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Happy New Year! We here at Strata IT wish you a happy, safe and prosperous New Year. I have a question for you. When you closed up shop last week for the long holiday weekend, did you lock your businesses front door? I'm sure when you came back you could tell if anyone had tried to forcibly enter your building. But can you tell if anyone tried to enter the backdoor? I'm not talking about the physical door in the back of your building, I'm talking about the door you left open all weekend while you were celebrating; your internet gateway.

One big misconception many computer users have about spyware and viruses is that these programs somehow invaded their computer through no action or fault of their own. This is simply not true.

PHISHING (pronounced fishing and also referred to as brand spoofing or carding) is an online slang term for the act of sending out e-mails that falsely claim to be a legitimate company in an attempt to scam the recipient into surrendering private information such as bank account numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, and passwords. This information is then used to conduct identity theft, credit card fraud, or other crimes against the user.
    

With over 1,000,000 types of known viruses and thousands more threats not yet identified, it is clear that organized cyber criminals are becoming more sophisticated, organized, and effective in their attempts to access your computer.

Viruses can do a lot more than make your computer “act funny.” They can steal confidential passwords and account information, wipe out your data, and destroy your system. Plus, recovering your system from a virus can get very expensive. The old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” certainly applies here.

Remember the good old days when disgruntled employees simply stole office supplies, faked being sick to take time off, or bad-mouthed the boss to vent their frustration? Not anymore. There is a growing trend of vindictive employees who are breaking into their employers’ networks to steal and destroy valuable electronic files and data.

60% Of Network Break-Ins Are Done By Disgruntled Employees

Want to improve the speed and performance of your current network without investing serious cash into new PCs? Read on…

Warning: If You’ve Downloaded Free Software From The Internet, Your Computer May Be At Risk For Viruses, Hackers, and Spyware!

We’ve all heard the saying that the best things in life are free, but I’m not sure they were referring to software. Freeware (free software, not to be confused with open source software) such as the AVG anti-virus free edition, Spybot, and Ad-Aware are all programs you can download for the ultimate discount: free. However, you get what you pay for.

What would happen to your business if tomorrow your building burned down or there was a major catastrophe here in your city? Do you have a plan on how you are going to keep your business open? To some businesses, that occasional tape backup, is the extent of their business continuity planning, but is that enough to open your doors back up tomorrow, within a week or ever?

Give it up to Microsoft for having the confidence to put out a Pre-Beta version of their next Operating System, Windows 8. I mean who remembers ME or for that matter Vista? But with all the new competition in the Operating System market space, Microsoft knows it needs to step it up. While Microsoft may not be losing too much market share in the desktop arena, it's practically non-existent in the mobile arena.

(From Kevin Casey - InformationWeek) Could the iPad soon be as common a sight on construction jobs as the hard hat?

It will if the industry follows the example of the Silicon Valley Builders Group (SVBG). The 100-person construction firm’s technology approach is producing what its executives believe is a true competitive advantage in an age-old industry–an edge that has helped SVBG hit the $100 million annual revenue milestone in just five years.