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I have noticed a significant rise in the amount of viruses over the last 6 months or so.  Not just the number of infected machines but in the depth of the infections.  I used to see machines that would have maybe a dozen or so infected items such as files, registry entries, programs, or other items.  Recently I have been seeing machines with 500 to 750 infected items.

But that pales in comparison to the machine I worked on today.  It was infected with a virus called CrypoLocker.  What makes this virus different and frankly scary it’s insidious ability to encrypt files on your computer.  So once the virus has been removed from the computer your files are unusable.  They are encrypted with no way to unencrypt them.

This virus falls under a general category of “Ransomware”.  Meaning, a screen pops up and requires you to put in a credit card number and pay $300 to have your files unencrypted.  It also gives a date and time that your private key will be destroyed after which your files will never be recoverable.

This is the boldest, most outright and destructive fraud I have ever seen.  It is not trying to trick you, pretend it is some virus removal tool, or make you believe the FBI is on to you as other ransomware viruses do.  It is outright saying –you are infected, pay the ransom or lose your files.

And the scariest part is they are telling the truth in terms of losing your files.  I verified it and saw it with my own eyes.  The files were truly encrypted in a manner that can not be recovered.

So now you ask, what can you do?  Here are my strong recommendations:

1. Make sure you have a backup.  Once you are infected with this virus it is too late to recover the files on your computer.  The best backup is an offsite or cloud backup.  Your backup service must have retention.  Meaning it needs to make a new backup set each time.  If you simply write over the previous backup then if you complete a backup after the infection occurs then all the files in your backup are now encrypted rendering it useless.
2. Never give one of these sites your credit card!  As scary as this is, if you give them your credit card you have done two even worse things…rewarded and encouraged the criminals to continue and given your credit card to an admitted criminal who will likely pass that information on.  And there is absolutely no guarantee that you will get your files back anyway.
3. Be sure your virus software is up to date and that your machine is receiving updates from Microsoft Update properly.
4. Know what you are downloading, know the sites you are visiting are clean, and don’t click on links in emails that are questionable.  These types of viruses can come into your machine through any of theses mechanisms.

The creators of viruses continue to devise new ways to trick us into accepting the virus on our computer.  And that is generally how it happens is through human intervention.  Meaning, you, the person operating the computer is tricked into allowing the virus past any firewalls or security software.  It is a never ending cat and mouse game between the creators of viruses and the virus and security companies with no end in site.

If you are infected with this or any other virus, please call.  If you don’t have a backup I may not be able to recover your files but I can get rid of the virus.

If you don’t have an adequate backup, please call.  Or you can get started with my recommended solution by linking here:  1 Network Services Online Backup

Please call if you have any questions.  I am here to help and want to make sure everyone has all the information you need to keep your data safe.

Brian

1 Network Services

720-287-4647

Voice Over IP or VoIP (sounded “voy’p”) is simply voice conversations that traditionaly went over a phone line now go over your network.  Phones in a VoIP system become “nodes” on your network as a computer is a “node” on your network.  In fact, computers can become voice over IP phones themselves with the use of special software know as a softphone.

When making a call using a VoIP phone or device, the voice signal is digitized or coded into a network protocol using what is called a Codec.  A Codec is a software routine that encodes the audible sounds made when talking into a digital stream that can be transmitted over a network.  Some Codecs are designed to reduce the amount of network bandwidth they use, usually at the cost of the quality of the sound that is received.  When bandwidth is not a problem codecs are able to convert the sounds and maintain a much richer quality.

VoIP is able to save costs to an organization because most all orginazations need a network anyway for thier computers to communicate with.  Conversations within the same company’s network can be transmitted at no additional cost, no matter when in the world either end of the call happens to be.

Hardware costs for a VoIP system are also significantly less than traditional phone systems.  The entire VoIP phone system can run on 1 fairly inexpensive computer or they can be hosted elsewhere so your organization has only the need to buy phones and connect them to your network.  No other hardware is required saving even more money on the front end.

I hope this helps clarify what a Voice Over IP system does and what it can mean to an organization in terms of saving money, time, space, maintenance, and the cost of the service itself.

This questions may seem obvious to some or to others may solicite the response “huh?”  Well, computers communicate.  Otherwise, what’s the point?  Commonly used communictions through computers include:

• Email
• Web
• Social Media
• File Transfers
• Databases
• Voice (Yes, voice as in people talking to other people or computers)

The first three items are pretty easy to understand and require an internet connection so here is the first clear requirement.  Do you need to email, browse the web, or access social media?  If yes, you definately need an internet connection.  In today’s world most everyone needs or wants to do these, but not everyone.  Believe it or not, I do have customers that do not have any sort of internet connection.  Their PC is used as a Point of Sale system and since they do not connect it to the internet they have increased the security, decreased the requirements (no need for virus software here), and reduced their startup cost because no network equipment or cabling is required.

Point being, if you don’t need it, don’t do it.

Back to the list.  Many users have the need to share files, access common databases, and otherwise communicate with the world outside of their walls.  They will need a network and they will need an internet connection to do so.  Do they need GigE?  I doubt it.  Most emails are about 10k so on a typical 100meg network that will transfer in about the time it takes you to blink so I guess if you need it 10 times faster, pay for the GigE.

External access to a private network generally means creating a Virtual Private Network or VPN connection to your network.  Sometimes called a Tunnel, this VPN connection will allow you to securely access internal network devices such as servers, computers, and printers.  You will have access to your internal applications such as email, file exchange, backup utilities, business application and other applications located on your internal servers. 

If none of your applications are located on your network then you likely will not need VPN access. 

VPN access is most easily achieved through a VPN capable firewall or router.  There is a VPN component of Windows servers that can suffice but there may be compatibility issues depending on what type of encryption it uses.

Sonicwall makes an affordable VPN capable firewall that can be installed and configured without much difficulty.  Extra VPN client licenses will need to be purchased depending on how many users require VPN access.

Contact us today for a free consultation on your VPN needs.

Don’t be ridiculous, of course you do.  Every business has the need for Internet access, well, maybe not every, but I can’t see how you can function in today’s market without adequate Internet service.

So, what are the options and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each option?

1. Dial up.  Not an option, forget I mentioned it.  It may be cheap, but it is too slow and cumbersome to provide any value at all.
2. Satellite.  Advantages:  Sometimes the only solution for “off the grid” locations.  Disadvantages:  Slow response times, 1 to 2 second delay.  Not usable for Voice. Expensive.
3. DSL.  Advantages:  Affordable, widely available, reasonably high-speed.  Disadvantages:  speeds vary depending on your distance from the providers facility and may not be available at all if you are too far away.
4. Cable Modem:  Advantages:  Very high speeds, inexpensive, great for Voice Over IP.  Disadvantages:  Not available everywhere – especially rural and some commercial areas do not have service yet.
5. T1 Service.  Advantages:  High reliability, constant data rate, many business specific features available, available in most all business settings.  Disadvantages: expensive – especially install fees, not super high bandwidth – 1.5meg per T1.  More T1s can always be added but adding that much more expense each time.  Typically higher hardware costs – requires an access device and/or a T1 capable router.
6. Cell Phone Wireless 3G, 4G.  Advantages:  Affordable, bundled with your cell phone, portable – goes with you.  Disadvantages:  Unreliable signal, speed, and range.
7. Direct Wireless.  Advantages:  May provide service where other options are unavailable.  Disadvantages:  Usually requires direct line of site and speeds may be slow so Voice Over IP may not work.

The decision on your Internet service type is frequently made for you by your unique situation and what is available at your location.  I have seen situations where cable modem service is available in the building but no more locations can be added without a significant expense to the service provider so they are not willing to give you the service.  Also, your needs often drive the solution such as your reliability and the uptime you require.  If you are running a data center you may require a much greater uptime than store front that only needs occasional email and web capability.

Call us for a free consultation.  We will work with you to determine the best solution at your location and place the order for you.

When you move into a new office and begin planning if your space is brand new or has been completely stripped the design of your office and network is completely up to you. However, many businesses move into a space that has some to all of the tenant finish work already complete. It may have been used by a company similar to yours such as a prior restaurant or professional office. Or it may have had a completely different use but it still has infrastructure.

The cost of moving into an already completed space can be appealing…financially at least. And without a doubt there is going to be some form of IT infrastructure in the space left behind by prior tenants. So, why not take advantage of that infrastructure and save some cash and time on your move-in? Well, sometimes it makes sense to do that, sometimes it does not.

Generally speaking, if network or voice cabling is already in place, even if the ends of the cables have been cut off, it can offer a significant cost savings to re-use the cable. However, if the cable has been cut at in the ceiling or needs to be moved to a new location the time and subsequent cost to get that cable working can be more than just pulling a new cable.

Another thing to look at is the overall length of cable that is there. The cost of new cable is around 7 to 9 cents a foot right now so a long cable run of a couple hundred feet would cost $15 to $18 to replace but the time to run a new cable that distance my be an hour or two in labor. Conversely, the time to relocate or repair an existing cable might be an hour or two whereas running a new cable might significantly less.

If you are moving walls, changing the location of workstations, or doing other significant changes to the layout of your office a whole new network may be in order. But if things are staying close to where they are, even if the ends of the cables have been cut off you could save a lot of time and money by reusing what the prior tenants left behind.

Wireless networks provide two things: Mobility and cost savings.

Many companies want the ability to move around the office with their laptops and provide visitors with easy access to the internet as a convenience offering. A wireless network provides both of these things without the need for putting network cabling everywhere and requiring that computers be cabled directly to a jack.

The cost of a wireless router is well below $100 with enterprise solutions being somewhat higher. Enterprise wireless solutions provide more features like password authentication, guest access, terms of use acceptance, and more. On the other hand, wired cable jacks can run anywhere from $50-$100 or more for each location.

So you can see that wireless can save significant expense. It is also possible to run printers and other devices wirelessly as well saving the headache of running a special cable just for them. However, I do not necessarily recommend going with a wireless only solution either. Phone systems are moving quickly towards Voice Over IP (VoIP) and I have not seen an adequate wireless desk phone plus the inherent instability of wireless networks makes a cabled VoIP phone preferable. Also, most printers and of course fax machines still need to be cabled directly to the network.

Wireless security has always been a concern. I would never recommend setting a wireless network up straight out of the box without securing it. But the current models all have straightforward configuration routines to easily configure adequate security for most business settings.

Interference is the main downside to a wireless network.  Other electronic devices can cause interference especially things like microwave ovens and other wireless networks.  Sold walls, concrete, brick and other building features can reduce the signal strength and the distance the network can reach.

For the cost and convenience most small office networks are adding wireless capability.  Just make sure you secure the device and position in physically so it gets the greatest coverage with the minimal amount of interference.

Designing a network, whether it is for a home network, a small office, a store front, an office redesign, relocation, or just an upgrade in your current hardware should always begin with answering the question “what do I need my network to do?”  The essential function of a network is communication.

Communication of what?  People?  Well, yes, people communicate through the network, usually using a computer, smart phone, or other device.  Here are some of the ways people communicate through the network:

• Voice
• Voicemail
• Video chat or video conference
• Instant messaging or texting
• Email
• Fax
• File sharing
• Screen sharing

Clearly the most prevalent devices on your network are your computers but more and more the work locations at your office also have a voice over IP (VoIP) phone.  Mixed through the office may be other devices such as printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines, plotters, and even video devices.  All the devices will need to be connected to the network with either wired cabling or wirelessly.

Create a list, preferably a spread sheet, of all of your devices.  A spreadsheet will allow us to expand the list and add further information about each device such as an IP address assignment (static or dynamic), a physical location (jack number), and other details about the device.  This spreadsheet will also help when laying out the physical network to make sure you have enough cabling, adequate ports, and the bandwidth you will require both on your Local Area Network and your Internet Connection.

Now you will be ready to move on to the next step in your network design and consider the actual network technology.  I’ll talk about that next time.

When you are planning to open a new office or store location the question is never “Do I need a network?” but rather “What do I need my network to do?”  Networks can be quite simple or rather complex.  But the process of taking a look at your unique requirements and spending some time designing your network should never be skipped.

There are quite a few considerations for your new network and the answers to each one of these questions will lead to numerous more questions:

• What is the office layout and what is currently there?
• How many and what types of devices need to communicate on the network?
• Do you need wireless capability?
• Do you need internet access?
• Do you need external access to your network?
• Where do your computers communicate?
• Do you need a server?
• What about phones and fax?
• What are your security requirements?
• What is your budget?

No matter the size or complexity of your network it should always provide you with security, stability, and the functionality you require.

Over the next few weeks I will go into detail on each of the considerations for setting up a small office voice and data network.