Veracity Technologies is pleased to announce that David Ulbrich has recently joined our Reliant Response team. David has over 12 years of experience in the industry working as a technology consultant, Systems Administrator and Desktop Support Specialist. This experience has provided him with a broad spectrum of technical expertise, proven diagnostic aptitude, and an exceptional customer service background. David practices excellent analytical trouble-shooting skills backed by outstanding oral and written communications.

Veracity is looking forward to the positive impact he brings in the area of customer service and technology solutions support; as well as the team building attitude he brings to the VT office, day in and day out.

David’s professional accomplishments include an Associate of Applied Science degree; numerous Microsoft technical certifications and is accredited as ‘Human Resource Management and Supervision’ certified.
In his off time, David enjoys working in his other passion; “Dinner with Chef D”. This small venture designed around serving dinner parties of 14 or less allows David to showcase his culinary skills amongst his peers and other willing associates. These experiences have led him towards authoring a cook book dedicated to people who suffer from food allergies. I am sure we will put his talents to the test during one of our social gatherings here in the VT backyard…

Please welcome David, as we expect that all of our clientele will benefit from the experience and diversity he brings to the team.

It is inevitable to have to upgrade any kind of software sooner or later. This is now true for Windows XP, as Microsoft has announced a discontinuation of support for the operating system in 2014. Microsoft recommends upgrading to the newer Windows 7 OS, which is something worth considering as early as now.

Part of using any sort of software is the inevitable need to upgrade. Most if not all software needs to either be replaced and upgraded as the demands of the market entail more efficient processing of the various data and information a business handles.

Such is the case with Windows XP. While many continue to use this proven straightforward operating system, Microsoft has decided to stop support by the year 2014. Microsoft further recommends upgrading to its latest OS, Windows 7, in order for users to continue to receive OS support.

While there are some lines of business applications that have not been upgraded to work with Windows 7, most have — and there are alternative approaches. Also, your business needs the security and protection that only a current, up-to-date operating system can provide.

We understand that changing your OS will entail some expense, including new licenses, hardware, and some training. Fortunately, these things are designed to help you operate more efficiently and increase your productivity in the long run. But such change will take time, and if you are interested in starting to plan for an upgrade now, we’ll be happy to sit down with you and develop an upgrade process that meets your specific needs.

Many SMBs are unaware that hackers are finding online banking transactions to be profitable and easy targets for cyber-attacks because of several weaknesses in the security systems not only of both organizations, but also in the authentication protocols between them.

In a recent attack, cyber-thieves managed to get away with $63,000 after they exploited vulnerabilities in the online payroll system of a small business with its bank.

First, the crooks managed to infiltrate the company’s system through a piece of malware called the Zeus Trojan. This gave them access to the company’s data, including the password and username used in transacting with the company’s bank. The thieves then created several new ghost employees and created payroll accounts for them, which they sent to the bank and authenticated using the company controller’s username and password. And to cover their tracks, the hackers erased the confirmation emails regarding the transaction.

This incident highlights the need for better security systems in both the business and their bank – as security experts cite online banking transactions as one of the favorite targets of cyber-criminals. Cyber-attacks such as this one exploit weaknesses in many existing systems that rely on very simple and automated authentication procedures to confirm transactions.

A direct threat to your business finances is not something to be taken lightly. You not only need to review your current online banking system, but also the current security protocols you have installed, since hackers and cyber-criminals are constantly updating Trojans and other malware to adapt to changing IT protection systems.

We encourage you to have us take a look at the systems you have in place to determine if you are at risk for attacks like these. Please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to draw up custom security solutions that address your specific needs.

References:
Sold a Lemon in Internet Banking
Cybercrooks Drive Away With $63,000 from Car Dealership

For the past few weeks Veracity’s Help Desk team has noticed a dramatic increase in the amount of malware infecting computers. In most of these cases the infection started with an innocent search for pictures from Google Images. Even at Veracity we search Google Images often looking for pictures of products/diagrams that we work with on a daily basis. Through some very sneaky coding, attackers found a way that simply clicking on a link to an image from Google Images initiates a malware install.

After clicking on the link to an image a popup will appear claiming that you are infected. Do not try to click on the “X” at the top of the window that pops up. In some cases clicking on that “X” will initiate the installation of the malware. Instead shutdown and reboot your computer. This will ensure that the malware does not have an opportunity to install on your computer.

You can be easily fooled into thinking the pop-up is a legitimate message from Microsoft and/or your antivirus software. It is actually quite amazing how similar these pop-ups appear to look like the real thing. Please, if you have any questions call us before clicking on anything. Being cautious will save a lot of time if you do become infected.

It is worth mentioning that this version of malware is very bad. It more often than not requires a system rebuild, following the above instructions will prevent a lot of downtime.

As always, if you believe you are infected or if you have questions, contact us.

Internet security is an issue not to be taken lightly. As an increasing number of businesses use the web for more efficient operations, there is also more risk of being affected by malware and viruses. But thanks to initiatives such as WebBlaze and BitBlaze from Professor Dawn Song, developers are better equipped to make more effective IT security systems.

If you think hackers are the only ones doing their research to release newer and scarier viruses and malware on the web, think again. It is comforting to know that there are also very capable people doing what they can to make the internet a safer place – like Professor Dawn Song, associate professor at the University of California at Berkeley and MacArthur Foundation fellow.

In a nutshell, Professor Song has been looking at different ways to make the internet experience more secure. Her two initiatives – WebBlaze and BitBlaze – are aimed toward developers who want to create better and much more secure programs and applications.

WebBlaze is a compilation of different strategies from Song and other like minds who tackle different problems and solutions in all sorts of platforms, and BitBlaze is an analysis tool for malicious software. While we won’t go into too much detail (it involves very complicated math), the gist is that Song and her colleagues are drawing up some very solid solutions to constantly evolving security issues on the web.

It’s exciting to see developments like these in the security industry. As threats continue to evolve, so does the means through which they are fought. The more we use the internet and the more the online experience becomes integral to the day-to-day operations of businesses big and small, the more important securing your data and information becomes. And because of efforts such as Professor Song’s, we can expect security programs to be much more effective and efficient as time passes.

Know more about BitBlaze and WebBlaze

Learn more about Dawn Song here

If you are looking to assess and beef up your security systems, we’d be happy to sit down with you and take a look at improvements that can make your business and your data much more secure.

One thing is clear, quality is still more important than quantity. Especially with the current economic downturn, people are downsize everything – including online social circles.

November 17, 2010 was declared by Jimmy Kimmel during his television show as “National Unfriend Day”, the opportunity for all Facebook users to declutter their Facebook pages by “unfriending” people in their friends’ lists. He claims that Facebook has been “cheapening” the idea of friendship. To many the idea was hilarious, but others are seriously considering the wisdom of unfriending.

Is Kimmel on to something here? Can unfriending benefit your online business?

Research shows that as social media gets bigger, we’re getting smaller. Brian Wong, a network marketer says it simply: “With the growth of social networking, I am finding it increasingly difficult to separate business connections and personal connections.” He says that having almost 1,000 friends on Facebook has made it difficult for him to see the feeds and updates of his “real” friends and important business partners.

Lately there is a growing trend of de-scaling on the internet. People have started “pruning” their social lives online. For example, the popular Farmville app lost 30 million players this year, and people are beginning to realize that conversations and comments are more important than a huge number of blog hits.

So how can de-scaling and unfriending help your business? The drive to be more intimate can benefit your business by allowing you to form a tighter circle of customers, more successfully establishing you as a preferred channel for consumption.

Luckily, there are tools that can help you descale your social networks:

1. Path – Offers small-scale communities where people feel more comfortable sharing personal information. It controls who can view your information and does not include features that make your content viral.
2. Letter.ly – A subscription-based newsletter for bloggers who feel that public posts decrease the quality of conversations. This newsletter opens discussion only to people who pay, or who are privately invited to read a blog post.
3. GroupMe – A texting app which limits your group text participants to only 14, to ensure that meaningful dialogues take place.

What about the flip side of unfriending and descaling? While you’re considering who to eliminate from your social circles, your contacts are likely doing the same. Here are some tips to help you make their cuts:

1.       Be selective in your communications.
Of course, your product is important – to you. But not every little detail is as important to your audience. Be sure to focus on key features and benefits from your audience’s perspective.

2.       Stay on topic.
Always give relevant communications to your customers, and never rant or badmouth competitors. This is a sure way to lose customers.

3.       Provide value.
In addition to talking about your product or service, find ways to provide value to your circle of friends. Understand topics and pain points important to them, and provide valuable information and advice to help them succeed. You’ll soon come to be considered as a valuable resource to your contacts – one that they want to keep in their online social groups.

One thing is clear: quality is still more important than quantity, especially in the current economic downturn when people are downsizing everything. Start “pruning” your social network – and take steps to avoid being pruned – and you’ll reap the benefits of having a tight circle of loyal friends and customers.

These days, more and more people are on the go, and many of them bring their work with them. While connecting to public and open-access Wi-Fi hotspots is indeed convenient, using open networks also pose risks that endanger your security.

While connecting to public and open-access Wi-Fi hotspots is indeed convenient, using open networks also poses risks that endanger your security. The open nature that allows anyone to use the connection also enables unscrupulous people to gain access to your private information. The whole act of stealing information from people who are using public Wi-Fi networks is called ‘sidejacking’.

There are applications such as Firesheep, for example, that provide an easy-to-use platform that others can exploit to spy and harvest personal, sensitive information from you. And since Firesheep is a Mozilla Firefox plug in, virtually anyone can download and use it to sidejack people on the same network.

You can’t be too cautious with your personal and business data these days, so you always need to have the proper laptop configuration and security infrastructure to protect your system, especially when you frequently avail of open and public networks. To know more about this, please feel free to give us a call and we’ll be happy to draw up some security options that meet your specific needs.

It seems that even the most innocuous machines in the workplace can serve as a security threat to companies. According to this report from CBS News, many office copiers save the images they copy on a dedicated hard disk installed inside them. This means that everything from mundane memos to your most sensitive information such as financial statements and contracts are stored – and could potentially extracted.

So the next time you dispose of a copy machine, if you’re not sure what’s stored on it and how to get it off – give us a call to help out.

To see the news report, watch this video.

Almost everyone has first-hand experience dealing with malware or viruses on their computer.  I am sure that experience was not a positive one.  At Veracity Technologies we deal with this issue on a daily basis.  VT’s Help Desk is great at removing malware and viruses from computers.  Unfortunately this is a practice that they have come to perfect because of the frequency they have had to clean infected computers.

In the last 30-days VT has increased our capabilities to prevent our client’s managed computers and servers from becoming the next victims in the war against malware and viruses. 

First, we introduced a tool we call FILE BLOCKER.  Just before you open an application the FILE BLOCKER scans the program against a list of malware characteristics we have identified.  If there is a match, FILE BLOCKER prevents the application from even starting.  This is very helpful as antivirus applications do not always detect the latest threats.  As VT recognizes threats we can immediately “block” those threats from running.

Second, we introduced a new service we call Reliant+ Security.  Reliant+ Security’s advantage is that it integrates fully with our managed services tool.  In the past if antivirus applications detected an infection that could not be cleaned it would generate an alert within a separate management tool.  In most cases the end-user had called us before we even knew of the infection.  This was not something we wanted.  With Reliant+ Security we have all of the monitoring being done within our managed services tool.  All of our alerts are in a single console; making our response time more efficient.

Both of the new capabilities above require that your organization participate in at least one of our many Reliant+ service offerings.  If you are interested in hearing more please contact one of our Account Managers at 952-941-7333 or info@veracitytech.com.

Does your organization deploy blackberry devices to your end-users?

Up until recently, the ability to synchronize MS Exchange email, contacts and calendar to your Blackberry devices “over the air” required an additional purchased software and license package. Blackberry is now offering the Blackberry Enterprise Server Express, designed for small businesses, for free. That’s right, no software or license fees apply! It is free to download right from blackberry’s website.

Connect people via BlackBerry® smartphones and ideas get bigger. Progress happens faster. Answers get smarter. So imagine what happens when you give a business the freedom to connect all its employees.

BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express enables businesses of any size to quickly and easily get started with the BlackBerry solution. It provides advanced BlackBerry smartphone features with no additional software or user license fees, and works with any Internet-enabled BlackBerry data plan or a BlackBerry enterprise data plan.

Contact Veracity to see how our team of experts can install and configure this solution on your network and allow you to take advantage of these additional features by utilizing the technology you already have invested today!!

Contact us today at – 952-941-7333 or info@veracitytech.com and we will design and implement a deployment strategy that fits your needs.