Want the best Anti-Virus available for personal use? Try Trend Micro Internet Security for FREE!

Trend Micro Internet Security

Trend Micro Internet Security is great for business or personal use!

In previous posts I have primarily focused on Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security products which is a perfect solution for a small, medium or even larger company who has a server to host it on and five computers or more. (With WFBS Hosted, you do not need a server to host it on, it is hosted in the cloud).  The reason for that is because we service a lot of companies and organizations who have 5 or more computers.

But what about those of you who have only one or two computers at home, your small business or a non-profit? Fortunately, Trend Micro has a product especially for you! It is called Trend Micro Internet Security, and its big brother Trend Micro Internet Security Pro!

Trend Micro Internet Security is an outstanding product which has never let us down. We have hundreds of seats of Trend Micro in use currently without a single unhappy client! The “footprint” of this anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-spyware, anti-spam product is much smaller than some of the other packages that are available, meaning that it uses less resources, leaving more for your important applications (and even gaming).

Here are some of the features direct from the Trend Micro website:

Surf the web with confidence

With easy-to-use security features, Trend Micro Internet Security protects your personal information when you email or surf the web:

  • 20% smaller file size, 20% faster scan time
  • Detects and removes viruses, spyware, and other malicious threats from your computer, email, instant messages, and downloads
  • Proven leadership in anti-spam technology, including email and image spam
  • Finds and blocks untrustworthy links in email and instant messages
  • Stops websites from installing dangerous downloads on your computer
  • Quick Scan allows you to quickly find and remove most malware when you are running short on time.

Protect your children online

Enhanced parental controls help you to protect your children from inappropriate content when they go online.

  • Block websites with inappropriate content based on specific categories
  • Choose when and for how long your children are allowed to go online
  • Monitor online activity reports to fine-tune your controls if necessary

Enjoy smart features tailored to your activities

Trend Micro Internet Security safeguards your computer and personal information against the latest threats:

  • Prevent unauthorized software from changing your critical applications, without impacting your PC performance
  • Pause security updates or scans when you give presentations, watch movies, or play games
  • Automatically prevent suspicious software on USB devices from opening.
  • Helps you to easily manage all the devices connected to your home network

Security made easy.

Protect your personal information with easy-to-use Trend Micro Internet Security. Surf the Internet without slowing down your computer.

Keep your personal information safe — order today!

Protect up to 3 PCs per household for $49.95 per year.

100% Money-Back Guarantee

All Trend Micro consumer software purchased through the Trend Micro online store have an unconditional 30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee. For purchases made elsewhere, the retailer’s terms and conditions apply.

HOW TO TRY:

You can get a 30 day trial of Trend Micro Internet Security or Internet Security Pro for FREE by visiting HERE. Simply click the “Free Trial” link, and fill out a little information and you can download the product and see for yourself how well it works on your system before committing to purchase. During the trial, if you decide to purchase, you can purchase direct from Trend Micro or through your favorite reseller (I hope that is us!).

HOW TO BUY:

You can buy from Homeland Secure IT, LLC by calling 864-990-4748 ext 201 or emailing info@homelandsecureit.com. We offer sales of this product for one computer, 3 computers, dozens or even thousands at reasonable prices. We can provide it as a retail package, or licensing (for 5 computers or more) which helps cut down on packaging and shipping costs because the licenses are delivered electronically.

In addition to offering sales of Trend Micro Anti-Virus, we also perform installations, upgrades,  virus cleanup &  removal,  as well as the full range of computer repair / service in Greenville and Upstate SC!

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Our Seneca Data Nexlink SP Series Notebooks Mean Business! Intel i3, i5, i7, Microsoft Windows 7 Pro & More!

SP 4000 Notebook from Nexlink

The SP 4000 Notebook from Nexlink means BUSINESS

When buying a new or replacement notebook for your business, you may turn to Dell, HP, Lenovo, or Toshiba for trusted and reliable products, that is why we are partners with and offer these fine brands! However, there are some outstanding alternatives which may be of interest to your company.

First, let’s discuss the difference between a computer designed for consumers and one designed specifically for business. The most notable difference is that a computer purchased for home use will come loaded with Microsoft Windows 7 Home (either basic or premium), which will not allow your shiny new computer to join a corporate domain. The business computer will have Microsoft Windows 7 Professional loaded on it, which supports all domain functions required to associate with your corporate domain. You *can* upgrade a Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium computer to have the Professional or even Ultimate version of the operating system on it, but you will spend additional money and additional time doing so.

Lastly, the hardware design of the business computer may and likely does incorporate higher quality components, such as hard drive, displays, cooling fans, and even power supplies, which are designed with longer duty cycles in mind. The “duty cycle” is the amount of time the computer may be used. Typically a business computer will be on 24/7, or at the very least, from 8AM to 5PM Monday through Friday, while a home or consumer based system may see only a couple hours a day. A manufacturer will want to design their business based computer to outlast their warranty period for a computer that is on continuously. In the case of notebooks, a business notebook may be more robustly built to handle the abuse that a typical worker inflicts upon their systems.

What does this mean for you and your business? Simply stated, putting a computer built for home use to work at your company will function, but will it provide the user experience and the longevity of a system designed specifically for that purpose? In our experience, the odds are 50/50, and those are not enough in our favor to attempt, so we always recommend a system built for the job.

The downside to purchasing business computer systems is that the upfront costs are going to be higher. To offset some of that, you may wish to look into alternative business systems instead of the mainstream brands.

We are proud to offer Seneca Data Nexlink SP Series Notebook computers which feature Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Pentium, Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors,  13.3″ or 15.6″ displays with 1366×768 resolution, webcam, Intel HM55 Express Chipset, NVIDA GeForce GT 330M 1GB graphics, full numeric keypad and a full docking station as options.

Seneca Data is a mature company with over 30 years of experience in offering solutions right here in America! We have extensive experience with Seneca Data’s Nexlink brand of custom-built desktops, notebooks, servers and storage devices. Each Nexlink platform is assembled using on the highest quality, tier-one components and undergoes rigorous testing to receive Windows (R) Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) approval. Nexlink products consistantly offer performance, quality and reliability to Business, Government, Education, Healthcare, Enthusiast, and OEM customers nationwide.

Another advantage is that in the event of the need for customer support, we as vendors have had a pleasant experience in dealing with Seneca because they are a US based company, with technical support that speaks English! No disrespect meant to any other company, but when we are trying to do our job, adding a language barrier does not make matters easier.

The next time you need to buy a notebook, consider Seneca Data’s Nexlink SP series! We can spec one to suit your needs. We offer the full line of Nexlink products, from desktops, thin clients, tablet computers to servers! Call us at 864-990-4748 ext 201 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for more information! If you are in Greenville or the Upstate, we will come to you to evaluate your needs!

What does FourSquare offer a computer service business?

If you are reading this blog post, you probably know that I am pretty involved in Social Media. Some may say I am addicted to it!

I am active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, Plaxo, and still have a MySpace account, though I don’t really use it that much. I haved tried out Google Buzz, FriendFeed, and several business only SM sites. (Heck, I have even checked out Chat Roulette and Omegle – but that is an entirely different story)

Out of all of these, one that I fail to see the value in for a computer service, repair and sales business like Homeland Secure IT is FourSquare. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I use it constantly, and get very frustrated when it isn’t working like I think it should. But I use it for personal purposes. If you have not played with FourSquare, it is a geolocation based social media “tool” that lets you “check-in” to a venue or location when you get there using your GPS equiped smartphone. Assume you go to Starbucks for a quick Dark Cherry Mocha Frapp – you “check-in” and now the whole world can see what you are doing.  You can brag to Twitter & Facebook that you have disposable income you can spend on yummy coffee.

Same thing goes for attractions like amusement parks, ball games, and stores like say, “Target”. If you check-in enough times, you become the “Mayor” of that venue!

Here is where the value of FourSquare comes in… Assume you check-in and become mayor of XYZ Sandwich Shop. You have been announcing this for a while, everytime you visit there. The whole world has seen you were there, giving free advertisement to XYZ! But, if XYZ is smart, they will reward you for your loyalty and offer a free sandwich when someone becomes Mayor, and maybe a free drink every time the Mayor visits after that. A very cheap price to pay for this type of advertising.

Many places, especially restaurants, will offer specials that popup when you check-in near their venue. These will show up as a “SPECIAL NEARBY – Check out the great ribs at ABC BBQ”, which can help bring new business into these places. And still other places will offer you a free entree when you visit several of their location. FourSquare itself offers “Badges” for accomplishing certain feats, such as checking into three Starbucks locations.

All that said, our business does not have foot traffic nor visitors, so offering a “Free Virus Cleanup” to a mayor would be silly. I believe I am the only person to check-in to our location in the months that I have been using it. But it does bring up a pet peeve of mine. Today I was ousted as Mayor of a local coffee shop – BY THE OWNER OF THE PLACE. Wow, that doesn’t do anything to help with loyalty. My suggestion to places that want to check-in themselves, create a second venue, call it XYZ Sandwich Shop STAFF, and let the staff go crazy checking in!

I would further suggest that business owners who can benefit from FourSquare’s power of (free) advertising, take advantage of it the way it was meant to be used. Offer Mayors a treat, some recognition, and encourage them to remain the mayor and others to try and oust the current mayor. 4sq is both a FUN, and a very useful business tool, when used properly.

BTW: If you can think of a way 4sq can be used to promote our computer repair business here in Greenville, and increase loyalty, well I’m all ears, but until that happens, I will be trying to take my place as mayor of every great business in the Upstate!  Watch out Mayors, I’m coming for you…   

BTW: Have fun, it is only a game!  (But seriously, I’m coming for you)…    Also check out other geolocational based SM tools / toys like Gowalla, Gypsii, BrightKite, Loopt, etc…

Cisco, Microsoft & Trend Micro licensing in Greenville / Upstate, SC #Greenville

The next time your business needs to purchase new or renewal Cisco SMARTnet services, Trend Micro Anti-Virus, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Server, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Office, Microsoft User / Server CALs, or Microsoft Software Assurance, please remember Homeland Secure IT…

We offer sales of licensing and renewals for these and many other great companies…  Just call 864-990-4748 ext 201 or email info@homelandsecureit.com – We serve Greenville and the Upstate of SC, as well as nationwide licensing sales

Avoid being blacklisted for spam – Use a mailing list manager like iContact, MadMimi or Constant Contact

Email Icon

Mailing List Mayhem

Let’s assume you are managing a mail distribution list with more than 50 people on it for a church or business and currently you are handling it in Outlook. Why not assume it is for a newsletter or bulletin…

Some of the problems you face are as follows: ( AKA the Top 10 Reasons to Switch to Email Marketing)

10. This is just too confusing and time consuming (see reasons 9 through 1 below)

9. Sending large emails with pictures or PDF attachments to dozens of people can slow your mail server to a crawl and take all day to send.

8. You have to manually add and remove each recipient, which is time consuming and is prone to human error (typos, accidental deletion of the wrong people).

7. You have no way for people to add themselves via a link on your website.

6. Subscribers are not verified, they have not opted-in. (Read more about the CAN-SPAM Act).

5. You have no way to see if your email was actually OPENED, or see which links were clicked on in your email.

4. Your mail distribution list likely has only the email address of each person and no idea of who happygirl1977@gmail.com really is.

3. You do not have a list of which addresses are bouncing, unless you compile  it yourself from the actual bounced messages.

2. If you are sending newsletters, you may be just constructing your email inside Outlook and it may be text based, with no real consistency in appearance.

And the number one issue faced by those using Outlook to manage a mailing list/newsletter: You are sending a large number of emails from your account, which may appear to recipients and mail servers to be junk mail, which could ultimately result in your mail ending up in the spam folder, or worse, certain mail servers could see traffic from you as unsolicited email and flag your IP address as suspicious, resulting in the inability to send to that domain again until it is cleared up. In some cases, you could be blacklisted and placed on a real-time block list (RBL) and that would affect all mail sent from everyone at your business or organization to many mail servers around the world. (Those types of problems can take a while to get cleared up, and some RBLs hold you hostage and make you pay a fee before removing you).

The solution to these nightmares is to make a small monthly investment and use one of the many mailing list managers that are designed for email marketing and newsletters. They address all of the issues above, and give you an easy template based interface which allows you to create well structured newsletters, and send them to your subscribers without fear of blacklisting, and without the hassles of manually editing distribution lists. You can place a signup button and form on your website, and anyone who is interested can subscribe themselves to your list!

As an added bonus, you can see how many of the emails went out, how many were opened, which links were clicked on and other analytic information that will assist you in determining what content is “interesting” to your subscriber base. You also see how many bounced, without having a dozen bounce messages in your inbox!

You are probably thinking that this must be expensive and there is no way you can afford it. Quite the contrary, you can get started for FREE by signing up for an evaluation. After the trial period, you can then subscribe for a few dollars per month. I personally opted for MadMimi (see link below) because it is the most affordable, however,  any of the three are awesome!

If you would like to subscribe to our mailing lists, or see what the subscription form looks like, click here:

Subscribe to our mailing lists

Subscribe to our mailing lists

Try these out for free:

Mad Mimi Email Marketing

Constant Contact

iContact

One last thing – Using these solutions you do not have to have a Publisher, or even Office loaded. It does not matter if you are on a Microsoft Windows machine, Apple Mac, a netbook or even a tablet or pad computer, you can create your newsletter with just about any computer with a web browser!

If you have questions or need some assistance, just let me know, I will do what I can to help!

Don’t forget to sign up to win our security camera giveaway #greenville

Only a few days left until we giveaway the Wireless IP / Network Security Camera so be sure to get signed up to win…..  Visit this URL for more information or hit the “follow me” link over on the right hand side of this page.

Next month, we will probably give away some awesome Trend Micro Anti-Virus product!!!!!

Thanks for playing…

SC Sales Tax Holiday is a Great Time to Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010 or a New Computer!

SC Sales Tax Holiday

Those of you who are lucky enough to live in the Great State of South Carolina can look forward to August 6th as that starts the Sales Tax Holiday!

That’s right, starting at 12:01AM on Friday, August 6th and ending at 12:00PM on Sunday, August 8th is your chance to buy items for student use without the 6% SC State sales tax.

The catch is – the items you purchase must fit into two categories – #1 it must be for school use, and #2 it must fit the long list of appropriate products, which can be found at www.sctax.org.

Technology-wise, if you are attending a university, a technical college, or have a child in school, you can purchase an entire computer, notebook / laptop, printers, and software and get this savings. You can’t buy computer parts, such as a monitor, UNLESS you purchase that monitor at the time you purchase the computer.

This could be an awesome opportunity to save some money… Imagine if you were planning on buying a top-of-the-line computer, with a big LCD monitor, Microsoft Office 2010 and Trend Micro anti-virus, not having to pay tax could save you enough to upgrade to an even BIGGER LCD monitor for the same price as you would pay if you purchased this system today. Or, optionally, if you are like my family with two children, and you have to buy two similar systems – waiting until the SC Tax Holiday could save enough money in taxes to buy my wife dinner at Ruth’s Chris or Pomegranate which would go a long way towards calming her down over such a large expenditure.

If you are a computer / network / technology student, learning to perform computer service, network support, etc, I believe this would cover your purchase of Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Exchange, Cisco firewalls and security equipment as well, but please do read the information at the www.sctax.org site to make sure.  It will surely cover expensive software such as Adobe suites which students can already get a discount for the academic version, but a further 6% sure helps!

Homeland Secure IT is an authorized reseller for many outstanding computer / notebook companies such as Lenovo, HP, Toshiba, Nexlink and Dell, as well as Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWall & Microsoft partners, so if we can help you with that next computer purchase or upgrade, let us know! We serve Greenville and the Upstate of SC…

Happy shopping!

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Electronic Medical Records for Healthcare – Are they safe? EMR, EHR

Electronic Medical Records

Electronic Medical Records Could Pose a Threat to Your Privacy & Security

It is no surprise that Electronic Healthcare Records / Electronic Medical Records are all over the news currently. It is an issue that affects our privacy and anytime that is in question, we get people on both sides of the fence up in arms.

Built into the 2009 stimulus bill are requirements that healthcare records go digital by 2014. Yet it is not mandated exactly how that be done, nor how that is to be protected. If you Google around a little bit you will find websites and forums dedicated to this topic. Obviously more is being said about the policy itself than the mechanics of it. I won’t get into what I believe here, but I will cover some specifics about how medical facilities are handling this requirement.

Some doctors in small practices are already digital, or at least using a blend of paper records and electronic records. They may be storing them in various formats, from scanning the paper documents and storing images of them on a computer, to having full fledged professionally written and mainstream client management systems, but the majority I am aware of in family practices go for the cheapest way out in order to have their data on computers. The advantages of having digital copies are that they can back it up offsite in case of  a catastrophe and, they can access it from another location besides their own office, in the event they need to do so.

Now for the downsides. These systems have the exact same vulnerabilities that your desktop PC has, because they are using nothing more than the standard desktop PC. IF they are at all concerned about HIPAA they may have some safeguards in place, but time and time again, I hear about computers with some of the following issues:

No backup system in place: Not a threat to YOUR data, but all that information could be lost.

No anti-virus, or outdated / non-functional anti-virus: Of course this is a huge issue and could pose the largest threat. Even though anti-virus, like Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security is affordable, many doctors fail to realize the importance of this, or feel that using a FREE product is fine, when in fact it is against the terms of usage for those “free” products to be used in business.

Machines not patched: Another common-place problem is for computers to go without updates from Microsoft (or even Apple if they are using Mac OS-X) which make for extremely vulnerable systems – one part-time employee gets bored and browses to the wrong site and a bad guy now has access to everything inside that doctor’s office because the OS had big gaping holes in it, or applications such as Adobe Flash were unpatched.

Hardware firewall not in use or outdated: Many people believe the firewall on their PC (either built-in one or one provided by an anti-virus solution) is adequate and all they have in place is a Linksys, D-Link or other router. Firewalls keep bad guys from getting in, or at least slow them down. Quality devices from Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWALL, Zyxel are affordable these days, however many opt to leave them out of the mix. A common excuse I hear is that the ISP provides their firewall, in the form of an Adtran or even a Cisco router, but nobody is aware of whether it has the latest software loaded on it. Any firewall in place is better than none, but one that is not up to date is vulnerable to someone who really wants in.

These are just a few of the more common issues that can make Electronic Medical Records vulnerable to disclosure. The list is a long one, and it is best to enlist the assistance of a computer service provider to evaluate your network. In fact, it would be a good idea to have more than one network support specialist look over your network if you are in the medical field. If you are in the Greenville or Upstate SC area, please call upon us at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com if you would like more information. We are authorized dealers for Cisco, Trend Micro, SonicWall, Zyxel, WatchGuard, Servosity Online Backup and more.

If you worry about the security of your medical records, ask your healthcare provider to provide you with information that shows what they are doing to protect your privacy.

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Bloggers can post directly to WordPress using Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010

Do you have a blog and tire of entering your entries through the WordPress web interface? Sure, some people post using Outlook and email their blog entries, but using Word to publish is another great weapon in your arsenal.

Using Microsoft Office 2010, you can simplify your life a little by composing the posting in the familiar Word editor and then publish to your WordPress blog!

How do you do this? Easy as pie…

Step 1: Get a blog! Oh wait, you already have one or you wouldn’t be reading this.

Step 2: Get Microsoft Office 2010 (or 2007).

Step 3: Write your blog entry in Word and when ready to publish, select “File” from the pull down, then “Save & Send” and finally “Publish as Blog Post”

Step 4: The first time you do this, you will be prompted to “Register a Blog Account”… Select “Register Now”

Step 5: Select the type of blog you have, such as WordPress, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint blog, etc…  I’ll go with WP from here on….

Step 6: You need to enter the path to your xmlrpc.php, such as: http://www.yourblog.com/wordpress/xmlrpc.php

Step 7: Enter the user name and password you use to log into your blog and select “OK” (Select “Remember Password” if you trust nobody is going to use your computer and enter silly blog posts for you)

Step 8: Profit… Uhmm okay, maybe not…  Let’s try that again… Step 8: Post something interesting to the blogospher for the rest of us to read!

If you have not tried out Microsoft Office 2010 yet, you can download a free trial, or you can purchase from your favorite Microsoft Partner, like US! Call us at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for additional information.

Eaton power protection products could save your computers & servers #greenville #upstate

Lightning Strike

One lightning strike can ruin your whole day...

This last week has been a bad week for computers in Greenville & the Upstate.  I don’t know what it is, but we have had computers come in with fried power supplies, toasted motherboards and hard drives, and a call from a potential client this morning with a dead PC and a destroyed hard drive.

Power protection experts estimate that over half of all dead power supplies could have been prevented if an UPS / Uninterruptable Power Supply had been used. That’s a lot of power supplies! And more importantly, that is a lot of money that consumers could potentially save.

While the power supply itself is not expensive, usually costing less than 100 dollars on most computers, the damage that a power supply can cause to the PC can be much greater. We have seen entire motherboards ripped apart and even fires on the extreme end of the spectrum, and lesser damage such as zapped memory, processors, and hard drives on the other end. At the very least, a power supply that fails will cost you in terms of time and inconvenience.

Should a hard drive be damaged by one of these power events, you could potentially lose everything on the drive, or need to send it out for recovery if you don’t have backups. What? You don’t have backups? Please try our FREE trial of Servosity Online Backup before it is too late….

What can you do to protect yourself? Install an UPS! We are proud to be Eaton Power Advantage partners and can offer the full line of Eaton products. They have an UPS for every application, from your small home system, home office, small, medium and large business, all the way up to enterprise and data center solutions!  Don’t forget about your expensive Apple Mac systems, CCTV and VoIP systems, they need protection too!

Please check out the Eaton Product Showcase at http://www.homelandsecureit.com/Partners/Eaton-Power-Products.html

Or, call us for more information at 864-990-4748 – email info@homelandsecureit.com