Managed Solutions » Howto

Large batch of Google Chrome Vulnerabilities and How to Protect Yourself

Joe Hackman — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:23:14 +0000

There is a rather large batch of critical Chrome Vulnerabilities in this weeks US CERT advisory report SB11-024. The CERT Advisories are part of a US Government effort to keep people informed of product security issues. Most of them have a factor of 9.3 to 10 out of 10, the highest possible which means if exploited on your computer it is likely that the attacker could gain access to your computer. The actual bulletins include PDF and HTML document handling, denial of service and unknown impacts that lead to “stale pointer”. This would most likely occur when accessing a website or a PDF file with a vulnerable version of the Chrome browser.

Who should care?

Do you use the Chrome Browser or Chrome OS? If you do then you should take action to confirm that you will not be vulnerable.

How to tell

With your Chrome Browser open click the small tool icon in the top right of the browser window pictured below:

Once the above drop-down menu appears click the “About Google Chrome” menu item. This will result in a screen that will tell you if your browser is up to date and what version it is running:

The critical piece of information is the green check mark at the bottom of the page. If Chrome is not update or in this case is a version older than 8.0.552 your browser is vulnerable and needs to be updated. In most cases Chrome will be up to date as it is configured to update automatically. This is actually one of the strengths of this browser platform.

How to add valuable information to your Windows desktop background (Video)

Joe Hackman — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:00:13 +0000

It seems as though basic system information is often needed but not always easy to get. This video demonstrates how to use the BGinfo program by Sysinternals to display important information on the desktop background of your windows PC. The first couple of minutes show how to edit and use the program then a demonstration showing how to add it to a login script follows that for network admin types.

Here is a screenshot example of the output on one of our test machines:

Have an idea you’d like to see a video demonstration of? If it’s not already here, let us know via comments, contact form or Facebook and we’ll try to get it added to our library.

Outlook Tip Drag and Drop Scheduling (Video)

Joe Hackman — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:02:41 +0000

This video demonstrates drag and drop scheduling in Outlook 2010. I’ve been using the Outlook Calendar feature and stopped using tasks all together for the most part. If you’re looking to improve your scheduling efficiency check out this video.

Powerpoint Tip Slideshow in a Window (Video)

Joe Hackman — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:36:34 +0000

Ever try to record a screencast of a Powerpoint presentation? If you have you may have noticed like I did that you cannot easily run the presentation slideshow within a window small enough for a practical screencast. After doing some research I discovered that there are some not so well documented features for Powerpoint 2007/2010 that will allow you to run your presentation in a window. This would be particularly useful if you were doing some kind of mashup.

Quick Tip MrFixit for Windows Update Issues

Joe Hackman — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:44:04 +0000

Have you ever encountered errors with Windows Update or had it just stop prompting you all-together? This might be the solution to your problem. Either way it is a web page at Microsoft that will provide the right tool depending on what Operating system you are running.

To run the utility navigate to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058 and click on the Microsoft Fix It icon or link:

You will have one option that can be selected, only use this option if the first attempt without it checked was not successful:

After running the utility in either mode an additional screen will pop up with other options:

If after a restart you still experience issues, you can run the utility again to access the help links in the utility. Microsoft does provide free support for windows update issues.

Why you should not bypass Java and other Updates

Joe Hackman — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:56:07 +0000

A very common complaint by end users involves “automatic updates” and some people go to great lengths to avoid them. We published this quick tip about when and how to run them to minimize the impact. There are several programs that you should think twice before bypassing or ignoring the update:

Windows Critical Updates
Adobe Acrobat
Flash Viewer
Oracle/Sun Java

The last item on this list is the primary purpose for this post, check out this bulletin from March 2009 related to Oracle Java. There were a total of 27 new security fixes:

“Due to the threat posed by a successful attack, Oracle strongly recommends that customers apply CPU fixes as soon as possible. This Critical Patch Update contains 27 new security fixes across all products.”

So please, when you get the notices for these updates – run them. Another great way to avoid many of these problems is to operate your computer with an account that has lower permissions. We will write a follow up describing how to do that and why.

If you’d like to see a chronological history of the Java updates or see if there are new ones go here. You can also add them to your RSS reader here.

Disable that annoying IE8 Warning Message (Video)

Joe Hackman — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:43:18 +0000

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:

Axis Q6032E PTZ Dome Camera Simplifies Installation

Joe Hackman — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:47:08 +0000

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.

Eset Howto Videos and Documentation

Joe Hackman — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:38:53 +0000

ESET Documentation

These are some useful resources we received as a NOD32 reseller so we thought we’d share them with our readers and clients.

ESET Software Installation Videos

ESET NOD32 Antivirus

Activating and Installing ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 This tutorial will take you through the steps to quickly install ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 using ‘Typical’ installation choices. Click here to review the optimal settings for viewing this tutorial.

Activation et Installation d’ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 (en français) Ce tutoriel vous servira de guide audio-visuel pour votre installation de ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version 4 avec l’option d’installation typique. (French Canadian)

Activating and Installing ESET NOD32 Antivirus 3.0 This tutorial will take you through the steps to quickly install ESET NOD32 Antivirus v3.0 using ‘Typical’ installation choices. Click here to review the optimal settings for viewing this tutorial.

Installing ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2.7 – Standard Client This tutorial will take you through the steps to quickly install the ESET NOD32 Antivirus v2.7 using ‘Typical’ installation choices. Click here to review the optimal settings for viewing this tutorial.

ESET Smart Security

Activating and Installing ESET Smart Security 4 This tutorial will take you through the steps to quickly install ESET Smart Security 4 using ‘Typical’ installation choices. Click here to review the optimal settings for viewing this tutorial.

Activation et Installation d’ESET Smart Security 4 (en français) Ce tutoriel vous servira de guide audio-visuel pour votre installation de ESET Smart Security, version 4 avec l’option d’installation typique. (French Canadian)

Activating and Installing ESET Smart Security 3.0 This tutorial will take you through the steps to quickly install ESET Smart Security v3.0 using ‘Typical’ installation choices. Click here to review the optimal settings for viewing this tutorial.

ESET Mobile Antivirus

Activating and Installing ESET Mobile Antivirus This tutorial will take you through the steps to quickly install ESET Mobile Antivirus. Click here to review the optimal settings for viewing this tutorial.

Other useful links:

PCI Slots A Quick Visual Guide

Joe Hackman — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:55:51 +0000

This will no doubt be valuable to someone one day. I often neglect to save older data and when I come across something it’s off to Google I go to search for information.

Variations of PCI Slots