It’s a special kind of relentless attack all business owners and managers face: the persistent, crazy, chaotic assault on your time and attention. Seems like business productivity is never what it can be? No one is immune, and every business deals with it. 

Some leaders handle the constant pressure on their attention brilliantly, keeping the team organized and highly productive. But most people struggle with this and feel crushed and overwhelmed by all the things they have to keep track of and do. This goes double if your business is in growth mode and not “standing still” or casually strolling through its existence.

Add to this a remote workforce, and it can be intensely difficult to wrap your head around all the projects, to-dos, deadlines and client deliverables you and your leadership team must manage.

While we as an IT and Managed Services company cannot tell you what projects are most important, we can absolutely help you and your team stay far more organized and allow you to know if the people on your team are properly aligned, prioritizing the right work and focused on the things you want them to focus on. We can also help you organize communication to lessen the chances of a dropped ball or a communication failure, which is by far the #1 reason why problems happen in business.

One of the tools we recommend to clients wanting to get more operational control and clearer communication is Microsoft Teams. There are a lot of reasons why this is a “super tool” for productivity and organizational alignment, but as a bonus, it typically ends up saving our clients quite a bit of money on technology, because it replaces other applications, like Slack, Zoom and dozens of popular project management software, putting all of it into one lower-cost, more secure and more tightly integrated system.

Let me share just a few of the cool features you’ll love in Teams. Keep in mind that this list is far from complete. Microsoft Teams has over 1,900 applications you can pick from to integrate into a Teams Channel to organize information, workflow, tasks, deadlines and documents.

Posts: The “post” feature works a lot like Slack in that it will allow you to post questions, reminders and status updates to everyone on that Team regarding that project. This not only keeps ALL communication for a project in one place, but it creates a history and alerts everyone on the team to what’s going on. This feature saves a lot of money for companies using Slack since it’s native and included in Microsoft Teams.

Tasks By Planner And To-Do: This section of Teams is one of our favorites because it allows you to create “complex” to-do lists where you can assign each item to one or more people; have a progress status, priority and due date; add documents and files; and create a checklist of all the things that need to be done. Better yet, team members who are responsible for the project can provide status updates and check off items that are completed so you know where you are with any particular project.

Video Conferencing: While Teams is not as slick as Zoom, it does have some features that make it better for team collaboration and projects. The biggest advantage over Zoom is that you can hold a video conference, and the recording of the meeting – along with all of the notes, files and links – will remain in that Team for easy reference later on. This can be extremely helpful for people who might not have been able to attend a meeting, making it easy for them to find and watch the recording, and it also retains a record of critical conversations. Plus, it eliminates expensive Zoom licenses for all employees because it’s included in Microsoft 365.

File Sharing and Collaboration: Each team or channel in Teams has its own Files tab where team members can upload, store, and access files related to specific projects or discussions. This centralization reduces the need to email files back and forth and ensures that everyone has access to the latest version of a document. Users can share files and documents directly within Teams, making it simple to collaborate on projects without switching between different applications. Multiple team members can work on the same document simultaneously, whether it’s a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, or other Microsoft 365 file. Changes made by one user are instantly visible to others, fostering seamless teamwork.

If you want to see a demo of Teams or do a cost analysis to see how implementing this can save your organization/money on Slack, Zoom and other project management software by combining it into one application, click here to schedule a brief call. 

Cybercriminals know the easiest way to sneak under your radar is to pretend to be a brand you know and trust. These large companies have spent years on marketing, customer service, branding and consistency to build a trustworthy reputation, and hackers leverage this to go after you.

The most common method is to use phishing attacks. These thieves set up URLs that look scarily similar to the real company’s website. To slip by your watchful eye, here are some of the simple switches hackers make that can go unnoticed:

1. Switching out a zero for the letter “O” or a capital “i” for a lowercase “L.” If you’re quickly reading an e-mail, it might look legit.
2. Adding in a word that seems like it could be a subdomain of the real company, like “[email protected].”
3. Using a different domain extension, like “[email protected].”

Some criminals will take it a step further and set up a web page that looks identical to that of the real website. When you click the link – via e-mail, SMS or even through social media – several dangerous results can occur.

The first is that malware can be installed on your computer. Clicking a bad link can set off an automatic malware download that contains malicious files with the ability to collect personally identifiable information from your device, like usernames, credit card or bank account numbers and more.

The second is the fake website will have a form to harvest your information. This could be login credentials, passwords and, in some cases, your credit or bank information.

The third most common issue is an open redirect. The link might look legit, but when you click on it, you’re redirected to a malicious website where the intent is to steal your information.

What brand impersonations do you need to look out for? Well, all of them, but according to Check Point’s latest Brand Phishing Report, there are 10 companies that top the chart in overall appearance in brand phishing attempts.

Here Are The Top 10 Most Frequently Impersonated Brands In Phishing Attempts In Q2 Of 2023:

Take a minute and ask yourself how many of the companies on this list send you regular e-mail communications. Even just one puts you at risk.

Cybercriminals go the full mile with these scams. They know what types of messages work best for each company to get your attention.

Here are three common phishing attacks cybercriminals have used under these brands’ good names to gain access to your private information.

1. Unusual Activity – These types of e-mails will suggest that someone gained access to your account and you need to change your password quickly. They leverage fear so people will click without thinking, hurrying to change their password before they’re a victim of the attack. They usually have buttons that say, “Review Recent Activity” or “Click Here To Change Your Password.” These e-mails can go as far as to show fake login information detailing the region, IP address, time of sign-in and more, like real messages from the companies do to convince you to click.
2. Fake Gift Cards – These e-mails suggest that someone sent you an e-gift card. When you open the e-mail, they either redirect you to a website to “claim your gift card” or have a button to “redeem now.”
3. Account Verification Required – These e-mails suggest that your account has been disconnected, and they need you to verify your information. As soon as you enter your login credentials, the hacker has access.

These scams are happening every single day. You’re a target, but so are the unsuspecting employees in your company. Without proper training, they might not know what to look for, panic and try to resolve these “issues” under the radar, ultimately causing the problem.

There are multiple steps to making sure your network is secure. One would be getting e-mail monitoring to help reduce the likelihood of these phishing e-mails ending up in your inbox. It’s also important to make sure employees know what to look for so that if an e-mail does get by the phishing detection system, they can still keep your company safe.

The best thing to do is to start here with your FREE Cybersecurity Risk Assessment. We’ll evaluate your network and provide a full report on areas where you are vulnerable and what to do to fix them. There’s no obligation, but you should know where you’re at risk. Click here to schedule your assessment now.