We Ask: What’s Your Businesses Weakest Security Link?

we ask what your businesses weakest security link

tech support for new york businesses

Cyber attacks are most often blamed on malicious outside sources. Hackers will attempt to break into computer networks and steal confidential corporate data. However, the lack of security knowledge or unintentional carelessness of a company’s employees sometimes leaves the door ajar and enables these cyber criminals to squeeze through the opening.

As well as obtaining some tech support for your New York business, the following are some sensible steps you can put in place to increase your company’s network security.

Discuss the Security Problem

You probably require your employees to read and sign a document outlining your firm’s IT policies. However, this is not enough – you also need to involve them by talking about the possibility of a cyber event and emphasizing the negative effects this will have on your organization’s operations.

Don’t Leave Out Top Management

Executives who travel a lot and use free hotel Wi-Fi can be targeted by cyber “pirates,” with possible big rewards to the perpetrators.

Set Up Training Sessions

All new personnel should be required to receive training in network security, and all employees should participate in refresher courses.

Don’t Discourage

Never get annoyed with an employee who puts up a red flag which turns out to be a false alarm. The individual will be hesitant to speak up on a subsequent occasion when the problem might be a real cyber attack.

Institute Procedures

Employees need step-by-step instructions on how to react if they believe they have discovered a cyber event. You should also have a plan relating to internal communications and public relations.

Conclusion

You must protect your computer network from infiltration by malware and cyber criminals. Our technical expertise can help protect your New York business from inside and outside sources.

Contact us to see how we can help you.

Outsourced Computer Support for Your Business – Disaster Recovery

outsourced computer support for your business disaster recovery

Disaster Recovery

Did you know that computer downtime costs US businesses approximately $26.5 billion annually? Also, companies that have a network down for more than ten days never completely recoup the financial loss to their businesses. These statistics demonstrate just how vital it is for your business to have an adequate IT disaster recovery plan in place.

Outsourced computer support for your business can help you design one. To create a solid plan (or improve an existing one) these questions should be asked:

  • Does my current plan (if one exists) provide enough protection?
  • How long can my company afford to have its system(s) down?
  • How much data can my company afford to lose?
  • What are the critical servers, applications, and related software?
  • What is the availability of my company’s IT personnel if disaster strikes? With respect to outsourced computer support, how fast can their personnel be on my company’s premises?

Testing

A recovery procedure is only as good as its performance when tested. If you don’t test it, you don’t even know if it works. Don’t fall back on excuses – insufficient time, workflow disruption, no allocation of funds in the budget, etc. You don’t want to wait until your system crashes to discover the glitches in your plan.

A test of your system will give you the following important information:

  • The length of time the recovery took.
  • What data presented a challenge to recover.
  • Which applications did not return to the expected state.
  • The ability of your IT personnel to handle the recovery.

Assistance is at Hand

If creating and testing a plan seems somewhat daunting, you don’t have to do it alone. We can create and test an optimum backup and recovery plan for you. Take advantage of our expertise and your downtime will be minimal.

Please get in touch with us for more information.

How to Avoid a Power Outage in Your Business

how to avoid a power outage in your business

how to avoid a power outage

In the business world, there are plenty of reasons why you should have contingency plans. After all, you never know what could happen. For example, what if your network became exposed to hackers due to outdated security? Much more common, though, is the loss of data due to a power outage.

Not only can these data losses be prevented, though, but they can also be avoided altogether. Here’s how to how to avoid a power outage and keep your information safe as well.

Backing up Your Data

First of all, it’s important to remember that not all power outages can be avoided. That’s not to say you shouldn’t do your best to avoid them, but on the other hand, it’s sometimes better to be more concerned with what needs to be done, in case an outage does occur in your business.

With that said, it’s important to back up your data on a regular basis. That way, if something were to happen, you wouldn’t lose any important information, putting your business at risk. However, don’t just keep the data backed up, but storing it on a portable USB flash drive is another effective contingency plan. After all, once said information is on the device, it’s portable and can be uploaded from any computer.

Having a Backup Generator

While backing up data will keep your information safe during a power outage, having an electrical backup generator will prevent any outages altogether. If your business has the money to invest in one, it should definitely be considered.

While it certainly isn’t required, especially if you have a contingency plan for your data loss, having a generator will make things much less of an inconvenience, and you’ll be able to work even if there’s an outage in the area.

For more information, and to get the support you need, contact us at AE Technology Group.

Computer Tip of the Week – Let AutoCorrects Make You a Much Faster Typist

computer tip of the week let autocorrects make you a much faster typist

Computer Tip

This week’s computer tip will help save you time, and therefore money. We’re going to talk about MS Word’s AutoCorrect feature and how to use it.

AutoCorrect has long been a feature of Word. Essentially, Autocorrect automatically corrects frequently misspelled words. Give it a try. Type ADN and a space in Word and see what happens. This can be a problem when you want to add ADN (Associate Degree Nursing) to the end of a name, but I would rather have that inconvenience than to send out a letter featuring the word adn.

So, how do you use AutoCorrect to your advantage?

What if you work for a neurosurgeon and frequently have to type neurosurgeon, neurosurgery, neurology, neurologist. What if, instead, you merely typed nsg, nsy, nry and nrgt, respectively. Instead of typing 10 or 11 characters, you typed three. That’s a big time saver.

Be careful that you don’t use a combination of letters that you might want to use in normal text. For example, if you use “usa” for “understanding systems administration”, each time you type USA, the corrected phrase will appear. So, instead of using usa, try usa1.

Creating an AutoCorrect is fairly straightforward.

  • Open Word
  • Select File, Options, Proofing, AutoCorrect Options
  • This is where you will record your new AutoCorrect
  • Press the AutoCorrect tab (you may have been brought there automatically)
  • In the open field that says “Replace”, enter your abbreviated phrase, WIG
  • In the open field that says “With”, enter “When I go”.
  • Now, each time you type “WIG”, “When I go” will appear in its place.

Think about how much time this can save. Come up with a list of common industry phrases in your office. How many of those could become AutoCorrects?

Here at AE Tech Group, we believe in working smarter. To find other ways we can help you work smarter, please contact us.

Find the Right Tech Support for Small Businesses

find the right tech support for small businesses

tech support for small businesses

If you operate your own small to medium business, you have an area of expertise you sell. Whether it is your goods or your services, consumers come to you to meet a need or a want.

Your area of expertise may not include an understanding of technology that can overcome any glitches or technology needs your business has. That is why it is beneficial to hire tech support for small businesses.

AE Technology Group can provide for all of your small business’ IT needs.

Your business needs the latest technology to stay competitive. Your point of sale software, billing software, appointment book, printers, computers, tablets; they all need attention at one point or another.

You don’t want to be stressing about the IT details, especially when you may have no idea how to fix it. Let professionals, who excel at fixing the small things that just irritate you, take over your IT needs so you can focus on what you do best.

  • AE Technology Group offers one, low monthly cost. That way you don’t have to worry about paying for IT services hourly.
  • We provide 24/7 oversight of your critical systems, so you can rest at ease when you leave your business at the end of the day.
  • We also will help you with preventative maintenance, so you will have fewer technological problems interrupting you during the day.

IT problems are bound to happen, so be prepared to take care of them, not be stressed out about them, by having support. Contact us at AE Technology Group to get IT support for your small to medium business.