Blue Ridge Technology

Which ransomware payment option is best? (Hint: none) We don’t like to think about it, but ransomware attacks are on the rise, and that means the chances that your business goes through one are on the rise, too. At Blue Ridge Tech, we genuinely hope you never suffer a ransomware attack — and we can help you reduce your risk in all kinds of ways. But if you do go through a ransomware attack, it pays to be prepared. That means understanding how these attacks work, what kinds of new tactics and innovations the scammers are using, and so on. Most importantly, you need to have a ready answer to this fundamental question: should you pay up, or should you refuse to do so (and risk whatever consequences you’ve been threatened with)? The Best Answer Is Avoiding the Question Entirely Of course, the best answer is “none of the above.” If you can avoid getting into this situation, you should. That’s why robust cybersecurity tactics and cybersecurity awareness training are so important. Why Busines...

Don’t think your business is a target? Think again Botnet attacks are on the rise in a serious way. And whether you know all about them or think they sound vaguely reminiscent of the Terminator movies, they could threaten your business — not just the big global corporations. Here’s what you need to know about this technology and the latest developments in how cybercriminals are using them to do damage. What Is a Botnet? A botnet is a group of compromised computers (and/or other connected electronic devices) that an attacker controls as a unit, using some small amount of processing power on each device to function as a “bot” that can network with other compromised bots to do damage online. Think of it like those armies of synchronized drones that sometimes get used in place of fireworks to create dynamic art in the sky: each drone by itself isn’t very powerful and can’t do much, but a whole army of them can work together to accomplish quite a lot. Why Are Botnets a Problem? Essentially ...

This new search feature in Edge is a revolution If you’ve been in business for a while, chances are you’ve been using the internet for business for a while, too. Whether you consider yourself a true techie or more technologically averse, you learned your tech basics years ago, and that’s a good thing most of the time. But could it be time to unlearn some old habits? I remember learning from my father about a cool new upstart way to search the web: it had a goofy name and a colorful logo and it presented search results in a fun, whimsical way, with pages of results stretching the company name out into something that was unexpected for its time. I’m talking about Google — turns out, that upstart company has managed to do pretty well for itself. Of course, the Google search experience of today is just a little different than it was 20-25 years ago. And there’s all sorts of new competition, including new ways to search and interact with results. Which leads us to our topic this week: if th...

Here’s what’s in store for the last ever Windows ‘Moments’ update Plus, learn all about what Microsoft packed into their last-ever Moments update In late February, Microsoft is releasing its last-ever “Moment” update to Windows 11, called Moment 5. This news matters for all businesses using Windows, whether you’re still rocking Windows 10 or you’re already up to the latest Windows 11 release: Businesses already using Windows 11 can breathe a sigh of relief with this change. For businesses still using Windows 10, it may finally be time to take the plunge. Here’s what you need to know about this change and how it could affect you. What are “Moments”? When Microsoft first released Windows 11, it promised only one major update per year. That was great news for IT pros because it meant more stability and fewer “big” updates. However, because Windows 11 is a product that has to appeal to businesses and consumers alike, this approach didn’t quite survive. Microsoft still holds off on major sy...

If you’re handling email marketing in-house, then we highly recommend digging into your email analytics over the next few weeks. If you see any significant changes or drops (like a higher bounce rate or markedly lower open, conversion, or click-through rates), then it’s possible something about your marketing approach is getting snagged in or flagged by RETVec. Google recently updated the way Gmail responds to spam and malicious emails. On net this is a good thing: less spam and scam email in your employees’ inboxes means less chances for the bad guys to dupe someone into giving away information or credentials. But there’s a possible downside to this update — and there’s a very real chance it could negatively impact your marketing efforts. Here’s what you need to know. Introducing RETVec Yeah, we know: RETVec doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. But that’s the name of Google’s newest weapon in the war against spam. It’s an acronym for Resilient and Efficient Text Vectorizer . (Speaking...

You’re not imagining it, video calls ARE stressful Lots of folks were talking about “Zoom fatigue” in the early days of the pandemic: for reasons no one could quite pinpoint, Zoom meetings just seemed to drain the life and energy out of participants. (By the way, it’s not Zoom’s fault: this kind of fatigue seems endemic to video calling in general, not because of some specific bug on one platform.) Well, we’ve moved on from the pandemic, but the remote and hybrid work has stuck with us. And for many of us, so has an overabundance of video meetings. New Study Confirms Zoom Fatigue Is Real If you do a lot of video calls, then you probably don’t have a hard time agreeing with the premise. We all kind of feel this to be true — but it’s tough to take action without real evidence. Now we have it. Some Austrian minds put together a scientific study to look at what happens to our brains during videoconferencing. Here’s how they did it. They set up two groups of university students, wiring the...

Is app overload slowing down your team? In today’s business landscape we’re all obsessed with productivity. And that’s a good thing, in theory: getting more done in less time is one of the factors that drives progress at every level, and it can help you get ahead of your competition. But is there such a thing as too much productivity? We say yes. We’ve seen this over the past few years with employee burnout: especially in the digital or knowledge economy, it’s possible to push people too far. Their bodies can keep working, but their brains have hit max capacity. And there’s another way we see this problem showing up: too many “productivity” apps. We’re Using Too Many Apps Go to the website for any business software or app you like, and search for the word “productivity.” With almost no exceptions, you’ll always find it. Every single app on the internet promises to make your team more productive. And there’s a sense in which it’s true: if your team is currently doing business out of pap...