Catharsis Managed IT Ltd blog

I don’t mean to gross you out, but have you ever considered how disgusting your laptop is? Studies have compared the relative cleanliness of a keyboard and a toilet seat… and unfortunately, the keyboard wasn’t the cleaner of the two. This is why it makes sense to regularly give your laptop devices a good cleaning, and why we’ve put together some tips to ensure you safely sanitize a laptop device.

What has proven to be one of the more effective ways of preventing phishing attacks may be under fire from more advanced threats designed specifically to penetrate the defenses of two-factor authentication. This means that users need to be more cognizant of avoiding these attacks, but how can you help them make educated decisions about this? Let’s start by discussing the phishing attacks that can beat 2FA.

Earlier this week, you may have seen the first part of this article, where we discussed how robocallers collect your information. Today, we continue our discussion on data privacy and what you can do to keep your organization and personal data safe.

Protecting your business’ data is no simple task. To make it as secure as possible, you’ll have to understand how personal data flows through online channels. We’re digging pretty deep with this one, so get ready for an informative and, if nothing else, interesting read. This topic is especially important in an age where Facebook and Google exist, but there are countless other threats to data privacy out there that we all experience on a regular basis--business or not.

Microsoft Office 365 is a highly useful subscription-based solution. However, as these services are based on the successful continuation of one’s subscription, it may be useful to know the procedure that Microsoft undergoes when a subscriber cancels their services. Here, we go into each step that Microsoft follows.

Science fiction is filled with incredible technology, especially in terms of how the characters communicate. This is especially true in the epic space opera Star Wars. Fortunately for viewers like you and me, some of the communication devices and technologies used a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, may not be so far off.

It’s no secret how useful the Google Chrome browser is to a user. What is a secret, however, is that Chrome has some added capabilities that make it even more useful than first impressions would suggest. For our Tip of the Week, we’ll review some of these capabilities so you can implement them into your daily workflows.

Cloud computing has changed the way that businesses function, including some organizations that have foregone the on-premise server entirely in favor of it. Unfortunately, this approach can be problematic, as the data security and privacy issues associated with cloud-based resources might prove to be less than sustainable for your particular business.

The capabilities of business technology are truly incredible, and they’re only becoming more impressive. This means that the solutions you have in place now will certainly need to be upgraded to other options at some point.

When a business uses its technology the right way, it typically has positive effects on the business. That’s not to say that technology is a major priority for EVERY business. There are some business owners that don’t prioritize having the newest, shiniest technology on the market; and, that’s fine, if the business functions efficiently.

Productivity is something that either happens or it doesn’t, but it’s important to keep in mind that nobody can work at optimal efficiency at all times. This doesn’t mean you can’t leverage some best practices to make better use of your time, though. Today we’ll examine three general ways to improve your productivity, including examples of how to make them happen.

Why do manufacturers and developers constantly issue updates and upgrades to their software and hardware solutions? A business’s IT solutions might seem like something you want to set up and not think about ever again, but this is simply not how the cookie crumbles. This week’s tip is dedicated to why your organization needs to have a strategy in place to approach your upgrades.

It’s no surprise that businesses will avoid spending money on things they don’t need at all costs. While it might seem harmless to avoid investing in certain technology solutions that just aren’t needed, one that you absolutely cannot go without is data backup and disaster recovery. A business that doesn’t survive disasters can’t succeed, so if you want a future for your business, it’s important to invest now before you can’t later on.

Every business (and every individual, for that matter) needs to be wary of Internet scams and other online tricks. This is because those scammers are wily and have many means of finding a user in a compromising position… or so they claim in a recent scam.

For many industries, technology has been extremely important to the expansion and innovation of their processes and outcomes. This is especially true in the case of the healthcare industry and the advancements made to medical IT. Particularly, this has given patients a far greater scope of control over their medical records - something that healthcare providers must remain aware of to leverage these changes to their advantage.

It wasn’t so long ago when your business could get away with protecting your computer with a simple installation of antivirus software. There were only around 50,000 known computer viruses in the year 2000, but that number has since skyrocketed to an astounding 185 million unique variants of threats.

The smartphone has completely changed the way that the workplace functions, providing near-constant access to all the wonders of the Internet. People can communicate in ways previously never thought possible, and the possibilities these days are indeed limitless. There are applications out there that can make life more fulfilling and business more productive.

Unlike the office environment, the technology used in retail has been relatively stagnant. The times are changing, though. It’s been a long time coming, but the technology used in the retail environment is finally evolving to meet the growing needs of organizations. Unfortunately, this has been met with the challenges of implementing said technology in the industry.

We’ve beaten this point into the ground countless times already, but Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, presents clear benefits compared to the traditional way of using a telephone for business purposes. One of the key ways that VoIP does this is by providing features that traditional telephony simply cannot compete with. We’ll be discussing some of the best ways you can augment your VoIP solution with additional add-ons.

Sometimes threats come to light only after they’ve been around for long enough to cause concern for the public. This was the case with a new bug found in Apple’s FaceTime app that allowed users to spy on others without their consent through group FaceTime calls. Thankfully, a patch has been issued that resolves it, but perhaps the way that it was implemented is the most interesting of all.