Are you concerned about the privacy and security of your data online? We ALL should be! In an era when many of us take our work home, travel for business, and use our personal mobile devices to shop and bank, security is becoming a more important issue – inside the office and out.

That’s why it’s critical to know how to protect yourself and your data by following some basic best practices. Whether you’re at work or at home, use this need-to-know information as a guide to increase your security and privacy.

1) It’s not safe to use USB drives to share files and other information. Security experts are reporting that the problem runs deeper than the possibility that the thumb drive is infected with a virus. USB devices can have malware installed to completely take over a personal computer, invisibly alter files installed from the memory stick, or even redirect a user’s Internet traffic. Even worse, it’s possible for the attack code to remain hidden in the firmware even after it appears to have been wiped.

2) Know that public Wi-fi connections aren’t totally secure. Using your laptop, tablet or smartphone at a café, library, in a hotel, or at the airport can leave you vulnerable. Always be cautious about what information you send and the sites you visit.

3) Get savvy about encryption to protect your data. One option is to use a virtual private network (VPN) to encrypt your personal data in wireless hotspots. This is important for anyone who uses public Wi-Fi access, whether or not you’ve paid to use the service.

4) Keep your devices up-to-date with the latest firewall protection and antivirus programs. It’s also very important to make use of the most current operating system patches.

5) Use an email filtering service. Unfortunately, malware and viruses are often sent out through spam, or email from a friend or colleague who may have had an account or computer hacked. An email filtering service hosted by a third party provides another important layer of protection for your machines and data.

6) Set a policy for employees on where, how, and which devices can be used to access company data. Do your employees check their email from a smartphone? That can increase productivity, but you need to have a system in place to secure your data.

Bonus tip: No matter the size of your business, it’s always a good idea to speak with an IT professional to help review your network operating system, set great privacy policies, and streamline your IT system. If you need additional advice or information, please let us know at Oram Corporate Advisors. We look forward to hearing from you!

What’s one of the most common things we hear in IT? For so many of us, the reliability of our Internet connection and network is a top priority. If you’re interested in having a faster connection to maximize productivity in the office, we have a simple solution that might surprise you: There are email management best practices that will automatically increase your speeds.

First, here’s a brief overview about how the system generally works. To put it simply, data is transmitted in packets over the Internet. Text files, images and other media aren’t transmitted whole in a single message. Instead, the data is sent in pieces and bounced between routers and servers before it arrives at the gateway of your internal network.

That’s why large amounts of data in the system, or just larger files in general, will automatically slow your system as the process works. If the system is handling a high volume of data, you need to streamline the process to speed up upload and download times. For that reason, proper email management is critical to reduce the drag on your bandwidth.

You can do this with the following three best practices for your email system:

1) Use a hosted email filtering service. That way, the email management service will take the brunt of the initial messages, and then filter out any spam or junk mail that doesn’t need to take up the bandwidth in your office. If you have an in-house email server, it will also save on data resources for storage.

2) Have a email management system in place to aggressively filter out and scan for malware. Unfortunately, many computer viruses and malware attacks come through email and attachments. Filtering your email is an incredibly effective tool to reduce your risk. A clean system will automatically increase your bandwidth speeds, as uninfected computers and other devices just work better.

3) Put in place an email management system that filters outgoing files sent by employees. We’ve gone over the benefits of filtering inbound data, but managing your outbound traffic will also protect you from liability, protect your proprietary data, and just make your organization seem more professional over all. You can set a company policy and have your email managed for compliance. Easy!

If you’d like to learn more about email management, how the process works, and the benefits for your business, please get in touch with us at Oram Corporate Advisors. We can help you set in place the framework to better manage your IT infrastructure and set effective policies. We look forward to hearing from you!