Quick Response (QR) Codes are a type of matrix barcode that stores alphanumeric characters in the form of text or URLs and are convenient ways to access a website. Point your cellphone camera to be taken directly to a webpage. QR codes can also be used to facilitate payments.
Quick Tip: Turn Off Email Notifications
Why: It’s a major distraction! Every time you get a ping that you received an email, it pulls your focus away from what you were doing. Over the course of a day, you might get several pings, equating to a lot of wasted time.
In this issue:
Quick Tip: Test Your Backups Regularly!
Why: Data is the lifeblood of every business. Unfortunately, the risks and threats to the protection, privacy and usability of that data are endless. Follow the 3-2-1 method for backups:
3 A minimum of three unique copies of your data,
2 A minimum of two available locally and
1 One off-site or in the cloud.
Quick Tip: Be wary and alert while shopping online.
Why: It's Holiday Season for the bad guys too, but not the way you might think. Cybercriminals go into scam-overdrive mode and plan on getting rich with your money. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are known for being the busiest online shopping days, but we bet you still have a lot of online shopping left to do.
Confession time! How many of you manage your computer and online passwords in any of the following ways:
Use the same/similar password for everything
Keep all your passwords written on a slip of paper
Change your password by incrementing the number by 1
Keep a spreadsheet with all your passwords on your desktop
We see it all the time and have heard every reason you can think of as to why it’s “fine”. The most common of which is “I don’t have any data a hacker would want”. Nothing could be further from the truth! Have you ever thought about what a hacker could do with just your email password? With just access to your email, a hacker only needs to click the “I forgot my password” button for any of your accounts and will instantly have the keys to the kingdom.
Quick Tip: Install all security, software, and Windows updates.
Why: Software updates have security fixes imbedded, making them more secure and less likely to be hacked. Outdated programs or software are more likely to be targeted by malicious attacks; but by installing the latest security updates, you can make sure all those loopholes are filled in.
There is a fun feature in Outlook that allows you to set up Electronic Business Cards for your contacts. This is useful because it enables you to see a picture of your contact—putting a face to the name.
Adding a picture to your Microsoft Outlook contacts is easy
Go to the Outlook navigation bar and click the “People” icon
(the icon looks like two people standing near each other).
Under “Current View” click on the “Business Card” view.
“IT” Makes Sense
In this issue:
Identity theft is a form of fraud where a person pretends to be someone else in order to access resources in that person's name. Akin to a famous movie star hiding behind her designer sunglasses to disguise her true identity and assume the appearance of an “every day” person.
