TechNet Task Group Blog

With the 2020 U.S. Election under a month away, there has been a lot of concern that outside interests would try to influence the results. Microsoft has recently disrupted a huge coordinated hacking effort that had designs of altering the election infrastructure needed for a fair and secure election. Let’s take a look at the effort and Microsoft’s response in today’s blog.

Remote collaboration, especially online meetings, have recently surged in popularity amongst businesses. However, as this has happened, many new adopters have gotten the impression that they just can’t accomplish as much as they could otherwise. To help readjust this perspective, we wanted to share a few productivity tips to apply to your next remote (or even in-person) meeting.

One of the biggest questions that was routinely asked to IT administrators before the COVID-19 pandemic shifted everything was, “How can we use the Internet of Things to Improve Your Business?” The answer isn’t as simple as you might think. Today, we will look at what benefits the Internet of Things can present to you and whether or not they can make a difference for the average small business.

Shadow IT, despite its melodramatic name, is nothing to be trifled with. Shadow IT is the term given to rogue technology and software being installed in your business without being reviewed or approved by IT. It has always given in-house operations difficulties, and remote work has made it an even bigger problem than before.

Phishing attacks are a very common threat nowadays. Between the classic message from a supposed Nigerian Prince to a sudden and urgent email from the bank with attachment in tow, we’ve all seen our share of them. That’s the trick to stopping them—being able to spot them. Let’s go over five signals that a message may be a phishing attempt.

When you take a long look at cybersecurity, you need to understand that the main purpose of it is to protect people’s ideas, people’s identities, and people’s effort. It isn’t all about protecting money, even though that obviously is a consideration. This notion led us to a thought experiment that Gizmodo recently undertook: What would happen if all the data stored in the world was suddenly leaked, open for the world to see? We’ve put together some of the responses. 

A wireless network is one of the most useful technologies you have in your home or office. Oftentimes, however, it is set up quickly and will have a hard time broadcasting a signal to the corners of your office. Today, we will discuss ways to ensure that your business (or your home) has the coverage you need it to have, and how to get it if it doesn’t.

Today’s software solutions are hugely benefited by the collaborative capabilities that are now included in them, but this is not to say that there isn’t the potential for confusion as people make changes to documents. Some software lets you track these changes, which is particularly useful in particularly dense applications like Microsoft Excel.

When your business has computer problems, productivity tends to decline. Unfortunately, IT, for all its benefits, has to be constantly maintained. One of the best ways to maintain your technology, or fix issues when they arise, is to lean on an IT help desk. Let’s take a look at the ways an IT help desk can benefit your business.

While businesses have always needed to focus on their data security, the COVID-19 pandemic has only made this more of a challenge. Let’s go over why this is, and how many industries (especially the healthcare industry) have had to adjust as a result.

Security is always a business priority, and with so many business needs now fulfilled digitally, it is critical that cybersecurity has a strong presence in organizations big and small. Nowadays, collaboration solutions have also had even greater importance in the workplace, making tools like email completely essential. Unfortunately, this gives cybercriminals an increased opportunity to use it as a means of attack.

We tell every business owner we come into contact with the same thing: If you haven’t done so yet, you‘ll want to establish a data backup strategy. Some businesses are really small, some operate in industries where the cost of backing up data is seemingly prohibitive to the success of the business. To the people that operate those businesses, we repeat: If you haven’t done so yet, you‘ll want to establish a data backup strategy. Let’s examine why. 

Android has been around in one of its many forms for over a decade, and looking back, the changes that have been made over time is remarkable. Let’s go through each version to review some of the adjustments and improvements that each new version has introduced.

While Google Lens has flown under the radar for most Android users, it can be leveraged as a major productivity booster. Let’s go over a few of the capabilities that can be embraced after installing the application on your mobile device for this week’s tip.

Blockchain was all the rage for five years. You couldn’t talk about technology without someone bringing it up. At that point, it was listed as the remedy for all the world’s problems. Five years later, it’s not being mentioned quite as much, but it has been used to create some very useful products. Let’s take a look at what is going on with blockchain technology in 2020. 

Most homes and businesses use Wi-Fi of some sort. It is the most useful way to get the computing resources to computers and mobile devices without having to go through the headache of laying cables and dealing with data overages. What you may not know about your Wi-Fi network is that it can be set up in a way that can ensure that your most important Wi-Fi processes get the bandwidth they need. Let’s take a look at how partitioning your Wi-Fi can benefit your business.

Social media platforms have proven their worth as a communication tool and advertising platform… something that many political campaigns are embracing with an election looming. As a result, many people have found their feeds cluttered with campaign ads. The thing is, the ads aren’t always welcomed on a platform that many use to keep up with friends and family—even less so if the content doesn’t align to their political views.

It seemed that, not so long ago, everything was going to be associated in some way to blockchain and blockchain technology. All online transactions and data were going to use the blockchain for security. However, as 2020 has provided some very effective distractions from the thought of blockchain, it seems to have slipped from the public consciousness. Let’s look at how blockchain is still being used today to drive innovation as a quick reminder.

The good old days, the timeless oldies, there’s no school like the old school… A lot of us fondly look back on the simpler times, but technology typically pushes forward. In fact, if we look back at what we were collectively doing with computers back in the 80’s and 90’s, it’s practically embarrassing. Sure, the music and television shows of our formative years will never be topped, but less can be said for the technology. Unless you are a Boeing 747...

Smartphone users know how hot their devices can get, seemingly without reason, and how unnerving that can be. No wonder—these heat levels can damage the device itself. This means it is very important to try and control its temperature as best you can. We’ve put together some tips to help you keep your phone from overheating.