Core Management Strategies for Hybrid Environments

Managing a hybrid setup well comes down to three things: who is logging in, how you control the system, and where you put your files. Since your staff works from all over the place, your office walls are no longer your main defense. You have to move to a model where the user’s login is your new front door. Every single app or database, whether it lives on a server in your closet or in the public cloud, needs to be connected to one main login system.

Do NOT let anyone touch your private business data without Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). It is also vital to set up common-sense rules for logging in. The system should look at things like where the person is, what computer they are using, and the time of day before letting them in. If someone tries to log in from a weird location or a new device, the system should automatically stop them or ask for extra proof that they are who they say they are.

Trying to manage two different systems often leads to things being missed and higher costs. Using a single management tool allows your team to see both your office servers and your cloud accounts on one screen. This makes it easier to keep your security rules and updates the same across the whole business. Without this bird’s-eye view, it becomes almost impossible to make sure security scans are happening every night or that someone is actually checking the reports for every computer in the company.

Where to Put Your Data and How to Save Money

Not every file needs to be in the public cloud, and not every program needs to run on your own server. You have to be smart about where things live to keep costs down and speeds up. If your team needs to work on the same document at the same time, put that in a public cloud platform built for sharing. On the other hand, keep your private databases or heavy programs on your own office equipment where you have total control over the hardware and speed.

This is also a great way to save money. You can move old data—files that nobody has touched in a year or more—to low-cost storage. This lowers your monthly bills but keeps the files available if you ever need them for a legal reason or to look back at company history. Most businesses create a massive amount of data every day. Treating all that data the same way is a fast way to blow your IT budget without actually helping your business.

Putting Technical Controls to Work in Your Business

To make sure your setup is actually working, you need to run regular checks. One of the best ways to find a problem is to test the speed. See how long it takes to open a large file while you are sitting in the office versus when you are working remotely. If the remote speed is much slower, the problem is probably your office internet speed or the way your remote access is set up. Knowing these numbers helps you make smart choices about where to spend money instead of just guessing.

Checking who has access to what is just as important for staying safe. Look at your staff list and find anyone who has admin rights but doesn't actually need them for their job. Accounts with too much power are a huge risk if that person accidentally clicks on a bad link. You should also make sure your password rules are the same for every system you use. When an employee leaves the company, you need to turn off their access everywhere at the same time so no data can walk out the door.

Keeping Things Running for the Long Haul

Technology needs constant attention to stay safe and useful. This means setting up a schedule to install updates and patches every night or every week for all your servers and computers. Making sure your data is backed up to a completely different physical location is also a must. This ensures that if a piece of hardware breaks, an employee makes a mistake, or a disaster happens, your business can keep running.

Backing up your data is critical because your staff is constantly creating emails, documents, and customer records. That information is what keeps your business moving. If you aren't checking your backup reports every day, you are working without a safety net. A central system that tells you exactly when a backup fails is the only way to really stay in control of a complex network.

Your Mobile Business

Technology should help you get work done, not get in the way. When a hybrid cloud is set up right, employees can get to their tools without any headaches. This stability lets management focus on important things like finishing projects and finding new customers instead of fixing connection problems. It is important to talk to your team about IT, because if they can’t do their jobs easily, it’s a sign that the technology isn't being managed well.

If your staff feels like the technology is there to help them, they will do a better job. But if the system is too annoying or keeps breaking, their work will suffer. As an IT consultant, it’s my job to help you look at these options and make choices that keep you secure but also keep things easy for your team. Taking the time to set up and manage your hybrid cloud correctly today will make sure your company stays productive no matter where your team is sitting.

If you need a full check-up of your network or help setting up a secure hybrid environment, get in touch with us for a consultation. We can help you look at your current setup and build a plan that makes your technology work for your business goals.

Give us a call at (409) 861-4450 to talk about your IT strategy.

Within minutes, we identified several instances of unauthorized AI use:

• A marketing coordinator used a web-based AI writer for email newsletters.
• An HR manager uploaded confidential resumes to a public PDF summarizer.
• A sales representative used an AI transcription tool to record client calls.

Your high-performing employees are likely already using these tools. Their goal is not to compromise security but to increase their professional efficiency. While their intent is productivity, using unmanaged tools creates a significant data liability for your organization.

Data Security Risks of Public AI

There is a fundamental technical difference between secure enterprise AI and public consumer tools; or, even free open-sourced AI platforms.

Secure Enterprise AI

Business-grade versions of Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini operate within a closed environment. These systems process your data to provide summaries and insights, but they do not use your inputs to train their global models. Your data remains private and is not shared externally.

Public and Open Source AI

Free versions of AI tools typically require your data as a form of payment. When an employee inputs a vendor contract or proprietary strategy into a public tool, that data is ingested into the model's training set. Once this information is processed by a public AI, it becomes part of its permanent database and cannot be retrieved or deleted. This often leads to regulatory non-compliance and the exposure of trade secrets.

Implementing Administrative Control

Controlling AI usage does not require restrictive micromanagement. Instead, it requires clear technical boundaries and approved alternatives.

Acceptable Use Policy

A formal policy should explicitly define how employees interact with AI. This document must specify that sensitive data like customer financials, passwords, and source code are never to be entered into external systems. It should also establish that any AI-generated content must be verified by a human for accuracy. Finally, it should provide a safe channel for employees to report accidental data exposure without facing immediate termination.

Technical Allow Lists

You should collaborate with your team to identify which AI tools provide the most value to their workflow. Once identified, your IT department can vet these tools for security compliance and add them to an official allow list. All other unvetted AI applications should be restricted at the network level to prevent the habitual use of insecure platforms.

Provision of Professional Tools

Prohibiting all AI tools will likely lead employees to seek unauthorized workarounds. A more effective strategy is to provide secure, business-grade AI platforms that integrate with your existing software. By providing the proper tools and training, you enable your team to work efficiently within a secure framework.

Strategic Support

Business technology is shifting. If you need assistance securing your network against unauthorized AI tools or require help drafting a formal AI usage policy, we are available to assist.

Contact us at (409) 861-4450 to discuss your security strategy.

The New Anatomy of a Phishing Attack

Most automated security advice will state generic information like checking the sender's email address. That is everyday information that anyone can parrot, and it does not help much on a busy Tuesday morning. Sophisticated cybercriminals now rely on targeted, technical strategies to bypass standard human awareness. That said, we still encourage you to follow these basic practices, as it never hurts to check for every sign of phishing.

Artificial Intelligence as a Copywriter

Scammers are using generative AI tools to draft emails, marketing copy, and reports. This means an attacker can instantly generate flawless, professional, and highly persuasive business prose.

They can even feed public blog posts or corporate updates into an AI tool to perfectly mimic an internal tone and communication style. If a corporate culture is casual and uses specific industry shorthand, the phishing email will reflect that. The red flags people used to look for—like weird capitalization or awkward phrasing—have completely vanished.

Deep Context (Spear Phishing)

Bad actors do not just blast out a million identical emails anymore. Instead, they target specific individuals inside an organization, often the accounting department or executive assistants. They map out corporate hierarchies using public platforms like LinkedIn, find out who the vendors are, and intercept existing email threads.

It is alarming how much context attackers can gather just from a public footprint. When an email looks like a direct reply to an actual conversation about an invoice, defenses naturally drop. They might even reference the specific name of a project or a piece of software a team uses daily, making the message look entirely legitimate.

Exploiting Cloud Infrastructure

Instead of sending targets to a poorly designed, fake website, modern hackers frequently host malicious login pages directly inside legitimate cloud services like Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services.

If a business already uses a modern enterprise password manager, most of the time they include free personal and family accounts, so users can take advantage of that. If not, a paid account for personal use is highly recommended, as most personal or family plans are only a couple of dollars per month.

Since these pages are hosted on actual Microsoft or Amazon infrastructure, web browsers will show the secure lock icon, and standard web filters will often let them right through. The page will look exactly like a standard Microsoft 365 login screen, but the moment credentials are typed, they belong to the attacker.

Applying This to Business Leadership

Business owners need control over their networks. Having boundaries on what users can and cannot do is absolutely critical for security. Implementing restrictions and monitoring threats is a core part of managed IT.

However, users are people. If they are made to feel like just another line item on an asset sheet, or if they are terrified of making a single mistake, they will not perform well. If an employee is terrified that clicking the wrong link will immediately cost them their job or ruin their career standing, they might hide the mistake.

In cybersecurity, a hidden mistake is an absolute catastrophe.

If an employee falls for a sophisticated scam, they need to feel safe raising their hand and reporting it immediately. That five-minute window between the click and the report is the difference between a minor password-reset annoyance and a full-scale ransomware deployment that grinds business operations to a halt.

Beyond the Security Perimeter: What Actually Works

Sometimes the solution is not about throwing money at a flashy new piece of software to solve a problem. It is about utilizing the technology already in place in a better, more effective way.

To combat these highly sophisticated attacks, a basic firewall and an automated antivirus program are not enough. A business needs a multi-layered approach:

Centrally Managed Endpoint Security

An enterprise-grade security solution must be distributed to every laptop and desktop in the organization. This system needs to be actively managed, monitored 24/7, kept updated daily, and set to run deep scans nightly with the scan reports actually reviewed by an expert.

Enforced Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

If a hacker manages to steal a password through a sophisticated phishing page, MFA stops them from getting in. It must be enforced across every single login, without exception. Do NOT make exceptions for executives just because they don’t like the extra step.

Continuous Training

Avoid boring annual slideshows that everyone sleeps through. Send simulated phishing tests to the team throughout the year, but treat it as an educational tool, not a trap.

Taking Action Without the Friction

If a network is locked down so tightly that staff members feel handcuffed, they will find workarounds. They will start using personal emails or unapproved cloud apps just to get their tasks done, which creates massive new security holes.

Technology should be there to help people do their jobs safely, not to micromanage every keystroke or treat them like a liability. The best defense is a well-trained team backed up by smart, silent safety nets that catch them when they trip.

Give us a call at (409) 861-4450, or reply directly to schedule a quick, no-pressure consultation. Let's make sure your business technology is built to support your growth, not invite an interruption.

To secure business data, organizations must phase out SMS-based authentication and transition to more resilient verification methods.

The Vulnerability of SIM Swapping

Text message authentication codes do not travel through a secure, encrypted data pipeline. Instead, they rely on the cellular network. Cybercriminals exploit this infrastructure through a tactic called SIM swapping.

During a SIM swap attack, a malicious actor obtains personal identification details about a target from existing corporate data breaches. The attacker contacts the mobile carrier pretending to be the account owner, claims their device is lost or damaged, and convinces the customer service representative to route the phone number to a new SIM card.

Once the mobile number is reassigned to the attacker's device, the legitimate user loses cellular service. The attacker then requests password resets for targeted business or financial accounts and receives the SMS verification codes directly.

Secure Alternatives to Text Messages

Upgrading corporate authentication methods does not require significant capital expenditure. The most secure alternatives leverage existing hardware or low-cost components.

Authenticator Applications

Instead of receiving a code over the cellular network, users install a dedicated application such as Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator.

These applications generate a unique cryptographic token that changes every 30 seconds. Because the generation process happens locally on the physical hardware of the smartphone, the token cannot be intercepted through carrier-side manipulation.

Hardware Security Keys

For administrative accounts and financial infrastructure, physical hardware keys provide the highest level of protection.

These small USB or NFC devices connect directly to a computer or phone. Authentication requires a physical touch on the device. An unauthorized login attempt from a remote location fails completely because the physical key cannot be duplicated or intercepted digitally.

Applying This to Your Company

Enforcing technical controls requires balancing network security with employee workflow. Implementing strict restrictions without technical context can hinder staff performance.

A structured transition minimizes operational disruption:

Phase 1: Identify At-Risk Accounts

Review all corporate applications to identify where text messages are used for identity verification. Prioritize email environments, financial portals, and customer databases.

Phase 2: Deploy App-Based Authentication to Core Roles

Begin the transition with administrators and leadership teams. Configure Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace environments to mandate app-based notifications or hardware tokens, disabling the SMS option entirely.

Phase 3: Complete Staff Training and Onboarding

Provide the technical steps necessary for general staff to configure authenticator applications. Clear documentation prevents configuration errors and reduces support tickets during deployment.

Technology evolves, and authentication standards must adjust accordingly. Securing an organization does not always require purchasing new software; it frequently involves configuring existing tools more effectively.

NetWorthy Systems assists businesses throughout Golden Triangle with network security configurations, identity management, and compliance standards. To review your current authentication methods and remove vulnerabilities from your infrastructure, call us at (409) 861-4450.

Viewing IT support as merely a reactive service to handle hardware failures misses the actual value of a technology investment.

The Three Phases of Support

A historical view of technical support reveals a clear progression in how services are delivered and measured. Most organizations assume they have a modern framework, but many are operating under outdated models.

The Reactive Phase

This is the traditional break-fix model. Technicians respond to hardware failures or software errors after they happen to restore basic functionality.

The main problem here is that the IT provider only generates revenue when your business is actively facing downtime. There is an inherent conflict of interest between provider revenue and company productivity.

The Proactive Phase

The industry eventually moved toward managed services. IT services providers like NetWorthy Systems started using remote monitoring tools to watch networks and identify stability issues before they caused a complete system crash.

This was a significant step forward for system uptime. However, this phase still focused almost entirely on the health of the machine rather than the performance of the user. A computer can be completely operational, but if an employee cannot navigate the software efficiently, billable hours are still lost.

The Strategic Phase

Modern IT support lives at the intersection of technology and human performance. The priority is ensuring that every single member of your staff has the exact tools, configuration, and training they need to execute their roles without technical friction.

Why This Matters for Your Business

Very few people get excited over business technology. It usually feels like a recurring expense that keeps going up without offering a visible improvement to daily operations. Business owners rarely care about technical specifications like RAM capacity or hardware model numbers. The focus should be entirely on what your team can achieve with those tools.

Evaluating a technology partner should be based on how much value they help you extract from your investments, not just how fast they close a support ticket.

Applying This to Your Company

When IT support is disconnected from actual business goals, it remains a cost center. To fix this, workflows must be analyzed alongside technology deployment. It is incredibly frustrating to watch an organization invest heavily in a software platform only for employees to struggle with adoption because it does not fit their daily routine.

Solving a technology problem is not always a matter of spending money on new equipment. Frequently, it is simply about utilizing existing technology in a more effective way.

To determine if your company is treating IT strategically, look for these specific benchmarks:

• Staff members are involved in the conversation, as their daily comfort and operational feedback directly impact productivity.
• Technology initiatives map directly to your annual business goals rather than existing as independent IT projects.
• Consultations prioritize optimizing your current setup before recommending additional capital expenditures.
• Technical systems are evaluated by the business value they create rather than just system uptime metrics.

The Value of Specificity

Generic advice is insufficient for modern security and efficiency requirements. Simply stating that a business needs an antivirus or a firewall is an oversimplification that anyone can repeat.

Real management requires a centrally controlled endpoint security system distributed to every device. That system must be monitored constantly, scans must run nightly, and scan reports must be actively reviewed to catch vulnerabilities. This level of granular management ensures that your organization can continue operations in the event of hardware failure or a cyberthreat.

Your data and your personnel are fundamental to keeping your business operating smoothly. When technical support functions as an educator and a strategic partner, it provides the framework for long-term growth.

If you want to transition your network to a strategic model that actively supports your people, contact NetWorthy Systems at (409) 861-4450 to discuss your options.

This mindset creates a dangerous paradox: when security is too difficult to use, your team becomes less secure. If logging in requires three different devices and ten minutes, employees will work around you. To eliminate this invisible productivity and security leak, you must remove friction.

The Threat of Shortcut Culture

Human beings seek efficiency. When security protocols like complex VPNs or poorly configured multi-factor authentication act as a wall rather than a gate, employees find a bypass.

This shortcut culture dismantles defenses:

• Employees email sensitive documents to personal accounts to work from home.
• Staff leave workstations logged in all day to avoid the login hassle, which prevents critical security patches and updates.
• Investing in a premium security stack is ineffective if the user experience is ignored during implementation, causing the team to bypass the system.

Defeating Multi-Factor Authentication Fatigue

While multi-factor authentication is non-negotiable, constant push notifications for every app cause severe employee burnout. A team member who must approve authentication requests 20 times a day loses focus and momentum.

Implement Conditional Access.

Modern security systems recognize trusted contexts. If an employee is on a company-managed laptop, using a known IP address during business hours, the system stays quiet. It only challenges them if variables change, such as a login attempt from a new device or a different country.

This results in total security with minimal interruptions.

Escaping the Help Desk Ticket Loop

Outdated security measures choke IT help desks with recurring support tickets regarding account lockouts, expired passwords, and failed VPN connections.

Every time security locks an employee out, you pay for dual unproductivity: the stranded employee who cannot work, and the IT specialist trapped fixing a routine issue.

Shifting to Single Sign-On and self-service password reset tools eliminates this digital traffic jam. Your IT partner can then shift focus from unlocking accounts to driving your company's growth.

Shifting from Restriction to Enabled Access

Traditional security operates strictly by denying access to unauthorized AI tools, external networks, and unapproved file sharing.

Constant rejection breeds Shadow IT. If you deny access without offering a secure alternative, your team will find their own rogue, unencrypted solutions. To protect data, your stance must evolve to provide the secure, company-managed version of the technology your team needs.

Tighten Your Operations

The most successful businesses run the smartest operations. By eliminating friction, you protect your data and maintain your team's productivity.

NetWorthy Systems provides businesses with the tools to balance ironclad security with seamless speed.

Learn more by calling us at (409) 861-4450.

Once this happens more often than it doesn’t, it’s easy to feel both swamped and like you’ve never finished a project in your life. Fortunately, this can be changed through a few slight adjustments:

Adopt a Standard for Naming Every File

How much of a pain is it to try to recognize the right file in a mass of nearly identical names? How much time does it take each time for you to (hopefully) find the right one in a mass of five or ten?

Being strategic in how you name your files helps ease these frustrations significantly. By adopting a standard naming convention, you can greatly simplify the process of finding exactly the right file, every time.

Let’s say you were working on separate projects for Larry, Moe, and Curly. With a specified naming convention, you could simply use details you know to more effectively locate each client’s file. For example, you might elect to name all files with the client name, project number, date, and then a description of the work done. As a result, you would be able to search for files named things like:

• MOE_153364_12/8_safety goggle sales
• LARRY_844623_7/24_hair conditioner requisition
• CURLY_777821_2/13_bandage order

If all your files match this convention, they become much easier to find… even if saved in the wrong spot.

Now, you may be wondering about all your existing files that won’t match your chosen naming convention. What do you do about those?

Simple—encourage your team to update the name of any existing files they interact with while also moving forward with the naming standard for all new files. This helps ensure that files that may need to be revisited match the standard naming convention.

Batch Your Notifications, Save Cognitive Space

While notifications are an essential part of the highly connected workplace, there can be too many of them bouncing around, distracting you from your tasks. Let’s assume that one department primarily uses a particular instant message channel to discuss a television show that most of that department enjoys, and one member decidedly does not.

This one department member can participate in notification batching, a fancy phrase for muting non-urgent communication alerts and checking them on a schedule, like every hour. By doing so, this lone team member can remain focused on their tasks without being distracted by recaps of the latest events on that show. If something requires this team member’s attention, the department can still reach out through other means.

Add Desktop-Zero to Inbox-Zero

The more icons there are on your computer desktop, the more challenging it will be to locate and access the one you need. A similar phenomenon can occur in email inboxes, which is why inbox-zero practices—attending to all communications and deleting, sorting, or archiving every message—are so popular. Why not apply the same practice to the desktop as well?

Encourage your employees to designate a specific time during the week to practice desktop zero by sorting any file on their desktop into the appropriate location in your business’ shared storage or into the trash as appropriate. With this bit of tidying up completed, your whole team is in a better place to focus.

It Doesn’t Take a Big Change to Make a Big Difference

Sometimes, all it takes to boost your productivity is a bit of digital tidiness. We can help you reach this goal. Reach out and schedule a workflow audit by calling us at (409) 861-4450.

How much of a relief would it be if all these problems stemmed from one source: it being the time to retire that particular piece of hardware and replace it with something new?

How Long Should the Average Professional Workstation Last?

As is the case with so much in business, it depends. 

Technically speaking, a hardware refresh cycle is the schedule that plans when older computers will be replaced. The tipping point is reached when a device’s decline in performance and increase in repair costs outweigh the cost of procuring a new machine.

If this sounds pricey, you would be surprised by how much less power a newer device uses and how much faster it runs compared to just a three-year-old system.

So, Don’t Wait Until It Breaks?

If you’re worried about finances in any way, shape, or form, absolutely not. Having to replace hardware in an emergency—without time to plan or budget—will be more expensive.

First, the employee whose hardware needs replacing is suddenly up the river without a paddle. This is downtime of the worst degree. Every minute it takes to get that hardware costs money… there’s the cost of replacing the hardware, of course, plus the likely fees from expediting its shipping. However, you also still need to pay your employee, even though their ability to do their job is temporarily paused.

So, when we say finances in any way, shape, or form, we mean it.

How Can You Tell It’s Time to Update Your Hardware?

There are a few signs that your hardware has run its course and should be replaced. For instance:

• If your hardware is getting excessively hot, or its fans are consistently running at top speed, it may be time to change it out.
• If even the most basic applications are slow to load or respond to basic commands, your hardware may need an update.
• If you are unable to install the latest security updates, you need to update your tech.

How Can You Find Help?

Simple: call NetWorthy Systems. We’ll help prevent the interruptions that plague the day and keep your business running smoothly. Reach out at (409) 861-4450 to learn more.

We often see business owners treat software like a grocery list. They realize they're hungry for a solution, they go out and buy the first shiny ingredient they see in an ad, and then they wonder why their kitchen is a mess and they still can't make a cohesive meal. Buying software without a strategy is just expensive clutter. Let's look at how to actually build a stack that helps your team instead of giving them app fatigue.

The Inventory First Rule

Before you spend another dime on a SaaS subscription, you need to know what you already have. You’d be surprised how many companies are paying for redundant features. For instance, if you are already paying for Microsoft 365, you have access to Teams, Planner, and SharePoint. Yet, I often see businesses paying extra for Slack or Dropbox on top of that.

Take an afternoon to list every recurring software charge on your business credit card. I guarantee you’ll find at least one zombie subscription for a tool your team abandoned months ago.

Instead of looking at the name of the software, look at what it does. Does it communicate? Does it store data? Does it manage projects? If two tools are in the same category, one of them probably needs to go.

Choosing People Over Power

There’s a common mistake companies make: buying software for the specs instead of the users. I’ve seen owners force a high-end, complex project management suite on a small team that really just needed a shared digital checklist. The result is that the team hates the software, they find workarounds—like going back to yellow legal pads—and the owner loses their investment.

Control is important—I’ll be the first to tell you that you need to manage who can see what data—but your users are the ones doing the work. Their comfort matters. If a tool is so secure and restricted that it takes ten clicks to do a two-click job, everyone using it is going to check out.

When I'm vetting a new tool, I follow along on my own computer and try to perform a basic task without looking at the manual. If a nerd like me finds the interface clunky or counterintuitive, your office manager; who is already juggling five other things, is going to find it impossible.

Why I Will Always Defend Integration as a Buzzword

I like to usually avoid jargon, but integration is the hill I’ll die on. A good software strategy ensures that your tools talk to each other. If your sales team enters a lead in the CRM, that data should flow into your accounting software without someone having to manually retype it. Manual data entry isn't just boring; it’s where human error lives.

One thing rings very true though: data is only valuable if it’s accessible. If your information is trapped in five different silos that don't connect, you don't have a strategy. You have a digital junk drawer.

Applying This to Your Company

So, how do you turn this around? It doesn’t require a $50,000 overhaul. Sometimes it's just a matter of using the technology you already have in more effective ways.

Consolidate Where Possible

If you’re a Microsoft shop, lean into the Power Platform. If you’re a Google shop, use Workspace to its full extent.

Standardize the Stack

Make sure everyone in the company is using the same tool for the same job. No rogue apps.

Invest in Training

Most people only use about 10 percent of what a program can actually do. Spending two hours on a team training session is often more valuable than buying a new productivity app.

Prioritize Security

Every piece of software in your strategy must support Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). If it doesn't, it’s a liability, not an asset. You're trying to run a business, not spend your weekends comparing API documentation or reading software reviews.

That’s where NetWorthy Systems comes in. We don’t just want you to spend money; we want you to see a real return on your IT investment.

If you’re trying to get your technology back under control, let’s chat. Give us a call at (409) 861-4450. We’d love to help you build a strategy that actually makes your workday easier.

Let’s explore a few of these pockets of friction and even more crucially, how to smooth them over.

Pocket One: Your Dispersed Employees Find Data Access Difficult

They say that a poor craftsman blames his tools… but what if those tools are inaccessible, as are the raw materials they're used on?

If all of your digital resources—your data and the software your employees use to do their jobs—are exclusively accessible to someone in the office, your remote workers simply won’t be able to be effective team members. This is why it is so important to have the tools in place that securely (more on this momentarily) allow your team to access their work resources from wherever they’re working.

Enter the cloud, and the collaborative tools that it supports. These digital platforms enable your employees to access and collaborate on their work from anywhere with an Internet connection, and in real time. By utilizing a managed cloud environment, we can help ensure that Paul can accomplish his goals from his desk at the office or from home as he cares for his daughter after she caught the flu during a playdate.

By helping you transition to a managed cloud environment, we can make your operations far more flexible and convenient.

Pocket Two: Your Employees’ Home Networks Are Less Secure than the Office’s

As we said before, it is important that your tools are not only available but also secure. The issue is that it is far easier for you to control the security of your business’ network than it is for you to control the security of your employees’ home networks, or the network of the cafe down the road that some team members take their laptops to for a working lunch.

That said, while these extraneous networks are out of your control, the endpoints (AKA, your team’s laptops or mobile devices) aren’t. We can help you set up these endpoints to abide by your security standards before they can access your data. Company-owned devices make this simple, and a Bring Your Own Device policy helps enforce these standards for anyone using a personal device for work. Either way, this allows you to maintain security wherever a device is being used, while also allowing the users to receive support as needed.

Pocket Three: You’re Concerned About Remote Employee Productivity

There are two primary reasons you may have these concerns. The first is a distrust in your team and their work ethic, and the second, far more likely reason is their ability to efficiently access their resources from their location. The first will require you to clearly lay out your expectations and hold your employees accountable to these standards. The second can be resolved by simply being prepared. 

For example, if Todd finds his home Wi-Fi unreliable, encourage him to connect his work laptop directly to his router via an Ethernet cable to avoid relying on Wi-Fi altogether.

If Miranda is having trouble locating the files she needs, it suggests that these resources are not saved in the appropriate location and need to be better organized. Shared folders are key to this improved organization, as is some level of education to ensure your team knows how to find the appropriate files and organize new ones correctly.

If Laura finds that her tools are constantly crashing, keeping everyone’s software up to date can solve this problem and allow her to accomplish her tasks more promptly. Plus, these updates will frequently include critical security patches that resolve threats to which Laura’s device would otherwise be vulnerable.

Remote Work Can (and Should) Be Beneficial

Whether your team is working from the office, from home, or from wherever they happen to be, their productivity should not be hindered by technical issues. We can help ensure that it isn’t. Reach out to NetWorthy Systems at (409) 861-4450 to start a conversation about your workplace strategy and how to incorporate a distributed workforce.

You look at it, you look at your to-do list, and you click Remind Me Later. Then you do it again the next day. And the day after that. That Remind Me Later button is essentially a Leave the Front Door Unlocked button.

Understanding the Boring Stuff: Software vs. Firmware

I know, I know. Your eyes are already starting to glaze over. You don't care about the technical specs of a patch, and honestly, you shouldn't have to. But to get the most out of your technology, you need to know what’s actually happening when you click Install.

• Software updates - These are for the programs you interact with. Think Microsoft Word, your web browser, or your accounting software. These updates usually fix bugs (like why the printer won't talk to Excel) or add new features.
• Firmware updates - This is the hidden software that lives on your hardware—your router, your printer, or even your laptop’s motherboard.

Why This Is Critical To Your Business

Every day, your business generates data. That data is the lifeblood of your operations. When developers release an update, it’s rarely just for performance improvements. Most of the time, they are patching a hole that a hacker has already figured out how to crawl through.

If you are running outdated software, you are essentially using a map from 1995 to navigate a city that has changed entirely. The bad guys know where the old roads are, and they know which bridges are broken.

By the numbers, here is why you can't wait:

• Over 60 percent of data breaches involve a vulnerability where a patch was available but not applied.
• Hackers can often write exploit code (the digital crowbar they use to get in) within 48 hours of a security flaw being announced.
• The average cost of a small business data breach is now well over $100,000 when you factor in downtime, lost trust, and recovery.

Applying This To Your Company

I’m not going to tell you that being more mindful of these pop-ups would have prevented every IT headache you've ever had. I will say that keeping things updated is the single cheapest insurance policy you can have.

It isn't about throwing money at a new flashy tool; it’s about using the technology you already have in a more effective, secure way.

Here is your three-step checklist for Tuesday morning:

Stop the Snoozing

Encourage your staff to run updates before they leave for the day. If they start the update at 5 p.m., it doesn’t matter if it takes ten minutes or an hour, they’ll be gone anyway.

Don't Forget the Quiet Devices

Your office router, switches, servers, and your network-attached storage (NAS) probably won't give you a pop-up on your desktop. These need a professional to log in and check the firmware manually.

Audit Your End of Life Gear

If you have a laptop running Windows 8 or an old router from 2014, there are no more updates coming. No one is fixing the holes anymore. It’s time to retire those assets.

Believe me, it can be a nightmare to manage 50 different devices all asking for updates at different times. That’s why we handle it for small businesses like yours. We’ll push these updates out automatically during off-hours, so your people can just focus on their work.

If you’re worried that your network is a few versions behind, or you just want someone to take the “Remind Me Later” burden off your plate, give us a call at (409) 861-4450.

Granted, these figures were collected between April 4th and the 15th and included only 1509 users, so the statistical significance is questionable. Despite that, we can’t disagree with NordPass’ conclusion: more people are using password alternatives.

This is a good thing, because these alternatives tend to be more secure than passwords ever have been.

Surprise, Surprise… People Are Sick of Passwords

This is precisely why so many people are enthusiastic about using alternative identity authentication measures.

You can hardly blame them, or yourself… passwords are notoriously hard to remember, even in the best circumstances. As a result, most people slip into bad habits.

How many sticky notes have you seen festooning computer monitors, displaying access credentials? How many notebooks have you seen referenced? How often have you seen someone frustratedly reset a forgotten password?

How many times have you used these reminders, or frustratedly replaced the password you had written down because your machine didn’t want to accept it?

From this perspective, the modern shift away from passwords in favor of the alternatives now available makes even more sense. So, what options are available to a business seeking to remain secure without compromising its team or their productivity?

Enter the passkey—a digital access credential that allows you to sign into a website or app with an alternative authentication measure.

Passkeys are a Better Option for the Modern Worker

Instead of a password that you have to remember and type in, you use your fingerprint, facial scan, or PIN. This makes it not only faster to use but also substantially more difficult to steal, since there is no text to phish.

Faster, Without Sacrificing Security

How often do you find yourself mistakenly mistyping your password, only to have to go back and correct it, if not retype the whole thing? Without the need for a password, this entire time sink is eliminated.

We Can Help You Implement Modern Security Standards

Our recommendation is to begin with your most essential, commonly used applications and tools as you switch from passwords to more secure options. In addition, we would implement multi-factor authentication wherever available, using options such as biometric proof.

Reach out to NetWorthy Systems to learn more about how we can help you streamline your team’s login processes while keeping them secure. Give us a call at (409) 861-4450.

On paper, it looks like a win. You’ve cleared a line item and the computers still turn on. In reality, that isn't a saving. It is a high-interest loan taken out against your company’s future; and you know, the bill always comes due at the worst possible time.

The Myth of “Good Enough” Security

There is a massive difference between having a piece of software installed on a computer and actually being protected. Most people think of antivirus like a deadbolt on a door. You lock it, and you're safe.

In reality, modern cybersecurity is more like a high-end security team. A basic antivirus—the kind you buy for $60 or download for free—is just a guy with a flashlight. He might see someone breaking in if he happens to be looking at the right window at the right second, but he isn't monitoring the cameras, he isn't checking the badges at the front desk, and he certainly isn't stopping a sophisticated social engineering attack.

When I talk about getting the most out of your technology, I’m not just talking about shiny new laptops or more RAM. I’m talking about ensuring the tools you already use don't become the reason you have to close your doors for a week while you recover from a ransomware hit.

Why This Matters for Your Business

Let’s look at this through the lens of a business owner. If your network goes down today, what does it actually cost you? It’s not just the invoice from the IT guy to fix it. It’s:

• The idle payroll - You’re paying your staff to sit at their desks and look at blank screens.
• The reputation tax - A client calls to place an order and you have to tell them your systems are down. They might not wait for you to come back online; they might just call your competitor.
• The recovery surcharge - Emergency IT work on a Saturday night is never cheap. Believe me, I've seen those bills, and they aren't pretty.

Actually, according to recent industry data, the average cost of a data breach for a small business can exceed $100,000 when you factor in downtime and lost business. Suddenly, that managed security plan starts to look like a bargain.

Taking the First Step

You don't need to be a tech geek to protect your company. You just need to be a leader who makes informed decisions. If you want to see where you stand, you can check a few things right now without even calling an expert:

• Check your MFA - Does every single employee have Multi-Factor Authentication (the code that goes to your phone) turned on for their email? If your answer is “I think so,” the real answer is probably “no.”
• Verify your backups - When was the last time you actually opened a file from a backup to see if it worked? A backup that hasn't been tested is just a hope, not a strategy.
• Audit user access - Does your newest intern have Admin rights to your entire server? They should NOT have that level of access.

An Invitation to a Better Future

Technology should be an invitation to a better, more efficient future for your business, not a source of constant anxiety. You’ve worked too hard to build your business to let a single phishing email take it all down.

Taking control of your IT doesn't mean micromanaging your staff or locking them down so tight they can't breathe. It means giving them a safe environment where they can do their best work without worrying about whether that Invoice attachment is going to blow up the network.

If you’re worried that your current setup is more flashlight guy than security team, let's have a chat. Give us a call at (409) 861-4450 to schedule a consultation.

That's essentially what just happened to the tech world.

Recently, Anthropic (one of the major artificial intelligence companies) unleashed a powerful new AI model named Mythos. Its primary job was to hunt down security flaws, and it found thousands of them across Windows, Apple, Google, and the critical software that keeps the internet running.

These aren't just minor glitches. They are what the IT industry calls "zero-day vulnerabilities."

What is a Zero-Day Vulnerability?

A zero-day vulnerability is a flaw in a piece of software that the original developer doesn't know about. Because the creator doesn't know it's there, there is no patch for it yet.

The moment one of these flaws is discovered, the clock starts ticking. You have "zero days" to fix it before hackers start taking advantage of it. The discovery of these flaws by the Mythos AI at such a massive scale means that vendors like Microsoft and Apple have to scramble to issue critical, immediate updates.

Industry estimates suggest these hidden flaws can exist for years before anyone notices them. However, the moment a patch is released, the bad guys analyze it to figure out exactly what was broken. Typically, the first network compromises happen within minutes to 24 hours after a patch goes public.

AI models like Mythos are compressing this window even further.

Expert Insight

• "Industry estimates suggest zero-days can live for years before detection, while organisations take weeks to patch them once disclosed. The first compromises typically occur within minutes to 24 hours after release. Artificial Intelligence (AI) models like Mythos compress this window dramatically."
• — Martin Kraemer, Security Researcher at KnowBe4

He's absolutely right, and it perfectly highlights why relying on your staff to manually click "Update Now" is a massive risk.

Why Relying on "Update Now" is a Massive Risk for Your Business

This brings us to how you manage your company's technology. If you are relying on your staff to manually click "Update Now" when that little pop-up appears on their screen, you are putting your business at a massive risk.

Your people are busy. They are trying to get their actual work done, close deals, and help your customers. When a software update interrupts their workflow, what do they do? They hit "Remind me tomorrow." They might do it for days, or even weeks.

I don't blame them for wanting to do their jobs without interruption, but every day they delay, that digital window stays wide open.

Once a software patch is public, hackers use automated tools to blindly scan the internet for any computer, laptop, or router that hasn't installed the update yet. A single unpatched laptop on your network can serve as an easy entry point for a full-scale network compromise.

Taking the Burden Off Your Team

Effective cybersecurity isn't about wagging a finger at your employees and telling them to be better at clicking update buttons. It requires a centralized system to distribute, enforce, and monitor patches across every single endpoint in your office.

With manual updates, it can take weeks for patches to reach every computer, and you have no idea if an employee's update actually worked or failed mid-install. Furthermore, manual updates usually only cover the surface-level applications your users interact with, ignoring the critical infrastructure running in the background.

Conversely, a centrally managed IT system pushes critical updates out automatically. It gives us real-time reporting to verify that your network is secure, and it covers the deep infrastructure that your users can't even see.

At NetWorthy Systems, we implement systems to handle these critical updates behind the scenes, usually after hours. It removes the burden of security maintenance from your workforce, lets them focus on their actual jobs, and ensures your network remains totally compliant.

If you want to discuss properly securing your business and taking the guesswork out of patch management, give us a call at (409) 861-4450.

AI doesn't have to be a waste of your time. If you stop looking at it as a content generator and start looking at it as a specialized tool for your business, you can actually get some real value out of it.

Here are three ways you can use AI right now to actually make your workday easier, without turning your brand into a robot.

Use It as a High-Speed Research Assistant (Not a Writer)

One of the best ways to use AI is to have it digest large amounts of information that you don’t have time to sift through. If you have a 50-page PDF manual for a new piece of software or a long transcript from a recorded meeting, don't waste your afternoon reading the whole thing.

• Feed that document into an AI and ask it specific, granular questions.
• What are the three steps to configure the user permissions?
• Did we ever agree on a deadline for the server migration during this meeting?

It’s about getting to the meat of the information faster. You’re still the one making the decisions; the AI is just holding the flashlight so you can see where to look.

Generate True Enough Scenarios for Training

If you’re trying to teach your staff about cybersecurity, which you should be doing, by the way, AI is great for coming up with realistic examples.

I’m a big fan of using analogies and stories to make technical points stick. You can ask an AI to help you draft a few what-if scenarios for a staff meeting. It saves you the brainpower of starting from scratch and gives your team something concrete to look at. Just make sure you review them first to ensure they actually make sense for your specific workflow.

Summarize the Technical Debt

Sometimes, when I'm consulting, I see business owners who are overwhelmed by the sheer number of platforms they’re paying for. They have SaaS sprawl; too many subscriptions and not enough clear utility.

You can take a list of the software your company uses (leave out the sensitive account numbers, obviously) and ask an AI to help you categorize them. It can help you identify where you might have overlapping features.

A quick note on privacy: never, ever put sensitive client data, passwords, or trade secrets into a public AI tool. If you wouldn't want the whole town to see it, don't type it in.

Applying This to Your Company

The goal isn't to let AI run your business; it's to use it to free up your time so you can focus on your people and your actual KPIs. Whether that's signing more agreements or producing more products, technology should always be the tail, not the dog.

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the AI hype and want to figure out a practical, secure way to implement these tools in your office, I’d love to help you navigate that.

Give us a call at (409) 861-4450, and let's talk about how to make your technology work for you instead of the other way around.

Your users are the people actually doing the work. One thing is repeatedly true: if you treat them as just another company asset instead of human beings, they aren't going to perform well. They certainly aren't going to adopt your new system willingly. When you face opposition to a new technology investment, it is rarely because your staff is fundamentally stubborn. Usually, the technology is introduced as an interruption instead of an invitation to a better workday.

Applying This to Your Company

If you are getting pushback on a new piece of technology, or if you are gearing up for a rollout and want to avoid the resistance altogether, here is how you can get your team on board.

Bring Employees into the Conversation Early

Don't just spring a new system, process, or application on your team. Ask them what part of their day is the most frustrating. If the new investment solves that specific problem, they will embrace it.

Focus on What They Can Do, Not the Technical Specs. 

Very few people get excited over technology these days. Your staff doesn't care about the backend integrations, the reporting metrics, or the server RAM. You have to get them excited about how this new tool will save them an hour of data entry and make their workday easier.

Give Them Room to Learn

Handing over a new application with a link to a generic tutorial isn't training. Empower your staff with technology by giving them the actual tools and paid time they need to do great work, but don't micromanage every little click while they figure it out.

Look at What You Already Own

Throwing money at a problem isn't always the answer. Even if you get a great deal from a vendor promotion, sometimes, you don't even need a new investment. It is just a matter of using the technology you already have in better, more effective ways.

Your best employee is paying attention to how these rollouts happen. If you force clunky, confusing, or poorly explained technology into their workflow, they will quite frequently start checking out. You just won't notice right away because they are still showing up and doing the work.

If you need help evaluating your next IT investment, or just want advice on how to get your team on board with the tools you already have, give us a call today at (409) 861-4450.

The gap between “functioning” tech and “high-performance” tech isn’t measured in crashes; it’s measured in micro-lags, or tiny, repetitive pauses that occur dozens of times per day. Individually, they are annoying, but collectively, they are a financial catastrophe.

This is part 1 of our “hidden leaks” series, and today, we’re looking into how you can identify the productivity drains hiding in your legacy hardware.

What is a Micro-Lag?

A micro-lag is a brief moment of friction when a computer “thinks.”

Consider the three-second delay when opening a large Excel spreadsheet, rendering a large PDF, or switching between applications. These lags are short, and employees don’t report them. They just wait. The average office worker encounters approximately 50 to 100 micro-lags per day, and if an employee loses just 10 minutes per day to hardware friction, that’s 40 hours per year—the equivalent of an entire work week.

And for a team of 20, that’s 800 hours of waiting every single year.

The Context Switch Tax

But it’s not just about the seconds lost; it’s about the mental energy required to get back into the flow.

Every single time a computer hangs, the user’s brain takes a micro break. When a screen freezes for 5 seconds, the employee checks their phone or glances at other tabs. And when it takes an average of 23 minutes to return to deep focus after a distraction, you have to consider how that shows up in their work.

Your legacy hardware isn’t just slow; it’s actively fragmenting your team’s ability to do deep, high-value work.

The Thermal Throttling Trap

Small businesses frequently hold onto “pro” laptops for four or five years. While the specs might have looked great in 2021, the internal cooling systems degrade over time.

As dust accumulates and thermal paste dries out, the processor gets too hot. To save itself, the computer “throttles” its speed. The end result: your employees are using tech that is intentionally running at 50% capacity to keep from melting.

To compensate, your team is working harder with a machine that is literally giving up, and that doesn’t serve your business at all.

If you’re paying an employee a premium to sit in front of a cheap laptop that micro-lags all day, you aren’t saving money on hardware; you’re subsidizing inefficiency. In 2026, “functioning” is no longer the standard. Working technology and fluidity is what will give you the competitive advantage you need.

Want to improve your IT processes to eliminate micro-lags? Learn more today by calling us at (409) 861-4450.

This is completely understandable… unless you happen to be working with a managed service provider.

“Oh, great,” I can almost hear you saying. “Someone else to pay whenever something goes wrong.” Rest assured, that’s not how managed services operate. Not only is it an inaccurate impression of how an MSP functions, but it also ignores most of the real value that we have to offer.

Stop Fixing Your Technology When It Should Just Work

While the proactive approach to tech maintenance isn’t exactly new, the impression that we collectively have of IT services is proving hard to shake. How often have you witnessed the cycle of something breaking, waiting for someone to fix it, paying a premium to get back to business, only for something else to go wrong and restart the whole process? Why put up with all this stress if you don’t have to?

With an MSP’s help, you don’t. Instead, you have someone in your corner to keep watch over your business tech and proactively keep disasters from striking.

Practical Examples of the Difference We Provide

Let’s say you were working with NetWorthy Systems for your business’ IT needs. As a result of this choice, you could expect the following to happen:

• How often does your team arrive in the morning, only to be greeted by an update screen promising a very long wait until they can use their workstations? Working with us means these updates can be scheduled for times when they don’t cause disruptions to the workday, activated en masse.
  
  
• While a good antivirus is an important part of a business’ security stack, it is by no means the only part. Part of our priorities is to ensure that you have comprehensive protections in place and that they are continuously monitored for security issues. If something starts to act strangely, we’re the first to know and can get a head start on fixing it.
  
  
• Let’s say you suddenly got a surprise bill for a few thousand… is that something your budget could just absorb? Our services come in exchange for a predictable, monthly payment, which is far easier to budget for.
  
  
• An employee who is unsure of how to properly get something to work is pretty likely to come up with their own workarounds—things like emailing files to their personal inboxes—that eliminate any security you have. We’ll be there to assist your team in acquiring the tools they need and learning to use them properly.
  
  
• If one of your team members ever has a question or needs assistance, they can easily reach out to one of our support professionals to get the help they need.
  
  
• With your business’ challenges attended to, you have more room to focus on growth and improvement. We’re more than happy to help you strategize your best options and implement them properly, turning your expenses into investments.

Let Us Help You Find Peace in Your IT

Managing a business’ network is no easy feat. Given the rapidly changing landscape and the equally rapid innovation by cybercriminals, there’s a lot to manage to protect your organization… too much to reasonably expect of yourself.

We’re here to help you bridge this divide, while also teaching you to better understand your IT and make it less intimidating. Give us a call at (409) 861-4450 to learn more.

Knowing exactly what to do in the first sixty minutes determines whether a business restores operations quickly or faces a permanent closure. Use the following steps to evaluate your current incident response plan.

Phase 1: Immediate Network Isolation

Ransomware is designed to traverse a network to find and delete backup repositories. Containment must be a physical priority.

A protocol should be in place where staff members immediately disconnect infected machines from both the wired and wireless networks. This requires physically removing the network cable and disabling the Wi-Fi adapter. This action must be taken without waiting for administrative approval or attempting a standard software shutdown. Every second the hardware remains connected allows the encryption process to reach additional folders.

Phase 2: Auditing Backup Immutability

The first step in recovery is verifying the integrity of the backups. Modern ransomware specifically targets backup credentials to ensure the victim cannot restore their data without paying.

If backups are configured as read-write, an attacker with administrative access can delete the entire history. This is why the infrastructure requires immutable backups. These are data sets that cannot be modified or deleted for a set duration, even with high-level credentials. If your local and cloud backups were deleted simultaneously, you must confirm you have an off-network or immutable copy that remains protected.

Phase 3: Virtualization and Recovery Time Objectives

Extended downtime results in significant revenue loss and damage to professional reputations. Rebuilding physical servers from scratch can take several days depending on the volume of data.

A modern Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution allows for virtualization. This process enables the business to spin up a copy of the servers in a secure cloud environment. The staff can then resume work on these virtual clones while the physical hardware is cleaned and restored in the background.

A successful incident response plan should aim for a recovery time objective of under four hours. If your current system requires a multi-day rebuild, the business is at high risk during a crisis.

Phase 4: Forensics and Compliance Requirements

After the immediate threat is neutralized, the business must address legal and insurance obligations. Reporting requirements for insurance providers and state data privacy boards often necessitate a detailed forensic trail.

You must be able to identify:

• The specific point of entry.
• Whether data was exfiltrated or simply encrypted.
• The extent of the lateral movement within the network.

Utilizing Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) provides the logs necessary to prove the breach was contained. Without this data, the business may be forced to notify every client of a potential data compromise, which carries heavy regulatory and reputational penalties.

Implementing These Steps at NetWorthy Systems

Establishing a resilient security posture is an essential business investment. If you need to verify your backup integrity or update your incident response protocols, contact us at (409) 861-4450 to schedule a technical review.

One thing rings very true: relying on a list of known threats creates a false sense of security. If your software is waiting for an update to tell it a file is bad, the infiltration has likely already occurred.

The Shift to Endpoint Detection and Response

We recommend making the shift to Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR). Unlike legacy tools that focus on the identity of a file, EDR focuses entirely on behavior. It monitors all activity on your computers in real-time to establish a baseline of normal operations.

When an application attempts to perform an unauthorized action—such as mass-encrypting files or communicating with an unknown external server—EDR identifies the deviation and intervenes. This happens regardless of whether the file has been seen before.

Why EDR is Important for Your Business

I know that most business owners do not want to focus on technical specifications, but the shift to EDR has direct implications for your daily operations:

• Insurance compliance - Most cyber insurance carriers now require EDR as a minimum standard for coverage. Without it, your business may be uninsurable or your claims could be denied.
• Network isolation - If a workstation is compromised, EDR can automatically isolate that specific device from the rest of the network. This prevents the spread of infection to your servers or other employee computers.
• Root cause analysis - When a threat is blocked, IT professionals can review the digital footprint to see exactly how the entry occurred. This allows us to close the vulnerability so the same method cannot be used again.

Applying This to Your Company

At NetWorthy Systems, our goal is to ensure you see the value in your IT investment and that your staff has the tools they need to succeed without the constant threat of data loss. If you are still using legacy antivirus, your business is taking on unnecessary risk. It is my responsibility as a consultant to help you make educated decisions about your infrastructure.

If you want to discuss your current security posture or move your organization toward a more proactive defense, give us a call at (409) 861-4450.