Cloud computing: Is Microsoft Aurora / BPOS right for your small business?

Today you can hardly have a conversation with IT professionals without the buzz words, “cloud computing”, “in the cloud”, “cloud solutions”, etc popping up. What do these terms mean? To over-simplify the definition, it means that something is not stored at your location. It is stored “in the cloud”, or on a remote server, and accessed via the internet. The …

Trend Micro Personal Security Products Going End of Life December, 31 2010

It’s that time of the year again where we must say goodbye to support for previous generation  personal security products from Trend Micro. Trend Micro will continue to provide support for your current version until the “End of Support” date. If you have a current and active subscription with a supported operating system, then you can always upgrade for free …

Upstate storms underscore need for computer backup solutions and UPS

Last night was scary for some people here in the Upstate of SC. Easley was hit hard in the business area of Main Street and Pendleton Street and residences along 135 by the passing storms. As I watched the news and saw the video footage of damage, I felt horrible for the business and home owners affected. We turned on …

SECURE IT ALERT: Adobe addresses vulnerabilities in Reader, Acrobat & Flash Player

Homeland Secure IT Alert for Friday, November 19, 2010 This week, Adobe released additional updates that cover Adobe Reader, Acrobat and Flash Player… The existing bulletin published on October 28th was updated to cover the changes… I have attached the updated security bulletin below, but in short, if you are using Adobe products, it is important that you apply these …

Stuxnet virus possibly biggest threat to industry ever

An article from the Associated Press published on news.yahoo.com on Wednesday outlines the threat that the Stuxnet virus poses to industry around the world. The malicious computer attack appears to primarily target the Iranian nuclear plants, but according to the article, it can be modified to interfere with industrial control systems around the world, and “represents the most dire cyberthreat …

Un-complicate your life by using a remote backup solution for your laptop

If you are using CDs,  DVDs, flash drives, external hard drives, or other physical media to backup your notebook computer, you are doing 100% more to protect your data than the majority of all PC owners! However, you are also spending time connecting devices or inserting backup media and likely are manually starting the backup, leaving lots of room for …

SECURE IT ALERT: Huge OS X Update Closes 134 Security Holes

Homeland Secure IT Alert Homeland Secure IT Alert for Friday, November 12 2010 Apple Mac OS X users received some lovin’ in the security department this week with, count ’em, 134 security vulnerability fixes… These “holes” can allow an attacker to gain full control of your machine. The most common of which seems to be of the “rootkit” variety, giving …

Six MILLION dollars for computer virus cleanup? That’s what one man paid!

A New York Times article that was tweeted yesterday by @randomlycb really caught my attention… It involves a well-to-do gentleman who takes his computer to a local (New York) computer repair facility for a simple virus cleanup / removal in 2006, and things go horribly wrong. The owner of the computer service center tells the PC owner that he has …

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SECURE IT ALERT: Microsoft Patch Tuesday Brings Critical Office Updates

Homeland Secure IT Alert for Wednesday, Nov 10, 2010 Welcome to another exciting episode of Microsoft Patch Tuesday! In this batch of updates, Microsoft has focused on critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft office.  I have included WatchGuard’s description of the updates below since it is a LOT more understandable than the Microsoft version. If you require any assistance with these or …