Mike Foster's IT Security and Best Practices Blog

Mike Foster's IT Security & Best Practices Blog

Latest Posts

Executives-be sure your CPA saw this article

One of my best clients, a CPA firm, forwarded a quick article from the AICPA—American Institute of CPA’s—called “Four Fast and Easy Tech Fixes.” Be sure your CPA sees it.

Continue reading ‘Executives-be sure your CPA saw this article’

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security, Technology on March 3rd, 2010.

Tags: professionals, read, recommendations

Two crucial pieces of advice for executives

My wife and I were traveling a little over a week ago when we got a phone call that one of our immediate relatives dropped dead from a heart attack. He was standing in line at the pharmacy to get medicine his doctor just prescribed for “heart burn” and collapsed, unconscious, and his heart was no longer pumping blood. Simply put: he died.

Continue reading ‘Two crucial pieces of advice for executives’

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on February 24th, 2010.

Tags: danger, IT security procedures, recommendations

How much should IT security cost in 2010?

Often, after a company has an IT security breach, IT professionals blame the breach on their limited IT budget. They cannot replace a 12 year old desktop, much less focus on upgrading their old corporate anti-virus package from the 2006 version.

Continue reading ‘How much should IT security cost in 2010?’

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on February 17th, 2010.

Tags: IT Security, Keep Your Network Safe, Relating to IT Professionals

Is IT security pushed to the back burner?

Due to a number of problems in organizations, IT security too often gets pushed to the back burner. After a breach happens, IT often blames management, and management often blames IT. A wise friend told me many times, “It is not about fixing the blame; it is about fixing the problem.”

Continue reading ‘Is IT security pushed to the back burner?’

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on February 10th, 2010.

Tags: computer security, IT Security, professionals, Working With IT People

Do we need more government regulation?

I was giving a presentation in 2009, and a CEO of a successful corporation talked about how he received one of those letters saying, “Your data may have been obtained by hackers due to a data breach.” He asked, “What can we do to get the other businesses in the world to keep our data safe?”

Continue reading ‘Do we need more government regulation?’

Posted by Mike Foster in IT Security on February 3rd, 2010.

Tags: computer security, IT Security, Keep Your Network Safe, network security

Online safety not a priority for families?

I’m having a revelation in my career—home users care more about other issues than they care about IT security. Can this be true?

Continue reading ‘Online safety not a priority for families?’

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security on January 27th, 2010.

Tags: computer security, protect, recommendations, secure

Banks suggest you dedicate one PC for online banking

USA Today reports that the American Bankers Association (ABA) recommends small and mid-sized businesses dedicate a computer to use only for online banking, and avoid using any other computers for online banking. While this may sound good, it can create headaches in practice.

Continue reading ‘Banks suggest you dedicate one PC for online banking’

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security, Save time, Technology on January 20th, 2010.

Tags: computer security, network security, professionals, recommendations

When you outsource IT, stop paying them by the hour!

To help ensure your IT projects are finished on time and in budget, pay IT outsourcing a flat fee. Do you realize that when you pay outsourced IT companies by the hour, unless you put some other restraints in place, you basically reward them for taking longer?

Continue reading ‘When you outsource IT, stop paying them by the hour!’

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices on January 13th, 2010.

Tags: professionals, recommendations, Working With IT People

How to know if your IT professionals are good

Executives often want me to answer the question, “How good are my IT professionals” be they in-house employees or outsourced IT professionals. The first thing I say is, “If the IT professional is like a knight in shining armor, riding his horse in to save the day every time there is a problem, that’s not the best situation at all.”

Continue reading ‘How to know if your IT professionals are good’

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security, Save time on January 6th, 2010.

Tags: IT Network Teams, Managing IT Professionals, recommendations, Working With IT People

Pros and cons of “In the cloud” computing

A client wrote me recently asking about a plain English explanation of what the term “in the cloud” is all about and the pros and cons. They are probably using some services “in the cloud” already and don’t realize it.

Continue reading ‘Pros and cons of “In the cloud” computing’

Posted by Mike Foster in Best Practices, IT Security, Technology on December 30th, 2009.

Tags: computer security, Internet, professionals