Email scams and spoofing

Email Scams and Spoofing

Protect Yourself from Email Scams and Spoofing: Look for Red Flags and Take Simple Precautions

We recently posted on Social Media about the latest email scam making the rounds. For those posts, we were letting you know that scammers were trying to imitate a notification from Microsoft® about “unusual Office 365 Mailbox sign-in activity.” To detect the scam, we suggested that you look at the following red flags:

  1. The domain associated with the sender’s email address didn’t match a Microsoft domain. That’s a red flag. This email is likely spam.
  2. When moused over, the pop-up that appeared for the text links in the body of the email did not have a URL associated with a Microsoft domain—neither did the button. That’s another red flag indicating the email is likely spam.

These tips are a quick way to check out of the legitimacy of any email. The reason it’s so important to check out both the sender information and the link URLs is because of spoofing.
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Tech Gift Idea - Smartwatch

Tech Gifts For This Holiday Season

Five Tech Gifts Everyone Will Love to Find Under the Tree This Year
1. Smartwatch
A smartwatch is a great tech gift for anyone on your list who can’t get enough of their smartphone. It provides a fun and fashionable way to access that indispensable computer without reaching into their pocket. With a selection of models rivaled only by the variety of smartphones they have available, Apple and Android each carry a line of these miniature computers for the wrist.

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IT Roadmap

Take Your Company Farther in 2018 with an IT Roadmap

Bypass Common Roadblocks with an IT Roadmap

Very successful businesses have one thing in common—strategic planning. It’s your vision of the future and the steps it will take to get there. Likely, one of the big steps you’re going to need to take in 2018 is to upgrade your business technology. It’s changing fast and a well thought out IT Roadmap is vital to moving ahead quickly and with fewer roadblocks along the way. Managed IT services from QualityIP will help you get there.

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Keyboard Num Pad

Upgrade Your Technology and Save On Your Tax Bill Too

Take Advantage of Section 179 of the Tax Code to Upgrade Your Technology Before Time Runs Out

It’s hard to believe that there are only a couple of months to go before 2017 is but a memory. Even so, it’s not too late to use Section 179 of the tax code to your advantage to upgrade your business computers and phone systems.

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IT Security Akron Cleveland IT Security

If You’re Using Wi-Fi, Your Device is Probably Vulnerable

Understanding KRACK WPA2 Vulnerability

Most businesses and homes automatically check the WPA2 box when setting up their Wi-Fi network—as they should. This protocol has been the industry standard for encrypting information shared over Wi-Fi connections since 2004, and its widespread use is a testament to its trusted performance up to this point. We now know, thanks to Mathy Vanhoef and Frank Piessens at KU Leuven, however, that WPA2 WiFi networks are vulnerable to cryptographic attack.

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Microsoft’s 2007 Line Up Retiring After Ten Years

Office 2007 is just one of Microsoft’s 2007 product line that is reaching end-of-life.

And, unless you’re an IT tech, it’s probably the product with which you are most familiar. After all it brought us The Ribbon.

Remember when it came out, how Microsoft’s menu banner or, The Ribbon, was the first update to their Office interface in more than ten years? Most of us hated it. Learning The Ribbon was like starting all over again in Office. We all complained about how the commands we used most frequently in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint were suddenly hidden under menu headings that made no sense. There was a lot of frustration and whining from users. Yet, it survived and so did we. For some of us, Office 2007 is the only suite of Microsoft Apps we’ve ever used.

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IT Companies Cleveland Akron

Get The Most From Your IT

Are you getting the most out of your IT?

We all know that technology makes our lives simpler when it works well.  When technology malfunctions in the workplace, it may mean lost customers or sales.  Many Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) think that they can’t afford or benefit from hiring an IT company in Akron to manage their IT services.  However, by outsourcing some or all of it, SMBs have much to gain.  Here are the top three reasons to ask experts to manage your IT services:
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Illustration of an infected computer

Latest Ransomware Variant Going Global

There’s a new global ransomware threat, it’s a variant of Petya, and it’s spreading fast.

First, if you’re one of our customers, we want you to know that you’ll be okay. Our client backup solutions are monitored daily and tested regularly. So, even if the worst should happen, one of the best IT companies in Cleveland, QualityIP—Knows IT and we’ve got you covered. Read more

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Internet Speed Dial

Your Internet Speed

Your Internet Speed—Are you getting what you’re paying for?

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) make lots of promises about the speed and reliability of your Internet connection. Yet, most businesses don’t really know if they’re getting the upload and download speeds for which they are paying. Many factors affect your connection speed including: Read more

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Passwords Protection from QualityIP

The Worst Password Mistakes that Compromise Security

Broadcasting your password on national television may be the easiest way to invite hackers, but common password mistakes make it almost as easy for your data security to be compromised.

Password safety may not be one of the most interesting topics in the realm of cybersecurity, but having a strong password is one of the easiest ways to protect your business’ data integrity. The importance of a robust password has been emphasized by many experts, yet often users who think that they are utilizing a secure password are actually opening themselves up to attacks. You may not be broadcasting your password on national television, but if your password falls into one of the following categories, you could be just as vulnerable to hackers.

Passwords

Short and Simple

Short, simple passwords may be easy to remember, but they are also easy to guess. In general, the longer a password is, the harder it is for hackers to break it. Each additional character that you add to your password increases the possible combination of letters, numbers and symbols exponentially. Remember that hackers tend to go after low-hanging fruit, so any steps that you take to make your password harder to crack increases the likelihood that someone trying to break in will move on to the next target instead.

Lacking in Numbers or Symbols

Letters-only passwords may be more intuitive for you–but they are for hackers as well. Just as adding additional characters to your password exponentially increases the number of the possible combinations, so does using numbers and symbols in addition to letters. Just think about it: using letters, symbols and numbers means that each character in your password has almost twice as many options as if you only use letters.

Based on Personal Information

As highlighted in the clip from Jimmy Kimmel Live, using personal information such as a pet’s name or a birthday is incredibly common. Including personal details in your password, however, makes you very vulnerable to hacking. You may think that “Fido111379” is secure and difficult to guess, but blog posts discussing your dog or Facebook comments wishing you a happy birthday can broadcast your personal details to anyone who cares enough to look for them.

Simplistic Patterns

Being able to remember your password is, of course, necessary and utilizing a pattern might seem to be an easy solution to commit it to memory. Complex patterns that use letters, numbers and symbols within a long password are not a security risk. However, most people who use patterns in their password rely on overly simplistic ones, and this makes you vulnerable to hackers, particularly if your password is short. One particular type of pattern that you must avoid is keyboard-based patterns, such as “123qwe” or “1qaz2wsx.”

Worried that your business’ data might be vulnerable to hackers? As pert of their IT consulting services, the experts at Akron’s QualityIP can help you evaluate your security procedures to see if you have any glaring holes. Contact us today at (330) 931-4141 or info@qualityip.com to learn more .

Used by permission

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