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5 Tech Trends Every Small Business Should Know

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5 Tech Trends Every Small Business Should Know

As a small business owner, you know that staying ahead of the competition is essential to success. This means staying ahead of the latest technology trends in today’s digital world. But with the sheer number of new technologies on the market, it can take time to know what’s worth investing in and what’s not.

Today, we will be walking you through five of the latest tech trends that every small business should be aware of. From automation to cybersecurity, these trends can help you stay competitive and ensure your business runs as efficiently as possible.

Introduction to Tech Trends

Even though many small business tech trends could change the way small businesses operate, 80% of American small businesses need to make the most of the digital resources they have at their disposal.

Small business owners are frequently reluctant to implement any new technology for various reasons, such as perceived financial obstacles, a lack of knowledge, or the conviction that online resources like social networking or live chat are unimportant to their sector.

These presumptions, however, are utterly false. Due to COVID-19, various new technologies have emerged, changing small businesses’ operations and customer expectations. The only way many firms were able to keep up with the pandemic’s fast-paced environment was to adopt new technology.

Given how accustomed people have become to these changes, some things may never go back to the way they were before the pandemic.

Here are some of these small company technology trends to watch out for in 2023.

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Automation

Automation is one of the hottest topics in technology today, and it’s becoming increasingly important for small businesses. Automation allows businesses to automate repetitive tasks, freeing their employees to focus on more critical assignments. Automation can also reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Various automation tools are available for small businesses, from customer service bots to automated invoicing. Small businesses should evaluate the automation tools available to determine which will best suit their needs.

For example, customer service bots can help small businesses answer customer questions quickly and accurately, reducing the need for customer service staff. Automated invoicing can help small enterprises to streamline their billing processes, saving them time and money.

Big Data

Big data is another important trend for small businesses. Big data is the collection of large amounts of data from various sources, such as customer records, web traffic, and social media. This data can give small businesses valuable insights into their customers’ behaviors and preferences, allowing them to make better decisions and improve their operations.

Small businesses should also consider investing in a data analytics platform to help them make sense of their data. Data analytics platforms can help small businesses analyze their data and identify trends and patterns.

Sustainability

Sustainability is becoming increasingly crucial for businesses of all sizes, and small businesses are no exception. Sustainability is a term used to describe the ability of a business to be profitable while reducing its environmental footprint. This can be achieved by using renewable energy, energy-efficient equipment, and sustainable practices.

Small businesses should evaluate their current operations to determine where they can improve. For example, small businesses can switch to renewable energy sources like solar or wind power. They can also invest in energy-efficient equipment and adopt sustainable practices, such as using recycled materials and minimizing waste.

Super-apps

According to Gartner, the year 2023 will mark the beginning of the mainstream creation and use of what it refers to as super-apps. These apps will make it possible to combine and unify several app services into a single, user-friendly interface. These apps can help small businesses by streamlining processes for both staff and vendors.

A growing number of third-party software integrations are also being used. Today, a business might utilize Google Drive to hold firm data, Monday.com to plan projects, Salesforce to manage clients, Outlook to deliver crucial documents, and Slack to connect teams. Unification helps to reduce and alleviate the threat posed by data silos, which is crucial.

Small businesses can also use super-apps to engage with customers and promote their products and services. They can also use super-apps to collect valuable customer data, such as their preferences and behaviors. This data can help small businesses create more effective marketing campaigns and improve their operations.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important for businesses of all sizes. Cybersecurity involves protecting your business from cyber threats like malware, data breaches, and identity theft. Small businesses should protect their data and systems by investing in an antivirus program and firewall, using a secure password manager, and implementing security protocols like MFA.

Small businesses should also consider investing in an enterprise-grade cybersecurity solution. Enterprise-grade solutions are designed to protect enterprises from advanced cyber threats, such as malware and data breaches. They can also help small businesses detect and respond quickly to cyber threats, reducing the damage caused.

Conclusion

Staying ahead of the latest technology trends is essential for any small business. New technologies can help small businesses remain competitive, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and gain valuable customer insights. From super-apps to Artificial Intelligence (AI), small businesses should be aware of the various new technologies.

At Protected Harbor, we recognize the significance of keeping up with the latest technology and trends. Our team of experts will craft a tailored IT strategy to help you stay on top of the competition and ensure your business runs at its best. We are committed to helping small to medium-sized businesses succeed by providing them with the tools they need to stay ahead of the curve.

February 20, 2023 by Swetabh

CybersecurityTech News

Major Security Flaw Exposes Twitter Accounts

Twitter has acknowledged that a bug in its code allowed malicious actors to link accounts with email addresses registered to them, possibly disclosing the identity of their users.

The company late last week revealed the flaw and apologized for the inconvenience stating the issue was remedied immediately.

The vulnerability in Twitter’s handling of unsuccessful log-in attempts was exploited. When a user entered the incorrect password, Twitter used to do one of two things when they attempted to log in using an email address or phone number:

Inform the user that they entered the wrong password
Display the Twitter account linked to the specified email or phone number (if any exist)

This implied that users of fictitious accounts might have had their identities revealed.

In this post, we will be discussing what exactly happened with Twitter and how you can protect yourself from cyber-criminal.

Also, check out our blog from last week where we talk about Malware hitting millions of android users and the Top 5 Apps You Need to Uninstall Right Now.

What Happened?

Countless apps are exposing Twitter’s API keys, giving hackers access to fully take control of those accounts and use them for identity theft or other forms of online fraud.

The information was discovered by cybersecurity experts CloudSEK, who found 3,207 mobile apps leaking both legitimate Consumer Keys and Consumer Secrets for the Twitter API.

Numerous mobile applications have interacted with Twitter, which enables those applications to carry out specific tasks on behalf of users. Consumer Keys and Secrets are combined with the Twitter API to complete the integration. The apps may enable threat actors to tweet things, write and read direct conversations, or do something similar by leaking this kind of data.

A threat actor could theoretically gather an “army” of Twitter endpoints and use them to tweet, retweet, direct message, as well as participate in other methods to spread a fraud or malware campaign.

Millions of Downloads

According to the researchers, the questioned apps include radio tuners, e-banking, city transportation, and similar sites, each receiving between fifty-thousand and five-million downloads.

In other words, there’s a good chance that millions of Twitter accounts are in danger as we speak.

All app owners/creators have been informed, but the majority have done nothing to fix the problem—nor even admit to the public that they have been informed of the issue. According to reports, Ford Motors was one of the businesses that quickly addressed the error with its Ford Events app.

The list of suspected apps won’t be made public until other apps address their problems.

Researchers also noted that mistakes made during the development of apps frequently lead to API leaks. Developers occasionally forget to remove authentication keys after embedding them in the Twitter API.

Protected Harbor advises developers to employ API key rotation, which would eventually make exposed keys invalid, to stop these leaks.

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Final Words

In today’s technological landscape, you must take the proper steps to protect yourself and your family. Keep track of the latest scams and what you can do to keep yourself safe from cyber-criminals. If you feel you have been the victim of a scam, report it immediately.

Experts from Protected Harbor recommend that you:

Stay informed about the latest threats and vulnerabilities and keep your software up to date.
Don’t click on links from suspicious emails,
Don’t download apps from untrusted websites.
Change your passwords regularly.
Use a VPN when using public Wi-Fi.
Uninstall any and all harmful apps immediately.
Think before you allow any app permission or access to your files.
Enable 2FA (2-Factor Authentication).
Use trusted anti-virus software.

Stay vigilant, keep your privacy settings high, and you can keep your accounts secure.

We are giving away a free IT Audit for a limited time. Contact us today for one. Stay updated with the latest news with our blogs and other resources, and keep a keen eye on your social media accounts. Stay Safe![/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]

August 17, 2022 by Rishi

Protected HarborTech News

Protected Harbor’s COVID-19 Response

Protected Harbor manages IT for a variety of small, medium and large companies. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, virtually every one of our clients decided to or were forced to work from home. These requests came from all our clients at the same time over a matter of days.

Due to our infrastructure design, and the responsiveness of our staff, Protected Harbor was able to migrate our clients to “work from home” within hours of the request, and with minimal or no interruption in their business.

Also, support costs for clients as they work from home is included in our base price, which is a flat monthly rate. So none of our clients experienced a rise in IT costs.

If you are struggling to migrate your business to work from home, please call Protected Harbor at 201-957-1616.

Protected Harbor also offers businesses Cloud Services, Network Management, Ransomware and Security Protection, Disaster Recovery and more.

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May 26, 2020 by Editor