Know Your Android: Finding A Download

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With recent technology, downloading files is as easy as tapping a button or touching a screen. Regardless of the file, everything you download is accessible straight from your smartphone. With the introduction of Cloud Software, sharing and transferring files has never been simpler. No need to worry about buying a new memory card or running out of space.

For both the savvy and the amateur, downloading files is a breeze. Media can be stored in seconds. But where do those files go when we download them? How do we locate them in the future?

Exploring Files

Every phone comes with its own series of files and folders. Android users can locate media via the My Files (also known as File Manager) app. For many users, this app looks like a little yellow folder or a white icon with six dots. To locate it, go ahead and open up your app drawer—the little window that stores all your apps. Don’t see My Files anywhere? Go ahead and download it from the Google Play store. Once inside the My Files app, a simple swipe should locate your desired folder in the menu. From there, transfer files to allocated albums or create brand new ones for future access. 

Download Notifications

For active downloads, Android users can locate their files via pop-up notifications on their home screen. Saved files will open with a simple tap, granting quick access to fresh downloads.

Mobile Browsers

Mobile browsers have their own tabs that you can use to access previous downloads. For example, Google Chrome’s menu enables users to locate or re-download previous files. This is especially useful for reclaiming deleted files. Chrome downloads can be located by clicking on the three vertical dots and opening the menu. 

For help with technical needs, contact us directly or browse our blog for more information.        

5 Ways to Maximize Your IT Budget

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Savvy companies understand that leveraging the latest technologies can keep them one, perhaps even several steps, ahead of the competition. The key is to select those technologies that are proven to provide the best return for one’s investment. In this post, we will outline 5 concepts every company will want to consider as they create a comprehensive IT budget that works best for them.

Hire the Experts

The old adage “a company is only as good as its people”, is certainly true when it comes to selecting the right IT professionals to work for a company. Whether an organization decides to hire IT staff that will work in-house, or whether they decide to outsource their IT department, investing in knowledgeable IT staff is a must.

Ensuring Proper Security

One of the ways in which companies can ensure they are hiring the right IT personnel is to determine whether or not these prospective professionals understand just how vital data security is to every single organization. Any prospective IT employee or organization should be the first to initiate a conversation about data security because yes, it’s that important.

IoT 

Companies will also want to consider employing some of the many “Internet of Things” technologies that could be a smart addition to their budget. Some companies may have a greater need for IoT than others, but at minimum, every company that operates out of a physical building may want to take advantage of technologies such as:

  • Security sensors
  • Smart doors
  • Smart HVAC control sensors

Moving to the Cloud

Many companies find that moving their IT operations to the cloud is both cost-effective and provides greater flexibility to their employees, as the only thing they need to plug into corporate software is an internet connection. Companies can also easily scale up or scale down their cloud use to better match both their busy and slow seasons. This means paying only for what a company truly needs in terms of IT services.

Leverage Big Data

Being able to analyze and create an overall corporate picture from disparate bits of data can help companies see where they are doing well, and where they need to focus their attention in order to improve. Big data concepts can help organizations accomplish precisely this.

If you would like to know how to select the right technologies in order to maximize your IT budget for the year, please contact us.

5 Cybersecurity Questions to Ask Your Team

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The more that technology advances, the more cyber attacks are committed against businesses of all sizes and in all fields of work. Your business is no exception. As you rely more on the internet and on machines to store data, information, and other sensitive material, you need to be aware of the cybersecurity threats that exist to your company.

While this threat may seem overwhelming and daunting, the risks to your company are indeed manageable ones. When talking to your IT team, whether they are workers your company hired or from outside IT firms, the following are 5 questions that you should be asking these professionals to understand your business’s risk and cybersecurity situation:

1. How is our company’s top leadership informed about cyber risks? 

Your IT department must communicate with the rest of the company about the risks of being the victim of a cyber attack. Understanding the current risks and what the IT department is doing to mitigate those risks is vital to keeping your company’s information safe. Ultimately, the CEO is the one responsible for any “risks” that are present for his or her company. They must be informed in order to make smart decisions about how the company’s information can be best protected.

2. What is the current business impact of cybersecurity risks on our company and how do we plan to address these risks? 

CEOs and other top company executives must understand the cybersecurity risks that their company faces. They should also be informed of what the IT professionals that work for the company are doing to mitigate these risks and keep the company information safe. Knowing this information and constantly communicating updates can keep anyone from making poor decisions. That is if panic ever does strike.

3. Does our cybersecurity program implement the best and latest practices that keep up with industry standards? 

CEOs and other top company executives should be kept up-to-date on industry standards in cybersecurity. Additionally, how their company’s practices stack up against those standards. If the company is not up-to-date on the industry standards, then they must know what the plan is from the IT department to get the company there. Being up-to-date on industry standards for cybersecurity is vital to keeping your company’s information as safe as possible from people who would do you harm if they got ahold of that information.

4. What cybersecurity threats does your IT department identify each week? 

CEOs and other top company officials should be kept up to date on the latest cybersecurity threats facing their company. Ideally, these updates are given on at least a weekly basis. Updates should include recent threats and what has been done to limit those threats. Additionally, what new threats have popped up (if any), and what is being done to handle those threats?

5. How far-reaching is our cyber incident response plan? How often do we test it?

Despite your IT department’s best attempts to keep your company’s information safe, if something such as a data breach were to happen, what would the response be? It’s important for the CEO and higher-ups to understand what will be done if such a security breach happens. First, the plan is explained to the higher-ups. Then, they should be informed of how often the plan is tested to ensure that it is thorough and effective.

These are 5 questions that you should be asking your IT company. Thus, ensure that your business is as safe from cybersecurity threats as possible. Actively having a plan in place to protect your company’s information is key. It will keep your business from being a target of any sort of cybersecurity threat. Moreover, having a plan in case your company is the target of an attack is also vital. Despite your best intentions, cybersecurity breaches can happen. How you react can help control the extent of how much more severe you make the problem. Performing rash actions in the event of a cyber attack is never a good idea.

For more information on questions you should be asking your IT team, please feel free to contact us at Blutwater Technologies for further assistance.

Computer Tip of the Day — How to Disable Automatic Update In Windows 10

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One of the new features of Windows 10 is that it automatically updates itself, and there is no real way to turn it off in the Home version. Although updating your Windows system is crucial to staying safe in the cyber world, there are times when automatic updates aren’t wanted. For example, if you have work to finish at a certain deadline, you don’t want to have to sit through an update and reboot. It’s also bad if you have a limited or slow internet connection and you want to wait until you get to a quicker internet connection before you update. Here’s how to get around the automatic update feature.

Set Your Network as Metered

Cellular networks and mobile hotspots are automatically set as metered, but you can set any Wifi connection as metered. Metered connections won’t download updates automatically. Go to your Wifi settings, click on Manage Known Networks, choose your network, and click on Properties to do this.

Change Reboot Hours

If you go to your Updates settings, you can set hours when Windows won’t automatically restart. Just set the hours that it should restart, which can be at night. However, your computer will have to be powered on then for the update to be installed. It also won’t stop the update from downloading during your non-active hours — it just won’t reboot then.

Show or Hide Update Tool

There is a show or hide update troubleshooting tool that you can download from the Microsoft website. Using this tool, you can set certain updates to be hidden. Hidden systems and driver updates won’t be downloaded automatically.

For more computer help, just contact us!

Computer Tip Of The Day: Using Two-Factor Authentication

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Two-factor authentication can provide your workplace with an extra foundation of security. It requires extra information beyond just a username and your password to access computer accounts.

Two-Factor Authentication for Emails

Two-step authentication will require a combination of a username and a password, in addition to an extra piece of information that includes a security code that will be sent to a mobile device. Adding an extra layer of security to an email account is one of the biggest improvements that can be made. 

Workplace Social Media Accounts

We are aware of how popular social media accounts are in the business world, especially due to their ability to attract customers from across the world. It is important that the proper steps are taken to secure social media sites. Two-step authentication can also be used to secure social media accounts.

It is very important to always be cyber aware, even if you find it to be an inconvenience. The extra steps you take to secure your account can be the difference between having a successful business and a business that fails because it was not properly secured in the online world.

If there are various online accounts that need to be managed, it is greatly important that you take the proper steps to secure online accounts, customer data, and other vital business information.

Two-factor authentication will generally include one or more of the following:

  • One of your physical characteristics, such as your fingerprint.
  • A one-time security code that can be sent to your mobile device or email address that you will enter after you have entered your username and password. The login process will not be completed until the security code has been entered. 
  • Another layer of security that can be used for identity verification is challenge questions. When choosing challenge questions, we encourage you to choose questions that may be difficult for others to answer. Avoid choosing simple challenge questions that hackers could find the answers to by searching online, especially on social media.

Two-factor authentication is becoming a popular choice for many account holders in all industries. Contact us today for more information on two-factor authentication and how you can become more cyber-aware.