Mid-winter, mid-financial-year, and everyone is heads-down. This is exactly when the small stuff slips: the update that keeps getting postponed, the password saved in the browser because it was quicker at the time. None of it takes long to put right, so this week’s newsletter is a five-minute check-up rather than a project. Three things worth a look before the year-end rush arrives.
1. Restart your computer and let it update
The machines most behind on security updates are the ones that never get turned off. Sleep mode is not a restart, shutdown is not a restart and closing the laptop lid definitely isn’t. We suggest everyone in the team properly restarts their PC this week and gives it time to finish installing updates. It is the cheapest security improvement available, and it usually fixes that thing that has been running slowly, too.
2. Get your passwords out of the browser
If passwords are living in the browser, a notebook, or a spreadsheet called
passwords.xlsx, this may be the month to change the habit. A reputable password manager stores them securely, fills them in for you, and means one strong password to remember instead of forty weak ones. Start with your most important logins: banking, email, accounting. If you would like a suggestion on where to begin, ask us.3. Treat your phone like the work device it is
Most of us read work email on our phones, which makes the phone part of the business. Three quick checks: software updates are set to install, the screen locks automatically with a PIN or fingerprint, and you know how you would wipe it remotely if it went missing.
One more thing
Keep an eye out for our next two newsletters. Microsoft is making important changes to how everyone signs in to Microsoft 365, and we will be explaining what is changing and the one simple thing most people need to do. They will be worth the read.
Keep Warm!