Tabush Group's Cloud & Managed IT Blog

Technology has been progressing at an amazing rate, especially over the past 20 years. Think back to 1994 and you probably couldn't imagine the Smartphone, DVR, Netflix, Wifi, GPS, or Facebook. Despite these amazing innovations, we seem to be going backwards when it comes to digital security. Viruses, malware, spam, and hacking are much bigger problems than ever before, and it seems to be getting worse. How could this be???

A few months ago I wrote about the Target credit card breach, asking how it could happen. In the past few years it’s also happened to Marshalls/TJ Maxx, the California DMV, Michael’s, PF Chang’s, Neiman Marcus, Sally Beauty, and I'm sure many others that didn’t make the headlines. Then there are the thousands of personal PC's containing years of family photos and videos which may have been maliciously destroyed.

Most people I speak to spend most of their workday with Microsoft Outlook in their face (myself included), yet so much of Outlook's features remain untouched. Here are a few of my favorite Outlook tricks, I hope they help you as much as they've helped me.

The big IT news lately has been about the Heartbleed SSL vulnerability, however, malware and viruses still are the most prominent threat to small to medium sized businesses.

CryptoLocker, which surfaced in late 2013, is still out there, and its destructiveness hasn’t dwindled. CryptoLocker is malware which encrypts all files it finds on a computer or network, rendering them inaccessible.

Last month we were called in by a business which had been ‘hit’ with this CryptoLocker virus and want to share with you how we battled it.

The Internet is probably the most significant invention in the last fifty years. It's hard to believe that only 20 years ago, the Internet as we know it didn't exist. Most office desks had computers, but they were for internal applications only. Today, we all know how much that has changed.

But just because every business needs the Internet to function, and the access is limited only to the speed of your connection, should companies allow their employees unrestricted Internet access from their office computers, or should it be limited to business use only?

As a service provider who has worked with over 250 small and mid-sized businesses over the years, I've heard pretty good arguments for both sides.

Unless you've been living in a bubble without access to the news or Internet for the past 3 months, you've heard about the massive security breach that Target suffered. Hackers were able to get into Target's computer system and download over 110 million credit and debit card numbers. While we don't know who these 110 million lucky winners are, you can rest assured that if you weren't in that group, someone very close to you was.

Last week, more details on how the attack occurred were released. Apparently, Fazio Mechanical, a HVAC contractor who does work for Target, had someone hack into one of their PC's through a targeted phishing attempt. Fazio's systems were set up with certain access to Target's system to communicate work orders, invoices, etc. The hackers used that connection to access Target's database containing credit card numbers, and somehow downloaded it all from there. This is shameful at best.

While it’s still officially summer for the next week or so, for most of us, summer ended with labor day last week. Of course, I’m not complaining about the weather outside, but my prediction for this Fall is a cloudy one, referring, of course to cloud computing and how it’s affecting IT as we know and use it. Cloud is everywhere, and every business that does not use cloud needs to start seriously considering it.

Those of us in the northeast vividly remember what happened right around this time the past two years: Hurricanes Irene and Sandy. We don’t know what’s in store for 2013 and all need to be prepared. Don’t wait until the news starts predicting a storm and there is a run on everything at the stores. For business owners or IT staff, be ready for whatever mother nature may bring. Off-site backup, disaster recovery/continuity, and cloud are all great solutions, but none of them can be implemented overnight. I’m proud to say that many of our clients did have these protections in place, and despite power outages and facility damage, their systems were not affected by Sandy. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Like most people I know, I consider myself a busy person. As a small business owner, I wear many hats in the company, dipping my hand into sales, marketing, finance, management, and client services.

Over the years, I've tried using a number of different strategies to keep all of my tasks, ideas, and projects organized. I've used Outlook Tasks, email folders, file folders, and enough post-it notes to fill a small landfill.

As far as information technology goes, the data storage industry has become one of the most dynamic sectors today. Businesses depend on information and data, which must be stored securely to ensure that it’s safe and accessible at all times, from anywhere.

Technology can be expensive to purchase, as well as maintain. Although computer devices and technology are critical investments for any business, many of them just can’t afford to upgrade or replace hardware or software as needed. What’s the best solution for these businesses? Virtualization.

On April 8^th, 2014, Microsoft will officially end all support, security fixes, vulnerability patches and software updates for Windows XP. Any PC running on the operating system after April 2014 will be subject to hacking, cyber-attacks, data and identity theft, and network intrusion; both via individual machines and across internal networks.

It’s important for small-to-mid sized businesses to plan in advance, with the end of XP near.