Where to begin? There are so many different ways you can make streamline your email, our challenge was to whittle down the list to our top 5 “need-to-knows.”

Here is what we decided:

Limit desktop notifications to only the most important emails.

When I’m working, I have the tendency to get “in the zone,” especially when I’m writing. At those moments, the mail pops up are concentrations worst enemy. More, than once, I’ve been tempted to close my email and block out the world.

But that’s not always an option, and you still want to get notified of the most important alerts. In Outlook, set desktop notification only for those VIP messages. Essentially, first, you’ll turn off all desktop alerts under the Mail Options, then create an Outlook rule to display alerts for messages from specific people sent only to you.

Use an email template to never write the same email twice.

For those emails you send often, such as requests for information or reminders of due invoices, save the email as a template via File > Save As… > Outlook template. Then, to use the template, go to New Items > Choose Form… and look in your “User Template in File System” to browse for the template you saved. Or, even quicker, double-click the OFT file from Windows Explorer to create a message from that template. You can also use text expansion to accomplish this across any program on your computer.

On the same track, If you regularly need to trot out a standard passage of text, you can save it as a Quick Part for easy insertion into your emails. Simply highlight the text in the composer window, then switch to the Insert tab, click the Quick Parts dropdown and select “Save selection to Quick Parts gallery”. In the future, when you start typing the phrase, you’ll see it pop up as a suggestion – hit return to insert it in full. You can also select your text with the mouse from the Quick Parts dropdown. Right-click on it for placement options, or to edit and manage Quick Parts and other “building blocks”.

Get emails that aren’t sent directly to you out of your inbox.

One of the best tips is to use a special “Inbox-CC” bolder to gather all the emails that aren’t sent directly to you; that way, the inbox is focused on only the most important emails. To set this up, go to Rules > New Rules… Then click the “Advanced Options: button. In the Rules Wizard, select “where my name is not in the To box” and then in the next screen “move it to the specified folder.” Alternatively, set up a VIP email folder and move “emails send only to me” into that folder.

Create search folders for your most important emails.

What are your most frequently accessed emails? Maybe they’re emails from your boss or certain subjects (now where’s that TPS report?). For any search, you perform often, just save the search for quick access. Click on Search Folders in the left navigation menu, select “New Search Folder,” and then either use the wizards or manually customize the search to your specifications.

If you receive a high volume of email, folders may not be realistic, and tracking down relevant messages can be a chore. Outlook can group emails into conversations so that a single click shows all related messages together. You can set this on a global or per-mailbox basis by going to the View tab and ticking “Show as Conversations”. Click the “Arrange By:” bar at the top of the message list and select “View Settings…” from the dropdown menu to configure additional grouping options.

Quickly save emails as files.

If you want to save certain emails for posterity, you have a few methods at your disposal. While you can individually save any email through the File > Save As… menu (options: text, HTML, Outlook Message format or .msg, HTML, .mht), it’s far faster to save emails by dragging them to the desktop or Windows Explorer. This will save them in Outlook’s proprietary .msg format, with the subject as the file name.

Hope this helps. After reading this, you’ll be zipping out emails as fast as they come in.

The post Tips and Tricks for Outlook: Email appeared first on IT Services Miami | Computer repair | Telx Computers.

Several recent security reports have shown us that the CryptoLocker Virus is on the rise (a virus that functions as a ransom, your information is encrypted until you pay a fee). Although our company is an expert in preventing and deactivating viruses such as the CryptoLocker Virus, the best strategy is to avoid them altogether. Here are some of the ways you can be proactive with your cybersecurity needs:

Severely infected computers send viruses to other users across the network by using the contact list of your email software and shared resources within your office. Having an IT force at your side can help, but the best prevention is education. So before you download that attachment, make sure you read these guidelines to keep your network safe.

When receiving an email attachment:

• Do NOT open an attachment if you don’t know what it is.
• Use caution when opening attachments that you weren’t expecting or that you don’t know the content. Computer viruses are sent via e-mail attachments and can compromise your computer, data, financial and personal information.
• When an email attachment has a file extension that ends with .zip, .exe, .com, or vbs, 99.9% of the time contains viruses, Trojans, Malware, or Spyware.

Zip files are compressed files. The purpose of sending/receiving Zip files is to make attachment size smaller or send multiple files into 1 compressed file. Hackers use zip files to bypasses the virus/spam protection.

These attachments may look like they are from someone you know. If you’re not sure what it is or were not expecting the email, chances are that these attachments could be infected since their computers are infected. If you open these attachments the l your computer will get infected. Now all your contacts will receive an email (from you) with the infected file as an attachment. If you see an email like the ones below, you can notify the sender that their computer is infected and then delete the email.

Email Scams:

• Your bank institution won’t send you an email requesting information or attachments (unless it is a banker from your branch or something you were expecting), statements, requesting to re-enter your personal information, or a wire transfer via email, unless you have alerts set up. The purpose of those emails is to obtain account information from the users.
• Whenever you open a link on these emails, they copy the design of the website making it look legit and the user enters information about their account, next day you will find out the account has been compromised.
• IRS/Equifax/Transunion/ won’t request any information via email, if they do most likely will be via regular mail. Dismiss these emails and don’t open these links.
• Whenever you win or got something for free over an email, the only thing that you can win is a big problem. Delete these emails immediately.
• DO NOT post your email on websites, forums, or chat rooms. Otherwise, you run the risk of inviting spam into your inbox.
• If you have to use an email to subscribe to a newsletter or website and receive a confirmation email, consider using an address that is not linked to any of your personal information. For example: sample@gmail.com.
• Make an email Backup. Having a hard copy of important documents is essential, especially if your email client crashes and loses data.

Virus Scams:

• If the FBI, NSA, Department of Homeland Security, or CIA has blocked your computer with a pop-up, these are signs of infections. These pop-ups are to cheat users to gain financial information.
• Fake Antivirus protections and optimizers can pop up during an infection not allowing you to work peacefully.
• These viruses request users to enter credit card information or do a transfer to an account to release their computers, please report these issues immediately.

How to avoid these issues:

• Understand email attachments.
• Have an updated operating system.
• Have an updated Antivirus protection.
• Have an up-to-date network firewall and gateway security to prevent future attacks.
• Scan your attachments on this website: www.virustotal.com (this will scan your attachment with 60 different antiviruses in seconds). To do so, save the attachment without opening it and upload the file to the website.

Call Telx if you have any questions regarding an email attachment 1.800.MY TELX 4 (698.3594)

Related articles

• FBI/DHS: ‘ Issue warning over the ” Internet of All Things ” security risks of hacking ‘
• Office of Personnel Mgmt: 5.6M estimated to have fingerprints stolen in breach
• The OPM Hack Was A Lot Worse Than Previously Disclosed
• FBI confident Clinton emails being recovered: source

The post CryptoLocker Virus is Back. Are You Ready? appeared first on IT Services Miami | Computer repair | Telx Computers.

You can stay ahead with these safety tips:

1. Share your e-mail address with trusted sources only.
Only those to whom you know personally should have your personal e-mail address. DO NOT post your email on web sites, forums, or in chat rooms. Otherwise, you run the risk of inviting spam into your inbox. If you have to use an email to subscribe to a newsletter or website and receive a confirmation email, consider using an address that is not linked to any of your personal information. For example: sample@gmail.com

2. Watch out for phishing scams.
Phishing scams use fraudulent e-mails and fake websites that pose as legitimate businesses in an attempt to retrieve your login and personal information. To be safe, if you receive an email prompting you to login to a site, first check and see if that website is legitimate. You can always call the business just to make sure that the email is coming from them.

3. Be careful opening attachments
Attachments coming from unknown sources are the most likely sources of computer viruses. If you do choose to download attachments, make sure that your security software is enabled and pay attention to any warning messages you receive.

4. Do not Reply to Spam Messages
If you do not recognize the sender, do not reply to messages. Even responding to unsubscribe could set you up for more spam.

5. Create Strong Passwords
Having your pet dog’s name as your password is no longer the security standard for protecting your personal information. Great passphrases are long alphanumeric chains with special characters.

6. Security Software
It is vitally important to have the most up-to-date security software to protect from viruses, worms, Trojans, Cryptolocker and other malicious software. Your security software should also include firewalls, which monitor your internet connection and keep unwanted traffic outside.

7. Backup Your Email.
Depending on your industry, your email may contain legally-binding contracts, major financial decisions, and professional communication. Just as you would have a hardcopy of important business documents, it’s also important to regularly back up your email and have records if your email client crashes and loses data.

8. You haven’t won the lottery
Scammers will use any subject line to get your attention so that you open an email. If it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is. If it helps, you most likely do not have an unclaimed inheritance, there is no Nigerian Monarch, or other person promising you loads of cash, that requires your bank information immediately, and you haven’t won a free Ipad.

9. Encrypt your Wi-Fi network and email when possible
It is important to encrypt your wireless connection between your computer and the wireless router. This is one of the most vulnerable information sources and it is best to use the WPA2 encryption standard. This encryption will make it very difficult for any hacker to break. However, if your connection is compromised and a hacker does have access to your information, the next step is to encrypt your email. Email encryption ranges from the very expensive to PGP, the most common email encryption standard. Regardless, by using encryption, the hacker will not be able to understand what your emails say.

These email best practices are the first step in protecting your data. However, with cyber security threats growing daily, it is important to take as many safeguards as possible. Even the best security can be circumvented by a determined hacker. Our comprehensive suite of security software and remote monitoring ensure constant vigilance against cybercrime and theft. Take a look at how our security options can provide the next generation solutions for your business.

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