#1 – Practice Good Password Hygiene  

To practice good password hygiene, you will want to use strong and unique passwords and enable two-factor or multi-factor authentication. If you’re worried about having to remember a large number of unique passwords for all your accounts, Jessica suggests downloading the free password manager “Last Pass” on your desktop or mobile device.  

#2 – Know Your Risk Factors  

Be aware that there is a cybersecurity risk of just browsing the internet or having an email address – it’s low, but it’s there. Jessica suggests using haveibeenpwned.com to check if an email address, password, or website has been compromised and how frequently. From here, you can make more knowledgeable decisions on website subscriptions or update your accounts with higher-strength passwords.  

#3 – Perform Regular Updates  

Hopefully, your IT department is frequently performing these on your work devices, but it should be done on personal devices as well. For a Windows device, you can type “Windows Update Settings” in the search bar and check for updates. A good rule of thumb is every 30 days to ensure your device works as efficiently as possible.  

#4 – Have a Backup Solution  

Be proactive rather than reactive. If you don’t have something in place now, it will be too late when you do get hacked. Back up essential documents using cloud-based methods such as Google Drive or iCloud. If you are someone with a vast amount of data to store, Jessica suggests a paid backup solution: BackBlaze is only $6/month for unlimited storage.  

#5 – Think Before You Click  

Be wary of unsolicited messages – emails, texts, online ads. Hackers send these in hopes of gaining access to your credentials or to prove your domain is credible. Jessica suggests you do not respond, do not click on links, and always delete. Also, mark as spam, block sender and notify your IT department. It’s better to be safe than sorry.  

Windows 10, quickly became a hot topic after its release date in July, 2015. Many people were extremely excited to take the leap and upgrade to the latest software. For those of you who have waited – you are probably in a much better place. Before upgrading it’s vital to understand the details behind the change and the safest way to upgrade your computer.

You may be thinking, “but I have Windows 7 or Windows 8 which goes END OF SALE this year.” End of Sale just means that you will no longer be able to purchase PC’s with this version of Windows pre-installed. Luckily, support for Windows 7 and 8 will be covered until 2020 and 2023 respectively.

What should you know before upgrading to Windows 10?

Windows 10 purchased with the PC (called OEM licensing) can be downgraded to Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. If you purchase a volume license of Windows 10 (which cost more), you can downgrade to ANY previous version of Windows, although we don’t recommend using anything past Windows 7.  

One of the benefits of having Windows 10 pre-installed on your PC is even if you downgrade to Windows 7 or 8.1, you’ll still have access to upgrade to Windows 10 in the future without having to purchase additional software.  Waiting will give Microsoft the chance to work out any bugs that still exist before you roll this version out company wide.

Another reason to wait? Most line of business applications are not yet supported through Windows 10 making it difficult for many businesses to run their typical day-to-day operations.

If & when you chose to upgrade your company software, it will be important to provide training to your team, the new upgrade can take a little time to get used to.

Want to decline the windows upgrade or go back to an older version?