mails word for word rather than just glancing over them. Unusual errors often mean a scam is lurking.
3. The “from” e-mail address is unfamiliar. This is one of the easiest ways to pinpoint a scam e-mail. Look at the sender, and if the address is filled with numbers, letters, misspelled words or is weirdly long, there’s a good chance it’s from a scammer.
The other major issue facing your business is your employees connecting to unsecured WiFi hot spots. It is such an easy mistake to make. Whether it’s a remote employee or an employee working during lunch at a corner café, you never know when they might connect to unsecured WiFi (it doesn’t help that it’s everywhere these days). One Spiceworks study found that upward of 61% of employees connect to unsecured public WiFi while working remotely.
The problem is, you never know who is watching or if the public
“71% of targeted
cyber-attacks stem from phishing e-mails.”
WiFi is really the network you intend to connect to. Hackers can easily set up a “fake” network to divert traffic to their hot spot to circulate malware and steal data.
Another WiFi threat might be right at home. If you have employees who work from home, you need to make sure their home WiFi connection is secure. Too often, homeowners leave their WiFi wide-open because it’s home. They think no one’s going to sneak onto their WiFi or they keep it unsecure because it’s easier to connect a lot of devices.
While it might be easier to connect to, it can cause huge problems. For one, WiFi signals can reach hundreds of feet. It’s easy to sit outside of an apartment or out on the street and find dozens of WiFi signals. If any of these signals are unsecure, a hacker can sit outside undisturbed and go to work accessing data and planting malware.
It all comes back to this: Work with your employees to establish IT best practices. Educate them on threats and how to protect themselves and your company. Help them develop a positive IT security mindset at the office, at home or anywhere they work, whether they’re using company equipment or their own.
Don’t know where to start? Don’t worry – one phone call and we can help get you started. Don’t wait. Let’s secure your business today.
Free Cyber Security Assessment Will Reveal Where Your Computer Network Is Exposed And How To Protect Your Company Now
At no cost or obligation, our highly skilled team of IT pros will come to your office and conduct a comprehensive cyber security assessment to uncover loopholes in your company’s IT security.
After the assessment is done, we’ll prepare a customized “Report Of Findings” that will reveal specific vulnerabilities and provide a Prioritized Action Plan for getting these security problems addressed fast. This report and action plan should be a real eye-opener for you, since almost all of the businesses we’ve done this for discover they are completely exposed to various threats in a number of areas.
To get started and claim your free assessment now,
call 281-402-2620.
Free Breach Check
When I say security, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
To many, the thought of high investment, big expense comes to mind. And, by extension large enterprises come to mind who have huge budgets to focus on security.
You’ll be amazed how far from reality this really is. There may be large budgets at big nation-wide enterprises but many times I see the budget is squandered at sub-par service that ties the enterprise into a long term commitment with sub-par quality of service.
Many such services use the free HaveIbeenPwned.com free service on the back end to detect breaches. Yes, when it comes to security you really get what you (or your vendor) pays for.
When signing up for training, breach detecting and alerts, be sure to use a service that has a huge investment in team that collects their own data and alerts based on their own research as opposed to using some free service geared for home users.
I know what you’re thinking, is haveibeenpwned.com really free, yes it is, go ahead and try it to see if your personal credentials have been compromised!
Creating
The
Perfect Team
Google has collected endless amounts of data, conducted countless studies, spent millions of dollars and logged thousands of hours all in the name of trying to better understand their employees. One initiative was to try and understand what makes a team effective. Specifically, Google wanted to know why some teams excelled while others didn’t. The study was called Project Aristotle, and they gathered up some of Google’s best talent to try and understand, codify and decipher how to create high-functioning teams.
The results of Project Aristotle may forever change how you go about assembling a team. Before the study, Julia Rozovsky, Google’s people analytics manager, felt that the best teams came from compiling the best people. The “best of the best” would surely be the way to go. As she later stated, “We were dead wrong.”
Google assembled organizational psychologists, sociologists, statisticians, engineers and researchers to attack this issue. For over two years, Project Aristotle studied 180 Google teams and analyzed over 250 different team attributes, looking for the magic dream-team formula, but they came up empty. Nothing was standing out to ensure you would be putting together an outstanding team.
They stumbled across some research by psychologists and sociologists that focused on what are known as “group norms”: the traditions, behavioral standards and unwritten rules that govern how teams function when they work together. Following this new line of thought, they went in search of behaviors that magnified the effectiveness of a team and found five key characteristics of enhanced teams. Julia Rozovsky listed their findings as follows:
1. Dependability: Team members get things
done on time and meet expectations.
2. Structure and clarity: High-performing teams have clear goals and have well-defined roles.
3. Meaning: The work has personal significance to each member.
4. Impact: The group believes their work is purposeful and positively impacts the greater good.
But #5 is the most important of all of them:
5. Psychological Safety: Imagine a setting where everyone is safe to take risks, voice their opinions and ask judgment-free questions; imagine a culture where everyone can let down their guard. That’s psychological safety. Google found that teams with psychologically safe environments were more successful.
Psychological safety is dependent on team dynamics. There is no concern about authority or power. Everyone is focused on the clearly defined goal and open to whatever will help them obtain it. They are comfortable with the people on their team. The chemistry is proactive. They chat, they laugh, they have fun and they enjoy each other’s company. There is no pecking order, no interest in titles, power or credit.
If you want an effective team, focus more on chemistry, diversity, balance and camaraderie. Then stir in talent, subjective and objective people, introverts and extroverts, fast and steady people, young and old and some brilliant nerds. A team full of quarterbacks will never win a Super Bowl.
Robert Stevenson is one of the most widely recognized professional speakers in the world. Author of the books How To Soar Like An Eagle In A World Full Of Turkeys and 52 Essential Habits For Success, he’s shared the podium with esteemed figures from across the country, including former President George H.W. Bush, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Anthony Robbins, Tom Peters and Steven Covey. Today, he travels the world, sharing powerful ideas for achieving excellence, both personally and professionally.
3 Ways To Make Your Business Grow
Invest In Advertising: Look at what’s available and what makes sense for your niche. Need to go local? Newspapers combined with Facebook ads may make sense. Online advertising through Google and Facebook are a crucial way to reach customers, local, regional or global. It can take some experimenting to get it just right.
Invest In Training: As the world changes, so does business. Ensure your employees are at the top of their game when it comes to both industry standards and the way you do business. Keep them educated on best practices and make sure training is consistent across the board.
Invest In Your Team: Your employees make your business work. You want to make sure they’re operating at their best.
that promotes their well-being. It can be as simple as offering
great perks like flexible hours, remote work, professional development, catered lunches – the list goes on. Happy employees are the best employees. Smallbiz Technology, 2/12/2019
Are You Making These Mistakes When Texting In Your Business?
Do you text clients? Do you text clients after business hours? A recent report by Carphone Warehouse found that 73% of respondents had no problem texting with clients after business hours. However, this can lead to serious issues, namely when it comes to drawing the line when communicating with clients (or employees). It breaks the professional barrier. After-hours texting says you’re available 24/7. It can intrude on your personal life, and when you don’t text back, it can harm that professional
relationship. If you must text, treat it like an email: stick to working hours and keep it business-focused.
Don’t open doors to unprofessional behavior. Texting is a very casual form of communication, and it’s easy to forget you’re chatting with a client or employee. You must be careful about what you say, especially if you’re in a management position. Keep it professional and courteous. Small Business Trends, 7/8/2019
Use These Top Tips To Fuel Your Productivity
Stress can be a burden on your productivity, but there are ways you can use it to your advantage and turn it into something positive. Here are three tips to do just that:
1) Recognize your stress. You must come to terms with the fact that you need to manage your stress. If you don’t, you won’t be able to fuel your productivity.
2) Change your mindset. Most of us view stress as a negative. Instead, remind yourself you can manage your stress. It’s not a brick wall but rather a door you can open to new possibilities.
3) Find new motivation. With a new outlook on stress, you can use it to take action and get things done. Tasks and deadlines will always be there, and when you feel stress, you can buckle down to get those tasks done, because once you are done, you will feel great. Inc., 7/19/2019
Get More Free Tips, Tools and Services At Our Web Site: www.pcsn.net
281-402-2620