June 2020

NEXT Generation Technology Support

June 2020

Why We Need to #ClickSlowly During COVID-19 | My Top 3 Tips To Protect Your Business From Cyber Attacks Do These 4 Things To Grow Your Business Friends Don’t Let Friends Have Bad IT

Use These Steps To Protect Your Smartphone From Hackers

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Why We Need to #ClickSlowly During COVID-19 | My Top 3 Tips To Protect Your Business From Cyber Attacks Whenever there’s a global crisis, the risk of cybersecurity breaches skyrockets.

Take the terrible wildfires in Australia earlier this year. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) there were 500 scams reported during that time. Scammers set up fake charities seeking donations and some people were even posing as relatives of real bushfire victims on crowdfunding sites. Fucked up, right?

Unfortunately, there will always be bad guys out there looking to lie, cheat and steal from innocent people, so it’s really up to us to #clickslowly and be diligent users of technology—especially now.

What we’re seeing amidst the COVID-19 crisis specifically are phishing emails with sketchy links around coronavirus “news” and malicious apps for your phone that claim to monitor and track cases. Scammers leverage these moments of panic to prey on people who aren’t paying attention, so while we may be comfortably working from home, it’s important not to get too comfortable and become lax about cybersecurity best practices. But don’t worry, I’ve made protecting yourself and your business easy.

Here are my top 3 tips to arm your business against cybersecurity attacks: 1. Get real backups of your data A lot of people think all backups are created equal, and I’m here to say that’s just not true. One of the most effective ways to back up your data is to air gap. Say what now? Air gapping is a security strategy that ensures at any point in time, one copy of your company’s data is disconnected and offline from your system, so no matter what happens on any given day, you can always be sure your most important files are safe.

2. Set up two factor authentication. Now. Like yesterday, really.

I get it. Passwords suck. They’re hard to remember and we have like 140+ accounts to keep track of, but once someone gets a hold of just one of your passwords they

can use it elsewhere. Because let’s be real, no one has a unique password for all 140+ accounts. With a two factor authentication in place, you can afford to give away your password because your smartphone is the real key to the castle.

3. #Clickslowly At the end of the day we are responsible for protecting ourselves. We live in a highly productive, fast-paced society, and it’s important that we remember to always be aware and alert, especially while we work remotely.

One key thing to keep an eye on is ANY and EVERY LINK that crosses your inbox. Check the sender and hover over the link to make sure it looks legit and that the sender is who they say they are. Remember, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

It may also be worth considering regular cyber security testing and training for your team. No, I didn’t make this an official part of my tips list, BUT if you have questions or are in need of direct support, feel free to reach out to me directly on LinkedIn or head over to https://www.goleadingit.com/ to learn more.

Originally posted on April 28, 2020 on goleadingit.com/blog/.

1. Don’t Let Yourself Become Complacent

Success often leads to complacency. Businesses hit their stride, but that success isn’t going to stick if you aren’t constantly searching for new opportunities and adapting to change.

2. Have A Sense Of Urgency

Do These 4 Things To Grow Your Business

In the early days of your business, you may have had a sense of urgency. You need customers to thrive, but as you grow, that urgency can fade. It ties right back into complacency. You need strict metrics and constant goals. Always be pushing toward something new.

3. Watch The Economy — And Your Industry

The world is always changing, especially now. Things change globally, regionally and locally. You need to be ready to adapt. Businesses that aren’t ready to adapt to changes in the market or economy will be left behind.

4. Embrace Discomfort

New ideas can take some time to get used to, especially if they’re gamechangers. However, if you brush aside ideas because they make you uncomfortable or disrupt the status quo, then you may miss the greater benefit of those ideas.

Inc., March 11, 2020

Friends Don’t Let Friends Have Bad IT

Use These Steps To Protect Your Smartphone From Hackers

Today, great technology is essential to business success.

If your workday could be productive and your business could be more profitable, why settle for anything less?

Don’t let your friends settle for subpar IT support.

You only want the very best for the people you care about. Give your friends the gift of technology. Refer a friend to us and when they sign up, you receive a $500 AMEX gift card! It takes 1 minute here: goleadingit.com/refer/.

Update Your Phone And Apps Just like you update your computer, you need to update your phone. Developers constantly update security patches. Like you, they want to stay ahead of the threats.

Lock Your Phone Every smartphone comes with a bevy of security options to keep people out — except for you. Whether you use a passcode (the more complicated the password or PIN, the better) or biometrics (fingerprint or face recognition), you need to use something.

Avoid Public WiFi Just as you wouldn’t connect your laptop or tablet to unsecured public WiFi, you shouldn’t connect your phone. If given the chance, hackers can and will try to access your phone and sensitive data. Consider using a VPN if you need to access public networks.

Digital Trends, Nov. 23, 2019