Don’t FREAK out – Apple has fixed their vulnerabilities

Apple FREAK vulnerabilities fixed There’s a major web encryption flaw that has been documented and widely covered in the media which permits a “man in the middle” type attack to occur from your web browser

How does it work? It allows an attacker to intercept HTTPS traffic between vulnerable clients and servers, and then forces them to use an export-grade cryptography, which can then be decrypted and/or altered.

Who does it affect? Well, end users who are utilizing common browsers such as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Google Chrome on Mac OS and Android, Safari on Mac OS and iOS, Blackberry Browser and Opera on Mac OS and Linux.

Fortunately, on Monday 2015-03-09, Apple addressed these issues and patches are available.

iOS 8.2 addresses this in your iPhone and iPad, and you should not hesitate to update.  One word of caution however: If you are using an iPad 2/3 and opt to update from iOS 7x to 8.2 to fix this issue, you may experience extremely poor performance from your older iPad. The trade off is that you will be secure, but you might not enjoy the user experience. Also, you can NOT go backwards from iOS 8x to iOS 7x.

It is reported that ALL versions of Microsoft Windows operating system are vulnerable to FREAK, but no update yet. Expect an “out of band” solution to be released any minute to help the hundreds of millions of PC users to say safe out there.

If you question the security of your PC or your business network and are in the Greenville, or Upstate SC area, please call upon us or use this CONTACT FORM. Computer technical support is what we do! 864.990.4748.

Homeland Secure IT is your Upstate Adobe Reseller

IGreenville SC Registered Adobe Resellerf you or your business needs Adobe Acrobat Pro, Illustrator or Photoshop for one computer, you will likely make an online purchase or buy from a big box store.

However, if you are buying for users, or 100, or even 1000, then you will want to turn to an authorized Adobe reseller.

Homeland Secure IT is your Upstate Adobe Reseller and that allows us to offer your next new computer bundled with the software you want and need, or we can give you a quote on multiple licenses so you can upgrade your whole company.

The Adobe fleet of software and services currently consists of more products than you want to read about here.

We offer sales Adobe, including these popular offerings:

  • Acrobat XI Pro PDF editing suite
  • Creative Cloud (Membership, for teams, Photography Plan)
  • Dreamweaver CC web and mobile app design
  • Illustrator CC vector graphics and illustration suite
  • Photoshop CC image editing and compositing
  • Photoshop Lightroom digital processing and editing

Please use our CONTACT FORM or call us at 864.990.4748 if we can provide you with a quote for Adobe products!

 

Lenovo issues statement to partners concerning Superfish debacle

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Homeland Secure IT Alert

If you have been watching the news or reading about computer security, you probably are already aware of the fact that Lenovo, one of the top computer manufacturers, has included a malicious piece of software called Superfish with new computers.

Being a Lenovo dealer and having sold many of their products, we want to make sure you are aware of it and how to check for it.

LastPass created this tool which will detect the presence of Superfish.  Please visit that site and determine if it is a concern for you. Should you need help with this or any other computer or network security concern in Greenville or the Upstate, please do not hesitate to call us at 864.990.4748 or use our contact form.

I also posted similar information on our sister site, Greenville Virus Experts, that your computer may have come factory equipped with malware just yesterday.

Here’s the official statement from Lenovo, sent out to their partners today:

LENOVO STATEMENT ON SUPERFISH

Dear Valued Partner,As you may have heard, select Lenovo consumer notebooks shipped after September 2014 included Superfish Visual Discovery software as a shopping aid to customers. Superfish is a TrustE certified third-party software vendor, with offices in Palo Alto, CA.

User feedback on the software was not positive and we received some reports of security concerns.

Please note that Lenovo has NOT loaded this software on any ThinkPad notebooks, nor any desktops, tablets, workstations, servers or smartphones. The only impacted models are the following consumer notebook series: Z-series, Y-Series, U-Series, G-Series, S-Series, Flex-Series, Yoga, Miix and E-Series. If you use any of these Lenovo consumer models in your enterprise, please refer to the Customer Support information below.

While this software does not impact the models typically used by businesses, we wanted to let you know that we take user feedback seriously at Lenovo. We know that millions of people rely on our devices every day, and it is our responsibility to deliver quality, reliability, innovation and security to each and every customer. We make every effort to provide a great user experience for our customers.

We recognize that the Superfish software has caused concern. Lenovo has taken steps to address that concern.

 

• Superfish has completely disabled server side interactions (since January) on all Lenovo products so that the software is no longer active.
• Lenovo has stopped preloading the software and will not preload this software again in the future.
• Lenovo has provided instructions for uninstalling this software and will soon provide a software removal patch.

For more information on this, or for instructions on Superfish software removal, please visit http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/product_security/superfish.We appreciate your confidence in Lenovo.

 

Is your business ready for Microsoft Server 2003 End of Support?

Windows Server 2003 Support Ends in:

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Windows Server 2003 End of Support

Microsoft has scheduled the End of Support for their Server 2003 product to for July 14th, 2015, after which, there will be no support, no updates, and no patches to help protect your business from security issues.

That’s right, any of your line-of-business systems which are running on Windows 2003 are at risk!

Staying with Windows Server 2003 could result in additional security and maintenance costs, and unexpected downtime. New modern servers running Windows Server 2012 R2 could ultimately reduce your costs and improve security.

Typically, organizations on older hardware and operating systems are interested in improving their capabilities in several key areas including:
  1. Better performance and scalability
  2. Cost-effective storage
  3. Reliable backup and disaster recovery
  4. Simplified IT management
Newer server offerings preloaded with Windows Server 2012 R2 can help you  get there, by offering a number of benefits including:
  1. Latest technology – new hardware is more energy-efficient. Windows Server 2012 R2 is a big step forward in capabilities and features, including virtualization and adds support for cost-effective storage, disaster recovery and remote access.
  2. Full support – new hardware is more secure and includes warranties for available parts and service
  3. More powerful servers – more power means improved processing and throughput for server hardware.
  4. Reduced server footprint – virtualization enables users to get more from each server and eliminate server sprawl.
  5. Simplified management – standards-based management simplifies compute, storage and networking functions.
  6. Pre-installed for simplicity – set-up is faster and easier.

Common Questions:

  1. What is the hurry?
    • End of support for Windows Server 2003 is July 14, 2015, which is a lot sooner than you may think. Having enough lead time is crucial to smooth migration. The risks and the costs increase significantly the longer you wait. Now is the time to get started!
  2. Is upgrading going to be expensive?
    • Actually, in the long term, upgrading will reduce costs. Outdated hardware and software costs more to run and maintain. The latest systems are more energy efficient, so not only will you be able to reduce energy costs, but with Windows Server 2012 R2, you can take advantage of more cost-effective storage and built-in disaster recovery. You’ll also benefit from easier remote access and a consistent user experience.
  3. We don’t have the time or resources to handle a migration project right now, how can we manage?
    • That’s why we’re here. We want to make this easy for your now, before end of support makes things more challenging. Why don’t you let us conduct a free assessment of your IT infrastructure? We can put together a plan that will show you exactly what it would take. Many clients discover that upgrading is more reasonable than they expected and the benefits received far outweigh the risks.

Give us a call at 864-990-4748 or use our CONTACT FORM to start a discussion about how we can migrate your Greenville / Upstate SC business to Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2!

We offer sales of Microsoft software and licensing, as well as servers, and consultation, installation, migration and the support you need to keep your business running smoothly!

Pardon our dust – we’re revamping our website

Website redesign in progressIt’s time for a cool change.  We’re going to spend the next few weeks toying with our website and ways to make it more useful to our clients and to us.

A web based store for some of our most common products may be in the works and an additional website that is specific to one service we offer will also be forthcoming.

When the dust settles, hopefully it will be both functional and easier to navigate.

Why don’t we just do it on a test platform instead of working on our live site? Because with the amount of traffic we receive, we can monitor the effectiveness of changes in real-time.

As always, your input is appreciated, so feel free to shoot us an email, use our CONTACT FORM or even reply to this post.

We’ll still have plenty of time to accomplish all the computer repair, sales and consultation we do, so don’t worry! Call us if you need us.

We offer Greenville computer virus removal and cleanup services

Our number one phone call question is, “Can you remove a virus from my computer?”

The short answer is, “yes”.  The long answer is, “it depends on the severity of the infection.”

While most malware occurrences may be nothing more than annoying, some of them will include a much more sinister payload, one that installs keylogging, or rootkits with complete command and control. The worst of the issues may require a “wipe and reload”, and is much more involved than simply running clean up tools as it could mean locating drivers for specific components, in addition to full backups of the system and then restoring the files after insuring they are clean.

But, back to the short answer… Yes! Give us a call at 864-990-4748 or use our CONTACT FORM and let’s see what we can do for you.

We perform repairs in our Greenville based office, or we can go to your location.  Business and home users are both welcome!

Merry Christmas from Homeland Secure IT!

Merry Christmas from Homeland Secure IT

Merry Christmas from Homeland Secure IT

We would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas! We hope you will get to spend it with those who mean the most to you and that the Christmas spirit fills you to the brim with joy and happiness!

We are closing mid-day on Christmas Eve and will return on Monday, January 29th…   If you should have an emergency and need computer or network service before then, please use our contact form, email us, or call – your messages will go to our smartphones and email.

And now a story….  One which I have been reposting since before I can remember. I first saw it on the University of Arkansas computer system about 1985 and I immediately posted it to my computer bulletin board (BBS) and posted it somewhere ever since.  It’s been sent in Christmas cards, posted on forums, and sent in email, but here it is again….

If someone knows the author, let me know, I would like to give them credit!

 

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas – Computer Version

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shop,
The computers were whirring; they never do stop.
The power was on and the temperature right,
In hopes that the input would feed back that night.

The system was ready, the program was coded,
And memory drums had been carefully loaded;
While adding a Christmasy glow to the scene,
The lights on the console, flashed red, white and green.

When out in the hall there arose such a clatter,
The programmer ran to see what was the matter.
Away to the hallway he flew like a flash,
Forgetting his key in his curious dash.
He stood in the hallway and looked all about,
When the door slammed behind him, and he was locked out.

Then, in the computer room what should appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer;
And a little old man, who with scarcely a pause,
Chuckled: “My name is Santa…the last name is Claus.”

The computer was startled, confused by the name,
Then it buzzed as it heard the old fellow exclaim:
“This is Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
And Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.”

With all these odd names, it was puzzled anew;
It hummed and it clanked, and a main circuit blew.
It searched in its memory core, trying to “think”;
Then the multi-line printer went out on the blink.

Unable to do its electronic job,
It said in a voice that was almost a sob:
“Your eyes – how they twinkle – your dimples so merry,
Your cheeks so like roses, your nose like a cherry,

Your smile – all these things, I’ve been programmed to know,
And at data-recall, I am more than so-so;
But your name and your address (computers can’t lie),
Are things that I just cannot identify.

You’ve a jolly old face and a little round belly,
That shakes when you laugh like a bowl full of jelly;
My scanners can see you, but still I insist,
Since you’re not in my program, you cannot exist!”

Old Santa just chuckled a merry “ho, ho”,
And sat down to type out a quick word or so.
The keyboard clack-clattered, its sound sharp and clean,
As Santa fed this “data” into the machine:

“Kids everywhere know me; I come every year;
The presents I bring add to everyone’s cheer;
But you won’t get anything – that’s plain to see;
Too bad your programmers forgot about me.”

Then he faced the machine and said with a shrug,
“Merry Christmas to All,” as he pulled out its plug,
“And to all, a good night!”

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

Business desktop computer pricing for end of 2014

Nexlink 1250 Business Desktop Computers

Nexlink 1250 Business Desktop Computers

As the year draws to a close, many of the businesses here in Greenville SC and around the Upstate are making last minute purchases. Some are to use up the budget they have remaining, and some want to get purchases in on the 2014 tax year. Almost all of them want something new!

Below you will find two of the most popular computers we have to offer. Both are from our custom system builder, Nexlink, which are assembled here in the USA with quality Intel and Asus components. They feature a FIVE YEAR parts warranty, and the support is from people who speak English.

We’ve sold more of their computers than we can count… Some to individuals who only wanted one desktop or notebook, and many to businesses who buy several, up to several hundred and cannot recall an unhappy customer with this brand!

So, whether you need one, or one hundred computers for your business (or for your home), let us know!  There’s still time to get them before the end of the year…

The pricing below is for ONE computer – quantity discounts are available and these computers can be customized to suit your exact needs, including processor, ram, storage, case size and more.

 

Part Number PB-1250-4130-8G-W7D PB-1250-4440-8G-W7D
Processor I3-4130 3.4 GHZ I5-4440 3.00 GHZ
Operating System Windows 7 Professional
(Windows 8 Pro license and recovery media included)		 Windows 7 Professional
(Windows 8 Pro license and recovery media included)
Memory 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR 1600 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR 1600
Storage 1TB 7200 RPM 1TB 7200 RPM
Graphics IntelÂŽ HD Graphics
Integrated VGA, DVI, HDMI ports 1 PCIe x16 slot		 IntelÂŽ HD Graphics
Integrated VGA, DVI, HDMI ports 1 PCIe x16 slot
Expandability 8 x 2.0 USB (4 ext., 4 int.)2 x 3.0 USB Ext2 x Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s ports2 x Serial ATA 6.0 Gb/s Ports
2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot

8-Channel HD Audio

1 x Gigabit LAN

 8 x 2.0 USB (4 ext., 4 int.)2 x 3.0 USB Ext2 x Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s ports2 x Serial ATA 6.0 Gb/s Ports
2 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot

8-Channel HD Audio

1 x Gigabit LAN
Form Factor NexlinkÂŽ Micro Tower NexlinkÂŽ Micro Tower
Power Supply 80+ 350 Watt 80+ 350 Watt
Warranty 5 Year Depot Warranty 5 Year Depot Warranty
Dimensions 7.2 x 14.25 x 15.4 inches 7.2 x 14.25 x 15.4 inches
PRICE $750 $825

 

Need installation and migration services? Homeland Secure IT offers full support!

Financing and leasing is available through our leasing partners for larger purchases.

You can reach us via our contact form, or call 864-990-4748.

 

Apple iPad 2 owners may wish to hold off on that IOS 8 update

If you have not updated your iPad 2 to IOS 8 yet, you might want to hold off or potentially suffer the same consequences that I have.

Here’s the list of the most annoying issues that affect me since updating my iPad 2 64GB w/Verizon Cellular to IOS 8:

EXTREMELY SLOW – When opening apps, or switching between them – We are talking just the built-in apps. Mail, Safari, Settings….

Extremely slow Wi-Fi AND broadband. The Wi-Fi is the worst though. Horrible. Page load times are 2 to 4x slower than my wife’s iPad.

Battery life reduced by at least 25%. Used to make it all day long, now I am having to plug it in.

Heat – It is working so hard that the processor is heating up. That can’t be healthy for it, and surely the majority of the power issues stem from this.

Copy/Paste not functioning correctly between browser windows. Oh this is frustrating. I just want to paste the URL of one website I am on to Facebook, for instance. Even though I COPY, it’s pasting in info I clipped a earlier in the day to one browser tab, but if I open another one, it will paste the correct information. You never know what you are going to get.

Cannot post a photo to facebook by hitting the camera icon when leaving a reply or making a post (using web browser version)… It starts the upload, then just stops. I *CAN* go to photos, then SHARE it to facebook, but that doesn’t allow me to post a photo along with a reply.
Multiple app crashes per day. This I can deal with. It’s nothing new, it’s just more frequent. Safari and Mail seem to be the major culprits. It wouldn’t be so bad except it takes 2-4 seconds to reopen the crashed app. Sometimes as much as 10 seconds.

And that’s just the annoying ones….

I find this absolutely unacceptable.

Apple should have given me a warning “Notice: While you CAN install IOS 8 on your IPad 2 64GB w/Cellular, we highly recommend you do not as you will experience slow performance. CONTINUE? or BUY NEW IPAD?”

I’ve dealt with many thousands of computers, servers and connected devices over the years, with countless software/OS/firmware updates, and not one of them has been this poorly executed. That includes Windows ME and Windows Vista.

 

If you already have updated and are experiencing similar issues, it MAY be possible for you to restore your iPad to IOS 7, unfortunately for me, that is hopeless.   I can theoretically go back to IOS 7, but due to a corrupted image, I will lose everything and have to start over by reinstalling the applications and reconfiguring them.

My thoughts: Get your act together Apple….

Microsoft Patch Tuesday should be taken seriously this time (Sept 2014)

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Homeland Secure IT Alert

FORTY-ONE vulnerabilities have been addressed in this edition of Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday. There are 37 security flaws in Microsoft Internet Explorer alone which are being corrected. These range from “Important” all the way up to the “Critical” level, and include one fix for a “zero day vulnerability” that attackers have been exploiting.

It is recommended that you apply the patches if you have not already done so.

Should you need assistance with, or need assistance with your computer or network security in the Greenville SC area, please do not hesitate to call upon us.  Homeland Secure IT specializes in small & medium business network service and support. 864-990-4748 or use our CONTACT FORM.

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