It's Consumer Protection Week - Here's 4 Ways to be Safer Online

This week is National Consumer Protection week and as while there are many threats to our user data and personal information, there are also a multitude of ways we can protect ourselves. Some examples of best practices are:

• Using a credit card rather than debit card - this prevents you from needing to enter a pin in public where people can visually capture your input.
• Using Apple or Google Pay - these applications store your credit card so you do not need to physically access the card to use it.
• Using a unique PIN for debit cards - not reusing this pin for unlocking cell phones or as voicemail codes, etc.
• Never sharing passwords, account access, and credit or debit cards with others.

There are other, more advanced threats to the security of your devices. It is important to be aware of them as this increases your ability to protect yourself from them. 

It's Consumer Protection Week - Here's 4 Ways to be Safer Online

There are far more than four approaches to staying safe in an online environment, but these ideas can be implemented immediately. Most importantly, remember to slow down when you are feeling pressured. Hackers often use scare tactics to appeal to your emotional, and less rational, feelings to get you to act without thinking. If you stop and think about what is going on before reacting, you will be less likely to make a big mistake.

Reduce the amount you rely upon search

The Best App for Merging and Modifying Files

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

When working with larger files there can be a need to modify the order of pages, add signatures, or scan and add in additional documents for reference. During this process, you may run into issues like:

• Multiple file uploads not being allowed.
• A long document that requires a signature or signatures on only a few pages. In this case, printing the entire document and scanning it all back in together can be wasteful. 
• Scanning a document that is larger than the automatic document feeder of the scanner and breaks the files into multiple files.

An example most of us have run into is needing to sign a large document and send it back to someone else. You can print and mail the document, but it is far faster to email or fax it back. The best answer is to use Acrobat to print only the signature page, merge this single page into the original document and replace the blank signature page. Then the file can be emailed or faxed and the process does not have any waste.

For situations where you need to merge and modify files, the best application is Adobe Acrobat.

The Best App for Merging and Modifying Files

Adobe Acrobat has one-click tools that make it easy to insert additional documents into a single document, remove unnecessary pages, and reorder pages. These tools are especially important when working with very large documents, documents with pages that need to be signed, documents where only certain pages are updated, and when scanning in multiple documents. 

Merging documents

How to Ensure a Microsoft O365 License is Available to Reuse Immediately

If you have more than one license in a Microsoft Office 365 or O365 account, you know managing the licenses can sometimes be tricky. The bigger your organization, the greater the number of licenses and the easier it can be to run into issues. There are many benefits to subscribing to O365 licenses though, including the ability to reassign licenses. This is beneficial when an employee leaves as their access to the license can be removed and used for the person replacing them. This helps prevent businesses from wasting money on additional licenses.

However, it is important to know the correct way to reassign a license. There is a way to do this that allows the license to be reused immediately, while another way holds onto the license for 30 days before it can be assigned to another user. For those businesses whose number of licenses equals or nominally exceeds their number of employees, it will be critical to remove the user in the correct way so the license is available immediately.

How to Ensure a Microsoft O365 License is Available to Reuse Immediately

The way to ensure a license is immediately available for reuse is by removing the licenses from the user before removing the user. To remove a license from a former employee so that it is immediately available for reuse, follow these steps:

• Log into the Microsoft O365 admin portal at portal.microsoft.com.
• From the Admin dashboard, click on "Active users".
  

How to Make iPhone Contacts Accessible on a Windows Device

Backing up a smart phone to a computer or laptop does not mean the data is stored in a usable format. For instance, backing up an iPhone does not mean you can go directly to the apps, images, calendar or other items easily. Some things sync with iTunes, but most things are not directly accessible from a backup and there are times when you may want some of this data without being on the same device as the backups. 

For instance, having contact or calendar information synced to a local device can be more efficient than referencing your phone every time. Luckily, there is an easy way to sync data, like contacts, making it accessible without installing iTunes or backing up the device to that machine.

How to Make iPhone Contacts Accessible on a Windows Device

To access contacts on your iPhone from a Windows device:

• First, visit the page to download iCloud for Windows on the Windows device. 
• Under the heading "Download iCloud for Windows", click the "Download" button to start the installer.
• Click "Run" to run the installer.
  
  
  

How to Take Square Payments Without Creating User Logins

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

As a payment processing service for small businesses, Square is easy to set up and easy to use. There are many benefits to using Square over accepting credit card payments directly, including:

• Transparent service fees for all types of payments collected
• Managing PCI compliance
• Zero monthly and minimum fees, which is especially helpful for new businesses or those who do not need to use the service every month
• An online presence for the items or services you sell

Another great feature is the ability to send invitations to people to connect additional devices using the Square application. By using an invitation from you, that device can accept payments on behalf of your organization. Additionally, this is done without making them an employee, or creating additional user accounts or credentials. This feature is a secure way for any business, non-profit, or other organization to host events, have remote workers, interns or volunteers, collect funds on behalf of their business. Most importantly is it accomplished all without providing unnecessary account access.

How to Take Square Payments Without Creating User Logins

Another great benefit of inviting a device to accept payments on behalf of your account is that it can be done at no additional cost to you and the setup can be accomplished within a few minutes. Below are instructions for sending an invitation to someone with a device, as well as how to accept that invitation on a device.

Security Round Up: Email, Voicemail and Paycheck Phishing

We are barely a month into 2019 but attacks on our data are as prevalent as ever. Threats can come in many forms, including but not limited to:

• Company data breaches (which you have no control over)
• Hacked user accounts often stemming from weak or commonly used passwords (which we can control)
• Phishing attacks via email, phone calls and more
• Email attacks
• Malware embedded images
• Unsecured wireless networks
• Unencrypted online forms
• Man-in-the-middle attacks

This post covers what we need to know and what we can do to protect our data in relation to some of the most recent threats.

Ways to Customize a Computer's Display to Reduce Eye Strain

To see this process in action, watch the video that accompanies this post.

There are many reasons why we are on our computers and laptops for extended periods of time each day. It might be from our job, a hobby, or just to stay connected to others. Whatever the reason, we know the blue light emitted from monitors, displays and smart phones can be hard on our eyes. This is especially true when sitting for a long time which can cause eye irritation. 

Luckily, there are built-in settings in on both Windows and Mac devices whose purpose is to protect your eyes from extended exposure to blue light. 

Ways to Customize a Computer's Display to Reduce Eye Strain

On Mac devices

On a Mac device, use the Night Shift setting to reduce the level of blue light by using warmer colors. To use Night Shift:

• Open "System Preferences".
• In the System Preferences window, select "Displays".