TECHNOLOGY TRAININGSESSION 11 NOVEMBER 6, 2013

Before We Start…. A Little Tech Humor from Dilbert

TECHNOLOGY TRAINING – SESSION 11 TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

• Email Management (and protocol)• File and Document Management• Accessing Your Personal & Professional Files on the Go with Cloud Services• Tablet Options• 8 Great Computer Security Tips• Watch Out for Crypto Locker• West Chester Connect• Q & A

Please STOP me at anytime during the

presentation and we can go LIVE and walk through anything you

would like!

EMAIL MANAGEMENT

• Your email can become very cluttered and “out of control” very quickly. • Email in many cases is used more then phone conversations.• Email is actually a record of your communications.• Email is archived and is owned by the Borough of West

Chester.• There are policies & procedures governing the use of West

Chester email.• All email is discoverable.

IT MEMO 2012-16 DESCRIBES OUR EMAIL POLICY

• Email messages, attachments, and other data—is discoverable and may be used as evidence—for or against any organization (including government entities and publicly funded educational institutions)—in litigation.

• Email that is related to current, pending, or potential litigation shall be retained, archived, and produced during e-discovery, the evidence-gathering phase of litigation.

• Employers are allowed to routinely purge electronic archives of data that is not relevant to ongoing litigation or pending cases.

• All email is archived and may be retrieved as part of an open records request or an internal investigation.

• Borough of West Chester email shall not contain profanity or illegal action of any kind.

It shall be understood that the Borough of West Chester owns the “west-chester.com” domain name. The ownership and compliance authority for email service and accounts is managed and governed by the Borough of West Chester. All email messages and communications through the west-chester.com domain are controlled by the Borough of West Chester.

GET YOUR EMAIL ORGANIZED

• Create Folders for people, groups and companies• Drop and drag the email to these folders

after you have finished with each one. • Only leave email in your inbox if you still

need to read it or do something with it.

GET YOUR EMAIL ORGANIZEDYour inbox should only be for items that you have not read or if you need to respond.

Create folders as you go along and drag your email to the appropriate folder when you are finished with it.

SEARCHING YOUR EMAIL

You can search your email in the search window. You can search the “current folder” or your entire database. You can search “keywords”, “names” or “email addresses”.

YOUR ONLINE ARCHIVE

• Microsoft will occasionally “archive” your older email. Don’t panic because your older email is only being moved to your “online archive” which is always available to you.

CONTACTS ARE NOW PEOPLE

• Starting with Outlook 2013 Microsoft has changed what they used to call “contacts” to “people”. Also with 2013 Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can be incorporated into your contact listings.

DESIGN YOUR OWN ONLINE SIGNATURE

• You can create your own “business card” and use it as a signature in your email messages. Simply add yourself as a new contact and get creative.

EMAIL COMMUNICATION IS IT ALWAYS NECESSARY?

The best form of communication is almost always “face to face”. Try this just for a week or so. When you are sending email to a co-worker ask yourself if you should just take a walk to the recipient's office or work area to discuss what you were going to send in the email?

Earlier this month I wrote an article just about this.

http://wctech.blogspot.com/2013/10/face-to-face-is-best.html

FILE MANAGEMENT GET ORGANIZED JUST LIKE “THEY” DID BEFORE THE DIGITAL AGE

Long before the first PC people managed to keep and organize their files and documents in very logical and seamless ways.

Today it is very easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of digital files that you work with and receive. However it is because of this that keeping your files organized is so important in the digital age.

FILE MANAGEMENT GET ORGANIZED JUST LIKE “THEY” DID BEFORE THE DIGITAL AGE

The first thing you want to do is to take a look at your files and make a decision how to file them. If you deal with Vendors for example you can create one folder titled “Vendors” and then create a sub-folder for each specific vendor. As you work with these files simply save the documents in the proper location.

This procedure can be carried over to any type of work related area. Just think of the files as real hard copies and that you have a file cabinet.

Treat digital files the same way you would hard copies and will never go wrong organizing your digital life!

STORING AND ACCESSING YOUR FILES IN THE CLOUD

STORING AND ACCESSING YOUR FILES IN THE CLOUD

Today there are more affordable options then ever before when it comes to storing and accessing your files in the cloud. There are free and paid options. Many services like Microsoft, Google and Dropbox offer some free space and then you pay for additional storage.

• Dropbox offers 2GB free (www.dropbox.com)• Skydrive offers 7GB free (www.skydrive.com)• Google offers 7GB free (www.googledrive.com)- All of these services offer affordable paid plans for additional file storage. Each of these services are excellent. The one you choose should be based on what type of services you already use.

TABLET OPTIONS DON’T GET CONFUSED

It seems like there are more tablet options then ever before. While PC sales are dropping the sale of tablets are surging. Many people are now relying exclusively on their tablets, especially at home.

Why are Tablets So Popular?

1. Tablets are less expensive then PC’s2. Tablets take up less space then PC’s and they are mobile. 3. Most people use their tablets for email, internet, social media and banking and maybe

writing letters. Tablets can easily handle these functions.4. Tablets can entertain where PC’s cannot. Just ask my wife who enjoys Candy Crush or

solitaire in the comfort of the family room or sitting outside.

TABLET OPTIONS SO MANY

Tablets come from many different vendors offering various operating systems, shapes, sizes and different levels of ability.Because of this you need to ask yourself one question before you starting looking for a tablet.

“What Do You

Want To Do With

Your Tablet?

TABLET OPTIONS MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE

1. If you basically want to surf the internet, read email and perhaps play a game and download some “apps” you cannot go wrong with Apple’s iPad.

2. If you want to do everything noted above but you want a little more freedom with your device check out a Android tablet. On most Android tablets you can add additional storage through a MicroSD drive. There are countless Android options as well in many shapes & sizes and prices.

3. If your primary task will be working and your organization uses Microsoft Office check out a Windows 8 tablet. Microsoft Office is built right in!

8 GREAT COMPUTER SECURITY TIPS1. Use “anti-virus software” and keep it up to date.2. Don’t open email attachment from unknown sources.

Be suspicious of any unexpected email attachments even if it appears from someone you know.

3. Use “firewalls” to protect against internet intruders. These are built into your PC – for free.

4. Regularly download security updates and “patches” for operating systems and other software.

5. Use hard-to-guess passwords. Mix upper case, lower case, numbers and special keys whenever possible.

8 GREAT COMPUTER SECURITY TIPS PLUS 16. Back up your computer on local USB drives & use a

cloud backup service.7. Don’t share access to your computers with strangers.8. Disconnect from open wireless networks when not in

use.

PC Security

Q&AAnd my newest rule about “attachments”. Very Simply.

If you did not specifically ask for the attachment – do not open it without first contacting the sender to verify that it is legitimate and that you need it.

WATCH OUT FOR CRYPTO LOCKERThe Crypto Locker virus is passed around in emails that have innocent enough looking senders, such as UPS, FedEx, PayPal or even your bank but they’re not really from these corporations. Instead, when you open the attachment, your computer becomes infected and the virus locks all your files until you pay a ransom. Check out a picture of what the Crypto Locker demand screen looks like:

This is a REAL timer. When it hits zero your files are toast!

WATCH OUT FOR CRYPTO LOCKERRansomware causes your computer files to be non-accessible and when that happens you have two choices. You can recover if you have a backup which I hope you do or pay the ransom within 100 hours. If you do not pay the ransom you will lose all of your data.

The Crypto Locker email pretends to be from a financial institution like a bank or Pay Pal and reports that it has dire news for you and that the attachment is important. readers of these emails often panic and open the attachment and then it's too late. The PC is infected and the files are encrypted which means you cannot open your own files. The attachment will often disguise itself as JPEG images, as PDF files, as Microsoft Office files and many other file types.  After the computer becomes infected, users are usually given 100 hours to pay a fee between $100 and $700 to get the files decrypted.

WATCH OUT FOR CRYPTO LOCKER

This Is Important - Follow These Rules

1.  If you get an email from somebody you do not know, especially if it has attachments, do not open anything with it, just delete the email. 

2.  If you did not specifically ask for an attachment do not open it. If you are curious reach out to the send by phone before opening anything. If you cannot contact the send do not open it!

Backing Up Your Files is More Important Then Ever

Make sure you have all of your files backed up both on a local disconnected USB hard drive and in the cloud. There are many free and affordable cloud services available so there is really no excuse not to do this. If your PC gets infected with the Crypto Locker virus you backup may be your digital salvation.

WEST CHESTER CONNECT UPDATEWest Chester Connect was recently upgraded by CitySourced.

1. Issues are now “Service Requests”. 2. You now only see “service requests that have not been

accepted on the home screen. 3. To see all service requests open “applications” from

the top menu bar and select “Service Request.

WEST CHESTER CONNECT UPDATE

If you need to re-assign the service request to another employee please be sure to both select “assign” and then “re-email” to make sure it is properly assigned.

WEST CHESTER CONNECT UPDATEBetween June 23 and October 27 a total of 101 “service requests” have been submitted and processed through West Chester Connect.

West Chester

Connect Q&A

Q & AAsk me anything……..