Being hacked is the single biggest fear of most computer users.  Many believe the first sign of strange behavior or errors on their PC is a sign that hackers have taken control.  But are hackers really inside your machine, stealing your information? Or should we be on the lookout for more subtle signs?  What does being hacked really look like?

There is an important distinction to make between being hacked by a person and being infected with a virus or malware. Virus software and malware are automated processes designed to damage your system, steal your data, or both.  There are of course ways that we can defeat these processes, but what if we are instead hacked by an individual?

Logins Not Working
One of the first steps a hacker might take would be to change the computers passwords.  By doing so, not only do they ensure future access to the account, they prevent you from accessing the system to stop them. For the hacker, this is a crucial step that keeps them in control.  With this in mind, we always want to make sure to keep on top of our own login details and how often we change them. 

Security Emails or Text Messages from Online Services
Many services track which device and location you logged into your account from last.  If your account is accessed from a new device or a different country it might trigger an automated email or text to ask if this new login is your own.

If you have logged in using a new computer, tablet, or phone; an email that asks "hey, is this you?" need not be cause for alarm.  If you haven't, it may be time to investigate further. This service is an important part of information security. It may be a key first step to identify someone else gaining access to your account.

Bank Accounts Missing Money or Strange Transactions
Most commonly today, hackers commit crimes to steal money. The end goal for hackers is typically to profit from their crimes by taking money from people online. It always pays to keep a regular eye on your financial transactions to make sure you know what money is coming and going from your account. You may see a large sum missing where hackers have attempted to take as much as they can in a single transaction. Alternatively, small, hard to notice transactions may appear.  These often account for small purchases where attackers have tested the details they have to make sure they work.

Sudden Loss of Cellular Connectivity
Network interruption is a symptom that few people expect but occurs commonly when hackers attack. Many banks and online services use a security feature known as Two-factor authentication.  To do this they send a short code to your phone or an app when you log in.  Two-factor authentication is ideal in most cases and a great boost to security. 

Hackers can try to work around this by calling your mobile service provider to report your phone as lost or stolen.  During this call, they will request your phone number be transferred to a new sim card that they control. When your bank sends its regular two-factor authentication code to the number registered, it goes instead to the hacker who may be able to log in.  From your perspective phone service will simply stop working.

Keeping Vigilant and Maintaining Security
These are only some of the modern techniques that hackers can try to use to gain access to your accounts.  It pays to be extra vigilant and pay close attention to the signs and signals that indicate you may have been hacked.
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If you suspect that you might have been hacked, or would like help to prevent hackers in future, give us at 715-255-0325 call and we'll improve your security. 

Old age creeps up slowly – unless you’re a computer.

Then it seems to happen overnight. One day you’re logging in normally and jumping right into the action, the next day booting up takes so long you not only have time to make a cup of coffee, you could have run out to the local café for the good stuff.

This is the stage where many people throw their hands in the air and start wishing for a new computer. Except your computer isn’t broken and doesn’t need replacing, it’s just . . . slow. Like any machine, computers have parts that wear out – particularly if they have moving parts that are in near-constant use. The hard drive is the #1 cause of speed bottlenecks in most computers. Traditional hard drives are made up of a stack of round magnetic platters, spinning at up to 7200rpm, while a read/write head on a mechanical arm whizzes back and forth. Eventually, the platters take longer to spin up, unable to reach full throttle, and the mechanical arm becomes sluggish. Which leaves you waiting. And waiting . . . .
SSD's Can Give Aging Computers A New Lease on LifeThe new era of hard drives is here with Solid State Drives – and they have no moving parts. Zero. Making a simple upgrade to an SSD can knock minutes off boot time, as well as streamline regular computer operations with rapid-fire functionality. They’re:

• Cool – Don’t generate heat, which means other components also run more efficiently
• Durable – No moving parts to wear out
• Compact - A little larger and thicker than a credit card
• Long-lasting – You’re far more likely to replace your entire system before the SSD wears out
• Lightning fast – Data is accessed instantly, computer boots in seconds, rather than minutes
• Suitable for all systems– laptops or desktops

Now through November 2, Yellowstone Computing is offering SSD upgrades with the following discounts: Free installation, $20 off data migration, AND 1 year of award-winning Emsisoft Anti-malware FREE! That’s over $70 in savings! This offer won’t last long, so hurry in today! *
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*Offer valid for residential computers only. Discount expires November 2, 2018. Free Emsisoft license available to new Emsisoft users only, a $10 discount is available to existing Emsisoft users. 15% Service Member discount can also be applied to this sale.

You have likely been alerted by popups while browsing the web.  These, often flashing, advertisements claim your computer has more than a thousand errors requiring urgent attention to fix.  Perhaps helpfully, these popups offer a solution to cure your computer with a click of the mouse.  Buttons marked "fix now" appear to offer a simple fix to all your computer troubles.

These advertisements are often described as Registry Cleaners, or by a few other names that attempt to convince the user they will somehow clean or improve their home PC.  Within the IT industry they are known as "scareware".  They are software designed to convince you that your computer has problems it might not have.

Are They Trustworthy?
Almost all popups and advertisements that use banners saying "Fix now for free" are not trustworthy at all.  They are little more than a scam attempting to take your credit card details, PC data or both. At best these programs might claim to scan your computer and show a convincing list of plausible sounding computer problems.  Using this, they will ask for payment to "fix" these problems to get your PC back in shape again.
At worst these advertisements can be downright malicious. Some may attempt to use fake warnings and scare tactics to trick customers into installing spyware on their own computers. When installed, spyware will attempt to steal information in the background.  Attackers may use this technique to steal usernames, passwords, emails, and credit card details.  Sometimes the first sign a user has that something is wrong is when a virus scan detects software doing something it shouldn't be. 

Do I Need to Clean the Registry?
The Windows system and various applications installed on your PC do leave files stored on your computer.  These files can stay behind or go out of date even after the application that initially made them has been removed.  These files can use up a little space on the hard drive and generally cause minor clutter within the system.

Despite the large amount of "scareware" and fraudulent computer cleanup scans out there, legitimate applications designed to clean your system do exist.  This can be something we cover and is often done as a single small part of a complete computer tune up. Keeping up with out of date files and freeing up unused space is worthwhile and can be considered "good housekeeping".  The vast speed boosts many online advertisements claim to unlock by simply moving files around are almost always false.
The home computer, however, is commonly upgraded and can be boosted by more conventional means. If the speed of your PC is no longer up to the task, there are ways in which we can unlock far greater gains than simple housekeeping chores.

PC Boosters
Relatively low-cost hardware components such as memory can often be added to boost the speed of even an older PC and unlock a new lease of life.  Upgrading the computers RAM can double the working memory available to the operating system. With extra memory, many programs can keep more information available to work with. This upgrade reduces loading times and increases the computer’s ability to run more programs at once.

Another common speed boosting upgrade involves how we store and load data from the computer. Switching from an older style mechanical hard drive to a modern Solid-State Disk (SSD) can bring down the startup and loading time of any PC.

Loading data from the hard drive is very often the slowest part of a computer, the bottleneck in an otherwise very fast system.  Because an SSD does not use any mechanical components the time to access the disk is nearly instant when compared to older, mechanical hard disks.
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Safe Speed Boosts
These upgrades offer boosts in speed to rival a modern system at only a fraction of the cost originally paid for the computer. Upgrading the RAM, swapping to an SSD, or doing both will provide an instant, dramatic, and safe improvement to the speed of your PC.
 
If your computer is running slow give us at a call at 715-255-0325 to arrange a real and professional cleanup.

In today’s business world, having great Wi-Fi isn’t a luxury -it’s a necessity. Businesses, with their varying needs, have specific requirements for what constitutes great Wi-Fi. For some small businesses, consumer-grade Wi-Fi might be sufficient, but for most businesses, commercial Wi-Fi is more appropriate. As companies grow, there comes a tipping point where commercial equipment is necessary. So how do you know if your business is ready for commercial Wi-Fi? Ask yourself the following questions to find out.

How Many Devices Use Your Wi-Fi?
It used to be that only laptop computers connected to your Wi-Fi, but that is no longer the case. With the rise of portable devices such as smartphones, tablets, and streaming sticks, each person may be using your Wi-Fi from several devices, thus multiplying the number of users on the network. Consumer-grade hardware is designed for just a few people (like the amount that live in a single household) but can’t manage larger amounts of users and all of their devices. This is especially true for sustained usage. Remember that your employees aren’t the only people who expect to be able to connect to your Wi-Fi. One of the first things visitors typically do is look for a Wi-Fi network to connect their smartphones to, so providing wireless Internet to your customers is important.

What Is the Size and Shape of Your Workspace?
The number of access points you will need for your Wi-Fi is dependent on the amount of physical space that needs to be covered, the shape of the area, wall material, and the number of users/devices. In smaller spaces, consumer-grade Wi-Fi might be good enough. Larger, oddly shaped spaces benefit from commercial hardware. If your building’s walls are made of brick, cinder blocks, or cement, you likely need more access points than buildings made of other materials. Make sure you have a strong connection from all locations. It’s annoying to only be connected to Wi-Fi in certain areas of a building and find yourself in a deadzone a few steps later.

Access points for commercial Wi-Fi tend to be more powerful and flexible. For example, some business Wi-Fi systems can transfer connected devices from a crowded access point to one that is less busy. By doing this, everybody’s fast speed remains. If you foresee your range needing to increase, such as renting out more space, it’s easier to add more access points to commercial Wi-Fi than consumer-grade. Businesses that anticipate scaling up soon are better off with commercial Wi-Fi.

Do You Want Guests to Have the Same Quality Wi-Fi As Workers?
In households, where consumer-grade Wi-Fi is prevalent, all users share the Wi-Fi equally. In a home environment, if children are slowing down the Internet with Netflix or video games, it’s not a big problem. However, a choked business Wi-Fi network can cause a lot of problems. Commercial Wi-Fi allows you manage the network. You can assign a designated amount of bandwidth to different users so they’re unable to clog the entire connection. You can also allow visitors Internet access without giving them unlimited access to the network, a key security feature. You can also apply various filter options to both employees and guests with a firewall appliance to help keep your network secure and free from malware.

How Much Does the Internet Affect Your Employees’ Productivity?
For some companies, workers only use Wi-Fi for a few quick tasks. With these types of businesses, if the Internet is slow, it won’t have a big impact on how much work your employees get done. For other companies, there isn’t much people can accomplish if the Wi-Fi isn’t working well. The slower your employees work, the less money you make. Wi-Fi troubles can also lead to frustrated, unhappy workers, again hampering productivity and employee morale. If fast Internet is essential for people to complete their daily tasks, commercial Wi-Fi is important.

Strong Wi-Fi is a necessity for all businesses. This is especially true for larger businesses that connect a lot of devices (from both employees and visitors) and have a big work area. It is equally important for those where employee productivity depends on a strong connection. The goal is to keep your business-critical technology running smoothly. Consider carefully whether consumer-grade Wi-Fi or commercial Wi-Fi is the best choice for your business. When you ask yourself the questions above, the answer should become clear.
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Is your business’s Wi-Fi struggling? Give us a call at 715-255-0325 to discuss a solution.