Local Computing Trends -- Eric Magill of FlexITechs -- Feb. 7, 2013

FlexITechs Newsletter

Tech News from FlexITechs

February 7, 2013

In This Issue

9 Years for FlexITechs!

Local Trends

Email Not Sending?

BizTech -- Weakest Link

FlexITechs
Now in Its
Ninth Year

FlexITechs is now in its ninth year of serving Sussex County residents and businesses.

After two years as the computer services arm of our sister company, Sussex County Online, FlexITechs was formed to better define the computer services offered by owner Eric Magill.

We thank all of our customers who have made it possible for us to reach our 9th year!

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Eric Magill, FlexITechs

Local Computing Trends ...

Every year national publications publish their technology trends for the upcoming year, so we thought we'd take a look at what we're seeing locally in Sussex County, Delaware.

Many of the national trends are reflected locally, from new types of devices to security issues.

Mobile Devices

We're seeing more requests for help with mobile devices, particularly tablets. The iPad, Nook and Kindle seem to be the mobile devices of choice for local residents as opposed to the smaller screens of cell phones.

We're also receiving more requests for assistance with Apple computers, particularly MacBooks, despite their hefty price tags.

All of these devices usually represent a shift away from Windows-based computers and present their own challenges hooking up to wireless networks and peripherals like printers.

While we haven't seen any hacker activity on these devices locally, security researchers have identified malware for them and are expecting an increase in mobile device infections this year.

Hackers Going 'Small'

On the negative side, we're seeing more signs that hackers are perfectly happy to go "small" -- that is, instead of focusing on security-heavy institutions like banks, they're turning their attention to less secure small businesses and residential users.

Besides the usual malware infestations, we've seen a rise in phone scams designed to convince a computer user to allow a fake "Microsoft" or "Dell" tech support person remote access to a pc, hacked email accounts spewing spam and malware to the hacked account's contact list, and more dangerously, hacked email accounts that hackers sift through to find sensitive information that users have left in their Inboxes.

Tip: NEVER send or store sensitive information like bank account numbers, Social Security Numbers, or passwords with your email account. We see this all too often.

I'm expecting these trends to pick up steam as the year progresses, so while you're having fun with your new devices, including your computers, be careful.

Email Not Sending ... Try This?

A quick tip for a problem we see on a regular basis -- an inability to send email from a Windows email application like Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Live Mail.

When this happens, the first and easiest thing to check is whether any emails are stuck in the Outbox. When this happens, all other emails you try to send get stuck behind the bad email and can't be sent.

If there are any in the Outbox, open them and double-check the email addresses to make sure they are correct.

Look at the addresses closely, because it's not uncommon for the email addresses to look right only to find that a comma has been used instead of a dot, as in address@yahoo,com, or some other error that isn't obvious.

If you find a bad email address, copy the body of the email, then delete the email from the Outbox. You should now be able to send email again and you can paste the body of the email you copied into the body of the new email.

If you still can't send email, it will then be time to look at other issues, such as your Internet connection.

BizTech -- Your Weakest Security Link

You've installed anti-virus on all of your computers, anti-spam software on your mail server, keep your servers and workstations completely patched, and run a firewall between your network and the outside world.

You're confident you're safe, right?

You shouldn't be. The weakest link in your company's network is not a machine. It's the people using those machines.

Education Your Best Defense

After you've spent all that money on security software and hardware, you need to focus on employee education.

The best anti-virus, anti-hacker, anti-threat defenses will be helpless against an employee not versed in the tricks that hackers deploy to fool them into divulging information that can be exploited.

For instance, do your employees know not to open an email with an unsolicited file attachment, even one that appears to be from someone they know, without verifying the sender first?

Do they know not to click on a link in an email without verifying the email came from a known sender?

Do they know that hackers can hack into the email account of a friend or colleague and send a malicious email that appears to be from the friend or colleague?

If you think your employees could be tricked in any of those or similar scenarios, you need to educate them about the typical methods hackers use to get around your expensive network defenses.

Hackers do this because they know that the weakest link in your network isn't a machine, but your employees.

Acceptable Use Policy Can Help

FlexITechs can help educate your employees about the latest tricks of the hacker trade with an Acceptable Use Policy that defines what employees can and cannot do on the network and at the same time educates them about how to stay safe, and keep your company safe, while using your network.

We will develop a policy tailored to the needs of your company, present it to your employees, and answer any questions they have before they are asked to read and sign the policy.

To discuss how an Acceptable Use Policy can keep your employees and your company safe, contact FlexITechs owner Eric Magill at 302-537-4198.

We thank you for your past business and hope we can continue to fulfill your technology needs in the future. If you have any questions about current technology issues, feel free to contact us at 537-4198.

Sincerely,

Eric Magill
FlexITechs

http://www.flexitechs.com

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