InfoBusiness 2.0

The 5 Most Important Things You Should Do To Make Sure Your Company Is Protected From These Types Of Disasters:

While it’s impossible to plan for every potential computer disaster or emergency, there are a few easy and inexpensive measures you can put into place that will help you avoid the vast majority of computer disasters you could experience.

Step#1: Make Sure You Are Backing Up Your System

It just amazes me how many businesses never back up their computer network. Imagine this: you write the most important piece of information you could ever write on a chalk board and I come along and erase it. How are you going to get it back? You’re not. Unless you can remember it, or if YOU MADE A COPY OF IT, you can’t recover the data. It’s gone. That is why it is so important to back up your network. There are a number of things that could cause you to lose data files. If the information on the disk is important to you, make sure you have more than one copy of it.

Step #2: Perform A Complete Data Restore To Make Sure
Your Backups Are Working Properly

This is another big mistake I see. Many business owners set up some type of backup system, but then never check to make sure it’s working properly. It’s not uncommon for a system to APPEAR to be backing up when in reality, it’s not. Remember the Health Products Company that shelled out $40,000 to recover data they THOUGHT they backed up? Don’t let this happen to you.

Step #3: Keep An Offsite Copy Of Your Backups

What happens if a fire or flood destroys your server AND the backup tapes or drive? What happens if your office gets robbed and they take EVERYTHING? Having an off-site back up is simply a smart way to make sure you have multiple, redundant copies of your data.

Step #4: Make Sure Your Virus Protection Is ALWAYS On And Up-To-Date

You would have to be living under a rock to not know how devastating a virus can be to your network. With virus attacks coming from spam, downloaded data and music files, web sites, and even e-mails from friends, you cannot afford to not be protected.

Not only can a virus corrupt your files and bring down your network, but it can hurt your reputation. If you or one of your employees unknowingly spreads a virus to a customer, or if the virus hijacks your e-mail address book, you’re going to make a lot of people very angry.

Step #5: Set Up A Firewall

Small business owners tend to think that because they are “just a small business”, no one would waste time trying to hack in to their network, when nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve conducted experiments were I connected a single computer to the internet with no firewall.  Within hours, over 13 gigabytes of space was taken over with malicious code and files that I could not delete. The simple fact is there are thousands of unscrupulous individuals out there who think its fun to disable your computer just because they can.

These individuals strike randomly by searching the internet for open, unprotected ports. As soon as they find one, they will delete files or download huge files that cannot be deleted shutting down your hard drive. They can also use your computer as a zombie for storing pirated software or sending spam which will cause your ISP to shut YOU down and prevent you from access the Internet or sending and receiving e-mail.

If the malicious programs can’t be deleted, you’ll have to re-format the entire hard drive causing you to lose every piece of information you’ve ever owned UNLESS you were backing up your files properly (see 1 to 3 above).

Special Report:

The 3 Most Expensive & Deadly Computer Disasters That Wipe Out Small Business Owners …
And How To Avoid Them

An Urgent Warning To All Small Business Owners:

If You Depend On Your Computer Network To Run Your Business, This Is One Report You DON’T Want To Overlook!

You’ll Discover:

§ 5 Critical security measures every small business should have in place.

§ The single costliest mistake most small business owners make when it comes to protecting their irreplaceable company data.

§ How to avoid costly network repair bills.

§ A simple way to protect your network that won’t cost you a dime!

Dear Colleague,

Have you ever lost an hour of work on your computer?

Now imagine if you lost days or weeks of work – or imagine losing your client database, financial records, and all of the work files your company has ever produced or compiled.

Imagine what would happen if your network went down for days where you couldn’t access e-mail or the information on your PC. How frustrating would that be?

What if a major storm, flood, or fire destroyed your office and all of your files? Or if a virus wiped out your server…do you have an emergency recovery plan in place that you feel confident in? How quickly do you think you could recover, if at all?

Many small business owners tend to ignore or forget about taking steps to secure their company’s network from these types of catastrophes until disaster strikes. By then it’s too late and the damage is done.

After working with over a 100 of small and mid-size businesses in the Greater Toronto Area, we found that 6 out of 10 businesses will experience some type of major network or technology disaster that will end up costing them between $9,000 to $60,000 in repairs and restoration costs on average. That doesn’t even include lost productivity, sales, and client good-will that can be damaged when a company can’t operate or fulfill on its promises due to a down network.

What’s most exasperating about this situation is that 100% of these disasters and restoration costs could have been completely avoided easily and inexpensively. That’s why I decided to write this report.

I have found that most small business owners have no idea of the importance of regular preventative maintenance and disaster recovery planning because they are already swamped with more immediate day-to-day fires demanding their attention. If their network is working fine today, it goes to the bottom of the pile of things to worry about. In most cases, no one is watching to make sure the back ups are working, the virus protection is up-to-date, or that the network is “healthy”.

This is like saying you’re too busy driving your car on the highway to put your seatbelt on. Taking that simple preventative step doesn’t really show its true value until you get into a head on collision; at that point you are either extremely relieved that you had it on or incredibly sorry that you didn’t.

The same holds true with your computer network. Obviously the information on the disk is far more valuable than the disk itself. If your company depends on having access to the information stored on your server or PC, then it’s time to get serious about protecting it from damage or loss.

Why Small Business Are Especially Vulnerable
To These Disasters

With the constant changes to technology and daily development of new threats, it takes a highly-trained technician to maintain even a simple 3 to 5 person network. The costs of hiring a full-time IT person are just not feasible for the small business owner.

In an attempt to save money, most try to do their own in-house IT support and designate the person with the most technical expertise as the part-time IT manager. This never works out because this make-shift IT person has another full-time job to do and is usually not skilled enough to properly support an entire computer network anyway.

This inevitably results in a network that is ill-maintained and unstable. It also means that the backups, virus updates, and security patches are not getting timely updates, or may even be set up improperly giving a false sense of security.

It’s only a matter of time before the network crashes. If you’re lucky, it will only cost you a little downtime; but there’s always a chance you could end up like one of these companies:

Auto Body Shop Shells Out $20,000 To Clean Up A Virus

A local auto body shop with multiple locations discovered the importance of preventative maintenance the hard way. Without warning, a virus was downloaded to their server and started replicating and attaching itself to files. This virus corrupted their data, impaired their customer management system, and immediately brought down their Exchange server (no e-mail could come in or go out).

Preventing this disaster would have only cost them 1/25^th of the cost ($800 per month) AND they would have experienced better performance and fewer problems with their network. Instead, they were forced to spend a whopping $20,000 to remove the virus and restore their network, and that only got them back up and running. Their systems were still not optimized, secured, and updated as they should be.

Two Failed Hard Drives Costs Health Products Company $40,000 and
9 Days of Downtime

The back office of a health products company had two hard drives fail at the same time causing them to lose a large number of critical customer files.

When they contacted us to recover the data from the system backups, we found they weren’t functioning properly. Even though they appeared to be backing up all of this company’s data, they were in fact worthless. In the end, recovering the data off of these failed drives took a team of disaster recovery specialists 9 days and $15,000. In addition to the recovery costs, they also incurred $25,000 in other services to get their network stable.

Had they been properly monitoring their network, they would have been able to see that these hard drives were failing and that the back ups were not performing properly. This would have prevented the crash, the downtime, and the $40,000 in costs to get them back up and running, not to mention the 9 days of lost productivity while their network was down.

Property Management Company Spends $9,000 And Weeks Of Down Time For A Simple Inexpensive Repair

A 10-user property management company was not monitoring or maintaining their server. Due to the overuse and lack of maintenance, it started to degenerate and eventually shut down under the load. This caused their entire network to be down for two full days and cost them $3,000 in support fees to get them back up and running. Naturally the costs were much higher when you factor in the lost productivity of their ten employees during that time.

This client did not want to implement a preventative maintenance program so the same problem happened again two months later, costing them another $3,000 and two days of downtime.

Six months later it happened yet another time bringing their total to $9,000 in hard costs and tens of thousands in productivity costs for a problem that could have been quickly detected and prevented from happening.

Talk to any manager at any large organization, and they are likely to have an interesting disaster-related story to tell.  Perhaps a virus wiped out an entire email system, or a power surge corrupted hundreds of important business documents.  Or, maybe a flood destroyed servers that stored mission-critical customer data. 

According to statistics, you don’t need to worry about if a disaster will strike – you need to worry about when.  Hard drives have manufacturer warranties that last no longer than one to three years.  And, computer systems are so complex and intricate that a small problem with one little component can cause a chain reaction and bring your entire infrastructure down in a matter of seconds. 

Are you prepared?

The first thing you will need is some sort of backup device.  It can be an old computer, a network-attached storage device, or even a tape or DVD drive.  You must schedule a complete data backup to run each night, so you can retrieve recent versions of your files in the event of an emergency.  You can use the basic backup software that comes standard with your computer or DVD drive, or you can purchase one of the many other solutions available today, including BrightStor, Overland Storage, EMC, and Quantum.

If you cannot afford even a single minute of downtime during a backup, you need to look into complete backup solutions.  Packages like Acronis True Image can take a live snapshot of your hard drive and store it on a DVD, network server, or other hard drive.  You can revert back to the saved image at any time.  Simply replace the corrupted hard drive with a new one, boot from the recovery disk, and point the software to your backup files.  You’re entire system, exactly as it was at the time of your last backup, will be completely restored within an hour.  Your emails, Internet favorite places, programs, and documents will be easily retrievable, as if nothing happened.

After you configure your data backup, it is wise to add a few additional layers of protection:

Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)

Uninterrupted power supplies can be found at any computer or recording store, and cost between $80 and $200. These devices protect all of your electronic equipment from damage caused by power surges and power loss.  Choosing a UPS with a bigger battery will give you more time to save your documents in the event of a sustained or long-term power loss.  And, don’t forget to configure an automatic software shutdown in the event of a power failure.  This will further minimize damage by saving your documents in their most current state, and safely shutting the computer down.  

Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)

RAID devices allow you to write on two or more hard drives at the same time, in case one of them fails.  With a RAID device, there is always another hard drive that contains the exact same data set.  So, unless all hard drives give out at the same time, which would be highly unlikely, you always have another available drive with the same exact data. 

Off-Site Backup

Backing up your data using on-site solutions can offer effective protection against system failures.  But, what do you do in the event of a flood, fire, or burglary? Disasters like these require off-site back up.  Whether you use a tape, CD, or DVD, make sure you conduct a weekly backup to a remote network location, or have a third-party provider back up your data via the Internet.  There are many services available, ranging in price from free to about $100 per month.  Compare the various plans offered by EVault, Mozy, LiveVault, and other service providers, and see which one will best fit your needs. 

There are countless books, DVDs, software packages, and seminars that describe how to get your company online quickly and cost-effectively.  Since this topic alone could cover enough tips and ideas to fill an entire book, I will summarize just a few of the best options.

If you’re new to the Web, you’ll probably just need a basic informational Web site that highlights your company and its products/services, and provides contact data (i.e. email addresses, phone and fax numbers, etc.) for those visitors that wish to reach out to you to learn more.  If you already have all that, then there are two more advanced directions you can take – you can generate more business by driving more traffic to your site, or you can use your site to better serve your existing customers. 

Generating More Business with Search Engine Advertising & Optimization

One of the best ways to drive more traffic to – and more revenue from – your Web site is through search engines.  Search engines can be international or local, and can help prospects who are looking for products and services like yours to find your Web site.  You can optimize your search engine rankings (i.e. how high on the list you come up when a visitor types in a related keyword or key phrase) in two ways:

1)      You can buy ads on search engine sites, such as Google or Yahoo

2)      You can optimize your site, to make it easier for search engines to find it

Search engine ad campaigns can be launched for as low as a few dollars.  Open an account on Google™ AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Yahoo Overture), create your ad using common industry keywords, and post a bid for it.  A bid is the price you will pay each time a searcher clicks-through from the ad to your site.  In many cases, your bid can be as low as five cents.  Each time a Web visitor types in your keywords or phrases, your ad will appear above or to the side of the search results.  You can then run reports and track the number of people that clicked on your ad. 

Of course, the higher your search engine placement, the better.  There is a variety of search engine optimization (SEO) software on the market today to help boost rankings.  Check out Trendmetrics, Apex Pacific, and GR Software.  Or, you can hire a consulting company like Bruce Clay or MetaMend to help you optimize your site for you. 

SEO software typically costs between $100 and $1000, depending on the features and level of functionality it provides.  Consulting services can run anywhere from $100 to $5000 per month, depending on the size and complexity of your Web site, and your SEO goals.  I suggest starting with a combination of both approaches.  Track the results to see which delivers a higher return on investment. 

Generating More Business with Visitor Tracking

Understanding how many visitors you get, and where they come from, is vital to the success of your Web site strategy.  Your Web hosting company should provide you with access to statistics and log files that measure hits and traffic to your site. Monitor your site traffic daily, and assess the impact of your search engine optimization efforts and related ads.   More advanced Web statistics solutions are available through Stats in a Box, OpenTracker, and Web Trends.   

Generating More Business With Internet Marketing

Search engine optimization is not the only effective online marketing technique.  Consider exploring other types of programs such as opt-in email marketing (not spam), e-zine or blog advertising, and banner ads.

Placing banner ads in popular e-zines or newsletters can be a great way to reach your target audience.  You can even start your own e-zine, newsletter, or blog to share your ideas and knowledge, as well as new information with your prospects and clients. 

However, creating your own opt-in distribution list, and communicating regularly with those subscribers, is the most effective way to leverage the Internet for marketing purposes.  In order to launch a successful opt-in email program, you will need some sort of free offer – perhaps a special report, white paper, eBook, or other downloadable document.  Once you have used this offer to obtain their email address, and their permission to continue contacting them, you can send them future messages and promotions until they decide to purchase your products or services.  Don’t forget, studies show that it will take a minimum of 21 contacts before you actually close the deal. 

Enhancing Service to Existing Customers

Your Web site can also serve as a mechanism for providing faster, more responsive, less expensive services to your customers.  Some of the ways in which you can use your site to improve service delivery include:

• Linking your order management and fulfillment systems to your Web site.  This will allow customers to instantly access real-time information about their purchases, order status, and deliveries, while reducing call volumes to your customer service center. 
• Providing clients with complete order and payment histories, so they can see exactly what they purchased, and when. 
• Developing self-service tools for your clients, such as manuals, sales materials, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and other downloadable informational materials, as well as a knowledgebase.  You can also offer online support requests, issue reporting, and job ticket opening. 
• Putting a live help button on your site, so visitors can chat with company representatives in real-time.  You can also track visitors as they are browsing through your site, so you can see what they are reading and downloading.
• Electronically transferring purchase orders and contracts to and from customers.  This will dramatically increase order efficiency and accuracy by eliminating data entry errors and accelerating order processing. 
• Creating online client forums, where customers can help solve each other’s problems, discuss best practices, share ideas, and more, without the need for your support staff to get involved. 

Special Report:

5 Simple Ways To Avoid Getting

An Avalanche of Spam

As you probably already know from firsthand experience, once you’re on a spammer’s list, it’s next to impossible to get off. And changing your e-mail address can be a major inconvenience especially if you rely on it to stay in touch with important business and personal contacts.

To reduce the chances of your e-mail address getting spammed, here are 5 simple preventative measures you can take that will go a long way in keeping not-so-delicious spam out of your in-box.

1. Use a disposable e-mail address.

If you buy products online or occasionally subscribe to websites that interest you, chances are you’re going to get spammed.

To avoid your main e-mail address from ending up on their broadcast list, set up a free Internet e-mail address with Hotmail or Juno and use it when buying or opting in to online newsletters. You can also use a throwaway e-mail address when making purchases or subscribing to newsletters (see #4 below).

2. Pay attention to check boxes that automatically opt you in.

Whenever you subscribe to a website or make a purchase online, be very watchful of small, pre-checked boxes that say, “Yes! I want to receive offers from third party companies.”

If you do not un-check the box to opt-out, your e-mail address can (and will) be sold to every online advertiser.  To avoid this from happening, simply take a closer look at every online form you fill out. 

3. Don’t use your main e-mail address on your website, web forums, or newsgroups.

Spammers have special programs that can glean e-mail addresses from websites without your permission. If you are posting to a web forum or newsgroup, use your disposable e-mail address instead of your main e-mail address.

If you want to post an e-mail address on your home page, use “info@” and have all replies forwarded to a folder in your in-box that won’t interfere with your main address.

4. Create throwaway e-mail accounts.

If you own a web domain, all mail going to an address at your domain is probably set up to come directly to you by default.  For example, an e-mail addressed to anything@yourdomain.com will be delivered to your in-box.

This is a great way to fight spam without missing out on important e-mails you want to get. The next time you sign up for a newsletter, use the title of the website in your e-mail address. For example, if the website is titled “successsecrets.com”, enter “successsecrets@yourdomain.com” as your e-mail address. If you get spammed, look at what address the spam was sent to.

If successsecrets@yourdomain.com shows up as the original recipient, you know the source since that e-mail address was unique to that web site. Now you can easily stop the spam by making any e-mail sent to that address bounce back to the sender.

5. Don’t open, reply to or try to opt-out of obvious spam e-mails.

Opening, replying to, or even clicking a bogus opt-out link in an obvious spam e-mail signals that your e-mail address is active, and more spam will follow.

The only time it is safe to click on the opt-out link or reply to the e-mail is when the message was sent from a company you know or do business with (for example, a company that you purchase from or a newsletter you subscribed to).

Email is currently the most efficient way to communicate and collaborate with peers and colleagues.   It’s faster than a letter, requires less effort than a fax, and is less intrusive than a phone call.  It’s everywhere – most people have one, or even multiple email accounts set up.  And best of all, it’s free!

However, your company’s reputation, brand equity, and image will be greatly enhanced if you set up a dedicated email account for your specific domain (www.yourcompany.com).   This will make the emails your employees send instantly recognizable (john_smith@yourcompany.com) to recipients, and allow you to host all of your corporate email addresses on a single email server. 

Your corporate email server can be hosted and maintained by your third-party Internet Service Provider (ISP), or on your own premises.  There are a number of server settings that can be tweaked, to make your solution more robust and productive.  For example, you can automatically delete any executable email attachments such as .exe, .com, .pif, .bat, .MSI, or .cab files, as well as java script or visual basic script.  You can also automatically remove large music and video files, to eliminate email server clogs.  These two modifications alone can save you countless hours of downtime, and free up gigabytes of valuable server space. 

You can also improve the efficiency of your email interactions by implementing an Email Usage Policy.  You can modify any standard policy (check out the ones posted on KnowledgeLeader or Free Management Library), or have your attorney create a custom one from scratch.  This policy should be automatically attached to every single outgoing email sent by your server.  This will help decrease your liability for the content of emails sent by your employees.  You can even further protect yourself by monitoring and checking email usage on a weekly basis, to ensure compliance with your usage policies, and immediate identify any unusual or inappropriate activity. 

With software packages like MailMonitor, you can identify your top 10 email traffic generators, see who is emailing whom, determine if your competitors are getting emails from your employees, and identify the kinds of attachments that are being sent back and forth. 

Spam, or unsolicited email, also poses a major problem.  To prevent an avalanche of spam from clogging up your email server, you’ll need to install anti-spam or spam filtering software.  Spam filters work in three ways.  They can automatically delete any unsolicited emails or move them to a specific folder.  The newest spam filtering technologies can even automatically ask any suspicious sender to manually confirm their identity, to ensure that they are not a “robot” sending bulk emails blindly to millions of addresses.  Because many anti-spam setting are too restrictive, legitimate emails often get blocked.  So, I recommend using a spam filter that moves suspicious emails to a folder, where they can be retrieved if needed. 

If your email server does not contain an anti-spam filter, you can use anti-spam software on your desktop to block unsolicited emails.  And, in order to prevent spammers from using your email server to send out bulk emails to millions of users around the world, you can configure your email server to accept emails only from verified users with passwords. 

Email Response Management

Many companies have a generic mailbox for sales inquiries, support issues, or general information.  The amount of incoming emails to these boxes can be overwhelming, particularly if follow-up, responses, or history log maintenance is handled by more than one person.  Fortunately, there are a number of email response management software solutions that can help simplify this process.  There many different types of packages available, ranging in price from free to quite expensive.  Check out the ones offered by emailtopia, Talisma, and Right Now Technologies.  Or, you can search for other solutions online, and choose the one that’s best for your business. 

Email Auto-Responders

Marketing teams are often challenged to stay in constant contact with potential and existing customers.  I’m not talking about spamming to uninterested parties with useless ads, or sending out blind bulk emails.  This is about keeping the lines of communication open with current clients, or prospects who have given you permission to send them information about your products and services (note: putting an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of every email, and removing all those who “unsubscribe” from future distribution lists, will help you avoid breaking spam laws).  Studies show that the more you reach out to your audience with news, special offers, discounts, and promotions, the more likely they are to buy from you.  In fact, it takes, on average, at least 21 outreach attempts to convince a prospect to consider purchasing your products or services.  But time and budget constraints can prohibit you from making daily, weekly, or even monthly contact. 

So how can you efficiently and consistently stay in contact with your prospects and customers?  With email auto-responder software.  These solutions are available for desktop installation, or can be rented as a service through many third-party providers.  Email auto-responders work by allowing you to easily set up email lists and distribution schedules.  When new subscribers sign up to receive newsletters or other information, they are automatically added to the mailing list and will begin receiving emails at the pre-determined intervals. 

Auto-responder solutions are available through a variety of vendors and service providers, including AtomPark Software, Xtreeme, and AutoResponsePlus. 

Email Marketing

No chapter on email would be complete without mention of email marketing.  Several years ago, email became the preferred method of campaign distribution because it was faster and far cheaper than hard copy direct mail.  But, anti-spam laws, which have been in effect for quite some time, have since made it difficult to market effectively using email by preventing the distribution of unsolicited bulk email.  However, many companies will rent their opt-in lists, and even handle distribution for you.  Email lists can be rented through InfoUSA, EXM Marketing, InfoCore, LIST Incorporated, and other brokers. 

I also highly recommend checking all incoming and outgoing emails by using an anti-virus solution.  You can install it on each individual computer within your company, or centralize it on your email server. 

All businesses must share information, files, and applications among multiple local and remote users.  Many companies use Microsoft Windows and peer-to-peer or client/server networks, where all applications reside on a shared server but are executed at the desktop level, to accomplish this.  However, this approach can result in high operating costs, and can put a tremendous strain on your IT resources. 

Server-based computing provides an efficient and affordable way to share technology components among your employees.  In fact, server-based computing technologies are so effective; they are currently in use at more than 90 percent of Fortune 1000 companies, according to a Forrester Research study.

With server-based computing, you set up a dedicated server to share and run all applications.  All end-user computers are then connected to the server as if they were network terminals.  All of your applications, and their related files and data, will then be fully-centralized.  Additionally, all network terminals will be 100 percent interchangeable.  As a result, you can significantly reduce your set-up and administration expenses, minimize the burden on IT staff, and decrease downtime. 

This dedicated server should be set up on a Windows, Linux, or mainframe platform.  Microsoft has terminal services already built into its Windows Server 2000 and Windows Server 2003.  Additionally, they provide a remote client for any Windows desktop.  Linux, on the other hand, offers free X-Windows server-based software, which allows any terminal to review and run any application that resides on the server.  

This concept is not new.  IBM mainframes have allowed users to leverage this type of shared application configuration from the very beginning.  But, over the last five years, a large number of free remote client software packages have become available through Open Source Community, and many commercial solutions have been developed for cross-platform integration using Windows, Linux, and AS-400. 

Let’s take a look at an example using the average small business.  It may have anywhere from 10 to 50 desktop computers, a handful of servers, and about 10 standard applications such as Microsoft Office, email, Web access and browsing, accounting, and other employee productivity tools.  There may even be a few customized or proprietary software packages designed specifically for your industry or business.  If all of them are running on Microsoft Windows, you can set up a dedicated terminal server, and use your existing PCs as terminals for network-based access. 

This type of installation typically requires a Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 Server with terminal licenses.  You can use the same Windows machines you have right now, and run free Microsoft remote desktop software to connect them to the terminal server. This configuration will be even more cost-effective if you test it on a few computers, then converting any really old computers to “dumb” network terminals using free Linux-based PSEX software.  This will allow you to recycle older computers, and drive the cost of each terminal down a few hundred dollars.  Additionally, since each terminal will only be running Linux PSEX software, they can be easily replaced – without any downtime or tech support expenses – if they break. 

More information on server-based computing and related products is available from Microsoft, Red Hat, and IBM. 

We live in a digital age, and no business can thrive or succeed without the Internet.  But, how you use the Internet is just as important.  Without an effective Internet strategy in place, the Web will be nothing more than a productivity inhibitor, and a drain on your staff and financial resources. 

All businesses need a strict, well-enforced Internet Usage Policy.  This will help you control the way your employees use the Web, and reduce your potential liability for any inappropriate actions they perpetrate using the Internet during company hours.  Make sure your policy covers not only Internet utilization, but use of email and attachments, as well as information distribution.  You can obtain a sample Internet Usage Policy at KnowledgeLeader or Free Management Library, or have your lawyer draft a customized one for you. 

With a “proxy server”, aka Internet sharing server, as the only means of Internet access for your employees, you can further avoid risk and minimize the amount of time and money wasted on non-work activities.  These servers have configurable filters that allow you to block staff members from accessing the Web for personal use.  For example, you can prevent users from viewing adult Web sites, downloading movie and music files, using instant messaging applications, playing poker and other online games, visiting chat rooms, checking stocks, and more.  You can also closely monitor Internet activity, to instantly identify any employee who may be using the Web for improper behavior.  Have your IT department provide detailed weekly reports on Internet usage, and immediately penalize anyone who is caught breaking your Internet Usage Policy.   

Proxy servers are available from many vendors, including Microsoft, Wavecrest, and Qbik.  Some of the Internet usage monitoring tools on the market today include Track4Win, Echo, Activity Monitor, and Websense. 

Because staff members will still need to download files as part of their day-to-day work, you should install an antivirus solution on these servers.  This will enable you to automatically detect and delete any infected files before they come through and wreak havoc on your systems. 

As networks become increasingly complex, securing them at every entry point has become an overwhelming challenging.  All applications, databases, software, and hardware include default settings that can be easily circumvented.  And, cyber-criminals are more sophisticated than ever before, possessing the skill and knowledge needed to hack their way into even the most intricate technology environments. 

It is up to you to take the necessary measures to protect your most critical business systems.  An ironclad security infrastructure, combined with stringent internal security policies that include rigid enforcement and regularly-scheduled checks, is the key to keeping your network safe from hackers, intruders, and other unauthorized users. 

The first step in ensuring tight network security is use of testing tools, which can be easily obtained via download directly from the developer’s Web site.  This will help you to determine how vulnerable your environment really is.  These tools test the integrity of each server’s internet access protocols and firewalls, and identify any potential “open doors” (you’d be surprised how many there are on the average system).  A list of the Top 100 Network Security Testing Tools, as determined by a 2006 Insecure.org survey, includes software solutions by vendors such as Nessus, WireShark, Snort, NetCat, and more.

If you’re really concerned about network vulnerability, you can hire a third-party security firm to perform ethical hacking.  During an ethical hacking test, consultants will attempt to breach your network security – with your permission, of course – and document any problems found.  Some of the firms that provide this kind of testing include Paladion Networks, Mitnick Security Consulting, Sky Box Security, and Remington Associates.

Although external security breaches are a major issue for corporations today, studies show that the real threat comes from inside company walls.  A recent FBI survey demonstrated that 70% of all computer intrusions are perpetrated by someone associated with the business.  To preserve the integrity of confidential customer data or proprietary product information, you need to tighten up network security.  Just a few simple security steps can save you quite a bit of grief later on. 

I recommend:

• Using strong alphanumeric passwords that are longer than eight characters.  Change them at least every one to six months. 
• Implementing biometric fingerprint technologies for login and authentication. 
• Monitoring and logging all network activity at your company.  Review the log files each week, and look for any suspicious events or behavior. 
• Encrypting more sensitive data with industry-strength algorithms like Blowfish. 

You can further enhance network security by using password-protected screen savers with automatic logoff.  Keep your server room, or any other area where computer terminals are located, locked at all times.  You can also use electronic locks with badges or swipe cards, or highly-secure biometric locks, to identify and keep record of all visitors. 

The use of video cameras in public access areas can dramatically reduce your risk as well.  Studies show that employees who know they are being watched are less likely to break company rules.  While you don’t need to record all activity around-the-clock, I strongly recommend that you do.  If a security breach occurs, you can immediately identify the person responsible. 

Finally, deploy all security patches for all of your desktops, servers, and network devices, and ensure that they are updated automatically.  Many businesses already have massive security gaps in their systems, and don’t even know it.

For more information on protecting your systems from hackers, cyber-criminals, and security breaches, visit The Computer Institute of the Rockies, Enterprise IT Planet, and The InfoPackets Windows Newsletter.

7 Simple Steps To Secure Your Computer From Malicious Attacks and Avoid Expensive Repair Bills

1. Keep an up-to-date anti-virus software running at all times. I recommend AVG anti-virus for two simple reasons: 1) It detects and removes spyware and malware programs that a lot of the more well-known (and more expensive) anti-virus software programs miss, and 2) It does it for about half the price.It also has an auto scan and update feature that will make sure your computer is running the most current protection available and regularly scanning for threats. If you want a free 30-day trial of the AVG product, go to this website: http://free.grisoft.com

2. Start using an alternative web browser to Internet Explorer such as Mozilla Firefox. Just recently, hackers have figured out a way to access and download malicious programs to your computer via a security hole in IE. What is amazing about this is that you don’t even have to click on anything or download a program to get infected. You are especially vulnerable if you have an older version of Windows such as Windows 98.Mozilla is a completely free web browser that does not have the same security problems as IE. Many of my clients even report back that they like their Mozilla browser better than Internet Explorer. Switching from IE to Mozilla is a simple and cost-free way to add another layer of security to your computer. To download this free browser, go to www.mozilla.org.

3. Use an alternative e-mail program other than Outlook Express. Outlook Express is notorious for security holes. If you don’t have the latest security updates, hackers can send you e-mails with viruses that automatically open and install themselves without you even opening or previewing the e-mail and its attachments. I recommend that you either upgrade Outlook Express to a newer, more secure version of Outlook or switch to Mozilla’s Thunderbird E-mail software. Thunderbird is free and you can download a copy from this website: http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird

4. Never open suspicious looking e-mails or attachments. This goes without saying because most viruses are replicated via e-mail. If it looks suspicious, delete it immediately!
   
   
5. Stop using peer to peer file sharing sites and downloading “cute” programs. Think of it like cyber candy. Hackers use these cute and funny programs as bait to get you to download their destructive programs. These are guaranteed ways of contracting malicious viruses, spyware, and malware. Also, peer to peer file sharing sites like KaZaa are mine fields of malicious programs. NEVER access those sites or download the programs that run them.
   
6. Set up a firewall. A firewall is simply a device that acts as a buffer between you and the big, wild world of the Internet. Many users will get a DSL or cable Internet connection and plug it directly into their computer with no firewall in between.The one thing you have to remember about the Internet is that it is a big open field. You have access to the world, but on the flip side, the world has access to YOU. Hackers have programs that automatically scan the Internet for computers connected via a cable or DSL connection without a firewall. Once they find one, they access your computer, download vicious programs, and can even use YOUR computer to send viruses to your friends and other computers, all without your knowledge or consent.
   
   
7. Backup your files every night. Have you ever lost an hour of work on your computer due to a crash or program error? Now imagine losing all of your precious family and vacation photos, e-mails, music files, and documents. No one really thinks about losing all of the data on their computer until it actually happens. By then, it is either too late and you have lost EVERYTHING or it will take a lot of money paid to a specialist to recover your files.I cannot stress the importance of backing up your files enough. If the files on your computer are important to you, then it is about time you got serious about protecting them by backing up every night.

   The backup solution you chose will depend on the amount or size of the data you need to backup. Sometimes a simple zip drive or CD burner will do the trick. If you have a lot of data to backup, you may want to consider a tape backup system. If you want to know what is best for your specific situation, call our offices and one of our technicians will be happy to discuss the best system backup plan for you.