Microsoft released an urgent security update today for Internet Explorer on all currently supported versions of Windows.
If you haven’t done it yet, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/updates/bulletins/200812_oob.mspx
Looking out for our clients and friends,
Richard
“At this time, we are aware only of attacks that attempt to use this vulnerability against Windows Internet Explorer 7,” says Christopher Budd, Microsoft security response communications lead. “Microsoft encourages customers to test and deploy this update as soon as possible.”
This latest IE flaw lets intruders rather easily corrupt popular web pages with data-stealing programs. The malicious software gets installed when an unsuspecting visitor uses IE to navigate to the tainted page.
Sophos researcher Fraser Howard, and others, say the number of attacks taking advantage of this flaw has been growing over the past few days. This is the second time in three months that Microsoft has been forced to issue an emergency patch, outside of Patch Tuesday, the one day a month it has designated to deliver security fixes and other updates. Last Tuesday, Microsoft issued fixes for a record 28 vulnerabilities in Windows products, 23 of them critical.
By Byron Acohido
The presidental election is over and we can now focus on other things that are important too; our businesses. Just like there is going to be changes in Washington in the new year and the need to prepare, we all have changes planned for our businesses going into the new year as well.
Are you adding or replacing employees, moving to a new location, or growing your company? Spend a little time over the next few months writing down where you are and where you would like your company to be. Look at doing things with greater efficiency. can your employees or you accomplish more with better tools?
Can your computers run faster, your server? Are you inundated with SPAM? Can you access important data from home as you would at work? When was the last time your IT department cleaned and re-imaged your PC? I could go on and on.
Ask yourself and your employees if there is something that could help them be more productive? You may be surprised at what you may hear. A new mouse or a $100 printer could make all the difference.
A new year and new goals for your business. It’s up to you to achieve them.
Today is October 1 and Halloween is just around the corner. When I think about Halloween, I think about all those kids dressed up in costumes, coming to our door and shouting trick or treat. They are so cute. Dressed like goblins and ghosts and fairy princesses. All they want is candy.
How much is that like your email inbox? You receive messages pretending to be one thing but in reality they are viruses or malware just waiting for you to launch. Dresses up like a message from a friend or a business opportunity. This is definitely a trick and not a treat. They don’t want candy, they want to destroy your business.
How do you protect yourself? You start by having good anti-virus and anti-spam software running on your computer. Be sure that it is current; both in updates and license renewal. That will protect you to some degree.
The next thing is that you don’t open messages from people you do not recognize. No one is offering you unclaimed millions or is concerned about your bedroom performance. Delete, delete, delete everything that gets through your spam filter and gets to you from someone you do not know.
The worst thing that could happen to you on Halloween is someone T-P’ing your house. Malevolent emails can cost you time, money, aand potentially your business.
Regards,
Richard
How many of you think about what would happen if you lost the data on your computer or server? Tragedy happens more often than you think. Power failures, hurricanes, tornados, fire, hackers or even employee mischief can put your company out of business for hours, days, or forever.
Having a backup strategy and disaster recovery plan is crucial to every business to get you back up and operating as quickly as possible.
If you do not have one, give it serious thought and attention. A little bit of prevention and planning today can keep you in business tomorrow.
Regards,
Richard
Hi everyone! Today we embark down a new path of communication. We’ll be keeping readers up to date on the latest technologies that we encounter, strategies, cool stuff, best practices, random thoughts and anything else that may catch our fancy.
I hope that you keep checking in as you never know what we’ll cover. We hope you enjoy our musings.
Cheers!
Richard
Welcome to Mentis Group brand new blog page. We will be keeping this updated with the latest news and promotions from our company, as well as things going on in the industry. Stay tuned!