Business Benefits of Unfriending

unfriendThe drive to be more intimate can benefit your business. If you have a tighter circle of customers, you will establish yourself as a channel for consumption. This will make your next sale easier compared to the first.

November 17, 2010 was declared by Jimmy Kimmel during his television show as “National Unfriend Day”, the opportunity for all Facebook users to declutter their Facebook pages by “unfriending” people in their friends’ lists. He claims that Facebook has been “cheapening” the idea of friendship. To many the idea was hilarious, but others are seriously considering the wisdom of unfriending.

Is Kimmel on to something here? Can unfriending benefit your online business? (more…)

Majority of firms struggle with security as new technologies are adopted

securityNew research from the Ponemom Institute and Lumension, shows that a majority of firms are struggling to secure data as users quickly adopt new and emerging technologies such as mobile, cloud computing, and collaborative Web 2.0 technologies. The study, which surveyed IT security and IT operations practitioners, shows that many (44 percent) feel that their IT network is less secure than a year ago or that their IT security policies are insufficient in addressing the growing threats arising from the use of new technologies. Budgets are also a limiting factor, with many feeling that IT security budgets still aren’t what they need to be to fully support business objectives and security priorities. Other findings from the report:

  • 56% said mobile devices are not secure, representing a risk to data security
  • 49% said data security is not a strategic initiative for their company
  • 48% said their companies have allocated insufficient resources to achieve effective data security and regulatory compliance
  • 47% cited a lack of strong CEO support for information security efforts as a reason for ineffective data security programs
  • 41% said there was a lack of proactive security risk management in their organization

Just as large companies worldwide struggle to keep up with security, many small businesses do so even more. If you need help understanding the security implications that new technologies bring to your organization, contact us so we can help.

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Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Mind Your Manners! Etiquette for the Electronic Age

Etiquette for the Electronic AgeFrom the heavyset computing devices of Charles Babbage to today’s simple novelty items, electronic devices and gadgets have become smaller, more functional, and more integrated into our daily lives. With mobile phone calls, SMS, and email we are seemingly in constant need to be in touch with other people electronically.

And therein lies the problem. Many people seem to put such a high priority on immediately replying to electronic communication that they often unintentionally offend the people they are actually physically with. For example, how does that colleague doing the “Blackberry Prayer” during a meeting – hunched over a handheld device, texting and emailing – make you feel?

Here are a few etiquette tips when using our electronic devices:

  • When in meetings, turn your phone off – or at least put it in silent mode.
  • Check your messages and return calls and emails after meetings, not during them. It’s much more polite to explain to a caller or email sender that your response was delayed because you were in a meeting rather than explaining to everyone with you that the person on your phone is more important than them.
  • If you are expecting an urgent call you must take, inform others about it before the meeting begins. When your phone vibrates, excuse yourself quietly and take the call outside.
  • Never wear an earpiece while in a meeting.
  • Don’t use your mobile phone or PDA while you are talking to somebody – it gives the impression that the person you are talking to is unimportant and insignificant.
  • Loud ringtones are inappropriate for certain settings, so make sure they’re off at the right times.
  • If you need to use speaker phone, ask the person on the other line for permission first, and announce who else is in the room with you. Many people are (understandably) uncomfortable not knowing who else may be listening to them.
  • While in video conferences, treat the people on the other end of the line as if they were actually in the room with you. No discreet playing of Plants vs. Zombies on your iPhone while the brand manager from the other end of the line is giving his sales report – regardless of how boring it may be.

Remember: electronic correspondence can never replace actual human interaction and conversation. Even though we’re in the electronic age, the old saying still applies: “Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.”

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Watch Out for “Dirty” Websites

watchout_dirty_websiteIn a previous post, we pointed out how just browsing the web these days can possibly infect your PC with malware. To show how dangerous surfing can become, Symantec recently released their list of the “Dirtiest Websites of Summer” – the top 100 infected sites on the Internet based on number of threats detected by their software as of August 2009. The list identifies websites that could compromise security with risks including phishing, malicious downloads, browser exploits, and links to unsafe external sites.

Some interesting findings from the study:

  • The average number of threats per site on the Dirtiest Websites list is roughly 18,000, compared to 23 threats per site for most sites
  • 40 of the Top 100 Dirtiest Sites have more than 20,000 threats per site
  • 48% of the Top 100 Dirtiest Web sites feature adult content
  • 3/4 of the Top 100 Dirtiest Web sites have distributed malware for more than 6 months
  • Viruses are the most common threat represented on the Dirtiest Websites list, followed by security risks and browser exploits

You can read more about this research at Symantec’s website. If you suspect your PCs are at risk, or if you want to ensure your website doesn’t get hijacked by cybercriminals, contact us. We can help.

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Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Businesses Should Replace PCs Every Three Years

For many small and medium-sized businesses, the cost of maintaining an old PC may be more expensive than upgrading to a new one. This insight comes from a survey conducted by research firm Techaisle, which polled 630 companies across seven countries.

Their research suggests that the average cost for SMBs to repair PCs over three years old can be 1.65 times as expensive as repairing PCs under three years old. Repairs include replacements, usually from hardware failure, and the cost to fix software crashes. Small business respondents with PCs older than three years experienced network card failures nearly eight times more than respondents with PCs less than three years old. This was followed by power supply failures, motherboard failures, software crashes, and virus attacks. Midmarket respondents experienced a similar trend, with network card failures at six times higher, followed by power supply failures and motherboard failures.

In addition, respondents said desktops that have been in use for more than three years are more susceptible to attacks from malware and viruses (28 percent), while older notebooks are 58 percent more likely to endure a virus attack. The cost of related lost worker productivity should also be factored in by companies wishing to hold on to outdated hardware.

Are you hanging on to old PCs in an attempt to save money? Contact us today. We can help you assess the health and condition of your PCs, as well as determine the cost of maintaining existing PCs versus upgrading or replacing them.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Do Your PCs Host Dangerous Apps?

Research from security firm Secunia reveals that the average PC user has over a dozen insecure applications on his or her computer. They found that the typical user installs over 80 applications on his or her desktop, and around 15% are vulnerable to attack due to failure to patch the applications in a timely manner. Vendors normally release updates or patches to fix known vulnerabilities in their applications. This is an acute problem for software which connects to the Internet, especially if it hosts sensitive or private data. Only 2% of users make it a point regularly update their applications. For businesses, the problem could be greater with the need to manage multiple PCs. Protect your network today by letting us implement software patch management tools to manage and automate this process for you.

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Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Does your Business Need a Server?

Is it time for you to consider a server for your business? This question was raised recently by Rhonda Abrams, a writer for USA TODAY’s Small Business section.

According to Ms. Abrams’s article, if your business is growing and you have more than two people in your business, then you should definitely consider buying a server. Having a server, or a dedicated computer that acts as a central resource for data and applications within your office network, can dramatically improve the way your business runs.

A server allows you to consolidate your data in one place, making it easy to share among your colleagues. Network file shares allow you to upload and archive files and data in one centralized location for everyone. Centralizing data also makes it easier to secure and back up.

Servers often are powerful computers that can host applications your business runs within the office network. With servers, you can run applications such as email and security services, host your business website or company intranet, deploy multi-user databases, and much more.

Let us know if you are considering deploying a server for your business – we can help you do it efficiently and cost effectively.

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Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Survey Shows Insider Snooping on the Rise

Cyber-Ark Software, a security solutions company, released a survey showing that as much as 35 percent of people within an organization (that’s one out of three) admit to accessing corporate information without authorization. Furthermore, an alarming 74 percent claim they could circumvent the controls currently in place to prevent that access. The study polled over 400 IT administrators at the Infosecurity Europe 2009 and RSA USA 2009 conferences. While certainly a cause for concern, this is not surprising. Because of their technical knowledge and access to sensitive corporate information, internal IT staff are capable of circumventing internal policies and controls. If this is a cause for concern within your organization, don’t delay in giving us a call. We can help you secure your information and computing assets today.

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Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Big IT Lessons Small Business Can Learn


What are the key technology lessons that small and mid-sized businesses can learn from large enterprises?

Be proactive. Be prepared. Take security concerns seriously. Always watch for ways to cut costs.

That just might sum up the advice that enterprise-grade IT shops would give smaller businesses about how to avoid costly IT mistakes.

But what are some specific technology lessons that smaller fry can learn from the big fish? We asked the experts, and here’s a partial list:

1. Get an IT tuneup.
Don’t wait until things go wrong with your systems to look under the hood. Have someone come in and do a vulnerability assessment to identify what’s working, what isn’t, and where your security risks are. “Proactive maintenance and support is something that the enterprises do and small businesses don’t,” notes Tim Brennan, founder and managing partner of Rockville, Md.-based SysArc. A good assessment can cost as little as $1,000, and can save a business much more, notes Brennan.

2. Be prepared, even for a disaster.
“Small businesses tend not to do much with disaster recovery,” notes Brennan. Storing your backup on-site, or never testing your backup system, is not going to protect you if there’s a fire, earthquake, or theft. There are many options, from low-cost online backup products like Mozy or Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3). “It’s all about the investment you want to put into it,” says Brennan. “But at very least, back up off-site.”

Even better? Do what the big firms do and document a complete disaster recovery plan with a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C, adds Steve Hilton, vice president of small business research at Boston-based Yankee Group. “Disaster recovery and business continuity are top IT needs,” says Hilton. “You don’t need to go to a crazy level with this like the enterprises, but think about how your company would survive, function by function….sales, customer service, finance.”

3. Security concerns: yes, they’re real.
Perhaps big firms have more at stake, and are  more likely to have government contracts that demand tight security plans. But many small firms don’t take security risks seriously enough, experts say. “A lot of smaller firms view security as a techie thing that’s too expensive,” notes Kevin Beaver, IT author and founder of Acworth, Ga.-based Principle Logic, an IT security consulting firm. “It’s like not having auto insurance, and then having a big wreck, and realizing they needed it.” Simple steps like encrypting laptops and installing power-on passwords onto PDAs and cellphones — even personally-owned ones that are used for business — are steps companies should be taking, Beaver says. Hilton adds that cheap cloud computing options like Google messenger with Postini secured email and archiving make securing networks easy for even the smallest staffs.

4. Go with a virtual private network (VPN).
In today’s business environment, every business, regardless of size, should be using a VPN to link their office with remote workers in a secure, cost-efficient fashion, says Beaver. “It’s important that your business supports telecommuting,” Beaver notes. Bigger companies have found VPNs to be the cheapest, most effective way to link workers across the country or across town.

5. Slash your telecom costs.
Bigger companies are all doing it — looking at their telecom plans line by line for ways to cut costs. Smaller businesses can get in on the act, too. First, look into switching over to a corporate plan for your cell phones instead of having individual employees each expensing their own personal cellphone, suggests Yankee Group’s Hilton. “If 50 people in the office are each expensing their cellphone charges, your costs could be highly variable,” he says. Also, corporate plans offer corporate-sized free-minute plans, too — another savings. Finally, contact your telecom provider and see if you can renegotiate any old plans — in this tough economy, telecom providers are willing to strike new deals to keep business, experts say.

To be sure, there are many other lessons smaller companies can learn from enterprise-grade IT shops. But follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to swimming with bigger fish.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Are you Safeguarding your Data?

With the continuous proliferation of data and its increasing importance to business, it has become critical to implement measures to safeguard it. One such measure is to make sure you have a data protection, backup, and recovery system in place. The threat of data loss from hardware failure, malware, or disaster is very real. A little proactive effort will go a long way in ensuring the integrity and continuous availability of your critical company data. Talk to your IT consultant to find out more.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.