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Friday, May 04, 2007 |
Proventia Desktop firewall stymies malware. In the days of overcomplicated security tools, it's satisfying to review a feature-rich product that intentionally keeps it simple. Internet Security Systems (ISS) Proventia Desktop (also known as IBM Proventia Desktop Endpoint Protection) offers a host-based firewall core supplemented by anti-virus, anti-malware, buffer overflow exploit protection, intrusion prevention, and it can function as a Cisco Network Admission Control agent. I was eager to test version 9.0.226.0, released after the IBM buyout of ISS, to see how the product is holding out against the competition. [InfoWorld: Security]
9:06:16 PM 
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Monday, January 30, 2006 |
Connected Home Media: Steps you should take to secure a home wireless router. [Simply: change all default settings; enable encryption; reduce or eliminate the opportunity for "alien" devices to get on your network.]
2:29:09 PM
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Friday, August 05, 2005 |
Protecting your computer from the potential dangers of downloading takes a bit of forethought, a bit of caution, and strict adherence to the rule: when in doubt, save before you download.
11:20:59 PM
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Monday, June 27, 2005 |
IP Camera + Pocket PC = Security! [?? How about security tool instead!] Thanks to the dropping cost of camera technology and the proliferation of broadband connections and home LANs, affordable solutions are now available for the average consumer. [The article looks at a specific technology combination - D-Link DCS-900W IP camera and a Pocket PC equipped with a program called ViewCommander-Mobile - but contains good info on (wireless) ip cameras and setting the whole thing up.]
4:56:49 PM
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Friday, May 13, 2005 |
PGP Corporation has launched a radical overhaul of its PGP desktop security suite aimed at making its products more comprehensive and easier to use. PGP Desktop 9.0, released Monday 9 May, features "automatic operation so email, instant messaging (IM), whole disk, and file encryption are secure without user interaction or training", the blurb boasts.
PGP Whole Disk encryption means an entire laptop, including USB drives and backups, can be secured at one fell swoop against previous approaches where users have used the software to set up a virtual, encrypted disk on their PC. Existing product features - such as PGP Virtual Disk encryption, PGP Zip (file compression), and PGP Shred (permanent file deletion) - have been retained.
10:56:54 PM
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Microsoft is launching a PC "health service" that promises to deliver automated protection, maintenance and machine tune-ups in a single package. Windows OneCare initially is being distributed to company employees as part of a testing and development process before public beta availability later this year. The subscription service will be continually updated in an effort to address safety issues such as worms, viruses and spyware.
Micorosoft also is focused on broader PC health issues, including: the protection of digital photos, music, financial data and software, as well as system performance. Windows OneCare will provide updated antivirus, antispyware and two-way firewall protection. The package offers periodic disk cleanup, hard-drive defragmentation and file repair. Automated file backup also is offered, along with the option to back up all files on the system or only those that have changed since the last time the action was performed.
10:21:46 PM
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After all the hubbub during the last few years surrounding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Graham-Leach-Bliley Act and other rules and regulations dealing with e-mail retention, privacy, deletion and management policies, you might think the work is done. And you would be wrong, solution providers say.
For all the near-panic about complying with a daunting set of rules for public companies, a lot still needs to be done.
9:12:38 PM
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Wednesday, March 09, 2005 |
Check out Streamload. It's an online storage service that [allows you to access, and even stream, your favorite music and videos to any Web-connected PC in the world? Or how about sharing your fancy, high-resolution photos with the folks back home through a simple URL in an e-mail ], plus you can use it for free if you accept some restrictions. If you're willing to shell out a few bucks per month it gets even better, because the service doesn't charge you for predetermined storage limits (as Xdrive does) or even by the amount of storage you actually use (like Data Deposit Box). Instead, Streamload charges for the amount of data you and your friends subsequently download from your account.
9:13:35 PM
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Friday, March 04, 2005 |
Lack of simple 911 access can have dire results.
10:42:45 PM
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Not only are they available in inch-long versions that are easy to conceal in any pocket, purse or wallet, but also there are forms that are not even recognizable as storage devices unless one knows what to look for. Consider for example the “USB MP3 Player Watch” with 256M bytes of storage. This device looks like an analog watch. Then there is the SwissMemory USB Memory & Knife. This gadget, includes a blade, scissors, file with screwdriver tip, pen and USB memory, in 64M, 128M, 256M, or 512M-byte capacities. The USB Pen (not a “PenDrive”) is a pen that uses standard ink refills but also includes 128M bytes of USB flash memory.
2:34:40 PM
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Skip the [tax prep] software; it pays to have your taxes prepared by a pro. [The author depended heavily on data she maintained in Quickbooks.]
2:22:22 PM
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The company, by midyear, plans to release a test version of a new Internet Explorer browser that better protects users from scams and malicious code while surfing the Web, Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates said in a keynote address at the RSA Conference 2005 in San Francisco.
Microsoft bought anti-spyware software maker Giant Company Software in December and released a beta of Windows AntiSpyware in January. In addition to its free consumer product, Microsoft will offer a for-pay anti-spyware product for corporate users that will support enterprise needs for management and deployment, said Amy Roberts, a director in Microsoft's Security Business and Technology Unit. Roberts would not say when the enterprise anti-spyware product will be available.
2:10:28 PM
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Wednesday, March 02, 2005 |
On January 11, Microsoft made available the Malicious Software Removal Tool, a free tool designed to check for and help remove infections by critical viruses and worms. In its initial release, the tool checks for the existence of malicious software (malware) on computers running the Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 operating systems.
9:48:50 PM
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Security Quiz: Test Your Knowledge -- Security Guidance for Small Business Take our Security Quiz and find out how much you know about important security issues that can have an impact on your business. [A short test (ten questions) from the folks at Microsoft. If you get even one of the answers wrong you need to get help improving your security - "yesterday".]
9:46:31 PM
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Tuesday, March 01, 2005 |
Two new services, GoToMyPC and LogMeIn, promise simple and secure access to your computer from just about anywhere -- provided, of course, that you leave it on, and online. All traffic between computers is encrypted from end to end. Because the services use standard Web communications techniques, they work through most, though not all, corporate firewalls without intervention from information-technology departments. You may, however, run into trouble if you are trying to get into your PC from a public computer, such as those in libraries or hotel business centers. These may not permit you to download the application you need to establish remote connections.
Although the computer being accessed must run Windows, you can use GoToMyPC from any browser that supports Java, including Macs and even Pocket PCs. The latter's displays may be too small to be of much use. LogMeIn can be used from Windows computers and Pocket PCs but not Macs.
12:46:45 PM
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Thursday, February 17, 2005 |
View a streaming video of an IRS Small Business Workshop, take an IRS course or complete an online self-directed version of a workshop taught live around the country. There are also links to additional resources including learning experiences for small business owners produced by some [IRS] partners.
7:39:07 PM
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The measure of risk used is to compare relative percentages of profitable and loss businesses in a given industry. They used sole proprietorship data since net income or loss is not affected by owners' compensation. Data was compiled on 120 different types of businesses, and led to some interesting results. Surveyors (# 1) came out on top for the second year in a row, CPA's came in 5th, while hunters & trappers came in dead (no pun intended) last.
7:35:26 PM
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10 tips on how to choose the best small business phone plan for your business.
7:25:38 PM
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The Security Mentor provides "advice for normal people about computer and information security from Beryllium Sphere(R) LLC." The blog is a client resource and marketing tool for Beryllium Sphere LLC, a computer security consulting company in Redmond, Washington, USA. Fred Wamsley is the owner and chief blogger. His company specializes in serving small businesses, especially the SOHO (small office/home office) market. Fred describes who he is trying to reach with his blog, saying: 'My target reader is someone motivated enough to do online research but unwilling to become a full-fledged nerd. The "computer person by default" at a small business, who becomes the de facto IT department because "s/he knows about those computers", is a perfect example.' [This looks like an excellent site - albeit a direct and effective competitor. It's straightforward, easy to understand writing gets right to the point. As an example, here's an excerpt from the Monday, February 07, 2005 post on Phishing - "Phishing is getting more tricky and insidious. 'Phishing' scams, you'll remember, are when someone sets up a fake web site pretending to be your bank or something else so they can trick you into typing in your banking password. Then they can use the password to loot your account."]
6:42:11 PM
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BusinessTVchannel.com is an Internet site where you can go to watch and listen to video on business topics of interest to small business owners. It's like a cross between broadcast TV and the Internet. They offer a morning newscast. They also offer shows on topics such as managing cash flow, how to hire good people, and increasing your sales. The newscast is a crisp 20 minutes, tailored specifically for time-starved business owners. A lot of the extraneous business news applicable to stock market trading, earnings reports, etc. is summarized and filtered, so that you get just what you need to know. The cost is currently $19.95 per month plus tax. You can cancel at any time.
(The site is best viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher with Windows Media Player 7.0 or higher. They highly recommended that you install the latest versions of these programs.)
6:28:27 PM
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Monday, February 07, 2005 |
Less than a month after announcing a price hike
that enraged small business owners, eBay Inc. said it would reduce some
fees and promised to improve customer service.
The online auction giant said in a Web posting
Sunday it would credit $15.95 — the cost of a one-month subscription —
to small business owners who operate "eBay Stores" in April. EBay also
announced it would reduce the minimum fee for inexpensive auction items
from 30 cents to 25 cents, starting Monday morning.
5:17:11 PM
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Tuesday, November 23, 2004 |
Next time you make a printout from your
color laser printer, shine an LED flashlight beam on it and examine it
closely with a magnifying glass. You might be able to see the small,
scattered yellow dots printer there that could be used to trace the
document back to you. According to experts, several printer
companies quietly encode the serial number and the manufacturing code
of their color laser printers and color copiers on every document those
machines produce. Governments, including the United States, already use
the hidden markings to track counterfeiters. One way to determine if your color laser
is applying this tracking process is to shine a blue LED light--say,
from a keychain laser flashlight--on your page and use a magnifier.
10:06:55 PM
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Saturday, November 13, 2004 |
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's Employer Health Benefits 2004 Annual Survey, released in September, only 63% of small businesses currently offer health benefits to their workers, down from 68% in 2001. Smart Online Inc., a vendor of Web-based business solutions for small to midsize businesses (SMBs), and Precis Inc., a provider of health-care solutions, have formed a partnership to change that. They announced this week that they plan to build Precis' non-insurance options for managing health-care costs into Smart Online's OneBiz service, scheduled to launch at www.smartonline.com in the first quarter of 2005.
8:30:20 AM
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Saturday, October 30, 2004 |
According to the Cybersource web site: Every time you restart your Safe Internet Computer, it is wiped clean of any malware and reset to factory settings. A clean slate, every day. The SafeIC is a small-form factor PC which will sit unobtrusively in your lounge room, study or home office. It plugs straight into your ADSL router or office hub/switch. It needs zero configuration. If your home or office is connected to the Internet, the SafeIC will be connected too. ["Computers" like this were formerly called "dumb terminals"; then "network computers". No onboard permanent storage, no hard disk drive (or writeable optical drive - there must be some form of temporary storage); original system restored each time system is restarted (which is why it could be impervious to malware although frequent, deliberate restarts would be required). Monitor not included. At AU$595, which includes "all the software", it is expensive. The software environment isn't MS Windows nor is the application software from Microsoft . The product brochure indicates a "standards compliant browser"; an office suite that "supports" Microsoft file formats; games and educational programs; and an RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) client that "connects to Windows Terminal Server or Windows XP Profressional." Once such a connection is made, especially if it's a long-lived one, this arrangement doesn't seem so safe.]
4:53:21 PM
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Friday, October 29, 2004 |
Although Windows XP Professional is built on the Windows 2000 kernel, there are significant differences between the operating systems - especially when it comes to security. This checklist is partially based on our popular Windows 2000 security checklist and covers both Windows XP Professional and XP Home Edition. Unfortunately, Windows XP Home Edition doesn't have all of the security features of XP Professional, so not all of the options are available for both versions. If you're concerned about your data, we strongly recommend upgrading to XP Professional as soon as possible. When implementing these recommendations, keep in mind that there is a trade off between increased security levels and usability for any Operating System. To help you decide how much security you need, we've divided the checklist into Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Security options. You should assess your potential security risks, determine the value of your data, and balance your needs accordingly.
This is a "live" document which will be updated over time as new security recommendations are published by Microsoft.
6:58:27 PM
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Thursday, October 21, 2004 |
Security freeware is pretty popular. The price is right and everyone needs more security. What's the catch? But just because software is free doesn't exempt it from the requirements of paid software. Folks who write security tools should practice secure coding. Authors of security freeware should be accessible and accountable for the product they provide; in security-speak, the software should have readily identifiable, non-repudiable origins. Folks who make security software available should have competent, security-savvy staff to support and maintain it.
So if you are considering security freeware, remember the five Ws. Who wrote the software? Can you identify and trust the developer? What does the software do? When should you use security freeware? Why are you choosing freeware over commercial ware? Where do you intend to use security freeware?
6:21:07 PM
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The 400 series is priced below Symantec's high-end 5400 series, which is also geared to corporate users and began shipping in September of last year. "If you have a midsize business with only one location, you would need to chose either the 5400 or the 400, depending on the number of users you have and your sensitivity to security," said Barry Cioe, senior director of Symantec's product management. The 400 series can accommodate up to 200 users and carries a throughput of 55 megabits per second, selling anywhere from $400 to $1,000 per appliance.
6:14:40 PM
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Startup Affini launched a free email service on Wednesday that will eventually pay users to receive advertisements. Initially, the service will work similarly to other "whitelist" email services such as Mailblocks, which allows members to pick and choose who they want to correspond with. In a few weeks, however, Affini will charge companies about 15 cents each to send advertisements to users, who will be able to opt in to the service.
The idea of paying for spam has circulated for years, prompting strategies designed by independent consultants as well as IBM's research team. Most have used some sort of authorized whitelist to determine legitimate emailers, and then offered some form of a token or cash payment to let advertisers into the system. Affini's model will start off as a token model. The tokens will be exchangeable for cash at a later date, in what Chang said would be a matter of weeks. At the launch, users will receive 1,000 points just for signing up, worth about $10 during the cash conversion, he said. A user can block all spam, or opt in to the payment system. Affini members won't pay to send messages, but will have the right to charge a fee for receiving a message from anybody outside the network – individual or commercial sender alike. If the recipient so chooses, he can waive the fee and also invite the sender into the network. At some point, Affini will allow users to alter the initial fee, allowing them to charge a dollar, for example, to receive unsolicited mail.
4:43:41 PM
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Easy demo solution gives you a chance to see how this low-cost videoconferencing or web conferencing system works.
4:08:32 PM
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If you’re supporting the Windows 98 operating system, chances are that you’ve encountered the mind-numbing problem in which Disk Defragmenter is unable to complete a defrag operation. In this situation, Disk Defragmenter works normally until it gets to about the 10 percent complete marker.
4:07:04 PM
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Microsoft on Tuesday introduced a desktop computer application that aims to seamlessly integrate e-mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, traditional phone service and Internet-based calling.
9:26:08 AM
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Tuesday, October 19, 2004 |
This article takes a look at your basic home office equipment needs. computers; printers; internet access; and telephone technology.
2:37:14 PM
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Business 2.0, trying out a new technology, has basically put the whole magazine online. You can read, it flip through it and if possible crash-test this little effort of ours. link to get the magazine
2:20:26 PM
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A discussion about third party credit card processors - they don't require an Internet merchant account and they are cheap and easy to use. When a business grows, purchasing a merchant account has to be considered, but until that time, third party credit card processors are, usually, the optimum solution because they are cheaper as long as the total monthly value of the sales is low (usually under $1000). Also provides a list with some of the most popular third party credit card processors.
2:08:09 PM
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A new free SANS newsletter has gotten rave reviews from unsophisticated end users - they really appreciate the plain non-technical writing and the cool examples. It's called OUCH! More than 500 security awareness professionals from around the US and the world helped them get it right. If you want to redistribute it to your users, that' allowed. The newsletter includes a pointer to a great phishing quiz for anyone who thinks he or she can spot a phishing email. To subscribe go to the newsletter page at the SANS portal and choose it.
12:22:32 PM
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SIW is a system information tool, that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings. It includes detailed specs for CPU, Network, TCP/IP, Memory, Hardware, Users, Network Shares, and more, as well as real-time monitors for CPU, Memory and network traffic. SIW also displays currently active network connections, installed codecs, connected MS SQL and Oracle database servers (if any) and more. A standalone tool that does not require installation.
10:40:58 AM
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Monday, October 18, 2004 |
If you subscribe to SBC's DSL service at a rate as low as $26.95 per month for their cheapest service, you are entitled to unlimited Wi-Fi hot spot service for $1.99 a month with a one-year commitment -- after receiving free service until April 2005.
1:13:59 PM
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Sunday, October 17, 2004 |
AT&T launches local service for its residential broadband telephone service
1:40:39 PM
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Saturday, October 16, 2004 |
Paul Allen:
The way we do startup companies (goal is one per quarter), we try to cut as many costs as possible. Most of our startups are virtual (no physical office) at first. When we get enough momentum, we get office space. Most of our work comes initially from contract employees. Later, we hire people full-time.
For accounting, we usually use Quickbooks. But there are some drawbacks for startups to the otherwise wonderful small business accounting package.
If you are a small virtual company, with contractors developing your product and web site, then you probably don't need to hire an accountant yet. That comes much later. So you could hire a bookkeeper, but you may be too small for that.
You can purchase Quickbooks for between $100 and $300. But it can only reside on one computer. Multiple people can't access it, unless you're on a local area network. And when you do hire a full-time accountant, unless you have a network by then, you'll no longer have much visibility into your books. You can go from being hands on to being out of the loop overnight.
Today I think I found a great solution. I decided to try out Quickbooks Online Edition for iCount.com, one of our very promising companies. Within 10 minutes I had configured the company, its major accounts, and entered in our transactions for the last few months. It was incredibly easy.
For only $19.95 per month up to 3 users can access the Online Edition. This means that we can divide up some of the bookkeeping responsibilities among our team members. Plus, we can hire an accountant to oversee our books. Any of us can access our financial reports and customer data from any computer with internet access.
I guess Quickbooks Online Edition has been around for more than 1 year; their official blog says they had over 22,000 subscribed companies a few months back. That seems remarkably low for such a great service.
I'm totally sold.
3:33:04 PM
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Friday, October 15, 2004 |
The Federal Communications Commission approved new rules Thursday aimed at making high-speed Internet available to more Americans. The Commission gave its blessing to a proposal that lets the major regional phone companies build fiber-optic networks to within 500 feet of a customer's home without requiring the companies to share their networks with competitors. Currently, the former Baby Bell companies don't have to lease their networks for fiber that is installed directly to the home. The new rule extends that regulation to within 500 feet of a residence. However, critics complained the move will hinder competition in broadband services and keep prices high.
Separately, the commission voted to set ground rules for the deployment of another type of high-speed Internet access — broadband over power lines, known as BPL. This technology is still in its infancy, with only a handful of companies offering broadband over electric power lines to fewer than 5,000 customers nationwide. The transmissions, however, can cause interference with ham radio operators who have complained loudly to the FCC. The agency said its rules would limit interference by BPL providers by using devices that would skip frequencies the amateur radio operators use.
7:26:02 PM
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If you want to serve Web content from your home or office without exposing your network to the Internet, consider port forwarding. Even if you aren’t running a Web server per se, port forwarding may be useful for setting up your own in-house FTP server or SSHing into your Linux box.
9:40:35 AM
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