The Michigan IT Experts

We’ll go over some of the most viable options for keeping your email communications as secure as possible, including encryption, spam protection, and employee awareness.

Email Encryption
Encryption is extremely important for keeping your data safe from prying eyes. Encryption is easy to understand when it’s explained in terms that aren’t mind-bogglingly complex. Data that’s sent through a connection that isn’t encrypted can be intercepted. When data is sent through an encrypted connection, it’s scrambled so that it can’t be read by those who might steal it while it’s in transit. Only those who hold an encryption key can unscramble it, making it a much more secure method of sending and receiving important data. Some industries, such as healthcare and government organizations, mandate compliance standards that may include encryption to send and receive email.

Spam Protection
Employees are almost certain to encounter email hazards like spam messages and phishing attempts, and if they don’t know how to identify these dangerous messages, they could expose your organization to data breaches. This is because hackers can ask employees for various information, such as passwords, usernames, and other credentials that aid them in infiltrating your carefully laid-out defenses. The best way to keep this from happening is to keep spam and phishing messages from hitting the inbox in the first place with spam protection systems.

Phishing attempts are a bit trickier, as they will need to be handled in a careful and calculated manner. Scammers often personalize messages to optimize their odds of the message being opened or an attachment being downloaded. Therefore, you need to consider employee training to properly defend against it.

Conditioning Your Employees for Security
Your network’s security can’t be complete without taking care of the ones actually using the technology. Since your end users are going to be using the organization’s email, it’s only natural that you prepare them for the act of keeping it secure. You can provide your users with a list of best practices for them to keep in mind while going about their duties. They are the following:

• Check the sender: Who has sent the message? Is it a suspicious email address that can’t be traced to any of your contacts? Does it come from a strange email domain? If the answer to any of these is in question, you might have a spam message.
• Identify the intent: Hackers want you to click on their spam messages as quickly as possible. Therefore, they will often try to incite immediate action to prevent you from thinking twice.
• Check the spelling and grammar: Many hackers come from countries where English isn’t the hacker’s first language, making their messages quite identifiable compared to others. If you receive messages filled with these inconsistencies, you can bet they are either unprofessional or likely a hacker.
• Don’t open unrequested attachments: Attachments are a big way for hackers to spread threats, as a lot of people don’t think twice before downloading a supposed receipt or statement. Double-check who sent the attachment before downloading it.
• Don’t click sketchy links: Before clicking on any links in an email, make sure it’s going where you expect it to. You can do this by hovering over the link without clicking on it. If the link goes to a weird URL or an IP address (a string of numbers and periods), it might be a phishing attempt. The destination might look legitimate and ask you to log in, but it will capture your credentials and give access to the bad guys.

Of course, the biggest thing to keep in mind is when in doubt, ask your IT department about the message. For more information on how to keep your organization safe from spam and email threats, reach out to us at 810-230-9455.

Modern A.R.
As we have inferred already, the smartphone has been instrumental in bringing augmented reality to the masses. In A.R. applications, the camera is used to capture the likeness of the user’s surroundings, while a virtual overlay is added for the user to interact with. This overlay incorporates stimulus from the Internet, the captured surroundings, and the user’s activity all at once.

This technology has been leveraged by developers to try to develop apps, some for fun, and some that are more practical. There have been plenty of examples of each thus far. Augment, the furniture application, allows users to “test-drive” a model in the environment it will be used in, which is much easier than buying said furniture only to return it when it clashes with the base molding. As for entertainment, one only has to look at the success of the Pokémon Go app. There are even browsers, like Argon4, which incorporate A.R.

What May Be Coming Next
Admittedly, not much has been developed completely just yet, but that hasn’t made A.R. any less promising. For example, imagine how much easier tutorials could become for particular tasks if A.R. was leveraged. Any task that can be broken into steps could be developed into an A.R. walkthrough.

Take auto maintenance. Most people spend significant amounts of money keeping their engine tuned up and their vehicle road-worthy by bringing it to an auto shop. While some issues are certainly better resolved by the likes of a professional, some fixes are very doable for a novice - assuming they had a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to show them how to do it right. An augmented reality application could be that guide, teaching these novices how to change their oil or replace a spark plug. We may see these kinds of apps change the way that schools teach their students, allowing lessons to be learned conceptually and practically.

Of course, more is also being developed now:

• eCommerce: Using digital overlays, real-time and lifelike shopping experiences can be developed, boosting consumer satisfaction.
• Gaming: Pokémon Go was just the beginning. A.R. has proved that video games and gamification can not only get people out of the house, they can get them interacting with other people, forming stronger communities.
• Marketing: By incorporating A.R. into the consumer’s experience, marketers can add additional impressions and make their efforts more impactful.

While A.R. may not be everywhere just yet, we wouldn’t be too shocked if it started to pop up in more places sooner than later - and if it doesn’t, we’ll focus on making sure you get the best use out of whatever does. If you’re interested in hearing more about any of the services or technologies that we at NuTech Services are familiar with, give us a call at 810-230-9455.

What is Social Media?
Social media can be considered any website or service that is used to interact socially with other people. Some common examples include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Instagram. All of these services have common ground in regard to features that allow people to communicate or learn more about one another, whether it’s in the form of a terribly-worded Facebook post or a bite-sized glimpse into someone’s soul via Twitter. LinkedIn allows business professionals to learn more about each other by providing information about their work history or current situation, which can be quite helpful for learning more about a company or a prospective client.

Social media is generally used more for the former, though. It’s likely that your employees have at least one account on a social media platform, so it’s important that your organization understands what it means for the purposes of security.

Security Issues of Social Media
One of the biggest issues regarding social media is that it can provide hackers with a way to get into your organization’s network--or, rather, trick your employees into providing information that could aid them in their attack. Hackers can create fake accounts where they can impersonate people you may know. They then use this process to weasel information from your employees such as usernames or passwords. You need to make sure that your employees are aware of the telltale signs of social media attacks so you know they won’t be an issue for your organization.

Social Media as an Outreach Method
Many organizations have turned to social media as a way to directly interact with consumers. Take, for example, Verizon. If you tweet at their support account, there is a solid chance that they will address any problems you might be having with your mobile service. You can use social media in this regard to directly reach out to customers and get their feedback about your products or services.

How does your business use social media? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog.