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Microsoft Office 2010

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!

Remotely monitor mountain or beach home with video surveillance

Home Security Camera System

Typical home security / surveillance camera

Some people are fortunate enough to own multiple properties, a home they live in, and then a home at the beach or in the mountains. However, one of the problems with owning these remote properties is that you can’t be there to keep up with what is going on.

You have no idea who is parking in your driveway, dumping trash on your property, casing the place for potential theft, or if the storm damaged anything.

Here’s an example; Though you have a house in the mountains, and you have an alarm on it in case someone breaks in, you only find out about it AFTER the intrusion occurs.

Using new technologies such as IP surveillance cameras, you can be notified the moment someone is on your property, BEFORE they gain entry to the home! This works by setting a camera pointed at a sensitive point on your property, such as a walkway, or your driveway, and configuring the system to send an email upon detection of motion.

Most of these systems can send a snapshot or video of what caused the motion.  As soon as you receive the notification, you can login remotely and view the camera/s in real time, even listening in to audio, and in some cases, talking back! You can view the cameras on your Apple Mac, Linux or Microsoft Windows computer using your favorite browser, or on your smartphone, android or iPad tablet. And recorded videos can cover weeks, even months!

Pricing has come down, and the quality has gone up!  Insurance rates may also be reduced if you have security systems and video surveillance in place for your vacation home.

If this sort of thing is of interest to you for your home, or your business, give Homeland Secure IT a call! We sell, install and upgrade CCTV, IP surveillance systems, network video recorders and digital video recorders. 864-990-4748 – We offer sales of all major brands of cameras and recorders!

Mass murder via computer malware in medical devices #MurderByMalware

mass murder via computer malware in medical devices

zzZZzzzZZZaaaap!

Imagine you have a pacemaker installed, and suddenly, the device discharges 830 volts into your body, certainly a fatal incident.

Now imagine that it is not accidental, but instead, a computer is used to make a wireless connection and cause this behavior to occur.  Murder by Malware if you will…  Or, due to a “feature” in the pacemaker itself, multiple devices are discharged within a 30ft radius of one another, effectively causing mass murder.

This sounds like science fiction, but it could actually happen, and it could happen today.  And pacemakers are not the only devices that may be vulnerable to this type of hack.

There is a pretty good article on this over on techcrunch.com and you should read it if you have a pacemaker or know someone else who does, just to increase your own awareness.

Combine that with the news that computer viruses are rampant on medical devices in hospitals, and it is not too far of a leap to say that healthcare can be deadly!

If your medical clinic or facility would like to discuss how Homeland Secure IT can help keep your computers, servers and networks safe, please call us at 864-990-4748 or use the contact form on our website. We provide computer & network security and support to Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson and the rest of the Upstate of SC!

Helpdesk Upgrade Alert – Your Mailbox is almost full scam emails still going around

Helpdesk Upgrade Alert - Your mailbox is almost full scam

Your mailbox is almost full emails still going around… Don’t fall for it…

An email arrives in your inbox with the subject of “Helpdesk Upgrade Alert”, tells you that your mailbox is almost full, and it includes a handy indicator saying that of your 244 MB quota, you have used 241MB.

The text reads, “The Helpdesk is upgrading and maintaining database Server from the old Microsoft Server (No420134x) to the new Microsoft Server (No520193x) CLICK HERE” (With a link) and a nice “Thank You” from the “Helpdesk Upgrade Team”.

That’s just fantastic! *FINALLY* they are getting around to upgrading your database server.    Trouble is, that’s not the case at all.  Instead, this is an ongoing scam, and apparently it works well or we likely would not be seeing as many of them as we do.

This phishing attempt is not all that sophisticated, just a very basic social engineering email offering that link, with text prompts you for anything in the email itself, so this type of message slips past many anti-spam / anti-malware packages, including the Barracuda email appliance.

How do you know this type of message is a scam? For one thing, you probably don’t have a “Helpdesk Upgrade Team” working on the upgrade of your old Microsoft server, however, even if you do, the name of the sender is likely not familiar to you.   The “To:” field may be blank.

Another giveaway is that it doesn’t make sense. IE:  244MB of storage? Come on.   The average mailbox is over a gig now.  Gmail gives you what, 8 to start out?

Hover your mouse over the “CLICK HERE” and you will see the goes outside your company to a Google docs site.  If you visit the site (if your anti-malware / anti-phishing software will let you browse there), you will see a form that asks for your username, password and email address.  Here’s what it looks like:

Helpdesk Upgrade Alert Scam - IT HELPDESK SERVICE form example

Helpdesk Upgrade Alert Scam – IT HELPDESK SERVICE form example

If you are not exhausted from a 7 day work week of 12 hour days, you probably will catch on the very moment that you see this site and understand that no IT department in the world would ask for this information in plain text, on a Google docs site.

Then again.  You might just be a trusting soul and enter your username, password and email address, allowing whoever monitors that data to freely access your account.

Should you that be you, and you just realized you have been had at some point, then it is time to change your information.   If your username is JoeBlow and your email address is JoeBlow@somecompany.com, then you might even consider changing to something else.  jblow or JoeCBlow, and change your password while you are at it.  How long ago did this happen?  Has your email been monitored and harvested for a long period of time? If banking information, a credit card or social security numbers were sent in email, ever, then you might have bigger things to worry about.

Alerting your IT department or computer service provider is a great idea at this stage in the game. You want them to know, no matter how embarrassed you might be about it, as they have seen this before, and they will be more than happy to help secure your account and assess the potential damage.

Are you in the financial, legal, government or medical field or work with sensitive or proprietary data of any nature? You may have compliance issues, and those will need to be addressed, quickly. Your IT provider can assist with contacting the proper authorities.

Homeland Secure IT helps Greenville / Upstate SC businesses and individuals with these and other computer and network security issues. We can help you recover, assess the impact and protect you from it in the future. If this has never happened to you, but you are concerned it could occur at your company, to a desk worker, your CEO or yourself, please call us at 864-990-4748 and we will be happy to discuss the matter. Don’t risk identity theft!

 

Microsoft Windows 7 Malware Infection Rate on the Rise

Microsoft Windows 7 Malware Infecton Rate on the Rise in 2012

Help – I need somebody….

Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report, Volume 13 is full of information that will cause your eyes to bleed, but one tidbit that is important to take note of is that Windows 7 malware infection rates are on the rise.

Computer World has a great article on the subject at this link, and a spiffy graph that looks like this:

Malware infection rates

From the graph, you will notice that Windows 7  has experienced a sharp increase (as high as 182%) in malware infection rate in 2012.

What the graph doesn’t show is that in that same time period, Windows 7 has taken over as the leading Microsoft Operating System, nor does it show that Apple and Linux related malware has increased at the same rates or higher in the same time period.

An important take away from the Computer World article is that “Even with that drastic increase, Windows 7 remained two to three times less likely to fall to hacker attack than the aged Windows XP”.

It still comes down to this one thing: KEEP YOUR SYSTEMS UPDATED!  This action alone will not entirely protect you, but when combined with some common sense, and the use of quality anti-virus / anti-malware, such as Trend Micro Titanium, your chances of being exploited are reduced dramatically over those who don’t follow suit. Oh, and if you are running Windows XP, please upgrade!

If you would like to discuss computer or network security issues concerning your Greenville, Spartanburg or Anderson area business, please call Homeland Secure IT at 864-990-4748 or use our handy contact link.

Hackers can turn your computer into a bomb!

A little humor for your Friday… Thanks to Adrian Lamo for reminding me about this jewel from World Net News…

Apparently, hackers can turn your computer into a bomb and blow your family to smithereens.

Hackers can turn your home computer Into a bomb!

If they can do this to your HOME computer, imagine what they can do with your more powerful work computer!  You better get updates on there, right now!

Seriously, if you need assistance with computer or network security for your Greenville or Upstate SC business or home office, let us know, we will be happy to evaluate your needs and take action that would keep you and your family from harm.

Mozilla Firefox 16 browser released and then pulled due to security concerns

Mozilla Firefox Logo

Mozilla Firefox 16 Whoopsie

Did you download the new release of the popular Mozilla Firefox 16 browser? Undownload it.

If you are like a number of our clients who use Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome browsers because you believe them to be safer than Microsoft Internet Explorer, then you are likely to be disappointed in the version of Mozilla Firefox released recently as it is anything but safe. The version 16 update was released yesterday (10-10-2012)  and then pulled from their website a day later.

Mozilla Firefox 16 originally was meant to correct 14 security advisories, of which a 11 were considered critical. The new version introduced a much larger issue you can read about on the Mozilla Security Blog.

Anyone who downloaded and installed version 16 should consider a downgrade to version 15.0.1 which can be found on the Mozilla.org website.

Obviously, Mozilla is not the only company trying to keep up with security concerns. Google Chrome has made multiple security updates this month, and Microsoft has been busily updating their browser as well.

Not to beat a dead horse, but, please keep your computer operating system (Apple Mac, Windows, Linux) up to date, with current and robust anti-virus / anti-malware which supports web monitoring, update all your helper apps like Adobe Reader, Flash, Air, Acrobat and Java, main applications, and browse using a little common sense. That may go a long way towards protecting you regardless of which browser you opt to utilize.

Should you have questions or need assistance with computer support or network security in the Greenville / Upstate area, please call us at 864-990-4748 or use our contact page….

 

 

1

5 Reasons The Guy Fixing Your Computer Hates You #Cracked

Cracked.com put this video up which might give you a chuckle, “5 Reasons The Guy Fixing Your Computer Hates You”.

Be warned, this is not safe for work, there is profanity, so if that sort of thing bothers you, avoid this video. Oh, and there’s a lengthy ad at the beginning too.

The views expressed in this video are not necessarily the views of the author of this post, I’m just snickering over them.

 

 

Wiped means wiped… everything… Gone… Yep….

Those Adobe Flash updates you are being prompted to install – should be installed!

Adobe Flash Player

Adobe Flash Player Updates for October 8, 2012

Adobe Security Bulletin APSB12-22 for October 8th, 2012 details vulnerabilities that exist in versions of the Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Air that run on:

  • Microsoft Windows
  • Apple Macintosh
  • Linux
  • Android 2.x – 4.x

These updates address CRITICAL vulnerabilities and installation should not be delayed in order to protect your computer, tablet or smart phone.

Should you have questions about how these updates might affect you or your business, please call us at 864-990-4748.

Octoberfest? No, it’s just time for a bunch of Microsoft Office Updates! Get ’em installed!

October Microsoft Patches

Not a pumpkin patch, but a Microsoft Patch!

Here we are, another Patch Tuesday, where Microsoft makes updates available to their products.

The Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for October 2012 indicates there are seven bulletins that will be addressed today.  They include:

  1. Critical – Remote code execution – Affecting Microsoft Office and Microsoft Server
  2. Important – Remote code execution – Affecting Microsoft Office
  3. Important – Elevation of privilege – Affecting Microsoft Office, Microsoft Server Software, Microsoft Lync
  4. Important – Remote code execution – Affecting Microsoft Office, Microsoft Server Software
  5. Important – Elevation of privilege – Affecting Microsoft Windows
  6. Important – Denial of Service – Affecting Microsoft Windows
  7. Important – Elevation of privilege – Affecting Microsoft SQL Server

As always, we highly recommend these and *every* Microsoft related update be applied to your servers and workstations, without delay.

Please remember that failure to do so, leaves unpatched “holes” that can be leveraged to gain control of or access to your desktops and servers.

A network security evaluation should be performed frequently on your business network, and Homeland Secure IT will be happy to undertake this duty in the Greenville / Upstate SC area. Please give us a call at 864-990-4748 or use our contact form. We are Microsoft Small Business Specialists!