Creating Your Shortcut First, you should right-click anywhere on the desktop that isn?t already filled up by an icon or application. You can then select New from the menu that appears. Next, select Shortcut. You?ll see a new dialog box that asks you to provide a program, file, or folder that you?d like to make a shortcut for. You can use the Browse button to find the file locally. If you have found the file, folder, or program you want to open, hit the OK button. You?ll see the file path populate in the dialog box. Click the Next button, and you?ll be asked to give your shortcut a name. Once you?re ready, click Finish. That?s all there is to it! Of course, the option to move the folder or file to your desktop also exists, but we urge you to consider who else might require access to that file or folder. For example, if you have a file stored on your network, the last thing you want is to move it from your network to your desktop, thus preventing anyone else from accessing it in their time of need. Plus, depending on your role within your organization, you might not have permissions to do such a thing in the first place. It?s better to just make a shortcut on your desktop and use that to access the file or folder. It?s cleaner and more effective. There are many benefits to keeping your files and folders stored in a centralized location, including the ability to back up said data in the event of a disaster. If you?re interested in doing so, you can also pin a specific file, folder, or program to the taskbar at the bottom of your screen, also allowing easy access. To do this, just click and drag the specified file, folder, or program to the taskbar. You can then click on it to access it whenever you need to. We hope you find some value in this tip! Be sure to keep an eye on our blog for more just like this.

What Should Be Included in an Acceptable Use Policy?   Every business should have an acceptable use policy so that employees know what the permitted uses of company computers and networks are. Without a clear policy, they don’t know what’s allowed or not. The results can include overuse of resources, bad security practices, and friction between managers and employees. Everyone should understand where the boundaries are. General restrictions Certain activities should always be prohibited. They include: Illegal activities, including fraud, threats, and harassment. Spamming by email or any other channel. Making unauthorized representations on behalf of the employer. Circumventing device and network security. Introducing malicious software, such as spyware, worms, and ransomware. Disclosing confidential information, except as permitted in one’s job. Revealing account passwords to anyone else. Actions prohibited by company policies. Software policies A company should carefully consider whether and to what extent employees will be allowed to install software. Giving them blanket permission to install software on their assigned machines opens up security risks. A common approach is to allow only authorized IT people to install software on employees’ machines. BYOD and telecommuting policies The policy should specify whether employees may use their own devices on the company network. This includes telecommuting as well as smartphones and tablets. If employees can use personal mobile devices on the network, the AUP needs to specify what security measures are required. This may include installing company-mandated software to separate business and personal use. The policy needs to make it clear that any monitoring applies only to the business side of employee-owned devices and personal use is private. If the policy allows telecommuting, it should require the use of a VPN and protection of the account associated with it. Social media and time sinks The company’s policy on using social media, watching videos, and other potentially time-wasting activities will depend on the business culture and the network’s ability to absorb the bandwidth. Some companies need to be very strict, prohibiting nearly all non-business use. Others will trust their employees not to abuse their privileges. A policy shouldn’t be so strict that it interferes with necessary work activities. A blanket prohibition on watching video could interfere with work-related education and research. A strict policy should allow usage for purposes that are part of doing one’s job. A few companies have such stringent security requirements that they have to prohibit all nonessential activity; they’re a special case which is beyond the scope of this article. At the other end, there should always be rules to limit clearly excessive usage. Even a lenient policy should state that social media use is acceptable only if it doesn’t interfere with the employee’s work duties, isn’t detrimental to the employer, and doesn’t involve unauthorized claims to speak for the employer. The company’s policies on trademarks, harassment, discrimination, and so on should be incorporated by reference. Enforcement The policy needs to explain how it will be enforced. There are several points it needs to cover. If user activity is monitored, even just occasionally, the AUP needs to say so. If some areas, such as the content of email, are protected from monitoring, it should say that also. Making this point clear protects the employer from ill will and possibly from legal action. The consequences should be made clear with […]

What Is Involved With A Lock-down Procedure?   When there is a change in IT Support staff that has access to your IT management systems and passwords it is important to quickly revoke access, change passwords review your security systems.  We suggest having a lock-down procedure in place to guide you through the process and ensure that nothing is missed. In addition to the obvious things like keys to building and passwords, here are a few other items to be sure you consider; Firewall administrator access Domain name registration accounts Email and web hosting accounts All remote access and VPN software Change the Point of Contact records for all vendors like the phone company, internet provider, etc. All online, cloud, or hosted services Let all employees know about the change, even the branch offices! Encryption keys and passwords for backups Remove them from all internal email distribution lists Access control and security systems Of course, this is all much easier if you have professional IT management systems in place so that everything is fully documented before you need to change it. When the only person who knows what to change, and how to change it is the one who just left, it can be a daunting task. If you want help getting in front of this, before it becomes an emergency, or if you are currently in need of an emergency lock-down, give us a call. At White Mountain, we make changing IT Service vendors EASY! Thanks for visiting, we look forward to hearing from you. Frequently Asked Questions Here are some common questions that we hear from companies your size. What is involved with a lock-down procedure? What types of things should be documented? What is a comprehensive data backup system? What should be included in an Acceptable Use Policy? What are employee onboarding and separation procedures? My IT person is the only one that knows my systems, won’t it be painful to switch? I have a dispute with my current IT provider, can you help me lock them out? OK, I want to know more, what’s the next step?

What Types Of Things Should Be Documented?   One of the keys to being able to efficiently manage, support and use your IT systems is standardized documentation. At White Mountain, we utilize a secure, state of the art database for documentation and client SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures).  As we implement, manage and support your systems we are continuously referencing and updating the documentation that outlines what we did and how we did it. The goal is to empower the support team to be as efficient as possible and to avoid depending on a single individual for critical information or knowledge.  Ensuring a high level of efficiency and responsiveness on our end, allows us to keep your costs down, and productivity up.  Having a professional Managed Service Provider supporting your business provides exponentially more value than a single employee or very small IT provider. Here are a few of the things that should be included in your IT documentation: Network diagram and floor-plan ISP and circuit info Inventory of all software and hardware Complete documentation of servers Security profile of data, share and user group access Data backup requirements and system configuration User census and profile Firewall configuration and security profile Remote access configuration Third-party vendor information and much, much more! At White Mountain, we make changing IT vendors EASY! Thanks for visiting, we look forward to hearing from you. Frequently Asked Questions Here are some common questions that we hear from companies your size. What is involved with a lock-down procedure? What types of things should be documented? What is a comprehensive data backup system? What should be included in an Acceptable Use Policy? What are employee onboarding and separation procedures? My IT person is the only one that knows my systems, won’t it be painful to switch? I have a dispute with my current IT provider, can you help me lock them out? OK, I want to know more, what’s the next step?

What Is A Comprehensive Data Backup System?   We believe that there should be multiple levels of backup for all company data. When using modern backup, synchronization and virtualization tools, there is really no excuse for data loss, even small businesses can afford to have a robust backup platform. Having said that, we understand that every situation is different and all budgets are certainly not equal, but here are a few guidelines that we like to consider. All servers should be backed up at a minimum of once per day with a copy of everything streaming to a secure off-site location.  Servers should be completely imaged, or better yet virtualized, to allow for easy restores or live fail-over to different hardware or even to a different location. Desktop computers and laptops should also be imaged to minimize downtime when a hard drive fails, this way all updates, installed software, and drivers are preserved and ready to go with a simple restore.  There is no reason to have to rebuild a computer and reload everything from scratch just because a hard drive failed. Laptops should also have a live file-backup running that will allow changed files to stream to the cloud while you are on the road, or out of the office. At White Mountain, we make changing IT vendors EASY! Thanks for visiting, we look forward to hearing from you. Frequently Asked Questions Here are some common questions that we hear from companies your size. What is involved with a lock-down procedure? What types of things should be documented? What is a comprehensive data backup system? What should be included in an Acceptable Use Policy? What are employee onboarding and separation procedures? My IT person is the only one that knows my systems, won’t it be painful to switch? I have a dispute with my current IT provider, can you help me lock them out? OK, I want to know more, what’s the next step?