Requiem for the Blackberry

Last week’s Blackberry outage has caused lots of withdrawal pains. The blogs and message boards are filled with comments defending and vilifying Research in Motion (RIM) Blackberry’s creator. Network interruptions are inevitable as we have seen with Sony, Google, Microsoft and Netflix. Someday we may have uninterruptable networks, but the departure or threatened departure from Blackberry seems to be more about the availability of multimedia, cooler mobile devices than a network disruption.

 
For years Blackberry has been the choice in mobile devices for corporations. You can argue that this is because they are more secure because of how RIM handles encryption or the limitation of online features. Certainly iPhone and Android users can be more social online because their devices support many more apps. They can access Facebook, Tweet, Farmville and Angry Birds from anywhere that they have a signal. The available apps make it easy to stay connected. But with the convenience of being online all the time, some sacrifices are made in being secure. If you want a real scare, google “mobile device hacking” and read some of the recent hacking successes and access your vulnerability.

It really comes down to which device you are most comfortable with and how easily you can change. Corporations like Blackberry for many reasons including solid systems and the ability to regulate users. Often corporations don’t change their infrastructure because of the expense of installing new equipment and training employees to use and support the new system. Rationale always states the benefits of one technology over the other to support the choice, but equal arguments can be made for practically any technology choice.

As interesting and amusing as it is to read the comments from the technology aficionados, but it is as important to balance the arguments with facts. Facts may not change the product choices we make – that’s a subject for another blog – some products will win and others will lose based completely on preference and little on the superior technology. Blackberry once led the pack but is now struggling for market share in a sea of products that offer more. The loyal followers of Apple and Google are happy to share their opinions on why their choice is the best and the features that make mobility fun and efficient.

It's a jungle out there - be smart online

Recently, I posted a job on craigslist for a senior systems and network engineer. Although craigslist is a popular site, I have never used it and had some concerns about posting on a site that has received so much bad press. After researching, I decided to post our job and have been very happy with the response. But it's a jungle out there and I knew to expect some scam artists to use the ad to try an attack.
Then today, I received an email from updates-craigslist: Updates!New Terms - Accept: June 29, 2011 with the following message:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
craigslist
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Customer,
We need your help resolving an issue with your account. To give us time to work together on this, we've temporarily limited what you can do with your account until the issue is resolved.
We noticed some unusual activity .
How you can help?
You must reverify your account and take the time to accept and read our terms: log in here
It's usually pretty easy to take care of things like this.
Ad: # 318-277-551-175
We understand it may be frustrating not to have full access to your account. We want to work with you to get your account back to normal as quickly as possible.
Thanks,
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Copyright ©2011 Inc. All rights reserved. CL #73445897433\

It's a scam and has all the characteristics (without typos) of a phishing attempt. It tries to get you to login with their fake link and get you to input your account information. Once your username/password was obtained, the phishers would take over your account and get as much information as they could about you. They can't do much on craigslist except make some inappropriate postings under your name, but they could use the username/password to break into other accounts like Twitter, Facebook or bank accounts.

So as a reminder, don't fall for email scams. When in doubt - don't click, reply or forward. Use strong passwords and make sure you have a good spam filter and malware protection.

Why does China want your gmail account?

Google is certain that the latest hacking attempt comes from Jinan, China as a phishing scam to obtain gmail passwords. This type of attack happens all the time, but since senior level US government officials, military personnel and political activists were targeted the intent seems much more sinister. The attacks were common phishing schemes that are not very sophisticated opening speculation that this was testing the water and that the information may be used for broader attacks.


If someone has your username and password, they can hijack your account. Not only will they have access to your email, but they can change account settings, forward email and send email as you. If you are unaware that your account has been compromised, the hacker can play havoc with your information and identity.

Certainly, you have heard these warnings: create a strong password, don't divulge username and password information especially from email requests, use a good anti-virus, have malware protection and keep a good backup. This cannot be stressed enough - create a strong password for your important accounts. Next, use a two-step verification or authentication whenever possible. This is another way to prove it is you. Google uses a strategy where they will send a unique code to your phone that is required to sign in. The problem with this security measure is that it is not convenient as it takes another step and more time. Often users choose convenience over security.

When you use more than one email address and if you send to a mobile device, be sure that you use security measures that adequately protect your information. The more valuable the information, the more protection is needed. and just like physical security, use barriers as deterrents. In the digital and virtual world, barriers are passwords, tokens, PINs and other information that only you will know.

To learn more about the Google 2-step verification, go to:
http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=175197

Social Media Tactics: Part 2

By Katie Sewell, TAG and Mary Hester, LAN Systems

The second part of our tactics for social media includes LinkedIn and blogging. LinkedIn is widely used by business professionals to promote their business and to job search. It’s easy to set up a personal and/or business LinkedIn page and you can keep it current using built in tools that won’t take too much of your time.

Upon creation of your LinkedIn profile, be sure to craft a flattering position summary for your company to promote.

Deciding how you will accept connections is important, as well. LION (LinkedIn Open Network) members connect to almost anyone that requests whether they know them or not. More conservative members only link to people they personally know. This is your choice and you can adjust your settings to share or hide your connections. There are many security settings that control how much or how little of your information is shared. If you are concerned about sharing information, start with very secure settings and adjust as needed.

On to business promotion:

LinkedIn - Create a company page with your logo, overview, specialties and statistics. Make sure current employees link to the page and that you have included your website.

Look for groups to join that are of interest to your customers. There are many groups on LinkedIn that you can easily reach the 50 limit set by LinkedIn. Of course, you can join groups that are of personal interest, but if you are promoting your company the best groups will be those of interest to your customers.

Create a group based on your subject matter expertise and promote to your contacts. It is best to approve new members rather than have an open access.

Start group discussions and keep the conversation going. Some groups will be very active and others will need prodding. Be sure to monitor messages for appropriate content and spam. You can remove abusers.

Look at the open Q&A discussions. Even if you choose not to participate, take a glance at the types of questions and answers that are being posted. You may want to experiment in this open forum before starting your own group. If you are (or want to be) a subject matter expert for your company, search this forum for questions to answer.

Blogging – Choose the type of blog and your voice. Try to be consistent in your post frequency and blog personality. Remember what’s said on the Internet stays on the Internet!

If you’re not ready to start your own blog, contribute to others. This is an easy way to get started and test if you really want to be a blogger.

Pick a schedule and try to stick with it. If you have lots of demands on your time that are not blog-related, you may want to start with a monthly or weekly blog. Entries can be informal or traditional depending upon your style and your business.

Use your blog to point readers to your web site, Facebook or Twitter account.

Try to engage your readers in a dialogue by encouraging comments and feedback. Respond to comments and questions quickly. Many readers will not post comments, but will correspond with you privately. If it starts as a private conversation, keep it that way unless both parties want to go public.

Hope that you have enjoyed our short series on Social Media. Please share your experiences, ideas and comments!

Social Media Tactics: Part 1

By Katie Sewell, TAG and Mary Hester, LAN Systems

By now you have heard that Social Media is a revolution. A big change is coming in the way businesses market and communicate their message. To understand Social Media you have to spend time studying the concept, method and strategy. Don’t worry if it seems complicated and time consuming at first. We have a few proven strategies that we personally use to give your social media campaign a boost. We’ll start with Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter – Twitter is a social networking site which enables news sharing and connectivity among people and businesses through short updates. It’s hard for some to understand the Twitter sensation. Why would anyone tweet their lunch menu or location? There is a great deal of self-indulgence on Twitter and you should always be conscious of your personal safety. Try these few tips to propel you to the top.

1) Be interactive – reply to and retweet items of interest. Post articles about you and your company. Give information of interest to your community. Minimize the sales pitch.

2) Use and create hash tags for topics and events. TAG promoted the 2011 Technology Summit with #GTS2011 on Twitter. You can use the hash tag term to search and it may “trend” on Twitter which is similar to going viral on YouTube.

3) Keep it real and meaningful – don’t tweet just for the sake of tweeting. Automated tweets and pre-canned quotes and messages are obvious. Twitter is a conversation that you have in your own voice. The voice can be business or personal, but be genuine.

Facebook – If you are going to use Facebook for business, be sure to keep it separate from your personal account. Being on the Internet is like being in a magnified fishbowl where every imprudent act is available to all and kept forever. Even with the risks, Facebook can be a fabulous business tool if used wisely.

1) Create a company Facebook page where you can write about your company values, events and people. Post tasteful pictures and items of interest.

2) Invite Facebook users to “like” your page. Remember, it’s about quality here, not quantity. While it’s important to have a high number of “likes” on your company’s page, it’s more important to keep the content fresh and updated.

3) An important goal to have for your organization’s social media sites, especially Facebook, is to encourage interactive behavior from your users. A good way of accomplishing this is to have contests where a prize is given. When you want feedback and user interactivity, offer a reward or prize that makes it worthwhile for the user to participate. LAN Systems is having a contest for a copy of Microsoft Office Pro 2010 for liking its Facebook page. We’ll let everyone know how it turns out on our page.

4) Share links and Tag others in your posts and status updates. This creates exposure from both sides. Be polite and considerate when sharing.

5) Like and or comment on photos, articles and posts. Depending upon your online persona, you may want to avoid controversial topics. In any case, always review your posts before submitting for content, spelling and grammar. A typo isn’t the end of the world, but it can be embarrassing.

Once you create your Twitter and Facebook page, it’s important to check on a regular basis. Your company needs to appear to be responsive to the users. Answer messages and keep the conversation going!

Next time, tips for LinkedIn and Blogging. Until then, please send us a comment or leave a message.

How to Protect Your Computer Against Malware

Each year the damages from computer malware cost US businesses billions of dollars. These costs are not only in lost productivity, but permanent loss of critical business data. Arguably, most if not all infections are preventable with the proper understanding, training and protection. Don't be the next victim, take the steps now to ensure protection and recovery if the worst should happen.

First, let's understand computer malware. Often the term virus is used to describe all malware. Technically speaking, there are viruses, rootkits, Trojan horses, worms and spyware. The attack method may differ but they are all malicious.

A virus is a program that runs itself and replicates itself. It can affect files or the boot sector and can delete all your data. The "Melissa" and "I Love You" viruses gained global attention.

A rootkit or Trojan horse allows access to your system without your knowledge. Often they look like a useful piece of software but in fact they are back or trap doors.

A computer worm is a self-replicating computer program. It uses a network to send copies of itself to other nodes. Once on the system, worms do not need to attach to another program and can run themselves. Worms cause a denial of service attack making the network unusable. In general, worms target the network and viruses attack files.

Spyware is computer software that is installed on a personal computer to intercept or take control of the PC. Spyware can hijack a computer and cause serious problems by gathering and transmitting personal data, loading undesirable software or redirecting browsers to malicious sites.

Protecting yourself -

1. Have a good backup, just in case you need to restore
2. Use a firewall
3. Keep your system updated with the latest security patches
4. Install and update anti-virus and anti-spyware software (see below for choices)
5. Do not open email from anonymous, unknown or suspicious sources
6. Do not download files or software from anonymous, unknown or suspicious sources
7. Do not navigate to suspicious or promiscuous websites
8. Regularly scan your system for malware (see below for choices)
9. Be sure that you have a good backup so that you can restore your full system if needed
10. If you think you have been attacked, act quickly to isolate the infected computer and remove the malware.

You can purchase anti-virus and malware protection or there are many free versions for home users. For anti-virus, AVG, Avast and others have free versions. For corporate anti-virus, we use Symantec Endpoint. For malware, we like Malwarebytes (personal or corporate edition) and Advanced System Care. With so many choices if you like one better, use it. The important point is that you have to have malware/virus protection.

Use a three prong approach to keep your system safe: educate, protect, monitor. Try to understand the types of threats to your computer. The more educated and informed, the better you can protect your system. Monitor for threats and scan your system often. If it looks suspicious, don't open the email, go to the site or download the file or software.

Please be watchful of the sites you visit, the software you download and the email you open as the threats to your system change daily.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html.

Get In Touch With Your Creative Side Using Microsoft Office

Not that long ago, the only way to get high-quality, professional materials was through a graphic designer. Printing was a complicated, expensive process that was left to the print shops. Each project required assembling pictures, graphics and content that was camera-ready.

Today, we have access to everything needed to make agency-quality marketing materials with full-color and amazing graphics. Brochures, mailers and newsletters can be printed on-demand or in the perfect quantity to reducing waste and keep the offering fresh. To save more and reach the online audience, electronic files are brilliant and easy to distribute. If you have an idea, a good eye and the right tools, you can make magic.

Microsoft Office offers the right tools with its Office 2010 Suite of Applications. Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Publisher provide improved and enhanced features for creating and publishing. Many of the features are cross-platform so you can learn a skill in one application and use it in another. There are a host of classes for beginner, intermediate and advanced users that can be taken in a classroom environment or online depending on your best learning method. Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and others offer free, online classes that are perfect for the self-learner.

Word is the standard for creating and formatting documents of all types from simple letters to documents with a table of contents, index and glossary. It makes the task of creating and editing documents easy. Tools like spell check and thesaurus make us look smart and polished. New and improved photo-editing tools let you transform pictures right in Word 2010 – no extra software needed. Change color saturation, temperature, brightness, and contrast to turn a simple Word document into a work of art. Turn text into visual effects with enhanced text effects and SmartArt graphics. Change basic bullet-points into compelling visuals and add text effects like shadow, glow, reflection, and 3-D in just a few clicks. With co-authoring, you can edit at the same time as others, even if you're working from different locations, and keep versions in sync with version control. This is a great way to eliminate typos (ever used a there for their or your for you’re?) by having others review your work for content and correctness.

PowerPoint is not just for presentations, it also makes a great coordinating tri-fold or handout. Use the same theme for marketing materials that you can leave with the prospect to reinforce your message and offering. Creating your presentation in PowerPoint allows you to gather all your thoughts and ideas in one tool. You have many slide choices and can move, cut, paste and organize to create a coherent flow of information without leaving the program. Adding graphics, diagrams, video and sound is easier than ever.

Excel graphs, charts and sparklines explain trends and comparisons with strong visuals. Whenever numbers are involved, visuals are powerful tools to simplify the message and give at-a-glance significance. Use sparklines to graphically display data in a single cell. You can display data in line, column or win/loss format to highlight trends.

Publisher helps you create eye-catching brochures, newsletters, postcards, greeting cards and email messages. With the built-in and online templates, you can find a style for any publication. The prebuilt building blocks give an assortment of page parts like sidebars, stories and columns for creating professional newsletters and case studies. Add calendars, borders and advertisement blocks for community or school newsletters. Stunning graphics and images are easily added and use OpenType typography for expert typesetting effects.

Get your creative juices flowing! Experiment with different looks and practice with different styles. Start with a concept and use Microsoft Office 2010 to create brilliant, flawless materials for your home, school or business.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html

Clouds in an Azure Sky

Clouds are made of increased bandwidth and storage blended with the advances in virtualization and remote access. Today’s technology allows us to compute anywhere, anytime. The sky is clear blue for cloud computing, but it hasn’t always been that way.


Cloud computing grew out of the centralized or mainframe model. For those who remember mainframes, it was the only way to compute. We had remote access, but it was cumbersome, slow and expensive. Programmers got in the habit of coding all night long when rates were the cheapest. Then those long, sleepless nights were replaced by distributed computing, a computer for everyone, but somehow programmers still program all night.

The distributed computing model was embraced rapidly. With amazing graphics and Internet availability, the computer became a household appliance. But distributed computing had its drawbacks, it was hard to interface disparate systems and collaborate in real-time. Recently, 100% availability and remote connections at LAN speeds have resurrected the centralized computing model with a new name. You could say that computing has come full circle back to a centralized computing model that we call Cloud Computing. It is provocative, exciting and revolutionary.

New technology holds a dilemma as most computer users don’t really care about the technology; they just want it to work easily and reliability. And business owners are only slightly interested in the merits of a distributed or centralized computer model. They want computer systems that are economical, productive and work without needing a staff of IT gurus.

The cloud or hosted computer solution (called ASP, SaaS, Cloud Services) has been around for years, but has enjoyed only limited success. Most of the early adopters had sophisticated IT experience and the trained staff to develop and manage cloud solutions. Today, even popular hosted applications have reduced features online or make it difficult to migrate out of the cloud. Microsoft has addressed these issues with Azure. It is powerful enough to host your world-class enterprise datacenter with the reliability, efficiency and agility you demand, yet provides simple, scalable, portable services.

Microsoft Azure supports three roles: Web role, Worker role and a Virtual Machine (VM) role. Enhancements are planned for the Web and Worker roles that have been used by many companies for programming and development. The new VM role will provide a generic environment that can be used for test or production. It will also compete with Google and Amazon offerings. Learn more about Microsoft Azure and Cloud Power.

Azure SQL provides high-availability, fault tolerant relational database services in the cloud. You can serve local or cloud-based applications and only pay for what you use. Administration is simplified. You don’t have to install, setup, patch or manage software. Built on SQL Server you can leverage the same development and management tools used locally. Learn more with SQL Azure videos.

Azure has great appeal to programmers and developers as is evidenced in the keynote and sessions at PDC10, but for users the cloud is still a confusing concept. Perhaps the average user will never really understand or be awed by the technology that fuels cloud computing, but it will be widely used because of its economy and availability.

Cloud computing will enjoy widespread use until the next technology revolution replaces it with another better, faster and less expensive solution. Who knows what that might be, but it might look a little like distributed computing.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html

Living on the Edge With Your Data Backup and Recovery Strategy?

One of the biggest risks you can take is not backing up your data. Sure, you may never experience a disk failure, but if you do it will be a disaster. Ask anyone who has suffered a data loss and they will tell you about the distress and panic when they realized that the data was gone forever. Data loss can devastate your operations and cripple your organization. But for a problem with such disastrous results, it has an easy fix.

Backing up data is relatively easy and economical on the front side and provides an easy recovery method in case of a disk loss or failure. Backup costs are a fraction of recovery costs and sometimes no amount of money or effort can recover data from a severely damaged disk.

Today’s technology provides many cost-effective ways to protect your data. For a business system, start with a strategy that uses the concept of redundancy to duplicate data, employs a serious backup method and includes disaster recovery. Your data backup strategy should be proportional to the value of your data. Don’t cut corners, be sure to include any data that is essential to your business or would be difficult to reconstruct.

So why doesn’t every business have a good backup plan that works? Either it’s too expensive or too complicated. Backup doesn’t have to be expensive, but it has to be executed and verified on a regular schedule. If you manage and verify your backup daily then you can choose less expensive technology.

Backup doesn’t have to be complicated, but automated solutions cost more. If you want a solution that takes most of the guess work out of backups and gives disaster recovery protection, they are available but will cost considerably more.

It is important to choose the technology and strategy that works for you. Always be diligent in performing and storing your backups. Below we discuss some of the most used concepts and technologies.

Disk Redundancy – Writing to two or more disks at the same time, provides data protection in case of a disk failure. A redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) will divide and replicate data so that a single or minority of disk failure does not cause data loss. RAID technology is mostly employed on servers and data storage devices. It can be hardware or software configured. Although RAID does give a level of protection against data loss, it does not replace backing up your data.

Primary Data Backup – The data storage or repository can be tape, disk-to-disk and/or virtual tape using an external drive (SAN, NAS or USB) used to store the backup. The backup scheme can be full, incremental, differential or continuous. Each scheme has individual requirements that may include software to create the storage archive.

Secondary Data Backup – This is usually an offsite disk-to-disk or online backup plan, but can be another method that gives a second copy of the repository. Online backup services are very affordable and keep a near real-time copy of files. A limitation of online backup is bandwidth. For large stores of data, the initial upload can take considerable time. Some services allow you to send a disk with the base files then only changes are uploaded.

Disaster Recovery – This allows you to build your system from the ground up. Often a disaster recovery plan includes an image (complete and exact copy of the disk(s) on your system) and a current backup. Images include the operating system, configuration, licenses, applications and data. Images are often called a “bare metal” restore because they allow you to overlay the image onto a new system without any prior installation of an operating system or software.

Protecting User Data – Users should save data to a shared network drive and be included in the backup. If there are files that are only on a laptop or desktop, they should be backed up individually. This can be done easily with an external drive or online file backup.

A common data backup and recovery configuration for a server:

1. Data Redundancy as RAID 10 – Mirrored and striped sets in a 2 disk array.
2. Primary Data Backup – Network Attached Storage (NAS) using Windows Server 2008 Backup.
3. Secondary Data Backup – Online backup service backing up all critical files.
4. Disaster Recovery – Full image stored offsite.

This is not an exhaustive list of available backup methods. Data backup has many parts, facets and options. For a good data backup strategy, start with an overview of your system and decide your level of involvement. From there, you can build a backup strategy and disaster recovery plan so that in the event of a data loss, you are protected.
 
If you have comments or need help formulating a plan, contact me at mary@lansystems.com.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html.

Top IT Trends for 2011

Compiling our list of the top technology trends for 2011 was enjoyable. We got to review our 2010 predictions and look ahead with optimism. Unfortunately, economic woes continued through 2010 delaying the expected IT expenditures and slowing growth. Again, the trends haven’t changed much year-over-year as technology is a quiet revolution. But don’t be disappointed, those same trends are driving new models that will revolutionize the way we do business. As technology advances, the numbers continue to drive IT investments. Businesses will implement common sense infrastructure improvements and avoid the glitz. The glitz will come from consumer electronics this year as mobile devices become better, cheaper and faster.

Cloud Computing – The Application Server Provider (ASP) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model is Cloud Computing. More than ever, this is a technology in search of a moniker that will catch on and become a household name. We all cloud compute even if we don’t quite grasp the concept. From our social media sites to our online backup to our online applications, each monthly subscription is a testament that cloud computing solutions work. This way of computing through the Internet will continue to grow offering more and improved services at competitive prices.

Mobile Devices and Applications – SmartPhones are considered one of the hottest items for consumers. The use of mobile applications has gained such acceptance that an explosion of development, hoping to cash in on commercial success, will bring even more mobile apps to our handhelds. Context-aware computing which has been around for over a decade may see 2011 as its breakthrough year.

Business Analytics – The amount of electronic data is now over a zettabyte (that’s a one with twenty-one zeroes) and there is no end in sight. But data has a shelf life and it has to be processed before expiration to make sense of or profit from the analysis. With increased computing power, a terabyte of data can be processed, measured and interpreted in real time allowing for quick business decisions. Computer programs, algorithms and models will take advantage of the processing speed to give timely information. Business strategies and marketing tactics will be altered immediately to reflect patterns revealed by the numbers. Business acumen is essential as the numbers will continue to be governed by GIGO (Garbage In – Garbage Out).

Work from Anywhere – Fueled by the growth and availability of bandwidth and Cloud Computing, we will be able to conduct real business from anywhere. Files and documents will be migrated into the cloud so that workers will have anytime, anywhere access. Productivity tools will aid the worker while providing efficiency measures to the employer. Communications from just about anywhere will allow us to buy, sell and converse seamlessly. Tasks considered too complicated to be mobile will be done routinely on-the-go. Speech recognition will provide the necessary hands free environment.

Social Media – The transformation of the way we communicate, personally and professionally, will continue unabated. Social Media continues to be the darling of marketing. Certainly, the players will change as Fortuna spins her fickle wheel, but online social interaction is the future of human communications. We will find ways to make it more significant and efficient, but there will continue to be spam, scams and information overload, just like it was in the old way of communicating – remember junk mail! Demand for social media consulting will continue and the best opportunities are likely to be for small companies providing services to the Fortune 500.

Absent from the list is Green IT and Smart Grid Computing. Green IT certainly has its place but economics have taken precedent over stewardship. Smart Grid initiatives are quickly developing but the crystal ball is too cloudy to see if it will take root this year. We will continue to watch Smart Grid as it is a promising technology trend.

Disclaimer: Like horoscopes, our predictions for the Top IT Trends of 2011 are general in nature and for entertainment purposes only.

If you have your own trends, send to me at mary@lansystems.com.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html

One-Third of World Spam

With the arrest of Oleg Nikolaenko, the young Russian responsible for billions of spam messages each day, the world is wondering what it would be like with one-third less spam.

There are over 250 billion email messages sent each day. With 86,400 seconds in a day, that's about 3 million email messages a second. Conservatively, 80% is spam. That means that 2.5 million emails each second are spam. Many of those emails are caught by spam filters, but the spam that makes it to inboxes still cause major problems. Spam is profitable and despite the repeated warnings, people still click on spam.

Ordering pharmaceuticals or fake Rolex watches from spam hurts you in two ways. First, they take your money for the item and you get an empty box if you get anything at all. And second, you can be highjacked and become part of the botnet. A botnet is like the Borg for computers. Your computer is taken over and does what it is commanded to do - send more spam!

Botnets sound like science-fiction, but they do exist and have attacked millions of computers. Most infections occur on home or small business computers and start with a computer that does not have an adequate firewall or anti-malware protection. At one time, Oleg's Mega-D botnet had over a hundred thousand infected computers sending billions of spam messages each day.

So will the world see a reduction in spam? Probably not, but it does give pleasure to all the haters-of-spam that at least one culprit is behind bars. For now, he's being held without bail. I don't know if Federal prisons still serve Spam, but he could develop a new found love for fried Spam, Spam sandwiches and Spam with eggs.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html.

What Hackers Want

Especially after someone has been the victim of a hacking attack, they want to know why. Hackers have many motives and trying to decipher their behavior is complicated. The classification of white hats, black hats, grey hats and such is an interesting attempt to legitimatize electronic spying and sabotage. Perhaps there are "good hackers" that perform a valuable service, but most attacks are malicious in nature. Generally, hackers want to take something from you, teach you a lesson or show their programming skills.

Taking something from you. This can be financial information, social media login and password, your time or your peace of mind. Many victims of infections that cause pop-ups with objectionable material are traumatized. They often react like the victim of a physical crime. Anyone that has been hit with difficult to remove malware knows that it can be time consuming and expensive to remove the infection.

Teaching you a lesson. Hacking may have started as practical jokes that exploited vulnerabilities for pleasure and recognition, but it has grown into an industry that steals billions of dollars of productivity each year. The pranks of today can cause great harm, intended or not. A recent Twitter Prank illustrated how disruptive it can be to “play around” on the Internet. Some may find justification for causing disruption in that they are just exposing vulnerabilities, but it is harmful and illegal. Malware is vandalism.

The best defense is a good offense. Implement appropriate protections for your electronics. Computer or cyber security takes many of its strategies from the physical world. You use locks for your house and car. You may have an alarm system, but the amount of protection is related to the value of the property. For instance, Fort Knox has fences and armed guards that protect the fortress. You should use the same strategy to protect your computer systems - the more valuable the information, the more you should invest in protection.

Vulnerabilities, Threats and Consequences (VTC). Determine the assets to protect and then analyze the vulnerabilities, threats and consequences. Just like with your physical property, use your assessment of the risk to determine the protection. Start with a review of your firewall and make sure you have a good backup of your system. Backups are an essential part of a disaster recovery plan and are especially economical if you ever have to restore. Also, use a malware protector in addition to your spam and virus protection. You may want to double-up on the malware protection. For many companies, enterprise level protection is essential. Protection includes content filtering in addition to the essential spam, virus, spyware, adware and ransomware protection.

It is difficult to stay ahead of the hackers. There are so many of them and they spend a great deal of time working on the next attack. Certainly, if that effort was put to positive use, we would be on the way to solving world hunger. But meanwhile, use practical computer measures to protect yourself, your company and your family.

If you have suggestions or comments, please contact me at: mary@lansystems.com.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

This year just about every retailer is using the term Black Friday and Cyber Monday to advertise their special “specials” and grab the attention of holiday shoppers. Those seem strange terms, not very glamorous or even illustrative of a bargain. In fact, they sound more like viruses and cyborg attacks out of a sci-fi movie. So why have they caught on?

Used to describe sinister or catastrophic events occurring on a particular day of the week, Black Friday has been used for everything from massacres to meltdowns. Today, we most often use the term for shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Coined in the late 1960s by the Philadelphia police because of the choking traffic and crowds, the moniker caught on and by the mid-1970s was being widely used. Later the term Black Friday was redefined to mean the day that retailers become profitable or put some black ink on the ledger. It is an urban legend that Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. Actually the Saturday before Christmas handily wins as the top shopping day fueled by procrastinators and bargain hunters alike. But Black Friday has risen as a contender most likely because of all the hype and ads promoting the day.

Cyber Monday invented by shop.org (that’s a dead give-a-way) as the Monday after Black Friday where all the returning workers shop online for the bargains they missed over the weekend. This does have negative connotations in that people are spending otherwise productive time shopping at work and that they don’t have the ability to shop at home. Both of these facts are probably widely exaggerated especially with Cyber Sunday overtaking Cyber Monday as the biggest online shopping day. But there is no doubt that online shopping is deeply rooted in our shopping psyche especially if free shipping applies.

We all love a bargain especially as we go into the holiday shopping season. Our habits as consumers are researched, analyzed and baked into marketing strategies that grab even the most resistant shopper. Successful marketing campaigns are the stuff of legend giving the next generation of business school graduates an idea to admire and study for years to come. Whether highly orchestrated or completely accidental, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are here to stay at least for a while.

But it’s not bad to see consumers spend money. It could help our anemic economy and put us all in a festive mood. Early indications say there might even be a 3% increase over last year’s holiday sales. So shop in earnest, virtually and physically, but always beware of deals that are too good to be true!

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html

The three most costly mistakes to avoid when implementing your EHR

Our guest blogger is John Macikowski, Director for Clinical Practice Solutions Inc., an authorized VAR and Implementation specialist for eClinicalWorks and Dragon Medical. John has over 25 years in the IT industry and has specialized in Healthcare Solutions for the past 6 years. 

1) Not making sure that the EHR you choose meets all current Federal Meaningful Use guidelines. This is perhaps the most important criteria. Unless you are looking to retire from practice in the next few years, purchasing an EHR program that does not meet current Meaningful Use guidelines, or one that is unlikely to meet them in the future is a poor decision for your practice and can negatively impact you in the future in areas as diverse as compensation, product support, EHR and Health Exchange interoperability and medical device compatibility. If you are not sure, or if that fact is glossed over by the salesperson, ask for it in writing.

2) Short changing yourself on training time and expertise. You’re learning a brand new way to run your practice. Give yourself adequate time for the transition. How much expertise does your training team have? Ask to talk to the trainer that will do your implementation. Ask for references of practices that particular trainer has done. Who is accountable for your implementation? Training will determine how successful your practice will be with its EHR implementation, how efficient your staff will be, and ultimately, how much it will cost you. The correct amount and type of upfront training will save you money and frustration down the road. You want to avoid a trainer that simply gives a detailed demo of the product. You do want a trainer that will understand and implement to your workflow. Ideally, either the trainer or implementation coordination should have practice management experience. Do you really want to trust your livelihood to a trainer that doesn’t understand your concerns? EHR salespeople typically quote the minimum amount of training in order to make their EHR look more price competitive. They will tell you there are dozens of videos you can watch on your own time to supplement training. Is your time really worth that little? Can you and your staff really go live on an EHR on three or five days of training?

3) Skimping on hardware. Make sure you buy enough workstations, and deploy the correct type of hardware. You should ask your implementation specialist what is the “best practice” roadmap for your hardware. Don’t just go by the EHR minimum specifications (Or even worse, shortcut the specifications.) Minimum specifications are just that, what you really want to know is what you will need in order to make your EHR perform at its best. Your EHR salesperson and IT partner should understand that. Your IT specialist should also have some experience with that particular EHR or be willing to work closely with your EHR implementation team. If not, find one that does. Spend the money to have an independent infrastructure audit if you have any doubts about your current IT vendor’s capabilities.

If you have comment or suggestions for future blog topics, please contact me at: mary@lansystems.com.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html

More Monitor = More Job Productivity & Satisfaction

The NEC commissioned University of Utah study shows increased productivity, job satisfaction and an incredible return on investment. It is not surprising that a monitor manufacturer would recommend larger and multiple monitor arrangements, but what do users think? There are two trends. The first is for smaller, lighter, mobile devices for on-the-go professionals and the second is for more screen real estate for the stationary worker.

On-the-go professionals need access from anywhere, anytime so they can stay connected. The screen sizes of mobile devices are definitely trending up, but in general they are still much, much smaller than desktop monitors. Most mobile users don't need multiple windows. They can switch between applications or use tools to work more efficiently. Mobile devices are great for staying connected and having information at your fingertips. They are not efficient for programming that requires in-depth analysis or complicated tasks. Many types of IT systems do not allow access or control from a mobile device because of the chance of errors and security concerns.

Stationary users benefit from larger or dual monitors depending on the work they do on the computer. If a user has two or more applications that they cut-and-paste between, dual monitors are a great for increased productivity and error reduction. You don't have to stop with a dual arrangement. Triple and quad monitors are used in many situations, like control monitoring, that give the user needed information at a glance without having to switch between windows. But size does become a diminishing return and if the monitor is too big it can be a productivity drain. The NEC report shows single 26 inch and dual 20 inch as the upper limit.

Desk space is important. With flat panel monitors, desk space is not a problem as with CRTs. Usually you can comfortably place two monitors or a larger monitor on a desk without obscuring view. If you want to be accessible to your customers, co-workers and employees, don't sit with your back to the door or with a monitor hiding your face.

There is a good bit of research on monitors and productivity that you can use. Read the NEC Study or do some Internet research for more suggestions on how to be more productive with your computer monitors. Make a list of what tasks cause you and your staff the most irritation and solve them first.

If you have suggestions or comments, please contact me at: mary@lansystems.com.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html

Microsoft Office 2010: The best new features in Access

If you have never used a relational database because you felt it was just too complicated, give a look at Access. Access 2010 has simplified database functions and added ready-to-go templates to get you started. Information stored in spreadsheets and documents can be easier to understand and less time consuming to manage in a relational database model. Not only can you save time, but you can make your data more meaningful and perform more meaningful analysis. And if you are using a product that uses Access to store your data, you will be able to better understand the tables, reports and relationships.


Fast, easy database creation

Ready-to-go Templates - Use the available templates to create a marketing list or sales pipeline without being a database expert. The templates are designed to give you the structure you need to get started and let you expand as you become more familiar with using Access.

Use modular components - These prebuild components allow you to build the most common tasks into your database. Go to Create – Application Parts after making your selection, the wizard will guide you through the setup and make your choices obvious. There are on-demand help videos that explain how to use Access. The videos are surprisingly easy to follow with clear language and demos that take you through the screens step-by-step.

Forms and reports with realistic, targeted analysis

Conditional formatting - Use data bars to manage your rules and create professional reports that are understandable and informative. Rather than trying to “crowbar” your data into available formats, you can customize the presentation and make your data mean more to organization. Stay focused at your sales and marketing meetings by using reports that everyone will recognize and appreciate.

Office themes - Choose themes with fonts, colors and designs that match your other Microsoft Office products that demonstrate consistency and branding.

Backstage – The Microsoft Office Backstage view replaces the traditional file menu with an ergonomic approach that uses In and Out features for efficiency. The improved Ribbon lets you access your favorite commands quickly and create custom tabs to personalize the way you work.

Developer quality without writing code

Expression Builder - Enhanced functionality with IntelliSense to greatly simplify formula and expression building. With these intuitive tools you will spend less time troubleshooting relationship errors and more time building a valuable database.

Macro Designer - Add basic logic to your database, quickly and easily even if you are not familiar with databases. If you’re an experienced Access user, you’ll find the enhancements allow you to use the complex logic move efficiently than ever. Extend your database application with increased performance and confidence.

Work from anywhere

Online – Post your database online and then access, view, and edit them from the Web. Users without an Access client can open Web forms and reports via a browser and their changes are automatically synchronized.

For organizations of all types and sizes, Access 2010 allows you to be more productive, flexible and cost-effective. You can combine tasks in Access that previously required several programs and labor intensive analysis to make better decisions for your business.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html

If you have any questions or need help with the instructions, email me at: mary@lansystems.com.

A non-technical post: My tomato garden

Usually, I write about computer and engineering topics but today it's all about my tomato garden.

I'm not a great gardener, but I have good luck with tomatoes. For years, Early Girl, Big Boy, Beefsteak and Parks Whoppers (my favorite) have given us tomato sandwiches, tomato pies and ratatouille. It's not just a tomato garden but has eggplant, maybe some squash and cucumbers.

Even though Georgia has been droughty for several years, my tomatoes have been well watered and have flourished. We like big tomatoes where one slice gives you the perfect sandwich and cucumbers fresh off the vine. Over the years, the tomatoes have become tastier and tastier. We don’t buy those tasteless, hot house grown tomatoes and even at a restaurant the tomatoes are disappointing.

My husband is from South Georgia and insists that you have to put your tomatoes in on Good Friday for the best crop. This year I was late in planting, over a month late, so I bought some 3 and 5 gallon tomatoes to make up for my tardiness. Some of the plants even had little tomatoes on them. I carefully planted and tended them knowing I was going to have the best harvest ever.

This year my garden had big problems. Most of my tomato plants drooped away or dried up. Those little tomatoes already on the vine died and even my Parks Whoppers have only average size fruit. We had a few red tomatoes early and I taught my granddaughter to pick them, but when we ran out of red ones, she started picking the green. Any other year, she would have had loads of tomatoes to pick and wash. But not this year.

Usually, I start with seedlings, so I don't know if the problems this year are the larger plants or the weather. It is disappointing especially now that we are at the peak of the season and it doesn't look like a bumper crop. But it's not all bad - haven't had many bugs this year!

My tomato troubles this year, made me realize that there is more skill and technology to tomato farming than I thought. I am looking for advice and am going to find some blogs for tomato growers.

For technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html

If you have suggestions or advice, email me at: mary@lansystems.com.

August 2010 Puzzle - This month a Riddle

This thing all things devours
Birds, beasts, trees, flower,
Gnaws iron, bites steel,
Grinds hard stones to meal,
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down!

What is this thing?

On a scale of effortless to diabolical, this rates special literary knowledge!


Send your answer to puzzle@lansystems.com. All correct answers will be entered in our monthly drawing.

Or visit:  http://www.lansystems.com/Monthly_puzzle.html

A strong password is your first defense

The evolution of computers is astounding. The increase in computing power, bandwidth and accessibility has made almost everything people do with computers easier. Information technology not only satisfies our need for instant gratification, but changes the rules for trivial pursuit. No doubt, computers have changed our lives.


Today’s computer looks much different from the main frame days. Back then most users had a “green” screen to input data, starting with username and password. There was little graphics and most user input was entered at a prompt. Now, the graphics are remarkable from backgrounds to programs to games. The modern computer and display makes the virtual world come alive in ways that were hard to imagine twenty years ago. But with all the advancements one key feature hasn’t changed, we still use a username and password to log in.

Most computer systems still require input of the username and password to authenticate. There are some computer systems that use biometrics, digital certificates or smart cards, but even those seemingly high-tech features are still anchored in providing old fashioned authentication in the form of username/password combinations. Two-factor authentication requires two separate ways – something you know (username/password) and something you have (biometrics/smart card/digital key) - to verify identity, but even these methods have weaknesses. Still your first defense is a strong password.

Strong passwords contain upper and lower case letters, numbers, special characters and are at least 8 characters in length. Here are a few examples:
?lACpAs56IKMs"
areWEtherey3t
shirt.3cloud

Important accounts should have unique passwords. Even if you reuse passwords, don’t use on too many critical accounts and make sure the password is strong. If a password is compromised, change all accounts that use that password. You can create a less stringent password to use on non-critical accounts.

If you cannot remember all your accounts and passwords, you will have to record them. You can keep in a password book or file, but this is where your best security can be compromised. Keep your book behind lock and key. Be sure to encrypt your password file and call is something innocent. (Don’t call it password.file.) There are programs that will organize and save your accounts and passwords. To avoid malware infections, only get these programs from reliable sources. A good rule to follow is “when in doubt – don’t.”

A few password tools:
Create a strong password
Test your password strength
Generate a strong password online

If you have questions or suggestions for other topics, please leave a comment or contact me at mary@lansystems.com.

For more technical tips, please visit our website: http://www.lansystems.com/resources.html