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Preferred Blog

Preferred has been serving the Tinley Park area since 1991, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

If You See Someone Streaming Funeral Services, You’ve Spotted a Likely Scam

If You See Someone Streaming Funeral Services, You’ve Spotted a Likely Scam

Funerals are never to be taken lightly, which makes it all the worse that there are people out there willing to use these events to scam those in grief. Recently, Facebook has seen many groups that supposedly offer links to streamed funerals in exchange for credit card data, with different events being added more recently.

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What’s Going on With Telegram and the State of Encrypted Communication?

What’s Going on With Telegram and the State of Encrypted Communication?

Sorry for the loaded title. There’s a lot to talk about, even for those of you who don’t use or even know what Telegram is.

We’ll try to sum this up, because we think there is a lot to say about security and the nature of technology in this, and like all things these days, there’s some odd rabble-rousing about this whole series of events. Who’s up for a wild ride?

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Let’s Review Your Facebook Privacy Protections

Let’s Review Your Facebook Privacy Protections

Last week we went through some of the issues that Facebook is dealing with in regards to its security and data privacy. Today, we thought it would be helpful to give you the tools you need to protect your privacy on Facebook.

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Oversharing on Social Media Can Have Grave Effects

Oversharing on Social Media Can Have Grave Effects

Maintaining data security is an important consideration, and most people try to do what they must to secure their personal data. They verify emails; they roll out antivirus and antimalware; they take vigilant steps to avoid the myriad of threats and active attacks we all deal with from one day to the next. 

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Social Media Scams are on the Rise

Social Media Scams are on the Rise

Social media scams are fraudulent schemes or deceptive activities that take place on various social media platforms. Users of Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and dozens of others have been victims of these attacks. These scams can target users of all ages and backgrounds, and they aim to exploit people's trust, curiosity, or lack of awareness. Social media scams come in various forms, and here are some common ones.

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What Search Engine is Truly the Best, Part 2

What Search Engine is Truly the Best, Part 2

Last time, we started our discussion on the best search engines by talking about the behemoth, Google. While Google is, by far, the most popular and commonly used, and arguably the most accurate search engine, it doesn’t mean it’s always the right search engine to use. Let’s talk about some other alternatives and see where they might fit in.

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What Search Engine is Truly the Best, Part 1

What Search Engine is Truly the Best, Part 1

Even if you lived under a rock, you’ve probably done a Google search or two. There are, in fact, other search engines, each with their own pros and cons. We’re going to compare some of the most popular search engines and talk about what makes them different.

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The Emergence of Social Media has Changed the Game for Businesses

The Emergence of Social Media has Changed the Game for Businesses

Social media is often seen as simply a consumer technology that has limited value to businesses, but you might be surprised by how much proper use of social media can impact it. Here are four benefits your business could potentially see from using social media websites and applications.

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Social Media has Emerged as a Transcendent Technology for Businesses

Social Media has Emerged as a Transcendent Technology for Businesses

It is not an exaggeration to refer to social media as a world-changing technology, impacting life in all manners—interpersonal, social, and professional. We wanted to focus on this last aspect and discuss how social media can assist a business in its operations.

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The LinkedIn Breach Exposes Nearly 700 Million People

The LinkedIn Breach Exposes Nearly 700 Million People

Almost daily there is another data breach reported that exposes data for hundreds of thousands or millions of people. This is a troubling trend. One of the most troubling events happened recently as 700 million profiles from the social media network LinkedIn were found for sale on a popular hackers forum. What’s worse is that the company isn’t admitting that it had been breached recently. Let’s take a brief look at this situation and try to unpack what is going on with LinkedIn.

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Social Media Is A Tool For Any Sized Business

Social Media Is A Tool For Any Sized Business

Nowadays, social media companies have a lot of power and influence, which is part of the reason that so many of today’s largest businesses have adopted social media as a critical promotional tool. With the average person spending about two hours and 24 minutes on social media and messaging applications per day, this makes social media a clear opportunity for any sized business to embrace. Let’s consider a few ways this can be accomplished for these different businesses.

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Tip of the Week: How to Control Facebook and Instagram Ads

Tip of the Week: How to Control Facebook and Instagram Ads

Social media platforms—like Facebook and Instagram—are a great place to communicate with people, as many political campaigns are now taking advantage of. With an election on the horizon, political advertisements abound on these platforms. Of course, not everyone wants their feeds cluttered with these ads… especially if these ads don’t align to their own politics.

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Why Your Business Needs a Social Media Presence Right Now

Why Your Business Needs a Social Media Presence Right Now

Businesses around the world now find themselves in a situation unlike what most have ever seen. With so many trying to keep their distance from one another, many workplaces have deemed it necessary to close down for the time being or to operate remotely in order to reduce the risk they present to their clients and customers… but it isn’t as though these clients and customers are going to expect radio silence from these businesses.

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Control Your Profile, Part II

Control Your Profile, Part II

In part one of this series we started to go through Facebook privacy failings, but we didn’t really give you any information you can use. For part two, we have decided to take you through some security setting for Facebook. 

Facebook has over two billion users, and as a result, it has its fair share of privacy snafus. While they do (finally) make available all of a person’s Facebook information, their strategies to success are important reasons why there are so many privacy concerns throughout the online world. 

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Can You Stay Productive In the Face of Constant Distraction?

Can You Stay Productive In the Face of Constant Distraction?

The modern office is filled with distractions, and that’s to say nothing about the everyday user’s life. With so many devices and notifications interrupting focus for users all over the world, it’s more important than ever before to have a strategy for how to deal with these issues and become as productive as possible in the workplace. Today, we’ll be discussing some of the biggest distractions in the workplace and how your employees can overcome them.

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Hackers Prey on Social Media Users

Hackers Prey on Social Media Users

Social media has been an emerging technology in recent years, and has produced many threats. Hackers have learned that they can take advantage of these communication mediums to launch dangerous new attacks on unsuspecting users. With enough ingenuity on a hacker’s part, they can potentially steal the identity of a social media user. Here are some of the best ways that your organization can combat identity theft through social media.

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Are You Making Yourself Vulnerable Over Social Media?

Are You Making Yourself Vulnerable Over Social Media?

Social media might make it easy to stay connected, but it comes with a lot of negative side-effects--particularly in regard to security for both personal and professional use. If social media isn’t used properly, it could spell trouble for your organization. How can you foster proper social media usage so that your organization doesn’t suffer from poor security practices? It all starts by spreading awareness.

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The Cause of Social Media Addiction and How to Stop It

b2ap3_thumbnail_social_media_blocking_400.jpgSocial media addiction is a problem that plagues most modern businesses. Even though it’s a best practice to leverage social media to your business’s advantage, it’s a well-known fact that social media addiction can lead to wasted time and distractions in the office. In order to beat social media addiction in the office, it’s best to understand how it comes about, and what you can do to help your workers leave it alone, rather than locking everything down completely.

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3 Modern Technologies Used By Every Political Campaign

b2ap3_thumbnail_campaign_it_400.jpgIn 19th century America, the hottest innovation for political campaigns was the exposed stump from a fallen tree, thus the stump speech. This technology revolutionized politics by allowing the candidate to elevate himself above the crowd for greater visibility and to better project one’s voice. Today, the political stump speech is obsolete, having its usefulness far surpassed by the technologies of the modern age.

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Fans of Facebook Now Have a Facebook Business App

b2ap3_thumbnail_facebook_at_work_400.jpgFacebook has come a long way. Originally designed as a networking tool to be exclusively used by college students, Facebook now has 1.44 billion active users, making it the world’s largest social network. Today, businesses take Facebook seriously and utilize it for their marketing initiatives. However, it’s still viewed as a time-waster by many office managers who restrict or ban employees from accessing it.

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      Best Places to Work - 5 YEARS STRONG!!

      Preferred is once again, honored for being a Best Place to Work for the fifth straight year!  Our team is what makes Preferred a Best Place to Work.  

      Daily Herald Suburban Business 2024 Best Places to Work Honorees The Daily Herald Suburban Business has announced the names of 51 companies, in 5 categories of competition, that are honored as the 2024 Best Places to Work in Illinois. This statewide survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Illinois, benefiting the state's economy, its workforce and businesses.