The Ekaru Technology Advisor  Vol 4-8  October 2004

Welcome to this month's issue! Ekaru's mission is to provide technology advice and on-site technical support to help you manage and grow your business!

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month!
The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) along with other government and industry partners such as Microsoft has announced that October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The goal is increase Internet security by educating and empowering computer users to take action to protect their systems and data.

Viruses, "worms", spam, spyware, scams, and hackers cause an extraordinary amount of damage to business and home computers, and the problems only seem to be getting worse. Unfortunately, we see the damage almost daily, so we'd like to dedicate this issue to helping spread the word of National Cyber Security Awareness. The good news is that there are many simple and inexpensive measures you can take to secure your computer systems:

• Get a Firewall: Whether you have just one computer or many computers on a network, or whether you're connected to the Internet by broadband or just dial-up, you need a firewall.
• Run Anti-virus software: Install it, run it, keep it updated, and most importantly VERIFY that it's running properly. A very common mistake is to miss automatic live updates and system scans.
• Run a spam filter: In addition to being just plain annoying, a lot of spam contains viruses and other scams. Get it out of your "in-box".
• Watch out for scams: A technique called "phishing" is on the rise. Typically an email is sent to you disguised as coming from a financial institution. It will say something like your loan is ready but they need some additional personal information from you. Scammers try hard to make the emails look "real" - Citibank, in particular, has been a high-profile target of these scams. Never reply to these email requests. Only provide credit card information over a secure connection to a trusted and verified source. On a web site, look for a lock icon on the lower right hand corner of the browser, look for a prefix of https: on the web site (upper left hand corner), and type in the url address directly - don't follow an unknown link.
• Keep your operating system up to date. Security patches are designed to fix "loopholes" that hackers take advantage of. It's been about two months now since Microsoft XP service pack 2 has been released and the application incompatibilities have been well-documented. If you haven't already done the update, you should start planning for this (its not trivial - see last month's e-Newsletter for more information).
• Encrypt wireless networks: Run encryption even if you think you don't need it.
• Choose strong passwords (not your birthday!) and change them frequently. Include letters and numbers. Don't use dictionary words.
• Scan for spyware and get rid of it! Certain spyware is so insidious that it will actually prevent you from installing new software such as Microsoft service pack 2. We typically recommend Ad-Aware by Lavasoft. Don't let your kids use your home-office system.
• Back-up your data regularly. We all know it's important, so get into a good habit and do it. Don't forget your email files!

A few simple precautions will save you and your business a lot of trouble. If you need help, give us a call.

2004 Technology Workshop Series: October 26, 2004:
The Internet, Web, email, e-Commerce:
What Businesses Need to Know!
We are proud to announce that Comcast is sponsoring the 2004 Ekaru Technology Workshop Series. These workshops are designed to help you get more from the technology you already have, and introduce you to the new technologies you need to know about. For more information on the The Internet, Web, email, e-Commerce: What Businesses Need to Know!, click here.

Technology Tip: What do all these high-tech buzz-words mean? Do you know what a LAN is? (A: Local Area Network). What about DSL? (A: Digital Subscriber Line). How about TCP/IP? (A: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol - enables communication between different types of computers and different types of networks - this is what enables the Internet to work.) Newton's Telecom Dictionary is a book that should be on your business book shelf. There are also several great on-line resources such as ComputerUser.com Dictionary. Just knowing a few of the "buzz words" will help you feel computer literate and help you communicate more concisely - saving you time, money, and frustration.

Ekaru in the News!

High-powered help - Tech Consulting is About More than Nuts and Bolts.
ComputerUser.com Technology Trends & Tools - October 18, 2004
4 ways Small Business Server Empowers Mobile Workers
Microsoft.com Small Business Center - 2004

Was this newsletter helpful to you? If so, forward it to a friend or colleague! Do you have suggestions for future newsletter topics? Send us an email!. We want to write about what's important to you! Click here to read past issues.

  Happy Halloween!

Sincerely,
Team Ekaru

Introductory Technology Assessment Over 170 local small businesses have chosen Ekaru to manage their computers and networks. We offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation to get started. We'll visit your office, review your network, and make recommendations. Call us toll-free at 866-463-5278 x1 or email us to schedule a no-obligation assessment.

  ©2004 Ekaru, LLC. All Rights Reserved.