News
Greenlight Super Projects11/8/2006 by: Nick
Coming Soon! We'll detail some of our super projects over the past couple of years, including,
How we helped link three buildings together over a 3 block radius with a secure wireless network with a low low low price tag.
Running power and data over one cable 200 meters to a remote surveillance camera, for less than $200!!!
Hardware hacking to make a $40 wireless router a POE ready enterprise access point.
Open Source Adoption1/19/2006 by: Nick
Greenlight Systems LLC has long been an advocate of Open Source. Many businesses today are hearing about Open Source software, but might be wondering how it might help them achieve their goals. We can help! Give us a call and start taking advantage of the benefits of Open Source today.
No article this time, but check out this related article at Newsforge:
Consultants report corporations embracing, saving with open source
VOIP
11/4/2005 by: Nick
We are now doing VOIP systems. Our test rollouts have been very
successful. We are offering anything from a low-cost office phone
system for less than $50 per station, to a full PBX and long-distance
calling solution.
The niche we are trying to fill is the low-cost area below major
solution provider's high-prices. Our bid's will be 20%-50% for an
equal "name-brand" proprietary system from another telecommunications
provider.
If you've been holding out on a phone system because of the sticker
shock you experienced when pricing from a vendor, give us a call, no
worries!
Security for the Sake of Security
11/4/2005 by: Nick
Well, we've all got to be aware of it. Security. There are
barbarians at the gate ready to steal into your systems and destroy
your data.
It's important to evaluate security as part of your IT strategy.
However, it must be seen in context of the bigger picture.
I've been running into a lot of so called "Security Experts" that
advocate all secure, all the time. Everything must be password
protected, encrypted, thumb print analyzed, monitored, logged,
penetration tested, and surrounded by three firewalls.
When asked how these actions are justified, their answer is invariably "So it's secure."
This makes sense, correct? No. Any security solution must make it's own business case.
"Well, you argue, security is a necessary evil, a fact of life, it
doesn't make us money or save us time, it has no business case like a
streamlined database might."
Wrong. Any security solution's buisness case is made by the risks
it mitigates. You might not want to spend $50 per station on an
anti-virus solution for your inexperienced email users who are opening
unsafe attachments right and left. Well, compare that $50/station
to the cost of repeated virus outbreaks, and everything that goes with
them, service hours for data recovery, reinstallation, virus removal,
lost hours to workers sitting still. I guarantee this will add up
to more than the cost of the anti-virus solution.
In this case the security solution is justified. It makes business sense.
Another problem is "oversecurity." Passwords that change too
often that users get confused and need IT help. Unnecessarily
restrictive firewalls where changes need to be made everytime a user
goes to a new site.
We need to keep in mind that the primary job of most IT systems is to
"get work done." If the security on a particular system is so
overdone, yes, the threats are mitigated, but so is the user's ability
to use the system. If productivity is going down because
users cannot use the system, the solution must be re-evaluated.
New Web Design
10/24/2005 by: Nick
We've revamped our website. Thanks for 2bdesign.de for the basis template that was edited slightly. Check them out if you need a design for yourself.
Simple and Easy Security
10/24/2005
By: Nick
With just a few easy steps, you can mitigate 90% of the security risks
common to small and medium businesses. All while spending little or no
money.
Replace Internet Explorer
-- Internet Explorer is a large security risk for today's
businesses. Most worms, virii, and especially spyware take advantage
of a security hole in either Internet Explorer or Outlook (see below).
Stopping the use of IE can significantly lower your risk of being
compromised by one of these maladies.
In 2005, users switched by the thousands to Mozilla Firefox.
Not only is Mozilla Firefox a more secure browser, but it is also much
more functional, in my opinion. Firefox is an Open Source web browser
of the Mozilla/Netscape progeny. It is a good choice as an alternative
to IE.
Opera is another good alternative to IE.
Dump Outlook
-- As World Wide Web exploits take advantage of Internet Explorer,
email baddies use Outlook as their Kicking Boy. The far and away
majority of email worms target weanesses in the Outlook/Outlook Express
mail client.
While Outlook is a very powerful and easy to use email and calendaring
application, its major security risks do not justify its use.
Many alternatives exist. One powerful free email client is the Thunderbird email client.
Treat Email attachments with skepticism
-- Most email virii and worms are spread when users inadvertently open
an infected attachment. Follow up interviews with users often reveal
them saying something to the effect of "Something seemd fishy about
that email."
Be careful when opening attachemnts. If it seems out of place or
"fishy" contact the sender to verify its validity or flat out delete
it. You will probably know a valid attachment "Oh, here's that PDF
invoice I was expecting from Scott..." Attachments, even from someone
you know, that you are unsure of could be automatically propagating
worms.
Worms use many psychological techniques to get people to open
attachments: masquerading as a boss, family member, or important bill
from a creditor. Treat all unexpected attachments with skepticism, and
you will significantly reduce your risk of being infected.
If you are fond of sending forwards, especially jokes or interactive
attachments that play a song or video, invest in a good virus and
spyware scanning application, as forwards are often responsible for the
spread of spyware and worms.
By following these easy steps, you can mitigate most common security risks for small and medium businesses.
But you might say,
"Wait, I can't just dump Outlook, we've got thousands invested in our
Outlook/Exchange platform." or "I'd like to get rid of my spyware
ridden Internet Explorer, but we've got a Business 2 Business web
portal that only works with IE."
It is true, not everyone can easily drop these two applications. Since
1 of 6 (and growing) users now use Mozilla Firefox, IE only web sites
are mostly a thing of the past, however, some legacy sites still
support only IE.
Also, many businesses are heavily invested in both software/hardware and training in the Outlook Exchange platform.
If you can't dump these applications, here's what you can do to minimize your risks:
Although new security holes will still be found in Outlook and IE, keeping up to date on security patches will go a long way to minimize your risks. Stay on top of updates for these two applications.
Invest in a good Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware platform
to help protect holes in these applications. Contact Greenlight
Systems for cost-effective solutions. We recommend products from Trend Micro.
Tighten your Internet Explorer security settings. Turn security level to "high" and disable ActiveX and Java for all non-trusted sites.
If you must use Outlook, focus on the item above "Be skeptical of emails and attachments."
This is especially true with Outlook. A little traning of your users
to be wary of attachments before opening will avoid problems later on.
By following the above advice, you can mitigate many security risks of
working in a Windows environment, without investing a lot of time or
money.
For more information or for a variety of best fit and cost effective
security solutions, email nicK@greenlight-systems.com or use the mailform.
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