Blog

Are you thinking about the future? 

Think about the next 5 years.  You can bet your competition is.  5 years out isn't really that far away, it's the tangible future.  And the people who live and work there know that new technologies, new ideas, and new electronics will make life and business not only different, but also better.  Smarter, easier, more inspired. 

Know what's coming.  Better yet, use what's coming to better your life, your work, and your business.  What's possible?  You probably can't even imagine it.  But you don't have to.  You just need a technology partner who can.  That's us.  Call us today and learn how having a trusted I.T. provider can transform your business and your life. 

PDF Previewer

You can add a PDF preview functionality to Outlook so PDF attachments work properly.  This feature allows you to view a PDF attached to an email without having to open the attachment. It’s very cool and very handy!

It is easy to install this for yourself.

Use the link below to read about the benefits of this feature. At the bottom, you will find easy installation instructions for various operating systems.  I didn't create the previewer but I'm sure you will find it very helpful!

http://timheuer.com/blog/archive/2008/05/09/foxit-pdf-preview-handler.aspx

Once the feature is installed you will be able to preview PDF attachments right in your email message without having to open them from another program.  

Frank Christopher

The iPads are Coming!

Like it or not, businesses are having to support new technologies.  One new piece of equipment we are seeing more and more is the Apple iPad.  This device is changing the way people compute.  With its introduction to the workplace come many considerations for the technology.  For example:

1. Is it safe and secure?  How can we incorporate the new device and maintain security and integrity of the company's data?
2. Is it a helpful device?  Does it improve productivity in the office?  How can we maximize the gains?
3. Is it compatible with the company's applications?  How can we make it work best for the users?

One of the big questions people ask us is "How can I print from my iPad?"  One of the "gee wiz" things we have done recently is setup application printing so iPad users can not only use their devices at work, but they can print from them with just the touch of a finger.  We have also setup remote access to office pc's from the iPad. 

New technologies are quickly changing our world.  Our customers embrace new technologies rather than run from them.  If you need help integrating new devices to your work environment, call us today!

Frank Christopher

 

Security Considerations

I’d like to point out that it's very easy to access data these days. 
There are so many ways to obtain information people may wish to remain private.
There are many, many ways to attack an information system like server or network files.

The only real way I could say that data could be 100% secure would be to disconnect it. 

Here are some of the ways information can be compromised/stolen. 

1. Employees.  If your employees give away their passwords or use them for personal gain.  You can install certain data protection/integrity systems to help, especially concerning tracking of data that has been taken.  But if you can’t trust your people, it’s difficult to truly secure the data.
2. Malware.  Malware can take multiple approaches to harvest data.
   1. Infect a network pc and then gather data from the servers from the inside. 
   2. Infect a network pc and silently capture passwords, to be used for data gathering/attack through a different method. 
   3. Infect a network pc and then infect the server.  It’s important to keep pc’s and servers updated both with security updates as well as installation of the newest versions of the operating systems and email systems.  After a while, Microsoft abandons older systems and quits patching the software. 
3. E-mail.  It’s possible to use email for multiple attacks.
   1. Collection of email contents.
   2. Sending of malware by email.
   3. An exploit of a flaw/bug in email system could be utilized to collect data from the email server or network.
4. Smartphone.
   1. Collection of email contents.
   2. Collection of user password. 
   3. Sending of malware by email.
   4. An exploit of a flaw/bug in smartphone system could be utilized to collect data from the email server or network.
5. Wireless.
   1. It’s possible to compromise the wi-fi signal, allowing an attacker to gain network access.
6. VPN.
   1. It’s certainly possible to transfer data over the vpn if an employee password was compromised.
   2. It’s possible to crack or determine valid credentials and then gather data. 
7. Router compromise.
   1. It’s possible to hack or compromise the router itself, after which an attacker could gain access to your network. 

This is not a complete list, but is meant to give a fair overview of the risks.  Again, I would say it is impossible to be 100% secure.  If huge companies like VISA, Google, the US Government, etc. cannot protect their systems, how can smaller companies with much less resources? 

We can certainly increase protection, it just depends on how much you want to spend or how much headaches you want to take on…

For example:
Two-factor authentication helps protect against password hacking and employee theft. 
Two-factor authentication of systems used on the vpn.
It’s also possible to encrypt outgoing email. 
Forcing frequent password changes can help ensure passwords remain secret.
Lock-down of web browsing can help keep pc’s from getting infected. 
Restricting access by day/time can help. 
PC Replacements
Server Replacements

Let us know if you want to explore some of these ideas.  Again, we cannot make it 100% secure, but I do feel that hackers go after the low-hanging fruit.  If you were to implement some of or all of these suggestions it would make things much harder for the bad guys, who would probably just move on to easier targets.  (Which there is no shortage of...)

Frank Christopher