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Filling out web forms often seems like an unbearably monotonous obstacle that gets in the way of online shopping, booking a plane ticket, and doing other types of online registration. With many of today’s transactions done online, people have become accustomed to relying on their browsers’ autofill function to save time. But being able to […]

27 Jan, 2017 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Security category

2017January27_Security_BFilling out web forms often seems like an unbearably monotonous obstacle that gets in the way of online shopping, booking a plane ticket, and doing other types of online registration. With many of today’s transactions done online, people have become accustomed to relying on their browsers’ autofill function to save time. But being able to save time from manually filling in your information comes at a price, especially if you’re using Google Chrome, Safari and Apple’s mobile-only Opera.

How do they do it?

By concealing other fields in a sign-up form, users are tricked into thinking they only have to fill out a few fields. The trickery at work is that upon auto-sign up, other fields, which could include your billing address, phone number, credit card number, cvv (the 3-digit code used to validate credit card transactions), and other sensitive information, are auto-filled with the user none the wiser.

This sinister trick is nothing new, but since there hasn’t been any countermeasure since it was first discovered, the threat it poses is worth emphasizing. Finnish whitehat hacker Viljami Kuosmanen recently brought to light how users of Chrome and Safari are particularly vulnerable, and he even came up with a demonstration of how this phishing technique is perpetrated. The technique is so sneaky, it’s enough to make one give up online shopping forever.

Using plugins and programs such as password managers is also fraught with the security risk, as having access to such a utility empowers cyberthieves to do more than just obtain your credit card info; it opens them up to a great amount of personal details.

Preventing an autofill-related theft

So what can you do to avoid falling prey?

Using Mozilla Firefox is one of the easiest available solutions. As of today, Mozilla hasn’t devised a mechanism that affords its users the same convenience that Chrome and Safari users enjoy with autofill. When filling web forms on Firefox, users still have to manually pre-fill each data field due to a lack of a multi-box autofill functionality – a blessing in disguise, given the potential for victimization in autofill-enabled browsers.

Another quick fix is disabling the autofill feature on your Chrome, Safari and Opera (for Apple mobile devices) browsers. This would mean that when filling out web forms, you'd have to manually type responses for every field again, but at least you'd be more secure.

It’s not exactly the most sophisticated form of online data and identity theft, but complacency can result in being victimized by cyber swindlers. Take the first step in ensuring your systems’ safety by getting in touch with our security experts today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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Failure to understand your customers’ needs and wants could result in ill-informed marketing strategies. And when your company can’t satisfy their demands, they’ll likely turn to your competitors instead. To prevent this, deploying a customer relationship management (CRM) system can make a world of difference. Here’s a handful of reasons to make the switch. Grows […]

26 Jan, 2017 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Business Intelligence category

2017January26_Business_BFailure to understand your customers’ needs and wants could result in ill-informed marketing strategies. And when your company can’t satisfy their demands, they’ll likely turn to your competitors instead. To prevent this, deploying a customer relationship management (CRM) system can make a world of difference. Here’s a handful of reasons to make the switch.

Grows with your business The ol’ Rolodex may have been useful for managing a few clients, but you’re going to need a better solution if you plan to maintain relationships with hundreds, possibly thousands, more. CRM scales with your business, meaning it can handle larger data sets and more clients as you expand your sales operation.

Organizes your data CRM software acts as a central database for all your sales records and transactions. This means important customer information can be retrieved in just a few clicks rather than rifling through thousands of documents, sticky-notes, and disorganized cabinets. And since CRM is hosted in the cloud, sales data, customer interactions, and other actionable information are available for the entire company.

Improves customer service Your sales team could be the most persuasive individuals in the world, but this means nothing if they can’t recall anything about their clients and their preferences. When your sales staff follows up on leads or existing customers, CRM will automatically retrieve contact history, past purchases, and customer preferences from your client database and display them on a single page during the call.

From here, sales representatives, armed with detailed customer information, will be able to recommend products and services that meet the client’s needs. So instead of struggling through a sales call, marketing employees can focus on delivering a professional sales pitch.

Streamlines your sales funnel CRM comes equipped with workflow management functions, supporting your sales pipeline in a number of ways. For example, you can configure your CRM to send instant follow-up emails when a lead visits a particular product page. You can even use automation to track where certain leads are in the sales pipeline and delegate the task to one of your closers.

Analyzes sales data With real-time sales information, business managers can track marketing campaigns and adjust their strategy accordingly. For instance, you might notice that click-through-rates for promotional emails and company newsletters are higher during Tuesday afternoon rather than Friday night. Having this information can help you focus your marketing efforts and message to generate more leads.

In addition, you can use CRM to analyze customer calling activity, market demographics, lead conversion rates, and key performance indicators to help inform future business decisions.

Understanding your customers can put you several steps ahead of the competition. If you need to manage contacts, eliminate time-consuming procedures, and improve your sales performance, CRM is the perfect business solution.

Contact us today to find out whether CRM is the right fit for your business.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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“The first...of the new year,” is often a coveted title -- but not always. With a reputation as a hardware provider whose devices outshine its competitors in the field of cybersecurity, Apple certainly isn’t happy that “The first Apple malware of the new year,” was awarded so early on. We strongly believe in the safeguards […]

25 Jan, 2017 / by Complete Technology Resources / in category

“The first...of the new year,” is often a coveted title -- but not always. With a reputation as a hardware provider whose devices outshine its competitors in the field of cybersecurity, Apple certainly isn’t happy that “The first Apple malware of the new year,” was awarded so early on. We strongly believe in the safeguards installed on Mac computers, but that doesn't mean you can justify a lax stance on cybersecurity. T2017January25_Apple_Bake a closer look at this latest strain.

Where did it come from?

Dubbed ‘Fruitfly’ by the powers that be at Apple, it looks as though this relatively harmless malware has been hiding inside of OS X for several years. Fruitfly contains code that indicates it was adapted to move from a previous build of OS X to ‘Yosemite,’ which makes it at least three years old.

In fact, there are some lines of code from a library that hasn’t been used since 1998. It’s possible these were included to help hide Fruitfly, but experts have no idea how long it has been holed up inside the infected machines, or who created it.

What does it do?

So far, most of the instances of Fruitfly have been at biomedical research institutions. The administrators who discovered the malware explained that it seems to be written to grab screenshots and gain access to a computer’s webcam.

Considering the specific nature of its victims, and what it can accomplish, Fruitfly seems to be a targeted attack that won’t affect the majority of Mac users. However, Apple has yet to release a patch, and dealing with malware is not something to be put off for another day.

How should I proceed?

We’re always harping on the importance of network monitoring, and now we finally have proof that we are right. Fruitfly was first discovered by an administrator that noticed abnormal outbound network traffic from an individual workstation. Until Apple releases a patch, a better-safe-than-sorry solution is to contact your IT provider about any possible irregularities in your network traffic.

If you don’t have a managed IT services provider, this is the time to start considering one. Despite misconceptions, Apple devices need just as much care and attention as Microsoft and Linux PCs. And it’s not just security; if you want to optimize workstation performance, create a disaster recovery plan, or upgrade your database. Message today to get started.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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With Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy and a growing mobile workforce, business owners are looking for an agentless way to manage iOS devices, one that would be convenient and secure for both admins and employees. Thanks to G Suite’s latest feature, Basic Mobile Management, everyone can now work in peace. But that’s not all […]

24 Jan, 2017 / by Complete Technology Resources / in category

img-google-cloud-170px-op2With Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy and a growing mobile workforce, business owners are looking for an agentless way to manage iOS devices, one that would be convenient and secure for both admins and employees. Thanks to G Suite’s latest feature, Basic Mobile Management, everyone can now work in peace. But that’s not all Google has in stored for its users, as four more updates have been introduced as well. So what are the latest features that G Suite has to offer?

Basic Mobile Management

G Suite’s Basic Mobile Management offers an agentless way to manage iOS devices by allowing admins to mandate basic security on those devices without requiring users to install mobile device management profiles. Admins no longer need to set up an Apple Push Certificate and renew it regularly.

What’s more, admins can now enforce a screen lock, wipe corporate accounts, and view, search and manage their device inventory easily. Should your organization require additional restrictions, mobile audit or application management on iOS devices, you can ensure those settings are adequately achieved using the Advanced Mobile Management option.

Explore

Available in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Explore gives you insights, design tools and research recommendations that allow you to easily cite findings by inserting citations as footnotes with the click of a button. You can choose between MLA, APA, and Chicago style formats, too.

Iterative calculation

Iterative calculation is the latest feature in Google Sheets (File >Spreadsheet settings > Calculation > Iterative calculation). This feature allows you to set the maximum number of times a calculation with a circular reference can take place. You can specify a convergence threshold which will stop the calculations when results from successive calculations differ by less than that threshold value, even if the maximum number of calculations has yet to be reached. It sure sounds like a mouthful, but for anyone working with spreadsheets, this is a much needed development.

Sheets Android UI

Ever feel annoyed by the language and menu search of Google Sheets in your Android device? Endure no more, as the app UI has been updated with right-to-left language settings to read and navigate. Searching the menus in Sheets on the web like in Docs and Slides can now be done, too.

Gmail messages

Bounced messages and message headers are now easier to read and understand. When your mail has problems being delivered, the bounce message now features a more user-friendly text as well as translations into your language (if the language has been set on the account). The original message will still be available below the bounce message.

Message headers, on the other hand, will be shown in a table with an easy-to-read format. Message Id, SPF and DKIM status will be right in plain view. Links to download the actual original message and the ability to copy to clipboard are now available, too. The original message header can be found below the table.

Stay tuned for more updates from Google and other cloud solutions that will help enhance productivity for your small business. If you have any questions about G Suite or would like to know about other cloud solutions that can help transform the way you work, just give us a call today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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