Fo Shizzle! Snoop D Oh Double G is Hatin’ on Cyber Crime

It is a holiday, I’m not going to blog today!  Instead, let me point you towards something Coolio (Sorry, that’s another hip-hop artist all together)…

Snoop Dogg has is now joining forces to fight cyber crime: HACK IS WACK 

If you upload your own video, please let me know! I want to see it!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day off!

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Thinking of buying computer hardware or software “Dirt Cheap?” Read this first…

Dirt Cheap Computers

Dirt Cheap Computers - are they worth what you pay for them?

I’m sure you have heard the old adage “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is…”

In the case of computers, servers, firewalls, VoIP equipment, Microsoft, Adobe and other hardware / software, that has always been true.

For example: We have one client who purchased Microsoft Office Professional 2003 a number of years ago on the cheap. I believe they purchased about 20 seats and were presented with an authentic looking disk and the product key from the dealer. They saved a significant amount over purchasing from CDW, Homeland Secure IT, or some other reputable Microsoft dealer. However, flash forward to present day and they are unable to receive support from Microsoft, they are being told the software is counterfeit, and will have to purchase new licensing at a very hefty price.

This is a common story these days. In fact, a quick Google search turned up Microsoft Windows 7 Professional for ~50 dollars. Come on, the cost to any reputable dealer is more than that, how can they SELL it for that? hrmmmmm

To make matters worse, this is happening with hardware all too often. A few months ago, Cisco was experiencing a shortage of ASA 5505 and other products. It was a horrible time for companies who relied on that hardware, so they began looking outside their regular suppliers. What they found were some deals on ASA 5500 products that were not really a “deal”, but they WERE in stock, so they ordered them. These were actually grey market dealers. They had no association with Cisco, and they were not selling new product. Some of the items sold were “new – old” stock (where it had been sitting on the shelves for a while, with older software loaded), some had been obtained from legitimate dealers who went under (at actual dirt cheap prices) by a company that bought all their stock, but the worst of them were actually STOLEN devices and then there were some reports of used or refurbished devices being sold as new.

All of these scenarios had one thing in common – the customer was paying for something they were not getting. Whether it was an actual new product, or a product that could be supported by Cisco SMARTnet support contract. Some customers received “bricks”, ASA firewalls that simply did not work, and the dealer was nowhere to be found when they sought support, and of course, Cisco will not support items which are not legit.

The inspiration for this blog post is that I read an article in a trade journal recently that warned of this type of unscrupulous behavior, and today at a lunch meeting, I was told of something similar happening to someone I know so I thought I would share that with you and maybe save one person from a bad experience.

The moral to the story is – buy quality product from quality vendors. Homeland Secure IT is such a vendor. We offer many products, including Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWall, Microsoft, Trend Micro, Symantec and others through our partnerships with those manufacturers and though the cost is going to be higher than the “discount” internet price, you can find us, and we stand behind that product and sale 100%! You will never get a black market, gray market, used or refurbished item in place of what you pay for!

Call us today for more information at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com – We offer computer service, support and sales in the Greenville  / Upstate SC area, and national sales.

Are you spending too much on your Cisco SMARTnet, Trend Micro, Symantec or Microsoft Licensing?

If you own or maintain your own business phone or computer network, you are probably renewing your licensing yearly for everything from your Cisco VoIP phone system & ASA 5500 network security appliances to Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security, Trend Office Scan, to Microsoft Software Assurance or purchases of new seats.

Chances are also good you are buying your licensing from a vendor who may have originally installed the equipment and they could be charging you for the licensing plus a fee to administer those licenses for you. The licensing is generally sold at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

If you would like another quote on your license renewals and sales, please contact us at 864.990.4748 x 201, or email info@homelandsecureit.com

We offer sales of products and licensing, as well as licensing renewals for Trend Micro, Cisco, Symantec, Microsoft and more! We never charge an administration fee.

One word of warning regarding “deep discount” licensing providers – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The markup on licensing is not very much, so if you find Microsoft Office Professional for 20% less than the retail, odds are, it is counterfeit product and will allow you no ability to upgrade or receive support.

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Congratulations to our Trend Micro Internet Security 2010 winners!

Lee Brookshire of Hitachi/HEDUS corporation in Greenville and Allen Vailliencourt of Find Great People, also in Greenville are our winners!

Congratulations to both of them, as they have won Trend Micro Internet Security 2010 anti-virus in our little giveaway…

Trend Micro Internet Security 2010 is designed for home and small business users and offers protection against viruses, spyware, unauthorized changes to applications, as well as offering outstanding email protection from spam and malicious emails and Web monitoring too!

The $49.99 retail package will cover up to 3 computers.

If you would like to purchase Trend Micro products, including Internet Security 2010, Internet Security Pro, Worry-Free Business Security or Enterprise packages like the Enterprise Security Suite, etc, or would like additional information, please email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990.4748 – We offer computer security service and support in Greenville / Upstate SC and national sales!

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SECURE IT ALERT: Protect your data with DATA DESTRUCTION from ShredDisk #Greenville

ShredDisk Data Mobile Destruction

Protect your data - by destroying it!

Protect your data – by destroying it!

Boy that sounds interesting doesn’t it? But what does that mean?

As computers age and are replaced, they might find their way to a dumpster, or given to a non-profit organization who refurbishes them and resells them, or they may be given to a computer recycler who is supposed to dispose of the computer in an environmentally friendly manner.

The problem with all of these scenarios is that you don’t actually know what will become of your data.

Let’s assume for a moment that you are an attorney and you replace your computer. You toss the old computer, but you took measures to protect the data on your hard drive first, such as, maybe reinstalling a fresh OS on it, ore deleting all your personal files, or even performing a format operation on the hard drive. Someone who targets people in your line of work may be watching the dumpsters and upon finding the discarded PC, could pull the drive out and use recovery software that is available to restore some, if not all of your previous data! That’s right, even if you DELETE IT, reinstall the operating system, or format it, the chances are very good that data can be retrieved off of your drive. EVEN IF THE DRIVE HAS CRASHED, chances are, some data can be recovered by a professional or anyone serious enough to attempt it.

The same holds true for PC recyclers…  See a previous blog entry here with a video that outlines what becomes of many computers.

So what is a person or business to do in order to protect themselves, their data and the data of their customers that may be on an old PC? Your options are to trust your computer service / network support technicians to do the job for you, which we will often do here at Homeland Secure IT, where we take your old PC and perform a “DOD wipe” that writes zeros and ones to every sector on the drive multiple times over, rendering it virtually unrecoverable, or sometimes we damage a hard drive beyond recovery using physical means.  Another option is to simply remove the hard drive and shelve it, while discarding the rest of the computer.

There is an alternative though. There are professional data destruction service providers who will go to your location, remove your hard drive for you, and SHRED the drive, turning it into data confetti! This is the widely accepted standard for protecting data on old drives. You cannot recover bits of data from bits of shredded metal.

A benefit of using data destruction professionals is that they can provide you with the proper documentation that relieves you from all liability, as you have done everything in your power to protect important data. You can also witness the destruction first-hand if you do desire.

ShredDesk Inc. of Greenville is one such business that can provide this service and I highly recommend them!  Brent offers fast response and reasonable rates! He will personally visit your location, remove the hard drive for you, grind it to shreds and provide you with a Certificate of Destruction! Brent covers the entire Upstate and even has clients outside this area that he travels to.

If you are an IT worker, you can stockpile drives as you upgrade machines and call Brent when you have a stack of them to make it very cost affective and simple!

For more information about data destruction, data protection using hard drive backups, and network protection / security using firewalls, anti-virus and more, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac to be Released in October

Microsoft Office 2011

Microsoft Office 2011

Microsoft’s latest version of Office 2011 is due out in October of 2011. It features many improvements over previous versions and comes in the following flavors:

Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac and Messenger for Mac. It will retail for $119  for a single install and $149 for the “Family Pack” giving you up to 3 installs. The Home and Student edition includes the core productivity applications that Mac users want and need.

Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac, Outlook for Mac and Messenger for Mac. It will retail for $199 for a single install and $249 for the “Multi-Pack” which allows two installs. This version sports all features of the Home and Student version with the addition of Microsoft Outlook for Mac.

Microsoft Office for Mac Academic 2010 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac, Outlook for Mac and Messenger for Mac. It will retail for $99 and be available direct from Microsoft and authorized academic stores.

Buy  Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac today and upgrade to Office 2011 at no additional cost!

If you require additional information about Microsoft Office for Mac or Windows, please email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990-4748. Homeland Secure IT offers computer and network support in the Greenville / Upstate area, as well as national sales of Microsoft products!

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Warehouse Theatre’s Production of “The Clean House” #Greenville

TheCleanHouse

The Clean House - Sarah Ruhl

Let me preface this post with the fact that I had never heard of The Warehouse Theatre until my family participated in the “Google on Main” event earlier this year. After that event, there was a follow-up which took place at The Warehouse and that was the first time I set foot in the facility.

Since then, we have been seeing lots of discussions on various social media sources about plays and events at that venue and decided we just had to check it out, so I purchased tickets on the phone last week for “The Clean House”… To make this even more interesting, I scored a “Social Media Press Pass” which let me in for free…  What on earth was The Warehouse Theatre thinking when they gave MEa press pass? haha  I think it must be because I quickly jumped on the band wagon when Aaron Von Frank (@AaronVonFrank) said he and Paul would dress up as French Maids and clean the home of one lucky attendee if all the shows sold out!  

All that aside, I took my wife Pamela, 17 year old daughter Megan and 15 year old son Brett this afternoon’s performance of “The Clean House”.

Having little exposure to community theatre, I must admit that when I walked in the doors today I was not exactly sure what to expect. I’ve been to many plays and musical productions, paying lots of money for great seats in world reknown theatres, and to be honest, I had braced myself for disappointment. I assumed that I would be watching a production similar to a high school play, with lousy lighting, poor audio, a spartan set and worse, actors straight out of the high school drama department.

Boy was I wrong! The audio was perfect, excellent sound quality, not a missed cue. The lighting was outstanding, including a video backdrop with colored background and text/graphics that were perfectly synchronized with the actors – if there was a mistake made, I sure didn’t witness it!

The set itself was a work of art and fit perfectly with the lifestyle of Lane (Stark white, sterile, with modern furnishings), however, the biggest thing I was wrong about was the quality of these actors!

I am not familiar with the work of the playwright, Sarah Ruhl, but these actors managed to portray characters that I believe we all can relate to and managed to capture our hearts in doing so. Many Broadway productions I’ve seen could have benefited from the expertise of this cast! I saw nothing but true seasoned professionals!

Without giving away too much, this play is funny…  And the timing of the cast was impeccable.  The lead character, Matilda (played by Lynne Junker) is a hired on by Lane (Debra Capps) as a house keeper, but she hates cleaning… Matilda has us laughing from the start. Virginia (played by Elizabeth Finley) the OCD sister of Lane feels moved to help the “depressed” Matilda by cleaning for her.

While cleaning, Virginia discovers the undergarments of someone other than Lane and that leads to the assumption that Lane’s husband Charles is having an affair. As it turns out, it is more than an affair, and we are taken on an interesting ride through what could be considered unbelievable if you have never been involved in something so ludacris in real life. My wife says she can totally relate with every character as the twist and turns unfold.

The play takes you full circle through relationships and the drama that goes with them sometimes. As I mentioned, it is very lighthearted, so do go prepared to laugh at the tragic story. (It is really a love story, but I’ll let you discover this for yourself)…

I feel I must appologize to these wonderful actors and The Warehouse Theatre for being so cynical about what Greenville had to offer in The Arts. I have been missing out on a lot and I am glad to have discovered this source of entertainment and enlightenment for our family.  For a fraction of the cost of an evening at The Peace Center, you can rest assured we will be visiting this venue frequently! 

The next show at The Warehouse Theatre is “The Rocky Horror Show”, a personal favorite that is coming up in October!!!! Hope to see you there!

SECURE IT ALERT: Microsoft vulnerability in DLL handling – Prepare thy self…

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Homeland Secure IT Alert

Homeland Secure IT Alert #3 for Thursday, August 26, 2010

Not to be outdone by the Apple Mac OS X security issues, Microsoft has a few new issues as well. This time regarding DLL handling.

What follows is the original posting from US-CERT:

National Cyber Alert System

Technical Cyber Security Alert TA10-238A

Microsoft Windows Insecurely Loads Dynamic Libraries

Original release date: August 26, 2010
Last revised: —
Source: US-CERT

Systems Affected

Any application running on the Microsoft Windows platform that
uses dynamically linked libraries (DLLs) may be affected. Whether
or not an application is vulnerable depends on how it
specifically loads a DLL. Please see the Vendor Information
section of Vulnerability Note VU#707943 for information about
specific vendors.

Overview

Due to the way Microsoft Windows loads dynamically linked libraries
(DLLs), an application may load an attacker-supplied DLL instead of
the legitimate one, resulting in the execution of arbitrary code.

I. Description

Microsoft Windows supports dynamically linked libraries (DLLs) that
are loaded when needed by an application. DLLs are typically loaded
when the application is first started; however DLLs may be loaded
and unloaded while the application is running. An application can
request a DLL file in a variety of ways, and Windows uses several
different search algorithms to find DLL files. The interaction
between the application and Windows can result in a DLL file being
loaded from the current working directory of the application,
instead of the Windows system directory or the directory where the
application is installed.

The current working directory could be the desktop, a removable
storage device such as a USB key, a Windows file share, or a WebDAV
location. When a file associated with an application is opened, a
DLL in the same directory as the file may be loaded. Although an
attacker may not have permission to write to the Windows system or
application directories, the attacker may be able to write a DLL to
a directory used to store files, or the attacker could provide
their own directory.

Attacks against this type of vulnerability have been referred to as
“binary planting.” Please see Vulnerability Note VU#707943 and
Microsoft Security Advisory 2269637 for more information.

II. Impact

By placing a DLL with the correct name (and possibly the relative
directory path) in the current working directory, an attacker could
execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the application that
loads the DLL.

III. Solution

Individual applications that run on the Windows platform may
require patches or updates. Microsoft Knowledge Base article
KB2264107 describes an update that provides a registry key that can
prevent Windows from searching the current working directory for
DLL files.

Information about specific solutions for different vendors, general
mitigation techniques, and secure ways for applications to load
DLLs can be found in the Vendor Information and Solution sections
of Vulnerability Note VU#707943.

IV. References

* Vulnerability Note VU#707943 –

* Microsoft Security Advisory (2269637) –

* A new CWDIllegalInDllSearch registry entry is available to control
the DLL search path algorithm –

____________________________________________________________________

The most recent version of this document can be found at:
____________________________________________________________________

Feedback can be directed to US-CERT Technical Staff. Please send
email to with “TA10-238A Feedback VU#707943” in
the subject.
____________________________________________________________________

For instructions on subscribing to or unsubscribing from this
mailing list, visit .
____________________________________________________________________

Produced 2010 by US-CERT, a government organization.

Terms of use:
____________________________________________________________________

Revision History

August 26, 2010: Initial release

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If you have questions or need assistance with this issue, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

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Homeland Secure IT Alert

SECURE IT ALERT: Malicious Documents and Images Threaten OS X

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Homeland Secure IT Alert

Secure IT Alert #2 for Thursday, August 26 2010

More bad news for Mac owners. PLEASE update your systems. We are seeing the number of Mac and *nix exploits ramp up at an alarming rate. Many people have found rootkits were installed on their systems for no telling how long before they were discovered.

The following information was provided courtesy of WatchGuard. Fantastic firewall devices at reasonable prices! If you should be interested, we are a partner with WatchGuard and offer their full line-up.

 

Malicious Documents and Images Threaten OS X

Severity: Medium

24 August, 2010

Summary:

  • These vulnerabilities affect: All current versions of OS X 10.5.x (Leopard) and OS X 10.6.x (Snow Leopard)
  • How an attacker exploits them: Multiple vectors of attack, including enticing your users into downloading and viewing various documents or images
  • Impact: Various results; in the worst case, an attacker executes code on your user’s computer
  • What to do: OS X administrators should download, test and install Security Update 2010-005 as soon as possible, or let Apple’s Software updater do it for you.

Exposure:

Today, Apple released a security update to fix vulnerabilities in all current versions of OS X. The update fixes thirteen (number based on CVE-IDs) security issues in seven components that ship as part of OS X, including PHP, CoreGraphics, and ClamAV. Some of the fixed vulnerabilities include:

  • CoreGraphics Buffer Overflow Vulnerability. CoreGraphics is an OS X component that helps output graphics to your display (or printer). CoreGraphics suffers from a heap buffer overflow vulnerability involving the way it handles PDF files. If an attacker can get a victim to view a specially crafted PDF document (perhaps hosted on a malicious web site), he could exploit this flaw to either crash an application or to execute attack code on the victim’s computer. By default, the attacker would only execute code with that user’s privileges.
  • ATF Buffer Overflow Vulnerability. The Apple Type Service (ATS) helps OS X machines handle fonts. ATS suffers from a buffer overflow vulnerability having to do with the way it handles embedded fonts. By tricking one of your users into downloading and viewing a malicious document containing a specially crafted font, an attacker can exploit this flaw to execute code on that user’s computer. By default, the attacker would only execute code with that user’s privileges. 
  • Multiple PHP Vulnerabilities. PHP is a general-purpose scripting language primarily used to create dynamic web applications, which ships with OS X. Apple’s update fixes several vulnerabilities found in PHP 5.3.1. However, Apple only describes one of the PHP vulnerabilities in any detail. The vulnerability involves a buffer overflow flaw within one of PHP’s image handling function libraries. By enticing one of your OS X users into viewing a specially crafted PNG image (perhaps hosted on a malicious web site), an attacker could exploit this flaw to execute code on that user’s computer, with that user’s privileges.

Apple’s alert also describes other vulnerabilities, including some Denial of Service (DoS) flaws, information disclosure issues, and a few more code executions flaws. Components patched by this security update include:

ATS CFNetwork
ClamAV CoreGraphics
libsecurity PHP
Samba  

Please refer to Apple’s OS X 10.5.x and 10.6.x alert for more details.

Solution Path:

Apple has released OS X Security Update 2010-004 and OS X 10.6.4 to fix these security issues. OS X administrators should download, test, and deploy the corresponding update as soon as they can.

Note: If you have trouble figuring out which of these patches corresponds to your version of OS X, we recommend that you let OS X’s Software Update utility pick the correct updates for you automatically.

For All Users:

These flaws enable many diverse exploitation methods. Some of the exploits are local, meaning that your perimeter firewall never encounters the attack (unless you use firewalls internally between departments). Installing these updates, therefore, is the most secure course of action.

Status:

Apple has released updates to fix this flaw.

References:

This alert was researched and written by Corey Nachreiner, CISSP.


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Jargon defined in the LiveSecurity Online Glossary.

If you require assistance please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com – we offer computer & network support to Greenville / Upstate, SC

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