(BPT) - Technological advancements are helping aging adults stay safe, comfortable and connected as they age in place. And, families can feel more confident about mom, dad and the grands living independently, especially around the holidays.

“The year 2020 brings new innovative technologies to enable us to address the unique challenges we face as we age,” says Lisa Cini, president/CEO, Mosaic Design Studio and BestLivingTech.com. “Even the simplest tasks, like going to the bathroom, turning on the faucet, or cleaning up afterward can be difficult or dangerous for aging adults, but by integrating the latest gadgets into our home designs, seniors can remain safe, connected and independent.”

Lisa’s 2020 tech trends include:

• Google Home or Amazon’s Alexa can be used for a multitude of activities like listening to music and audio books, appointment and medication reminders, and hearing the weather. These gadgets can even make calls and respond to a simple “OK Google” or “Hey Alexa,” which can be useful after a slip or a fall (if within hearing range).
• A bidet eliminates the need for assistance in the bathroom by allowing users to clean up after themselves, providing independence and removing the embarrassment of asking for help.
• Hestan Cue Chef’s Pot measures the surface temperature of the pan via Bluetooth and is great for braising, poaching and perfecting dishes.
• Roomba the robot can vacuum multiple rooms daily and is compatible with Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. It travels back to its charging dock and can be customized to clean when you want it to.
• Moley Robotic Kitchen is a fully automated kitchen that acts as a MasterChef to cook thousands of meals. This smart robot takes away the hassle of cooking and cleaning and does everything at the touch of a button.
• Nest Smart Thermostat makes homes energy efficient, with a display that can be read from across the room or remotely by cell phone and works with Amazon’s Alexa for voice control.
• Loop keeps you connected to friends and family through a loop of photos, video and video chat.
• The Human Charger light therapy device enhances energy levels and helps you get restful, sustained sleep.
• The Dementia Day Cycle Clock displays the day of the week and morning, afternoon, evening or night, to help you distinguish between days of the week and cycles of the day.
• Med-Q Automatic Pill Dispenser will flash the corresponding day slot with a bright red light and blast an alarm that increases in volume until you take your pills at the scheduled time.
• A One Button Dementia Radio allows you to turn the radio on and off without confusing buttons and dials.
• The Wander Alarm Security Alert chimes or vibrates to let you know that the door or window has been opened.
• iGuardStove and FireAvert prevent burnt pans or fires by automatically shutting off power to the stove when the smoke alarm goes off.
• Joy for All Companion Pets provides joy without the headache as it responds to hugging, petting and motion like any typical cat or dog, mimicking the movement and purring sound of a cat to bring comfort and companionship. No need to clean the kitty litter or walk the dog in the snow with this companion pet.

BestLivingTech.com offers many of the available products above to help seniors embrace aging and independent living. As a boomer living designer, Lisa searches the world for the best technology to help people age in place and brings them all together in one online store — think Sharper Image meets AARP.

By keeping the home retrofitted with the latest technology, we can help our parents and grandparents stay safe and comfortable at home and eliminate some of the worry when we’re not around.

Lisa Cini, ASID, IIDA, is an award-winning, internationally recognized designer with decades of experience developing interiors that improve quality of life for seniors. She is the author of The Future is Here: Senior Living Reimagined, Hive: The Simple Guide to Multigenerational Living, and BOOM: The Baby Boomers Guide to Leveraging Technology, so that you can Preserve Your Independent Lifestyle & Thrive.

(BPT) - The PCs you choose to power your small business can dramatically impact your company's productivity and competitiveness. However, many small businesses fall for common myths about computers, leading to poor purchasing decisions.

Here are four myths about PCs — and realities to help you make smarter technology decisions for your business.

Myth 1: Consumer PCs are interchangeable with business PCs

Reality: Because they're built for activities like watching videos, checking email and surfing the web, PCs for the consumer market will not always have the computing power or security features sophisticated business applications demand. If a family laptop reluctantly boots up or crashes, it's annoying, but not serious.

For a business, however, computers are mission-critical. Employees are more likely to run multiple applications simultaneously, use resource-heavy applications or use software as a service (SaaS). PCs built for consumers often lack the computing power to handle these tasks — resulting in lost productivity.

Consumer-level PCs may also lack built-in security features of computers designed for businesses, which could make your business — and sensitive customer data — vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Myth 2: RAM is the top factor in computer performance

Reality: Adding more random access memory (RAM) usually allows a computer to manage more data. But RAM alone won't improve a computer's performance — unless the PC has sufficient processing power. To make a PC faster and more efficient, you need a powerful central processing unit (CPU) to optimize the RAM. While RAM is the memory, the CPU (or processor) is the computer's "brain," receiving instructions, performing calculations and processing information.

To run today's resource-intensive business software efficiently, look for computers with plenty of RAM plus processing power, such as PCs combining an 8th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 processor with Intel Optane memory — delivering up to 2.5 times more responsive handling of everyday tasks and up to 66% faster web performance compared to 5-year-old PCs.^[1]

Myth 3: You can wait until PCs fail before replacing them

Reality: Long before a PC fails, its performance may suffer, costing your business time and money. Waiting for an older PC to start up every day can waste up to 11 hours a year.^[2] Crashing, freezing or slow computers can keep your employees from working efficiently, and may appear unprofessional to customers or clients. Sluggish, malfunctioning PCs can reduce employee satisfaction, as workers become frustrated with outdated technology.

Don't wait until your business PCs slow to a crawl before upgrading. Be proactive. Look for hardware that exceeds your software vendor's recommended system requirements. This will help ensure your PCs can handle future software upgrades. Then set a regular schedule for upgrading your hardware.

Myth 4: You're saving money by repairing old PCs

Reality: Repairing or adding RAM to squeeze more life out of older computers may seem economical. But the cost of keeping older PCs running quickly adds up. According to Intel(R)-commissioned research from J.Gold Associates, repairing breakdowns of a five-year-old computer costs an average of $662 per year. The same research found 43% of the small businesses surveyed had PCs that were over five years old — and malfunctioned each year.^[3] At that rate, you'd soon be spending more on repairs than on a brand-new, more powerful computer.

Besides losing productivity during breakdowns and repairs, older computers are also slower. Using five-year-old PCs can make your employees up to 29% less productive,^[4] potentially costing your business up to $17,000 per year, per worker.^[5]

Older PCs can also put your business at risk of cyberattacks. Per the J.Gold Associates survey, small businesses estimated that 34.47% of their computers over five years old had been hacked.^[6] With the average cost of a single data breach worldwide estimated at $35,745 per employee,^[7] an older PC rapidly becomes an expensive liability.

In the same survey, small businesses reported that just 5.92% of their PCs newer than one year old had experienced cyberattacks.^[8] Newer computers frequently offer built-in security features to reduce risk of cyberattacks. If you've updated to Windows 10, upgrading to a PC with the 8th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) processor can help you focus on growing your business instead of worrying about cybersecurity.

Blindly accepting myths about PCs can be expensive for your small business. Upgrading to more powerful computers can optimize the performance of your business software, enhance your cybersecurity and boost employee productivity. The next time you're making decisions about computer purchases, be sure you base your actions on reality. Then choose the right PCs to make your business more competitive.

Learn more at Intel.com/smallbusiness.

(BPT) - Resourceful thieves and cybercriminals continue to find new ways to hack U.S. consumers’ sensitive personal information. Dumpster diving, stolen or lost wallets and mail fraud should still be concerns, but the digital age of tablets, smartphones, PCs and Wi-Fi networks leaves people more vulnerable than ever.

Have you ever stored credit card information on your phone for added convenience to make payments in a checkout lane? Do you ever store passwords in apps to transfer funds between accounts? And what’s to keep hackers from accessing a wireless network you check your email on while you’re grabbing a quick cup of coffee?

”More than 15.4 million people a year will experience identity theft, with an average loss of more than $1,000,” said Jane Li, Mercury Insurance’s director of product management. “When one access point closes due to added levels of security, cyberattackers find another. Insurance companies like Mercury provide services that allow homeowners and renters to enjoy the convenience of accessing their connected devices at home and on the go, while also helping to protect customers from the potentially devastating effects of criminal infiltration, cyberextortion and identity theft.”

The following five do’s and don’ts can help stop criminals in their tracks and protect your connected devices, as well as your electronic identity.

1. Do power down your devices. This disables the internet connection, cutting off access to any personal information stored on your computer, tablet or phone. Unattended machines, especially if you are asleep or leave them at home while on vacation, are easy targets for hackers.
2. Don’t connect to unsecured wireless networks. Information accessed on an open network, including email passwords and sensitive bank information, is fair game for hackers. Don’t make their jobs easier. Turn off Wi-Fi access on your devices unless it’s a password-protected network you trust.
3. Do monitor your children’s device usage. It’s a good idea to limit use of computers, tablets and phones to public areas within the home like the living room or kitchen. This makes it easier for parents to keep an eye on who their kids are communicating with, especially on social media or gaming sites, to help prevent the sharing of sensitive information like full names, addresses or other things that can be used for identity theft or other potentially dangerous activities.
4. Don’t discard important paperwork without shredding it. If it has your name and address, thieves can take advantage and open an account using your information. Remember to shred expired insurance documents, vehicle registrations, bills, loan pre-qualifications and other paperwork that would allow someone to call in pretending to be you. Check your credit reports at least twice a year to ensure all accounts opened in your name are valid.
5. Do install recommended updates. Smartphone, computer, tablet and smart TV manufacturers, among other providers of connected devices, offer periodic software updates to protect against potential security breaches. Chances are, if an update is recommended, hackers have already discovered a way to access your personal property and information, so keep your software up to date.

Li recommends homeowners and renters speak with their local insurance agent to learn more about the endorsements they may be able to add to existing policies to help safeguard their finances if their identities are compromised or connected devices are attacked.

“It can be daunting to try to regain your financial footing if a criminal takes advantage of you,” said Li. “Insurance exists to help protect consumers from unexpected events and, in this case, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

(BPT) - As the pace of technology advances, cybersecurity threats do, too. Data breaches, identity theft, phishing and malware make headlines seemingly every day. Internet-connected devices, social media, digital assistants and mobile apps have become indispensable in our everyday lives, but their connectedness makes us increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. Recent reports estimate that damages relating to cybercrime are expected to hit $6 trillion annually by 2021.

“It’s impossible to predict when you will be affected by cybercrime,” says Bashar Abouseido, chief information security officer for Charles Schwab Corp. “The best defense is to stay informed.”

It can be helpful to envision your computer and digital devices as a house where you store your personal data. October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so it’s a good time to make sure your digital house is secure. The first step is to understand the ways cybercriminals may attempt to access your data.

Types of cybercrimes

Data breaches occur when there is unauthorized access to sensitive personal information. These incidents often make headline news and can affect large numbers of consumers.

Malicious software, also known as malware, spyware, ransomware and viruses, refers to software programs designed with the purpose of gaining unauthorized access to a mobile app, digital device or computer.

Phishing is one of the most common forms of online fraud and cybercrime. Cybercriminals try to lure you with a fake email sent from what they have designed to appear to be a trusted source or contact that encourages you to click a link or open an attachment in order to extract personal account information.

5 tips to protect your digital house

1. Remodel your digital house: Installing updates is an essential first step.

Think of system updates as basic maintenance to your digital house that is keeping your personal data safe. It can be annoying to see those system update prompts on your computer or mobile device, but software developers are constantly improving their software to repel the latest malware. By keeping your operating system and apps updated, you are making sure that your digital house is as secure as possible.

2. Don’t have a leaky house: Be wary of public Wi-Fi networks.

Using public — and often free — Wi-Fi networks is convenient, but it is a common entry point for criminals to use malware to infect your devices and apps. Use only networks you trust or use your own personal Wi-Fi hotspot if you have one. Never update your devices when you are connected to a public Wi-Fi network.

3. Keep your keys secure: Choose unique access credentials.

Access credentials — usernames and passwords — are the keys that keep your digital house safe and secure. Select credentials that are unique and don’t include personal identifying information such as a name, address or birthday. For added protection, choose two-step verification to access critical online accounts for your banking, retirement or investment accounts. Two-step verification is typically a key or another code provided by the service provider in addition to your primary access credentials to verify your identity.

4. Secure doors and windows: Use only secure websites and app stores.

Web browsers and app stores are like the doors and windows in your digital house. Make sure they are secure by using web addresses that start with “https” and downloading apps only from the Apple App Store, Microsoft Store and Google Play store.

5. Don’t open that door: Delete suspicious emails.

That knock on your cyber front door is the sound of a cybercriminal sending you a phishing email. Be suspicious of emails that come from unknown senders. Use your cursor to hover over questionable links and email addresses to reveal the true identity of the link or sender. When in doubt, don’t click on any links or open any attachments and delete the email immediately.

For more information on more ways to educate and protect yourself from cybercrimes, visit SchwabSafe.

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