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1Vol 12-7   July  2012
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Ekaru
Specializing in information technology outsourcing for small and medium businesses (1-50 Employees). "It's like having your own IT department"
  • Network Design
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  • Computers & Software Network
  • Security Email & Web Hosting
  • Back-ups
  • Virus Protection & Recovery
  • Web Sites
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www.ekaru.com

978-692-4200
866-go-ekaru


Welcome to this month's issue! The Technology Advisor provides technology advice, strategy, tips and trends to help you manage and grow your business!


"Patch Tuesday" - July 10

"Patch Tuesday" is the day each month that Microsoft releases their newest security updates, typically the second Tuesday of the month.  This month includes nine updates, including three marked "critical", and six rated as "important".  For a full breakdown, check out the Microsoft Security Bulletin posted on line. 

 

The critical patches impact Microsoft Windows, Office, and server software, so this affects just about everyone. 

 

A "critical" patch is defined by Microsoft as "a vulnerability whose exploitation could allow the propagation of an Internet worm without user action".  As a general rule, all critical patches should be installed as soon as possible. Note that many of the patches require a reboot for installation.  Also, if you have a managed service support plan with us, all patches are tested before installation.

Watch out for eMail Phishing Scams! 
 
Last week I received several emails with the subject "You have outstanding UPS invoices".  This week there is a new wave of "You have received a new payment", supposedly from Intuit. 

Watch out for messages like these!  They're fakes, also known as phishing messages.  The goal of the email is to catch you off guard (many look very real unless you look closely), and get you to enter financial information.

A few years back, messages like this were full of typos and low quality graphics so they were easier to spot, but the "bad guys" have gotten more clever recently. 

To undertand how the social engineering works, here's an example of what occured at one of our client sites:   A manager received a message like this, thought it was real, and forwarded the email to his employee and asked her to take care of it because he was busy.  The employee then followed through with the instructions, never thinking twice because the request had come from her boss. 

Watch out!  You can hover over the links to see what they really are (the sender can write anything they want in the link that you see!).  Also check the message header to see where its really from.  In Outlook 2010, select the "file" tab and then select the "properties" button to view the full email header (which contains much more information than the simple "To", "From", and "Subject" you see on the actual email you receive.

Stay alert!  We have seen several of these messages in our inboxes (takes a while for spam filters to catch up), and many clients have called to report problems.  Slow down and check the email carefully before taking action.
Tech Headlines
The End of Tweets on LinkedIn is not the Apocalypse - Tweets can no longer be posed automatically on LinkedIn.   Read More on Forbes

 

Doomsday 2012 - Did your PC work on July 9? -  The FBI kills the DNSChanger network, but how many computers were affected?   Read more on CNet.
  
Microsoft IE Patch? - Microsoft drops surpise IE Patch to address Zero-Day attack.   Read More on ZDNet

 
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Does your business have a Facebook page or Twitter account? - Let us know so we can follow you too!

 

New! YouTube Training Videos - We also just started a YouTube Channel for training videos - please check it out at www.youtube.com/user/EkaruIT  If you need to do an "out of office" reply for an upcoming vacation, check out the video!


 Happy Summer!

   Enjoy Summer!

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!

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msbs
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
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