#LeapIntoIT Kindle Fire Giveaway

It’s that time again!  Time for us to have some fun, and help one of our Upstate, SC friends get something cool to play with.

We’ve given away stuff before, like Trend Micro anti-virus, a wireless IP security camera, a Cisco Flip Mino HD video camera, Microsoft Office 2010, and even a Microsoft X-BOX 360, but this is likely the most exciting thing yet, or at least the 2nd most exciting!

We decided that since it is a Leap Year, we will help one person leap into the tablet computer revolution by giving them one of the hottest little tablets out… The Amazon Kindle Fire!  It is far more than just an eBook Reader, it’s a smokin’ hot tablet too!  So hot, it’s on FIRE! =)

Let’s call it the “Leap Into IT” giveaway!  #LeapIntoIT

Who is eligible?

Anyone who can walk into the Homeland Secure IT office at 104 Mauldin Rd, STE E in Greenville, SC to retrieve the tablet in person. We will NOT SHIP IT. Also, you must not be prohibited by law from participating in any giveaway, and all that legal mumbo-jumbo. Let’s put an age restriction on it too.  You must not be older than, no wait, you must be at least 18 to participate.

Employees of Homeland Secure IT cannot play this silly game because they would never get any work done.

Past winners of Homeland Secure IT giveaways ARE eligible (Andrea, James, Hal, etc)

How do you get involved in this?

There is NO purchase necessary, but there are some things that you will want to do…

• Pass through our initiation process – This is where you tattoo your forehead with the Homeland Secure IT logo. Okay, this is optional.
• Sign up to this blog by hitting the SUBSCRIBE BUTTON over in the right-hand column. You can receive the daily blog posts in email first thing in the morning this way. And you can opt out later (after the contest is over) when you get tired of my yammering…
• Sign up for our SUPER LOW traffic mailing lists HERE … We rarely send anything out, so you won’t be too annoyed. You can unsubscribe from either or both at anytime, AFTER the contest end date.
• Go to our home page at www.HomelandSecureIT.com and hit the Google +1 button & Facebook “like” while you are there.
• Go to our Google business places page and leave a review and rating (hopefully a good one)
• Go to Merchant Circle and leave a review/rating
• Go to Yelp and leave a review/rating
• Go to Yahoo! and leave a review/rating
• LIKE us on facebook HERE …     Follow us on Twitter HERE …

Here is a list of ways to connect:  

http://www.homelandsecureit.com/connect.html

If you connect in a different manner and you feel it is important, email me, or tag me in a post so I can see what you have done and count that as well!

In review, it is up to you to determine how much, or how little you wish to get involved. The more ways you connect, the more chances to get this darn Kindle Fire!

How is the selection made?

Good question! We lay out a grid, with your each name written in it in the parking lot, and we then shoot a gerbil straight into the air, and in whatever grid the gerbil falls into, that’s our winner.

Okay, (maybe) it isn’t like that at all.  No, in fact it is not.

On February 29th, 2012, I’ll take every name/email address from our mailing lists, all the names of those who have reviewed us on Yelp, Google Places, Yahoo! & Merchant Circle, all the mentions on Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, all the Likes and Follows on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, all the Google Plus +1s, and dump them into a spread sheet. Next I go to www.Random.Org and put the number of lines in my spreadsheet as the max number and generate a random number.

Whoever matches that number in the spreadsheet is contacted.

If they are out of the area and cannot get it in person, another number will be selected and the process repeated until we have a winner!

So, with that said… Let’s do this!   Leap Into IT!!!!

Cisco SPA525G2 with 32 button sidecar

One of the best selling phones for the small and medium business (SMB) market is the Cisco SPA525G2 phone. The entire series of SPA phones are affordable, reliable and well suited to SMB use, but the 525 G2 is the current big daddy with its color display, ability to play MP3s from a memory stick, sync to your cell phone via bluetooth, built-in bluetooth for wireless headset usage and so much more.

On every system we sell that includes the SPA 525, we get a few questions like, ‘How do you answer another extension?”, and of course we answer it, but, with such a long list of these “star codes”, I can’t remember them myself.

Cisco Star Codes for SPA525G2 Phones:

• Call Return (*69)—Calls the last caller, regardless which extension.
• Blind Transfer (*98)—Allows the user to transfer a call to another number  without waiting for the other party to pick up.
• Call Back Act (*66)—Periodically redials the last busy number (every 30  seconds by default) until it rings or until the attempt expires (30 min by default), regardless which extension. Only one call back operation can be ordered at a time. A new order automatically cancels the previous order.
• Call Back Deact (*86)—Cancels the last call back operation.
• Call Forward All Act (*72)—Call forwards all inbound calls. Applies to primary extension only.
• Call Forward All Deact (*73)—Cancels call forward all. Applies to primary extension only.
• Call Forward Busy Act (*90)—Call forwards on busy. Applies to primary extension only.
• Call Forward Busy Deact (*91)—Cancels call forward on busy. Applies to primary extension only.
• Call Forward No Answer Act (*92)—Call forwards if no answer. Applies to primary extension only.
• Call Forward No Answer Deact (*93)—Cancels call forward no answer. Applies to primary extension only.
• CW Act (*56)—Enables call waiting. For example, if call waiting is turned off globally, this star code will turn on call waiting until the CW Deact code is entered.
• CW Deact (*57)—Deactivates call waiting. For example, if call waiting is turned on globally, this star code deactivates call waiting until the CW Act code is entered.
• CW Per Call Act (*71)—Enables call waiting for a single call. For example, if  call waiting is turned off globally, this star code will turn on call waiting for that call.
• CW Per Call Deact (*70)—Deactivates call waiting for a single call. For example, if call waiting is turned on globally, this star code deactivates call waiting for that call.
• Block CID Act (*67)—Blocks caller ID on all outbound calls. Applies to all extensions.
• Block CID Deact (*68)—Deactivates caller ID blocking on outbound calls. Applies to all extensions.
• Block CID Per Call (*81)—Blocks caller ID on the next outbound call (on the current call appearance only).
• Block CID Per Call Deact (*82)—Deactivates caller ID blocking on the next outbound call (on the current call appearance only).
• Block ANC Act—Blocks anonymous calls. Applies to all extensions.
• Block ANC Deact—Deactivates anonymous call blocking. Applies to all  extensions.
• DND Act (*78)—Activates Do Not Disturb. Applies to all extensions.
• DND Deact (*79)—Deactivates Do Not Disturb. Applies to all extensions.
• Secure All Call Act (*16)—Defaults to prefer to use encrypted media (voice codecs).
• Secure No Call Act (*17)—Defaults to prefer to use unencrypted media for all outbound calls. Applies to all extensions.
• Secure One Call Act (*18)—Prefers to use encrypted media for the outbound call (on this call appearance only).
• Secure One Call Deact (*19)—Prefers to use unencrypted media for the outbound call (on this call appearance only).
• Paging (*96)—Pages the number called.
• Call Park (*38)—Parks a call on an entered line number.
• Call UnPark Code (*39)—Retrieves a call from an entered line number.
• Call Pickup (*36)—Picks up a call at an entered extension.
• Group Call Pickup (*37)—Picks up a ringing call at a group of extensions.
• Media Loopback Code (*03)—A service provider can set up a test call from an IP media loopback server (the source) to a subscriber’s VoIP device (the mirror). The test call provides statistical reporting on network performance  and audio quality.

Depending on the source’s capabilities, the SP can see packet jitter, loss, and delay (although Media Loopback cannot identify an offending hop). This helps the SP identify an offending hop that could be causing issues in VoIP calls to a subscriber. The test results can also provide audio quality scoring, which lets a SP better understand the subscriber’s experience.

Referral Services Codes—One or more * codes can be configured into this parameter, such as *98, or *97|*98|*123, and so on. The maximum total length is 79 characters.
This parameter applies when the user places the current call on hold (by Hook Flash) and is listening to second dial tone. Each * code (and the following valid target number according to current dial plan) entered on the second dial-tone triggers the Cisco IP phone to perform a blind transfer to a target number that is prepended by the service * code. For example:
a. After the user dials *98, the Cisco IP phone plays a special prompt tone while waiting for the user the enter a target number (which is validated according to the dial plan as in normal dialing).
b. When a complete number is entered, the Cisco IP phone sends a blind REFER  to the holding party with the Refer-To target equals to *98 target_number. This  feature allows the Cisco IP phone to hand off a call to an application server to perform further processing, such as call park. The * codes should not conflict with any of the other vertical service codes internally processed by the Cisco IP phone. You can delete any * code that you do  not want the call server to process.

Feature Dial Services Codes: Tells the Cisco IP phone what to do when the user is  listening to the first or second dial tone.
You can configure one or more * codes into this parameter, such as *72, or *72|*74|*67|*82, and so on. The maximum total length is 79 characters. When the user has a dial tone (first or second dial tone), they can enter a * code (and the  following target number according to current dial plan) to trigger the Cisco IP phone to call the target number prepended by the * code. For example:
a. After the user dials *72, the Cisco IP phone plays a special prompt tone while waiting for the user the enter a target number (which is validated according to the dial plan as in normal dialing).
b. When a complete number is entered, the Cisco IP phone sends an INVITE to *72 target_number as in a normal call. This feature allows the proxy to process features such as call forward (*72) or BLock Caller ID (*67).
You can add a parameter to each * code in Features Dial Services Codes to indicate what tone to play after the * code is entered, such as *72‘c‘|*67‘p‘.

Following is a list of allowed dial tone parameters (note the use of back quotes surrounding the parameter without spaces).

•  ‘c‘ = Cfwd dial tone
•  ‘d‘ = Dial tone
•  ‘m‘ = MWI dial tone
•  ‘o‘ = Outside dial tone
•  ‘p‘ = Prompt dial tone
•  ‘s‘ = Second dial tone
•  ‘x‘ = No tones are place, x is any digit not used above

If no tone parameter is specified, the Cisco IP phone plays the prompt tone by default.
If the * code is not to be followed by a phone number, such as *73 to cancel call forwarding, do not include it in this parameter. In that case, add that * code in the dial plan.

Homeland Secure IT is happy to be a Cisco SMB Select Partner! If we can provide your business VoIP support in the Greenville / Upstate, SC area, please call upon us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

National Cyber Alert System

Technical Cyber Security Alert TA12-024A

“Anonymous” DDoS Activity

Original release date: January 24, 2012

Last revised: –

Source: US-CERT

Overview

US-CERT has received information from multiple sources about

coordinated distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks with

targets that included U.S. government agency and entertainment

industry websites. The loosely affiliated collective “Anonymous”

allegedly promoted the attacks in response to the shutdown of the

file hosting site MegaUpload and in protest of proposed U.S.

legislation concerning online trafficking in copyrighted

intellectual property and counterfeit goods (Stop Online Piracy

Act, or SOPA, and Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic

Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act, or PIPA).

I. Description

US-CERT has evidence of two types of DDoS attacks: One using HTTP

GET requests and another using a simple UDP flood.

The Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) is a denial-of-service attack tool

associated with previous Anonymous activity. US-CERT has reviewed

at least two implementations of LOIC. One variant is written in

JavaScript and is designed to be used from a web browser. An

attacker can access this variant of LOIC on a website and select

targets, specify an optional message, throttle attack traffic, and

monitor attack progress. A binary variant of LOIC includes the

ability to join a botnet to allow nodes to be controlled via IRC or

RSS command channels (the “HiveMind” feature).

The following is a sample of LOIC traffic recorded in a web server

log:

“GET /?id=1327014400570&msg=We%20Are%20Legion! HTTP/1.1″ 200

99406 “hxxp://pastehtml.com/view/blafp1ly1.html” “Mozilla/5.0

(Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:9.0.1) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/9.0.1″

The following sites have been identified in HTTP referrer headers

of suspected LOIC traffic. This list may not be complete. Please do

not visit any of the links as they may still host functioning LOIC

or other malicious code.

“hxxp://3g.bamatea.com/loic.html”

“hxxp://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/”

“hxxp://chatimpacto.org/Loic/”

“hxxp://cybercrime.hostzi.com/Ym90bmV0/loic/”

“hxxp://event.seeho.co.kr/loic.html”

“hxxp://pastehtml.com/view/bl3weewxq.html”

“hxxp://pastehtml.com/view/bl7qhhp5c.html”

“hxxp://pastehtml.com/view/blafp1ly1.html”

“hxxp://pastehtml.com/view/blakyjwbi.html”

“hxxp://pastehtml.com/view/blal5t64j.html”

“hxxp://pastehtml.com/view/blaoyp0qs.html”

“hxxp://www.lcnongjipeijian.com/loic.html”

“hxxp://www.rotterproxy.info/browse.php/704521df/ccc21Oi8/

vY3liZXJ/jcmltZS5/ob3N0emk/uY29tL1l/tOTBibVY/wL2xvaWM/v/b5/

fnorefer”

“hxxp://www.tandycollection.co.kr/loic.html”

“hxxp://www.zgon.cn/loic.html”

“hxxp://zgon.cn/loic.html”

“hxxp://www.turbytoy.com.ar/admin/archivos/hive.html”

The following are the A records for the referrer sites as of

January, 20, 2012:

3g[.]bamatea[.]com                A    218[.]5[.]113[.]218

cybercrime[.]hostzi[.]com         A    31[.]170[.]161[.]36

event[.]seeho[.]co[.]kr           A    210[.]207[.]87[.]195

chatimpacto[.]org                 A    66[.]96[.]160[.]151

anonymouse[.]org                  A    193[.]200[.]150[.]125

pastehtml[.]com                   A    88[.]90[.]29[.]58

lcnongjipeijian[.]com             A    49[.]247[.]252[.]105

www[.]rotterproxy[.]info          A    208[.]94[.]245[.]131

www[.]tandycollection[.]co[.]kr   A    121[.]254[.]168[.]87

www[.]zgon[.]cn                   A    59[.]54[.]54[.]204

www[.]turbytoy[.]com[.]ar         A    190[.]228[.]29[.]84

The HTTP requests contained an “id” value based on UNIX time and

user-defined “msg” value, for example:

GET /?id=1327014189930&msg=%C2%A1%C2%A1NO%20NOS%20GUSTA%20LA%20

Other “msg” examples:

msg=%C2%A1%C2%A1NO%20NOS%20GUSTA%20LA%20

msg=:)

msg=:D

msg=Somos%20Legion!!!

msg=Somos%20legi%C3%B3n!

msg=Stop%20S.O.P.A%20:)%20%E2%99%AB%E2%99%AB HTTP/1.1″ 200 99406

“http://pastehtml.com/view/bl7qhhp5c.html”

msg=We%20Are%20Legion!

msg=gh

msg=open%20megaupload

msg=que%20sepan%20los%20nacidos%20y%20los%20que%20van%20a%20nacer

%20que%20nacimos%20para%20vencer%20y%20no%20para%20ser%20vencidos

msg=stop%20SOPA!!

msg=We%20are%20Anonymous.%20We%20are%20Legion.%20We%20do%20not%20

forgive.%20We%20do%20not%20forget.%20Expect%20us!

The “msg” field can be arbitrarily set by the attacker.

As of January 20, 20012, US-CERT has observed another attack that

consists of UDP packets on ports 25 and 80. The packets contained a

message followed by variable amounts of padding, for example:

66:6c:6f:6f:64:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00 | flood………

Target selection, timing, and other attack activity is often

coordinated through social media sites or online forums.

US-CERT is continuing research efforts and will provide additional

data as it becomes available.

II. Solution

There are a number of mitigation strategies available for dealing

with DDoS attacks, depending on the type of attack as well as the

target network infrastructure. In general, the best practice

defense for mitigating DDoS attacks involves advanced preparation.

* Develop a checklist or Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to

follow in the event of a DDoS attack. One critical point in a

checklist or SOP is to have contact information for your ISP and

hosting providers. Identify who should be contacted during a

DDoS, what processes should be followed, what information is

needed, and what actions will be taken during the attack with

each entity.

* The ISP or hosting provider may provide DDoS mitigation services.

Ensure your staff is aware of the provisions of your service

level agreement (SLA).

* Maintain contact information for firewall teams, IDS teams,

network teams and ensure that it is current and readily available.

* Identify critical services that must be maintained during an

attack as well as their priority. Services should be prioritized

beforehand to identify what resources can be turned off or

blocked as needed to limit the effects of the attack. Also,

ensure that critical systems have sufficient capacity to

withstand a DDoS attack.

* Have current network diagrams, IT infrastructure details, and

asset inventories. This will assist in determining actions and

priorities as the attack progresses.

* Understand your current environment and have a baseline of daily

network traffic volume, type, and performance. This will allow

staff to better identify the type of attack, the point of attack,

and the attack vector used. Also, identify any existing

bottlenecks and remediation actions if required.

* Harden the configuration settings of your network, operating

systems, and applications by disabling services and applications

not required for a system to perform its intended function.

* Implement a bogon block list at the network boundary.

* Employ service screening on edge routers wherever possible in

order to decrease the load on stateful security devices such as

firewalls.

* Separate or compartmentalize critical services:

* Separate public and private services

* Separate intranet, extranet, and internet services

* Create single purpose servers for each service such as HTTP,

FTP, and DNS

* Review the US-CERT Cyber Security Tip Understanding

Denial-of-Service Attacks.

III. References

* Cyber Security Tip ST04-015 -

<http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-015.html>

* Anonymous&apos;s response to the seizure of MegaUpload according to

CNN -

<http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/19/technology/megaupload_shutdown/index.htm>

* The Internet Strikes Back #OpMegaupload -

<http://anonops.blogspot.com/2012/01/internet-strikes-back-opmegaupload.html>

* Twitter Post from the author of the JavaScript based LOIC code -

<http://www.twitter.com/#!/mendes_rs>

* Anonymous Operations tweets on Twitter -

<http://twitter.com/#!/anonops>

* @Megaupload Tweets on Twitter -

<http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%2523Megaupload>

* LOIC DDoS Analysis and Detection -

<http://blog.spiderlabs.com/2011/01/loic-ddos-analysis-and-detection.html>

* Impact of Operation Payback according to CNN -

<http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/08/news/companies/mastercard_wiki/index.htm>

* OperationPayback messages on YouTube -

<http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=operationpayback>

* The Bogon Reference – Team Cymru -

<http://www.team-cymru.org/Services/Bogons/>

____________________________________________________________________

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

<http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-024A.html>

____________________________________________________________________

Feedback can be directed to US-CERT Technical Staff. Please send

email to <cert@cert.org> with “TA12-024A Feedback INFO#919868″ in

the subject.

____________________________________________________________________

For instructions on subscribing to or unsubscribing from this

mailing list, visit <http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/signup.html>.

____________________________________________________________________

Produced 2012 by US-CERT, a government organization.

Terms of use:

<http://www.us-cert.gov/legal.html>

____________________________________________________________________

Revision History

January 24, 2012: Initial release

If you require assistance with DDoS or any other security need for your Greenville or Upstate SC business, please call upon us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

It is quoted below  in its entirety but can be found here.

I’ll be posting about the new WatchGuard XTM 33 designed for Small/Medium businesses, and may be ideal for retailers!

Should you wish to purchase a WatchGuard product, receive more information or support, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com… We are a WatchGuard partner!

—

Social Media Release:
WatchGuard Lists PCI Pitfalls for Retailers

NEW YORK (January 16, 2012) – WatchGuard Technologies

Highlights / News Facts:

Businesses that process, transmit or store cardholder data must implement security controls as defined by the latest PCI DSS standard. The following are the nine common PCI DSS compliance pitfalls that many retailers fall into and tips to avoid them.

• 1) Faulty firewall installation or configuration
  Many DIY (do it yourself) projects are easy; properly configuring a firewall is not one of them. According to WatchGuard research, a majority of small business security breaches are the result of improperly configured firewalls. Best practice: Use security certified technicians or trained resellers to ensure firewall configurations are proper and up to date; regularly audit firewall configurations as people and IT resources constantly change.
• 2) Relying on vendor supplied defaults for system passwords
  Not only is it critical to change vendor supplied default passwords, be sure to use something other than “password” as a password. According to a recently published research report, the most common passwords are: 1) password, 2) 123456, 3) 12345678, 4) qwerty, 5) abc123, 6) monkey, 7) 1234567, letmein, 9) trustno1, and 10) dragon. Best practice: Change vendor settings and utilize strong passwords.
• 3) Failing to utilize IPS to protect stored cardholder data
  There are multiple ways to help protect stored cardholder data. One key technology that is often overlooked is IPS (intrusion prevention systems). IPS is to hackers as anti-virus is to viruses. IPS keeps hackers out and helps cardholder data stay safe. Best practice: Make sure intrusion prevention systems (IPS) are up and running.
• 4) Not encrypting transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks
  Encryption is a key component to PCI DSS compliance. A common problem occurs in the transmission of credit card data, which is often done in unencrypted email. Best practice: Use encryption everywhere, and especially in email systems where any type of sensitive information may be transmitted.
• 5) Failing to use and regularly update anti-virus software or programs
  Unlike desktop/endpoint anti-virus (AV), gateway anti-virus stops threats right at the entry point of a network. Using gateway AV adds an additional layer of defense at the primary point of attack, and because it functions at the gateway, users see no degradation of performance on their local computer. Best practice: Use gateway AV in addition to endpoint AV for maximum defense in depth.
• 6) Not maintaining secure systems and applications
  Many businesses do a good job at maintaining secure systems, however what is often overlooked in today’s social media business world is application security. Most firewalls are incapable of distinguishing a web application from a website. Because of this, crafty cyber-crooks create web applications as a way to sneak past the firewall and steal cardholder data. Best practice: To gain control over web applications, businesses utilize the latest generation of UTMs and firewalls that include application control.
• 7) Providing access to cardholder data to those who do not need to know
  About 80 percent of security violations happen from within an organization. In order to reduce that figure, businesses should use the “least privilege rule,” which parallels the same concept of “need to know.” Users should be granted the minimum necessary permissions and privileges that are required for them to accomplish their jobs. When employees have access to data that they should not, bad things often result. Best practice: Use RBAC (role based access controls), separation of duties and other forms of “least privilege” to make sure data is restricted to those who absolutely must have access to it.
• Forgetting to track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
  Unfortunately, many businesses take a “fire and forget” approach to network security; once the firewall is set, they forget to check the reports. Many security breaches can me mitigated early on simply by checking reports and logs on a regular basis. Best practice: Establish a routine of checking logs and reports to spot trouble before it blossoms into headline security news.
• 9) Not having an information security policy
  In order to meet PCI compliance, businesses must create an information security policy that is up to date, and that addresses the security requirements as proscribed by PCI DSS. This should also include operational security, system usage, security management and other related policies. Best practice: Get IT, HR and other business stakeholders to regularly review information security policies.

Keywords:

PCI DSS, Network Security, Firewall, Cardholder Data, Passwords, Encryption, IPS, Anti-Virus, Application Control, Next-Generation UTM, Policy

Quote:

• “The PCI DSS standard is a model that many businesses – even non-retailers can look to in order to maintain best security practices,” said Eric Aarrestad, Vice President at WatchGuard Technologies. “The devil is in the details when it comes to security. Hopefully, this quick list helps remind businesses owners and IT management that little things can make a big difference in preventing data loss.”

The email included the following information:

1. This is a company-wide project focused on technically positioning our customer base for advanced HSI products and increased speeds.
2. The communication is handled via a browser message that will alert only those customers with older docsis 1 or 1.1 modems and asking them swap.
3. Replaced at no cost to the customer, including customer owned modems. See sample screenshot image below…
4. The customer will communicate with us via phone at 877.739.0427 or use the browser link to expedite the delivery.
5. All modems will be sent via mail to the mailing address on the account. (again, at no cost to the customer)
6. The modems will be mailed as a self install kit from a central distribution center.

Here’s the link: https://connect.charter.com/replacemodem/

If you have any questions about Charter internet, phone or television, either home or business, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

Hughes probably has the highest market penetration, and those using it have been quick to complain about caps and upload speed.

This is where ViaSat comes in. They revealed their home satellite system at CES and Engadget has a pretty good write-up with a video that tells more about the 12 Mbps down/3 Mbps up service that runs $50.oo per month.

What is left out is what types of data caps they may have.

Charter Ups Broadband Speeds Again, Bumps Top Tier to 100 Mbps –

DiGeronimo says DSL is Basically Archaic

Original Publication Date: 12/1/2011

Original News Source: Multichannel News

By Todd Spangler — Multichannel News, 12/1/2011 3:00:00 PM

Looking to kick more sand in the face of DSL, Charter Communications is increasing connection speeds of its three top broadband tiers — Express, Plus and Ultra, which will now provide downloads of up to 100 Megabits per second — at no additional cost for subscribers.

The speed boosts are the MSO’s fourth in the last three years. The faster speeds will take effect in markets with DOCSIS 3.0 technology deployed, which represents approximately 95% of Charter’s service area.

“As customers share multiple devices on a single connection, we want to send a very strong message: DSL is basically archaic,” said Rich DiGeronimo, Charter’s senior vice president of product and strategy.

Charter is increasing Internet Express downstream speeds from 12 Mbps to up to 15 Mbps, and increasing upstream speeds from 1 Mbps to up to 3 Mbps. Internet Plus downstream speeds are being increased from 18 Mbps to up to 30 Mbps, and upstream speeds are being increased from 2 Mbps to up to 4 Mbps.

In addition, Charter’s fastest residential offering is increasing from 60 Mbps to 100 Mbps — with Ultra100 providing 100 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream. Charter’s Internet Lite tier will remain 3 Mbps down.

The midlevel Plus tier, at 30/4, is now faster than the fastest AT&T U-verse Internet service available. Charter’s footprint overlap with AT&T is 60%, although U-verse is not available in all of those areas.

“We believe we have an advantage in this space,” DiGeronimo said. “The thirst for speed is only growing.”

Charter is offering Express for $19.99 per month for 12 months to new customers, Plus for $29.99 per month. Ultra100 is $40 more per month than the Express tier.

“We’re not asking for more money. It’s really about differentiation,” DiGeronimo said. About 90% of Charter’s broadband customers take either Express and Plus service.

Charter’s broadband services are subject to different usage thresholds. Customers with Lite and Express tiers are allotted at 100 Gigabytes of bandwidth usage per month, while those on the Plus and Max services have a threshold of 250 GB per month. The Ultra100 tier will be capped at 500 GB per month; previously, the Ultra60 tier did not have a maximum usage limit. Charter currently does not charge overage fees for those who exceed the thresholds; however, users’ accounts may be suspended for repeated violations.

Charter also is increasing speeds for business customers, bumping up commercial Internet speeds at no cost for two of its most popular services, Charter Business Internet Essentials16 and 25. The speed increase will take place in approximately 95% of Charter’s service areas nationwide.

Specifically, the speed increases are: Internet Essetials16, with download speeds of 16 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 2 Mbps, will increase to up to 20 Mbps download and up to 3 Mbps upload; and Internet Essentials25, with download speeds of 25 Mbps and upload speeds of 3 Mbps, will increase to up to 30 Mbps download and up to 4 Mbps upload — which the MSO notes is at least 6 times faster than 5 Mbps DSL service and 20 times faster than T1 lines. Charter’s fastest commercial offerings, Pro50 and Pro100, remain the same, providing up to 50 Mbps download/5 Mbps upload and up to 100 Mbps download/5 Mbps upload, respectively.

—

Homeland Secure IT loves Charter! We help Greenville & Upstate South Carolina individuals & businesses get connected with high speed internet all the time and Charter, especially Charter Business, has the highest customer satisfaction of any of the ISPs we work with. If you are feeling the need for speed, email us at info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990.4748 and we can assist you in the search for the best service and the best price!

While reading an article over on physorg entitled “Research team finds disk encryption foils law enforcement efforts“, I was reminded of conversations from over a dozen years ago with friends in law enforcement about how criminals were using PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) to encrypt their files, from the records of bookies to prostitutes and their client list. We discussed how this simple form of encrypting files would be almost impossible for an investigator to circumvent.

File, folder and entire disk encryption has come a long way since then and is affordable and easy to implement by the typical user of a computer. While it has not become “mainstream”, you can bet that criminals are busily integrating encryption into their storage.

One point they make in the article is that if the police raid the home/business of a (suspected?) criminal, they are likely to find the computer/s on and running. If they can manage to get them in this state, they may be able to move around the drives/folders and copy files to another device. If the criminal shuts the computer down, (or the police do so to move it to their lab) upon bootup or access of the encrypted drive/folder, an encryption key/passphrase would need to be input. Some of these encryption packages are destructive, so if an incorrect attempt is made X number of times, the data becomes totally unusable, even for the legitimate owner.

If you would like to utilize encryption in your home or business to protect against criminals (hopefully not law enforcement), we can help. Shoot us an email to info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990.4748 if you are in the Upstate or Greenville SC area and we can assist with protecting your precious data, whether it is a flash drive, usb drive, a folder, a file or an entire drive on your computer.

TP-Link TL-MR3020 3G Wireless N Router

TP-Link just announced a new product in their stable of connectivity devices called the TL-MR3020 Portable 3G/3.75G Wireless N Router.

This little gadget will allow you to plug your USB 3G modem into and it in turn lets multiple Wi-Fi devices to share that connection!

Sure, there are other devices out there that do the same thing, but this one has some distinctive features, such as a firewall with port forwarding & port triggering, UPnP, Parental Controls, Access Schedules, MAC address filtering and a 3G/WAN failover function!

With one of these and your 3G USB modem, your iPad, Android tablet, X-Box, notebook computer and any other Wi-Fi device can be connected to the internet wherever you are! This could be the perfect camping or tailgating companion. It could make for backup connectivity for your business as well.

These are priced at under 40 dollars and they are compatible with over 120 UMTS/HSPA/EVDO 3G USB modems. If you need more information or want to get one, give us a call at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

Diamond VStream WPCTV1080H

The question of the day was from a client who asked, “How can I display what I see on my notebook to my big screen TV, without physically connecting it?”.

Obviously, connecting the notebook to your LCD TV is probably the easiest thing in the world, using an HDMI, DVI or even VGA cable, however, it is inconvenient, especially if you are using the notebook for a presentation and the TV is on the other end of the room.

Fortunately, there are a number of devices on the market that allow you to easily stream your video and audio to external displays, wirelessly.

One is the Diamond Multimedia Wireless Converter (WPCTV1080H), that connects to your display with an HDMI cable, and to your notebook with a little USB dongle.

Now your external display becomes an extension of your notebook! You can watch everything from Netflix to YouTube to your security cameras in full 1080p resolution. The computer can be up to about 30 ft away from the display device.

Slick, eh?  Only about 120 dollars, or less.  We have them if you need one.  They even include the HDMI cable.

Everybody Panic!

Remember what I said back on Oct 25th about the hard drive shortage? Then I rambled a bit more and went as far as to say, “Don’t Panic“???

I think I misled you.  I now upgrade my opinion to, “OKAY, PANIC”.

According to numerous articles citing industry experts and analysts, we’re seeing a total 180 from the “relax, everything is going to be okay” attitude.

One analyst at Piper Jaffray (Gus Richards) believes supplies of hard drives could run dry by the end of November. He stated, “Availability is really going to tighten up. I’m seeing prices quoted anywhere from up 10 to up 60 percent”. Read the entire article over HERE.

Here at Homeland Secure IT, we have been feeling this for many days. Drives that were costing us ~150 dollars are still running as much as 250 dollars. Desktop computers we were quoting at 750 have now gone up as much as 100 dollars to reflect the increase in hard drive costs.

Multiple vendors we work with are entirely out of stock and online retailers are limiting purchases to quantity one, as well as indicating they are out of stock as well.

This week has brought more queries about SSD (Solid State Drives) than we have ever had! Even though we can obtain just about any size or speed SSD you may want, the price is considerably higher than traditional hard drives, even with the inflation taken into consideration.

Whatever you do - Don't panic...

You’ve been hearing about it for a while now, but the time is has finally come for the first nationwide Emergency Alert System (EAS) test.

It is scheduled for November 9th, 2011 at 2pm Eastern and will last a few minutes.

You can get the full scoop on this event on the FCC site.

Of course, many conspiracy theorists can give you other reasons for the test, my favorite of which is that the Government is testing their ability to control of all media outlets, even phone lines, cell phones, and the internet itself. (As has been done in other countries).

The following letter comes from Charter, and while their email distribution from them is normally marked with a non-disclosure, this one was specifically authorized FOR distribution:

INTERNAL NEWS ALERT

Re:         Charter to Participate in First Ever Nationwide EAS Test

This Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 2:00pm EST, a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) will be conducted. Similar to local EAS tests conducted on a regular basis in our area, the national test will also include all broadcast TV stations, radio stations and video providers, including cable and satellite operators at the same time. As a result, all Charter systems nationwide will be participating in the test.

However…unlike the local EAS tests that usually last approximately 30 seconds, the nationwide test may last up to three and a half minutes.

This national EAS test will be conducted jointly by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through its Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS), the three federal agencies that have EAS management responsibilities.

Although the EAS has been in existence for over 15 years, there has never been an end-to-end, nationwide test of the system. The nationwide test is being conducted to verify the reliability of the EAS system and its effectiveness in alerting the public on a national scale.

The upcoming national test is critical to ensuring that the EAS works as designed. As recent disasters here at home and in Japan have reminded us, a reliable and effective emergency alert and warning system is key to ensuring the public’s safety during times of emergency.

Charter is currently in the process of preparing for the national test on November 9. We are providing a message to our customers in their bill statement (see below), and will utilize Weather Channel crawls, DCT messaging, .com and .net posts and cross channel TV commercials to provide our customers with awareness of the test. We will also be training our customer care team to effectively manage any increase in the number of calls we receive as a result of the test.

OCTOBER CUSTOMER STATEMENT MESSAGE:

The first nationwide test of the U.S. Emergency Alert System will occur at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on November 9, 2011, and it will interrupt programming on all channels from all service providers for a few minutes. Visit www.fcc.gov/pshs for more information.

Dear HP Channel Partners,

HP is deeply saddened by the recent flooding in Thailand. The extent of the damage is devastating and our hearts go out to each person in Thailand negatively impacted by this tragedy.

In light of this unfortunate turn of events and its potential impact on the technology industry, we would like to provide you with a brief update regarding the situation here at HP.

HP continues to maintain operations in Thailand and is in constant communication with our employees, customers and suppliers to optimize business continuity in this dynamic situation.  We have teams in place for each product category and are monitoring the situation closely.

HP has a small percentage of its Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) manufacturing in Thailand and we are mitigating any negative impacts through our business continuity planning. HP Enterprise Servers Storage and Networking (ESSN) and HP Personal Systems Group (PSG) do not have manufacturing facilities in Thailand.

From a component supply situation, Thailand is a major manufacturing source of Hard Disc Drives (HDD) and other sub-components used in HP products.

HP currently is reviewing potential supply constraints in an effort to optimize its manufacturing and meet your business needs.

As we work together through this industry wide constraint, we will implement business continuity plans to seek alternative sources of high quality components or raw materials. HP will notify you of any potential impacts if we are unable to locate other acceptable alternative sources. HP will provide this information through our existing business and planning processes in place with your sales representative.

Thank you for your business.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to any of us directly with any questions.

Yours sincerely,

The HP Channel Leadership Team

Scott Dunsire, vice president, U.S. Channel Sales, IPG

Steve Erdman, vice president, Americas Channel Sales, Software

Tracy Galloway, vice president, Americas Channel Sales, Services

Mike Parrottino, vice president, U.S. Channel Sales, PSG

Frank Rauch, vice president & GM, Americas Channel Sales, ESSN/TS

Matt Smith, director, Marketing, Americas Channel Sales

—

We’ve received notification from just about every manufacturer of systems that we partner with. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with one this morning as they gave me the total run-down on how this hard drive shortage will be affecting us.

The general concensus is: It is going to get worse before it gets better.   We have been advised to buy now, not to wait until it actually does get worse.

We’ll keep you updated!

Copyrights & Wrongs

You’ve got a great phone system (hopefully you have moved up to a Voice over IP phone system by now!) and you want to use all the great features of it.

One feature that is common to (most) all VoIP systems is that you can use Music On Hold (MOH) which gives the poor caller who gets placed on hold something to listen to other than dead air, or beep, or, God forbid, constant ringing like I got the other day for 2 minutes solid when calling a very large vendor for support.  RING RING RING AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The trend for the last few years has been to get voice talent to record promotional messages, combined with music that makes the time spent on hold for the client productive. A large number of sales have been made due to a promotional message telling a holding client about services or sales specials offered. I guess the impulse buyers hear, “Did you know we offer Microsoft Licensing?” and immediately place an order for 1000 seats of Microsoft Office 2010 or something. Hmmm, maybe we should do that here at Homeland?

The costs of having these messages produced vary from 5 dollars (if you want an Indian accent) to thousands of dollars, with the average falling at about 500 dollars for high quality, professional voice talent and music to be provided.

Some businesses have gone the extreme budget route and recorded their own messages, complete with lots of “uhhhs” and the like and plenty of background noise.

A smaller organization may just want to plug in a radio to the MOH port on the phone system and let that play, or maybe use their iPod or other MP3 player to put on their favorite tunes. I mean, let’s get real here, if you like Adele and Rhianna, your clients should love it to!

There’s a slight problem with that. Okay, not so slight; You are using unlicensed music which could result in law suits and fines…

The music that you own already, which you purchased off of iTunes or Amazon, or even own the vinyl record that you converted over to an MP3, is not your’s for public performance. Confused? Me too! Basically, there is a difference between owning the right to play that music for yourself, and the right to play it for others to hear.

So what’s a soul to do in order to provide entertainment on hold in the form of music?

• You could find “royalty free” music, but be warned, it won’t keep a licensing organization from coming after you. You could STILL get a letter to cease the use of that music with the threat of lawsuit or fines if they believe it is owned by them. Make sure you can backup the fact that the music is in the public domain, the person/group performing it do not have a copyright on it and that it is not just released for listening or performance, that it has no “mechanical copyright” on it which would prohibit you from using it in the manner you wish to use it.
• There are licensing entities such as ASCAP and BMI which you can pay in order to use the music which you want to play. You can license a single song in some cases, or get a blanket license to use anything from their repertoire.
• There are “music on hold” providers, which take care of all the licensing for you (be careful here, there are some shady ones). These are the ones who will give you professional voice talent if you want that, along with a genre of music that is appealing to your callers, hopefully.
• You could find a local musician who writes and produces their own original content and tell them you would like to showcase their talent on your on-hold system. Get it in writing that they are giving you permission to use their original music for a set time, and what the cost is. It may be free!

I am sure I have overlooked something as I am no expert in this field. But, this may be give you an idea of what you are up against regarding Music On Hold.

Myself, I am sad I can’t use a loop of Sugarloaf’s “Don’t Call us, We’ll Call you” to play to telemarketers….

If you do decide to hire a professional voice artist in the Greenville / Upstate area, please email me and I may be able to point you in the right direction.

EVERY device that uses a hard drive (HDD) will ultimately go up in price, if it has not already. DVR manufacturers have contacted us telling of surcharges for hard drives, in addition to the “market price”. Computer manufacturers have told us there may be delays in getting computers out the door, and system builders have limited their quotes to only 7 days before they must be requoted due to the volatility of the market.

Below are a few typical drives and how much they cost currently, with a historical look back…   This information comes courtesy of www.camelcamelcamel.com.

Western Digital Caviar Black 2 TB Bulk/OEM

Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Bulk/OEM

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB Bulk/OEM

Homeland SECURE IT Achieves Select Certification from Cisco

Greenville, SC, November 1, 2011:  Homeland Secure IT announced today that it has achieved Select Certification from Cisco. The Select Certification recognizes Cisco® resale channel partners that focus on meeting the technology and service needs of small businesses.

Cisco’s portfolio of both Small Business and Small Business Professional Series products directly complement and enhance Homeland Secure IT’s Systems Design, Sales, Installation and Support of end-to-end communications and physical networks.

Cisco Select Certified

“The Cisco Select Certification was created in response to customer demand for channel partners capable of designing and implementing Cisco solutions purpose-built for small businesses,” said Andrew Sage, vice president of Worldwide Small Business Sales at Cisco. “With the Select Certification, Homeland Secure IT has made an investment in obtaining the training, skills and knowledge necessary to play a pivotal role in meeting this growing demand.”

To earn Select Certification, Homeland Secure IT fulfilled the training and exam requirements for the Cisco Small Business Specialization.  Homeland Secure IT also met the personnel, training and post-sales support requirements set forth by Cisco.

The Cisco Resale Channel Program provides a framework for channel partners to build the sales, technical and Cisco Lifecycle Services skills required to deliver Cisco solutions to end customers. Through the program’s specializations and certifications, Cisco recognizes a channel partner’s expertise in deploying solutions based on Cisco advanced technologies and services. Using a third-party audit process, the program validates channel partner qualifications such as technology skills, business best practices, customer satisfaction, and presales and post-sales support capabilities — critical factors for customers choosing a trusted channel partner.

About Homeland Secure IT

Homeland Secure IT is headquartered in Greenville, SC, and serves Greenville and the Upstate of South Carolina.  Our goal is to deliver seamless design, implementation, and support to customers requiring both simple and sophisticated communications solutions.

• Unified Communications (VoIP)
• Wireless (WLAN)
• Video Surveillance
• Storage Solutions (NAS, SAN)
• Backup and Disaster Recovery
• Security (Firewall, A/V)
• Switching

For more information about this topic or to schedule meeting with our design and engineering team, please call 864-990-4748 or visit our website at http://www.HomelandSecureIT.com

Offsite, online, cloud backup for your business

Homeland Secure IT encourages the use of backup solutions to complete your disaster readiness plan. One of our recommendations is to implement remote, cloud based backup. Even if you have existing onsite backup, it gives you an extra layer of protection.

We partner with some of the biggest and most trusted names in offsite, cloud based backup providers such as (locally owned) Servosity, Mozy Pro and of course, Symantec.

Below, Symantec.cloud counters some of the most common objections to backing up your data offsite:

“My data won’t be secure”

• With Symantec Backup Exec.cloud, your data is secured during transit using 128 bit SSL encryption and stored using 256 bit AES encryption when at rest in Symantec’s highly secure, enterprise-class facilities.

“Online Backup will drain my bandwidth”

• After your initial backup, Symantec Backup Exec.cloud uses block level, incremental backup and performs backup of file changes only.
• Symantec Backup Exec.cloud uses bandwidth throttling to minimize impacts to your business productivity.

“It will be too difficult to manage”

• Automate backups to run on a schedule, or to backup when file modifications occur.
• Let us manage your backups for you!
• It’s easy to administer yourself – hassle free set up in just three steps.

“Backup is too expensive”

• BE.cloud offers usage-based pricing with no per-user licensing fees
• Subscription fee includes support, maintenance, and enhancements.
• With this solution there is no need to pay for resources to manage and maintain the backup system or for off-site tape storage.

“We don’t really need backup, we use removable drives and discs”

• What happens if the drive/disc is damaged, fails, is lost or stolen?
• How often are you performing backup? – Using removable drives and discs is a manual process that requires time – your time – to manage them. What could you be doing if this process was automated? Would your backup happen more regularly than it does now?
• Are there PCs or laptops that aren’t protected by using this method?
• What would happen to your productivity if one of these machines suffered a disaster/hardware failure? Would your workers lose data they need to do their jobs effectively? Would you lose any customer records, business or financial information?

“We want to manage our backup onsite”

• On-premise backup solutions can be expensive and require someone (perhaps you) to maintain them.
• On-premise backup solutions place the burden of security, storage and tape/disc vaulting on you. They also expose you to the risk of losing equipment and data in the event of a local natural disaster. - Use online backup with your existing on-premise solution to address off-site protection!
• Online backup replaces large upfront investments with predictable subscription based pricing. Managed virtually onsite using a web browser, you can not only manage and monitor the backup of machines at your location, but also at remote offices and on the machines of your mobile workers.

If you would like to know more about backing up to the cloud, or would like to discuss your backup / disaster recovery plan, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com today.  We provide complete service and sales of physical, onsite backup systems, from tape to disk in addition to cloud solutions.

Whatever you do - Don't panic... Okay, maybe just a little!

Yesterday I wrote about the hard drive shortage due to the flooding in Thailand (here)…

At the time, we were not actually feeling the affects, however, 24hrs later, we sure are!

The same terabyte SATA drives which sold for 60 dollars back on October 3rd, are approaching 140 dollars each today, and many vendors have sold out of them. Those who have not sold out have begun to limit the quantity you can purchase. Hard drive rationing!

What’s a computer repair house to do when they need one? Pay the jacked up price, and unfortunately, pass it on to our customers…

An individual can still purchase from places such as Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, etc, until the stock is depleted, then it’s anybody’s guess what the next step is.

This morning, one vendor was sold out entirely of 1TB bare drives, but, they did have a few external drives that one could purchase, then scavenge the drive contained within for their install.

A word of warning to anyone who does that: The drives contained in external enclosures are generally slower drives, not designed for the sustained transfer rates or rapid access that a typical workstation may require.

If you find a reliable and affordable source for hard drives at this point in the game… You might want to keep it to yourself, or maybe share with me!

OH, and don’t think that this hard drive situation only affects computers and servers.  LOTS of devices these days require hard drives, from copiers, to digital video recorders, to Voice over IP phone systems.

Another computer technician on Facebook mentioned to me that this could be a good time to make the switch to solid state drives, and I think they may be right!

Thoughts?

Western Digital

It’s all over the news, Thailand has been affected by flooding in a treacherous monsoon season.  Yeah yeah yeah, what does that mean?

Unfortunately, it appears that just shy of half of all hard drive parts are manufactured in Thailand, and the flooding has forced closures at those manufacturing facilities.

In one article, it states that Toshiba has halted hard drive production entirely, and Western Digital has closed their plants as well.  Seagate remains open, but their suppliers are in question.

I’ve already been told by one of our suppliers to expect this shortage to raise prices considerably and referenced a 10 dollar hike in the cost of 250GB drives, probably driven by speculation alone. The same supplier told us that quotes for server, desktop and notebook computers would be valid for only 7 days, effective immediately.

Those in the know are estimating it could take as long as a year to recover from this situation and every manufacturer of computers is likely to be affected by this, causing the cost of your next computer to be considerably higher. A computer repair that requires a hard drive replacement will obviously be higher as well.

Hopefully it will not be like the Cisco ASA shortage of last year, where we had to WAIT for the units to become available.

Today could be the perfect time to get that 3TB hard drive you have been wanting, or to renew some desktops at your business!  Call us today and lock it in if you are in the Greenville / Upstate, SC area.  864.990.4748 or info@homelandsecureit.com

I stole the picture at the right from this article.

Apple iPhone

Smartphones: Whether it is an Android, iPhone or even a Windows based phone, you cannot survive without one. These devices provide instant communication with your clients through email, text message and phone, along with the ability to browse the web and select from tens of thousands of applications to assist in your business. Your clients will not wait for you to get to your office to respond to an email. Even a quick, “I’m driving, will respond as soon as it is safe” auto-response is better than no response. The cost of a typical phone can range from 100 to 300 dollars per phone depending on features and term of contract from the carrier of your choice.

Square Credit Card Reader

Credit Card Processing: If you expect to get paid, then you need to accept every form of payment possible, including plastic. Yes, you will lose a little bit on the sale, but you will gain an instant payment. If you are just getting started, without purchasing a machine or paying a monthly charge, you can accept credit cards anywhere you have a cell signal using the Square credit card application with your smart phone and the free reader device that they provide to you. No per-swipe fee, and less than 3.0% charge. Fast, secure, and in your account the next business day. Find it in your phones’s marketplace.

Reliable & Fast Internet: There are a lot of choices these days for fast internet, from DSL to cable to fiber, and the old tried and true T1 standard, but some businesses may find that a wireless broadband internet plan may be enough for them. We recommend Charter Business in most situations, but that varies depending upon what is available at the business location. One advantage to using a cellular based broadband internet connection is that you can take it with you, which is great for businesses that are not tied to one specific location. Typical 4G plans will provide over 5 meg down and up to 2 meg up. Verizon Wireless offers the MiFi devices for around 50 dollars with 5GB plans for 50 dollars per month.

IP Surveillance Cameras

IP surveillance: Sure it sounds like the CIA, but IP security cameras at your business will decrease loss of inventory, increase productivity, and may provide an insurance savings. You can even keep tabs on your employees using a smartphone or any web browser to view these camera. Recordings can be reviewed after events occur, and most systems can email you when there is movement in a particular location. Prices range from $150 for a single entry level camera into the $2000 range to cover an entire business. You can install yourself, or get an IT provider to handle this for you for the most professional results.

Email: This is a no-brainer, but many small businesses will cut corners here. A Hotmail account will work for sure, but who wants AcmeWidgetCo@hotmail.com on their business cards. At the very least, your business should use a service that allows for linking a domain to your mail, such as Google Apps (Gmail) or Microsoft Office 365. This gives you a professional appearance, and provides for important features such as linking of your smartphones, sharing of calendars between users and so much more. Microsoft Office 365 costs about 5 dollars per person per month and gives you up to 20GB of storage.

Anti-Virus & Security: Far too often this is overlooked, or taken for granted. A business that is vulnerable to viruses or malware is a business that could experience costly downtime and repairs, not to mention, open yourself up for compliance violations and potential fines or legal issues depending upon the field you are in. The components of a secure network are as simple as a quality firewall like those offered from Cisco, Watchguard or SonicWall, an anti-virus software package from Trend Micro or Symantec, and taking the time to apply updates to the Operating System (Windows, Mac, etc) and support software (Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, JAVA).

Backup: When disaster strikes, you need to be prepared for it. Having backups of your important files will insure you are not out of business when a computer or server fails. Backups technology can be as simple as an external USB drive or remote backup solution, or on the other end of the spectrum, as complicated as auto-loader tape drives. One thing is for sure, ANY attempt to backup your data is better than none. For automated cloud backup solutions, consider Servosity or Mozy Pro.

Here at Homeland Secure IT, we utilize a vast array of technology and we also help many small and medium businesses and even home offices stay up to date. If we can help you with decisions regarding your Greenville or Upstate technology infrastructure, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com. We offer sales, service, repair and consultation of everything from computers to VoIP.

What is your “must have” business technology? I would love to hear about it.  VoIP phone systems? iPad, Android or Windows based tablet computers? A favorite app (We love TiKL & Waze)?

IronKey D200 32GB USB secure device

I’m often asked which is the best USB flash drive you can buy. My answer varies with the requirements of the individual or business that will utilize the device.

The average person requires a fast and reliable storage device to shuttle files to/from work or school, and does not require security features at all, but for those who do require encryption, there are a number of options available.

One manufacturer stands out from the crowd and that is IronKey and their line of flash drives from “Basic” to “Enterprise”, touted as “The world’s most secure flash drive”.

IronKey has recently released the D200 32GB “Personal” flash drive which you can read more about on their website.

This is an excerpt:  Your identity and personal data are too valuable to risk. IronKey Personal keeps you protected with military-grade encryption and easy-to-use identity management. The result of extensive R&D and the collaboration of some of the world’s leading experts in cryptography and the Internet, IronKey is the world’s most secure flash drive. IronKey Personal comes loaded with a secure private browser that lets you surf anonymously and protects your passwords whenever you go online. IronKey Personal simplifies your digital lifestyle while giving you added peace of mind.

IronKey secure 32GB USB devices provide higher speeds, managed and auditable encryption required to prevent data breaches with always-on encryption and achieve a safe harbor for compliance.

Who needs 32GB devices?

Uses for higher capacity drives include…

• Government: Military personnel needing to transport sensitive documentation.
• IT Department: Transporting patches, operating systems, applications and large files.
• Executives: Carrying company sensitive data including M&A, financials, strategy, and organizational data.
• Entertainment Industry: Digital Rights Management – studios can control the number of times trailers are viewed.
• Other Examples: High volume sensitive information that requires encryption outside a network include CAD files, Medical Imaging files, Financial, Legal and Mortgage Documents.

Large businesses have full-time IT staff or fully outsourced IT support that provide monitoring of their infrastructure and keep them up to date and now small & medium (SMB) businesses can have the same level of support when it comes to devices on their network.

Cisco OnPlus works by allowing Homeland Secure IT or your Cisco SMB service provider to place a Cisco OnPlus Network Agent at your location and configure it for reporting.  The Cisco SMB specialist will be able to monitor your site from remote on a variety of devices, from handheld to tablets, to desktops and take action when needed.

OnPlus is the latest tool in the Managed Service Provider’s arsenal. Using it, Cisco products can be backed up, restored and fully managed remotely. Other devices are supported as well!

As always with Cisco, security is the name of the game and OnPlus provides a secure environment for your IT service provider to manage your network. Your data is safe from prying eyes, only the devices themselves can be managed and use of this system does not permit access to data outside of configuration and management.

If you would like your business to have monitoring, alerting, reporting and managing capabilities, then ask your Cisco SMB provider about this exciting offering. No need to wait for a service or repair technician to visit your location, management is handled in real-time, remotely! This service is one of the most affordable methods for managing your firewalls and security appliances, IP surveillance systems, switches, routers, VoIP phone systems and more.

Homeland Secure IT provides Cisco SMB sales and support in the Greenville & Upstate SC area. Call us today at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com.

http://www.iheartchaos.com/post/10489506835/best-buy-ads-from-1996-look-like-they-might-as-well

You likely buying your computers at half the cost of those listed in the ad.

Remember when RAM was that expensive? What about CRTs, or whole computer systems? It’s been ages since we sold a notebook with the same price tag on it as in the Best Buy ad from 1996.

Have a great weekend, and be glad you don’t have to put one of those big flip phones up to your head still!

Our office has moved to Androids, and in particular Samsung Epic 4G (original and the new Galaxy S II Touch) and absolutely love them.

I’d love you input….

Only one problem…  Nobody that I called in the Greenville area has one!  One person told me only 200 of the top stores got them today and those 200 stores only received 2 each.

So I will wait a while, or I could buy it online at sprint.com.

Why do I want it? Last year about this time, we replaced our aging Blackberry phones with Samsung Galaxy S Epic 4G phones and have loved them! BUT, that was this, this is now. The new phone does not have a keyboard built-in, so it is much thinner, and it also has a much larger display. The battery life is improved to boot.

As far as speed, the new phone has a 1.2Ghz DUAL CORE processor, compared to the 1Ghz single core we currently have.

The OS is upgraded, the camera is 8 megapixels.  What’s not to like?

Apparently the size. Some people don’t like that bigger 4.5″ screen, compared to the 4.3″ screen in our current phones.

We’ll see… Maybe by next week I can find one?

Thoughts?     OH, and don’t make it about carriers.  Sprint has done a great job of keeping us happy.  Verizon would be our 1st choice, but we’re locked in for a little while longer with 3 of our phones.

Have a great weekend!