by Felicien | Mar 11, 2019 | Education
If you’re like most people, you’ve got valid concerns about your personal privacy while browsing the internet. After all, Facebook and other organizations with a huge online presence have recently been caught dropping the ball regarding protecting the privacy of their users, so it’s only natural to wonder if your privacy is being further compromised and how it’s being done, which leads us to the primary question: What measures can the average internet user take to help ensure that the details of their browsing histories are limited to anyone who may be keeping tabs?
Fortunately, you’re not helpless in this situation. However, if you’re like many current users, you may be already using the “Do Not Track“ option in your browser and possibly gaining a false sense of security by doing so. Unfortunately, all this option really does is convey to the websites you visit that you don’t want them to log your browsing history, but it doesn’t prevent them from doing so, and many completely ignore the request. In fact, this option will probably be removed in the near future.
Fortunately, your browser offers other ways to help ensure your privacy. Following are several browser-specific tips and tools designed to help keep your history safe from the prying eyes of cyberspace.
Firefox
Firefox’s privacy controls are found under the Privacy & Security tab in the Options menu. You can block third-party cookies from there, accessing Content Blocking and selecting Private Mode. You can also choose to have your cookies automatically erased each time you end your browsing session. Firefox also allows users to customize this option on a site-by-site basis under the Settings menu, which results in pop-prompt requesting permission the first time you access individual websites. You can also specify and limit the kinds of data that you allow the browser itself to collect and store, such as technical details about Firefox’s performance and various extensions you’ve installed on your computer.
Safari
If you’re running Safari, you’ll be glad to know that the browser already does some of the work for you when it comes to protecting your privacy — disabling third-party cookies is Safari’s default mode. It also gives you the option of blocking all cookies, but users often consider that a pain because it creates a situation where auto-login doesn’t work, and they must log in every time they visit their favorite sites, including email and social media. Like Firefox, Safari has a private browsing mode that deletes cookies and history once the browser has been closed.
You can also access Safari’s Manage Website Data tab to see what websites have already logged and to delete that data if you want. Under the Preferences setting, you can click Websites to control which apps and sites you want to allow to access your computer’s microphone and camera.
Chrome
Chrome provides users with the capability to adjust their privacy settings using Content Settings under the Advanced Settings option. You’ll be able to disable cookies here, but that will leave you with the inconvenience of losing auto-login. Some people find the extra layer of protection worth the hassle, but cookies aren’t really a major culprit when it comes to privacy breaches because regular cookies can’t be seen by apps or other websites.
Third party cookies, on the other hand, are those used by advertisers to track the overall browsing activity of users for the purpose of creating targeted ad campaigns. You can easily disable these in Chrome by simply switching the “block third-party cookies“ option to ON in the Content Settings permissions. You can also limit access to your location, camera, microphone, and USB devices.
Edge
Microsoft Edge functions as a part of Windows, and its user-friendly interface makes customizing privacy controls easy. Under the Privacy & Security tab in Settings, there are options allowing users to allow all cookies, disable all cookies, and disable only third-party cookies. Edge also offers a private browsing mode similar to those of the other browsers mentioned above. Under the Advanced tab in the Settings menu, you can access Manage Permissions to control who sees your location and can access your microphone or camera.
However, the browser options given here are just a part of a bigger, more complex picture when it comes to online privacy. Google still records user activity and even saves all of your search history. You can delete this by going to your My Activity page on Google, selecting Search History from its dropdown menu, and clicking on Delete. To stop it for good, you can access Activity Controls and turn off tracking for Web & App Activity. Google also saves all of your voice searches, but you can remove them by going to their Voice & Audio page and clicking on Manage Activity.
Some users opt to use a VPN when browsing the internet because it generates proxy IP addresses, so although activity is tracked, it can’t be traced back to the user. Others install various ad blockers for even more protection, and the super-vigilant often opt for the added security of using a private browser. No matter what your privacy concerns, there’s a workable cocktail of tools and strategies that can provide you with a customized solution.
by Felicien | Mar 11, 2019 | Education
Have you seen a new application — Chromium — suddenly appear on your computer? It’s likely that if you did not intentionally download it, the app is malware that should be removed immediately.
While Chromium is a legitimate product, hackers have been using it to deliver adware and potentially unwanted programs, redirect browsers to different websites and track Internet activity. The results of such unwanted software can range from minor irritation to serious privacy concerns, including identity theft.
What Is Chromium?
Chromium is an open-source browser application that was initially created by Google. Chromium is the source code for what became the Chrome browser. When Google released Chrome in 2008, it also released the Chromium code. The Chromium project is now managed by The Chromium Projects and is designed for developers to create a faster, more stable and safer form for web browsing.
Chrome itself still includes some of the Chromium source code along with proprietary features, such as automatic updates. Google owns and manages the product, which is by far the most popular browser worldwide, with 62.5 percent of the market share as of February 2019.
Why Is Chromium Popular with Hackers?
Because it’s an open-source product, Chromium is vulnerable to misuse. Browser hijackers are a type of malware that makes changes to a user’s browser settings without their knowledge or consent. Most users unintentionally download hijacking malware when clicking through online ads or when downloading or purchasing other software.
How Does Malware Chromium Work?
The malware Chromium app uses a virtual layer to push ads or redirect browsers to e-commerce websites. Other types can direct users to dangerous, malicious websites that can themselves contain infectious viruses and programs.
What’s worse is that the bad Chromium browsers track your browser activity and can grab browsing data, including personally identifying information, passwords and financial data such as credit card numbers and bank account numbers. The hackers then sell this information to third parties, who often use it illegally. This activity can mean privacy breaches, unwanted use of cards and accounts, and identity theft.
There are many different Chromium-based browser applications that are dubious, despite appearing to be legitimate. Usually, these apps claim to improve browsing speed and security and boast of having new features that other browsers lack. These claims lure users into a false sense of security and invite downloads that cause trouble. These questionable app names include BeagleBrowser, BrowserAir, Chedot, eFast, Fusion, MyBrowser, Olcinium, Qword, Torch and Tortuga, among others.
How Is Chromium Malware Installed?
Often, these rogue programs are part of the Custom or Advanced settings of an app. The most common victims of these unwanted applications are users who hastily download software and install it quickly without reviewing each step. To avoid these inadvertent downloads, it’s important to pay attention during download and installation steps. Be wary of any software that is bundled with other programs and never accept offers to install third-party programs.
How Do I Uninstall Rogue Chromium Browsers?
There are several step-by-step guides online to show how to remove the malware, do thorough scans of your computer for rogue files and registry keys, and clean and reset browsers. The steps are very specific to your operating system and browsers. Two good online guides are here and here.
Being aware of types of malware, how they infect your computer and what they do can help prevent you or your employees from the frustration, time and irritation of fake Chromium browsers.
by Felicien | Mar 11, 2019 | Education
Tired of Not Getting Reimbursed for Business Expenses? Never Lose Your Receipts Ever Again!
Maintaining receipts is a fact of life for many people, but it can be extremely frustrating. Tiny pieces of paper that have to be maintained and categorized long enough to submit your expenses for reimbursement — who has time for that?!? It’s not uncommon to lose receipts and then spend additional time struggling to rebuild them once you have to submit an expense report or turn them in to get your money back. This quick life hack will help you stay organized and keep your receipts and other items under control.
Tracking Your Spending
Even if you’re not getting reimbursed by your business for purchases, it’s a smart idea to keep track of receipts so you have an idea where your money is going on a monthly basis. Every year, there’s a wonderful day (for the government) called Tax Day. Capturing your personal and business receipts in a way that you can find them again makes it that much easier to be ready to organize your taxes and get the best possible return. Plus, you’re more likely to stay on budget if you are closely watching your expenses.
Quick Hacks for Receipts
Are you using a cloud-based storage system for your photos? If not, this might be reason enough to look into it! One of the best ways to maintain your receipts and ensure that you have easy access to them regardless of whether you’re in front of your computer is to save all of your receipts to the cloud. Quick and easy — as soon as you receive a receipt from a purchase, snap a picture! If you want to get really fancy, you could create a specific folder for all of your work-related or home-related receipts and save the images appropriately. Dropbox or Box are excellent options for cloud storage that are inexpensive yet provide cross-platform functionality so you can grab your receipts digitally and match them up to your expense report or budget.
Use Receipt Tracking Software
If you have a few extra moments to process your receipts, there is an interesting new trend in mobile apps around receipt management. Not only will the apps handle the issue of annoying pieces of paper, but they’ll also pay you for capturing your receipts! Some of these apps include:
SavingStar
Ibotta
Checkout 51
Fetch Rewards
Each app provides a slightly different take on the same concept: capture your purchase and receive money back. This next-gen way of couponing is being used by millions of individuals in the U.S. to earn back a small percentage of their total purchases.
Not every hack has to be difficult; sometimes the easiest ones are already in your hand — like your phone!
by Felicien | Mar 11, 2019 | Education
In 2018, Dropbox announced it was shifting away from cloud-based services in favor of managing some of its data storage and application hosting itself. The company noted that while Amazon Web Services (AWS) initially allowed Dropbox to delay the purchase and maintenance of its own infrastructure, there were limitations and obstacles that prompted the switch.
In its IPO filing, Dropbox noted that the company has no operational control or access to the AWS or other cloud facilities that host its content. If there were to be an issue with that data, Dropbox, which hosts information for its customers worldwide, would have little control of the situation.
Why is it that Dropbox and other companies are moving away from the cloud, which is touted as a service that alleviates the burden of monitoring, maintenance and upgrading what’s stored there? Are there times when it makes more sense to move away from the public cloud?
How Many Companies Are Moving Out of the Public Cloud?
In 2018, IDC reported that 81 percent of companies surveyed reported migrating applications or data that had been stored in the public cloud to a different environment, including a private cloud host, a hybrid cloud and local solution or a complete on-premises infrastructure. The companies that repatriated data and apps reported doing so the following solutions:
Hosted private cloud (41 percent)
On-premises private cloud (38 percent)
On-premises non-cloud (22 percent)
The survey also reported that 85 percent planned to migrate services in 2019.
Why? The most-cited reasons were:
Security (19 percent)
Performance (14 percent)
Cost (12 percent)
Control (12 percent)
Desire to centralize or reduce shadow IT (11 percent)
What’s Behind the Cloud Repatriation Push?
Munish Manrao of Belmont, California-based ePC Solutions noted that there can be many factors that influence a decision to move to the cloud or move back.
“Every IT decision should be based on a combination of factors: security, cost, compliance, stability, productivity, and compatibility,” Manrao said. “In some instances, a company may move an application to the cloud and then decide to pull that application out of the cloud and return it to an on-premises data center. Although this can be disruptive, any one or more of the reasons listed above could be the determining factor.”
Jason Simons of Houston IT solutions company, ICS, agreed, noting that control, performance and regulatory mandates are often the key factors to move away from the public cloud. He cited specific issues that may prompt, or force, the decision for businesses:
Poor performance of the application once it was virtualized in the cloud
A desire for ultimate control of the software or data, including upgrade management, outage scheduling and access management. Because the public cloud is a shared resource, there are often limitations and restrictions on what a company can do and when.
Concerns about regulation. If a company finds out that its cloud provider is no longer certified to meet the security standards of regulatory agencies, the business is responsible. Companies take on great financial risk for non-compliance.
The wrong provider. Companies may choose a smaller provider initially that cannot meet their business needs. Instead of moving to a larger provider, some businesses prefer to bring apps and data back in-house.
Speed is a frequent reason for moving away from the public cloud.
“Businesses that rely on public cloud servers often run into trouble if local bandwidth is unreliable, or if internet access is lost resulting in downtime or data loss,” noted Andrew Schira with Oklahoma City IT service provider, Easton Technology.
Another is the cost.
“On-premise servers are generally a one-time purchase,” Schira continued. “Moving applications can reduce operating costs and result in improved security.”
Those insights echo the reasons cited in an IDC survey of multi-cloud infrastructure among European businesses. The top data-management priorities were:
Managing and controlling cost (42 percent)
Regulatory compliance (34 percent)
Provisioning and management capabilities (32 percent)
Data portability and workload seamlessness (32 percent)
Retrieving data if a provider goes out of business (27 percent)
Over the next 12-18 months, 49 percent of those businesses listed data protection, including backup and recovery, replication archiving and business continuity, as a key data challenge. Another 43 percent cited security and compliance.
What Applications Are Most Likely to Move Away from the Public Cloud?
Manrao noted that there are certain applications that are prime suspects for repatriation if they have one of the following characteristics:
Database applications that require high I/O speeds (the rate at which data is transferred between the hard disk drive and RAM)
Graphics-intensive applications
Applications that should be accessed outside the network
Applications that are not cost-effective to host
Applications that are necessary to control local access
Applications that cannot be dependent on ISP speeds
“Applications that are candidates for repatriation to a business’s on-premise servers are mature, highly integrated, mission-critical applications where concerns about exponential growth are not an issue,” Schira said.
Regulatory concerns are a growing concern, too. Companies face complex and mounting data management requirements due to the passage of GDPR for European Union residents, growing U.S. state-specific privacy mandates, and the continuing presence of requirements for HIPAA, PCI and other legislative obligations.
What Are the Benefits to Rolling Back from the Public Cloud?
Companies that switch from the public cloud will see many benefits, including:
No risk of providers changing terms or costs
No threat of potential deletion of data by a provider with little or no warning
One-time server expenses
Full company control of its own data, including its use and its storage
How Can I Prepare for a Switch?
Manrao recommends that whenever an application is moved to the cloud, there should be a roll-back procedure in place. Companies should keep their local infrastructure in place for a while in case the decision is made to roll back the application to internal hosting.
These procedures should ensure the company has complete access to the database and user accounts. The cloud host should be able to export all the data in a format that’s usable to the business. These procedures also should be tested often.
And if you decide to roll back data, Simons has some advice.
“The best way to do this with minimal downtime is with proper backups and pre-planning and testing,” Simons said. The key steps are:
Pre-install the application at your facility and thoroughly test
Complete a backup or screenshot of the cloud application and load it into your on-premises version
Continue running the application on the cloud server until the backup is restored to on-site equipment
Shift users seamlessly to the on-site server
Make another backup of the changes that occurred in the cloud while doing the migration
Restore these interim changes to your on-site server
Cloud solutions continue to be valuable for many companies, especially those with small or understaffed IT staffs. However, as with many new technologies, some businesses are finding that the public cloud is not the ideal solution for their unique needs.
by Felicien | Mar 8, 2019 | Education
There’s no better means of promoting a professional business today than the use of online reviews. Positive third-party online reviews can take your law firm to the next level. Personal referrals and word of mouth have their place in drumming up new business, but they will never come close to the exposure you can receive through online reviews. Positive online reviews across multiple platforms and search engines could very well be the key to the success of your legal firm.
How Important are Reviews for Attorneys?
When consumers are looking for an attorney to represent their interests in a legal matter, where do they turn to first? Modern technology has made the Internet the number one source of information for just about any business inquiry consumers may have. This makes it essential for law firms to have a strong online presence in order to compete. Your online presence should include a fair amount of positive online reviews.
Positive online reviews can help establish your law firm as experts in the legal field. Studies show that in 2017 alone, over 97% of consumers turned to online reviews to help them choose a company to do business with. Approximately 85% of consumers acknowledged they trusted online reviews more than a referral from family or friends.
When it came to searching for an attorney, 75% of consumers indicated they used online resources to find the lawyer they needed. Approximately 65% of these said their decision to hire a certain attorney was influenced by online reviews. If perfect strangers can have such a major impact on people’s decision to hire an attorney, imagine the potential you have of increasing your customer base by petitioning your clients for reviews.
Effects of Online Reviews on a Law Firm
Positive online reviews can give your law firm greater standing in your local community as they reveal what fellow residents have to say about their experience with your firm. Positive reviews from former customers can put your name on the top of the list when people need an attorney to handle their legal affairs.
With so many people resorting to online reviews to help them find an attorney, it’s to your advantage to make reviews readily available to your online target audience. The more positive reviews your firm has, the greater your chances of being selected over your competition.
Naturally, you want to avoid having bad reviews posted online. But few or no reviews could be just as detrimental to your cause as it gives consumers the impression that your law firm is inexperienced in its field.
The goal is to encourage former clients to write positive reviews that make a good impression on individuals who are in the process of selecting an attorney to represent their legal interests. With so much competition among law firms today, people aren’t willing to settle for just an “ok” attorney- they want an attorney who stands out in his field. They’re even willing to travel to the next town to hire an attorney with excellent reviews.
Review Count and Scores
In a recent survey regarding the use of online reviews for hiring attorneys, 264 people out of the 316 interviewed indicated they would only hire law firms that received, on average, a 4- or 5-star rating on their reviews. This shows how much consumers value reviews in selecting a lawyer. If your firm’s rating falls short of these expectations, you could very well be losing clientele. Poor reviews obviously have a negative impact on people looking for the services of an attorney. To get top reviews, your law firm needs to provide top services to your current clientele.
Keep in mind that third-party reviews across various platforms will carry more weight than reviews placed on your website. Consumers expect you to post positive reviews on your site. Third-party reviews, however, generate greater validation and trust.
In addition to good ratings, consumers want to see a fair amount of reviews from former customers as this gives them a more accurate picture of how people view the services you provide. The combination of review count and review score influence consumers in selecting an attorney.
Where Should You Collect Reviews?
Quite frankly – everywhere you can! By collecting reviews across multiple platforms, you’ll reach a greater audience. You could also narrow your prospects to the most effective platforms, i.e. Google and Facebook, as these two sites are where the majority of people wind up when doing business searches.
Google reviews carry a lot of weight when consumers search for law firms due to the company’s reputation for providing relevant content. Google is well aware of the influence ratings have on consumers searching for an attorney online. For this reason, Google prioritizes law firms that have a substantial amount of positive reviews in their search results.
How to Increase Your Firm’s Reviews
Knowing the influence that positive reviews can have on your law firm should motivate you to solicit as many reviews as possible from former clients. If you’ve provided exceptional services to your customers, positive reviews shouldn’t be so difficult to obtain. Most consumers are happy to comply. In fact, the best time to request a review is immediately after services have been rendered, assuming your customers are happy with the services they received.
Once you start receiving reviews, take time to monitor what people are saying about your firm. This gives you a better idea of how you’re doing, from the perspective of your valued customers. Make an effort to respond to as many reviews as you can – positive and negative – to show you’re interested in what your clients have to say.
Never ask employees for reviews and never pay or offer incentives for reviews, as this goes against Google’s policy.
How to Handle Negative Reviews
When you ask for reviews, there’s always the chance of getting negative reviews along with the positive ones. Although negative reviews can lower your overall rating, they can also provide you with opportunities to see where you need to improve. A few negative reviews here and there can even make your law firm appear authentic.
By handling negative reviews in a positive manner, you can earn customers’ trust. Always make an effort to address issues brought up in negative reviews. Apologize to your client to wipe the slate clean. If you can rectify the problem, do so, even if it’s at your own expense. Your sincere efforts to make things right can convert an unhappy client into a satisfied client who will let others know what you have done.
In Summary
The success of your law firm depends on providing exemplary services to your current clients and drawing in more clients who are in need of legal help. Positive Google reviews will play a key role in accomplishing this goal.
