FlexITechs
FlexITechs Newsletter
Tech News from FlexITechs
February 27, 2014
In This Issue
OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY!
Wearables and Flyables
Time's up for XP, Office 2003
BizTech -- Vendor Access Perils
Find us on Facebook 
CELEBRATING OUR
10TH ANNIVERARY!
  
Eric Magill

FlexITechs is now in its 10th 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 reach our 10th anniversary!

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Dear (Contact First Name),   

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Sincerely,
Eric Magill, FlexITechs

Wearables and Flyables 

 
You've probably read or heard about "wearable computers" or "wearable devices" in the past year, but if you're like me, you're having a hard time wrapping your brain around the benefits of wearing a $1,500 SmartPhone, aka Google Glass, on your face.

 

My skepticism aside, Wearable Computing was all the rage at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In fact, reports indicate that virtually no traditional computing devices, like desktops and laptops, were on display. Instead, the show was dominated by wearable devices that purport to do a lot more than their traditional counterparts.

 

While I can't say I was personally moved by any of the devices trumpeted at CES, one of my clients blew me away recently with his use of a personal Drone, aka multi-rotors or quadcoptors.

 

Drones have been in the news more for their warfare capabilities and the ethical dilemmas posed by the technology, but the client, TJ Redefer of Rehoboth Bay Realty, equips his personal Drone with a camcorder to capture overhead views of available properties. 

 

He pilots the Drone with a remote control from land. Besides properties, he's also used it to record overhead videos of local sites like historic Lewes and Indian River Inlet and events like the Sea Witch Festival. You can see his work here and also on Facebook.

The shipping company, DHL, has begun using its own fleet of Drones to deliver medicine and urgent parcels. Amazon has begun testing its Prime Air Drone delivery service of small items that would be delivered within the Drone's distance limitations in 30 minutes, while Dominos Pizza has tested the delivery of pizzas using what it calls the "DomiCopter".
 
I don't know how practical all of these ideas will be, and there are numerous ethical and regulatory issues to be worked out, but it certainly makes me wonder how far off we are from the Jetsons' flying cars that the cartoon's creators projected for the year 2062. 
End Near for XP, Office 2003  
 
We are now just six weeks from the end of support for Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003.

If you're still using the XP operating system or the Office 2003 suite (Word, Excel, etc.), it's time to upgrade, as Microsoft will end security patches and bug support for their legacy programs on April 8, 2014.

That means that not only will Microsoft no longer offer support for XP and Office 2003, the end of new security patches will leave you vulnerable to new exploits hackers have concocted for April 8 and beyond. 

 

The planning and implementation of the upgrade could take a few weeks, depending on how many computers you have with XP and Office 2003, so this is really crunch time for these upgrades.

 

It's possible you can upgrade your computer from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8 depending on how powerful your computer is. If it doesn't have a dual core processor (such as an Intel i3 or i5 or i7 processor) of at least 3 ghz and at least 4 GB of Ram (memory), you should look at new computers.

 

If it does meet those specifications, you might be able to just upgrade the computer rather than buy a new one.

 

As for Office 2003, if you buy from most retail establishments, you will be upgrading to Office 2013, which will be a dramatic change for you and your employees, if you have employees.
  
Try to find Office 2010. It will be supported by Microsoft for far longer than your computer will last and while it does have the "Ribbons" present in Office since 2007, it will seem more familiar than 2013.  

If your computer is more than a few years old and you're not sure if you're using Windows XP or Office 2003, give us a call at 302-537-4198 or respond to this e-letter to help you figure out which versions of Windows and Office you're using.

BizTech -- Perils of Third-Party Access 

 
As small businesses become more connected to each other, a report from the blog KrebsonSecurity should give pause to anyone handing out network access credentials to third parties like vendors and suppliers.

 

According to KrebsonSecurity, investigators say the breaches at Target that compromised the credit card and personal data of more than 100 million Target customers has been traced to a third-party firm that had been given access to the retail giant's network.

 

The Krebs blog reported that  the investigators found that Target issued network credentials to a vendor, Fazio Mechanical, an HVAC firm in Sharpsburg, Pa. Those credentials gave Fazio the ability to enter and complete work orders, among other things.

 

Some two months before the attacks on thousands of Target's cash registers began, hackers stole the network credentials Target had given to Fazio, in an email-based malware attack on Fazio's internal network.

 

While Fazio admitted it had been the victim of a sophisticated cyber attack, like most small businesses, it believed it was properly secured from hackers, claiming its "IT system and security measures are in full compliance with industry practices".

 

Investigators, however, found that Fazio's primary means of protection was the free version of MalwareBytes, which as KrebsonSecurity notes, is great at scanning and removing infections but does not block anything. You have to buy the paid version of MalwareBytes ($24.95 for a lifetime license) if you expect it to block malware.

Bottom lines to learn from this lesson:

 

1. The people you do business with, and in particular the people you give network access to, really do matter

 

2. Companies that operate their networks in an insecure manner not only put themselves at risk but also everyone attached to them, directly or indirectly (remember, the attack on Fazio was a random email attack that captured information used in the attack on Target and the disclosure of the credit card data of 100 million unsuspecting Target customers)

 

3. You ARE NOT TOO SMALL to be attacked.

 

Frankly, I don't think it it's too much to ask vendors who need access to your network to complete a form outlining the security measures they use on their own network.

For help with such a form, give me a call at 302-537-4198 or email me at [email protected]. If you know a small business owner who could use help in creating such a form, feel free to pass my name on to them.
 
We thank you for your past business the past 10 years 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
Microsoft Small Business Specialist 
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