Category: Uncategorized

Taxes & Technology – What Can Help Your Business RIGHT Now
To say this year has had a lot of twists and turns is an understatement, and for many that includes financial hurdles they couldn’t have foreseen.

Today we want to cover the topic of business loans that are available for companies struggling in in the onslaught of this current pandemic, as well as tax solutions that will help lighten the load of the business purchases you still need to make even as the current situation rages on.

Now you may be saying to yourself, aren’t you a technology company? Why are you talking about taxes?

While this may be true, as a business ourselves AND one that helps businesses of all shapes and sizes, we felt we could offer a new perspective on this topic that you maybe hadn’t considered. As well as our own unique input on how we’re putting these tips into practice.

Besides that, technology is linked to many different systems, including the financial system. Unless you’re a stickler for mailing things in, it’s hard to argue against the quickness and convenience of electronic filing in most cases as an example.

With that said let’s start with our initial topic of discussion, PPP funds. PPP or the Paycheck Protection Program has been in the news a lot recently, but what does it cover? And how does it compare to the EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loan)?

As you can see from our chart, they have different benefits and downsides, and it’s hard to say at first glance what may be right for your business. In either case you’ll probably be adding to the liquidity of your business which will probably help you continue to fund other day to day necessities, including your technology budget. For more information on PPP click here, the Small Business Association will always have the most up to date information on this topic.

The deadline for applying for PPP is August 8th, so you must hurry if you want to apply for it. While an extension might happen (it did before) why risk it?

There are also talks in the works by Congress of an additional bill that would forgive PPP loans less than $150k automatically without documentation (basically turning them into grants). You can learn more about this proposed addition to the CARES act here. For many businesses this could make a massive difference in their ability to stay afloat in these difficult times.

Aside from that if you are planning on a technology upgrade soon, we have a tax tip that may save you thousands on those purchases.

Every year businesses across the country take advantage of a certain tax deduction called Section 179. To put it briefly, Section 179 allows you to deduct business related expenses of tangible property and equipment. This can include new computers and servers that will allow you to run your business more effectively.

For example, if you’re still trying to get your at-home work force up and running then it may make sense to furnish those employees with company laptops. They will be significantly safer than using their own devices and it may help them do their jobs much more effectively.

Or perhaps you need a server you can use as a private cloud so you can conduct your business from home, Section 179 can help with that purchase too. At the end of the year those savings can be lost, or you can reap the benefits of getting your necessary purchases at a significant discount after the tax savings.

We have updated our Section 179 Guide for 2020, you can learn more here. As always, work with your attorney or accountant when trying to take advantage of these beneficial programs for your business, they will have the best method for applying them to your situation.

Looking for more to read? We suggest these tech articles from the last week.
This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.

Looking for IT Services in Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, Ceres, Atwater, Merced, Visalia or Lodi? We cover all these areas and more!
August 5, 2020
Are Home Routers Safe?
We’re talked about router safety before, but are routers marketed to home users safe in general?

Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Communication (FKIE) recently conducted a study on 127 routers from 7 different brands and the results were shocking.

They found that 46 hadn’t had an update in over a year, and that many routers are affected by hundreds of known vulnerabilities.

Many routers are powered by Linux, which releases security patches and updates throughout the year, but vendors are just not applying them. What’s worse is many routers are being shipped with known vulnerabilities and firmware updates that do not address them.

With so many working from home using an unsafe router is one more risk that you shouldn’t have to take, especially with a brand-new router. As we mentioned in our last article on the topic, similarly to other technical products routers do reach an end of life period. However, this is typically not for at least 3 years.

So which router brands performed the best in the study? They found that ASUS and Netgear routers performed better than other brands in the home market. There is also the option of going for a pro router which may have more features and better access to updates.

Ubiquiti routers are one option in the pro market that we recommend. You’ll have the ability to customize quality of service rules which lets you prioritize certain kinds of traffic, like streaming video over HTTP downloads. Or it’s possible to have a guest networks so you can have a segregated LAN for guests, children or even your security cameras.

It’s also possible to have site to site VPN, so you can access your office computer securely from home without using a third-party VPN or remote desktop service, it’s just router to router.

There may be a sharp learning curve however when trying to implement these things yourself but updating the firmware shouldn’t be a different experience from what you’re used to from home routers.

In general router brands need to do a much better job of securing their routers against vulnerabilities, both known and unknown – but there’s especially no excuse to leave known vulnerabilities unchecked.

If you need assistance or have questions about routers or other technical topics, feel free to reach out! Our knowledgeable techs would be more than happy to answer your questions.

Looking for more to read? We suggest these tech articles from the last week.
This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.

Looking for IT Services in Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, Ceres, Atwater, Merced, Visalia or Lodi? We cover all these areas and more!
July 15, 2020
Zoom is Restricting End to End Encryption to Paid Users, What Does it Mean for You?

Last week, Zoom confirmed that it will only be offering end to end encryption to paid users. So, what does that mean and what should you do about it?

End to end encryption is a type of encryption that makes it so only the people communicating can read the messages, or in the case of Zoom see or hear the video. This means you can rest assured that your video call is completely private.

Zoom has been in the news frequently for their security issues, most famously in the case of Zoom bombers (this was where uninvited guests would drop into private calls and spam them). They have been releasing updates at a breakneck pace to tackle these issues as they come up, but some users may still be a little wary of their security while using the service.

This hasn’t lessened their popularity though. With 200 million daily users and a valuation of 1 billion dollars, Zoom has grown miles ahead of the competition largely because they are a free service.

But now that end to end encryption is a paid for feature, how will this effect their popularity? How many users will pay to have this protection?

The reason they’ve cited for making this feature paid is because they want to help law enforcement. With end to end encryption enabled, law enforcement cannot view the streams. Bad actors using Zoom for illegal activities probably won’t want their payment information tied to the site, and with no end to end encryption they’ll be stopped dead in their tracks from using the service as a means for their criminal activity.

How do you know if as a business owner you should you pursue this paid for feature? It depends on a couple of things, if you’re conducting meetings involving private information such as payment details or other secure information you may want that extra layer of security. If you’re not it may not be necessary.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind you cannot dial into an encrypted call with a phone. If you frequently have users that use their cellphone to reach your Zoom meetings this feature may not be a good fit.

It’s best to evaluate how you use Zoom and what’s discussed in your meetings, and then go from there to decide if end to end encryption is something your business needs for conducting your meetings.

This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.

Looking for IT Services in Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, Ceres, Atwater, Merced, Visalia or Lodi? We cover all these areas and more!

June 7, 2020
What to Look for in a Work from Home Job – and Scams to Avoid
As a service provider we normally tailor our content towards businesses, but as an IT company I feel it’s important to touch on public safety issues and advice from time to time. Now more than ever people are working from home, and jobs of that nature may become more prevalent in our society as a result of the current pandemic.

Why does allowing employees to work from home make sense for an employer? The first reason is reduced overhead, office buildings and all the expenses associated with them can really add up. The second reason is flexibility, as has been recently highlighted, the more mobile your workforce the more successful you can be given any kind of situation. Third is employee satisfaction, many people are just happier working from home and that can translate to increased motivation towards their job duties.

What types of jobs can typically be performed from home? Here are our top 10.
1. Virtual Assistant
2. Medical Transcriptionist
3. Translator
4. Web Developer
5. Travel Agent
6. Freelance Writer
7. Social Media Manager
8. Data Entry
9. Call Center Representative
10. Blogger
This is by no means an exhaustive list but hopefully provides a jumping off point for those looking to work from home. However, there is one pitfall to looking for a work from home job, and that is scams. Historically work from jobs have been plagued by scams and now more than ever you must be careful. What can you do to avoid a scam when looking for a work from home job?
- Research – You must do a lot of research into the position, and if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
- Ask for References – Ask to speak to others who already work from the company and can share their experience.
- Finally, really be careful if they ask you to shell out any money to start, a lot of scams in this sector really begin with a high “startup” cost being the gateway to working.
Working from home can be a life changing event for many people, just do your due diligence and get your resume out there!

This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.
May 6, 2020
Cybersecurity Facts in 2019
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Cybersecurity Awareness Month Is Almost Over, Here Are 20 Cybersecurity Facts Everyone Should Know

October is Cybersecurity Awareness month, the theme this year is Own IT. Secure IT. Protect IT. Continuing from our article earlier this month we’d like to give our readers 20 facts that underscore just how crucial it is to do everything you can to be safe online.

For more information on how to do that check out the official website for Cybersecurity Awareness Month from the Department of Homeland Security: https://niccs.us-cert.gov/national-cybersecurity-awareness-month-2019 . It has guides on being safe on social media, what to do in the event of identity theft and more.

20 Cybersecurity Facts

This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/valleytechlogic .
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Sources and for more information: https://tinyurl.com/yxvsa28a , https://tinyurl.com/y5q79x7f , https://tinyurl.com/y2t4j2jq
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October 28, 2019