SMART Blog

Smart Services has been providing independent agents with proactive, fast, and expert technology services since 1991.

Even the Built-In Calculator in Windows Could Allow Threats In

Even the Built-In Calculator in Windows Could Allow Threats In

You might be surprised by some of the security breaches and vulnerabilities out there, including some for apps that you would never suspect, like Windows’ Calculator application. Hackers are always looking for new ways to infect endpoints, and nothing exemplifies this better than this particular threat, one which utilizes the Windows 7 calculator app to launch attacks against Microsoft operating systems.

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Identifying the Benefits of Solid State Drives

Identifying the Benefits of Solid State Drives

When it comes to drives for your computer or workstation, you have a couple of options available to you, one of which is the solid state drive, or SSD. What’s the difference between your typical hard drive and an SSD, you ask? Well, today we’ll find out. We’ll break down some of the details about SSDs, including how they are different from your traditional hard disk drive, and why you might consider implementing one.

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Identifying a Data Breach Can Be a Challenge

Identifying a Data Breach Can Be a Challenge

There is always the possibility that you have been involved with a data breach and you simply have not been contacted by the affected party. Plus, if a hacker has managed to crack a website or service without being detected, you wouldn’t be notified in any case, either. Ask yourself this question: if I were to be involved with a data breach, how would I know it, and what can I do about it? And what is my data being used for anyway?

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Ransomware Costs You More than Just the Ransom

Ransomware Costs You More than Just the Ransom

Okay, let’s say you’ve been infected by a ransomware attack, and (against our advice) you’ve elected to pay the ransom. That’s the biggest cost that comes with it, right?

Unfortunately, wrong. A ransomware attack comes with a lot more financial impact than just the payment the attacker demands. Let’s go over some of these other costs that can actually outpace that of the ransom.

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What Actually Happens to Deleted Data?

What Actually Happens to Deleted Data?

Chances are, you’ve gone through some old files and weeded through them, deleting what is no longer needed. This is especially important when you are upgrading your storage and getting rid of your existing storage media or an old computer. Let’s talk about what really happens when you’re doing so—chances are, you may be overlooking a serious security issue.

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Hybrid Work Practices are Altering How Office Space is Used

Hybrid Work Practices are Altering How Office Space is Used

Many businesses, seeking to balance the positives brought by remote work to the value that in-person, face-to-face operations have to offer, have leaned into hybrid work practices. This has led to many reconsidering how their office space is set up. Let’s dive into how these considerations are now shaping the workplace.

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Look Outside Your Business to Get the Help You Need

Look Outside Your Business to Get the Help You Need

There are countless moving parts to any successful business, and smaller companies often have the issue of their employees juggling multiple different tasks and wearing all kinds of different hats in addition to their outlined job duties and responsibilities. You might encounter situations where you don’t know what to do, and it can be overwhelming when so much needs to get done in so little time.

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Tip of the Week: How to Keep MFA Fatigue from Being a Security Vulnerability

Tip of the Week: How to Keep MFA Fatigue from Being a Security Vulnerability

We are major advocates for multi-factor authentication, but it’s also important to understand that it’s not a catch-all solution. In fact, it has forced cybercriminals to be even more innovative to find alternative methods of attack. One method hackers use to gain access to your systems is to use what’s called MFA fatigue to their advantage.

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Could MFA’s Challenges Potentially Be Fixed?

Could MFA’s Challenges Potentially Be Fixed?

User authentication is a critical security feature for a business, specifically because it helps to minimize a significant threat to your business. This is why we’re so adamant that you should require multi-factor authentication wherever it is available… but is a better way to authenticate your users on the horizon?

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Are Your Apps Broadcasting Your Exact Location?

Are Your Apps Broadcasting Your Exact Location?

Mobile devices have become a key part of our daily lives, to the point that many of us openly feel undressed without our phones. As a result, our phones go everywhere with us. However, it’s important to remember that some applications have requested access to our location information. Do all of these apps need to know precisely where we are?

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Organizations Shouldn’t Go Without Help Desk Support

Organizations Shouldn’t Go Without Help Desk Support

Downtime is a killer for any business. When a business is forced into confronting its technology support deficits, it usually means that they’ve been dealing with too much broken technology and downtime, and the costs associated with it. One way your business can avoid losing huge chunks of time to broken technology is to add a professional help desk to support your IT administrator. 

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Move the Needle with Dynamic IT Support

Move the Needle with Dynamic IT Support

Business technology is a useful tool, there’s no way around it. Unfortunately for businesses, technology has to be replaced every so often. Even if the technology doesn’t break, there are innovations made that can help your organization do what you do better. The thing is: Technology does break, so you need to understand how to get the most value out of it when it is working. 

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Debunking the Myth of Quiet Quitting (and Why It Might Be Confusing)

Debunking the Myth of Quiet Quitting (and Why It Might Be Confusing)

Quiet quitting…it’s a buzzword that many might misunderstand that has seen increasing virality on social media. Let’s take a few moments to honestly evaluate what quiet quitting really means, and what it means for your business.

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In Battle USB vs. HDMI, Which Cable Will Remain Connected?

In Battle USB vs. HDMI, Which Cable Will Remain Connected?

Let’s face it: when you look at the back of your computer, where the motherboard’s many, many ports are accessible, there’s a substantial variety of connection types available to do a variety of things—some of which may overlap with one another. One prime example: the shared capability between USB and HDMI as a means of connecting your PC to many of its peripherals. Let’s consider which is likely to outlast the other.

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Are You Alienating Employees By Forcing Them Back to the Office?

Are You Alienating Employees By Forcing Them Back to the Office?

Look, we get it: remote work has become a bit of a topic of contention lately. While employees have been relishing the benefits that remote work offers them, many employers have been doing everything they can to bring their workforce back into the workplace.

Now, it wouldn’t be unfair for you to assume that we would push remote work as a managed service provider because we just so happen to assist businesses in managing it as a part of our services. This is true enough…but we aren’t the only ones with an opinion on the topic.

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Sova, the Android Banking Malware, is Back and Worse than Before

Sova, the Android Banking Malware, is Back and Worse than Before

Even if mobile malware doesn’t have nearly as much of a presence in the cyber threat landscape as other major threats like ransomware variants, it is still just as dangerous under the right circumstances. An Android banking malware called Sova, for example, has returned with a vengeance with additional features to make users’ lives miserable.

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Don’t Miss Out on the Benefits that VoIP Offers

Don’t Miss Out on the Benefits that VoIP Offers

Communications are critical for businesses of all sizes, including small businesses and their telephone systems. While the technology likely still plays some role in your office, other means of communication have likely come to the forefront. In some ways, the traditional telephone has been left behind…with Voice over Internet Protocol largely taking its place.

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You Can Save Money with the Right Cloud Solutions

You Can Save Money with the Right Cloud Solutions

The cloud has helped countless organizations all over the world establish themselves as powerhouses of their industries through dynamic and flexible solutions. One of the biggest reasons why the cloud is so effective—particularly for growing companies—is because of how scalable it is. Let’s examine how this scalability can help your company succeed despite how much it grows.

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With Innovation Lagging, How Should You Choose Your Next Smartphone?

With Innovation Lagging, How Should You Choose Your Next Smartphone?

Technology gets better and more efficient over time, and smartphones are one of today’s standout examples. Although their growth has stagnated a bit in recent years, it’s no small thing to say that smartphone innovation has really taken off, offering extremely fast processors, data storage in the cloud, and so much more. Let’s go over what you might look at when you purchase a new smartphone.

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Tip of the Week: Print Both Sides in Word

Tip of the Week: Print Both Sides in Word

How much paper does your office waste on printing, and it’s all because someone printed out a large multi-page document on single-sided paper? It’s very easy to forget to check these settings, but sometimes people don’t even know they exist. Let’s go over how you can print on both sides of the paper and take full advantage of the prime real estate that can be found on the flip-side of your documents.

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