QuickTips

Security Checkpoint Layered Approach and Bitwarden

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Security Checkpoint A Layered Approach to Security

Security Checkpoint A Layered Approach to Security

Security Checkpoint why use a layered approach with Bitwarden? Imagine having a few pieces of Swiss cheese, each one has holes in different places. Then imagine stacking them on top of each other until there are no holes. Now things can’t get through. This is why we use a layered approach to security. Some measures may not prevent some attacks, but together several layers will prevent most risks.

Security Checkpoint – is a new series of web videos where we go through and improve our digital privacy and security one step and one minute at a time. These are all great security and privacy practices. You can follow along as Alan goes through his digital life and cleans up data and access.

It’s two for Tuesday today since we have 2 videos to share today!

Introduction to Bitwarden

It’s 2023 and you still need a password manager. Passwordless solutions are on the horizon, but in order to be ready you need to get your house in order today. One key tool to help you with that is the password manager. We use Bitwarden and recommend it to anyone who can remember their main password. If you trust yourself with that, use Bitwarden. The free account is fantastic for most people and their paid account offers more useful feature at a reasonable price. Best of all it works on all computing devices you already use: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iPhone, iPad, Google Chrome, FireFox, Edge, no matter where you are online, you can use it!

Need help with your company’s cyber security? Contact us now to see how we can help!

If this post helped you improve your digital security and privacy please like, subscribe, and click the YouTube bell. You’ll be the first to know when we have more tips on Security Checkpoint for twitter and other digital services.

Building a Better You: Tech with Alan Youngblood

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Building A Better You Tech Talk Podcast
Microphone in podcast studio

Ep. 16 The Tech Industry Uses So Much Jargon – IT with Alan Youngblood

Building a better you tech talk new podcast just dropped today! When Nick Spindler and Chris Morgan, co-hosts of the Garner Young Professionals‘ Building a Better You podcast invited our founder Alan Youngblood to join for an episode he was delighted. We’ve listened to several episodes of the podcast and highly recommend that you listen, subscribe, and like the channel.

Nick and Chris are doing a great job collaborating with the Garner Chamber of Commerce. They created a great resource that is sourced by our community and the shared knowledge and wisdom we each bring.

Building A Better You Tech Talk

In episode 16 Alan Youngblood shares about Building a Better You and talks tech with Nick and Chris. The conversation covers the fundamental IT security practices that everyone can do to improve and mitigate real risks. There’s even some decidedly low-tech suggestions that Alan shares about how he connects with nature and integrates more humanity in life and work. Listen below and contact us if you have questions or need help with your company’s technology!

18. A Look Back w/ Nicole Barone – Building a Better You

In this episode, Nicole Barone is back to help us take a look at the podcast so far and dive deeper into some of the insights we've gained from it. Info about the Garner Young Professionals: HERE Info about Davis Insurance and Financial Services: HERE Contact Nicole: [email protected] Info about Community of Hope Ministries: HERE Info about Chris Morgan – Grow Local Realty: HERE Info about Nick Spindler – Grow Local Realty: HERE Music by Zeph Park
  1. 18. A Look Back w/ Nicole Barone
  2. 17. A Good Foundation w/ Tarkisha Poole
  3. 16. The Tech Industry Uses So Much Jargon – IT w/ Alan Youngblood
  4. 15. What If I Want To Change Careers? w/ Sarah Edwards
  5. 14. Knowing Your Why w/ Denise Pavona

Security Checkpoint Twitter Part 3

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hand of man using twitter in android smartphone with icons of social media on screen smartphone life style smartphone era smartphone in everyday life
Security Checkpoint Twitter Part 3: Hardware Tokens

Security Checkpoint – Twitter – is a new series of web videos where we go through and improve our digital privacy and security one step and one minute at a time. These are all great security and privacy practices. You can follow along as Alan goes through his digital life and cleans up data and access.

security checkpoint on twitter

Multi-Factor Authentication

In this quick video we go through multi-factor authentication or MFA. It’s also called Two factor or two step authentication. Think of MFA as a layered approach to verifying you are how you claim to be. Why a layered approach? Simply, the more layers of security you have create more hoops for hackers to jump to breach your data. Good security requires knowing what you value. Then you take as many reasonable measures to prevent valuable data and systems falling into the wrong hands.

Follow along with the video in your own account at twitter.com

Authenticator Apps

We covered these last time, so watch the previous episode for more info.

Hardware Token Keys

We also demonstrate setting up a hardware token key. These function like the technology equivalent of a house key. You’ll have to pay a premium if you want this next-level security. We have the Yubikey 5C with NFC and Yubikey 5 with NFC.

You’ll want at least two (one shared backup is fine for a small company or department). Remember house keys? What happens if you accidentally lock yourself out of your house in a hurry to get somewhere? Well maybe you have another key entrusted to a neighbor or nearby family or friends. You don’t hide it the first place any thief would look under your doormat, do you? Maybe you need to check on that too. That’s why it’s important to buy at least a couple keys whenever you choose to use them. Set up both the same way at the same time and store your backup in a safe place. You can literally use a safe or locked filing cabinet for extra security!

Because you’ll want two hardware token keys and they are roughly $50 each, you should budget $100 to get started with these. You will also need to plan a couple of weeks lead time for the order process and until you get the devices delivered.

Don’t Care About Twitter? Think Again

Don’t use twitter much anymore but still have your account? Neither do we! Who cares? Well we do, and you should too! Cleaning up old data, accounts, and systems is a very vital part of your digital security and privacy well being. Imagine you had your old email from middle school without updates and just left the account running. The old server never got updated enough and now someone got into it and used it to compromise your work Instagram. Yikes! So safe removal, deletion, or updated security are required for all systems you use in your digital life.

Need help with your company’s cyber security? Contact us now to see how we can help!

If this post helped you improve your digital security and privacy please like, subscribe, and click the YouTube bell. You’ll be the first to know when we have more tips on Security Checkpoint for twitter and other digital services.

Security Checkpoint Twitter Part 2

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red blue and yellow textile

Security Checkpoint – Twitter – is a new series of web videos where we go through and improve our digital privacy and security one step and one minute at a time. These are all great security and privacy practices. You can follow along as Alan goes through his digital life and cleans up data and access.

security checkpoint on twitter

Multi-Factor Authentication

In this quick video we go through multi-factor authentication or MFA. It’s also called Two factor or two step authentication. Think of MFA as a layered approach to verifying you are how you claim to be. Why a layered approach? Simply, the more layers of security you have create more hoops for hackers to jump to breach your data. Good security requires knowing what you value. Then you take as many reasonable measures to prevent valuable data and systems falling into the wrong hands.

Follow along with the video in your own account at twitter.com

Authenticator Apps

In this video we setup an authentication app on our mobile phone. We use Authy and recommend it to everyone. If you already use Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Cisco Duo, or a similar app feel free to use that instead. These apps provide a good level of extra security with no additional cost. Don’t be distracted by that long list, just pick the one that you like the most and only use one.

Hardware Token Keys

We also demonstrate setting up a hardware token key. These function like the technology equivalent of a house key. You’ll have to pay a premium if you want this next-level security. We have the Yubikey 5C with NFC and Yubikey 5 with NFC.

You’ll want at least two (one shared backup is fine for a small company or department). Remember house keys? What happens if you accidentally lock yourself out of your house in a hurry to get somewhere? Well maybe you have another key entrusted to a neighbor or nearby family or friends. You don’t hide it the first place any thief would look under your doormat, do you? Maybe you need to check on that too. That’s why it’s important to buy at least a couple keys whenever you choose to use them. Set up both the same way at the same time and store your backup in a safe place. You can literally use a safe or locked filing cabinet for extra security!

Don’t Care About Twitter? Think Again

Don’t use twitter much anymore but still have your account? Neither do we! Who cares? Well we do, and you should too! Cleaning up old data, accounts, and systems is a very vital part of your digital security and privacy well being. Imagine you had your old email from middle school without updates and just left the account running. The old server never got updated enough and now someone got into it and used it to compromise your work Instagram. Yikes! So safe removal, deletion, or updated security are required for all systems you use in your digital life.

Need help with your company’s cyber security? Contact us now to see how we can help!

If this post helped you improve your digital security and privacy please like, subscribe, and click the YouTube bell. You’ll be the first to know when we have more tips on Security Checkpoint for twitter and other digital services.

Security Checkpoint Twitter Part 1

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Twitter on Samsung tablet screen

Security Checkpoint – Twitter – is a new series of web videos where we go through and improve our digital privacy and security one step and one minute at a time. Because these are all great security and privacy practices you can follow along as Alan goes through his digital life and cleans up data and access.

security checkpoint on twitter

In this quick video we go through app sessions and user sessions. We apply the principles of least privilege by getting rid of app connections and logged in sessions that are no longer needed.

Follow along with the video in your own account at twitter.com

Over time we all add apps and accounts that we no longer use or care about. Let’s take care of those now on Twitter. Each one of these increases our cyber attack risk surface. It’s a simple theory: any way that I can access my own accounts is also a potential opening for hackers.

Need help with your company’s cyber security? Contact us now to see how we can help!

If this post helped you improve your digital security and privacy please like, subscribe, and click the YouTube bell. You’ll be the first to know when we have more tips on Security Checkpoint for twitter and other digital services.

Oak City IT Tech Shorts 04: Cost of Lacking Backups

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Do you know the cost of lacking backups?

During the pandemic the only spreading more rapidly than the virus might be ransomware. Call hackers bluffs when you have a bulletproof backup plan.

cost of lacking backups

In early 2020 organizations paid an average of over one hundred thousand dollars for ransomware demands. You can’t afford to waste that on false promises from bad faith hackers. We can help you setup a backup strategy to keep data and systems online. Even if you lose computers in a natural disaster, your business will be fine.

More than just ransomware, your hardware will break some day. We have already helped clients with both of these underlying issues recover their data, repair or replace their devices, and get back online. A lot of the downtime, pain, and costs can be avoided by having a backup plan in place now for the inevitable problems that will occur.

That’s why we are encouraging new clients to join our flexible subscription plans where we include backup plans, virus protection, and remote monitoring with our support. Our plans offer you a 30 days cancellation policy. We want to earn your trust through reliable work that addresses your core concerns, not contractually obligating you to trust us.

Do you know the cost of lacking backups? Sign up to claim your free quick start discovery today!

Oak City IT Tech Shorts 03: Move Outdated Tech to the Cloud!

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Cloud Circuit

Move Outdated Tech to the Cloud

Do you know how much your out-dated tech costs?

Many companies have already moved to the cloud and the pandemic has made it imperative that everyone does.

Depending on who you ask, from about twenty five percent up to nearly seventy five percent of all workers want to continue working from home after the pandemic. Are you losing out because your tech isn’t flexible?

Cloud Circuit

Most tech services can be run in the cloud. That provides you the flexibility to work in multiple offices, at home, or on the go. Do business anywhere with anyone. The best are everywhere.

Out of date technology locks you into a rigid system that’s not flexible enough for today’s marketplace. Worse it might break at any time! And often it happens at the worst times possible!

Business continuity plans require you know how you’re backing up data and plan for replacement equipment.

Cloud systems provide resilience to disasters, rapid changes to your business operations, and even do it all while being more secure and cost effective!

We created a test lab with Microsoft Azure earlier this year and are happy to recommend that to your business. If you already have AWS never fear, we have plenty of experience with that as well. We have a deep understanding of the fundamentals. Therefore we can confidently help you with any cloud system if you want to try a different one.

So why not move your outdated tech to the cloud?

Do you know how much your tech costs? Sign up today to claim your free discovery plan!

Oak City IT Tech Shorts 02: On-boarding Automation

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Windows Settings

On-boarding automation takes everyday tasks and makes them a breeze. Do you know how much your on-boarding and off-boarding cost?

You’re growing fast and have a booming internship program that’s great, right? Sure, but it takes a lot of time and money to maintain.

Setting up each employee’s laptop manually takes a technician four hours of labor. The employee cannot work until it is ready.

We can set up a provisioning system that installs all the needed software and configurations to multiple laptops at the same time. It takes a minute of setup and fifteen minutes of automatic configuration. That’s less than 1 percent of the paid labor and twelve percent of the down-time.

Perhaps your business is rapidly growing customers? The on-boarding process there requires many repetitive tasks we can help you automate. You want a streamlined process for new customer intake that collects all the relevant information from them, responds automatically and then creates a profile on your sale database? We can help you set up a system on your company’s website that’s quick and easy for anyone with an Internet connection to do business.

Ready to level up your security? Need a new software tool installed on all of your employee’s machines or even just one departments? Automation systems make this work a breeze and we can get everyone patched up and set up quickly getting you back to work.

But what if I use a Mac, or Linux machines, or a combo of all the above? There are options for mobile device management (MDM) that we can use to help you manage all your business’s tech assets from smartphones to laptops to servers.

Do you know how much your tech costs? Sign up today to claim your free discovery plan!

Oak City IT Tech Shorts 01: Server Downtime Costs

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Server Room

Do you know how much your server downtime costs?

You’re rolling with cloud only back-ups but it could be costing you lots of downtime.

A Windows server update automatically installed but it broke your primary office server. Worse, your only backup is an untested cloud system so you get that started and wait. And wait some more. Because the cloud has a slow download the total restore took…guess how long? A few hours? A day? Try a week of real-world downtime. We’ve helped businesses with similar problems and you can trust us to setup redundant on-site data back ups that would have your server restored in minutes.

If you know your server’s amount of data usage you can calculate an estimate yourself with this great tool.

Server Downtime Costs at a Datacenter
Servers at Datacenter

We rely on tech services to get our daily jobs done just like any tools. When your servers get knocked offline you’re missing out on those tools. This can mean your document data, chat, email, phone, printers, version control, productivity software, accounting software, CAD systems, or countless other tools you rely on. Calculate your productivity loss by the number of employees relying on that service and their hourly wage. Add in the cost to your image and reputation with customers and the time you will be unable to do business with them.

Everyday we risk downtime from outages. Most people fail to prepare to manage downtime in a way that optimizes costs to keep you online doing what you do best.

Do you know how much your server downtime costs? Sign up at oakcityit.net/#ContactUs to claim your free quick start discovery today.

BitWarden Password Manager QuickStart

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Bitwarden Logo
BitWarden Logo

The Password Problem

BitWarden is a free open source password manager that we will get you setup to quickstart.

We all use passwords everywhere because they are easy to implement and use and restrict data access to authorized people.

But they’re a pain to remember and create for every account.

xkcd.com/936 Password Strength

Worse, if you’re human like we are you can’t remember a unique password for every account you have. While larger companies use Single Sign On (SSO) Agents, there aren’t good options for small businesses. Don’t fret, we’ve got you with the password manager, and we recommend the free BitWarden.

xkcd.com/792 Password re-use

BitWarden helps with all these problems

  • Generate secure new unique passwords
  • Safely store your old passwords
  • Auto-fill passwords only when needed
  • Check for password re-use

Setting up BitWarden

  1. Start by thinking of a secure long passphrase much like the “correcthorsebatterystaple” example from above, but unique. Jot this down in a location you can physically access and protect like a locking file cabinet.
  2. Create an account with BitWarden. It’s free and easy.
  3. Download BitWarden (You will want to install it on all computers and mobile devices you use, but you can do that after you’re setup on your first machine)
  4. When you first install it on a device it will attempt to import any saved passwords from your web browser. Go ahead and do that. That’s what we want.
  5. Additionally you may want to disable your browser’s built-in password storage. We prefer using BitWarden because they work on all devices and browser built-in functionality invariably doesn’t.
  6. BitWarden offers some great written and video guides to use their software, check them out!
  7. Enjoy a free, more secure way to navigate your digital life!

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us for help.

***Please Note*** BitWarden is what’s called a zero-trust security solution. In simple terms this means that BitWarden nor Oak City IT LLC have any knowledge nor access to your master password to unlock your secure data vault. If you lose this password you can still request a reset to your account and begin using it again, but all the passwords and data contained in there will be wiped. This also means that there is no way for anyone to accidentally or purposefully steal your data without that password. So it is important that you guard it.