The answer to this is question is ultimately no. That being said what’s the point of securing your network? Well, if a network is properly secured it will take a very skilled individual to successfully break into a secured network. 

Network security is a must for every business whether you have your own server or not. Those using a server need to put as much security in place as possible since your resources are all accessed and managed centrally (or at least they should be as that’s the whole point of having a server…).

We speak about security a lot as an IT services provider and that is because it is extremely important. The fact is however that just like good antivirus software is for viruses and malware, good security is simply a preventative measure and needs to be monitored and kept up on to ensure it is working properly. A skilled hacker can infiltrate even the most secure network given enough time to do so. The key to stopping an attack is not what you had setup at prevent the attack but rather the constant monitoring of your network to watch for attacks taking place and stop them before they make it through your defenses, then make some changes after an attack to prevent any headway they may have made on your network.

We have had attempts by hackers at a number of clients sites which is pretty common and thanks to our monitoring system, were able to detect the attempts and block them BEFORE they were able to access anything. Having good security in place allows you time to react to attacks. Having poor security generally means you never even have a chance to see the attack and they can walk off with everything saved on your network. If someone was able to gain access to your network they could potentially have access to your business contacts, contracts and company files, customer credit card data, etc…needless to say this could wind up costing your company tens of thousands of dollars or more.

It pays to have a properly designed security solution in place. If you have any question as to how secure your network is or is not…give us a call for a full security audit and lets us have a few minutes to speak with you about some of the ways we can help you protect your company.

Hackers have managed to crack an Intel-developed encryption code that is currently used by a number of industry heavyweights to secure HD video content and devices. In order for someone to use this information to unlock anything that would have to implement it into silicon-make a computer chip.

Saving passwords helps save tons of time but also helps you forget your passwords. This little tool helps you pull any passwords that are saved on the computer. The tool even tells you the website that the password has been saved from.

A great tool to speed up email or password related issues for clients who can't remember or never knew their password. All you have to do is open the tool point to the password box and it will reveal the password.

USB Safe Guard is a free portable program that will encrypt all of the files on your flash drive very easily, anyone can do it. You can also set this tool up to shred your files in case you lose your flash drive.

To get the program installed onto your flash drive you simply download it from the following website http://usbsafeguard.altervista.org/download.html, then you drag the program onto your flash drive. From here all you do is launch the software from your flash drive, then you should be prompted to create a password. Once you do you are then able to encrypt the entire flash drive or specific files or folders, in which all you do is drag into the interface. This program also gives you options on what to do when someone tries to access your data and does not know the password. You can set it to shred all of the data, leave it alone, plus a few more options.

 You can also enter in your phone number or email in case your lose your memory stick. Most other programs like this do not have this option, which is very nice to have when you leave your flash drive at a clients site. This program will work on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

We all know how overwhelming remembering all of our passwords can be. 

Especially if you're like myself, and have a dozen or so online accounts, with numerous user names and several passwords. 

Keeping passwords stored on your computer as documents, or the dreaded sticky note reminders we find on our monitors, desks, and several other places we know they shouldn't be laying around, isn't safe at all. And, keeping them all in your head can become very difficult. 

Well if you're not on the password manager bandwagon, it's time to get on board!  A password manager is software that helps user' store their username and password (or PINS) credentials.

These can be passwords to access your Facebook page, web based email accounts, or even your network logins at home and work.  There are several password managers out there, all using encryption as the key feature they are based around.  Encrypting your data makes it virtually impossible for someone to get access to your information. 

Some of the top password managers out there are RoboForm, StickyPasswords, and TurboPassword.  Many of these resources are free, and can really come in handy if used correctly.

I recently was blown away by the password manager that was loaded on a new flash drive I purchased.  It is called IronKey, known as the worlds securest flash drive.  It keeps your personal data and passwords, encrypted and safe from practically everyone.

As an interesting aside, this military-grade USB flash drive has the ability to self-destruct. If you enter the wrong access password 10 times in a row, the encryption chip inside the all-metal case self destructs.

If you're interested in a password manager system, or even better yet, one of these amazing Ironkey flashdrives, please e-mail us at sales@expertsmi.com.

Ever been locked out of your computer because you somehow managed to forget your password?  Some say ha yeah right, but over time more and more people ask me what do I do if I've forgotten my password?  Well there is a very useful trick to remember if you've done the unthinkable. 

Depending on the operating system you're running, there are a couple different ways to get around this.   If you're running Windows NT/2K/or XP there is a simple way to do so. 

First you start by shutting down the computer all the way.  Once the system is shutdown, start it up, and immediately begin to strike the F8 key.  This will pull up Windows Advanced Boot Options, looking a little something like this....

From here you're going to want to select the first option at the top, Safe Mode.   Once the system is booted into Safe Mode, you will notice a new user account appears on the screen, possibly one you did not see before.  This account will be called Administartor.  Every Windows OS has an administator account built in. 

Log in as the administartor, and then from there you can go into the Control Panel > User Accounts and then remove the password from the other accounts.   Restart your computer, and voila, your account previously blocked by a password can be logged into without one. 

For those of you running Windows Vista, 7, or any other operating system, there are several resources online, you just have to search for them.  A great Linux based password reset tool is called, "The Ultimate Boot CD."  This is a free download, but users' beware, this should be used only by advanced users, because it takes you into the system's registry where you could really damange your system if your not sure what your doing,

FYI - Try to use the same password with everything, so you don't find yourself trying to remember several different passwords.  If you come up with one or possibly even two or three, super solid, strong passwords with a varation of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, special characters, you probably can use those the rest of your life!!!