The Lighthouse IT Podcast - July 10th, 2020

Matt and Griffin discuss how Microsoft estimates that the global workforce will add 149 million new tech-oriented jobs by 2025, Free/Easy DNSSEC Upgrades for your site, Google's one year SSL certificates, Google testing feature to hide parts of the URL in Chrome’s address bar, and Reddit and Pinterest, It’s Time to Shine.

Listen here!

It's been some time since lockdowns were in place and businesses have now begun to re-open. With all the negative news that had been floating around, we have some perks coming from lockdown. Microsoft estimates that the global workforce will add 149 million new tech-oriented jobs by 2025. The job industry is shifting to roles that can be completed remotely. Other studies are showing that the automation space is expected to grow handily as well as remote workers are needing better workflows that rely less on manual and physical processes.

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - June 5th, 2020

Matt and Griffin are back as they discuss how Sign-in with Apple was much easier than we all thought, why it may be a good reason to upgrade to the dreaded Android 10,  and what updates Google has been making to the world of SEO.

Listen here!

Security News  

Apple Security News 

We’ve all used the log-in service on a website or app by supplying our Facebook or Google credentials. Just like these providers, the sign-in with Apple allows site visitors to use their Apple ID credentials to sign-in to other websites. 

A security research from Delhi, India has discovered an account takeover flaw in Apple's Sign-in with Apple system. These systems work by allowing you to login to a popular service and receiving a "token" that authorizes you access to the websites that use the login service. 

The security researcher discovered if he could identify a valid email address of an Apple ID (which was openly contained in an initial login request), he could pass the email address to a publicly accessible web service and retrieve a valid token. No password was required to do this. 

Luckily, because of the bug report being completed properly, Apple was able to very quickly patch the open flaw and states that its investigations did not show any misuse or compromise. Which is good news for services such as Adobe, Airbnb, Dropbox, eBay, Grindr, Medium, Strava, Tik Tok, and even WordPress that utilize this log-in method. 

READ MORE

Productive tasks to help your business grow during your spare time.

As we begin to enter the warmer seasons, it is natural that small businesses will find their level of activity marginally lower, especially so this year with the COVID-19 virus keeping everyone indoors. While this potential decrease in revenue can be unsettling, the increase in free time can be put to good use. Now is your chance to take an introspective look at the business.

What can be improved, strengthened, or changed?  

DIGITAL SECURITY 

The best place to start is by reviewing your business’s digital security. You should review all the security systems that your company has set up and determine how capable they are of protecting your business and its data. Talk with your employees and make sure that they are aware of what is required of them to keep the business protected. A large part of security is having a plan to mitigate damage and the appropriate follow up in the unfortunate event that your business is the victim of a cyber-attack. Check out Navigate Defense if you want tools to enhance your workforce.

One of the best ways for a business to attract potential customers is to have a quality website. This can even be a great way to engage with them! If you are unsure as to whether your company’s website is of a professional level, able to garner the attention of its visitors, then here are some things you should consider.

Making a website visually appealing is different than making it look good in the eyes of a search engine. But it really isn't too far off. Search engines use to rank websites based on keywords and a few other factors, but now they focus on the quality of the website's user experience. This means making a site easy to use and mobile friendly will actually help your get to the top of Google. Combine those with giving great answers to people's search queries and you have given a user an awesome experience! So, in order to fully understand what a "good" website consists of, you must first learn how to implement some techniques to make the visitor as happy as they can be.