PC Doctors IT Solutions

We have been hearing the term “cloud computing”. It is starting to come up in IT conversations regularly. But what does it mean? According to the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cloud computing has five characteristics, three cloud service models, and four cloud deployment models.

The five characteristics of cloud computing are:

On-demand self-service – computing capabilities such as server time and network storage can be provisioned automatically by the consumer or business without requiring service provider interaction.

Broad network access – computing is available over the network and can be accessed and used by traditional computers as well as mobile phones and PDA’s.

Resource pooling – The cloud providers resources e.g. storage, processing, memory, and bandwidth are pooled to serve multiple consumers and businesses. These different physical and virtual resources are dynamically assigned and reassigned based on usage demand.

Rapid deployment – Cloud services can be deployed and provisioned quickly. To the consumer or business the services available for provisioning can appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service – Cloud systems are automatically configured by the provider to control and optimize resource usage using a metering capability that is appropriate for the service. Cloud resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported which provides transparency for the consumer or business and the service provider.

The three cloud service models are:

Software as a Service (SaaS) – The subscriber is able to use the provider’s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications can be accessed using various client devices though an interface usually a web browser. The provider maintains all the underlying cloud infrastructure e. g. servers, network, and operating systems. The subscriber has no control of the service other than the provisioning of user accounts.

Platform as a Service (PaaS) – At this level the subscriber can deploy onto the providers cloud infrastructure custom applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. Again the subscriber does not have control of the underlying cloud hardware or software. But does have some control over the deployed applications,

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – At this level the subscriber is able to provision processing, storage, network, and other computing resources and deploy and run software including operating systems and applications. As with the previous two cloud models the subscriber does not have control over the underlying cloud infrastructure but will have control of operating system, deployed applications, storage and limited control of networking components such as host firewalls.

The most common cloud model is SaaS. For example Microsoft Exchange Online is cloud hosted email services that consumers and businesses can subscribe to on a monthly basis. As you move to the PaaS and IaaS cloud services you gain more control of the applications. But of course the monthly subscription price will be higher than those at the SaaS level.

The Business Benefits of Cloud Computing

• Reduced Cost: Cloud technology is paid incrementally, saving organizations money.
• Increased Storage: Organizations can store more data than on private computer systems.
• Highly Automated: No longer do IT personnel need to worry about keeping software up to date.
• Flexibility: Cloud computing offers much more flexibility than past computer methods.
• More Mobility: Employees can access information wherever they are, rather than having to remain at their desks.
• Allows IT to Shift Focus: No longer having to worry about constant server updates and other computing issues, government organizations will be free to concentrate on innovation.

In our next post we will go over the four cloud deployment models Public, Private, Hybrid, and Community. We will also take a look at Cloud Security.

If you would like more information about this topic please contact us at info@pcdocsac.com

Cyber-bullying is when kids or teens are tormented, humiliated, harassed, embarrassed, targeted, etc. using email, texting, chat rooms, camera phones, Facebook or MySpace and other websites.  It only counts as cyber-bullying when both the victim and the aggressor are minors. If an adult is the aggressor it becomes cyber-harassment or cyber stalking.

According to a 2004 i-SAFE survey of 1,500 students grades 4-8;

42% of kids have been bullied while online. 1 in 4 has had it happen more than once.

35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly 1 in 5 has had it happen more than once.

21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages.

58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out of 10 say it has happened more than once.

53% of kids admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person online. More than 1 in 3 has done it more than once.

58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.

Some kids or teens may fear telling their parents that they are being bullied over the internet. Most fear that their parents may overreact. Some other things they may fear are their parents calling the other parents, their parents calling the school, their parents blaming them or taking away Internet privileges. Unfortunately, they also sometimes underreact. Some parents may underreact by telling the child the old saying, ‘Sticks and stones may break your bones,’ but that doesn’t always solve the problem, and may make the child feel as if their parent doesn’t care.

Some ways to prevent/stop cyber-bullying are;

• Learn how to block certain people
• Never reveal your password or last name
• Be careful about what you post online
• Tell an adult if you are being cyber bullied

If you would like more information about this topic please contact us at info@pcdocsac.com

You start getting calls from your end users. All or a sudden no one in your domain is receiving email. Your clients are telling you that their emails sent to your domain are being bounced back as “undeliverable”. You are using Microsoft Exchange as your email system. A look at the SMTP connector properties tells the story. There are thousands of emails in the SMTP queue waiting for delivery. You ask yourself what is going on here.

It is possible that someone is using your Exchange Server as a spam delivery platform without your knowledge. This is referred to as a NDR attack. The spammer exploits the Exchange Server by using its Non-Delivery Report (NDR) function. A NDR occurs when the Exchange Server receives an email that it can’t delivery to the recipient. Reasons include user account doesn’t exists, account disabled, mailbox full, etc…

When the Exchange server can’t deliver the email it sends a NDR back to the sender. These are what we refer to as ‘bounced emails”. The subject will usually be “undeliverable”. NDRs are a common part of email exchanges. However spammers can cause an increase in NDR activity. This increased NDR activity can cause serious email problems to your organization.

The first is no legitimate emails can be delivered because thousands of emails are in the delivery queue. The queue must be flushed before normal email delivery can resume. Another problem is since the spam is coming from your domain it may end up on an email blacklist. That means some emails coming from your organization may be flagged and returned as a known spam sender. This could result into a possible loss of business for your organization.

It works like this. The spammer sends an email to a fake account in your domain for example anyname@yourdomain.com. The intended spam victims email address is spoofed in the: from field. When your Exchange Server receives the email it searches active email accounts for the recipient. Since the account does not exist the Exchange Server places the email message in a retry queue. A NDR is emailed to the sender (spam victim). In most case the NDR includes the spam in the message. If the victim opens the NDR email they see the spam. Objective accomplished by the spammer.

How can you stop this from happening to your Exchange Server? Check the Exchange Server configuration. Make sure that it can’t be used as a relay by email servers outside your organization. If you are experiencing this kind of email problem, contact PC Doctors for a` free consultation.

If you would like more information about this topic please contact us at info@pcdocsac.com

Worried about what your children are viewing while surfing the web? Well don’t be! Included in Windows is software called parental controls, which provides parents with automated tools allowing them to monitor the children’s web usage. To open the parental controls using Windows XP, Vista, or 7 open the Start menu and click on Control Panel to open the panel then select User Accounts to choose which account you’d like to protect. Microsoft has introduced a new security feature with the launch of Windows Vista called Windows Parental Controls.

Microsoft has gone from virtually zero Parental Controls in Windows XP to a wonderful amount of controls in Vista. Parents can configure and put restrictions on Standard user accounts that aren’t Administrative accounts so they can not remove the restrictions, assuming Administrative has a password for protection. Some ways you’ll be monitoring the account is by controlling the websites, applications, and games your child use.  You can even control the time and duration access on the Standard user account.  A few other areas Windows Vista introduced new security and safety mechanisms include Network Access Protection, a built-in anti-malware tool and new digital content protection.

Windows 7 parental controls may seem a little similar to Vista but it’s slightly upgraded.  You access it the same way, through the Start menu and Control Panel.  Unlike Vista, Windows 7 offers parental controls through Windows Live which is bundled with Windows. Windows Live provides web filtering and activity viewing more effectively. The controls are absolutely free, and it’s very easy to start using all you have to do is sign up and create a Windows ID so you can subscribe to the service.  Parental Controls in Windows 7 will no longer restrict access to web content because the web is evolving so fast that it is hard to keep up with it. Instead of updating the Windows operating system the parent will rely on Windows Live and 3rd party applications for web filtering and activity viewing. The web limits will only work successfully with Internet Explorer 7 or higher or the latest version of Firefox. Earlier versions of both browsers do not recognize the controls, thus, your children may access inappropriate websites. Windows 7 also provides parental controls in Windows Media Player so you can block access to objective TV shows and movies. If the child tries to do something they’re not supposed to Windows 7 User Access Control dialog pops up. Also, the UAC message with pop up if they try to access a site deemed questionable.

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A new computer virus, first detected on Thursday, is already making its way around the globe, infecting computers at major corporations and government agencies as well as home users. The virus has been dubbed “Here you have,” based on the subject line in the emails spreading it.The virus arrives in an email that directs the recipient to click on a link that appears to be a PDF file but is actually the malicious program. Once it’s been clicked, the file downloads a program that disables many common antiviral programs, and then emails a copy of the original message to everyone on the computer’s address book. If it’s downloaded to a business computer using a shared network, the virus will jump from computer to computer, infecting the entire system.

How did the rouge programs and viruses get on my computer? This is a common question that we hear from customers with infected computers. One way is via unsolicited email attachments. This is easy to prevent just don’t open emails from unknown senders. And use an antivirus program that has an email scanner included. It’s been my experience that a very small percentage of computers are infected by email attachment.

The more common attack method is using the computers web browser application to load viruses and malware on the computer. Think about it. Our main interface to the Internet is by using MS Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc. That’s how we view web pages and look at web based email like Yahoo. Some businesses are using hosted applications or Software as a Service (SaaS) and use web browsers to connect to those services via the Internet. So the attackers try to exploit those browsers in order to install malware on the computer.
It can be a harmless looking banner offering to “scan your computer for problems”. When you click on it a virus is installed. Sometimes it could be an ad link on a website. If you click on the link you will end up on a malicious website that will start loading the code used to attack the web browser and attempt to install a virus on the computer. How can this be prevented? There are several ways to prevent these kinds of attacks and to secure the web browser.

In most cases the malicious code can only be installed if the user account has computer administrative rights. A new user account can be created for Internet use only. This account is assigned limited rights. The limited account cannot be used to install software. Since the virus is software it can’t be installed. Another prevention method is to update and patch the web browser program regularly. Sometimes those updates include new security features or patches for new browser exploits.
Another way is to remove the ability for the browser to execute the malicious code. For example you could disable Active X and Java Scripts which are sometimes used in the attacks. This will reduce some of the functionality of the browser but will also reduce the chances of a browser exploit. There are some add-ons for Firefox named NoScript and AdBlock Plus that help block browser attacks but still let the trusted applications or scripts function properly.

There is another method where you “sand box the browser”. There are a couple of ways it can be done. One way is to use the computers operating system to run the browser application as a separate limited user. Another way is to allow the browser to run as a virtual program with no access to the computers operating system. Please contact PC Doctors for more information about browser sandboxing.

The best defense is awareness. Most web browser applications let us check the websites against a third party register. For example Google’s safe browsing list includes websites that are known to host malware. Some antivirus programs have website link scanners that look for malicious code and warn you if they are detected. Don’t ignore the warnings or pop-ups. Remember that browser can be exploited automatically when the page is reloaded. So don’t download free programs or click on pop-ups until you check the website out.

Businesses should develop an Internet use policy for their employees. This is a set of guidelines to follow while using the Internet at work. It basically lists what if anything can be downloaded to the computer and how to respond to Internet threats. You should discuss any new Internet threats and keep the policy current.

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Remote backup solutions have become popular over the past few years. This solution stores your data in a service provider’s data centers. The way it works is that you sign up for a remote backup account. The services I have used required me to download a client application supplied by the provider. The application is used to connect with the remote backup service and select what files to backup and when.

At the scheduled backup time the application connects to the remote backup location via the computers Internet connection. The data is uploaded from the computer to the service provider’s data centers for storage. At the next scheduled backup the process is repeated. If you have added new files or made changes to them since the last backup that information is uploaded only.

Remote backup services are pretty easy for the customer to maintain. You just set the schedule and make sure the computer will be on with an active Internet connection at the scheduled backup time. You don’t have to worry about maintaining any equipment besides the computer. All backup equipment is maintained by the service provider at their location. The backup process is pretty much automated from the customer’s standpoint.

The customer does not have to worry about maintaining backup tapes or other backup media. If something bad happens to the computer you can just grab a new computer, connect to your remote backup service and restore your data to the new computer. I have personally restored both business and residential customers systems by using their remote backup sets.

You do have to monitor the backup storage space because if you delete a file from your computer it stays in your remote backup account just in case you deleted it by accident. It remains there until you tell the remote backup application to delete it from your backup account. So what can happen is that your available remote storage space starts to decrease over time. Usually use just log into your account and delete the files that are no longer being used.

If you decide to go with a remote backup solution depending how much data you have, the initial backup can take some time. For example a 50GB initial might take a day or two to complete. This is because most internet connections upload speeds are not as fast as the download speeds. This is just a onetime event. After the initial backup the continuing backups will only upload what has been added or changed since the last backup. For example if you added a 2GB file since the last backup only file that will be uploaded.

Most remote backup services include features that let you perform continuous backups for mission critical data. They also include controls that let you adjust how much network bandwidth that the backup application can use during the process. This stops your network speed from slowing to a crawl during the backup process. That being said, the faster your Internet connection the faster the backup process will complete.

There are many remote backup providers to choose from. I have used IDrive and Carbonite. Here’s some information about those two services.

IDrive offers a few different choices:
IDrive Basic is free and you get 2GB of storage.
IDrive Pro Personal is $4.95 per month for 150GB of storage.
IDrive Business is $9.95 per month for 50GB of storage. It can be used to backup multiple computers from one account.
IDrive Family Pack is $14.95 per month for 500GB of storage across 5 different computers.
www.idrive.com

Carbonite is $54.95 a year for unlimited storage.
Carbonite Pro for Business can be used to backup all the computers in the office or phone using a single account. You manage the backups using a dashboard.
Up to 20GB of storage for $10 a month
20GB – 49GB of storage for $20 a month
50GB – 99GB of storage for $50 a month
100GB – 149GB of storage for $75 a month
150GB – 199GB of storage for $100 a month
200GB – 299GB of storage for $150 a month
300GB – 4999GB of storage for $250 a month
www.carbonit.com

Using a remote backup service is just another layer of protection for your important information. It can be used in conjunction with a local backup solution. This pretty much wraps up the data backup series. Please feel free to post comments or information about what data backup solutions you have used.

We will be starting a new series on home and office networks. We’ll cover both wired and wireless networks and talk about network security for both the home and office. Some of our residential customers have been asking about Internet parental control options. So we will take a look at that topic.

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The most common approach is to use a local backup. A local backup is when you have a backup storage device that is attached directly to your computer or you Local Area Network (LAN). The local backup devices include CD/DVD drive, USB drive (flash), and External Hard Drive connected via USB cable or attached to your LAN.

The device to use depends on your setup and the amount of data to backup. For example to backup pictures you might want to use a CD or DVD as the backup device. Most computers these days come with a DVD that is capable of burning DVD’s or CD’s. For pictures I use a blank CD. Most CD’s have a storage capacity of 650MB.

To use this I copy the pictures from the My Pictures folder and paste them to CD using My Computer. Right Click on the picture or pictures and select copy. Navigate to the CD folder using My Computer. Right click in the CD folder and select paste. This copies the pictures to a temporary location on the computer. On the left side of the Window click on “copy these files”. The pictures will be burned to the CD.

This technique can be used to copy files to a USB drive or an External Hard Drive. This includes documents, and music files. This is the manual backup approach. You can also use the Windows backup utility to automate the backup process. To access the utility click on start – all programs –accessories – system tools – backup. This will start the backup and restore wizard which is used to backup and restore files. Click on backup files and settings then click next.

The next Window asks what to backup. The first choice is backup the My Documents folder, desktop, favorites and cookies. The second choice is to backup everyone’s Documents. The third choice is to backup all the information on the computer. This option creates a recovery disk that can be used to restore the complete computer if the hard drive fails. It also takes the longest to complete. The fourth choice lets you define a custom backup.

Most people will use the first choice. Click on next after you make your selection. This is where you choose a backup location and name for your backup. Click on the browse button to select the backup device. Give the backup a name in the second box then click next. At this point you can start the backup by clicking finish. There is an advanced button that can be used to choose the type of backup and set an automatic backup schedule. There is a description of each type of backup. Select the type and click on next. Select the option to verify the data then click next. Use the option to append the backup to existing backups then click on next.

Now you can backup now or later. If you choose later a set schedule button appears. Click on the button and set the schedule. It can be scheduled to run once, daily, weekly, or monthly. The option you choose depends on how often your information changes. Some people may only use the computer once a week. If that is the case you may be able to get away with doing a manual backup after each use. Someone that uses the computer often or for business may want to backup daily or 3 times a week. If you are not sure, just contact us at PC Doctors. We will be happy to help you with this.

By now you have guessed the utility is also used to restore the files. For example if you accidentally delete a file on your hard drive since the last backup. Start the wizard and choose the restore option. The next Window asks what file to restore. Navigate to the file and click on it. Then click restore. The utility will restore the deleted file to its original location.

In the next post I will go over some of the offsite Internet backup options. Please feel free to comment on this post with your ideas or thoughts on protecting the information on your computer.

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There are a few backup options available for the consumer to chose from. It comes down to what you want to backup and how much space is required. At the bare minimal I would backup my documents, pictures, and music files. In a Windows environment by default these types of files are located in the My Documents folder which includes the My Pictures and My Music sub-folders. Most programs will by default save files in one of those folders unless you change the location while saving the file.

For example you create a new Word document. When you click on save the document will be saved in the My Documents folder. The same happens with programs that you use to download pictures from a digital camera. The program will attempt to save the pictures in the My Pictures folder. So in most cases everything will be stored in My Documents and My Pictures and My Music sub-folders unless you change that.

So we will need to backup the My Documents folder for sure. At this point we need to determine how much space is needed to backup the complete My Documents folder which includes the two sub-folders as well as documents that are saved. Start by opening the My Computer. Inside that folder will be a folder named” ‘s Documents”. The name depends on the user account being used. For example if the user account name is Mike, the folder would be named Mike’s Documents. This is the My Documents folder for Mike. It includes the documents, pictures, music, etc.

The size of the folder can be determined by right clicking on it and selecting properties. This opens are new window. Look on the size. It will be in GB, MB or KB. So your backup device will need to be at least this size in order to store the files. If the size is 5GB you will need 5GB of backup space. Keep in mind that the size of the folder will grow the more you save files to it. So if the current size is 5GB and you download pictures or music often you may want to go with a backup storage size of 6GB or more.

You can also chose not to backup the complete My Documents folder. Maybe you just have saved pictures to backup. The pictures will most likely be located in the My Pictures folder. Just open the My Documents folder and then the My Pictures folder. Any pictures saved to the hard drive should be in this folder. Most of the picture downloading programs will create a sub folder in My Pictures. For example if you use Adobe Photoshop it will make a sub folder named after itself and save the pictures there. The point being is that you can backup individual folders or files if you want to.

Now that we know what we want to backup and how much storage space is needed we can move on to selecting a backup media or service. We’ll take a look at some in the next post.

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One of the things we sometimes neglect to do is backup the information stored on our computers. I mean most of us are happy as long as we can use the computer and get on the Internet. We download music, store pictures, and important documents on it. All of those files including the operating systems (Windows, Linux…etc) are stored on the computer’s hard disk drive. When you click on a file it is retrieved from the hard disk drive so that you can use it.

The hard drive is an electronic component that has a potential to fail. A “hard disk boot error” indicates that the hard drive has failed. Sometimes the failures don’t display an error code. There might just be a dark screen with a blinking curser. I have also seen incidents where viruses damaged Windows and it does not start up. In this situation the information on the hard drive can’t be accessed until the problem is resolved.

It might possible to recover your pictures, music, and documents from a failed hard drive. But the process is time consuming and expensive with no guarantee that all your information will be recovered.

It’s good practice to backup your computer’s hard drive on a frequent schedule in order to protect your important information. You can backup the pictures, music, and all of your other important information that is stored on the hard drive. It is even possible to restore your complete system from a single backup file. If by chance your computer’s hard drive crashes, all of you data since the last backup should be safe.

So how do you backup? It depends on what you want to backup. But there are few different backup options and solutions available. I will post some information on backup solutions for both consumers and businesses. And please feel free to post information about this subject.

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