Technology Advisor Blog

Keyboard Shortcuts – These are a few of my favorite things!

Keyboard shortcuts are one of the simplest ways to boost your productivity - yet they're often overlooked. These quick key combinations help you navigate, format, and multitask faster without ever taking your hands off the keyboard. Whether you're writing emails, managing files, or working in Microsoft 365, learning a few key shortcuts can save minutes every day and hours over time. It’s a small change with a big payoff!

Did you know that 28% of consumers have fallen victim to credit card fraud in the last year? With nearly a third of people affected, it’s no surprise that 37% report feeling anxious about their credit card accounts being compromised. Families and career-driven individuals are especially on edge, with Gen X and Millennials (40%) sharing equally high levels of concern.

Cybersecurity and AI have become inseparable forces that create immediate risks to local businesses, regardless of size. Small organizations are now prime targets for criminals who use artificial intelligence to automate attacks, making every business vulnerable.

Major corporate breaches grab headlines, yet the silent wave of cyber attacks on local companies goes unreported, leaving many business owners with a dangerous false sense of safety. Your organization needs basic protective steps that could prevent most attacks, along with cost-effective solutions to shield your business from financial losses and reputation damage. The stakes are high - companies that fall victim to these attacks often struggle to keep their doors open.

Large corporations have a Chief Executive Officer, a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Financial Office, a Chief Information Officer - and maybe some more "Chiefs" on the team.  Each plays a separate and vital role moving the business forward.   While smaller organizations can't afford to have so many full time employees at the top, there's no reason you can't benefit from the vital role the Chief Information Officer (CIO) can play in your organization - maybe just on a fractional or virtual basis.

The award winners were hand-selected by ScalePad's Sales and Success teams as leaders in the industry.

Cybersecurity is in the news just about every day!  The balance between cybersecurity and convenience is always tough, and sometimes cybersecurity can even get in the way.  

"I'm a small business.  Why would a ransomware gang be out to get me?"  This is a question we hear a lot working with local businesses.  Everyone sees the big cyber crime headlines in the news, most recently with Uber, and last year quite visibly with the Colonial Pipeline, but what many people don't realize is that half of these kinds of threats hit small businesses - the events just don't make national news.  Why are so many small businesses impacted when there are bigger targets out there?  It's Ransomware as a Service.  What's ransomware as a service? You’re likely familiar with software as a service (SaaS) but ransomware? What does that mean?

First, let’s do a quick review of what ransomware is. It's a type of malware that holds the victim’s files and folders for ransom.  This sounds like something out of a Tom Cruise movie, but basically a giant warning shows up on your screen with a ticking clock that says pay the ransom, or you won't ever access your files again.  Most typically, malware gets on your computer network through human error with someone inadvertently clicking on the wrong link or opening the wrong email attachment (like a fake resume).   The malware is deployed and encrypts network data, with a safe return of your data being promised when the ransom is paid. And with payments usually made through cryptocurrency, these crimes are can be committed anonymously.  Cybercrime is big business!

The "Ransomware as a Service" business model was developed for criminal purposes to make it even easier for criminals to conduct crimes. Ransomware requires little effort to deploy with potentially big payouts.  Criminals with little or no technical know-how can now blast out millions of emails to potential victims.  All they need is a few mouse clicks to make a lot of money.

Ransomware as a Service

This week we hosted another business leader in our Pandemic "Lunch and Learn" small business technology series.  Frank Correira, Senior Channel Manager at LogMeIn spoke to the Ekaru business community about "unified communications" - Voice / Video / Text.