“Cyber Monday” Do’s and Don’ts..

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Marco Romero

 

We are always getting calls from our clients on how they should protect their information when purchasing merchandise online.  I thought I would put together some simple bullet points of what to look out for when you shop online.

1. Do not use a shared computer.  Your personal information can be obtained easily by the next person who uses the computer.

2. Never use a debit card for that purchase.  The Federal
Trade Commission limits your liability to only $50 when if your debit card is
used fraudulently.    If someone tries to steal from you using a legitimate credit card, they are also trying to steal from the credit card company.  In this situation, the credit card company will always be on your side in the case of a dispute.

3. Make sure that your security software has not expired.  New threats
are released on a daily basis and if you are relying on your expired security
software to keep you safe, you may be in for an unfortunate surprise.  Also, if you want to have the highest level of protection, never use the free software. You get what you pay for.

4. Big Name Stores offer better protection than sites you are not familiar worth.  Not all small business sites are a scam of course but many of them exist strictly to get your personal and credit card information from you.  If you have never done business with a company and you are not familiar with the name, use a search engine to get as much information as possible before you make that purchase.

5.Ensure that you are using a secure website.  You can tell this by simply looking at the website address you entered.  Make sure that the URL starts with https (“s”for secure), not http (without the “s”). Never enter credit card information to a site that simply starts with http.  One way of detecting whether or not you are on a secure site is by looking on your web browser.  On Internet Explorer, there is a lock icon at the end of the web address for secure sites.

6. Always check the companies return policy before making the purchase.  Returning an item purchased online is not as simple as going to your local store with your receipt.  Reputable sites will always make the return as easy as possible without a lot of questions and hassles.  Some companies will even mail you a shipping label, making the return much smoother.

7. Use strong passwords for all of your online shopping.  Do not use passwords with your birth date, your street address, or the name of your pet.  Make it as difficult as possible for someone to guess your password.

8. Create an email address strictly for online shopping purposes.  Do not use the same email account that you use for your business or personal use. This way it is very easy for you to change the email address if need be.  Also, never, never send your credit card information, social security number, or any other personal information via email.  Always enter this information via a secure web site that is of a known retailer. Also, if a company wants you to confirm your credit card or any other personal information via email, do not respond period.

At Biz-Net we provide computer support to Reno Businesses with our StressFree IT product. With Stress Free IT, we solve problems before they keep you from working. We also monitor your computer systems, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Our primary strategy also focuses around full service, concentrating on the use of technology to meet business objectives. We are dedicated to providing prompt, quality affordable service without breaking your pocket book. Call us for a free, no obligation evaluation of your network. We will give you an honest opinion of your network’s security, backup and efficiency. 775-850-7700.

 

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Reno Fire Should Be a Wake Up Call to ALL Businesses! 7 Things to Demand from Your Backup Provider

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Marco Romero

 

Can your business afford to be shut down for days…even weeks..with no access to your critical data?

If you could not get to your business and retrieve your computer files before a fire consumed your building, are you SURE you have a reliable backup? When is the last time you attempted to restore your data from your current backup media?

Have you ever lost an hour of work on your computer? Imagine losing days, weeks, or your entire client database? What if you lost your accounts receivable files? Your calendar of appointments? How devastating would it be to lose all your email contacts? How quickly do you think you could recover these files, if at all?

If you do not have a rock solid Disaster Recovery Plan in place, you are playing Russian Roulette with your business!

Last week’s Reno fire is a perfect example of what can and does happen. Residents awakened to an orange glow in their windows at 2Am. The fire that erupted was moving at  a rate of 20-30 MPH with winds at times in excess of  70 MPH. Embers jumped more than a mile in some cases. The fire devastated almost 2 thousand acres, with a loss of 35 homes. If this fire had happened at your business, where would you have been at 2AM? Most likely you would have been safely at home asleep. Chances are very unlikely you would have been allowed near your business to protect your computer data.

“That could never happen to me”..”I already back up my data”..you say?

If you are like most business owners, you have been smart enough to set up a tape backup system. But know this: The average failure rate of a tape backup is 100%!! All tape backups fail at some point. The most dangerous statistic is that most companies don’t realize theirs has failed till it is too late. History is full of stories of companies who have lost millions of dollars worth of data. Most of these companies thought they had a restorable backup, only to be sickened to find out it wasn’t working when they needed it most.

What should YOU do to protect your business? We are glad you asked!

The only way to completely protect your data and guarantee you could restore it ALL after a major disaster is by maintaining and up-to-date copy of your data offsite in a high-security facility. Remote backups, also called offsite backups, online backups, or managed backups, is a service that allows you to maintain a secure copy of your data in a different location than your office. It is done automatically via the Internet to a high-security facility. Every business owner should have an offsite copy of their data, however there ARE big differences among remote backup services. It is critical that you choose a good provider or you could end up paying a lot of money only to discover that recovering your data-the very reason why you set up remote backups in the first place-is not an easy, fast, or simple job.

7 Critical Characteristics to Demand from Your Remote Backup Service:

Hundreds of companies offer this service because they see it as an easy way to make a quick buck. It is important to know however that not all service providers are created equal! If your remote backup provider doesn’t meet All 7 of these points, you would be crazy to trust them to store your data:

1. Military-level security, data transfer, and data storage.

Ask your service provider if they are HIPIPA, Sarbanes-Oxley, Gram-Leach-Bliley, and SEC NASD compliant. Ask about the security of the actual facility-do they have an ID system, video surveillance, etc to only allow authorized personnel to enter. Is the data encrypted with SSL protocols to prevent hackers from accessing data during the transfer?

2. Multiple data centers that are geographically dispersed.

The best way to avoid data loss is to build redundancy into your operations. What this means is your remote backup service should store multiple copies of your data in more than one location. This way, in the event of a disaster in one of their locations, there are backups of your data in a different city where the disaster did not strike.

3. Demand the ability to receive overnight copies of your data on a data storage device.

If your entire network gets wiped out, you do NOT want Internet download to be your only option for recovering the data. This could take days or weeks! Only work with a remote backup provider that will provide overnight copies of your data via some physical storage device.

4. Have the initial backup performed through hard copy.

As in recovering your data, if you have to do the initial copy of your files via the Internet, it could take days or even weeks, depending on the amount of data. It is much faster and more convenient to send it to them on a physical storage device.

5. Make sure your data can be restored to a different computer than the one from which it was backed up.

It amazes us to hear some backups are created in a format that can only be restored to the same computer from which they came. If the original computer is destroyed by fire, theft, or flood..what good is a remote backup?

6. Demand daily (or at least weekly) status reports of your backup.

All backup services should send you emails to verify your backup actually ran AND report failures or problems. Your provider should also allow you to notify more than one person (like a technician or your IT person) in addition to yourself.

7. Demand help from a qualified LOCAL technician.

Many online backup services are “self-serve” allowing them to provide a cheaper solution. If you don’t set up the backup correctly, the money you save will be insignificant compared to the losses you can suffer.

Want to know if your Data Backup is truly keeping your data secure?

The team at Biz-Net will conduct a FREE Data Security Analysis to reveal the TRUTH. We will audit your current data protection including backup and restore procedures, review procedures for storage and transportation of data, and check your network backup to be sure you are accurately backing up all your critical files. We will give you a report of our findings with no pressure whatsoever to purchase anything. Call us at 775-850-7700 or email me, ranelle@biz-net.com to set up your Free Audit. You will sleep better if you do!

 

 

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5 Simple Ways To Avoid Getting an Avalanche of Spam

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Marco Romero

As you probably already know from firsthand experience, once you’re on a spammer’s list, it’s next to impossible to get off. And changing your e-mail address can be a major inconvenience especially if you rely on it to stay in touch with important business and personal contacts.

To reduce the chances of your email address getting spammed, here are 5 simple preventive measures you can take that will go a long way in keeping not-so-delicious spam out of your in-box.

1. Use a disposable email address.

If you buy products online or occasionally subscribe to websites that interest you, chances are you’re goin to get spammed.

To avoid your main email address from ending up on their broadcast list, set up a free Internet email address with Hotmail, Yahoo, or another web-based email service and use it when buying or opting into online newsletters. You can also use a “Throw-away” email address when making purchases or subscribing to newsletters (see #4 below).

2. Pay attention to check boxes that automatically opt you in.

Whenever you subscribe to a website or make an purchase online, be very watchful of small, pre-checked boxes that say, “Yes! I want to receive offers from third party companies.”

If you do not un-check these boxes to opt-out, your email address can (and will) be sold to every online advertiser. To avoid this from happening, simply take a closer look at every online form you fill out.

3. Don’t use your main email address on your website, web forums, or newsgroups.

Spammers have special programs that can glean email addresses from websites without your permission. If you are posting to a web forum or newsgroup, use your disposable email address instead of your main email address.

If you want to post an email address on your home page, use “info@” and have all replies forwarded to a folder in your in-box that won’t interfere with your main address.

4. Create throwaway email accounts.

If you own a web domain, all mail goes into to an address at your domain and is probably set up to come directly to you by default. For example, an email addressed to anything@yourdomain.com will be delivered to your in-box.

This is a great way to fight spam without missing out on important emails you want to get. The next time you sign up for a newsletter, use the title of the website in your email address. For example, if the website is titled “successsecrets.com”, enter successsecrets@yourdomain.com as your email address. If you get spammed, look at what address the spam was sent to.

If successsecrets@yourdomain.com shows up at the original recipient, you know the source since that email address was unique to that web site. Now you can easily stop the spam by making any email sent to that address bounce back to the sender.

5. Don’t open, reply to or try to opt-out of obvious spam emails.

Opening, replying to, or even clicking a bogus opt-out link in an obvious spam email signals that your email address is active, and more spam will follow.

The only time it is safe to click on the opt-out link or reply to the email is when the message was sent from a company you know or do business with (for example, a company that you purchase from or a newsletter you subscribe to).

If Spam is still a frustration for you after implementing the “Do it Yourself” list above, and you want help, we are available to conduct a FREE “Stop the Ads” audit. One of our senior technicians will come onsite and reveiw your network to uncover loopholes that allow spammers and advertisers to penetrate your network and install unwated spyware on your computer. Give us a call at 775-850-7700 to arrange a time that works for both of us. We also offer Spam Filtering, as well as other options to protect your network and give you peace of mind.

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A Double Dip on Computer Upgrade Savings-Tax savings ends December 31, 2011!

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Marco Romero

There is a perfectly legal way to save a LOT of money on taxes! If you are considering the purchase of computer hardware or software and can manage to do it this year, you will want to know this information. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 offers businesses a last chance to reduce taxable income by affecting depreciation. It raises the bonus depreciation from 50% to 100% thru 12-31-2011.

This means that the cost of qualified equipment can be written off 100% in the
year of purchase. It is important to note it drops back to 50% after 12-31-2011.  This rule applies to any computer equipment and off the shelf software.  For example, if a company’s income before bonus depreciation was $50,000 and the eligible equipment purchased had a cost of $25,000, bonus depreciation would reduce income to $25,000.

With the new advances in technology, businesses can use this tax advantage to upgrade their entire network, from their server, desktop computers, or even their backup systems. This is also a good time to invest in products like Office 2010, upgraded anti-virus and anti-malware programs and so much more. Many businesses are unaware their current servers are no longer supported with upgrades. This leaves them in a very precarious position when it comes to protecting the most critical asset they own..their data.

Most IT vendors and manufacturers offer really incredible rebates and discounts on equipment towards the end of the year in a last ditch effort to improve annual
sales.

If you are going to need a network upgrade in the near future, you can not only
get better deals on software and equipment right now, but you can also get the
tax savings making this a double dip on saving money. To make this an even
sweeter deal, we at Biz-Net are offering local businesses the first 3 months of their signature service StressFree IT free with a one year contract. This offer applies to businesses who upgrade their network server before December 31, 2011. Please call or email us today for a no-obligation quote. info@www.Biz-Net.com or 775-850-7700.

 

 

 

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Small Business Networks Under Attack by Hackers

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Marco Romero

Do you think you are too small to get hacked? Think again..recent studies show experienced hackers are targeting smaller businesses with typically less sophisticated (or even non-existent!) security systems. These hackers are hitting smaller businesses who have less secure networks and succeeding in getting hundreds of thousands of dollars! In the last few weeks we have experienced several attempts on clients’ systems. Thankfully, these businesses have good anti-virus and anti-malware programs in place, and know enough to avoid the typical hackers’ schemes. One such scheme prompted the user to upgrade their anti-virus. Clicking on the link would have opened the network to this hacker.

Hackers are looking for the easiest targets where they can obtain access to credit card information, or other personal information, make use of this information, then run for the hills..will you be one of the victims? We certainly hope not!

This is what happened to a newsstand business in Chicago: cyberthieves installed a Trojan in the cash registers which sent swiped credit card numbers
to Russia. When the jig was discovered, Mastercard subsequently demanded an
investigation – at the expense of the business owner – and the proprietor had
to shell out a hefty $22,000.(i)

A survey in the United States reveals that more than half of
small or medium-sized businesses believed that they ran no risk of being
victimized by hackers, and less than half of the respondents had security
systems in place.(ii)

As most of our clients are small business owners like yourself, even a few thousand dollars can make a huge dent in their profits. In addition, a virus like the one described above that steals credit card information can seriously damage the reputation of your business. If the thought of losing even a small amount of money, or worse your valuable reputation scares you, do your research. You deserve to know how you are being protected. Many IT providers don’t know, or worse..won’t tell you..!

Our advise is become knowlegeable about the protection levels of your current system, how often patches are installed (patches are small “fixes” to plug security holes)..and be sure you know who is responsible for making sure you have the latest programs to protect you.

 

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Need a Template for Business Continuity? Free Workshop next Month..

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Marco Romero

At Biz-Net we focus primarily on data protection, storage and recovery when we talk about Business Continuity, yet there are so many other areas to consider when a business wants to be sure they can continue to do business following a natural or man-made disaster. Have you thought about who to contact if you can’t even get to your front door? Maybe you have your insurance agent’s phone number saved in your iPhone, but do you also have all your employees, your vendors, your schedule, your banking, and utility company information? What about orders processed but not shipped? It is amazing to me how much of our world is based on information.

Recently, Marco Romero and I met with Gary Owen, of CaER Systems, LLC to discuss an upcoming FREE public workshop on Business Continuity. COOP (Continuity of Operations Planning) is a statewide organization focused on providing the resources both public and private businesses need to develop a plan to survive a disaster. Gary is one of the trainers at an upcoming workshop being held from 8am to 4pm on October 4th and 5th in Carson city. He has many years of business continuity planning with global as well as local clients in a variety of businesses. This is an incredible opportunity to gain access to the wealth of information being given by Gary as well as Duane Lohn of Risk Solutions International, LLC and others who specialize in Business Continuity. Attendees will come away with a template to create a Business Continuity Plan for your own business. The same workshop will be offered  each day to allow businesses the flexibility of attending the day of their choice. You can register for one of the two days at www.nvstatecoop.org.

The team from Biz-Net has been invited to be there with information about data protection plans and be able to answer any questions you may have in this area. We will also offer a complimentary Security Analysis to attendees. If you wonder if your business would survive a fire, a flood, or other unplanned interruption, plan to attend this informative workshop and come away with the tools to develop your own system to ensure you won’t be out of business if it does happen. See you there!

 

 

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Many Small and Medium Businesses are STILL not prepared..Are You?

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Marco Romero

Here in Reno we don’t have to worry about Hurricaines like the East Coast recently experienced, but..let’s face it, disasters can strike in many forms. For example, just this spring, we had flood warnings…in JUNE??  This year Symantec, the maker of Norton Anti-virus software, conducted a survey among Small to Medium Businesses (SMB’s) regarding their readiness to deal with a disruption to their technology resources. The results were pretty eye-opening.

They surveyed both small and medium businesses and found that only 50% already had a plan in place. An amazing 14% do not have a plan, nor do they intend to create one. Of the SMB’s who plan to implement a plan in the future, 16% plan to do so in the next 30 days, 34% in one to three months, and 25% in three to six months. What was interesting to me was overall, 84% said their computer systems are somewhat or completely protected! How can that be? Well, I think it is simply a lack of understanding of how critical their business data is..because: 52% believe computer systems are NOT critical to their business! 41% said they never thought to do it, and 40% said preparing for a disaster is not a priority.

Another amazing statistic is that 65% of these same SMB’s are located in regions considered susceptible to natural disasters. On average, these businesses experienced 6 outages per year with the top three reasons being cyberattacks, power outages, and employee errors and upgrades. More surprising to me is their data is not protected. Only half back up at least 60% of their data and less than half back up at least weekly. Only 23% backup daily..! 40% of SMB’s reported they would lose at least 40% of their data in the face of a disaster. Unfortunately, most SMB’s don’t implement a disaster preparadness plan until it is too late, after they have lost data. Of the ones who do have a plan, only 28% have tested the recovery plan.

The real issue is the cost of being down, which can run from $3,000 to $23,000 per day of lost revenue with the average being $12,500. Lost business is one thing, but the loss of a loyal customer can cost even more. Many of these same businesses admit a significant data loss or extended downtime could put them out of business. So, what can you, the owner of a Small or Medium Business do?

1. Don’t wait: Implement a Disaster Recovery Plan-NOW

2. Protect All Your Information in a Safe, Off-Site Location

3. Enlist the help of your Employees: Remind them that if the business fails, they do too!

4. Test It: Have your IT professional make sure your critical data can be recovered.

5. Review your plan: Quarterly reviews are recommended.

No matter what your feelings are regarding a plan to recover your critical business data may be, just for a minute consider what you, or your employees would do if you could not have access to your emails, your client lists, your projects, your schedule..not to mention…who owes you money! Today’s business must depend on the ability to recover.

 

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Cramming: Not just for college anymore…

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Marco Romero

“Cramming” is the illegal practice of placing unauthorized charges on your telephone bill. Crammers rely on confusing telephone bills and vague wording to trick you into paying for unwanted services. Charges may be labeled as a service fee, service charge, mail server, calling plan, membership, monthly fee, or other fee to your bill.

How to Fight Back- Here are some tips from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for fighting unauthorized charges on your telephone bill:

1. Carefully read all forms and promotional materials-including the fine print-before signing up for telephone or other services to be  charged to your phone bill. Be equally careful if you receive an offer by phone or in the form of a text to your mobile phone.

2. Thoroughly review your telephone bills every month. Monitor them as closely as you would review your monthly credit card bill or bank statement.

3. Make sure you recognize the name of all companies listed on your bill and understand what services they are providing.

4. Do not ignore small charges, which can add up to big amounts. Crammers often try to go undetected by submitting $1.99 or $2.99 charges to tens of thousands of consumers.

If You Suspect Unauthorized Charges:

Ask the company for an explanation before paying when you don’t know what service was provided for a charge on your bill. If you don’t receive a clear and accurate explanation, immediately call the company that charged you for the services you did not authorize and request adjustments to your bill for any incorrect charges.

If that doesn’t work, call your own telephone company and request to have the incorrect charges removed. And if that doesn’t work, you can file a complaint with the FCC for charges related to telephone services between states or internationally, or with your state public service commission for telephone services within your state.

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Business Continuity

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Marco Romero

When we are discussing business continuity and disaster
recovery, the goal is to make sure that you NEVER lose critical data while
minimizing downtime and recovering as quickly as possible in the event of a
disaster. And this isn’t like the saying that you can have any two of fast, cheap and good, but not all three.  You MUST strive to achieve all three of these
goals.

Why is this important?   According to a 2003 study, as many as 43% of all companies who experience a “major loss” of computer records never reopen, 51% closed within 2 years and only 6% survived long term. That means that if a disaster were to hit the Reno area and affect all of our businesses, most of us would be looking for other jobs.  Even if you are able to reopen, how do you regain the trust and confidence of your employees and your customers?

Consider also that small businesses account for more than
99% of companies with employees, 50% of all private sector workers and 45% of the nation’s payroll. Those figures are according to the US
Department of Homeland Security.   Our local and national economy clearly depends on small businesses being prepared for disasters.  Commitment to planning today will help support employees, customers, the community, the local economy and the country.

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5 Ways a Server Will Make Your Business More Efficient

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Marco Romero

Continue reading →

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