Beat the criminals with a security camera for your home or business
The attached picture was taken a few moments ago from a network security camera at my home. Anytime there is motion within that camera’s field of vision, it will alert me via email, immediately (I receive it on my blackberry). The driveway is covered with this camera, the front yard with another, the full driveway and sidewalk with another, and yet another keeps an eye on the rear of the house.
This provides me with a simple means of seeing every path that someone could/would use to get to my home and alerting me to the activity. They also record audio, and time-stamp the images and record full motion to a digital video recorder (DVR). It is almost like being there! Most of the time when someone approaches our home I get the notification that they are there before they even make it to the door!
Will it stop a criminal? No way. A real criminal would not care that our house was under constant video surveillance, nor would they care about the ADT alarm system with cellular backup. But what it does do is to give me peace of mind, knowing when UPS or FedEx drops off a package, or when someone pulls into our driveway.
What can a security camera system do for you? For starters, if you run a business, it can help with loss prevention, just the mere presence of video cameras can deter some would-be thieves. And in the event something actually occurs, you can possibly use the video to help prosecute the offenders.
One person I know beat a liability claim that was going to be lodged against them by showing what REALLY happened.
We use them at our office for peace of mind, a deterrent and for a reduction in insurance premiums.
You may have remote areas of your business that you want to monitor so you know that your workers are actually working, or that they are working safely and that inventory is not walking out the door.
Home owners may want to keep an eye on a swimming pool or play area and view the cameras with their iPhone or while away at work.
Whatever the reason, there is a perfect system to suit your requirements. Call us today at 864-990-4748 for a free evaluation of your Greenville / Upstate security & surveillance camera needs.
Trend Micro is offering 3 years for the price of two on Worry Free Business Security products!
The headline says it all! There really never has been a better time to switch your business to Trend Micro’s world class Worry Free Business Security anti-virus / anti-malware / anti-spam products!
For a limited time, we can provide you with THREE years of anti-virus protection for the price of two years. This is a no-brainer for small to large businesses because you license one product for the number of computers you need to protect, and don’t have to worry with a renewal for 3 years! At the time of renewal, you renew one product license for the number of seats you have in use, and not the individual license for each computer.
Whether you need to protect two computers or two hundreds, there is a perfect Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security (WFBS) product for you.
For a small organization, like a church or non-profit that does not have a server, you can use the hosted / in-the-cloud solution to protect as few as two computers, or dozens and still get the full protection. You get a web based console and can check up on the status of all your computers, even if they are notebooks roaming in the field.
For a business who has a server, you probably will want to look at the WFBS Standard anti-virus package. It is loaded on a Windows based server, then each computer in the organization is associated with that Trend Server and from the central console, you can check up on the computers in the network! This makes life for the admin of a business because they are not running to individual computers to maintain anti-virus!
Worry Free Business Security Advanced is for those businesses lucky enough to have a Microsoft Exchange mail server. WFBS Advanced provides all the advantages of the Standard offering, but adds mail server protection to keep viruses, spyware, phishing and other forms of mal-ware out of your email. It stops it cold at the gate! It also features an amazing spam filter that will reduce your spam to a trickle across the entire organization.
There are so many features of these products that you do not get from the competitors that it makes no sense to even consider anything but Trend Micro! You can block down websites based on types of content, you can lock down computers to prevent people from installing software and modifying registry entries, and you can even see attempts by your users at reaching malicious websites, so you can tell who the real power-browsers are at a glance. This is in addition to the “normal” stuff, like firewalls, wi-fi protection, removable media protection, etc.
It doesn’t matter if you are in Greenville or the Upstate of South Carolina, or any of the great 50 states of America, Homeland Secure IT can offer these products to your business at a great price currently. We can sell you the licensing and also provide the installation and support if you happen to be in the Upstate of SC.
Involved with a non-profit, academic or governmental organization? We can offer even steeper discounts! Call or email us to find out what Trend Micro can do for you!
Don't fall victim to loss of your important data! Secure it with Encryption and Backup!
Every computer service and support company in the world just waits in the wings for headlines like this one from today on GreenvilleOnline.com: “Missing laptop may compromise Oconee Heart Center Patients’ data“. It’s not because we revel in the suffering of others, but because it underscores the importance of the message that computer techs preach over and over “secure your data”, and I guess, some jump on the “I told you so!” bandwagon too.
When it happens to an Upstate based organization, the message does reach the TV screens, radios and computers of the clients that Homeland Secure IT provides service to, or at least our general service area, so a phone call or email from a concerned PC owner is inevitable as the level of concern increases (at least for the duration of the press coverage).
Some people believe it can never happen to them, that the owners of the missing computer were incompetent and they are so much smarter, or that if a computer of theirs were to be lost or stolen, there is nothing on it that is of value. And still others believe that they have taken every precaution needed to insure the security of their data.
When we talk with these people, most often, they have overlooked something. For instance, a person will assume that because they backup their data to a flash drive, that if the computer were stolen, they would still have that data. What if the flash drive is in the case of the notebook, or still connected to the PC if it is a desktop workstation? Gone.
Others feel they have nothing important on their computers and totally forget about cached information which may have their credit card numbers, social security numbers, or worse, the information of others.
More often than not, we will encounter a person in the medical or legal field who has very sensitive information, and carry it around on a notebook computer, but they have done nothing to protect the data.
Here are some things that you can do to protect yourself:
Set a BIOS password on your PC, this requires someone to enter a password just to get the OS loaded up. This can be bypassed by resetting the BIOS as we just did in our shop today on a notebook, but an unsavvy thief may not know that.
Set a login password for your computer – sure, the drive can be pulled and read in another computer, or a password cracking tool can be used to bypass that login, but again, a casual criminal may not have the know how, or the inclination and may just opt to reinstall a new operating system so the computer can be sold for a quick buck.
Encryption – This is an awesome option for most people. You can opt to encrypt files using the encryption features of Microsoft Office (This can be bypassed with a 25 dollar tool bought online), or entire folders, or even the entire hard drive of your computer. Software exists to accomplish this, and some operating systems have the functionality built-in. Disk encryption is going to offer one of the highest layers of security you can get.
Backup – This does not prevent your data from being stolen, but it does allow you to have access to it in the event your computer were to be lost or stolen. Backup comes in many flavors, from a physical backup to a flash drive or USB hard drive, to the awesome online backup solutions that exist. We are a big proponent of Servosity online data backup because it is secure /encrypted, trouble free, and totally hands-off, so you don’t have to remember to perform a backup. (Ask us about a FREE TRIAL!) – Whatever you use, make sure that the media you backup to is either online or if it is physical, not actually WITH the PC you wish to protect.
Security Locks – If you leave your PC unattended on a desk, a simple Kensington style lock can prevent it from (easily) being walked off with. These are inexpensive, and easy to use and transport.
LoJack for Laptops – LoJack is a great service that runs silently on your computer, and in the event of a theft, should that computer be plugged into the internet and powered on, LoJack can work with authorities to possibly recover your computer by tracing the IP address. They reportedly have a success rate that tends to support the minimal cost of the subscription.
Insurance – Did you know your PC may not be covered by your homeowners’s insurance? If it is a work computer, your employer COULD expect you to pay for it, but your homeowner insurance company may take a different view since you did not purchase the computer and thus do not own it. You can get a rider to insure just about anything – so check with your insurance company.
These are just a few of the many solutions that can help secure your equipment and the important data that resides on it. No one solution covers you 100% obviously, but when you start combining them, it gets increasingly difficult for the criminal. And don’t think this stops with notebooks. Theft of computers is at an all-time high. Entire servers are stolen! What a scary thought!?!
Do you think you are exempt for some reason? If you are dealing with medical or financial records at all, please be advised that there are laws that mandate you protect yourself and your company from data loss/theft – SEEK A PROFESSIONAL for advice!
One last thing, if you doubt for a second that your network, computers and data is secure, whether from physical loss or theft, from hackers penetrating your defenses, or for compliance with various laws and guidelines, then call a professional! Many IT companies offer a free consultation, and Homeland Secure IT is no exception. Even if you or your network administrator is extremely well versed in computer security, a second set of eyes never hurts! Call us if we can be of any assistance… 864-990-4748
Will your next tech support call be to a person in prison?
When I read the article about one company farming out their data entry work to an Indian prison where prisoners will be handling financial records while using computers, it made me shudder. Not only do we have prisoners handling financials, but they are using computers to do so, making it all the more easy for them to send that data off to someone outside the prison.
Now that we have gone there, how long until a computer company outsources their tech support to a prison? I say it is not too far off. So, next month, or next year, instead of calling HP and finding yourself talking to a person with poor English and a terrible grasp of your problem, you may be talking to some rapist, murderer, or a white collar criminal, who make take control of your computer from behind bars and attempt to help you. Oh it is not a reality now (that I know of), but how far into the future before it does happen?
I’ve never been a fan of IT outsourcing for many reasons, but we see it happening more and more. Almost every large computer manufacturer uses outsourced tech support. It may be time to reconsider who you purchase your computer from. Instead of saving 100 dollars and getting a mass-manufactured PC, you may wish to consider purchasing a PC from a US manufacturer who has US based tech support. One line of computers which we sell is assembled right here in America, using top of the line Intel motherboards and processors, and when you call for tech support, you get someone who knows their products top to bottom and speaks English. Of course, if you purchase one of these computers from Homeland Secure IT, we will handle the repairs for you, as the parts are covered 100% for 3 years.
Ask us for more information and how these machines stack up against HP, Dell, etc. They are not cheap by any means, but remember, you get what you pay for…
Do you need help with your network? Homeland Secure IT, LLC provides network support services to Upstate and Greenville, SC businesses and individuals. Whether you need Microsoft Patches put on your Microsoft Server, or an upgrade to your Microsoft Exchange Server, we can assist! We sell new and maintain existing servers, desktop PCs, and network infrastructure such as routers, firewalls and other security appliances. We also sell and install network security cameras which you can use to keep an eye on your business from afar.
We are authorized partners for Microsoft, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Quantum, SonicWall, Cisco, Toshiba, MSI, Digium VoIP, Trend Micro AV and many more!
Yes we do far more than just computer repair work, we do it ALL! Our rates are reasonable and our service cannot be beat!
Call us today and find out what we can do for you with a no cost, no obligation evaluation of your network!
I’m still feeling horrible after the accident on Friday so I am at home. Better to hurt at home than to go in to work and not get anything done, be more uncomfortable, feel more depressed and make everyone at the office as sick of hearing me whine about it as my family and even myself… It hurts to type, so you get an embedded video today for your visit. Stay tuned because I am going to be listing the rules of our free camera give away as soon as I feel better, we have the new Flip Mino HD in our posession and we are ready to give it to some lucky person!
New Computer Wireless Network Technology to Drool Over
An article posted today on Wired got me all excited (Yes, I am that kind of geek)! They discuss the future of wireless networking and how the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) has announced that 60Ghz multi-gigabit wireless technology is now available to member companies to start turning out products that use the new high-speed standard.
Yes, you didn’t read that wrong and I didn’t make a typo… multi-gigabit wireless! The article discusses this in more detail, so I will refer you to it to pull the details out, but imagine if you will, the ability to have a wireless LAN at more than 10 times the speed of current 802.11n Wi-Fi, or Wireless N rate. Heck, most offices do not even have gigabit switches in them, and my own home doesn’t.
That still means our bottleneck is the internet connection to our home, but a gigabit wireless, combined with say, Google Fiber Internet at gigabit speed is going to be amazing when it gets here! Of course, Google will bring that technology to Greenville SC first, so you better plan to move to the Upstate to fulfill your need for speed! =)
It seems like forever since the Google On Main event that made national and even international news. It didn’t stop with the amazing night of 2200+ people gathered at Falls Park in downtown Greenville SC with LED lightsticks, spelling out “Google” while aircraft flew overhead taking photos and video. Far from it.
Greenville has continued to make their desire for Google’s High Speed Fiber deployment known, through a Facebook fan page, untold numbers of blog postings and websites, face-to-face meetings, the official Greenville We Are Feeling Lucky website http://www.WeAreFeelingLucky.com and by voting in the questionable http://www.googlefiber.com/ voting page.
Well the UNOFFICIAL Google Fiber vote that was supposed to last until May 6th has now been extended another month, where there will be a death-match between the most popular cities I imagine. More information about that is available here: http://www.googlefiber.com/voting-challenge-round-2-begins-may-7/
The GoogleFiber.com site is very sketchy… The owner is from India apparently, and of course it IS an unofficial vote, and there has been cheating on the parts of individuals, as well as the exclusion of many people who wanted to vote while at work (They made it where you could not vote multiple times from the same IP, such as a corporate network uses)…
My two cents on this is – keep on voting, keep on supporting Greenville in any way you can. Also, post to Twitter with the tags of #LuckyGVL and #GoogleOnMain ANYTIME you have something positive to say about Greenville and technology. Who knows, maybe we can catch the eye of Google and they too will decide that Greenville is the best place they could pick to deploy that tasty 1 Gbps high speed fiber network!
I have started a Race for the Cure team called G(o)(o)gle on Main, and invite you to join us in a 5k walk/run/race for the Cure! You can even join our team and SLEEP IN FOR THE CURE!!!! If you cannot participate in the team, please make a contribution, even 5 or 10 dollars would be awesome. We are going to try to raise 5000 dollars. That’s 1000 dollars a kilometer!
Microsoft Office 2010 is coming soon!
Microsoft has RTM’d their latest and greatest version of Microsoft Office. RTM is a “release to manufacturing”, which means that you will see it on store shelves and available from vendors very soon!
To be honest with you, I was not a MS Office fan until Office 2007 was released, and I fell in love with the power and reliability of that version, however a number of people were turned off by it, thinking the new release did not offer much incentive to upgrade over Office 2003, which many had just purchased at the time of the 2k7 Office release. Flash forward to the present and we have a similar situation about to occur. We’re still selling people on upgrades to 2k7 and recently encouraged a business to upgrade from their Office 2000 & 2003 versions to 2007, only to see Office 2010 around the corner.
There will be some early adopters who will jump at the chance to upgrade to 2010 the second it is available, and some will have the “wait and see” attitude where they will sit back and wait until they feel it is stable. And of course, there are going to be those who wait 4 years to upgrade due to many factors, such as an attitude that “what I have is working fine”, “I’m not giving Microsoft any more of my money”, and the ever popular “I can’t take the time to learn new software”. (We have some clients still running Office 2000 because of the last one)
We’re running Office 2k10 in house and it is working fantastic. Many improvements over the previous versions, and it seems as though it is rock solid even in this early release (beta) version, so we will be upgrading all of our machines to Office 2010 Professional Plus second it is available to us.
Now, what about your business? Let’s say you want to upgrade, but like some of our clients you just purchased Office 2007 and don’t want to spend the money to abandon what is working for you. If you purchased your Microsoft Office 2007 with Microsoft’s Software Assurance, then you are in luck, as a current SA (Software Assurance) agreement is going to get you the upgrade for free the moment it is released online this month!
If you have Office Enterprise 2007, Office Professional Plus 2007, or Office Small Business Edition 2007 with Software Assurance, then you can download Office Professional Plus 1010 when it comes available.
If you have Office Standard 2007 with Software Assurance, you will need to download Office Standard 2010 when it becomes available.
All you will need to do is to go to the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) to download the new software.
For those of you who are running earlier versions of Office, you can upgrade now to Office 2007 with Software Assurance and ensure you get a free upgrade to Office 2010 the moment it is released.
If you would like a quote for 1 seat, 100 or even thousands of seats, please contact us at 864-990-4748 or email johnh@homelandsecureit.com
Does your business need a new computer, or maybe several new computers? Homeland Secure IT can help! We have just lowered the price on our premier business computer systems because our supplier has been good to us! It may be cheaper to replace your old computers than to pay for computer repair or upgrade.
These computers are not your average PC that you buy at one of the local office supply places. They are first rate BUSINESS CLASS computers, designed with businesses in mind. Made right here in America, from genuine Intel motherboards and processors and high quality parts. We have been working with this computer company for five years and their customer satisfaction is far above HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc.
What you get is a computer pre-loaded with Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (or XP pro if you require it), ready to join your domain. Sure, you can find a computer for 200 less at local office supply or electronics stores, but what you generally will get will be a machine designed specifically for home use. The operating system will likely be Microsoft Windows 7 Premium, which will require an update to Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate before it can join your business domain. The components may be of inferior design and may not be suited towards 100% duty cycle, where the computer is always on. That is why the computers designed for home use will need power supplies and motherboards replaced more often.
The warranty for these computers is 3 years, and you don’t talk to someone from another country. You can handle any repairs directly with the company if you wish, or we can handle your computer repairs for you. Any problems encountered are most often fixed the same day, as we will replace the component ourself and arrange the warranty exchange with the manufacturer, should you wish us to handle the repair.
We are also offering quanity discounts on these computers…. Upgrade your entire office to Windows 7 Professional and see everyone smile!
Concerned about the new Windows 7 operating system? Afraid it may not work with your existing software? Give us a call, we’ll help you determine if these systems are right for you! We also can take all of the headache away from the upgrades or installs by doing it for you. We’ll migrate all your data and settings without you breaking a sweat anywhere in Greenville or the Upstate.
Need new anti-virus? We sell Trend Micro and Symantec AV to go with your new computer. It may be the right time to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007 Professional and get a free upgrade to Microsoft Office 2010 Professional so you can have the very latest!
For pricing, please visit: http://www.homelandsecureit.com/business_computer_sale.html or call 990-4748 for more information
