It would be wise to get yourself up to date so you can sleep better at night. Well, at least I will sleep better at night with the knowledge that you are safe and secure!

Here’s the link: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5784

And here’s the article in its entirety for those of you just too tired to click on the link….

About the security content of OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4 and Security Update 2013-002

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If you need assistance with these or any other updates or security issues, regardless of whether you run Apple products or Microsoft Windows, please call us at 864-990-4748, we are happy to help in the Upstate of SC!

Here are the initial observations:

• Their Cisco VoIP phone system was able to make calls and internal machines could ping outside servers by IP, but not by name, indicating that the internet connection was functional.
• I could ping their firewall IP address and I could get into resources on their network other than the server remotely. Remote Desktop (RDP) didn’t respond, I could not telnet to the Exchange mail server (port 25) either.
• The client had already rebooted the server once, and was logged into themselves and reported nothing strange.  They confirmed that on the server they could also ping outside IP addresses but the DNS server was not responding.

Okay, so this sounded like maybe the DNS server was the issue, but it was running okay, and the server itself could resolve hostnames. I was starting to lean towards firewall (on server or desktops) or switch issues at this point, but not being there and not having the ability to see the devices on the network with my own two eyes was hindering my progress. They opted to have us come out first thing in the morning and check it out.

When our tech arrived at start of business, he immediately realized that the server was unreachable from machines on their network and began looked over system logs, firewall & system settings and did the typical diagnostic in an attempt to restore connectivity.

Then he found it…

There were suspicious changes to the registry and upon running malware scanning tools, he quickly discovered the culprit. Malicious software of some sort had had its way with the machine.

The only thing that had happened leading up to this issue was that the client had been in touch with Intuit for a Quickbooks upgrade. The Intuit technician had performed a remote session and updated the QB install and the in turn the database files.

There are other potential ways that malware was put on the server, but the timing is suspicious as nobody else had accessed this machine remotely in many weeks, so we are going to assume that it came from the technician remotely accessing it, as we have no exact logging information that would indicate the time the changes were made.

Why am I blogging about this? In the event anyone else has an issue, they may find this post and confirm that they had a similar incident leading up to the event.

This could potentially happen if the installer of the software had become infected / exploited themselves, and it could be entirely accidental. Then again, some might want to speculate that people providing support to US based companies from foreign countries might intentionally wish to gain access to a server.

What can you do to protect yourself? Instead of using a software vendors foreign based technicians or engineers to update your software, you might fare better by using the services of a local based IT company. Also, having backups of your system files and system images will insure that you can “go back in time” and restore a system to a functional state should something of this nature happen.

Want to discuss this further? Feel free to add your two cents to our blog!

Should you desire computer or server support in the Greenville, Spartanburg or Anderson South Carolina area for your business, please call us at 864-990-4748 or use the contact form on our website. We would love to assist you!

It is important that you apply these updates to your computers and servers in order to keep your network secure.

Let’s start with Adobe – Four Flash security holes have been plugged in Flash Player 11.6.602.171 and earlier across all platforms.  Yes, that means you Apple Mac and Linux users need to get the updated Player version 11.6.602.180 or newer. Failure to do so could result in code being executed on your computer that could give a remote user complete control over it.

Next up…. Microsoft!

Products with updates include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office Suite (Visio Viewer 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, OneNote 2010, Office Outlook for Mac) and Silverlight 5 for both PC and Mac computers have a multitude of issues, with four critical bulletins.

Again, these updates should be installed as soon as possible.

If you or your organization requires assistance, please let us know. We can assist here in Upstate & Greenville SC with all your desktop, server and network security needs. We are an authorized Microsoft Partner and provide sales, service and support of their entire line of offerings. We can keep your computers secure, and in the event they need a virus cleaned off or removed, we can assist with that too!

Businesses wanting to employ the use of a patch management system, which will collect information about desktops, notebooks and other devices on their network, and push out updates from an easy to monitor server should contact us for more information!

864-990-4748 or use the contact link on our website.

You should insure that updates are installed!

Should you require assistance applying these critical security updates to your computer or your entire network of computers, please call us at 864-990-4748. We specialize in providing computer and network service and support in Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson South Carolina.

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Here’s some reading for you regarding the Flash Windows and Mac Attacks:

http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/none/307887-adobe-patches-flash-windows-mac-users-under-attack

And the latest bulletin from MS:

********************************************************************
Title: Microsoft Security Advisory Notification
Issued: February 12, 2013
********************************************************************

Security Advisories Updated or Released Today ==============================================

* Microsoft Security Advisory (2755801)
  – Title: Update for Vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player in
    Internet Explorer 10
  – http://technet.microsoft.com/security/advisory/2755801
  – Revision Note: V8.0 (February 12, 2013): Added KB2805940 to
    the Current update section. 

But regarding support of those services, Charter has had an edge by offering a social media component to their technical support. A Charter user could post to Twitter that something was not working, that their internet was flaky for instance, and if they tagged in Charter, or sometimes just mentioned “Charter”, within minutes a Charter rep was usually in contact offering some words of wisdom.

Our company, Homeland Secure IT, helps businesses in the Upstate of South Carolina keep their networks up and running, and one aspect has been to evaluate the internet service providers that are available to each business. Sometimes we have recommended Charter to a client only to be met with statements that the customer service was horrible. Thanks to having Twitter at my fingertips, I have been able to demonstrate through showing exchanges of my own, or between others who were having issues, how Charter had another avenue for customer service besides the everlasting phone call. Doing so has resulted in converting businesses over to Charter from something like DSL.

In our own experiences, in the event a client has actually had a problem, I have suggested they just mention it on Twitter, and they have received near immediate assistance!  In fact, a number of months back I was complaining to someone on Twitter about an issue I was having, and without hesitation I had a Charter SM rep offering to help. That’s customer service worth bragging over!

However, today I was sad to learn that Charter has decided to stop providing the one thing they do different than everyone else, and more importantly, the one thing they do better than any other internet service provider I am aware of.  Yes, they are no longer going to offer their social media support.

Here’s a statement made by Eric Ketzer @Umatter2Charter on Thursday December 6th, 2012:

—

Hello All!

As you may have heard, Charter will no longer have a customer care team tasked, specifically, with resolving matters raised on Social Media. The good news is there are other jobs available within Charter for all of the Social Media team members.

As is our nature, we wanted to provide you with a timeline of how we will execute this transition.

Monday, December 10, 2012: We will no longer respond to posts that we discover while conducting Charter searches. We will, however, continue to respond to @Charter and @CharterCom mentions until Saturday, December 15th.

Friday, December 14, 2012 (5pm): All the Umatter2Charter accounts (which includes: @Charter, all our individual accounts, as well as the Umatter2Charter Facebook page, Forum accounts, and accounts on Consumer Advocate Sites) will be removed. Charter will continue to have a presence in Social Media spaces via @CharterCom, Facebook.com/CharterCom, and Youtube.com/CharterCom.

Monday, December 31, 2012: We will transition to our new roles. If there are any outstanding issues on the 31st, we will refer them to the appropriate departments for follow-up and resolution.

It has been our pleasure to work with all of you.

—

The Powers That Be at Charter should not make this mistake, as there will be no recovering from it… In addition to offering slower and more inconvenient support, you will be losing the ongoing marketing campaign SM support has provided! You can’t just “turn it off” for a while and then decide to come back to it after it blows up in your face. By then, another company will pick up that ball and run with it, and the customers will have lost faith in you.

Either way, I would like to personally thank the members of the Charter Social Media team that have made such a positive impact on how their company has been viewed. They have done a fantastic job! Best wishes to you guys!

The popular site, iFixit claims that the machine is right up there with MacBook Pro in the level of difficulty in repairing it. Previously, they stated that the MacBook Pro was “the least repairable laptop we’ve taken apart”. In fact, they both received a score of 3 out of 10 for that.

If upgrades are unimportant to you, then this information may not apply, but if you are like me, you might prefer the ability to easily (within reason at least) repair a computer, and it is looking like that is going to be an issue for many over time as they develop problems and need support.

Head over to iFixit and read their-tear down and related notes… It’s an i(Mac) opener. (See what I did there? That was cute, wasn’t it?

I would suggest comparing the iMacs to other computers, such as the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720, which sports a massive 27 inch touch screen before purchasing. You might find a different set of features, and a different mindset on repairs.

If you would like more information about any of the Lenovo computer products, please let us know. We are a Lenovo dealer offering sales, consultation and support here in the Greenville SC area.   864-990-4748

If that doesn’t work… Call Homeland Secure IT at 864-990-4748 for real computer & server support and repair in the Greenville SC area!

Homeland Secure IT wants you to be protected… So much so that we are giving away *FIVE* free 1 year Trend Micro Internet Security packages to random people subscribed to this blog.  We’ll do it on Friday, November 23rd. This product retails at $49.95….

To be eligible, you must be able to pick up the product at our office here in Greenville, SC during normal operating hours.

If you are not selected, that’s okay, we’re going to offer our stock of Trend Micro Internet Security for sale at only 14.95.   Since we are not actually open on Friday, we will extend this deal from Monday the 26th, until Friday the 30th of 2012!

We are partners with Trend Micro and can provide you or your company with a single seat, or a thousand. Small and Medium businesses may be interested in the Trend Micro Worry-Free line of products, which can protect all the computers on your network, whether in the office or in the field, and monitor the updates from a central location.  The anti-spam and mail protection for Microsoft Exchange Servers is outstanding.

Not only do we offer sales of Trend Micro, but we also perform installation, support and maintenance!

Happy Thanksgiving!

You can find the original post at this link HERE….

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Our security predictions for 2012 forecasted that the class of targeted attacks known at APTs – advanced persistent threats – would trickle down, and begin to affect smaller organizations.

And while it might not make the headlines like the recent story about the data breach at Coca-Cola in 2009 that is still affecting the company three years later, a successful attack can be devastating regardless of the size of the organization or the motive for the attack.

Historically, APT attacks have been created by sophisticated hackers using advanced attack techniques and blended threat malware, but it is only a matter of time before “normal” malware criminals learn from these sophisticated hacks and the evolution of the APT speeds up, making organizations of every size a target.

So let’s revisit this prediction and figure out how to make your organization the smallest target possible with the tools you already have at your disposal.

What’s in an Acronym: APT?

• Advanced - APTs use the most advanced malware and attack techniques available. By the nature of the name, they often leverage techniques such as encrypted communication channels, kernel-level rootkits, and sophisticated evasion capabilities to get past a network’s defenses. More importantly, they often leverage zero-day vulnerabilities – flaws which software vendors haven’t yet discovered or fixed – to gain access to our systems. In short, APTs are Q-level, James Bond malware.
• Persistent – This malware is designed to stick around. It carefully hides its communications, using techniques like stenography. It “lives” in a victim’s network for as long as possible, often cleaning up after itself (deleting logs, using strong encryption, and only reporting back to its controller in small, obfuscated bursts of communication).
• Threat- APTs are extremely blended threats, much like botnets, and very targeted. APT attackers are groups of highly skilled, motivated, and financially-backed attackers with very specific targets and goals in mind. Typically, the often nation-state sponsored attackers have targeted Fortune 500 companies, government-related infrastructure, or the industrial sector – and we anticipate this broadening to organizations of all sizes.

No network security provider can block every APT attack, no matter what they claim. According to Gartner, an estimated $60 billion is invested by corporations and governments in network security systems, yet hackers are still finding ways to sneak past them. By definition, APTs often leverage new techniques, which may not even have a defense yet. However, there are defense strategies that can significantly mitigate the chance of an advanced and persistent infection. WatchGuard supports a variety of reporting and monitoring functions that provide smart and strategic defense against these blended threats.

We’ve outlined a variety of best practices for mitigating risk and monitoring unusual activity across a network that may better detect or stop the next APT, including:

• Multiple layers of security controls – WatchGuard “defense-in-depth”

A multi-layered approach to network security is the best protection. When combined together, firewalls, intrusion prevention services, proactive anti-virus (AV) solutions, anti-spam and anti-phishing protection, and cloud-based reputation defenses maximize the chance that one or more security controls will catch part of an APT attack.

• Signature-less malware protection – WatchGuard Proactive Malware Detection

Similar to zero-day attacks, APTs often use malware that has not already been found by AV protection and therefore no signature exists. The only way to catch this kind of APT is to use proactive, non-signature techniques. WatchGuard partners with best-in-class anti-malware and anti-virus service providers such as Kaspersky and AVG Technologies, which both have the capability to detect malware without signatures. Our partners specialize in code emulation, behavior analysis, and sandboxing to determine what a file does and if it may be malware. These techniques can often catch malicious files without actually having reactive signatures for them.

• An evolving defense framework – WatchGuard XTM (eXtensible Threat Management)

APTs are just further proof that hackers and attacks on the Internet are constantly evolving, so naturally, the only way to really protect against evolving threats is to have a defensive platform that can change along with them. WatchGuard’s strategic XTM hardware and platform design lend to a modular framework that is easily adaptable to adding new security layers to WatchGuard appliances – as new technologies are released, we can better protect against APTs as we integrate them into the platform. This allows WatchGuard to incorporate new defense technologies, such as cloud reputation and the use of heuristics to detect malware, much more quickly than other network security providers.

• Better manageability through visibility – WatchGuard Firebox System Manager (FSM) and HostWatch

Often, security practitioners focus on prevention and forget about discovery and response. Tools that help quickly identify anomalies or problems in a network and real-time visibility tools such as HostWatch and FSM help find malware through unique monitors, network traffic reports and administrator access to approved or denied external sites. Some network security companies require the purchase of additional reporting tools or appliances in order to have this important insight into a network. WatchGuard believes that customers should not have to pay for the proof (reporting) that indicates a system is providing internal network protection. Visibility tools like FSM and HostWatch are key for APT defense and these WatchGuard tools come free with the WatchGuard XTM appliance.

• Enforcing Standards – Protocol Anomaly Detection (PAD)

For the most common and important Internet services, such as Web traffic (HTTP), e-mail traffic (SMTP), domain name traffic (DNS), and file transfers (FTP), WatchGuard deploys proxies, or deep application-layer content inspection services. Among other things, these proxy services include our Protocol Anomaly Detection (PAD) feature, which can tell the difference between bad and good traffic by enforcing RFC (request for comment) standards for that particular service. For instance, if the SMTP RFC states that the maximum line length for an email is 1000 bytes; our proxies enforce that standard, and by extension protect you from any attacks (like buffer overflows) that try to leverage overly-long email lines… and that’s just one example. These are “signature-less” protections that can even block zero-day attacks, if they break protocol standards.

• Reputation Services – WatchGuard Reputation Enabled Defense (RED)

WatchGuard RED is a cloud-based reputation authority that aggregates many sources of security intelligence to provide our appliances with a dynamic, real-time view of the internet threat landscape. It proactively monitors and stores the IPs and URLs of known sources of malware, drive-by download sites, and phishing and spam email. It gets its intelligence from aggregating many known lists of malware distributors and mixing that with real-time feedback from the thousands of appliances we have protecting customers’ sites. This real-time feedback gives RED a very accurate and dynamic view of the quickly changing threat landscape

Because APTs are continually evolving and getting more elusive by the day, no network security solution will be able to anticipate or block every attack. Our advice: Always assume that a network is already breached and then build a security vault using the tools and services noted here. We strongly suggest the utilization of more than just preventative tools – strong visibility tools will help recognize threats and ensure that IT administrators are talking all necessary action to help mitigate them. — Corey Nachreiner, CISSP (@SecAdept)

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For those of you not already in the know…. WatchGuard is a leading manufacturer of network security Firewall appliances. While a home user can use their products, and we have sold a number of them for home and small home office use, you mostly find them in small, medium and enterprise businesses. We are happy to sell and support WatchGuard firewalls in Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson (The Upstate) as an authorized partner. Our prices are reasonable and our service is unparalleled, so please, consider a quality WatchGuard product to protect your business network, and consider Homeland Secure IT as your dealer!

Call 864-990-4748 or use the contact link for more information!

When we visit a client location, we generally find one of the following configurations.

• Absolutely NO firewall – just the router provided by the ISP
• A Linksys, TrendNet, Netgear, D-Link wireless router designed for home use
• An actual firewall such as a Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWALL, but out of date – old, discontinued hardware, not up to date firmware
• A quality firewall that is up to date hardware-wise but out of date with their firmware
• A quality firewall that is both up to date and supported, and has the latest software

Unfortunately, these are listed above in the order of popularity…

That’s right, the majority of businesses have no firewall in place at all, or potentially a router designed for home use is pressed into service, and then of course, a few places purchased a firewall from a reputable business manufacturer, such as Cisco, but have either failed to keep it up to date, or that was 6 years ago and the unit is no longer supported and cannot even handle the latest security software loads.

Only a small number of businesses have done everything they can to insure their network is protected with a reputable business class firewall that is currently supported and up to date. A VERY SMALL percentage in fact.

Why the emphasis on your firewall situation? Because hackers know how to circumvent home routers and many ISP provided routers without much difficulty at all. And old, outdated firewalls are just as bad. There are kits available that hackers can download and simply run through options in an attempt to exploit known holes in inadequate and insecure firewalls. They don’t even have to flex their muscles to do this, just start the script / program and wait for the results.

If you are in the Upstate / Greenville South Carolina area and you would like to discuss firewalls for your business, please give us a call at 864-990-4748 and we will arrange a free consultation.

We are your Upstate dealer for Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWALL and a host of other quality firewall appliances. We partner with these companies to offer sales and support for businesses just like yours!

The release of Microsoft Windows 8 is now just a few days away!

When you buy a desktop or notebook computer from us with Windows 8 on it, why not add Microsoft Office 2010?

Not only will you have the latest and greatest software and operating system, customers who purchase any qualifying version of Microsoft Office product between now and April 30, 2013 can download the next version of Office as soon as it is available!

Want more information about the new Windows 8 and the upcoming Microsoft Office release? Call us at 864-990-4748 or use our contact form on the website.

We are your Microsoft Small Business Specialist in Greenville / Upstate SC, offering sales and support of computers & servers from most manufacturers, powered by Microsoft!

If you are like most people, when everything is running well, you get comfortable and begin to do the job you were hired to do, so if you are the accounts manager and pull double duty as company IT administrator, chances are, you get back to doing what you do best – taking care of the accounts.  That is, until something comes along and throws a wrench in the works and your networking is not working.

But what about all those updates? Do you back-burner those until there is a good time to reboot the server? After all, rebooting the server takes everyone down, and causes your phone to light up with questions like, “When will I be able to access the X drive again?”.

During the time between updates, your server and other systems are vulnerable. It honestly may not be a matter of IF your network is compromised, but rather, WHEN.

Many non-dedicated IT admins will apply the updates but not reboot the server, or will wait until there are so many updates it may take 2 or three reboots to get everything applied. This is a very bad practice. Especially for servers facing the internet (Mail, SQL, Web).

What about backups?  You ARE backing up, and it does work properly, right?

Don’t get caught with your pants down.  Bring in an IT support company who can help you determine where you stand. Are you overworked and just unable to do it all? Consider an IT company who will provide you with a statement to that affect which you can provide to your manager or superior to document that there is additional work to be done.  Sure, you’ve told them time and time again, but maybe, just maybe, they might listen to an outside source.

Let Homeland Secure IT be that source of information. We’ll come in and take a look at the state of your network, provide suggested course of action, and can even quote the labor or upgrade of components (if required). Simply don’t have time to maintain all this gear and want to source it to someone who will be on top of it?  Then we’re on IT! Give us a call at 864-990-4748 or use the contact link above.

We provide complete IT service, sales and consultation to the entire Upstate of South Carolina. We’re your Microsoft, Cisco, Symantec, Trend Micro, Lenovo, HP partner, specializing in small and medium businesses (SMBs) just like yours!

Seneca Data 2000UP Ultrabook computer

Been looking for a powerful, yet compact notebook? Seneca Data has introduced the new 2000UP Ultrabook computer and it looks like a winner!

Why go with Seneca Data’s product over another brand? Let me give you one good reason – SUPPORT! In the last week we have had two computers with issues that required a massive amount of time communicating with the manufacturer. One was from HP and one from Lenovo. When I say “massive”, I mean just that. Over half an hour was spent with HP in order for them to determine that we (we’re some tech savvy IT dudes) knew how to plug it in, before they determined it needed replacing. Same story with Lenovo, but even worse, as they had the warranty information wrong, and we were bounced from person to person.

With Seneca Data, when we call them, we are treated with respect, and we don’t get bounced from person to person. The technician we speak with is able to determine that what we are telling them is indeed a problem, and they arrange for the replacement parts to be sent to us right then and there. No delays.

They also have awesome warranties! Most of our desktops and servers are now sold with a minimum of 3 year warranty, and many with FIVE YEARS for just a few dollars extra.

Here’s some information about the Seneca 2000UP Ultrabook computer:

Seneca Data 2000UP Ultrabook

Ultra responsive, Ultra sleek, Ultrabook.  Inspired by Intel.

Business-class performance comes in the Nexlink® 2000UP Series Ultrabook™ with the 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor.

Discover the new business-class device that gives you the best of everything  you want for your company. The ultra responsive, ultra sleek Nexlink® 2000UP  Series Ultrabook™ is less than an inch thick, wakes up in a flash, and runs for hours.

Get the power your business demands, effortless multitasking, and incredible performance that adapts to your needs with this solution. With performance like this, the only thing more amazing than a new Nexlink 2000UP
Series Ultrabook™ is what you will do with it.

Processor:
3rd generation Intel® Core™ i5 Processor
3rd generation Intel® Core™ i3 Processor

Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64- or 32-bit option*

Chipset: Intel® HM77

Memory: Support for up to 8GB

Storage:
Up to 256GB Solid State Drive or
Up to 500GB SATA3 Hard Disk Drive

Graphics: Intel® HD 4000

Communications:
10/100/1000 LAN
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
Bluetooth® 3.0

Expandability:
2 x USB 3.0
1 x USB 2.0
1 x RJ45
1 x Audio Jacks
1 x HDMI
1 x DC in

Devices:
Integrated 1.3/HD Web Camera
4-in-1 Card Reader

LCD Display: 14.1″ LED Backlit; 1920 x 1080 Resolution

Battery: 6-Cell Li-Ion

Special Features:
Intel® Anti-Theft Technology Support
Kensington® Lock Supported

Dimensions: (w x h x d) 13.5 x .7 x 9.25 inches / 344 x 17.9 x 235 millimeters
Weight: 4lbs. / 1.8kg with battery

* 32-bit operating system will not use beyond 4GB of memory

—

If you need mobile computing without the weight or the wait associated with some compact computers, then this Ultrabook is for you….  Call 864-990-4748 and let us tell you more about why Seneca Data computers are perfect for your home or business. We offer sales of single units or multiples. We can deploy them at your Greenville, Anderson, Simpsonville, Spartanburg SC area business and we can also provide leasing!

According to an article on cnet.net, entitled “Windows 7 overtakes XP as Mac OS X passes Vista“, Microsoft Windows 7 has finally surpassed Microsoft XP as the most dominant operating system!  Predictions were all over the place, from 2013 to as far out as 2016, with a few people thinking it should have happened already.

As businesses and individuals have made the transition from XP to Windows 7, computer service and repair professionals have seen a sharp decrease in the number of machines that have been infected with viruses, worms and trojans. Well, a sharp decrease in Microsoft based computers. We’ve seen an increase in Apple Mac malware infections that is right in line with their increasing numbers.

In 2011, upwards of 30 percent of our computer service and support revenue was comprised of malware related repairs. So far, in 2012, with over half of the year behind us, we’ve seen a decline of over fifty percent in virus cleanup! It’s rare for Windows 7 machines to come through our door infected like we used to see with XP! (Though we still do see them).

You’ve probably heard already, but Microsoft is unleashing a new operating system on us, Windows 8, and though it is not even officially released, just the pre-release has a 0.23 market share!  How long will it be before it has the same kind of impact that Windows 7 has? WILL it have that kind of impact?

Here’s the numbers for those of you who don’t want to click the cnet link above:

Market Share:

Visualization of OS Market Share

42.76% Microsoft Windows 7
6.66% Apple Mac OS X 10.4 / 10.5 / 10.6 / 10.7 / 10.8
6.15% Microsoft Windows Vista
5.95% Apple iPhone, iPod & iPad
1.84% Android 2.2 / 2.3 / 3.2/ 4.0 & Kindle Fire
1.05% Linux

The percentage of Apple Market Share could be considered evil.

These stats are from NetMarketShare.com and can be found here.

For those who want to see all versions of Windows compared to Mac OS X:

Visualization – All Windows Versions Combined

Look no further than Homeland Secure IT in Greenville South Carolina! We offer sales, service and support both home and business computers, servers and network components. We repair computers whether we sold them to you or not!

If you want to save money, bring your computer to us! People from as far away as Georgia and Knoxville, TN travel to our location for us to repair their desktop, notebook or other components. We have had computers shipped to us from the coast, and from the North East too!

By bringing your computer to us, we are able to reduce our rates to an unheard of 75.oo per hour. With FREE estimates.  Why so cheap? Because we do not have to dispatch a technician to your location to perform the service. However, if you are in the Upstate and need service, we will happily go to you.

Save some money, call us and arrange a time to come in.  We suggest you do not just stop by, because sometimes everyone is in the field performing service.

Call us at 864-990-4748 or use the contact form in the menu above.

We are partners with and offer for sale many different lines of computers too!  A few brands we sell and work with regularly are HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Dell, Nexlink, Samsung, Acer, Asus, Sony, Microsoft, Cisco, Symantec, Trend Micro and a long line of others!

A few cities in the Upstate that people come from and we offer service to are Easley, Simpsonville, Six Mile, Clemson, Seneca, Duncan, Spartanburg, Anderson, Liberty, Taylors, Greer, Mauldin, Berea, Boiling Springs and anywhere within about an hour’s drive from Greenville.

• Computer operating system updates downloaded and installed (Microsoft Windows)
• Support application updates updated regularly (Java, Adobe, Microsoft Office)
• Robust anti-virus and anti-malware installed and up to date
• Backups of systems in place
• Overall more refined browsing habits (awareness of dangers)

But their Apple Macintosh brothers and sisters in generally browse aimlessly, without seeming to care what may lay waiting for them at the next link.

This is exactly the type of behavior that hackers are hoping to exploit.

By taking advantage of the laid-back browsing habits, lack of urgency to install updates, and lack of awareness to the dangers, many Mac machines and their owners have already fallen victim to hackers pushing Flashback and other malware packages…

Here’s some more information over on Computer World…

UPDATE YOUR MACHINES!

If you need assistance keeping your computer, notebook, server or a whole fleet of them up to date, we can help with that! Please call us in the Greenville, Anderson and Spartanburg area at 864-990-4748 or use our contact form.

It was time to renew our training with Symantec so we can continue to offer Symantec Backup Exec 2012 sales and support as a partner, so we did it up right. Everyone here at Homeland Secure IT took the training and the assessments required.   Greg, Wes and I (John) are all up to date on these product offerings.

If you are still using an older version of Backup Exec, let’s talk about how Backup Exec 2012 can help provide the ultimate in onsite backup, recovery and disaster recovery for your Microsoft Server, Microsoft Small Business Server, Microsoft Exchange, MS SQL, Linux and even Mac business environment.

There are so many new features in BE 2012 that an entire blog post could be devoted to that, and probably will be.

Homeland Secure IT offers sales, installation, configuration and support Symantec Backup Exec 2012 in the Greenville, Anderson and Spartanburg South Carolina area. Use the contact link in the menu bar above or call us at 864.990.4748 for more information.

Nexlink – Made in America FOR America

Sure, we offer all the big names in workstation, desktop, notebook and netbook computers and server such as HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, Asus, Dell and the like, but there’s one brand that sticks out when we review the service calls and warranty repairs.  Seneca Data and their Nexlink desktops have proven to be an outstanding value for our customers.

The Nexlink computers are well made, with quality parts, and we generally sell them with a 3 year warranty.  These machines mean business! We get very few service calls on them, and in the event that we do, what parts we do not stock are shipped to us and generally arrive the next business day. Furthermore, their tech support department speaks English and are based right here in America, so it is always a pleasure to talk with them in the rare event we actually have to. Their help desk does not put us through unnecessary steps to diagnose a problem and reducing the time on the phone considerably.

I really can’t say enough good things about these machines!

Seneca Data realized just how high the quality of the machines are recently from their own data regarding repair and warranty claims and decided that going forward, the same machine that we have been selling with a 3 year warranty will be upgraded to a FIVE YEAR warranty at no additional charge to us, and we pass that savings on to you.

Desktops are generally replaced every 3 to 5 years, so essentially, the five year warranty could be considered a lifetime warranty for most businesses and individuals.

In all the years I have worked with computers, I have not seen computer manufacturers up their warranty!  This says that Seneca Data is willing to put their money where their mouth is with Nexlink computers!

If your business is looking to purchase new computers or servers, whether it is one or one thousand, please call us at 864.990.4748 or use the CONTACT link in the navigation bar and let’s see if we can provide you with what I think is the best computer for the money! If you want to try out just one computer before upgrading your entire company, we can arrange that. Likewise, if you would like to use a true business class computer at your home or in your home office, we have just the computer for you!

We provide Greenville & the Upstate of SC with complete computer, server & network sales, service and support…

While we would love to move each client into a managed services agreement, it might not be right for everyone. That is why Homeland Secure IT wants to offer the best of both worlds, so we happily maintain an on-call, break-fix computer and network support relationship with many clients here in the Upstate.

If your server goes down and you do not have a service agreement with an IT support or service provider, you can call on us and we will be there, whether it is for a single desktop with a virus, a malfunctioning network switch, failed firewall, or your Microsoft Exchange Server has crashed, we can help! Call us at 864.990.4748 with your emergency needs.

Break-fix still works for small businesses and home users, so we don’t turn our nose up at it, but for those who are serious about reducing downtime and want to be able to budget for computer services, use our contact link above, or call us for information about scheduled maintenance and managed services.

What IS “bare metal recovery”? It is part of the Servosity Disaster Recovery solution which allows an IT service provider or your IT support department to restore a crashed machine in a matter of minutes, even to dissimilar physical hardware or even virtual machines (VMware or Microsoft Hyper-V).

Servosity has two different versions, one is DR Server, for server environments and the other is DR Desktop, for, you guessed it, desktop and laptop computers. Both work by backing up a working system image to external media such as a USB hard drive. Then, in your time of need, a completely dead system can be recovered to a brand new machine, even if that machine has a different processor or hardware configuration.

Features of Servosity DR:

• – 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

As I write this, one of our non-profit clients has suffered a catastrophic event that caused the loss of their only server, which is responsible for handling multiple organizations under their umbrella. Functions such as data / file storage, Microsoft Exchange email hosting for both local and remote users, domain functions and security, anti-virus protection solution and printing are all offline. Yes, they have backups, including Servosity cloud storage and data on redundant hard drive array (RAID), however, the OS is completely destroyed and will need to be reinstalled from scratch.

Had this client utilized the Servosity DR function that permits bare metal recovery, we could have had them back online already.

This heartbreaking event has caused us to pause to reflect on how we can help our other clients.

Many businesses and individuals claim to be unable to backup due to expense, however, the old adage is true in every respect – “The most costly backup is the one you don’t perform”. So, to help make backups more affordable, we are now offering a “BACK THE STUFF UP!” special!

BACK THE STUFF UP!

To our current Servosity subscribers, we will provide you with an external USB hard drive of the appropriate size for your machines at cost, or use your provided USB drive and configure the Disaster Recovery at no cost for the labor to do so.

Don’t have Servosity? Not a problem! If you are willing to commit to a year of online backup, we will create a Servosity account for you, go to your Upstate location  (or you can bring your desktop or laptop to our office), download, install and configure the backup and the Disaster Recovery for you. You pay only for the Servosity backup storage and the USB hard drive which we will provide at our cost, or you can provide your own. The labor is on us.

Want to handle this yourself, have a large number of servers / workstations or maybe you’re not in the Upstate / Greenville area? We can ship a drive to your US location (you pay shipping and our cost) or you can provide your own, then we will talk you through the install and configuration or work on it from remote.

Don’t let another minute go by without backing up!

This solution supports Microsoft XP, Vista, and 7, Server 2003, Server 2008, Small Business Server 2011, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, 2007, 2010, Microsoft SharePoint 2003, 2007, 2010 and more!

For more details, please call us TODAY at 864.990.4748 or use that contact link in the navigation bar. If Homeland Secure IT is not your IT support provider, consider us for all your Greenville / Anderson / Spartanburg computer and server support needs!

HOWEVER – 4 years ago, I purchased an inexpensive generator to be used in the event of an emergency, and also for a ham radio event we call “Field Day”, where we operate for 24hrs using emergency power and attempt to contact as many other amateur operators during that time as possible. This hones our skills, and hopefully prepares us to help assist agencies like the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and local, state and federal Emergency Management during disasters.

The model I opted for was a Champion 3500/4000 watt. (model # c40012). It was on sale at Home Depot and to be honest, for less than 200 dollars, I did not expect much. I was pleasantly surprised when I found it has a very stable output, with a sign wave that my sensitive electronics liked. Very little, to zero “hash” (noise that can be heard on audio and raido gear), and fuel consumption of about 8 to 10 hours per tank (4 gallons) depending upon load. The only downside was the volume of the running generator was kind of high, at about 87db, much like a lawn mower.

Another great feature was that it included a “mobility kit”, which consists of some wheels and a handle, so you don’t have to lift and carry it.

Since the day I got it, this generator has always started on the first pull, whether cold, or after refueling during an all night run. (okay, sometimes a 2nd pull was needed if it had not run or completely ran out of fuel)

This weekend is Field Day, and guess what? The generator won’t start. Some idiot left fuel in it since last year, and didn’t let it run dry and shut off the fuel valve, so the carb was filled with debris and stale fuel. I attempted to clean it last night, but the deposits are horrible and it really needs to be dipped and rebuilt.

I called the manufacturer, Champion Power Equipment out on the West Coast, and spoke with tech support. I did not have to wait on hold, the man did not treat me like the idiot I am, he happily looked up the parts I need, and arranged for them to be shipped out today so they would be here on Friday.

More time was spent on the phone telling him what a great generator this has been than on the process of actually ordering the parts.  Oh, and the price was affordable!

One thing is for sure – the majority of computer and electronic customer service or tech support calls do not go that smoothly, regardless of the manufacturer or vendor. Many of the computer and server manufacturers could take a lesson from Champion Power Equipment.

Champion did the following right:

• They spoke my language (English), probably better than I do.
• They didn’t leave me on hold or waiting in a queue forEVER.
• They did not give me the runaround after determining that I might actually know what I was talking about.
• They gladly looked up the parts, instead of telling me to refer to this document or that document online.
• They offered to ship in an expedited manner.
• The pricing was reasonable for replacement parts.
• The person on the other end of the phone was personable, it actually sounded as if he wanted to be helping me.

You can bet I will be recommending Champion products, not because they are “better” than another brand, I really don’t know that to be true or false, but because in my time of need, their support was superior.

The security breach was discovered by a staff member and quickly remedied, however, at this point in time it is not known exactly what information, if any, was actually transferred outside the network.

The FBI is investigating, and they have apparently narrowed their search according to this article.

Are you doing everything to protect your organization from exploits of this nature? Many businesses do absolutely nothing regarding security, other than pray it never happens to them.

Let’s start with the basics…  Does your company have:

• Anti-Virus on your server or servers, workstations and laptop computers? Is this current and from a trusted provider such as Trend Micro, Symantec, etc?
• Business class (or better) firewall appliance (hardware from companies such as Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWall)? Is it up to date and configured properly?
• EMail anti-spam, anti-virus, anti-malware control for your Microsoft Exchange server (either in hardware appliance or software such as Trend Micro Worry-Free Advanced) that is up to date?
• Server, Workstation and Mobile workforce operating system and application updates kept current?
• Strong passwords in place network-wide (hopefully in a password policy)?
• Web browser filtering, scanning, protection, either through firewall appliance, web scrubber or software such as Trend Micro Worry-Free to protect from malicious websites and lock down inappropriate for work sites?
• Backups of server, workstation and notebook or tablet computers? This could be cloud based such as Servosity or MozyPro or physical media like tape, RDX or network storage or a combination of technologies.
• Physical security on computers (mobile computers tethered to stationary objects, doors locked to server rooms or data centers)?
• IT service provider who double-checks your security, even if you have your own in-house technicians and/or engineers?

This list is not meant to serve as a complete checklist, only as a means to help you determine if you have the most basic security in place for your business. If you read over it and don’t have the answers, or if the answers were anything but a confident, “YES”, then you should immediately contact your favorite computer service provider and discuss with them how you can improve upon what you are doing.

Many IT support companies will perform a basic security evaluation for just a few hundred dollars, a wise investment!  Most competent network security houses can provide in-depth security and compliance evaluations and ongoing security compliance evaluations at nominal rates as well.

Homeland Secure IT is available for these tasks in the Greenville and Upstate South Carolina area.

Please call 864.990.4748 for more information regarding computer and network security.

The person I am telling will usually walk away thinking that we fix computers, or that we sell servers. All of which are correct, but by no means is that ALL we do. I can’t very well tell you, “Hi, I’m John and my company does everything related to IT”. Actually, I *have* said that, and that results in a tilt of the head and total confusion.

It is very hard to convey what we do, when in fact, we do so much!

So just what do we do? Welllllllllllll, taking a deep breath…

We DO provide service, repair, consultation and support of computers, servers, networks, mobile computers, and the like.  That means, we fix stuff! We go to a client’s location and fix a malfunctioning server, we repair a computer or replace it, we put updates on firewalls, and consult with IT and facility administrators about needs. We also perform repairs of personal home computers in our Greenville office.

But, it’s so much more than just that. A vast array of technologies are included in there, here are a few:

• Voice over IP phone systems
• IP Surveillance Cameras (Security cameras, CCTV, DVR)
• Time & Attendance systems (Time clocks and time tracking hardware and software)
• Mobile computers (Notebook, netbook, laptop, tablet, smartphone)
• VPN and remote access to your business (secure access to files and machines)
• Wireless / Wi-Fi systems (both small business, and much larger, for schools, campus, college, enterprise)
• Licensing – We are licensing experts for Microsoft, Symantec, Trend Micro, Cisco and more!
• Email – Microsoft Exchange servers, cloud based email like Google Apps / Gmail, Office 365

That’s the tip of the iceberg! We also offer full sales of these products!  We partner with the biggest names in technology and provide hardware, software and license sales!  Whether you need one or a thousand of these items here in our area, we can help.

Here’s a partial list of the manufacturers who’s products we offer:

• Microsoft (Windows, Server, Exchange, SQL)
• Cisco (firewall, router, switch, VoIP, camera, security, wireless)
• Symantec (Backup Exec, endpoint virus protection)
• WatchGuard (Firewall, security)
• SonicWall (firewall, security)
• TrendNet (Switch, firewall, router, camera, wireless)
• D-Link (Switch, firewall, router, storage, camera, wireless)
• LinkSys (Switch, router, wireless)
• Trend Micro (WFBS, anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-spam)
• Acer (computer, netbook, notebook, tablet, laptop, monitor)
• Samsung (computers, monitors and much more)
• Toshiba (computers and more)
• Lenovo (computer, server, tablet and more)
• NexLink (business computer, server & tablet solutions)
• AcroPrint (Time and attendance systems)
• AVTECH (Server room monitoring)
• Jabra (headsets of all styles from wireless to corded)
• HP (computer, server, printer, network and more)
• DELL (computer, server, backup network and more)
• Servosity On Demand Backup (Remote backup solution)
• Audio-technica (headphones, microphones)
• Sennheiser (audio – headphone, microphone)
• Asus (computer, display)
• Panasonic (high speed scanner, printer and security)
• Ricoh (printer, scanner, copier, etc)
• Brother (printer, scanner, copier, etc)
• DA-LITE (projection screens, projector mounts)
• SNOM (IP phones)
• SMC Networks (network switches and more)
• LG Erricson (switches, VoIP)
• Intuit (Quicken, Quickbooks)
• Eaton (power supplies, UPS, power conditioning products)
• Quantum (Backup tape drives, RDX)
• Tandberg (Backup, tape, RDX drives)
• Adaptec (Controllers for SCSI, RAID, SAS, tape)
• Digium (VoIP systems)
• MSI (motherboard, notebook)
• MozyPro (remote online backup)
• Adobe (Photoshop, dreamweaver, creative suite, CS)

Sorry about that, had to cut myself off again. The list goes on and on. We are able to provide products from these manufacturers AND the expertise to install and support them!

I sometimes think it would be easier to answer the question of, “What do you guys do?” with if it were rephrased to be, “What DON’T you guys do?”…   Then I would answer, “We don’t windows”.  Oh but we do!

If we can assist you or your business with anything technology related, please give us a call at 864.990.4748 or use our handy CONTACT form. Whatever you need – We do IT!

This time it is for real…

Get ready for a slew of IPv6 news topics because World IPv6 Launch is right around the corner (June 6th, 2012).

This means that a boat-load of ISPs will be flipping the switch and enabling IPv6 permanently on or before this magic date. A quick google search for IPv6 news will turn up lots of articles posted in the last few days alone, such as:

• Apple’s IPv6 misstep is a sign of the times
• IPv6: It’s the end of the Internet as you know it, and I feel fine
• Facebook enabling IPv6 on beta site next month
• Tripp Lite Adds Support for IPv6 and RADIUS to Networked PDUs and SNMPWEBCARD UPS Accessory
• IPv6 now deployed across entire T-Mobile US network

These types of posts are growing in numbers rapidly.

But really, what does it mean for you?

Not to tell you that the sky is falling, but, hey, the sky is falling.  Not today, not next week, not in June, but yes, soon, your IPv4 technology will be outdated, and the smart IT administrator is currently working on a plan to migrate to IPv6.

Here’s the bad news for you:  Your old firewall or router may need to be ditched and new one purchased in order to have proper network routing. Some current firewalls and security routers that are sold today are not even compatible. And some computers and operating systems are not ready.

The good news is that many manufacturers such as Cisco, Linksys, WatchGuard, Sonicwall, Jupiter, and Zyxel have been preparing for this change-over for a while now. Microsoft has supported IPv6 for several years.

You are not without options.

If you would like to discuss how you can prepare for the inevitable, please give us a call at 864.990.4748 and arrange a consultation. You can also use our CONTACT form. We cover the Upstate and Greenville, SC area and are authorized dealers for more network and network security products and appliances.

For individuals, Jabra also provides wireless solutions for Mobile Phones, Music / MP3 players, Computers and Gaming. Products include mono and strereo (A2DP) Bluetooth headsets for music and calls, wireless speakerphone solutions for in-car handsfree use and corded headsets for non-Bluetooth compatible devices.

As a registered Jabra partner, Homeland Secure IT, we are more than just a reseller, we are able to assist you or your business with all your Jabra headset needs. We offer sales, support and consultation here in the Greenville and Upstate area, with knowledge provided by the manufacturer and backed with their full technical support.

Please call us today at 864.990.4748 or use our handy CONTACT form for more information.