Author: Casserly Consulting

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Casserly Consulting Blog

The Differences Between Sync, Backup, and Storage

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The cloud is a great solution for your business’s file management needs, but depending on your specific situation, you’ll find that the same cloud won’t work for every single business model. We’ll walk you through some similar-sounding terms related to the cloud that might sound like they are the same thing, even when they’re not.

Cloud Sync
Cloud sync is a way to access files and documents across multiple users and devices through a cloud-based folder on the device. You know how you open a folder on your laptop or desktop? It’s just like that. You place any files that you want to share across devices into this folder and they will be uploaded to the cloud and shared between them. Just keep in mind that any mistakes you make with the file will also carry over, which can be problematic, as they are all updated in real time.

Cloud Backup
Using the cloud to back your data up is a great way to change the way you protect your business’s future. You can automatically save your data to a secondary location, updating it whenever a file has been changed beyond the original. However, unlike tape backup, cloud backup doesn’t need any of your internal staff changing over tapes or initiating the backup themselves. Your data is then stored off-site automatically. You can retrieve your data as long as you have appropriate bandwidth. In fact, regardless of your bandwidth, it will likely be faster than your traditional tape backup solution. If you need your data for any reason, it can be encrypted and stored on a hard drive to be shipped overnight to your location as well. Remember, a great cloud backup solution will allow you to revert to a previous version of your data in the event that you suffer from a data loss incident.

Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is, more or less, exactly as it’s described. You store your data in the cloud. Cloud syncing forms the backbone of cloud storage. These services are quite reliable so that you almost always have access to your data. Depending on what kind of data it is, you could host it almost exclusively in the cloud. This type of hosting is somewhat situational, though, so we recommend that you consult with us before going ahead with such an initiative.

Forming Your Cloud Strategy
Ultimately, you want to have no fewer than two working copies of your data readily available in the event of a disaster. All of your important files and data should be kept off of your workstations and stored on a centralized network infrastructure, which is regularly backed-up directly to the cloud for restoration at a later date. This way, you’ll be able to minimize downtime and data loss. Above all else, keep your data backups off of your business’s internal infrastructure. If you somehow lose access to your data or your infrastructure due to a hacking attack or natural disaster, you’ll be glad that you backed up to a secure off-site location.

For assistance with forming a cloud backup solution, reach out to COMPANYNAME at PHONENUMBER.

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Casserly Consulting Blog

Tip of the Week: These Shortcuts Can Make You A Google Chrome Power User

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Do you use Google Chrome? While it’s a great option in and of itself, you can make your experience with Chrome much better simply by using many of its keyboard shortcuts. Here are some of the best shortcuts that you can use to get more out of your Google Chrome web browser.

  • Alt+Tab: Move through your open tabs.
  • Alt+Home: Open your homepage.
  • Alt+Left Arrow: Move backward a page.
  • Alt+Right Arrow: Move forward a page.
  • F11: Show the current website in full screen mode.
  • Esc: Stop a page from loading or a file from downloading.
  • Ctrl+(+) or (-): Zoom in or out on the screen.
  • Ctrl+0: Reset the zoom to normal.
  • Ctrl+1 through 8: Jump to the corresponding tab in your web browser.
  • Ctrl+9: Jump to the last open tab.
  • Ctrl+Shift+B: Hide or show your bookmarks bar.
  • Ctrl+D: Make the currently opened tab a bookmark.
  • Ctrl+H: Show history in a new tab.
  • Ctrl+J: Show downloads in a new tab.
  • Ctrl+F: Find something on the page.
  • Ctrl+N: Open a new window.
  • Ctrl+Shift+N: Open a new window in incognito mode.
  • Ctrl+R or F5: Refresh the page.
  • Ctrl+T: Open a new tab.
  • Ctrl+W: Close the currently open window.
  • Ctrl+Shift+T: Open the most recently closed tab.
  • Spacebar: Move down a page at a time.
  • Shift+Spacebar: Move up a page at a time.

Will you use these shortcuts to get more productivity out of your workday? We hope so! To learn more about how you can take full advantage of your organization’s business technology, subscribe to COMPANYNAME’s blog.

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Prepping For A Weather Event Needs To Happen In Your Business

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Running a business requires the ability to stay in control, especially when others couldn’t. However, there are some situations–like major weather events–that simply will not be controlled. In cases like these, you need to make sure your business is prepared to withstand the worst. A business continuity plan can help you do so.

A business continuity plan is a comprehensive strategy that, when enacted, will allow business operations to continue despite some detrimental circumstance that would have otherwise derailed them. For example, a lightning strike killing the power to your office building, a flood leaving it inaccessible, or a hurricane wiping your place of business off the map–any of these events would severely hinder, if not halt, your ability to do business if you are not prepared.

In short, without a business continuity plan in place, you’re vulnerable to chance–a risk that no business owner should take if they can help it. That is why it is so important to have a plan before it’s needed.

The first step to creating a plan is to establish what that plan needs to address. To do this, you will need to identify where your greatest losses would be if disaster befell your business. What would the costs be if you were to suddenly lose all business function? How would the additional expenses of a disaster influence your cash flow? How long would it take you to recover? This is what is known as a Business Impact Analysis, and it can help you to prioritize your most pressing concerns to ensure they make it into the plan.

Your plan should address the following six considerations:

  1. Establish the plan’s reach
  2. Identify your key business areas
  3. Establish which business functions are critical
  4. Outline which business areas and functions are interdependent
  5. Establish a limit to how much downtime each function can experience
  6. Plan to continue operations

Once your plan is developed and documented, with responsibilities properly distributed, you need to train your staff and test the procedures that were just laid out.

Of course, you also need to be sure that your data is preserved, despite what may happen to your in-house equipment. A reliable backup solution is an integral part of any business continuity strategy. This backup should be incrementally updated throughout the day, and preferably, hosted in the cloud. At the very least, it needs to be in a disparate location than your original data, as a backup that is destroyed along with the original data will do you no good.

Unfortunately, we can’t control the weather. We can, however, control how we prepare for it. COMPANYNAME can help you put solutions in place to protect your business-essential data. Call PHONENUMBER for more.

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Your Business Can Use HaaS

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Just like how your organization relies on hardware solutions to keep operations moving, this hardware relies on regular refreshes which keep it in proper working order. If you fail to replace or maintain the solutions that you have in place, you’ll be more likely to experience downtime, or at least hardware failure. Managed IT has provided SMBs with a way to bypass many of the frustrations involved with acquiring new hardware in the form of Hardware as a Service.

HaaS helps your organization keep its critical hardware running. This includes servers, workstations, networking components, and more. While these technology solutions require daily maintenance in order to run at maximum efficiency, they often need to be replaced after a certain amount of wear and tear. By working with a managed service provider to implement HaaS, you can maximize the amount of mileage you get out of your hardware solutions, all while obtaining new technology without breaking the bank. We believe that your organization shouldn’t have to suffer due to an unforeseen hardware failure.

Chances are that your organization doesn’t upgrade its hardware as often as it should. While your technology budget might be limited, this mindset will hold your organization back from implementing new hardware solutions that can boost productivity and improve operations. It’s often difficult to know when it’s time to invest in new hardware, but unexpected hardware failures can throw a wrench in your plans. In other words, you’re paying to both replace your hardware, and to make up for downtime that can cause trouble for your organization.

Hardware as a Service addresses many of the problems that businesses have with hardware management. Thanks to monthly payments and a service level agreement, you can expect new hardware when it’s needed at an affordable cost. Here are some of the many benefits of HaaS.

  • An IT roadmap: Knowing where you’re going in on a trip is great, and so is knowing when your hardware goes through its next refresh. We can help you plan out a special IT roadmap that includes hardware refreshes and overall maintenance of your network’s health. This keeps your network from going too long without a proper upgrade.
  • Lower upfront costs: Since you only pay a flat monthly rate for new technology, you’ll be able to afford it much more easily. HaaS providers can also take future upgrades and management into account when picking equipment for your organization, allowing you to save money down the road.
  • The latest hardware, now: You’ll be using the latest hardware solutions that help you stay one step ahead of the game. This means that you’ll be able to take great strides in productivity and functionality that may not have been initially available for your organization.

Do you want your business to take full advantage of the latest and greatest hardware solutions on the market? COMPANYNAME can help. To learn more, reach out to us at PHONENUMBER.

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Casserly Consulting Blog

Tip of the Week: How To Enable Flash In Google Chrome

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Flash is going the way of the dodo, with support from Adobe expected to end in 2020. Many popular browsers like Google Chrome have started to do away with Flash by default. However, there are still websites and online tools that use it. Here’s how you can enable it when you need to.

Keep in mind, Flash is being phased out due to compatibility and security issues, so under most circumstances it’s best to have it disabled unless you really need it.

The first step is to check the current Flash settings for your Chrome browser. To do so, navigate to a new browser tab and type chrome://flags into the search bar. You want to make sure that a pair of settings are set to Allow instead of Default. These settings are Prefer HTML over Flash and Run all Flash content when Flash setting is set to “allow.”

Next, open another Chrome tab and type chrome://components into the search bar. Look for the Adobe Flash Player selection and click the Check for Update button. Once you’ve done so, open Chrome’s Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of this page and select Show Advanced Settings. Scroll down further and you’ll see options for Content Settings in the Privacy tab.

In the box that pops up, scroll down until you see the option for Flash. Be sure that the Ask first before allowing sites to run Flash (recommended) is selected. If you’d rather just block Flash on your browser completely, make sure that the Block sites using Flash box is checked. You should never allow sites using Flash to run automatically, as it could be a security issue.

But what if you want to allow specific sites to allow Flash without being blocked? You can create exceptions to this by clicking on Manage exceptions, which is found under Content Settings – Flash. You then enter the URL and select Allow under the Behavior column. A shortcut to this can be found by clicking in the left-most section of your address bar, and under Flash, selecting Always allow on this site.

For more great tips and tricks, be sure to subscribe to COMPANYNAME’s blog.

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Someone’s Trying To Phish You… Do You Play Along?

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Phishing scams have been popping up for years–their most infamous attack vector has even become a punchline: some long-lost relative stuck in a far-off country suddenly reaches out, offering riches, but only if so-much money is provided first. People from all walks of life have been duped by these scams, and while not all of them are this transparent, most are pretty easy to spot.

There may be some temptation to strike back in retribution against the criminal who targeted you, in the form of driving them crazy by wasting their time. Unfortunately, as tempting as such activities may be, they are not a good idea. Take it from the cyber security researchers who have tried–cybercriminals do not take well to mockery, or having their time wasted. A researcher from Malwarebytes, Jerome Segura, found out firsthand when he used a virtual machine to follow a scam to see where it would lead.’

With his device recording everything that played out, Segura first interacted with a female who claimed to have found many, many issues on his device that needed to be resolved before his system was corrupted. Not only that, but Segura was told that his software warranty had recently expired, and he would have to pay the $299 renewal fee to another representative.

Of course, Segura didn’t supply the correct payment credentials, which tipped off the hackers. The hackers then seized control of Segura’s computer, deleting all of his files and his Ethernet adapter driver before calling Segura a rude word and disconnecting.

While these sorts of stories may seem comical in hindsight, they are no laughing matter. This is especially true when things get much more serious.

Take Jakob Dulisse’s story. The wildlife photographer received a call to his home in British Columbia from “Windows Technical Support” in Los Angeles. Coming to the conclusion that this was an attempt to scam him, Dulisse played along before accusing the caller of being “a scammer, a thief, and a bad person.”

The person on the line did not react well at all. Describing himself as a killer, the caller claimed that his group had people in Canada who would cut their victims into pieces and dispose of them in the river.

Other scammers will simply install remote access software as their target decides to mess with them, opening the door for them to come back later, as other cyber security professionals have found.

It is important to remember that these are, in fact, professionals, which means they are better equipped to deal with such threats. It is their job to discover what means of attack cyber criminals are using, and share the best response. This is not how the average business user should handle this situation, the business owner should file a report with the authorities and alert both their Internet service provider and their managed service provider.

An MSP can help make sure that you are fully prepared to handle any cyber security threat that darkens your business’ door. Give COMPANYNAME a call at PHONENUMBER today.

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Virtualization Has A Place Everywhere In Your Business

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Virtualization is a key player in today’s efficient workplace. Businesses of all kinds are looking to expand and enhance the way that they function on a fundamental level, and virtualization offers never before seen opportunities to cut down redundancies and implement new methods to improve operations.

First, an explanation of what exactly virtualization is. In essence, virtualization is taking a service or solution and abstracting it to the point where it can be run or accessed through the cloud or another centralized location. Examples of virtualization include digitizing servers or workstations, eliminating the need to manage and maintain hardware; storing applications or data in the cloud to allow for more efficient and dynamic access; and so much more. How can your business benefit from this new way of working with business technology?

Here are some of the most effective ways to utilize virtualization for your organization.

Virtualized Cloud Hardware
Businesses often virtualize servers so that they don’t necessarily have to provide the same maintenance and management required of a physical server unit. Virtualizing servers through a service provider like COMPANYNAME lets your organization store its servers on our infrastructure so that we can directly administer maintenance and management as needed. You can access your information remotely through the cloud. Other benefits include the ability to create specific environments for legacy applications and reducing the overall costs of operations due to fewer resources spent on air conditioning or electricity.

Virtualized Desktops
Just like servers, your desktop infrastructure can also be virtualized in order to preserve energy and assets for your organization. For example, let’s say that you replace all of your business’s workstations with thin clients. Thin clients are sort of like basic desktops that call their resources and applications from a virtualized infrastructure. Thin clients consume far less electricity than an ordinary workstation, allowing you to invest these resources elsewhere. This means a user’s desktop and applications are all processed centrally on a server or in the cloud. If your user needs to access their desktop environment from a laptop or another computer, they can typically do so securely without skipping a beat.

Virtualized Software
Storing software solutions in the cloud is a great way to improve their versatility. If you store them in the cloud, you provide access to any approved device through a mobile app or web browser. This can help your employees stay productive both in and out of the office by staying connected to a number of different software solutions, including your productivity suite, email, and even your phone system.

If you can imagine virtualizing a solution, chances are that it’s a possibility for your business. The only way to know for sure is to call COMPANYNAME. To learn more about virtualization, reach out to us at PHONENUMBER.

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Tip of the Week: 10 Technology Practices To Improve Business As Usual

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In a business, some jobs belong to certain people: managers make sure that work is done when it needs to be, human resources make sure the workforce is accounted for, and so on. However, some jobs belong to everyone in the modern workplace who works with technology, For our tip of the week, we’ll go over some of these shared responsibilities.

Use the Network
As an insurance policy for your data, make sure that everything is saved to the network, and not on your local PC. This is simply a function of risk management–the network is backed up, while it’s much less likely that your individual PC is. Therefore, by storing data on the network, it won’t be lost if your workstation breaks down–and if your network is properly backed up, your data will still be safe.

Check Email Cognizantly
It is only too easy to click through email messages without really getting the message, which only helps those who use email as a cyber weapon. The easiest way to avoid falling victim to such attacks is to avoid opening attachments from unfamiliar senders. This is a favorite method of cyber criminals to introduce malware into their victims’ networks, so your best bet is to avoid any unexpected attachments.

Let Data Be
Keep your data safe by keeping it in-house where it is secured and backed up, and not uploading it onto your portable device or media storage. Without the protections put in place by the network, your data is much more vulnerable to peeking eyes or meddlesome actions.

Leverage Cloud Technology
If you must access data from outside the network, use a secure cloud solution to do so. The cloud has much more to protect it than a pocket-sized media device does. Ideally, you would also be accessing the cloud via a company virtual private network, as well.

Use Secure Passwords
As much as you love your dog or can remember your make and model of car, these don’t make secure passwords. It wouldn’t take long for someone who knew a little about you to try those exact variables. Instead, use a unique sequence of letters, numbers, and symbols for each account. If you can’t remember more than one password, try using a password manager. At the very least, use passphrases instead of passwords–instead of using a password like ‘FidoMazzerati,’ make a passphrase like ‘FidoLovesToRideInTheM@zzer@ti.’

Keep Passwords To Yourself
After going through the trouble to create a password that is complex enough to satisfy the previous rule, why share it with someone who could easily take advantage of it, or pass it to someone who will? As an example, take your Social Security Number, or other unique form of identification. You wouldn’t pass that around to people, but it essentially serves the same purpose as a password.

Lock Your Workstation
It doesn’t matter whether the risk is of someone stealing data or of someone messing around with your workstation as a prank–either way, productivity and focus in the office will suffer. One of the easiest means of avoiding this is to develop the habit of locking your workstation whenever you step away.

Take Note Of All Issues
Computer problems are bound to happen at some point. It helps to be prepared to fix them when they do. Whenever you encounter an issue, take notes that describe exactly what you were doing so the IT professional can figure out if there’s an underlying issue, and when possible, include a screenshot of the error.

Let IT Handle It
Your computer and the software it relies on will need to be upgraded and, eventually, replaced. When that time comes, don’t take it upon yourself to make any changes in the attempt to save someone else the trouble. Call IT in to help — it is one of the reasons they’re there.

However, many businesses don’t have the resources to hire the IT staff they need. That’s why managed services are part of our offering here at COMPANYNAME. We can help you monitor and maintain your IT–we’re just a call to PHONENUMBER away.

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Security Terms That Every User Needs To Know

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Chances are that you’ve seen quite a lot of stories on the Internet, or in the news, about the many security threats out there. Some of these, including ransomware, exploits, and reluctance to update software, might fly over your head if they’re not part of your everyday business vocabulary. Knowing what these terms mean is of the utmost importance in today’s workplace. We’re here to help you understand what some of these security terms mean for your organization.

Ransomware like WannaCry are one of the primary reasons why it’s so important to understand how network security works, and all of the terminology behind it. After all, hackers understand how to exploit your network’s weaknesses, so you’ll want to know all about the primary way to protect your business’s data from them: security patches.

These patches are issued by software developers to resolve certain issues or troubles found in their products. For example, a patch might be designed to address a recently found vulnerability in the program’s code, or resolve a particularly troublesome issue with the user interface. Understanding how these patches work is critical if you want to ensure the security of your business, your personal computer, and everything in between. Here are five of the most common terms used when speaking of security patches.

Patch Tuesday
Even if you allow your computers to update and install patches automatically, you should still have an idea when these patches are installed. Microsoft has a set schedule that they use to release these patches. They are released on specific days of the week, including the second Tuesday of each month, and sometimes the fourth as well. Perhaps in the future, data exchange will allow newer operating systems to be updated more frequently, or at the very least in real time, keeping your systems more secure.

Security Patching
Patches are basically issued to fix something that’s wrong with a computer application or program. It is these patches and updates that are provided on all of the official patch days, like Patch Tuesday. Of course, immediate patches to imminent threats of Microsoft’s software are issued for release as soon as one is created. These zero-day threats are so dangerous that they need to be resolved as soon as possible, making them top-priority for your organization.

Hotfixes
These are sometimes called quick fix updates, quick-fix engineering updates, and general distribution releases. These hotfixes generally include a patch that fixes just one small thing wrong with your application. These small issues are usually important enough that they need to be issued immediately without waiting for the next batch of patches. Even though Microsoft has long since forsaken the term “hotfix” specifically, it’s still used as a common way to refer to these fixes in the technology sector.

Zero-Day Threats
These types of weaknesses are those that are being used by hackers even before they are discovered by security professionals. The name “zero-day” refers to the fact that the software developers have no time, or zero days, to develop a patch to resolve the issue. These are some of the most dangerous threats out there, and need to be a priority for companies trying to keep damage to a minimum.

Whitelisting
Whitelisting is the process through which a patch or application is deemed secure or safe for your business. This allows your whitelisted app to access information found on your network. Contrary to whitelisting, blacklisting is the process of banning network access to certain apps. Whitelisting was a popular term used to discuss the security patch resolving the issue with the WannaCry ransomware, as IT departments wanted the patch to be “whitelisted” first to guarantee that the patch would be enough to stop it.

Is your business security-savvy enough to identify major problems with your network infrastructure? To learn more about how you can protect your business, reach out to us at PHONENUMBER.

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Will These End Of Life Events Affect Your Company’s IT?

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One of the best ways your organization’s network can remain secure is to always use the most recent version of any critical software solutions on your network. Unfortunately, making the jump to a more recent operating system is easier said than done, particularly for small businesses that have limited budgets. The problem of security becomes even more pressing for businesses that need to upgrade multiple servers and workstations, as failing to do so could prove to be fatal for your organization.

Windows software products eventually reach an End of Life event, which is when they stop receiving patches and security updates that keep the software functioning smoothly. These updates generally fix vulnerabilities which could be exploited against your business, as well as operational problems which can keep your organization from running at 100 percent. Using software that’s out of date could result in your organization being put into a dangerous situation. In fact, if you are using out-of-date software, you are putting your network, and all the data on it, at risk.

Just a few months ago, Windows Vista reached its End of Life event. Microsoft no longer supports either Vista or Windows XP, though the two couldn’t be further from each other in terms of popularity and usage. The lack of support for XP just goes to show that even the most popular operating systems eventually have to come to an end of support. The next Windows OS to reach an End of Life event is Windows 7, on January 14th, 2020. Another common server OS that is also reaching its end of life on the same day is Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise.

The time is now to evaluate your systems and know which operating systems your organization relies on. Businesses will have to take a considerable jump to the next stage, upgrading their workstations and servers so as not to fall off the support bandwagon. Not all businesses have the time and resources to ensure this happens, though, so it’s best to keep this issue at the top of your mind, as Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 RN will be rendered obsolete in the near future.

We recommend that you don’t wait until the last minute to implement a solution to your end of life event situation. The reason for this is that the upgrading process could come with hidden troubles that only make themselves known when the process has started. If your legacy applications stop working properly, any processes that rely on them in order to stay functional will cease. This downtime can have considerable effects on your business, so it’s best to keep your implementation as seamless as possible.

You need to think about upgrading your soon-obsolete technology before its end of life event hits. This goes for both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 RN. We are purposely informing you of these dates now, so that you have plenty of time to think about how you want to approach this elephant in the room. To learn more about how to upgrade away from your business’s obsolete technology, reach out to us at PHONENUMBER.