Category: Uncategorized

Today’s workforce is more mobile than ever, which means they can work from virtually anywhere any time, provided they’ve got an internet connection.

While this is great, it presents a whole new spectrum of security challenges as this level of mobility means more opportunities for a security breach. If this doesn’t ring alarm bells in your head, then picture these statistics:

1. The IBM-sponsored Ponemon Institute’s 2017 Cost of Data Breach Study puts the global average cost of a data breach at a whopping $3.6 million. That’s about $141 for every data record. Not to mention that the cost of recovering from a security breach is higher than protecting against one.
2. More than 80 percent of employees use non-approved SaaS (software-as-a-service) apps in their job, leading to hundreds of million records already compromised to date.
3. An attacker can reside within your network for up to 200+ days on average before detection.

What Microsoft is doing to combat security threats

Microsoft’s protection begins with the unique insights that the tech giant amasses through machine learning technology. Machine learning on Microsoft Security works by overlaying separate sets of company data for its Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to monitor. The system measures each dataset against the other using pattern recognition to detect any anomalous activity which it then flags in order to be addressed.

This threat intelligence gathers signals — or indicators — from a broad and in-depth array of sources to help the security graph understand the threat landscape. This means analyzing and learning from data built into products and services such as Windows, Office 365, Hotmail, and Azure from users all over the planet to detect attack trends and intercept new threats before they happen.

That’s data provided by:

• 400 billion emails monthly
• 2 billion devices monthly
• 1 billion cloud queries daily
• 2 million file samples daily

Microsoft also employs threat researchers and analytics systems across its worldwide network to provide a timely and actionable assessment of the threat landscape. This approach means that Microsoft has billions of data points that throw light on various security issues.

The company is constantly learning from every one of these interactions and creating a security graph built on its broad scale, strength of signal, visionary mindset, and vast experience as a global enterprise. Most importantly, they perform ongoing studies of the threat landscape to help understand and mitigate the impact of more sophisticated attacks.

Pillars of Microsoft Security

Microsoft’s approach to security comes down to four simple pillars: Trust, Intelligence, Partnerships, and Platform.

Trust

Microsoft believes in the need to trust that your organization, data, and people are protected from security threats.

Intelligence

This is about acting on the intelligence that Microsoft gives you from its security-related signals and insights – helping both Microsoft and its users detect threats more quickly.

Partnerships

Microsoft is fostering an ecosystem of vibrant partners whose contributions lead to the effective raising of the security bar across the industry. The tech giant believes in working with the industry as a way to take a holistic approach to technology.

Platform

Microsoft security is in-built on the company’s platforms, taking a holistic approach to security by looking at it across identity, apps, devices, and data, as well as the security infrastructure. This involves, for instance, harnessing machine learning on integrated applications such as Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) to seamlessly monitor data, detect threats, and eventually contain them before they become a problem. Since all this is done using technology rather than human input, there is little need for employee involvement or related software deployment.

A more targeted approach to threat protection

Because many of today’s organizations have multiple data centers spread across various locations or all over the globe, there are more opportunities for a security breach. This means that an integrated approach to protection would be a less efficient alternative. Microsoft, therefore, encourages the deployment of more targeted products that narrow the focus and guarantee the security of internal business processes.

A good example is the protection that Microsoft offers for emails; a major point of breach targeted by cybercriminals. Here, Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection (which works in the same way as ATP) focuses only on scanning and detecting suspicious activity within emails.

There is also the Threat Explorer in Office 365 Threat Intelligence and Exchange Online Protection that Microsoft uses along with the Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection to create a broader threat visibility. This guarantees faster detection, investigation, and response to email threats.

Conclusion

With its unique approach, Microsoft is always steps ahead of bad actors that threaten your two biggest assets – people and data. Using Microsoft Office 365 means that you’re leveraging these unique capabilities to increase your protection. The beautiful thing about having world-class security is that it ensures your employees have the peace of mind to do their best work that will yield the most productivity for your organization.

On July 4th we as Americans honor the formation of the union we call The United States of America. Whether enjoying the holiday at the beach; a backyard barbeque; watching a fireworks celebration in the city; working hard in the office or shop; or marching in a local community parade; we all celebrate the birth of our great nation together as one.

Here’s to our beautiful lakes, our majestic mountains and everything that makes American the greatest place to live!

For anyone who’s not American, or new to our country, here’s what Independence Day is all about.

Independence Day is celebrated each year on July 4^th. It’s often known as “the Fourth of July.” It’s the anniversary of the publication of the declaration of independence from Great Britain in 1776.

In 1775, the people of New England began fighting the British for their independence. On July 2, 1776, the Congress secretly voted for the country’s independence from Great Britain. Two days later, on July 4, 1776, the final wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved, and the document was published.

The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence occurred on July 8, 1776. Congressional delegates began signing it on August 2, 1776. Fifty-six congressional delegates signed the document. The delegates signed by states from North to South, beginning with Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire, and ending with George Walton of Georgia.

Some delegates refused to sign the Declaration, including John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, and James Duane, Robert Livingston, and John Jay of New York.

Some opposed the document but signed it anyway to present the appearance of a unanimous Congress. This included Carter Braxton of Virginia, Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, George Reed of Delaware, and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina. Five delegates were absent including Generals George Washington, John Sullivan, James Clinton, and Christopher Gadsden, as well as Virginia Governor Patrick Henry.

John Adams sent a description of how Independence Day would be celebrated in a letter to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776. He described “pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations” throughout the country.

An interesting note: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both signers of the Declaration of Independence and presidents of the United States, died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration.

For our Help Desk employees, Independence Day is a workday. We plan to celebrate the 4^th just like the rest of our countrymen (and women!). But we do this by being here if you have any technical issues.

Our Help Desk is your front-line support for submitting incidents and service requests.

We say that we operate 24/7/365 and we mean it – Independence Day, Memorial Day, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter – no matter the holiday or day of the week.

You’ll have direct access to the IT professionals who help you onsite and provide the advice, guidance, and rapid restoration of services you need to keep your business running. 

When you call, one of our agents will log your request into our IT service management system and either resolve it for your then or escalate it to the next level of support.

You have the option of reporting an incident or service request by email or by contacting us by phone. When you do, this will generate a “ticket” in our IT service management system.

Once the ticket is created, you’ll automatically receive an email receipt confirmation with your ticket or reference number. This confirmation tells you that your request has been logged at our Help Desk and that it’s been assigned to a tech specialist who knows your business and is experienced in your particular IT issue.

Here’s what we ask that you provide when submitting a request to our Help Desk:

• Your name, business name, phone number, and email address.
• A detailed description of the problem or concern.
• Whether the issue you’re experiencing affects only one user, many users, your entire office or multiple offices.
• The impact your issue has on your business, including whether any critical applications have been affected.
• Anything you or your staff have done to try to resolve the issue before contacting us.

Prioritizing Tickets

It also helps if you prioritize your need. Here’s an example of what we mean:

• Non-Urgent: Your problem is minimal and doesn’t impact your ability to work. It’s something that you could wait to be addressed within the next week. (For example, you’d like us to provide a new piece of computer equipment for you.)
• Normal: The IT issue has some impact on your day-to-day operations. However, you could wait for two days for it to be addressed. (For example, you’d like us to help you find a better way to use an application or replace it with a different one.)
• Urgent: The issue you face has a significant impact on one user’s ability to work. You need help sometime during the workday.
• Emergency: This issue has a significant team-wide impact on your staff’s ability to work. Multiple employees are affected. You need help as soon as possible, no matter if it’s after hours, over the weekend, or on a holiday (like the 4^th of July). This is for things like outages and downtime.

Please do your best not to prioritize something as “Urgent” or “Emergency” when it’s not. This helps us get to those really urgent requests much faster.

We want you to know that you and your staff can enjoy Independence Day with the peace of mind that our Help Desk is always here for you. Happy 4^th of July everyone!

Help! How Do We Migrate To Office 365?

YOUR MICROSOFT OFFICE 365 MIGRATION CHECKLIST

First, let’s talk about why you should use Microsoft Office 365.

It’s simple…

If you do, you’ll have a full-featured, cloud-based office productivity tool that can help you work more easily, productively, and collaboratively.

This allows you to please your customers and grab more market share. There’s no better solution for small and mid-sized businesses today than Microsoft Office 365.

Why?

Because instead of simply packaging the popular applications you use (like Excel, Word, PowerPoint and more) Microsoft has taken the extra step to integrate these tools, along with others. This provides your organization with the capabilities a larger-sized business enjoys.

But there’s something you should know.

Migrating to cloud computing is a multi-phased project. There are many things to consider when making a conversion to Microsoft Office 365, or any cloud-based system.

We’ve developed this Microsoft Office 365 MIGRATION CHECKLIST to help ensure the process is seamless for your business and transparent to your customers.

Of course, we think we should do this for you.

Why?

Because it’s complicated and a lot of things can go wrong unless you know exactly what you’re doing.

But, if you’re ready to try this on your own, here’s what you need to do.

INVENTORY EVERYTHING IN YOUR IT ENVIRONMENT

Start by making a detailed inventory of everything in your IT environment. This way you can make the best decisions and estimates about what it will take to migrate everything. You’ll also be able to better determine how long this might take and develop a migration timeline that you can share with your staff.

Your inventory may include things like:

• Site Collections (a group of websites that have the same owner and share administrative settings)
• List and Libraries (a special list/library for documents)
• Pages (all files that have a dependency to another file using a URL)
• Blocked File Types
• Branding
• Workflows (pre-programmed mini-applications that streamline and automate a wide variety of business processes)
• Content Types
• Site Columns (reusable column definitions or templates that you can assign to multiple lists across multiple SharePoint sites)
• Permissions
• User Alerts
• Retention Policies (A retention policy is the only feature that can both retain and delete content across Office 365.)
• Records
• Users and Groups
• Large Lists or Libraries
• Any other UI customizations (JavaScript, altered menus, etc.)
• Customized IT Solutions

What About Our Customized Solutions?  

You could run into trouble here.

Create an inventory of all your customizations. Identify what you want to migrate. This is a good time to identify what you don’t need any longer and remove it.

Make sure you have a good overview of what you have in your sites (WSP, Sandbox, etc.) And note if one depends on another.

Map things out, so you’re sure to deploy everything in the right order when it’s migrated to your destination.

Are you running any Farm Solutions? These run codes that can affect the whole farm and can’t be migrated to Office 365. Get rid of them.

Do you have any Sandbox Solutions? As with Farm Solutions, it’s recommended that you don’t include these.

Converting any Web Parts you developed for Add-Ins could be problematic.

If you’ve built Timer Jobs, there is no real solution when you migrate to the Cloud. You must find a new way to do this.

Event Receivers: You’ll need to rewrite and host them differently to get the same results.

Determine how you can deploy your declarative artifacts. You might be able to do this with an Azure Web App or PowerShell.

Stay away from customized fields. Display Templates or Office 365 column formatting might provide an option for displaying content the way you want so you don’t need to create new fields.

Item IDs in Lists and Libraries could change during the migration.

REMOVE & REORGANIZE YOUR OLD IT ENVIRONMENT ITEMS

Microsoft SharePoint helps you custom-build what you need for your unique operations. Now’s a good time to locate and reorganize what you want to keep or delete what you don’t.

• Locate and get rid of any “Orphaned Users.”
• Locate and get rid of vacant SharePoint Groups.
• Move users with specific permissions back into Groups.
• Get rid of any Custom Content Types, Site Columns, and Workflows you no longer use.
• Locate any sites that you haven’t used or modified and determine if you still need them.
• Ask all users to check-in documents they’ve checked-out, including those that have never been checked in. (Ensure you migrate the most recent versions.)
• Find any Large Site Collections and break them up into multiple Site Collections.
• Locate Large Sites and promote them into Site Collections.
• Delete any duplicate content.
• Clean-up items that have too many custom permissions.
• Get rid of versions in your history you no longer want.
• Re-order Lists and Libraries that contain too many columns.
• Rethink and re-order very Large Lists.
• Ask all users to finish up any pending workflow tasks.

III. PREPARE YOUR NEW DESTINATION

This is the time to prepare a clean slate for your new destination. A well thought out Information Architecture can make all the difference between a successful migration and one you’re not happy with. Take your time doing this as it might be the last chance you have to do this for quite a while.

• Map out the information architecture of your new destination.
• Backup all of your data.
• Test your backup restoration to make sure it works.
• Check out all databases for any corrupt data. (Delete any that you find.)
• Run a number of migration tests beforehand. (Take note of any unsupported elements.)
• Determine the overall time required to migrate all sites. (Slow migration speed can significantly impact project duration, causing delays that can disrupt your business operations.)
• Set SharePoint to import user profiles from any specific sources.
• Map a plan for the metadata on your content.
• Look at your customizations. (If required, convert them to work in the new destination.)
• Locate any deprecated native templates or features and make a plan to replace them.

IT’S NOW TIME TO COMMUNICATE EVERYTHING TO YOUR STAFF.

Change is always difficult for everyone and this includes your users. For your Office 365 Migration to be a success, you need to let them know what to expect.

• Communicate with all users before starting the migration and let them know this is a process but that you’ll keep them informed.
• Circulate the proposed timeline to ensure it won’t interfere with their business-critical efforts.
• Let them know about the IT downtime that will occur and for how long.
• Relay any possible changes in the environments (URLs, Bookmarks, Document References, Excel Macros, etc.).
• Determine where to go to get an updated status or any assistance you might need during the migration.
• Create sandbox sites for previewing.

BEGIN THE MIGRATION

At this point, the process of migrating to Office 365 shouldn’t be too difficult if you’ve followed all the steps above. Just be prepared to deal with any unforeseen complications that might not have been revealed during the testing phase.

Workflows:

• Stop running any workflows you’ll be migrating.

Migration Scenarios:

• Use a third-party tool to migrate and granularly restructure as you transition.
• Perform multi-phased, incremental migration for large sites.

AFTER MIGRATING

It’s time to take a “test drive” to make sure everything is working properly in your new environment.

• Test your Destination Environment.
• Make sure everything migrated successfully.
• Test all your workflows and check user permissions.
• Make a complete backup of your new environment.
• Remove all access to the old SharePoint environment.

ON A WEEKLY BASIS: MONITOR YOUR OFFICE 365 ENVIRONMENT

You’re not done. It’s very important that you continue to monitor the security, usage, and other elements in your new Office 365 environment to make sure it’s running at peak performance without any glitches.

• Ensure all your users are getting what they need from Office 365. Find out if they require any assistance or run into problems.
• Always monitor data security and check for any data breaches.
• Locate any broken permissions.
• Ensure all users are using the right permissions.
• Ensure user credentials remain private.
• Control sharing of monitor permissions.

As you can see, when you move your organization to Microsoft Office 365, it’s important to plan exactly what steps you want to take, when to perform them, and who’s involved. Keep the lines of communication open, and this checklist will help you as you plan and prepare for a migration to Office 365.

How Do You Know That You Can Trust Your Cloud Provider?

8 Important Questions You Should Ask

Whatever industry your business may be in, chances are you’re using some form of cloud solution in your daily work life. From food service to retail and construction, from legal services to medical practices, finance and more, there’s a place in the Cloud for everyone. But now that we’re all here, what are we doing to ensure our cloud solution is truly secure?

We lock the doors to our workplaces when we leave for the day, but there’s no key to turn on our cloud storage security. So, what do business owners like you need to know to keep your digital world as safe as the real world?

While there are many common cloud software suites being used by providers that offer cloud storage-as-a-service, it doesn’t mean that their operations are equal. Ensuring your cloud security should begin before uploading your first file.

Here Are 8 Important Questions That You Should Ask Before Choosing A Cloud Provider

Does your cloud provider have a regular backup schedule?

Depending upon your specific solution, any cloud provider worth their subscription cost will run regular backups with redundancies for all the data it stores. The backups are often stored separately from the primary storage which adds another level of security against data loss. In the event of an incident in one location, data can instantly be restored from one of the other backups.

Do they stay ahead of issues?

Along with an alternate storage location for those backups, ensure you’re getting the protection you are paying to receive. Because a cloud provider’s reputation largely relies on its ability to deliver on its promises of security and reliability, staying ahead of issues before they become problems is every good provider’s top priority.

Does your provider conduct security audits and make them available to you?

Reputable cloud providers conduct routine security audits of their systems to ensure your data is safe from a variety of threats, including malware, data corruption, system failure, or damage to your physical infrastructure. Even better, these security audits are typically available to the provider’s customers because they want you to know that your data is in good hands.

Do they offer Security Awareness Training?

With all the security tools available today, it would be much more difficult for cybercriminals to gain access to data if it wasn’t for the single biggest source of security breaches – human error. The end user remains the biggest threat to the security of business data. Knowing that your cloud provider can educate and empower you and your employees in the practice of good security hygiene is an important step in ensuring your data safety.

What about Cloud Compliance Support?

Can they deliver cloud infrastructure solutions for closely regulated industries and ensure the data they collect, store, and access for you will be protected in line with compliance regulations such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and more?

They should also provide support 24/7 to ensure that any issue or concern you may have is addressed and taken care of quickly and effectively.

Will their Standard Uptime SLA meet your business requirements?

Some cloud providers offer SLAs (Service Level Agreements) with 99.9% uptime, while others offer 99.999%. An SLA with 99.999% uptime will cost more than one with a 99.9% uptime. However, it may be worth the price.

There’s a significant difference between the two:

• A 99.9% uptime equals 8.77 hours of downtime per year.
• A 99.999% uptime equals 5.26 minutes of downtime per year.

Evaluate your needs and consider how much downtime is acceptable to ensure your business runs smoothly without reputational damage or major revenue loss.

What’s included in their Disaster Recovery Plan?

The cloud provider’s disaster recovery plan is extremely important. Ask about site visits and audits to estimate the vendor’s recovery time and the impact of a potential failure.

Does the provider have a reliable process in place? Is the provider’s staff knowledgeable and ready to react under the worst possible conditions? Unfortunately, disasters occur so it’s critical for your business and your cloud provider to be prepared.

How often do they test their disaster recovery plan?

A disaster recovery plan alone doesn’t ensure that downtime will be minimized in the unfortunate event of a disaster. The cloud provider must test their plan on a regular basis to ensure the plan is effective. Ask the cloud provider to disclose the results of disaster recovery tests on a regular basis.

When Selecting A Cloud Provider, Be Sure To Do Your Homework First

Your business needs a robust and comprehensive data security policy. And your cloud provider should play a role in the development and execution of this very important strategy.

Cloud computing and storage have changed the way we store and share data in all types of businesses – from the cost savings of off-site storage and the ease of collaboration to the peace of mind regarding disaster recovery and more.

But with the trust that we put in cloud solutions, it’s very important that this trust is also earned by the cloud provider.

There are many reasons why you would want to download a live video from Facebook, whether it is yours or someone else’s. Sometimes a video is shared into a very active group and finding it later would be a bit tasking. Another reason why someone may want to download their own live videos is to keep a copy for future reference, or even upload it to another social media platform like Instagram.

For whatever reason you may have, here is a step-by-step explanation on how to do it. First, this article will outline the process of downloading your very own live video from Facebook, then explain how to download someone else’s live video from your wall, or a group where the video was shared.

Previously, Facebook didn’t have this feature and it was difficult to download a live video but now it is available and very easy to use.

Downloading your own live video from Facebook

Step 1

Locate the video on your Facebook account page profile or on your feed. On the left side bar you will see under “Explore”, a button for Live Videos. When you click on that button, it will generate all the live videos you have shared or the ones that have been shared on your wall. Find the one you would like to download, then click on it to open it.

Depending on the method you choose to access the video, say through your feed, you will also be required to click on the time stamp. Once you click on the time stamp, it will open the video. On the right side of the screen, you can also view all the comments about the video.

Step 2

On the upper right side, there are three dots. Click on them and you will get a number of prompts including one allowing you to download your video. Click on this and you will start downloading the video automatically. It will be saved to your device as an MP4 video.

Now you have the video downloaded to your hard drive. You can share the video to your other social media platforms, email it to someone, or use it for whatever purpose you like.

Downloading someone else’s Live Video

Downloading someone else’s live video from Facebook is totally different from downloading your own. This is because of the strict privacy measures put in place by Facebook. The steps are a bit complicated and you may need to use a third party site in order to download the video and save it directly to your device as opposed to saving it on your Facebook page as a feed. There are other strategies of course, such as switching to the mobile version of Facebook. The bad news is that this is no longer supported by most web browsers. So for now, we will discuss the other option of using third-party software to download someone else’s live videos. One of these programs is called SaveFrom.net.

Step 1

Find the live video, open the time stamp, and play it. Locate your browser’s address bar, which is always at the top of the page. This displays the URL to the video. Highlight and copy the link. Alternatively, just right click on the video and then choose the option, Show Video URL. This is another method of copying the link.

Step 2

Go to the SaveFrom.net site and paste the web link there.

Step 3

Click the download button and you will have a drop-down menu with two options: download your video as an MP4 or in High Definition (HD). Choose a suitable format to save the video to your device.

Browser Extensions

Some browsers, such as Chrome, do have download extensions that you can use to download a Facebook Live Video. These extensions include Fbdownloader and Social Video Downloader, just to mention a few of them.

The trick to choosing the most suitable method to use when downloading a live video is the time it takes to do this and also the quality of the video saved. Choose a method that is best for your situation.

Wrap Up

Live Videos on Facebook are becoming a common trend lately and they are preferred because they have a larger social media following compared to YouTube. It’s common to see everything from funny cat videos to breaking news stories. Millions of people all over the world use Facebook today and everyone enjoys viewing the many videos found there.

In addition, more people are using Facebook as compared to any other social media platform. The important thing to consider is time and quality of the video. Depending on the device that you are using, you may have a number of options to choose from when downloading your video as discussed above.

Time is money, but most of us value both. Microsoft knows how important these two things are. They have developed some programs that will help you work faster with your computer or preferred device. This article will review some helpful features from Microsoft that will help you get your work done faster and more efficiently. These technologies include Cortana, Outlook, and finally the Microsoft Edge browser.

Microsoft Cortana

Microsoft Cortana is like a digital assistant who does everything asked of her. Before you start working with Cortana make sure to link it into your work account. Then navigate to the bottom left search bar. There, you can type anything, such as a random question. Let’s say you type something like: “What do I need?” Cortana will automatically generate a pool of different things she can do for you.

Simply put, you can set a reminder on your PC for a doctor’s appointment and Cortana will alert you on your phone. This is so helpful, especially if you are away from the office. It collects information from all your devices, such as your phone contact list. Cortana can send email reminders and give you alerts based on your location. Did you know that you can even attach a photo to your reminder? Yes, with Cortana you can do that!

Cortana simply ensures that you keep up with your busy schedule. Like all smart voice assistants, Cortana has the ability to find information ranging from flight schedules, traffic conditions, and even weather changes in your area. She can immediately give you updates on all these things and more.

With time, as you interact and use Cortana, she gets to know you personally and improves the kind of assistance that she provides. These customized services make this virtual assistant especially helpful. She helps keep track of your favorite things like music, hobbies, and sports. She can learn about your favorite hang-outs or places you like to eat. She can give you suggestions and inform you of any updates in relation to these things. Do you have a favorite celebrity that you enjoy following? Cortana can give you timely updates on what your favorite celebrities are doing.

The Cortana virtual assistant is constantly advancing in knowledge. The developers add new features all the time, plus she learns as you use her. This new type of technology is advancing at a rapid pace. It includes the convenience of being available for all of your devices. Information is synchronized across phones, computers, and tablets both at home and at work. Every time you use any of your devices, the information gets updated. Cortana remembers. This definitely saves you time and it offers a new kind of convenience that people are beginning to enjoy and expect.

Microsoft Outlook

Here is a tip to help you reduce the number of emails that are related to conversations in your inbox. You just go into Outlook into the messages in your inbox. At the top left of your menu, you will see something called “clean up.” When you click on this icon, it will give you different options like:

• Clean up conversation
• Clean up folder
• Clean up folders and subfolders

This allows you to delete individual conversations or entire conversations. This feature goes through your conversations, streamlining everything, leaving only the most recent conversation. Your inbox gets a quick but thorough clean-up.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge is the most secure, dependable web browser on the market today. It has a whole host of features within itself, but here are a few that stand out.

Imagine a busy day at work and you have been conducting research and your desktop has a number of Tabs open. Maybe you’re not ready to close any of them! Microsoft Edge allows you to use a tab manager which pushes aside the tabs for you to use later.

When you want to reopen those tabs, you simply go to the left of the screen, open up the Tab Manager, and select the tab that you want to reopen.

Ink within Microsoft Edge

The ability to ink within Microsoft Edge is now at your fingertips. All you need is a stylus. Go to the Microsoft Edge and circle what you need, annotate it, capture it, and send it to the recipient of your choice.

Wrap up

Microsoft is constantly searching for new ways to improve the efficiency of their products just to make your life easier and more enjoyable. That is why Microsoft Windows 10 is a modern day hack on your computer that will make work stress-free. It helps you get everything done more efficiently so you can still achieve the best results in a shorter time frame. Being organized is part of working smarter and so is mastering these simple tools. Knowledge is power, and with what you have learned here, you can save time and improve your work life.

We are all familiar with a situation where we are not able to find a suitable meeting place or time because all the boardrooms have been booked and our tiny personal offices can barely host more than three people at a time. Yet, you have to work together with other team members in order to produce a document with merged data and beat that deadline.

Microsoft Office 365 has features that can help users collaborate without necessarily sitting in the same room. This article will explore some of these features and how users can make the best of them in order to achieve the desired results.

Cloud Attachments

Previously, if you had an attachment that you needed to share, you had to email it across the networks; it was so tedious and time-consuming. Not to mention the long hour spent sifting through your inbox and trying to clear out files. The worst part of this process is often that no one knows whether they’re working on the right version of the file. You may not have the most current draft so all your hard work could be for nothing. Those days are gone for team members who work in the cloud.

What is it actually like to share files stored in the cloud?

Using Outlook.com, go to create a new email and click on attach file. There will be a pop-up menu with a number of options to attach a file the old way or to attach a cloud file. Once you attach a cloud file, it will give you further options to change permissions so the document can be shared with everyone in the company. You can change permissions to allow sharing with only a single individual or a group.

Once the file is shared, anyone who is online at that particular time can edit the file and immediately you will see the new changes on your end of the document. There is no need to send it back and forth. Everyone edits in real time and can see the changes being made.

Collaborating in the Cloud Version

Open an email and click on an actual document link. Automatically, it will open in a browser window. The Cloud allows you to edit anything in the browser. If you want a different experience on your desktop or your phone, you can click open in your application, and you can edit it there and save it to the cloud. The great part of all this is that everything you make changes to and save is viewable by everyone you sent the file to.

Going back on the History of the File

Microsoft gives you a choice on how you want to work. But there are those people who are still concerned that sharing a file and co-authoring is going to make them lose control of what they worked on. You can go back to the original file if you like. When you open the file in the App, on the top right of the screen, you will see a little backtrack icon. When you click on that icon you will see all history of the file. You can then restore or edit from that point. You can do this from the cloud as well.

Microsoft Teams

Just like in Office, you have your own personal file storage system called OneDrive. You can also create a shared file cabinet and this is known as SharePoint. All the conversations that naturally happen in an office can occur in the chat room of MS Teams. The notes that you would take in a meeting can be created and shared in OneNote. That is what Microsoft Teams is all about. It’s a good collaboration tool so that your whole team can perform all the tasks they need to complete while staying in touch with each other.

OneNote

From that same single interface where you shared the file, you can look at the meeting minutes from meetings you were not able to attend. OneNote makes it easy to see what you missed and catch up. You can also chat on the same platform and get other people’s opinions and comments.

OneDrive

OneDrive is an application that is accessible on any device, PC or smartphone. It’s a good tool when you want to get opinions and feedback from the rest of the team. All files are stored on OneDrive. It’s easy to give access to these files to all or a few team members. You decide whether to give editing permissions to each individual.

Wrap Up

Group assignments are made easy with Microsoft Office 365. It includes all the tools you might need in a day’s time to create and edit documents, talk to team mates, keep notes in a meeting or work together in the cloud. If you need more information you can visit: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/sites/get-it-done/default.aspx

We’ll Be Celebrating – But Our Help Desk Will Still Be Here For You And Your Staff

On July 1^st, we as Canadians, honour the formation of the union we call home. Whether enjoying the holiday at a cottage; watching a fireworks celebration in the city; working hard in the office or shop; or marching in a local community parade; we all celebrate our great nation together as one.

Here’s to our beautiful lakes, our majestic mountains, and everything that makes Canada the greatest place to live!

For anyone who’s not Canadian, here’s what Canada Day is all about.

On July 1, 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain and a federation of four provinces:

1. Nova Scotia
2. New Brunswick
3. Ontario
4. Quebec

These four provinces were created from the former British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada was divided into Quebec and Ontario.

Canada’s boundaries have been extended since 1867. Today, Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories.

The Ten Provinces Of Canada Are:

1. Alberta
2. British Columbia
3. Manitoba
4. New Brunswick
5. Newfoundland and Labrador
6. Nova Scotia
7. Ontario
8. Prince Edward Island
9. Quebec
10. Saskatchewan

Canada’s Three Territories Are:

1. Northwest Territories
2. Nunavut
3. Yukon

On June 20, 1868, Canada’s Governor General proclaimed that Canadians should celebrate the anniversary of the confederation. In 1879, the date of July 1^st was designated a holiday known as Dominion Day. However, official celebrations didn’t take place until the 50th anniversary in 1917 and the 60th anniversary in 1927.

After World War II, Dominion Day was celebrated more often with organized events. And, after the 100^th anniversary of the confederation in 1967, Dominion Day events became more widespread. July 1st became known as Canada Day, and officially known as this from 1983 onwards. Since 2006, Canada Day celebrations have also been held in the UK at London’s Trafalgar Square.

For our Help Desk employees, Canada Day is just another workday. We plan to celebrate Canada Day just like the rest of our countrymen (and women!). But we do this by being here if you have any technical issues.

Our Help Desk is your front-line support for submitting incidents and service requests.

We say that we operate 24/7/365 and we mean it – Canada Day, Christmas, Boxing Day, Victoria Day, Easter – no matter the holiday or day of the week.

You’ll have direct access to the IT professionals who can help you onsite and provide the advice, guidance, and rapid restoration of services you need to keep your business running. 

When you call, one of our agents will log your request into our IT service management system and either resolve it for your then or escalate it to the next level of support.

You have the option of reporting an incident or service request by email or contacting us by phone. When you do, this will generate a “ticket” in our IT service management system.

Once the ticket is created, you’ll automatically receive an email receipt confirmation with your ticket or reference number. This confirmation tells you that your request has been logged at our Help Desk and that it’s been assigned to a tech specialist who knows your business and is experienced in your particular IT issue.

Here’s what we ask that you provide when submitting a request to our Help Desk:

• Your name, business name, phone number, and email address.
• A detailed description of the problem or concern.
• Whether the issue you’re experiencing affects only one user, many users, your entire office, or multiple offices.
• The impact your issue has on your business, including whether any critical applications have been affected.
• Anything you or your staff have done to try to resolve the issue before contacting us.

Prioritizing Tickets

It also helps if you prioritize your need. Here’s an example of what we mean:

• Non-Urgent: Your problem is minimal and doesn’t impact your ability to work. It’s something that could wait to be addressed within the next week. (For example, you’d like us to provide a new piece of computer equipment for you.)
• Normal: The IT issue has some impact on your day-to-day operations. However, you could wait for two days for it to be addressed. (For example, you’d like us to help you find a better way to use an application or replace it with a different one.)
• Urgent: The issue you face has significant impact on one user’s ability to work. You need help sometime during the workday.
• Emergency: This issue has significant team-wide impact on your staff’s ability to work. Multiple employees are affected. You need help as soon as possible, no matter if it’s after hours, over the weekend, or on a holiday (like Canada Day). This is for things like outages and downtime.

Please do your best not to prioritize something as “Urgent” or “Emergency” when it’s not. This helps us to get to those really urgent requests much faster.

We want you to know that you and your staff can enjoy Canada Day with the peace of mind that our Help Desk is always here for you. Happy Canada Day everyone!

When most organizations are presented with the words “Cyber Security,” they often start imagining how much it’s going to cost them to install and maintain strong security measures. At the same time, there’s that gnawing feeling of stress about what would happen if any data were lost to hackers. In light of that though, the investment in security for your network is well worth the cost.

That brings us to the question, “What is the cybersecurity return on investment?”

The answer to that question is complicated. There are a number of variables to consider. For those who have endured a security breach and lost thousands of records, the answer is easy: Cyber Security protocols are always worth it.

You lose time and money if a breach occurs. Plus, your Brand can be damaged. And then, of course, there may be future lawsuits. What if a judge decides that your company was NOT doing everything possible to protect the personal information of its customers?

The average cost of a breach today is hovering around one million dollars and that makes it expensive for any business to deal with. Cybercriminals are relentless! They never take a vacation. Instead, they find new ways to get past all your best security efforts and steal your data. It’s worth a lot of money on the Dark Web and that’s how hackers earn a living. They steal data and sell it to the highest bidder.

Microsoft has a long history of dealing with Internet security problems. They’re probably one of the most experienced companies on the earth today. They build complex security systems from the ground up because they have quite a bit of data that needs protecting.

Many of their cybersecurity solutions are becoming the industry standard. That’s why they’re a good source of security products that can safeguard data on many levels. Below are some of their top cybersecurity products.

Leaked Credential Protection and Azure Active Directory

Most stolen credentials are obtained by hackers who breach vulnerable websites where passwords and usernames are stored in plain text. Typically, these websites have weak encryption. They’re an easy target for hackers.

Phishing attacks are designed to trick users into giving up their log-in information. All types of malware have been created that use deception to acquire names and passwords. Sometimes it’s not that hard to get this information because people don’t create strong passwords and/or they use similar passwords and usernames across different sites. This means that if one site is infiltrated, another site with similar credentials is also at risk.

Microsoft has built a standard set of processes and security layers with automated services such as Leaked Credential Protection and Azure Active Directory to ensure that users are always protected. They make it as difficult as possible for hackers to get past their security guards.

Office 365 ATP, Credential Guard, and Windows Hello

Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection, Credential Guard, and Windows Hello are specifically designed to protect against hackers getting to your data through phishing emails.

Windows Defender ATP, only available with the Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 plan, provides security services that assist users in detecting advanced threats. The program then investigates and responds appropriately on their servers. For more info about Windows Defender ATP, you can visit the Microsoft Windows Security Threat Protection site.

Windows Defender Credential Guard uses virtualization-based security to separate the more critical data from normal data so that only authorized system software can access the information. Any attempts to bypass this Credential Guard will result in failure. Though hackers are always searching for workarounds, Microsoft is constantly adding patches and new layers of security.

Windows Hello, on the other hand, includes advanced technology that allows you to sign in to your Windows 10 device without using any password. You can sign in by using your face, fingerprint, or iris. How amazing! This means that if your device is stolen, no one will be able to gain access to the data stored on your device.

Windows Defender ATP and Windows Defender Anti-Virus

These are designed specifically to counter malware attacks by detecting, blocking, and responding to attacks. Malware attacks cost companies millions of dollars each year. With each new attack, the technology evolves. Individuals, but more importantly, organizations, should be ready to fight cyber-crime with the same kind of resilience and resolve shown by hackers.

With Windows Advanced Threat Protection and the Anti-Virus program, you are equipped to give the bad guys a good fight.

Wrap up

Some of the best hackers get their notoriety not because they were good, but because they were underestimated. Remember that hackers work 24/7/365. That puts them way ahead of most of us. It’s not possible to spend that amount of time protecting your data. That’s why good solid antivirus and security programs are so important. In the end, they are the best and most affordable option.

Simply put, when you are deciding about your cyber-security return on investment, the most important issue is keeping your data safe from hackers. This will save you money, stress, and time. You’ll avoid expensive data loss events that could cripple your organization and damage your reputation. With Microsoft security products, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that you’re doing everything possible to stay a step ahead of hackers.

This article is basically an overview of what Microsoft Office 365 is. Virtually, there is nothing new especially to those who are already using Microsoft Office products; only a few enhancements to better your user experience. To start off, we will have a historical evolution of Office to give you a clear understanding of where we are coming from, and then explore Office in the Cloud and finally various Office 365 user scenarios.

Evolution of Office

Most of the Applications on Office are basically the same ones from ten years ago, only with a few improvements to increase efficiency.

In the past, when one needed a software upgrade, you bought it in a box and then had it manually installed on your device. What Office 365 has done is make it easier for you to access the upgrades to all the Office Applications you usually use.

This is to help you collaborate and communicate so you can get more work completed faster. Office 365 contains the normal Office Applications that most people are accustomed to such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. Office 365 has added a few helpful Apps to make your work easier such as Yammer, OneDrive, Skype, and OneNote.

• OneDrive for Business

This is an App where you store your business documents to save, view, and edit. You can also co-author or co-create content with colleagues.

• Skype

This App enables instant messaging, video, and voice calling and it is good at indicating whether you are at your desk, in a meeting, on a call, and even when you are away from your desk.

• Yammer

This is like a social network for an enterprise. You can follow groups, teams, comment, share ideas, provide feedback, and also store content.

• OneNote

This App is not new at all, but it is very useful for taking notes. It allows you to paste images, links, and store very different kinds of contents. It works like a digital notebook.

Office 365 Delivered Services

These are basically the services that Microsoft delivers to different organizations in order to enable them to use the technology reviewed above. They include helpful programs like PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, and OneNote. Microsoft recently purchased Skype and has integrated this program into their suite of products. It can be used for communications and holding virtual meetings on your desktop.

SharePoint is used for sharing documents and is integrated with OneDrive and Exchange which provides email functionality.

Delivered Services by Office 365 also offer the Office 365 programs for any device, whether powered by iOS, Android, or Windows. This means that you can access your stored data in Office 365 on any device or platform.

Office in the Cloud

Traditionally, an organization runs their Apps in a central data center owned and managed by them. On the other hand, Cloud is where a service provider like Microsoft can provide computer powered storage like a hard drive to other organizations to help them manage their data. A hybrid is using both the traditional and cloud methods to manage data. Advantages of using Cloud include flexibility, accessibility, reliability, manageability, and of course security.

Office Online

This is a service that enables you to access your Apps online and also your data.

Office 365 Scenarios

• Do it from anywhere

Office 365 gives you access to any device to enable you to work from anywhere. This is because files and settings are synced across devices. You can easily create, edit, and share documents and even access them on a mobile device. One Note is also your digital notebook and you can take notes anywhere anytime and all your devices will be updated with the new information.

• OneDrive for Business

OneDrive for Business works with SharePoint to store, sync, and share your work files. You can co-create and co-author documents with colleagues. You don’t have to be together or even working from the same location. You can keep refining and make changes from anywhere.

• SharePoint

SharePoint allows you to better manage your content. You can also collaborate on documents with your colleagues.

• Skype for Business

The features of Skype allow you to connect with anyone via instant messaging (IM), video calls, and online meetings. Skype has the ability to turn the instant messenger into a phone or video call. You can record sessions to use later or share with others.

• Yammer

This is the social network guru for your office. It allows discussions, ideas, and input without necessarily holding a meeting.

More information can be found on:

support.office.com

www.microsoft.com/en-ca/site/work-wonders

Wrap Up

The best way to learn is to explore. Get Microsoft Office 365 and start using the awesome features. It is user-friendly and totally worth your investment. Microsoft saves you time and makes work very easy.