
New year, new you.
You may be asking, “What’s the secret to protecting my business against cybercrime?”
The answer: a layered approach incorporating security software, a security driven IT support staff, and employee training.
PremierePC can check each of those boxes.
First, let’s take a deeper look into cybercrime.
Cybercrime uses impersonation, fear, threats, lies, and other manipulation tactics to gain a victim’s trust or trick them to sharing sensitive data.
Impersonation in cybercrime is especially dangerous due to cybercriminals’ expert ability to hide in plain site and create legitimate-looking websites and emails.
Cybercriminals are also able to host malicious content on legitimate sites.
Phishing attempts are also able to, at times, slip through DNS and endpoint protection. This is where employee training is your last defense. Humans are consistently the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain of defense. Therefore, social engineering risks are far greater without a security driven IT support staff willing and able to train your employees.
Everyone, from receptionists to executives, are potential victims of an impersonator. In fact, help desk and call center employees are especially vulnerable because they are trained to be forthcoming with information.
Action items:
- Instruct employees to delete any requests for financial information or passwords. When in doubt, call the person who “sent” the request and conduct these transactions in person or over the phone.
- Use cybersecurity software with real-time anti-phishing services. If you’re suspicious of any links or emails, don’t click! Contact your IT provider first.
- Follow IT security best practices by patching software and securing email servers.
- Regularly participate in up-to-date Security Awareness Training and phishing simulations for employees.
Sound like too much? Contact PremierePC and we will be happy to walk with you through every step.
New Year, New Resolution: Protect Against Cybercrime
The answer: a layered approach incorporating security software, a security driven IT support staff, and employee training.
PremierePC can check each of those boxes.
Cybercrime uses impersonation, fear, threats, lies, and other manipulation tactics to gain a victim’s trust or trick them to sharing sensitive data.
Impersonation in cybercrime is especially dangerous due to cybercriminals’ expert ability to hide in plain site and create legitimate-looking websites and emails.
Cybercriminals are also able to host malicious content on legitimate sites.
Phishing attempts are also able to, at times, slip through DNS and endpoint protection. This is where employee training is your last defense. Humans are consistently the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain of defense. Therefore, social engineering risks are far greater without a security driven IT support staff willing and able to train your employees.
Everyone, from receptionists to executives, are potential victims of an impersonator. In fact, help desk and call center employees are especially vulnerable because they are trained to be forthcoming with information.
OFFICE CLOSING: HAPPY NEW YEAR
OFFICE CLOSING: HOLIDAY HOURS
Compose Now, Send Later.
Eager to clean out your inbox but don’t want an influx of replies right before your week ends?
Microsoft Outlook offers delayed and scheduled email sending!
Delays can be applied to single messages or you can create rules to delay the delivery of all messages.
While composing a message, select the More options arrow from the Tags group in the Ribbon.

After you click Send, the message remains in the Outbox folder until the delivery time.
If you decide later that you want to send the message immediately, do the following:
Under Delivery options, clear the Do not deliver before check box.
Note: Outlook must be online and connected for this feature to work.
Contact PremierePC today to maximize your potential through technology.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Do not click on links in emails.
If you’re not sure of the sender, or you didn’t request the email, do not click on any links or open any attachments. Instead, contact the company via their website or phone and ask for more information.
Beware of urgency.
Scammers will play on the fear of missing out on something, like a big holiday sale or a deadline for a bill. Resist any pressure to “act now.”
Watch for emails asking for private information.
Legitimate organizations will never request personal information via email. Do not email information such as passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc.
Research the website.
Scammers are getting better at creating fake websites that look real. Do your research before submitting payment to any sites.
Know your Wi-Fi.
Using public Wi-Fi creates many potential areas for hackers to breach and grab your data or sensitive information. Do not make purchases using public Wi-Fi networks like coffee shops, libraries, hotels, etc.
Keep track of orders.
Scammers will send fake delivery failure notices or package tracking emails to sway you into clicking a link or submitting personal information. Always keep track of what you’ve ordered and who will be delivering it. If you receive one of these emails, call the delivery service or as your post office.
12 Fun Tech Facts You May Not Know
OFFICE CLOSING: THANKSGIVING
How can an MSP protect my employees while they work from home?
2020 brought many surprises and changes. One of which shifted many in-office employees to start unexpectedly working from home.
In 2020, 88% of the organizations, worldwide, made it mandatory or encouraged their employees to work from home after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.
This flexibility is great to continue business operations. However, it brings about serious holes in security unless you are fully prepared.
We know this can be very overwhelming for someone who is trying to focus on actually running their business. PremierePC is here to help! Contact us today.
What’s New with MFA?
MFA is a hot topic these days in the IT world. With hacking attempts consistently on the rise, it is becoming increasingly more important to secure online accounts and data as much as possible.
Last year, internal Microsoft users who enabled MFA blocked around 99.9% of automated attacks against their Microsoft account.
Microsoft is urging users to stop using SMS text and voice calls for MFA.
Experts know that telephone networks are prone to security issues:
A more secure option includes app-based MFA, like Microsoft’s Authenticator app.
The most secure option includes hardware security keys.
Microsoft Teams: New Features
Microsoft Teams on the desktop is getting a new feature that will allow users to add multiple accounts and manage them without logging in and out.
This new feature will allow users to link accounts together, enabling them to switch directly by altering their settings. This is set to roll out by end of this year or early next year.
However, there are more feature updates coming to Teams.
Users will be able to create custom pages, enabling businesses or educators to create a more cohesive team identity.
Invite links will be improved so that invited users will gain access to notes, files, or anything else shared during a call, even after the call has ended.
Contact us today to learn more about how to increase and streamline communication within your organization.