We all have too many accounts nowadays. Between our personal lives, work, and practically all the entertainment we consume, there are dozens to keep track of and manage\u2026 and then there are the ones that charge us for a service they offer. The stacking costs of these services are bad enough, but if you see them start to double or even triple in a given month, you may be experiencing a common problem that is simple enough to solve.<\/p>\n
To do so, we need to clarify the difference between creating an account and logging in.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Whatever account you’re considering, think of it as investing in office space. <\/p>\n
Creating an account<\/em> is like setting up<\/em> a space that suits your needs. You generally only have to do it once\u2014the first time you walk in\u2014and as you do so, you leave behind some of your belongings\u2026 furniture, equipment, and other materials. In this case, it\u2019s your name, contact info, and potentially personally identifiable information and credit card info.<\/p>\n Logging in<\/em> is like accessing <\/em>this space each time afterward. It\u2019s using your key to open the door and turning on the lights, starting a pot of coffee, and otherwise getting ready to use the space.<\/p>\n If you already have an account on a website, meaning you\u2019ve gone through the setup process, all you need to do is log in. If you create another account, you\u2019re effectively setting up another office space with duplicate furniture and equipment.<\/p>\n How many people do you know who have a couple of different Facebook profiles? Are you one of those people?<\/p>\n If you are, know that we here at Coleman Technologies aren\u2019t necessarily calling you out. It\u2019s a pretty common issue, even a few decades into social media and widespread Internet access. In many cases, it\u2019s because someone forgot their password and created a new account.<\/p>\n That said, I want to remind you that your new account can easily cause a few problems:<\/p>\n With the holiday season in full swing, it is even more vital for everyone to stay aware of and maintain their account hygiene. Scams and swindles are going to be everywhere.<\/p>\n While we\u2019ve primarily focused so far on personal use, this is a particularly big problem if a business does it\u2026 including those in British Columbia.<\/p>\n Your business should have a single official Google account, and that account should tie to everything about your business. Your Google My Business listing, your website, your analytics, everything that requires an email or something to do with your business should tie to this single official account.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go back to the office space analogy for a second. What\u2019s keeping your business\/accounts safe from unauthorized access and damage? Sure, you have your password, but relying on that alone is like protecting your business with a \u201cStay Out\u201d sign. It helps, but it just isn\u2019t enough anymore. You need a deadbolt, too.<\/p>\n In the case of your business account\u2014and this applies to every account you have\u2014this means you need to strengthen your password protection with additional authentication requirements\u2026 a strategy known as multi-factor authentication<\/em>.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve almost certainly seen this before: an app or website emailing you a link or a code to provide after submitting your password. It\u2019s the extra step that helps these platforms confirm that the person accessing an account is that person. Basically, by asking for something that you would have, but someone else wouldn\u2019t, it\u2019s much more likely to be you.<\/p>\n In short, multi-factor authentication (or MFA) can be a pain, but it\u2019s a pain that prevents a lot worse pain later on.<\/p>\n Issues like this are half the reason a lot of people find technology so frustrating\u2026 it\u2019s simply due to miscommunication between the user and the instructions. It happens at home and <\/em>in the business setting.<\/p>\n We help British Columbia businesses manage effectively all aspects of their technology, including their business\u2019 accounts with different vendors and platforms. Reach out to us at (604) 513-9428 to set up a time and find out what we can do to help you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We all have too many accounts nowadays. Between our personal lives, work, and practically all the entertainment we consume, there are dozens to keep track of and manage\u2026 and then there are the ones that charge us for a service they offer. The stacking costs of these services are bad enough, but if you see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":14284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,318,31],"tags":[356,306,371],"class_list":["post-14281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-practices","category-coleman-technologies-blog","category-security","tag-2fa","tag-security","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14286,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14281\/revisions\/14286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/colemantechnologies.directivesites.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Hackers and Scammers Love to See This<\/h3>\n
\n
The Impact is Even Bigger for Businesses<\/h2>\n
Please, Please, Please Protect This Account with Everything Available<\/h3>\n
What is Multi-Factor Authentication?<\/h3>\n
Share This With Someone You Know!<\/h2>\n