Identity Theft: CMIT Solutions of South Nassau Offers Advice During National Awareness Campaign

Don't let your business fall prey to phishers, scammers and credit card fraudsters

Merrick, NY (Grassroots Newswire) December 28, 2009 – Identity theft is a serious issue, no matter who the victim is, but the situation can be more complicated when somebody tries to impersonate someone's business, says Armando D'Accordo owner of CMIT Solutions of South Nassau. That is why CMIT Solutions of South Nassau is offering tips and advice to small business owners in the local community for Identity Theft Prevention and Awareness Month this month.

"Since businesses need to make themselves visible to prospective customers, they are compelled to share a lot of information with the public that individuals tend to keep private, such as their phone number and address," D'Accordo said. "Easy access to private contact information means heightened vulnerability to identity theft."

According to security firm Panda Security, a significant percentage of small businesses haven't taken very basic steps to secure their data assets. A recent survey showed that "97 percent of U.S. small businesses have installed anti-virus and 95 percent claim their security systems are up to date. Yet, 29 percent said they have no anti-spam in place, 22 percent are without anti-spyware technology and 16 percent do not have firewalls. In addition, 52 percent said they have no Web filtering solution in place. And, 39 percent of respondents said that they have yet to be trained about IT threats."

"All an identity thief has to do is open up a mailbox in your shared office building, create a fake letterhead, and obtain your business license number, which many businesses are required by law to display. Then the thief is well on his or her way to opening up credit card accounts in your name, filing purchase orders, and running up bills that will eventually come to you," D'Accordo added.

So, what can business professionals do to prevent identity theft? D'Accordo provides the following advice:

1. Check Credit Cards – Review your business credit report regularly.
2. Review Employee Charge Cards – Go over employee charge card billing statements thoroughly before they are paid, especially if you've issued multiple cards for a single account.
3. Educate Employees – They should be on the lookout for phishers, phone and email scammers. People who would never think to open a suspicious-looking email in their personal inbox might not hesitate to turn over your Federal Tax Identification Number and names of key executives to someone posing as a vendor or a government representative.
4. Beware of "Inside" Theft - Once an employee leaves the company, make sure you immediately cut off access to all your IT resources. Unfortunately, a lot of identity theft is still an "inside job".
5. Protect Company Data – Install a business-class firewall, encrypt your network, assign access privileges sparingly, and perform regular updates to your security software.

"There is no better time than now to make more business owners aware of the dangers of identity theft. We want to bring light to this issue that affects many of our customers and others in the local community," D'Accordo said.

CMIT Solutions of South Nassau offers anti-spam, antivirus, and anti-spyware protection as part of CMIT Marathon – the company's suite of monitoring and maintenance services that keep your IT systems up, running, and protected, 24/7.

For more information about CMIT Solutions of South Nassau please contact Armando D'Accordo at (516) 208-4161.

About CMIT Solutions

Armando brings more than 23 years of experience to the support industry. He has received extensive training in business management, customer service, sales and quality assurance from the University of Michigan, Disney, Citibank and the Help Desk Institute. As President of CMIT Solutions of South Nassau, Armando assists his small and medium size business clients with technology solutions focused on compliance, security, business continuity and disaster recovery. In 2001, Armando was named Support Director of the year. He continues to be an industry leader as well as an accomplished public speaker and in 2007, he was named CMIT Rookie of the Year. Armando is co-author of the book 'I Just Want My Computers to Work' published in 2009. Armando is active in his community and is a frequent volunteer and fundraiser.

CMIT Solutions started as a small computer support company in Austin, Texas in 1996. Over the past decade,
we have grown into a leading provider of managed services and other computer consulting services with over
120 franchise locations nationwide. We’re able to combine personalized local service with all the technical
resources of a large national company-- offering our small business clients the products, partnerships, and
round-the-clock technical support that standalone locals can’t always provide.

Five Easy Steps for a Safer, Happier Year in Technology

Get a good start on 2010 by embracing a few simple principles that can do wonders for your safety and productivity:

1. Run your backups. Everybody says they’ll back up their machines, but how many of us actually do it? And even if your workplace is running automated backups, you should still get in the habit of backing up your own work to an external hard drive or to the corporate server. That way you won’t have to bother your IT guy if you’ve been working for several days on an important project that suddenly vanishes from your machine.
2. Update your virus definitions. This is another task that people promise to do periodically, rarely actually get to, and are generally safe anyway because the service runs automatically. However, if you have your antivirus software set to update and scan during the day, it can slow your machine down to the point where you’re constantly suspending or cancelling the update just so that you can get some work done. That leaves you vulnerable to new virus attacks. So to be on the safe side, make sure your antivirus software updates regularly at night or during hours when you’re usually not working.
3. Clean your keyboard. Have you ever dismantled your keyboard and seen what’s floating around in there? Enough said.
4. Empty your temporary files. Temporary files are backup versions of open files created automatically by many programs. In the event that the program unexpectedly crashes or quits before a user has a chance to save their most recent changes, the temporary file will offer the most up-to-date version of the file. They’re handy for that reason, but over time, temp files can take up a lot of space on your hard disk. Look for the Temporary Files folder on your hard drive. Verify that you don’t need any of the files, and simply move them from the recycle bin.
5. Change your passwords. Even the most foolproof, uncrackable passwords should be rotated out once in a while. Just make sure you remember the new ones!

Proper Use of Tabs Versus Spaces

If you are working in Microsoft Word, chances are you will need to format your document. Anytime that you are not simply using the left margin to align paragraphs, you should use tabs to properly align your text and numbers.

The default tab stops are every 0.5 inches from the left margin. You can easily customize this by simply clicking on the ruler at the top of your page in Microsoft Word. Wherever you click, you will see a tab symbol as shown in the image below. If you'd like the tab to right align text, double-click your new tab symbol. In the menu under Alignment, select Right.

Every now and then you might get a Word document from somebody who uses multiple spaces instead of tabs to space out items or begin paragraphs. It's also pretty common with information downloaded from the Web -- when it's converted from HTML to text format, a whole bunch of spaces appear. Suddenly your lovely Web chart looks like a mess in Word.

First, how can you tell if the document uses spaces instead of tabs?

1. Click on the paragraph symbol in the Paragraph tools.
   
   
2. You will see dots for spaces and right arrows for tabs.
   

Next, how do you clean it up?

Easy! Just perform the following steps:`

1. Press Ctrl+H to pull up the Find and Replace box.
2. Click on the More button and check the Use Wildcards box.
3. In the Find field, enter a single space followed by a left brace, the number 2, a comma, and the right brace.
4. In the Replace field, type ^t. The Find and Replace box should now look like this:
   
   
5. Click on Replace All.

You're done! Now all your multiple spaces will be replaced with tabs, and you can adjust the tabs as needed.

Don't Fall for the Latest Phone-Based "Tech Support" Scam

We've heard news recently about a new form of scam that preys on people's fears about accidentally downloading computer viruses and spyware. Here's how it works: the scammer calls the victim and claims to be working for a computer monitoring firm, a security software provider, or "your Windows XP provider." They say that they have reason to believe the victim's computer has been compromised, and that they can investigate the problem if the victim gives them access to his or her computer using a popular (and legitimate) remote access program such as LogMeIn. If the victim complies, the scammer has the entire contents of the victim's computer at their fingertips -- including passwords, logins, and all kinds of information that are catnip to identity thieves.

Here's how to spot the scam:

1. They say they're from "your monitoring service" or "your provider" but they don't identify themselves by name. This is a huge red flag, particularly if you aren't signed up for a monitoring service!
2. They're contacting you by phone. If there's a real security problem, you're usually notified automatically when your security software runs.
3. They want a credit card number before they'll render their "services."

Naturally, we're concerned about this because we don't to see innocent computer users getting scammed -- particularly by people purporting to do the same kind of work that we do! Here's how we're different:

1. When we contact our clients, we identify ourselves as CMIT Solutions, not "your provider." And because we value our relationships, our clients know us personally and by name -- so there's no question that we are who we say we are when we call.
2. If it's a screaming emergency, we might contact you by phone -- but because you know us and can always call us back if you're in doubt about who's really calling you, you can feel safe knowing you're working with a trusted resource. Otherwise, we can take care of most security issues for our CMIT Marathon customers without them even noticing. (CMIT Marathon is our remote monitoring and maintenance service, which includes security updates.)
3. If you're a CMIT Marathon or Guardian customer, you're subscribed to an ongoing service and won't have to provide payment over the phone if you ever call us with a question. Depending on your individual plan, we might have to bill separately for a visit to your office -- but you'll get a proper invoice, not a pushy technician pressuring you for a credit card number on the phone.

For more information about the phone-based "tech support" scam, you can check out this helpful AARP Bulletin article: http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/scamalert/articles/scam_alert_helpful_hackers_.html. For more information on CMIT Marathon, click here: www.cmitsolutions.com/southnassau/marathon.php.

Smart Spending Helps Minimize Your Taxes

If you're a small business owner who turned a profit in 2009, congratulations! It's been a tough year, and any business that succeeded in a very challenging economic environment deserves a pat on the back.

The downside to making a profit, of course, is that it can be subject to taxes. In order to minimize the amount they'll have taxed at the corporate rate, many businesses look for ways to spend down their excess profit. Here are just a few purchasing options that might help minimize your tax liability while also enhancing your business:

Hardware. Need new PCs, external hard drives, servers, wireless routers, or other physical equipment? Get it before the year's out.
Software. It might be time to do that big OS upgrade you've been planning. Ditto that accounting software purchase you've been putting off: once you've mastered it, it will save you hours of bookkeeping every week. And that's an investment worth making any time of year.
Office Supplies. Think about what you'll need in the first quarter of next year and buy it now to maximize deductions for 2009. Stock up on paper, photocopier and printer cartridges, and other supplies you know you'll use.
Services. Many CMIT Solutions locations offer service hours in blocks that you can purchase in advance and use over the course of the year. Check with us for details.
One thing you'll want to consider with equipment purchases is whether you want an immediate write-off or whether you want to depreciate the item over several years. (You'll also need the
equipment in your office, in use by year's end.) Your accountant should be able to advise you on how to maximize your deductions and structure a plan that's best for your business.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - Is your PC ready for Windows 7?

Windows 7! It continues to soar. If you are wondering whether your current technology can support this newest Microsoft release, click here.
Windows 7 Description: Everything you need for work and home. With Windows 7 Professional, fewer walls stand between you and your success. You can run many Windows XP productivity programs in Windows XP Mode and recover data easily with automatic backups to your home or business network. You can also connect to company networks effortlessly and more securely with Domain Join. With all the exciting entertainment features of Windows Home Premium, it's a great choice for home and for business. Ask CMIT Solutions if Windows 7 makes sense.
Share Office 2007 documents with users of previous versions of Microsoft Office If you have friends or colleagues with pre-2007 versions of Microsoft Office, they can download the Compatibility Pack and easily open, edit, and save Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 documents.

Create great-looking signatures for your e-mail Want to give your Outlook 2007 e-mail messages polish and pizzazz? Take this free online training to learn how to create custom e-mail signatures and automatically insert them. Get your calculations done automatically Want to ditch that calculator? This online training shows you how to use simple formulas in Excel 2007 worksheets and let Excel do the calculating for you!
Video: Create drop-down lists in Excel 2007 To make data entry easier, you can create a drop-down list in your worksheet. Watch this video to see how to use Excel 2007 to create a drop-down list from a range of cells.

Alert: Fraudulent Email Is Not From Intuit

A number of fraudulent emails have gone out recently purporting to be from Intuit. The latest one claims to be from the QuickBooks Update Center and contains the subject line "Intuit Secure Update. This email is not legitimate. Ignore it and delete it.

For reference, the text of the fraudulent email is as follows:

From: QuickBooks Update Center [mailto:software@quickbooks.intuit.com]

Subject: Intuit Secure Update

As is the case with many companies that maintain large databases of information, Intuit is the target of fraudulent attempts to get access and extract information from its database. We recently watch our database was illegally accessed and certain contact and account information were taken, including QuickBooks email addresses, names, phone numbers. The data accessed does not include banking information.

Immediately upon learning about this, Intuit started an investigation and took corrective steps. It is important to know the company continually monitors for any illicit use of information in our database, and so far, we have not detected the misuse of this information.

In order to help assure the security of your information, we have developed a special plug-in for browser and Windows® - QuickBooks Update. This software will protect yours private information from any kinds of spyware or malware.

System requirements :

* Windows XP, Vista, 2000, 2003

* Internet Explorer 6.x, 7.x, 8.x

ATTENTION: You will not be able to use our service without update from 17 of November 2009

Download :

* Windows® QuickBooks Update

* Internet Explorer plug-in

If you are not Microsoft Windows® user you can use our services as usual

Intuit has confirmed that this is a fraudulent email (for more details, see the Intuit security blog at http://security.intuit.com/alerts/alert.php?a=8). But even without their confirmation, it's pretty easy to tell. Here's how:

1. You can often spot a phishing attempt because it contains misspellings or poor grammar. In the above example, a phrase like "We recently watch our database was illegally accessed" is a big red flag that the email was probably written by a scammer whose first language isn't English.

2. Any email that requests personal information or asks you to download something is probably a phishing attempt. Legitimate companies do not ask their clients to re-supply information the company already possesses. Nor do they ask their clients to download plug-ins by clicking on an email link.

If you receive a phishing email, do not click on any of the links or consent to download anything. Forward a copy of the email to your IT administrator so that they're aware of the problem and can alert other users. Then delete the email from your inbox and trash bin.

Give Your Documents a Uniform Look with Themes

A nice feature of Office 2007 is that you can make documents from several different programs Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook all have the same look and feel. Whereas in the past you'd have to alter the color and style of every table, chart, and shape in every document separately, you can now just select a theme that takes care of all those details automatically.

For example, here's a simple chart using the theme called Office:

Here’s that same chart using the theme called Perspective:

As you can see, the theme affects the font, color, shading, and shadow effects. And because it's available in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, your chart will look the same no matter what program it appears in and all the other charts you use will have a similar look.

The Themes gallery is accessible from the Formatting Palette. To create your own custom theme, you can open up a given theme and then alter the font, colors, and effects, and then save as a new theme. Just use the customization settings to the right of the thumbnailed themes, visible in the screen shot below.

2009 Long Island Tax Practitioner Symposium

Co-Sponsored by:
The Educational Foundation
of the Nassau/Suffolk Chapter of the
National Conference of CPA Practitioners (Nccpap).

SYMPOSIUM BENEFITS
• 80+ Key Tax-Related Sessions
• Updates on State and Federal Tax Laws
• Meet with Key IRS Officials
• IRS Problems Resolution Meetings
• Connect with Key Suppliers
• Resolution of QuickBooks Problems
• Network with Fellow Practicing Tax Professionals
• MP3 CDs of Available Sessions
• Exhibit Area with 40+ Key Vendors

Come join CMIT Solutions of South Nassau November 18th, 19th and 20th at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY!

What's a Netbook ... And Why Would You Need One?

In the hardware world, there's a pretty lively discussion going on about the difference between laptops, notebooks, and netbooks.

Opinion seems to be converging around the idea that laptops and notebooks are virtually the same: small, portable, but powerful computers that can function as a more travel-worthy substitute for a stationary desktop model.

Netbooks, on the other hand, are a relatively new innovation just a couple of years old, which might make them ancient in some technology circles, but it means that some folks are still figuring out what the term means.

Way back in the beginning of netbooks, these ultra-small, ultra-light computers offered pared-down capabilities that could satisfy most of the needs of a user on the go. You could access a Web browser and email, and if you used cloud-based applications like Google Docs you could even do some word processing and basic spreadsheet operations. But your average netbook, lacking an optical drive and equipped with a slower processer, wasn't going to be terribly fast or powerful or great at running really resource-intensive applications. And the tiny keyboard made prolonged use a bit of a pain.

But then a funny thing happened: the year 2008. And as the economy took a dive, more and more users started looking at netbooks and deciding they made a very good, affordable alternative to regular laptops. By Q1 of 2009, netbook sales were seven times larger than they were in the first quarter of 2008. (http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/0EF7F828A4FAC9A9CC2575AB007165B4)

Not surprisingly, manufacturers noticed a huge new market that was growing like gangbusters in the middle of a downturn. New entrants joined the game, and in order to differentiate themselves, started adding features and enhancements to the stripped-down netbook. Screen sizes and keyboards are now getting larger. Graphics are getting better. Some folks argue that, at least among certain brands, there's virtually no difference at all between a netbook and an ultralight laptop. (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10312430-1.html)

Still, as a general rule of thumb, if you're looking for a very cheap and light machine that you wouldn't be heartbroken to lose or see destroyed in other words, if you're a student who needs a note-taking device, or a frequent traveler who has robust offsite storage and just needs an on-the-road Internet access device a netbook could be the perfect thing.

Your "Instant" Messages May Be Forever

Despite the name, instant messages can stick around for a long, long time. Your conversations may live on, long after you've shut down your IM client depending on what service you're using and what controls you or your employer may have in place.

For example, Google saves every chat session conducted in Gmail automatically and makes those chats fully searchable. Trillian, a standalone client that supports AIM, Yahoo, and Microsoft Live, also automatically logs all conversations. On the other hand, the basic messaging clients for AIM, Yahoo and Microsoft do not automatically store conversations but can be configured to do so.

More IM services are coming out with enhanced versions for corporate use. AIM Pro, a free version for individuals and businesses, offers better security, voice and video conferencing, and integration with Microsoft Outlook. And Microsoft's Live Communications server allows corporate IT departments to log and search employee conversations, including those on IM services like Yahoo and AOL.

So what's the take-home?
When you're at work, be aware that your employer's policy toward email may extend to instant messages and don't write anything you wouldn't want your boss to read. And look on the bright side: just as email provides you with a digital paper trail for work-based communications, saved instant messages can serve much the same function. As instant messenger enhancements continue to develop, this tool will only become more valuable.

Master Microsoft Keyboard Shortcuts

A lot of folks can go for years without ever using or figuring out how to use that funny-looking key in the lower left-hand corner of their Microsoft keyboard. But the Windows logo key can help you switch between applications, clear open windows off your desktop, and a whole lot more. The chart below shows you how.

Key Combination
Result
Windows logo key
Open or close the Start menu
Windows logo key +PAUSE
Display the System Properties dialog box
Windows logo key +D
Display the desktop
Windows logo key +M
Minimize all windows
Windows logo key +SHIFT+M
Restore minimized windows to the desktop
Windows logo key +E
Open Windows Explorer
Windows logo key +F
Search for a file or folder
CTRL+Windows logo key +F
Search for computers (if you are on a network)
Windows logo key +L
Lock your computer or switch users
Windows logo key +R
Open the Run dialog box
Windows logo key +T
Cycle through programs on the taskbar
Windows logo key +TAB
Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
CTRL+Windows logo key +TAB
Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
Windows logo key +SPACEBAR
Bring all gadgets to the front and select Windows Sidebar
Windows logo key +G
Cycle through Sidebar gadgets
Windows logo key +U
Open Ease of Access Center
Windows logo key +X
Open Windows Mobility Center
Windows logo key with any number key
Open the Quick Launch shortcut that is in the position that corresponds to the number. For example, Windows logo key +1 to launch the first shortcut in the Quick Launch menu.

Use Twitter To Raise Your Company's Online Visibility

A lot of companies are jumping on the Twitter bandwagon, but before you make your move, make sure you know what you're getting into.

Twitter is what's called a microblogging application. It provides a convenient Web-based platform that lets you send and read updates, called "tweets." Tweets run no more than 140 characters in length, and can be sent to subscribers, called "followers." You can update by going to your Twitter page, sending a message by phone, or via a Web plug-in.

Many companies use Twitter in conjunction with Facebook and other social media applications. It provides a means of periodically reaching out to people interested in your company with brief, minor updates or even big news.

In the best situations, Twitter acts as a clearinghouse of first-hand news, informative Web links, and insights into the activities of prominent leaders in everything from retail to Congress.

For example, Whole Foods keeps a lively and useful Twitter account here. (http://twitter.com/wholefoods) The Zappos CEO keeps his own Twitter account; so does Senator John McCain. (http://twitter.com/zappos, http://twitter.com/senjohnmccain )

But, as many Twitter users discover firsthand, this hobby can quickly turn into an all-consuming obsession. If you're not careful, you can end up Twittering about, say, the chorizo breakfast burrito you'd like to have, http://twitter.com/diiskrej/status/1577310161

or the symbolism behind cleaning your cat's litterbox.

http://twitter.com/reidstott/status/1578187119

As a small business owner, you want to project a professional, knowledgeable image to your universe of current and potential customers. In order to do that, here are some tips:

1. If you keep a corporate blog, you can have it automatically send an update to Twitter every time you post something new. That will encourage your Twitter followers to check out your blog, where they'll find useful information (you are posting useful information on your blog, right?).
2. Link to books, blogs, or items in the news that are relevant to your business.
3. Write about upcoming events, if you're hosting a lunchtime seminar or giving a presentation to your local Rotary Club, let people know.
4. If there's information you want to share with a customer, think about whether it might interest other people, too. Let's say you're a veterinarian treating a dog that just came in with heatstroke, you might tweet a few helpful tips for keeping your pets cool in the heat.
5. Sign up to follow Twitter users who are authorities on topics that interest you.
6. Don't overload readers with too many updates in a day.

Twitter can be a fun, easy way to reach out to customers and show people another side of your business. Just make sure it's the right side, and leave more personal musings to your personal Twitter account.

CMIT Sweepstakes!

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Visit this site and you'll be registered instantly and you'll see how CMIT can save your data and maybe your company too! CMIT offers the ultimate flat-rate protection and recovery plan for small and medium-sized businesses:

• Complete data recovery plan
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• Protection against hackers and viruses
• Total IT Support

Find out more about us at our home page, at http://www.cmitsolutions.com/southnassau

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Remote Office Connections: Convenient, but not without risks.

More people than ever are working from home, on the road, or accessing their office PC from client sites and hotels. According to WorldatWork, occasional telework has risen dramatically in just the past several years. My experience with the financial services industry shows that more and more accountants are using remote access from client sites to transfer files, or access information back at the office. Some interesting and somewhat startling facts:

• The number of employee telecommuters in the United States increased 39%, from 12.4 million to 17.2 million, between 2006 and 2008.
• The sum of all teleworkers — employees, contractors and business owners — increased 43% from 2003 to 2008, reaching 33.7 million last year.
• Fewer people are teleworking full time; however, more people are working remotely at least once a month.
• The most common locations for remote work are home (87%), a customer’s place of business (41%) and car (37%). Restaurants and libraries are becoming less common locations for telecommuting.

In a previous submission to this newsletter I wrote about some parameters for setting up a remote office. In this article I want to focus on a specific type of threat that can put your business at risk during a remote access session. The threat can do damage even if you have followed all the proper guidelines such as setting up a VPN, creating a secure sharepoint portal, or an encrypted connection like Logmein. In all of these cases you still need to be aware of the security threat posed by keyloggers.

A keylogger is a piece of software that records every keystroke made on a computer. A hacker who installs a keylogger virus on your computer will be able to see everything you type on your machine -- which comes in handy when they want to steal passwords, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, or sensitive client data. (This is truly a business and compliance nightmare!!)

For years, cyber criminals have been installing keylogger viruses on easy-to-breach, publicly accessed machines, such as those used in libraries. But your worry as a remote user probably won't be whatever viruses are crawling all over a publicly used machine -- as statistics show, you're almost definitely using your own computer or a company-provided one for business work. So what you have to beware of is a whole new round of viruses that can be downloaded to your own PC.

Remember that Conficker worm that was supposed to strike on April Fool's Day, and ended up exploding about a week later? One of its most devastating payloads was a keylogger virus.

So to protect yourself from keyloggers stealing your passwords, don't ever use public computers for any procedure that requires a login -- that means everything from checking email to checking a bank balance. And before using your own computer, or when using a client computer to access your office, make sure the antivirus and antispyware definitions are up to date -- and that full system scans are run on a regular basis. (Many people halt system scans or just stop running them altogether because they take up so much processing power. The solution to this issue is to run them at night because they are essential.) Remember that the mere presence of Anti Virus and Anti Spyware software does not guarantee that a PC is clean, the software and the PC require regular and automated updates and maintenance.

Two Flavors of Network – How Do They Compare?

Different sizes and types of businesses need different types of networks. Do you know what kind is right for yours?

For small to mid-sized businesses, the big distinction is between peer-to-peer and client-server networks. In a peer-to-peer network, all machines are created equal; they each provide their own “resources” – meaning applications, computing power, and so on. If you take one machine out of the peer-to-peer network, the remaining machines can carry on as if nothing happened. A typical configuration might be two or three desktop computers, each connected to the Internet and to a common printer and fax machine. If two users need to share or exchange files, they’ll usually email them to each other or post them to a common Web portal.

In client-server network, the server acts as the primary provider of resources to the other machines. For example, a file server provides data files to the client machine whenever the client requests it. In order to access email, the client machine must “talk” to the email server, and so on. Client-server networks tend to offer a more secure environment than peer-to-peer networks because the server can better control access to resources. They also tend to be more conducive to collaboration, because clients can share resources from a single location rather than having to swap individual (and often duplicative) copies of data on a one-to-one basis. However, if a server fails, every client will lose access to the resources it provides; therefore, you’ll need a backup server or a failover strategy.

In short, a very small startup may need nothing more than a peer-to-peer network. But in order to scale well and make sure the company can grow in an orderly, organized fashion, you’re probably going to need a client-server network eventually.

Networking & Social Websites: Are They Right For Your Business?

Social websites, once dedicated to personal use, are quickly becoming marketing and communication tools for business owners. While a professional and comprehensive website should still be the focal point of your on-line presence, E-Mail marketing and strategically utilized networking sites could be valuable additions to your marketing plan. The digital landscape is crowded with Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Blogs and You-Tube all vying for market share. Many business owners and individuals maintain pages on multiple sites and while all of them rank fairly high with search engines, there are pro’s and con’s to each. How do you decide what is right for you? Let’s review what they are in an effort to narrow our choices.

Facebook: Businesses all across America connect with one another through Facebook. You can use the site to join a professional networking group, search for a job, or create your own profile. Facebook contains a strict set of preferences giving you control of every aspect of your page.

Linkedin: Linkedin is a business-oriented site mainly used for professional networking. This site works the same way as Facebook, but it is strictly for businesses use and job seekers. It has features for finding people that you have worked with in the past, or for finding talent in a certain specialty. The site allows you to email invitations to colleagues and friends and once linked to your profile, they can see your other connections. You can also create groups, post articles and start discussion threads.

Myspace: A MySpace profile is easy to set up and maintain and is very similar to Facebook. While these profiles tend to get ranked fairly well by Google there is a downside to the site for business owners; a lack of control. Why? Because the people who ‘friend’ you can post information on your site that may not be professional or flattering.

Blogs: Having a blog is another way to post content that is different than the content on your website, and is also searchable by Google. A blog can be set up by a web developer, or can be implemented with very little effort by a novice… in fact, you can get a free blog from Google with no monthly or up-front cost. Posting new content keeps the site active within the search engines, thereby allowing potential customers to find you more easily on the web.

Twitter: Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them.

You-Tube: One of today’s largest video sharing websites is You-Tube. On this site, people from all around the world can upload, view and share all types of information. It is a place where you can “broadcast yourself” or your business. The site started out as a place for cute kid and pet videos, but of late Cisco and other large companies have posted product overview videos on the site. Each video is searchable by Google.
Once you choose a site you should follow some basic guidelines.
1. Professionalism is extremely important. Make sure your employees know what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable to post – in terms of both content and images.
2. Connecting with other businesses and people. You control who you are connected to by adding a business or person as a friend. Be sure that employees only connect with others who have a page that’s in good taste or that is professional.
3. Protect your confidential information. Obviously you’ll want to publish general contact information so that potential clients can reach your business. But other information – like a staff directory that shows a clear chain of command and individual phone numbers – should stay firmly offline in order to discourage your competition, headhunters, and others from learning too much about your company.
4. Stay protected from spyware and viruses. Malware, (computer infections), have plagued popular social networking sites. If you’re going to use one of these sites to promote your business, you should take extra precautions to make sure you and your employees’ computers have up-to-date virus definitions and security patches.

Should you have a page on all of these websites? No, but experts agree that having more than one web presence will increase your ability to be found by search engines. Adding new content on a regular basis is also very important. The unanswered question; which site is right for your business? My suggestion would be to maintains both a website and a blog site where content can be posted periodically. I also strongly suggest that a Linkedin profile is created and that an email marketing campaign be established. Providing useful information and staying in front of clients and prospects is essential, and will be well worth the cost and effort!

CMIT Solutions of South Nassau: Blogs

We are proud to welcome you to our new Blog from CMIT Solutions of South Nassau! Stay updated with us on a regular basis as we share the most recent news, business tips, upcoming events and more! Here you can become familiar with the services we offer and how important it is to us that we make YOUR business run smoothly and efficiently.

In today's world, blogs or "blogging" has become extremely important as a form of communication. By keeping the public updated on useful information and interests dealing with your source of business, you are communicating directly with people and remaining connected with them at all times.

Once again we welcome you and we look forward to your input along the way. Hope you find interest in our Blogs and enjoy reading!