IT Consulting Blog
Information/Advice for IT Professionals
Welcome to NetCal's blog.
We hope to share with you our thoughts on IT topics and issues encountered by businesses in the Bay Area.
Please feel free to contact us at 408-228-4488 or sales@netcal.com if you would like a quote for IT Support Services or a particular IT Solution.
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Have you ever wanted to make a backup of all your printers, it's shares, the permissions for them, and the drivers on your print server? Well, Microsoft has a very useful tool that does this. Furthermore, it also does restores! I couldn't believe my eyes either! It's great for when you need to setup redundant print server configurations or when you are migrating print servers!
Here it is:
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsServer2003/techinfo/overview/printmigrator3.1.mspx
What is malware and how do I get it?
Generally speaking, malware are malicious software designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner knowingly allowing it to. It's intent is to perform devious acts on or using your computer. These are programs that generate misleading alerts and false detections in order to convince users to purchase illegitimate security software.
What are the symptoms?
Pop-ups, website redirection, network configuration changes, unresponsive computer, etc…
How did I get it?
The source usually comes from emails, websites, pirated software downloads, P2P applications, fake video codecs, software exploits (ie. acrobat), etc… The typical scenario is a pop-up that asks you to download and install something. Once the download and install happens, the malware will take over the computer.
How do I protect myself?
- We still live in a world where humans can usually make the best decisions. This means user training is one of the best method to prevent infections. Below are a list of things to train users on that doesn't require a lot of time.
- Users should be a little paranoid and skeptical when it comes to reading the emails they receive, especially emails requesting actions to be taken. If it sounds important, take the time to read and verify it carefully!
- Users should make sure they have an SSL connection when making transactions online or logging into banking sites.
- Exercise caution with e-mail and files received from unknown sources, or received unexpectedly from known sources. If the email is from someone they know, make sure it has relevant content specific to that person (ie. writing style, context of message, etc.)
- Users should know sometimes a pop-up can be made to look like a Windows error message. Recognizing legitamite software interfaces can help (Antivirus software, Windows Security Center, Windows Defender, Anti-malware software)
- Don't download random software from the Internet until you know it has a valid homepage and user base (look for software reviews for it). Once that's verified, make sure you download directly from the vendor's website.
- Users should understand how a website can be spoofed to go to the wrong website using the HOSTS files.
- Users should understand that a text link can have a different URL embedded.
- Don't install software unless you were intentionally trying to.
- Keep Windows and your browser software up-to-date by downloading and applying security updates.
- Use an active and updated antivirus and anti-malware application that detects harmful websites, files, and emails. There are many applications out there that are free. Some highly recommended ones are Spybot Webroot, Search and Destoy, MalwareBytes, SuperAntispyware, PC Tools Spyware Doctor.
Removal Tips:
- Boot into SAFE MODE. It will give you a more effective platform to work with.
- The key is to get the system to allow you to install anti-malware software with the latest updates to slowly remove the programs.
- Fix infections and reboot often will get you further along in the removal process.
- There is no perfect anti-malware software, therefore, you should run scans using multiple anti-malware software to make sure all malware is removed.
- Can't run/install software due to access permissions – This is usually due to the software restriction in your local security policy or your registry has malicious group policies regarding software restrictions configured.
- Can browse website or weird website redirections – Check the Internet Explorer proxy settings. 95% of the time, it shouldn't be using a proxy. Also, make sure your HOSTS file doesn't have malicious entries in it.
Since we have approximately 4 more months until the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) will be applied to all publicly traded businesses, I’d like to give everyone a little refresher course. Although it won’t apply to most of our clients, the act proves to be a solid compliance guideline for any company. Due to the trickling effects of larger businesses and the tightening of requirements from lenders and such, it’s not a bad thing to follow.
SOX Compliance Summary
Designed to:
- protect investors and creditors of public companies
Applies to:
- Publicly traded corporations with larger than $75 Million in Public Equity (expires Dec 2009)
- Documents and files pertaining to financial statement generation (atleast 5 years)
Provisions:
Section 404 – Requires management to report on the effectiveness of their internal financial controls and for outside auditors to attest to the management reports.
Section 802 – Makes it a criminal violation to alter, destroy, mutilate, conceal or make a false entry in a record, document or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence any investigation or bankruptcy matter.
Section 1107 – Provides criminal penalties for retaliation related to an employee’s whistle blowing activities.
Section 301 – Requires the independence of audit committees.
Section 302 – Mandates that CEOs and financial officers certify financial statements.
Section 406 – Requires public companies to disclose whether they have adopted a code of ethics governing the behavior of senior financial officers.
General Business Process recommendations:
- Segregation of duties
- Establish a policy of archival and backup (onsite and offsite)
- Have independent party review books on a regular basis (CPA)
- Have good documented procedures
Quickbooks recommendations:
- Review Financial data using reports
- Setup user accounts with only necessary priviledges
- Implement audit trails
- Backup regularly (minimum retention time of 3 periods)
General Info:
Sarbanes-Oxley regulations require that an audit trail of log files and all pertinent documentation must be retained for five years. SOX defines which records are to be stored and for how long, focusing specifically on retention of audit and accounting records that relate to the generation of financial statement that will be submitted to shareholders and the SEC. Both paper and electronic versions of this documentation must be retained. SOX does not, however, specify how they are to be stored — best practices for data protection, disaster recovery and storage management pertain. That means the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley can be felt by nearly every component of IT operations, including messaging, storage, virtualization and even networking, so long as financial data or activity occurs on them. In turn, IT must be able to produce electronic records of these audit trails for compliance audits.
The IT departments of all public companies must be aware of the key requirements of SOX, including log management, backups and all relevant electronic communications. New platforms for communication enabled by Web 2.0 technologies like blogs, wikis and social networking are introducing all-new compliance headaches, as gigabytes of data are generated through messaging and sharing. If it pertains to finance and accounting, enterprise IT professionals must track and archive it for the inevitable visit by a compliance auditor looking for log files. Increasingly, compliance officers are using event log management software to track key moments where data enters or exits an enterprise, like email systems or the addition or departure of employees with access to sensitive financial data.
Below is a quick rundown of all the goodies in the new Service Pack for Windows 2008 and Windows Vista. Of course, SP2 includes all hotfixes and other updates post SP1, but unlike traditional methods, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2 uses the same Service Pack executable, which makes it easier to deploy.
Although this update provides minimal changes, it’s always recommended to do a test rollout before deploying in full.
Warning:
This was taken from Information about Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and for Windows Server 2008
After you install SP2, a sound device or some other hardware device may no longer work. If this behavior occurs, just install an updated driver for the device. To do this for a sound device, follow the steps in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
948481 How to troubleshoot sound problems that you experience after you install a Windows Vista Service Pack
What it has to offer:
- Bluetooth 2.1 Support
- Wi-fi – Uses Windows Connect Now technologies for wireless connectivity and improves on resuming wireless connectivity from a sleep state
- Power Management – Microsoft touts a 10% increase in power management efficiencies
- exFat file system extension – Now includes UTC timestamps which helps with file synchronization across time zones
- Blu-ray data burning capability – Not for making movies, but for backing up files
- Windows Search 4.0 – faster, better support for Group Policy, able to index encrypted files
- VIA 64-bit processor support
Windows Server 2008 offerings:
- Hyper-V 1.0 versus a prelease version
- Addresses Terminal Server license key issues
Most useful part about SP2:
Service Pack Clean-up Tool (compcln.exe) – Deletes older versions of the RTM and SP1 based files
Requirements:
SP1 has to be installed prior to updating.
Where to get it:
Backgrounder:
Like everything Microsoft, downloading and applying updates and patches are the key to keeping your computer running efficiently. Today, we are focusing on Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2.
It has been more than a year (December 2007) since Microsoft has released a single service pack to keep computers up-to-date without having to download a bunch of little patches. This significantly reduces deployment times for any oganization. Furthermore, while most service packs are just a compilation of previous released patches and fixes (through February 2009), Office 2007 SP2 will also include feature enhancements and performance enhancements. Will the PDF support mean the end of downloading Acrobat Reader? We’ll see…
Release Date:
End of April 2009.
Changes, Fixes, Patches, Enhancements:
- Support for Open Document Format (ODF), XML Paper Specification (XPS) and Portable Document Format (PDF).
- Improved Outlook Calendaring reliability.
- Improved Outlook performance.
- Enabling Object Model support for Charts in Microsoft Ofice PowerPoint 2007 and Microsoft Office Word 2007.
- Improved cryptographic functionality by supporting all cryptographic algorithms offered by the operating system.
- Improved functionality in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 charting mechanism.
- Ability to ungroup SmartArt graphics (and as a result, the ability to add animations to them in PowerPoint 2007).
- Ability for Visio 2007 to export UML models to an XML file compliant with the XMI standard.
- Tool that enables the uninstallation of Office client Service Packs
Where can you get it?
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