New Year…new me…you know the drill. What are some things your business can do to make it the healthiest tech-verison of itself this year? Luckily, you don’t have to think too hard, because we asked our Twin Oaks Tech crew to share their top 6 tech-olutions for 2024:
Strengthen those passwords:
They need to be 12 to 14 characters and a mixture of capital and non-capital letters, numbers and special characters. It’s very important not to use the same password across multiple accounts because If one of your accounts is hacked, then your password is compromised for every other account you used it on. We know it’ll be hard to remember these more intricate passwords and multiple passwords at that!) so we can’t stress enough the ease of a password manager. They are a must in 2024 when cyber criminals are more vigilant than ever to hack into your most sensitive information for monetary gain.
You’re too smart to not be using MFA at this point:
This tech-olution goes hand in hand with more intricate passwords. Enable multi-factor authentication for any account you can. Most accounts offer this feature for free to help you keep your PII safe. This simple and quick step can save you hours of headache later by helping prevent a cyber-attack from stealing your identity, credit card numbers, hacking your email, and more.
Back up your data:
Backing up data is even more important than ever since we host so much of our lives digitally now. Back up your photos, videos, documents, and anything else you would be lost without. It’s important to not only think about backing up your phone to a cloud but also to your laptop. Twin Oaks offers services through Acronis that auto backups your device, so you don’t have to worry about losing your digital files due to a hack or damaged device.
‘Tis the year of auto updates:
Did you know out of date computers are more susceptible to cyber-attacks? If you don’t have the latest updates installed on your devices, important safety patches can’t come through and keep your device healthy and on guard against attacks. You can set your device to auto update any time one is available.
There are enough viruses going around – you need an Antivirus!
This isn’t even a question. If you have a device that uses the internet through Wi-Fi or data, YOU MUST HAVE ANTIVIRUS. Without it you are opening your device up to anything and everything. Antivirus is extremely affordable and runs in the background keeping your device safe, so it is operational and ready to work for you!
Give those suspicious emails the side eye:
Be suspicious of everything! We could write a whole blog just on this topic. There are so many things to look for and so many ways people are being tricked via email links and files. If you don’t know the sender, BE ON GUARD. Never open an attachment or click on a link if you don’t know the sender. Carefully exam the email address and make sure it matches the sender’s name.
Look out for suspicious email addresses disguised as legit, like this for example: [email protected].
Take these 6 tech-olutions with you on your 2024 journey and you’ll have your devices armored up to defend against cyber-attacks, malware, phishing spam and more! Anytime you accidentally have a security breach, we’ll be here to help. Don’t be embarrassed to report it to your IT Techs. They can help mitigate damage and get you back up and running with the most minimal downtown.