IT Tips Baltimore

IT Tips Baltimore

Working Nets
June 19, 2013

Disaster Recovery Horror Story #7: Lighting can Strike Twice…Sort of

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We have heard all of the excuses before: “Disaster recovery is not important,” or “I can’t afford disaster recovery.” Not important? Can’t afford it? Did you know that 43% of companies that experience major data loss never recover? 51% close within 2 years. Not important? Stop making excuses and get with the times. You need a proper disaster recovery plan in place or you risk losing EVERYTHING if disaster strikes. Are you willing to take that gamble?

Disaster Recovery Horror Story #7: Lighting can Strike Twice…Sort of

Sometimes, even when you think you are doing everything right, something still goes wrong. And in the case study we are about to tell you, something goes terribly wrong…twice! The company did everything right. They backed up their data, tapes were stored offsite, and a restore was scheduled every 6 months. Everything was running smoothly. Then disaster struck.

Lighting struck the building, burning the computer building to the ground. Fortunately, the company’s insurance took care of the recovery costs, providing new servers, a generator, and a mobile building to house them in. All that was left was the backup tapes. A courier was dispatched and the tapes were on route. Then lighting struck again (figuratively).

The courier was in an accident en route to deliver the backup tapes. The courier was okay, but the backup tapes were not, crushed under the wheels of another vehicle. Fortunately, the company had other tapes, but they were a few days old.

They never did fully recover all of their lost data.

Disaster Recovery Services from Working Nets in Baltimore, Maryland

At Working Nets, we were founded to provide small businesses, like yours, with expert information technology support they needed. Our disaster recovery services help ensure your vital business data is kept safe and secure!

If you have any questions about Disaster Recovery, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today! You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Working Nets
June 6, 2013

Disaster Recovery Horror Story #5: One Dead Server; One Unlucky Company

Tags: , IT Tips Baltimore

Remember the old saying, “It is better to be safe than sorry?” I think they may have been talking about Disaster Recovery. How important is disaster recovery? Of companies that experience major data loss, 51% close within 2 years, while 43% never recover. So let me reiterate my previous statement; it is better to be safe than sorry! It is much better to sit down and take the time to put a disaster recovery plan together now than it is to freak out when disaster strikes.

Disaster Recovery Horror Story #5: One Dead Serve; One Unlucky Company

After a very peaceful weekend, one IT employee came to the office hoping for a nice easy Monday. Instead, they were immediately confronted with Internet and email issues. After trying to troubleshoot the issue for a bit, the IT technician wandered back to the server room and to their horror found the server quiet, with no lights on. The fan responsible for cooling the server died. As a result, the server overheated and burned out the CPU and motherboard. And with no backups, the company was out of luck.

Just to think, this whole dilemma could have been easily avoided with Disaster Recovery Services from Working Nets in Baltimore, Maryland. We were founded to provide small businesses, like yours, with expert information technology support they need to succeed. That is why Working Nets offers disaster recovery services to help assure that your vital business data is kept safe and secure if disaster strikes.

If you have any questions about Disaster Recovery, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today! You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Working Nets
May 8, 2013

Email from Someone You Know, with the Wrong Email Address? Blame Facebook

Tags: , , IT Tips Baltimore

It seems to be happening more and more recently. People are receiving emails from people they know, but the email address doesn’t match. There is always a somewhat vague question associated with the email – “Have you seen this?” or “What do you think?” – and then a link.

Most people naturally assume that the person’s email account has been hacked. However, this is not the case. Notice that the name and email address do not match. If the account was hacked, the email would be coming from the correct address. Instead, these emails are spam. Somehow, someone accessed your friend or family member’s list of contacts and used this list to create emails that look like they came from someone trusted. This is known as Email Spoofing and is just another tactic used by spammers to mask the real origins of emails.

So how are these spammers finding your email address? It turns out that Facebook is the problem. Spammers were recently able to exploit a misconfiguration on Facebook that was fixed last week, according to Facebook.

“Recently, we discovered a single isolated campaign that was using compromised e-mail accounts to gain information scraped from Friend Lists due to a temporary misconfiguration on our site,” according to a statement from Facebook. “We have since enhanced our scraping protections to protect against this and other similar attacks and will continue to investigate this case further.”

Although spammers are no longer able to scrape new information from Facebook accounts, they still have access to the information obtained previously. This means that these spoof emails could continue for quite some time, until email providers are able to find the source of the spam and shut the spammers down.

The Moral of the Story: Be aware of vague messages and strange links. And if the “Reply To” email address doesn’t match the name, just delete the email. DO NOT OPEN THE LINK. In fact, never open a link you are unsure of.

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today! You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Source:

Spam from “Friends” is Actually Result of Facebook Hole

Working Nets
May 2, 2013

Dealing with a Computer Virus: Avoid the Horror Stories with Managed IT Services

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Anyone with even the smallest amount of computer knowledge has a rough understanding of what a computer virus is. And we all know that Dealing with a Computer Virus can be a real nightmare, especially for business owners. This is because computer viruses are designed to corrupt programs and files. They embed themselves into the code of software, sitting and waiting until the program is installed and executed. Once this happens, the virus can quickly spread, infecting other applications and files on your computer.

In the end, a computer virus can cause your computer to crash, delete important files, or even render your computer inoperable. All of these are bad news for business owners, resulting in costly downtime. However, the scariest news of all may be how most computers become infected.

It is believed that close to 75% of all viruses are contracted through friendly means, which means that the virus came from a friend, co-worker, client, or other friendly individual. And as more and more computers are connected to the Internet every day, the risk of contracting a computer viruses every time you download software or accept an attachment in an e-mail also grows.

To help prevent your computer from contracting a virus, consider installing virus protection software. However, it is not just enough to install the software, you must also keep it up to date.

Additional tips to help you avoid the effects of computer viruses include:

  1. Never open an email or attachment from a suspicious address or name you do not recognize.
  2. Stay up to date on your virus software updates.
  3. Always back up your files.
  4. Act fast if your computer is ever infected.
  5. Trust Working Nets and Avoid the Horror Stories with Managed IT Services!

The virus protection we offer at Working Nets is top-notch and consistently updated, ensuring your business remains safe. We know computer and network performance is crucial to the success of your business. We were founded to provide small businesses, like yours, with expert information technology support.

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today! You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Working Nets
April 25, 2013

Preparing for Disaster Recovery: It is Important to Have a Plan

Tags: , IT Tips Baltimore

While we certainly hope your business is never stricken by a disaster, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Remember, it is far easier to recover from a disaster if you have a plan in place. And it is much better to sit down and put a plan together now than after a disaster strikes and major data loss occurs.

You have probably seen us throw around this statistic before, but it is a good one. Of companies that experience major data loss, 51% close within 2 years, while 43% never recover.

Preparing for Disaster Recovery: It is Important to Have a Plan

  1. Backups:  Backups are not only cost-effective, but extremely important. You need to ensure that you are backing up everything – operating systems, applications, and data. Just make sure you store the backups off site. Otherwise, they could be affected and ruined by the same disaster plaguing your business.
  2. Recovery Tiers: Not every position within a company can handle downtime. Some have need zero or near-zero downtime. Because of this, it is important to create recovery tiers, which is a hierarchy of restoration. To accomplish this, most organizations use the following metrics: Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO). RPO the frequency of backups. For example, a four-hour RPO dictates that the most recent backup can’t be more than four hours old. Meanwhile, RTO indicates how long after a disaster it takes to restore service. For example, a four-hour RTO means that systems must be back up and running four hours after an outage.
  3. Align Strategies with Business Strategy: It is not cost effective to treat every aspect of your business as critical. Because of this, your disaster recovery strategy must align with your business strategy. So what aspects of your business are most important to you and the future success of your business?
  4. Prepare for Recovery: The recovery phase is when you start getting everything back up and running. It may not be a permanent solution and performance may not be optimal, but it enables your business to get back on track. It is very similar to replacing a flat tire with a spare.
  5. Prepare for Restoration: The restoration phase is when you actually restore things to the way they were before.

Make sense? Need help?

Working Nets: Baltimore, Maryland Disaster Preparedness & Disaster Recovery Services

At Working Nets, we were founded to provide small businesses, like yours, with expert information technology support. We know computer and network performance is crucial to success. That is why we offer disaster preparedness and disaster recovery services to help assure that your vital business data is kept secure if disaster strikes.

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today!

Welcome to Working Nets – your virtual IT Department!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Working Nets
April 17, 2013

Disaster Recovery Horror Story #3: Backups aren’t for the Birds

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Here at Working Nets, we have heard it all before. We know the excuses: “Disaster recovery is not important,” or “the plan we have in place is just fine.” Our personal favorite is: “I can’t afford disaster recovery.”

Can’t afford disaster recovery? We understand that running a small business is tough and profit margins are thin, especially in this economy, but the fact is that you cannot afford NOT to have a disaster recovery plan in place. You have heard us throw around the same statistic time and time again. Of companies that experience major data loss, 51% close within 2 years, while 43% never recover. These numbers are staggering! So why would a company even take the risk?

Disaster Recovery Horror Story #3: Backups aren’t for the Birds

A small chain pet store in the tri-state area was quickly outgrowing its current wed provider and was looking for web space, a database and a few e-mail boxes. The store opted for a monthly package that included a 10MB database, 100MB of disk space and 100GB of bandwidth. And it quickly became apparent that this would not be nearly enough. The company’s web provider suggested that they move to a dedicated server. Instead, the pet store chain opted to pay monthly overages and operate using insufficient bandwidth.

Upon investigating the reason for the company’s slow website, the web provider found that the shared database for this Web site – a 10MB file – was the database for the entire company. The website itself accounted for less than 5% of the total data in the database. The other 95% included POP sales registers, payroll, HR, inventory, tax records, and so much more! However, that is just the beginning.

The company had no backup system in place. And guess what happened? When working on the website, someone accidently erased EVERYTHING. The poor pet store chain was unable to recover and was forced to close every one of its stores.

If that pet store chain had simply implemented and followed a disaster recovery plan, this horror story could have been avoided. A disaster recovery plan can be the difference between the life and death of your business.

Baltimore Disaster Recovery Services

At Working Nets, we were founded to provide small businesses, like yours, with expert information technology support they needed. That is why we offer disaster recovery services to help assure that your vital business data is kept secure if disaster strikes.

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today!

Welcome to Working Nets – your virtual IT Department!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+

Working Nets
April 3, 2013

Baltimore Disaster Recovery Services: It should be at the Top of the List

Tags: , IT Tips Baltimore

You have probably heard disaster recovery horror stories before. If not, just check out our blog from last week, “Disaster Recovery Horror Story #1: Manhattan Investment Firm springs a Leak.” Instead of implementing a full disaster recovery plan, the investment firm decided that they were okay with their current backup system. Three months later, a water main burst in the street outside their building. Everything was ruined, including the backup tapes, which were stored on-site.

Don’t let this happen to your business. It pays to be prepared.

According to a NFIB National Small Business Poll, 10% of businesses are affected by man-made disasters, while 30% are affected by natural disasters. Of these businesses that experience catastrophic data loss as the result of a disaster, only 6% survive, according to research by the University of Texas. 43% of businesses never reopen and 51% close within 2 years.

So don’t take any chances. Be prepared. Implement a disaster recovery plan.

Baltimore Disaster Recovery Services: It should be at the Top of the List

  1. Your Devices aren’t perfect: Computers, machines, and hardware fail. Because of this, it is important to have a plan in place. Is your data backed up off-site? If not, what would happen if your business was struck by a natural or man-made disaster?
  2. Human Error: Humans are far from perfect. Even the most cautious person can accidently cause data loss. Having incremental online data backups in place will allow you to restore your files.
  3. Weak Links: Your company is only as strong as its weakest link. Don’t let that weak link be your lack of a disaster recovery plan. No business is immune to disasters and data loss.
  4. Cost-Effective: Implementing a disaster recovery plan is a much more cost-effective solution than trying to salvage what is left of your business and customer base following a disaster and major data loss.
  5. Avoid Downtime: Downtime is costly. A disaster recovery plan can help you minimize downtime and get your business back up and running as quickly as possible.

At Working Nets, we know computer and network performance is crucial to success. We were founded to provide small businesses, like yours, with expert information technology support. That is why we offer disaster preparedness and disaster recovery services to help assure that your vital business data is kept secure if disaster strikes.

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today! You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Welcome to Working Nets – your virtual IT Department!

Working Nets
February 22, 2013

System Downtime costs Companies $366,363 annually. Fight Back!

Tags: , , , IT industry, IT Tips Baltimore

Where did all the data go?

Shockingly, according to the 2012 Acronis Disaster Recovery Index survey, system downtime costs companies an average of $366,363 annually. The survery, which was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and data protection software developer Acronis, found that 86% of companies suffered costly downtime the year before, losing an average of 2.2 days annually. The primary culprits were…

  1. Human Error: 60% of respondents cited human error as the most common cause of downtime.
  2. Data Storage: 70% of respondents cited data storage and the moving of data between different physical, virtual and cloud environments as the biggest cause of downtime.

According to Continuity Software, a New York-based provider of service availability risk management solutions, data storage carries the biggest risk for data loss and costly downtime. The company found that…

  1. The primary cause of downtime and data loss in 58% of cases is storage.
  2. Servers come in second at 17%.
  3. Clusters account for 11%.
  4. Virtualization and the cloud, 9%.
  5. Databases round out the group at 5%.

What is perhaps most shocking is what follows. According to Continuity Software’s findings, 25% of downtime results in Response Time Objective (RTO) violations, which increase downtime. Why? According to Working Nets own David Spigelman, the primary culprit behind RTO violations could be fear.

“The first question the boss is going to ask is, ‘Why didn’t we have that covered?’” explained David. “And if you don’t have a good answer to that question, there’s a real fear that you should have.”

According to a 2011 EVault survey, 17% of IT decision makers would rather have their teeth pulled without painkillers than inform their bosses of critical data loss. And for good reason. Major data loss can be devastating for a business. Of companies that experience a major loss of business data 51% close within 2 years, while 43% never recover.

Do you want to know the secret to minimizing downtime and data loss? Be proactive! Having a disaster recovery and data backup system in place is the best way to minimize downtime and get your business back on track quickly.

Minimize Costly Downtime with Working Nets, your Virtual IT Department!

Downtime is a business owner’s worst nightmare.  This is why data protection and recovery is crucial. At Working Nets, we help ensure that your vital business data is kept secure if disaster strikes. We provide top-notch information technology services to companies who don’t require an IT department, but do need reliable assistance when challenges arise.

By reducing downtime, your office remains more productive and ultimately more profitable!

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today!

Welcome to Working Nets – your virtual IT Department!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Sources:

6 Surprising Surveys About Causes And Effects Of System Downtime

Working Nets
January 3, 2013

Losing Control of your Digital Life: Tablet Cybersecurity Tips

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Happy New Year!

In 2012, we started to outline several ways in which your tablet could be putting you at risk, from wireless hotspots to unencrypted email servers to downloading apps from untrustworthy sources. Well, it may be a new year, but we are going to continue our countdown, unveiling the rest of our Tablet Cybersecurity Tips.

  1. Virtual Private Networks (VPN): If available through your mobile service provider, always use a VPN. This offers tablet users, like you, a safe and secure way to surf the Internet without compromising your sensitive data.
  2. Physical Thieves: Cybersecurity threats are ever present, but you must not ignore physical threats, as well. This is why it is so important to have a strong PIN code or passphrase to prevent unauthorized access.
  3. Security Apps: A good security app could be the difference between safely surfing the net and putting your sensitive data at risk. These apps are similar to computer security software and can help protect your tablet from malware and other online threats.
  4. Update your Software: It is critical that you keep your tablet and software up to date. This is the best way to protect your tablet and your data. Many updates contain vital security fixes. If you ignore these updates, you could unknowingly be putting your data at risk.

So please be safe!

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today!

Welcome to Working Nets – your virtual IT Department!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Source: Securing a tablet for web browsing in six easy steps

Working Nets
November 9, 2012

The Karma of Networking Events: Patience is the Secret to Lead Generation

Tags: , , IT industry, IT Tips Baltimore

The other night I attended a networking event. It’s an annual event, but this is the first time I’ve gone. I was fascinated as to how many people I knew at this event. Many from events I still regularly attend, but others from groups I used to go to, or even groups that just are no more. I met some knew, and re-established contact with folks with whom I’d been long out of touch.

This morning, I emailed someone who was at the event, who doesn’t do very much networking for his business, and asked him what he thought of it. His response was, “As far as the event, I met a couple of people that I will follow up on. If anything positive comes out of that, it will have been worth it, otherwise, not.” Now, to me, that perspective is… bizarre. But I have come across it many times before. So I responded to his email, but I’d like to share it with all of you who use networking as part of your business-marketing plan:

My philosophy on networking events is that it’s almost always worth it. If nothing solid comes out of it, you met some people. Next time, you’ll run into some of them, and now you’re not strangers anymore. You talk a little bit about whatever – the Ravens, vacation spots, whatever. The next time they’ll smile when they see you and say “HIIIII – How ARE you?” And after that, you schedule a one-on-one, etc… Like other marketing initiatives, this is a game of brand awareness. The more you get to know them; the more they get to know you, the more likely they will feel comfortable thinking of you as “the accountant” when they have issues, or when they talk to other business owners.

I go to two networking meetings pretty much every week. And for those folks, I am the “computer guy.” I don’t always get leads from them, but when I do, it’s business. I’ve gotten $10,000+ deals from these meetings. Only a few, but to me, that justifies my attending them. I also go to several other events, as I catch them. And very often, I meet people that I know from other events, and they introduce me to other people I didn’t know. And the cycle goes round…

For example, I met someone from a networking group I was in years ago, whom I haven’t seen in a long time. He’s now working for a different company, and when we were talking, I asked him whom his targets are. One of his targets turned out to be the company that one of my friends works for, and he was there last night. I introduced them. He’s so happy; he wants to buy me dinner! A woman I met at the same event is a target for another one of my friends, who was also there last night. I introduced them. Now whether or not they actually wind up doing business together, those people will remember that I tried to help them. And if they have the opportunity to refer someone back to me, or if they even meet someone who wants to work with small IT companies, chances are I’m going to get that referral. That’s the power of networking.

That’s not to say be a mercenary and pretend that you want to help others in order to receive some future gain. It doesn’t work like that. It’s more like… karma. You put good stuff out there; good stuff will come back. I believe that, and I’ve seen it in my business.

So if you go to meetings and events, and don’t immediately meet people that are looking for what you do, don’t give it up as a worthless endeavor. Keep going. Meet more people. Get to know the ones you’ve already met, better. And help people, even if you don’t think they can help you. Because you never know…

If you have any questions, please contact Working Nets by calling (443) 992-7394 or visit WorkingNets.com today!

Security & Disaster Preparedness Services: Data protection and recovery is crucial. Working Nets assures that your vital business data is kept secure if disaster strikes.

Welcome to Working Nets – your virtual IT Department!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.