Making ‘Work from Home’ Work

As the “shelter-in-place” orders rapidly clamped down on our mobility, the massive and sudden shift in how we worked forced employers and employees to scramble. Equipment and security became the key issues to address.

Most of the equipment issues our clients faced revolved around laptop computers. Because of last year’s chip shortage, computer manufacturers were already behind in building enough machines to meet the market’s needs. Those needs shot up as COVID-19 hit, making computers as scarce as toilet paper. Simply, there are just not enough business-grade laptops to go around. In some cases, our clients have gone to consumer electronics stores to buy home-use laptops for employees and have us set them up.

In our view, that’s better than just having employees use their personal devices to log onto a business network and access files and apps. Unless an employer knows exactly how a computer is set up for security and how secure the employee’s home network is, that employer is rolling the dice.

Many employers have VPNs (virtual private networks) to protect the security of computing from the office to their servers or cloud servers. But that only covers the traffic between their covered computers and the server. Those who regularly work remotely use the VPN, but their computers and devices should have security measures installed, and the users should have been trained in internet security.

When your employee sets up a computer or device at home and logs into your network, here’s the worst-case scenario. Your employee may not have up-to-date anti-virus and malware protection software installed and running. Your employee may not have an adequate firewall – or any firewall – installed and running. Your employee may not have a secure Wi-Fi network. If your employee’s security system is like Swiss cheese, you can be sure a hacker will find a way to tunnel into your corporate data.

Fortunately, we have found a workaround.

Working with your employees, we can install VPNs and we use your ISP’s (internet service provider) IP address as an external IP address when your employee logs into your work network from home. That helps keep the connection secure. Then, we use Microsoft’s Remote Desktop to connect the home computer to your office network and the employee’s office computer. That allows employees to work just like they were in the office.

The keys to making this workaround successful are making sure that all the office computers are on and that someone can monitor the office computer system to make sure everything is functioning properly.

If you haven’t taken these steps yet, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to schedule the work and to run through a checklist of things to be done before we begin.

Home Remodeling – Technology Style

Homes were caught short when everybody had to stay home to work, learn and entertain themselves. Wi-Fi networks and the internet had to carry much more traffic, and the rapid rise of new technology needs created holes for hackers to tunnel into systems. Here’s what you need to do.

First, shore up your security. Treat every device in your home that’s connected to the internet like it’s a block of gold in Fort Knox. Make sure your gateways, routers and firewalls have up-to-date security patches and bug fixes installed and running. Do the same for the firmware for every piece of hardware and software for every operating system and application that everyone in your household uses. That includes all of your smart-home devices and TVs – and make sure you have changed the default user names and passwords that came along with those devices.

We can’t emphasize this enough. That’s because between work, school and socializing, we all have more people coming in contact with our systems and every other system we’re connected to. If you have weakspots in your home system, the security of your personal financial and health data could be at risk, and so could the systems at your place of work.

In short, you may need to “remodel” the technical architecture of your home to make sure your systems and devices are airtight.

Second, make sure everyone in your home understands the security settings of all the new software you’re using for work, school and social interaction. We and our kids are all into using the latest and coolest collaboration tools, and the providers of those tools and the users need to pay special attention to how to set them up and use them safely.

Zoom is the collaboration tool that comes immediately to mind. Ever since stay-at-home orders went into effect some three weeks ago, very few people knew about Zoom, which is still considered a startup company. To encourage people to use it, Zoom quickly spread the word about its free service that allows 100 people to gather interactively online for up to 40 minutes. The two operative words here are both four-letter words: Zoom and free. You get what you pay for.

To make a long story short, Zoom rushed out the adaptation of a business application as a consumer app, and it left a lot of security holes. Two of the glaring issues, which were acted on by Zoom two weeks ago, were the sale of user data to partners for marketing purposes and the insidious “Zoombombing” incidents. The latter problem led to hackers placing porn material in school lessons and white-supremacist invasions of meetings, classes and chats sponsored by religious organizations.

Zoom stopped some of the data sales and reworked its privacy setup. It also ramped up the security requirements for people to join a Zoom session.

One other thing that home users likely have noticed is the drop-in internet speeds from their ISPs. That’s a consequence of the ISPs trying to manage the massive demand for data. As a result, you’ll all need to manage your internet use to optimize performance in your homes.

We can help you with security audits, setting up security software and automatic updates for firmware and software. We can also help you with security settings for apps like Zoom. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us for an appointment.

What Will Change When We’re Healthy Again?

Be careful of what you wish for. Employees have pushed to work at home, and employers – for the most part – resisted it. More remote working – and learning – will become the new norm as our coronavirus ends, and dynamics will change.

Our workplace and school dynamics are under scrutiny, for sure. People are adapting – at least for now – to the reality of not being able to gather and interact. Are they more productive? Our collective adrenalin is still pumping, and we’re all finding ways to make this new environment work. But what will happen as time goes on?

If working from home becomes more the norm, employers will add more tools to monitor the productivity of their remote workers. A lot of them are already available in the office, where the computer can be just like the boss sitting on a worker’s shoulder and recording every work-related and non-related movement. Will that kind of oversight extend to the home? Right now, an employee suddenly working at home can probably take a break to do some cooking or laundry, especially if they need to meet the needs of a family that’s suddenly at home all the time. What’s going to happen next?

My personal feeling is that everyone is going to miss the personal interaction of the office – and for kids, the interaction at school. There’s much to be gained from the social experience of collaborating in person – and it’s a huge part of a young person’s development. Yet, at the same time, I also think that working and learning through online channels will eventually become more stressful for people who have felt the need to be at the office or in the classroom.

We are social beings, and the people who need to mingle will want to return to an office. We see signs of it as we socially distance ourselves now. When we met some neighbors to walk together, we walked on one side of the street, and they walked on the other side. We came upon other neighbors who were having “picnics,” with their picnicking partners each on opposite sides of the street. Anyone with kids who go to school knows that the kids are trying to find more ways to connect and engage with their friends. Even homeschooled kids have needed social interaction.

The internet will continue to provide a way for people to gather, but it will always be a remote gathering. Will we be able to accept some of this as a new norm? I believe we’ll need to come to grips emotionally and politically with new ways of working, learning and socializing before we address the technology needed to make it happen. Once we decide on our direction, we’ll be able to add the required internet capacity and build the necessary security infrastructure.

Are there any insights into what may be our new way of life? If the observations of our neighborhood UPS driver are any indication, we’re setting up more home offices. He said his most-delivered items are boxes from Staples, monitors and office chairs. Once we have the means to work at home in place, the more likely we’ll all be to work at home exclusively or to a greater extent.

And what about our relationship with online shopping? We’ve taken Amazon and our entire package delivery system for granted; overnight delivery is the rule. Will next day become next week?

In the meantime, we can help you keep up with the technology you need now to meet your evolving everyday-living needs – and maybe help you map out what you might need going forward. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to talk about it.

COVID-19 Crisis – Keeping Your Technology Safe and Productive

A letter to our Clients and Friends:

It’s time to step back and take a deep breath. Yes, breathe in. Exhale slowly. Relax.

We don’t know how long our public health crisis with the coronavirus will last nor how it will end. But we’re in it together, and we at Sterling Rose want to offer you a few guidelines to help make your work and home disruption a little less disruptive.

If you are an employer or partner in a small business and need to conduct business from home, here’s what you should be doing:

  • Make sure everyone with a laptop computer – whether company-issued or personally owned – can log into your cloud or server to access the apps and files that drive your business. If there’s a problem, contact us.
  • Make sure that all of your hardware has the latest firmware (it’s basically like app software for hardware) installed. Do the same for your employee’s personal computers if they are working from home and logging into your tech system.
  • Make sure all of your software – OS, apps, web browsers – has the latest updates and upgrades installed. While updates improve performance, they also have the latest security patches, and that will be most important. Hackers will be in high gear to try to penetrate your defenses.
  • Make double sure that any employees who use their personal computers to conduct your business have of their software up to date for the same reasons.
  • Make sure you and your employees have strong network passwords for Wi-Fi networks and that everyone has installed and activated antivirus and malware protection programs. We strongly encourage everyone to have a password management program in place, too, for convenience and security.
  • Train everybody and constantly remind them to be careful about emails they receive and respond to and links they click. This is like the holiday shopping season for hackers. They’ll prey on your trying to do many things in a short time while under stress. If something looks just the slightest bit out of place, don’t click. Make a phone call.

If you are working at home and/or have kids at home who need to learn online, here’s what you should be doing.

  • Make sure you have the internet and Wi-Fi capacity to handle multiple users at one time. You could have two people working and using cellphones while your kids are either online for classes or homework and/or streaming 4k content on HD TVs or other devices.
  • Make sure your network is secure with a strong password – complemented by antivirus and malware protection software for every device that comes on your network. If your Wi-Fi system has the capability, set up a guest network for family and friends who visit – even though we’re not supposed to have visitors. It will help keep your network secure.
  • Make sure everyone who is on your network has strong passwords for online activities, and make sure everyone in your home has up-to-date firmware, OS software and app software for every device and system they have.
  • Make sure everyone in your home understands the threats caused by hackers. If you’re working at home, you’ll be under stress, so be careful about the emails you open and the links you click. Your kids at home may be bored. Make sure they are careful about the emails they open, the chats they get involved in and the links they click.

Again, take a deep breath, exhale slowly and relax. Take an extra minute to make sure you have your technology safe and functioning and take two extra minutes to make sure everyone – at the office and at home – is aware of the need to practice good online health while we try to avoid getting sick.

Finally, know that we are available to help you, your employees and your family be happy and productive online. Call us – 973-433-6676 – for any problems you have with technology at home or work. We’ll do our best to solve your problems by remote, and we’re still available for onsite visits to solve your problems.

We can all get through this together. We just need to be careful with our personal health and technological health.

All the best,

Norman Rosenthal
Sterling Rose

Drowning in Disinfection

Be careful how you disinfect your tech equipment. One client’s cleaning solution wasn’t ideal, but we didn’t discover its effects until we made a service call.

We made the service call because an Excel file seemed to be going bonkers. When our client clicked on a cell, the file would start scrolling uncontrollably. It only happened with this file. We checked the computer for viruses, but none were detected.

However, the client had a problem with WordPress, too, and that looked like a problem with the mouse. We checked the mouse and found nothing wrong. With optical mouses, you may not be able to see the damage. However, the client mentioned in passing that they had washed the mouse because they feared exposure to poison ivy. We understood the concern because in very basic terms, sensitivity to poison ivy is an allergic reaction. If your allergy sensitivity is higher, you can break out more easily or more severely if you come in contact with poison ivy or its residue.

With today’s coronavirus concerns, we’re rightly becoming obsessed with keeping surfaces as germ-free as humanly possible, and that includes our electronics – especially those in offices or other public places. It’s a good idea to disinfect mouses, keyboards and telephones, but you need to keep moisture away from them. Liquids wreak havoc with all electronics.

We suggest you take the following steps in keeping your technology tools as clean and disinfected as you can.

  1. Unplug your device – mouse or keyboard – from the computer and remove the batteries if you have them.
  2. If you are using something like a Clorox wipe, put a microfiber cloth or some paper towel between the wipe and the device to minimize the moisture. The microfiber cloth is better, and you have probably have a lot of them if you wear eyeglasses.
  3. If you have a spray disinfectant, spray it on a microfiber cloth or some paper towel. Don’t spray it directly on the device.
  4. Make sure that any cloth or paper towel that comes in contact with your mouse or keyboard is only damp – not wringing wet.
  5. Dry your mouse or keyboard as thoroughly as you can with a microfiber cloth and then give your device some time for it to air dry.

Our devices are indispensable, and when damage occurs, the nature of the problem doesn’t always point to the mouse or keyboard. Just pay attention when you clean. In an office environment, we suggest you pass these cleaning tips along to everyone. If you have any questions, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us.

The Worst is Yet to Come

What do factory closings and travel bans have in common? They’re going to affect the flow of technology to your business and home. Unfortunately, we have no idea yet on how bad the impact will be or how long it will take to recover.

Right now, the demand for products hasn’t caught up to the factory closings, but we can see the writing on the wall. The supplier that makes the cameras for Apple’s iPhones is still shut down, and Foxconn, the major supplier of phones has been shut for weeks. Even if the manufacturers have inventory to ship, the illness – or potential for illness – could shut down all forms of transportation into the United States. We just don’t know how long all of this will go on.

The travel bans are forcing the cancellations of technical conferences, and that will impact the flow of new hardware and software products and upgrades to you. The technology industry depends on conferences. It’s where they give developers the chance to look under the hood and ask questions. In turn, they start working on apps for new hardware or to fit the capabilities of new software – and all of that translates into new capabilities for your business, entertainment and quality of life.

We don’t know what the effects of the travel bans will be because we don’t know what was planned for development and rollout in the long-range future. But when you combine travel bans with factory shutdowns, it’s obvious that we’ll need to make do with what we have. And that may affect anybody who’s forced to work at home.

We haven’t begun to comprehend what could happen if offices are forced to close and employees have to work remotely. In our experience, we see a lot of laptop computers that never leave the office. In a shutdown, they might need to go home. While we can fix a lot of problems with computers remotely, we strongly recommend you test every computer. Employees can take them home and see how easily and quickly they can log in to your corporate network.

At the same time, you should make sure your network, servers and cloud connections are all functioning properly and that every piece of equipment and application is up to date on firmware and software. With your computing being distributed, it’s critical to do whatever you can to prevent problems before everyone and everything scatters to individual homes. You should also make sure everyone who’s logging in remotely understands they should not work from a public network, like from a Starbucks. You have no way to control the security of public networks, and you can bet hackers will be sipping lots of lattes as they search for ways to get some kind of information they can monetize.

If you have any questions at all about the operating conditions of your computers and other parts of your technology systems, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your needs. If you must close your office and have employees work at home, make sure they know how to contact us. Just as you’re being proactive with personal health, it’s time to be proactive with your technology’s health.

The Best of Both Worlds for TV and Video Content?

Are you ready to cut the cable TV cord to save money but not ready to lose all of your favorite TV and cable channels? The entertainment and cable companies may have a solution for you. More and more, the “cable company” is allowing you to stream the channels they offer on cable. If you prefer watching live TV, including shows, the news and sporting events but hate paying for multiple cable boxes, streaming from the cable might give you the best of both worlds.

AT&T just grabbed a few headlines by launching AT&T TV NOW, essentially moving their DirecTV lineup from satellite to streaming. You get the same channels, and they have service tiers priced at $65 to $135 for 45 to 125 channels with HBO included. They join Xfinity’s streaming service, which lets you keep all the channels you have on a current cable TV plan for the same money. If your cable company doesn’t offer a similar service yet, it will.

We think it’s a good move. While nobody watches 200+ channels, we still know of a lot of you who like what’s now referred to as “live TV,” which covers the over-the-air channels for network programming, local news and some live sporting events. We also like a lot of the programming that cable adds, especially sports, 24-hour news programming and premium channels, such as HBO and Showtime. Those are all hard to come by unless you have cable. If you stream your cable package’s lineup, you’ll have access to it anywhere in the US wherever you can connect to the internet.

The cable providers also bundle – for a price – the same premium channels and access to streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. The price is roughly the same that you’ll pay directly to the streamer unless somebody is running a special. If you stream without the cable company, you can access some of your cable programs through services like YouTube TV, Sling, fubuTV and Hulu+Live. They’re known as skinny bundles, and you’ll need to see what they offer. In addition to viewing their programs on TVs, you can view them on mobile devices and computers. They have limits on how many devices can be connected at one time.

If you cut the cable cord, you’ll need to connect your TV to the internet through a provider such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick or Google Chromecast. All typically work through Wi-Fi, but they don’t all provide the same access to streamers. You’ll need to research that, too. In a sense, you’ll be trading the cable boxes for internet access devices, which will pay for themselves in a few months.

On the technology side, you’ll need to have a strong internet connection and a strong network. The actual levels of service and performance will vary with how big your home is, how many total devices will be on the network and how many devices can display 4K programming. If you’re not properly equipped, your devices will need to buffer the programming, which means you’ll see pauses in the action.

You can always pay for more data capacity from your internet service provider (ISP), which is most likely your cable company. You add network strength by adding access points, either by hardwiring your home or strategically placing mesh network devices. Either or both steps may be necessary, depending on what you have now. Don’t expect to just pull out the cable and plug in a streaming device.

Just be aware of one factor that most people overlook when cutting the cord. Your TV viewing will be done on a data network, which has a capacity or limit, depending on your plan. If you exceed your data limit, your provider may slow down your connection, and that will slow down the feed to your device. You need either to regulate your viewing according to your plan or pay for unlimited data.

Once you decide how you want to watch TV and other video content, we can assess your technology setup, recommend steps you need to take and help you with all installations that may be required. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us for an appointment. You have more viewing choices than ever – and that means more decisions than ever.

Time to Reassess Your Email Provider

If you have your email with your internet service provider (ISP), it might be a good time to take a look at what you’re getting, what you could get, and what you might lose.

First, ISPs provide email as a loss-leader service to keep your internet (and maybe cable TV) business. That internet business is critical to their success because more small businesses, home offices and consumers are using more data to run their businesses or live their lives. They’ve built the infrastructure to connect to your home or office. Now, it’s mostly a matter of adding capacity at a central location and using a few keystrokes to provide you with more internet capacity for whatever you need. As a result, they pay only enough attention to your email to prevent a catastrophic failure.

We saw the ISP-email problem firsthand during the past holiday season. Our client had email from Microsoft Hot Mail, but it was through their ISP. We thought it would be an easy fix, but when the problem escalated, the ISP erroneously blamed our client’s computer. We knew it wasn’t the case because we got right down into the system’s basic commands and identified a back-end issue at the ISP. That’s one place we can’t go.

The ISP didn’t do anything, but somehow, the problem disappeared. We think it was fixed either by a reboot to fix a server problem or by someone who actually saw a problem and fixed it. We’ll never know, but regardless, our client is ready to switch ISPs and their email service.

The switch is a two-step process. The first step is to find a new provider. They abound and offer features and capabilities not found in many of the current ISP-based email programs. Here are some of the more popular and more capable choices:

  • Gmail from Google has a friendly conversation-focused interface, powerful search and top-notch spam and malware filtering, which is critical. It integrates with other Google services, including Google Drive, which lets you send attachments over Gmail’s 25-megabyte limit. You get 15 gigabytes of storage, and it’s free, unless you want to create your own email domain. A downside is Google’s proclivity for collecting personal data, but you get some control through its privacy settings.
  • Outlook.com is a web-based email service that’s separate from Outlook in Office. It’s the successor to Hotmail, with a better interface. It also provides 15 gigabytes of storage and integrates with Microsoft’s online Office tools. Microsoft makes a big deal about not scanning emails to serve you ads, but it does scan them to filter spam and malware.
  • iCloud, Apple’s free email service, integrates with Macs and iPhones and doesn’t contain any ads, though it isn’t as feature rich as other options. It comes with only 5 gigabytes of storage, which is shared with other Apple products. You can buy more storage.
  • Fastmail is a paid service that touts privacy and control. For $3 to $9 per month per user, there are no ads, and you can create an email account at any domain you want, which is great for a small business. It’s a great option if you don’t want to tie yourself to one of the big tech giants.
  • ProtonMail emphasizes privacy with end-to-end encryption. However, it requires a bit more work to setup and requires your recipient to jump through the same hoops. Just remember, though, your security is only as good as the security of the weakest link among all the people you communicate with.

No matter which provider you choose, you’ll need to do a lot of preparation. The most important step is to make sure you bring all the messages you want to save to your new email provider’s service. Some ISPs will delete your address and account as soon as you end your service. Others claim they’ll provide unlimited or generous storage and long-term to lifelong access, but there are no guarantees the messages will be kept or open to your access. If someone accidentally removes your messages from a server or removes your login credentials, you’ll have little or no recourse if you’re no longer a paying customer.

Copying all your old email from your old provider to your new one can be complicated. While we don’t want to say it’s something you can’t do at home, we strongly urge you to let us do it or walk you through the process. We want to make sure you get all the messages you want to keep – AND we can help you set up a forwarding mechanism so that people can still reach you after you make the change. (See Tech DIY: Our Equivalent of Calling the Plumber or Electrician.)

One thing you will need to do on your own is make sure you notify everyone of your email change – and do it with your new email address. That will make it easier for people to change their contact list, and it will add your new email to most autofill functions.

Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss the best email options for you and to make an appointment to get you set up with your new email system.

Tech DIY: Our Equivalent of Calling the Plumber or Electrician

I can clean out a drain trap and change a light switch. But when I try to do something more, it usually winds up costing more than if I had called the plumber or electrician in the first place. It’s the same with your technology. There are some things you can do yourself, but there are things you shouldn’t touch.

To continue the plumber and electrician analogies, let’s look at some worst-case scenarios. When you do your own plumbing, you could break a pipe and flood all or part of your house – and maybe damage walls, floors and/or ceilings. But you’ll still have your house. With electricity, you could trip a circuit breaker – or shock or electrocute yourself or cause a short that starts a fire and…

In some ways, doing your IT can result in losing all your data, which is the electronic equivalent of burning down your home. Of course, you can back up your data in a secure, offsite location and replicate your system. You probably don’t have a full-size replica of your home or office stashed somewhere else.

So, what are some things you can do? You can download and set up apps, such as a password manager. You know all your passwords, and you can work your way through the setup process to take advantage of the random-generated passwords that make the apps work best. But if things look like they’re getting complicated, you can always call us for guidance or walk-through help.

What are some things we believe you should never do?

Never do anything that involves your website DNS, and don’t switch from one host company to another by yourself. The DNS info is at the heart of keeping your website on the internet, and one mistake can knock you offline. We can help you recover from a mistake, but in addition to the cost of our service, you’ll also pay the opportunity cost for lost business time. Another thing to keep in mind is that when you switch website hosting companies and something goes wrong, each party will claim it’s the other party’s fault. We can make sure that together we all follow the proper procedures to make the switch as seamlessly as possible.

Router changes are another task you shouldn’t do yourself. The biggest dangers are leaving open a port that can lead to security issues or not setting it up properly to manage other remote desktop capabilities.

Even buying a new computer can have pitfalls. With so many configurations available (processors, RAM, hard drive type and size, etc.), it can be difficult if not impossible to match up the right “package” for your needs.

One client experience illustrates the problems that can arise. Our client asked for help with transferring files from the old computer to the new one and assured us the hard drive had “more than enough space – more than I’d ever use.” It was a 128 GB hard drive, and after transferring app and data files, we had 30 GB of free space. However, the client also had 80 GB of music files to transfer. The problem could be fixed, but a lot of extra cost could have been avoided.

We can help make your technology life easier. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us when problems arise or if you want to change, add or reconfigure any part of your system. We can help you with advice or with doing the work you need. As the car mechanic said in that Fram oil filter commercial of many years ago, “You can pay me now or pay me later.” My plumber and electrician tell me the same thing.

Home is Where the Hack Is

Don’t think your home is too small to be a hacker’s target. The recent invasion of a young girl’s bedroom through a camera system has sparked a lawsuit and some hot discussion about who’s at fault. Ultimately, you need to make you cover all the bases, and the Department of Homeland Security offers some help in making sure you know where the bases are.

DHS rightly states what we think is obvious about the two common misconceptions home users share about the security of their networks:

  1. Their home network is too small to be at risk of a cyberattack.
  2. Their devices are “secure enough” right out of the box.

Besides those misconceptions, home networks – no matter how many smart devices or dumb devices they connect – have many moving parts. In addition to cameras and smart speakers, to name just two, our networks include routers, computers, mobile devices and TVs. So, even though you may think you have a strong username and/or password for every device, there’s a possibility you can miss one key setting – or there’s a possibility that someone using your network has the weak link in your security chain that provides outside access.

The DHS checklist, which we summarize below, is a good place to start. It reiterates a lot of actions we’ve told you to take over the years, and it’s a good refresher.

  • Update your software regularly. Besides adding new features and functionality, software updates often include critical patches and security fixes for newly discovered threats and vulnerabilities. (See Understanding Patches and Software Updates.)
  • Remove unnecessary services and software. They can create security holes in a device’s system that could lead to a larger attack surface of your network environment. This is especially true with pre-installed trial software and apps installed on new computers. Remove what you don’t use.
  • Adjust factory-default configurations on software and hardware. They’re intended to reduce the troubleshooting time for customer service. Harden them to reduce vulnerabilities.
  • Change default log-in passwords and usernames. Most network devices are pre-configured with default administrator passwords to simplify setup. They’re not secure. Change them.
  • Use strong and unique passwords. Choose strong passwords and don’t use the same password with multiple accounts. (See Choosing and Protecting Passwords for more information.)
  • Run up-to-date antivirus software. A reputable antivirus software app can automatically detect, quarantine, and remove various types of malware, such as viruses, worms, and ransomware.
  • Install a network firewall. It can block malicious traffic from your home network and alert you to potentially dangerous activity. When properly configured, it can also serve as a barrier for internal threats, preventing unwanted or malicious software from reaching out to the internet. We can help you configure them.
  • Install firewalls on network devices. In addition to a network firewall, consider installing a firewall on all computers connected to your network. We can help you configure them, too.
  • Regularly back up your data. Consider using a third-party backup application, which can simplify and automate the process. Be sure to encrypt your backup to protect the confidentiality and integrity of your information. Data backups are crucial to minimize the impact if that data is lost, corrupted, infected or stolen.
  • Increase wireless security. Follow the steps below to increase the security of your wireless router or ask us for help.
    • Use the strongest encryption protocol available. DHS recommends using the Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) Personal Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Temporary Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), which is currently the most secure router configuration available for home use.
    • Change the router’s default administrator password to deter an attack using default credentials.
    • Change the default service set identifier (SSID), the “network name” that identifies a wireless network. Make it unique and not tied to your identity or location.
    • Disable Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). A design flaw in the WPS specification for PIN authentication significantly reduces the time required for a cyberattacker to brute force an entire PIN.
    • Reduce wireless signal strength to reduce your electronic footprint.
    • Turn the network off when not in use or automatically disable the Wi-Fi at specified times to prevent outside attackers from breaching your home network.
    • Disable Universal Plug and Plan (UPnP) when not needed. Recent large-scale network attacks prove that malware within your network can use UPnP to bypass your router’s firewall to control your devices remotely and spread malware to other devices.
    • Upgrade firmware to enhance product performance, fix flaws, and address security vulnerabilities.
    • Disable remote router management to guard against unauthorized individuals accessing and changing your router’s configuration.
    • Monitor for unknown device connections to monitor for unauthorized devices joining or attempting to join your network. Also see the manufacturer’s website for tips on how to prevent unauthorized devices from connecting to your network.
  • Mitigate Email Threats. Phishing emails continue to be one of the most common and effective initial attacks. They prey on the human element – the weakest component in every network – by persuading a user to click on a link or open an attachment.

All the steps you can take are common sense, but they’re often overlooked in our hurry to get a new product or feature online. The hacker looks to exploit momentary carelessness. We can review your home or office network with a security assessment and help you implement any of the steps in this checklist. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us for an appointment.