Working from Home? You Need a Computer Consultant.

In the age of COVID, everyone is making changes, particularly as it relates to the nature of work.

If you’re a knowledge worker operating out of your home office, you’re using computer and networking equipment that you’ve never had to really rely upon. Your home PC, your home router, your home wifi - these were devices of convenience.

Today, though, you’re relying on your network and computer equipment is a matter of making an income, running your business, and servicing your customers. In the past, a bit of jitter in watching Netflix wasn’t a big deal, but if you can’t complete a clean teleconference, you might not land that agreement. You need the same security, performance, and reliability out of your home network as your office network, and you need somebody to help you get there.

A computer consultant can help you with these problems. They’ve got real-world industry training and discipline that we can bring to the equipment found in your home office. The same practices and techniques that keep your office network safe can be applied to your home. It’s about enterprise computing at home office scale.

• Computer analysis and endpoint monitoring

• Antivirus, malware, and intrusion detection

• Router inspection and firmware upgrades

• Security analysis and application of best-practices to keep you safe

• Disaster recovery and data backups

• Work telephones and conferencing

• Remote support and troubleshooting

Including all of this, a computer consultant can just give you good, practical advice. Things you should know about and be aware of.

If you believe that the COVID experience isn’t going to end any time soon, and that work-life balance is inexorably going to change one way or another, then establishing a good relationship with a local technical professional is your hedge against data loss, down-time, or critical failure. Get to know someone who works when you work, and can get you out of a tight spot when you really need them.

Just give us a call. And we don’t charge anyone to get to know how we can help them, so it’s not going to cost you anything to just open up a conversation.

R

Best Chrome Extensions to Help Protect You Online

Hey!

So you want to protect yourself while browsing online?

Great!

You say you're not technical and don't really want to bother with too much complexity.

Right on.

You want a minimalist, multi-platform solution that doesn't slow down your browsing experience on any computer?

Okay!

And you've no issues with Google - you generally trust the company?

Cool.

Here's what you need to do now.

1. Use Google Chrome. Yes, it's still the safest and most secure browser.

2. Delete all of your current extensions. You will want to manage/remove any existing Chrome extension that isn't from Google or that you're not familiar with.

3. Add the Chrome Extension HTTPS Everywhere. This extension will automatically try to secure your web browsing by using SSL encryption where it's available. You don't even have to think about it or know was SSL encryption is to take advantage of it.

4. Add the Chrome Extension Privacy Badger. Provided by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy Badger attempts to negate third party tracking techniques that spoil your privacy.

5. Add the Chrome Extension Adblock Plus. This tool is used to block ads from appearing in your browser and potentially harming you.

6. Add the Chrome Extension DOT-VPN. A virtual private network tunnels your traffic through another server and encrypts your communication. This tool automatically handles the heavy-lifting making the use of a VPN relatively easy. DOT-VPN is free; ExpressVPN can be used by ExpressVPN customers but is also a great extension.

Naturally, there's a lot more you can do but these are reasonable, easy steps to help safeguard your Internet browsing activity.

R

5 Rules for Facebook Privacy

Today, I'll be delivering a presentation on Facebook Privacy. Here's the presentation!