How secure is your network? When was the last time you had a virus or Trojan infection on one of your servers, workstations or laptops? When was the last time you reviewed what your virus scan has found and if it was able to block or eliminate it?
Many companies run a consumer based anti-virus, designed for home users, on each workstation or laptop and assume they’re protected against viruses, Trojan horses and other web threats.

Unfortunately, with the increasing number of threats out there today, this just isn’t enough for the modern business environment; even for a small business.

Consider the short-comings:
1. Verification of updates and scans are in the hands of your employees.
2. Security features are usually accessible at the desktop level and many security policies can be over-ridden by the user on the fly.
3. Consumer based security applications are designed with the assumption the point of entry is at the workstation – which may not be where data enters and exits YOUR network.
4. Many companies don’t standardize on a single security product or version of the product, making management difficult.
5. Individual security products run exclusively on the installed workstation – all the overhead is on the workstation itself, slowing performance and user productivity

You might feel comfortable leaving workstation security in the hands of your employees, but many employees don’t feel they have an inherent interest in maintaining the security of their workstation. Some might even figure if their workstation is down because of reasons “beyond their control” that is less work they have to do.

And even if the workstation security discovers a threat, those applications generally “Quarantine” the file, locking it away in a repository for review by the user, just incase it is a false positive. New threats come out every day, designed to unlock the security software’s quarantine and release the contents back to the workstation, so who in your organization reviews what the software has found and quarantined for proper cleanup?

Centralization of security services is becoming more important every day. Server based security that can both stop threats at the entry point, force policy to the attached workstations, report back to a management system if workstations are not updating and have policy controlled from a centralized console helps small businesses avoid 99% of the problems faced by having individual security installs.

And believe it or not, a centralized system can save you money in the long run.
Don’t believe it? Then call us and we’ll show you! (716) 200-4479

Network Security and your business is a post from: @ Blog

Are your employees using your office technology appropriately?  How do you know?  How do you monitor it?  Employee misuse of technology in the office not only cost your business in lost productivity but opens up security issues and exposes you to other liabilities.

Let’s explore this for a moment; do you have a technology usage policy written for your office?
If not, how do you enforce how your employees can and can’t use your technology and or internet access?  Not having such a policy can make this enforcement next to impossible.  If an employee is terminated for abuse of technology or any subsequent problems resulting from that misuse, legally it may be hard to defend your business against a wrongful termination case.

What about lawsuits; will your company take the fall?
Your company could also be held liable for any sexual harassment suits or suits resulting from other inappropriate conduct as a result of technology misuse.  Remember, ultimately you are responsible for your employees’ behavior and without a signed acknowledgement of a technology usage policy, these legal issues fall on the company, not the individual.

Employees might have a great time laughing about the latest video they just downloaded online, but that download won’t be a laughing matter for you if it turns into a lawsuit.

Network security, viruses, data theft, damaged systems and more…
When it comes to network security, you could be unwittingly allowing your staff to expose your network to viruses and hackers that can damage or steal your company’s data and systems, costing you thousands of dollars in services, recovery and productivity losses.
Worse, you could be exposed to identity theft issues or exposing your employees to identity theft issues, again, leaving your company vulnerable to liability issues and lawsuits.

Planning, implementing and protecting your business…
So how does a small business prepare for this?  By having documented policies in place, signed by each employee and kept on file. Also by having the technology road-blocks in place to keep employees from the opportunity to expose the company to these threats and stopping them from misusing your technology before they even can.

These problems are more common that you think.  With the growth of the internet and the content that is out there, these concerns are becoming more common every day. 

Aspire Technology Solutions can help you explore options to prevent these issues from becoming a problem in your business.  We can walk you through writing an acceptable use policy and how to implement it.  We can also answer questions and make suggestion on the hardware and software you would need to prevent your network users from breaking the policy proactively and how to protect your network from the security threats you face every day.

Give us a call today! (716) 200-4479 Option 2

Acceptable Use On the Internet is a post from: @ Blog

What are the dangers?
File sharing with people you are familiar with holds very little risk, but imagine sharing access to the files on your computer with literally thousands of strangers. Viruses spread like wildfire in this free for all environment of take and give and it often is unintentional. It’s easy to pick up a virus another sharer has innocently acquired through their use of file sharing or even randomly surfing the internet. While you may be careful about where you go, there is no way to know the habits of the person you are sharing files with.

What does your Anti-Virus protection do?
We tend to rely on our Anti-Virus as our cure all and ultimate protection against anything bad on the internet, but what happens when you purposefully download something that is carrying hidden malicious spyware? Anti-Virus software is designed to prevent unauthorized changes (infection) of the files on your computer system. Your Anti-Virus can scan files for spyware before they are downloaded to your system.  Unfortunately, files acquired through Limewire may only be checked once they are on your system and usually require a manual scan, proving this a near useless way of preventing infection.

What happens if a shared file does contain a virus?

Best case scenario: Upon execution of the infected file (opening or playing it) your Anti-Virus responds, terminating the file and the application running it and hopefully preventing it from having any effect on your system.

Worst case scenario:  These days, most viruses are written to immediately disable Anti-Virus programs when they are activated, crippling your computer’s defenses and allowing it full leeway to make changes to your system files.

The solutions…

Avoid peer to peer file sharing programs; just as you wouldn’t give the keys for your house to strangers, protecting your computer and your information from unauthorized access is important. Remember, viruses that slow down your computer aren’t the only risks of openly sharing files; identity theft is a common crime in environments where systems are left open to one another.

If you notice a sudden change in your computer’s performance, are unable to open or run certain programs, see random popup advertisements, or any other unusual behavior, bring it in for service right away. Viruses often become worse over time, corrupt and destroy your documents, and may permanently damage core system files of your computer, requiring you to do a complete system restore.

Other tips:

Allow your Anti-Virus to search for updates and apply them frequently. Over 400 new malware applications are identified every day so it’s important that your Anti-Virus gets the updates to stay current.

Keep your Anti-Virus from expiring. Is it time to get another yearly subscription? Statistically, an unprotected system is attacked within 20 seconds of connecting to the internet; don’t put it off and leave yourself vulnerable. Anti-Virus software is often so good at eliminating harmful attempts to access your system that you don’t even notice what it is preventing, or how much you need it.

Always keep the Application and System CDs that come with your computer in a safe place where you will be able to find them easily. In the event that your system needs to be restored, you will need these.

Worried about your computer, or just want to bring it in for a tune up?
Aspire Technology Solutions provides an all in one PC Tune Up service designed to increase the performance and lifespan of your system.

Click here for more information on our PC Tune Up Services!

The dangers of Limewire is a post from: @ Blog