Imagine yourself laying on a warm beach, cool breeze coming off the ocean, refreshing drink in hand. You’re soaking up the sun to get a “healthy” tan to show off when you get back home after vacation. Skin cancer isn’t on your mind. Heck, you’re not even worried about getting a sunburn. It won’t happen to you, you say to yourself as you roll over to nap. It’s called “Optimism Bias,” one of many subjective components of risk perception, and it causes people to assume that “it won’t happen to me” or “everything will be ok.” We all do it even when we know that if “it” does happen to us, it could mean bad news. Many companies do the same thing when it comes to protecting their technology. Even though over 70% of companies report being compromised by a cyber-attack in the last 12 months.Even though the average cost of downtime is $100,000 per hour. Some businesses remain unprotected and susceptible to downtime whether it’s caused by cyber criminals, natural disasters, user error or plain neglect. “It won’t happen to ME!” But what if it does? The direct costs of downtime will obviously include lost production, delivery disruption and wages paid to idle employees. Your bottom line is impacted immediately. But what about the intangible losses? Companies that experience downtime lose client confidence, and their reputation suffers. Facebook, glassdoor.com and online review sites make it easy to spread the word about an unpleasant experience with a company. Some industries are required to have business continuity plans as downtime compromises security and compliance. HIPAA, for instance, requires medical organizations to have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan in place; noncompliance can lead to substantial fines and penalties. No matter the reason for downtime, it costs more money than it takes to prevent downtime. Here are 3 best practices to put into place to help you prevent downtime: Identify single points of failure The more redundancy in your IT environment, the better. If you’re concerned about the internet going down, have two internet providers that each use a different mode: cable and fiber, for example. Also, make sure you have dual firewalls and antivirus systems. Implement a cloud solution To ensure that data is available at all times, use the cloud for data storage. Using a subscription-based version of your line-of-business software also ensures that employees can work from any location. If you’re already using the cloud, focus on making sure connectivity to the internet is fast and symmetrical. Meaning you need as good an upload speed as your download speed. Manage equipment It’s not enough to monitor your equipment. When an issue is discovered from monitoring, the only response is reaction. If your equipment is managed, the response is proactive. It prevents systems from going down in the first place. Eliminate threats from natural disasters and power outages by storing data at an off-site data center. Even if your IT system boasts a high availability of four nines – 99.99% uptime – that still equates to over a full day of downtime every year. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), wasted time costs $19,975 per information worker per year, a loss of 21.3% in the organization’s total productivity. How much lost time and productivity can you afford? Contact Multi IT by visiting our website or calling 011 435 0450 for a risk assessment.

Don’t you just hate it when your PC gives a warning message that it’s running out of space? You’re then forced to go through all your files to figure out which are important and which ones can be deleted. Sometimes you manage to get a few megabytes back, but oftentimes you end up grabbing your external disks. But with OneDrive Files On-Demand, the issue will become a thing of the past. Microsoft has launched OneDrive’s new feature called “OneDrive Files On-Demand,” which comes with Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. This new feature allows users to transfer files to Microsoft’s cloud storage, thus saving some space on their local hard drive. What’s great about this feature is that you can open and view the online-only files quickly and conveniently as if you're opening them from your local hard drive. How to get the new feature When you upgrade to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, the OneDrive Files On-Demand feature should be enabled by default. But if it’s not, all you need to do is turn it on by: Opening OneDrive Clicking the cloud icon on the right side of your taskbar Selecting Settings and clicking the Setting tab In the Files On-Demand section, make sure the Save space and download files as you use them box is checked What do these icons mean? In the OneDrive folder in File Explorer, you’ll see three types of icons (look at the Status column). Here’s what they mean: Blue cloud: files that are stored online only Green checkmark in white circle: files that are stored locally and will be made online-only when you’re running out of space White checkmark in green circle: files that are stored locally even when you’re running out of space How to download online-only files You can download files stored online to your local disk by simply opening them, whereupon a green checkmark will appear on the file. You can also make those files always-available offline (white checkmark) by right-clicking the files and selecting Always keep on this device. How to upload local files to the cloud Just right click the files -- whether they’re files with green or white check marks -- and select Free up space. Microsoft’s OneDrive Files On-Demand feature is another proof of how cloud technology can help optimize your IT resources. For more ways to make the most of your technology investment, talk to Multi IT's cloud experts today by calling 011 435 0450.

Passwords are your first line of defense against hackers. But over the years, they have developed plenty of methods to steal them. To gain a deeper understanding of how cybercriminals operate, Google analyzed the causes of leaked login credentials. Here are the results. The results From March 2016 to March 2017, Google and UC Berkeley researchers examined three main ways hackers hijack accounts: Keylogging software - a malicious program that records computer users’ keystrokes Phishing emails - to lead people into dangerous websites Stolen passwords - available to the highest bidder In just one year, Google found 788,000 successful keylogging attacks, 12.4 million victims of phishing attacks, and 1.9 billion accounts exposed via login credentials sold on the black market. Researchers suggest the reason so many accounts are hacked is because people tend to reuse their passwords, which means if one set of login credentials is exposed, other accounts could be compromised. Phishing is also a big threat because it targets users -- the weakest links in your cybersecurity. The strongest password or security system won’t mean anything if your employees constantly fall for online scams. Protecting your accounts There are several things you can do thwart account hijacking. For starters, you should set strong and unique passwords for each account to minimize data breaches. While the general rule in the past was to set a complex password -- a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols -- recent studies suggest that longer, 20-character “passphrases” are much tougher to crack. If you find it difficult to remember several passwords, consider using a password manager, which not only stores all your passwords, but can generate strong passwords, too. To deal with phishing attacks, you should activate multi-factor authentication on your accounts. This adds an extra layer of identity verification to your password (e.g., a fingerprint scan or a temporary security key sent to your phone), making your login details ‘unphishable.’ Security training is also crucial. This includes teaching your employees about what phishing attacks look like and instructing them on password protection best practices so they never fall victim to account hijacking. The bottom line is not only that strong password security requires strong defense mechanisms; you and your employees must be vigilant, too. Need more advice on keeping your business safe? Call Multi IT today on 011 435 0450! We provide critical security updates from reputable sources such as Google and comprehensive support services to help you stay well ahead of cybercriminals.