How Password Managers Work
Password managers are designed to help keep your online accounts secure. Each time you create an account on a new website or app, the password manager will generate random, secure passwords for you and store them in its secure database. You’ll only have to remember one master password—the one used to access the password manager itself—and the software will take care of the rest. This makes it much easier to keep track of multiple complex passwords while also taking proactive steps to prevent hackers from getting into your accounts.

The Benefits of Using a Password Manager
Using a password manager can save you time and stress by eliminating the need to constantly reset forgotten passwords. It can also help protect against hackers by making it harder for them to guess your passwords, since they’re all unique and stored securely within the password manager’s encrypted database. Plus, with features like two-factor authentication built into most modern versions of the software, it’s even more difficult for potential intruders to gain access to your accounts without authorization.

Choosing a Password Manager
When selecting a password manager, it’s important that you choose one that offers advanced security features such as two-factor authentication, encryption, and other security measures designed to protect against unauthorized access. Additionally, make sure that whatever option you choose has both desktop and mobile versions so that you can access your data from any device at any time. Finally, be sure to read customer reviews before making any decisions; this will give you an idea of how reliable each service is and what other users think about its performance overall.

There are many good reasons why using a password manager is a smart idea for anyone who wants added security when managing their online accounts. Not only does it make remembering multiple complex passwords easier than ever before but it also provides additional layers of protection against hackers trying to gain unauthorized access. With so many options available on the market today, there’s no reason not give one a try!

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What is a Disaster Preparedness Plan?

A disaster preparedness plan is a document that outlines the steps your business will take in the event of a major disruption. This could be anything from a severe weather event to a cyberattack. By having a plan in place, you can minimize the impact of a disaster on your business and ensure that you’re up and running as quickly as possible.

Why You Need a Disaster Preparedness Plan

Disasters can strike at any time, without warning. That’s why it’s so important to be prepared. A well-thought-out disaster preparedness plan can help you minimize downtime, protect your data, and keep your business running smoothly—no matter what Mother Nature throws your way.

How Network Doctor Can Help

Network Doctors has over 20 years of experience helping businesses recover from disasters. We can work with you to create a customized disaster preparedness plan that fits the needs of your business. We’ll also provide you with access to our state-of-the-art data center, which is designed specifically for business continuity.

Don’t wait until it’s too late—now is the time to start preparing for disaster! Network Doctor can help you create a customized disaster preparedness plan that fits the needs of your business. We’ll also provide you with access to our state-of-the-art data center, which is designed specifically for business continuity. In the event of a power outage or natural disaster, our data center will keep your data safe and secure. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you prepare for the unexpected!

The post Spring is almost Here! Is Your Business Prepared for Disaster? appeared first on Network Doctor.

Copy & Paste
The Copy and Paste keyboard shortcut is one of the most widely used shortcuts in computing. To quickly copy any text, simply highlight it, then press Command+C (on a Mac) or Ctrl+C (on Windows). To paste the copied text somewhere else, press Command+V (on a Mac) or Ctrl+V (on Windows). This shortcut is an absolute lifesaver if you’re trying to quickly move text from one document to another or if you need to copy large amounts of information quickly.

Save File
Another incredibly useful shortcut is the Save File command. On both Macs and PCs, simply pressing Command+S (Mac) or Ctrl+S (Windows) will save your current file without having to click through menus and dialog boxes. This is especially helpful when you’re working on something important and don’t want to lose your progress in case something goes wrong with your computer.

Undo & Redo
Have you ever accidentally deleted something only to realize that you wanted it back? The Undo/Redo command can help with this problem! Simply press Command+Z (Mac) or Ctrl+Z (Windows) to undo any changes you have made in the current window or application. If you decide that those changes were actually needed, simply press Command+Y (Mac) or Ctrl+Y (Windows) to redo them!

Keyboard shortcuts are incredibly powerful tools for increasing productivity and efficiency while using computers. Learning just a few basic shortcuts can save you time and energy as well as reduce frustration when using applications such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop. Start incorporating these keyboard shortcuts into your daily routine today and see how much time they can save!

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Free Up Memory
When you use your computer for long periods of time, it can start to slow down due to a lack of available RAM (Random Access Memory). RAM helps your computer run faster by allowing applications and programs to store data temporarily while they are in use. Over time, the amount of data stored in RAM increases until there’s no more room, causing your computer to slow down significantly. By restarting your computer regularly, you can clear out the RAM and make sure that it’s functioning properly.

Reduce Energy Consumption
Restarting your computer also has the added benefit of reducing energy consumption. When you turn off or restart your computer, its components stop using electricity—which means less energy being wasted when you’re not using it. This can help save money on electricity bills over time as well as reduce environmental impact since computers are one of the biggest sources of power consumption in homes and businesses today.

Software Updates & Security
Restarting your computer also helps ensure that any software updates have been installed properly and that any new security settings have taken effect. Many software updates require a system reboot in order for them to be applied correctly, so if you haven’t rebooted recently then you may be missing out on important security patches or bug fixes that could leave you vulnerable to attacks from hackers or viruses. Additionally, many anti-malware programs need frequent reboots in order for their full protection capabilities to be enabled.

Restarting your computer regularly has numerous benefits—from freeing up memory and reducing energy consumption to helping with software updates and ensuring security—so make sure you remember to do it often! It only takes a few minutes but can make a huge difference in terms of performance and stability over time. So next time you notice that things seem sluggish or unstable on your machine, try giving it a quick reboot before anything else! You’ll be glad you did!

The post The Benefits of Restarting Your Computer Regularly appeared first on Network Doctor.

Back Up Your Data
Data loss is a real risk when it comes to tech; if something goes wrong with your system, you could lose all the hard work you’ve put into it. To avoid this scenario, make sure you back up your data regularly. This way, if disaster strikes, you’ll have all your information stored safely in another location—allowing you to quickly restore your system or recover lost files. Fortunately, there are plenty of cloud-based backup services available today that make backing up your data quick and easy.

Keep Your Software Up to Date
Software updates can be annoying—they take time out of our day and often require us to reboot our systems—but they’re essential for keeping our tech running smoothly. Software updates usually contain bug fixes and patches that address security vulnerabilities. Because of this, it’s important that you keep all your software up to date at all times; otherwise, hackers may be able to exploit these vulnerabilities and gain access to your system. Fortunately, many software programs now offer automated update notifications so you don’t have to manually check for new updates every time one is released.

Protect Yourself from Phishing Attacks
Phishing attacks are becoming increasingly common as cybercriminals look for new ways to gain access to sensitive information. These attacks typically involve emails or text messages that appear legitimate but contain malicious links or attachments that can compromise your system if opened or clicked on. To protect yourself from phishing attacks, make sure that any emails or text messages you receive are from a trusted source before opening them; if something looks suspicious or too good to be true (like an unexpected gift card offer), don’t open it! Additionally, make sure that all employees in your organization are aware of phishing attacks and know how to spot them so they can stay safe online as well.

Technology is here whether we like it or not—so it pays off to familiarize yourself with tips like these which will help keep your technology running smoothly and securely. Taking proactive steps such as backing up data regularly, keeping software up-to-date and protecting yourself from phishing attacks will go a long way towards safeguarding both yourself and your business from the myriad threats posed by technology today!

The post Tech Tips Everyone Should Know appeared first on Network Doctor.

On average, it takes businesses six months to detect a breach. During this time, your company’s and customers’ confidential information is exposed and being collected by the attacker.

However, this doesn’t have to be the case for your business. If you have the right security measures in place, you can catch a threat early on.

One of the most powerful security tools for early threat detection is Cisco Umbrella.

Here at Network Doctor, our security and managed services teams use Umbrella with customers. And when they do, they strongly recommend you include Roaming Client.

What is Roaming Client?

Roaming Client is an additional capability of Umbrella that you can enable (for a cost) on devices, besides servers, in your network. It adds another layer of security by monitoring and reporting threat information from a device level.

Roaming Client protects your remote employees even when they aren’t working off of a VPN connection, and you receive immediate visibility on all users’ devices regardless of where they’re working.

This provides quick and seamless protection against malware, phishing, and command-and-control callbacks wherever your users go.

Why should you enable Roaming Client?

All of the capabilities we discussed above make Roaming Client the most valuable way to use Cisco Umbrella.

Three reasons we think this is the best use case for Cisco Umbrella are:

1. It’s easier to identify the source of an attack.
2. You can catch threats before they hit your network.
3. You can avoid losing money during an attack.

These are all important factors when it comes to securing your IT environment, which is why we think Roaming Client is an essential feature of Cisco Umbrella.

1. Roaming Clients make it easier to identify the source of an attack

By residing on the devices in your network, Roaming Client checks monitors on a granular level.

Instead of giving you a notification that a threat exists somewhere in your IT environment, it can tell you the specific device where the threat originated.

Without this feature, your IT department will have to search by trial and error to determine which device is the origin of a threat. Depending on the size of your environment, this can be a lengthy process. In the meantime, the threat is still active.

2. You can catch threats before they propagate

The reason it’s crucial to catch threats early on is that the longer they’re allowed to exist within your environment, the more damage they can cause.

Take advanced persistent threats (APTs), for example. These can make their way into your network through a phishing campaign or a drive-by website. For the next 90 to 180 days, these types of threats do recon on your network, looking for ways to exist in your environment even if users change passwords. They’re also looking for information on users, such as who makes up the executive team and who handles financial information.

During this time, APTs sneak under the radar of many types of endpoint protection, but they’re making command-and-control callbacks to the attacker who is monitoring your environment remotely.

One of the things Umbrella monitors is command-and-control callbacks. With Roaming Clients deployed, you can monitor this at an individual device level and identify threats before they start wreaking havoc on your environment.

3. You can avoid losing money during an attack

The average attack costs businesses of all sizes $200,000. One of the factors in this price is paying an IT consulting company to help you remove the threat, but there are other factors, too, such as productivity loss, fines, lawsuits, etc.

Cisco Umbrella can help mitigate this cost.

With Cisco Umbrella in general, you’re less susceptible to an attack. Without it, one way or another, you’ll lose money from lost or damaged files or impacted productivity.

Without Roaming Client in particular, an attack keeps your IT department exclusively focused on exclusively this (major) issue. Even IT problems that would typically require immediate attention will be put on the back burner until the source of the threat is discovered and managed.

This means that you’re losing money from a productivity standpoint, too. Anything the attack brings down has the potential to hinder workflows, and if anything goes down for any other reason, that can impact productivity as well.

How should you deploy Roaming Client?

Now that we’ve discussed why you should use Roaming Client, we want to make sure we take time to address how you should use them.

That’s because all of the above reasons will only apply to you if you deploy Roaming Client effectively.

Most importantly, this means you should enable Roaming Client with every Umbrella license since this feature is only as effective as how comprehensively you deploy it.

If you have a 400-user environment but only have half of your users with Roaming Client enabled, your IT department could still be looking through 200 devices to find the source of a threat.

However, if you can’t afford the extra cost of enabling Roaming Client, you should at least consider using it for your executive team, accounting department, and remote workers.

Learning more about Cisco Umbrella

Roaming Client is one of the great features of Cisco Umbrella.

It allows you to more easily identify the source of an attack, catch APTs before they hit your network, and even save you money with threat response. And when you use it on all of your devices, it provides comprehensive protection and insight.

However, Roaming Clients is only one of Cisco Umbrella’s notable features. For more information about what to expect with a Cisco Umbrella license, you can read the article Top 5 reasons to try Cisco Umbrella.

The post How to detect security breaches and remediate them in hours. appeared first on Network Doctor.

MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE DURING DESTRUCTION METHODS

Currently, in the United States, there are 32 states that have their own data disposal regulations. Any business involved with the European Union must also follow the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). In regard to data destruction, technicians must maintain a chain of reports throughout the destruction process. Some of these compliance credentials include SSAE 18 Type II security certification, ensuring your data is secure throughout the process.

THE PROS AND CONS OF DIFFERENT DATA DESTRUCTION METHODS

A recent IDG research survey among 200 U.S.-based IT leaders found they are keenly aware of the risks associated with the inappropriate disposal of end-of-life IT equipment. Their top concerns include loss or theft of customer or patron information; damage to the organization’s reputation; loss or theft of intellectual property; punitive fines; and criminal charges. Despite these concerns, there is a great deal of confusion over how to erase properly the data on end-of-life IT assets. 

Failure to properly destroy the data on end-of-life IT assets can lead to serious breaches of data protection and privacy policies, compliance problems, and added costs. There are three main options for data destruction: 1) Overwriting,  2) Degaussing, and 3) Physical Destruction.

OVERWRITING

Overwriting involves writing new data on top of old. The process is analogous to recording over an old VHS tape. Because this process erases the old material and renders anything left completely unreadable, this form of data destruction is also called data wiping.

When data is overwritten, a pattern of 1’s and 0’s is written over the original information. Sometimes a random pattern is used but a set pattern can also be used which allows for later verification that the drive was wiped by detecting the set pattern. Overwriting data once is enough for most situations. However, for high-security applications, multiple wipes may be required. This provides an extra level of assurance that the old data is destroyed.

On the downside, it takes a long time to overwrite an entire high-capacity drive. This process might not be able to sanitize data from inaccessible regions such as host protected areas. Overwriting might require a separate license for every hard drive, and the process is ineffective without good quality assurance processes. Another factor to consider is that overwriting works only when the storage media is not damaged and is still writable.

DEGAUSSING

Degaussing uses a high-powered magnet to disrupt the magnetic field of the storage medium and destroy the data in the process. When applied to magnetic storage media such as hard disks, magnetic tape, or floppy disks, degaussing can quickly and effectively purge an entire storage medium.

While degaussing can be an effective method of data destruction, it has two major disadvantages. First, degaussing renders the hard drive inoperable by physically disrupting the delicate interconnected mechanisms of the drive – thus destroying any potential end-of-life value. Second, there is no way to ensure all data is destroyed. Because degaussing renders a drive inoperable, there’s no way to run the drive to verify the data is gone. The effectiveness of degaussing can also depend on the density of drives. Finally, it should be noted that degaussing does not eradicate data from non-magnetic media such as Solid State Devices and CD’s.

PHYSICAL DESTRUCTION

If you don’t need to reuse hard drives, physical destruction is a possible data destruction option. Organizations can physically destroy data in a number of ways – including shredding, drilling, melting, or any other method that renders physical storage media unusable and unreadable.

There can be problems with physical destruction. First, it is prone to human error and manipulation. There is no reliable way to audit the physical destruction process. Second, most methods of physical destruction leave large portions of the drive platter intact, even if the drive is inoperable.

Data could still be recovered using forensic methods in such cases. Only pulverizing the disk to particles ensures the data is irrecoverable. Lastly, since physical destruction renders media unreadable, it also prevents them from being wiped and remarketed. This means that there is no longer the opportunity to recover any end-of-life value that these assets may potentially hold.

CONCLUSION

The best method of data destruction depends upon the type of media, the sensitivity of the data, and the end-of-life value of the assets. Many firms attempt to perform data destruction in-house. That’s not typically a good use of internal time and resources. Most IT asset disposition firms have the expertise and scale to perform data destruction on a much more cost-effective basis.

Network Doctor’s Secure IT Asset Disposition solution helps companies ensure that their IT assets are properly destroyed, recycled, or repurposed for maximum value — using secure logistics and chain-of-custody methods to ensure compliance, security, and sustainability.

The post Best Practices for Data Destruction appeared first on Network Doctor.

Likely, you found this message later in a junk folder, in quarantine, or worse, you never saw the message at all. Not only is it frustrating to miss these emails, but it can also affect your business’s bottom line.

We get it. It can be embarrassing when you realize you never responded to a colleague, and it is crushing to miss a valuable business opportunity because you actually didn’t see the memo.

In this insight, we’ll explain how and why an email client or ISP (i.e., Outlook) filters emails, and how it keeps our businesses secure. We will also discuss the top reasons that emails are flagged as spam and the steps you and your IT team can do to increase the likelihood of important emails showing up in your primary inbox.

But knowledge is power, and we want to show you what other organizations are doing to better protect themselves from cyberattacks via email, so you can take similar steps to secure your company.

HOW EMAIL FILTERING WORKS

Spam Fact: 91% of cybercrimes start with an email.

This thing we call spam, unsolicited, and unwanted junk email, accounts for more than a quarter of all email traffic. So it is essential that your ISP has tools in place to keep spam emails in check. Your ISP wants to keep your business secure and your inboxes as spam-free as possible.

Every email that arrives in your inbox goes through a filtering process that reviews it for legitimacy and any malicious cues. If the email does not pass the filtering process, it gets placed in one of two places: your junk folder or your quarantine folder if it’s malicious.

Although only one out of every hundred emails are malicious, it only takes one to send your organization spiraling into a frenzy. It’s a really good thing that most of those emails are filtered out before you ever see them!

Before reaching your inbox, each message must pass through three different sets of criteria filters with your ISP. These criteria are:

1. Elements of the email – the actual contents of the email are evaluated to determine if something within the email seems illegitimate or malicious.
2. The sender’s domain reputation – the score that your ISP gives the sender’s domain is based on factors like spam complaint rates and bounce rates.
3. Your engagement with the message – your action or inaction with an email indicates to your ISP whether you are happy with receiving the email.

Let’s take a deeper dive into each of these filters and how the deliverability of emails is affected.

THE TOP REASON’S EMAILS ARE FLAGGED AS SPAM

1. Elements of the Email.

If you find an email in your junk folder that shouldn’t be there it very well could be because the individual email triggered one of these common triggers:

• There are too many images in the email.
• The email uses SPAM trigger words (Amazing, cancel at any time, congratulations, guarantee, etc.).
• The email does not include a physical address.
• There are too many attachments in the email.

This level of filtering essentially determines if the contents of the email are wanted or unwanted.

2. The sender’s domain reputation

Every IP address is rated by each ISP, so if that IP address has been flagged for spam, fraudulent activity, or viruses, then any email from that domain will be flagged as well.

Additionally, ISPs look at domain-level authentication to ensure that the email is actually being sent from who it says it’s being sent from. This level of review does not look at the content within the email.

3. Your engagement with the message

ISPs constantly learn from your actions — how you do and don’t interact with the emails you receive. Have you ever noticed that, if you immediately delete marketing emails from a company you are not interested in, you’ll stop seeing those emails after a while? Those emails haven’t disappeared into thin air, they’re still getting to you, but your ISP has learned that you don’t want them and placed them in your junk folder.

Common triggers for this filter are:

• Clicking the spam button on a message in the inbox
• Opening or clicking on a message
• Enabling images
• Forwarding a message

What You Can Do to Improve Email Deliverability

The primary factors for email deliverability are based on the sender’s actions and ISP setup but there are a handful of things that you and your IT team can do to improve email deliverability within your organization.

If you use Outlook, here are a few tips to ensure future deliverability from senders that are currently flagged incorrectly.

• Click “not spam” on an email in the junk folder from a trusted source or move it to the inbox.
• Add the sender’s email address to your contacts. Emails from that sender should not be marked as spam in the future.
• Add trusted senders to the “Safe senders and domains” list to prevent Outlook from ever sending emails from them to your spam filter.
• Ask your IT department how you can view quarantined emails that have been sent to you.

Your IT Department should be able to ensure that your mailboxes are set up correctly. Different mailboxes serve different needs and should be customized to meet those needs.

To make sure you get each of your mailboxes set up correctly, here are a few questions to ask your IT team:

• What is the purpose of the email stream? What business process is it supporting? Is it for support tickets, sales, marketing?
• What service or server will be sending the email?
• Will the mailbox be utilized to reply to messages, or will it be a no-reply address? Will the mailbox be shared or will it be for just one user? Is a license required?
• Does the domain need to be “mail-enabled” within the client’s primary mail platform (i.e., within exchange online)?
• Who is the main point of contact for the mail stream (particularly if the stream is hosted by a 3rd party)?

Email may never be perfect and unfortunately, we may not be able to keep every single email out of junk folders. But hopefully, the tips in this article will help you make your inboxes more efficient, so you don’t miss those really important emails!

Do you need help ensuring that your ISP is set up correctly? Speak with a Network Doctor expert today.

The post What to do if important emails are landing in your junk folder appeared first on Network Doctor.

Here is a quick overview of the life cycle of a PC:

• Year 1: Brand new, fast, and productive

• Year 2: The normal support issues here and there

• Year 3: Some users might start to notice some lagging

• Years 4-5: The slow decline: Depending on the original specs of the computer, the user might notice significant speed and function decline  (slow and steady does NOT win the race)

According to a survey conducted by Intel in 2018, employees are 19.16% less productive on PCs that are 5+ years old. Over the course of a year for every 5-year-old computer, you lose an average of 42 productive work hours and $12,495 per year in lost productivity due to aging workstations. When workstations wear down you will see:

• Decreased Productivity: A few seconds per task adds up over the course of a day.
• Increased Support Costs: Component replacement, software fixes, IT breaking often etc.
• Lost Time: Not only are you waiting for your workstation to load, but you are waiting for repairs
• Lost Business: Not many customers have the patience to wait for slow workstations, there are many competitors out there.
• Security Breaches: By using outdated software you leave your company open to cyber-attacks.
• Frustrated Users: User’s frustration can spill over into conversations with coworkers and clients.

So, what can you do about it? We’ve got 4 tips for you to take charge of your PC budget:

Tip #1 Plan Out Your Workstation Refreshes

Instead of purchasing and refreshing all your workstations at once, start a workstation refresh cycle and purchase 20% of your workstation fleet yearly. This way you can budget your capital expenses over 5-years and are not dreading a full workstation refresh every five years.

Tip #2 Buy a Warranty that Aligns with Your Refresh Cycle

If you’ve taken the advice of Tip #1 and are planning a 5-year refresh cycle, make sure your warranty lines up with that. Buy a quality, business-grade PC with a 5-year warranty that will protect you from unforeseen expenses. Basic warranties cover hardware failures.  For laptops or desktops on the move, we also recommend adding accidental coverage which covers drops, cracked screens, water damage, etc.

Tip #3 Always Buy Business Grade PCs 

It might be tempting to go down to Best Buy to pick up your new PCs, but please don’t. PC Manufacturers have two distinct grades that they offer to the market. The type sold at Best Buy are typically “consumer-grade” and are built to be cheap and flashy. They might have specs that wow you, but are often built with subpar materials and aren’t designed to be used for 40+ hours a week. They also come with a home version of Windows, which can be expensive to upgrade. You want to look for business-grade desktops and laptops that are built to be sturdy and operate at peak performance for at least 3-5 years.

Tip #4 Put the Employee First 

Have you ever seen the smile on an employee’s face when you set up a brand new computer for them? Keeping your users equipped with the tools they need to do their job well (with minimal frustration) helps them feel valued, supported, and excited! On the flip side, if an employee is constantly frustrated by their PC it will leave them feeling disgruntled, undervalued, and more likely to leave. The productivity loss is just not worth it.

We have all had those shoes that we cannot part with even when there is a hole in the sole, but when they start to hurt, remember it is for the sake of your health (and your running game!). And when your workstations are reaching end-of-life and it is time to purchase new workstations remember it is for the health of your company. 

If you have questions on where to start, schedule a consultation with our team to discuss the next steps and a plan to get your PC budget under control.

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