Tech Talk – October 2018
A Note from the President
October is the spookiest month of the year, ending on Halloween! On Halloween, the popular saying said by the ghosts, mummies, skeletons (or baseball player, princess or any costume for that matter) is “trick-or-treat,” and a piece of candy sends the trick-or-treaters on their way. Not so scary when you think about it.
Cyber security on the other hand is as scary as it gets. October is also National Cyber Security Awareness Month, an effort to help businesses and others stay safe and secure online. Unfortunately in the cyber security world, giving a piece of candy won’t simply send someone looking for something on their way. The best protection in the cyber security world is being aware of your actions, utilizing best practices when it comes to managing your email, managing your network, and managing your users.
Working with a trusted advisor in ensuring that your business is protected in the ever changing cyber security world is best practice #1, and LMS is that trusted advisor for you and your business. Give us a call to discuss any concerns that you have as it relates to protecting your business, and we can go through the various levels of cyber security solutions available to you, that won’t break your budget.
LMS will work to ensure that not even a piece of candy will be needed to send unwanted cyber-attackers on their way, as we will make sure that they don’t even make it to your front door.
Happy Halloween!!
Scott Shatzkamer
President
Larry’s Law
by Larry Schulman, CEO
Are we really getting smarter? How YouTube is destroying us.
Once upon a time we were all pretty smart. We learned a skill, got capable and knowledgeable in some field, and built our value and life around those core points. Outside of that we learned a little bit about lots of things, enough to change a flat, replace a fuse, smack the side of a TV to get it to work, and cook an egg.
Real work in a specific hobby gave us extra horsepower and our friends valued it. I might have known what the best camera was, and how to take a better picture, and you might have known how to start a car and how to tell if ones engine was running rough. We all learned our core occupation skills, a bit of hobbyist know how, and paid everyone else for help. We also learned how to wait for answers.
How to secure your passwords
used with permission from Norton by Symantec
Let’s face facts: it’s easy to forget passwords. People often use simple words, such as a pet’s name, or easy-to-remember dates such as a wedding anniversary. A hacker could try your name, children’s names, birthdates and pets’ names as passwords to get access to your computer. When they get lucky, your ID, privacy and financial security are all up for grabs.
The significance of employing secure passwords is subsequently more important than ever. Hackers are hungry for passwords, as they have substantial monetary value.
Free credit freezes are here
used with permission from FTC.gov
by Andrew Smith & Gail Hillebrand
Free credit freezes and year-long fraud alerts are here, starting September 21st, thanks to a new federal law. Here’s what you should know:
Free credit freezes
Security freezes, also known as credit freezes, restrict access to your credit file, making it harder for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. Starting September 21, 2018, you can freeze and unfreeze your credit file for free. You also can get a free freeze for your children who are under 16. And if you are someone’s guardian, conservator or have a valid power of attorney, you can get a free freeze for that person, too…
Smart speakers in every home? How IoT is taking over
used with the permission of http://thenetwork.cisco.com
by Stephanie Chan
New findings shine a light on how devices are becoming necessity for homes.
A new report from Adobe says almost half of all consumer homes in the United States will own a smart speaker by the end of 2018. This whopping finding is a part of the company’s “State of Voice Assistants” report, which also provides stats like what consumers are using their speakers for (70 percent ask for music, and 64 percent ask about the weather). While one-third of those surveyed said they already owned a speaker like Google Home, Amazon’s Alexa, or Apple’s HomePod, another 16 percent said they would buy one by the end of the year. The report finds that 23 percent of smart speaker owners would buy a speaker as a gift this holiday season.