I was never taught how to study. I know this because of the overwhelming anxiety I felt recently as I attempted to prepare for a certification exam at a well-known proctored testing facility. The exam consisted of 200 random questions out of a possible 6000-question bank. The study material I was given consisted of four 500-to-700-page physical books, accompanied by the advice, “Read these and you should be fine.”

That was not comforting to me in the least. I have not taken a proctored certification test in 10 years and the last time I attempted one, I failed. Twice. Needless to say, I was not feeling very confident going into my first self-study session. I stared at the daunting mountain of bound paper before me and knew deep in my gut I would not be reading these monstrous abstracts. I needed to begin with some personal reflection on how best to absorb the material I needed to not only learn for this exam but also truly commit to memory, so I could use it in future undertakings.

No One Ever Really Stops Learning

I am a hands-on learner with a strong need for visual demonstration. Reading 3000 pages of documentation was not going to allow me to be considerably successful. I need to see the material in use, either through a video or a live demonstration or by physically performing the actions myself. So I began the hunt for new material that would allow me to learn the skills in my preferred means of absorption. For me, this meant perusing YouTube and downloading trial software. Bonus: Because this product was already in use and there were others knowledgeable in its function, it also meant reaching out to these experts for some hands-on demonstrations.

Ultimately, I passed my exam and now feel confident in my ability to successfully use the newly acquired skills in my professional work. I never once cracked the spines of those demoralizing manuscripts, opting instead for developing my skills in my preferred learning style.

This is only one person’s story for a single test. I’m one InterWorker in a company of over 250, each of whom has unique requirements and certifications necessary to effectively do their job. Here’s a small fraction of us at last year’s holiday party in Stillwater:

Above: I’d say I’m the one in flannel, but that doesn’t narrow it down much.

To properly give each InterWorker a way to learn on their own terms like I did would be a massive undertaking. At InterWorks, however, we’re not ones to shy away from massive undertakings.

The Need for Professional Development

It is neither new nor surprising that everyone learns differently and absorbs information in their own way, but there is still a chasm between many content developers and the means they use to present their valuable knowledge. Working in IT, learning is essential and dynamic on a moment-by-moment basis. The speed at which technology evolves demands constant study and flexibility. This is even more apparent when working as an IT consultant in an MSP-style environment. We not only have to support a highly variable cast of clientele, but we are also beholden to a multitude of vendors that are always evolving their offerings, which requires us as partners to stay on the leading edge. We regularly found ourselves dashing around, attempting to locate training materials buried deep within a well of vendor-developed content. This was not an efficient system of knowledge gain or professional development.

Seeing the need for organization and centralization, we at InterWorks began the hunt for a learning platform that would meet our diverse needs. We needed a place to host curated content, required training from partners, and as professional and personal development materials—a central repository with a quiver of tools learners would use from start to finish on their developmental quest.

We soon found that no perfect tool existed. Some of our challenges included partner training that must be completed in their learning management system, each replete with its own credentialing system and tracking structure. We needed to be able to direct learners to the proper training location and offer them detailed instructions for creating accounts so that credit could be given where it was required. We needed the ability to develop learning paths for students, new hires, interns and the like. Most importantly, we needed the content to be accessible to all learning styles.

The solution we settled on was a home-baked system built on the bones of a well-known open-source LMS platform. Because our needs were more aggregation rather than content creation, we found that the constraints of the paid solutions did not satisfy the current needs of our learning journey. With a little help from our Marketing team, InterWorks University was born:

InterWorks’ Academia

We initially began with what we called Pro Degree Paths. Each path allowed students to become experts in a particular technology that we consider core to our IT strategy at InterWorks. A team member that is already considered an expert in the field would act as the dean of the degree and would assist degree candidates through a thorough expedition of learning, which culminated in a graduation ceremony complete with an IWU diploma:

Above: My very own IWU diploma

From there, we focused on compiling our partner-required training and documentation. Having the IWU system allowed us to consolidate links to the partner training, internal documentation and even some video demonstrations of in-house use of the technology, all in one place. We used this partner training to then develop a section focused on basic knowledge of our preferred products and technology. We call this our reference architecture, and now we have a central home to learn the basics of our favored tools.

To aid in the intense uptake of necessary knowledge when beginning a job at InterWorks, we developed curated learning paths for new engineers, sales team members and interns. The goal of these tracks is to provide Team Leads the ability to point new learners to the necessary information they need to get up and running as a productive, contributing InterWorker. Teams can now better prepare and predict the time needed to onboard a new team member.

To Graduation and Beyond

The list of plans for InterWorks University continues to expand. We hope to curate more hands-on demonstrations by utilizing tools like Zoom to record techs preparing a device or demonstrating software for a client, so others can see a real-world example of a solution’s use. We also plan to develop learner scorecards, so others can see who has a skill that they may need when working on a solution they are less familiar with.

Most importantly, we want to continue to find different methods of learning to appeal to every learning style. We want University to be a universal and comprehensive tool for everyone who wishes to enhance their impact on the world of technology.

The post InterWorks University: Our Solution for Learning appeared first on InterWorks.

Throughout the month of May 2021, InterWorks and members of the Stillwater, OK, public were challenged to create teams of two-five amblers to compete in a daily steps challenge. Affectionately titled the Walk This May challenge, the competition encouraged participants to band together and accumulate steps that would be posted on a leaderboard each evening. Three teams of trekkers from InterWorks joined the contest and quickly developed an internal competition – replete with lighthearted trash-talking – to determine who could actually walk the walk.

Each day, InterWorkers could be seen solo or in groups walking laps around the parking lot, Bluetooth earbuds broadcasting conference calls or training videos, hoping their heavy breathing did not out them if asked to contribute to the virtual discussions. Other people chose to hike to and from the office each day.

I could be seen walking my mile-plus commute up to four times per day … five if I accidentally forgot my office keys. Staci Bejcek and her daughter set a goal to circle the parking lot as many times as they could. Much to her daughter’s chagrin, they averaged over three miles together each day! Some even resorted to walking up and down their driveway, at times reading a novel (work-related, I am sure), clearing thousands of daily steps while never leaving the site of their homes.

Ain’t No Step Count High Enough

But the person who earned the respect of pedestrians everywhere was Ms. Tracy O’Connell. Not only did she reach the maximum number of steps each day, but she came in 1^st among the 338 participants from Stillwater. Tracy managed to walk 10 miles each day, reaching the 20,000 daily step maximum even while on her family vacation to Michigan!

Now that the competition is over, we asked our champion Tracy what she thought about her experience. Here’s what she had to say: “I am mostly a couch potato. Reading a book with a drink (coffee, tea, wine, etc.) in hand and a pet on my lap is how I would spend all my waking hours, if given the choice. At least until my competitive spirit is roused. Walk this May lights that fire in me (under me?). I made the mistake of starting the month with the maximum number of steps allowed each day and just couldn’t let that streak go. Several days were particularly challenging due to a road trip of almost 3,000 miles. Now that it is over, I am trying to keep myself accountable for 10k steps per day, but I might need another challenge to keep it going long term.”

Finally, our intern John Moss put together an interactive visualization of the contest using Tableau that allows you to follow our high-stepping wayfarers all throughout the month. Check it out below!

The post Walk This May: A Tableau Data Viz appeared first on InterWorks.

As we hit refresh on a new month, new year and new decade, it makes sense for us to look back on the road that brought us to where we are currently. When we think about all the changes that have taken place in tech over the last decade, one of the biggest shifts has been the presence and increasing power of the cloud.

To examine the impact of the cloud and cloud-based solutions on the IT side of our business, I recently talked with Regional IT Practice Lead Scott Matlock and Systems Engineer Tim Rhymer about the progress the cloud has brought to tech and what we can expect for the future.

How the Cloud Has Changed IT

How has the cloud changed the landscape of tech?

SM: Ultimately, it has boosted accessibility. Everything is much more universal, centralized and streamlined. Updates are more streamlined and often automated in the cloud, which reduces the worry of programs growing out of date and suffering from poor performance. Practically speaking, when dealing with physical hardware, the migration and update processes are time-intensive and hard on storage capacities. In contrast, when utilizing the cloud, those headaches are removed with automatic updates and storage being limited only by budget. One of the first things we shifted to the cloud was email. It’s convenient, easy to use, benefits us from a financial standpoint, and we can continually manage and monitor it without the stress.

What are some of the biggest benefits of harnessing the power of the cloud for IT?

SM: In moving to the cloud, many of the worries of hardware are alleviated. You don’t have to purchase, maintain or house as much hardware. Cutting down on things like servers, licensing, network pipelines, networking and switching saves money and streamlines processes. Hardware never gets old when everything is kept in the cloud. Ease of expansion is also increased thanks to the cloud. If you need more storage, you click a button and get more. You’re not limited by space; the only limit in the cloud is your budget. This opens up even more possibilities for the work you can do.

TR: In addition to eliminating hardware headaches, the power and resilience of the cloud is a huge advantage to users. There is a menu of options you can choose from to meet your needs, guaranteeing your satisfaction, rather than having a setup built for you and reworked or added onto every time you need to expand or incorporate a new option. The speed of the cloud has also changed the game. The reality of upgrades and migrations being completed in hours rather than days or weeks frees up resources for organizations and their personnel, allowing more opportunities to go out and do the real work.

The future is nearly limitless thanks to the cloud. It allows us to grow beyond what we could if we were just sitting around and running server environments. The cloud is possibility, and the prospect of harnessing its potential more and more in the future is exciting.

What are some historic concerns with the cloud? Have these concerns been resolved?

SM: In the beginning, “cloud” was a buzz word, and people didn’t really understand it. There were fears it would make tech professionals obsolete and take their jobs from them. But once we grasped that that wasn’t the case, and instead the cloud was taking things to the next level, the notion of the cloud became a lot less scary.

One thing that’s always a concern, especially when deploying new solutions, is security. Moving from physical objects that you can see and have sole control over to the cloud, which is more intangible and ultimately puts you at the mercy of someone else, can be a daunting prospect. But this fear can be assuaged with things like backups or hybrid approaches to data storage.

Another consideration in tech is that when you’re on the cutting edge of something, it’s difficult to know what its vulnerabilities are. There can be missing pieces or vulnerable areas that haven’t been seen yet. This is a general challenge, not unique only to the cloud, but at InterWorks, we strive to overcome this by learning every best practice we can and vetting every new solution as thoroughly as possible. But sometimes you do have to go back and offer other services to address some of those missing pieces. It’s just part of the process.

The Power of Cloud-Based Solutions

When did cloud-based solutions become prominent in InterWorks offerings?

SM: Our first real venture into the cloud was with email, which was kind of a no-brainer. Antivirus programs have been in the “cloud” for a long time, and over time, cloud-based offerings became more and more prevalent and viable. Eventually, we found our way into partnerships with companies like Rackspace and AWS, partners that we really trust and believe in enough to endorse them ourselves and offer to our clients. Now, offering solutions through some kind of cloud interface is commonplace, and new developments arise every day.

What are some interesting cloud-based solutions currently offered by InterWorks?

TR: We’re able to host Tableau Server in virtually any cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP and Rackspace). Our ServerCare offering works well on-prem and in the cloud. We’re seeing more and more people beginning to consider a shift into a hybrid architecture, where some things are in the traditional data center while others are in the cloud. InterWorks can help in both of those areas. Office 365 has replaced Exchange as an email provider for many customers, and when it comes to security and backing up data, the Global Data Vault is a great solution capable of replicating on-prem or other cloud backups.

How have cloud-based solutions changed the work we do and how we do it?

SM: Beyond the accessibility and scalability inherent in the cloud, offering cloud-based solutions has given us more opportunities to serve clients in new and different ways. When a client reaches out to us about migrating a server environment or hosting something in the cloud, we’re able to support them in that, and many times, this leads to a relationship we can build upon. It’s rewarding to be able to take on these kinds of cloud-based projects, but when a client comes back and needs something more—like migrating email, networking or other services—we’re able to be that consistent partner who can keep meeting their needs, both in and out of the cloud.

The Limitless Future of the Cloud

How do you see cloud-based solutions growing and evolving in the future?

SM: One thing that will have to improve is the speed and reliability of the internet. It’s frustrating when a poor internet connection interrupts your work in the cloud. I anticipate that companies will move toward having fewer local networking solutions, potentially having only an internet line. At that point, really nothing is being maintained other than operating expenses. Hopefully, this will simplify the ways people can manage their IT environments.

Why does the cloud matter? Where would we be without it?

SM: It matters because it’s here, and it’s not going away. Whether it’s Alexa or Siri, that’s all the cloud. It’s our reality. Without it, we would be stagnating drastically as far as IT innovation is concerned. The cloud has opened up virtually unlimited amounts of expansion, storage, compute power and more. Things you couldn’t really do or maintain on your own—now you can do those things.

Ten More Years of Progress and Possibility

The future is nearly limitless thanks to the cloud. It allows us to grow beyond what we could if we were just sitting around and running server environments. The cloud is possibility, and the prospect of harnessing its potential more and more in the future is exciting.

Are you interested in learning more about the cloud? Maybe you need support navigating some of your current cloud-based solutions or you’re looking to migrate. InterWorks can help! Reach out today, and let’s talk about how we can help you step in the future you want.

Contact Us

The post To Infinity and Beyond: The Power of the Cloud in IT appeared first on InterWorks.

My kids are terrible at doing their chores. Each day, my highly organized wife leaves a list of items that must be accomplished before the younglings are allowed to breach the lock screen of their mobile devices. Each day, I walk in anticipating the majestic tones of children’s voices echoing throughout the house, insisting the chores were completed as instructed. However, I return home from work only to find the contents of the dishwasher strewn about the countertop, the back patio still scattered with leaves and twigs, or piano and trombone practice books still tucked nicely into backpacks.

My initial reaction each time is to punish: quarantine the phone, abolish privileges, shed any semblance of kindness until the chores are completed in as thoroughly as I myself would have done. It must be a defect in the behavior of these youths to think the work they have performed meets the standards that are clearly outlined in my mind, right?

The Need for Standard Operating Procedures

I am a manager here at InterWorks. I lead a team of highly talented engineers who need very little instruction to perfectly complete a complex task. They need so little intervention from me that I can spend hours writing a blog, ignoring my email and logging out of my phone, all while remaining confident the work is being executed beyond all expectations. If, for some reason, an assignment was not performed exceptionally, I don’t question the ability of the team member—I question the process. Why do I treat my kids differently?

Our first reaction when something is not being done in a way that meets expectations should be to question the process, not the individual.

If we have clearly outlined the process and expected outcome of the task, anyone should be able to meet those expectations. Standard operating procedures, or SOPs, are simply step-by-step processes for completing a common task. It sounds so industrial, so corporate-y, but in all honesty, every task has an SOP. It may be in the mind of the delegator or scratched out in a poorly transcribed email, but every task has a step one, step two, etc. Laying these tasks out in a procedural manner ensures the job is done in the most efficient way, guaranteeing the best quality and consistency in the outcome.

Step One: Break Down the Task or Job

List out every detail, every step, every piece of material that must be used to complete the task. If there is a piece of hardware that is needed, include it. Who is responsible for completing the task? Where should the task be done? How frequently should it be completed, or how long should it take to complete? What is the expected outcome of the task? This step should be a culmination of every single detail that will ensure the job is accurately completed.

Step Two: Question Every Detail

Now that you have all the steps, hardware and materials listed out, review every single step and question if it is imperative in the process. Are there times when something is being double-handled when it could be combined with another task? Is there a step that could be removed, or could the steps be reordered to more efficiently produce the same outcome? What about your environmental factors? Are your expectations of who will complete the task correct, and are you considering them when creating this SOP?

Step Three: Get a Partner

You should never write an SOP alone. Not because you can’t handle the project solo because I’m sure you can! But you need a partner to test your process and help verify that you have the most efficient and concise process documented. Have them perform the task using your SOP and ensure the outcome meets expectation. Next, gather any feedback on the process and adjust if needed. Test again to see if the process improves.

Step Four: Continue to Adapt

Your SOPs should continue to evolve and improve. The process should be vetted regularly to authenticate the validity of the procedure. Have hardware or materials evolved, has the environment changed, is the expected outcome still the same?

When done correctly, anyone should be able to use the SOP to complete a task with little to no additional instruction. After the person performs the task using the beginning SOP, they should move onto an advanced SOP. The advanced SOP hits the high points that someone better acquainted with the task can use to certify expectations are still being met.

Creating Opportunities for Future Improvement

Once you have documented the process and thoroughly confirmed the task can be done by others using the methods outlined in the SOP, you have now eliminated the process as the primary reason the job is not meeting expectations. Now, it is time to tighten up your managerial/parental belt and deal with the other possible underlying causes. But I think I’ll save that for another article…

Note: This is a high-level overview of creating basic SOPs. There is a plethora of resources available on the internet, including templates, tips and examples. Search it up!

The post You Down with SOP? appeared first on InterWorks.

The consequence of a dynamic environment is the need to know it all, or at least the perceived need to know more than anyone else. That is what makes one consultant shine over all the others – a perception that our knowledge is greater than that of our competition. Most often the reality is that our ability to adapt and learn quickly and effectively is of much greater importance than our already contained knowledge.

What do you do when you don’t know? How do you sell yourself as an expert when your eyes have never seen, hands have never touched the technology? In IT, the landscape is constantly evolving. Resting on your laurels is a surefire way to fall to the bottom of the slag heap. Vendors also feel the pressure to constantly evolve. This constant flow of changes means the technologist’s job is not only to support what is there but to know what is coming and how to support it before your client even asks.

When presented with a need to obtain rapid knowledge of a technology, I tend to follow a few guiding principals that ensure the material is not only learned but retained.

1. Understand the Ultimate Goal of the Technology

If the product is a new version of something you already know, what was the need addressed with the change? If the technology is new to you, what does it hope to accomplish in making your or your clients’ lives easier? I mean, that is the point of technology – to make our lives easier, right?

2. Use the EDGE

My son is a Boy Scout. They utilize a teaching and learning method called EDGE. EDGE stands for Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, Enable. Using this method incorporates all learning styles into a single flow of information gathering.

• Explain: Have the information explained to you so you understand what you will be doing. Again, what is the goal of learning this technology? Ask tons of questions. You will never know if you don’t ask.
• Demonstrate: Learn how to use the technology. Read white papers, watch videos, get your hands dirty on a test system. Most vendors provide great training materials for their products; use them!
• Guide: Show someone else how to use the technology. Personally, I cannot fully grasp a technology by just reading and watching videos. I need to demonstrate the product to someone to ensure I know it well enough to explain everything needed to my clients.
• Enable: Time to shine! If you are a trainer, now is when you would set your little ducklings free to tackle the world. If you are a learner, now you should have the skills necessary to talk with your client about the technology.

3. Don’t Stop Learning or Doing!

Nothing erodes faster than an idle mind. Unused skills become unknown skills. You must not only stay on the forefront of the product’s evolution, but you must also use your newly acquired skills to retain the EDGE you worked so hard to hone.

Obviously, learning styles are as personal as pizza topping preferences. This method works for me. It works for my 11-year-old son. While, in the end, I may not be the MOST knowledgeable about a topic, using this path helps me feel confident when putting my self on the line as an expert. By having a solid foundation, I can build confidence in my client that they have placed their trust in the right consultant.

The post Learning Technology on the EDGE appeared first on InterWorks.

On a recent early-morning bike ride with a good friend and co-worker, I found myself defending my choice to use a VPN on all my personal devices. I realized that my arguments were anything but iron clad and while I could mentally justify the added protection, I could not even begin to explain why I would need such a thing. Who am I to think my personal information is important enough to justify the added expense of funneling all my internet traffic through an encrypted server located in another country?

I promised him at that point that I would write a blog in an attempt to explain my choice and try to prove why you should be using a VPN too.

First Things First, What Is a VPN?

A VPN is a virtual private network that uses a public network to connect users and computers. It encrypts the data leaving your device, ensuring that anyone who intercepts the digital content cannot read it. Think of it like a private road that only you can drive down with walls on the top and bottom, so no one can look in. (I think I just described a tunnel …)

Many businesses use VPNs to allow remote employees to access company resources from outside of the corporate network. It creates a secured tunnel into the network from the user’s machine ensuring nothing falls into the wrong hands.

Aside from your office providing a VPN tunnel into their network, many companies on the internet have begun selling VPN services that allow the general public to route the traffic of their digital world through servers that they have either set up or contracted with all over the world. This means that if you connect your mobile device to a third-party VPN service, you will receive an internet address from the country you route your traffic through. At that point, my computer appears as though it is sitting, not at my home, behind my local ISP’s router, but in the country or city where I chose to connect. More on why this is cool later.

Because the data that is sent out over the VPN tunnel is encrypted from end to end, anyone that was to intercept the traffic can do nothing with it. This is extra important in this day and age when everything is online, from your bank, to the DMV, to your medical records. Much of your private, personal information is being accessed from your computer or mobile device, and most of us have never considered how easy it would be for someone to swipe those packets of data from your insecure internet or wireless access point.

Have you ever joined a public WiFi network at a coffee shop, restaurant or other establishment? You cannot begin to know what level of protection that company has set on their device that is hosting your free access to the web. Chances are, little to no measures are in place, so you are on your own to secure your data.

Another great reason to use a VPN is to access websites that you may not be able to browse to from the country you are located. Case in point, the Tour de France just wrapped up. The U.S. coverage of the sport is spotty and less than stellar. I know many other countries offer free streams of the race, so I told my VPN to connect to a country with free streaming and now my computer looks as though I am sitting in a flat in East London. I did not miss a moment of the action and did not have to pay the unreasonable fee to the U.S. television station selling season passes to watch the race.

One final reason you may want to consider a VPN is to protect yourself if you download media (presumably legally) via torrents. I downloaded one video several years back of an episode of a television show I could not find streaming online. Weeks later, I received a letter from our local ISP with a decree to remove all downloaded material, torrent software and illegal streaming services from my PC. Needless to say, it spooked me. I did as the letter demanded and I have not touched a torrent service since. If I were to ever consider installing such a service again, I would ensure I was shielded behind a VPN.

What Makes a Good VPN?

I have tried a bunch and there are several things to look for. First, consider the price. You should expect to pay some money for a service. While there are free VPNs, they typically have very small data limits, or they are on unreliable servers where speed is not guaranteed. They also typically log the user’s data. The last thing you want to do is connect to a VPN to protect yourself but not be able to surf the internet because the data transfer rate is too slow.

Look for a service that has lots of remote servers or exit locations. If a service only provides servers in the U.S., you will not be able to use it for getting around U.S. streaming restrictions. Typically, you want a VPN service that has servers located in a variety of countries.

Finally, look for a service that does not log your browsing history. This is important because a government entity can subpoena or request data from a VPN provider. No data logged, nothing to give. Whether or not you are doing anything nefarious, it begs to reason you are using a VPN for the anonymity of the service and logging is extremely counter to that concept. Some countries are more privacy-friendly than others. Romania has long been considered one of the most privacy-friendly nations. A VPN located in this country (the service I use and will talk about below) is hypothetically more secure and less likely to be influenced to give up any user data.

What VPN Do I Use?

I have tested almost every free and fee-based VPN out there. Recently, I settled on CyberGhost VPN for a myriad of reasons. As I mentioned above, reliability of free VPNs is often questionable. I wanted a service with solid performance and speed while meeting the other objectives laid out above. Review after review listed CyberGhost as a leader in both speed and number of exit locations, as well as a veritable HARD ASS when it comes to protecting their user’s data. They do not log any identifiable information and, being based in Romaina, are under no obligation to provide the logs to any government entities that request it.

“Log data: CyberGhost keeps no logs which enable interference with your IP address, the moment or content of your data traffic.We make express reference to the fact that we do not record in logs communication contents or data regarding the accessed websites or the IP addresses.

CyberGhost VPN records exclusively for statistical purposes non-personal data (such as for example, data regarding the utilization degree of the servers), which do not represent in any moment a danger for your anonymity. Such serve exclusively for the improvement of the service quality.”

The next contributing factor for me was that CyberGhost built what they call a no-spy proxy data center using an Indiegogo campaign. Since 2014, the NSA-proof datacenter has been fully functional and secure. By doing this, CyberGhost has COMPLETE control of the encryption process from end to end, including the hardware, protocols and facilities, ensuring the highest level of security and protection.

For less than $50.00, I was able to sign up for a year of CyberGhost Unlimited and put VPN tunnels on up to seven devices. The mobile device is easy to use, as is the Windows app, each with dedicated profiles for the most common uses for VPN users.

When testing speed, my computer and mobile experienced the same network speeds on and off the VPN. This was one of the biggest factors for me, as many of the services I tried before would greatly reduce, if not cut, my data speeds in half.

Getting to the Point

In one paragraph, here is the answer I tried to convey in my ramblings above. The internet is a big and scary place. While you may not think your banking info or medical records would be very valuable to someone, they don’t know that until they have stolen it and damaged you in some way. Stop it before it happens by encrypting your internet traffic with a VPN. Just like LifeLock protects your social security number and credit information, a VPN is insurance for your internet privacy.

If you are interested in trying CyberGhost, hit me up and I will send you a 30-day trial invitation so you can try it for yourself (only three available). One more thing, I have not been paid or endorsed to write this blog by CyberGhost or any affiliates. It is just who I chose after the great VPN trials of ‘18.

The post Hidden in Plain Sight: Why You Should Use a VPN appeared first on InterWorks.

This is the second part in a two-part series on securing your personal data on the web.

In part one, I discussed securing your email, web browser and search engine with a variety of tools and techniques that will begin blocking unwanted collection of your personal data. In part two, I take on the beast of social media.

I started by deleting my Myspace account. Actually, I was surprised that I still had a Myspace account, but a quick guess of my email and reset of password proved I was still firmly profiled in the world of 2006. When deleting my account on the long-past-its-prime social site, it demands a reason for the termination. I did not even flinch before clicking “I am worried about my privacy.” Thanks for not making me lie, Myspace. Best thing you ever did.

While I would love to continue the trend of deleting accounts, I still use Facebook (albeit, very rarely), Twitter and Instagram. These sites would require a much more extensive course of security scrutiny to allow me to sleep in peace.

Facebook

With GDPR and the recent testimony of Mark Zuckerburg on Capitol Hill, changes have been made to the security features of the sites making it somewhat easier to control what is shared. Clicking on the security settings in Facebook, I enabled 2FA and reset my password. It is a good idea to examine the “Where you are logged in” section and make sure you are aware of every device listed. I was a little scared to see an iPhone 6 logged into Facebook from Mexico City, Mexico. It only later occurred to me that my VPN, another security item I will not be addressing in the post, was probably routing traffic to a server there. Nonetheless, I logged out of anything I did not need or know and moved onto the Privacy section.

I changed the settings on each item to limit the people who could see my posts from Public to either just My Friends or Only Me. I also disabled the setting that allows search engines outside of Facebook to link to my profile.

I worked my way through each section of the Facebook settings, disabling, tweaking and erasing items that I felt violated my digital halo. I turned off the ad tracking as much as I was able. This is how Facebook makes money. They will never NOT advertise to you. My hope is that some of these settings will limit how much is collected from other sites and activities.

The section that took me the most time to adjust was the Apps and Websites section. This section lists any apps that you have used Facebook Single Sign On to log into in the past. While this feature is handy, I mean I am already logged into Facebook, it is only fuel thrown onto the fire. Here is the key, however: You cannot just simply unauthorize each of these apps. You need to contact each of the companies and have the account transferred to a standard account. Most of the time I was able to just do a password reset using the email address associated with my Facebook account and it would allow me to set a new password. I then unauthorized the app in the Facebook settings and moved on. One could spend a day on Facebook settings alone. I did, trust me.

Instagram

Instagram, while owned by Facebook, was much more concise in their settings. I enabled 2FA, per usual, and revoked the two apps I had authorized to use Instagram login, apparently years ago. I tuned my email and SMS subscriptions.

You may wish to make your account private. This requires you to authorize any followers and blocks your photos from view by people other than your followers. Of the three sites, Instagram was the easiest to adjust.

Twitter

Moving on to Twitter, I WANTED to turn on 2FA, but each time I clicked on the Start page, nothing happened. Tried in a different browser, nothing. Tried from my phone, still not working. I will come back to that I suppose.

Under Privacy and Safety, you can go nuts! There is so much to adjust. Protect your tweets, turn off location on your tweets (and delete location information from your old tweets), adjust your discoverability on the internet and disable content personalization if you wish.

I chose to disable my personalization and data settings to limit how Twitter personalizes content to me by collecting my reading and following trends. Again, this will not stop Twitter from advertising to me, but it will limit what Twitter can collect. It will undoubtedly make the ads served to me less personal, but I honestly try REALLY hard to never click on an ad or fall for a promoted tweet. If it makes it easier for me to do that by delivering me less-relevant promotions, I welcome the change.

The next thing I did was to remove all the contacts from my Twitter account that had been imported from my phone (Find Friends setting). I decided that I did not want to pull this information into my social world, as inevitably my contact’s data will be collected and exploited by these social media giants. I did not feel it was fair of me to put their data out there, essentially without their consent.

Once again I culled the list of apps that were authorized to log in with my Twitter credentials. One thing to note here: If you have an app that compiles your social sites such as Flipboard, revoking access will kill this. Keep that in mind when editing your list. Unfortunately, much like the 2FA, trouble arose while trying to revoke app access.

This time, a (very temporary) switch to Internet Explorer allowed the change to occur. Maybe it was a setting switch from my previous blog that caused the error, nonetheless the app accesses were revoked.

The final thing I did on Twitter was to examine the section labeled “Your Twitter Data.” Here you can review and edit the entire history of your Twitter existence. Many of the headings relate to areas visited earlier in the cleanup process, but there you can see even more data that Twitter has collected and assumed about you based on your compiled virtual profile. If you think about this too long, you will undoubtedly freak.

This mission could continue indefinitely. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are obviously not the only social media sites out there, not to mention the thousands of long-forgotten web presences you and I have established over the short existence of the internet. What about mobile devices or the IoT (Internet of things)? It is unfathomable to even assume you could erase yourself from the web, but a little diligence and precaution going forward could grant a dash of personal preservation.

The post The Internet Will Eat Me: Part 2 – I Still Have a Myspace appeared first on InterWorks.

This started as a short blog on my paranoia and quickly escalated. I am breaking it into two parts, describing a small piece of my exaggerated plunge into the depths of personal data security on the internet.

If you read my last blog, you may have witnessed something profound. A few days after the last keystroke on the piece, what started as a “book report” on a podcast I had binged the previous weekend, I began a slide into a dark, scary place. The place I found myself tumbling into (slowly at first, then at terminal velocity) was that of the security of my personal information on the internet. Even the typing of those words solicits a chill down my spine, a numbness in my spirit, a lack of will to even continue with this blog. Alas, my experience should be documented. Not only because the rules of data will probably change again in the coming months, but because, just maybe, my paranoia will make your life that much easier and safer.

Spurred by the GDPR

In my last piece, I discussed the GDPR. I am not going to dig deep here, you can just Google (or not, more on that later) the GDPR and learn anything you want to know about the European Union’s new policy that ultimately affects us all. The takeaway here is that the GDPR is (probably) good. It makes the data collected by companies visible and available to us. The question I ask myself now that the information is more visible:

“What do I do with that?”

This is by no means a compressive list of things you must or should do to protect yourself. This is intended to get you started on your journey of internet security. Someone could work days, months, or even years and never completely shield themselves from the massive data-suck that is the internet. The following experiences I describe are meant to trigger your desire to protect your own information. You must ultimately be in control of your digital life and the level of paranoia you allow yourself to experience.

Cleaning Up Email

The first thing I did was open my email deleted items folder, as I described in that previous blog. A quick search for “Terms of Service” turned up, well, nothing actually. “Update,” nope. “GDPR,” nada. This was going to be more challenging than I thought.

A quick scroll to the bottom of the folder revealed the problem. No messages older than a week were in the trash. Clearly, a previous settings purge was responsible. Lesson one: Pay attention to your email before you delete it.

Unable to heed my advice from the previous article, I resolved to be more diligent on the messages I receive each day and determine one by one if I need that online account. After perusing my junk mail and deleted items and monitoring my inbox for a few days, I was able to close out or unsubscribe from many services that I no longer use. Apple Mail has made it easier to unsubscribe by adding a banner to the top of a message they detect as a mailing list.

Gmail has a similar feature.

Almost immediately, my inbox was staying cleaner, clearer and under control! Each day, I get less and less spam, and while it may not be doing much for my online data, it is making me feel less cluttered and freer.

While I was logged into my email, I verified that two-factor authentication was turned on. 2FA, as it is often referred, adds a layer of protection to your accounts. Many services are migrating to 2FA availability, including banks, social media outlets, blogs, etc. Two-factor authentication usually works by sending a code to a mobile device via SMS or with an app. You must then enter that code on the website before you can log in. This obviously adds an extra layer of protection for your identity and data on these services. If it is available, you should turn it on.

Apple recently turned it on for all iCloud customers by default. You can get all the details on Apple 2FA here.

Gmail does not have it on by default, but a few clicks had me quickly secured. I also changed my password, as it had been over 1.5 years since it had last been done.

Tweaking Additional Account Settings

With my email accounts secured, I moved on to additional account settings. Google has a few tools that you should take advantage of. The Privacy Checkup tool walks you through a wizard that allows you to determine what information you want to share with Google and the world. It is obviously up to you what you want to share.

You should read about each of the settings and whether or not turning it off will affect your normal workflow. While many of the items are clearly used for marketing and ad targeting, some are used in apps such as Google Maps and YouTube and turning it off could cause issues. Make a note of everything you disable so you can revert if the need arises. In my paranoia, I disabled everything for now.

I also deleted my Google+ account. I honestly had completely forgotten about Google+. My last post was a link to an article about the Shake Weight in 2011. I don’t think having the G+ account is doing me much good at this point.

Revisiting Browser Settings

After about an hour of clicking around, I felt somewhat better about my Google settings. I stopped using Chrome a few months back for no reason other than some specific sites I visited stopped working with a recent update. Chrome is the dominant web browser of the world with over 62% of the desktop market share. No one even comes close to that number. It is a good browser and has served me well for years, but it has a history of privacy issues that should solicit pause (Source 1, Source 2 …). It is produced by Google, and as with anything Google, ad revenue and data collection are the primary goals. I switched to Mozilla Firefox because of their openness and dedication to internet security and protecting your data.

I did not just install Firefox and forget it, NO! I am a paranoid android and I want to be as secure as possible. Here are a few things I did to protect myself in Firefox:

1. I started by changing my default search engine to DuckDuckGo. Simply stated, DuckDuckGo is a search engine that does not track you.
2. Second, I installed a browser extension called HTTPS Everywhere. This extension forces websites to use HTTPS and encrypt the traffic flowing back and forth from the site.
3. I use private windows or Incognito mode, as it is called in Chrome, when possible. When you use private browsing, the browser does not save data from the sites you visit. They are very clear to point out, a private window does not make you invisible on the internet. You should not use the setting thinking you are anonymous.
4. Enable tracking protection in Firefox. This setting blocks the sites from collecting information about you for their own gain.
5. Finally, browse the settings of your browser, particularly the Privacy and Security section. Adjust your settings as you see fit but understand that some things will break certain websites. As I suggested above, note what you change and revert if needed. I found that disabling all cookies made doing my job difficult, so I reverted the setting but chose to have it clear the cookies each time I close Firefox.

Again, these suggestions are not a compressive, must-do, end-all-be-all, cure-all-ills docket of obligatory actions. Your experience with each setting will vary and should be consumed with trepidation and trial. Document your changes, revert if something does not work and read/research on your own.

In part two, I will dive even deeper into despair as I attempt to curtail the dreaded social media monsters.

The post The Internet Will Eat Me: Part 1 – Email and Browser Settings appeared first on InterWorks.

I had prepared as best I could for the 12-hour drive home from my son’s Boy Scout camp in Colorado. Hours of audiobooks and podcasts would be my muse, keeping me alert while transporting 15 teenage kids back to their trusting parents. A newly released pod-drama commanded my study that Saturday morning the likes of hits such as “Limetown” and “Homecoming” had previously.

“Sandra,” starring Kristen Wiig and Alia Shawkat, was released by Gimlet Media on April 18, 2018, in an all-episodes-at-once offering. Listening to an audio-fiction podcast likens images of families gathered around a dresser-sized RCA on Sunday evening, intently focusing on the voice of Orson Wells as he dramatizes impending doom for cities all across the country. While the likelihood of mass hysteria is next to null, the entertainment delivered by these modern digital dramas will undoubtedly captivate and delight.

“Sandra” is the story of small-town America meets Silicon Valley when Helen starts her new job at Orbital Teledynamics and becomes the voice and brain behind Sandra, an Alexa, Siri, Google-like intelligent personal assistant. It is quickly revealed that the Sandra assistant is actually a conglomeration of humans, each versed in an extremely specific topic. When a user asks a question about birds, for instance (Helen’s area of knowledge), the session is routed to a specific, not-so-artificially-intelligent human to answer the query. The voice of the human counterpart is digitized and sent to the user allowing them to believe they are speaking with a computer, not a woman from Guymon, Oklahoma, sitting in a massive facility in the great Panhandle plains of the central United States.

Above: The lonely highway just outside of Guymon.

Helen, turns out, has an incredible ability to not only answer questions about birds but to develop a relationship with the user she is conversing with. This is encouraged by her mentor/manager because it ironically humanizes the computerized assistant to the customers leading to more acceptance and ultimately, more data collection. And that right there is why I am even talking about a podcast on an information technology blog.

As it turns out, data collection is the modus operandi of Orbital Teledynamics. Each time a user purchases something at a store, each time they travel to a new city, each time they search for something on the internet, that data is collected and stored. This affords OT unique vision into a user’s life and habits and shapes the storyline of “Sandra” going forward. In an attempt to avoid several spoilers, Helen violates the one rule of OT: Never INITIATE the communication with the user. She is only allowed to receive user-originated connections. When she reaches out to the former girlfriend of a user on her own accord, a series of events are triggered that bring into question how the data collected by the companies should and is used to control our lives.

Sound Familiar? Think GDPR.

No doubt your email inbox has been flooded with privacy policy updates over the last month or more in response to GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation. The GDPR forms part of the data protection regime in the United Kingdom, all part of the Data Protection Act of 2018. Essentially, the GDPR was conceived to give individuals in the European Union certain protections in regard to personally identifiable information, or PII. All personal data collected by a company or entity must be clearly disclosed as well as how long the data will be retained by that company, how it is shared with third-parties, and their ultimate purpose for collecting and housing that data.

Undoubtedly, you have received GDPR updates to privacy policies and you do not live in the European Union. Most companies find it easier to update their policy in a more general sense rather than have specific documents for Europe and other countries. If you received a GDPR update, that company most likely does work in the EU, and you are reaping the benefit of the more open model of data disclosure.

Each time you search the web, each time you summon your Echo or activate Siri, you are handing over information to the companies that provide those services to you. It is no mystery that Facebook and Google can and do provide their services for “free” because they are using our data for their monetarily gain! Targeted ads and suggestions are just on the surface of what can and is most likely being done with our data.

Here’s What You Can Do

We are in a unique time with the GDPR, and I want to encourage you to take advantage of this window. Go back through your email trash and find the privacy policy update emails that you previously ignored. If you received one from a company, your email is on file. Determine if you need that service any longer and if not, contact the company to remove or close your account. If you feel a company has or is doing something illicit with your personal data, you have the right to request erasure of your data. All of the details must be laid out in the updated privacy policy. Take the time to read the privacy policies and see what information is being collected from you and what is being done with it. Make the determination if it is worth the price.

Data is a massive industry and is only going to grow. Here at InterWorks, we consider ourselves a data company because we assist companies with storing, harvesting and visualizing data in the technology world. We are also all users of technology that do not wish to see our personal information end up in the hands of someone who wishes us harm. While regulations may change, it is still on you, the consumer of the service, to protect yourself. Be familiar with how your data is being used by companies and consider that each time you sign up for a “free” service, there is most assuredly a cost hidden in the fine print.

The post Sandra Wants Your Data appeared first on InterWorks.

I slammed the phone down a bit harder than the last time. I felt my face redden, the tendons in my neck tense and small beads of sweat erupt from just below my hairline. For the third time today, I had been tossed from human to human after listening closely because the menu items had changed, and I had pressed one for English only to wind up where I began: nowhere.

Multi-national corporations have us by the short hairs. We have little choice but to accept their gauntlet of support – their dreadful indignity. We keep calling. We continue to absorb the abuse, and our outrage thickens. If just once someone would break script and empathize with your plight, decades of malady could be swept under the rug of forgiveness. Chances are, you too will instead be slamming down your phone with ice in your veins.

I work in an industry of service. IT consulting promises one thing: inconsistency. One moment you are on top of the world having just solved the greatest mystery since the advent of sliced networks, the next you are 1000 miles below the ocean floor drowning in the toner cartridge of an aged laser printer. It is an emotional rollercoaster with a rusted metal track. It can oscillate between the most thankless and most rewarding job in a matter of minutes. These ups and downs fracture the one area that should remain consistent: the treatment of our clientele. Our vocation is nothing without the consumers of our services. In the simplest and most clichéd of terms, the customer comes first.

Above: Support frustration often conjures up images of empty call centers devoid of helpful people.

A Crash Course in Customer Service

The first job I had was a waiter. If I can pass one thing off to my kids, it is to be a waiter early in their working life. At the base level, waiting tables is a crash course in customer service. One cannot live on $2.13 an hour, so tips are expected to make up the difference. I could diverge here and discuss my honest thoughts on tipping, but when it comes down to it – you either provide good customer service or you don’t make money.

I worked at a now-defunct family diner in my hometown. While the town is small, there is a major university with a high focus on sports teams. Once, I remember a large crowd, 15-20 people, walking in the door 20 minutes before close. Many of the chairs had already been placed on the tables and mopping had begun. One of the people in the group was a well-known, well-respected coach at the university. I was a fan, so I was honestly excited to wait on this large group. My co-workers would finish the mopping and other closing duties and I would handle the waiting myself and collect what I imagined would be a significant tip to end the night.

Meals were ordered and drinks were delivered. I keyed in all the food selections and walked back into the kitchen to talk with the cooks. I had not anticipated their reaction to a 20-plate order being placed 10 minutes before the doors were to lock. Immediately, I felt their disdain. They slammed plates down, spoke (yelled) in a level clearly audible to anyone dining in the restaurant and were not shy to let me know of my role in their misery.

I felt my mood change. The feeling of hospitality vanished. I too was being inconvenienced by the audacity of these patrons traipsing in the door so late in the evening and expecting a high level of service. Subtly at first, my interactions with the party morphed. Maybe the smile vanished from my face, then my movements became a bit more exaggerated. Perhaps there was an air of animosity in my exchanges. As time progressed and the client requests became more abundant, the subtilty became blatancy. None of this was a conscious alteration in my behavior; it was a reaction to my environment.

When the night was done, an hour past close and the interlopers had departed, I was left to clean up the grot. I bussed plates and cups, muddled my hands with syrup and left-over applesauce and wiped tables clean. Suddenly it occurred to me – there was no tip. I had just spent one and a half hours catering to every need of these heathens and what I had to show for it was a thumb soaked in a bowl of cold grits, and $3.19 before taxes.

I have played the night over and over in my head for 20 years (I know, maybe I need therapy). I will never truly know why there was not a tip left. It could have been because they believed the tip was included in the bill, as many restaurants do for larger parties. Personally, I have chosen to believe that the reaction of the cooks and then my subsequent transmutation left the assemblage feeling slighted. They had not received the level of service that they expected or deserved and punished me via my wallet. It would not have taken much for me to bite my lip and tough it out for an hour. It could have meant a big bonus for my night, but instead, it was a lonely night and 20 years of memories.

Defining Good Service

What is good service to you? I bet it is the same for me. At the highest level, this is not typically something that differs from person to person. We want to be respected and acknowledged. It sounds so simple, so why is it so hard to get that level of consideration? As in the story above, my environment had evolved negatively. I was being bombarded with unproductive, uncooperative influences. I let it seep into my actions and affect not only me but everyone with whom I came into contact.

These negative influences are unavoidable. In a consulting world, people do not typically call because they are happy that their email is down; they call expecting immediate resolution to a problem you should have already known about. You can take their charged interaction and turn it back on them, or you can empathize with their situation and calm the waters before they begin to boil. Acknowledge their frustration; let them know this is now your top priority. Make them feel like you have merely been sitting there waiting for them to call. They are your only client.

It may take the biting of a tongue or the swallowing of pride, but in the end, you will be tipped with gratitude. At InterWorks, we call our service White Glove. Not terribly creative, I know, but it is what we strive to provide. When we run our gloved hand over the issues that were addressed today, does the finger come back clean? Clients don’t get shuffled from technician to technician when they call in. If it is not your regular client, it does not matter; today they are.

One thing that has been a focus of late is our method of communication with the user. More than half of the incoming requests arrive to us via email. It is exceedingly simple to reply to that message with troubleshooting steps and wait for a return message with results. Soon, we find ourselves 10 emails deep in a thread, repeating things that were described several messages back, weaving a web of confusion. If the technician had picked up the phone after the first back and forth, perhaps the issue could have been rectified expeditiously, leaving the client with a feeling of importance and respect.

Above: It’s important to know that there are actual, relatable humans on the IT support side.

The Importance of Service-Minded Partnerships

At InterWorks we value our partnerships. We don’t just jump into a relationship with a vendor for the sake of the name. They need to be more than a shiny box or snappy marketing campaign. With most of our partners, we regularly find ourselves in technical conversations while troubleshooting or testing a solution. If the support we receive is not up to par, it causes delays, confusion and possibly even a consultant who is no longer willing to implement the solution.

I have blogged about ESET in the past. Sorry to do it once again, but I must salute their customer service. ESET is a large company with 1300 employees and around 580 million in revenue. They are headquartered in Bratislava with their U.S. headquarters in San Diego. You would think a company of this size would send support seekers down a “your call is important to us” wormhole, but that is not the case. When you call or chat with ESET, you can typically talk with a tech very quickly. They often resolve my issue or answer my question within five minutes of reaching out. Do they always fix the problem on the first call? No, but I have never been told that I will be contacted by subsequent tiers of support and that not actually occur.

What does this do for me? I don’t dread the call to ESET support. I do not hesitate to reach out, potentially spinning my wheels on a problem, for fear of the level of service I will receive. They have made me feel important and respected, no matter the silliness of the topic I produce. It would have taken one second on the first call I had with ESET to sour their reputation and defeat any future process or partnership with our company. It only takes one sentence for you to annihilate or cultivate a valuable relationship with your client.

Take away this, if nothing else: You are the voice of your company. How you present yourself, how the employees represent the company, is the ONLY thing you are selling. A more superior product has never and will never be developed.

The post Superior IT Service in a Service-Weary World appeared first on InterWorks.