Blue Ridge Technology

Have you heard of cyber extortion? It’s a very real threat to your business. Our latest tech update video explains what it is and how to stay safe. Does your work PC feel slower than it used to? Do your team members complain about sluggish computers that take forever to boot up, or that lock up once they’re running with no explanation? Before you sign off on a costly upgrade cycle, it’s worth exploring whether the PCs are truly too old and slow — or whether they can keep serving you well with some small adjustments. There’s one small move that can make a serious difference in your PC’s performance, so we always recommend trying it before moving on to more expensive solutions like replacing your entire fleet of desktops and laptops. Here’s what you need to know about why PCs seem to slow down — and how cleaning up your startup folder can turn things around. Do PCs Slow Down As They Age? There’s a notion out there that says our computers get slower the longer we use them. Some even go so...

Phishing Emails: How Well Do You Trust Your Team? And Is Trust Enough? As we enter a new year, many of the digital threats targeting small businesses aren’t changing drastically. They’re just getting more sophisticated. Phishing was a top threat to your business’s cybersecurity last year, and it’s going to be this year, too. With attacks getting more and more believable and harder to detect, just how much should you trust your team to get this right? We believe business leaders should leave their digital security up to chance. Now is the time to go on the offensive. Phishing: a Refresher In case the term phishing isn’t quite ringing a bell, here’s a quick refresher. Phishing describes email-based attacks where people or groups send an email that looks like it’s coming from somewhere official (like Microsoft, a big bank, or a prominent supplier in your industry). They send you an urgent message and ask you to click a link (and usually log in). The link is malicious, though: clicking co...

The Biggest Security Threat to your business might be on your payroll Your biggest security threat may well be on your payroll right now. Without proper training, your own well-intentioned employees can unknowingly open you up to attack. Rarer (but much worse), someone on your payroll could be intentionally working against you as a malicious insider. Here are five strategies to mitigate internal threats and increase your overall cybersecurity health. 1. Commit to Ongoing Cybersecurity Education Investing in ongoing cybersecurity education for your team is the most important thing you can do to reduce the risk of accidental exposure. In today’s connected environment, there are more bad actors out there than ever before. Scammers are getting more sophisticated, too. One 10-minute training session once a year isn’t going to cut it. Cybersecurity training must be thorough, and it must be carried out frequently. Most importantly, though: everyone — and we mean everyone — in your organizatio...