Having an e-mail system that isn’t properly protected is like going outside on a cold winter’s day in shorts and a T-shirt.  You’re just asking to wind up with a nasty virus that makes your network vulnerable to an equally nasty infection.  Taking some basic precautions, however, will make sure your e-mail won’t need a visit from the IT doctor.

There are different levels of protection you can use to keep yourself safe from e-mail viruses.  First start on the individual machines themselves.  Each should have some kind of antivirus scan that screens e-mails as they come in.  This scanning application would inspect each e-mail and make them virus-free or at least send you an alert if something suspicious has been identified.

The next step out would be on the actual server itself.  On your e-mail server, have all e-mail attachments scanned.  This won’t necessarily be a scan of the entire server, just all the e-mail traffic.  The scan would be on the lookout for any kind of virus activity, malware, or anything else that might pose a threat. (more…)

It’s not just big name sites like Twitter and Facebook that can fall victim to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. Any site can be vulnerable to DoS, from a deliberate attack to a negative side effect resulting from an increase in its online profile. For any brand with a website, it’s better to be prepared for than put out of commission by DoS.

A DoS attack can be executed in several different ways.

• Botnets: A botnet is a group of remote computers that is being run by someone for mischievous purposes. The entire botnet can be harnessed to attack one site or a group of sites to cause a DoS. For example, a botnet can request so many pages from a web server that the server won’t be able keep up with them all and be unable to respond. The server’s inability to keep up with all of these requests causes the DoS to occur.

• Organized groups: An organized group like some sort of protest group that wants to take down government or financial sites can also coordinate a DoS. Similar to a botnet attack, the group would all attempt to access their targeted sites at the same time, elevating site traffic to a point where the site is unable to handle it all.

• Ping floods: Another way to launch a DoS attack is ping floods. This attack would take place at a network level and works similarly to an attack on a server. The DoS attacker would request so many “reply backs” from the network that it would be flooded with all these different requests and wouldn’t be able to respond. (more…)
  

Small businesses can face a daunting task when it comes to securing their networks. There seems to be (and are) new viral threats every week, threats that can make a small business with a tight budget fearful of the costly damage an attack can cause to its network. The challenge for small businesses is to find a security solution that will protect their business investment but will not place a serious dent in their bottom line.

Luckily, there are inexpensive security options available for a small business to take advantage of that can help keep their networks secure and their peace of mind intact.

Network Security
The first step a small business needs to take is to make sure all the computers in its network have been properly updated. They need to have the latest antivirus updates as well as any other updates from their operating system vendor. It’s important to keep your network current with any Microsoft or Mac updates. (more…)

If your website is being hosted in a shared server environment and you are wondering what advantages that switching to a dedicated environment might provide, I can offer three for you to consider: safety, security, and control.

• You can enjoy the safety that comes from having your own dedicated IP address.  Your IP address is how your server is identified on the Internet.  So if someone else on your shared server is flagged for doing something questionable like sending spam or hosting an adult website, because you have the same IP address that they do, your site can also suffer any punishment that they might receive as a result of their actions (e.g., getting blacklisted).  In extreme cases, you might even get blacklisted from search engines like Google, which can be very bad for your brand’s marketing.

• You would receive the security that comes from the server belonging to you and you alone.  No one else would have physical access to the server other than you or someone you authorize, like an admin team.

• You would have greater control over the server because only your site(s) would be on it.  You wouldn’t need to worry about the needs of any other company’s sites, like a required software package, slowing down your server’s speed and affecting the performance of your website.  You would also be able to make any tweaks of modifications to the server you want without having to be limited by the requirements of the server’s manager because, unlike on a shared hosting environment, you would be the one setting the rules.

Moving from a shared server to a dedicated one is kind of like moving from an apartment complex into your own home.  You aren’t just another tenant; you’re the king (or queen) of your own safe and secure castle.

One of the toughest challenges when managing a data center is keeping everything up and running in the face of a disaster.  Our clients depend upon us to keep their brand online and their back end operations working smoothly, regardless of the circumstances.

About a month ago, Hurricane Ike brought hurricane force winds to Louisville, leaving thousands of homes and businesses without power and an indefinite power outage to the home of our primary data center. This was the first major test of our emergency plan, and I am happy to announce we passed with flying colors.

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