Memo From IT Department
Q3, 2011 

Network Source One is sending this quarterly newsletter brief, 'Memo from IT Department', to our contacts.  It contains short tidbits of current information from the world of I.T. that we hope you find useful.  If you do not want to receive this information from us, please use the safe unsubscribe link below to have your e-mail address removed from our newsletter list.  Thank you for your consideration.

In This Issue
Small Organizations Targeted In Cyber Attacks
Office 2010 Made Easy!
Do You Allow External Users to Connect to Your Network?
2012 IT Planning
 

Hackers Shift Attacks to Small Firms

 

Image of MeetingDon't say we didn't warn you. 

 

63% of businesses that were hacked in the past year had less than 100 employees.  That is up from 27% in 2009.  Cyber criminals have found that smaller companies can be easy targets and have information that is valuable to them.  These types of security threats are expanding everyday.  It's not just employee information or credit card numbers that criminals look for.  In one instance cyber theives obtained a firms online banking details then added fake employees to the company's payroll and transferred money to them.

 

 

The problem is getting more attention.  Recently the Wall Street Journal covered the news in a front page article. Read the story here.

 

 

As threats to your network and information become increasingly more complex and malicious, it has become critically important to have a comprehensive and layered protection strategy.  We recommend the following: 

1. A properly configured Firewall

2. Updated Anti-Virus Software

3. A strong E-Mail Security/Anti-Spam solution

4. A highly effective Web/Internet Filtering solution 
5. Critical updates applied to your software as they become available.  
 
Network Source One offers Remote Update Management and Monitoring of your network for a small monthly fee.  We can help ensure your software and security systems are up to date.  We also can detect problems that develop or pro-actively identify issues that may cause trouble. 

 

Please contact [email protected] to find out more about Security Products or our Remote Monitoring service.

 

 

Office 2010 Tips & Templates

 

Off To SchoolIf you haven't already migrated to Microsoft's Office 2010 Suite of products, you probably will be doing so soon.  It offers great new features and capabilities.  Most people are still getting use to the new 'ribbon' style and haven't tried - or weren't aware of these enhancements. 

 

Take a moment and click here to see some of the great new things you can do.

 

For those of you that are familiar with Office 2003, follow this link for a tool that will show you how commands from Office 2003 are performed in Office 2010.

 

Finally, Microsoft offers great templates that you can use to start new documents or format presentations.  Click here to see them.

 

If you have any questions about features or licensing of Office 2010, please contact Cooper at [email protected].

 

Good Luck and Have Fun! 

 

Microsoft Windows External Connector Licensing

 

Paper Chain of PeopleMany businesses allow external users (non-employees) to have access to its network for various reasons.  What many don't realize is that they need licensing to account for those external users. 

 There are two options for properly licensing access by external users to Microsoft based network servers.  First, if there are only a few, licensing could be handled through the appropriate CALs (Client Access License).  For organizations with a large numbers of external users a firm can choose the Windows External Connector license.  A Windows External Connector license must be purchased for each Windows Server that will be accessed by external users.  It allows an unlimited number of external users to access the licensed server.
Licensing for a Web Server has its own set of rules.  If the Server Operating System is Windows Web Server, then access licenses are generally not necessary.  However, if using a Windows Server Standard license, licensing for external users may be required.  The deciding factor is if the users are accessing the Web site anonomously or not.  If it is anonomous access, no additional licensing is required.  If the user is uniquely identified, then access licensing would be required.

If you would like to review your current Microsoft licensing or have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]

 

2012 IT Planning

  

Budgeting with Piggy BanksIt's that time of year.  As part of being a valued partner, Network Source One can help you plan and budget your IT expenses.  

 

For our customers who renew all maintenance and subscription contracts through us we provide a forecast of annual renewal costs.  For customers that have a platinum support contract for our services we offer a more comprehensive plan and budget for their IT needs.  We will be distributing and discussing these forecasts over the next few months.

 

Let us know if you would like to discuss monthly service contracts or IT planning forecasts. 

 

Enjoy the Fall Season!

If you have any suggestions for news or information that we can present in an upcoming newsletter 'memo', please let us know! 

 

Thank you.

 
 Your IT Team
Network Source One, Inc.
 (248) 536-1001