Managed Solutions selects Connectwise Professional Services Automation PSA

January 29, 2010 By Joe Hackman Leave a Comment

Connectwise PSA

Today Managed Solutions entered into a 3 year agreement with Connectwise to provide us with Professional Service Automation (PSA) software. ConnectWise PSA combines help desk, dispatching, service level management, project management and CRM into a single, web based application, with integrated time-tracking, billing and reporting. Designed based on 27 years of experience as an IT solution provider and used by over 36,000 IT professionals, ConnectWise enables IT services companies to streamline their daily workflow and operate using proven best practices.

By implementing this solution we will be able to provide our clients with great service quality, tracking, budgeting and transparency even as our business scales. The implementation process is estimated to take about 7 weeks. Should you have any questions please contact us.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed Under: Company Info, Internal, News Tagged With: Connectwise, Managed Solutions, Productivity, Service

Disable that annoying IE8 Warning Message (Video)

January 28, 2010 By Joe Hackman 1 Comment

Recently you may have noticed a new repetitive security warning in Internet Explorer 8. The feature is to protect internet users from non secure content while browsing a secure site. Some secure sites link content, images and advertisements that are not delivered securely. This could have ramifications if someone thought they were on a secure site and entered in sensitive data that was not encrypted. The truth is the warnings are so prolific that they almost defeat the purpose they intended. To be safe I recommend choosing the setting to disable the non secure content which is the selection I make in this video.

Another Youtube how to video from Managed Solutions:

Popularity: 8% [?]

Filed Under: General, Howto, Security, Videos Tagged With: Howto, IE8, Internet Explorer, Managed Solutions, Productivity, Security, tips

ADP Warns of Phishing Emails to Payroll Clients

January 26, 2010 By Joe Hackman 1 Comment

We were made aware of an issue that ADP is reporting with some of their Payroll customers. Here is the text of the warning message they are sending their clients:

“ADP is receiving reports of a phishing email scam targeting ADP EasyPayNet clients who perform their payroll via the Internet. Phishing email scams are designed to mimic legitimate websites and are intended to compromise your login credentials. The email is fraudulent and did not come from ADP. Please immediately delete the email and do not click on any links in the email or enter any login information. Please be aware that ADP would never send an email asking you to provide or enter your login credentials for any reason.”

Here is a screenshot of the Phishing Email:

Sample of ADP Phishing Email

Popularity: 25% [?]

Filed Under: IT Professionals, News, Security Tagged With: ADP, exploits, Managed Solutions, Phishing, scams, Security, tips

Joe Reviews SB10-25 Cert Report (Video)

January 25, 2010 By Joe Hackman Leave a Comment

These are weekly reviews of the reports from CERT. Nothing too horrible this week, but I provide more insights into what to look for and why. I did review the Shockwave Player vulnerability after recording the video and determined that since it is not a common component for most of our audience it did not merit a separate bulletin and notice. This is a weekly feature here at Managed Solutions.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed Under: IT Professionals, Security, Videos Tagged With: CERT, exploits, Managed Solutions, Security, tips

3 Reasons IT Pros and Informed Computer Users Should use CERT

January 19, 2010 By Joe Hackman Leave a Comment

The US-CERT Cyber Security Bulletin is a tool that provides frequent alerts on threats that affect computer technology. It is an essential tool for individuals in the business to see in one place the majority of known security risks affecting an extremely broad range of platforms and technologies. Here are # reasons why every IT person should review this list weekly:

The list is not platform specifc and covers everything from drivers to your Mac or PC software and OS.
It is sorted by the range of how critical the vulnerability is including High, Medium and Low.
The layout is very logical and a basic description of the problem, scoring, links to info and to patches.

So if you’re serious about IT security or just wish to be more informed, the US-CERT bulletins can make you much more informed as to where the risks are. Don’t rely on the latest news of the hacking of Google accounts to learn about the issues, it’s already too late then.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: IT Professionals, Security, Technology, Videos Tagged With: Managed Solutions, Security, tips

Update Your Adobe Acrobat Products Immediately

January 18, 2010 By Joe Hackman 9 Comments

Here at Managed Solutions we do not raise the red flag often, but after reviewing the latest CERT advisory, we’ve done just that. Do not delay, upgrade your Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader Products immediately to the latest version, apply the security patches or install adobe updater recommended updates. The US-CERT Bulletin for today SB10-018 indicates 6 different CVSS Score of 10 vulnerabilities for Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader. Basically a CVSS Score of 10 indicates the highest threat level due to the remote code execution capability and these issues should be taken very seriously. There is a link at the bottom of this article to the resources at Adobe’s website as well as a download for the Windows Version of Adobe Acrobat, please pass the word.

Access the security updates

We’ve learned that some people are having problems downloading the update directly from Adobe’s website so we’ve put the Windows version of Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.3 here for download.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Filed Under: Security Tagged With: CERT, exploits, Managed Solutions, Security

Axis Q6032E PTZ Dome Camera Simplifies Installation

January 18, 2010 By Joe Hackman 1 Comment

Axis has really listened to the feedback resellers around the world have given them. Here is a recent example of how simple some of their latest products are to install. Managed Solutions is a member of the Axis Partner program and we have been distributing their products for the past 5+ years.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Filed Under: Axis, Hardware, Security, Technology, Videos Tagged With: Axis, Howto, Managed Solutions, Q6032

Updated Windows 7 Application Compatibility List

January 13, 2010 By Joe Hackman Leave a Comment

Microsoft has created a new Application Compatibility List for Windows 7. While they state it is for IT professionals anyone can access it via their website. If you are unsure if applications you need will work (use this link to learn about how to make anything compatible if it is not on the list below) with Windows 7 this is a great place to start:

Windows 7 Application Compatibility List

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: IT Professionals Tagged With: Application Compatibility, Managed Solutions, Microsoft, Windows 7

DNS Issues Affecting Websites and Email

January 11, 2010 By Joe Hackman 11 Comments

8:24AM on Monday 1/11/2010
An issue with our hosting partners DNS services is causing intermittent Email outages for many of our hosting clients. We’ve been advised that they are aware of the issue and working to resolve it. No ETA has been provided.

8:42AM 1/11/2010
We have confirmed through research, discussions with our hosting partner and testing that the DNS issues are much more widespread than we had anticipated. There is an event of some significance occurring this morning effecting a substantial number of domain names. Enom and other providers are being affected. We will update this post as soon as we have more information.

9:01AM on Monday 1/11/2010
A hashtag is now being used to track this issue on Twitter #dnsmonday please be advised this issue is affecting enom.com, register.com and any subsidiary/resale accounts in their network.

9:27AM on Monday 1/11/2010
Enom Twitter status states they are working through a DoS attack. Here is a screen capture:

Enom Twitter Status

9:34AM Monday 1/11/2010 Podcast added

10:27AM Monday 1/11/2010
According to a number of people posting on Twitter with the #dnsmonday hashtag this issue is still affecting numerous domains. Enom has stated that they are working through the DDoS attack. As many large companies have learned a small number of hosts with the right tools can bring down very large service providers. It remains to be seen who the attackers are in this case, but that will be the next chapter of this story. I did note that namebargain.com (a subsidiary of register.com) was completely offline earlier this morning but seems to be back up now. Follow #dnsmonday on Twitter or check back here for more information. We will continue to update this article as more information becomes available.

11:29AM Monday 1/11/2010
Enom is now reporting that services are 100% restored. More details are likely to emerge throughout the day.

3:30PM Monday 1/11/2010
DDoS attacks on Enom and other Registrars are nothing new. According to a 2005 3Com white paper enom.com was attacked 15 days per month for each month January to August 2004. On August 9th, 2007 there was a high profile DoS attack that caused outages at Register.com. In 2009 there was an attack on 1/31/2009 that was of sufficient volume to deny access to dns services for about 8 hours. These are just some of the reports. Enom has a policy that they do not disclose specifics on the attacks, so it is unlikely that we will learn much more than what we already know. That said I believe that these may just be trial runs by persons testing to see how these companies running key parts of internet infrastructure respond to the events. Sort of the doorknob twist equivalent of cyber warfare. Of course since Enom is mum on the issue, we’ll be forced to speculate.

4:30PM Monday 1/11/2010 Wrap up Podcast:

Resources

3Com White Paper

Popularity: 26% [?]

Filed Under: Network Status Tagged With: Managed Solutions, Network Status