You were lucky enough to make it through 2011 without a catastrophic failure of a hard drive, data corruption, loss of a notebook computer, etc, but will 2012 be so kind?

If you are like so many people and businesses we work with, you are NOT backing up your data. Maybe it is too much trouble, or too expensive.

Just remember, the most expensive backup is the one you didn’t perform….

Let us help you plan a backup strategy for your company, or even your personal data. Whether it is a single notebook, or a fleet of them, a single server, or 50 virtualized servers, we have a solution for you that will fit in your budget, be easy to maintain and more importantly, easy to recover in the event you do lose data.

We have physical backup systems, such as tape based, removable disk cartridge (RDX), disk based and network based, including full backup servers which can mirror your mission critical data. We also provide multiple cloud based offsite storage solutions which we highly recommend, even if you already have on location, physical backups. Servosity, a local offering and MozyPro.

In addition, we are a Symantec partner and work closely with businesses who rely on Symantec’s Backup Exec and deduplication systems.

Using tape or removable disk storage and need a secure offsite storage provider who will help create a rotation? We can help with that. Our local partner provides a climate and magnetic controlled vault and delivery/pickup services.

End of life for tape or disk media? We partner with another local company, ShredDisk who will dispose of that media in a guaranteed unrecoverable manner.

Call us today at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com and we will help you with your data situation!

Homeland Secure IT Alert

Secure IT Alert for Thursday, February 2, 2012

If you are running a current version of Apple Mac OS X, 10.6.x or OS X 10.7.x  (Snow Leopard & Lion respectively), then you are vulnerable to exploits that these patches correct.

These security flaws could potentially allow an attacker to execute code on your computer after you visit a malicious web site or download/view affected documents or files, or allow Denial of Service (DoS) or even elevation of privileges.

How do you fix this? Apple has released OS X Security Update 2012-001 and OS X 10.7.3 to fix these security problems – UPDATE ASAP.

The 52 security vulnerabilities affect 27 components that are part of OS X and OS X server.  Some of the affected software includes: Apache, OpenGL, PHP, QuickTime and Time Machine.

A few examples:

Buffer overflow vulnerability in ImageIO – View a malicious image and it could result in a crash of an application, or code to be executed on your computer. The upside is, it would only execute with your privileges.

Buffer overflow vulnerability in CoreAudio – Play a malicious audio file and experience a crash of your system, or execute code with your privileges.

QuickTime vulnerabilities – Six of these babies could mean that if you open a malicious image or video in QT, code could be executed with your privileges.

The full update information can be found at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5130

Should you require assistance in applying these updates, do not hesitate to call us in the Greenville or Upstate SC area at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

Homeland Secure IT Alert

#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

http://www.symantec.com/connect/sites/default/files/pcAnywhere%20Security%20Recommendations%20WP_01_23_Final.pdf

The danger is that someone so inclined could potentially access your computer through vulnerabilities exposed from old source code, and gain full access to your computer, files and your network.

To sum it up, disabling pcAnywhere is a surefire way to protect yourself and your company.

If you have questions about this or any other security issue in the Greenville or Upstate SC area, please call upon Homeland Secure IT, we can help set your mind at ease.  864.990.4748

In addition to performing all your favorites, we’re going to be premiering two new songs, “Carolina Girl” and “Standing in the Dark” which will be on our forthcoming album, due out June 8, 2012.

If you would, please visit our facebook page at http://facebook.com/DocksideBand and “like” us!!!!!!

You found that if you reboot that firewall (pull the plug on the thing since there is no power supply) that YOU get back online right away, but then later that day, someone else on the network is now having trouble accessing websites so you reboot the firewall and all is well, for a while.

What could it be? It MUST be the firewall going bad since that fixes it.

Before jumping to that conclusion and just replacing the device, think back. Has your company grown? Maybe you have added a few new employees, or, maybe you have added tablets or other connected devices.

What could be happening here is that you have added one too many devices to your network and exceeded the number of seats that your firewall appliance supports. When you originally purchased that device, a technician counted the number of computers, servers and connected devices and said “You need a 25 user firewall and it will cost $xxx.xx”, to which you agreed and promptly forgot about.

Now, flash forward to today and your 12 users and a server have grown to 15 users, two servers and many people have iPads or Android tablets or phones, taking you past the 25 user limit.  The last person to connect once you go over the limit will generally be denied access to websites by the firewall, as a warning that you have exceeded the license terms, and it probably won’t “reset” just by turning that computer off, you will have to reboot the firewall to free unused seats up.

So what are you going to do about it? I guess you could tell the employees to stop connecting their personal phones to your network, or you could replace the firewall with a cheap router that has no limitations.

Both will work, but are bad ideas.

The real solution is to correct the licensing issue. Determine how many connected devices you have within your network, and estimate how many you will need for the next year, then talk to a vendor who can provide the proper licenses and apply those for you. Don’t forget to include VoIP and security systems, even copiers and connected printers, as they may require a seat too.

If you are experiencing rapid growth, consider upgrading to an unlimited license.

Just a note – If you have an old device, say 4-5 years old, now may be the time to consider upgrading the entire device to the latest technology at the same time you correct the user limitation!

Should you require help with this, Homeland Secure IT offers sales and support of most major brands of firewalls. We partner with Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWALL, TrendNet, D-Link, NetGear and more! Call us for more information in the Greenville / Upstate SC area – 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

Homeland Secure IT Alert

Homeland Secure IT Alert for Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Yesterday was Adobe’s first patch day of the new year and the security bulletin describes a total of six vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader and Acrobat X 10.1.1 and older, on both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac.

The issues that are addressed are considered “critical” in nature and the solution is to download and deploy updates or to allow the Adobe Software Updater to perform the updates for you.

Adobe Reader X 10.1.2

• For Windows
• For Mac

Adobe Acrobat X 10.1.2

• Standard and Pro for Windows
• Pro Extended for Windows
• Pro for Mac

Homeland Secure IT Alert

Well, HP released a fix for that a week or so back… However, they didn’t mention fire issue.

None-the-less, you may wish to consider upgrading.

Should you require assistance applying updates to your devices, servers or computers in the Greenville or Upstate SC area, you can call upon us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

We’re working on new and exciting things that will help us to provide even better computer service & support to Greenville and Upstate area individuals and businesses, as well as bringing on new products as requested by our clients.

Our office will be closed tomorrow, Friday the 30th, and will not reopen until Monday the 3rd of January, 2012. If you need emergency assistance, please call our office or send an email, we will be monitoring voice mail and email and will get back with you ASAP! Most clients have our cell phone numbers and shouldn’t hesitate to call if a need arises.

We wish you, your family and your business many blessings in the coming year!

Also, if you are looking for a great party, come to The Hide-Out in Easley and catch The Dockside Band on New Year’s Eve! We’ll be playing all your favorite tunes.

http://facebook.com/DocksideBand or http://www.TheDocksideBand.com for more info!

More information is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/147966045304842/

Please like us too! https://www.facebook.com/DocksideBand

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from Homeland Secure IT

Christmas is almost upon us!

Hope you have your shopping done by now, and if not, well, it’s not too late to order a notebook, netbook, desktop or tablet computer from Homeland Secure IT!

We offer sales of all major brands of computers and components such as HP, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, NexLink, Asus, Samsung and more. Whether it is a business computer or one for your personal uses, we have something for you or the person on your list you have forgotten about not found the perfect gift for!

Orders placed are generally here at our Greenville office the next business day before lunch at no additional charge!!!!

We will be closing on Friday, December 23rd so our staff can spend time with their families, and we will be in the field on a server deployment on Monday, December 26th, however, we *WILL* be available for emergency calls should you need us!

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP2

As promised, Microsoft released SP2 for Exchange Server 2010 on 2011-12-12, and the SP brings with it a number of features and fixes:

• Incorporates all the changes from Update Rollup 1 through 6 for SP1
• Adds Hybrid Configuration Wizard for ease of managing a deployment between your on site Exchange and your Office 365 Exchange
• Introduces Address Book Policies, which determine the GAL, OAB, room list and address lists that are visible to the mailbox user that is assigned that policy
• New Cross-Site Silent Redirection for Outlook Web App can pass off requests to another server in another Active Directory site, and also permit a single sign-on
• Adds Mini Version of Outlook Web App suited for mobile users (tablets, pads, smart phones, basically anything with a browser)
• Mailbox Replication Service changes permit you to move mailboxes from on-premises to another forest or Outlook.com
• Mailbox Auto-Mapping changes allow you to disable Auto-Mapping to save on resources
• Added five Multi-Valued Custom Attributes which allow you to store additional information for your mail recipient objects
• Litigation Hold prohibits you from disabling or deleting a mailbox that has been placed on “litigation hold”

If you are running an Exchange Server 2010 without the current rollups applied to SP1, updating to SP2 today is a great idea as you can kill multiple birds with one stone!

Should you require assistance in the Greenville or Upstate, SC area please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

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!

We are hoping to book more gigs in the area and need your help!  If you would, please mention us to anyone who matters at bars, clubs, restaurants, and if you know any event coordinators, let them know we are available for bookings too!

We’ll play just about anything, from street fairs and festivals, to weddings, anniversaries, graduations, you name it!  Having a big family reunion? We’re in. Barn raising? Yep, sounds great!

More information can be found by going to http://www.facebook.com/DocksideBand (please LIKE us!) or visit our website at http://www.TheDocksideBand.com

The Dockside Band

The Dockside Band performs what we consider to be “Fun, Summertime” music spanning many genres such as country, rock, beach, blues and folk and many generations, from the 60s to current.  Artists we cover include Jimmy Buffet, Zac Brown, Journey, Bad Company, Matchbox Twenty, Van Morrison, Otis Redding, The Drifters, Kenny Chesney, The Commodores, Toby Keith, Jimi Hendrix, Tom Petty, Garth Brooks, etc…

We have played at restaurants and events that require low volume levels, so that is never an issue!

If you would like to check us out, we are playing New Year’s Eve at The Hide-Out in Easley, and then January 28th at Rendezvous in Greenville!

For more information, give me a call at 864-979-1224 and thank you for your support!!!!

An Early Christmas for Ryan

We love to give things away! From Cisco Flip cameras to X-Box 360 game consoles and everything in between…

Our November giveaway was a copy of Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2012 and the randomizer picked Ryan Montgomery…

You may know Ryan from Twitter as @MontyPhotoArt, but if you don’t know him at all, you should take  moment to look at his work, he’s one heck of a photographer!  Here’s his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RyanMontgomeryPhotos

If you didn’t win this time, there will be plenty of other free stuff! The more you connect with us, the more “entries” you get to our little games.

Actually, everyone is a winner.  We’re discounting Trend Micro Internet Security 2012 from the normal retail of 49.99 to only 30.00 because we want everyone to be protected!!!!  If you want this awesome anti-virus for your computers because you will only settle for the best, then come on down and pick up your copy. I doubt we will be able to offer this rate much longer though, so hurry! When our vendor realizes they have been charging too little and raise their rates back up, we will have to follow suit. We have about 50 copies in stock currently.

This deal is only good at our 104 Mauldin Rd, STE E, Greenville, SC office. At this price we can’t ship it to you…

Need anti-virus for your business? Trend Micro and Homeland can help you out as we offer protection for one computer or a thousand, including servers, Microsoft Exchange mail servers and more!  864.990.4748 or info@homelandsecureit.com for more information.

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.

Titanium Internet Security 2012 includes everything you would expect in an anti-virus package with a few extras…

• Blocks email and image spam
• Blocks and finds malicious links in emails and IMs
• Blocks downloads and access to malicious websites
• Fake AV cleaner – eliminates malware posing as antivirus software
• Protects from viruses, spyware, worms, trojans, botnets and rootkits
• Utilizes the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network to proactively stop threats before they reach you
• Prevents unauthorized changes to your applications
• Skinable interface (allows customizing Trend with a favorite photo or image)
• Windows Firewall Booster
• Protect your children – restrict internet content and set access schedule for your kids with Parental Controls
• Maximize your PC’s performance – System Tuner improves PC performance by cleaning up browser history, cookies, temporary files, registries and more
• Protect and defend your data from loss and theft with Data Theft Prevention to keep information like credit card numbers and passwords safe
• Secure Erase – shreds computer files with sensitive information to keep it from being easily recovered
• Includes SafeSync – secure online backup with sync, sharing and mobile access (2 GB cloud backup)
• Includes a  copy of Trend Micro Smart Surfing for Mac

So how can you score such great anti-virus for yourself or your business?  Homeland Secure IT is a partner with Trend Micro and recommends this product as well as sells it and installs it.  The suggested retail price is only 49.99 for the first year, with renewals generally costing less. You can call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for more information.

However, since this is the Thanksgiving season, and we want to give you our thanks for supporting us this year, we are going to give away one copy of this software, and maybe a couple copies if the interest is high enough.

We will draw on December 1st and announce the winner on our blog, Twitter, Facebook and Linked In.

You enter by subscribing to our mailing lists HERE, subscribe to this blog, LIKE us or link us on Facebook, Mention us on Twitter, or give us a Google Review, or otherwise connecting with us.

Here’s a list of how you can connect with us!

For every way you reach out to us, we count that as an entry. So if you join our mailing list, leave a review on Google, post a link on twitter and like us on Facebook, that is FOUR entries !  If you have already connected because you love us, or because you wanted to win something like the X-Box we gaveaway, don’t worry, you are STILL in our list and need do nothing.

The winner who is selected must be able to come pick up the item at our office in Greenville, SC. We will not ship it to you.  If you do not want it, or you do not claim it within 7 days, we will pick another winner!

Good luck!

Free Servosity Online Backup Trial! Click Here...

If you are from the Greenville / Upstate South Carolina area and are into IT, you likely know Damien Stevens, or at least the name of his company, Servosity.

Today, Servosity announced that in addition to their quality online / cloud backup solution, they will have Servosity DR Server and DR Desktop available! DR Server and DR Desktop are Disaster Recovery solutions that allow you to perform a Bare Metal Recovery to dissimilar physical hardware, recover VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines, and more.

Features:

• Bare Metal Recovery to Dissimilar hardware, VMWare, Hyper-V, and VirtualBox
• Local, Network, and Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery
• Purpose built for MSPs and IT Resellers
• No Hardware Required
• Geographically Redundant SAS-70 Type II Cloud
• Recover a server, desktop, or laptop in just minutes
• Disaster Recovery with snapshots to the Network and Cloud every 15 minutes

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

The End is Near (The End Of Support for XP)

The end is near!!!!

The End of Support (EOS) for Microsoft Windows XP, that is…

Microsoft wants you to be aware of this, so they have a gadget you can download and install on your Windows 7 or even Windows Vista machine. (Sorry, if you are running XP, that’s not one of the supported systems for this Countdown Timer.

Get your gadget here.

Get your upgrade to Microsoft Windows 7 HERE!  Homeland Secure IT is your Upstate / Greenville Microsoft partner…

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?

Fortunately, none of our equipment even looks at name servers other than our own in-house server.  But does yours?

First, let’s look at what DNS is….

The simple explanation is: DNS stands for “Domain Name System”, and its function translates common names you enter into your web browser, like “www.google.com, or www.HomelandSecureIT.com” into their IP addresses, kind of like calling 411 and asking for a phone number from a name.

It also functions in the other direction, performing reverse DNS lookups, from an IP address to a hostname.

If you are using a home router or an inexpensive business router which handles DHCP (oh that’s another acronym we will talk about at a later date), giving out IP addresses dynamically to computers and devices that connect, then that device will also give out the DNS server/s these devices should use to do name resolution.

Some servers are handling DHCP and they too may give out DNS servers other than themselves, and even if they ARE a DNS server, they may simply be forwarding lookups to your ISP.

And some devices may be set static, with DNS servers entered manually.

In most of these cases, you may have been given a set of DNS servers to enter when you initially configured your router/server/device.  If your ISP updates the servers and gives you new IPs, you need to reprogram these devices.

The consequences if you do not update these settings? SLOW resolution of names to IPs… Where you enter www.somesitehere.com and hit return and your browser just hangs there doing nothing for a loooooong time, or you get warnings that the site was not found.

When your ISP gives you new servers, it is best to go ahead and update your devices at that moment in time, or else you will forget about it and one day not be able to get to your favorite website causing a “face-palm” and a wasted 15 minutes on the phone because you forgot to write down those IP addresses, or can’t get to your cloud based email.

If you need help in Greenville or Upstate SC let us know….  Call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com

Do you have a unified threat management or spam protection device that is not from WatchGuard?

If so, and you would like to upgrade to the WatchGuard XTM or XCS series UTMs, then through December 2011 you can take advantage of their offer to allow trade-ins of competitor’s appliances for a three-year XTM Security Bundle on selected models or a three-year XCS Email Security Bundle and pay ONLY for the services.

You get the box for free!

Some of the brands that are acceptable trade-ins are:

• Aastaro
• Barracuda
• Cisco
• Clearswift
• Fortigate
• IronPort
• Juniper
• M86 MailMarshal
• McAfee Email Gateway
• ProofPoint
• SonicWall
• St. Bernard
• Symantec
• Trend Micro

For more information, please contact your WatchGuard reseller, or if you’re in the Greenville / Upstate SC area, please call Homeland Secure IT at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com