Ferrum Technology Services Blog

The Internet is infested with threats of all kinds, some of the most annoying are bots. These consist of systems which potentially gather information from a variety of sources. While primarily used by search engines to gather data from websites (these are the good kinds), there are others who may have fallen into the hands of hackers which steal information or send spam.

In a survey by Cyber-Ark, close to half of employees interviewed admitted that if they were fired tomorrow, they would take with them their former company's proprietary data. This is a shocking revelation considering how much you trust your current staff, maybe even to the point of referring to them as "family." What can you do to protect your business from a former employee with ill intentions?

The phrase "SIP Trunking" or "SIP Trunks", is increasingly common in the world of telecom. However if you are reading this, you are probably not in the telecom business but would like to know more.

Summer is here and it's getting hot outside!  Why not get an awesome incentive if you're looking for a new PBX?  Digium has a promotion for you that's just as hot!  Get an additional 15% off when you replace a Cisco IP Phone System!

Do you have trouble keeping track of your budget and expenses within your company? It's not your fault - prices change over time, and paperwork can be tedious to go through. By taking advantage of Microsoft Excel's basic mathematical formulas, you can simplify the way that keep track of your business's budget.

Two weeks ago, the National Communications Administration managed to weaken a set of malware designed to steal banking and personal credentials from unsuspecting users. They warned the world that GameOver Zeus and Cryptolocker ransomware would be back with a vengeance, and that immediate action could prevent a whole lot of pain later.

Despite what many people think, Microsoft Word is far from a normal word processor. Microsoft has thrown all sorts of nifty new toys in there for its consumers to enjoy, such as a built-in citation machine for all of your research needs. When writing a white paper, you want to use specific examples and you want to give others credit when it is due. That's the only professional way to do it.

Details are still coming in regarding one of the biggest data breaches in history that compromised the personal records of 200 million Americans! The scam was propagated by the online ID theft service Superget.info, and it's currently being investigated by the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

It's a nightmare scenario for any business when a computer virus cripples their system. It's even worse when it happens to a company that has invested in a dedicated antivirus software, especially when the virus got through because someone felt the need to disable it! Because of scenarios like this, you should never disable your antivirus software.

In the midst of one of the coldest and most grueling winters the U.S. has experienced in years, millions of Americans are growing impatient for the arrival of spring. As subzero temperatures spread across the country, the cold weather and snow has become a hazard not only to humans, but to their technology. How cold is too cold for your gadgets?

You've seen them around everywhere. Every time you watch TV, look at a poster, listen to the news, or have a conversation with a teenager, you'll be exposed to the term "hashtag". What are hashtags exactly? What do they do? Why should you care about them? How can they help your business? #readmoretofindout

A lot of businesses have been taking advantage of Wi-Fi wireless networking to increase mobility around the office for staff. Most businesses seem to understand that their Wi-Fi network needs to be password protected to keep outsiders from getting in, but most businesses often make the mistake in using WEP security on their wireless network instead of a more secure solution.

On December 18 Target reported that there credit card secuirty system has been breached. A total of 40 million credit card numbers have been stolen. Some reports indicate that the card numbers were found on a blackmarket website that sells "dumped" cards, or cards that have had the magnetic strip replicated to blank card.

Have you ever received one of those chain emails that look like this?  You may want to think twice before you start forwarding to everyone in your contacts list.

You can find anything you need on eBay, and be entertained by perusing thousands of crazy items you don't need. Since 1995, eBay has been one of the most dominant forces for online shopping. You can use eBay to both make and save money, but you have to know how to work eBay for your advantage.

As a small business leader, your obvious "win" is making a large profit. With this goal in mind, small businesses commonly try to cut their costs by neglecting tech upgrades. Unfortunately, technology often ends up on the backburner of the budget in an effort to maximize profits. Here are seven tech must-haves that your business can't afford to skimp on.

Boot up time can seemingly be the most annoying part of the entire day. While technology has gotten much quicker, it's easy to let your computer slip to the point that it takes ten minutes to start. Here are three reasons why the process takes forever, and how to fix it.

Saving a little on your technology can go a long ways, but cutting too many corners can lead to additional problems and expensive downtime. Here are a few ways you can cut costs without creating long term issues.

When you mention the term 'disaster recovery,' most people think about the big ground-shattering events like earthquakes, fires, floods, tropical storms, etc. While these natural events are certainly disasters and devastating in their own right, smaller things can constitute as a disaster for your business, and they aren't seasonal.