Freeware vs. Payware
So you need some new software, but don’t want to pay top dollar. Protecting your bottom line is always a good idea, but just how safe is the freeware out there? Are you better off paying for your software, or are there reliable free options out there?
Like most items on the market, some are good and some are bad, and you often get what you pay for. Freeware, however, can be the exception to that rule. It can solve your software needs without you having to spend a dime, but free software can also be buggy and have little to no support if something goes wrong. Payware, on the other hand, is often well supported, but it’s the money you’re shelling out for it that pays for this service. How do you know which is right for your business?
The truth of the matter is that both options have their benefits, but you still have to know which software to trust. An experienced IT consultant can be your guide in the software jungle. The right professional will know what free software is worth the risk and what payware is overcharging you for the same services. Finding quality software can be risky, especially when you are downloading programs from the internet to place on your network. A consultant can help you navigate through the options and find the best software for your needs.
It’s a jungle out there, but there are ways to make it past the hazards. An experienced consultant can find you what you need and ensure that it is both safe and fits your budget. You don’t have to fear freeware. Get a guide, and enjoy the adventure!
Planning For Scheduled Downtime
Sooner or later, you’re going to have to have a little downtime on your network. You can use the time to install patches, upgrade your hardware, and install some hardware, all of which will be needed in short order. Nobody wants to shut down, and all businesses want to get back up and running as soon as possible, so here are some tips to minimize both your downtime and the headaches associated with having it.
- Always try to schedule your downtime for when your system is the least busy. Planned downtime, by its very name, is something you plan. It’s not about averting a crisis or mitigating damage and hoping to get things back up soon – it’s about scheduling time for the system to be down while you do a little maintenance. Only you can know when you are least busy, but chances are that midnight on a weekend is a better time than 9:00 am on a Monday morning. You don’t want your staff out of work or your clients and customers to have to wait, after all.
- All the same, there will likely be those few people who want to access the network when it is down, even in the middle of the night. Be sure to warn your employees, clients and customer that this down time is coming. That was they can plan around it and know that it’s not a security issue. Tell them when you’ll be back up and running, and that the system will be operating even more smoothly than before.
It’s better to have a little planned down time now than an unplanned emergency later, but it doesn’t have to be a big hassle, either. Plan and give notice, and you’ll be back to business in no time.
Can Hacking Tools Improve Your Security?
Right now, someone is scanning your network, looking for gaps in your security. They are reviewing your system for any weaknesses to exploit, hoping to find a few ways into the system that they can use to get inside. The software to do this is easily available if you know where to look, and it’s almost as easy to use. A download, a few keystrokes, and they have a chance of worming their way in and accessing your data and resources. If it’s this easy, why not just do it yourself?
You can get the software, run it, and get intricate details of your capabilities and vulnerabilities. Better yet, since it’s your system, it’s perfectly legal to run the scan. You can discover holes in your security, uninstalled patches, you name it—and fix them before an attacker finds the same loopholes. Think of it as a game, and discover how many ways into your network you can plug. If you find these gaps before they are exploited you can firm up your security with a minimum of effort. It’s amusing as well as useful, so why let the hackers have all the fun?
If you’re worried about how to find these vulnerability exploitation programs, contact an IT security consultant. They can help you find the best programs to safeguard your information network and provide routine checks to make sure everything remains in good working order.
Can Hacking Tools Improve Your Security?
Right now, someone is scanning your network, looking for gaps in your security. They are reviewing your system for any weaknesses to exploit, hoping to find a few ways into the system that they can use to get inside. The software to do this is easily available if you know where to look, and it’s almost as easy to use. A download, a few keystrokes, and they have a chance of worming their way in and accessing your data and resources. If it’s this easy, why not just do it yourself?
You can get the software, run it, and get intricate details of your capabilities and vulnerabilities. Better yet, since it’s your system, it’s perfectly legal to run the scan. You can discover holes in your security, uninstalled patches, you name it—and fix them before an attacker finds the same loopholes. Think of it as a game, and discover how many ways into your network you can plug. If you find these gaps before they are exploited you can firm up your security with a minimum of effort. It’s amusing as well as useful, so why let the hackers have all the fun?
If you’re worried about how to find these vulnerability exploitation programs, contact an IT security consultant. They can help you find the best programs to safeguard your information network and provide routine checks to make sure everything remains in good working order.
Viruses and Spyware—Two Sides of the Same Coin
The Internet has given us so much. We have entertainment at our fingertips, we can communicate with virtually anyone around the world in real time, and we can send enormous amounts of data across the country in seconds. It’s a tremendous freedom, but sadly, there’s a dark side as well. Viruses and spyware lurk in the alleys of the web, attaching to files and computers. They operate differently, however, and it’s useful to know the difference.
You can hardly read the news anymore without seeing reports of viruses. They attack businesses, schools, and governments and wreak tremendous havoc. They can steal data, but often they destroy files, crash networks, and allow malicious people the ability to get inside your network. All in all, they are nasty little bullies.
Spyware is the kid sister of viruses. It’s slightly less dangerous, but equally as annoying. While it can attach toolbars to your applications or install tracking software in exchange for emoticons and colorful cursors, sometimes it just works quietly in the darkness. Spyware is exactly what the name suggests—it spies on you, tracking data and keystrokes and sends it back to whomever or whatever the source of the spyware is. It won’t crash your system, but it can cause some hefty data loss.
The vast majority of the Internet is a creative, entertaining, and occasionally educational tool, but there are dangers. While there is a difference between viruses and spyware, the best plan is to stay safe and avoid either creature. Make sure your anti-virus and anti-spyware software is in good working order and play it safe online.
Viruses and Spyware—Two Sides of the Same Coin
The Internet has given us so much. We have entertainment at our fingertips, we can communicate with virtually anyone around the world in real time, and we can send enormous amounts of data across the country in seconds. It’s a tremendous freedom, but sadly, there’s a dark side as well. Viruses and spyware lurk in the alleys of the web, attaching to files and computers. They operate differently, however, and it’s useful to know the difference.
You can hardly read the news anymore without seeing reports of viruses. They attack businesses, schools, and governments and wreak tremendous havoc. They can steal data, but often they destroy files, crash networks, and allow malicious people the ability to get inside your network. All in all, they are nasty little bullies.
Spyware is the kid sister of viruses. It’s slightly less dangerous, but equally as annoying. While it can attach toolbars to your applications or install tracking software in exchange for emoticons and colorful cursors, sometimes it just works quietly in the darkness. Spyware is exactly what the name suggests—it spies on you, tracking data and keystrokes and sends it back to whomever or whatever the source of the spyware is. It won’t crash your system, but it can cause some hefty data loss.
The vast majority of the Internet is a creative, entertaining, and occasionally educational tool, but there are dangers. While there is a difference between viruses and spyware, the best plan is to stay safe and avoid either creature. Make sure your anti-virus and anti-spyware software is in good working order and play it safe online.
The Benefits of Having IT Staff Always On Call
It’s 3:00 am, your system has crashed, and the commerce you need to get through isn’t happening. Sure, not much is going on with your network in the wee hours of the morning, but by 8:00 am you’ll be in the thick of the business day and the repairs will just be starting. No, it’s not a dream, but it certainly sounds like a nightmare.
What if you had someone on call 24 hours a day to address situations just like these? What if this person could be contacted by your system, with no human intervention, to ask them to look into it? That can happen, and it does happen in businesses all over. At the first sign of a problem the computer contacts whichever employee is on duty and requests their intervention. The computer could also be set to contact a consultant, letting all of your precious full-timers get their beauty sleep and come in the next morning with the situation already resolved.
With proper IT security and maintenance, it’s unlikely your system will come crashing down at all, much less early in the morning. Isn’t is worth the peace of mind, however, to know that if it were to happen there would be someone at the ready to take care of it? No matter what sort of damage has occurred, early notice means less damage and a quicker return to business. What’s great for the business is great for the bottom line, and that enough to let you sleep easy.
Rethinking the Etiquette of File Sharing by Email
Email etiquette—how 1994! Although it might seem like email etiquette is a thing of the past, most of the same rules still apply. Don’t type in all caps, don’t open attachments from strangers, and, of course, don’t bog down someone’s network with huge files you wouldn’t be happy to receive yourself. In today’s world, however, sending those files can be a business necessity. What’s a company to do?
The easiest plan is to compress the file. Think of compressing like putting the file in one of those storage bags you vacuum the air out of. It’s smaller, easier to pack and send, and requires an extra bit of effort to open it back up. By virtue of being smaller, it’s less likely to clog the recipient’s system or be blocked by their firewall for being too large.
If compressing isn’t the answer, check to see if you have a shared network resource you can place the file on. The recipient can then easily pick the file up without any compressing, unzipping, or hassle. If the recipient is a client or customer you are comfortable with, ask them if there is a shared location you can send the file to. Again, with a minimum of effort they can retrieve the file without any email program getting cranky about it. This is especially important with executable files. Firewalls and anti-virus programs tend to flag these files and may quarantine them if you are sending them by email, whereas with a shared location you can avoid all of the interference.
Last but not least, always explain any attachment you send either by email or to a shared resource. Viruses love to tag along on as attachments, but it’s far less likely one is hooked to a known attachment. That’s old news, but you’d be surprised how often it’s forgotten. Do yourself a favor, and be kind to the people you send files to. It makes good business sense, and that never goes out of style.
What Makes a Good Password?
The passwords you and your employees choose may be the single most important piece of your basic system security, but how much effort is put into them?
- Are they easy to guess?
- Hard to remember?
- How often are they changed, and are they different for each application?
All of these are important ways of reassessing your password selection.
Think of your passwords like the goalie at a hockey game. A great one keeps all of the pucks out, and a poor one allows anyone who tries hard enough access to your systems. The first thing you should do is make sure every person has their own passwords. That’s pretty basic, but if passwords are shared, it can be pretty hard to track down who is doing what in the system.
Make sure all passwords have at least eight characters, that they are alphanumeric, case sensitive, and also easy to remember. Easy to remember is really the clincher here. You don’t want to have to write them down because then the note can be found, but if it’s too easy, anyone could guess it. One idea is to take a random word and manipulate it. Elephant is easy to remember, and if you change it to E13phan7, you have a password that’s both hard to crack and easy to remember.
Of course, to keep the puck out of the goal, you have to give your goalie a break from time to time. In the same way, you should also change your passwords often and use a new one for each account and application. That way if one is compromised, it will change soon, regardless, and no one will be able to access other systems beyond the one they have the password for.
It may seem like a lot of effort, but keeping passwords safe keeps the goalie in the game and keeps your opponent from scoring.
IT Tips: There’s Danger Lurking on the Web
The Internet contains a vast wealth of information. It has changed the way research and commerce take place, as well as how we are entertained. Most of us know how easy it is to spend hours lost checking out websites and checking email. The Internet’s not all information and fun, however. There are risks to mindless surfing, and if it’s happening on your network, your business could be in danger.
Any site could contain a virus, but the more reputable a site is, the less likely it is to be of harm. Any site that is inappropriate for the workplace is also very likely to contain viruses and spyware. Educating your employees to avoid these sites may feel like overkill, but it’s better to be clear about your expectations than to learn the hard way that someone just didn’t get understand.
Warez sites, which are common hubs for downloading illegal software, are another huge risk. Not only is much of the software pirated, it often contains viruses and spyware that you don’t want on your network. It’s not worth saving a few dollars if it means putting your company in harm’s way.
Even seemingly harmless sites can cause issues. Streaming music and video or large downloads can take up huge amounts of bandwidth. This waste of resources could slow your system to a crawl, hindering legitimate business. Not only that, social sites are now taking up record amounts of employee time—time when they are getting paid to do actual work!
The Internet doesn’t have to be a frightening place for your network. You already have security measures in place, but by eliminating some of these other risks you can save your system and resources from being sucked in to the dangers lurking on the web.