Issue 29

POST

Special Announcement

You are invited to attend one of two webinars for Accountants, CPAs, Lawyers, and Business Professionals covering this current and urgent topic:

“What Can You do to Prevent a Cyber Attack on your Data and Computers?”

The first webinar will be held on Tuesday, July 27th from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. You can register here.
The second webinar will be held on Thursday, July 29th from 10:00 – 11:00 am. You can register here.

David Levine, Founder & CEO of ResTech Solutions, will be presenting. ResTech Solutions is a Managed IT Service provider that has been helping businesses in Houston, TX since 2011.

Here is what happened to one accounting firm:

Squar Milner is one of the largest accounting firms in the United States offering wealth management, auditing, tax services, CFO advisory, and bankruptcy services. On March 25, 2020, the firm experienced inexplicable technical difficulties which led them to discover a data breach affecting their clients. The information possibly accessed by the hackers includes full names, addresses, social security numbers, Tax ID numbers, IRS filing information, and state tax submissions. Squar Milner is now covering the costs of 12 months of credit monitoring, dark web monitoring, and identity recovery services for the exposed individuals (clients).

If you cannot attend, you can let someone in your office who is concerned with your data and computer systems attend. Seating is limited.

Welcome to POST by ResTech Solutions

Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Every week we will bring you new content covering recent events and news related to technology, Microsoft, Apple, Google, tips & tricks, useful information, and more! To read the full articles in our newsletters you can either click on the image or article headline. We've had a great response each week to our newsletter and we've been hard at work to bring you even more great information this week. Please let us know what you've enjoyed thus far about our newsletter. To see past issues click on the archives link above.

Why the name POST? In the world of computers POST stands for Power On Self Test. This is the action computers take when they are first powered on to check their basic functionality prior to loading the operating system. We decided to take this same concept and to provide you with useful technology information at the beginning of your week to help get you started. POST is also a term associated with news as well and we felt this was an appropriate and fitting name.

If you have suggestions about topics you are interested in or would like more information on any of the articles presented in our newsletters you can fill out our Content Request form to let us know what you would like to know.

Do you need any help or assistance with any item in our newsletter? Reach out and we will be happy to help.

Reply to this email to let us know what you liked. Please forward this newsletter to anyone who needs this information.

The best thank you that you can give us is by sending us referrals. It means so much to receive a referral. We look forward to having you with us every week! Let's POST and get started with this issue.

News

Microsoft Is Buying RiskIQ to Boost Its Cybersecurity

Image from MUO

We usually hear about any big acquisitions that tech companies make. This is one that everyone should be interested in as it shows Microsoft is taking the security of its users seriously. Since the pandemic began businesses have been increasingly relying on cloud-based services which in turn has lead to an increase in cybersecurity incidents. How is this good for users?

RiskIQ helps customers discover and assess the security of their entire enterprise attack surface—in the Microsoft cloud, AWS, other clouds, on-premises, and from their supply chain. With more than a decade of experience scanning and analyzing the internet, RiskIQ can help enterprises identify and remediate vulnerable assets before an attacker can capitalize on them.

Security is all about reducing risks and Microsoft is certainly taking a big step forward in this regard.

Cyber Security

How to Make Your Data Worthless to Big Tech Companies

Image from MUO

Your personal information is valuable for many reasons. Many people have become tired of all the online tracking and the targeted advertising. These are some of the top reasons why many want their data removed from the hands of big tech companies.

There is another reason to consider as well. Should the company suffer a cybersecurity incident or data breach your information could be compromised and end up in the hands of cybercriminals. This is much worse than big tech having your info. This will open you up to many more serious issues. There are things you can do to limit the usable data the tech companies have on you. Check out the linked article for full details.

5 Common Methods Hackers Use to Break Into Your Bank Account

Image from MUO

Cybercriminals have become very sophisticated and have numerous ways to access your sensitive information. Your best defense is a good offense. Learn the methods the cybercriminals use and how to defend against them.

Windows

How to Save and Restore Your Windows Session

Image from MUO

We have all become accustomed to having a specific setup on our computers when working. Many times this setup is disrupted and reset when the computer reboots or shuts down. Many of these items can be automatically set to return to the desired state upon boot up. However, running too many tasks or applications when first booting up can slow down the process. Delay these start-up items where possible. If you work a lot on the web most web browsers will allow you to reopen groups of tabs from the history section as well. This will save you time from having to reopen each site individually.

100% Disk Usage in Windows 10? 17 Tips and Tricks to Fix This Issue

Image from MUO

We hear from our clients on a fairly regular basis about performance issues with their computers. Many times we can trace this back to the disk usage on their system. In this case, if the drive is old enough or showing other signs of failure, we will usually recommend upgrading to a new SSD or solid-state drive especially if the failing drive is a hard disk drive.

If the drive is newer or a solid-state drive then it is worth trying the tips in the linked article before pursuing a replacement.

Google

How to Disable Google Chrome's New 'Privacy Sandbox' Tracking (and Why You Want To)

Image from MUO

We have covered this in a previous issue of our newsletter. If you still prefer to continue to use Google's Chrome browser then you will want to check out the article to disable Chrome's new privacy sandbox tracking feature.

We've also discussed many of the new features and performance benefits of Microsoft's Edge browser. We have already changed to Edge from Chrome and have seen an improvement in performance over Chrome. Where Chrome used to be the #1 browser choice for many we recommend moving to another browser such as Edge.

Tips & Tricks

How to Get Wi-Fi Without an Internet Service Provider: 5 Methods

Image from MUO

If you are on the move all the time (such as traveling) or do not have any internet service at your house there are several options available to still be able to get online. Check out the linked article for full details.

Useful Information

How to Check If Someone Else Is Accessing Your Facebook Account

Image from MUO

As much as we use social media this can be a dangerous situation for many reasons.

Your reputation can be harmed.
Other users can also become compromised or infected through malicious actions.
Your personal information can be compromised.

There are ways to see who or what has access to your account. You should also take the usual steps to secure your account such as changing your password and making it unique and complex. Using two-factor authentication will help to further secure your account. Don't wait until there is a problem, take steps to prevent a problem from happening.

Intel Core i3 vs. i5 vs. i7: Which CPU Should You Buy?

Image from MUO

As summer progresses we will soon find ourselves in a new back-to-school season. This will mean getting a new computer for many people. This comes with a lot of questions for many in terms of determining the right set of specs to get on the new system.

The most important spec is the CPU or the brain of the computer. For many Intel is the brand many get yet there are several options. The main line of processors you will find on most Intel-based computers is the Intel Core line. At a basic level, we typically recommend starting out with an i5 with quad cores and Hyper-Threading if available. This will provide a good average for performance. We have found that many i3 based systems will have too many performance issues for daily use.

Check out the linked article for full details.

FAQ of the Week

What Does Wi-Fi Stand For?

Image from MUO

Each week we will address a frequently asked question. This week we are looking at the meaning of Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi is not an acronym nor does it stand for anything. Wi-Fi is simply a marketing term developed to represent the standards that were developed for devices to communicate with each other. The next time someone ask you what is the meaning of Wi-Fi you can just let them know that it is actually a marketing term.