It's just email, right? So what if someone gets your password. What can they do beyond spam friends, right? With access to your primary email account, hackers can often gain access to many parts of your personal life. Bank accounts, credit card accounts, order stuff from places like Amazon and other vendors which may have your card information stored. Two factor authentication helps ensure that even if someone intercepts your passwords, they can't get into your accounts without your cellphone (or at the very least you know when someone is trying to gain access). It's a minor inconvenience to occasionally have to 'reauthorize' your computer for an account – but it's worth the protection provided by it. Enable two-factor authentication on as many accounts as you can… Share with your friends!


Here's Everywhere You Should Enable Two-Factor Authentication Right Now
lifehac.kr
Two-factor authentication is one of the best things you can do to make sure your accounts don't get hacked. We've talked about it a bit before, but here's a list of all the popular services that offer it, and where you should go to turn it on right now.

  • Comments Off on It's just email, right? So what if someone gets your password. What can they do…
  • Filed under: News
  • This is what 'hard drives' in laptops will look like before long – and they'll be much faster. For now? They're too expensive – but over time SSD prices will drop dramatically… Much less likely to be damaged by bumps and drops and use less power…. I hope the prices drop soon. Until then, if you're looking for a way to boost the performance of your computer, talk to us about upgrading to a hybrid drive. Often for less than $200 you can give your laptop or desktop a big boost in performance.


    Timeline Photos
    Samsung announces the first 1TB mSATA SSD with its new 840 EVO drive for notebooks. All we can say is it's about time! http://www.maximumpc.com/samsung_launches_first_1tb_msata_ssd_high_capacity_ultrabooks_cant_be_far_behind2013

  • Comments Off on This is what 'hard drives' in laptops will look like before long – and they'll b…
  • Filed under: News
  • This is huge. ZeroAccess is one of the more prolific and virulent infections on the Internet, causing all sorts of damage and enabling many different fraud schemes. Taking down a botnet is no easy task given how widespread and resilient they are. Of course there are more that will crop up – but this is a big win for the White Hats…


    Microsoft and partners take down ZeroAccess botnet
    nakedsecurity.sophos.com
    Microsoft, in conjunction with Europol and the FBI, have successfully taken down the click fraud servers used by ZeroAccess, disrupting one of the world's largest and most resilient botnets.

  • Comments Off on This is huge. ZeroAccess is one of the more prolific and virulent infections on…
  • Filed under: News
  • *ALWAYS* a risk if you login to your accounts at a public terminal. This is why 2-Factor authentication exists. Facebook, Yahoo, GMail, and Twitter all support it now. Have you enabled it?


    2 million Facebook, Gmail and Twitter passwords stolen in massive hack
    money.cnn.com
    Two million passwords have been stolen, compromising accounts at Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, Yahoo and ADP.

  • Comments Off on *ALWAYS* a risk if you login to your accounts at a public terminal. This is why…
  • Filed under: News
  • If you have a D-Link router – upgrade! This was a really bad security hole… Share with your friends!


    D-Link patches "Joel's Backdoor" security hole in its SoHo routers
    nakedsecurity.sophos.com
    Good idea to check if this applies to you…

  • Comments Off on If you have a D-Link router – upgrade! This was a really bad security hole… Sh…
  • Filed under: News
  • Ever wished you had a tiny desktop that was still powerful for all but serious 3D gaming? Well here you go!


    Timeline Photos
    Zotac, a manufacturer that specializes in small form factor hardware, announced the Zbox Nano AQ01 today. It's about the size of Intel's NUC, but it sports a quad-core AMD APU, DisplayPort, a 2.5-inch drive bay, USB 3.0, wifi, and other niceties. You can get a "Plus" version with RAM and a hard drive pre-installed. The price and release date are TBA. http://www.maximumpc.com/zotac_introduces_first_zbox_nano_wield_quad_core_processor2013

  • Comments Off on Ever wished you had a tiny desktop that was still powerful for all but serious 3…
  • Filed under: News
  • Be careful what you click! Zbot/Zeus is a nasty infection! Share with your friends!


    Spam from an anti-virus company claiming to be a security patch? It's Zbot/Zeus malware…
    nakedsecurity.sophos.com
    A spam campaign that seems to originate from a whole raft of different security and anti-virus companies… …is actually an effort to trick to into installing a new variant of Zbot/Zeus onto y…

  • Comments Off on Be careful what you click! Zbot/Zeus is a nasty infection! Share with your friends!
  • Filed under: News
  • Looking to upgrade or build a computer for the holidays – not sure where to start? Give us a call or visit! Huge sales on parts going on right now and we'll pass those savings on to you!


    Amazon's Running a Sale on Everything You Need to Build a PC [Deals]
    lifehacker.com
    If you've always wanted to build a computer, or you just need to upgrade your current rig, Amazon is running a great sale today only on a variety of PC components to get you started. In addition to the great prices, if you spend $1,000 or more on eligible items, they'll throw in a $75 Amazon gift ca…

  • Comments Off on Looking to upgrade or build a computer for the holidays – not sure where to star…
  • Filed under: News
  • With FB changing how they handle privacy and security almost monthly – it's always a good idea to review the current settings to ensure your account is as private as you want it to be…


    How to Lockdown Your Facebook Account For Maximum Privacy and Security
    facecrooks.com
    Recent studies show that privacy concerns are very much on the minds of Facebook users. Part of being a responsible member of any online community is educating yourself and your loved ones on how to properly configure the privacy and security settings offered by the platform. The fact that Facebook…

  • Comments Off on With FB changing how they handle privacy and security almost monthly – it's alwa…
  • Filed under: News
  • We're excited to announce that we can now support Macs as part of our My ITXpert service (http://myitxpert.biz/). To celebrate, we're offering 3 months free when you sign up for one year! Shout out to Poythress Studio for being one of our first Mac ITXpert customers! If you're looking for holiday portraits or photography, Stacey can work wonders! (http://poythressstudio.com/)

  • Comments Off on We're excited to announce that we can now support Macs as part of our My ITXpert…
  • Filed under: News
  • A lot of our customers will ask about hard drive failures and how often they happen. Like alternators in cars… a lot. Here is a look at some failure statistics.


    How Long Your Hard Drive Is Likely to Last
    lifehac.kr
    No physical storage medium lasts forever, and as you probably already know, hard drives in particular can die rather unexpectedly. But how long can you expect your drive to live? 5 years? 50? Backblaze has crunched some numbers to find hard drive failure rates.

  • Comments Off on A lot of our customers will ask about hard drive failures and how often they hap…
  • Filed under: News
  • Microsoft has released an emergency FixIt to prevent infection from TIFF image files embedded in Word documents. Always be careful opening attachments that you weren't expecting! Share with your friends and install this FixIt to protect yourself until the official patch is released


    Timeline Photos
    Microsoft has issued an emergency fix for a zero-day vulnerability in its Microsoft Office suite. It affects multiple versions of Windows, so make sure that you're inoculated: http://www.maximumpc.com/microsoft_rolls_out_emergency_fix_zero_day_vulnerability_office2013

  • Comments Off on Microsoft has released an emergency FixIt to prevent infection from TIFF image f…
  • Filed under: News
  • We just had to break the bad news to two of our clients that their systems had been infected with the CryptoLocker virus, which encrypted MANY of their files (pictures, documents, etc.) and that if they paid a $300-$1000 ransom they MIGHT be able to get them back (which we don't recommend doing). We can clean the virus off, but once the files are encrypted – without a backup system in place – the files are gone. This threat is VERY real, even if you have anti-virus software installed (which ironically when it cleans off the virus – wipes out a critical file needed to decrypt your files if you pay the ransom).

    If you are using a computer today that has ANY amount of data on it you can't do without, you NEED to have a sound strategy in place to not only protect against infection, but also to protect your data. An external drive is NOT enough (they'll encrypt that too).

    Our My ITXpert Premier customers not only get preventative maintenance and support, they also get award winning anti-virus AND secure offline backup to protect their data from this type of threat.

    Protect yourself for less than $1 a day! http://myitxpert.biz/

  • Comments Off on We just had to break the bad news to two of our clients that their systems had b…
  • Filed under: News
  • We will be closed this Thursday and Friday. We'll be open Monday at 8AM! We will still be checking voicemail and email if you need to contact us. Have a great weekend!

  • Comments Off on We will be closed this Thursday and Friday. We'll be open Monday at 8AM! We will…
  • Filed under: News
  • We're seeing a spike in customer calls due to sluggish computer performance and network problems. So far they have all been due to recent virus infections, so it looks like a new threat is making inroads. Be careful what you open/click and ensure your anti-virus and key applications like your browser (IE, Firefox, Chrome), Adobe Reader and Flash, and Oracle Java are up to date!

  • Comments Off on We're seeing a spike in customer calls due to sluggish computer performance and…
  • Filed under: News
  • WE ARE OPEN!
    204 N 5th St. Mebane, NC

    We're in Suite B!

    Store Hours:
    • Mon-Fri: 9:00AM - 5:00PM
    • Sat/Sun: By Appt Only

    Phone: 336-525-5005
    Email: [email protected]

    Connect With an ITXpert

    Already working with an ITXpert? Click the button below to get connected with them!

    Get An ITXpert

    We Can Help!

    Having IT Issues? Contact us using the Chat button or click Contact Us to send an email and our IT Xperts will propose some solutions!
    Contact Us

    Follow Us!


    Facebook
    Twitter
    LinkedIn

    Join MSPs.io!

    Looking to connect with other MSP owners and employees? Join the MSPs.io Mastodon Community and Follow Us!

    Let Our Xperts Help!

    Get Your Own ITXpert Today!

    Let our IT Xperts keep your system up to date, safe, and secure all year long! Starting at only $99/year! Bundle and get award winning anti-virus and unlimited online backup for less than $25/month!

    Get Backed Up NOW!

    Unlimited Data Backup for $5/month!

    Protect Your Data!
    Get Unlimited Online Backup for only $5/mon or $50/year. Ensure theft, hard drive failure, virus infections, etc. cannot erase your precious memories and important data!

    Find Us Local!