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One of the great satisfactions of working with clients at NCTCS is the opportunity to get to know both the people and the specific challenges their businesses face. It's exciting to partner with clients to map out the ways that technology can help their businesses grow and become more efficient, and rewarding to watch it all come together and see businesses thrive.
Most of my clients own or run small businesses, and while each type of business faces unique, industry specific challenges, I find that we also share a lot of common challenges. Continuing to grow and thrive in this ... |
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Microsoft has released two out-of-band (meaning they are released mid-month rather than on the regular "Patch Tuesday.") security updates last week, and if you haven't already updated your system you definitely should. The updates address vulnerabilities in Windows and Internet Explorer that might allow an attacker to take control of your computer.
If you have automatic updates turned on, you should have already received these updates. If not, you can log on to the Microsoft Update site to manually install the patches.
Adobe has also released several critical security updates for multiple products, including Flash, Shockwave, Acrobat and Adobe Reader. I have had a number of clients mention that annoying "Flash Update" pop-up the past week - please take a minute to install it! These vulnerabilities are currently being exploited, and even opening PDFs with an unpatched system can put your computer at risk. Some companies have taken the extreme step of blocking PDFs. I don't think you need to go that far, but do take a few minutes and make sure your system has these updates installed. You can find them at Adobe's Security Site.
As usual, please let me know if you have any questions or problems installing these updates, and have a great week.
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We'd like to know how you think we're doing. If we have done any work for you this past year, we'd appreciate it if you'd take a minute to take our survey and let us know how we're doing. Ten questions, and completely anonymous, so it ought to be quick, easy and painless. Click the link below to access the survey, and thanks again for your time!
NCTCS Customer Satisfaction Survey
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| If you are already working with NCTCS, you have a good anti-virus system in place, but unfortunately, it can't protect you from every threat. The single biggest reason I end up having to come out and clean up spyware and viruses from a system is that an employee has downloaded something from a site that they shouldn't have accessed in the first place.
Implementing a strong Acceptable Usage Policy can go a long ways to helping you control this problem. |
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| Didn't have time to register for the summit? No problem, we've got it live right here: |
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| The Fourth Microsoft Small Business Summit is October 14-16, 2008. As a small business professional, you wear a lot of hats. We want to help you feel more comfortable wearing them all. Get tips, tools, and advice from top minds in entrepreneurship. Best of all, registration is Free! |
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October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, but a recent poll suggests most people aren't very aware at all. For instance, 80% of computer users surveyed said they had a firewall installed and protecting their computer, but a follow up scan on their systems showed that half of those didn't have any firewall at all.
With so much confusion about firewalls and viruses and spyware, it's no wonder that people are confused, and a whole rogue industry seems to have sprung up to take advantage of that. There a number of companies out there that make products that falsely detect infections ... |
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| We're excited about adding a really terrific product to our lineup - Microsoft Response Point Phone systems. This is a great, full-featured phone/PBX system for small businesses. Easy to use, easy to manage, and affordable. Voice recognition, and automated receptionist, and Outlook integration are just a few cool features of this system. It allows you to... |
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| I was on Intuit’s site today researching an issue for a client when I came across their “Jingle Generator.” What is a jingle generator, you ask? Well, Intuit has created a site when you can create a commercial jingle for your business. Sort of. |
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The UPS/FEDEX virus has been out since at least early July, but in the
past few weeks I have seen a massive upswing in activity, and have had
a few clients become infected. It is very difficult to remove, but easy
to identify and avoid if you know what to look for.
Listen to the full story here:  or click below to read the rest of the story. |
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NCTCS 
