MSPNetworks Blog

You might have noticed that some of your younger workers are leaving your business much earlier than you might expect them to. This could be because of a phenomenon called “shift shock,” which examines employee engagement and satisfaction. Let’s consider how shift shock could potentially harm your business.

It is important to keep modern computers clean, and laptops are no exception. However, a laptop's different form factor makes cleaning it much different from cleaning a traditional desktop computer.

There are few technology solutions that have been as transformative and important for businesses as email. Unfortunately, however, it’s remarkably easy for a hacker to gain access to an email account to cause all kinds of chaos for a business. Let’s consider ways you can protect your business’ email accounts and, by extension, the rest of your organization’s infrastructure.

Use Strong Passwords

Your employees should always use strong passwords whenever possible, and they should consist of upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Furthermore, they should be on the longer side and updated regularly, avoiding commonly-guessed dates like birthdays, anniversaries, or other information that might be found on social media.

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication

You shouldn’t rely on even the most complex passwords on their own. Instead, you can add an additional layer of security through the use of multi-factor authentication methods. These consist of codes sent to mobile devices or emails, as well as biometric tools. They are great in the event a hacker has guessed a password, as MFA will keep them locked out without the second credential.

Train Your Team on Phishing Awareness

Even educated users can fall victim to phishing attacks, which makes it all the more important for those who aren’t educated to get with the program. Teach your employees what to look for when they suspect that there is something wrong, and encourage them to check senders, review message content for spelling and grammar errors, and avoid attachments or links when there is any doubt. In other words, teach them that skepticism is critical to ensuring that your business doesn’t fall victim to phishing attacks.

Utilize Email Encryption

Businesses need encryption to keep their email safe, particularly where sensitive information is concerned. Without encryption for messages and attachments, emails could be intercepted and read by unauthorized parties, leading to hefty compliance and regulatory fines.

Update and Patch Your Systems

Your email system needs to be patched and updated regularly to ensure that it is protected from the latest threats. In this way, it’s no different from any other application your business uses. Proactive maintenance should be applied to guarantee it operates smoothly.

These tasks are important to ensure that your business can withstand the myriad of attacks that will strike your email system. Be ready today by contacting MSPNetworks at (516) 403-9001.

With the full power of Microsoft Excel at your disposal, you can accomplish a lot of great things and streamline your data management and analysis. However, it doesn’t take an Excel wizard to use today’s tip, which focuses on the Auto Filter feature built right into the program. Let’s look at how even this small feature can provide a lot of value for your business.

Why Use Auto Filter?

If you use Auto Filter, you can easily show or hide data in columns based on specific parameters. You can organize the content in each column alphabetically, for example, or you can show or hide values according to what you’re looking for. It’s helpful and easy to use, making it a high-value tool that can help you get more out of Excel without investing a lot of time or energy into learning how to use it.

How Can You Enable Auto Filter?

Enabling Auto Filter is easy; just go to the Data tab near the top of your screen and select the funnel-shaped icon labeled Filter. You’ll then see little drop-down arrows appear in each cell within the first row of your spreadsheet. This is a clear indicator that Auto Filter is now turned on and ready to be used.

The fun starts when you click on the arrow. A window will appear that shows what you can do with the filter. You can sort your columns alphabetically from A to Z or Z to A, by color of the text or cell, or by specific text parameters (for example, if you want to see specific values or omit others). It’s a wonderful little tool that can help you be much more efficient with your time during data analysis.

In this window, you’ll also see a scrolling window filled with individual values found in the identified column. If you click on the checkbox for each of these, you can either enable or disable it, thereby removing it temporarily from the spreadsheet so you can find what it is you’re truly looking for.

Before we leave you to your Excel fun, we want to share a quick differentiator between “sorting” your data and “filtering” your data, as they are two different things. Sorting your data will organize it in a specific way so you can read it more easily. Filtering data, however, will omit data that you don’t want to see so you can focus on what you’re really trying to find, see, or analyze. Using filters effectively can be incredibly helpful and empowering for any budding Excel user, and it can open the doors to more advanced use of the program.

We share technology tips like this all the time, so be sure to check back periodically for the latest and greatest tech tips!

We are always writing about how useful technology is, but it’s surprising how little even the most committed techie knows about the options that are available to them. In this week’s blog we decided to go through three features in the Windows OS that can be a big help. 

Built-in Dictation

One tip that not many people know about is the built-in dictation feature in the newer versions of the Windows operating system. All you need to do is type Windows key + H. This will open the dictation toolbar. This allows you to use speech to fill out any text field inside of windows.

Focus Assist

With so many distractions it's not a surprise that we keep getting interrupted from our work. Notifications are built-in to almost every app, and they can be a little much sometimes. Windows offers the Focus Assist feature that will work to keep you focused and on track. 

Simply go to Settings > System > Focus Assist.

Once open, you can configure the software to automatically turn on during certain times. In the Focus Assist settings you can fully customize the priority of the notifications so that important messages come through but that notification from Amazon about the tent you want to buy can be tabled for later. 

Use Multiple Desktops

One really neat feature that Microsoft has rolled out over the past few iterations of Windows is the multiple desktop feature. It allows users to separate whole projects from one another and allow them to move between them seamlessly. 

To access this feature you can right-click on the taskbar and go to Taskbar Settings. Once there you need to toggle on the Task view option. This will create a Task view icon just to the right of the start icon on the taskbar. Push it and you can create a whole new desktop environment (with its own background) to help keep your work organized.

Windows has long been one of the most important business tools and with Windows 10 and Windows 11, Microsoft has created operating systems filled with cool features and resources. If you want to learn more great tips and tricks, visit our blog again soon.

Computers allow businesses to do so much, but eventually a time comes to purchase new hardware. Thankfully, you can stave off this need pretty well by simply taking care of your existing technology. Here are some tips you can implement to make sure that your computer lasts as long as possible before it kicks the bucket.

#1 - Keep Your Hardware and Software Updated (All of It)

Some folks are using the same old tired technology that they were using a decade ago, and the reason they have been able to do so is because they take care of keeping all their hardware and software updated. Some users may have updated their computer from their old hard disk drive to a solid-state drive or added additional RAM, but for the most part, the big reason why their device is operationally sound is because they have kept updating software to keep up with the times. With the software as updated as possible, less strain is placed on the computing resources.

#2 - Keep Your Hardware Clean

It’s easy to think that buying a new computer will solve your problems when you don’t take care of your current technology, but know that you’ll just encounter the same problem when you don’t take care of the new technology, too. Computers are machines, after all, and they have a lot of intricate parts that require a clean environment. Naturally a computer will not work well if crumbs get in the keyboard or dust builds up inside, so make sure you take measures to periodically clean your PC so that it’s not a complete mess.

#3 - Buy Protection

Taking care of your computer’s physical wellbeing is incredibly important, especially for a laptop that is on the move all the time. Consider purchasing a nice padded carrying case that can keep your computer safe while in motion. For a desktop user, a surge protector is also a must, as it protects you from unexpected surges and provides even more utility thanks to the extra plugs. As for mobile devices, you have cases that can keep them dust and water-resistant.

#4 - Keep Your Antivirus Running

You should frequently run a virus scan on your device, even when you are away from it. There are countless issues that could occur with your device, and the best way to identify them is to run an antivirus scan on your device. With a centralized antivirus program on your network, you should be able to identify and remove malware on your endpoints.

#5 - Don’t Treat it Like a Light Switch

If you constantly turn your device on and off, you will run into problems with your components in the long term. While it might seem beneficial to save the electricity and conserve the battery life, ask yourself if it really saves so much that it is worth replacing your entire device in the near future. Naturally, the answer is no, so don’t treat your technology like it’s a light switch.

Hopefully you can put these tips into practice and preserve your technology a little bit longer. MSPNetworks can also aid in this effort with our managed IT solutions. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

It’s quite possible for employees to overwork themselves, even in a remote environment. Let’s take a look at some ways that you can minimize remote overwork for your employees, especially as the boundaries typically set in place by the morning commute are eroded and work/life balance blurs.

First Off: Yes, Overwork is an Issue

Countless issues and workplace challenges have bubbled to the surface in recent years, including others that are much more divisive, like wage inequality and racial imbalances. However, these issues are much greater and more difficult to address in this format, and overwork presents a different challenge to overcome.

Overwork is a very real issue that can impact your organization in several different ways. Employees can grow fatigued, anxious, and physically ill with symptoms like headaches, pain, and vision problems. Too much remote work can also impact interpersonal communications. Add in the emotional stress and pressure caused by the pandemic and you have many employees walking around like ticking time bombs. All of this can create the perfect storm for destroying even the best worker’s productivity and performance.

The question must be asked, what can we do to help reduce overwork?

How to Help Diminish Remote Overwork

You might not be able to visit each of your workers individually, but you can implement policies that can keep them from overworking themselves in general, and it all starts by thinking about things not in terms of remote work policies, but in-house and remote policies.

1. Support the Use of a Schedule

We are not talking about just setting up a schedule outlining work hours; we also mean that you should help them to establish a workday routine that is manageable. Be sure to emphasize the importance of starting and ending the workday at consistent and appropriate times, and try to reinforce this consistency whenever you can. This helps to prevent employee burnout and overwork.

2. Use Time Tracking Tools

Time-tracking tools can help your team and keep them from overworking themselves, as you can take a look at where all of their time is being spent at a glance. A visual reminder of where they are in their seemingly-endless pile of tasks can be immensely helpful. MSPNetworks can help you implement a time-tracking tool that will help your team stay on task and keep them from working themselves into the ground.

3. Encourage Your Team to Speak Up

Finally, you should empower your team to speak up if they feel their work requirements are becoming unreasonable. If they feel like they are overburdened or afraid to say no to more work, you need to know. Make sure they are comfortable coming to you about any concerns they might have so that you can address the issue at its roots without making it worse.

MSPNetworks can help your team implement the tools it needs to succeed. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Maintaining a standard of consistent productivity can be difficult. This is doubly true if there is constant distraction. For many workers, handling these distractions is work in itself. When trying to maximize productivity it is important to undertake actions that support that goal, and when there are a lot of consistent distractions, it is useful to have a baseline of knowledge on how to do just that. Let’s take a look at five solid tips to help you maintain productivity.

Plan Your Route

The first tip is one that many people don’t do because they would rather leave work at work. The truth is that you can still do that and be ready for what’s coming the next day. You can take some time at the end of your workday—or, if you don’t mind spending a little mental real estate when you get home—to plan out how you’d like the next day to go. Of course, in business it is often difficult to know exactly what you are going to have to deal with on any given day, but by preparing yourself for what you have to get done the day before, you can be ready to tackle any task before distractions can even become an issue. 

Put Your Phone Away

The truth is that notifications are some of the most distracting things; and, they seemingly never stop, unless you stop them. If you want to maximize your productivity, one of the best actions you can take is to turn off or silence notifications if you are able. In scheduling certain times to catch up on your correspondence, you don’t immediately react to every notification, most of which have nothing to do with your job anyhow. That push notification alerting you to what Aaron Judge said after the Yankees beat the Orioles the night before can certainly wait until after you have dug your teeth into work for a while. You’ll feel better getting things done and spend less time being sidetracked by things that aren’t going to help you to.

Don’t Overpromise

Many people work better on tighter deadlines, that is a proven fact, but what doesn’t help people is when they have too much to do that they can’t possibly get it done. Not only does the work that does get accomplished suffer, you may run into a situation where nothing gets done at all. People have a tendency to panic when there is simply too much to do, so if you can help it, don’t promise finished tasks that you know will be a stretch to get done that day.

Set Smaller Goals

To the same end, nothing is quite as satisfying for a worker than when something is produced that they can be proud of. In fact, it is roundly considered one of the main variables for a happy workplace culture. By setting smaller goals, with the larger tasks scheduled for peak productivity areas (such as first thing in the morning), workers will enjoy their time at work more and feel more accomplished.

Reward Yourself

In most modern workplaces, there have been big pushes toward employee satisfaction. This typically means that there are more fringe benefits to working for a company today. Take advantage of them. If you get to work and are productive early, take a break, get something to eat or drink, have a conversation with people that are in the same boat. If you are going to get the gratification of being a productive member of a team, you are going to have to stand back from your work a little bit and realize just how awesome you are doing. 

Productivity is the name of the game for every business, and the more you can do to be productive, avoid distractions, and keep a positive mindset at work, the better your professional life will be. What are your thoughts? Are there any other suggestions you can make to help you avoid distractions and get more out of your professional life? Leave them in the comments section below and check back soon for other tips on how to be your most productive.

Hopefully, you’re aware of how important cybersecurity is today—if not, make sure you come back to our blog often for more information on that. The Internet, for all its benefits, can easily be the source of serious threats. With today’s youth growing more connected, these threats can easily target them… making it all the more important to start teaching cybersecurity awareness and best practices early. 

Let’s examine the platform that Google has provided through its Be Internet Awesome initiative.

What Does “Be Internet Awesome” Mean?

Be Internet Awesome is designed to help educate kids about safe Internet browsing practices so they are, to quote the website, “prepared to make smart decisions.”  The idea is that, by teaching digital citizenship—a term that describes the use of technology in a responsible and effective way to empower oneself—today’s children will be ready to securely work, play, and live in what is sure to be an even more online world.

Frankly, this is a smart idea when you consider the struggles we all have with security nowadays. One of the biggest challenges that any cybersecurity initiative faces is that it feels like an added step (or in other words, an inconvenience) when it is actually an essential one. By framing what is really a person’s introduction to the Internet in terms of security, you change the paradigm by making security the default route to take.

Google has made an effort to do so by creating the Be Internet Awesome curriculum, in partnership with iKeepSafe, ConnectSafely, and the Family Online Safety Institute.

How Does “Be Internet Awesome” Work?

Be Internet Awesome provides what they call “The Internet Code of Awesome” that breaks down a few best practices in terms of Internet security… or, as the program puts it, “the fundamentals.” These fundamentals are as follows:

• Share with Care, which teaches children to think through what kind of things they are posting in terms of privacy and principle.
• Don’t Fall for Fake, which educates kids how to spot scam attempts and phishing lures.
• Secure Your Secrets, which goes over the password best practices that we’ve often preached.
• It’s Cool to Be Kind, which encourages a more positive Internet experience through the application of “treat others as you want to be treated.”
• When in Doubt, Talk It Out, which establishes that the adults in their life are there to help them work through things they may stumble across despite these practices.

These five tenets establish the behaviors that can lead to a safer Internet experience for life, and are consistently reinforced through the different tools and resources that Be Internet Awesome provides.

Interland

Kids—or, to be fair, people of all ages, really—react well to gamified content. Therefore, it makes sense that Google would choose to reinforce these lessons through gameplay. Interland is a quiz-style adventure that lets users progress through animated landscapes by correctly answering multiple choice questions, occasionally upping the ante with timed countdowns. Along the way, the user learns important vocabulary for any modern user and has important habits reinforced. Each “island,” once completed, provides a successful user with a PDF certificate available for download.

The entire experience requires no login, by the way, meaning that no progress is saved outside of the downloaded PDF. We argue that this is a good thing, as it makes each “island” infinitely repeatable until a lesson sticks—and still leaves it available as a refresher course.

Educational Resources

Be Internet Awesome also includes a downloadable curriculum for educators to follow, filled with activities and other resources to help reinforce the aforementioned fundamentals. According to the curriculum, it was created for use with kids in anywhere from second to sixth grade, but it also encourages educators to adjust the lessons to match any grade level. While definitely written for an educator by profession, even these can potentially be useful for the parent or guardian doing their best to instill positive online behaviors and habits.

Hopefully, we’ll see more efforts like Be Internet Awesome come about, as Internet security really is an important life skill. We encourage you to check it out and share it with your team and friends. It may be meant for kids, but some of the lessons in there certainly apply to business cybersecurity as well. The more people who are aware of the potential risks of the Internet, the better. Visit the website today at beinginternetawesome.withgoogle.com to see what it has to offer.

If you’d like some added assistance with your business’ cybersecurity right now, we can help with that as well. Give us a call at (516) 403-9001 to learn more about the security services we can provide.

Instant messaging can solve a lot of problems for small businesses, and it can make for a much more dynamic work environment compared to the passive one created by sending endless emails. However, this is only true if you are using instant messaging correctly. How does one go about doing that?

Establish a Usage Policy

Companies need to have a policy in place that governs the use of instant messaging. This is to protect both your company and your employees’ productivity. For example, a group chat for a department is fine, but only until it becomes a place chock-full of distractions that lead to wasted time.

Keep It Professional

Just like with email, you want to use salutations when sending instant messages. Start with something like “Hi Name,” rather than just throwing a question out there. It’s incredibly important to preserve this air of professionalism when you use instant messaging, as context can become a problem when you are not chatting with someone face-to-face.

Keep It Short, but Keep it Clear

The biggest benefit of instant messaging is the instantaneous nature of it, so don’t send long, drawn-out messages with lots of details. That’s what emails are for. If a response actually needs a long, detailed message, then perhaps you should just give the sender a call or meet with them in person. If the message is left unread while you are working out the answer, then it can be perceived as rude. All that said, you need to get your points across in a clear and concise manner, and instant messaging can help to answer questions and prevent communication gaps.

Respect the Status Message

Most instant messaging applications give users the ability to set a status message, meaning that if someone is Available, Away, In a Meeting, or Busy, they can set that in their status message. Always consider the status message when you contact someone. Not only is it respectful, but it also helps to make sure that your message is actually seen and responded to.

Try to Encourage In-Person Communication, Too

While instant messaging is a great tool, it is by no means a substitution for face-to-face conversation. You should encourage your employees to have in-person conversations whenever possible to avoid messages being taken out of context and to further offer clarity in particular situations. Furthermore, it’s just a good thing to have your employees familiar with each other. Humans are social creatures, after all.

Are you interested in implementing an instant messaging platform for your business? Reach out to us at (516) 403-9001 to get started today.

Have you ever booted up your computer at the start of the workday only to find it slow and sluggish? Sometimes this has to do with how many startup processes are occurring when your computer is just starting to wake up. You might be able to give it a little morning jumpstart by disabling certain startup processes or programs.

Before You Enable or Disable Processes...

First, a quick note about certain startup processes in Windows 10. If you don’t know what a startup process does, you absolutely should not mess with them. Furthermore, there is a solid chance that your IT department or provider has implemented specific startup programs or processes for your organization’s computers. When in doubt, always ask your trusted IT resource before disabling or enabling any startup processes.

Start Up Your Task Manager

The key to disabling startup processes is actually quite simple, and it’s a tool that you may already use every so often: the Task Manager. In retrospect, the name speaks for itself, doesn’t it? Open the Task Manager by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc. You can also find it by using good old Ctrl + Alt + Delete and selecting it from the list of options that appears.

The task manager won’t initially show you much, so go ahead and click on the More details arrow at the bottom of the manager. The window will then expand to show off all of the processes that are currently going on with your device. You can see at a glance that open processes are consuming a lot of your computer’s resources, like its CPU and memory.

If all of this goes a little over your head, don’t worry—the option we are looking for is in the top menu. When you click on Startup, you should see a list of programs that launch on startup. These programs are designated as Enabled or Disabled in the third column next to the program’s name and publisher. You might see programs like your antivirus solution, various Microsoft or Google products, your web browser, and other applications that you use on the regular here.

Enable or Disable Processes

To enable or disable any particular startup program or application, simply right-click on the option in the Status column and click Enable or Disable. It’s that easy. The next time you boot up your computer, you should notice a change in which applications run on startup. You might even notice a marked increase in how quickly the device boots up as a whole.

On the other hand, you might want to enable certain apps to run on startup to save you a little bit of time in the morning. We urge you to use caution with this, however, as you certainly don’t want to overburden your PC on startup.

Again, we want to emphasize that you should not mess with settings like these without getting the go-ahead from your trusted IT resource. If you just want Chrome or Skype to stop running on startup, on the other hand, you can most certainly do that yourself without incident. Just remember to ask first!

What are some other tips that you want to see us cover in the future? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss them.

As a business owner, we are sure that you have your fair share of day-to-day stressors. Oftentimes, these stressors can lead to the development of bad habits. When this happens, you might get the urge to correct the bad behavior and replace it with good, productive habits. That said, it’s easier said than done to build good habits, especially when you have so much else on your plate.

Still, building good habits can be paramount to developing yourself on both a personal and professional level, so it’s worth a shot to give it a try. Here are three tips for developing good habits that will actually stick with you for years to come.

Create a Schedule (and Stick to It)

If you don’t give yourself time to work on your new habit, it naturally will not become one. Schedule a little bit of time each and every day to work toward your new habit. We are sure you can carve out five minutes to floss or half an hour to read a book. You can also plug this into your calendar to give yourself notifications, if you are having trouble remembering.

You can start by easing your way into the goal by making it achievable. Even a little bit of progress is progress… in the beginning, at least. If you find that you are consistently hitting your deadlines/goals for this habit in the first week or so, you can try to expand it a little bit to offer more of a challenge. For example, if you want to write a little bit every day, maybe you start with 200 words, then gradually increase that amount over time. You can also get an accountability partner, or someone who can check in on your progress periodically. After all, it would be a shame to let them down, right?

Eliminate Resistance (or Add It)

Things that are easy to do are just that--easier to do. This means that, if you are trying to build a habit, doing so will be much easier if you make it easy to stick to. Let’s use someone who is trying to lose weight as an example. Keeping the freezer stocked with frozen vegetables will make healthy eating much easier than if it were stocked with pizza rolls or ice cream. For a more business-oriented example, let’s say you want to read more often. Keep an interesting book on your desk at work or your coffee table at home. Just having it out in the open will make you more likely to pick it up and read a bit.

On the other side of the coin, there is adding resistance, or making bad habits harder to stick to. To use the same example as above, you might simply keep sweets or other unhealthy foods out of the house; or, if you would like to keep some around, put them at the back of the cupboard where they are difficult to get to. For the reading example, you want to cut out other time-wasting activities. Put the television remote in a drawer or, if you are particularly bad about this, take the batteries out of it. This will make it much more difficult to actually participate in the bad behavior.

Reward Yourself for Sticking To It

While sticking to a habit that is good for you should be reward enough, let’s face it; some habits are not as attractive as others, despite being good for you. Going to the gym three times a week can be made more attractive if you give yourself a small reward for doing so. Reading a certain number of pages a week will be easier if you know that, after you are done, you can do something you enjoy afterward.

There is a fine line to walk here, though. You don’t want the rewards to turn into bad habits themselves. If you make the rewards too enticing, you might just skip the habit being built altogether and jump straight to the reward, which can be counterproductive to your goal of building a habit.

Bonus Tip: Try a 30 Day Challenge

If you aren’t confident in your ability to develop a habit in the long term, try committing to something more in the short-term. Try to stick to a habit for a minimum of 30 days and see how you do. Who knows? Maybe using the above tips, you will find that it’s not as hard as you think.

The important thing to remember is that true change takes time, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results from your efforts. What are some good habits that you want to build? Let us know in the comments below.

Like any email platform, Microsoft Outlook can easily become overwhelmed with messages and conversations—effectively making it counterproductive rather than an asset to you and your team. Let’s take a few moments to go over a simple way that you can use Outlook’s internal tools to make your messages easier to deal with.

Examining the Email Issue

We’ve all been there: staring down an inbox filled to bursting with messages. Mixed with the important ones are promotional messages, internal messages that you don’t need to know about right now, and all the ones that you’ve kept for future reference. This can make it very difficult to keep track of where to find these messages and the like.

Fortunately, Outlook has a feature that enables a user to automatically highlight certain messages based on certain conditions. That way, when scanning your inbox messages, they’ll stand out and be easier to find.

How to Highlight Messages

So, you have a message that you need to pay attention to. For the sake of our example, we’ll say it’s from your direct manager, the person you regularly report to.

• In Outlook, locate the View menu at the top of the window. Doing so will give you access to your View Settings. Click into them.
  
  
• From there, click into the Conditional Formatting option. You’ll see a list of preloaded options included with Outlook, along with buttons that say Add, Delete…, Move Up, and Move Down. Click Add.
  
  
• You’ll see a new rule added to the list of options called Untitled. Rename it to whatever works for your purposes.
  
  For this example, we’ll call it Manager.
  
  
• Click the button that says Condition… to establish when this rule comes into play. This can be based on a variety of options: whether a word or phrase is included in specific parts of the message, who it is from, the time it was sent, and even whether the message was directed to you specifically or to a larger group of recipients. Some of these can be disabled by unchecking the appropriate box or leaving the field blank.
  
  Let’s stick to simply specifying that these messages are ones sent directly to you, from your manager.
  
  
• You’ll be brought back to your list of rules in Conditional Formatting. With your Manager rule still selected, click the Font button.
  
  
• There, you can adjust the way messages that meet your conditions will appear in your inbox. You can change the font, the font style, its size, add strikeout or underline effects, and even change its color. In this example, we’ll simply say that the messages should be highlighted in red.
  
  
• Click OK once you’re satisfied, continuing to do so until all the dialogue boxes are resolved.

You should then see your changes reflected in your inbox. In our case, any messages coming from your manager should appear red in your inbox list, making them much easier to see. Rinse and repeat for any other messages you want to be able to pick out quickly from the group, and your emails should be far more manageable.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog for a reminder whenever we’ve posted something new, and for any more assistance with your business’ IT, reach out to MSPNetworks at (516) 403-9001!

The laptop is one of the great productivity tools in modern business. Their portability gives them immense value. There are some cons to using a laptop, however. One is the trackpad. While they have improved over the years, they are still not ideal, which is why you see many people who use a laptop for productivity bring along a wireless mouse. One of the biggest problems people run into is that they have a hard time with the click-and-drag feature on the trackpad and this makes working in certain programs maddening. Today, we have a tip to make this process much simpler. 

Disclaimer: You will have to change your settings for this tip, so if you don’t feel comfortable changing things inside your Windows OS, let your IT provider know and they will assist you.

ClickLock is a Great Tool for the Laptop User

ClickLock is a feature offered inside Windows that eliminates the frustration of the click-and-drag problems you have on your laptop, as it allows you to start and stop your drag option by simply pressing your left button a little longer.

It works like this:

• Hover your cursor over the window or item you are trying to move and press and hold the (left) touchpad button for a few seconds. This activates ClickLock.
• Once ClickLock is active, simply release the mouse button and move the cursor freely to where you want your window or item to go.
• Once it is positioned, press the (left) touchpad once again to confirm your drag selection.

You will immediately see the improvement. Like many options that don’t come by default, you have to activate it in your settings.

Activating ClickLock

To use ClickLock, you need to first navigate to your Control Panel, from your Start Menu:

• In the Control Panel, navigate to Hardware and Sound.
• There, find the Devices and Printers section and click the link to the Mouse section.
• In the Buttons tab, check the box labeled Turn on ClickLock, click Apply, and then Ok.

We hope this will help you be more productive and reduce your frustration when working on your laptop. For more great tips and tricks return to our blog soon.

I’m not sure we need to tell you how important passwords are: they are the front-line defense to most of the accounts you create. What is often overlooked is the strategy of how to use a password to successfully protect accounts and data. Today, we will discuss best practices   when creating and managing your passwords and how you are likely approaching your password strategy improperly. 

Creating Strong Passwords 

It’s true that passwords can be a pain to manage. Anyone who has been locked out of an account because they can’t remember their password knows this all too well. That’s why it is important to create passwords that are both easy to remember and that are secure enough to protect you. Cybercriminals have tools at their disposal that do a pretty good job of being able to crack passwords, so you need to keep that in mind when you are choosing yours. 

As you set out to create your passwords, you should keep the following two points of emphasis in mind. 

1. A hacker may try to brute force attack any password that cannot be guessed or cracked, rapidly trying each combination possible.
2. A password’s security and its resistance to brute force attacks are two different things.

Brute force attacks can really be devastating, but when you create your passwords, you have to keep in mind that any hacker with the will to brute force your computing network and left with the time to complete their hack, will likely find a way into your network. What you are doing when you are selecting a strong, memorable password is trying to make certain that the only way they are cracking your password is through brute force.

Typically we like to encourage that your passwords meet the following metrics:

• Are longer, typically over 16 characters
• Use a combination of numerals, letters (with upper and lower case characters), and symbols
• Don’t use privileged or personal information, or any information that can be tied to you through online searches
• No common words or numbers
• No consecutive letters or numbers

So How Do You Optimize Your Password’s Effectiveness?

With those practices, you will be pretty far along, but you also have to understand that the hackers’ tools are extremely powerful. That’s why on top of those suggestions, you will also want to add some complexity to your passwords. Studies have shown that about 41 percent of all passwords are composed exclusively of lowercase letters. If we have access to this information, it stands to reason that someone who makes a living breaking into networks and stealing data knows it as well. Therefore, along with adding symbols, varying cases, and numerals, one strategy is to use a passphrase of random words. 

The reason for this is that, with a password that looks like this “7i&3RkIn&4L1f3” the chances that you remember it if you use the account sparingly is pretty low. Besides, it is not that secure, as it is effectively a complex sentence. Remember, the hacker has to get your password completely correct to effectively gain access, so instead of trying to come up with intricate ways of typing statements that can be easily guessed, try taking three words that don’t have any natural connection, incorporating numbers and some varying capitalization, and padding either side with symbols.

A process like this makes the password more usable. It very likely won’t be guessed, is long enough to protect your account, is effective against the brute force attack, and will be easier for you to remember. 

Speaking of which, since you shouldn’t use the same password for multiple accounts, you will end up with dozens of passwords. Keeping them straight, especially over the long haul (as you will likely have to reset passwords from time to time), is difficult. That’s why we recommend using a password manager. Many people take advantage of the password saving feature inside their browser. This is effective, but we recommend using a third-party manager that features encryption. This tool will be the most secure and reliable; and, you won’t have to worry about remembering every password. 

At MSPNetworks, we consider cybersecurity one of the most important parts of a business’ IT strategy. Give us a call a (516) 403-9001 to see how we can help you keep your IT assets safe. 

Your business’ security largely depends on how secure the passwords are that keep your resources from being accessed without authorization. Despite this, many users—perhaps even you—frequently sacrifice sufficient security measures in favor of the simple and convenient route, cutting corners when coming up with their passwords. Let’s try and remedy this by reviewing a few practices that can help make a password more effective.

What Threats are There to Passwords?

A password can be undermined in one of two different ways, generally speaking:

Digging into your online life or resorting to trickery, a “bad actor” (as they are sometimes called) figures out your password or how they can fool you into handing it over. Alternatively, the bad actor might phish you or infect your computer to crack the password.

As a result, you need to figure out how to make your passwords effectively guess-proof, while still being able to recall them as you need them. These principles should ultimately pertain to any passwords associated with your business—including the ones your staff members rely on.

The Balance Between a Strong Password and a Memorable Password

Whether you’re designing a password policy for your company members to follow, or simply creating a new account of your own, there are two important considerations to keep in mind.

• If a hacker can’t guess/crack a password, they will likely resort to a brute force method—simply trying every combination possible until they eventually get a hit.
• The security of a password and its resilience against brute force attacks aren’t the same.

It is important that both of these aspects are taken into serious account as you come up with your passwords.

How to Optimize Your Password Security

There are a few widely accepted best practices when it comes to what makes a good password:

• It is sufficiently long, ideally stretching over 16 characters
• These characters include non-consecutive numbers, letters, and symbols
• The password contains no common words or numbers, private information, or any publicly accessible details

It is also important that your considerations involve the aforementioned tools that cybercriminals use to break password protections. This is where we must account for the complexity of your passwords.

Did you know that about 40 percent of passwords only contain lowercase letters? Well, cybercriminals certainly know, and will certainly try to save time by only trying lowercase letters in their initial brute force attacks. Even one extra variable can significantly increase the password’s security, making it harder and more time-consuming for the hacker, and possibly convincing them that the effort isn’t worth it.

However, you also need a password that is memorable enough for you to be able to use it. The most secure password in the world is no good to you if you can’t commit it to memory, to the letter (or number or symbol).

This has recently led to the idea that a password composed of a few random words, randomized further with alphanumeric substitution and capitalization, padded with repeating symbols on either side, is the most secure option.

Think about it—like we said, each variable makes the hacker’s job that much more challenging and can help slow down any automated attempts long enough for the hacker to abandon them.

With all this in mind, it makes sense to create passwords that ultimately look something like this:

====p33k,,,@ss0c!@t3d,,,p0ck3t====

Not only is this password effectively impossible to guess, but it also has plenty of characters and—while designed to be somewhat simple to memorize, is still plenty resistant to brute force methods. Just make sure you come up with your own, instead of copying this one.

Remembering These Passwords

Admittedly, a password like this is a lot to remember on its own, so the thought of remembering a different one for each account (in keeping with best practices) can be daunting for most. Fortunately, a password manager can simplify this considerably.

A password manager is basically just a piece of software that safely and securely stores your passwords away for you, accessible to you behind a single master password. That way, your passwords could be totally secure and unique without forcing you to remember them all.

From your passwords and access management to every other aspect of your business’ IT security and productivity, MSPNetworks is here to help. Learn more about what we can offer by calling (516) 403-9001 today.

The modern business has to deal with a lot of potential security problems. Today’s threat landscape is filled with people looking to prosper off of your misfortune. As a result, doing what you can to maintain the security of your network and data is essential. Today, we will discuss how maintaining your organizational cybersecurity doesn’t have to be costly or time consuming.The best way we’ve found to go about doing this is by highlighting a few key actions that you can take to keep your network secure and your data safe.

Use Strong Passwords

Like many of these quick tips, this one is a good practice regardless of where you are. Good password management is an extremely important part of the security process. To concoct a good password, you need to first make something that people or computer programs won’t guess. You can do that by using both lower- and upper-case letters, numbers, and symbols.

Another good practice is to create a passphrase of unlike words. This serves two purposes. First, it ensures that you can remember the password; and, secondly it is secure enough where no one can crack the password.

Finally, you will want to create a unique password for every online account and save them in an encrypted password manager. Doing so will not only protect your passwords, it sets up a system where you only have to remember one. 

For additional security, you will want to use two-factor authentication. This is a system that adds an additional layer of security to your online accounts. Once you enter a password into a password manager, you then will get an additional box where you will enter a code. This code can be sent through email or it can be generated through an authentication app. 

Only Use Secure Wi-Fi

The Wi-Fi inside your office should be secure, hidden, and encrypted. For those times when working in your office is impossible, the use of a virtual private network (VPN) can keep your uploads and downloads secure. Utilizing public Wi-Fi without a VPN is just asking for problems. 

Some VPNs are better than others. Typically, if your company uses a comprehensive network security suite for your office, it will come with VPN licenses that will be more than enough to protect data transmission when you are working on someone else’s Wi-Fi.

Avoid Unknown Links

Phishing is the number one way that hackers gain access to a network. This is because people click on links and download attachments that they have no business interacting with. Your account has likely been phished many times this year. Most are probably thwarted by your spam blocker, but it only takes one attack to grind productivity to a halt.

If we have one piece of advice, don’t enter personal or company information in an email or instant message unless you are very clear who is on the other end. The threats that line up against your integrated security are substantial ones. Phishing is the number one cause of identity theft and ransomware. Since it runs the entire gamut of negative results, ensuring that you are doing what you can to not be part of the problem is important. 

Cybersecurity can be difficult for a business, but an individual’s role in protecting business and personal networks isn’t. If you would like to learn more about IT security or how to effectively manage risks that come from phishing and other attacks, subscribe to our blog today.

In the business world, productivity is everything, which means that many will try to boost their productivity however they can. Many swear by multitasking, or the practice of juggling tasks to keep themselves fresh and productive. However, evidence shows they are mistaken. We’ll go into why, and offer a few more effective alternatives.

The Fallacy of Multitasking
Many people believe that multitasking is the art of working on two things simultaneously. You may even be one of these people. If so, I have some bad news for you: multitasking is a myth.

Seriously, it doesn’t exist. Let’s try a brief experiment. Start fiddling with something on your desk as you read this blog:

The human brain isn’t wired to work that way, no matter what you might believe. It isn’t that men or women are better at it, or younger people are more practiced at it… it just isn’t a thing, at least, not in the way a lot of people interpret it.

When you ask someone what multitasking is, they’ll probably summarize it as some variation of “doing multiple things at once.” The problem is, science has shown that the human brain literally doesn’t work that way - it is designed to commit to a singular cognitive task at a time. What is perceived as “multitasking” is simply the brain switching from one task to another.

One of the reasons we’re so inclined to defend our multitasking habits is because we appear to see so many examples of it in real life. After all, Billy Joel made an entire career out of singing and playing the piano at the same time, didn’t he? It also feels good to multitask, quite literally. As we “multitask,” we’re likely switching between many, bite-sized tasks. Between checking email, updating social media, planning where to go for lunch, and all the other easy decisions we make everyday, there’s a release of dopamine.

This hormone is the brain’s reward for a job well done… and it wants more.

Due to this, we are spurred to continue jumping from mini-task to mini-task, and we feel like we’re accomplishing a lot (when we really aren’t). This is why social media can be so addictive, and why so many of us compulsively check our emails.

Why This Doesn’t Work
There are assorted reasons that multitasking isn’t exactly good for our productivity, or even our physical well-being.

Multitasking isn’t actually any more productive.
In fact, your tasks can ultimately wind up taking longer.

Let’s say that you need to accomplish two tasks, A and B, which take 45 minutes and 90 minutes respectively, or 135 minutes, or 2 hours and 15 minutes in total. Now, consider how these tasks would break up if we multitasked and switched between each task every 15 minutes and 30 minutes, respectively.

You get to work on task A, and then B, and then A again, switching back and forth until each task is completed. Since multitasking doesn’t make you work any faster, you still take 135 minutes to complete both tasks. Strike one against multitasking.

Now, for strike two, let’s examine how these tasks would have progressed during that time. Doing these tasks one at a time would mean that A would be done in 45 minutes and B done 90 minutes after that, totaling 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Multitasking, on the other hand, changes things. If you switch between them the way we established above, by the time the 45 minute mark rolled around, you’d have only worked on task A for 15 minutes and B for 30, meaning that each would only be one-third done in the same amount of time it would take to complete one task if focusing on it exclusively. Continuing this pattern, instead of completing A in 45 minutes, you’d be done with it by minute 105, a full hour later than it would have been finished otherwise.

Multitasking stresses us out.
Switching our trains of thought so violently is exhausting, much like most anything violent tends to be. This is largely because switching tasks in such a fashion encourages the production of cortisol in the brain, otherwise known as the stress hormone. More specifically, cortisol is the stress hormone that lingers for extended periods of time in the body, as opposed to short-term hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine (which are what trigger the ‘fight or flight’ response). As a result, not only are we tiring out our brains, reducing our ability to handle stress, we are actively producing the hormone that produces it.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, that’s hardly the half of it:

Multitasking is actually bad for the brain.
Research has repeatedly shown that attempting to multitask could potentially be the source of assorted mental health issues, or at least have some correlation to them. For one, multitasking can greatly diminish cognitive abilities. One study demonstrated that multitasking dropped the IQ scores of adult subjects enough to bring them to the level of an eight-year-old, much like a sleepless night has been shown to do.

It gets worse - other studies have shown that there is an association between multitasking habits and a less dense area in the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex. This area is responsible for a few key human functions: empathy, as well as cognitive and emotional control capabilities. While the jury is still out on whether multitasking causes this damage, or those with the lack of brain density are simply more prone to multitask, neither is a good sign for the habit.

Furthermore, in addition to one’s intelligence quotient, one’s multitasking habits have also been shown to stunt one’s EQ as well, or their emotional intelligence. EQ covers key considerations in the office environment, including awareness of oneself and social relationships. Testing the EQ levels of over a million people, emotional intelligence training firm TalentSmart found that over 90% of industry performers have high EQs.

In short, multitasking actually makes our capacity to do quality work suffer, as our stamina, cognition, and memory are all affected. Without peeking, can you remember which musical artist was referenced earlier in this blog? If you can’t, is it possible you may have been multitasking?

The Difference
The reference, by the way, was to Billy Joel’s ability to sing and play piano at the same time. However, this isn’t multitasking in his case (or in many other cases). He has simply learned to sing and play the piano as a single skill, not to sing while he plays the piano… see the difference?

Fortunately, like any habit, multitasking can eventually be broken through the adoption of better, healthier habits. These habits include:

Avoiding Free Time: Or, in other words, resisting the urge to dive into another project while you’re waiting for a response on one you’re currently working on. This may feel like a squandered opportunity to be productive, but you need to remember the example we went over above: switching back and forth restricts progress from being made on either task in a timely fashion.

This is not to say, of course, that you should sit and wait until you get a response for hours on end.

Instead, you should take the moment to run through your project and evaluate where it stands. Is it set to accomplish what it is supposed to? Once you’ve spent some time doing that, you might consider moving on to something new, but only so long as you resolve to drop it the instant your original task can resume.

Communicate With Your Team: Let’s face it, the majority of your work distractions are going to come from others within your organization, or at least other business matters. Your productivity will require you to discourage and/or ignore these distractions. Whether you communicate to your team your intentions before you begin a task or simply put on a pair of headphones (music or white noise optional) to discourage interaction, make sure you communicate that you are unavailable at the given time.

Disconnect: On a related note, try minimizing the other distractions that may come in. Email, for all its benefits, is a notorious source of distractions in the office. The best approach is to silence your email notifications if at all possible, and schedule out set times to check your inbox. If someone really needs to contact you, they’ll find another way to do so. Your mobile device works the same way: the compulsion to peek at it can be considerable.

However, each time we do, there goes our focus. Unless you’re expecting a truly urgent call, power down your phone and keep it stashed away, out of sight. You may be surprised by how much can be accomplished without the interruptions or temptations.

Getting Organized: There’s a reason that people use to-do lists: they are effective. By mapping out your goals for the day and arranging them by priority, you will be able to accomplish more - especially if you schedule brief breaks periodically throughout the day. By remaining mindful throughout your process, you will be able to better focus on what you need to accomplish, rather than the distractions around you. These habits will help you instill a predisposition to monotasking, multitasking’s more effective cousin.

As its name suggests, monotasking is the full dedication of your time to a single task until no more progress can be made on it. Monotasking enables tasks to be completed more efficiently and effectively, ultimately bringing greater progress towards your goals.

However, just because you can’t multitask, doesn’t mean your technology can’t.

MSPNetworks can help you implement solutions with automation capabilities, giving your team less to worry about and less to take their focus away from their productivity. Call us at (516) 403-9001 to learn more.