Angry Mob Installs Rogue Software on Your Network

There's an angry mob installing software on your network without the permission of you or your IT department. They go by the names Google, Adobe and Java and they disguise themselves as updates.

Google has started to offer Google Apps as a Google toolbar update. Adobe is offering Safari, an Internet Browser replacement as an update when you have Acrobat reader installed. Java is offering Open Office if you have the Java client installed.

It's a conspiracy against good networking principles. The purpose of pushing unrelated software as an update is to circumvent IT and company management. Both are deemed responsible for the slow adoption of these products in the business world. (never mind that they lack features and security) So now that they've turned from software into Malware and threaten to introduce instability, higher maintenance costs and impede the function of our businesses, should be we greet them any differently?

We will be looking into ways to prevent these "updates" from loading onto your computers. In the meantime, please be very careful when installing updates for Google, Adobe and Java and let us know if you've already been infected.

p.s. Sorry for so many blog posts lately. It's been a busy week for odd network behavior.

Read this on the web:  http://smalltechnotes.blogspot.com

More Email Problems

The problem with email continues. First the rant.

<rant on>Let me go on record stating that I hate blacklists. Just because you got a virus momentarily and it sent out spam from your network doesn't mean you should be blacklisted and prevented from sending your customers email for days. This is business folks. Blocking legitimate businesses from sending email is non-productive for all parties.</rant off>

The email problem that we are currently seeing relates to the blacklist ordb. ORDB went out of business some time ago but there are many email administrators out there that have not updated their mail servers with this information. Currently any email server that is still using ordb as a blacklist will block ALL email from delivery.

Here is what the bounce email will look like. If you receive one of these the problem is not on your end. It is the fault of the server you are sending email to. Until they fix their server, there is nothing we can do. A phone call to the company to let them know that you can't send email to them would be neighborly.

An example:

=======================================
From: System Administrator
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 9:29 AM
To: someone
Subject: Undeliverable: Girls Night out

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

      Subject:  subject

      Sent:     3/26/2008 9:29 AM

The following recipient(s) cannot be reached:

name@emaildomain.com on 3/26/2008 9:29 AM

            You do not have permission to send to this recipient.  For assistance, contact your system administrator.

            <yourdomain.com #5.7.1 smtp;550 5.7.1 66.184.36.210 has been blocked by relays.ordb.org>

Alternative to Adobe Reader

In response to multiple and continuing problems with Adobe software causing our clients computers to hang, run slowly, experience extremely slow printing, application crashes, etc. we sought out and found an alternative to Adobe Acrobat Reader that we are now ready to recommend to you.

It's called FoxIT Reader and like Acrobat its free.

Things I like about the product aren't its features. The feature set isn't unique. The problem this software solves is performance and updating. Adobe have been pushing out additional junk software with the Acrobat updates. We don't need more junk on our computers! With FoxIT, you get FoxIT and that's it. Another non-feature that I like is its footprint. It's small. The installation for Acrobat Reader is 21MB or more depending upon how many of the add-ons you fail to tell them you don't want. The FoxIT installation package is 2.1MB. Correspondingly you'll find that because it is smaller it performs better.

We don't plan to roll-out FoxIT Reader in mass to our clients. Rather when you experience problems with Adobe we'll recommend that you change at that time. So if you think that you're having problems let your technician know so we can get you switched over to FoxIT.

 

See the blog online: http://smalltechnotes.blogspot.com

Email Problems: Non-Delivered Email to SBCGlobal, AT&T, PacBell, BellSouth and others

Currently much of the email sent to addresses using AT&T, SBC, PacBell, BellSouth and others managed by AT&T are not being delivered. The failed delivery is not consistent, is not the fault of your mail server and you are not on a blacklist as indicated in the email. The problem is being reported by all of our colleagues, all over the Country.

Here is an example of what the bounce back message will look like.

diana@sbcglobal.net on 3/21/2008 9:59 AM
  The message cannot be delivered due to a configuration error on the server. Please contact your Administrator.
  <YourCompany.com #5.3.0 smtp;553 5.3.0 flpi094,DNSBL:521 ATTRBL To request removal of, YourIPAddress, send the complete error message in an E-mail to removeme@sbc.sbcglobal.net>

If you receive any of these messages please send them to your technician so we can confirm that they are part of this known issue.

This problem has been occurring for more than a week but has recently gotten worse. At the start of the incident, some mail would go through but not all. At this time it appears that no email is going through, including email to the address listed in the bounce back email as the contact address. A call to SBC has been made and we were told to just wait, this is a known issue that they are working on but there is no estimated time for a resolution to the problem.

Traveling: Redmond for remainder of week

A quick FYI to all that I will be out of the office and working in Redmond, Washington for the rest of the week.

I have been hired by GrandMasters for a gig helping Microsoft determine what should be included in the curriculum for Essential Business Server training. This will become the training program that all IT people wishing to become experts and/or certified in the product will study. I will be traveling 1 week a month for the next several months.

If you need to reach me the best way will be via email. amy@harborcomputerservices.net I'll be on pacific time.

What is Essential Business Server? It's a new server suite much like SBS only it contains either 3 or 4 separate servers. It is designed for firms in the 25-250 PC range. We've been building networks that look very much like the EBS server for years. Microsoft has finally caught on to what we've been doing and is now building it for us. There are some nice management advantages to having a pre-built suite of servers. The cost for maintaining those boxes will decrease because each is designed with the other in mind. Most importantly larger businesses can now gain the benefits that small business have had over them with small business server.

The EBS suite releases later this year.

Windows 2008, SQL 2008 Launch Tomorrow - Limited Availability

Tomorrow (Tuesday) the staff of Harbor Computer Services completes its training on the next version of Windows 2008. Microsoft is holding their official launch event for Windows 2008, SQL 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. We'll be attending sessions all day long down at the RenCen. Our main focus will be Window 2008 since this will effect all of our clients eventually and SQL 2008 isn't due to hit the streets until very late this year.

In August, we started our training with 32 hours of evening time meeting at our main office training on this product. There's a lot to learn. To me the move from IP v.4 to IP v.6 and from 32-bit applications to 64-bit applications is as dramatic a change as DOS was to Windows. The learning curve on our end is very steep that's why we started so early. Being successful in IT is all about learning and rolling with the changes. Don't keep up and we'd be dinosaurs in a few short years.

In addition to the training event, Scott and I will be staffing a booth sponsored by Culminis to promote our IT business group. This group, called Small and Medium Business Technology Network (SMBTN), is an organization dedicated to helping IT firms become better business people, develop partnerships with each other and vendors. We discuss and train on how to run our businesses better. Sure we're all great technical people but as business owners many lack skills. We started this group last year and gathered up 75 members. We're hoping to have a few more after this event. Are we training our competition? Yes, I suppose we are. But anything that benefits the profession as a whole will also benefit us. And every time I speak or listen to a speaker I learn something. 

Because of this training event we'll all have limited availability tomorrow. We'll have our cell phones but we'll only be able to respond to calls in between sessions and we'll have very limited access to the Internet. Your cooperation and understanding tomorrow is greatly appreciated. It's events like this that help keep us able to efficiently solve networking issues and stay on top of our game. Thank you for your continued support.

http://smalltechnotes.blogspot.com

Cost Effective Protection for Home Computers

This hit my inbox today and I thought of you. :-) We often get the question from our clients, why do my home computers get so much junk on them but I don't have that problem at work?

Several reasons:

• You don't have us proactively keeping the junk off of your home network.
• PC's at the office are used for work. PC's at home are usually multi-purpose. (work, photos, music, games)

One of the best products we've used for keeping junk off of PC's is CounterSpy. We've been using it to clean your office computers. Now you can use it at home too. If you've ever had junk on your home computer, then here's an offer you shouldn't pass up.

Brand New Licensing Option: Home Site License

During our surveys we found many of you have a lot of PCs at the house. Those so called '3-packs' do not cover it for you! So we invented a whole new license: The Home Site License. For a yearly subscription of $49.95 you can install CounterSpy on as many PCs in one residence as you want. It gets better. Subscribe to the Home Site License now and you will be upgraded at no extra cost to VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware when it comes out! This is a great way to cut down on your PC expenses. Don't renew your existing McAfee, Symantec or Trend antivirus anymore and get this exciting new Home Site License now:
http://www.wxpnews.com/AUSLKI/080311-CounterSpy-Home-Site-License

If you decide to take advantage of this deal be sure to uninstall any existing anti-spyware, anti-virus, system cleaner, anti-spam, what ever you are using now to keep things clean. Uninstall it all before you load this onto your computer.

Carbonite: Off-Site Backup for Everyone

I've been testing Carbonite backup for a little over a year now. The price is certainly right: about $50 a year. For your dollar you can backup as much data as you want to, no limits. It works. It's simple. It's priced right. It's secure. I'm a fan.  If you have computers or laptops with important data then you'll want to consider Carbonite to back them up. Historically backing up a laptop that you don't see very often was difficult. Now it's simple.

This backup system is specifically designed to backup PC's or laptops, not servers. I know that you're going to ask, "Why not servers?" Because it doesn't understand how to backup open files or mounted databases. This would leave out the most important pieces of your server, like Exchange, Sharepoint, SQL and your accounting application. It also saves its files in a single location, whereas as server class off-site backup always replicates to multiple data centers. Sure in a pinch you could use it but we'd have to jump through some hoops to make it work just OK and I'm not a fan of band-aid solutions. You might get away with it in the short term but they always come back to bite you.

Let me show you how easy this is to use:

 

It's a point and click interface and it doesn't get in the way of your work. Right click on a folder and choose backup this up. That's it you're done. Carbonite will do the rest from that point forward.

I like this program so much that I've agreed to be interviewed for their marketing purposes on an occasional basis. So far I've been interviewed by 3 different trade magazines. In exchange, we're getting a little discount off the price and of course superior support. It's important to me that we have good contacts within the support system of the vendors whose products we choose to recommend beyond the usual, just call this number. These relationships are what allow us to provide you with superior service. Even though we're small we work toward being recognized as an important customer to our chosen vendors and leverage that relationship on your behalf.

Server Prices Hit All Time Low

Server prices are at such a low right now. If you have taken our advice and are one of the many companies running 4 year old hardware while waiting for the next release of SBS to hit the streets then this might be the time to buy. Even if it sits in the box until Fall I think it would be worth purchasing now. Prices are that good.

Here' an example:

Please keep in mind that Dell changes their prices seemingly daily so the price of each order will certainly vary. We have seen prices drops like this before and they don't last. So if you've got new server hardware in the budget, then now is the time.

Google Apps or Microsoft Online. Is Either Secure?

I've done a little research, which consisted of reading the privacy policy and service agreements for both Google Apps and Microsoft Online. Both are Beta products. Both offer online applications with data storage. My interest is in what these companies are going to do with my data.

The differences between the 2 companies continue to stand out, in that Google remains an advertising company interested in gathering data and statistics from what ever files, email, search and web content you post to one of their services, while Microsoft remains a software company. Google wants to temp you with quick little applications and services to get you to provide them more information about you that they can use to make money through advertising. Microsoft wants to sell you software. However, neither company is taking responsibility for backing up and both may choose to delete your account and the data it contains at any time with or without notice to you.

Of course as an advertising company looking to mine data that it can sell to marketers it makes sense that Google is going to offer my data up for sale because that it how they make their money. But if Google is potentially going to share my data with anyone then I can't use their service. If either company is going to offer to store my files but not back them up, then I can't use their service. How many truly disposable files do I have? Very few.

I would strongly suggest that you add unauthorized online storage and services to your list of banned locations. No one wants their corporate data to show up in a Google search or to be displayed for public viewing without your consent.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of both company policies.

Google Policy	Microsoft Policy
….. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This licence is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.	Microsoft considers personal information collected through the Service to be confidential to you and the business or enterprise customer or partner for the Service where the information was collected. We will collect and use your personal information to provide, operate, and improve the Service.
You agree that this licence includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.	Except as described in this statement, we will not disclose your personal information outside of Microsoft and its controlled subsidiaries and affiliates without your consent. We occasionally hire other companies to provide limited services on our behalf, such as technical support, transaction processing, or statistical analysis. We will only provide those companies the personal information they need to deliver the service, and they are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose. Information that is collected by or sent to Microsoft may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or agents maintain facilities, and by using a Microsoft site or service, you consent to any such transfer of information outside of your country. Microsoft abides by the safe harbor framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of data from the European Union.

Visiting http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/index.html and http://www.microsoftonline.com will get you to the original full documents.

Quickbooks: Use the Accountant's Copy to Transfer Files Securely

The Quickbooks Accountant's Copy has seen major improvements in 2008. So please start using it to transfer your Quickbooks file to your CPA. If your CPA balks, then ask them to take a closer look at Quickbooks 2008 and they'll see that it provides them with all of the data that they need and it will keep your data secure while in transmission. There is simply too much valuable information in these Quickbooks files to have them sent as an unencrypted attachment to an email. Once you have created the Accountant's copy you'll need to inform your CPA of what the encryption password is. You could call them or you could send it in a separate email.

Encryption for email attachments of all types is becoming a more important tool in protecting information from the bad guys. They are finding it easier to pluck an attachment off of an email as it floats over the web than to break through your firewall. I expect to see better email encryption methods to come into all attachments very soon.

Step one, choose the file transfer process

Step 2 - choose the cut off date that the accountant can post entries to

Step 3 - enter the email address information

Step 4 -- create a strong password for the encryption

Step 5 -- Ensure that it's a strong password

Step 6 -- QB will begin the process

Step 7 -- the email will be created and sent

Step 8 --  the file will be transferred

Step 9 -- the email will be received by the accountant

Raising Money for Breast Cancer Research in Unexpected Ways

This weekend we've been busy demolishing out our new office space. It's the basement of my "new" 58 year old house. Covered in knotty pine, glued on ceiling tiles and complete with wet bar, we stripped out the whole thing to the bare cinder block and studs using precision tools like crowbar, hammer and mini sledge. We got covered in dust and we had pretty good time!

We filled about 1 1/2 dumpters and in the process helped raise a bit of money for breast cancer research.

"All Waste joins the battle against breast cancer and supports those who have been affected by the disease.In tribute to Breast Cancer National Awareness Month, All Waste has painted a selection of our dumpsters pink, along with adorning a pink ribbon, to pay homage to finding a cure.  A portion of All Waste's proceeds will go to The Susan Love Research Foundation, focused on eradicating this disease during our lifetime."

This was our dumpster. Think the neighbors noticed?