August 2019

630.850.9039 Continued pg.2 We love this stuff! We are committed to helping businesses use technology to run their organization successfully and profitably. Your Image Here What’s New This monthly publication provided courtesy of Catherine Wendt, President of Syscon Inc. August 2019 If you haven’t had a chance to get away this summer, it’s time to plan a staycation, or a 3-day weekend getaway. Enjoy these long, warm days while you can! Several clients have started the process of replacing their Windows 7 computers. Some are doing a few at a time, others are doing the whole group all at once! Either way, it’s time to work on these replacements. We anticipate issues with inventory, which will translate into higher prices as we get closer to the end of the year. We’re in the middle of an office refresh; new paint, carpet and flooring, a ‘nook’ area, and some new chairs! - Catherine Wendt What is standing between your business’s data and hackers a world away? What’s your plan when your on-site server fails? When you skimp on technology and IT solutions for your business, the answers to these two questions are simple: 1) There is nothing standing between your business’s sensitive data and people who want to take advantage of that data; and 2) There is no plan. It happens way too often. Businesses cheap out on certain aspects of their technology to save a few bucks up-front. You may even know someone who has done just this. They jump at the chance to outfit their office with a huge monitor and a PC with top specs (even though they don’t need it) and then they decide that IT security isn’t a priority. They aren’t willing to pull out the credit card for a security solution because they don’t want to deal with a monthly or yearly cost. But skimping on security can cost them dearly in time, money, resources, and clients. When it comes to investing in IT, here are three things you never want to cheap out on. SECURITY. Far too many businesses – from small to large – underinvest in IT security. We touch on this topic a lot because we see it a lot. These are business owners and managers who fall into the mindset of “It won’t happen to me.” This is a dangerous line of thinking. For small businesses, a data breach can be devastating. Not only is data compromised and potentially copied or stolen, but your clients will also immediately question whether or not they should trust you. There’s a good chance they end up taking their business elsewhere – and they may even sue you. When IT security isn’t a priority and you invest in the cheapest option available, it’s like asking hackers to let themselves in. One study by the security firm Imperva 3 IT Investments You Should NEVER Skimp On -- 1 of 4 - All Things Tech August 2019 (continued from page 1) found that over 50% of all Internet traffic is made by bots. Many of these bots are looking for security holes. They test websites and networks, looking for a way in. If they find their way in, they can do some serious damage. Investing in solid IT security – with an experienced team of IT specialists behind that security – can prevent that damage from ever happening in the first place. It’s not only about protecting your business assets, but also protecting your clients and giving them another reason why they should trust you. BACKUPS. You keep all of your data on -site with no backups. It’s all stored in one central location and that’s it. This is a recipe for disaster if you get hacked, but it can be an even bigger disaster if a hard drive or server fails. Suddenly, you find yourself unable to access client information, invoices, phone numbers – you name it. Having a backup on-site or in the cloud means everything you do has an extra layer of protection. A backup gives you the ability to restore your data should the worstcase scenario occur. It’s even better to go a step further and have a backup for the backup. Have an on-site solution with a cloud-based component. A copy to a 4TB hard drive is better than nothing, but completely insufficient if your data was compromised and you just copied the compromised data to the backup! Of course, you also need a system in place to make sure data is being regularly and accurately updated. Another mistake businesses make is buying a backup or backup services, but not making the best use out of it. For example, they simply never bother to set it up. Or it is set up but isn’t configured correctly and isn’t backing up data as intended – or is backing up data too infrequently to be useful. UPDATES. How old is your technology? Think about the hardware you’re running – and the software on that hardware. Letting your technology fall behind the times can spell trouble. Not only are you opening yourself up to security vulnerabilities, but you may also be operating on technology that’s no longer supported by the developers. If the developers are no longer publishing updates or supporting the software, this is a huge security red flag that you need to update. On top of that, should you or an employee need to troubleshoot a piece of unsupported software, you may find yourself going up against walls. There might be no one to call, and if a Google search doesn’t help, you may be out of luck. The potential headaches don’t end there. If you’re trying to run brand-new software on old hardware, chances are you’re going to run into compatibility issues. That wonderful piece of software might not work, or work the way you expected it to, all because you didn’t want to update your old hardware. It’s not always fun to reach into your pocketbook to invest in good IT security, cloud backup storage or new hardware, but when you cut corners and cheap out, you will end up paying for it later, one way or another. When that bill comes, it’s going to be a lot bigger than if you had committed to those IT investments in the first place. Cathy and Larry Sightings The Paradise Valley Chamber Consortium performed four of Larry’s pieces from our Quiet Times series written 30 years ago! The 8 horns, and the clarinets with classical guitar were excellent; we even had the environmental sounds. Thank you Donald, Sue, and the PVCC! ‘Do the right thing. It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a day to lose it’ - Rosie on the House 630.850.9039 The title of this book is definitely intriguing, but what really got me to buy it was listening to Ed Stetzer at the C12 event in Georgia. He is an excellent speaker, passionate about statistics, and on a mission to help us ‘bring our best when the world is at its worst.’ It’s amazing what people will say in an email or an online discussion; things they would never say in person. With few if any facts, people chime in with their ‘righteous’ anger or opinion with venom! Mr. Stetzer walks through the stats of our changing cultural labels, then moves to some ‘Outrageous Lies and Enduring Truths’ about engaging each other and ‘them’ through social media. Then you get to the ‘Outrageous Alternatives to Outrage’ section of the book. How careful are you about what voices you allow to speak into your world? What if we used social media to improve others’ lives? How about this: ‘It is okay to disagree’; it’s not whether we disagree, but how do we shape the way we disagree? Excellent and Highly Recommended! - CMW Christians in the Age of Outrage by Ed Stetzer “A copy to a 4TB hard drive is better than nothing, but completely insufficient...” -- 2 of 4 - Shiny New Gadget Of The Month: People are constantly looking for creative ways to express themselves, document their daily lives, share their adventures with their loved ones, and immortalize the most precious memories… Nowadays, it’s not so easy to stand out from the crowd, but there’s finally one assured way to do it – and we call it DroneX Pro! DroneX Pro was created with simplicity in mind so that everyone could use it. There’s no need for heavy, bulky devices anymore – DroneX Pro’s well-thought-out and ultra-compact design allows you to carry it wherever you go since it can easily fit in your pocket! Despite its size and portability, DroneX Pro provides you with the most valuable features of highquality drones and turns the process of taking pictures into an incredibly fun experience! Microsoft Scam Mike got a robo call at the office. The message said it was from ‘Microsoft’ and we were entitled to a refund for a computer we purchased months ago. All we had to do was call this 886 number. Because they have people who are really good at getting sensitive information and they’re successful; don’t be tricked! Microsoft is not going to call you about a computer you bought or anything else for that matter. Why do they try this? If you get a call like this, hang up and move on with your day. If you’re at all worried, give us a call and let’s talk it through, but do NOT call or respond in any way. - CMW Voice Mail Scam Through Email Just this week, I got two voice mail messages in my email, what’s referred to as ‘wave’ files that you can listen to. The first one got me to open the email. It said the message was sent by my audio message system, and it had the date the message was received. I clicked on the attachment to listen to the message. At the next screen, it said that due to the sensitive nature of the content, I had to enter my password— absolutely NOT! I closed the screen and forwarded the message, with a big ‘Caution’ added, to the techs for them to review. Mike did a little research for me and shared with all of us what the messages look like, and where the email address they come from through our voice mail system (thanks Mike!). I got a second one later in the week. This one said it was from my V_Mail system; I deleted it right away. Bottom line: If you’re being asked to enter your credentials, user name or password, from a link in an email, stop immediately! If you’re not sure, give us a call.—CMW G Suite Data Accidentally Deleted There’s an article on The Register website about a startup firm who accidentally deleted the their G Suite account. They contacted Google right away and asked that the account be restored. Three days later (!) nothing had been done and they had lost all contact with their clients and users, so they escalated the issue. So now, it’s a law suit; is it really ‘deleted,’ or can it be recovered? - Thomas Claburn Chris Voss the former FBI Hostage negotiator is presenting at the Global Leadership Summit August 8th and 9th. There are remote sites to attend, if you’re interested. We LOVE his book and wish him well at this event! All Things Tech August 2019 630.850.9039 Drone X Pro From the Techs -- 3 of 4 - All Things Tech August 2019 Construction Corner Cleanup Your Data or Write a Check! Years ago, every November, our clients’ offices would have bankers boxes ordered and ready. It was time to clear out the old files and make room for a new year! Several clients even had storage space in the shop that was filled with boxes. Every few years they’d pull out the oldest boxes and figure out what to shred. No one had to send out reminders to clean out the drawers or shop; it was easy and obvious. When you couldn’t put anything else in the drawers or in the attic, it was time to buy new cabinets, or get rid of the old stuff. Believe it or not, the same ‘cleanup’ is still true, it’s just electronic! We have clients with 20+ years’ worth of job plans, pictures, contracts and similar documents on their server, long past warranty dates or retention rules from the CPA. Clients with years and years of email history is another example. Some people cleanup their InBox, but the Send folder can have many years’ worth of data. Do you clean out the Junk folder? Depending on how you delete your email, you may have a very full Delete folder that needs attention. All of these electronic files and email history take up space. You may not see bankers boxes stacked in the shop, but the computer drives are full of all this data, taking up server space, and space on your workstations/laptops. ‘So what?’ you might say. Well, if you hit 85% drive space usage on a computer, and you don’t clean up to free up space, you’re now looking at buying more drives or larger drives and the cost of labor to set all of that up. Also, you need more backup space, so you might incur more costs. Is your server in the cloud so there’s no hardware to buy? That’s great, but when more drive space is added, your monthly costs will go up, as well. Here are a couple of things to put in place to cleanup the electronic files and free up some space:  Choose a time of year to go through file folders on the server. Yearend is often a busy time for the office, so choose a slower time or season and block the dates. Order pizza or bring in some cookies for fun.  If a file or folder is old but you’re not sure it should be deleted, move it to an external hard drive to get it off the server. Be sure to label the outside of these drives with the date and a list of what’s been saved on it, then lock it up in a safe place.  Clean out your email boxes! You probably stay on top of your InBox, so dig into the Junk folder, Deleted files, and the Sent items. What about the ‘tree’ of folders?  If you use S100C, run the Tune-Up with the Database Admin tool. You get Exclusive Access once a month anyway, so run the Tune-up. Caution: There are files, folders, and other things on the server that need to stay there. Don’t delete anything other than data you know and recognize. Call for help with the rest. —CMW Collecting Time From the Field Just Got Exciting! Sick of spending hours entering time from the field? Need better accountability from the field? You won’t find a better, fully integrated, field time collection solution than ours because we wrote it to do what our clients told us they needed! Interested? Join us Thursday, August 22nd, 1:00pm Central Time. 630.850.9039 This month’s trivia question: Which of the following is a “text‐only” web browser? a) Internet Explorer b) Firefox c) Netscape Navigator d) Lynx Congratulations to last month’s Trivia Contest winner, Krissy Gonzalez with Kole Construction, IL! Krissy’s name was drawn from the ϐishbowl for last month’s correctly answered Question: If you think your computer has a virus, a good ϐirst step in solving the problem would be to…? d) Run a virus scan Who Wants To Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card? To enter: Go to www.Syscon‐inc.com/Trivia and type in your answer. All correct answers will be put into a ϐishbowl and we’ll randomly draw the winner. The Winner will be contacted shortly after the deadline and will be announced in next month’s newsletter. Deadline: August 20, 2019 -- 4 of 4 -