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New Solid State (SSD) drives push the performance envelope

March 29, 2010 By 1 Comment
We’re really admiring the numbers on this new series of solid state drive from Crucial. Read speeds up to 355MB/s will really launch server and workstation performance ahead. The biggest barrier to SSD drives is the cost, this drive lists for $799 at Crucial.com, over $3/GB. The street price will be a lot lower, well under $700. This drive coupled with a high performance laptop is a large jump ahead. http://amplify.com/u/3tez

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Millions of users open spam emails and click on links

March 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This is really telling information, and the numbers do not surprise me. I’ve been in the IT field long enough to know that many users are habitually curious and will open and click links or open files that most people would not. It is a delicate balancing act right now with the threats rising and the methods of stopping it always lag behind the trend. The big problem is the user is the best defense but it is very difficult to build and maintain a internet security savvy culture even at the corporate level (especially?). Building that culture really is the key as no software or firewall will ever completely protect users from these threats. Sometimes it boils down to the need to resist the curiosity and not open these messages. http://amplify.com/u/3ql9

Popularity: 5% [?]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Saving 80% on Wages and Payroll Taxes for New Hires

March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Re-post from Joe’s Personal Blog:

An incredible opportunity exists for businesses to hire new employees and get a large percentage of their wages and payroll taxes paid for through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Here are some important points about the program:

  1. It applies to any business and job seeker anywhere in the US.
  2. Some localities have resources that screen the job seekers to qualify their eligibility.
  3. Businesses that receive federal funding do not qualify for these funds.
  4. The program pays 80% of wages and payroll taxes through September 30, 2010.
  5. There is no limit on the number of positions you can fill through this program.

This is a phenomenal opportunity for businesses that are hiring or are thinking about hiring to save a tremendous amount of money and make these hiring decisions sooner rather than later.

Here in the East Bay Area through the efforts of the Tri Valley Business Council, The Tri-Valley Community Foundation, The Pleasanton Weekly and Alameda Country District 1 Supervisor Scott Haggerty a great resource is available at American Family Recovery Project. At this website you can learn more, find new qualified employees, find jobs or provide a source to pre-screen job candidates. They also have a number of related job seeker events and employer information sessions where you can learn more about the program.

The screening process is crucial; employers are not allowed to ask the questions that would indicate eligibility. This is where local resources play a vital role in taking advantage of this program. Here in the Tri-Valley we are very fortunate to have a great resource to help us take advantage of this program. I want to thank Toby Brink at the Tri Valley Business Council for taking the time to explain this program to me. I am looking forward to attending one of the future information sessions and will plan to share more information as it becomes available.

Resources:

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Business/Productivity, News Tagged With: , , , ,

Is it safe to bank online?

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This article by Krebs on Security has identified an area of great concerned, exposure to online banking hacks. One of the banks in this article has experienced over a 500% increase in fraud cases. In many cases transactions are reversed but the victims still end up losing some of the money. These compromises typically result from a virus infection that leads to the capturing of banking credentials. It would be prudent to review your banks policies if theft were to occur. We are sharing this article because it depicts a rising tide in internet security, this has been a recurring them in 2009/2010. http://amplify.com/u/3amg

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Update Microsoft Office Products – Joe Reviews SB10-074 Cert Report (Video)

March 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Here is a review of this weeks Cert Advisory. This update contains the infamous Arucer.dll that came with the charging software on the Energizer Duo USB. Also definitely recommend updating your Microsoft Office products if you haven’t recently. This is a weekly feature here at Managed Solutions. If you have questions about this video post a comment here or ask on our Facebook Fan Page.

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: IT Professionals, Security, Videos Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Searching for Corey Haim leads to Rogue Antivirus Software

March 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This is an example of creative Blackhat SEO poisoning attacks. The crooks use unscrupulous methods to build strong response to an emerging key word exploiting a recent event. In this case they exploit the death of Corey Haim to direct people to Malware masquerading as antivirus software. As noted in this article on 17% of AV products would detect this product, meaning 83% of products would allow it to infect your PC. http://amplify.com/u/3616

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Solving Internet Security – Go After the Money

March 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The environment for operating internet crime syndicates has become a bit bumpier in recent months. Earlier this month we shared news about the arrests in the Mariposa Botnet. This recent news involves an ISP in Kazakhstan that has become a host for many of the delivery methods for Malware and Botnets. This caused a significant drop in Malware activity. By going after the money and making it more difficult for the companies that allow these illegal enterprises to persist we add a high deterrent to the would be perpetrators. http://amplify.com/u/350d

Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

An Easy way to get Free Support, Enter to Win Prizes and Earn Money for Charity

March 11, 2010 By 2 Comments

We want to be big on Facebook, and with your help we can get there and help others who are less fortunate at the same time. The benefits of being a fan on our Facebook page are numerous:

  1. You can get tech support for free, just post your questions on the wall.
  2. You can meet new interesting people who are friends, vendors and clients of Managed Solutions.
  3. You can access a condensed feed of our content and pick the posts you’re most interested in.
  4. By joining us as a fan you can earn money for charity.
  5. You can win cool prizes just by becoming a fan.

We would much rather donate money to charity than pay for advertising. For that reason we have started the first of what may be many membership drives for our page that will benefit a charity. Effective now 3/11/2010 we have 401 fans on our page. For every new fan we get between now and May 13th, we will donate $1 up to a total of $500 to the Danville/Sycamore Valley Rotary Club on behalf of our supporters.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Filed Under: General, Internal, News Tagged With: , , , ,

Attackers can crack 1 in 80 Accounts

March 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This is an interesting study and the findings are very useful to improving email security, particularly with webmail type services like Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo. They found in this study that attackers were able to crack one in eighty accounts by guessing answers. The results surprised the group conducting the study, they did not anticipate it would be this statistically easy to do. So word to the wise, use the more complicated verification answers whenever possible if you want your accounts to remain secure. We’re usually given a number of choices when we sign up. http://amplify.com/u/2v47

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Update Adobe Acrobat, Again – Joe Reviews SB10-060 Cert Report (Video)

March 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Here is a review of this weeks Cert Advisory. Adobe Acrobat has returned, please be sure to update! This is a weekly feature here at Managed Solutions. If you have questions about this video post a comment here or ask on our Facebook Fan Page.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Filed Under: IT Professionals, Security, Videos Tagged With: , , , , ,
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