|
|
| |
Security of your network, data and transactions continues to be a top concern for small business owners. Who can blame them? Security attacks are on the rise due to new technologies like Instant Message programs opening up new channels to exploit; tougher laws hold business owners and managers liable; and hackers are getting more creative in how they penetrate security systems.
All Covered recently invited security expert and author Kevin Beaver, to present a web seminar about network security for small businesses. As part of this seminar, All Covered developed a complimentary "Security Health Check" to rate your company against security best practices. This health check not only provides a scored rating for your business, but offers valuable insight on which security areas are most at risk and where you can feel confident in the measures you have in place. To find out more or to schedule a complimentary Security Health Check, Contact us.
As always, we appreciate your feedback on our services as well as the information covered in this newsletter. To share your thoughts with us, send an email to Newsletter Comments.
Thank You,
All Covered
Network Security
How to Keep Your Network Safe and Secure
According to the National Computer Center, 70% of small companies are ill-equipped to deal with IT security breaches and many risk going out of business if they are hit by a serious breach. Learn what threats are "real" for small business and how you can avoid them.
Read more…
Macintosh Corner
Malicious Virus Targets Macintosh Users
Mac users have been left largely alone by malicious viruses and worms up until this point, both because Mac OS X is relatively secure (being based on UNIX) and because of their relatively small market share. On February 14, 2006 that changed.
Read more…
Tech Tip From The All Covered Client Support Center
Solving a Common Outlook Problem
If your Microsoft Outlook is showing as not connected and will not send and receive email, try this troubleshooting trick.
Read more…
All Covered Radio Show
Technology Means Business
Bruce Teichman, All Covered's Market Development Director Hosts a New Radio Show, "Technology Means Business" on Atlanta-based Radio Sandy Springs 1620AM.
Read more…
All Covered Hosts Web Seminar
Microsoft Licensing Demystified
Join All Covered at a Web Seminar on Understanding and Leveraging Microsoft Licensing.
Read more…
Network Security
How to Keep Your Network Safe and Secure
In a recent survey conducted by All Covered, decision makers ranked Network Security as a low priority when it comes to planning this year's Information Technology (IT) budget. However, experts state that Network Security can be one of the most important elements to help move a business forward and create more opportunities. Once the network is secure, sales cycles can be shortened, value is added to products and services, legal compliance is in place, and the long term cost of doing business is significantly lowered. Those are all good things, so why are so many businesses ignoring IT security?
It may be that security implies cost without a tangible financial return, but think of the cost to your business if hackers were to take something like your employee's social security numbers and addresses, or the passwords to your financial software? Now you see the problem. In addition to any direct costs, your company will incur expense for legal advice, including required notification in many states, as well as time spent cleaning up after an incident, the public relations costs to fix a tarnished reputation, and the loss of productivity when systems are down. Also don't underestimate your employees' reaction to the possible release of their personal information.
The bottom line is that every business is vulnerable and hackers can steal any or all of your company's information including customer lists, employee records, and proprietary information if it is not secure. According to the National Computer Center, 70% of small companies are ill-equipped to deal with IT security breaches and many risk going out of business if they are hit by a serious breach. In addition, privacyrights.org reports over 55 million individuals have had their personal information compromised since the reporting started in February of 2005. As government struggles to help contain the problem, companies are being held libel and fined millions of dollars for allowing breaches to happen. Many states have implemented mandatory notification laws when personal information might have been compromised, so even small businesses are impacted. And if your company accepts credit card charges from customers, even more regulations apply. So the question is what can your company do to avoid becoming a statistic?
First, companies must take responsibility for their network security and stop ignoring the problem. According to LabRat Magazine, 39% of data security losses are from non-malicious employee errors and an additional 30% are from malicious employee actions, so clearly starting with internal controls is a good strategy. Internal data leaks occur when employees share passwords, install unknown software, misplace sensitive information, or accidentally delete important data.
The same study showed that 16% of data security breaches were from hackers via external penetration. External security attacks include ploys designed to take advantage of poorly written software; malware; software that hasn't been patched; and Wi-Fi exploits via PDAs, SmartPhones, and BlueTooth devices.
So what should a good security plan include? According to noted security expert and Hacking for Dummies author Kevin Beaver, a good plan for small business should include the following elements:
Education
Management
Distribute Information
Perform Assessments
Network Security doesn't have to cost a lot of money and when you strike a balance between security, convenience, practicality, and simplicity, it can protect your company and enhance your network infrastructure.
For more information about security expert Kevin Beaver of Principle Logic, visit his website at www.principlelogic.com.
Macintosh Corner
Malicious Virus Targets Macintosh Users
A First
Mac users have had been left largely alone by malicious viruses and
worms up until this point, both because Mac OS X is relatively
secure (being based on UNIX) and because of their relatively small
marketshare. On February 14, 2006 that changed just a little bit.
A file, "latestpics.tgz", claiming to be a tar-zipped package of screenshots from the forthcoming Mac OS X 10.5, was posted to a well-known Mac Rumors site. Readers quickly discovered it was a worm, infecting users that uncompressed the file and opened it. The worm is relatively benign, not actually doing any damage, but spreads to your iChat buddies if you are infected.
The trojan affects only PowerPC-based Macs (not Intel), and only affects Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
Symantec, Sophos, and other AV companies already have a response, though there is also an easy workaround to perform. Apple will probably have an official security update for this by the time you read this. In the meantime, simply add a folder action that alerts you if anything has been added to your input manager folder, as the worm takes advantage of that piece of the OS.
To activate the alert feature:
Performing this small task will alert you if any item attempts to insert itself (like that trojan) into your InputManagers folder.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a workaround and not a solution, so if you have any antivirus program with an actual fix, or Apple releases a security update, please rely on these and not this fix to solve the issue.
Follow our five tips below to secure your Mac.
Five Tips
Tech Tip From The All Covered Client Support Center
Solving a Common Outlook Problem
Microsoft Outlook Offline
If Microsoft Outlook is showing as not connected and will not
send and receive email there is one common troubleshooting step to
try before calling the All Covered Client Support Center.
Outlook is able to determine when you are working without a connection and switches you to Offline Mode so you can continue to work. We do see, in some cases, that Outlook will not switch back to Online Mode on its own and this can prevent you from sending and receiving email.
Look for more CSC Tips in our next newsletter.
All Covered Radio Show
Technology Means Business
Market Development Director, Bruce Teichman will host his own weekly radio show, "Technology Means Business". The show streams live on the Internet at www.radiosandysprings.com each Thursday at 10 am EST. Tune in for the latest updates in technology and special expert guests that will be discussing technology's role in the daily operations of small businesses. Planned speakers include:
All Covered Hosts Web Seminar
Microsoft Licensing Demystified
Confused about Microsoft Licensing? Want to figure out how your company can get the best pricing on new Microsoft software?
If so, plan to join All Covered and Microsoft Executive Steve Porter on Wednesday April 19 for a 45 minute presentation designed to demystify the Microsoft Licensing program. You'll also gain insight on current promotions and discounts available.
Date: Wednesday April 19
Time: 1pm Eastern/Noon Central/11 Mountain/10 Pacific
To reserve your spot, click here.
© 2006 All Covered, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
All Covered is a registered trademark of All Covered, Inc.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.