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Tech News from FlexITechs
| Dec. 16, 2014
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NOW IN OUR
11TH YEAR!
FlexITechs is now in its 11th year of serving Sussex County residents and businesses!
After two years as the computer services arm of our sister company, Sussex County Online, FlexITechs was formed to better define the computer services offered by owner Eric Magill.
We thank all of our customers who have made it possible for us reach our 10th anniversary! |
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10% Off Online Backup Services!
Dear (Contact First Name),
Thank you for your continued interest in FlexITechs. If you'd prefer not to receive our occasional email newsletters, use the "Unsubscribe" link above.
Also, be sure to:
Sincerely, Eric Magill, FlexITechs |
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New IT Resolutions for 2015
It's only mid-December, but since I won't be sending another email in 2014, I decided to establish my New Year's Resolutions now so you'll know what to expect from FlexITechs in 2015.
Besides the usual resolutions of eating healthier, exercising more, spending less time on the computer (hah!), finishing that marketing plan (and executing it), and the un-ending quest to be better organized, I have made a few very specific resolutions.
- Increasing my focus on protecting my clients from the many threats on the Internet
- Continuing my education on Mac and 'i' devices that my clients are adopting
- Helping my clients navigate the world of mobility with anytime / anywhere access in a secure manner
- And now that I've about run out of business cards, fix the FlexITechs logo so it's clear that's an 'I' in the middle and not another 'l'. It's "FlexITechs", not "FlexLTechs". My bad.
If you're inclined to include a techno-resolution among your New Year's resolutions, here are a few to consider:
Delete old user accounts
We all have old user accounts lingering out on the Internet that we rarely, if ever, use anymore. Those old accounts represent a potential security risk, especially if they utilize user names and passwords similar to your active accounts. Go through your records and rack your brain to remember those old accounts and then go delete them. Invest in a backup program Don't become victim to a crashed hard drive or ransomware that encrypts your files and causes you to lose precious photographs or important documents. Invest in a backup program that you can recover those files from, preferably an automated online backup program that gets your files safely off your property to protect against natural and man-made disasters.
Clean up your email
Go through your email and clean out your Inbox, Junk or Spam folders, and then empty your Deleted Items folder. This not only de-clutters your email program, but reduces the risk of accidentally activating a virus in a long-forgotten email on your machine.
That's it for the resolutions. To all of our customers who made our first 10 years a pleasant and special experience, Happy Holidays!
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First Mac Infection
We don't have many customers with Mac computers. Sure, we have plenty with iPads and iPhones, but few with Mac computers. That, along with some built-in security unique to Macs, explains why you don't hear much about them contracting viruses or infections.
But as the computer market share for Macs increases -- it hit an all-time high of 13.4 percent in the third quarter of this year for just the Mac computers -- hackers have begun to take notice.
And so it is that I've had my first encounter with an infected Mac.
It was a typical infection that popped up ads for fake PC cleaners and optimizers in the web browser when he clicked on a link. These rogue cleaners and optimizers have plagued Windows computers for some time now, but this is the first one I've seen on a Mac.
I couldn't remove the infection manually, so I searched for Mac anti-virus software and found a brand I was familiar with, Sophos. Sophos has a free Mac anti-virus for home users and within minutes, it found osx/vsearch-a, an infection obviously designed for Macs. Sophos quarantined the infection and the client was able to browse web pages without interruption.
Another issue, an inability to open links in AOL's webmail, was resolved, as well.
If you have a Mac and don't have virus protection, you can check
Click the green Get Started button, enter your name and email address, and download and install it.
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BizTech Talk -- Unified Threat Management
Unified Threat Management tools (UTMs for short) provide critical security advantages for small businesses over the traditional mix of desktop anti-virus and anti-malware software products and firewalls.
With hackers increasingly targeting smaller businesses because they know those companies can't afford dedicated security specialists, chief among the advantages is the ability to stop threats and attacks before they actually reach your servers, workstations and devices.
UTMs provide a bundle of security applications, such as anti-virus, anti-spam, web site filtering, firewall, application control, intrusion detection, a vpn, and end-point security, all managed from one interface.
This type of security will become even more important as businesses march toward anytime / anywhere access from laptops, mobile phones and tablets, including employees' own personal devices, which can be difficult to monitor and control because employees tend to use them as their personal devices as well as for business.
UTMs can help enforce your Acceptable Use Policies and meet regulatory requirements by providing logging of employee online activity, wireless protection for employees logging into public wireless networks, blocking unsafe and non-work web sites, spam blocking, and high-level reports that detail your staff's network usage.
To take advantage of technological advances and do so securely, contact us at 302-537-4198 to learn how UTMs can make that possible.
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We thank you for your business the past 10 years and hope we can continue to fulfill your technology needs in the future. If you have any questions about current technology issues, feel free to contact us at 537-4198.
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Sincerely,
Eric Magill
FlexITechs
Microsoft Small Business Specialist |
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10% Off Online Backup Services!
Now through Dec. 31, 2014, you can receive 10% off our automated online backup services to protect your critical business data or priceless personal photos or pricy music and movies from natural disasters, fires, theft and accidents. Includes monitoring to make sure the backups are working (many other backup services fail without warning).
| Offer Expires:
Dec. 31, 2014
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