Photo: The Entech Family at our annual dinner looking forward to 2012.

We hope you had a great 2011, excellent Holidays, and are enjoying 2012 so far!

We’re really excited about 2012, and the biggest buzz in our industry has been, and continues to be, the exponential growth of Cloud Computing.

If you’ve been following our blog, you noticed we wrapped up a series on “7 Ways Cloud Computing Will Change Your Business” (also available as a free eBook) in October.

Over the last few months, we’ve been asked how businesses are actually switching to, and using Cloud Computing.  We’re extremely excited to say we’ve compiled 8 great examples for our new free eBook that will be debuting shortly, entitled:

“8 Ways to Use Cloud Computing in Your Business”

We’ll be reviewing how Cloud Computing helps businesses continue to grow and flourish through having centralized business document storage, secure online accounting & billing (allowing business owners the ability to more closely monitor cash flow!), and even enhance the relationships you have with your clients through online customer relationship management!

Be sure to get your free copy of our “7 Ways Cloud Computing Will Change Your Business” eBook and you’ll automatically be notified of when our new eBook debuts!

As always, if you have any technology questions, or need help with your computer systems, or network, please give us a call at (800) 573-0234, or contact us online.  We’re here for you!

Thank you, and Happy New Year!

-Martin

Quickly, the icons for their anti-virus software disappeared, and their anti-virus software was inoperable — worse, the virus was spreading throughout their network, doing similar damage to each machine it hit.

All in all, this computer virus outbreak affected most of this particular company’s 16 computer systems, including 2 production servers – resulting in days of downtime.

Unfortunately, we were called after the damage had been done – discovering that one of the first machines to get infected had expired anti-virus software.

But guess what?

After a few days of recovery, reinstallation, and integration back into their office environment — we were able to get them back on their feet, and rolling again!

It’s these kinds of incidents where having a Managed Anti-Virus solution, or even better, Managed IT Services for your business saves days of downtime.

Why?

The beauty of Managed Services are that they stop the problem from happening at all.

In this case, the computers on the network weren’t being kept up to date with the latest anti-virus updates, and the Sality Virus slipped in.  With Managed Services the computers on the network are automatically updated as soon as anti-virus updates are made available – with NO user intervention!

If you’d like to know more – be sure to learn more about our Managed Services, including:

• Managed Anti-Virus Protection,
• Managed Backup & Disaster Recovery,
• Managed Anti-Spam Protection, and
• Managed Voice-Over-IP Services (VOIP).

If you’re having a problem with your computer, network, or technology right now, be sure to visit YourComputerHelpDesk.com, or give us a call at (800) 573-0234.  We’re here for you!

PS – If you ever see the message “Your Anti-Virus software update has expired, would you like to renew?” — be sure to renew!

PPS – Here’s the symptoms of the Sality Virus:

• Disables antivirus software and prevents access to certain antivirus and security websites.
• Prevents booting into Safe Mode and may delete security-related files found on infected systems.
• Spreads via the autorun feature of Windows, generally drops a .cmd, .pif, and .exe to the root of discoverable drives, along with an autorun.inf file which contains instructions to load the dropped files when the drive is accessed.

The Sality Virus has keylogger and back door capabilities meaning that it:

• can monitor the keys you’re typing and send them to hackers on the Internet, and
• allow hackers to access your computer (think GoToMyPC) remotely.

As you can imagine, Sality opens the doors to online identity theft.

5 Ways to Secure Your Wireless Network

1. Setup a network security key,
2. Use a secure password,
3. Enable WPA or WEP encryption,
4. Enable MAC address filtering, and
5. Disable SSID broadcasting

If you need any assistance in securing your wireless network, feel free to visit YourComputerHelpDesk.com, and we’ll be happy to help you!

Have a great day,

Buddy

If you’re looking to protect your wireless network in such a way that your network doesn’t appear to be available at all, this is for you…

To protect your wireless network from unauthorized access you may disable SSID broadcasting, this will hide the fact that you even have a wireless network.

The SSID (Service Set Identifier or Network Name) is required if you want to connect to your network. By disabling the SSID broadcasting, you will ensure that your SSID will not be detected whenever someone does a scan for wireless networks in your area.

If you need assistance with this, feel free to visit YourComputerHelpDesk.com, and we’ll be glad to help you.

Have a great day,

Buddy

PS – If you’re a reader, be sure to check out the “Guide to Wireless Network Security” to learn even more!

If you’re really concerned about your wireless network, there’s a way to bump up the security even further…

When you begin to set up your wireless router and Wi-Fi access points, you should notice a feature called, “MAC Address Filtering.”

MAC, in this instance, doesn’t mean Apple Computer, it’s the “Media Access Control” address, and every network adapter has a unique MAC address.

This feature is usually turned off by default. In order to improve your wireless security, it is recommended that you enable MAC address filtering.

Without enabling MAC address filtering, anybody can join your network if they know the network name (also called SSID). When MAC address filtering is enabled, the router performs another check to see who is trying to access the network.

Once MAC address filtering is enabled, if someone tries to join your wireless network it compares the MAC address of that person with the administrator’s list of who is allowed on the network.

Basically, you’re telling your wireless router only to allow certain computers have matching MAC addresses.

If you need help enabling your MAC address filters, visit YourComputerHelpDesk.com, we’re here to help you!

Have a great day,

Buddy

PS – If you’re a reader, be sure to check out the “Guide to Wireless Network Security” to learn even more!

Today, there are two wireless network security encryptions that are available.

Each of the following encryptions will create a secure wireless network and will protect both your computer and your connection from being invaded.

WPA - The WPA encryption (Wi-Fi Protected Access, WPA, or WPA2) is stronger and more secure than WEP and it is also easier to use.

WEP - The WEP encryption (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is part of the first generation of wireless networking equipment and is definitely weaker than the WPA encryption, but will still be sufficient for home use.

Be sure to assure you have enabled at least WEP encryption, however, WPA is best.

Have a good day!

Buddy

PS – If you’re a reader, be sure to check out the “Guide to Wireless Network Security” to learn even more!

In order for people to connect to your wireless network, it’s incredibly important to assure you’ve setup a password for computers to connect to it.

In terms of a password…

Don’t use ‘password’ for your password!

It is important to create a security password that is unique.

Below is a list of common passwords that SHOULD NOT be used for your wireless network:

• password
• 123456
• qwerty
• abc123
• letmein
• (your first name)
• (your username)

When creating a password for your wireless network remember the following objectives:

• Make your password lengthy: An ideal password should be between 8 and 14 characters long.
• Combine lowercase letters, capital letters, numbers, and symbols is possible.
• Use words and phrases that are easy for your to remember but difficult for others to guess.
• Write your username and password on paper and keep it in a file folder or save your information in an excel spreadsheet.

If you need help setting up your wireless network, or choosing a password, let us know by visiting www.YourComputerHelpDesk.com.

Have a good day,

Buddy

PS – If you’re a reader, be sure to check out the “Guide to Wireless Network Security” to learn even more!