Christmas eCards are on the up

Posted on November 23, 2011 by robg

It’s that time of year when people send more and more eCards to friends rather than

traditonal Christmas cards in the post. The increasing problem is the amount of fake eCards being sent from spammers to capture your details.

Here’s a few tips on what to look out for:

1. If the e-mail greeting card does NOT have senders name that you recognise, don’t open it.
2. Hover your mouse over the URL and if they don’t match, don’t open it.
3. If you are suspicious, don’t open it.

egreetings have a very good e-mail protection resource centre
http://www.egreetings.com/email-protection#howto

If in doubt, don’t open it.

Happy Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sophos retires old products

Posted on November 14, 2011 by robg

Sophos are retiring some of there old products/versions. This is so they can free up time to work on new and better features to other products. In effect:

  • Windows 95 & 98
  • Windows NT – although support can be extended if required on a case-by-case basis
  • A number of Safeguard versions.
  • NAC Advanced

For all of the Think4 clients on any of these platforms, we shall be in contact shortly. If you are not sure if any of these changes will effect you, please get in touch and we’ll be able to answer your concerns.

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600,000 hacks a day, welcome to Facebook

Posted on October 31, 2011 by robg

Every 24 hours 600,000 Facebook accounts are subject to attempted hacking or violation, Facebook has revealed.

The Social Network™ disclosed details of hacking activity as it unveiled new measures to protect user’s privacy. “We are adapting and responding to new threats everyday and will continue to roll out new ways to protect your account,” Facebook said.

In a blog post, Facebook revealed new tools to help users access their accounts if they are locked out and help prove your identity through your friends. “It’s sort of similar to giving a house key to your friends when you go on vacation – pick the friends you most trust in case you need their help,” it explains.

‘Trusted friends’ allows users to nominate a few friends as a default measure that will be given access codes to your account if you cannot access it.

It is also testing a feature that allows users to use app passwords for logging into third party applications.

Initial feedback from users has been mixed with many pointing out that “friends” are also subject to hacking and security maybe further compromised by exposing access information to other parties.

Meanwhile according to researchers at Barracuda Labs, one in 100 tweets are malicious while one in 60 Facebook posts are malicious.

The new Barracuda survey data of social media users found that LinkedIn is the least-blocked social network by enterprises, with only 20 percent of organizations preventing their employees from using LinkedIn from work.

Over 90 percent of users have received spam over a social network, and more than half have experienced phishing attacks. More than 20 percent have received malware, 16.6 percent have had their account used for spamming, and about 13 percent have had their account hijacked or their password stolen. Significantly more than half are unhappy with Facebook’s privacy controls. ®

Article from: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/30/facebook_hack_stats/

 

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Take your head out of the clouds

Posted on January 12, 2011 by viva

So the future is all in the clouds right? But as the law of unintended consequences states — stuff happens.
What am I getting at. Well it is all very well having services and software that’s hosted but there could be a question mark over who the data belongs to once it is up in the clouds.
Think of it like this. Ask yourself what happens when you try to get at your latest accounts info only to find that the company hosting your data has gone bump?
Technically the idea of running software in the clouds makes sense. But as ever, from a security and commercial sense, its important to safegfuard your data and make sure that, whatever happens you retain ownership.
There is also a question of where your data is stored. The cloud business is a global one. Your data may be on a server on the other side of the world. In operating terms this may not be an issue but it may present a legal challenge, particularly if your data involves customer records. Gets you thinking doesn’t it.
So it is important to work with reputable companies and read the contract small print. Do your research and find out exactly how and where your data is going to be stored.
A new frontier may be opening up for the IT industry but some of the old familiar challenges around the integrity of your business remain.
If you are going to take advantage of the benefits make sure you’ve got the potential concerns covered. Your data is precious. In most cases, your data is your business.

Posted in Business Continuity, Security, Virtual Working | Comments Off

Don’t let Lady Gaga ruin your life — or your Mac!

Posted on December 16, 2010 by viva

Even though instances of Mac malware remain rare, that’s no reason for complacency so say security specialist Sophos — and let’s face it they should know.

Sophos has detected a number of corrupt files, using their anti-malware scanner, which are capable of causing harm on MacBook or Apple PCs if the malicious content (only capable of infecting Windows boxes) is shared.

One specific threat — known as ASDFDldr-A comes in the form of media file that poses as music from the likes of Lady Gaga and Madonna.

The files uses the scripting capability of Microsoft Media Player to infect Windows machines and redirect users to a booby-trapped website instead of playing the media content users were hoping to enjoy.

How do Sophos know all this. Well their Mac malware data comes from the 150,000 active users of Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition who have downloaded and updated the anti-malware software since its launch on 2 November.

The security software is among the top 10 most downloaded products from Apple’s download site and the most popular application from its networking and security section.

Sophos’ first free of charge anti-virus scanner, which was released earlier this month, also detected Javabased attacks which were found in the internet caches of Mac machines.

The security tool also found well-know Mac Trojans disguised as codecs supposedly needed to display video content on sites such as BitTorrent which are under the control of hackers.

Sophos also issued a warning that the infamous Conficker worm which can’t infect Macs but can be spread via USB drives. There is no obvious effects to Mac users except to make them carriers, which can spread onto previously uninfected Window’s boxes.

“There is much less Mac malware than Windows malware, but that doesn’t mean that Mac users should be blase about protecting their computers,” said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos.

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Are passwords enough to protect your computer?

Posted on November 30, 2010 by viva

As we all know, passwords are far from foolproof. So what are the alternatives when protecting desktops and laptops? And why are these options only ever used in a sporadic fashion?

One real alternative or supplement to security is fingerprint scanners. These are now becoming more and more commonplace with business laptops, and even some desktops, acting as a supplement to traditional password systems.

This recognition system is now often found even on machines targeting the consumer market, with several vendors also including the ability to use a smartcard authentication machine.

But given that these type of password authentication solutions are widely available in large parts on PCs, why don’t people use them?

One obvious reason is that not many organisations deem the security of their desktop and laptop machines a huge priority, or that they don’t know what form any security should take.

Some companies, who are particularly security conscious are starting to employ an additional form of security beyond the password. This usually comes in the form of a one-time-password system, such as a key-fob display.

Why do companies not use this form of security more often?

Some experts believe this is down to excellent marketing strategies by security companies, such as the one-time-password. Others believe that few users are happy to add extra authentication processes as it makes their log-on more complex.

The reality is, it’s because most people don’t understand the business requirements to secure their IT systems robustly.

Is it enough to just educate users on the importance of having the appropriate security?

Probably not. The trigger for the adoption of secondary security measures may eventually come when there’s a heavy increase in privacy regulations and other compliance and governance requirements – and those that don’t take the necessary steps will be putting their organisation at risk.

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Is your PC past its use by date?

Posted on November 12, 2010 by viva

So your old PC is doing very well without any ‘help’ from the IT department. It may be 7 years old but it keeps on going so you are happy to stick with it.

Problem is, if you apply the adage ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ to your IT systems then you may be sailing into stormy seas. In truth you may already be in the middle of a Force 9 gale but surviving thanks to blissful ignorance – for now at least.

Old PCs can keep plodding on without a visible hitch. But what about the lost productivity, bigger support costs, increased power consumption and I won’t even go into all the added security risks.

This isn’t just a load of sales baloney. The simple truth is that as PCs grow old — and by old we are talking more than 3 years — they slow down compared to the latest models. They can’t cope quite so well with new software or even updated software slows down as it is loaded down with new or updated software.

I used to work in an office where the PCs were so ancient it took them several minutes to reboot, an operation that was required several times a day because they were a tad flaky. To compensate we used to work around this hold up, but there is only so much tea you can drink or fags you can smoke in a day!

The Think 4 team often carry out office Health Checks (it’s a free service).* One common issue we find is that many old PCs are running much the same software that they were initially configured with. It’s amazing when you think that Windows XP has been around since the turn of the century. But it is not unusual to find that some offices are still relying on the very ancient Windows 2000 or even variants of Windows 98 or NT.

Why is this an issue — well speed, or rather slowness, security holes and a lack of support should anything major go amiss are all threats to the business.

Old PCs have another impact. They can lead to frustration among employees. Yes a bad workman is known for blaming his tools — but a bad tool can slow down the most efficient employee. What’s the most expensive part of your office? If the answer is your people then what’s the point of paying them for waiting for nursing an old PC back to life? Job satisfaction is another factor. It s crucial to keep good people happy and that means equipping them to do the job.

The point is that it is worth looking at investment in new technology as more than just the cost of the kit.

*Shameless plug apology

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Offsite…but not out of mind

Posted on November 5, 2010 by viva

I read a blog the other day and it was extolling the virtues of having offsite back-up.
It was good but it was American so it talked about the forces of Mother Nature and it made me snigger. For here’s the argument it used: ‘Hurricanes, tornadeos, earthquakes, and other natural disasters are a serious potential threat to the crucial data you have stored within your computer network.’
Not too many hurricanes in Huddersfield and the earth hasn’t moved too much for us here at Think4 in Manchester lately.
So we can all lock up at the end of the day and forget all about offside back up can’t we?
Well of course not. The threats may be different but the advantages of having offsite back-up when compared to traditional “on-site” methods, like tape drives or other magnetic storage media, DVD-R and CD-R based methods, are difficult to overstate.
Data loss can have a serious impact on any business. We may not have too many natural disasters to contend with here in the UK but life still throws up enough curveballs to make having a measured backup plan in place a sensible insurance option.
Witness the call we received from a PR firm last Christmas. The boss had gone in during the holidays to do some admin, only to discover there had been a break in and the server had been taken. The major potential loss wasn’t the server itself but the data it contained.
However, before the business year resumed a new server had been installed and all the data restored thanks to the firm’s onsite back-up. The MD’s view was that without that back-up the theft could have been fatal for the business.
Offsite data backups store data files in secure, remote locations. Your data is encrypted and backed up over your existing internet connection to a secure server. You can set it up to perform backups at any frequency you wish. You can even set up the system to schedule backups while the office is empty on weekends and evenings, or when the computers are idle for a certain period of time (great for those systems that need to be accessed 24/7 and cannot afford the potential downtime that may be incurred due to backup procedures being run at the time).
You might not have to worry about Mother Nature as much as our American cousins but if you lost all your business data it would be a real disaster.

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Sophos freebie highlights threat to Macs

Posted on November 4, 2010 by viva

Heard the one about a Mac not getting a virus? Well think again. Security specialist Sophos has just released the first free of charge Mac anti-virus product which is aimed at consumers.

The business-focused internet security firm is making Sophos Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac available for download at no charge – with no time limit, and requiring no registration.

What’s on offer is a cut-down version of the existing Sophos anti-virus software for Macs and will ship with detection of thousands of malware strains including Trojans and rootkits.

So why this focus on Mac users?

It’s an attempt by Sophos to shift perceptions. The company knows that many Mac users aren’t convinced that their Macs actually need any anti-malware protection. Having the technology to suppress it suggests that there is a threat.

Here’s what Chris Kraft, product management vice president at Sophos says: “While most businesses recognise the importance of protecting their Mac computers from malware threats, most home users do not.”

Will they be able to win this battle for hearts and minds?

Sophos admit that Windows threats counted in their millions dwarf the number of strains of Mac malware, which can be counted in their thousands, but maintained there was a need for protection, whatever sales people in Apple Stores might say to the contrary. “We want to raise awareness,” say Sophos.

It’s a battle lots of firms in creative industries — a traditional haven for all things Apple — will watch with interest.

NB: Sophos has no plans to release an equivalent free of charge Windows anti-malware scanner.

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Is it the end of the road for tape?

Posted on October 15, 2010 by viva

Just as every living room once had video recorder then there was a time when every small business used tapes to back up precious data.

Well the days of backing up to tape in an autoloader or small library look increasingly numbered as technology advances and costs of disc storage drop.

A sign of the changing times is the deal between Imation and BDT, a white-box manufacturer of tape autoloaders and libraries, devices with up to four tape drives and 96 slots for cartridges.

Imation is well aware that tape media is on the decline because reading and writing is slow, compared to disk, and the costs of long-term storage on disk are going down due to increased hard drive capacity and deduplication.

However, tape is still the long term low-cost storage king for bulk data, petabytes of the stuff, but increasingly disk is the preferred choice for smaller amounts of data.

Back to my story. Now get this: Imation has a deal with ProStor, makers of RDX removable disk drive technology. They will produce a new 2.5-inch drive cartridges, offering 1TB of storage, and docks into which the drive cartridges are loaded.

What’s the difference between a tape automation device and an RDX one? Well with the latter you don’t need a robot mechanism to move cartridges to drives, as each RDX cartridge contains a drive. Still with me?

What does all this mean? Well in short, we expect to start seeing the fruits of this new regime arrive early next year. When it happens the world of tape will take another doddery step towards the Antiques Roadshow.

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