Welcome to the May edition of Technology Today
Quick tech news for the busy professional! Here you will find:
- Passwords: eliminate the pain
- Microsoft: what’s new?
- Tech Facts: did you know?
- Q & A: what everyone’s asking
- Quiz Time: test your team!
How to eliminate the pain of passwords
Passwords. They’re the keys to our digital kingdoms, but also the biggest pain in our necks. They’ve been around since the dawn of the internet, and guess what? Even with replacements being introduced, they’re not going away anytime soon.
I’m sure you’ve felt the pain of managing a billion passwords for all your accounts. It’s exhausting and risky. Perhaps it’s time you considered using a password manager.
The real beauty of password managers is you only have to remember one password – the master password to log in to your manager. Then, it does everything else for you:
- It creates long random passwords
- It remembers them and stores them safely
- And it will even fill them into the login page for you
That means no more racking your brain trying to remember if your password is “P@ssw0rd123” or “Pa55w0rd123” (both are really bad and dangerously weak passwords by the way). With a password manager, all the work is done for you.
We won’t sugar coat it – password managers aren’t invincible. Like all superheroes, they have their weaknesses. Cyber criminals can sometimes trick password managers into auto filling login details on fake websites.
But there are ways to outsmart criminals. First, disable the automatic autofill feature. Yes, it’s convenient, but better safe than sorry, right? Only trigger autofill when you’re 100% sure the website is legit.
And when choosing a password manager, go for one with strong encryption and multi-factor authentication (MFA) where you generate a code on another device to prove it’s you. These extra layers of security can make a big difference in making your accounts impenetrable.
Enterprise password managers offer useful features like setting password policies and analysing your teams’ passwords for vulnerabilities. Plus, they often come with behaviour analysis tools powered by machine learning tech. Highly recommended.
But here’s the thing – no matter how advanced your password manager is, it’s only as good as the person using it. So, do yourself a favour: Train your team to stay vigilant against scams, and always keep your password manager up to date.
We can recommend the right password manager for your business and help you and your team use it in the right way. Get in touch.
What’s new to Microsoft?
More AI features are coming to Teams Chat:
Microsoft Copilot is going to open up a load of new features in Teams Chat, making it easier and more convenient to use.
AI supported features will include better call quality, intelligent call recaps, and messaging composition, as well as new hybrid camera tech that can move between office-based and remote attendees during calls.
Did you know?
You could soon type with your eyes!
Sounds crazy, but Microsoft is developing an Eye-Gaze technology that will help people type and interact with applications using just their eyes.
It uses so-called ‘dwell-free’ typing, meaning you’d just need to look at keys on a screen and the technology would – supposedly – understand the actions you want to take. The tech also uses AI to gather information that makes predicting behaviour patterns more accurate.
Do you think that’s cool… or scary?!
Tech Facts:
- iPod creator Tony Fadell had his MP3 player idea rejected by both Phillips and RealNetworks before turning to Apple, who loved the idea. And the rest, as they say, is history.
- An older phone that doesn’t have smartphone capabilities is known as a “dumb” phone.
- Microsoft reported 32 million daily active users of Teams on 11th March 2020. By 28th October that same year, that number had risen to 115 million. Wonder why…?
Q & A
Q: Will a free VPN (Virtual Private Network) provide enough security for my employees’ work phones?
A: No. The chances of a free VPN logging and selling your data or infesting your device with malware are a lot higher than if you used even the cheapest paid VPN on the market.
Q: I hate sudden reboots for updates on Windows 11, is there a way to avoid them?
A: Yes! Open “settings” and click on “Windows update” and then “advanced options”, you can then set your “Active hours”. Updates can be scheduled, where possible, outside of these hours.
Q: I hate my password manager, is it easy to change?
A: You can export your data, but it’s important to use a secure computer to do it. You should also be careful not to back up the unencrypted file. We can help you – get in touch.
Time for a Tech Quiz!
- What does URL stand for?
- What was the most downloaded app of the 2010s?
- What was the first game controller with vibration feedback?
- Before Google’s mobile OS, what was Android developed for?
- Before it was known as Adobe Photoshop, what was the earlier version of that software called?
See answers below
That’s all for today, folks!
Until next time,
Rajesh and the GZD team
Quiz answers:
1. Uniform Resource Locator.
2. Facebook.
3. Nintendo 64 controller.
4. It was originally designed for digital cameras, but they later repurposed it for phones after realising the market for cameras was cooling.
5. Originally it was Display, then ImagePro.
