by Felicien | Oct 13, 2017 | Education
Office 2019 is set to become the latest in a long line of one-time license options from Microsoft. Even if you’re not ready to adopt Office 365, this new edition of Office has plenty to get excited about.
While there is a great deal of discussion in the technology community around Microsoft Office 365 and migration strategies, it’s important to note that Microsoft continues to provide perpetual versions that offer a great deal of the same functionality found in the cloud-based versions. Microsoft Office 2019 is the latest in the long line of offerings from the software giant, and it is currently set to debut in the second half of 2018. If your business isn’t quite ready to make the jump to the cloud, this latest edition of Microsoft’s flagship offering provides you with more natural work options and new capabilities that may make upgrading an attractive option for your business.
Perpetual License versus Office 365
Microsoft Office essentially comes in two “flavors”: a perpetual license that could be considered a traditional option and the newer Office 365 cloud-based application suite. The key difference is the licensing model. With the perpetual model, you pay for the software one time and everything is paid upfront with no functional expiration date. You only gain access to the Office suite on one computer, which may or may not fit the way your employees work. Office 365 allows you to pay a much smaller monthly fee that provides you with access to the software that is controlled from the cloud. You may also receive cloud storage via OneDrive and additional functionality such as Office apps for tablets, the ability to install the software on up to 5 computers and Skype access. This model offers additional sharing options that are severely limited when you select the perpetual license editions of Office. Office 365 allows users to receive updates when new functionality is provided, too. However, if you discontinue your payments to Microsoft for the software, you will immediately lose access to the software. Long-term, it’s highly likely that Microsoft will completely phase out perpetual versions of the popular software.
Why Upgrade to Office 365?
There are a variety of reasons to take the plunge and upgrade to Office 365, including easy update schedules, more attractive pricing and better collaboration. However, Microsoft acknowledges that not everyone is ready to move to the cloud, which can be especially challenging for enterprises with a massive install base. While the suite generally looks similar to current versions of the perpetually-licensed software, there are some fundamental differences with deployment, security, and installation. For this reason, corporate clients have been slower to adopt the cloud editions, but more organizations are moving in that direction on a regular basis. While small to mid-size business leaders may feel that their current edition is paid for and see no reason to make a switch, there are some valuable tools that Office 365 brings to the table. Today’s workers often need to be mobile in order to gain efficiencies, and businesses are more open than ever to non-traditional workflows. It’s not uncommon for one knowledge worker to use their laptop, tablet and mobile phone to access and edit the same document — nearly impossible if you’re only using the perpetual licensing model for Office.
New for 2019
While it’s called Office 2019, technically this version of the software platforms will release in mid- to late-2018, with beta versions coming even sooner. While the feature set has not yet been fully revealed, Microsoft has provided a few hints of what may be found in the newest versions. Many of the features are thought to be additions that are currently in the Office 365 versions of the software, which technically doesn’t make them “new” features at all. These include the Ink replay in Word and PowerPoint’s Morph functionality. Windows Ink provides users with the ability to write on their documents just as you would on physical paper, and it integrates tightly with a variety of Microsoft platforms such as Word, Edge, Maps, PowerPoint and OneNote. With the Ink editor, you’re able to create powerful replays of drawings that can really illustrate your concepts.
PowerPoint’s Morph truly takes slide transitions to the next level, and while relatively simple, it is a fun way to integrate additional color, movement, and interest to your boring PowerPoint presentation. This feature has been available in Office 365 for quite some time, but perpetual license users have had to wait to get their hands on it. What’s even better is that Morph is easy to use as you simply create a beginning slide, make a duplicate and then apply the morph feature to make an interesting transition. You can adjust the motion, size, color, and shape of objects to create a variety of different looks — all with great impact to help tell your story.
While the details are still dark about the full functionality of Office 2019, it does appear that perpetual license buyers will receive some new features. Want to learn more about upgrading your {city} organization to the latest perpetual version of Office or transitioning to Office 365?
Contact {company} today at {phone} or via email to {email}. Our professionals will help you analyze your business to determine the right option for your teams and particular situation.
by Felicien | Oct 13, 2017 | Education
Microsoft Word is an incredibly powerful tool for office productivity, but you’re probably not using all of these fabulous time-saving features. Get the scoop!
There are few software packages that are as pervasive in a variety of different industries as the Microsoft Office productivity suite that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access. The ability to quickly and easily edit, share and distribute documents is a massive draw for organizations, schools, and students, but few people fully master these powerful programs. Most people use only a small percentage of the tools that are available, which is unfortunate. There are significant productivity gains available to anyone who takes the time to dig deep and master the capabilities of these full-featured programs. Ready to shave some time off your document editing or processing tasks?
Keyboard Shortcuts
The design of the ribbon across the top with commands also makes it straightforward to find the information that you want, with commands that are used regularly garnering spots in plain sight. Even with the ribbon available, there are repetitive tasks that could be simplified by using a keyboard shortcut. There are plenty of options that will help you navigate through the system and make your work more efficient, here’s just a few that you may find yourself using on a daily basis:
Ctrl+A – A great way to select all the text on the page
Ctrl+Y – Redo or Repeat your last action, to quickly apply formatting as you work through a document
Ctrl+K – Insert a link to the document at the point of your cursor
Ctrl + DEL – Delete word to the right of the cursor
Ctrl + Backspace – Delete word to the left of the cursor
Ctrl + Home – Move cursor to the beginning of the document
Ctrl + End – Move cursor to the end of the document
Ctrl + 1 – Single-Space Lines
Ctrl + 2 – Double-Space Lines
Ctrl + 5 – 1.5-Space Lines
F7 – Run spell check on any selected text or the entire document
Shift + T – Insert the current time
Shift + D – Insert the current date
If you’re spending a big part of your day editing within Word, these keyboard shortcuts alone could save you time, effort and frustration!
Section Breaks
Part of the beauty of Word is the ability to create well-structured documents that make it easy for users to find what they need quickly and easily. All it takes is a little planning and foresight — and a solid understanding of sections and styling — to output Word documents that your users will be pleased to use and that are ready for publishing in print or online. Sections in Word allow you to differentiate between areas of the document, such as the title page, table of contents, main document and any appendices. Create a section break in Word by accessing the Page Layout menu, and look under ‘Breaks’. A section break allows you to change formatting, almost like having a mini-document inside your main document. If you’ve ever struggled with setting different page number styles on your Title page than on interior pages, this tip alone will be a lifesaver.
Working with Large Documents
When you’re editing a book, school paper or other large documents, it’s important that you apply the correct styling to ensure consistency of design and structure. If you need specific fonts, font sizes, paragraph styles or another formatting, it makes sense to take the time to edit your styles before you even start typing. You can begin defining your styles for the entire document by editing the presets under Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 and Normal text — all of which can be found in the Style menu in the ribbon. Select the style you’d like to edit, and making the change is as simple as making changes in the pop-up window and saving your adjustments. When you wish to apply that particular style to a block of text, select the text and then choose the level of style you would like to apply.
Using styles allows you to make universal changes to your documents. For example, your boss wanted you to use Comic Sans font for all headers, but then when they realized how difficult that font was to read wanted it all changed back to Arial. If you’ve properly applied and used your styles, this is the matter of a few clicks to update the entire document. Styles are also very helpful when you’re creating a Table of Contents, which you can do by clicking on the References tab and then clicking Table of Contents to insert your selection. Header levels are translated immediately into levels in the Table of Contents, saving you valuable time and clicks.
Track and Compare Changes
It’s not unusual to need to review someone else’s Word document, whether you’re in a contract review or simply editing out some sections of a marketing document. The handy ‘Tracked Changes’ feature in Word provides you with a way of seeing exactly the changes someone else made in your document and allows you to accept or reject each change — and even add comments. Access this feature by going to the ‘Review’ tab and clicking ‘Track Changes’. Changes are highly visible and tagged to the user who made the adjustment. What happens if you forgot to turn on tracked changes before you sent a document? Don’t despair, the ‘Compare Changes’ feature allows you to compare two documents with ease. Click ‘Tools’, ‘Track Changes’, ‘Compare Documents’, and the modifications will be listed for your easy review.
Need to upgrade your Microsoft Office installations or considering moving to Office 365 in the cloud?
by Felicien | Oct 12, 2017 | Education
Amazingly, in spite of the ever-increasing need for such, there are very few law firms right now that specialize in cybersecurity. This doesn’t deny that many law firms are more than willing to take on cybersecurity cases when the need arises; nor does it deny that some firms still consider the cybersecurity “ topic” a strictly IT area of expertise.
Regardless of the reasons why, lawyers need to get better immersed in what is a huge problem, not only in the US but across the globe. Here are 5 reasons why we need more law firms to specialize in cybersecurity issues and cases.
More and more laws are being passed that deal with the ever-worsening and continuously-more-complicated topic of cybersecurity. Some of these laws include HIPAA, ECPA, CAN-SPAM, FCRA, Sarbanes-Oxley, etc.
Many people fail to understand or appreciate the obligations that go with having access to the latest technologies. These technologies include cloud computing, Smartphones, Wi-Fi, remote access, and USB drives. As for the “obligations” in question, how about starting with the right to privacy and the duty to provide confidentiality.
The threat to data stored in or transmitted by electronic mobile devices is at an all-time high. It used to be hackers that one worried about but other players in the game can include disgruntled employees, careless temps and people that may come to your business posing as something they are not (e.g., soda machine maintenance guys, delivery guys, consultants, etc.). The point is that the list of people that could potentially threaten the data kept by all organizations is rather long and well-diversified—in other words, this matter no longer involves just computer hackers.
This is only one of the many huge problems that are arising and getting more complicated by the minute that can end up in the lap of attorneys. To deal with that, the government has already passed several laws but you can be sure that more laws are in the planning stage or already waiting to be passed.
One very legitimate question that we may ask, then, is how well prepared are law firms in the US (and other developed countries) to deal with the many legal problems in regards to cybersecurity that will have to be adequately addressed in the near future?
It’s true that many law firms are scrambling to prepare for the onslaught but is what they’re doing (sending partners and associates to seminars and bringing in consultant periodically, etc.) enough?
Clearly, what is needed here is a more aggressive approach—i.e., a comprehensive plan to get more firms ready to not just handle these cases, if necessary, but to specialize in the topic. Specialization doesn’t come cheap or easy though, which is why this is something which may require participation from all stakeholders (the government, the ABA, big law firms, corporate world reps, IT consultants, etc.). Failure to develop this cooperation, and the financial and technical support that will be needed, may turn out to be disastrous, to put it mildly.
To put it in more practical terms, we may end up seeing the industry being overwhelmed or inadequately (if not incompetently) tackle the upcoming legal challenges coming in the form of what we might call “legal tsunamis.”
The incidence and seriousness of privacy/security breaches are worsening with each passing day.
Almost every year, a major cybersecurity breach is announced in the news. Actually, security breaches are occurring just about every day—but you will probably not hear of it in the news, unless a major organization or agency is involved, if massive amounts of data were compromised and/or if the breach was particularly troubling (such as when cyber-terrorist have broken into IRS databases).
Some of the major breaches to date include:
JTX in 2006
Heartland Payment Systems in 2008
Target Stores in 2013
Yahoo in 2013-2014
EBay in 2014
JP Morgan in 2014
Adult Friend Finder in 2016
Equifax in 2017
Of course, each of these breaches has led to legal action in one form or another. The good news is that these incidents can provide helpful information on how law firms can prepare for the next major breach. The question is, are legal firms taking advantage of these learning opportunities?
This represents a whole new potentially profitable area of law that simply can’t be left untapped for too long.
One of the many areas of law within the cybersecurity scope that is sure to provide revenue for legal firms savvy enough to capitalize on these opportunities are cases involving the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) which monitors investments by foreign bodies in American businesses providing services and products relating to national security.
There are many cybersecurity questions that are arising as a result of these investments and complicated relationships. Any cases arising out of these relationships may not only involve cyber security but international law.
Here are some other areas where there is money to be made by law firms prepared for the legal challenges in question:
Companies facing class action lawsuits because of hacked customer information
Advising global insurance companies on cybersecurity policies and data privacy concerns, including how to respond to breaches, from a legal perspective
Advising insurance brokers/consultants on their privacy policies and data security incident response plans
Helping Internet advertising and data-mining companies develop incidence response plans and cybersecurity policies
Helping defense contractors paddle their way into and around Department of Defense service provider and supply chain cybersecurity requirements
Assisting healthcare providers in meeting ever-more stringent HIPAA and other healthcare laws privacy and patient information securing requirement and restrictions
Cybersecurity is no longer strictly an IT issue—more lawyers need to start immersing themselves in the subject, even if they have to start requiring lawyers specializing in this field to also take a certain amount of college course credits in computer science.
Although the public may not be aware of this, lawyers and law firms are bound by a wide range of government policies and laws designed to protect the public’s privacy and confidentiality. Attorney/client privilege is only one of the many rules in place which places serious burdens on attorneys which they can’t take lightly.
Other policies and laws in place that place lawyers on notice and which may carry penalties for not complying with include:
The duty of competence (the ABA’s Model Rule 1.1) requires attorneys to be familiar with technologies in certain cases.
Model Rule 1.6 helps to define the duty of confidentiality more clearly . . . basically, a lawyer cannot reveal (or allow the information to leak) private information without informed consent.
The Ethics 2000 Revisions to the Model Rules (which among other things stipulated that lawyers must act competently to safeguard information. . . simply delegating such to IT personnel simply won’t cut it
Model Rule 5.1 (refers to responsibilities of supervisory/partner lawyers and non-lawyer assistants)
Model Rule 1.4 (Communications), requires appropriate use of technology in communicating with clients
Of course, individual firms can also institute their own policies that can also further restrict what attorneys may or may not do, including with the use of IT technology.
Law firms can either lead the way or follow the crowd on the issue of cybersecurity—it would be foolish if the legal industry either by default or on purpose chooses the latter.
One of the greatest challenges for law firms today in properly establishing cybersecurity case tackling programs is making a decision as to what measures are necessary and how to best implement them. But determining what are reasonable and competent measures can be rather difficult, especially in regards to an area of law that is developing and growing even as we “speak.”
Laws and policies can provide guidelines but, ultimately, law firms are going to have to decide whether they will simply follow other industries (to see what happens), keep a close eye on trends, let the government tell them what they need to do, or, what would be more proactive, start leading the way in terms of what new laws we need, how the present laws can be amended and how major cases will be handled in general.
CONCLUSION
The issue of cybersecurity is too serious, prevalent and far-reaching a problem to not approach head on and with all engines running—metaphorically speaking. There is no question that cybersecurity is changing the playing field for the legal industry in many ways.
The sooner that lawyers start specializing in this area, the better the industry will be prepared for many of these inevitable, far-reaching changes
1 Bruce Schneier, Secrets and Lies – Digital Security in a Networked World (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000) at p. xii.
by Felicien | Oct 12, 2017 | Education
Explore 7 Ways That macOS High Sierra Helps You Protect Your Privacy and Security
If you’re an Apple user, you have a lot of things to look forward to in the 13th release of the macOS operating system. Some highlights include new features, improvements to existing features, and a few updates that will pave the way for future releases. At the same time, device and internet security have become a growing concern with all internet and device users. It’s a good idea to learn more about High Sierra security and privacy features, so you know what to expect and what to be careful of.
What Privacy and Security Features Does High Sierra Include?
The October 5 Password Patch
It’s worth mentioning that two security vulnerabilities with High Sierra made the news by the first day of its release on September 25. These had to do with password hints and actual passwords stored in the keychain. You can now upload a patch to fix these issues from Apple. Apple released the patch on October 5.
Security analysts who had a chance to test the new operating system before it was released said they had notified the company about issues before release, so it is somewhat surprising that the company took several days to release this patch. Prior to that, the company said that users who only downloaded apps from the Apple Store could protect themselves from these issues, but some security analysts weren’t so sure. In any case, if you have already updated, you should certainly consider installing the patch.
High Sierra’s Built-In Privacy and Security
Besides the patches for these zero-day vulnerabilities, High Sierra also came bundled with plenty of new and updated privacy and security features on its own.
File System
Apple’s update to their new file system deserves the first mention. Called APFS, or the Apple File System, it now relies on flash technology. You should enjoy both better performance and improved security.
Improved security and protection features include:
Improved encryption capabilities
Crash protection
Easier backups
Since the upgrade may totally change the way that your device stores all of its data, it’s a good idea to ensure that you have backed up your system before you start installing High Sierra.
Browser Tracking Protection
You probably already know that advertisers try to track your actions as you use your internet browser. They usually don’t have malicious intentions. They simply want to gather data that helps them target advertising better. At the same time, lots of Apple users would prefer to protect their privacy from this type of tracking software. The Safari web browser now includes intelligent anti-tracking features that are supposed to be as smart as the advertiser’s trackers.
Advanced Secure Internet Connections
When you visited secure sites, like your bank, you probably noticed that you had an https:// connection and not a http:// connection. Besides financial institutions, you might have also noticed this on many emails, downloads, or membership sites. This is an example of improved security through a TLS connection. This is important, but this kind of security relied upon SHA-1 certificates in the past. These old-style certificates are no longer secure enough to perform as intended.
Currently, Apple wants all developers to move to SHA-256. certification, which uses much more advanced encryption to protect privacy and security. This latest update actually applies quite a bit of pressure to get developers to change. Before High Sierra, your Apple device would offer you a warning that the connection wasn’t truly private and secure. Now, High Sierra will simply block your connection. Before you upgrade, you may want to check any secure connections that you rely upon to make sure they will still work.
Weekly Firmware Validation
Once a week, High Sierra will automatically run a firmware check to validate your hardware against any installed firmware on your device. According to Intego, most users should never see a warning from this check. A warning could mean that your device has been maliciously tampered with, but it might just mean that you purposefully installed a hack to allow you to run this new operating system upon an unsupported computer. If the weekly firmware validation does trip a warning, you will have the option to ignore it or to send a report to Apple for further investigation.
Kernel Extension Approvals
Some software will add kernel extensions that add certain functions to the operating system. For instance, antivirus programs may do this legitimately in order to work. Still, developers of malicious software may also add kernel extensions in order to cause mischief, so you should always know when it happens.
In any case, High Sierra will offer you a warning the very first time that any software tries to install a kernel extension. If the extension was already loaded before you installed High Sierra or you have previously approved the extension with High Sierra, you won’t get a warning. Some hackers have become clever at masking their work to look like legitimate software, so this system isn’t foolproof.
Mostly, High Sierra Offers Better Security and Privacy
This overview of new privacy and security features nitpicked a bit. It’s important to understand how your device protects you and how that protection may be limited. Mostly, you should enjoy better security and privacy with High Sierra than you have with your past macOS operating system versions.
by Felicien | Oct 12, 2017 | Education
Jazz Up Boring Convention Photos with Snapchat-Style Filters from LinkedIn
LinkedIn has long been the bastion of boring, in a way — with professional networking being the main order of business. Will the new geofilters add a spicy layer to the social media giant?
There just may be a better reason to download the LinkedIn app: now you can find Snapchat-style geofilters that can be added to photos and videos within the app. While the LinkedIn app is thought by many to be more of a necessary evil than a true destination, the professional networking social giant has finally gotten creative and added a functionality that is likely to gain wide adoption with convention and conference attendees. While the rollout was limited to the Grace Hopper Celebration conference, additional events will be included in the future. Is it possible that this little tweak to the concept of filters could replace the need for badges in the future? Only time will tell.
Growth of Geofilters
Snapchat has been leveraging geofilters as a growth strategy for quite some time, with relatively-inexpensive advertising fueling the desire for brands to see themselves captured across the internet. Families create filters for birthdays and other local events, sure — but the real growth of geofilters has been by brands hungry for new and innovative ways to spread their message. By drawing a virtual fence around the geographic area where you want to promote your goods or services, Snapchat filter creators are able to overlay an image or video that can be overlaid on any snap. This is particularly exciting for anyone marketing to millennials, as they make-up the vast majority of the 150 million daily Snapchat users. The possibilities for targeting this juicy audience segment is difficult for marketers to ignore, so they’re flocking to Snapchat geofilters. The creative applications are essentially limitless, and the costs are exceptionally low. Geofilters for popular locations can be under $100, often garnering thousands of high-quality impressions from users.
Bye-Bye Boring Photos and Videos
The updated filters are meant to form a professional frame for an individual’s interactions at a specific event. While the idea of people wearing floppy bunny ears, a halo of flowers or crazy-rimmed glasses during conference photos may seem alarming, fortunately, LinkedIn geofilters seem a bit more sedate — at least for now. LinkedIn business leaders are hoping that this engaging new feature will help LinkedIn get its mojo back, and regain users who have fled to other platforms for less advertising-laden browsing. Users are finding that these updated video filters provide a way to identify users with a particular group as well as add some needed interest and life to images that can admittedly be a bit bland. Unfortunately, LinkedIn currently appears to be keeping tight control of which events are allowed to launch geofilters, and the functionality overall has not yet been turned over to users for full participation. Additionally, speakers at the event are able to manually enable a feature that provides a speaker tag in your filter, a nicety that will be appreciated by professional users.
LinkedIn Needs a Win
The professional networking site has been plagued with challenges over the last several years, as it has widely been called a spam engine while analysts debate the expected deceleration of the platform overall. In the midst of this mostly-negative outlook throughout the business world, LinkedIn has attempted to introduce several paid models that could lead to revenue with the acquisition of Lynda.com training platform and the Sales Navigator model. However, users continue to resist heavy adoption as a very small percentage of super-users dominate the platform while the majority of people use it only as a last resort or living resume as they’re planning their next organizational shift. With the scattered focus of the last few years, it’s possible that LinkedIn is finally recognizing that its niche exists in creating a positive space for networking between professionals.
While the geofilters are not yet available to the general public, there is some thought that they will be in the “coming soon” category — probably once LinkedIn’s leaders determine the best way to monetize the new functionality. Want to learn more about this and other upcoming technology options that will impact your business?
