Some scams such as the Nigerian or 419 scam have been around for years and still trap the unwitting. During 2006 over $7million was fleeced from Queenslanders alone according to police. But more subtle and devious methods can fool even the diligent.  ‘Phishing’ emails purporting to come from your bank, Ebay or other account attempt to get you to click on a link and log in to that account. The link actually takes you to a fake site that looks like the one you are used to logging in to. You enter login details which the fraudster captures so that they then have full access to your account. One of the latest schemes is the computer remote access scam where a phone caller says they are from Microsoft and have found that there is a problem with the potential victims PC. They then charge a fee to access the computer remotely and fix the ‘problem’.   Best course of action is to hang up on these callers.

Online, sophisticated techniques are constantly probing computer defences. Various methods are used to steal identity, banking details and personal information.

So, in the face of these threats, what does the average computer user do to stay safe?

• Using strong passwords is the number one safeguard you can have.  Hackers have a number of sophisticated techniques to break passwords so complex passwords that are not common words are critical. Even better are ‘pass phrases’ A sentence such as ‘I like sport!’ is so easy for someone to remember without writing down but difficult to crack as it is three words.
• Be wary of emails, regardless of where they seem to be coming from. Always browse to your banking site and log in. Never click on a link.
• Make sure that your computer software is regularly patched. Updates for Windows and other programs such as Adobe Reader, etc. are issued monthly. These updates patch up vulnerabilities that are constantly discovered.
• Use firewalls and good antivirus software. Nowadays all too often a virus is designed to steal identity by recording all keystrokes.
• If you are travelling with your laptop consider using encryption to protect your personal and business data in the case of loss or theft.

Although threats on the internet are real, with sensible safeguards we can enjoy the benefits that technology brings and stay safe online.

Tech-Eye sits on your internet gateway (between your modem and the rest of your network) and monitors all internet traffic. On a business network it can be set up to monitor internet use of every employee, producing detailed logs of activity.

In control mode it will block access to any website thus helping to focus employees on their work. Access can be controlled per employee and within set times. So, for example, access to Facebook could be allowed only during lunch breaks or after hours.

Businesses that have installed Tech-Eye have found an instant improvement in costs and productivity.

Installation of Tech-Eye has met and exceeded client expectations…

“To my surprise within the first 2 hours of the system going live; out of a possible 56 working hours only 4 were spent on business related sites!”

“Tech-Eye found flaws in my ISP’s charges, saving $6000 in two months”

“It is not intrusive on staff and it doesn’t slow down or interfere with the network”

“The team is spending a lot more time on the phones and less time surfing, results speak for themselves…”

Recent price reductions on current stock have made Tech-Eye a “no brainer” for businesses concerned about controlling Internet usage with a 10 user unit as low as AUD$387.

Contact us for more information.

According to Microsoft around 50 to 60 percent of Windows users do not have a security solution installed.  That’s a scary statistic given the volume of virus, trojans, spyware and rootkits. This product is aimed at that sector, however Microsoft wants to avoid antitrust issues with competitors in the security industry. This probably explains the lack of visibility of the product. The first hit in a search for ‘antivirus’ on their website is a ‘list of antivirus vendors’. Microsoft Security Essentials gets a look in further down the page.

Microsoft Security Essentials works with Windows XP, Vista and 7. The installation requires a Windows validation check and as usual should not be installed with any other antivirus package. (Of course Immunet in the cloud is an exception as it’s not running on your local machine). It uninstalls Windows Defender if present.

Security Essentials builds on Windows Defender by providing real time protection and on demand scanning for all types of malware. I have been running the package for some time now. The software is very unobtrusive, using idle time scanning, smart caching and active memory swapping so that I never notice any slow down in computer performance.

A network that is not properly planned develops dangerous vulnerabilities. Users store data in various places resulting in problems with finding files speedily. Data is not easily backed up and certain business systems cannot be implemented.

A step that is often taken in a small business is to designate one computer as the ‘file server’. Company data is stored on a shared folder in this PC which usually is also used as a staff member’s workstation.

The above scenario is known as a ‘peer to peer’ network. Although there may be one PC sharing the data there is no real ‘server’.

There are a number of advantages in migrating to a server and the exercise may not be as expensive as you think. In fact servers for small businesses have become much more affordable in recent years.

A business that has only 3 or 4 PCs may not need a server, however once 5 or more PCs are in the network a server is advisable. Even for the small business with less than 5 PCs there is a solution worth considering. The new Microsoft ‘Windows Home Server’ has some excellent features that are detailed in a separate article.