NetWorthy Systems IT Services Overview

Is My Network Ready for Small Business Server 2008?

With the announcement that Microsoft is launching SBS 2008 on November 12, 2008 it might be a good time to address a few house cleaning items you will need to get in order if you are planning this upgrade. 

If you are currently using SBS 2003 Premium, and using Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004 (ISA 2004) as your firewall (ISA 2004 is included in the premium version), there is one very important difference in SBS 2008. ISA is not included any longer. What does this mean to companies upgrading? Simply put, you no longer have a firewall. You will have to purchase either a hardware or software based firewall to protect your data. 

There are pros and cons of both types of firewalls, and I will discuss some differences in a later post. For now, companies planning their upgrade should either start researching firewall solutions that fit their needs, or begin discussions with their IT services provider on the subject. If you contact your provider, and they have no idea what you are talking about, I would run, not walk, out of that relationship. I recommend you choose a Microsoft Small Business Specialist, commonly referred to in the industry with the designation SBSC. These Microsoft partners have gone through testing that proves their knowlege of Microsoft server products in geneal, and Microsoft Small Business Server in particular. They will have specific recommendations on this subject. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

78 Ways to Control Your Business Costs

Some busines owners see these uncertain economic times as tough roads ahead, while others see this as a perfect opportunity to get out in front of their competition, and truly help their customers weather this storm. 

While there are good arguments on both sides of the economy issue, one thing is common to all businesses: controlling your business costs is paramount to surviving in good, or bad times. I found this article on the website of Inside CRM, a site related to CRM, or Customer Relationship Management Software. It applies to all companies, I think. 

Read the entire article here: 78 Ways to Control Your Business Costs 

Be sure to come back here to post your thoughts! 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

Getting your Christmas Gifts at Circuit City?

Circuit City, which WAS the number two big box electronic store, filed for bankruptcy last week. They plan on closing 150 stores nationwide. From what I have been told, the local Beaumont, Texas store is not slated for closure. But I wouldn't hold my breath. 

This is Chapter 11 Reorganization Bankruptcy. Circuit City is aksing customers not to shy away from their stores just because they are in bankruptcy. 

I'm not advocating whether you should shop there or not. I just think this has come in under the media radar for some reason, and isn't generating much press. 

Hey, maybe the "Fire Dogs" will merge with the "Geek Squad". So is it Fire Squad or Geek Dogs? 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim B

Is Your Company Leveraging Its Email System?

Is your company still using the old email provided by your Internet Service Provider? You know who you are. Your company uses emails for its employees like , , , , or some other iteration similar to these examples. It might be time to step up to "real" email. 

While these email accounts are functional, they are not feature rich by any stretch of the imagination. Not to mention they essentially advertise your ISP's name, not yours, with every email you send. 

By using Microsoft Exchange, either inhouse or hosted, along with Microsoft Outlook, you open a world of new tools for your company. Tools like shared calendars, email archiving, a common user experience no matter what computer you use, and integration with Microsoft Office products. All of these tools can be used in your organization to improve employee productivity, eliminate employee (and owner) email frustrations, maintain compliance with the various Federal and State laws regarding corporate communications (you ARE doing this, aren't you), and free advertising. Using your company's name as the suffix to your email address (if the domain is available) is smart. 

It would be wise to hire an IT consultant familiar with these products to help you set up your company email system, as there are some best practices that will help as your company grows. Best practices such as a common strategy for assigning email addresses (first initial, last name, etc) and developing an Acceptable Use Policy for emails sent through your system.

 So quit using your aol address and start taking advantage of these tools! 

To your success, 

 Tim

Energy Star Specification 5.0

The Energy Star specification for computers is currently under revision for version 5.0. Did you know that the new Energy Star compliant laptops and PCs actually use 15 to 25% less energy on average than the other new computers on the shelf? 

If you are in the market for a new PC this holiday season, consider an Energy Star rated product. This program inspired manufacturers to produce more efficient models and, in turn, consumers and businesses are looking to save over $1.8 billion in energy costs over the next 5 years. This savings helps us all prevent greenhouse gas emissions equal to that given off from 2.7 million automobiles. Since, “teleportation devices” have no defined release date, and we all love our cars, why not dive into the conservation efforts through purchasing Energy Star toys?

 If you are interested in reading more about this program or further conservation efforts, visit http://www.energystar.gov/

Circuit City Closing More Stores?

While I previously blogged about Circuity City filing for Chapter 11 reorganization and cloing 155 stores nationwide in the process, I mentioned that the local store here was not included in the list of closings. 

However, some pretty reliable sources are now saying that the previous number 2 big box electronic store is now planning on adding an additional 150 stores to the list. And they plan to announce it in as few as 2 weeks from now. I haven't seen the new list, but if the rumor holds true, Circuit City coud very well be leaving our area. Apparently, the black friday sales numbers are to play a big part in the final decision. 

In my mind, this just verifies that business owners really want small VAR's to help them with technology decisions. Price is apparently not always the determining factor. 

Stay tuned to see if our local store is leaving. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

VOIP is Great, But Buyer Beware!

Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is definitely here to stay. If you haven't checked into it yet for your company, you should. It could possibly save you a ton of money. The quality is generally excellent now, and this is not your old voip in the beginning where the call quality was marginal at best. This is now a very mature product, and in fact, the long distance companies have been doing it behind the scenes for a long time. If you ever made a long distance phone call, odds are some part of the call was run over voip, with or without your knowledge. 

However, when choosing a voip provider, you need to be aware of one very important point. 911 calls are handled differently between the providers. Very differently. With some providers, it doesnt' work at all. 

Unfortunately, some VOIP services aren't tied in to the 911 system and this can quickly move them to the bottom of your list of potential companies to work with. Then again, on the opposite end of the spectrum, some VOIP carriers offer Enhanced 911 service, where 911 calls using your VOIP service automatically send your name, location and other info. These companies might quickly find themselves at the top of your list. 

The bottom line is you should investigate this exciting technology, but make sure you ask about their 911 capabilities during the discovery phase. My recommendation? NGT (New Global Telecom) at www.ngt.com I use them in my business, and they are first rate! 

To Your Success, 

 Tim

Don't Forget Your Cell Phone On Your Next Flight

Two weeks ago I flew out to see a client in Nashville for a few days. Houston Intercontinental Airport and Continental Airlines instituted a new test program where you could have your boarding pass displayed on your browser enabled cell phone. I decided to give this a try and it worked like a charm! 

Here's how it works: I logged into Continentals website to print my boarding pass. I saw a new link to have the boarding pass sent to my phone. So I clicked the link, and shortly an email showed up in my phone's email reader with a link to the boarding pass. When I got to the airport to go through security, I showed my driver's license, whipped out my phone, clicked the link, and my boarding pass with the bar code displayed on the screen. The TSA person used a hand scanner to scan the barcode, and I then proceed through security. Then at the gate during boarding, I again showed the same screen to the gate agent. She scanned the screen on my phone again, and I then boarded the plane for the trip to Nashille! 

American Airlines is beginning to test this as well at various airports, and I would expect to see it rolled out pretty quickly to most airports. I intend to use the system again on my next flight. I must admit, I was a little nervous while standing in the security line, without a physical replication of my boarding pass in my hand. But, it worked fine, and helped the environment (albeit a tiny bit) in the process. Give it a try if you get the chance. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

In Case You Were Thinking About a Blackberry

I ran across this article on one of the blogs I frequent. This study tracked specific cell phone models for a year. The results are, well, let's just say I'm glad I didn't get a Blackberry. 

To Your Sucess, 

 Tim

Research group SquareTrade recently released the results of a massive cellphone study. They tracked 15,000 individual handsets over their first year of use, and they found some large discrepancies in reliability. The iPhone malfunction rate sat at a comfortable 5.6%. The Blackberry (in its various incarnations) jumped to 11.9%. But it's all better than the Palm Treo, which malfunctioned 16.2% of the time within the first year.
To be honest, none of these numbers are particularly good, and I have a feeling that there may be a confounding iPhone White Glove Effect—I keep that phone's glass screen in mind every time I put it in the pocket opposite my keys. (Ironically, iPhone users were found 3% more likely to accidentally damage their phones than their Blackberry/Palm counterparts.)
When projected to two years, the iPhone's failure rate jumps to 11% while Blackberries level to 14% and Treos reach a scary 21%. I guess it's a good thing we have those ridiculously binding contracts to bail us out after all. [SquareTrade via CNET]

Dramatic Drop in Spam?

According to some Internet news reports, McColo Corp., located in downton San Jose, California was shut down a few weeks ago when its two Internet backbone providers finally shut off their Internet backbone connection. McColo is a web hosting provider for many international organizations involved in spamming of everything from pornography to pharmaceuticals. 

The two backbone providers are Global Crossing and Hurricane Electric. It's unclear if the FBI will be pursuing charges against McColo for being partially responsible for the billions of spam messages sent. 

Reports from various Internet security agencies reported varying degrees of a drop in spam. One report showed an immediate 66% drop in unsolicited commercial email (UCE) and another report showed a decline from 40 spam messages/second down to 10/second. 

No matter what the decline actually was, any decline is good news. It's about time. 

To Your Success, 

 Tim

Finally, A Faster USB!

Finally, A Faster USB! For the first time in over 8 years, Universal Serial Bus, or USB for short, is finally getting an upgrade. The non-profit group formed by various manufacturers to set the standard is scheduled to announce the new USB 3.0 standard. 

The difference? About 10 times the speed. The new USB 3.0 standard supports a 10 fold increase in data transfer speeds versus its cousin, USB 2.0. In fact, that's faster than firewire, and could signal the beginning of the end to te firewire standard. USB truly started the plug and play revolution, and has been more widely accepted by computer users than firewire. 

How does this play into your business? Well, your employees won't be sitting around waiting on files to transfer to thumb drives. Which means increased employee productivity. For those of you who utilize external hard drives for backups of server data, now the backups will take considerably less time. This translates into a better chance of having a valid backup since it won't take all night to backup your company data. 

This, is truly good news for the computing industry. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

So You Want Out of Your Sprint Contract?

So you want out of your Sprint contract and you don't want to pay the early termination fee? Well, I ran across a post on how to get out of your contract now without paying the fee. It seems Sprint has added a 99 cent administrative fee increase per line will give you the ammo you need to say goodbye. 

Read all the details here. Just in time for Christmas. Now you can use the money you saved to buy that special someone a gift! 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

Protecting your Laptop Data

I ran across this article recently on some of the forums I subscribe to. It might be food for thought if you travel internationally. 

To Your Success, 

 Tim 

How to Secure Laptops from U.S. Government's Prying Eyes 

By Jack E. Gold 2008-11-07 

The U.S. government has recently been given full permission to check the contents of laptops and mobile devices belonging to travelers passing into the United States at border control checkpoints. Enterprises with international travelers should take immediate steps to safeguard the sensitive corporate data that exists on their executives' laptops and mobile devices. Knowledge Center contributor Jack E. Gold explains the steps you must take to ensure that your company's mission-critical data is protected from prying eyes. 

On April 21, 2008, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals essentially gave the U.S. government carte blanche permission to check any and every piece of data on laptops belonging to travelers passing into the United States at border control checkpoints. 

In its decision, the court stated that they “are satisfied that reasonable suspicion is not needed for customs officials to search a laptop or other personal electronic storage devices at the border.” This decision also allows the U.S. government to confiscate the laptop for an unlimited period of time, and with no recourse for the owner of the device. Most business laptop owners have nearly everything about themselves stored on their hard drives, including financial information, pictures, e-mails from a variety of sources, and, of course, work-related sensitive information. 

 Encrypt and back up 

This case highlights the need for every enterprise--and any individual who travels internationally--to take immediate steps. The typical password log-in protection is not sufficient to mitigate this risk. Enterprises should require that all users have their hard drives encrypted. Further, it is imperative that a backup of the data on the drive be made and left in a safe place. This should be done in case the U.S. government decides to confiscate the user’s machine (although this is an unlikely scenario, it is nevertheless possible). Typically, 50 to 75 percent of critical business information is stored on user PCs, and it is often never backed up. So, if an executive’s machine is confiscated, the potential for disruption is alarming. 

 Use laptop security suites, file backup and employee awareness 

Any company with international travelers should initiate the following three precautionary steps immediately: 

Precautionary Step No. 1: If there isn’t a laptop security suite already in place, companies should deploy one. There are suites available such as Sybase Afaria, Credant, Trust Digital, PGP, RSA and Utimaco. Using this technology, companies should enable a secure storage capability on each device by turning on and maintaining file encryption. It usually isn’t desirable to do whole disk encryption (available within Windows XP and Vista), as this could cause performance issues. But specific files of sensitive information should be selectively encrypted. 

Precautionary Step No. 2: Next, make sure that all data files on each laptop are backed up to a server or to a portable hard drive provided to the end user. Then follow up with appropriate “nagging” to make sure the user performs the backup regularly. Automated tools are available to accomplish this at a reasonable cost, and often within the same security suite deployed for encryption. 

Precautionary Step No. 3: Finally, inform every business traveler of the new rules, and make sure they understand that the new security regimen is not optional. 

Re-evaluate lax laptop security attitudes 

It is estimated that 75 percent or more of corporate laptops go unprotected (except for the use of passwords). This is despite the risks inherent in losing or having the laptop stolen, and with the risk of the consequent data loss. This action by the U.S. government should finally force the majority of companies to re-evaluate their lax attitude toward laptop security, and provide a robust and secure environment for their users. 

Know the ruling also applies to all mobile devices 

This ruling does not only apply to laptops. Smart phones, including RIM’s BlackBerry, are also included in the powers of review and seizure. Companies should take all necessary steps to secure them as well. Users of many wireless e-mail solutions (such as BlackBerry, Good, Sybase and MSFT Direct Push) already have higher levels of built-in security than the majority of users with enterprise-deployed laptops. Many of the wireless devices already include the ability to do a remote wipe of the device, which many security suites also enable.

 Although the risk to individuals of data snooping or laptop loss because of this government ruling is minimal, it nevertheless does represent a real threat--especially in regulated industries such as finance and health care. Further, the risk is disproportionately higher for upper management, since many of a company’s highest-level executives regularly engage in international travel while carrying highly sensitive corporate data. 

Protect all mission-critical data 

Although we hope sanity returns and Congress acts against this unprecedented invasion of privacy, we do not believe that this is a near-term likelihood. Therefore, each company with users who travel with their laptops must go into defensive mode and make sure all mission-critical data is protected. This can be done through the proper deployment of security and backup technology. Failure to act may cause the loss of sensitive information and potentially result in substantial harm to the company from confidential data being publicly disclosed. 

Jack E. Gold is the founder and principal analyst at J. Gold Associates. He is a former vice president of Research Services at the META Group. He has over 35 years experience in the computer and electronics industries.

Keeping Business Travel Costs Down

I ran across an article on telephonation.com a forum for us techy types that dabble in computer phone systems. It had some interesting points to make about saving money during business travel, or any travel for that matter. 

Plan ahead, search for deals, and maximize your gas mileage. Some tips: 

Hotel chains offer "frequent-flyer" programs similar to airlines. The idea is every time you stay, you acquire points. When you get enough points, you get a free night. Ask the hotel employee when you check in next time about their program. 

Heres a thought: how about planning ahead when you drive around in a new city? Get a car with a built-in GPS system or bring your own (I have one built into my phone). Avoid traffic jams, construction and other bothers using traffic.com They offer free realtime info on your intended route. If you don't have time to check it before you leave, once you get there, call them at (866) MY-TRAFC (866-698-7232). 

Speaking of GPS devices, if you do use one, make sure you have the latest maps available for your particular system. That way you have the latest info on detours, gas locations, etc. It's aggravating to plan your route ahead of time, only to find out the road is closed because your map was too old! 

If you are driving with your own vehicle, make sure tire pressures are at the recommended pressure (that doesn't mean the maximum pressure on the tire). Before you go on a long trip, pull your air filter out and blow out the dust, or replace it. Use your air conditioner sparingly, if possible, but roll up the windows for better aerodynamics. And believe it or not, keeping the inside clean can make a difference. Accumulated litter actually adds to the weight of the car, which increases your fuel consumption. 

Hey, every little bit helps nowadays. If you travel a lot, utilizing all these tips could save you some money! 

To Your Success, 

 Tim

Workstations Taking Up Too Much Space?

A Year of Popular Mechanics for 5 Bucks?

In the spirit of saving your company money, I ran across a blog indicating Hearst Publications is selling some of their magazine subscriptions at greatly reduced rates. Popular Mechanics is available for a one year subscription for 5 dollars. There are others there as well, including O magazine, Smart Money, and many more. To take advantage for yourself, or to give as a gift, follow this link: https://subscribe.hearstmags.com/subscribe/veranda/20180 

To Your Success, 

 Tim

Nothing Lasts Forever

Recently I blogged about the dramatic reduction in spam across the Internet, literally overnight. It seems that nothing lasts forever. The huge crime cartel responsible for the majority of spam sent across the Internet managed to resurrect itself after being shut down back in November. The post is copied below for your review. All the more reason to have a GOOD Antispam solution in place for your company. The money you spend for employees to sift through this junk would amaze you, and the cost of a decent antispam solution will immediately pay for itself, many times over in a very short period of time. 

To Your Success, 

 Tim

A big spam-spewing botnet shut down two weeks ago has been resurrected, security researchers said today, and is again under the control of criminals.
The "Srizbi" botnet returned from the dead late Tuesday, said Fengmin Gong, chief security content officer at FireEye Inc., when the infected PCs were able to successfully reconnect with new command-and-control servers, which are now based in Estonia.
Srizbi was knocked out more than two weeks ago when McColo Corp., a hosting company that had been accused of harboring a wide range of criminal activities, was yanked off the Internet by its upstream service providers. With McColo down, PCs infected with Srizbi and other bot Trojan horses were unable to communicate with their command servers, which had been hosted by McColo. As a result, spam levels dropped precipitously.
But as other researchers noted last week, Srizbi had a fallback strategy. In the end, that strategy paid off for the criminals who control the botnet.
According to Gong, when Srizbi bots were unable to connect with the command-and-control servers hosted by McColo, they tried to connect with new servers via domains that were generated on the fly by an internal algorithm. FireEye reverse-engineered Srizbi, rooted out that algorithm and used it to predict, then preemptively register, several hundred of the possible routing domains.
The domain names, said Gong, were generated on a three-day cycle, and for a while, FireEye was able to keep up -- and effectively block Srizbi's handlers from regaining control.
"We have registered a couple hundred domains," Gong said, "but we made the decision that we cannot afford to spend so much money to keep registering so many [domain] names."
Once FireEye stopped preempting Srizbi's makers, the latter swooped in and registered the five domains in the next cycle. Those domains, in turn, pointed Srizbi bots to the new command-and-control servers, which then immediately updated the infected machines to a new version of the malware.
"Once each bot was updated, the next command was to send spam," said Gong, who noted that the first campaign used a template targeting Russian speakers.
The updated Srizbi includes hard-coded references to the Estonian command-and-control servers, but Gong was unaware of any current attempt to convince the firm now hosting those servers to yank them off the Web.
In the meantime, FireEye is working with several other companies -- including VeriSign Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Network Solutions Inc., a domain registrar -- on ways to reach the more than 100,000 users whose PCs FireEye has identified as infected with Srizbi.
Discussions about how to best handle any future McColo-Srizbi situation are also ongoing, Gong said. "We're trying to find a solution, and talking about ideas of how they can help fund efforts for some period of time to [preemptively] register domains," he said.

No Mr. Business Owner, You Can't Use Office Home And Student

With Christmas shopping in full swing, do not be swayed by salespeople trying to sell you Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition for your business. You CANNOT legally use this version of Office in your business operations. If you want proof, the licensing terms are here.

 In the licensing terms, you will find the following listed under INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS under section a. It says: “Licensed Device. You may install one copy of the software on three licensed devices in your household for use by people who reside there. The software is not licensed for use in any commercial, non-profit, or revenue generating business activities.”

 It's written in plain and simple english. You can't do it, regardless of what someone at the big box store on the freeway tells you. Don't put your business in the position of using unlicensed software. It may just cost you a whole lot more than what you initially saved. 

To Your Success, 

 Tim

Microsoft Releases Out Of Band Patch

Today, Microsoft released a patch out of band (OOB) or separate from its normal patch schedule. This is the second time Microsoft has released a patch in this fashion in as many months. This patch resolves a publicly known vulnerability called the "Zero Day Exploit" that affects Internet Explorer in various versions. 

If you haven't applied this patch to your systems yet, I highly recommend you do so immediately. You can find the information regarding the issue and the patch at Security Bulletin MS08-078. 

It should be noted that there seems to be mixed feelings among IT professionals on whether this patch should have been released out of band, or bundled during the normal "patch Tuesday" for Microsoft products. I, for one, am glad to see Microsoft step up and offer this patch out of band. You can never be too careful, IMHO. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim

Geek Free Radio

I am proud to announce that I will be hosting a daily Monday through Friday computer radio show starting sometime in late January. We have tentatively named the show the "Geek Free Radio Show". 

The show will air on KSET (stands for Southeast Texas) 1300AM. This new station is an ALL local talk format, which is sorely lacking in this area. I intend to focus the show on small and medium business technologies and how they affect those businesses. We will also cover home users, and other computer related news. Interviews with various technology vendors, software reviews, and a lot more to come. The station will also stream via the Internet. I hope you will join us. 

I welcome your comments on the show name, suggestions for topics, etc. I will post more details in the coming days. 

 To Your Success, 

 Tim