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American Honda warns their customers of Privacy Breach

December 24, 2010 By 1 Comment

American Honda Motor Company, Inc. is warning their customers today of a privacy breach that resulted in the compromise of private information about their customers. In this instance they are advising their clients of the following client information being compromised:

  1. Email Addresses
  2. Names
  3. Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
  4. User ID

Their formal statement to their customers claims that no other information such as password, address where included in the breach. Hopefully a more thorough investigation will occur to verify the claim because if customer physical addresses were also compromised this would be a major concern.

Here is the entire message:

Honda Logo

Dear Customer,

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. recently became aware of unauthorized access to an email list used by a vendor to create a welcome email to customers who have an Owner Link or My Acura vehicle account. The data that was obtained included your email address, your name, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and User ID. Your password was not included and no other sensitive information was contained in that list.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. As a company, we believe that all customer relationships must be built on trust. That is why we believe it is important to inform you of this incident. You may be aware of attacks on email marketing systems, therefore we want to assure you that we take the safeguarding of your information seriously and that the appropriate authorities have been contacted regarding this incident. Additionally, we have taken steps to minimize this type of exposure in the future.

As a Company, we encourage you to continue to be aware of the increasingly common email scams that may use your email address to contact you and ask for personal or sensitive information — Be cautious when opening links or attachments from unsolicited third parties. Also, know that American Honda Motor Co., Inc. will not send you emails asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personal information. If ever asked for this information, you can be confident it is not from us.

Again, let us reassure you that we are taking necessary steps to safeguard your personal information.

If you would like further information on this topic please visit honda.com/info/b

Thank you.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

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

Dr. Dan wants to buy Real Estate (Phishing)

August 12, 2010 By 1 Comment

We’re paid to be paranoid here at Managed Solutions. When this message arrived in my inbox today it was a rarity. Rare because it is one of very few phishing Emails that have bypassed my anti-spam mechanisms. Phishing is a process by which a criminal pretends to be a legitimate entity in an effort to gain passwords, identity, bank account or other private data. Here is the text of the message:

I am interested in purchasing a private residence in your country or in any country you are well-acquainted with.

The Property must be located in a well-reserved,serene,secure and highly-hygienic environment because I am most particular about the safety and sound health of my family.
I wish to make this transaction with you in a very secret and confidential manner due to my position as a cabinet minister here in my country Ghana.

Therefore,upon response from you I will connect you with my agent here whom I trust so much to represent my interest in this purchase.franciskweme2007@[hidden].com
Thank you and accept my kindest regards,

Dr. dan

Want to complete this article?

What issues do you see with the text of this message and why would I assume that it is a Phishing Email? Complete this story via comment and we’ll feature your comment as a part of the article and link back to your website.

We have a winner, David Schur completed the article via this comment on Facebook:

David Schur – I’ll take a shot Joe.
1) does not address you by name. Nobody will buy your house, or send you millions of dollars without knowing who the heck you are
2) Total lack of pii. If this was legit, they would know your address, which is the relevant pii in this case. My bank or cc includes the last 4 digits of my account to let me know the email is real.
3) Typo’s…when will the phishers learn that simply hiring a native english speaker to proofread would make a difference (maybe there is ba business opportunity here)
4) simple common sense…to good to be true = false…100% of the time

This won’t work for a real hack…but luckily phishers these days never invest in data that connects your email to any meaningful form of pii…luckily axiom 4 will ALLWAYS be true

Joe’s comment – I really like David’s rule #4, I think Phishers best tool is exploiting people’s greed. Also David had no desire to have a link back to anywhere so I asked him what Charity he likes, here is his response:

“American Red Cross…when bad stuff happens they get my money…then I can safely and with good conscience ignore the inevitable scam charity emails” – David Schur

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: News, Security, Technology Tagged With: , , , , ,

DNS Made Easy targeted by DoS attack

August 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

One of our DNS partners – DNS Made Easy sent us this Email today about a large denial of service (DoS) attack that occurred on 8/7/2010. The attack started at 8:00UTC and was mitigated by 14:00UTC. While we received no complaints but since this outage may have affected the dns resolution for a small number of our clients we wanted to make this information available in a timely manner to all of our clients via our Service Status category here on Managedsolutions.com. If you have any questions about this issue please contact us.

Executive Summary of Issue

If you host with Managed Solutions you may have had some slow performance or time outs while checking Email. If your website is hosted through us it is possible that it took longer to resolve or may have in some cases timed out. This issue was only in effect 8/7/2010 from 8:00UTC-14:00UTC 3AM-9AM Eastern Time.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Filed Under: Network Status, News

Countdown to Zero Leasing Offer

August 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Our business partner Lenovo is launching Lenovo Financial Services (LFS) and as a part of that launch they are offering special promotional leasing. This may be just the opportunity for your business to obtain equipment that is needed today while preserving cash flow.  This Countdown to Zero offer consists of a 0% financing, Fair Market Value lease over 39 months with no payments for the first three months.

0% Financing Plus 3 Months of Zero Payments LFS Promotion

  • Transactions may be as small as $10,000 and as large as $250,000
  • Transactions must be approved by 9/30/2010 and funded by 10/31/2010
  • Up to 40% of the total sale amount financed may be Lenovo services, peripherals, and software (sold by Lenovo)
  • LFS can finance the entire solution; Lenovo Business Partners (like Managed Solutions) can supplement the sale with additional hardware, software and pre-approved services

It is also worth mentioning that Leasing of all shapes and sizes are available as a part of this new offering, feel free to contact us for more details.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Filed Under: Lenovo, News, Promotions Tagged With: , , , , ,

Speakeasy and Covad to seek merger

June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

 

We received information today that Speakeasy is seeking to merge with Covad. As we are a Speakeasy partner we wanted to share this information with our customers immediately. Here is the Email from the Speakeasy CEO Bruce Chatterley:

I want to personally contact you regarding an important announcement that Speakeasy is making today and explain how this announcement benefits our partners.

Speakeasy has decided to join with Covad Communications Company, a leading national provider of IP broadband services in North America and MegaPath Inc., a leading voice, data, security, managed service and VPN service provider.   This new entity combines Speakeasy’s expertise in smaller business communications, MegaPath’s wide selection of products and value-added services and, Covad’s robust network infrastructure. This combined entity creates a new class of CLEC; a Managed Service Local Exchange Carrier (MSLEC). As a result, Covad’s nationwide broadband footprint will support Speakeasy and MegaPath’s voice and data application services. By combining companies, these voice, data, and value added services will be available anywhere you do business and to virtually every small, medium and large business you serve.

This merger is subject to the approval of the Federal Communications Commission and state public utility commissions in many of the states where Covad and MegaPath do business. Until the close of this merger, Speakeasy will continue to operate business-as-usual. This transaction is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2010.

Speakeasy is dedicated to providing our partners with the highest-quality portfolio of voice, data services on the market, and this merger helps us strengthen that commitment. The resources of the new combined company will enable us to expand our service offerings and provide more choices and value for you and your customers

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support. Partners are an important part of both companies and will become even more critical to our combined company. With this merger, you will continue to receive all of the benefits of our existing partnership, plus enjoy the benefits of our expanded network and service offerings. We have some exciting plans for the future, and we look forward to working with you to bring them to market.

Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact your Speakeasy Sales Consultant.

For more information, please read the press release posted on www.speakeasy.net/press.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

Filed Under: News, Speakeasy Tagged With: , , ,

Speakeasy Business Voice Enchancements

April 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Managed Solutions is a Speakeasy VOIP Certified partner, and we provide these services to many of our customers. Speakeasy notified us today of some significant improvements going into effect in May.

We are pleased to announce starting May 5th customers will have the ability to make the following changes to their Business Voice account:

o Edit a user’s

- Phone number
- Extension
- Directory name
- User name

o Reset

- User’s voice mail pass code
- User’s voice web portal password
- Administrator’s voice web portal password

o Swap phones between users

Customers can manage their account by going to MySpeakeasy, logging in, and clicking on the Manage Your Voice Services link.  If a customer forgets their password, they should click “Forgot Password” under the Login button and follow the prompts.

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Popularity: 10% [?]

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

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: , , , ,

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: , , , ,

Can you stump our experts? Free tech support on our Facebook Page.

February 12, 2010 By 6 Comments

Free tech support!
Do you have a tech support question that you’ve been wanting to ask but don’t want to pay? See if you can stump our experts via our Fan Page on Facebook.

Popularity: 10% [?]

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

Livermore Valley (California) designated iHub

February 9, 2010 By 1 Comment

Livermore Valley has won designation as one of first 6 Innovation Hubs by the California Business Transportation and Housing Agency. The iHub program is designed to spur economic recovery and growth by showcasing and supporting California’s most promising hubs of innovation. Over the next few weeks local representatives will be meeting with the state to determine an action plan. This will benefit existing businesses and agencies as well as encourage new investment in the Tri-Valley area which will lead to more quality jobs in the area. All of this is great news for local businesses and residents. The 6 iHubs designated so far are:

  • I-GATE – Livermore Valley
  • OCTANe – Orange County
  • SARTA – Sacramento
  • Coachella Valley iHub – Coachella and Palm Springs
  • North Bay iHub – Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster, Sonoma
  • Greater Mission Bay Area iHub – San Francisco Center for Economic Development

Among the many innovative entities in the Tri-Valley are Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories. We will be providing more information about this as it becomes available as it has a substantial impact on our clients and fellow Tri Valley residents.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

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