Over the last year there have been several incidents of hackers gaining access to websites like Zappos, Sony's PlayStation Network and the CIA.  In some cases millions of id's, credit card numbers and passwords were potentially compromised. Even with all the news about hackers getting access to these systems, the #1 most commonly used password across the Internet is still “12345678.”

Take some time to follow a few simple steps and help prevent hackers from gaining access to your personal data.

Be Complex 
A combination of upper case, lower case, symbols and numbers.  Most cyber experts suggest a minimum of eight characters passwords, but using fourteen characters or more is something they encourage.  Lean towards random multi-words like bright rose if you must and turn them into something like bR!6hTR0$e.  Better yet, think of even more random sequence of non-sensible characters.

Think Different
Don't use the same password across all the sites you access.  It would be very troubling to have your Facebook account compromised, but foolish to give those same thugs access to you bank, email, and credit cards, too. 

Get Help
Plenty of people still write down their passwords and hide them under a mouse pad, keyboard or worse post them on a monitor. Don't write them on a piece of paper! Use a program to keep track of all you passwords. AgileBits offers an application called 1Password that provides round-trip access to all your password data between your laptops, iPad’s, smartphones and other systems. It is a quick and easy way to securely store all your passwords while at the office, home or on the road.  

Think Frequency
Just like you hear about you about testing your smoke alarms at regular intervals, take the time to schedule and change you passwords.  Most security groups encourage that you change your passwords every 90 days.

Local Lockdown
Require login access on all your computers and mobile devices.  There are plenty of stored passwords that are automatically held in your Internet browsers.  Eliminate those compromises by enabling the auto-locking features that protect those devices after several minutes of inactivity.

While these steps don’t stop hackers from gaining access to companies holding your information, it does help protect a variety of security points that you control.

Ease Technologies is an IT consulting and technology services firm that supports clients and markets seeking flexibility, creative talent and high reliability in a partner. Our expertise and current service offerings include IT Managed Services, Deployment Services, Software Development, Education Consulting, as well as  IT Staffing. We have two decades of experience serving clients across a variety of industries and varying sizes from small businesses to large global organizations.  

A skydiver – you carefully pack your own parachute to be extra safe before each jump.  One day during a jump your main chute does not deploy when you pull the ripcord.  Panic ensues.  No problem, there is always the reserve chute ready to be put into action at times like this.  

But what if the odds of it working were only around 50%?

Recent studies have shown a significant percent of data back-ups fail when attempted to be used after a data loss.  For tape back-up, this failure rate can be as high as 70%. This can be due to improper back-up procedures or just data corruption that is left un-checked, hardware failure or user error.  Nobody dies when a back-up fails, but if it is your data that is suddenly gone, it may feel the same as hurtling towards earth wearing an open backpack and holding a used rip cord in your hand.

Unlike hurricanes and earthquakes where early warning systems can now help minimize some loss, planning proactively for IT disasters can help stop them from having any real impact on your operations.  A good disaster recovery plan can also help bring things totally back to where they were – something those other weather disasters never offer. Once a hurricane is heading your way, there is no  stopping it or changing it's course.  Don't let technology problems give you the same frustration.

Data loss strikes most computer users at some point and a surprising number have no back-up strategy in effect.  For those that do, evidence shows a sizable number of those archive when called upon after a disaster, will fail.  A proper back-up plan requires a well thought out strategy that takes in to account the amount of data being stored, the frequency of changes and the technical environment it resides within.  Current back-up methods now include cloud-based storage, where data can be constantly copied to off-site hosts and retrieved as needed.  This and other methods should be examined and implemented in your business operations before disaster strikes.  

Just as you would not jump out of a perfectly good plane without a working parachute and reserve, learn about how to minimize your technology risks back here on ground.

Contact us to learn more about protecting yourself from technology disasters and making sure your reserve chute really works.

One of the easiest items to overlook when budgeting and evaluating costs, is the hidden financial impact of maintaining and using office technology.  For many small businesses, the price of admission for technology is assumed to end after un-boxing new computers and peripherals.  
 
If only it was that simple.
 
Easily overlooked are many of the seemingly minor costs that can slip by over time but add up quickly.  Much of the gain from using technology is assumed from increased productivity, but therein lays a potential negative effect.  For every hour of time saving technology can provide, it can be robbed by lost time fixing and supporting issues that will inevitably occur when least expected.  Much of this lost time can be under the radar and not counted when evaluating costs – sitting on hold with an internet provider, researching an email issue or diagnosing a printing problem all cost time and money.  Every small business resource is essentially a billable one – whether directly or indirectly, and when that time is spent on computer problems or googling for answers, that is lost revenue.
 
Also often missed when totaling up your true IT costs is the real toll of computer downtime.  When email is inaccessible or critical back-up files are missing or corrupt, productivity gains promised by technology are easily erased, often without being noticed right away.  Other cost items critical to maintaining technology also can add up – exponentially so when not properly implemented.  Virus protection, spam protection, firewall and back–up software, etc. all need to be purchased and more importantly, regularly updated to ensure they perform as expected.  System software updates need to be evaluated regularly and if applicable for your environment, installed and tested.  These expenses are not just one-time costs and need to be monitored and updated on a regular basis by those familiar with their operation.
 
A good Managed Services program can help expose these hidden costs and help reduce them through a proactive approach to IT support.  By using a fixed-cost model, annual IT costs can be understood and planned for up front and locked in regardless of issues down the road that may occur.  By also shifting the burden of problem prevention, identification and resolution to your provider, valuable time can be spent on your business instead of lost chasing down problems or waiting for things to work as expected.  A proactive approach to IT support by an experienced provider also lowers costs and increases the availability of office technology.  Spending time ensuring a potential problem is avoided up front is infinitely less costly than fixing it after it has already happened – especially when you pay for neither as part of a Managed Services plan.  
 
When you total up your IT costs, make sure you look at all the costs, not just initial computer purchase receipts.  You may be surprised and also find your small business is a candidate for a support model which maximizes the productivity you thought technology would give you, but with a cost you know up front and can live with.