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How to Use Multi-factor Authentication

IT Tech Tips /

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW7FhDMmzNY Multi-factor authentication is a very secure process of keeping your sensitive data private. In this blog, I explain in simple terms what Multi-factor authentication is, why you should use it where available, and how you can use it to keep your data private. First, what is Multi-factor authentication and why is it so strong? Think of Multi-factor authentication as a temporary, second password. Where can you use multi-factor authentication? Multi-factor authentication is commonly used by banks but more and more websites and other services are catching on to it. Here are a few areas you’re likely able to use Multi-factor authentication or, MFA for short: Bank Account Log-ins Facebook Gmail or Microsoft accounts. Mortgage or Car Payment websites Any site or service that requires a high degree of trust How Multi-factor Authentication Works When you log into a website, for example, before you are granted access, you are required to enter a second password. See the diagram below: Step 1: Log into the website.Behind the scenes, the website sends a code to either your cell phone via text message, your email account, or your Authenticator App as I demonstrate in the Video Blog post. Step 2: You enter the code into the website and you are then granted access. You must enter this code within a certain time limit or you’ll need to start the login process again. Many sites will allow you to establish more than one method of receiving the code. This is great for times when you don’t have your cell phone handy but you can get to your computer. Where Can You Find the Settings? Different websites call multi-factor authentication different things. They may also refer to it as 2-step verification or 2-factor authentication. It all means the same thing for our purposes. Check these areas and if multi-factor authentication is offered, you should be able to find it: My Account User Profile App Settings App Preferences Security Settings So the next time you are on a website or accessing a service that you feel you would really like to protect, check whether it offers multi-factor authentication. It’s a great way to keep your data safe and your online information private. If you ever need help with any aspect of cybersecurity or online privacy, please reach out to us for a free consultation or security assessment.

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How To Set Up Email Signatures

IT Tech Tips /

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT298DBYG8Y Technology Tips By Centrend Podcast: Episode #6 Don’t you admire the professional look of a well-crafted email signature? Much more than just a name, a well-designed email signature is a block of text and graphics representing you and your brand. In this video podcast, I will show you how to create professional-looking email signatures in two of the most popular email clients; Gmail and Outlook. We’ll start with Gmail, then do the same thing in Outlook. In Gmail, click the Gear in the top right, next to your icon/avatar. The basic visual settings appear. Click See All Settings. You’ll be on the general tab. Scroll down quite a ways till you see Signatures. You can edit an existing one here if you decide to change it later. Since this is our first time creating a signature for this Gmail account, click Create New. Give it a name. You’ll see in a minute that you can create different signatures for replying vs. new messages. You can also change the signature on the fly when you create or reply to a message. This can be useful if you sometimes want to include your cell phone as a contact number, but by default, use your office number in signatures. I called mine Centrend. Click the pencil icon to edit the signature name if you want to change it. The box to the right of the signature is where you create what you want the signature block to be. Type your signature as you’d like it to appear. I’ll start with my Name. Then add my title. Then my phone number and extension. The content is correct, but it looks boring. I’m going to choose one of the other fonts Gmail allows and make my name bold. First, I highlight all the text and then click the dropdown that says “Sans Serif” I can then change it to any listed font. I’ll choose the Tahoma. It’s looking better, but the signature is very small.  With the signature text still highlighted, I’ll click the Text Size icon and increase it from Normal To Large. The text is now the way I’d like it to be, but I want to finish up the signature with my logo at the bottom. Clicking the Image icon gives me a photo selector. Because this is Gmail, it’s integrated tightly with google drive, so if I have my logo already on Google Drive, I can choose it from the list or search for it. The Centrend logo that I need is on my local computer, so I click upload. From here, I can find it on my computer and just drag it into the block to show to upload it into Gmail. Now that image appears below my signature. If you don’t want to set your signature to always appear, you can insert the signature from the bottom right of the compose window by clicking the Pen icon. If you are like me, you will probably want your signature to appear automatically when you create a new message, reply to a message, or both. Right below the Signature you just created, you can choose a signature to default for New Email messages or when you reply/forward a message. Just choose it from the drop-down as shown. Scroll to the bottom and click Save Settings to save your new signature and defaults. That covers Gmail signatures. Now let’s take a look at how to create a signature in Outlook.  Note the version of Outlook you are running might be slightly different, but the concept and general location of everything I’m showing you are the same. In Microsoft Outlook, Pull down the File menu and choose Options. Choose Mail – in the menu on the left. Then click the Signature button. Your signatures will open.  Click New and give the signature a name. In the window below, you can type the signature as you want it to appear. To make it fancier, you can highlight the text and click the drop-down to edit the font. Notice you have access to all the Windows fonts instead of the limited font selection Google’s Gmail offers. You can click Insert picture, to insert a logo. A Windows Explorer Dialogue box opens so you can select the image from a folder on your computer. Click Save, and then the signature will be available to choose for New message or reply/forward. If you have any trouble creating or managing your signature, reach out to us, and we’re glad to help.

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How to Recover Your Windows 7 Password

IT Support /

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5dFilcmY4w Technology Tips By Centrend Podcast: Episode #5 With the scarcity of computers right now and the need for additional computers for remote working and remote learning, many folks are dusting off their old Windows 7 computers. The problem is, you may not remember the password to it. In this blog entry, I show you how to recover a Windows 7 password, without a recovery USB stick. While it’s not ideal to use Windows 7 computers as they are no longer under support and may have unpatched security vulnerabilities, it may be necessary to get you through the pinch. The first step is to click the bottom right corner to shut Windows down. Turn the computer on and immediately being rapidly pressing the F8 key.  A menu should appear like the one below. Use the arrow keys to arrow down to Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Press Enter and Windows starts in a special boot mode.  If the Administrator account had been already activated, we would see an option here to change users.  Since no additional account appears that we can switch to, we will be able to boot to alternate media and turn on the hidden administrator account! You’ll need media to continue. While modern Windows 10 computers don’t usually come with any media, many if not most Windows 7 computers shipped with either a DVD or a USB stick. If not, contact us and we can help you find media to use for recovery. Shut the computer off again. Insert your recovery media into the DVD player or the USB stick into a USB slot. Turn the computer back on and this time rapidly press the F12 key for a boot options menu.  Note: Some computers don’t use F12. If F12 doesn’t work for you, watch your computer’s screen for a hint. It could be Del or F2 key for example. Use the arrow keys to select the media you inserted. This could say DVD or USB. Press Enter. As soon as you press enter, you’ll be prompted “Press any key to boot…” Press a key such as Enter to get the computer to boot the recovery media instead of your internal hard drive. You’ll see a message “Windows is loading files…” It will look like it’s a brand-new install of Windows 7.  Choose the default language, then click next. When the install/repair menu comes up, click Repair your computer. After a few minutes, you will be presented with a menu to choose the operating system. Click Next. Now for the recovery option, choose Command Prompt. When the command prompt opens, type the following and press the Enter key: net user administrator /active:yes You should get a reply that the command was completed successfully. Type Exit and press the Enter key and you’ll be back at the System Recovery Options menu. Click Restart to restart the computer normally. You will not press anything at boot-up this time. If you end up in Recovery mode again, remove the media and restart the computer to boot normally. Once you boot normally, you will see both the original user ID along with an administrator login that you can choose. Choose Administrator to log into that account. You won’t be prompted for a password because we didn’t set one. All we did at the command line was activate the account. It will take a few minutes for the administrator profile to be created. Once you see the desktop, we can set the password on the account we want to use with the computer. In this example, the name of the account is Mark. Click the start bubble at the bottom left, then go into the control panel. Next, go to User Accounts, the Add or Remove User Accounts. Click the account name you want to reset the password on. Now you can click either Remove the password or Change the password. Now restart the computer and you will be able to get right into your usual user profile again! Be sure to either disable the administrator account or set a password for it to keep your computer secure. If you get stuck at any part of this process, give us a call or submit our consulting form for a quick free assessment of your situation.

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Using a Whiteboard in 2020

IT Support /

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyyB-OWr3So Technology Tips by Centrend Podcast: Episode 4 I love working with a whiteboard. In fact, I can think of no technique more effective for brainstorming a project than getting a team of folks to share ideas in front of a whiteboard.  In 2020, we are forced out of the office, but the need for project collaboration and groupthink doesn’t stop. Enter the digital whiteboard. A powerful team collaboration tool that lets you collaborate with up to 50 participants that can be located anywhere in the world. For this walkthrough, I’ll be showing you Google’s Jamboard. There are other tools, but this one is one of my favorites, and to get started, all you need is a Google account. Go to jamboard.google.com.  If you’ve used Jamboard already, your previous jams will be listed. If you’ve never used Jamboard or want to start a new jam, click the + sign in the bottom right corner. Experiment with the drawing tools on the left side. For example, select the pen tool and freehand draw shapes: You can then use things like the Text Tool to draw text on the whiteboard – either stand-alone or on shapes you’ve already drawn. You can also click the underlined A at the top bar to select a font color for the typed text. You can freehand draw shapes, just like on a real whiteboard. If you make a mistake, you can use either the eraser tool or the undo button to undo the last action. Here’s a really handy tip for you. If you want to draw a straight line, you can hold the shift key as you draw. Who needs a steady hand with this technology? You can type text, then rotate that text by clicking and holding on the top left of the text box. With the text rotated, you can still reposition it anywhere on the canvas. One of my favorite things about Jamboard vs. other whiteboard apps is the built-in image searchability. Instead of having to go to the internet in a new browser tab, find an image, save that image somewhere, go back to Jamboard, and import the image (remembering where you had saved it), you can do all this right inside Jamboard in just a couple clicks! First, click the Image Icon, then click the Google Image Search tab. This lets you search in the browser. Click the image you like and then click Insert. The jam is private until you share it. Sharing it unlocks the real power of this collaborative tool. To share, click Share in the top right. Then enter the email address of whom you’d like to invite. You can have them View only if you are presenting, or make them an editor if you want them to add and change the drawing. In the example below, I’ve added a technical consultant from Whiz Kid Support, our residential division of Centrend, to add the remote user part to our diagram. As they add elements, you will see their icon and initial appear. Usually, you would be on a video conference or at least a phone call while doing this, but you don’t have to be. You can have multiple pages on the whiteboard. To get a new whiteboard in the same file, click the arrow to the right of the whiteboard page marker in the top center of the screen: You can also click the shape icon and draw perfect shapes. Like this: Finally, the laser pointer is great for presenting ideas and talking about specific whiteboard areas in detail. You select the bottom tool from the left side toolbar, and then you can use this laser pointer effect to draw attention to an area of the whiteboard without actually drawing on it: The jam board software works on almost any internet-connected device such as an iPad or Android tablet or phone. On touch-enabled devices, you can draw on the device to draw on the board, and everyone will see your changes! As you can see, a digital whiteboard is a powerful, practical tool for team collaboration. There’s also a physical jam board for when you have some collaborators on-premises while working with remote team members at the same time. You can learn more about the physical jam board by clicking here. If you need help deploying this technology in your organization, please reach out for a free consultation. We can offer equipment, training, and consulting on many whiteboard solutions.   

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Fun Ways to Improve Your Typing Skills

IT Support /

https://youtu.be/8S-6LXy57Cg Technology Tips by Centrend Podcast: Episode 3 These days, when we aren’t on camera in a web meeting, it seems like we are typing on our computer keyboards. Typing skills are essential to be productive and competitive. I’m going to show you some effective and fun ways to improve your keyboarding skills. Everyone, no matter their age, should seek to develop their typing skills as much as possible. The faster you can get your thoughts out and into the computer, the more productive your entire day will be.  In this blog, I show you several great online resources for mastering the keyboard. First, www.ratatype.com. Ratatype is a good learning tool. Many teachers send their students here, and the format is a lot like an actual typing course. If you choose to create an account and log in, the site will keep track of your progress and present increasingly challenging lessons. I find this resource invaluable for practicing those harder letter/symbol combinations that you don’t get to type often but slow you down when you do need to type them. Next, www.typeracer.com. I have to admit; this one is my favorite. It can be very entertaining! I’ve watched entire offices playing during their break time to compete for high scores! You don’t have to log in here either. You can go directly to Enter a typing race.  Like Ratatype, if you log in, the site will track your high scores. Do you have problems with technology and want things to run better? For businesses, call us at 774-241-8600.  For support for home users or individuals, visit www.whizkidsupport.com or call 774-778-2800.

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Review Your Cyber Security Plan in Four Simple Steps

Cybersecurity /

Increasing Threats Companies rely more and more on digital information and network-enabled devices. Threats are increasing, and cybercrime is on the rise, so it’s no wonder cybersecurity is increasingly important. Is your company prepared for a cyber attack? If you are like most small/medium businesses, you don’t have a written plan at all. If you have a plan, was it well thought out and tested, or was it thrown together quickly to appease a customer’s request? Take It Seriously It’s time to seriously consider the question: How would your business perform if it is hit by a cyber attack right now?  What would you do? Who would you notify? How would you recover? Cybersecurity Threat Evolution Cyber threats are constantly evolving, making it necessary to continually ensure your cybersecurity defenses and responses are effective for your business right now. A slow or inadequate response can have a very negative impact on the bottom line, along with your reputation. Regular Cybersecurity Audits It’s not enough to have plans in place; they need to be audited regularly. When was the last time your team updated the business’s cybersecurity plans? Are the documents current, and do they still meet the needs of each department? Has network and server equipment changed since the plan was written? What about 3rd party tools and services? The Four-Step Plan Regular internal audits are a smart way to prepare for a more comprehensive external audit.  The brief internal audit I’m recommending below can ensure your cybersecurity plans are up to date and functioning as they should. Here are the four quick steps you can take right now: Step 1 – Review your plans Pull out your documents and give them a hard look. Consider whether your policies and procedures still make sense. Has any personnel changed, etc… Ensure every component of the plan has a clear purpose and that roles and responsibilities for executing the plan are clearly defined. Every aspect of your plan should clearly say who has to do what and by when in the case of a cyber-attack. Step 2 – Assess risks and exposure Have any new services been introduced that have changed where threats can originate? For example, is there new off-site data storage or new wireless access points that have come online? Have there been other infrastructure upgrades such as new server hardware, software, or cloud-based services? If you discover new risks or identify new components, make sure to update your plan to include them. Step 3 – Consider security standard Once you have reviewed and updated the plan, consider whether it meets applicable security standards. If you work with CUI data (confidential unclassified information) under NIST 800-171, for example, do you meet the requirements appropriate to your role?  Does your plan meet the requirements of your standards? How does the plan measure up to general industry best practices?  Step 4 – Test for Action Would employees be able to use the plan in the case of a security breach? Where might a breach be discovered, and who would discover it? Would that person or group know what to do? Does the plan define who they would contact and how long it would take to mitigate the breach and fully resolve the situation? If you’ve taken a look at these steps and are still unsure whether they would be effective, Centrend can help you with a professional external audit. Give us a call or submit our contact form for a free Q&A session to discuss your organization’s readiness for handling a cyber attack.

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Don’t Get Caught by a “Phisherman!”

Cybersecurity /

https://youtu.be/FtdD_mQsTRg Technology Tips by Centrend Podcast: Episode 2 “Phishing” is a social hacking attempt to get you to reveal information that hackers can use to exploit your email or computer account. Here are some clues on how to detect a phishing attempt and what you should be looking for. Welcome to Email Phishing Anatomy 101! You cannot assume that an email you receive actually came from the sender it claims to be from. Phishers are very crafty and will do everything they can to appear familiar so that you will follow their call to action. The infographic below illustrates a very clever phishing email. “Keep Same Password” Now, what would happen if the recipient actually clicks the button? Now, what would happen if you clicked the button? You would be taken to a website that looks like an Outlook Web Access Portal and asked to do the following things: They tell you to confirm your current login name and password to “renew” it. Upon submitting your name and password, you are taken to a screen that asks for previously used passwords for verification purposes. This process is open-ended. The more time you spend time submitting passwords, the more data they collect to hack into other systems at your organization. You can do several things in your business to reduce the amount of these types of emails that actually make it through. Use a strong commercial-grade firewall with deep packet inspection. If you’re suspicious, don’t click the link. Instead, log in by going directly to the website yourself. Have strong endpoint security software on your workstations, so if you do click a link, you will get a warning like Centrend’s managed service clients get (see grap[hic at right) Centrend works hard to protect our customers from phishing by blocking many of these types of threats from ever entering your network or email folder, to begin with. Everyone gets fooled, especially if you are in a hurry. For times like this, we make sure there is local workstation security to safely check suspicious links. For example, clicking on the email below in one of our managed services environments will give the email recipient a second chance to reconsider by showing the following message: If you want to keep the phisherman from trolling your computer’s waters, give us a call or drop us a line.

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How to Fix Common Zoom Meeting Problems

IT Tech Tips /

https://youtu.be/cc2rpvI-SH8 Technology Tips by Centrend Podcast: Episode 1 We’ve all come to rely on online meetings to stay connected with business associates, remote learning for our children, and keep in touch with our loved ones that we can’t visit in person. That’s why in this first episode of my video podcast, I’m going to show you how to diagnose and repair one of the most popular tools for online meetings: Zoom. In addition to going over troubleshooting and repair steps for your sound, video, and microphone problems, I’ll also show you how to change your name’s appearance in Zoom calls. You can watch by clicking the video or scroll down if you prefer to read and view the relevant screenshots. Troubleshooting Sound, Video, and Microphones in Zoom The scenario is I’m in a Zoom meeting, and the other participants tell me that they can’t see or hear me. Putting my mouse at the bottom of the window, I can see that my microphone is muted, and my video is off. I click the Microphone with the line through it, and now my Microphone is on. But when I click to start the camera, I get an error: To troubleshoot, click the small arrow pointing up next to the Video icon, and a menu will appear. Taking a closer look, I see that the selected camera is “Logi Capture,” and that is not my web camera!  The correct camera is HD Pro Webcam C920. Once I select the correct camera, I can click the icon, and my video starts! If your situation is that you don’t see a camera listed, check the physical connection cable between your camera and your computer. If you are on a laptop and your camera is built into your screen, you might need help troubleshooting hardware drivers. Call us or fill out our Quick Contact form to the right, and we’ll give you a hand with it. If you are having problems with not being able to start the microphone, or if it starts and they can’t hear you, click the small arrow pointing up next to the Microphone icon, and a menu will appear as shown in the picture below. From this menu, you can select the correct microphone and speaker that you are using. If you aren’t sure which to choose, the webcam is probably the correct choice for the microphone, and “Same as System” will probably work for your speaker selection. Note: If you are using a headset on your computer, your headset model should be selected for both microphone and speaker. Changing the Appearance of Your Name in ZoomSometimes the host of a meeting will ask participants to have the name appear a certain way. Usually, they request identifying information to appear with your video feed, such as your First Name – Company Name. In the scenario I’m going to cover, I had to quickly change my name to save myself some embarrassment. ???? I had been away on business and set up to do a Zoom call with my little girls back home.  I changed my name to their nickname for me, “Daddy Dragon.” The next day I hosted a Zoom call and waited for the other participants to join when I realized my name still said, “Daddy Dragon.” Rather than have to explain myself, I quickly went to work to change my name. Here’s how I did it. I clicked the icon at the bottom of the screen that says, Participants. This made a list of participants appear at the top right of the Zoom screen. I hovered over my name and selected More > Rename. Then a window pops up that lets me change my name. I hope my blog gives you the confidence to resolve video, sound, and microphone issues and manage your name’s appearance on conference calls. We publish Technology Tips by Centrend every other week, so please subscribe to our newsletter and blog for more great tips!

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What 6 things increase the longevity of your computer?

IT Support /

Individuals and small businesses struggle with ways to increase the lifetime value of their PC hardware. ​ What can you do​ to keep your computer running strong like you?​ Extending the life of existing desktops and laptops to reduce your cost and lower your budget is critical in today’s economic climate. Families and companies alike are dealing with limited resources and need their computers to last more than a couple of years. The truth is a quality computer that is maintained will last several years – perhaps even a decade! So how do you make sure your PC investment lasts? The first factor is your buying strategy. Start with a quality computer build. If you buy the cheapest, bargain-basement computer off the shelf, you can’t expect it to last as long as a solid business-class or mid-range residential system. The reality is for a few dollars more you end up with hardware that will last six or more years. Assuming you started with a decent build to begin with, a PC tuneup will go a long way toward extending your computer’s speed and overall life. Here’s a list of things you should be doing at least quarterly to keep your computer running well: Proactively clean and defrag your computer Repair registry issues with your system Keep up to date with hardware drivers Your operating system should be updating regularly – make sure that it’s happening Maintain antivirus software (besides what the computer operating system comes with) Check for add-ons and other unwanted leeches that sap your computer’s resources Centrend can take care of all these things for your business with our automated tools. Give us a call! If you are a home user or solopreneur, visit our whizkidsupport.com site for affordable maintenance plans tailored to your individual needs.

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Is My Internet Service Provider’s Firewall Strong Enough?

Cybersecurity /

When an Internet Service Provider (ISP) installs internet access in your business, you are usually provided with a router/firewall combination. Do you need to invest in a commercial-grade firewall, or is the ISP’s firewall sufficient? Let’s start with a simple description of what a firewall is and how it protects your network from intruders. The role of a firewall is to determine what data can come in, and what data will not be allowed. The pieces of data that arrive at your firewall are called packets. For a basic firewall, the rule is simple:  If somebody requested the packet, it is allowed into the network. If the packet was not requested, the firewall burns the packet. The graphic below shows a typical small business network. BASIC FIREWALL – LIKE FROM YOUR ISP When a packet approaches the firewall, It is analyzed to see if it should be let in. A basic firewall is only going to ask one question before deciding to let the packet of information into the network: Was the packet requested by someone inside the firewall? COMMERCIAL-GRADE FIREWALL When a packet approaches a commercial-grade firewall, it is scrutinized much more carefully and in BOTH directions – IN and OUT, When it decides to let the packet pass through, the decision is logged in a database. The activity log proves invaluable in chasing down and isolating data breaches. Here are some of the things a business-class firewall considers before letting a packet pass: Was the password Requested? Is the packet SAFE to let in or does the packet contain a virus, malware, or other malicious code? Is the destination internet address listed on any “blacklists” due to bad activity coming from there? Is traffic from the country of origin allowed? Does the corporate policy for content filtering allow access to the material that is on the destination website? The chart below shows examples of the types of traffic that are allowed or blocked by the different firewall options. The commercial-grade firewall is not only a strong defense against unsolicited traffic, but it also gives business control over what content is allowed on their network. Business-class firewalls are surprisingly affordable. If you would like help evaluating whether it’s right for your home or business, please give us or fill out the contact form below.

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