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Most of us are heavily reliant on our phones. So when your iPhone is low on battery and there’s no outlet in sight, it can be a stressful situation. Thankfully, there are some settings you can adjust that can help you squeeze a few more hours out of your battery. Here are five to consider. […]

01 Mar, 2016 / by Complete Technology Resources / in iPhone category

2015Mar1_iPhone_BMost of us are heavily reliant on our phones. So when your iPhone is low on battery and there’s no outlet in sight, it can be a stressful situation. Thankfully, there are some settings you can adjust that can help you squeeze a few more hours out of your battery. Here are five to consider.

Activate Low Power Mode

Perhaps the easiest way to save iPhone battery life, Low Power Mode can be activated with a single tap. When switched on, it automatically adjusts several settings to extend the life of your battery: it reduces the brightness of your screen and the amount of battery power your apps are using, disables the automatic fetching of new email, and it powers off the display more quickly.

To activate Low Power Mode, press Settings>Battery and then tap Low Power Mode so that the green light is on.

Lower the screen brightness

The brighter your iPhone screen, the more battery it drains. And really, there isn’t much of a need to have an excessively bright screen because in most instances (being outside in the sunshine excluded) you can easily see everything on the screen at a lower brightness level.

To adjust the brightness of your iPhone, flick the Control Center tab upward from the bottom of your screen. There you’ll see a horizontal line with a circle in the middle and a sun symbol to the side of both ends. Move the circle left or right to adjust the brightness.

Alternatively, you can adjust your iPhone’s brightness in Settings>Display & Brightness. On this screen you also can turn off Auto-Brightness, which automatically adjusts the brightness of your phone. When you turn this setting off, you’ll be certain that your phone is not wasting any excessive battery by automatically adjusting brightness on its own.

Switch off wi-fi

As much as you love using the wi-fi on your phone, it is a proven battery life killer. The funny thing is, the degree it drains battery life varies by location. For instance, if you’re at home (where iPhone battery life is less of a problem to begin with), wi-fi will use less battery. But when you’re out and about, your phone is often searching for a wi-fi signal to connect to, and this drains battery. So if you can hold off on your mobile browsing and email till you get home, your phone will stay powered on quite a bit longer.

Switch off cellular data

Like wi-fi, cellular data can also eat up battery quickly - especially if you’re in an area where there’s no cellular coverage. When this happens, your phone begins to search non-stop for a signal, and guess what this uses? You guessed it - battery. So if you’re short on battery and don’t need it, turn off your cellular data function. Doing this can easily provide an extra hour or two of additional battery life.

Activate Airplane mode

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and this is exactly when you need Airplane mode. If you’re down to 20ish percent battery life and need your phone to last for a few hours longer, then Airplane mode may just be your savior. By switching it on, your phone will shut down all wireless activity, including cellular, Bluetooth and wi-fi. Doing this is obviously not ideal, but if you have little battery life and want your phone available in case of emergencies, this is your best option (next to switching it off). Once in Airplane mode, you can turn on individual wireless functions, such as Bluetooth or wi-fi, individually while staying in Airplane mode.

To switch on Airplane mode, you can do so from the Control Center screen or by going to Settings and then clicking on Airplane mode.

Any other options?

If you must have your cake and eat it too, there’s an alternative choice that provides an extra battery bump with the ability to use wi-fi, keep your screen bright, and use your iPhone without adjusting any settings. The answer is to buy a power supply, also known as power bank, which you’ve likely seen for sale at your local Best Buy or on Amazon. These delightful battery saviors are continually shrinking in size, with some even as small as lipstick, so it’s no longer a hassle to carry them around. You can simply slide it into your pocket and use when needed.

If you’re looking for more ways to get the most out of your iPhone or are looking to service your Apple technology, feel free to shoot us a message. We’re happy to help in any way possible.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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The time to increase cyber situational awareness and establish better security strategies has never been more opportune. Since 2015, the number of attacks on the financial services sector has increased and shows no signs of letting up. Whether it be extortion or credential-stealing malware, different tactics are utilized to target desired areas. To optimize safety, […]

29 Feb, 2016 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Security category

2015Feb29_Security_BThe time to increase cyber situational awareness and establish better security strategies has never been more opportune. Since 2015, the number of attacks on the financial services sector has increased and shows no signs of letting up. Whether it be extortion or credential-stealing malware, different tactics are utilized to target desired areas. To optimize safety, security professionals should get up-to-date with the latest treats. Here are seven to look out for:

Extortion

The cyber criminal Armada Collective gained notoriety for being the first to utilize distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. This occurs when multiple systems flood a targeted system to temporarily or completely disrupt service. They evolved the idea further and started to extort Bitcoins from victims who were initially notified of their vulnerability. If they didn’t comply with the ransom demands of the criminals, they would flood their systems until the victim's network would shut down completely.

Social media attacks

This involved criminals using fake profiles to gather information for social engineering purposes. Fortunately, both Facebook and Twitter began to proactively monitoring for suspicious activity and started notifying users if they had been targeted by the end of 2015. However, you should still have your guard up when someone you don’t know, or even a friend or colleague, starts asking you suspicious questions.

Spear phishing

Phishers thrive off familiarity. They send out emails that seem to come from a business or someone that you know asking for credit card/bank account numbers. In 2015, phishers went to the next level and began whaling. This normally involved spoofing executives’ emails (often CEO’s) to dupe the finance departments to transfer large sums of money to fraudulent accounts.

Point-of-sale malware

POS malware is written to steal customer payment (especially credit card) data from retail checkout systems. They are a type of memory scraper that operates by instantly detecting unencrypted type 2 credit card data and is then sent to the attacker’s computer to be sold on underground sites.

ATM malware

GreenDispenser is an ATM-specific malware that infects ATM’s and allows criminals to extract large sums of money while avoiding detection. Recently reverse ATM attacks have also emerged, this is when compromised POS terminals and money mules to reverse transactions after money being withdrawn or sent to another bank account.

Credential theft

Dridex, a well known credential-stealing software, is a multifunctional malware package that leverages obfuscated macros in Microsoft Office and extensible markup language files to infect systems. The goal is to infect computers, steal credentials, and obtain money from victims’ bank accounts. It operates primarily as a banking Trojan where it is generally distributed through phishing email messages.

Other sophisticated threats

Various TTP’s can be combined to extracted data on a bigger scale. Targeting multiple geographies and sectors at once, this method normally involves an organized crime syndicate or someone with a highly sophisticated setup. For example, the group Carbanak primarily targeted financial institutions by infiltrating internal networks and installing software that would drain ATM’s of cash.

The creation of defensive measures requires extensive knowledge of the lurking threats and our team of experts is up-to-date on the latest security information. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us to find out more about TTP’s and other weapons in the hacker’s toolbox.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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Whether it’s instant coffee, a quick commute or fast food, in today’s world, speed matters. And when it comes to websites, this principle could not be more true. 21st century Internet surfers expect a site to load in at least three, if not two seconds. So how does your WordPress site measure up? If you’re […]

27 Feb, 2016 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Uncategorized category

2016Feb25_Web_BWhether it’s instant coffee, a quick commute or fast food, in today’s world, speed matters. And when it comes to websites, this principle could not be more true. 21st century Internet surfers expect a site to load in at least three, if not two seconds. So how does your WordPress site measure up? If you’re looking for ways to increase your site’s speed, here are some tips that can help.

Keep WordPress and plugins up-to-date

The Internet is constantly evolving. And if you want to keep up with it, you need to keep your site and plugins up-to-date. While you may already know that updating WordPress and plugins will keep your website secure, you may not know that doing this also increases your site’s speed. So if you want a fast site, install those updates as soon as they become available.

Choose a host wisely

Your host can make or break your website. A key reason for this is that website speed and uptime varies widely between them. So before you select your host, do some research on the various options out there.

Also, while your first impulse may be to choose shared hosting because of its low cost, be aware that it’s also going to be your slowest option in terms of speed because many websites are all relying on the same server for bandwidth. For many SMBs, however, using a dedicated server is simply not an option because it’s expensive. An alternative in the middle price and performance range is a Virtual Private Server (VPS). This acts like a dedicated server in terms of functionality, but still technically uses a shared server. Regardless, using a VPS will give you a boost in speed over typical shared hosting.

Keep your site lean

The leaner your site is, the faster its speed will be. So to create a lean site, be mindful of these four aspects:
  1. Theme - it can be tempting to choose a theme that has a seemingly limitless amount of design options. While the promise of a versatile theme can spark the imagination, actually implementing one can come back to haunt you in terms of speed. When a theme has a ton of features on offer, the amount of code to produce those features can bog down your site. So to ensure you avoid this scenario, test the theme demos to see how long it takes for them to load. If it’s more than a few seconds, it’s probably best to avoid it.
  2. Design - similar to theme, design elements also have the ability to dramatically slow down the speed of your site. Simple sites are faster, so think carefully about what ads, images and extras to use.
  3. Plugins - not all plugins are created equal; some run fast and others slow. So how can you tell one from the other? While it may sound like a bit of an oxymoron, there’s actually a plugin for that. The P3 Plugin Profiler will show the impact a plugin has on your site’s load time. Another plugin rule to follow is that less plugins equals more speed. So think twice before your next plugin installation spree.
  4. Images - bulky images can also slow down your site. And while many raw images are around 3,000 to 4,000 pixels wide, most featured images are 600-800 pixels wide. So to reduce image weight and gain a faster site, resize them to the exact size they’ll appear on your screen.

Mind your plugins

Yes, we just mentioned that you should get rid of plugins to speed up your site, but some specific plugins can actually have the opposite effect. A cache plugin, like W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache are two that can provide more speed. Another plugin that can help is Lazy Load. It speeds up your site by loading the elements at the top of the website first, where viewers are looking when they first visit your site. Before installing the Lazy Load plugin, check your Theme Options to see if you already have it.

Create redirects sparingly

If a page on your site needs to be redirected to another page, it can really slow down your site. So use 301 redirects as little as possible. And to ensure you aren’t using any without knowing it, use Redirect mapper or other tools that can help you find redirects you don’t need.

Implement some or all of the speed tips above and you’re sure to see a noticeable difference in the speed of your site. If you’d like more tips to optimize your website or need help with any of your web or IT needs, we are just a phone call away.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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When you first purchased Office 365, you were likely hyped about the productivity gains it can produce. But if your business has yet to realize them, you may be feeling a bit miffed or agitated that the service didn’t deliver on its promise. However, it’s wise to remember that in order to get the most […]

26 Feb, 2016 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Office, Office 365, Productivity, Security category

2016Feb24_Office365_BWhen you first purchased Office 365, you were likely hyped about the productivity gains it can produce. But if your business has yet to realize them, you may be feeling a bit miffed or agitated that the service didn’t deliver on its promise. However, it’s wise to remember that in order to get the most out of a service, regardless of what it is, you need to know how to utilize it properly. Here are a few ways your business can do that with Office 365.

Get all staff onboard

To maximize your company’s productivity on Office 365, every employee that uses a computer needs to utilize it. While this may sound easier said than done, you can encourage company-wide use by getting the leaders of your company to use it first. When your executives, managers and top employees are all using and promoting Office 365, it sets a good example that will help persuade all employees to fall in line.

Train employees

If your employees don’t know how to use Office 365, you will see little gains in productivity, and the cloud service becomes a wasted investment. This is why training is absolutely vital. Teach your staff all the ins and outs of the platform, so they can take full advantage of it.

One way to efficiently train your staff is to create or gather a series of short training videos, only a few minute in length. Shorter videos are easy to digest for your employees and help them retain the info. Best of all, they can be reviewed again and again, and used for all employees. This saves time for management, who is often responsible for employee training.

Utilize core tools

When you first implemented Office 365, what sold you on it? Likely it was the fact that it increases staff productivity by allowing them to work and collaborate from anywhere. So if you’re not yet utilizing the tools that enables them to do that, there’s no better time than now to get started.

Some of the core tools that enable you and your staff to become more productive and work from anywhere are OneDrive for Business (OD4B), SharePoint and Skype for Business. OD4B and SharePoint enable your staff to upload and save documents to a virtual drive, share that document with another group or user, and then edit it at the same time. This gives you and your employees the ability to access that document from anywhere, and essentially work from anywhere. Skype for Business also enhances productivity by creating a more flexible communication channel. Employees, colleagues and customers, can communicate easily wherever they may be in the world. From online meetings, to conference calls, video calls and instant messaging, you have a wealth of options for instant communication.

Don’t forget security

Not only can a security breach cost you money, but it can also destroy your employees productivity. While Office 365 already has security built in with Azure Active Directory, you should still be cautious of what files you add and share on the service. If you do upload files with sensitive company information to the platform, it’s wise to keep them under you or your executives direct control.

These four productivity tips should help your business make the most out of Office 365. If you’d like more ideas on how to better utilize the platform, make it more secure or need additional training, give us a call. We are happy to share our expertise for your maximum gain.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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