Blog | Managed IT Solutions For Businesseshttps://acsapp.com/blog/2024-03-29T06:11:04-04:00ACS IT Services Blog
Winter Haven Art Festival: A Harmony of Art, Business, and IT Services in Polk County2023-07-03T09:22:06-04:002024-03-28T16:22:15-04:00Al Steedhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/al@acsapp.com/https://acsapp.com/blog/acsapp.com/blog/winter-haven-art-festival-IT-business-culture/<p>Winter Haven's celebrated Art Festival (<span>August 5-7) </span>is more than a two-day extravaganza of culture and creativity. Situated in downtown Winter Haven, Florida, this event connects over 200 artists from across the nation, vibrant live music, a variety of food offerings, and fun-filled children's activities. More than that, it represents the spirit of the local business community and showcases how IT services in Winter Haven are evolving and enhancing cultural experiences.</p>
<p>Taking place in Winter Haven, a thriving hub in Polk County, the Art Festival offers a vibrant platform for artists to showcase their work, ranging from classic paintings and intricate sculptures to artisan jewelry and captivating photography. But this festival isn't just about the physical art; it also celebrates the digital, reflecting the burgeoning IT support scene that's vital to many local businesses.</p>
<p>Throughout the festival, you'll hear live music echoing from local bands, providing a lively soundtrack as you explore the event. The melody merges with the clattering sounds of local IT businesses offering IT services to vendors, ensuring seamless digital transactions and more.</p>
<p>With an array of food trucks and vendors providing delectable food and drinks, the festival also serves as a testament to Winter Haven's flourishing local businesses. Many of these businesses use local IT services, further bolstering the city's IT sector and proving that strong IT support is fundamental for growth.</p>
<p>Children's activities are aplenty at the festival, promising a family-friendly environment that's both fun and educational. These activities aren't limited to traditional arts and crafts and petting zoos - they extend to showcasing how IT services are integrated into everyday life, offering a glimpse into the future of Winter Haven's children in a digitally driven world.</p>
<p>As you plan your visit to the Winter Haven Art Festival, remember that this event is more than a cultural celebration - it's a snapshot of the business and IT landscape in Polk County. Dress comfortably, pack sunscreen, bring cash, but also be ready to experience how art, business, and IT support come together in Winter Haven. It's a unique experience that combines tradition with innovation, and it's one of the many reasons why Winter Haven is a great place to live, work, and play.</p>
<p></p>The cloud means no more stormy weather2018-04-18T00:00:00-04:002024-03-29T00:37:36-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/the-cloud-means-no-more-stormy-weather/<p><br/>Many small firms are pretty busy handling their own business, and don’t give much thought to what they would do if a natural disaster from a bad snowstorm to much worse hit their physical location and cut power, or physical access to the building. What if the equipment storing all of your data and software needed to run day to day operations became inaccessible? What would happen to your ability to continue to serve your clients or customers?<br/> <br/>Though we call it the cloud, with images of gray skies and rain, the cloud can be a ray of sunshine. It is an excellent and cost effective resource for smaller firms to make sure they maintain 24/7 access even in bad weather. Because everything is maintained off site, you can (1) bypass disruption or damage that may have occurred at your physical site, and (2) access what you need to keep your business functioning from any remote location.<br/><br/>Small firms need to realize they are most vulnerable to business disruptions, as they have less capital and fewer resources to carry them through a bad period. The cloud represents a simple and value driven resource to address business continuity issues that could turn a small firm's business upside down.<br/> </p>What the cloud means for you-Part II2018-04-13T00:00:00-04:002024-03-28T16:11:37-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/what-the-cloud-means-for-you-part-ii/<p><br/>Recently, we talked about ways the cloud brings value, business protection, and economies of scale to the smaller firm that they could never achieve by themselves. Today, we look at a final benefit of the cloud.<br/><br/>Protection against on-site disaster - If a disaster strikes your physical business location, on-site resources can be damaged, destroyed, or become inaccessible for a period of time. Even if it isn't a major disaster, if you have a failed server your business could be down for an extended period. When everything occurs in the cloud, you are vaccinated against this type of business calamity. You can still access and use computing resources from anywhere.<br/><br/>In summary, left entirely on its own a small firm just does not have the resources and capital to fully support its own technology infrastructure. The cloud turns that upside down, enabling firms to enjoy the benefits of a fully supported tech foundation without levels of expenditures that are just not feasible for smaller operations.<br/> </p>The Could: what do you get?2018-04-05T00:00:00-04:002024-03-29T05:50:12-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/the-could-what-do-you-get/<p>The cloud refers to using off site computing resources and storage to supplement or even replace the use of on-site/in-house resources. Instead of buying hardware and software to support your business, you are basically outsourcing this set of tasks.<br/><br/>There are 4 benefits for the small firm and today we will look at the first 2.<br/><br/>Elasticity - With onsite computing, if you need additional capacity you have no choice but to purchase that capacity in discrete steps, which means bearing the costs of being over-capacity for a period of time until growth catches up. Onsite computing also means you must have the capacity to handle your own peak computing and storage demands, and resources may go underutilized much of the time. The cloud allows complete elasticity in the utilization of computing resources. You buy only what you need, as you need it. You can grow or downsize as the business demands.<br/><br/>Pay as you go - On-site hardware involves significant capital expenditures. The cloud allows you to pay for only what you use. The cloud also allows you to benefit from economies of scale that aren't available using the in-house model. Labor, equipment and maintenance expenses are shared across a vast pool of users.<br/><br/>In the next few weeks, we’ll return to this subject to look at other ways the cloud brings efficiencies to your technology infrastructure that you could never achieve on your own.</p>The most borning topic Ever2018-03-28T00:00:00-04:002024-03-29T06:11:04-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/the-most-borning-topic-ever/<p><br/> <br/>Yes, today’s blog is about office phone systems. You have one. They are dull, necessary, and no one wants to deal with them. They need to be re-configured for new employees, they’re confusing, and the telco lines probably cost you more money than you'd like.<br/><br/>Like everything else, office phone systems began transitioning to fully online/digital well over a decade ago. The proper term is “ Voice over Internet Protocol” or "VoIP." In a practical sense, it means that your phone lines are no longer coming in over traditional, “plain old telephone” lines, or other standard protocols from the 1960s to the 2000s. Instead, voice signals are now being carried to your phone from the telco via the internet, such as your broadband connection.<br/> <br/>Why do this? There are a few simple benefits.</p>
<p>You cut the higher landline charges, especially for international calls<br/>Old fashioned systems are becoming obsolete, and parts aren't available<br/>You don't need 2 separate cabling systems anymore. One for telco, one for internet is no longer necessary.<br/>They rely less on hardware to do the job, so reconfiguring for a new employee or a major office shift is much, much easier. It is now a software change, not a hardware issue.<br/>Your employees are no longer tied to the phone at their desk. VoIP allows integration with mobile devices.</p>
<p>This is just a quick summary, but it gives you a starting point for understanding why most firms are moving to VoIP systems and abandoning the old traditional PBX and key systems of an earlier era.</p>Data regulation and our business: You are probably regulated these laws2018-03-14T00:00:00-04:002024-03-24T22:19:05-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/data-regulation-and-our-business-you-are-probably-regulated-these-laws/<p><br/>Small firms are probably aware that there are laws regulating the handling of data, but they probably assume that these apply only to larger firms and that they are too small to have any data that is worthwhile or protected under state/provincial or federal laws. Think again. Data protection laws generally worry about the content of your data, not the volume of it. That is, you don’t need to have “tons” (not the technical term) of data to be to regulated by data privacy laws. If you maintain personally identifiable information (PII) you may be regulated by these laws which may include penalties and fines for non-conformance. PII means you store a person’s first name/initial, last name and then link it to another piece of personal information, such as, but not including:<br/> </p>
<p>Social Security Number<br/>Driver’s license, or state ID<br/>Passport<br/>Some financial account number, e.g. credit/debit card, checking account, etc.<br/>Health insurance ID</p>
<p>You are very likely required to observe regulations regarding protection of that data, and reporting of data breaches.<br/> <br/>This isn’t an issue for the faint of heart. Contact a managed service provider with expertise in your specific industry or field of business to make sure you are in compliance. Failure to maintain compliance can lead to some very expensive fines and penalties.</p>How the cloud saves smaller firms money2018-03-08T00:00:00-05:002024-03-28T18:44:15-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/how-the-cloud-saves-smaller-firms-money/<p><br/>OK. You pay someone to store all of your data in the cloud, as opposed to keeping it on your own server and backing it up. And you pay on an ongoing basis. How is that possibly going to be cheaper than just making a one-time investment and keeping it your self? <br/>Let’s count the ways:<br/> <br/>(1) You lose the hardware expense –a capital expenditure cost.<br/>(2) If that hardware fails, you are out in the cold. <br/>(3) Someone has to maintain that hardware. In house IT labor is expensive. <br/>(4) If you need more capacity, you have to ramp up at a tiered level, which means you may need to buy capacity you don’t presently need <br/>(5) All of that hardware runs on software, which costs money <br/>(6) All of that software needs to be installed, updated, etc. (see # 3) <br/>(7) All of that hardware and software has to run 24/7. Are you large enough to pay for in house monitoring and support 24/7? (See again #3) <br/>(8) All of that data has to be protected with security software, which means skilled IT support and expensive virus protection<br/> <br/>Ok. The list doesn’t end here, but this blog will. Talk to Advanced Computer Solutions about how the cloud can be a really budget saver for small and medium sized firms.<br/> </p>Small business software tips.2017-08-23T00:00:00-04:002024-03-29T01:37:54-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/small-business-software-tips-1/<p>
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<p>I’m Albert Steed with Advanced Computer Solutions. I want to talk about some business stuff today and I want to talk about what ACS does for software. I know that this doesn’t apply to everybody; actually it applies to very few of you. But, kind of interesting I think to know what other business owners are using and how they’re managing their business with technology.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, at Advanced Computer Solutions we have a line of business software called Autotask. That’s what we call everything software; it’s our ticketing, it’s our project management, it’s our customer relationship management, it manages some HR functions, scheduling and it does everything around the business. Out of that come invoices, so we bill for time and we bill contracts and invoices get in and out of Autotask and then flow into QuickBooks.</p>
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<p>So, we use QuickBooks and we’re in the verge of updating our QuickBooks and I think we’re still on 2014 or 2015. I think its 2015 and still supported by Quicken, so it’s not out of date. It’s just we’re approaching the end of life for it. I do not like to update my QuickBooks every year. I find once I get QuickBooks set up and working, I like to try as long as I can until Quicken forces me to update. In some situations that’s a good way to manage them and in some situations it’s not.</p>
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<p>We also use a program called Bill.com and that’s our accounts payable. All our information fills the QuickBooks and Bill.com and Bill.com flows back. So, if you have to pay bills, I pay bills from my bed and in my iPhones. Awesome! We also use our RMM or our remote management tool and it’s called MAXfocus. We utilize or go to Cetrix for customers who don’t fit into our MAXfocus profile. Those are the major softwares that we use to run my business. If you have any questions I’d love to talk about it. I hope you guys figure out what software would be good for your business.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’m Albert Steed with Advanced Computer Solutions. Thanks for listening!</p>The value of your businesses data.2017-06-12T00:00:00-04:002024-03-28T11:35:48-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/the-value-of-your-businesses-data/<div class="wistia_responsive_padding" style="padding: 56.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;">
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<h2>The value of your businesses data.</h2>
<h2>Today I want to talk about the value of your data:</h2>
<p>We have insurance to cover the value of our automobiles, of our equipment, of our building and we can even insure our people so that if we have a keyman that goes down we can get resources and money to help find a replacement.</p>
<p>In many businesses the data that is in the business; the accounting data, the production data and if it’s in a professional service such as a CPA or an attorney their clients data is as valuable as or more valuable than all of the equipment; cars and everything combined. And we feel as IT experts and we’ve seen it more than 15 years of experience that the cost benefit of a good cloud backup or a disaster recovery type backup scenario is absolutely the best insurance.</p>
<p>So let’s say if for example you have 15 years of practice in law and you’ve got 15 years’ worth of client data it might be $100 or maybe $200 a month or say $1000 or $1200 a year to backup that information and protect it and not just back it up on site but put it out into a secure cloud environment. I look at that as pretty damn cheap insurance to cover one of the most valuable assets in your organization.</p>
<p>So kind of think about that as you’re looking at how much money do I want to spend on backing up and protecting my data which in essence is one of your most valuable assets.</p>
<p>I'm Albert Steed with Advanced Computer Solutions. Thanks for listening!</p>13 Stats that should concern you about Cyber Security awareness.2017-05-29T00:00:00-04:002024-03-24T21:20:27-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/what-do-you-know-about-cybersecurity/<p>The Pew Research Center, located in Washington D.C., is an organization that studies many issues facing Americans to provide information that informs us on topics such as politics, policy, Internet, science, technology, religion, and more. Recently they released a report titled: “What the public knows about cyber security.”</p>
<p>This report is based on the findings from a survey of more than 1,000 Internet users and found many Americans are uncertain about some key issues relating to cybersecurity. While the majority of online adults can identify a strong password, and know the use of public Wi-Fi is risky, many struggle with more technical cybersecurity concepts.</p>
<p>The Pew survey consisted of 13 questions which tested knowledge about a number of cybersecurity issues and terms. Cybersecurity can be complicated and is a large subject, but these questions cover many of the general concepts about cybersecurity. Even given the basic nature of these questions, the average respondent only answer five of the 13 questions correctly. Twenty-percent answered more than eight of the questions correctly and only one-percent answered all 13 questions correctly.</p>
<p>Here is how the survey respondents performed:</p>
<p>* 75% could identify the most secure password from a list of four options</p>
<p>* 73% knew that public Wi-Fi Is not always secure</p>
<p>* 54% know how to identify a “phishing” attack</p>
<p>* 52% know that turning of the GPS on your smartphone does not prevent location tracking</p>
<p>* 49% know Americans are legally able to obtain a free credit report once per year</p>
<p>* 48% know ransomware is used by criminals to encrypt data and hold it hostage for ransom</p>
<p>* 46% know that email is not encrypted by default</p>
<p>* 45% know Wi-Fi traffic is not encrypted by default on all wireless routers</p>
<p>* 39% understand that using “private browsing” mode does not prevent ISPs from monitoring online activity</p>
<p>* 33% know https:// in a URL means the data entered into the website will be encrypted</p>
<p>* 16% know a botnet is a group of networked computers used for criminal purposes</p>
<p>* 13% understand that a VPN will minimize the risk of using insecure Wi-Fi</p>
<p>* 10% could identify an example of multi-factor authentication</p>
<p>According to www.internetlivestats.com, a group of international analysts who make data about all many topics available, there are nearly 297 million Internet users in the United States. If this survey is truly indicative of our knowledge of cybersecurity in the United States, nearly 230 million Internet users would have failed this quiz (scored less than 62% correct).</p>
<p>How well do you know cybersecurity? Honestly asses your knowledge of the above topics. Could you identify the most secure password from a list of options? Do you believe turning GPS off on your smartphone disables the ability to track it? How many of these items would you have questions about?</p>
<p>If you’re not comfortable with you level of knowledge as it relates to this quiz, give our experts a call. Not only will we answer your questions for you, but we will make sure your cybersecurity systems are top notch.</p>
<p>Rusty Jones</p>
<p>ACS Staff Writer</p>So, you’re thinking of managing your own network security.2017-05-16T00:00:00-04:002024-03-27T12:59:46-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/so-you-re-thinking-of-managing-your-own-network-security/<p>Many business owners wear more hats than can usually be considered safe. They are often managers, supervisors, trainers, accountants, bookkeepers, maintenance, drivers, and all too often IT support. There’s an old adage that goes: “he who is a Jack of all trades is a master of none” and that holds especially true in the IT support and security world.</p>
<p>Becoming a network security specialist isn’t something you can do by reading a book or taking a seminar. It takes years of training and experience and constant reading to keep abreast of all the issues they face daily. As an example, let’s follow a typical computer security specialist’s career progression.</p>
<p>After graduating from high school a computer or network security specialist will go to college and study computer or software engineering. They will spend a minimum of two years in college but typically they will complete a bachelor’s degree in their discipline.</p>
<p>While going to college most will hold down part-time, or even full-time, jobs working as tech support specialists or some other entry level position so they can develop experience dealing with customer issues. The lucky students get to hold down internships with an IT firm and are exposed to more technical issues and hands on maintenance and repair.</p>
<p>Positions like this teach the specialist how to work with people. They learn how to listen to a customer complain about what is going wrong and they learn how to communicate with them in such a way as to talk them through resolving the problem. This invaluable experience prepares them for dealing with customers when trouble shooting network and computer system troubles later in their career.</p>
<p>Upon graduation, these up-and-coming consultants will look for their first full time jobs. They may spend years working for others as they develop the experience necessary to go out on their own as consultants. This experience prepares them for dealing with any problem which may arise. Often, they will move from a job with one type of firm to another specialty, broadening their experience as they go.</p>
<p>Finally, when they feel they have amassed enough experience to consult others on the best way to protect and maintain their computer and network systems, these eager individuals will open their own computer and network security consulting firms.</p>
<p>With years of experience and tens of thousands of dollars of education behind them, they gently wade into the network security industry and open the flood gates. This is when the start to learn what they don’t know and the reading begins. As fast as they learn the newest technologies and trends, changes happen and they must learn all over again. Long hours at work taking care of the needs of their customers are often followed by long hours of reading and research after work.</p>
<p>Your IT/Network Security Consultant does all of this so he can provide you the protection you deserve on your business network systems.</p>
<p>So, when you are deciding whether you should contract a security specialist or managed services provider, ask yourself if you have the preparation necessary to go it alone. Have you developed the knowledge and experience they have? Is your business worth providing the proper protection for? Can you, in just a few hours of reading, learn enough to provide for the security of your systems? And then ask yourself one more question… should you hire a network security or managed services provider to make sure your business systems are protected properly?</p>
<p>Rusty Jones</p>
<p>ACS Staff Writer</p>Does Your Network Security Provide Peace of Mind?2017-04-07T00:00:00-04:002024-03-28T05:53:43-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/does-your-network-security-provide-peace-of-mind/<p>Data breach continues to be a major topic of concern for business owners in all industries. In 2016 the number of reported data breaches grew from about 600 million to a startling 4 billion according to IBM Security’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index. This is more than the total number of breaches from the previous two years.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The report shows the top five industries impacted were:</p>
<p>Information and Communications<br/>Government<br/>Financial Services<br/>Media and Entertainment<br/>Professional Services</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And of course, let’s not forget the National Democratic Convention. Several of the leaks reported by the DNC gave information from private emails that contained strategies which could have potentially swayed opinions of voters from one candidate to another. This demonstrates the wide impact data breaches can have on society and the information shared.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s important to note that while personal emails are often attacked, many breaches leaked records including data cybercriminals have traditionally targeted such as credit cards, passwords, and personal health information. There was also a notable shift as hackers began targeting unstructured data such as email archives, business documents, intellectual property, and source code. Unstructured data is information that is not included in a database or typically does not have heavy formatting such as databases and spreadsheets contain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The shift to targeting unstructured data might signify a change in future targets for cybercriminals. Businesses with large amounts of written text, briefs, documents, and other forms of intellectual property could become primary targets for hackers. In fact, although the financial services industry only ranked third in number of breaches, IBM Security reports financial services as the most attacked industry in 2016.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Another startling piece of information uncovered in this report is the increase in money paid for ransomware attacks. Of the businesses reporting ransomware attacks in 2016, 70 percent indicated they paid more than $10,000 to regain access to their data and systems. The FBI estimates ransomware attackers were paid more than $200 million during just the first quarter of 2016. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The primary delivery method for ransomware continues to be malicious attachments in SPAM email. The FBI believes cybercriminals will continue to engage in ransomware attacks as long as businesses are willing to pay the ransoms. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Regardless of industry, cybercrime is not going way. Increasing protections is the only way a business can avoid becoming a victim of these criminals. Cybercriminals attack small towns just as frequently as they do large cities. They attack small to midsized businesses much more frequently than they do large businesses. This is primarily because smaller companies usually do not see the benefit of having fulltime staff dedicated to protecting their data.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While the cost of staffing fulltime IT personnel to manage network security may be cost prohibitive; hiring a managed service provider to protect your networks, systems, and data will cost much less than a ransom. Take the necessary steps to protect your business. Educate your employees on safe data handling practices and make sure you have good network security in place. A good managed service provider will give you peace of mind where your business data is concerned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>The quest to find the businesses who need me2016-09-13T00:00:00-04:002024-03-29T02:50:54-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/the-quest-to-find-the-businesses-who-need-me/<p>I look at sales as a process by which I try my hardest to communicate with people who need my services. I'm not really selling anything other than a way to fix someone's problem. With that said, it's a real challenge to get before everyone when they need you. That's why I'm working really hard at getting better at putting my business in front of the right people, at the right time.</p>
<p>I was going through my daily reading regimen when I came across an article called “How we went from zero to 1 million visits a month.” This intrigued me, how does a person do that? How much does it cost? Can I do that!?! I read, and the article was light on detail. However, they did introduce some tools, and a little bit of strategy. Apparently they did this remarkable feat with no marketing budget, all they had was their keyboards and facebook.</p>
<p>I intend to look over their tools, and with some fancy facebook work, I hope to increase our site’s traffic and get more small law firms protected by ACS Secure.</p>Ransomware!!! Run for the hills! (not really, but you should concern yourself about this.)2016-09-06T00:00:00-04:002024-03-27T11:25:37-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/ransomware-run-for-the-hills-not-really-you-should-concern-yourself-about-this/<p>Having your business data, all of your business data, become worthless over night is a real problem. Ransomware does just that. This problem however is becoming more of a problem. The BBC reports "'Alarming' rise in ransoware tracked".</p>
<p>So what do you do to protect yourself? We at ACS believe that this is a problem that requires both tools AND people to solve. The tools being, proper antivirus, patched software and operating systems, web filtering, and a modern firewall. The people are the people who watch the tools to ensure they are doing what they need to do. This includes making sure the tools themselves are up to date, and interpreting the information coming from the tools. </p>
<p>If your tools are providing everything you need to know about the status of your computing system, but you can't interpret it, then what good is the information? If the tools require maintenance, but you don't know how to apply the maintenance, then the tool is worthless. This is why we created ACS Secure. This services combines the best in tools, with the best people to make sure everything is working, and your business is safe.</p>
<p>We call this, "Where people meet technology".</p>
<p>Call us today and find out how we can help protect your business. 231-933-6333</p>Security and your smart device2016-07-05T00:00:00-04:002024-03-28T04:05:43-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/security-and-your-smart-device/<p>As anyone who has met with me for our ACS Secure reviews knows, I have been working to educate my customers on some best practices surrounding their online banking. We basically recommend all banking happen on a computer that is isolated from the rest of the network, and is capable of only doing one thing, Banking.</p>
<p>Often I get asked, “I use my phone/tablet/smart device to do much of my banking, can’t I just do that?” To which I respond, “If you are using an apple product.” Recently I read an article in ars technica which outlines why I respond in that way (click <a href="http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/06/godless-apps-some-found-in-google-play-root-90-of-android-phones/">here </a>to read the whole article.)</p>
<p>Ars outlines an app which basically will “root” 90% of all android phones. This application is distributed through the Google Play store. What root means is, once the application is installed, the bad guys have full access to your phone. They are capable of doing anything they’d like with your phone. It’s a really bad thing!</p>
<p>In the apple world, apple is in control of every application that gets put on the iTunes store. They review and dissect every app to ensure that it is safe, and adheres to their policies. This system can be a pain for developers, but it means that the end users rarely have malicious software installed on their devices.</p>
<p>So if your phone/tablet is android, and you use them to do banking, be careful. Bad things can happen!</p>Ransomware is a constant threat2016-05-27T00:00:00-04:002024-03-28T12:07:33-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/ransomware-is-a-constant-threat/<p>Ransomware is a real threat to both businesses and consumers. The FBI describes ransomware as follows, "Ransomware is a form of malware that targets both human and technical weaknesses in organizations and individual networks in an effort to deny the availability of critical data and systems."Ransomware does exactly as the name implies, it takes your data, and holds it hostage until you pay them to release it.</p>
<p>To read more about what the FBI recommends to protect yourself from ransomware Click Here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Why do we recommend managed security for everyone?2016-05-26T00:00:00-04:002024-03-27T14:14:32-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/why-do-we-recommend-managed-security-for-everyone/<p>I can hear you saying it "I only check my email, do some banking and read the New York Times, the free virus protection I have on my computer should work just fine!" I'm here to tell you, YOUR WRONG.<br/>Why?<br/>An article on Arstechnica explains "..visitors to The New York Times, the BBC, MSN, AOL, and other big-name websites were hit by a malvertising campaign that spread the Teslacrypt ransomware package." Click Here for the entire article. So, browsing the New York Times is dangerous.<br/>An article from gizmodo states "YahooMail is so bad that congress just banned it". Click Here for the entire article. It should be needless to say, but free web based email services are insecure.<br/>So you just finished checking your virus infested email in your yahoo account, then proceeded to catch up on the news in New York, and attracted a few more viruses to your computer, THEN you proceed to log into your bank and grant full access to whichever criminal sydicate is fastest to your entire financial world. This may sound far fetched, but it happens every day, and it happens several times a day. It happens to people you know.<br/>A fully managed security suite, such as ACS Secure means you have multiple layers of protection, web filtering, virus scanning, and patches. It also means you have a team of experts monitoring your computer to ensure that all of these programs are running, and protecting you.<br/>So no you aren't safe just "checking email, and reading the New York Times." You do need better tools to protect you and your business. <br/>Call us at ACS and get protected.<br/>Albert Steed<br/>231-933-6333 x 1000<br/>al@acsapp.com</p>What Does Free REALLY Cost?2013-10-11T00:00:00-04:002024-03-28T12:51:04-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/free-really-cost/<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23301048@N00/860181962" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img alt="Our computers" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="180" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1168/860181962_7aa9182419_m.jpg" title="Our computers" width="240"/></a></p>
<p><span class="smText">Our computers (Photo credit: aranarth) </span></p>
<p>The other day, I read an article on FutureLawyer that I read to see if it was worth sharing -- <a href="http://futurelawyer.typepad.com/futurelawyer/2013/10/the-frugal-lawyer-free-software-that-you-can-use.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Frugal Lawyer- Free Software That You Can Use</a>. In it, he links to an article in PC World article listing free software for everything from malware & antivirus to recording software. I didn't just outright share that because it worried me, frankly, but it took me awhile of gnawing on it to figure out why. Here is a clip from his synopsis:</p>
<blockquote> ...I keep seeing people buy antivirus and security software in a box at the store. Waste of money. Windows Security Essentials is as good as it gets, and you already have it...</blockquote>
<p>Don't get me wrong, there is a place for free software. In fact, there are several items that we use and/or recommend to our customers all the time. But Windows Security Essentials is NOT as good as it gets and the free malware and antivirus software that he recommends, may not be either. Those pieces of software could do an okay job of protecting your computers IF you want to be the IT guy. You need make sure that they are installed properly, updated frequently, & functioning daily. But why would you want to be the IT guy when you went to school to practice law? </p>
<p><strong>What should you have? </strong></p>
<p> trusted IT professional who can help you decide what software worth way more than it's (free) cost and where you could cut corners, if necessary. Odds are, your IT company will have recommendations for almost any software you need and can steer you clear of pitfalls like applications that can dog your computer down to practically unusable. And if something DOES happen, it might cost you more to have your IT guys come in and fix it than it would have to follow their recommendation. </p>
<p>A good managed service company can also make sure that the "free" security software is working properly. Find a trusted IT company who has your best interests at heart. One who takes your needs AND budget into account when making recommendations. One who is more interested in what is going on at your business than in selling you the latest & greatest IT widget. </p>
<p><strong>Call Advanced Computer Solutions at 877.404.8224 if you need a trusted IT provider for your small to medium-sized law firm.</strong> <strong> </strong></p>
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<p><img alt="" src="https://www.acsapp.com/media/uploads/image/steed%20jen_0049%20mailer%20copy.jpg" style="width: 150px; height: 210px;"/> Jen Steed writes about technology, travel and more. You can find her writing for various online and print publications. To talk to Jen or see all of her articles as they are published, you can follow Jen on <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JenSteed?rel=author" rel="author" title="Author: Jen Steed on Google+">Google+</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>15 of the Most Used Tech Tools by Entrepreneurs2013-09-06T00:00:00-04:002024-03-25T18:50:10-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/15-used-tech-tools-entrepreneurs/<p>I recently found this great infographic on 15 of the most used tech tools by Entrepreneurs covering Sales, Technology, Marketing, Accounting, and legal. <img alt="infographic-snapshot" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1537" src="https://www.acsapp.com/media/uploads/image/infographic-snapshot.png" style="width: 229px; height: 300px;"/> </p>
<p>Check out the <a href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2013/11499/15-tools-that-the-most-successful-entrepreneurs-use-infographic">full infographic at MarketingProfs</a>!</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.acsapp.com/media/uploads/image/steed%20jen_0049%20mailer%20copy.jpg" style="width: 150px; height: 210px;"/> Jen Steed writes about technology, travel and more. You can find her writing for various online and print publications. To talk to Jen or see all of her articles as they are published, you can follow Jen on <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JenSteed?rel=author" rel="author" title="Author: Jen Steed on Google+">Google+</a>.</p>Opening A New Office - Computers & Mobile Devices2013-05-09T00:00:00-04:002024-03-27T22:27:50-04:00adminhttps://acsapp.com/blog/author/admin/https://acsapp.com/blog/opening-a-new-office-computers-mobile-devices/<p><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Memory_module_DDRAM_20-03-2006.jpg" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img alt="The 536,870,912 byte (512×2 20 ) capacity of t..." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured aligncenter" height="225" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Memory_module_DDRAM_20-03-2006.jpg/300px-Memory_module_DDRAM_20-03-2006.jpg" title="The 536,870,912 byte (512×2 20 ) capacity of t..." width="300"/></a> Among the least forgotten items to consider when opening a new office, are computers and mobile devices. While they are the easiest to remember because they are used daily, it is a component that is often overlooked as to its importance. Buying a new computer is not as easy as running down to the nearest big box store and picking one off the shelf. While that might work in the short term, it really is best to put a little thought into what you need now and what you may need in the future. </p>
<h1>Mobile Devices</h1>
<p> Do you plan on using mobile devices in addition to your computer? A tablet or a smartphone, perhaps? What types of things would you like to be able to do on that tablet or phone? Just check & send emails? Or do you have special software that you plan to use with a mobile site or mobile app? Or maybe it just has the ability to sync to your device. Do you have that mobile device already, or do you need to purchase it? Talking to your IT consultant can help you determine how much you can do with the particular device & software in question and if you haven't purchased it yet, can help determine which model may work best for your needs. </p>
<h1>Computers</h1>
<p>First of all, where do you primarily work? Where do you WANT to be able to work? If you would like to be able to work outside of the office, a laptop with some special peripherals might be just what you need. If you just come into the office to work, a desktop would be better. And if you do special graphic work, you might need a desktop anyway, since graphic design is so resource intensive.</p>
<p>What software do you need? Is it primarily cloud based or is it all on CD's? What types of files do you save? Are they large? Are they stored on the cloud, or on your local machine? Knowing the answer to questions like this will help your consultant determine the appropriate amount of hard drive space and RAM necessary, as well as the processing power required.</p>
<p>Do you need special peripherals? Printers, scanners, speakers, microphones, accessibility devices or anything else that hooks up to your computer? And this is where its nice to know about those mobile devices, too. It pays to have the right ports on a computer to begin with. </p>
<p>Way back in the day when I first left home and went to college, I purchased a laptop for an obscene amount of money ($2500 almost 15 years ago). Without knowing anything about computers, I picked a machine that had the most ports, memory, biggest hard drive and newest OS that I could scrape up the money for. It ended up being the best machine I ever owned -- I never wanted for ports or needed PCMCIA cards and the only upgrade I ever did to it was to add RAM. It worked fabulously for well over 5 years in the days when a newer, faster processor came out every 6 months and it ran for 10 before it stopped running entirely. </p>
<p>I'm not saying all computer investments turn out like my first laptop. After all, hasn't everyone driven a lemon? But the odds are much greater that spending a little extra for a higher quality business class machine with some room for growth would help get you there. Wouldn't you like to be able to recall the awesome investment you made on a great computer that lasted for years instead of the one that broke monthly or made you angry every time you sat down to work? For more tips for opening a new office, see all the articles in this series:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.acsapp.com/blog/threethings-to-think-about-before-opening-a-new-law-office/">Three Things to Think About Before Opening A New Law Office</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.acsapp.com/blog/opening-a-new-office-what-do-you-really-want/">Opening a New Office – What Do You REALLY Want?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.acsapp.com/blog/computer-peripherals-for-your-new-office/">Computer Peripherals for Your New Office</a></li>
<li><a href="http://wp.me/p2WTPp-iM">Opening Your New Office – Phone, Internet & Security Systems</a></li>
</ul>
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<p><img alt="" src="https://www.acsapp.com/media/uploads/image/steed%20jen_0049%20mailer%20copy.jpg" style="width: 150px; height: 210px;"/> Jen Steed writes about technology, travel and more. You can find her writing for various online and print publications. To talk to Jen or see all of her articles as they are published, you can follow Jen on <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JenSteed?rel=author" rel="author" title="Author: Jen Steed on Google+">Google+</a>.</p>