For most small-business owners, processing email takes up a significant portion of the day. If you use Gmail, you’re already working with a powerful platform with various productivity-enhancing features. But what if you could streamline the process even further while ensuring each message is dealt with appropriately? The following tips will do the trick.

Undo Send

We’ve all had an email or two we wish we could take back. Gmail has a neat feature that gives you a short period of time to recall a mistakenly sent message. Simply click the Undo link that appears to the right of the "Your message has been sent" notification.

Canned Responses

Dubbed as “email for the truly lazy,” Canned Responses is a new feature that allows you to save time and reuse an email that you designate as a Canned Response. Similar to an email template, it saves copious amounts of time since you won’t have to retype the same responses over and over again. It comes in handy for businesses that send plenty of routine emails. To do this, go to Settings, open the Advanced tab, and enable Canned Responses (Templates).

Send large attachments with Google Drive

With Gmail, users can easily send attachments up to 25 MB. But say you have a huge zip file for a photo shoot that a client wants to review — you’re going to need more space. If you use Google Drive with your Google account, you can send larger files in Gmail.

Copy the large file to your Google Drive, then click Compose in Gmail and type your message. When you’re ready to attach the large file, click the Google Drive icon (next to the emoji icon that looks like a smiling face). Insert the files you want to attach and send your message.

Turn on Priority Inbox

Priority Inbox organizes your messages by their importance using machine learning. You’ll be able to divide your inbox into five sections, where the messages will be displayed in the following order:

1. Important and unread messages
2. Starred messages
3. [Customizable section]
4. [Customizable section]
5. Everything else

To enable Priority Inbox, hover your mouse over the Inbox button in the upper left corner of the screen until a dropdown arrow appears. Click on it, and choose Priority Inbox.

Back up your messages

If you ever need to back up or migrate your Gmail messages, Gmvault can help. It’s an open source solution that can back up your entire Gmail directory or just a handful of messages. The email data is then available whenever you need to restore or recreate your Gmail folders. You can also use it to migrate messages from one account to another.

Enable advanced settings

Configuring Gmail's Advanced Settings is an excellent way to increase email efficiency. Some of these features include Multiple Inboxes, Preview Pane, and custom keyboard shortcuts. Access them by going to Settings and clicking on the Advanced tab.

Spending the right amount of time with emails while managing other crucial business areas is a balancing act many business owners find difficult. If you have questions or need further assistance regarding Gmail or IT in general, feel free to contact us.

The post Six Gmail tips your business needs appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

As bring your own device (BYOD) policies become common practice for companies today, business owners must keep in mind the possible cybersecurity implications of connecting more devices to the company network. If your employees are using Android devices, here are the top five security threats they need to be aware of as well as how to steer clear from them.

Unsafe devices

Sometimes, the device itself might not be safe due to faulty production or configuration. In fact, Avast recently found hundreds of Android devices that were infected out of the box.This means that the infection was not caused by users, but the malware was installed via apps somewhere along the sales and delivery process.

Malicious apps

Although Google employs strict security measures when it comes to allowing apps into the Play Store, some developers find a way to hide malicious code in their programs and still have them approved.

Simple Call Recorder, for example, tricked users into downloading an additional app, which purported to be an Adobe Flash Player update. Believe it or not, Simple Call Recorder lasted for a year on the Google Play Store and had been downloaded over 5,000 times before it was taken down.

Information leakage from useful apps

Many applications are installed for legitimate uses. But don’t let that fool you, as these apps can be used to extract confidential information such as contact information from your mobile device.

Timehop, a popular app that retrieves old photos and posts from social media accounts, recently suffered a data breach that affected 21 million accounts. Compromised information included names, email addresses, and phone numbers. The attack was due to cybercriminals tapping into the company’s cloud computing account using an administrator’s sign-in credentials.

Banking malware

Most forms of banking malware involve creating a fake login window that mimics one from a reputable institution. It could be a fake website or app that users type their username and password into, only for that information to be sent to a hacker.

According to Security Intelligence, Google recently removed 29 apps from the Google Play Store after nearly 30,000 users accidentally downloaded banking malware. The victims were tricked by personalized phishing forms based on the apps they use.

While the programs were attributed to different developers, researchers discovered common code within them, implying that they were all created by the same threat group. The malware enabled attackers to send and receive text messages, impersonate software from victims’ financial institutions, and download additional apps.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a type of malware that makes data on a device inaccessible and demands a payment to unlock it. In 2017, WannaCry spread like wildfire and wreaked havoc on the global healthcare industry. Ransomware continues to be a cyberciminal’s weapon of choice and according to Malwarebytes, 35% of small- to medium-sized businesses have experienced a ransomware attack in the past year.

If you think ransomware is bad, ransomworms are even worse. Basically, they are ransomware programs that spread themselves across a local network, eliminating the need for human error.
All this sounds horrific, but the worst is yet to come if you don’t act fast. Having said that, here are some security best practices that will help keep your Android devices secure:

• Set up a lockscreen passcode
• Monitor mobile device access and use
• Patch mobile apps and operating systems quickly
• Forbid unapproved third-party application stores
• Control physical access to devices
• Conduct regulatory compliance assessments
• Implement an incident response plan for lost or stolen mobile devices

While it’s easy to turn a blind eye toward cyberthreats, the question is are you willing to take that chance? If you’re looking for an advanced security solution to keep your Android device safe, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help.

The post Android mobile security threats today appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

A new version of Google Chrome will be launched in December featuring a money-saving function that will benefit millions of users. Google Chrome is already the world’s most used browser, and this feature can make it even more popular. Here’s how the new feature will work.

The money-saving warning

The Google Chrome update aims to protect users from websites with “insufficient mobile subscription information.” These are online businesses that offer subscription services, but don’t provide users with enough billing information, either due to poor website design or a deliberate attempt to deceive.

To curb this, Chrome will show a warning page that says “The page ahead may try to charge you money” and offers options to proceed or go back to the previous page. Some users may know that they’ll incur charges when they hit “proceed” but may not be aware whether the charges will be one-time or recurring. The new Chrome warning will serve as a reminder for this.

How will it benefit users?

The Chrome warning’s main benefit will be removing surprise charges. Many users don’t always know what they’re agreeing to when they click a link, and being reminded that they’re about to spend some money is definitely advantageous.

In fact, some merchants (e.g., mobile gaming companies) require users to input their mobile number without specifying that doing so entails paying for a subscription service, much less indicating the amount being paid.

A recent study shows that more than 50% of internet users browse sites using a mobile device, with this number expected to increase in the next few years. Considering that not all websites are optimized for many types of mobile devices, this update is certainly a welcome one.

In addition, Google recently reported that millions of Chrome users may be tricked into paying for site services that have “insufficient mobile subscription information.” According to the tech company, billing information should be obvious. The new warning page will be integrated into those sites with unclear mobile billing features.

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of asking a merchant for a refund for products and services you didn’t intend to purchase to begin with, this new feature will be a tremendous help. Whether you want protections like this on your mobile devices, laptop, or desktop, our IT experts can offer money-saving IT tips, tricks, and recommendations. Give us a call today.

The post Warning on upcoming Google Chrome update appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

A new version of Google Chrome will be launched in December featuring a money-saving function that will benefit millions of users. Google Chrome is already the world’s most used browser, and this feature can make it even more popular. Here’s how the new feature will work.

The money-saving warning

The Google Chrome update aims to protect users from websites with “insufficient mobile subscription information.” These are online businesses that offer subscription services, but don’t provide users with enough billing information, either due to poor website design or a deliberate attempt to deceive.

To curb this, Chrome will show a warning page that says “The page ahead may try to charge you money” and offers options to proceed or go back to the previous page. Some users may know that they’ll incur charges when they hit “proceed” but may not be aware whether the charges will be one-time or recurring. The new Chrome warning will serve as a reminder for this.

How will it benefit users?

The Chrome warning’s main benefit will be removing surprise charges. Many users don’t always know what they’re agreeing to when they click a link, and being reminded that they’re about to spend some money is definitely advantageous.

In fact, some merchants (e.g., mobile gaming companies) require users to input their mobile number without specifying that doing so entails paying for a subscription service, much less indicating the amount being paid.

A recent study shows that more than 50% of internet users browse sites using a mobile device, with this number expected to increase in the next few years. Considering that not all websites are optimized for many types of mobile devices, this update is certainly a welcome one.

In addition, Google recently reported that millions of Chrome users may be tricked into paying for site services that have “insufficient mobile subscription information.” According to the tech company, billing information should be obvious. The new warning page will be integrated into those sites with unclear mobile billing features.

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of asking a merchant for a refund for products and services you didn’t intend to purchase to begin with, this new feature will be a tremendous help. Whether you want protections like this on your mobile devices, laptop, or desktop, our IT experts can offer money-saving IT tips, tricks, and recommendations. Give us a call today.

The post Warning on upcoming Google Chrome update appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..