it solutions Archives · Page 9 of 9

Make Your Computer More Secure: 5 Steps to a Stronger Password

In this day and age, it isn’t a stretch to say that the majority of your important information is stored online. A laptop computer alone often holds bank account information, a lifetime of photos, business information, credit card numbers, and countless other important tidbits.

So how can you protect yourself from hackers gaining access to all of this? Make your computer more secure by having hack resistant passwords.

Here are AE Technology Group’s 5 steps to making a strong password:

Length

The longer your password, the better! Many experts recommend a password of at least 12 characters, but longer certainly doesn’t hurt. The more you have going on, the less likely it is that someone will be able to crack it.

Variation

It is important to vary your password. Instead of having all lowercase letters, mix it up with some uppercase dispersed throughout as well. Mix letters, numbers, and symbols.

Avoid Dictionary Words

Reusing words that are well known makes for a weaker password. To strengthen a password, alter words so that they are no longer normal. For example, “people” could become “pEOPlei”. This is stronger because it is abnormal.

Avoid Facts Relating To You

For a strong password, avoid using numbers or phrases that are relevant to your life. For example, using your birthday as the numbers in your password will be easy to remember, but also easy for others to figure out.

Use Different Passwords

Avoid using the same password for every account, even if it is a strong password. If all of your passwords match, then someone figuring out one gives them access to all of your accounts.

Contact us for more tips on how to keep your computer safe!

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Three Ways to Make Google Chrome Faster

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Have you noticed Google Chrome running slower and slower? Over time, Google Chrome can slow down as it builds up excess browsing data. Extensions and plugins can also be at fault if you have them installed. In this article we’ll show you how to disable these extensions and plugins as well as show you how to speed up your browser by clearing the browser data.

Extensions

While extensions can provide extra functionality in Chrome, they can also slow down your browser if you are using too many of them. Rather than uninstalling them completely, often just disabling them is enough to get things running back to normal.

To view a list of your installed extensions, open up Chrome’s settings page. After you are in the settings, navigate to the extensions page (this may be under “tools” for some users). Once you see your list of extensions, uncheck the box at the right of each title you want to disable. If you want to uninstall, click on the trash can image to the right of the check box.

Plugins

Plugins help Google Chrome process information like Flash, Java, Silverlight, etc. and Chrome comes with many of these plugins by default. Many of these plugins are not necessary for your day-to-day browsing and can slow up your browser.

To see all of the plugins you’re currently using, type “about:plugins” in the address bar of Chrome and press Enter. From here, you can look through your list of plugins and disable the ones you don’t need. It’s recommended you keep Flash enabled as it’s necessary for the basic functionality of many websites. It should also be noted that, unlike extensions, most plugins cannot be deleted, only disabled. Disabling the ones you do not need will still speed up your browser.

Browser Data

As you use Google Chrome, the browser collects information about the websites you visit and the files you download and stores that information in a variety of places. Now, while the purpose of the local cache and browser history is to speed up your experience, it’s possible that they will end up slowing down your browser if they get too big. So while this may seem counterintuitive, it will help in certain situations. It won’t help if you delete this information on a regular basis.

You can clear your browser data by navigating to the “tools” page and select “clear browsing data” from the menu. Chrome gives you the option to select what information you want to delete and during what period of time. Once you make your selections, click the “clear browsing data” button and you’re done.

For more information about how to speed up your browser, contact us today. Check out our blog for more tips and tricks.

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IT Support: How a Conflict of Interest Affects IT Expenses

IT support teams understand the technology

There’s often a conflict of interest when it comes to IT-related purchases. In the end, it all comes down to who’s making the decision and what he or she values to be the most important. Sometimes this isn’t the best option for the entire company.

IT spending should be left to IT teams. They understand the technology best and know exactly what the business needs to upgrade in. Their decisions should be verified by the accounting team, of course. It’s a system of checks and balances that keeps expenses under control.

In some companies, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is in charge of IT spending. This is presumably because they want to decide which marketing software the company uses. A recent CIO article explains how this scenario can lead to a spending catastrophe:

“When CMOs take control of IT spending, then they may well move fast and break something. With budgetary responsibility comes the responsibility for things like security, scalability and performance. The first time the systems go crashing down because they can’t scale sufficiently, or for whatever reason, the CMO is going to have to go looking for help from the CIO.”

If your business doesn’t have an IT team, don’t just put a random person in charge of IT expenses. Chances are they don’t know the equipment well enough to make a prudent financial decision.

If you need advice or consultation, consider getting in touch with an IT support team. They understand the technology and can tell your business what needs to be upgraded and what you should buy. If you already outsource your IT support, then make sure you contact them before making any major technology purchases. All of this is in the best interest of your business.

If you’d like to talk more about this or anything else, contact us. Thanks.

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IT Solutions New York: Why outsourcing may be your answer

If you’ve been on the fence about whether or not to outsource IT needs for your small to medium business, you’re not alone. A simple web search yields tons of blogs, opinions, questions and answers about the topic. While you ultimately have to decide what fits the needs of your company, here are a few considerations to get you started:

Range of Technology

A growing business often needs an IT staff with a broad range of skills. Outsourcing means your company has an entire team, and a larger pool of resources available when you need those skills…

Which reminds us, as a small to medium business your budget may not allow for multiple IT employees in-house. Having an entire IT management team on your side can be less than the cost of one full-time employee’s salary.

Disaster recovery: Downtime wreaks havoc on your business and your bottom line. Make sure that you have access to critical information when you need it, with backup and recovery services.

Expertise

Outsourcing results in faster, better, and more consistent results. When you hire a specialized team to manage your IT needs, efficiency increases because IT solutions are all they focus on. You no longer have to worry about shuffling employees from other departments to fill in holes on your technology team.

Birds-eye view: Advice is objective when it comes from an external source. It can be tough for an internal team to find the best technology solution for your SMB, because sometimes those team members push for the solution that makes the most sense for themselves and not the company as a whole.

Are you ready to learn more about how to accomplish your IT projects? AE Technology Group is ready to talk about solution.

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