The hidden costs of managing Windows: How to overcome the 'penalty of growth' with upgrade automation
A growing employee roster. Expanding office locations. The use of innovative tools and technology. These are all the hallmarks of a successful and growing business. Unfortunately, they can also be substantial obstacles when it comes to keeping Windows endpoints current with the latest OS updates, security patches and software upgrades. Because of the time, cost and often a lack of resources, these hidden costs of Windows management force many organizations to stall in making crucial system upgrades. This puts them at grave risk of a security breach the likes of WannaCry or NotPetya that could shut down the entire company -- definitely not a growth driver.
For growing businesses, the modern work environment has made migrations, like the roll-up from Windows 7 to Windows 10 (and even everyday patching), extremely difficult with hidden costs that add up quickly in the race to merely stay current. Here are just a few obstacles in Windows management that inadvertently penalize businesses for growth.
How I quit social media, but it didn't quit me
My name is Jason Kingdon, social media addict and Founder and CEO of BOLDFISH. I've been Facebook free for three years now, but I can't seem to separate it from my life. Wherever I go, there it is. Sign in with Facebook or follow us for more. At networking events, new contacts are incredulous and offended when I state my lack of social media. He lies, their eyes read.
Some of my friends have acclimated to just texting me, but others have fallen out of touch. I've become accustomed to the "OMG! How are you!? I haven't seen you in forever! Are you still in China?" It’s as though time had frozen since the last time we made contact. There are amazing memories from pictures and status updates, yet they assume that what they consume is all that there ever was or will be.
Office 365 phishing attacks: How hackers get access to your business
With 155 million corporate users, the highly popular Microsoft Office 365 has become a target-rich environment for sophisticated phishing attacks. On top of all the standard phishing and spear phishing threats, Office 365 presents a number of unique attack techniques for hackers looking to compromise the platform.
Microsoft is the number one phished brand for the third straight quarter -- thanks to Office 365. A multisystem platform, Office 365 combines email, file storage, collaboration, and productivity applications, including OneDrive and SharePoint. Together, they represent a honeypot of sensitive data and files that phishers are looking to exploit.
How carriers can set themselves apart in today's competitive landscape
In an ongoing effort to keep up with their closest competition, the Big Four -- T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon -- have continually innovated and directed wireless industry trends over the years.
As such, the challenge of an ever-evolving carrier landscape has made it increasingly difficult for regional carriers to keep pace. But, with a little creativity and perseverance, regional carriers still have opportunities to stand out.
The art of workplace motivation: How to keep IT staff engaged under high-growth pressure
IT teams, particularly in the tech and health tech worlds, face a high level of pressure in today’s environment -- whether it is supporting first-to-market launches or ensuring the highest level of security to prevent data breaches. But how do you keep an IT team engaged, motivated while ensuring they are "always on?"
According to a recent Gallup poll, only 2 in 10 employees strongly agree their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. That frustration can lead to serious retention issues. In fact, LinkedIn’s most recent talent turnover report indicated the tech software sector saw a 13.2 percent turnover rate, the highest in comparison to the other major categories (media and professional services). Here are 5 tips to keep IT staff focused and driven.
Is GDPR the new hacker scare tactic?
No one questions the good intent behind the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation, or the need for companies to be more careful with the proprietary information they have about clients, patients, and other individuals they interact with regularly. While the provisions within the GDPR do help, they have also created new opportunities for hackers and identity thieves to exploit that data.
There’s no doubt that seeking to be fully GDPR compliant is more than just a good idea. Along the way, just make sure your organization doesn’t fall victim to one of the various scams that are surfacing. Let’s take a quick review of GDPR and then dive into the dirty tricks hackers have been playing.
Cloud-based risk management: Transforming business safety processes
Industries employing commercial and non-commercial drivers experience immense pressure to meet safety regulations and ensure employee and brand protection. A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that approximately 40 percent of motor vehicle accidents are work-related and cost employers over $56 billion annually, with 53 percent of vehicle accidents causing employees to miss work. Whether a company employs sales professionals, commercial drivers or service technicians, the importance of tracking driver performance is paramount.
In the 21st century, businesses can no longer ignore the modern data solutions revolutionizing company risk management. The cloud-based fleet management market is projected to be worth over $17 billion by 2025, and this surge in market growth has unearthed inefficiencies in mobility risk management. Consistent feedback on driving behavior is key to mitigating a fleet company’s risk, which is why employers and fleet managers are increasingly embracing cloud-based technology and its real-time reporting benefits.
RSA 2019 recap: What we learned
Every year, the RSA Conference grows in size, reflecting the ever-increasing prominence of the central topic it covers, cybersecurity. The cybersecurity extravaganza brings together thought leaders and companies from all around the globe for five days of keynote speeches and breakout sessions that provide seemingly endless opportunities to learn something new. As one of the largest security events in the United States, it helps attendees connect with cybersecurity luminaries, potential clients, and industry movers-and-shakers (perhaps over a happy hour drink or two).
Don’t worry if you weren’t able to attend or couldn’t digest all of the information presented -- with so many in-conference events, it’s practically impossible. The following are two top trends you can learn from RSA 2019:
How to delete your social media accounts: Benefits, alternatives, and why you should do it
Often, our social media engagements seem like little more than momentary diversions. Someone might scroll through Twitter when sitting in a waiting room or browse Facebook over breakfast. These time commitments feel small in the moment, to the point of being insubstantial -- but over time, these "insubstantial" moments on social media add up. The average person spends almost two hours on social media every day, while the average teenager spends up to nine hours. One study suggests that most people will end up spending more than five years of their lives on sites like YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter.
Social media is eating up a lot of your time. While not all of that time is "wasted" -- it’s possible to learn things on social media, network with valuable connections, catch up with friends, and follow important news stories -- five years of your life is a big ask. Have you ever considered deleting your social media accounts? In this article, we’ll explore how to delete your accounts, whether going dark can affect your job prospects, and what you can do instead to limit your social media usage or online exposure.
GDC 2019 recap: 5 takeaways and headlines from the show floor
The 2019 Game Developers Conference (GDC), held last week in San Francisco, welcomed an estimated 20,000-plus developers, gamers, publishers and tech vendors from across the globe.
From the tech driving the future of gaming to the industry’s most prevalent conversations and trends, here are five takeaways and headlines from the 13th annual show.
The good and evil of robo-journalism
Writers and journalists all over the world have expected a reasonably high degree of job security, even as robots and automation swallow up other occupations and industries whole. Could all of this be about to change, thanks to robo-journalists?
There's a Swiss-based company called Tamedia that reaches a worldwide audience through digital platforms and weekly and daily periodicals. It's traded on the Swiss stock exchange. As of 2018, Tamedia is also one of several companies employing algorithms in jobs once held by flesh-and-blood journalists.
Protecting email deliverability before and after a data breach
The financial impact of a data breach continues to climb for businesses. IBM’s 2018 Cost of a Data Breach Study placed the average total cost of a data breach at $3.86 million, an increase of more than six percent compared to 2017. Every stolen or lost record costs a company $148, putting a hefty price tag on breaches of any size.
Beyond immediate expenses, the required email notification to customers in the database can negatively contribute to a company’s ability to recover from the breach. FTC regulations require the company to contact every customer in their database via email or another method, such as direct mail. If there is a spike in undeliverable emails, mailbox providers (MBPs) will notice the spike, negatively impacting the company’s email deliverability. Thankfully, this impact can be reduced by minimizing unnecessary data before a potential breach and acting immediately after recognizing the breach.
What is a zombie (comatose) server, and why should I care?
Whatis.com states that "a zombie server is a physical server that is running but has no external communications or visibility and contributes no compute resources, that it consumes electricity but is serving no useful purpose."
In a time when a server was dedicated to running a particular application or performing a specific function such as the late 1990s or early 2000s, this definition of a "zombie" made sense. Generally speaking, zombie servers happened because they were forgotten, or never configured for the purpose for which they had been acquired (a dirty secret of the IT industry). In many cases, once plugged in, the server operating systems never allowed these servers to enter their sleep state, for fear that they would be too slow to respond. Identifying these systems as zombies was relatively easy -- their power consumption was constant (a flat line).
CCleaner 5.55 adds a software updater (but only in Professional)
Install software on your computer and you’ll be forgiven for not having the spare time to search for updates. Most applications do not have a software update facility, so unless you go checking, you’ll often never know it’s been updated.
With this in mind, and software developers running out of key ideas to add to future revisions to encourage paid upgrades, we’re seeing 'Software Updater' tools being released to the market or added to system maintenance applications. IObit recently released a standalone Software Updater tool this year which we wrote about this month.
Securely wipe your entire drive or individual files and folders using O&O SafeErase 14
We had a shock the other day when cleaning out the office. If you’re anything like us, you tend to hold on to old drives simply because it’s hard to dispose of the data securely.
You soon realize you have old hard drives you’ve never dealt with and even obscure NAS drives collected over many years. We found old drives going back to 2000. One solution is to pay for a professional company to pick up, wipe and dispose of these used drives, but this is a costly procedure. Why not do it yourself and save a ton of cash in the process?
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