Total Care Computer Consulting is proud to present the
HP Folio 13 – the only ultra mobile PC on the market today. Designed for better business performance and working on the go, the HP Folio 13 makes it possible to collaborate, stay in touch and keep up with your business from anywhere, anytime. If you’re ready to experience the mobility and power of the HP Folio 13, contact us today!
Source: Havard Business Review (HBR Blog Network)
By Brad Power
For example Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan recently announced plans to cut about 30,000 jobs across the company, nearly 10 percent of the work force, due to a downturn in trading and lending revenue and the continuing effects of the mortgage mess. And other major banks such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Credit Suisse and UBS have started laying off employees in the last few months.
These layoffs are usually driven by small teams who look for opportunities to “right size” departments. For example, at Bank of America, 44 senior bank managers and about two dozen consultants worked on a cost-cutting initiative called “Project New BAC”. They analyzed costs, set targets, and met with business and functional units. They solicited cost saving ideas from employees, then prioritized and presented them to senior managers.
As systems and market demands continue to require better productivity and efficiency, it only follows that the software that businesses use also needs to upgrade sooner or later. Such is the case with Windows XP, which Microsoft will stop issuing support for in 2014.
Part of using any sort of software is the inevitable need to upgrade. Most if not all software needs to either be replaced and upgraded as the demands of the market entail more efficient processing of the various data and information a business handles.
Such is the case with Windows XP. While many continue to use this proven straightforward operating system, Microsoft has decided to stop support by the year 2014. Microsoft further recommends upgrading to its latest OS, Windows 7, in order for users to continue to receive OS support.
While there are some lines of business applications that have not been upgraded to work with Windows 7, most have — and there are alternative approaches. Also, your business needs the security and protection that only a current, up-to-date operating system can provide.
We understand that changing your OS will entail some expense, including new licenses, hardware, and some training. Fortunately, these things are designed to help you operate more efficiently and increase your productivity in the long run. But such change will take time, and if you are interested in starting to plan for an upgrade now, we’ll be happy to sit down with you and develop an upgrade process that meets your specific needs.
Source: computerworld.com
By Gregg Keizer
Computerworld – Microsoft today warned that scammers have taken to the phone lines to dupe Windows users into putting malware on their machines or paying for worthless help.
The ploy isn’t new — security experts have seen it in circulation for at least a year — but Microsoft was the first to quantify the problem.
According to Microsoft, which sponsored surveys in the U.S., the U.K., Ireland and Canada, 15% of the people polled said they had received unsolicited calls from fraudsters posing as computer support technicians who claimed they were offering PC security checks.
The scammers try to trick users into believing that their computer is infected — often by having them look at a Windows log that typically shows scores of harmless or low-level errors — then convince them to download software or let the “technician” remotely access the PC.
The con artists charge for their “help” and often get people to pay for worthless software. In actuality, the software is malware that steals online account information and passwords.
“They’re taking advantage of ignorance,” said Sean Richmond, a senior technology consultant for Sophos, in a podcast today.
In many cases, the scammer asks the user to open Windows’ events log, which records significant events on the PC, including program errors. Richmond noted that the log typically contains scores of such errors, which may look alarming to many users.
Of the people who received such calls, 22% fell for the scam, Microsoft said.
A recent attack by cyber-criminals has highlighted the need for many SMBs to re-evaluate the security protocols between themselves and their bank. Hackers exploit weaknesses in such systems, and when successful, can siphon tens of thousands of dollars from your accounts.
In a recent attack, cyber-thieves managed to get away with $63,000 after they exploited vulnerabilities in the online payroll system of a small business with its bank.
First, the crooks managed to infiltrate the company’s system through a piece of malware called the Zeus Trojan. This gave them access to the company’s data, including the password and username used in transacting with the company’s bank. The thieves then created several new ghost employees and created payroll accounts for them, which they sent to the bank and authenticated using the company controller’s username and password. And to cover their tracks, the hackers erased the confirmation emails regarding the transaction.
This incident highlights the need for better security systems in both the business and their bank – as security experts cite online banking transactions as one of the favorite targets of cyber-criminals. Cyber-attacks such as this one exploit weaknesses in many existing systems that rely on very simple and automated authentication procedures to confirm transactions.
A direct threat to your business finances is not something to be taken lightly. You not only need to review your current online banking system, but also the current security protocols you have installed, since hackers and cyber-criminals are constantly updating Trojans and other malware to adapt to changing IT protection systems.
We encourage you to have us take a look at the systems you have in place to determine if you are at risk for attacks like these. Please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to draw up custom security solutions that address your specific needs.
References:
Sold a Lemon in Internet Banking
Cybercrooks Drive Away With $63,000 from Car Dealership
With hackers and electronic thieves constantly on the lookout for the latest exploits and security breaches they can take advantage of, it is comforting to know that there are also people behind bold initiatives to make our web experiences much safer.
If you think hackers are the only ones doing their research to release newer and scarier viruses and malware on the web, think again. It is comforting to know that there are also very capable people doing what they can to make the internet a safer place – like Professor Dawn Song, associate professor at the University of California at Berkeley and MacArthur Foundation fellow.
In a nutshell, Professor Song has been looking at different ways to make the internet experience more secure. Her two initiatives – WebBlaze and BitBlaze – are aimed toward developers who want to create better and much more secure programs and applications.
WebBlaze is a compilation of different strategies from Song and other like minds who tackle different problems and solutions in all sorts of platforms, and BitBlaze is an analysis tool for malicious software. While we won’t go into too much detail (it involves very complicated math), the gist is that Song and her colleagues are drawing up some very solid solutions to constantly evolving security issues on the web.
It’s exciting to see developments like these in the security industry. As threats continue to evolve, so does the means through which they are fought. The more we use the internet and the more the online experience becomes integral to the day-to-day operations of businesses big and small, the more important securing your data and information becomes. And because of efforts such as Professor Song’s, we can expect security programs to be much more effective and efficient as time passes.
Know more about BitBlaze and WebBlaze
Learn more about Dawn Song here
If you are looking to assess and beef up your security systems, we’d be happy to sit down with you and take a look at improvements that can make your business and your data much more secure.
Total Care Computer Consulting, LLC (www.totalcarecc.com) is pleased to announce that Kevin Royalty, Managing Partner, has been named by Microsoft to be one of approximately forty Most Valuable Professionals for Small Business Server in the world for the eighth year in a row.
Kevin is a seasoned IT professional with over twenty years of experience. As a highly successful author and consultant, with both a programming and network engineering background, he is a frequent public speaker at industry conferences and local/regional computer events.
Kevin serves as President of the Cincinnati Networking Professionals’ Association (www.cinpa.org), President of the Cincinnati Small Business Server Users Group, and sits on the board of CincyTechUSA.
Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) are recognized, credible, and accessible individuals with expertise in one or more Microsoft® products who actively participate in online and offline communities to share their knowledge and expertise with other Microsoft customers. Customers want an enriched pool of knowledge and real-life experience to tap for advice and feedback. MVPs are helping to satisfy this need by independently enabling customers in both online and offline technical communities. Customer feedback is vital to product development and R&D. The MVPs represent an important part of this feedback loop by providing another link for Microsoft to listen to the customer.
The Most Valuable Professional Program is the way that Microsoft formally acknowledges the accomplishments of these individuals for their contributions to community. It is focused on fostering a vibrant global community where Microsoft and customers learn about each other through valued ongoing relationships.
The MVP Program, in existence for over fifteen years, is represented by over 2,600 MVPs in 81 countries.
With the growth of social networking, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate business connections with personal connections.
November 17, 2010 was declared by Jimmy Kimmel during his television show as “National Unfriend Day”, the opportunity for all Facebook users to declutter their Facebook pages by “unfriending” people in their friends’ lists. He claims that Facebook has been “cheapening” the idea of friendship. To many the idea was hilarious, but others are seriously considering the wisdom of unfriending.
Is Kimmel on to something here? Can unfriending benefit your online business?
Research shows that as social media gets bigger, we’re getting smaller. Brian Wong, a network marketer says it simply: “With the growth of social networking, I am finding it increasingly difficult to separate business connections and personal connections.” He says that having almost 1,000 friends on Facebook has made it difficult for him to see the feeds and updates of his “real” friends and important business partners.
Lately there is a growing trend of de-scaling on the internet. People have started “pruning” their social lives online. For example, the popular Farmville app lost 30 million players this year, and people are beginning to realize that conversations and comments are more important than a huge number of blog hits.
So how can de-scaling and unfriending help your business? The drive to be more intimate can benefit your business by allowing you to form a tighter circle of customers, more successfully establishing you as a preferred channel for consumption.
Luckily, there are tools that can help you descale your social networks:
What about the flip side of unfriending and descaling? While you’re considering who to eliminate from your social circles, your contacts are likely doing the same. Here are some tips to help you make their cuts:
1. Be selective in your communications.
Of course, your product is important – to you. But not every little detail is as important to your audience. Be sure to focus on key features and benefits from your audience’s perspective.
2. Stay on topic.
Always give relevant communications to your customers, and never rant or badmouth competitors. This is a sure way to lose customers.
3. Provide value.
In addition to talking about your product or service, find ways to provide value to your circle of friends. Understand topics and pain points important to them, and provide valuable information and advice to help them succeed. You’ll soon come to be considered as a valuable resource to your contacts – one that they want to keep in their online social groups.
One thing is clear: quality is still more important than quantity, especially in the current economic downturn when people are downsizing everything. Start “pruning” your social network – and take steps to avoid being pruned – and you’ll reap the benefits of having a tight circle of loyal friends and customers.
Using shared Wi-Fi networks can be really convenient, but it is not without risks of its own. These days, more and more people are on the go, and many of them bring their work with them. And in this day and age, it’s ideal if you’re working – or playing for that matter – while connected to the internet, which is often through public Wi-Fi hotspots.
While connecting to public and open-access Wi-Fi hotspots is indeed convenient, using open networks also poses risks that endanger your security. The open nature that allows anyone to use the connection also enables unscrupulous people to gain access to your private information. The whole act of stealing information from people who are using public Wi-Fi networks is called ‘sidejacking’.
There are applications such as Firesheep, for example, that provide an easy-to-use platform that others can exploit to spy and harvest personal, sensitive information from you. And since Firesheep is a Mozilla Firefox plug in, virtually anyone can download and use it to sidejack people on the same network.
You can’t be too cautious with your personal and business data these days, so you always need to have the proper laptop configuration and security infrastructure to protect your system, especially when you frequently avail of open and public networks. To know more about this, please feel free to give us a call and we’ll be happy to draw up some security options that meet your specific needs.
It seems that even the most innocuous machines in the workplace can serve as a security threat to companies. According to this report from CBS News, many office copiers save the images they copy on a dedicated hard disk installed inside them. This means that everything from mundane memos to your most sensitive information such as financial statements and contracts are stored – and could potentially extracted.
So the next time you dispose of a copy machine, if you’re not sure what’s stored on it and how to get it off – give us a call to help out.
To see the news report, watch this video.
