Blog - CyberGuru

CyberGuru’s Chief Guru recognised as a Digital Champion alumnus by Minister for Digital Technology

cyberguru Announcements August 12, 2019August 12, 2019Advance Queensland, Community Digital Champion, Digital Champion, Queensland Government

CyberGuru’s Chief Guru, Chris Jeffery has been recognised with a certificate of appreciation by Leanne Linard MP on behalf of the Minister for Digital Technology Mick de Brenni MP in recognition of his valued contribution to the Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion program.

In his letter to Chris, Mr de Brenni writes, “I wish to acknowledge your contribution, not only to the Champions programme, but also to the Queensland Government’s broader digital literacy and inclusion agenda. Your efforts…are helping to make progress within Queensland in reducing the digital divide and assisting Queenslanders to gain the skills and confidence to actively participate in the digital world”.

Chris notes, “it has been an honour to be able to support the local community through various presentations, including assisting not-for-profit organisations and community groups secure and implement new technologies, access discounted software, and train to be more self-sufficient in maintaining their computers and as a regular presenter at the Seniors Safety Forum over the past few years helping people be safe online, along with training and various online contributions via our website”.

Whilst Chris is now a retiring champion and a member of the alumni, he will continue to participate as an active member of the community providing Information Communication and technology (ICT) services including consulting, design, support and training to small businesses, not-for-profit organisations and individuals.

Since Chris commenced CyberGuru in 1997 at fourteen years of age, Chris has been instrumental in enabling and empowering clients to get the most out of their technology.

Leanne Linard MP (Member for Nudgee), Chris Jeffery (Chief Guru, CyberGuru), Jessie Jeffery (Business Development Guru, CyberGuru)

CyberGuru celebrating 22 years

cyberguru Announcements August 5, 2019August 11, 201922 years, anniversary, celebrate, Celebrating 22 years, celebration, thank you, thanks

In July, CyberGuru celebrated 22 years of successful operations. Thank you to all our clients for their custom, and to our colleagues, family and friends who have supported us throughout this time.

CyberGuru was established with the purpose of providing professional computer solutions and has grown predominately through recommendations and networking. We are proud to be a family owned and operated business and be able be a trusted business partner to our clients.

We appreciate all of the various opportunities we have received and those who have been with us along this journey so far.

Ask CyberGuru – Should I purchase a claimed domain name?

cyberguru Design June 27, 2019July 1, 2019Ask CyberGuru, claimed, domain, domain name

In this month’s Ask CyberGuru, we are asked, “I’ve been advised that my domain name has been claimed and offered to purchase a domain name from someone who had advised that they have a statutory obligation to offer me the first right of registration. Should I purchase this domain name?”.

Upon review of various examples we have seen of this, the email in question is reportedly from an Australian business claiming there is an application for a similar domain name using the .info domain name extension. In these cases, we have seen the business is seeking a significant amount of money for the registration purchasing such the said domain.

We have reviewed the company as well as other examples reported online, and based upon our knowledge and research, we don’t recommend going ahead with this via the organisation in question to do this.

However, should you wish to purchase the domain name, we would suggest going through a suitable domain name registrar to do this. If this is something you are looking to do, we can assist and advise accordingly.

If you have a question you would like to Ask CyberGuru, please feel free to contact us.

Tips to protect your data on mobile device from being lost or stolen

cyberguru Consulting June 23, 2019June 24, 2019lost, mobile device, mobile phone, phone, smart phone, smart watch, stolen, tablet

Tips to protect your data on mobile device from being lost or stolen

Recently a family member lost their mobile phone. Unfortunately, some of the important settings on the phone were not configured, and as a result the phone could not be found. As a lesson from this exercise, we have developed these tips on how to protect the data on your mobile device from being lost or stolen.

If you do lose your device, you should report it to the police and mobile service provider. However, it is possible to find your device using “Find my iPhone” (as part of the iCloud – Find My iPhone, iPad, and Mac),“Find my Device” for Android or “Find my Device” in Windows provided you have this software setup as well as your mobile data and location services enabled.

There are several strategies for protecting your data:

Record the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number of the device upon purchase. This is a unique number for each individual device and can be found inside under the battery. It can be displayed on screen by entering *#06#. If your device is lost stolen, this can be reported to your phone provider and police.
Set a strong PIN or password on the device and configure encryption of data if this is available. Set this to automatically lock your phone after a set period, such as 30 seconds. This will enable your phone to be only to be unlocked by yourself or someone else who knows the PIN. You may also want a separate PIN for your voice mail.
Use a reputable security product app, such as Norton Mobile Security. Mobile phones can be hacked just like any other computing device, so they need to be protected. Installing security software will enable you to use their features including app reputation (to determine if any apps are malicious or sending your data overseas) on your device, as well as wi-fi security and Web protection.
Register the device with Google or Apple, and/or third-party manufacturers (eg. Samsung). As mentioned above, registering with these services to enable you to find, lock or erase your phone, in addition to finding your device in case it is lost
Perform a regular backup to a cloud service. This provides you the ability to use their services to synchronise your data on a regular basis, and eases recovery if this is required. A cloud service may be available by the manufacturer on when you configure the device.

Further security tips can be found on the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association website (link opens in new window). If you need a hand to help protect your data on your smart devices, we can provide assistance to you via our Support solution.

If we can be of any assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Four ways to maximise your business and minimise your tax

cyberguru Consulting June 17, 2019June 24, 2019end of financial year, EOFY, EOFYS, tax, tax minimisation, tax savings

Federal government tax break

With the end of the financial year not too far away, you may be considering how best to minimise your tax whilst maximising the investment in your business. It may have been a while since you have investing in your business, and whilst the $30,000 instant tax right-off legislation passed, it’s worth getting in whilst it is still available, here are a four ways worth considering:

Upgrade replacing hardware and outdated software. As noted in our earlier blog articles, Microsoft ends support for Windows 7 in early January 2020. Now is the time to consider the purchase of a new computer and upgrading the operating system and possibly your software as well. Newer hardware and software will improve the reliability of your environment.
Migrate your server to the cloud. Services such Office 365 enables you the ability to take advantage of practically anytime, anywhere access to your data. We see many clients appreciate the difference having the ability to be see your email, calendar and contacts shared between devices and increase their productivity.
Look at training and upskilling. With many technology changes that have occurred over the past few years, it could be worthwhile undertaking some professional development and training. If you or your staff haven’t done so already, it may be the ideal time to ensure they are prepared for the upcoming changes and raise their performance.
Pre-purchase hours for next year. CyberGuru has purchase a block of ten hours to use next financial year. By doing so, you can have these available at your disposal to use on any of our solutions, whether it be consulting, design, support or training.

If you are looking at taking action before the end of financial year, be sure to speak to your accountant first to review your circumstances and see how these deductions will work for you. If now is the time to look to this, we can assist by identifying and reviewing your particularly needs and sourcing the necessary equipment, get you set up and provide ongoing support and regular maintenance going forward. For more information, please review our solutions or contact us today.

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