Specializing in information technology outsourcing for small and medium businesses (1-50 Employees). "It's like having your own IT department"
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Welcome to this month's issue! The Technology Advisor provides technology advice, strategy, tips and trends to help you manage and grow your business! |
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Perimeter / Gateway Security for your Business
One of the strong recommendations we're making to our small business clients is to invest in gateway security to protect the perimeter of their network. Everyone these days knows how important anti-virus and anti-spyware protection are at the desktop, but far too often, small businesses only have a basic router protecting the entry to their network. With more sophisticated security threats cropping up daily, this level of protection just simply isn't enough.
While point solutions protect the individual computers locally, without gateway security, it's a bit like leaving the front door to your office unlocked. With gateway security, every bit of information entering and leaving your network is inspected against a constantly updated set of signatures for known viruses, spyware, trojans, worms, and other threats.
In July, the Wall Street Journal ran an eye-opening article "Hackers shift attacks to small firms". In the article, the author cites that in 2010, the U.S. Secret Service and Verizon Communications forensic analysis unit, which investigates attacks, responded to a combined 761 data breaches, up from 141 in 2009. Of those, 482, or 63%, were at companies with 100 employees or fewer. Visa estimates about 95% of the credit-card data breaches it discovers are on its smallest business customers. The big companies make the headlines, but smaller firms are definitely a target.
If your small business is still running on a consumer class router, it's time to start planning an extra layer of protection for the perimeter of your network.
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Tech Headlines
Google's Mind-Boggling Use of Energy. Google says its ongoing electricity usage could power 200,000 homes. Read more in iTWorld.
Watson, IBM's Jeopardy Robot, Will Diagnose What's Wrong With You In 2012 - IBM's Watson can process 200 million pages of data in three seconds. Now it will use that computing power in an effort to advise doctors. Read more on Business Insider.
Tablet shipments jump 304 percent in second quarter
- How hot are iPads? According to IDC, 13.6 million tablets were shipped world-wide in the second quarter.
Androids 20 Most Useful SmartPhone Apps for 2011 - Sort through the list - smart phones are getting smarter every day! Read more on ZDNet
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Lunch & Learn Webinar - September 29:
Microsoft Office Tips & Tricks
Over the years, working with hundreds of local businesses, we've picked up a number of favorite tips and tricks to get more from Microsoft Office. These tips will help you save time and get more done in Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
Do you have any specific questions or topics you'd like to see us cover? Let us know!
Where: At your desk!
When: Thursday September 29 at 12:15pm - 1:00pm
Sign up Today!
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Back to School!
Back to Business! |
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Introductory Technology Assessment Over 450 local small businesses have chosen Ekaru to manage their computers and networks. We offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation to get started. We'll visit your office, review your network, and make recommendations. Call us at 978-692-4200 or email us to schedule a no-obligation assessment. If you know someone who could benefit from this offer, simply forward this email to them. Thank You!
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
©2011 Ekaru, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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