Microsoft release update for serious security flaw in IE
Microsoft have now released the critical updated which addresses a major security issue with Internet Explorer that was identified earlier this week. You can obtain the update from the Microsoft Update website or system administrators can visit the Microsoft Technet website.
Business Continuity
We are please to announce that after rigorous testing we have now launched our latest Business Continuity Solution, to find out more information about this advanced solutions please click here.
Serious security flaw found in IE
It has been announced today that due to a serious flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer users are being advised to use an alternate browser, such as Firefox, until a security fix becomes available from Microsoft.
It is believed that the identified flaw could allow criminals to take control of people’s computers and steal their password.
We recommend that any users who are concerned about this issue should download and use Firefox until such time as an update has been release by Microsoft.
See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7784908.stm
UPDATE: Microsoft have now release an update to resolve this issue, please see here.
Always on the go
Society is becoming more “always on” than ever. Since the introduction of SMS or text messaging the growth of non-verbal communication has exploded. This movement then spawned a massive growth in the on-demand culture which naturally progressed into mobile email. One of the first methods of achieving this was with the Windows Mobile devices. The early models worked on a “pull” architecture whereby the device had a collection schedule such as every 15 minutes at which it polled and collected new emails, then came the BlackBerry. This device revolutionised the mobile email market as it was now possible to have your email “pushed” to you which meant that when an email arrived in your mailbox it was immediately pushed, via the Blackberry network, out to your portable device so you could deal with it immediately. The device was also unique in that you can remotely wipe it, which meant that if it was lost or stolen then you could ask your network admin to remotely wipe the device clean. This feature alone had massive appeal to government bodies, the legal profession, medial profession etc who would potentially have confidential data on the device. More recently, following an update for Microsoft Exchange Server, the Windows Mobile was able to offer the same features as the BlackBerry but without the need for additional software that was needed for the corporate BlackBerry. Other noteworthy manufactures able to achieve “push” email is Nokia, with “Mail for Exchange” and more recently the new Apple iPhone 3G.
But with all of this technology available to ensure that you are never out of contact whether it be voice calls, SMS or even email the question remains; Do you need it? This is something we have been asked many times and the answer is always the same; “Do you need it? Only you can decide”. What is clear is that it’s now more affordable than ever for anyone to have this technology at their fingertips. No longer is it the reserve of the large corporate environments it’s something that the Owner/Manager’s and Small Businesses can enjoy which in turn can help them to become more streamlined and agile in a fragile marketplace where an instant response can make all the difference. If you would like to know more about mobile email solutions please contact our team for more information.
Keep it clean
We are all guilty of doing it but do we really understand what the implications are? So what am I talking about? Cluttered desktops. In over 15 years of field support I have yet to find a workstation which does not have at least some files saved on it. At the time it makes sense to save the files there and this can be for a number of reasons; convenience, just temporary and I’ll move it later. All of these seem like good legitimate reasons at the time however they invariably are now temporary things they are left on the desktop and we just continue to work from there. Cluttered desktops can cause a number of issues both in the short term as well as in the long term.
The first issue is one of performance; that is as more and more files and shortcuts are added to a users desktop then in time this will inevitably slow the PC down. The reason for this is as that as the user minimises and maximises applications the screen must be re-drawn, now the fact is that the more information stored on the desktop the more memory will be used which in turn will steal that memory from genuine applications. It will also slow down the process of re-drawing the screen as there is much more information to render to the screen. The second issue is one of security; simply put the data on the desktop will stay on the desktop. Unless the user specifically copies the data from the desktop to the server then this information is only contained in one location and is not backed up with the rest of the server data. Now the question should be asked at this point ”Is this information important?”. The simple answer is “Of course it is” otherwise why would you have the information in the first place. In that case get it off the desktop and onto the server, once there leave it there and just work on it from the server.
Alternatively, if you are using Microsoft Small Business Server and have your “My Documents” folder redirected to the server then could move this information to the “My Documents” folder and it will be copied to the server during the “Log Off” process. This is a simple practise that could save you hours or even days of work in the event of a failed workstation. If you are still not sure how to do this then contact our team and they will be happy to help you.
Business Continuity
There is a great deal of talk about business continuity whether it be from the insurers of the business or from other members of the business community. The ethos behind business continuity is about working out how to stay in business in the event of a disaster. Incidents such as building fires, flooding, equipment failure etc all of these events should be planned for and the risks mitigated by putting in place documentation and processes which will ensure that such events do not permanently damage the business. Many small businesses owners do not look at business continuity as it appears to be the reserve of much larger companies and does not apply to them, wrong. The fact is that for your business was to suffer a complete disaster then how would you recover from this and indeed could you currently recover from this situation? Chances are the answer is no. Is this something that you can afford? Yes
The fact is that you cannot afford not to put this in plan. So what does the plan consist of; well it should contain the contact names and numbers of all individuals involved in the recovery
process (i.e. Telephone company, IT vendor, software suppliers etc). It also needs to contain all relevant passwords relating to your computer systems, details relating to the setup of the network and software. It should detail the recovery process for data relating to the network this should include how the backups are performed and what software is required to perform the recovery. The plan needs to contain absolutely everything that is required to run the business and with the recent floods and other adverse weather conditions it has never been more important to plan for the worst. So take some time and think about how your business will be affected should the worst happen and start and plan how you will recover from such and event before it happens.
Excel 2007 slow opening Excel 2003 Spreadsheets
We recently came across a problem which we thought we would share with all of you. We recently commissioned a new workstation for a client running Windows XP Pro and Office 2007 Basic. However, after a little time we were contacted by the client to say that it was very slow opening workbooks in Excel. They were able demonstrate the problem, if you open a workbook from a folder without Excel 2007 being open already it would take anywhere upto 2 minutes before the workbook would be displayed. However, if Excel 2007 was open already they would open fine. After doing some tests on it we were able to locate the issue which was due the way in which Windows explorer was configured to open “XLS” files. A simple change resolved the issue and here is what you do to resolve the issue:
- First open “My Computer”
- The select the “Tools” menu and select “Options”
- Now go to the “File Types” tab
- Go down the list and select “XLS (Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet)” and then click on “Advanced”. Now select “Open” from the list and click on “Edit”. Now in the box titled “Application used to perform action:” add a “%1″ at the end of the line. Also take the tick out of the box titled “Use DDE”.
- Now click on “OK” and select “OK” on all of the subsequent windows and thats it! Excel 2007 will now open Excel 2003 workbooks without any problems.
Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server
Microsoft have now announced the offical lauch date for the latest 2008 product set, Small Business Server 2008 and the all new Essential Business Server. These are scheduled for official release on November 12 2008 however it will make it’s way into the channel soon before that so server manufactures can begin to bring it into their product set.
The diagram above shows the fundamental differences between Small Business Server 2008 Standard and Premium editions. One important changes that they have made is that Client Access Licenses (CALS) can now be purchases as single licenses as well as the previous 5 packs. The premium edition also adds an additional Windows Server 2008 license. Another change is the system requirements which are in-line with Windows Server 2008 which means in summary:
Processor: 2Ghz (x64 Processor)
Memory: 4GB Minimum
Disk Space: 60GB Minimum
Essential Business Server (EBS) is one of the new product offerings from Microsoft. Small Business Server 2008 still maintains the license limit from previous versions of 75 users however EBS allows up to 300 licenses which will help bridge the gap for those businesses that are slightly too big for SBS but not really big enough to afford the full license model. As you can see from the diagram above it also includes Windows Server 2008 licenses for 3 servers with the standard version and 4 servers in premium edition.
More information to follow as it becomes available.
Lock up your data, don’t let them get away with IT
Ok tacky punchline but in all seriousness we have had yet another massive data loss this time it concerns prison officers which have now been put at massive risk through this. What compounded the matter is that it would appear that this “lost data” took almost a year to discover. Now at best the persons whose information was on this disk can hope that someone simply found the data, wiped it and re-used the disk but at worst it has been used for other purposes.
Data security is something that should not be taken lightly in any business regardless of whether you have 1 PC or a 1,000. The information you hold has great value to someone whether that be your competitor or a crimal aspiring to identity fraud. It is your responsibility to keep this information safe and away from people who should not have access to it.
Most businesses that utilise a server will have individual logins for each user which will allow the business to limit that amount of information that the user has access to but this also provides accountability for which person(s) has accessed what data. However, this concept generally goes out of the window because of one of the following reasons:
- Password Sharing - the users allow one-another to have access their password
- Simple passwords - the users password is something simple like “password”, “letmein”, the dogs name, childs name etc
- Unattended workstations - the users walks away from their computer for lunch and leaves it “unlocked” allowing anyone access to information
All of these items make the best security practises fall flat on their face before you evan get started.
What can be done to fix this
Most of the above issues can be simply resolved by implementing a policy on the server which sets down a standard on all network computers which forces a password changed periodically; forces complex passwords and locks the computer after a period without use i.e. 5 minutes.
Other thoughts
The other issue which is becoming more prevalent these days is the Digital Nomad aka the notebook user. The Digital Nomad is a new breed of user who essentially speaking is able to work regardless of location. This work style is becoming more popular with the recent fuel increases however with this new style of mobile computing comes it’s own challenges. This type of worker will generally carry a quantity of data with them and this information is what they need to do their job. This can be something as simple as a drawing or can be an entire client database complete with business and personal details. If this notebook was to be lost/stolen etc then all of this information would be available to anyone who has the computer. The best resolution to this is to implement encryption software/hardware which can be installed to the notebook. There are many software solutions available which range from completely free to not so free. Most of these can provide either encrypted volumes (additional drives which only appear once a passphrase has been entered) or they are able to encrypt the entire drive so no one can use the computer without the passphrase. Both of these solutions have their own merits and the implementation will be a personnal choice however it should not be overlooked.
Any lost data can and will inevitably cost your business money and will tarnish your reputation. A recent data loss has resulted in a contract worth £1.5 million being lost, don’t let this be your business.
For more information on data security solutions then please contact us at sales@jpt-solutions.co.uk
UPS Virus/XP Antivirus Removal
JPT Solutions can not be held responsible for any problems that may occur as result of using this information. If you have any doubts what so ever about performing this procedure then please consult our support team to arrange removal.
Firstly to be with you should ensure that you have these instructions written down as you will be require to restart your computer into safe mode at which time you will not have internet access from that computer to see these instructions.
Before we begin you will need to download “SDFix” from AndyManchesta.com. Once you have downloaded “SDFix.exe” then double click the application and in the destination folder leave as default then click on “Install”. When the files have uncompressed you will need to reboot the computer into “Safe Mode”, if your computer is a network computer then ensure the you know the local administrator password before attempting to boot into “Safe Mode”. In order to get into “Safe Mode” as the computer first begins to power on press the “F8″ key repeatedly until you get the following menu screen:
From this screen press the up arrow until you reach the “Safe mode” option and then press enter. Once you are in Windows XP then navigate to the folder “C:\SDFix” and run the file “RunThis.cmd” by double clicking it. You will then see a screen as below, press the Y key to continue.
Once you select “Y” you simply wait, this process may take up to 20 minutes so please be patient. Once it has completed then you will be asked to reboot. After the PC has rebooted the fix tool will run once again to ensure that all traces have been removed from the PC. Once completed a summary report will be displayed to show the outcome of the scan. At this point it would be advisable to ensure that you run a full virus scan using one of the online scanners as your installed anti-virus package could have been damaged. Click here for a list of available online scanners.
Alternatively if you do not feel comfortable with any of the steps outlined above then please contact our support desk.