Think about it. If a cyber criminal is monitoring your computer to steal your passwords, they do NOT want you to know.
Continue reading "You may never know your computer is infected" »
Posted by Mike Foster on July 1st, 2009 in Best Practices, IT Security.
Most executives put the IT team in charge of IT security and then forget about it until they need to approve a capital expenditure.
Continue reading "Business executives are liable for security breaches" »
Posted by Mike Foster on June 24th, 2009 in Best Practices, IT Security.
Posted by Mike Foster on June 17th, 2009 in Best Practices, Save time.
Most people wait until they have a heart attack before eating right and exercising, but it may be too late.
Continue reading "IT Security is like a Heart Attack" »
Posted by Mike Foster on June 10th, 2009 in Best Practices, IT Security.
I have a dream of the world enjoying a secure Internet by 10-10-10.
Continue reading "A Secure Internet by 10-10-10" »
Posted by Mike Foster on June 3rd, 2009 in IT Security.
I get calls from IT Professionals asking what to do when a cybercriminal is trying to log in through the network remotely with a brute force “password guessing” attack. The IT professionals often state they are surprised an outsider could do this “since the firewall was up and running.”
I’m used to executives wanting a single “silver bullet” to take care of security, and am educating them and their IT professionals alike that no single IT security device or strategy can be viewed as complete on its own.
For example, these two statements are wrong: “I know we are safe because our firewall is up and running.” “I am safe traveling on the road because I always connect to my office through a VPN.” Firewalls and VPN’s are wonderful IT security tools – mandatory security tools if you ask me – and they are not enough. Today’s cyber security situation is so dire that you need many different layers of protection in place. There is NO SUCH THING as an IT security “silver bullet.”
Posted by Mike Foster on May 27th, 2009 in Best Practices, IT Security.
Many users have changed from a single to dual monitors and their productivity has skyrocketed. I have a laptop that has two screens – one slides out when I need it. The extra real estate can make a big difference especially if you work with several applications open simultaneously.
As inexpensive as monitors are these days, consider treating yourself and your most productive employees to dual monitor systems. Even if you just try a few users first for a trial, you may find why many organizations swear they will never go back to single monitors for their users again.
Posted by Mike Foster on May 20th, 2009 in Best Practices, Save time, Technology.
I carry a portable scanner with me everywhere. I can scan in receipts so my capable staff can bill clients. I scan in program evaluations to learn from valuable feedback from audiences where I speak. I scan anything important that I might need again. When I used to collect business cards, I would scan them into my CRM customer relationship management system.
If you or users in your company travel, ask yourself if there are any documents they could scan to increase productivity and improve the service you provide your customers.
Continue reading "Portable scanners can help your mobile users" »
Posted by Mike Foster on May 13th, 2009 in Best Practices, Save time, Technology.
Storing files in the pdf format has many advantages. You can help ensure other users will see your document the way you intended with the right fonts and the page elements all in the “right place.” Pdf documents are not always as easy to change as other files, and that can be a benefit if you are distributing a document you don’t want anyone to modify.
In case nobody ever told you, Microsoft offers a download at www.microsoft.com that allows you to save Microsoft Office documents as pdf files quickly and easily. Just search www.microsoft.com for “2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS.”
Your IT professional can help you install the add-in and you can save your documents in the pdf format in no time.
Posted by Mike Foster on May 6th, 2009 in Best Practices, Save time.
An executive recently wrote me, “I got a virus that infected our network because I opened an e-mail message from someone I didn’t recognize – I’ll never do that again!”
While that strategy may help some, it is far from being a reliable way to protect your network. First of all, without performing some technical detective work, it is hard for a non-IT professional to tell who the e-mail came from anyway. You may get an e-mail from a cybercriminal who uses “spoofing” to make the e-mail message appear that it is coming from your best friend, bank, the FTC, or anyone else.
Better protection comes from scanning tools running at one or more locations including your e-mail server, your firewall, your spam filter, and the anti-virus client on your local machine.
Training users “not to open e-mail from strangers” is a moot point if your user is supposed to open e-mail messages from prospects interested in your company’s products and/or services. There is some training that matters though…
Continue reading "Does it help not to open e-mail from strangers?" »
Posted by Mike Foster on April 29th, 2009 in Best Practices, IT Security, Technology.
You may never know your computer is infected
