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.

 

 

Not too far around the corner we could be seeing a couple new wireless standards coming out. In the past we have had Wireless A, B, G, and more recently N. Each of these standards has improved the amount of data that was able to be transferred over the WiFi connection. These standards really took off beginning with Wireless B which had a data transfer speed of up to 11 Mbps, then was Wireless G at 54Mbps, and Finally today’s current standard Wireless N which has a Data Transfer rate of up to 450Mbps. Wireless N having a speed of 450Mbps is already faster than most users internet connections so even though the new wireless is going to be much faster, users will likely see not difference in their internet usage. The new standards in development are Wireless AC and Wireless AD. These two new standards will have top speeds of 1Gbps and 7Gbps respectively.

 

So why even make the new standards if they will not improve your internet access speed you ask? One of the main reasons one of the main ideas the companies developing the technology say this would be useful for is video streaming. With many home users and businesses alike streaming video to PC’s and Larger displays this standard would allow the already downloaded videos to be streamed from a user’s PC or Media Center in the highest quality without the need of buffering every few seconds like happens now.

 

If you’re interested in reading more about the new upcoming standards, click here!

 

IP2 is a free and handy tool to have. This tool allows a user to be able to find there LAN or WAN IP. Your LAN IP is usually going to look like 192.168.0.x if you ware behind a router. If you are not, and you’re only using a cable modem then both IP's will probably be the same. Your WAN IP is the IP that the public see. This little app makes it possible to not have to go to a website to find your WAN IP. Just open and it gives you both IPs.

 

Microsoft released an out of schedule patch(MS10-046) for the recent shortcut exploit issue. The past few weeks have seen increasing reports of attacks using the shortcut exploit. Microsoft felt it was a serious problem to let it wait until the next scheduled patch Tuesday. The patch was released at 1 p.m. on Monday.

 

Best Buy is now in the broadband market with its new service called Best Buy Connect.  This service gives its users access to mobile 3G data which come in a variation of data plans ranging from 250MB all the way up to 5GB.  Best Buy Connect will offer both a traditional monthly contact, and a non-contract plan which has become heavily popular with consumers.  No official word has been released by the consumer giant but their website has information on their new service.

Having a hard time showing someone what you are doing on your own Linksys router? Or are you are Tech that is getting ready to install a new Linksys Router for the first time and would like to test out first. Well  http://ui.linksys.com/files/ is a website that you can go to and run almost any router they make as a emulator so that you can get used to the router before you touch the router.

Airline giant Delta’s mainline fleet, which includes more than 430 aircrafts, are now equipped and offer passengers a Wi-Fi service while well up above 10,000 feet.   

 

More than 100 million users have connected here in the digital mile high club thanks to Aircell, the company who launched “Gogo”, which is the in-flight Internet application behind the whole operation.  This service doesn’t come free though, and will range from about $10 – 13 to purchase Wi-Fi access during flight, all depending on the duration of your flight of course. 

With Wi-Fi enabled devices booming, it is no surprise that televisions are going to be one of the next big bang on the market.  According to a market analysis, there will be over 60 million on the market by 2014.  So what is a Wi-Fi enabled television anyway?  With this capability, viewers are able to stream YouTube videos in high def right to their sets, connect with people on Facebook, and even access their Netflix account and watch your favorite movies, along with thousands of other advantages.  All this is actually done with no additional hardware, as it works from your current wireless Internet connection.    

 

PC errors are abundant and no matter what you do or how many preventive actions you might take, you can never banish them completely. While there is a certain element of truth in the above statement, it is utterly a defeatist’s point of view and is largely responsible for the deplorable state of PCs across the globe.

You might be frequently coming across errors like error 80048820, which is raised because of incorrect MSN Messenger settings; or the csrcs.exe error, which is actually a virus process trying to pass itself off as a system process by a clever change of name. The truth is that there is a lot you can do to stay safe from such errors and also fix them:

• Perform registry cleanup and repair – If you encounter frequent computer errors, then cleaning up and repairing the registry may help you fix quite of few issues. You may not be aware of this, but the registry plays a very important role in the overall health of your system. Not only is it the master database for all types of application and process settings, any minor discrepancies in its working can lead to fatal system errors. Therefore, it is vital that the registry always be in top-notch shape.
  
  It is actually very easy to perform registry maintenance: all you need is to invest in a good, professional-quality registry cleaner that will do the job of scanning, fixing and optimizing your registry with only a few mouse clicks.

• Update your drivers – A major reason for several common PC problems is out-of-date drivers. Yes, even though the system drivers are complicated, low-level programs, they work very closely with the hardware. This is why, like any other software, they need to be updated frequently. This not only improves the hardware performance, but also rectifies and resolves many of the resource-related clashes, thus reducing the instances of system crashes and errors.
  
  Once again, all you need to do the job is a reliable third-party driver-update tool, which will always keep an eye open for the relevant upgrades and install them as required.

• Managing installed programs – Programs that were once installed and are now long-forgotten need to be replaced or removed. The reason is that old programs still have the old dependencies with them, and while with time most of the system gets upgraded, these unwanted and unused programs will keep throwing all types of error messages.
  
  You may either use the Control Panel utility to uninstall the programs, or may opt to go for a professional uninstaller that will make it easy for you to completely get rid of all unwanted software from your PC.

We have shown that it doesn’t take a lot of money and trouble to keep your PC error-free. In fact, the learning experience will be very rewarding to you, and since you are going to use tried-and-tested tools, there is absolutely no risk of any type. Just make sure that you purchase all your PC maintenance software from a reliable vendor.

High CPU usage is a common problem faced by many Windows users. Quite often, just after purchasing a brand-new PC and using it for some time, we find that it fails to run even the most common of tasks, and the reason for this problem in many cases is high CPU usage.

The good news is, as far-fetched as it may sound. You can deal with issues of high CPU usage entirely on your own, provided you have the right guidance and tools. Some of these tips to achieve this are mentioned in this article:

• Check the CPU Usage – You should develop a habit of keeping a check on the amount of RAM and CPU resources your programs are eating up. Certain process, such as –
  
  
  • The msmpeng.exe, which is the Windows defender antispyware service
  • The ipssvc.exe, which is the service for the VPN client
  • The ekrn.exe, which is the process for ESET NOD32 antivirus kernel

are known to use up a lot of CPU resources.

If possible, you should disable/uninstall these programs, and look for alternatives that do not take up such a large amount of CPU resources. To do this, you can post your query on the technical forums, or even make a general search. Whatever you do, though, make sure that you download the software only from a trusted source. Also to make sure that the software you uninstall, gets uninstalled completely, you may use a reliable program uninstaller tool.

• Update device drivers ­– Just like the rest of the software programs installed on your computer, the drivers also need to be regularly updated and maintained. We often tend to forget all about the drivers once they are installed, but we should realize that there are obvious advantages of doing this, including a perceptible rise in system speed, as well as a reduction in frequent errors related to driver issues.
  
  To do this, you may get a good third-party driver-update tool, which will keep a check on any updates found on the internet, and will also install the updated drivers automatically. At most, you would have to do a system restart, so that the new drivers become operational immediately.

• Clean your registry with a registry cleaner tool – The registry is the most important component of a Windows system, and it houses a master database that stores settings for nearly every type of program or process imaginable. However, the registry deteriorates over time, and this leads to all types of problems, from generic system errors to specific DLL errors.
  
  The main problem is that since the registry works in the background, most of the time, we hardly ever pay any attention to its health. Also, the registry has a complex structure and most non technical users—and even some expert users—usually tend to ignore it.
  
  However, ignorance is not always bliss… If you fail to clean the registry, you can be sure to have it non-functional pretty quickly. Why go through all this trouble, when you can easily get rid of most registry problems simply by investing in a good-quality registry cleaner. This useful tool will scan the registry for any problems, and will fix and optimize it for better performance within minutes.
  

It is really very easy to deal with most of the problems with Windows systems, especially when you have the right tools. We urge you to go ahead and try out the tips listed here to have a high performance and error free PC.

Two infections have been making headlines on how there is a growing problem online with the mass amounts of spyware attacks. Earlier this week Sunbelt the makers of CounterSpy announced that there engineers discovered a package that can steal any type of information they want to take.

The infection includes a trojan horse called SRV.SSA-keylogger  that steals information and sends it to a destination . The infection also includes some hard to remove software call CoolWebSearch that every has been mistaken for a toolbar which exploits security hole winthin windows.

 

Well, you knew it was coming.

With the economy being so bad, software corporations have to find new ways to offer their products. Microsoft as always, is on the cutting edge. For the past few years, Microsoft has been conducting experiments in various countries as to how and whether “renting” software could become a viable business model. The answer seemingly must have been yes, since Microsoft quietly added rental SKUs, as of January 1, to the list of license types available to customers worldwide. Making software available under a rental license shows that Microsoft sees this as something that small companies or even big ones might want to do.

With the growing popularity of wireless, I have been asked "Why do I keep losing my connection?"

Well, this can be do to a variety of reasons, a few I will cover here.

Lots of things can affect wireless reception (basically a radio signal); construction of your house, interference from other devices and reflected signals etc. Being above the router isn't necessarily bad, but generally mounting the router higher in your house tends to give a better range.

Things you can try:
- change the channel that your router broadcasts on to see if any are better than others
- make sure that the router's aerial is upright and give it as much free space around it as possible

Another thing that is important is to update the network drivers (wired and wireless) on your computer to the latest available. along with updating the firmware to the latest version available on the manufacturer's site.

How many times have I heard, "this website is loading so slow".

I wish I had the perfect answer for this question, but the variable is it might not be the website. It could be the Internet access provider that you have, is experiencing an issue in your area causing a bottleneck type condition that can lead to very slow response.

Another cause can be that the server that the particular website is hosted on may be having a problem with the extreme amount of traffic trying to access the site.

Some very popular sites can experience an influx of traffic during peak times that can slow down even the fastest computer. If you feel that your Internet speed is just not what it should be, there are sites that you can visit to test your access. One of these sites speedtest.net can test your Internet access speed from anywhere in the country.

Everyone loves the social aspect of networking sites like Facebook.

 But be aware, a new security hole has been discovered with cross-site scripting vulnerabilities involving Facebook applications.

 The new security flaw is a type that might be used to distribute Trojan horse malware or launch various, similar hacking attacks.

Now various Internet security experts have turned their attention to the social networking site, discovering a new series of flaws in the Facebook applications.  A variety of attacks are still possible, including uploading PHP shells, redirects or infecting Web pages with "Trojan droppers". So please be careful… and remember if you did not ask for it, close the window and move along 

Looking for a local free internet spot to use. Everyone knows you can easily find a wifi spot in the mall or at MCDonalds but who wants to pay for them. Yeah some local area spots like coffee shops make them free but not every town has a coffee. Software called WEFI makes it possible to download the application and then when needed you can get a list of every wifi spot around you. What is nice the software is abolsultely free. http://wefi.com/ 

As you can probably tell by now, wireless is everywhere.  In most public places you see WIFI. But please be aware, the dangers of WiFi are out there.

The research I have seen shows that free wireless public networks located in airports and other public places are ripe for exploitation by hackers. You innocently launch a free available network, and you will quickly see far more advertised available WiFi spots than are sanctioned by the airport, or its tenants. 

These are typically consumers' computers attempting to connect. The ability to set up fake "free" WiFi” hotspot in public places and potentially use them to steal sensitive data, such as online banking passwords or personal information, is alarmingly easy to do. In fact, hacker Web sites provide instructions on how such frauds can be accomplished.

What can you do to protect yourself? Before connecting to a network, look around and locate a sign that advertises the network you are connecting to and verify that the network name (SSID) you are connecting to is a legitimate service.

With the decline is the cost of wireless equipment, and the configuration free installations, more and more people are setting up wireless networks in their homes and businesses. One key configuration that is often missed is security.  Is the wireless connection you’re using secure, is your data in jeopardy, and is your identity safe.

You may be asking yourself, secure, well how do I secure my network, and what does securing the network mean? By unsecure, I’m referencing a wireless network that can be accessed without the need for a key, or password. Once a user is connected to your network, it is possible they could access network resources such as files, folders, printers, etc… some even without your permission or even knowing. As you know, this could be a world of trouble if your confidential data is obtained by an unknown internet user