I was at an attorney’s house the other day, helping him setup his home network to run his practice. He asked a simple question… do I need to bother with passwords at home? Seems like it’s just a pain. I asked him whether he let friends on his wireless network when they came over. His response of “Yes” was my answer back as well! Always protect your sensative data. Here’s my top 5 issues that I deal with all the time on client networks:

1. Weak Passwords. You know you need to have a stronger password, yet “password” is still the #1 password used by computer users. For maximum security, your password should contain numbers and letters, both upper and lowercase combined.
2. Lack of Education. Most viruses and spyware are invited by the user; therefore, if you want to make sure your employees don’t download viruses, take the time to educate them on what new viruses are circulating and about common scams.
3. Lack of Maintenance. No software is perfect, which means security loop holes will be exploited by hackers the minute they are discovered. That’s why it’s critical to keep your security patches up to date.
4. Plug and Surf. Computers are NOT designed “ready to go” out of the box. Before a phone line, ethernet cable or wireless card is anywhere near a new computer, certain security needs to be installed and/or configured. Ideally, this should include virus protection, multiple spyware scanners and a program that runs in the background to prevent malicious software from ever being installed.
5. Do It Yourself. Setting up a network, applying proper security measures and downloading and installing software can be tricky. Large companies have IT departments. Small business owners should also ask for advice or even hire help. It’s worth the extra cost.

I perform 3-4 network assessments each month, and I’m constantly amazed at the number of networks that are virtually unprotected! In almost every case, the owner thought they were protected… they thought their “IT guy” was taking care of things. If you’d like to have your network checked free of charge, let us know. We’d be happy to help!

Here is a short video recapping The Top 5 Mistakes.

Your chance to help The Master of Disaster and Rocco

The Master of Disaster and his trusty sidekick Rocco are Homeless! Watch this short video below to find out why. Here is your opportunity to help. If you are offering an outstanding product or service; If you have great ideas for thriving in this challenging economy and are interested in being featured in an episode of The Master of Disaster, invite us over to shoot an episode at YOUR OFFICE. This is a huge opportunity to gain valuable exposure and share your great business ideas with my viewers. Shooting an episode takes only about 30 minutes. We will end up with about a 3 minute video I will post here and you can share with your clients, friends and vendors.

Interested? Of course you are! Contact The Master of Disaster
MOD@connections.com or 954-624-9526

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With the Internet and e-mail providing a free, viral platform for online scammers, hackers and cyber criminals, there’s no doubt that at some point you’ll receive an e-mail hoax. Some are harmless, but many can lead to virus infections, identity theft or worse. Here are some common themes to watch out for:

• Supposedly free giveaways in exchange for forwarding e-mails
• Bogus virus alerts
• False appeals to help sick children
• Pointless petitions that lead nowhere and accomplish nothing
• Dire, and completely fictional, warnings about products, companies, government policies or coming events

Probably the most common indicator that an e-mail is a hoax is the “Send this e-mail to everyone in your address book” request. Hoax writers want their material to be spread as far and wide as possible, so almost every hoax e-mail will have this request built into the message. In some cases, e-mail hoaxes will even give you a specific number of people to send the message to in order to collect a prize or get something for free.

Another surefire indicator that an e-mail is a hoax is that they don’t provide a checkable reference to back up claims. Genuine competitions, promotions, giveaways or charity drives will almost always provide a link to a company website or publication. Real virus warnings should only come from your installed anti-virus software. E-mails containing government or company policy information are likely to include references to checkable sources such as news articles, websites or other publications.

A third indicator is often the actual language used. E-mail hoax writers have a tendency to use an emotive, “over-the-top” style of writing peppered with words and phrases such as “Urgent,” “Danger,” “Worse virus ever,” and so on. Another indication is that these messages contain ALL CAPITAL LETTERS for added emphasis. When in doubt, don’t forward the message or take the action requested.

Before forwarding an email, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does the email ask you to send it to a lot of other people?
2. Does the email fail to provide confirmation sources?
3. Is the language used overly emotive or highly technical?

A “yes” answer to one or more of the above questions, should start some alarm bells ringing. These indicators do not offer conclusive evidence that the email is a hoax but they are certainly enough to warrant further investigation before you hit the “Forward” Button.

Dear Viewers: This is a short message from me on how vital it is we help the people of Japan. This disaster eclipses anything in my lifetime. It is a triple-punch from the most powerful earthquake in over 100 years, a devastating mudslide and now, a looming nuclear disaster. Despite being the most prepared nation on earth and perhaps the most technologically advanced, the people of Japan are in bad shape, suffering and urgently need our help. Please take a minute to watch this brief message and make even a small donation with The American Red Cross (link below.)

Help Japan through The American Red Cross Here

For those of you who have be spurred to action by watching the images from Japan and asked me how to put together a Personal Survival Kit or Office Emergency Kit (The 72 Hour Box), I am linking those videos below. Don’t wait another week to start working on this. If you have questions, email me at mod@connections.com. If your company would like an complimentary onsite Risk Assessment, email me.

Personal Survival Kit (PSK or Bugout Bag)

Office 72 Hour Emergency Kit Parts 1 and 2

 Back in November, the National Labor Relations Board issued a Complaint alleging that an employer illegally terminated an employee who posted disparaging remarks about her supervisor on her personal Facebook page. The posting referred to her supervisor as a “psychiatric patient” and used several vulgarities, which resulted in other employees chiming in (Associated Press, November 2010).

While the Complaint is only an accusation and not a formal ruling from the NLRB, the repercussions of this action are critically important for employers of both unionized and non-unionized employees alike. Many employers are now reviewing their social media policies with a view to determining what they can lawfully prohibit employees from posting online.

Although we cannot provide any legal advice, one of the things we can help our clients with is establishing an acceptable use policy that outlines how employees can use company resources, such as their e-mail, Internet and electronic equipment. We can also help by setting up monitoring software that can either allow management to govern employee access to certain web sites, such as gambling, porn, career sites, etc., or block employees from those sites all together. If you want to keep employees focused on being productive at work, then give us a call and ask for a free consultation and trial of this software.

Customer Service Can Be Your Next Major Disaster!

Did you know that a Customer Service Disaster  can be just as damaging to your bottom line as a physical catastrophe? Poor customer service can lead to lost customers and a bad reputation. Remember the old adage that “Bad news travels fast”. These days, a disappointed customer won’t just stop patronizing you. They are likely to post scathing reviews on the Internet which can spread like wildfire.

In this episode, The Master of Disaster and his sidekick Rocco, The World’s Youngest Corporate Video Blogger discuss the easy and vital steps you need to take to ensure a positive Customer Service Experience.

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The Story: A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard. When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, and they knew when the game was scheduled to finish, so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It seems they even brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

True Or False? While there are cases in which GPS devices have been used in crimes against their owners, this particular story is a “friend of a friend” e-mail legend according to www.Snopes.com. That said, there is a valuable lesson here: Don’t leave valuables in the car! GPS devices, like cell phones and laptops, are expensive electronic devices that are attractive to thieves. Plus, you should always make it a habit to lock your electronic devices using a strong password (one that contains upper and lowercase letters and numbers).