So what is Cryptolocker and Ransomware? You've likely heard about it
on the news and Internet. Ransomware is a classification of malicious
software that encrypts data on your computer and potentially your entire
business network, then demands you pay a ransom in order to decrypt
your data.
The fee is anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands depending on which variant of the infection you have.
To
make things worse, most antivirus and anti-malware software is unable
to stop it. This virus is incredibly well designed and actually masks
itself as a different type of file. It will usually enter your network
via a finely crafted email that may look like it came as a scan from
your photocopier or a FedEx delivery message etc.
Once you open
the file, the infection will run like wild fire through your computer
encrypting nearly any file you have access to. It will also connect to
any network drive, across your network and into your server files or any
other shared files and folders on other computers on your network.
If
you don't catch it fast, or if this happens on a Friday afternoon and
it runs all weekend when your office is closed, consider your data gone.
There is no way to get your data back without doing one of two things:
Pay the ridiculous fee and hope these guys actually give you the decryption key.
Restore your data from backup.
Those are the options. This is
why it is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT to make sure you always have up to date
and working backups. If you're a business owner and have an IT company
managing your technology, make sure it is top priority to have your
backups tested on a regular basis!
I cannot stress that enough.
TEST YOUR BACKUPS REGULARLY to make sure they are working when you need
them. There's nothing worse than having a server crash or a virus
infection like Cryptolocker wipe out your entire server and then finding
out your backups haven't been working for the past weeks, months or
even years!
This can end your business permanently!
An
ideal backup solution will include local backup to some sort of file
storage device like a NAS (network attached storage) device or even a
large USB drive connected to your server. Make sure you're doing full
image backups meaning everything is included. Files, settings, programs,
the entire operating system should be included.
mercredi 2 mars 2016
lundi 22 février 2016
Trust Salesforce Experts To Give Boost To Your Sales And Revenue Maximization
Every business whether big or small needs customers to grow and
expand. Good products or excellence service are not a guarantee of
winning you customers. And your marketing campaigns too have some sort
of limitation. So, what makes you get customers? A bit of everything,
means, your products and services need to be good and you can't avoid
investing in marketing efforts. That way, you win the customers, but
what about retaining them?
Unless your customer relationships are robust, you can't expect sales and revenue maximization targets to be met. Which is why, your business needs a quality-driven, cloud-based and feature-rich customer relationship management software or system (CRM). With such a system in place, it becomes easier to manage the entire sales process. And once processes are streamlined in the sales, you won't face any troubles in realizing business objectives.
In a sense, you will need the experience and skills of salesforce experts to leverage a world-renowned CRM system to the core. These experts help a lot when the target is to give a boost to your sales numbers. In a sense, there are many ways in which your CRM system impacts the sales, including:
In a sense, a CRM system plays a massive role in boosting the sales and driving revenue maximization. If your organization is yet to benefit from a customer relationship management system, then it should find salesforce consultants. Such professionals ensure that your processes become organized so that customers can find the requisite care and trust. And once that happens, sales numbers are bound to rise so does the revenue growth.
Unless your customer relationships are robust, you can't expect sales and revenue maximization targets to be met. Which is why, your business needs a quality-driven, cloud-based and feature-rich customer relationship management software or system (CRM). With such a system in place, it becomes easier to manage the entire sales process. And once processes are streamlined in the sales, you won't face any troubles in realizing business objectives.
In a sense, you will need the experience and skills of salesforce experts to leverage a world-renowned CRM system to the core. These experts help a lot when the target is to give a boost to your sales numbers. In a sense, there are many ways in which your CRM system impacts the sales, including:
- Having an organized system in place and sharing information across team benefits a lot as this way, no personnel gaps exist between leads generation and leads conversion.
- Every step of the sales process needs to be followed with due care and if not, people at the top will get to know it immediately courtesy the CRM system.
- The software helps the manager or management being aware about each and every deals, whether closed ones or those still in pipeline, to understand the scenario better.
- With a streamlined sales process, it becomes easy to know where to put resources and on what basis.
- Performance benchmarking can be done to let sales members become aware of their standing or their 'targets' still to meet.
- Sharing of sales info between sales members becomes a breeze, and distances never remain a hindrance in being on the same page.
- Reporting structure is simplified and a lot of time is saved in disseminating information across team.
- As sales is all about a joint effort, a good CRM often allows collaboration and let members keeping in view the same set of data available to them all.
- Making and managing contacts to grow the base and then seek prospects out of them in coming days.
- Taking care of those reminders and notifications that sales are known for.
- And lastly, meeting customers' expectation at every step of their association with the company.
In a sense, a CRM system plays a massive role in boosting the sales and driving revenue maximization. If your organization is yet to benefit from a customer relationship management system, then it should find salesforce consultants. Such professionals ensure that your processes become organized so that customers can find the requisite care and trust. And once that happens, sales numbers are bound to rise so does the revenue growth.
samedi 20 février 2016
Antivirus Software For Small Business
An antivirus solution for small business needs to be easy to use,
yet very powerful. Not all small businesses have their own IT
department or can afford to hire IT consultants.
In my 15+ years of dealing with small business I've seen a LOT of different antivirus software come and go. I've seen many businesses try to get away with free options that may be okay for home use, but are not licensed for business and usually have slower virus definition update intervals or some other limitations.
What you really want is a solution that is centrally managed. Most of the big players offer a management console so you can login to one computer / server and see the status of all the protected systems from one place.
Having a centrally managed console makes it much faster to deploy, scan, update, troubleshoot and "Manage" all the systems on your network. This makes things much easier for business owners to deal with the task of managing their antivirus, and lets face it as a small business owner myself, time is not a luxury many of us have.
Another feature of a centrally managed solution is alerting. When there are any problems or if a virus is found on your network on any of the computers that are managed by the console, you'll get an alert via email. This is fantastic because once you've got the software installed you can then get automatically notified of any problems without having to login to the console every so often to check.
Here's something you may not have thought of. Antivirus for your iPhone, iPad and Android devices. With the growing adoption of mobile devices, virus makers are starting to target mobile devices as well. This should be a consideration when choosing your antivirus solution.
Okay here's the solution I recommend:
Vipre Antivirus by ThreatTrack Security
Here are some of the reasons this particular software wins my vote for Top Antivirus Software For Small Business
Vipre Antivirus by ThreatTrack Security is an effective solution to block threats to your small business.
In my 15+ years of dealing with small business I've seen a LOT of different antivirus software come and go. I've seen many businesses try to get away with free options that may be okay for home use, but are not licensed for business and usually have slower virus definition update intervals or some other limitations.
What you really want is a solution that is centrally managed. Most of the big players offer a management console so you can login to one computer / server and see the status of all the protected systems from one place.
Having a centrally managed console makes it much faster to deploy, scan, update, troubleshoot and "Manage" all the systems on your network. This makes things much easier for business owners to deal with the task of managing their antivirus, and lets face it as a small business owner myself, time is not a luxury many of us have.
Another feature of a centrally managed solution is alerting. When there are any problems or if a virus is found on your network on any of the computers that are managed by the console, you'll get an alert via email. This is fantastic because once you've got the software installed you can then get automatically notified of any problems without having to login to the console every so often to check.
Here's something you may not have thought of. Antivirus for your iPhone, iPad and Android devices. With the growing adoption of mobile devices, virus makers are starting to target mobile devices as well. This should be a consideration when choosing your antivirus solution.
Okay here's the solution I recommend:
Vipre Antivirus by ThreatTrack Security
Here are some of the reasons this particular software wins my vote for Top Antivirus Software For Small Business
- Easy to install
- Tiny footprint, doesn't use much resources on computers
- No annoying popups like some of the others
- Works on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android
- Works from cloud servers
- Supports Hyper V Virtual servers
- Includes management console
- Good price
- Has free 30 day trial
- Most importantly, it is effective at blocking threats
- Integrates with Outlook to scan your emails
- Much more:
Vipre Antivirus by ThreatTrack Security is an effective solution to block threats to your small business.
Dylan Hodge
lundi 15 février 2016
How to Avoid Telephone Tricksters Calling About Viruses on Your PC
The phone rings, you answer, and someone says they are from Microsoft
or your Internet provider and have detected a virus on your PC. What
next?
Well, it depends on how much time you have on your hands and your sense of humour, but before we get to that let's just explain what is going on here.
I've been plagued with these calls, often once or twice a week. Someone, usually with a heavy Indian accent, calls and reports that they are calling from 'Microsoft Security Centre', stating that they have 'detected viruses on my machine over the internet'.
Myth buster number one: This is not possible! Firstly, Microsoft never phones people to tell them that their PC is infected (assuming it actually is). Secondly, how would a company get your phone number based on your PC?
I had one such call recently and had a bit of time so I thought I'd a) waste their time so that they weren't conning some unsuspecting old lady, and b) find out exactly what they were doing in order to 'prove' to people that there were problems with their PCs. I had what is known as a 'virtual machine' installed - this is like Windows running as an app in Windows. It is totally ring-fenced, and to the outside world they could not tell any difference. By letting them run in a sand-boxed system I knew that my main system was completely safe.
Step 1 - they gain access to your PC
After you've admitted that you have a PC they'll start saying things like 'have you noticed it going slow recently'. Let's face it, all Windows PCs get slower over time, especially without a little bit of house-keeping, and they are never as fast as we want them to be. They will then ask you to go to a website and run an app. This part is actually legitimate as they are using a third party product that allows for remote support. You run an app, it displays a set of numbers which you then read out to the person on the phone, and they enter it into the software at their end - they can then see your desktop and control your keyboard/mouse as if they were in front of the PC. Note that at this stage your PC is not infected with anything - you've simply allowed remote control so that they can prove that your PC is compromised.
Step 2 - the convincer
Now they have to prove to you that there is a problem. The person that connected to me did two things:
a. They ran the Windows Event Viewer. This is an app installed on all versions of Windows that logs any errors that happen on the system. Note that an error to Windows is not always what we would consider an error. For example, when Windows boots up it'll check to see what printers are available. If you have a printer driver installed, but the printer is switched off that will log an error. So our friendly 'Microsoft Technician' told me to go into the Event Viewer and proceeded to show me all of the errors on my PC. He told me on no account to click on any of the line items as he said that this would damage things further. In reality he was concerned that I would read the error log and see that it was telling me that my printer was not switched on...
b. Next he opened a Dos window by running 'CMD' from the Start/Run option. He typed TREE /S, which is a simple command that shows every single file and folder on the PC. As you can imagine on even a fresh install of Windows there are tens of thousands of files, so this takes a few seconds as they go whizzing up the screen. And while that is going on he's typing something in the background which is only displayed once the computer has finished listing all of the files and folders. So at the end of this I could see 'System Error: Antivirus software disabled'. Of course, this was not actually the case!
Well, it depends on how much time you have on your hands and your sense of humour, but before we get to that let's just explain what is going on here.
I've been plagued with these calls, often once or twice a week. Someone, usually with a heavy Indian accent, calls and reports that they are calling from 'Microsoft Security Centre', stating that they have 'detected viruses on my machine over the internet'.
Myth buster number one: This is not possible! Firstly, Microsoft never phones people to tell them that their PC is infected (assuming it actually is). Secondly, how would a company get your phone number based on your PC?
I had one such call recently and had a bit of time so I thought I'd a) waste their time so that they weren't conning some unsuspecting old lady, and b) find out exactly what they were doing in order to 'prove' to people that there were problems with their PCs. I had what is known as a 'virtual machine' installed - this is like Windows running as an app in Windows. It is totally ring-fenced, and to the outside world they could not tell any difference. By letting them run in a sand-boxed system I knew that my main system was completely safe.
Step 1 - they gain access to your PC
After you've admitted that you have a PC they'll start saying things like 'have you noticed it going slow recently'. Let's face it, all Windows PCs get slower over time, especially without a little bit of house-keeping, and they are never as fast as we want them to be. They will then ask you to go to a website and run an app. This part is actually legitimate as they are using a third party product that allows for remote support. You run an app, it displays a set of numbers which you then read out to the person on the phone, and they enter it into the software at their end - they can then see your desktop and control your keyboard/mouse as if they were in front of the PC. Note that at this stage your PC is not infected with anything - you've simply allowed remote control so that they can prove that your PC is compromised.
Step 2 - the convincer
Now they have to prove to you that there is a problem. The person that connected to me did two things:
a. They ran the Windows Event Viewer. This is an app installed on all versions of Windows that logs any errors that happen on the system. Note that an error to Windows is not always what we would consider an error. For example, when Windows boots up it'll check to see what printers are available. If you have a printer driver installed, but the printer is switched off that will log an error. So our friendly 'Microsoft Technician' told me to go into the Event Viewer and proceeded to show me all of the errors on my PC. He told me on no account to click on any of the line items as he said that this would damage things further. In reality he was concerned that I would read the error log and see that it was telling me that my printer was not switched on...
b. Next he opened a Dos window by running 'CMD' from the Start/Run option. He typed TREE /S, which is a simple command that shows every single file and folder on the PC. As you can imagine on even a fresh install of Windows there are tens of thousands of files, so this takes a few seconds as they go whizzing up the screen. And while that is going on he's typing something in the background which is only displayed once the computer has finished listing all of the files and folders. So at the end of this I could see 'System Error: Antivirus software disabled'. Of course, this was not actually the case!
dimanche 7 février 2016
What Makes Online Time-Tracking Software Extraordinary?
Every business - regardless of its industrial backdrop - needs to command respect among not only its customers but also its competitors. And the best way by which a business can enjoy a good reputation is by doing its work on time; that's because in the commercial world, every moment counts.
However, it's pretty common (and even sad) to witness two of the most precious business resources-time and money-to fall through the cracks. For averting such a sorry business scenario, a company's leadership will have to invest in online time-tracking software. Now, let's know the features that make this system a real boon. But before we discover that part, let's read some of its benefits.
What does such an app do?
A business that lacks such software can spend hours only tracking what its employees are doing. So, in a way, those hours (which frittered away while seeing what an employee was up to) could've been invested in doing critical jobs at hand.
Such businesses will have to invest sizable efforts and hours in making and maintaining paper timesheets; that, in itself, is cumbersome and confusing. On the other hand, if the business does have the technological capability to track time, its every workaday moment is fully justified. Precisely, a company that's equipped with a system that notes time will be able to:
Track the team's availability for a new project
Determine the total time required to complete a job
Know who all in your team are underutilized
Analyze the scalability of the existing sales processes
Bill the clients accurately and timely
The last one is one of the most cherished benefits that such software has to offer. So you've just gone through the numerous benefits that this technological capability will lend to your business. Now, let's read as to what makes an online app extraordinary.
The many features of a stellar online time-tracking system
Managing your team members' timesheets is riddled with hassles, which is very ironical. So you'll have to choose the system that can do it all for you effortlessly, quickly, and simply. For that reason, we're sharing with you the finest features that every online timesheet should have.
The system should get integrated with other processes (of the company) seamlessly and quickly.
Time entry should be so quick and easy that your employees should never evade filling the sheet.
The timesheet should be able to furnish the most critical data so that you can bill your clients accurately and can budget wisely.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9293991
However, it's pretty common (and even sad) to witness two of the most precious business resources-time and money-to fall through the cracks. For averting such a sorry business scenario, a company's leadership will have to invest in online time-tracking software. Now, let's know the features that make this system a real boon. But before we discover that part, let's read some of its benefits.
What does such an app do?
A business that lacks such software can spend hours only tracking what its employees are doing. So, in a way, those hours (which frittered away while seeing what an employee was up to) could've been invested in doing critical jobs at hand.
Such businesses will have to invest sizable efforts and hours in making and maintaining paper timesheets; that, in itself, is cumbersome and confusing. On the other hand, if the business does have the technological capability to track time, its every workaday moment is fully justified. Precisely, a company that's equipped with a system that notes time will be able to:
Track the team's availability for a new project
Determine the total time required to complete a job
Know who all in your team are underutilized
Analyze the scalability of the existing sales processes
Bill the clients accurately and timely
The last one is one of the most cherished benefits that such software has to offer. So you've just gone through the numerous benefits that this technological capability will lend to your business. Now, let's read as to what makes an online app extraordinary.
The many features of a stellar online time-tracking system
Managing your team members' timesheets is riddled with hassles, which is very ironical. So you'll have to choose the system that can do it all for you effortlessly, quickly, and simply. For that reason, we're sharing with you the finest features that every online timesheet should have.
The system should get integrated with other processes (of the company) seamlessly and quickly.
Time entry should be so quick and easy that your employees should never evade filling the sheet.
The timesheet should be able to furnish the most critical data so that you can bill your clients accurately and can budget wisely.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9293991
lundi 1 février 2016
6 Tips to Defend Your PC Against Viruses and Worms
Whether you are a system administrator of a large company or a
casual user, viruses and worms can easily effect the computer system if
the right precautionary measures aren't taken. The type of damage caused
to the computer can vary from minor to severe with common issues
related to slow performance, email spoofing, or total destruction of the
PC. The most severe issues could lead to the hard disk being erased.
Here are six basic rules to help safeguard the PC:
Strong security software
Install a top-rated security software package on the PC and make sure it is kept up-to-date. Any proven software package will increase the ability to fight-off attacks from spyware, hackers, and trojans, and includes many different technologies, such as anti-phishing, anti-spam, firewall, anti-spyware, and anti-virus. Plus, use the most advanced software that constantly runs in the background and will continue to scan files, email attachments, websites, or other programs while in use.
Internet service provider
Sign up to a reliable internet service provider (ISP) that uses strong anti-phishing and anti-spam technologies to prevent many of the viruses even reaching your PC.
Automatic Windows updates
Let the Windows OS update automatically to ensure the latest software is always installed on the PC. Windows often release patches which help to fix known vulnerabilities. If these aren't downloaded as soon as released, there is a greater risk of spyware or Trojans infecting the computer.
Email attachments
Avoid opening email attachments unless they are sent by someone you know and trust. Most security software programs can be set up to automatically perform a scan of attachments when received. Also, the preferred email program shouldn't be setup to automatically render graphics or open attachments.
Peer-to-peer file sharing
Use extra caution when using Peer-to-peer (P2P) technology for sharing digital media because it is easy to conceal trojans in this type of program. Similar to email only open these files when they come from a trusted source. Certain file extensions should be avoided including those that end with bat, bin, cmd, dll, lnk, scr, and vbs.
Back up regularly
Backing up the important files on the PC is certain to be beneficial in the unfortunate event of being attacked by a virus or worm. Should the PC become unresponsive or files are lost after an attack, the backup will make it easy to recover lost personal information (bank statements or tax returns), movies, music, photos, etc.
Strong security software
Install a top-rated security software package on the PC and make sure it is kept up-to-date. Any proven software package will increase the ability to fight-off attacks from spyware, hackers, and trojans, and includes many different technologies, such as anti-phishing, anti-spam, firewall, anti-spyware, and anti-virus. Plus, use the most advanced software that constantly runs in the background and will continue to scan files, email attachments, websites, or other programs while in use.
Internet service provider
Sign up to a reliable internet service provider (ISP) that uses strong anti-phishing and anti-spam technologies to prevent many of the viruses even reaching your PC.
Automatic Windows updates
Let the Windows OS update automatically to ensure the latest software is always installed on the PC. Windows often release patches which help to fix known vulnerabilities. If these aren't downloaded as soon as released, there is a greater risk of spyware or Trojans infecting the computer.
Email attachments
Avoid opening email attachments unless they are sent by someone you know and trust. Most security software programs can be set up to automatically perform a scan of attachments when received. Also, the preferred email program shouldn't be setup to automatically render graphics or open attachments.
Peer-to-peer file sharing
Use extra caution when using Peer-to-peer (P2P) technology for sharing digital media because it is easy to conceal trojans in this type of program. Similar to email only open these files when they come from a trusted source. Certain file extensions should be avoided including those that end with bat, bin, cmd, dll, lnk, scr, and vbs.
Back up regularly
Backing up the important files on the PC is certain to be beneficial in the unfortunate event of being attacked by a virus or worm. Should the PC become unresponsive or files are lost after an attack, the backup will make it easy to recover lost personal information (bank statements or tax returns), movies, music, photos, etc.
dimanche 10 janvier 2016
How to Protect Against Virus, Hackers, Malware Etc
Despite your more extensive goals, keeping your gadget sound is a
basic initial step down the way toward better security. Thus, before you
start stressing a lot over solid passwords, private correspondence, and
secure network for instance, you have to ensure that your PC is not
defenseless against hackers or tormented by pernicious programming,
regularly called malware, for example, virus and spyware. The key
pathway through which malware assaults the framework is the Internet and
its prominent administration, the Web.
There are various approaches to shield and expel malware from our PCs. Nobody strategy is sufficient to guarantee your PC is secured. The more layers of the guard, the harder for hackers to utilize your PC.
• Install Firewall - A firewall is an initial step to give security to the PC. It makes a boundary between the PC and any unapproved system attempting to come in through the Internet.
• Install Antivirus Software - Antivirus is one different intends to secure the PC. It is programming that shields the PC from any unapproved code or programming that makes a risk to the framework. The virus may back off the preparing rate of your PC, erase critical documents and get to individual data.
• Install Anti-Spyware Software - Spyware is a product program that gathers individual data or data around an association without their endorsement. This data is diverted to an outsider site. Like antivirus programming, the counter spyware programming offers continuous assurance.
• Install just Trusted Software - If you're not certain what a bit of programming does from its name then don't introduce it.
• Use Complex and Secure Passwords - The first line of protection in keeping up framework security is to have solid and complex passwords. Complex passwords are troublesome for the hackers to discover. Utilize a secret key that is no less than 8 characters long and incorporate a mix of numbers, letters that are both upper and lower case and an exceptional character.
• Check on the Security Settings of the Browser - Browsers have different security and protection settings that you ought to audit and set to the level you crave.
The vast majority of the viruses on the PC were covered up in documents that had been downloaded off the Internet: tunes, recordings, and motion pictures. Email connections were previously the most widely recognized vector utilized by malignant code to taint PCs. Then again, different assurance measures like email connection obstructing, alongside client training about these dangers, have constrained their adequacy.
There are various approaches to shield and expel malware from our PCs. Nobody strategy is sufficient to guarantee your PC is secured. The more layers of the guard, the harder for hackers to utilize your PC.
• Install Firewall - A firewall is an initial step to give security to the PC. It makes a boundary between the PC and any unapproved system attempting to come in through the Internet.
• Install Antivirus Software - Antivirus is one different intends to secure the PC. It is programming that shields the PC from any unapproved code or programming that makes a risk to the framework. The virus may back off the preparing rate of your PC, erase critical documents and get to individual data.
• Install Anti-Spyware Software - Spyware is a product program that gathers individual data or data around an association without their endorsement. This data is diverted to an outsider site. Like antivirus programming, the counter spyware programming offers continuous assurance.
• Install just Trusted Software - If you're not certain what a bit of programming does from its name then don't introduce it.
• Use Complex and Secure Passwords - The first line of protection in keeping up framework security is to have solid and complex passwords. Complex passwords are troublesome for the hackers to discover. Utilize a secret key that is no less than 8 characters long and incorporate a mix of numbers, letters that are both upper and lower case and an exceptional character.
• Check on the Security Settings of the Browser - Browsers have different security and protection settings that you ought to audit and set to the level you crave.
The vast majority of the viruses on the PC were covered up in documents that had been downloaded off the Internet: tunes, recordings, and motion pictures. Email connections were previously the most widely recognized vector utilized by malignant code to taint PCs. Then again, different assurance measures like email connection obstructing, alongside client training about these dangers, have constrained their adequacy.
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