<div id="isPasted" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; word-break: break-word; overflow-wrap: break-word; min-height: 12rem; white-space: normal; overflow: auto; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1.25rem; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.7; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br></p><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="get-yourself-a-password-manager-and-stop-committing-these-security-crimes"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Get yourself a password manager and stop committing these security crimes!</span></h1><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">Using a cloud-based password manager will help you and your team avoid the following security crimes:</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="insecure-passwords">Insecure Passwords</h2><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Stop using passwords that are not complex and can be easily discovered by a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brute-force_attack" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(228, 99, 23);" target="_blank">Brute Force Attack</a> &#xA0;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Password managers will create secure passwords for you. &#xA0;And the best part is that you&#x2019;ll never need to remember them because the password manager handles that for you!</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">You WILL however, need a single very-strong password on your password manager. &#xA0;I recommend creating a password using <a href="https://xkcd.com/936/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(228, 99, 23);" target="_blank">the XKCD method of combining four random words</a></li></ol><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="insecure-storage">Insecure Storage</h2><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Stop storing passwords (and other secrets) in an insecure location such as a spreadsheet or a post-it note</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Using a password manager means your passwords will always be easily accessible to you and to no one else.</li></ol><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="insecure-sharing">Insecure Sharing</h2><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Stop sharing passwords with your team via email or SMS</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Shared passwords are generally frowned upon in general, but there are times when they are simply unavoidable. &#xA0;In these cases, use your password manager to create a shared folder of credentials that you can share with some or all of your team</li></ol><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="insecure-re-use">Insecure Re-Use</h2><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Stop using the same password for more than one of your accounts<ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;"><a href="https://privacysavvy.com/password/guides/reusing-passwords/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(228, 99, 23);" target="_blank">Here&#x2019;s why</a></li></ol></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Using the same password for your social media accounts AND your bank accounts is how a lot of crime starts. &#xA0;Criminals will hack into a relatively insecure and steal all the usernames and passwords. &#xA0;They then try those same usernames and passwords at other sites. &#xA0;If a user has used that same combination somewhere else, they&#x2019;re likely to be hacked.&#xA0;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">For Example: In around 2008, MySpace suffered a data breach that exposed almost 360 million accounts. &#xA0;This list of usernames and passwords was then made available to the public on the internet. &#xA0;That same day, hackers were trying those same combinations of usernames and passwords at websites like banks, email servers, and social media accounts.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">By using a unique (and strong) password for each and every one of your accounts, you can be sure that, if&#xA0;</li></ol><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="choosing-a-password-manager">Choosing a password manager</h1><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="zero-knowledge">Zero Knowledge</h2><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">Password Management is definitely a situation where you require a Zero Knowledge Service. This means that the service provider (1Password for example) will have no ability to see anything you store within their system. &#xA0;This is because it is all encrypted in your local browser extension before it is ever uploaded to the their servers.&#xA0;</div><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">The obvious benefit of this is that a bad actor at 1Password would not have the ability to gain access to your passwords &#x2026; but &#x2014;even better&#x2014; it means that if hackers somehow broke into 1Password and stole all your data, they would similarly not be able to decrypt or access your passwords. &#xA0;</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">A slight downside to using a Zero Knowledge service is that, if you lose your master password, the service provider has no way of helping you recover your passwords and you&#x2019;ll need to reset all your passwords to regain access to your systems. &#xA0;Some password managers provide for self-help mechanisms such as resetting your password via email, or using a&#xA0;</li></ol><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="cloud-based">Cloud-based</h2><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Using a cloud-based password manager means your passwords will be available across your devices (desktop, laptop, mobile) no matter where you are located (office, home, vacation).</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">I don&#x2019;t recommend using an on-premise solution as a password manager unless your team is technically adept&#x2026; and if this is the case, you probably don&#x2019;t need this article at all!</li></ol><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="supports-secure-sharing">Supports secure sharing</h2><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Ideally, your password manager will make it easy for you to securely share credentials with your team members (where required)</li></ol><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="requires-2-factor-authentication">Requires 2-factor authentication</h2><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">You 100% want to set up 2-factor authentication on your password manager account. I&apos;m not even sure there are any password solutions that don&apos;t support 2FA/MFA ... but if you find one, avoid it!</li></ol><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="so-which-password-manager-to-choose">So which password manager to choose?</h1><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">I use 1Password (I previously LastPass before late 2022) for my family. &#xA0;However, there are other very similar tools with similar capabilities such as:<ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;"><a href="https://1password.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(228, 99, 23);" target="_blank">1Password</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;"><a href="https://www.lastpass.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(228, 99, 23);" target="_blank">LastPass</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;"><a href="https://www.dashlane.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(228, 99, 23);" target="_blank">Dashlane</a></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">and so on</li></ol></li></ol><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://keepass.info/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(228, 99, 23);" target="_blank">KeePass</a> is another relatively popular password management tool, but it is software that you must install on your own computers (it&#x2019;s on-premise software instead of a cloud service). I don&#x2019;t recommend using an on-premise solution as a password manager unless your team is technically adept&#x2026; and if this is the case, you probably don&#x2019;t need this article at all!</div><p><br></p></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1rem 0rem; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br></div></div>

Password Management Tools

<div id="isPasted" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Something to think about when trying to save nickels and dimes by sharing user licenses: Most people underestimate the future productivity loss from trying to work around security measures such as :</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Managing shared passwords for shared accounts</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Resetting/unlocking accounts that get locked due to multiple simultaneous users</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Trying to determine which actual employee deleted a file or data records&#x2026; audit trails become meaningless.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Two-factor authentication implications and the headaches that can generate for shared accounts.</li></ol><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">This applies to all SaaS systems&#x2026; not just Google Workspace&#xA0;</div><p><br></p><table style="width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td><blockquote>Client: &#x201C;We can save $500 per year by having these two employees share a Salesforce account&#x201D;</blockquote><blockquote>Me: &#x201C;You&#x2019;re going to spend that money in the first six months on lost productivity and by paying me reset passwords and help your users get logged in.&quot;</blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><br></div>

Sharing Accounts to Save Money

Choosing email/calendar ecosystem:I usually recommend choosing the email ecosystem that best matches your customers.  If your customer base is US consumers, they are statistically likely to have gmail accounts… So Google Workspace is a good match.  I

<h3 id="isPasted" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Choosing email/calendar ecosystem:</span></h3><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">I usually recommend choosing the email ecosystem that best matches your customers. &#xA0;If your customer base is US consumers, they are statistically likely to have gmail accounts&#x2026; So Google Workspace is a good match. &#xA0;If your clients are financial institutions or healthcare (for example), they are much more likely to use Exchange for email, so M365 makes sense.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="choosing-document-collaboration-ecosystem">Choosing document collaboration ecosystem</h3><div style="box-sizing: border-box;">Picking the best system for collaborating on documents depends more on internal factors such as user needs (hard to beat Excel for financials stuff) and collaboration needs (need 20 people editing the same doc?)</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box;" id="thoughts">Thoughts</h3><ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Just because a few products are bundled together doesn&apos;t mean that you&apos;ll be getting the best solution for each product.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Examples:<ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Spectrum cable internet also offers mobile phone service ... but I use a different carrier that has better coverage in my area.</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">The following products I use have video-meeting capabilities built-in, but many companies choose to purchase Zoom outside of these bundles because it meets their needs;<ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Microsoft Teams</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Google Workspace / Meet</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Slack</li></ol></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">The following products have chat built-in, but many companies choose to purchase Slack outside of these bundles because it meets their needs<ol style="box-sizing: border-box;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Google Workspace (Chat)</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Microsoft 365 (Teams)</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: disc;">Salesforce (Chatter)</li></ol></li></ol></li></ol><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Latoregular, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.1px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"></div>

Should we choose Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?

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Sharing Accounts to Save Money

Should we choose Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?