Category: general

Managed Service Providers

Are your tech issues overwhelming your in-house IT staff? Do you not have IT staff but need periodic knowledgeable, reliable, professional IT support? Did the guy/gal who ‘knows computers’ at your company suddenly leave and you have no idea what’s happening with your computer systems? If you answer yes to any of the above, it might be time to consider a Managed Service Provider (MSP)!

Why Use an MSP?

Think of an MSP as your on-demand tech support team handling your IT needs, and allowing you to focus on what you do best—running your business! Here’s why you should consider partnering with an MSP:

  1. 24/7 Support: Because tech problems don’t stick to 9-5 schedules.
  2. Proactive Maintenance: MSPs prevent issues before they become catastrophic.
  3. Expertise on Tap: Access to a team of IT experts without the hefty salary costs.

What Does an MSP Do?

MSPs are like Swiss Army knives for your business. They offer a range of services including:

  • Network Management: Keeping your systems running smoothly.
  • Data Backup and Recovery: Because losing data is a nightmare we can all live without.
  • Cybersecurity: Protecting your business from the bad guys (hackers, not your competitors).

Financial Benefits

Who doesn’t love saving money? Here’s how MSPs help you do just that:

  • Cost Efficiency: Pay for what you need, when you need it. No more, no less.
  • Predictable Budgeting: Flat-rate pricing makes financial planning a breeze.
  • Reduced Downtime: Less downtime means more productivity and higher revenue.

What Qualities Should You Look For in an MSP?

Choosing the right MSP is like picking the right partner for a dance—one misstep, and it’s chaos! Here are some qualities to look for:

  1. Experience and Expertise: They should know their stuff inside out.
  2. Reliability: Look for a provider with a proven track record of keeping systems up and running.
  3. Scalability: Your MSP should grow with you, not slow you down.
  4. Great Communication: They should speak fluent ‘non-tech’ and keep you in the loop.
  5. Reputation: Let’s be real, Florida is a magnet for grifters and shady deals. Like any other reputable profession, an MSP should have a proven track record, be involved in the community it serves, be a ‘real’ company, and carry liability insurance.

Make tech headaches a thing of the past. For professional, affordable, reliable IT and computer services, contact CBC Technologies.

Security Best Practices

8 Essential Cybersecurity Tips to Stay Safe Online

In today’s increasingly digital world, safeguarding your online information is critical. From social media accounts to financial data, we expose sensitive, personal information on the internet. By adopting a few key cybersecurity habits, you can significantly increase the odds to keep your data safe.

  • Use Strong, Unique Passwords: Ditch predictable passwords. Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols to create strong passwords. Avoid using the same password for multiple accounts.
  • Enable Two-Factor Authentication: Two-factor authentication (2FA) requires a second verification step beyond your password, (often your phone), significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
  • Stay Vigilant Against Phishing Attacks: Be aware of suspicious emails, messages, or websites. Phishing attempts lure users into clicking malicious links or attachments that steal personal information. If something seems off, it probably is – avoid clicking and delete the email.
  • Keep Anti-Virus Software Up-to-Date: Anti-virus software is your digital shield, constantly evolving to combat emerging threats. Regularly updating your anti-virus ensures it has the latest defenses to protect you from the newest malware and cyberattacks.
  • Apply Operating System and Application Patches Regularly: Software updates (patches) often address critical security vulnerabilities that malicious actors exploit. Don’t postpone these updates! Set your system to update and restart automatically to streamline the process.
  • Encrypt Sensitive Data: Encryption scrambles your data, rendering it unreadable in the event of a security breach. Encrypting sensitive information like financial documents or personal records adds an extra layer of protection. Bitlocker, (Windows), and FileVault, (Mac), are free built-in tools that can encrypt your hard drive(s).
  • Secure Public Wi-Fi Connections with a VPN: Public Wi-Fi networks are breeding grounds for cyberattacks. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to encrypt your internet traffic and safeguard your data.
  • Simplify Password Management with a Password Manager: Remembering complex, unique passwords can be a challenge. Password managers help you generate, store, and manage strong passwords for all your online accounts, simplifying security without sacrificing strength.

By incorporating these simple yet effective cybersecurity, you will significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to cyberattacks.

    2024 Expo Update

    CBC Showcases Affordable, Reliable Backup Solutions


    Reliable backup solutions provide a safety net for the preservation of computer data during hurricane season. At the recent Sun Media Hurricane Expo, held at the Charlotte Harbor Event and Conference Center, CBC educated both home users and small businesses on affordable options to ensure budget limitations don’t compromise data protection.

    For home users, CBC showcased user-friendly, easily configurable cloud storage and external hard drives for safeguarding personal data, documents, and photos.

    CBC also introduced small businesses to additional options, including off-site backup services and network-attached storage devices for the preservation of mission-critical files such as customer information and financial records.

    CBC’s primary goal was to help Expo attendees make informed decisions by sharing best practices and criteria to select affordable and reliable backup solutions. While hurricanes pose serious risks to data, a well-designed backup solution will protect your valuable information.

    CBC booth at Hurricane Expo

    About Yelp Reviews

    We recently received an unsolicited online Yelp review from a client. (See our online review policy) Stated in its entirety:

    “Had them virus check and clean 5 items on a rush order. They came and picked them up and delivered them the next day. Highly recommend them, very accommodating.”

    In our minds, an innocuous, uncontroversial review??? Yelp thought differently and rejected the review for publication. We followed up for additional detail and received the following:

    **************************************************************************************************************************

    From: Yelp HQ <no-reply@yelp.com>
    Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2024 10:29:00 PM
    To: Don Fernandes <don@cbctech.net>
    Subject: Automated software concerns 14381068

    Hi don,

    We love hearing from our users, and we appreciate you taking the time to send us your feedback.

    We use automated software to evaluate every review based on hundreds of signals of quality, reliability, and user activity on Yelp, with the goal of highlighting the most helpful and reliable reviews for our Yelp community.

    The reviews that are recommended for any business can change over time as Yelp’s software learns more about the reviewer and the business. Sometimes, a review appears in the “not recommended” section simply because the software doesn’t know enough about the reviewer to recommend it.

    That said, the recommendation software is entirely automated. It applies the same objective rules to every business and treats reviews of advertisers and non-advertisers exactly the same. This also means we can’t manually override the results for any single business or review based on individual feedback we receive.

    For additional information, we’d like to refer you to our Trust and Safety website https://trust.yelp.com/recommendation-software/

    -Yelp’s Trust and Safety Team

    **************************************************************************************************************************

    Huh???

    Fix My 2009 iMac

    What exactly do you want us to do?

    A client called today requesting on-site repair for a very old (2009) iMac. Parts are scarce, the software is outdated, and frankly, the machine is worth very little.

    Our best advice is to get a new system. We don’t sell products, so there is no sales pressure. We’re just trying to prevent clients from being scammed by someone offering a cheap “fix” for an outdated machine.