Why Your Business Needs a Mobile App

It seems like there’s an app for everything today, and your business should be no exception. A mobile app establishes credibility and provides people with another way to interact with your organization.

Why Create an App When You Have a Responsive Website?

If your organization already has a responsive website that delivers an optimal user experience on all devices, you might wonder why you need an app. A recent article highlights the importance of mobile apps and explains why your organization should consider creating one.

Mobile Apps Offer a Seamless Experience

With the growing number of smartphone users, mobile apps serve as an easy-to-use alternative to websites. Designed specifically for mobile devices and touch navigation, apps offer a more engaging and interactive platform for users interested in your organization.

Stand Out from the Competition

As mobile apps continue to grow in popularity, having one for your organization enhances credibility and helps you keep up with—or even surpass—competitors. People spend significantly more time on their phones than on other devices like laptops or desktops. By directing users to your app for information, you provide instant access to your organization, giving you a distinct advantage over businesses that rely solely on a website.

Personalize the User Experience

A mobile app allows you to create a more personalized experience for your clients. By enabling notifications, users stay informed about updates, upcoming events, and special promotions. Instead of relying on email—where messages may end up in junk folders or be deleted—notifications appear directly on their smartphone screens, increasing visibility and engagement.

Let OptfinITy Help with Your Mobile App Needs

OptfinITy is ready to assist your business with IT solutions, including mobile app development. If you have any questions about our services, call us at 703-790-0400 or visit our website at www.optfinity.com.

Stay Safe on Public WiFi: Essential Tips

Public WiFi is everywhere—in coffee shops, restaurants, and malls. Many people immediately connect to these networks for better device functionality or to access the internet on non-data-enabled devices like laptops. While convenient, public WiFi poses security risks if you don’t take the right precautions. A SmallBusiness.com article offers valuable suggestions to help protect your information when using public WiFi.

Connect to the Right Network

Public places often have multiple WiFi options, and cybercriminals exploit this by setting up malicious networks. Connecting to a fake network can grant hackers immediate access to your data. Always verify that you’re using the official network. For example, “PANERA” might be legitimate, while “Panerawifi” could be a fraudulent version.

Avoid Online Purchases

While it’s tempting to take advantage of a flash sale, avoid making purchases on public WiFi. Even encrypted credit card information travels through the airwaves, making it susceptible to interception by cybercriminals.

Limit Logins and Ensure Encryption

Logging into accounts on public WiFi increases the risk of password theft. If logging in is necessary, ensure the website uses encryption (look for “https” in the URL) to reduce vulnerability.

Use Unique Passwords

If a hacker steals your password, you don’t want it to grant access to all your accounts. Using different, complex passwords for each account minimizes potential damage.

Protect Your Connection with a VPN

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) encrypts your internet connection, making your session private even on a public network. Though setting up a VPN can be complex, it’s a valuable tool for securing your data. Businesses frequently use VPNs to allow employees to work securely from remote locations.

Stay Vigilant on Public WiFi

Public WiFi offers convenience, but it also exposes your data to potential threats. Avoid activities that involve sensitive information while connected. If you have questions about VPNs or WiFi security, contact OptfinITy at 703-790-0400 or visit www.optfinity.com.

We use passwords for everything. Our email, social media, bank accounts, and many other online platforms require passwords for access. Since passwords are needed for so many things, many people choose to go with easy-to-remember passwords, or use one password for everything. While it may be convenient to not have to memorize a bunch of passwords or forget the composition of a complex one, you are essentially leaving all your personal information out in the open if you create weak passwords. A recent article from smallbusiness.com gives some basic do’s and don’ts for password creation as well as addresses the issue of forgetting your complex password.

Here are some of those items:

1. Don’t use a simple pattern. Example: “qwertyuiop” or “asdfghjk”
2. Don’t use a favorite sports team. If you must, substitute characters for letters.
3. Use your birthyear at the end of a phrase but don’t use it alone.
4. Never use your children’s names.
5. Don’t use swear words and phrases, hobbies, famous athletes, car brands, or movie names.

What you should be doing is ensuring that:

1. All passwords have at least eight characters or more and contain a mix of character types.
2. Your password is changed often…at least once a month for bank and other financial related logins or that it is adequately complex using a password tool.

An easy trick to create unique, strong passwords, is to come up with a phrase that you will remember such as “I eat 4 tacos for lunch daily.” You can take the first letter from each word in the phrase, turn the “four” into a number, and you have your base password: ie4tfld. Then, to create unique passwords for your different accounts, use the first and last letters of the account you are signing into and insert them in the beginning and end of the base password. Capitalize the first or last letter and you have a strong, unique password for every site. For example, your password for your Netflix account would be nie4tfldX, and your password for your Hulu account would be Hie4tfldu.

As always, OptfinITy is here to answer any questions regarding technology for your business or organization. If you have any doubts about password strength or protection don’t hesitate to give us a call at 703-790-0400, or visit us on our website at www.optfinity.com.

Whether you like it or not, Google tracks your location at all times if you use any of their apps on your smartphone. Although sharing your location has benefits—such as quickly getting directions to a nearby restaurant or checking the local weather—you may prefer to prioritize your privacy over these conveniences.

Google claimed that pausing your location history would prevent them from storing your location. However, many Google apps, including Maps and Weather, continue to collect and store time-stamped location data without your permission, even when you activate the “Pause Location History” setting.

To fully stop Google from collecting your location data, you must also disable another setting called “Web & App Activity.” Google enables this setting by default, and its description does not make it clear that it tracks location data. Instead, it suggests the setting only affects search engine results.

Pausing these settings means you’ll lose personalized features, such as web browsing suggestions based on your location and history. However, you can feel at ease knowing Google is no longer tracking your every move on your smartphone.

If you have any questions about how location services affect your mobile device or want to learn more about network privacy and security, call OptfinITy at 703-790-0400 or visit www.optfinity.com.

While you have probably heard about bitcoin, you may not be familiar with a new type of cybercrime on the rise called cryptojacking.

What is Cryptojacking?

Cryptojacking is essentially when a cybercriminal uses someone else’s computer or web browser without their permission to develop cryptocurrency. They usually infiltrate their victim’s system through a phishing email or an infected website and then utilize the infected machine for a long period of time before people notice.

What can you do to protect yourself?

A few recommendations include:

1. Make your employees aware of cryptojacking. Remind them to not open strange or suspicious emails and never open attachments or click on links they aren’t expecting to receive.
2. Install ad blockers, specifically ones that have the capability to block cryptomining scripts.
3. Maintain and monitor browser extensions and keep your web filtering tools up to date.

As mentioned above, it can be difficult to know when a hacker is cryptomining on your computer or website so be sure to keep on the lookout for a variety of red flags including:

1. A sudden high number of help desk complaints regarding slow computer performance.
2. Overheating Systems.
3. File changes on your web server or changes to pages on your website.

This is only the beginning for cryptomining given that the amount of money to be made via illegal cryptomines is extremely high and requires little technical skill. You don’t want your organization to be responsible for exposing visitors to your website to cryptomining script, so if you want to learn more about how to keep yourself and your organization protected, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 703-790-0400 or visit us on the web at www.optfinity.com.

Do you own or manage a small business or organization?

If so, it is important to acknowledge the increasing risk of becoming a cyberattack victim. Data from a recent CNET article shows that since 2011 the percentage of cyberattacks that occurred in small businesses has risen from 20% to almost 50%!

Another troubling statistic is that although 60% of small businesses don’t survive  a cyberattack, only 53% of surveyed small businesses make cybersecurity a priority. Don’t let your organization become a statistic. Make cybersecurity a priority!

A few suggested precautions to take to protect your organization include:

1. Update and backup EVERYTHING regularly. This includes apps that you don’t use or haven’t used in a long time, for these can be the most vulnerable to an attack.
2. Be sure all passwords are strong and never reused. Also, never click on links from strange or suspicious emails and implement better security systems for email
3. Your employees should follow the above-mentioned precautions and your organization should have a cyberattack response plan in the case of a breach.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help with your cybersecurity needs. It’s better to be safe than sorry!

If you have any questions or concerns regarding keeping your business secure and safe, feel free to give us a call at 703-790-0400 and ask about our managed IT services and 24 x 7 help desk, or visit us on our website at www.optfinity.com.

Choosing the Right Web Hosting Provider for Your Business

In today’s digital age, businesses and organizations must integrate technology seamlessly into their operations. Selecting the right web hosting provider is a crucial step in establishing a strong online presence.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Web Hosting Provider

A recent CNET article outlines key guidelines for selecting a web hosting provider that best suits your organization’s needs. Your first step is to determine which type of server aligns with your requirements.

Types of Servers and Their Benefits

Shared Servers

Shared servers offer the most affordable option but come with performance limitations. Since multiple websites share the same server, your site may experience slower speeds and reduced reliability.

Virtual Private Servers (VPS)

VPS solutions provide better performance than shared servers. Although they still share resources with other sites, they typically deliver improved speed and reliability. However, managing a VPS requires basic server maintenance knowledge or assistance from a technology company.

Dedicated Servers

Dedicated servers offer maximum performance by eliminating resource sharing with other sites. However, they require in-depth system management expertise.

Cloud Servers

Cloud servers stand out due to their flexibility. Unlike other servers, they can handle sudden traffic spikes without requiring a complete rebuild or migration. If your website experiences high traffic, you can simply pay for additional resources to maintain performance.

Key Considerations for Your Decision

When evaluating these options, consider speed, support, security, and your familiarity with server management. Weigh the cost against the value each option provides.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Be cautious of offers that seem too good to be true, such as unlimited storage and bandwidth for just a few dollars per month. If you need help choosing, setting up, or maintaining a server, contact us at 703-790-0400 or visit our website at www.optfinity.com.

One of the best ways to achieve success is to set yourself apart from the competition whether online or in general. A great way to achieve that is to have a captivating, user friendly website. A recent News article describes the most important points to keep in mind while creating an ecommerce site or website for your organization.

1. Make sure your site functions well across ALL platforms and is secure so that people can access your website with ease and have peace of mind while inputting personal information if applicable. If someone is trying to view your website from their mobile device and it shows up all discombobulated, or they have their personal information stolen off your site they likely won’t be revisiting.
2. It is important that it is easy to navigate and quickly find what is being searched for to avoid frustration and keep users on your website. Convenience is key, and you want to have as few required clicks as possible for people to find what they’re looking for. A well-functioning search bar is a great option as well.
3. Make it visually captivating with original photos which will make your website stand out among the rest, and incorporate a dedicated section for customer reviews to allow potential clients to be persuaded not just by you but by others who have dealt with your organization in the past.

If you have any doubts about how to successfully set up a smooth-running, visually captivating ecommerce site or website for your organization, OptfinITy is here to assist you. Give us a call at 703-790-0400 or visit us on the web at www.optfinity.com to find out more about our website development services.