Cyber crime has been around since the very early days of the Internet and has it has become an increasingly serious problem as the number of Internet users has increased. This trend is likely to continue, and you can be guaranteed that you'll continue to see news about websites being hacked and valuable information exposed. One of the latest sites to be hacked is LivingSocial.

LivingSocial is a daily deals website that focuses on bringing bargains and original deals to users based on their geographical location. In late April, news broke that the website had suffered a massive cyber attack with 50 million accounts being compromised.

From the reports we have seen, the attack targeted accounts world-wide with only account holders in Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines being unaffected. An email sent out by Tim O'Shaughnessy, LivingSocial's CEO shortly after the incident said, "We recently experienced a cyber-attack on our computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some customer data from our servers. We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate this issue."

The company assured users that their credit card data had not been compromised, as they are kept in another database. Account passwords were also encrypted, which means they are harder to crack but not impossible.

What should you do? If you have a LivingSocial account, we recommend that you go and change your password immediately. This can be done by:

1. Going to LivingSocial's forgot your password page.
2. Entering the email address you used to sign up for the account with.
3. Pressing Reset Password.
4. Checking your email for an email from LivingSocial and following the instructions in the email.

It is advisable to pick a new password, one that is as different as possible from your old password and, as always, the longer, the better.

Is there anything I can to do protect my company? If you are a business owner who has websites that encourage customers to sign up for updates, accounts, etc. you may be wondering how you can keep your user's information secure from cyber attack. In truth, you can't keep your important information 100% secure, if a hacker is committed enough, they will be able to get the information they need or wreak the havoc they want to. But what you can do is to make it as hard as possible for cybercriminals to get your information. This could be as simple as using multiple databases to store different bits of information, or as complex as using the latest encryption methods and systems.

Each business is unique, and the best way to ensure your valuable data is secure is to work with an IT partner who takes the time to get to know your security needs and develop a solution that is as near to 100% secure as possible.

If you are worried about the security of your systems, contact us today. We may have the perfect solution that will meet your needs and budget.

Take a moment and think about your business and if you are prepared for a disaster. If you are like most business owners or managers you have some form of backup and maybe even a basic disaster recovery plan. While this is a start, recent big disasters around the world have proven that a simple backup is not enough. If you feel that your business is under prepared, there are steps you can take to fix that.

Here are five tips to help ensure that your business is fully ready for the next disaster.

1. Backup everything While it can be tempting to only backup the most important data and programs, it can be a chore to identify what is deemed to be important. Who knows, a file that is non-essential today may become essential in the future. If it is lost due to a disaster, this could prove to be a problem.

It would be a good idea to look for a backup solution that covers all data and programs. But, having a full backup solution isn't enough, you also need to ensure that recovery is easy and can be implemented quickly.

2. Look into tiered recovery Establishing a tiered recovery method means identifying the value and importance of existing systems and utilizing a recovery method that meets needs. It would be a good idea to identify mission critical systems and adopt a recovery method that can have these systems up and running as quickly as possible. From there you can tier different systems and match a recovery method. For example, archived files are likely not needed right away, so they can be recovered at a later date, using a slower recovery method.

3. Keep copies of all keys and licenses With the amount of software and programs businesses use on a daily basis growing, it would be a good idea to keep copies of the activation keys (the string of digits and letters you enter to activate the full version of software) and purchased licenses.

While many of these are now distributed electronically through email, there are still software developers that distribute keys by mail or with the physical install CDs. If you lose the codes in a fire, you will be out of luck and have to purchase the software again. This is an extra charge you likely don't want.

4. Pick the right recovery locations The best recovery plans offer numerous backup solutions which are hosted in different locations. A good provider knows this and will utilize data storage centers as far apart as possible. If you choose to backup your own data, it would not be a good idea to keep the backups in the office.

Similarly, if you are preparing for a big disaster, you likely have physical locations that you can move to if your main business location is damaged or destroyed. Optimal plans will have more than one location identified, and have them as far apart as possible. This will minimize the chances of losing full operations and increase your business's ability to bounce back quicker.

5. Match your recovery plan to your business There are so many different backup and recovery options that it can be tough to pick one. The best course of action is to look at your systems and how they work. If you operate strictly offline, a cloud based backup solution likely isn't your best bet. Or, if you operate fully in the cloud, a physical tape or hard disk backup may not be optimal.

If you are looking to beef up, or establish a disaster recovery plan, try working with an IT partner like us, who can help you find the optimal solution that can meet your needs and budget.

Tech is always changing and evolving; devices seen as futuristic only a few years ago are now mainstream and in everyday use. And one of the more outlandish tech devices of the past year has been Google's augmented reality project Google Glass. This device has had some impressive media coverage, with many wondering how exactly it will work. Now that the first, limited edition has been released, we can finally answer that question...kind of.

Google recently posted a video on YouTube giving a quick run-through of how to use Glass. Before we go over how users will interact with this new tech, here's a brief overview of the project.

What is Glass? Project Glass was introduced by Google in early 2012, and is essentially a wearable computer (running a version of Android) you wear on your head like glasses. Indeed, the shape of the device at first glance resembles a pair of spectacles: there are the usual two arms along with nose grips. However, instead of glass, there is a mini screen or HUD (Head Up Display) that sits just above your right eye. The HUD displays information much like a smartphone screen, and you can interact with the computer and the Internet using voice commands.

Currently, wearer's with prescription glasses can't actually use the device, but Google has confirmed that the device, if you can call it that, will eventually have lenses much like a normal pair of glasses.

So, how does it work? The video (watch it here), uploaded by Google, sheds a little light on how a user will interact with this device. For example there is a touch-sensitive area on the arm of the device which extends from your temple to just above your right ear. Tapping this will wake it from sleep mode, and display a clock on the screen which sits just above your right eye.

The clock is your home screen, and looks similar to the clock on the lock screen of almost every Android device. You can scroll to the left (by touching the pad near your ear and moving it towards your ear. This will display upcoming information like the weather, flights, or events.

Touching the pad and swiping towards your eye will display information from previous uses like messages, pictures and videos. Tapping on the screen will activate that relevant information. For example, if you are looking at a brief overview of an event, you can tap the device to bring up more information.

One of Google's previous videos showed how you can also interact with Glass by using voice commands. Saying, "Ok glass, take a picture." Will take bring up the camera and take a picture of what you're looking at. You can also ask questions to have glass search Google Now by saying something like, "Ok Glass, What is the traffic like?" To bring up a Google Map with the latest traffic highlighted.

Will it be useful for business? While this is undoubtedly one of the coolest products of the past couple of years, the actual usefulness of the device for business remains to be seen. For now, this device will likely be the domain of app developers and extreme early adopters. But this device, like the smartphone, will likely be incredibly disruptive when it's launched for the masses.

What do you think of Google Glass? Would you buy one if you had the opportunity? Let us know.

To many smartphone owners, there are really only two systems: Android and Apple. But there's another system that is slowly gaining ground: Microsoft's Windows Phone. Phones that run the Windows Phone operating system offer a solid system that conveniently links with other Windows systems. Because of this, business owners and managers are becoming increasingly interested in moving over to this system. To aid them, Microsoft has recently released an app for Android that makes this transition easier.

If you have an Android phone and want to move over to a Windows Phone, Microsoft has recently released an app that can help. "Switch to Windows Phone", available on the Google Play store, is an app that scans your device for installed apps and then links them to your Microsoft Account. It will also tell you how many 'matched apps' are available for the Windows Phone.

Matched apps are either the Windows Phone version, or a similar app that has the same functionality. It is highly likely that you will see more than 70% of your Android apps available on the Windows Phone Store.

After you have matched your apps on the Android device, you can then download the companion app from the Windows Phone Store, log in to your phone using the same Microsoft Account and the app will show you the available apps and allow you to tap on them to install them.

If you have synced your contacts, email and calendar with a Google Account on your Android, you can also log into this on your Windows Phone and the three should sync automatically. This means that switching is technically as simple as signing into two accounts on your Windows Phone.

Looking to switch? Download the free Android app from Google Play here. You can find the free companion app on the Windows Phone Store here. Check back next month for an in-depth look at how to switch to a Windows Phone from another system. If you are considering switching, or would like to learn more about how a smartphone can help make business easier, contact us today.

Marketing is an integral element of any business strategy, and social media is largely seen to now be a large part of any company's marketing initiative. If leveraged correctly, various social media platforms could give your company a marketing boost that few other campaign types could. But, did you know that social media could also help other business functions or departments?

Below are four non-marketing oriented uses of social media that businesses could benefit from.

Hiring LinkedIn is a social network dedicated to helping professionals and organizations connect and find jobs and new talent. Most social savvy companies will have a presence on this network and may even hire exclusively from here.

If you are looking for new employees, it wouldn't hurt to have a LinkedIn profile. To find the best talent, you need to forge and maintain connections (usually starting with people you know), and be somewhat active in groups and on message boards.

It's also important to not forget the other major networks when it comes to hiring. Tweeting a job opening on Twitter, or posting ads on Facebook could also help you find your next employee. Facebook can be particularly useful because you can pay to target ads (in this case, job openings) at specific demographics.

Internal communications Communication is an important part of business, and most people choose to communicate using email. You have probably seen emails with jokes, invitations to after work events, lunch orders, etc. sent to the whole company and also received the many replies that go with it. This can get very annoying, and also confusing.

Why not utilize social media for non-essential (aka. not related to work) communication. Set up a Facebook group where your employees can share content, invitations to lunch or after work gatherings, interesting stories, etc. That way you can limit email to more important, business-related aspects.

Using social media for internal communication is also beneficial for companies with younger workers. Most already see Facebook, Twitter, etc. as their main form of communication, some even feel more comfortable communicating over this medium as opposed to speaking out in meetings. Having a group portal or Facebook page could give less-empowered employees a way to voice their ideas, and maybe even improve on them with feedback from others.

Learning A common complaint of many business owners is that they have a tough time staying on top of ever-changing trends and what currently interests their customers. Using social media to connect with your customers can be a great way to learn not only hot trends but also about new ideas.

Customer service When it comes to social media, users will often complain publicly on their wall or through their tweets. This is bad for you, as the reach of this complaint can go a long way and make you look bad. Some companies have decided to confront this head on by having specific customer service accounts. If a customer complains, has an issue, or even compliments you, be active and respond using that account.

If done properly, over time, you will see more and more people reaching out to your customer service account through social media. This also gives you another way to please clients or turn around negative customer experiences.

Social media and the various platforms are not only great for marketing, but can be incredibly useful for other business functions. Do you have any other ways you use social media? Let us know. Or, if you would like to learn more about how it can help your company, then contact us today.

Did you know that the new HIPAA Privacy and Security final rule came into effect March 26? The rule, more commonly known as the HIPAA Omnibus Rule brings about a drastic change in the way practices are supposed to handle breach notifications. This change is something you should be aware of.

Under the old rule, when a data breach occurred, health-care providers were presumed innocent of harming patients until the patients proved otherwise. Under the new rule, when a data breach occurs. The opposite is the case: Health-care providers are presumed guilty of harming patients, and will have to prove their innocence.

Additionally, the new rule includes business associates (such as vendors), which could catch providers off guard.

Small health-care providers without resources to understand the changes can rely on government programs to help them do risk analysis. In essence, the programs recommend that you identify all parties with access to health records and ensure that you are protecting those records in compliance with the new rule.

Although the rule was effective on March 26, providers and their business associates have 180 days to comply before the Office for Civil Rights begins enforcement, beginning on September 23. Until then, however, providers will still be held accountable under the old rules. If you need help ensuring that your systems are secure, please contact us today.

Meaningful Use Stage 2 begins on January 1, 2014, and while many health-care providers have implemented electronic medical records (EMRs) in preparation, stumbling blocks exist. Here are three of them.

Getting patients to use portals. More than 50% of patients seen during the reporting period must receive timely online access to their health information, which means within four business days. Additionally, more than 5% of patients seen in that period must actually, "view, download, or transmit to a third party their health information."

Exchanging data. Health-care providers must provide a summary-of-care record for more than 50% of transitions of care and referrals, and for 10% of those transitions, the summary must be transmitted electronically. Moreover, at least one exchange must occur with a recipient who uses a different EMR. And, the data must be able to be generated in a specified format.

Creating medication and lab orders. More than 60% of medication orders and 30% of lab test orders must be done electronically, and test orders will involve new workflows in many practices.

While these three potential stumbling blocks may seem large, there is some good news: Stage 2 shouldn’t be burdensome for health-care providers who attested in Stage 1, as you’re essentially just demonstrating a higher level of use. If you are preparing for Stage 2, and are worried about potential challenges, contact us today to see how we can help make the tranistion smooth and worry free.

Chances are high that you already take great steps to ensure that your network and systems are secure from threats. But, do you take the same steps to ensure that your accounts like email, social media, bank, etc. are also secure? The weakest link of these accounts is the password, and that's exactly where most hackers strike. Is your password secure?

If you want to minimize the chances of your password being hacked, here are five things you should NOT do.

1. Don't pick short passwords

While short passwords are easier to remember, they are also easier and quicker to hack. The most common way to hack passwords is by using brute force: Developing a list of every possible password, then trying this list with a username.

Using a mid-range computer like the one many have on their desk, with a normal Internet connection, you can develop a list of all potential passwords astonishingly quickly. For example it would take 11.9 seconds to generate a list of all possible passwords using five lowercase characters (a,b,c,d,etc.) only. It will take about 2.15 hours to develop a list of all possible passwords using five of any computer character. Once a hacker has the list, they just have to try every potential password with your user name.

On the other hand, a list of all 8 character passwords with at least one special character (!,@,%,etc.) and one capital letter would take this computer 2.14 centuries to develop. In other words, the longer the password, the harder it will be to hack. That being said, longer passwords aren't impossible to hack, they just take more time. So, most hackers will usually go after the shorter passwords first.

2. Don't use the same password

The way most hackers work is that they assume users have the same password for different accounts. If they can get one password, it's as simple as looking through that account's information for any related accounts and trying the original password with the other accounts. If one of these happens to be your email where you have kept bank information, you will likely see your bank account drained.

It's therefore important to use a different password for every online account. They key here is to try and use a password that's as different as possible. Don't just add a number or character onto the end of a word. If you have trouble remembering all of your passwords, try using a password manager like LastPass.

3. Don't use words from the dictionary or all numbers

This article published last year on ZDnet highlights the 25 most popular passwords. Notice that more than 15 contain words from the dictionary, and most of the rest are strings of common numbers. To have a secure password, most security experts agree that you should not use words from the dictionary or number combinations that are beside each other (e.g., 1234).

4. Don't use standard number substitutions

Some users have passwords where they replace letters with a number that looks similar, for example: h31lo (hello). Most new password hacking tools actually have combinations like this built in and will try a normal word, followed by replacing letters with similar numbers. It’s best to avoid this.

5. Don't use available information as a password

What we mean by this is using information that can be easily found on the Internet. For example, doing a quick search for your name will likely return your email address and social media profiles. If you have pictures of your kids, spouse, pets, family, their dates of birth, etc. on your Facebook profile and have put their names in captions, it's possible for a hacker to see this (assuming the pictures are shared with the public).

You can bet that they will try these names as your password. You would be surprised with the amount of personal information on the web. We suggest searching for yourself using your email address(s), social media profile names, etc. and seeing what information can be found. If your passwords are close to what you find, it would be a good idea to change them immediately.

There are numerous things you can do to minimize the chance that your passwords are stolen and accounts hacked.

 

The Internet has forever changed our lives, and now we expect things to be instant, including our communication. Email has played a large part in developing these expectations, and has for the most part proven to be an immensely useful tool. Sometimes, a little too useful. It's not uncommon to hear business owners gripe about email overload. If this sounds like you, don't worry as there are things you can do.

Here are five tips on how you can better manage your inbox.

1. Address last Most people start an email by typing in the address of the recipient(s). While there is nothing wrong with this practice, it can lead to emails being sent before they are finished, which could mean more emails in your inbox asking for clarifications or you having to send a correction email.

To stop this, try writing the body of the email first and when you have finished, put the addresses of the recipients.

2. Merge social with email Sometimes it can be hard to know who you are writing or replying to in your email. Using an app like Rapportive, which brings social information into Gmail can help. This app puts a bar to the right-side of an email with information about the sender, including their social profiles, recent tweets and even links to their LinkedIn profile. You can look up your recipients and connect with them directly from the email.

3. Use links, not attachments With the increasing number of cloud storage and productivity apps like Microsoft SkyDrive and Google Drive which allow you to share files by sending people links, there's no need to attach files to an email. This is incredibly useful if you find yourself sending document versions back and forth on a regular basis and struggle to keep everything up to date.

These services use one version of the document that users you share it with have access to. Everyone sees the same document, which will cut down on the number of emails and confusion when it comes to version control of important documents.

4. Don't use email for everything Email is so quick and easy that we tend to rely on it for everything. However, there are certain situations when email is not the best form of communication. For example, if you have a tough problem, need to reprimand an employee, etc. it would not be a good idea to do so in email, it's just too impersonal.

As a rule of thumb: If there's any chance of human emotions entering into a response or being affected by an email, it may be a better idea to communicate face-to-face.

5. Cook all your bacn at once Bacn (pronounced Bacon) is solicited email; email you want, just not right now. Social media updates, newsletters, website update notifications, etc. are all forms of bacn. Checking these takes time and can be a distraction if you have work to get done. It would be a good idea to schedule a set amount of time where you focus on reading, deleting or archiving these emails.

Alternatively, you can unsubscribe from these alerts or set up a new email account that is just for this type of emails.

There are thousands of things you can do to make your email easier to manage. What do you do? Let us know. If you are looking for even more ways to manage your inbox, contact us today.

Social media is here to stay, as it's hard not to hear people talk about it these days. It really has become an integral part of our daily lives, and of business as well. You can bet that if a potential customer is looking at your company, they will check for a social media presence. The first platform they will look at is Facebook. If your company has a Facebook page, do you know how to get the most out of it?

Here are five tips that you can use to help you get more out of your Facebook page.

1. Don't be a zombie Facebook, and all social media for that matter, is more like a talk show than the Walking Dead (a TV show about survival in a zombie apocalypse). You can't simply set up a profile with basic information and let it 'wander around mindlessly'. A zombie account that has no interaction, posts, updated information etc, will likely be avoided.

The key to a good Facebook presence is that you are active. This means sharing, posting, commenting, liking, etc. Having an active page will go a long way in cementing your brand. Like a good talk show, if users can interact they will likely stay interested and willing to learn more. This will positively affect your brand.

Beyond being active, you need to come across as human. Actions like signing your posts with your name, making an odd mistake (yes, we know, mistakes? But you are human, you make them), interacting with people, etc., will do you good. A great way to come across as human on your business's profile is to reply to all comments, even the bad ones.

2. Eat your Wheaties A healthy body is a regular body; a healthy Facebook page is similar to this: Content is posted on a regular basis. The frequency of your posts will tend to vary depending on which expert you talk to. However, most will agree that fewer than two posts a week will not engage your followers. Many recommend that small businesses post between five and seven times a week - once a day basically.

3. Be a boastful Bob Many of us grew up being told not to brag. When it comes to social media, bragging is not only ok, it's a part of life. If something great happens in/to the company, by all means brag about it. Just be careful, it's still not professional to constantly brag.

A good example of when to brag is when your business is featured in a trusted source (news, blog, radio, etc) or receives an award. Sharing this news makes your business not only look more credible, but more professional; a real expert in your field.

4. Share and share a lot Businesses often struggle to come up with unique content on a regular basis. If this sounds like your company, don't worry. The first thing you have to realize about Facebook is that almost nothing is original. Peruse any profile and you will see that people share a lot of content, most of which isn't theirs.

For businesses, it's perfectly acceptable to share content that isn't yours. If you come across a great article that's relevant to your company and you think your followers will enjoy, go ahead and share it. Have you found a funny comic, picture, video, site, etc.? Share it.

There is no limit on what you can share, as long as you attribute it. Writing a post like: 'Check out this great article on customer service from this company [use the name].' is fine. That being said, you should have some original content. A successful strategy may be to have one post out of five being content you have created, three to four shared content and one company news.

5. Highlight and pin what's important to your company If you have some important information or news that you want your followers to see, you can highlight them on your page. This will expand the post, so that it takes up the whole width of the Timeline, making it easier to see. Combine this with a bigger image, and the news will really stand out.

To highlight a post/status, hover over the top-right of the post (after you have posted it to your timeline) and look for the star beside the pencil. Press it, and the post will be highlighted.

If you want a post to stay at the top of your Timeline, you can pin it there for one week. This is done by hovering over the top-right of the post and pressing the pencil icon. From the dropdown menu, select Pin to top.

Facebook can be a useful tool in growing your business or establishing a quality brand. If you are looking for more ways you can leverage your company's page, please contact us today.