Google Can Be Careless With Your Information

Last month, while photographing neighborhoods for its Google Maps website, computers mounted in the roaming cars were capturing email messages, passwords and other private data from unsecured residential wireless hot spots.

Google’s Vice President Alan Eustace announced in a blog post that the data collection was unintentional and it hoped to delete it as soon as possible.

Last year, during testing of its Google Voice service, Google posted the text of voice mail messages along with a link to the actual voice mail recording enabling anyone to read and hear the content of the message.

Google stated that this was not an error and was permitted by design. However as a result of the desire for people to keep their voice mail messages private, the content will no longer be available online.

We believe Google usually has the best intentions, however it’s best to remember that Google offers free or low cost services in conjunction with advertising displays. These displays are targeted to you based on the content you store on Google along with web surfing history stored on your computer.

A Warning To Business Owners: Non-Compliance With New Regulations Can Mean Hefty Fines

In the past 10 years, over 10,000 new regulations have been placed on the books by local, state and federal agencies pertaining to the handling, storage, and disposal of confidential client, patient, and employee documents and information. The state of Massachusetts, for example, has recently enacted one of these privacy laws and is requiring anyone who has business in that state to comply by March 2011.

Basically, ANY company that holds social security numbers (such as your employees’ social security numbers), credit card numbers, or financial statements needs to comply with these regulations or the fines for not doing so can be hefty.

Want to make sure you stay on the right side of these laws? Here are a few tips that will go a long way in making sure you don’t end up fined, sued, or with a bad reputation for not securing client or employee information:

• Get The Facts - If you think you are holding confidential information that should be secured, ask a qualified attorney who specializes in data confidentiality in your industry about what you must do to meet new government regulations.

• Encrypt Your Backups - Make sure your backups are at least 32-bit encryption. Encryption takes every keystroke you type and transforms it into 32 different characters, making it nearly impossible for hackers to use the information, even if they were able to steal it. Some backup solutions will even provide tighter security with 256-bit encryption.

• Have A Powerful Firewall - Firewalls keep hackers and other intruders from getting into your network and accessing important, confidential and private information. If you have the right firewall in place, it should act like a shield over your data and give you the protection you need to be incompliance with these laws.

• Lock Down Your Passwords - One of the surefire ways to prevent any unauthorized access to privacy information and take a step toward regulation compliance is to make sure only those who need the passwords to your computers have them.

Want To Be Sure Your Technology Is In Compliance With These Laws? Call us at (949) 481-1233 and ask us about our Privacy Compliance Network Audit.

Another Look at Windows 7

Last year, we gave you the “40,000 foot” view of Windows 7 - better security, compatibility, performance and stability. It’s been out over a year now, so we thought is was appropriate to give you a specific or “desktop” view on what’s different and helpful.

But first, to answer the most common question, “should I install it on the Windows XP machines in my business”? Probably not!

Any version of Windows, whether it’s 7, Vista or XP, is best when installed on a PC that’s designed for it. If your machine is more than 2 years old, you’ll probably need some type of hardware upgrade to make Windows 7 work well. Also, upgrades from Windows XP require a “clean” installation, meaning your disk must be erased before upgrading. In most business environments, it’s not cost effective when you consider the return you’ll get. In most instances, our advice is to get Windows 7 on your next PC and pass on upgrading existing machines.

With all the media attention focused on Windows 7, what’s the big deal? What’s new when I start up Windows 7? For most people, Windows 7 is sufficiently similar to XP so you’ll get to work quickly. With that said, let’s take a look at some of the new features.

Aero Graphics - “Aero”, an acronym for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and Open, is name of the new transparent window presentation introduced in Windows Vista. Windows 7 builds on Aero with these productivity features:

Aero Shake - Using your left mouse button, click and hold the title bar on any window and shake the mouse. This will immediately minimize all of your other windows.

Aero Snap - Grab the title bar as described above. Drag your mouse past the right border of your screen and let go. Your window will perfectly fill the right half of your screen.

Aero Peek - Move your mouse over the transparent box to the right of the clock in the task bar. All of your windows will become transparent allowing you to see the desktop.

Aero Flip (this feature was also in Vista) - Press the Windows key and the tab key at the same time. You’ll see a 3-D effect that allows you to “flip” through your open windows.

Taskbar - The bar at the bottom of the screen has changed significantly. While it still shows your open programs, those icons now can be “pinned” to the bar for quick access once the program is closed. The files recently opened with the program are also displayed when you right click the icon. Some icons are “active” and change appearance based on events. For instance, when you download a file using Internet Explorer, the icon shows the progress of the download.

Notification Area - In Windows XP, the notification area near the clock sometimes grew to 10 or more icons, especially for notebook computers. These icons are now organized and stored in a separate area to reduce the clutter on your desktop.

Integrated Search - Like most people, you’ve got files everywhere; in your My Documents folder, perhaps a folder or three on your desktop! To make it easier to find your files, a built in search feature indexes your content making file searching as quick as clicking the Start button and typing a few words.

Libraries - To further assist with organization, Windows now allows you to group folders together with similar content. For instance, you can group several folders with pictures together so the folders all appear under the “Pictures” category in Windows Explorer.

Better Notebook PC Support - Windows 7 is smarter about how it conserves power and significantly extends battery life. It also improves on the way it connects to wireless networks when you’re moving around. Another time saver is when you switch networks, Windows 7 will switch your default printer so you don’t print to printer that isn’t even in the building.

There’s a lot more we haven’t covered here, specifically about the changes on the networking and security side. If you’re looking at Windows 7 for your office, give us a call at (949) 481-1232 and we’ll help you make the best choice for your business!

How Time-Pressured Entrepreneurs Are Lightening Their Load

Are you a very busy, sometimes frantic, time-pressured entrepreneur awash in opportunity and critical projects but feel like you are surrounded by nitwits and slower-than-molasses-pouring-uphill people who only add to your stress and frustration?

There are very few people who understand the daily life of an entrepreneur…

The incredibly LONG hours, crushing workload, millions of tiny details, irritations and problems to deal with, government regulations, taxes, employee questions and issues, and impossible deadlines on EVERYTHING.

Then you have employee problems, financing problems, customer problems, competitor problems, vendor problems and – more recently – issues with the economy grinding sales to a halt. Despite your absolute best effort, nothing goes right and you end up bleeding money, in the red and scrambling to figure out how you’re going to make payroll.

But some business owners are discovering a way to handle their computer and network technology that actually prevents issues from happening and gives them peace of mind. Admittedly, technology is only one small part of the day-to-day issues you deal with, but I think you’ll agree that IT problems can be some of the most aggravating (and expensive) issues you run into.

That’s why entrepreneurs are flocking to IT support that focuses on keeping them up and running, rather than service that only reacts to issues. The IT industry refers to this as “proactive services” and typically it means that a computer company will provide remote monitoring and automatic maintenance of your network for a flat monthly fee. Because of how the IT company is paid, they are incented to keep you up and running. When your systems go down, it not only hurts you, but hurts them via their wallets.

To find out if our proactive Sentinel Business Services can help you, visit www.attainity.com or call us at (949) 481-1232 to learn more.

How New Viruses Get Named

Thousands of viruses are currently circulating on the Internet with more being discovered daily. So how does a virus get it’s name?

There is no official government body or organization that names viruses. In most cases, the anti-virus company that discovers it gets to name it; and, it’s a very competitive race to see who can discover new viruses first!

The criminals creating viruses like to leave clues as to what they want their virus to be named, but researchers who discover (and fight) them don’t give their authors the satisfaction of keeping the name. To hackers, creating a destructive, difficult to disable virus is a badge of honor. So instead of giving these cyber criminals the publicity they crave, virus researchers will name a virus based on the type of system it attacks, what it does, or other random reasons.

For example, the Code Red virus got its name from an eEye Digital Security researcher's beverage of choice, the bright red variety of Mountain Dew soda. Apparently he was drinking this the night he cracked the corruptive code.

Creativity aside, most anti-virus companies have policies and letter-number formulas for naming viruses because it’s becoming more and more difficult to come up with unique names for viruses. Symantec, maker of Norton anti-virus software, currently has a catalogue of over 58,193 known viruses and the number grows every day.

New Software Model Can Dramatically Increase Your Cash Flow

In an economy where credit is tight or non-existent, vendors are becoming stricter about payment terms, and your customers are taking longer and longer to settle their invoices. So for many small businesses, finding ways to minimize up-front costs and large investments is increasingly important to the survival and success of their company.
One way a small business can minimize up front costs is through using “software as a service”, or SaaS. Instead of purchasing software up front in a lump sum and having to put up the cash or finance it, small businesses can now purchase software through their IT service provider in a rented model. The software you need is typically stored on another offsite server and accessed via the Internet. By renting software on a monthly basis, your business can try different software to improve processes like finances, payroll, customer service, and sales without the financial risk.
Here’s a breakdown of how SaaS can help your business:

1. You Keep More Of Your Money – If you’ve ever had to purchase a piece of software to run your business such as a financial package, customer relationship management (CRM) software, or even a simple Microsoft Office application, you know how expensive that can be. Before the software rental model of SaaS, if you needed certain software to operate, you were forced to plunk down hundreds or thousands of dollars to get it, not to mention pay exorbitant support fees.
2. You’re Not Locked In To Something You Don’t Like – Because your IT company is paid monthly for SaaS, the onus is on them to make sure their product works to the satisfaction of their clients. If you are not happy with the product, you have the option of simply moving on to another monthly fee solution that will work better for your needs. In most cases, your IT service provider can work with you to replace your software with a new solution that is right for you and continue to incorporate it into your monthly IT service agreement so you don’t have to worry about multiple bills.
3. You Never Have To Think About Upgrades – Since the SaaS model is pay as you go, you automatically get any upgrades that come out for the software you use. You don’t have to set aside a budget for any additional software costs and you don’t have to worry about whether or not you are running the latest version; those things are typically already incorporated into your monthly agreement.
4. You Can Compete With The “Big Boys” – Some software applications are designed and written for large organizations and help companies to streamline many processes into one program. SaaS makes this affordable and accessible to a small business owner and gives you a way to stay up with or ahead of your competition.
5. You Can Have Access From Anywhere – SaaS software vendors typically host the application on their own servers so you have access to it wherever you can connect to the Internet, don’t have to buy additional hardware, and have a lower chance of downtime.

Want to find out if the software you need can be set up in a SaaS model and improve your cash flow? Call us at (949) 481-1232 for more information.

How Google Can Make You A Star

Most business owners are aware that Google is a useful tool if someone is searching for your company on the web. However, what many people don’t know is that you can also use Google to help build your credibility.

As a free service, the search engine offers something called Google Alerts, which will e-mail you with any articles, web pages, or news pages that happen to mention your company or your name so you can keep track of what your local or national media is saying about you. The benefit to this, of course, is you can use these online articles and posts to show yourself in the spotlight providing more “proof” that you and your company are worthy of doing business with.

To sign up for this free service, simply go to http://www.google.com/alerts, enter in your company name and e-mail address and click “create alert”.