Technology advice for small and medium sized businesses

Have you ever worried about what’s happening at home when you’re away? The Nest Cam can keep you informed. This wide-angle camera streams sound and video to your smartphone. It will even warn you about any unusual activity.

If the Nest Cam detects sudden movement or loud noises, it instantly alerts you by phone. The video feed lets you see what’s happening and even scold kids, pets or burglars through a speaker.

This product integrates with other Nest equipment. For example, smart smoke alarms can activate the Nest Cam. It also saves alerts and footage in a convenient archive. The camera even makes it easy to share fun video clips online.

If you already have WiFi, setup is a breeze. This gadget comes with a stand that lets you put it on any flat surface. It also sticks to metal objects or screws onto a regular camera tripod.

If your company is not fully compliant with Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards, you could be at risk of a serious tangle with attorneys. Technically, PCI guidelines are not a hard-and-fast set of laws. However, merchants can still face hefty liabilities for not meeting them.

Avoid these mistakes to keep your company out of hot water with attorneys:

1. Storing Cardholder Data In Noncompliant Programs: Many states have laws regarding data breaches and, depending on where you accept cards, you may be subject to many of them. For example, Massachusetts has 201 CMR 17.00, which requires companies keeping any personal data from Massachusetts residents to prepare a PCI-compliant plan to protect that data. If a company then fails to maintain that plan, the business may face state prosecution.
2. Fibbing On The Self-Assessment Questionnaire: If you have considered tampering with the reports from your company’s Approved Scanning Vendor, think again. Time invested now to fix any holes in your data security system could save you big-time from the penalties your company could suffer if there’s ever a data breach. The same thing applies to simply “fudging the truth” on self-prepared compliance reports. Even if you think it’s a harmless stretch of the truth, don’t do it.
3. Not Using The Right Qualified Security Assessor: Many companies use Qualified Security Assessors to help them maintain their PCI compliance. Every QSA does not necessarily know as much as another, however. It’s important to select someone who both understands your business and stays up-to-date on the latest version of PCI Security Standards.
4. Trying To Resolve Data Compromises Under The Radar: You may be tempted to fix a customer’s complaint yourself if they inform you of a data compromise. Not informing credit card companies of data breaches, however small, can lead to you no longer having access to their services. Those credit card companies can then file suit against your company, costing you big bucks in the end.
5. Not Checking ID For Point-Of-Sale Credit Card Use: Sometimes it seems like no one checks IDs against the credit cards being used, so merchants tend to be lax about doing so. Unfortunately, running just one unauthorized credit card could cost you a lot in the long run.

Even if the state in which you do business does not have specific laws regarding PCI compliance, a civil suit may come against your company for any data breaches. The court will not favor you if you have not been PCI-compliant.

All in all, it pays to pay attention to PCI compliance – a little time invested today could save you big-time tomorrow.

In a December 2014 survey by the National Small Business Association, 61% of small businesses reported being victims of a cybercrime within the past 12 months.

The average cost to recover from a cyber-attack skyrocketed from $8,699 per attack in 2013 to $20,752 per attack in 2014. And, of the businesses targeted, 68% said they’d been hacked more than once.

Experts agree, as cybercrooks become ever more sophisticated, the threat to small businesses is going to get worse before it gets better…

So what can you do to beat the bad guys?

Here are three common ploys used by hackers – and how you can fend them off:

Phishing – A really legitimate-looking e-mail urges you to click a link or open a file that triggers a malware installation on your computer.

• Best Defense: Don’t let anyone in your company open files or click links in an e-mail unless they’re certain who it came from.

Cracking Your Password – Hackers can run programs 24/7 testing password combinations. The easier your password is to guess, the more likely it is they’ll crack it.

• Best Defense: Consider using a password manager that generates and stores tough-to-crack passwords. For extra security, use unique passphrases for financial accounts in case the manager gets hacked.

Drive-By Download – You visit what appears to be an innocent site; yet when you click, your device gets hacked – and you may never know it, until it’s too late.

• Best Defense: Make sure your browser is up-to-date, or use one that updates automatically, such as Firefox or Chrome. Internet Explorer users have been found to be most vulnerable to these attacks.

Unfortunately, these three examples are just a small sampling of the dozens of ever more ingenious ways cybercriminals are breaking down the doors and destroying unprepared businesses.

Let us help! Through September 30, call our office and receive a FREE 15-Point Cyber-Security Audit to uncover gaps in your company’s online security.

Our highly trained team of IT pros will come to your office and conduct this comprehensive audit. We’ll then prepare a customized “Report Of Findings” that reveals specific vulnerabilities and a Prioritized Plan Of Attack for getting any problems addressed fast.

Then you’re going to LOVE this! There’s a great way to prepare for the next zombie apocalypse while getting in shape and losing weight – it’s called the Zombies, Run! app. This app combines gaming and audio adventures to make losing weight interesting. It works by giving you tasks and goals to reach in a zombified universe, like reaching humanity’s last outpost or gathering supplies to live. Each mission is tied to a fitness goal, like running 5k in a session, so you’re getting fit while you find out what happens next. Zombies, Run! is available to download on both iOS and Android.

You regularly back up your computers (or at least you should), but do you do the same with your smartphone? Given the massive amounts of contact information, photos, videos and other data we all carry around on smartphones, it’s critical to back them up or risk losing all that data forever. There are two basic ways to back up your phone: automatically to the cloud or manually to your computer.

To The Cloud. Cloud backups are secured with your password-protected account. They can easily be configured to run automatically so you can “set it and forget it.” Apple users can use iCloud to back up photos, contacts, calendars and other data. Turn on and configure iCloud Backup by going to Settings > iCloud. Android users can back up to Google servers in much the same way, using a Google account. Configure your preferences by going to Settings > Backup.

To Your Computer. Both Apple and Android users also can back up data directly to a computer manually. Generally, connecting the phone to the computer by cable is the quickest way to do this. Apple users can also use iTunes Wi-Fi Sync to wirelessly back up phone data to a computer. Remember, though, when backing up your smartphone to a computer, your data is only as safe as that computer. Be sure to back up the computer regularly as well.

If you’re like me, you still like taking notes with a pen and paper. Problem is, note pages can pile up, get lost and be a pain to organize. But thanks to a special notebook called Rocketbook, you can still take notes the “old-fashioned” way of pen and paper, but then file, organize and store your notes digitally for quick access and retrieval!

Rocketbook looks like an ordinary pad of paper. To use it, simply take notes as you would on any pad of paper, using the Pilot FriXion pen. When you’re done, the built-in app creates a high-quality JPG image of your notes and files it to the folder of your choice inside Evernote, Dropbox, Google Docs or OneNote. You indicate which folder each note goes to by marking clever little icons at the bottom of each page.

When the pages are full, simply microwave the notebook for 30 seconds to completely erase and reuse. Rocketbook currently comes in two sizes and is available at indiegogo. Just search on, “Rocketbook.”

It’s probably true that most people who work with us will never care as deeply as we do about building our business. If they did, they’d probably be working for themselves! Yet there’s a great deal we can do to raise the commitment level and inspire them to peak performance. The operative word here is INSPIRE. You can demand that people who work for you be punctual, or that they perform at a certain production level. Yet real commitment can only be INSPIRED. And inspiring people is what great leaders do best.

How do great leaders inspire others to commit themselves to their goals? It’s not just their charismatic personalities, or that they give a lot of high-powered motivational talks. They communicate their vision so forcefully that other people adopt it as their own.

For example, Lee Iaccoca stepped into the ailing Chrysler Corporation and said, “We’re going to turn this company around!” With clear goals, a solid plan of action and a strong conviction, he was able to inspire enough commitment from the US Congress that he secured the largest loan ever made to a private company. Then he inspired enough commitment in thousands of Chrysler workers to enable the company to pay back the loan ahead of schedule.

And that’s the formula for any leader to inspire commitment – clear goals, a solid plan of action and a strong conviction. Communicate that to the people who work with you, and you’ll have the kind of loyalty that makes them go the extra mile – if that’s what it takes to get the job done.

Of course, it takes more than inspiration to run a successful organization. The people who work with you have to perform consistently at very high levels, and to get that kind of performance, you have to gain their trust. They have to believe that you will always be fair in your dealings with them, and that you are concerned about their best interests.

One of the most helpful insights I ever learned about leading others is that people do things for THEIR reasons, not for YOURS or MINE. So the goals, the plan of action and the strong conviction have to be communicated in a way that directly answers the question “What’s in it for me?”

When people honestly believe they will benefit directly from their efforts, and that the more they give, the more they benefit, they perform at peak levels. So it’s crucial that you show people how they will grow as they work individually and together to make the company grow, and then back up all your promises with solid actions.

People respond to clear opportunities for personal and professional growth. If I may paraphrase the Hallmark slogan, when people care enough, they’ll give their very best!

It takes a lot of patience and effort to build a solid team of people who will share and help you fulfill your vision, but the results will be well worth all you put into it.

In 2002, McDonald’s decided to implement a system to provide their corporate executives with a bird’s-eye view of their 30,000 stores, to track, measure and monitor everything from profitability to cooking-oil quality. The project, named “Innovate,” was a massive five-year project with a billion-dollar budget. Two years into its implementation, McDonald’s executives abandoned the project and wrote off the $170 million invested, saying they needed to reduce capital expenditures.

Even though YOUR business isn’t a McDonald’s with a billion-dollar IT budget, chances are you’ve had at least one failed IT project that derailed, emptying your wallet and leaving you with nothing other than a grudge. And if you haven’t had that happen yet, chances are, as you grow, you will. So how do you avoid going down a rabbit hole of spending on an IT project? Here are five key strategies to keep you on track:

1. Begin with the end in mind. The clearer you are on what “success” is for the project, the more likely you are to achieve it. Take the time to sit down with your executive team and decide exactly what the new system LOOKS like (including the interface, if you’re developing one), how it performs, what it does and how it works.
2. IT projects need to be driven by an executive who understands the business need and outcome, NOT the IT department. If you and your executive team aren’t going to be heavily involved with the process, decisions and management of the project, don’t start it.
3. Think in smaller, “bite-sized” projects. One of the problems with the McDonald’s project was that it was so complex, affected multiple business systems and had such an enormous scope, it was almost guaranteed to fail. If you have a major system to build or overhaul, break it into smaller, manageable chunks so that problems are contained and costs controlled.
4. Manage the project hours. Scope creep is the biggest challenge to keeping your project on time and on budget. If your project starts to take on a life of its own and goes over your budgeted time frame and your budget by more than 10%, it’s time to start re-evaluating what’s going on. Excessive overtime is a red flag that the project was not thought through properly, that you have the wrong team working on it or that it’s being grossly mismanaged. Don’t ignore it.
5. Missed milestones are a red flag. While it’s normal to miss a few milestones by a small margin, your IT team should not be allowed to consistently miss key milestones in the project. We recommend setting clearly defined milestones every two weeks or monthly versus monthly or quarterly. This allows you to keep a tighter control on the budget and deliverables.

Confusion. Dizziness. Fatigue. Muscle cramps. These are some of the first signs of heat exhaustion in humans. But did you know that your SERVER can also suffer from heat exhaustion and “meltdown,” causing slowness, blue screens, random reboots and complete meltdowns? If you keep your server in a closed closet or other small, confined space, here are three things you need to address during hot summer months to avoid premature loss of your equipment and data.

Room Temperature. Server rooms should be kept between 68° and 72° Fahrenheit (20°-22° Celsius). If you keep your server in a closet with a closed door, the heat emitted will quickly elevate the temperature to levels that will damage hardware. Consider opening the door or putting in a good exhaust fan to pull the hot air out.

Ventilation. Good airflow is critical for maintaining a safe room temperature and reducing dust, the next culprit that causes damage to electronics.

Dust. Perhaps more dangerous than room temperature is dust. Dust acts as insulation, and traps the heat generated by your computer components. A regular maintenance routine to keep your components clean and dust-free is essential.

Computer hardware is expensive, and unexpected downtime is incredibly frustrating. If you want to extend the life of your equipment and avoid the sudden meltdown, make sure your server closet is set up correctly.

If you need help, give us a call for a FREE Summer Server Room Check at XXX-XXX-XXXX. We’ll be glad to do a free evaluation on your server closet or room and let you know if you’re at risk of heat exhaustion and dust damage.

In the book Spam Nation, investigative journalist and cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs revealed the single most effective (and relied upon) way cybercrime rings gain access to your bank account, credit cards and identity. Ready for it? E-mail.

Whether it’s opening an attachment infected by a virus, or a phishing scam where you unknowingly give up your login to a critical website, e-mail still remains the most popular and reliable way digital thieves can rob you blind, steal your identity and wreak havoc on your network. Worst of all? You’re INVITING them in! While there are a number of things you need to do to protect yourself, here are five pieces of information you (and your team) should NEVER put in an e-mail.

• Your social security number. Think of this as your “bank account” number with the government. You should never e-mail this to anyone because it can be used to open credit cards and steal your identity.
• Banking information. Your bank account numbers, routing number and online banking login credentials should never be e-mailed. Further, avoid sending a voided, blank check as an attachment to an e-mail.
• Your credit and/or debit card information. NEVER update a credit card via an e-mail! If you need to update a card with a vendor, there are two safe ways to do this. The first is to log in to your vendor’s secured site by going to the URL and logging in. Do NOT click on a link in an e-mail to go to any website to update your account password or credit card! Hackers are masters at creating VERY legit-looking e-mails designed to fool you into logging in to their spoof site, which LOOKS very similar to a trusted website, to enter your username, password and other financial details, thereby gaining access. Another way to update your account is to simply CALL the vendor directly.
• Login credentials and passwords. You should never share your passwords or answers to security questions with anyone for any site, period.
• Financial documents. An ATTACHMENT that includes any of the above is just as dangerous to e-mail as typing it in. Never e-mail any type of financial documents (or scans of documents) to your CPA, financial advisor, bank, etc.

Remember: Banks, credit card companies and the government will never ask you to click a link to provide them with any of the five items above. If you get an e-mail requesting you to update any of the above information, there’s a good chance it’s a phishing e-mail from a hacker. Don’t be fooled!