Quercus IT Blog

Quercus IT has been serving the Edmonton area since 2005, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Five Steps Your Organization Must Take to Keep Your Data Safe

Five Steps Your Organization Must Take to Keep Your Data Safe

Keeping your data safe is extremely important. More precedence has been put on data privacy and security in recent times as phishing and ransomware litter the landscape. Unauthorized access to data can lead to severe consequences. The methods employed by cybercriminals today are more sophisticated than ever; and it quite often allows them to breach organizational data security. Today, we thought we would take a look at a few strategies people are using to protect their data. 

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A VPN Can Be a Useful Tool in Your Cybersecurity Efforts

A VPN Can Be a Useful Tool in Your Cybersecurity Efforts

It can’t come as a surprise that businesses are starting to grow concerned about the potential of getting hit by a cyberattack. Just look at what's happening out there. Literally millions of hackers trying to enter, steal, and sell your business’ data. To help protect their data, businesses should consider the adoption of a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which adeptly conceals data during its transit. Let's take a look into some of the most compelling reasons why your business should embrace the use of a VPN.

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Hacked Social Media Accounts Are Bad for Your Business

Hacked Social Media Accounts Are Bad for Your Business

Social media has become deeply ingrained in today’s culture, from business to personal connection. Businesses stake their reputation on the platforms, and individuals and families use them to connect with one another in ways they never were able to before. This is why it’s so scary to think about what would happen if an account were hacked or taken over.

Let’s look at how social media hacks are disruptive and potentially catastrophic to a business owner.

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Explaining the Many Types of Metadata Your Business Might Use

Explaining the Many Types of Metadata Your Business Might Use

Data informs decision making, and your business creates countless data throughout the course of its operations. However, metadata—or data about data—offers a unique opportunity to businesses that understand how it works, particularly in the realm of business intelligence (BI) or business analytics (BA). Let’s discuss the importance of metadata and what your company can glean from it.

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Metadata is the Biggest Commodity You’ve Never Heard Of

Metadata is the Biggest Commodity You’ve Never Heard Of

It has become evident over the past several years that understanding how to use all the data that your business creates and obtains has been viewed from many different angles. Metadata is all the underlying information about data.

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The Global Annual Cost of Cybercrime Will Break $10 Trillion by 2025

The Global Annual Cost of Cybercrime Will Break $10 Trillion by 2025

Security is a major pain point for businesses of all industries and sizes, and the numbers reflect this. Here are some of the most notable statistics we could find that prove just how important security is to not just your business, but all businesses.

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How to Protect Your Business from Cyberattacks

How to Protect Your Business from Cyberattacks

The other day, we talked about an assortment of security issues that could very well cause harm to your business if you aren’t prepared for them. We wanted to continue that conversation and discuss the things that you need to be sure are done so you are, in fact, prepared.

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The Problems that Ransomware Causes are Extensive and Frustrating

The Problems that Ransomware Causes are Extensive and Frustrating

Businesses face a lot of threats, but ransomware stands out amongst them all. It’s certainly one of the scariest threats out there, as it seems we need to include it every time we discuss cyberthreats. Unfortunately, we really do need to, for one simple reason.

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Research by Mozilla Shows Today’s Cars are Terrible, in Terms of Privacy

Research by Mozilla Shows Today’s Cars are Terrible, in Terms of Privacy

Today’s cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles are packed with features, many of which heavily lean on technology in order to operate. While these new vehicles and all their new capabilities are certainly appealing to today’s consumer, it needs to be said that one key aspect of technology has not been improved as these vehicles have been innovated upon.

That one key aspect? Security.

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Recent Data Shows Surprising Trends in Cybercrime Victimization

Recent Data Shows Surprising Trends in Cybercrime Victimization

When it comes to who is victimized in cybercriminal efforts, there may be a few stereotypes and presumptions that a lot of people may hold. A recent report, Oh, Behave!, released by the National Cybersecurity Alliance and Cybsafe, shows that the real victims of many forms of cybercrime aren’t who many would expect.

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Understanding the Blockchain and Its Business Ramifications

Understanding the Blockchain and Its Business Ramifications

You see the word “blockchain” all the time in relation to cryptocurrencies and NFTs, but do you know what it actually means? This is but a small portion of what a blockchain encompasses, and we’re here to discuss today what this technology is capable of.

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Take Data Breach Seriously Before It’s Too Late

Take Data Breach Seriously Before It’s Too Late

Whenever you see a data breach in the news, it’s never a good thing. Their impact ranges from minor to severe, and depending on the size and scope of the breach, it could even be bad enough to break a business. Let’s go over how you can keep your business from suffering from data leaks.

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Tip of the Week: Use People Graphs in Excel for Data Visualization

Tip of the Week: Use People Graphs in Excel for Data Visualization

With Microsoft Excel, you can use visuals to represent your data, providing greater context for the contents of your spreadsheets and making it easier to communicate what it all means. This week’s tip focuses on People Graphs, a feature that can be powerful when used appropriately.

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Centralized Data Storage is the Better Option. What’s Your Excuse?

Centralized Data Storage is the Better Option. What’s Your Excuse?

Are you sure that your business can control all of its data? Are you absolutely certain that it can be accessed when needed? Can you guarantee that it’s as secure as humanly possible, wherever it happens to be? You should be able to answer these questions with an unequivocal and resounding “yes,” yet central data management is far from a simple task.

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Data Warehousing is a Game Changer for SMBs

Data Warehousing is a Game Changer for SMBs

Most businesses create and hold a lot of data, much of which goes underutilized. Thanks to improved developments in data analytics and business intelligence, more businesses can take advantage of their data to make better decisions and improve operations, thereby increasing profits in the process. At the heart of these developments is data warehousing.

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How to Tell Your Hard Drive is About to Fail

How to Tell Your Hard Drive is About to Fail

Digital storage is one part of computing that has seen astronomical growth over the past several decades, and with the solid state drive (SSD) more affordable than ever, you have to wonder how well your old hard disk drive (HDD) is holding up. Despite the cost difference between the two, the HDD is a viable option, albeit a mechanical one that is prone to breakdown over time.

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What Can Businesses Learn from Schofield’s Laws of Computing?

What Can Businesses Learn from Schofield’s Laws of Computing?

We frequently write about topics in relation to business IT, but one that we have yet to cover is Schofield’s Laws of Computing. What are these laws, and what can businesses learn about them?

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Tip of the Week: How to Turn Your Excel Sheets into Heat Maps

Tip of the Week: How to Turn Your Excel Sheets into Heat Maps

My team and I are big fans of a good spreadsheet, just as a simple way of organizing and contextualizing your data. Therefore, we’re all for sharing some neat ways that you can make these visualizations even easier to communicate your findings through.

Let’s talk about how you can make your Excel spreadsheets into a heat map, giving you this kind of increased visibility.

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All Organizations Need to Take Ransomware Seriously

All Organizations Need to Take Ransomware Seriously

The headlines hyping up ransomware as a dangerous threat are not exaggerating. It really is as bad as it seems, although there is often a fair amount of embellished information on what ransomware exactly is and what it does. Let’s take some time to review what ransomware is and how your business can handle it in an appropriate way.

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Avoid Ransomware at All Costs

Avoid Ransomware at All Costs

It sincerely seems that every other day features news of another cyberattack, and it isn’t uncommon for the word “ransomware" to be tossed around an awful lot. Let’s take a few moments to go over—or review—what ransomware is, and arguably more importantly, how to handle any you or your team encounters.

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Quercus IT strives to provide the best comprehensive IT, Computer, and Networking services to small businesses. We can handle all of your organization's technology challenges.

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Edmonton, Alberta T5V 1J7

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