Recent Blog Posts

Let?s discuss how the =DATEDIF function works, and how it could help you keep track of assorted pieces of data. What Does =DATEDIF Do? Using the =DATEDIF function returns the span of time between two different dates. Let?s say that you wanted to figure out how long your employees had each been working for your business. In either Excel or Sheets, all you have to do is list the start dates that each employee began working for your company, and then in the next column, insert the formula cited below. For clarity we?ll assume that your list of dates starts in cell B2. Therefore, you would type the following formula into C2: =DATEDIF(B2,TODAY(),?Y?) This will give you the difference between the provided date in B1, and ?TODAY,? the date you?re accessing the sheet, measured in years. You can also replace the ?Y? for years with ?M? for months or ?D? for days. Extending the formula down will give you the results for the rest of your list. For example, this is what it would look like in Google Sheets: Likewise, it should look something like this in Microsoft Excel: Be warned, however: this function is somewhat simple to break, so while there are other options, we wouldn?t recommend diving too far into them. That being said, this trick could potentially be applied to a wide assortment of data, helping you to track the age of projects, time since your last workplace accident?really, it all comes down to what you need to keep track of. For instance, you could hypothetically use it to track how long it has been since your team had to call White Mountain IT Services for assistance, which is a perk that our managed services clients get to enjoy whenever they need it. Find out more by giving us a call at (603) 889-0800.

Underhanded tactics like these are critical to understand and be able to identify if you are to protect your business. How Do Phoicemail Scams Work? In order to appreciate how these scams function, we need to consider the recent trend of deepfakes?artificially generated footage of someone based on numerous data points?and remember that these scams often also feature audio. So, if a scammer can fool people with a doctored video, it stands to reason that it?s worth trying to fool people with just the audio. Enter phoicemail scams, where generated audio meant to mimic the supposed caller is left as a voicemail message instructing the recipient to do something they shouldn?t. For instance, sharing confidential or otherwise privileged information. Picture it: you come back to the office after lunch, only to see that you?ve received a phone call while you were away and there?s been a message left there. You listen to your voicemail, only to hear a voice that sounds a lot like your manager requesting you to send over the credentials needed to access an account to a different email address than usual. Would you fall for it? While it may be tempting to assume that you?d be able to pick up on how suspicious this seems, it is important to acknowledge that the fact that it isn?t coming in through an email might be enough to throw you. Plus, it isn?t unheard of for IT professionals?the ones who are arguably most conditioned to keep security in mind?to fall for these scams. Phoicemail Threats Can Be Hard to Spot Like many modern examples of phishing, it can be a real challenge to accurately judge whether a message has been tampered with or not. Don?t believe us? Check out the study that MIT is currently running, where you are challenged to identify deepfakes by examining transcripts, audio recordings, and videos of Joseph Biden and Donald Trump?half of which are real, half fabricated. While some of the fraudulent audio clips included are somewhat apparent, it may be more difficult than you?d expect to separate the more convincing samples from the truth. Phishing Awareness of All Types Needs to Be Part of Your Cybersecurity Posture It is important that your team is aware that phishing can happen in many ways, not just through their email inboxes. Phone calls and voicemail messages, text messages, even search engine results can be phishing vectors. Your team needs to know this, and keep this lesson in mind whatever they happen to be doing. White Mountain IT Services can help New Hampshire businesses practice these security-conscious habits, while also implementing more secure technologies and protections to help minimize cyberthreats as much as possible. Find out how we can help you and your business? team by giving us a call at (603) 889-0800 today.

First and Foremost, Update the Access Credentials It?s no secret that networking hardware comes with factory-default device names and passwords preconfigured. Many may make the mistake of simply putting these devices in place and not changing these defaults?a mistake that leaves the network fundamentally insecure. Here?s the thing: generally speaking, the default credentials for just about any device can be found online. So, if a cybercriminal happens to find out what model of device you have?not difficult if you don?t change the displayed device name, or SSID, it becomes a simple matter to look up the keys to the castle. Change the device?s displayed name, change the password, and you?re already in better shape. For extra security, set your router to not broadcast the SSID at all, and have your team members type in the name of the network they?re trying to access. Create Dedicated Networks for Different Purposes Modern networking hardware can commonly support numerous discrete networks simultaneously, meaning that different devices being used for different needs and different access permissions don?t need to share the same network. This hugely benefits your security, as it helps ensure that a visitor to your business would find it much more challenging to introduce a threat to your operational network, whether or not they meant to do so. Creating a dedicated network for any Internet of Things devices is recommended for similar reasons. These devices, while undeniably handy, can potentially serve as an access point for a threat. Keeping them in a separate network helps protect the rest of your network and assets from any unpleasant influences. Limit Which Devices Can Access Your Network For especially stringent Wi-Fi security, there?s another setting for you to consider. Every device that can connect to Wi-Fi will have its own hardware address, known as the Media Access Control/MAC address. See if you can set your router to only provide network access to devices with MAC addresses that you?ve approved beforehand. That way, you can confirm precisely which devices can be used on the network, reducing the chances that a threat is carried in on a mobile or otherwise Internet-connected device. White Mountain IT Services is here to help you make the most of all of your technology, productively and securely. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more about what we can do.

To do so, we?ll review what Gmail and Microsoft Outlook allow you to do?and don?t forget, we?re here to help you do these things should you need assistance with this or any aspect of your IT. Securing Emails Sent Via Gmail Gmail offers a few options to help you protect your messages. Firstly, you can seal an email message behind a password that will be delivered to a mobile number of your choosing. This is called Confidential Mode, and prevents the recipient from doing much more than reading and replying to your email. They can?t copy, forward, download, or even print the message with it activated. Using it is simple: Open Gmail and start a new message by clicking Compose You?ll find a small lock icon at the bottom of the message window. Clicking it will activate Confidential Mode. You can then set an expiration date for your message, with the options One day, One week, One month, Three months, or Five years. You can then protect your encrypted message via a SMS Passcode, where you set the access code and can have it sent directly to the recipient?s mobile device. If you skip the password option by selecting No Passcode, recipients will only be able to view the message, not download or copy from it. This entire process also applies to the attachments that are paired with the email you?ve protected. Businesses utilizing a paid Google Workspace account also have a form of encryption (S/MIME, or Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) applied to emails as they are hosted on a dedicated email server. Securing Emails Sent Via Outlook Outlook comes with a feature that you can enable, called Open Message Encryption, that can be accessed through any email provider, both protecting it from interception and preventing it from being forwarded or printed by the recipient. Applying it to a message is also rather simple, in either the web or desktop application: In the Outlook Web App: Start a new message by clicking the New message button. Click the Encrypt button you?ll find in the message window. Above the To button, you?ll see the option to Change permissions. Select it. You?ll be able to select the appropriate level of permissions for that message. Complete your message, and click Send. In the Outlook Desktop App: Navigate to the Home tab and select New Email. A message window will appear. Click into the Options tab. Click into Permissions, and select the appropriate permissions to apply to the message. Complete your message, and click Send. It?s Important to Embrace Every Security Option Available We can help you to do so, too. Give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more about how we?ll assist you in securing all aspects of your business.

What Exactly Is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is actually pretty straightforward. It is a computing environment, hosted on a remote server and accessed through the Internet. Nowadays, there is very little computing that can?t be purchased as-a-service, and the benefits are apparent. Basically, someone doesn?t have to purchase the underlying hardware to host data, applications, and even processing and can scale their IT to their specific needs. What Type of Cloud Options Are Available? Since cloud is a broad term, companies can use the cloud for just about anything they need. Let?s take a look at some of the most common use cases for cloud computing in the business world: Cloud storage – Data storage is a big deal for most businesses. You need a compliant, secure, and available place to keep your business? data. For a long time, businesses were reluctant to use cloud-based storage options as there were questions about the viability of their security and their reliance on an Internet connection, but today, there are many great options that provide even the smallest business reliable and secure storage with guaranteed uptime. Cloud backup – Most of today?s prominent data backup services rely on cloud platforms to ensure that data is available in the face of a disaster. With these situations becoming more commonplace, and with data?s value to an organization what it is, having redundancy in the cloud makes a lot of sense for most businesses.  Cloud hosting – Today, there are cloud service providers that offer all the processing a business could ever need. This option essentially replaces centralized servers for cloud-hosted ones, providing any computing setup a business needs.  Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) – Software-as-a-Service has become one of the most utilized methods of application delivery in modern business. Essentially, a business pays a subscription fee for access to a piece of software. It allows them access to many applications that they may not have the budget for and can be scaled up and back quickly. SaaS covers a lot of ground: from business telephone, to productivity, business management, marketing, and much, much more.  A Brief Look at Why the Cloud Is Great for Growing Businesses For small business owners, the benefits of cloud computing might just change the way you feel about service-based computing. Let?s go through some of the major benefits here: Accessibility – Cloud computing allows businesses to deploy their computing resources to their employees (and in some cases even their customers) wherever they are located. This has huge benefits as it allows a distributed workforce to all access the same applications and data without the business having to physically host the underlying infrastructure. Improved Collaboration – This method of computing provides unparalleled consistency and access to documents and other files; as well as the ability to work directly with others over separate connections. Scalability – One of the most valuable parts of cloud computing is the near-instant scalability of any cloud-based platform. If you need more space, accounts, etc. You can acquire it/them in minutes.  Saves Money – Since you only get the computing you need, you aren?t wasting valuable capital on systems that are majorly underutilized, saving money in the process. Redundancy – Most cloud platforms come with built-in redundancy. This means that outages are minimal. With better uptime, you can get […]