As if we hadn't seen enough spam and phishing emails with the onset of COVID-19, it has gotten worse. Since the start of 2021, we have experienced an even more significant rise in spam/phishing emails. As we have discussed many times before, these emails can be quite tricky. We are all familiar with the phishing email that appears to be a friend or family member stranded in a foreign country. Although those attempts still make a great deal of money, today's scams are so much more sophisticated. Today, the phishing attacks genuinely appear to be your bank or Amazon requesting sensitive information. There are a few tried and true rules to help avoid these tricky scams.

Although last week's CES 2021 looked different this year, there still was undoubtedly exceptional innovation. As always, there tends to be a common theme at CES, and this year was no different. This year’s innovative announcements were most definitely a reaction to 2020. 2020 was an unprecedented year that gave us plenty of challenges. It is apparent that developers closely examined our challenges and created solutions to make moving forward in 2021 even more effective.

We all could use a little help in remembering our tasks from time to time. In the busy world we live in, it can be challenging to keep up with our day-to-day duties, and many times, emails and tasks out of the ordinary get lost. In a perfect world, we would all have an assistant that briefs us on our day and reminds us of tasks that may have been forgotten. Fortunately, Microsoft understands that most of us are not privileged enough to have a personal assistant, and instead, they created a virtual assistant for all of us. Introducing, Cortana Briefing Emails. 

In March of 2020, work as we knew it instantly changed. We were used to an office environment where physical office space was the norm. Virtual meetings were the exception and were primarily used when clients were distant and travel was impossible. Although more and more companies had made working virtually more acceptable, the trend was merely beginning. The global pandemic of COVID-19 changed all of this. Many will look back on this year and remember it as a disaster. However, because of the challenging world pandemic, technology quickly evolved and was adopted faster than would have ever happened.

As we near 2021, I hope you rejoice in the ending of a challenging year and eagerly step toward a year with more light and promise. We have seen significant advancements in technology throughout 2020 with the immediate need to change the way we live and work. In addition to the significant advances, we unfortunately have also seen cybercrimes spike. We are all thrilled to shed this current year and move past it, although we need to make sure we are stepping into 2021 educated and ready to take on the imminent threat of cybercrimes. Now is the time to ready ourselves to be educated, secure, and cyber-ready.

Essential Microsoft Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts

At Pendello Solutions, we live by the motto, "do it right the first time and only do it once." Doing it the right way never means cutting corners, although it does mean doing it in the most efficient fashion possible. Many think that the only way to maneuver through Microsoft Outlook is either with a touchscreen or a mouse. If we work this way, we may be missing out on a step towards efficiency. This month, Pendello Solutions will be highlighting the not very well-known keyboard shortcuts to Microsoft Outlook.

The question is not whether you should have multifactor authentication (MFA); instead, what type? MFA is utterly essential when it comes to your business and personal data security. In the world of multifactor authentication, not all avenues are created equal. Although having something is better than nothing, in this case, that is not the attitude that you should have concerning your security. In 2016, NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) proposed restricting the use of SMS or voice for MFA, and although they softened their approach, they still do not recommend this method of MFA. Microsoft recently began campaigning against using SMS or voice for MFA. Today we are going to look at why the big push and what avenue is best for MFA.