Technology Advisor Blog

Every day we review security patch compliance for all our clients with managed services coverage with us.  Often, we see systems with security patches pending reboots.  Many security patches require a reboot to install, and some security patches are sequential, so the next one won't install before the previous patch is complete.  This can result in a system that isn't fully protected.

In our last post, we talked about suspicious emails that don't look so suspicious on the surface.  Here is an example of an email to show you what to look for.  In this case, a fake payroll report is being sent.   A busy, distracted person may open this by mistake, or an opportunistic employee may try to open it to sneak a peek at confidential information.  SLOW DOWN and check your mail carefully.  Even with up to date antivirus protection and spam filtering, some emails CAN get through because they are engineered to get through.  This can be a phishing email (trying to get confidential information) or a dangerous virus such as Cryptocker.   Don't open the door!  

We've all heard that we shouldn't open suspicious emails.  They can be phishing scams (attempts to get personal information such as username, password, and account number), or contain viruses.  The problem is, the "bad guys" know we're on the lookout, and the real danger lies in emails that are disguised to not look suspicious.  

Outlook has a time saving "autocomplete" feature that's a big help most of the time, but can sometimes cause issues.  When you compose a new email message in Outlook, as you start to type in the first few letters of the recipient's email address, you'll see that Outlook will have suggestions for you based on who you have emailed before.  This is a great time saver, and over time your list will grow.  An important thing to know, is that it's not actually your address book, it's a cached list of anyone you have emailed in the past.

Microsoft Outlook has a built in feature to process junk mail and send it to a "Junk" folder as a way to control Spam in your inbox.  This is a great feature if you only read mail in one place, but for most users these days, mail is read on multiple platforms - smart phone, tablet, laptop, browser, etc.  This is why we typically recommend filtering Spam in the "cloud" so the mail is filtered BEFORE it gets to your mailbox, and gets cleaned centrally before going to all your devices.

We've recently started upgrading our Spam filtering platform, so it's time to post some updated instructions.   These days Spam messages account for 80%-90% of all email sent worldwide, generating a lot of clutter and in some cases, security threats.  We strongly advise filtering mail before it gets to your mail server, and many of our clients have signed up for Spam filtering services with us.

The latest security vulnerability is all over the news.  Microsoft is working on a fix to address a flaw that could potentially allow hackers to gain remote access to systems. This flaw affects all versions of Intenet Explorer (about 55% of the browser market) and a patch is expected soon.  If you're still running Windows XP, support has ended and there will not be a security patch.

Do you visit a lot of the same web sites over and over again?  Some examples may include line of business applications, banking, tax sites, etc.  Many people rely on browser "history" to find web sites when you need them...just start typing the address and Internet Explorer will try to complete it for you.  This usually works well, but the more organized way to memorize these sites is to use "Favorites".  

At a recent industry event, I had the opportunity to share some "war stories" over lunch. One of the guys at the table told a tale of an email server crash on a Friday night that one of his techs rescued after many hours of effort late into the night.  The Microsoft Exchange server had crashed, and they ran recovery and clean up tools to get the mail running again.  Mission accomplished!

March 1 was the 4th anniversary of the Massachusetts Data Protection Law which was introduced to help protect residents against identity theft and fraud.  The law identifies requirements businesses must follow to secure protected information, which includes a resident's first name or initial and last name, combined with a number of specified protected information including drivers license number, bank account number, social security number, credit card numbers, etc. We've all read the headlines about the major retailers such as Target, Hannafords, and TJX who have been in the news over the years for security breaches, but many small business owners may not be fully aware that the law applies to ALL businesses, large and small.