IT Business Consulting Newsletters

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December 2015
2015 End of Year Security Summary
The bad guys are still out there, and their attacks keep getting better!

They're well funded, very focused, and unrelenting. If your company is not well protected, they WILL cause you pain.

As ever, my Holiday gift to you is my annual Security Summary. Do your company a favor... Review it and ensure you've implemented the Seven Security basics. Then move on to the advanced security topics. If you do, the bad guys will pass on your company and move on to easier, unprotected pickings.
Read More ...

I hope your holiday season was wondrous, and your 2016 is filled with happiness and success!

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November 2015
CryptoLocker: Worse than EVER
In July I warned you all about a particularly vicious piece of Malware running rampant in the wild. Since that alert, its only gotten worse. The trigger is being delivered in more random vehicles - as multiple types of disguised email attachments, and as numerous links in emails and on nefarious web sites.

As noted in my July newsletter, it is very difficult for Anti-Virus software to protect against this attack because it is not really a virus. A user opening the attachment or clicking the link INVITES an action that looks normal to the AV software, but ends up triggering a process that encrypts most of the files on the PC, and those on any server the PC is connected to. Since that July newsletter I have been brought in to restore environments at three companies that were attacked.

In this month's newsletter I reiterate educating your staff to be cautious, and I discuss actions you can take to harden your PCs and Servers to prevent the trigger from activating should the malware be invited into your environment.
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August 2015
The Brindley Beach Fire - Insights and Observations
At 7 PM on Friday, June 12th, Brindley Beach's headquarters burned to the ground. Doug Brindley and I will present a detailed session at VRMA to walk you through how everyone worked together to check in over 500 houses on Saturday and Sunday with no resources, and how we restored the entire business in 16 days.

In this month's newsletter, I highlight key insights and observations that left deep impressions while I was working with the Brindley Beach family to overcome this disaster. It is a quick, but valuable, read.
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July 2015
Critical Malware Alert
If you get an email with a Resume attached... DON'T OPEN THE ATTACHMENT!!!

My last newsletter warned you all concerning your staff inviting Malware into your environments. Ironically, a vicious piece of malware just hit the streets, and it slid under one of my client's excellent Anti-Virus (AV) software via an invite (opening an attachment), causing lots of aggravation and some downtime. This malware could do the same to your environment.

In this month's quick but important newsletter I'll discuss this most ugly malmare, show you what to look for, and throw in a few quick reminders about safe computing.
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May 2015
Protect Your Company From Your Staff
I've been seeing a tremendous increase in viral activity in my clients' environments. Some is due to more malware in the wild, but most is due to staff inviting the malware into your company's PCs. This can have extreme consequences on the financial and operational health of your company.

While deploying solid anti-virus technology is imperative, it can't solve this current problem. Senior Mgmt HAS to take a leadership role in modifying the behavior of its staff.

In this month's newsletter I discuss the dangers, the issues, and means to mitigate the dangers through policy and culture, and (of course) throw in a quick security refresher.
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March 2015
Securely Implement Public WiFi, version 2015
Times have certainly changed since I wrote the original Public WiFi article in July of 2009. Internet bandwidth costs have plummeted, the proliferation of wireless devices has gone through the roof, and the amount of high bandwidth consuming content is extreme.

In this month's newsletter I revisit this still important topic and bring it up to date. If your business doesn't provide public WiFi, or if it hasn't been updated in some time, you need to review this quick read.
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Febuary 2015
Who Is Talking To Your Systems… and Who Are Your Systems Talking To???
These well funded companies were sure their environments were locked down. One got hacked through their HVAC system, another through a soda vending machine, and another via a lifted vendor's account that had admin level access.

All those "smart" devices connected to your network that "call home" present potential security holes. Many companies don't even know this access to their networks exists. Do you track all the high level accounts you've provided to your vendors and limit their access to your systems?

In this month's newsletter, I review these threats and discuss Best Practices to protect your environment.
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January 2015
Backing Up Your PCs Without a Server
So, you still haven't gotten that inexpensive server and your Company data is scattered across all of your PCs (and Macs).

While backing up your Company data can be much more tedious without a server, you still REALLY need to backup ALL of that data every night.

In this month's newsletter, I discuss the various means available to backup the data on your PCs and Macs if you don't have a server, and some best practices to do so.
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December 2014
2014 End of Year Security Summary
The Cyber-Slime wants YOUR stuff

They're everywhere; North Korea, Topeka, Bratislava, Venice. They'll take ANYBODY's stuff. If your stuff is unprotected, they WILL find it and exploit it.

My Holiday gift to you is my annual Security Summary. Do your company a favor... Review it and ensure you've implemented the Seven Security basics. Then move on to the advanced security topics. The bad guys will pass on your company and move on to easier unprotected pickings.
Read More ...

I wish you all a joyous holiday season, and a healthy, happy, and successful 2015!

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November 2014
Burning Down the House
Last week, disaster struck a prominent VRM company in the Outer Banks. A massive fire swept through their main offices taking everything, including their IT systems center. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but they have to completely rebuild. Our hearts go out to them.

While there are a tremendous number of issues involved with rebuilding their business, in our current world, quickly getting new PCs and systems and servers up and running is critical.

In this month's newsletter, I highlight some of the key factors that you should have in place to help your company recover from such an event.
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October 2014
Consider a Server to Manage Your Environment
A number of my recent newsletters have discussed managing and protecting your computers, your users, and your digital resources. The articles invariably note that management tasks are greatly simplified and security is greatly enhanced in a Server-based network.

If you have more than 10 PCs in your environment, a small Server will pay for itself in reduced management costs and improved security. Even if you only have a few PCs, a small Server is well worth the investment.

In this month's newsletter, I highlight management tasks that are simplified and security elements that are enhanced through the use of a Server with Active Directory, and discuss the positive return on this investment.
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August 2014
Take Credit Cards??    A PCI Overview
If your staff or your systems touch credit card info, your company must be PCI DSS compliant (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).

I recently helped yet another VRM company work through the very tenuous PCI Compliance process. Although the full PCI Compliance process would be a huge topic to attempt in a newsletter, I thought I’d offer some experienced insights that you may find helpful. So…

In this month’s newsletter, I outline the PCI org and the PCI DSS requirement structure in layman’s terms and show you how to greatly reduce your responsibility to large sections of the requirements.

Next month, I’ll continue the discussion and highlight some of the Merchant Requirements that we’ve found to be challenging, or are often missed.
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September 2014
Take Credit Cards??    PCI DSS Challenges
If your staff or your systems touch credit card info, your company must be PCI DSS compliant (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).

Last month, I outlined the PCI organization and the PCI DSS requirement structure in layman’s terms and showed you how to greatly reduce your responsibility to large sections of the requirements.

In this month’s article, I continue the discussion and highlight some of the Merchant Requirements that we’ve found to be challenging, or are often missed.
Read More ...

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July 2014
Eyes Everywhere
They can watch your every move, anywhere, any time. Your personal information, CC #s, PINs, passwords can be grabbed in seconds. It is happening today, and it will be worse tomorrow.

In this month’s article I present a very real threat to all of your personal and financial information, discuss why it will only get worse, and offer suggestions to protect yourself.

This is one of those quick, but so very important, reads… Please take a few moments!
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May 2014
Internet Explorer 11 Issues
Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11) was pushed to most Windows 7 PCs earlier this month via Microsoft Update. While this version of IE is quite stable and has some nice improvements, there are some issues.

In this month’s newsletter I point out the two issues most often reported, and show you how to work around them.
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April 2014
Train Staff, Increase Team Spirit
In my last article I mentioned the Lunch & Learn. Properly used, this little gem can help you train your staff and increase team spirit with almost no expense.

In this month’s newsletter (a quick but valuable read), I describe how we’ve used this tool at several companies with excellent results
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March 2014
Security When In the Cloud
We’ve all been hearing “You’re safe when you’re in the cloud!” from Cloud system vendors with increasing frequency. It’s just Not True! Just because some of your services may be hosted off site, your data is no less vulnerable. You can’t afford to let your guard down.

In this month’s newsletter I point out the security threats you need to be aware of in the Office and in the Cloud, and how to mitigate their effects.
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December 2013
2013 End of Year Security Summary
Once again, it’s time for the traditional annual security refresher!

The bad guys will ALWAYS be trying to get you…

So please, help protect your company by taking a few moments to review the updated security essentials that I highlight in this month’s newsletter.
Read More ...

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season, and an awesome 2014!

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October 2013
Dealing with Disasters via Prevention!
When most people think “Disaster”, huge natural disasters immediately come to mind, and these certainly can affect your business. But during my days consulting on Wall St. we considered ANY issue that impeded business success to be a Business Disaster. And, when properly defined and analyzed, we found that we could take steps to prevent the occurrence of 80% to 90% of the Business Disasters we had defined.

In this month’s newsletter I present a methodology to help you define your potential Business Disasters, categorize those that can be prevented, prioritize them, and begin the process to eliminate them.

Next month, in “Dealing with Disasters via Preparation”, I’ll discuss how to deal with those Business Disasters that are out of your control and can’t be prevented, showing you how to mitigate their effect through structured preparation and planning.
Read More ...

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November 2013
Dealing with Disasters via Preparation!
Last month I presented a methodology to help you define all of your potential Business Disasters, categorize them as preventable or non-preventable, and begin the process to eliminate those that can be prevented (see Dealing with Disasters via Prevention!).

This month’s newsletter continues with a discussion of how to deal with those Business Disasters that are out of your control and can’t be prevented, showing you how to mitigate their effect through structured preparation and planning.
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September 2013
Saving Files on the Desktop - NOT!
I keep finding that many users save their most important documents to the desktop, so they are easy to access. BUT, when saved to the desktop, these important files are not typically backed up! If the PC blows up, these files are gone forever...

In this month’s newsletter I show you an easy Best Practice to prevent this potential data loss.
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July 2013
Protect Your Mobile Identity & Secure Your Mobil Devices
If someone gains access to your mobile device, they potentially have your identity. They can be YOU via email, text, Twitter, and Facebook.

If you use your mobile devices for business, they can also impersonate you via your business email account. Furthermore, they now have full access to all your saved business email, and might have access to your corporate resources.

Not good!

In this month’s newsletter I show you how to protect your mobile identity and how to secure your mobile devices. I also discuss methods to recover mobile devices gone missing.
Read More ...

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June 2013
Hurricane Preparation 2013
It’s that time of year again when Property Management companies on the coasts need to prepare and plan for that serious storm lurking on the horizon.

You need to have a plan in place NOW, so if the time comes to react, you and your staff can just DO rather than having to think what to do. How do you best protect your IT resources? How can you continue to operate your business in the aftermath of a serious storm?

In this month’s newsletter I present a number of recommendations that have helped my clients mitigate IT loses and maintain operations through a number of severe hurricanes. I hope you find it helpful and use it as a foundation to develop that very important plan.
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May 2013
Hacked via Remote Access!
This Property Mgmt Company thought they had their network security completely in hand, but they still got seriously hacked. They contacted us and we found and plugged the holes, and then performed appropriate damage control. But… it was a very embarrassing and expensive experience for them.

The event could have been prevented. In this month’s newsletter I discuss the issues that led to this particular attack, and how to prevent this common attack from crushing your company.
Read More ...

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March 2013
Provide Wireless Access to Business Systems???
I don’t recommend you provide wireless access to your Business Systems... unless there is a definite business requirement and no other alternatives.

But if you REALLY NEED to provide wireless access to your Business Network, in this month’s article I discuss potential pitfalls and best practices you should consider when you deploy wireless access to your Business Network.
Read More ...

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January 2013
An Anti-Virus Gotcha - It could happen to You!
My client had excellent Corporate Anti-virus installed and auto-updating on every device in every site. We were centrally monitoring and updating Microsoft Updates across the enterprise. And still, the business network got slammed to its knees with a vicious virus attack.

We were completely protected... but we still got slammed! And it could happen to You!

In this month’s newsletter I discuss how we got blindsided, and what you need to be aware of to prevent this from happening to your Company.
Read More ...

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December 2012
2012 End of Year Security Summary
Cyber-space isn't getting any safer. The bad guys continue to make a great living picking the low hanging fruit.

Maintaining basic security measures will keep the fruits of your labors out of their reach. Our Year End Security Summary tradition reviews the core basics along with a few advanced topics.

So please, as you prepare for this New Year, take a few minutes to review these simple but necessary security items highlighted in this month’s newsletter.
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I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and an awesome 2013!

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November 2012
IT Security Audits
Company Security Audits are huge undertakings, encompassing all of your company’s physical, electronic, and intellectual assets, reviewing and creating policies, and assessing security awareness training programs.

Rather than attempt even outlining this monster in a single article, in this month’s newsletter I provide guidance on performing a critical subset of a Company Security Audit... the IT Security Audit.
Read More ...

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October 2012
Registry Edits Can Kill Your Server
Every Windows server has a “Registry”, a place where essentially all of the server’s configuration settings are stored. If the Registry is edited improperly and gets even a little messed up, the results can be bad to devastating. You can lose applications, core server functionality, even the whole server. One small “oops” and email or your core business application can be gone!

I recently helped a client through this trauma, and it was ugly... so I’m bumping the scheduled topic to give you this heads-up. In this month’s newsletter I discuss the Registry in general, present methods and pointers on how to properly edit the Registry (if you really have to), how to reduce the chances of catastrophe, and a few possible methods to recover from catastrophe.
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August 2012
Don't Be the Big Phish
Last month I mentioned Phishing - the most prevalent means for the bad guys to get your (and your staff’s) personal/confidential information. They can use this information to access your private and commercial bank accounts, email accounts, shopping accounts, even your loyalty mileage accounts.
If it has value and they can get to it, they will steal it!

In this month’s newsletter I discuss Phishing and its cousins – SMishing and Vishing – how they work, how to detect them, and how to not be that Big Phish! I also provide a few links that show some Phishing examples and allow you to see how good the bad guys are, and how good you are at detecting them.
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September 2012
Phishing Got ME!!!
It’s ironic that just after highlighting Phishing in my last newsletter (see "Don’t Be the Big Fish"), I got sucked in and took the bait. This one was new and different, but no excuses... I should have known better!

So to help you by detailing my carelessness, in this month’s newsletter I discuss this new Phishing attack, how/why it got me, and why I should have recognized it for what it was. This newsletter is pretty short and, as there are several good variants of the con that got me flying around cyber mail, it is well worth the read.
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July 2012
Protect Your Company Bank Accounts
There is no doubt among the experts that Fraud Attacks on Corporate Bank accounts will increase. Small and Medium Business (SMB) are being specifically targeted, as they are considered unsophisticated and relatively unprotected. Industry watchdogs estimate SMB Fraud Losses at more than $2,000,000,000 last year.

Many don’t realize that the protections provided personal bank accounts usually don’t apply to business accounts. Banks have no legal obligation to reimburse businesses for attacks — federal regulations do not cover commercial accounts – so most banks will not take responsibility for unauthorized debits from business accounts.

In this month’s newsletter I review the primary means used to fraudulently access your accounts, and provide best practices you can, and should, employ to mitigate these attacks. I also review programs and processes many financial institutions have available to help you protect your assets.
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June 2012
Improved Internet Reliability
A while back, I showed you how to easily increase Internet reliability with redundant Internet circuits (see “Improve the Reliability and Speed of Your Business Internet Connection”).

In this month’s newsletter I describe a simple addition to the original solution to further enhance your Business Internet connection redundancy.
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May 2012
Protect Your Admin Accounts
I mentioned the need to protect your Administrator accounts and control Administrator access to your systems in my March 2012 newsletter "Departing Employees".

You have Admin/Administrator accounts littered throughout your IT environment. Your Domain has one, all of your servers have them, your routers and firewalls have them, and even your PCs have them.

In this month’s newsletter I discuss why and how we need to control the use of these accounts and the resultant administrative access to your environment.
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April 2012
Kill A Virus
There has been LOTS of virus activity in the wild of late; much of it attributed to un-patched security holes in Adobe Reader & Java. As these apps/platforms pretty much live on every device used everywhere, they are prime targets for attack vectors.

Since I’ve seen this affecting a lot of folks (as these vulnerability viruses can sneak past your Anti-Virus protections), I'm bumping the scheduled topic to give you all a heads-up.

In this month’s newsletter I point out the dangers and show you how to prevent these viruses from infiltrating your environments.
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March 2012
Departing Employee? How to Process them Gracefully and Securely
A departing employee can be a nightmare or, if you have pre-defined policies and procedures in place, it can be a simple inconvenience.

The depth of those procedures and policies can change depending on the employee’s position on the Organization Chart and whether the employee is leaving with blessings or in handcuffs.

In this month’s newsletter I outline some of the key policies and procedures you should have in place to ease the challenges of a departing employee, and describe how their implementation might be altered depending on the circumstances of the termination.
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January 2012
Employee IT Use & Abuse Policy - Retain Control, Reduce Liability
You need to ensure your employees understand “Acceptable Use” regarding company IT Resources. Unacceptable use can lead to wasted resources, reduced productivity and, if no Use and Abuse Policy is in place, lawsuits directed towards you and your business.

I found that a large number of businesses I recently visited had no IT Use and Abuse Policy in place. Like bad passwords, this is very important, very dangerous, and very easy to correct

In this month’s newsletter I discuss why an IT Use and Abuse Policy is so important, what the policy needs to include, and how to insure your staff acknowledges they have read and understand the policy.
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February 2012
If Your Employees Continue To Abuse the Internet - Some Options
I received a lot of interesting feedback concerning last month’s article on creating "Employee IT Use and Abuse Policies". Several folks asked for pointers on developing their company IT Abuse Policy, but I was most asked, “If they just don’t listen/comply, how can we regulate employee abuse of the Company Internet?”

There are several options available, running from simple to complex, and from free (but cumbersome) to pricy (but elegant).

In this month’s newsletter I discuss various options that are available to shut down employee abuse of your company’s Internet circuits and the resultant lost productivity.
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December 2011
2011 End of Year Security Summary
While we all prepare for the holidays thinking “peace, brotherhood, and good will”, the bad guys are still out there, and are hunting for easy targets. Maintaining basic security measures will help keep you out of their sights.

So please, as you prepare for the New Year, ensure your business is protected with (at least) the seven security basics I highlight in this month’s newsletter.
Read More ...

I wish you all a joyous holiday season, and a healthy, happy, and successful 2012!

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November 2011
Secure Passwords - You need to get this right!
Passwords are THE keys to your Corporate Jewels. They are also an important safeguard to your personal identity. Proper creation and management of passwords is SO important...

We recently found several weak passwords while running a security audit. This is so important, so dangerous, and so easy to correct, I’m pushing Secure Passwords ahead of this month’s scheduled topic.

In this month’s newsletter I discuss what a Secure Password is, methods to create passwords that are secure but easy to remember, and best practices for managing your passwords. I’ll also discuss how to easily auto-enforce Secure Passwords & Password Policies on your networks.
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September 2011
Hurricane Preparation and Remote Operations
What you need to do in preparation of a serious storm depends on the severity of the storm, the type of storm expected, and the vulnerabilities of your site.

Typically, we are concerned with storm surge entering the building, structural damage from winds or flying debris, windswept rain entering through breached windows, walls, or roof, and electrical damage from lightning or “shorts”.

Once your local IT resources are protected to the best of our ability, we need to consider ongoing operations while the effects of the storm impact your environment.

In this month’s newsletter I’ll present multiple recommendations that have helped my clients mitigate IT loses and maintain operations through a number of severe hurricanes. I hope you find it helpful as well.
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August 2011
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) – a key Business Enabler
You have staff wanting to work from home, traveling staff who need to access company resources, and managers that need access to resources from wherever, whenever. Or you need to transparently connect that new remote office to main office resources within a tight budget.

Enter the Virtual Private Network, or VPN. These gems allow you to connect remote offices securely and inexpensively, and enable your staff to work remotely from anywhere.

In this month’s newsletter I’ll explain what VPNs are, how to deploy them, and how you can use them to improve your business performance at little cost.
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October 2011
Remote Access Alternatives to VPNs
So you or your managers need to access corporate resources remotely, but you don’t want to mess with VPNs
(as discussed in our August Newsletter, Virtual Private Networks– a key Business Enabler).

There are a few alternatives that are pretty easy to set up and can be free, but they do have a few caveats... there’s a surprise!

In this month’s newsletter I discuss a few of the more popular Remote Access alternatives, their Pros & Cons in a corporate environment, and provide recommendations.
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July 2011
Spammers and Your Email Account
You open your Email and suddenly there are 50 “Non-Delivery Reports” in your in-box!
    And they keep coming!!
        And coming!!!

You think... Does my PC have a virus? Is this bad? Why are they there? How can I stop them?

Well, it might be a virus and it might not. It might be bad, or it might just be a temporary nuisance.

In this month’s article I explain what these Non-Delivery Reports are, why they happen, and how to determine whether their arrival is a serious concern or a temporary nuisance.
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June 2011
Protect your Company’s Data and Reputation... Lock Your PC!
If your staff (or you) just walks away from their PCs, anyone can sit down and access all their info, all the corporate data they have access to, and all their email. They can even send emails to anyone (and everyone in the address books) masquerading as the logged-in user!

In this month’s article I review the usual methods for locking PCs, and their pitfalls. Then I provide a simple, ingenious method to lock your PC in a half second no matter where you are in the PC – no more excuses and no more unintentional disclosures!
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April 2011
A Reasonable Expectation of Privacy...
Is Your Business complying with and protected from a Reasonable Expectation of Privacy?

This month’s article discusses the Reasonable Expectation of Privacy as it relates to how your Business handles incoming communications (email, phone, and postal mail), outbound email, and corporate resources utilized by your staff.

The article is based on general research and observations. It is meant to get you thinking about potential liabilities, present ideas to begin protecting your Company from those liabilities, but mostly to help protect your Company’s reputation.
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February 2011
Is Windows 7 ready for YOUR Business?!?
Is your business ready for Windows 7? Or more importantly, is Windows 7 ready for YOUR Business?!?

After the Vista debacle, concern is appropriate... As many of my clients and associates have been expressing concern over Windows 7, I'm bumping February's scheduled topic to discuss this timely issue.

So this month's article discusses some of our experiences with Windows 7 in VRM environments, the Windows 7 options as they may apply to Your Business, and your available options should you wish to maintain an XP environment.
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January 2011
Think “Functional Roles” when Allocating Staff and Resources!
As today’s organizations become more efficient, leaner, and more flexible, the old static Organization Chart’s value has diminished. Staff and resource management can become quite tricky as Users’ functional roles cross these static borders. Last month’s article often mentioned Functional Roles and Functional Departments in relation to efficiently managing and allocating your resources.

This month’s article discusses using the concept of Functional Roles to rethink classifying, utilizing, managing, and optimizing your most important resource: your talented staff.
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June 2009
Introducing Computing Resource Maintenance, Management, and Monitoring
Losing a PC for a couple of days can cost you revenue and productivity, while causing unnecessary aggravation and distraction.  Losing a Business Server for even a day can grind your business to a halt.  And the thought of permanently losing Property Management data, departmental data, or email will bring chills to any manager.

This article introduces the practices and some tools (often free) that can help you prevent these losses, cost effectively manage your resources, and centrally control your environment.
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March 2010
Protect Your Company from Viruses and Malware with Enterprise Anti Virus Systems
As mentioned in the introductory article "Introducing Computing Resource Maintenance, Management, and Monitoring", providing complete and comprehensive Anti Virus and Anti Malware protection for your Enterprise is one of the most important things you MUST do to safeguard your company’s computing resources.

This article discusses the ins and outs of desktop Anti Virus & Anti Malware protection, specifically for the Enterprise environment!
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April 2010
Got Spam? Eradicate Spam and Email Viruses BEFORE they get to Your Environment!
While centrally protecting and monitoring your desktops from viruses and malware is key to your security (see our March newsletter "Protect Your Company from Viruses and Malware with Enterprise Anti Virus Systems"), a properly layered security system should block or remove the nasties well before they get to the desktop. Since most infections arrive via email and Spam, you need to ensure you have effective, centralized email protection and Spam filtering systems in place.

This article discusses best practices to centrally protect Your Environment from these very real threats.
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May 2010
Got Spam? Continuing with Spam Filters – Your Q & A!
I received so many questions concerning Spam protection from last month’s newsletter, (see our April Newsletter “Got Spam? Eradicate Spam and Email Viruses BEFORE they get to Your Environment!”), that I feel obligated to answer your questions and provide the requested detail. This newsletter is really for you, and you asked! So…

In this article I answer YOUR questions concerning enterprise Spam filters & clear up some misconceptions.
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June 2010
Centrally Manage Microsoft Updates Across Your Enterprise… For Free!
One issue that is extremely important to the safety of your environment, but is often overlooked, concerns Microsoft Updates. Security holes in Microsoft products are a HUGE issue, and you need to be sure these updates are properly installed on ALL of your devices. This is just as critical to your environment’s well being as the previously discussed Anti Virus protections for Servers, PCs, and email.

This article highlights this next layer of enterprise protection, discussing why it is so important and providing methods that will allow you to provide full control, management, and monitoring of Microsoft Updates across your Enterprise (and it is Free!).
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July 2010
Zero Downtime! It IS attainable and I’ll show you how to do it!
Zero Downtime is not magic... It just takes a bit of foresight, a bit of intelligent design, and a bit of paying attention.

This article describes the use of cost effective systems redundancy, rapid response support contracts, and proactive monitoring of your systems. These three concepts, coupled with the strategies I’ve already shown you, have provided Zero Downtime for many of my clients. It can be yours as well!
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August 2010
Maintain Zero Downtime with Systems Monitoring!
Over the last several months we’ve discussed putting a number of systems & best practices in place to protect your environment and achieve Zero Downtime. Now we need to keep an eye on them to optimize their effectiveness and to ensure they are working properly.

This article shows you how to effectively monitor the important systems we have put in place. In many cases, we can automate the monitoring process so systems send you daily reports and special emails when something goes awry. Proactively monitoring and managing your systems is the key to maintaining Zero Downtime!
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October 2010
Backup the Company Jewels!
We've discussed methods to achieve Zero Downtime throughout the last several articles, but at some point you WILL need to resort to Backup Data. It is all but inevitable! So you need to ensure your data sets are being backed up completely and regularly. This is Absolutely Critical!!! Your data sets ARE the Company Jewels!

This month's article shows you all you need to develop a backup strategy that will work for your company, including the Why, What, and How, along with Monitoring and those ever present "gotcha's".
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November 2010
Simplify Data Organization and User Management… with Active Directory!
Can your staff easily get to and share the data that they need to do their jobs? Is that data available only to those that need it? Are you sure that your financials are locked down? Can you give new or reassigned staff immediate access to the data and resources that they need, with no effort?

This month’s article shows you how to use Active Directory (AD) to organize your data for easy accessibility for the staff that need access, while preventing access to others. We also show you how to manage your users with AD to easily provide them with access to the data and resources that they need, and easily alter their access as they change roles within your enterprise.
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May 2011
Use Group Policy to Centrally Tune YOUR Business Computing Environment… - It’s Free!
If your Business runs on a Windows network, as do most, you have access to an awesome tool that allows you to centrally manage settings and properties for all of your Users, PCs, and Servers… and it’s free!

In this month’s newsletter I discuss Microsoft’s Group Policy and the Group Policy Manager – what it is, how it works, and how it can help you manage your very important business computing environment.
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July 2009
Securely Implement a Public Wireless Hot Spot
Implementing a Public Wireless Hot Spot in your office is a GREAT idea! It is very inexpensive, provides your guests with a nice value add, and can draw walk-ins who will get to experience your wonderful staff, observe your outstanding operation, and potentially leave with a brochure or property listing. It is also a good way to differentiate your business from your competitors!

This article explains how to do it, securely.
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May 2009
Evaluate Communications Circuits to Reduce Your Operating Expenses
Every company has significant monthly operating expenses tied to their external communications circuits - Internet, Remote Office Connectivity, and Telecomm. Is your company using the most efficient, economical circuits to support your business?

In this article, I highlight potential areas where you might be able to reduce expenses while increasing circuit performance.
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April 2009
Improving the Reliability & Speed of Your Business Internet Connection
Your Internet Gateway is one of your most important business IT resources.  While critical to mundane business functions (email, research, purchasing, banking, etc), the Internet is absolutely essential to YOUR business, as it is your primary contact point with your guests and your owners.

This article explains how you can virtually eliminate Internet outages, while doubling your Internet bandwidth, at very little cost.
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