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Melissa Cocks

Recent Posts

IT Security Expert Discusses Google Web-Encrypted Search

Posted by Melissa Cocks on Thu, Jun 03, 2010

Google Web Security

Search Privacy

On May 13th, Google announced that it will offer a web-encrypted search feature to increase privacy for end-users. We've asked our computer security expert, Ben Howard, to explain how Google is able to make search more secure with its new web-encrypted search option.

Ben says that Google allows the use of SSL (Secure Socket Layer) to connect a user's browser to their search engine.  The new site, 

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Topics: Disaster Recovery, Managed Services

IT Security Tips for Computer Applications

Posted by Melissa Cocks on Fri, Dec 11, 2009

IT Security Tips for Computer Applications

Update your software:ComputerSecurity

All current Microsoft operating systems come configured to perform automated updates.  However, most of the applications that are installed on your computer do not.  Keep in mind that every application you use poses a potential risk that could allow an attacker to gain access to your system or information.  So, configure your software to check for updates frequently.  If it can’t be automated, make sure you check for updates to your software.  Whether it’s Adobe Reader, Apple iTunes, Sun Java, Mozilla Firefox, or the latest video game, new vulnerabilities are constantly being discovered and patches are routinely being released.  Update everything and update frequently.

If you don’t need it, uninstall it:

 Every application you have on your computer represents a potential vulnerability, or a way for an attacker to gain access.  Consider your computer to be like a house and every application is like a window.  When an application is vulnerable, it’s as if the window is open, allowing attackers easy entrance.  Even when the window is close, i.e., the application is patched, the attacker can clearly see the window and can work to find a vulnerability that will open it up.  If you don’t need an application, you should uninstall it.  This is like removing the window and walling it in; there’s nothing there through which an attacker can even try to gain access.

 

Written by:

 

Ben Howard - MCSE, Security+, CCNA Security, NSA 4011
Senior IT Associate
NSK Inc. 

 

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Topics: Disaster Recovery, Data Security

Less Data Loss in 2009?

Posted by Melissa Cocks on Wed, Dec 02, 2009

2009 Data Loss: Overlooking Important Points When Viewing Statistics

The end of a year is a time to look back and reflect on positive and negative incidents that have occurred in the past 12 months. Some people make a more general, qualitative assessment about performance, and others look at hard numbers and come to conclusions that way. Although there are many different ways of analyzing performance, it is important to ask yourself if the paradigm you’re using to assess improvement in any situation is hiding another truth. This applies all business matters, but right now we’ll focus on business IT. To demonstrate this concept, we’ll use the following example.

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Topics: Disaster Recovery

Avoiding Spam Tricks

Posted by Melissa Cocks on Mon, Oct 19, 2009

Spam E-Mail Security Tip

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Topics: Disaster Recovery

Online Shopping Safety

Posted by Melissa Cocks on Thu, Oct 08, 2009

Tips on Online Safety

If you’re like me and millions of other people, you probably shop online.  This almost inevitably means you will transmit your credit card number along with personally identifying information such as your name and address through the internet. This is a prime opportunity for a bad guy to steal your identity without ever having to be near your trash-can, which is is another story for another tip.

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Topics: Disaster Recovery