July 2020
microTECH Times Covered I.T. 24/7—Never Worry Again!
The virus has many business owners very uneasy. Unfortunately, the pandemic has hit small to midsized organizations the hardest. Many experts believe this is just the beginning. So, what can you do to keep your business running smoothly?
cuss reducing your monthly payments with essential vendors like your merchant payment provider.
2. Cut excessive advertising. All those mar-
keting companies out there won’t like our advice here, but there are high-end expensive advertising When will the pandemic end? It could honoptions and there are low-key advertising options. estly be a few more months for the large reCut those costly ads and work with other businessstrictions and some say up to a few years for a full es to create co-marketing campaigns, send promorecovery. Regardless of how long COVID-19 tions through the mail, offer expert advice to your hangs around, we all need to be prepared. Buckle community, or even consider telemarketing. down a bit, reassess and make a few changes to 3. Embrace telecommuting as a part of your our business strategy in order to keep things running smoothly. Here are 7 great tips that may help business landscape. Many business owners restructured how their company operates when you get started. COVID first hit. They immediately plunged into 1. Review and adjust your business based telecommuting when the “stay at home” orders on your burn-rate. What is a burn-rate? It’s were released across the nation. Now, most compatypically the rate at which your company is spend- nies are re-evaluating the need for in office hours. ing money to cover your overhead before generat- Office overhead can be one of the most expensive ing a positive cashflow from operations; cash parts of owning a business. Reducing the amount spent per month divided by operation expenses. of people in your office may allow you to rent or Review how much your company is spending and buy a smaller space and reduce non-essential spending as much as possi(Continued on page 2) ble. Most companies have a few items that are just excess like expensive advertising cam“When one door closes, paigns, unused assets, and extraneous employee another opens. But we expenses. It is also a great idea to call and disoften look so long and There are no great soluso regretfully upon the tions without big probclosed door that we fail lems…………….....Pg 2 to see the one that How Do We Move On has opened for us.” From COVID?........Pg 2 ~Alexander G. Bell Cybercrime Isn’t Rocket “Discover what the Science; It’s Actually customer wants. Rather Boring…….Pg 3 Deliver plus one.” 234 N Broadway Ste 2, What Is A Firewall? ~Ken Blanchard And Really Why Do We Pennsville, NJ 08070 “Those who enjoy Need It?..................Pg 3 responsibility usually 5 Lightning Cable get it. Those who mere877-540-6789 Tips……………….Pg 4 ly like exercising auGive us a call before www.microent.net thority usually lose it.” you're infected!.......Pg 4 ~Malcom Forbes
The 4th of July, or Independence day, has only been a federal holiday since in 1941. But, celebrations began in the 18th century to commemorate the birth of American independence.
Historically. On July 2nd, 1776 the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence with the presentation of a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence.
Festivities for this great holiday historically included fireworks, parades, concerts and close family gatherings. However, if you are interested in taking in a large celebration this 4th of July, be sure to plan ahead. Verify through social media, a phone call, or local websites if your favorite events are still on. Many larger venues are cancelled this year due to the necessity for social distancing.
For 2020. There are still plenty of ways to celebrate. Some families are coming together (Continued on page 3)
microTECH Times
July 2020
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reduce your monthly expenses significantly.
4. Take on a new lease to rejuvenate your business. Regardless of the pandemic, many business owners have failing or outdated equipment that must be replaced. We are seeing companies enter into equipment leases to spread out the financial obligation for their new hardware and software. This option allows you to bundle your entire project into one low monthly payment.
5. VPN’s are the best defense! A VPN or virtual private network connection is ultimately the best way to keep your company information and communications safe from a far. This type of connection gives you a secure remote path to your data and allows you to take advantage of the security that your organization already has in place. Anyone trying to intercept information sent or received through a VPN connection would not be able to read any of the data communicated due to the high level of encryption.
6. Use an anti-virus solution.
program will give you the security you need to keep hackers and thieves at bay. Anti-virus companies work tirelessly to keep their databases updated so you can rest assured your computers are protected. Be sure to update your anti-virus program regularly on any computer you’re using for work so you don’t miss important protection against new threats.
7. Keep up your IT management. This may be the single most critical component to ensure your operations are running smoothly. Regardless of where your staff is working, your network needs attention 24/7 to stay online and available. Talk with your IT provider to make sure you have viable backups and ongoing monitoring. Updates from vendors and patch releases can be critical in this new landscape of remote work.
Worried you may be missing something? Give us a call today. We will conduct a full review of your network and present you with a list of suggestions to help. Micro Enterprises LLC 877-540 -6789
A good up-to-date anti-virus protection
In a letter to his father, Alexander Graham Bell made this prediction in 1876, before the first telephone was ever sold. Alexander Grahm Bell would have been laughed at in 1876 "The day is coming for thinking his talking mawhen (telephone) chine would be commonwires will be laid onto place, but by the late 1880s it houses just like water was common enough to make one businessman take action. or gas. Friends will
converse with each other without leaving their homes."
Almon Strowger was so angry. He was an undertaker
in Kansas City, Kansas, and his business was beginning to 1876 prediction flounder. He thought it might have something to do with his rival's wife, who was an operator at the local telephone exchange.
~ Alexander Grahm Bell
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When people called for an undertaker, or even asked for him directly,
Strowger believed his calls were sent to the competition. He was forced into a period of creative thinking. Strowger wanted to rid Kansas City, and the world, of telephone operators.
By 1891 he had patented a crude but effective automatic exchange system. His system was never installed in Kansas City, but his vision ultimately did eliminate the need for operator connections, assuring callers of more privacy and faster service.
Necessity may be the mother of invention, but pesky problems are apt to bring great solutions too. COVID is our operator error moment. Just like Alexander Grahm Bell, we are all learning to adjust to a new way of doing things in order to invent new ways to proceed with business.
Today we know every member of the workforce is extremely valuable because when we went home in March, everything started to fall apart.
March changed everything. The stock market was the first to fall along with retirement savings and incomes in general. Businesses struggles to convert their companies to an all online platform in a rush.
The end is nigh. We are seeing some relief with restrictions being lifted and businesses slowly reopening their doors. So, what do we do now?
Recommendations. Harvard Business Review recommends that we test all of our works to ensure they are all feeling well, certify returning workers that were ill, and maintain social distancing guidelines as a new norm.
Tweak your physical environment to accommodate. Create a work environment to ensure your employees can stay safe and healthy while they do their jobs. Evaluate and adjust open office spaces to allow workers the room they need to stay healthy and conduct business over the phone or Internet with clients whenever possible.
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to share a backyard movie, game night, or barbecue. Other popular activities include camping, bike riding, or even a nature walk. Many state parts are opening their doors and some beaches are now accepting visitors as well.
Social distancing is changing the game. We are all making our best efforts to be considerate of others and stay healthy. Social distancing and good hygiene are always welcome ways to keep infections at bay. When you settle on your celebration this year, keep these safety tips in mind:
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Wash your hands often, especially if you are eating.
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Observe the 6ft apart rule whenever possible.
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Encourage friends and family in positive ways as well
Happy 4th of July! No matter where you land to celebrate, we wish you a very happy and safe 4th of July. Whether you stay home, visit with friends and family or take time to explore nature, enjoy the day!
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Cybercrime has gone mainstream, according to research by Cambridge University's Cybercrime Centre, and it has become a real snooze fest.
Cybercrime seems to attract a certain type of brainy rebel, looking for loot in the wild world of the Internet. At least that is the way cybercriminals have been portrayed. But the reality is much, much different.
Maintaining a network of connected computers designed to perform nefarious tasks is not only hard work, but really boring. That's mainly because cybercrime has become a service, one that bad people can actually hire to do bad things. And if people are hiring you for a service, and if you have competition in the same evil area, you have to give good customer service. You need to collect money and deal with customer's technical questions, all while fending off the cops and fighting wars with other criminals.
Who’s going to do the grunt work? Another thing you have to do is find people who know enough to do the lowlevel technical work. But, these people
July 2020
are in short supply and in a legal job, your low-level techie would be making more money. That all means costs are high, work is hard with little reward in the thrill of it, while income isn't that great.
Might as well be legit. In fact, the business of running computer crime is nearly the same as legitimate system administrative work. The difference is most cybercrime services are exposed to law enforcement. One former cybercriminal quoted in the Cambridge paper said:
"And after doing [it] for almost a year, I lost all motivation, and really didn't care anymore. So I just left and went on with life. It wasn't challenging enough at all. Creating a (cybercrime network) is easy. Providing the power to run it is the tricky part. And when you have to put all your effort, all your attention...When you have to sit in front of a computer screen and scan, filter, then filter again over 30 amps per 4 hours it gets annoying."
A firewall for computers is much like a physical firewall used to keep fires from spreading from one section to another. It is a barrier of protection that helps keep destructive forces away from your computer or network.
A firewall is generally a piece of hardware implemented to help keep a network safe. Basically, a firewall filters incoming and outgoing traffic on your network by analyzing the information and determining if it is risky for your company based on preset rules. These rules keep threats like viruses, Trojans, malware and spyware on the Internet from seeping into your internal network. Good firewall protection programs will also notify you of possible intrusions or suspicious traffic.
There are firewalls for individual computers, routers, even your entire network. If you have any questions about firewall protection or if you would like an assessment of your current network security, give us a call today! We will review your firewall protection and network security for loop holes and hang ups to ensure your company is properly protected. Then you will receive a report of our findings and recommendations to help you protect your business during these uncertain times.
microTECH Times
July 2020
“We make all of your computer problems go away without adding additional full-time I.T. staff!” Ask about our fixed price service agreements — Computer support at a flat monthly fee you can budget for, just like payroll!
5 Lightning Cable Tips: Why Don't They Last? How annoying is it to plug in your
2. Make sure the cable isn't bent, kinked or strained in any way. All the
phone and discover that, once again, the lightning cable doesn't work. Constantly replacing these things can get expensive, not to mention inconvenient. Then, when you do shop for a new one you have a choice between an Apple cable ($29) and a non-Apple cable ($15).
tiny wires inside the cable itself are fragile and can break rendering the lightening cable absolutely useless.
Are Apple cables that much better? Yes and no. Good lightning cables are MFI certified. Bad lightning cables, without certification, may never work. In a ZDNet test, of cables priced under $10, they found that 15 percent of the 27 cheap cables tested never worked right out of the box. The cables were easily damaged from being bent and twisted and the connectors fell off easily. Five of those cables had USB connectors that didn't fit.
3. Keep the plug pins away from liquids. Liquids can cause corrosion on the exposed lightning pins and may even damage your device if they are wet.
4. Avoid high temperatures and direct sunlight. Excessively high temperatures form open flames or even the sun in a hot car can break down the physical structure of your charger causing it to malfunction.
5. Keep your charging cable and block off the ground. When cables are kicked, stepped on or thrown they can become
Recommendations. Of the cables on the market, good alterna- damaged as well. Keep your cables away from small children and tives to the more expensive Apple cables come from Amazon, Anker, Monoprice and Nomad, according to zdnet.com. You can keep your cords working properly by following this advice from 9to5mac.com. Look it up for more great tips.
1. Grasp the hard plastic plug jacket to disconnect. Never yank on the cord to remove it from the power block. This can damage the connection between the jacket and the cable.
pet. Don’t leave them lying around.
Take care of your charging cables and use them properly. Always take your time plugging in your charge to ensure it is fitting correctly, treat it with care and store it safely when you’re not using it. Observe these simple tips to keep your lightening cable running for as long as possible.
Give us a call before you’re
234 N Broadway Ste 2, Pennsville, NJ 08070 877-540-6789 www.microent.net
INFECTED!
Working from home can be a struggle. How can you keep your network safe with your staff accessing things from so many places? Give us a call. We can help to ensure your company stays safe with a secure remote access solution. We will start with a full review your network and implement a new solution in just a few short weeks. Call today for your Network Security Audit and we will assess your remote access too.
Micro Enterprises LLC ● 877-540 -6789