Proponents of Cloud Computing Solutions often discuss the silver linings and ignore the potential for a storm...

His situation became desperate when his Google account had been hacked, hijacked and all of his data was lost.

Lost-lost.

He couldn’t even access his account until reaching out to Google to have his account credentials reset, but once was able to access his account again he found empty folders, an empty in-box and I’m sure a very empty feeling in the pit of his stomach.  After weeks, literally weeks of going around Google’s security procedures and contacting Google directly, providing them information to prove he was the account owner, he was able to retrieve all of his files and get everything back to where he needed it to be.  But how do you measure the cost in lost time and opportunity while dealing with this issue?  The bottom line answer for most small businesses is, you can’t.

This is the equivalent of a business production server having a disk failure and not being able to perform any disaster recovery because the server doesn’t trust the new disk drive is the one it should give the data to.  If a disaster recovery solution took weeks to implement an get a business back up and running, would you not fire the IT manager that implemented such a solution?

I know I would.

This is one of the problems with going to an exclusively Cloud Environment in business.  Sure it is convenient and cost effective for many businesses, but does it offer the level of flexibility and security that you want if something does go wrong?  And what happens if you’re cut off from your data?  Maybe not even a security breech or other account failure – what happens if you or your Cloud Provider is cut off from the Cloud for some reason?  What then?  What is the back-up plan?

For every benefit of Cloud computing, there is at least one significant drawback as well.  Most have to do with connectivity, access and security.  While normally a provider like Google is very reliable providing backups and redundant systems, if you don’t keep all of your security informational ducks in a row, you could find yourself in a situation like my colleague did.

The first thing – no matter what you are doing with social media, if it is a part of your business or not, any business type cloud services through providers like Google, Yahoo or MSN, should be kept separate and never touch your social media.  So many people unwittingly compromise their own security installing rogue Facebook apps designed to steal account passwords, or by clicking short-links in Twitter, while using their primary G-Mail, Yahoo or Hotmail account as their login name or primary email for the social media accounts.  All too often, not only do people use the same email addresses, but they use the same logon passwords for their email and their social media.  That is our number two no-no.  All email, Cloud Services and Social Media passwords

should be significantly unique and individualized.  Any similarities, although they help you remember, they make the passwords easier to crack if one is obtained.  Created different passwords and keep a paper log and an encrypted or password secured file of what your passwords.

We love XKCD. The truth about passwords - click the image to view their site.

A good rule of thumb is to have at least 2 email accounts: one for your primary business services and one for creating and identifying social media and other online service accounts.

Many web hosting service providers allow you unlimited email and message filtering from the server.  We are a huge proponent of using your business’s custom domain as your primary business email.  Services like G-Mail will usually allow you to link the two, and for marketing purposes you always want your domain front and center with your clients.  But in addition to that, having control over your own mail server gives you the option of creating email accounts for use exclusively online, thereby sheltering your primary accounts from the additional dangers and exposure.

Point number three is don’t depend on JUST Cloud services for your essential business data.  Most providers allow you to create client email connections such as Outlook to retrieve email.  These client connections can be set to both leave messages on the mail server of your provider as well as saving a copy locally on your PC.  Having your own record of these emails can save you if your connection to email is disrupted or if an error causes your server copy email to be deleted.  Important files should also have a local home in your office.  Products such as the Buffalo Networking Linkstation can be employed as a secure network storage device to keep a password protected copy of important business files locally, again in the event of a connection disruption or a loss of data with your provider.

And always – ALWAYS – use common sense and discretion when using social media.  If you’re on Facebook for business, ask yourself, “Do I really need to give this game/media application access to my single sign-on credentials?”  Think about the links and responses you click carefully.  Even today I received a Facebook message from an

account called Fącebooƙ Șecuriƫy telling me my account was out of compliance and I needed to follow a link and answer questions about my account.  Aside from the obvious character substitution which someone else may or may not notice, I asked myself, “Would Facebook really be sending me a message on Facebook about security, or would they email me?”  I’m 99.99% sure they would email it, since that is the way I get all Facebook notifications.  Message deleted, link not followed.  However I can see a lot of less experience users following that link for fear their account will be deleted.

These are some of the things that users need to be aware of though when using Cloud Computing Services and Social Media together.

For more information please email us at questions@aspiretechnet.com.

The Potential (Horrors) of Cloud Computing is a post from: @ Blog

Protesters on Wall Street

I read an article this week on CNN.com in which the author discussed what has changed in government over the past twenty of so years that has put us in the position we’re in as a nation today.  That position being, on the verge of government bankruptcy at the federal and state levels, record setting deficits, a national unemployment average of close to 10%, more people under the poverty line than ever in history…  well, you know the rest.  It simply isn’t good out there.  Practically everywhere you look people are living in despair – jobless, trying to make ends meet, simply doing their best to survive day to day.  Meanwhile the government goes in circles, is ineffective at creating any meaningful, positive change and the situation grows worse instead of better.

As the author explains, a large portion of this ineffectiveness is because the unwritten rules of government have changed.  In the past, Presidents and Congress of opposing parties would still work together – where Congressional members wouldn’t vote on Presidential proposals simply based on party lines, but cooperation would exist to keep government moving.  Today the party members oppose each other for the sake of opposing each other and being able to claim on their marketing collateral later that they took a hard line on their respective issues.  This constant opposition grinds the gears of progress and the things that need to happen from a government directive fail to happen.

In another section, the author describes what government used to be like.  Representatives these days are expected to be socially perfect.  Where a few indiscretions, errors of judgment and personality flaws were commonplace back in the day, these days such things are used as political bullets to try and depose rival candidates.  The result:  we have a government full of politicians, not representatives.  They’re not us – they don’t understand what the people they need to represent truly deal with on a daily basis and worst off all, they can’t do the jobs they are elected to do properly.  Sure, our Congress after World War II might have been filled with drunkards, womanizers and men with a wide variety of other personality flaws – but damn it, they could balance a budget and keep the national debt reasonable.

Modern Problems in a Modern World

Times have obviously changed.  As I was taught in school, our nation’s founders that penned the constitution realized times would change and create a document that could be changed with the times.  But the idea behind that was to make the changes needed to keep it effective and keep the government strong under the ideals of which it was originally founded.

Times have changed.  The government changes too – unfortunately not for the betterment of our nation.

Protesters on Wall Street

And just as unfortunately, the changes that need to take place won’t happen because it means taking something out of the pockets of those that represent us in government.  In this government based now more on greed and self-service, why would any representative vote to do that?

Asking the government to change itself for the better would be like asking lions to switch to a healthier vegetarian diet.  They’re not going to change and you will probably be their next meal.

How do we fix it?  It wouldn’t be easy – but that which has been broken over time cannot be repaired in a day.  I think we live in an overly litigious society already – I’m rarely in favor of passing more laws, but these are some that need to be put on the books.

First thing we need to do is take the money out of government.  More specifically, we have to stop allowing our government to be ruled ultimately by those that have money.  Special interest and big business lobbyists, Wall Street and the banking industry have got to stop being the cash cow of representatives.  Campaigns have got to stop being run on multi-million dollar marketing campaigns where the richest or those that pander to the richest are the only candidates with a chance of actually being elected.  Campaign donations have to be limited to an amount that anyone above the poverty line can afford and there has to be level financial playing field for EVERY candidate – not just Republicans and Democrats.

What power do we hold to force these changes?  We do have the power to vote and make changes come election time.  But making these changes would require our society to educate themselves more regarding the issues at hand.  It would require us to demand better service from our representatives, not just demanding that they be better people.  Ask not what your representatives do behind their bedroom door, but ask what they will do for YOU on the floor of Congress.  That is what really matters.

It would also require the voting majority to drop the staunch party line vote that has lead to the changing of he unwritten rules discussed in the CNN article.

Again, as I have stated in my previous blog entries the change we desire needs to start with us.  We can’t depend on those that have allowed the situation to get as desperate as it currently is to make the changes needed to correct the problems.

How desperate is America to make these changes?  The vast majority of Americans should be desperate.  Extremely desperate.  Yet America still has an unhealthy percentage of eligible voters not registered to vote, and low voter turn out in elections.

And the ones that do vote are usually the ones choosing to maintain the status quo instead of choosing to look at options that can improve our nation.  Almost as if America over time has been pressed into a feeling of learned helplessness, a majority choose to do nothing and accept their fate instead of working to create a better future.

Unfortunately, we are the only ones that can enact that change.  There just simply aren’t enough people that care and are willing to do what it takes.

Changing the Rules Without Us is a post from: @ Blog

Ok, all you banking executives can put your hands down.

And I bet if I asked what is the government doing wrong, the overwhelming majority of people would respond with, “Everything.”

I saw someone make mention, in a very, “I’m Republican and I hate everything that is not Republican,” way that President Obama has increased he debt as much in three years as Bush did in eight. Well, almost as much.

But this is almost like saying Captain Obama has let as much water into the sinking ship as Captain Bush did when he ran it into the rocks, so it is Obama’s fault he isn’t bailing the water fast enough.

No, the real problem is he is handing the buckets to the people pouring the water right back into the broken hull.

Looking for economic relief? Look to yourself first.

And I shouldn’t state this as if it were all the fault of the two Presidents. It takes a hundred people to make a Presidency, not to mention he may or may not have the cooperation of the 535 members of Congress. In the end, this becomes a governmental problem and the government has proved repeatedly that they do not have the solution. See the sinking ship metaphor above.

So if they can’t fix it, who can?

It starts at home folks. This is our country and ultimately WE are responsible for it.

Economic growth and recovery has always started at home. We elect politicians to represent us in office, but who do they invariably serve first? The special interest groups and big businesses. Why? Money. They have it.

Odds are if you’re reading this article, you don’t.

Am I calling for a revolution against the upper class? No! Well, not really. Maybe a little. But throughout history that has always been necessary at times to sort out the ills of society and make things better for the people again. It is cyclical and in today’s world where information flows at the speed of fiber-optic around the globe and travel between continents can happen in a few hours instead of months, the cycles come around faster than ever before.

Like the title says, economic ills spread like a cold: from hand to hand throughout a community. The good news is, the cure to this cold can be spread the same way.

So, what can each person do to make a difference?

First, go get a job. I don’t care what it is – if you don’t have one, get one. Unemployment is at 9.7% nationwide but there are jobs out there to be had. Get one or even, get two. Granted a lot of these jobs are going to be in national franchises, or big national retail stores and it might suck compared to the job you used to have, but these jobs are necessary to fill for the sake of the economy – and if you, the American citizens turn your noses up at these jobs, please for the sake of all that is good stop complaining about illegals taking jobs from Americans. We can deal with that in a future article.

Get a job and be a good, diligent, hard working and responsible employee. After all, a good work ethic also spreads from hand to hand.

Second, stop patronizing the big corporations as much as possible. Yeah, you’ve got it. I’m going to rail on about how small businesses are the life-blood of the economy. If you know me, you know this is my crusade! Small businesses need to grow up and become mid-sized businesses and then become competition for those larger businesses. Anytime the economy has flourished, small businesses have led the way through innovation and development. How many times have you heard a story about a big business buying a small business just to shelve the small business’s ideas and innovations? Big business is about keeping things they way they are – and the way things are isn’t working. That is advice the government should heed as well – give the small businesses what they need and you WILL feed your people.

Third, a lot of this mess was started and exacerbated by the larger banking institutions. Stop patronizing them, too. Move your money to the smaller community banks.

It might not be a huge difference, but any organization that prioritizes profits before people deserves to have some of their resources stripped from them.

Fourth, conserve our resources. Stop buying into the consumer based economy that has been built around us. Shop at your local thrift stores when possible. Plant a garden. Better yet, start a community garden in your neighborhood. Take a look at what you have and make better decision regarding what you need vs. what you want.

Fifth, make a real difference in government and get involved. Tired of the career politicians? Start at the local level where it is easier to meet and collaborate and work as a community to put someone in a government position that you believe can make a difference. A community effort can change the way government works and who is representing you and that is a difference that can pay dividends for years and years.

Hey, if Jesse Ventura can get elected as a state Governor, anyone can get elected.

Finally, buy American. In Elma, NY there is a store named “Made in America.” This store has grown in popularity nationwide. They have tripled their staff in under a year. They have been featured on national news programs. They have had hundreds of inquiries about possible franchising. They are forcing the hand of American companies to re-evaluate how and where their products are being made. “Made in America” won’t carry any products not fully made in America – American companies are seeing the success of this model and getting on board.

Look – a small business making a REAL impact on the economy and the community.

Bottom line is, we can all fret about the national debt, but there is little we can do about it directly. Too many people are content to sit back and wait to see if someone else fixes the problem; meanwhile those that claim they can fix it have only succeeded in making it worse. Revolution doesn’t have to be about guns and violence – making changes and demonstrating a willingness to put in the effort or make some sacrifices intelligently can be the most powerful weapon we have in changing our world today. Money makes the world go around – decide how you want to make the world go around and remember the old saying: insanity is the process of doing something the same way over and over again, but expecting a different result. It is time to make some changes!

Take a look at your community and see what you can do to make it better. After all, communities and the people in them are what REALLY matters.

Economic Ills Spread Like a Cold is a post from: @ Blog