Latest Security News: New Updates Regarding Microsoft and Other Application Updates in October

Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday for October delivered 10 critical updates to Windows 8 and 7 systems, with five rated ‘critical’, four rated ‘important’, and an update with a ‘moderate’ or lower security rating. The way those updates were delivered were different, too, in the sense that Microsoft followed the cumulative update model used in Windows 10 for all the currently supported Windows platforms and their respective versions. Before this latest update, Microsoft used to have a granular approach with individual patches and updates. Now, security is bundled with system component (.NET) and browser components as aggregate patches.

The October updates included multiple ‘Patch Now’ updates for Edge, Internet Explorer, Adobe Flash Player, and a minimum component of Microsoft Office, all of which will require you to restart your system after completion. MS16-118 is one of the critical updates aimed at Internet Explorer to resolve 11 vulnerabilities in its security related to scripting engine issues and memory corruption, both of which could make the browser vulnerable to remote code execution. At least one issue related to memory has already been exploited in the past months and was reported to Microsoft, resulting in this ‘Patch Now’ update.

MS16-119 is another critical update that will resolve 17 memory, scripting, and name space handling problems in Microsoft Edge. It comes with a fix that is aimed as a remedy for a recently detected exploit. MS16-127 addressed 12 security ‘priority one’ vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player. If left unpatched, hackers could remotely execute a code. The update is not directly linked with the Edge and IE updates. Instead, it affects only the platforms running on Windows 8.

Apart from Microsoft, Oracle rolled out a critical patch update, which consisted of patches addressing multiple security vulnerabilities. Oracle keeps receiving reports of various attempts to exploit vulnerabilities maliciously, so applying the update is crucial to keep your system safe. October 2016’s critical patch update covers 253 new security fixes for various products, including Oracle Database Server, Application Express, Enterprise Manager, and PeopleSoft Enterprise. 

About the Author:

           

Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.

IoT Devices

The billions of interconnected devices, buildings, vehicles, and other objects that are embedded with software, electronics, actuators, network connectivity, and sensors make up the Internet of Things (IoT). The best thing about IoT is that it allows data transfer over the network without human to computer or human-to-human interactions. In IoT, ‘things’ can refer to anything from a farm animal that has a biochip transponder, a car with built-in sensors that can alert you on certain issues (i.e. low fuel or low tire pressure), or someone with a heart monitor implanted in them. IoT devices have an IP address and the ability to deliver data over networks.

The Internet of Things came to be when the internet combined with microservices, micro-electromechanical systems, and wireless technologies. With that convergence, walls between information technology and operational technology were eliminated to enable machine-generated unstructured data to be determined for insights. However, since the IoT devices involve transferring data over a network, they are still prone to security risks. For instance, high-end cars that have built-in Wi-Fi are still prone to security issues that are common to conventional Wi-Fi hotspots. You should be worried about these vulnerabilities because hackers could attack your devices to access critical information about your business or organization. Hence, it is important to find and implement reliable security measures that can help prevent and remediate the security vulnerabilities that could pose a threat to IoT devices.

Traditional manufacturers rely on proprietary embedded systems, which are difficult to hack because of restrictions and closed source code. Many IoT devices run on Microsoft Windows because it is ubiquitous, commonly used by programmers, and reasonably priced. The operating system is used in various devices including mobile medical devices (i.e. pacemakers). However, unlike Windows for desktop, Windows for IoT devices currently lack a patching method, and since many of them are connected to the internet using wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, the easier it is for viruses to spread amongst them.

To avoid security vulnerabilities in IoT devices, it is essential to keep their software updated at all times. If your business relies on wearables and mobile smart devices, consider coming up with policies on how they should be used by your employees. An IT consultant should be able to help you come up with the right strategies to make your IoT devices safer. 

About the Author:

           

Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.

Windows 10 Free Upgrade Has Ended - What Happens Next?

Windows 10 is the latest operating system released by Microsoft, and you were given until July 29, 2016, to upgrade to it for free. That date is exactly a year since the initial release of the OS. The upgrade was offered for free as part of Microsoft's plan to get the OS to run on one billion devices in the next few years. Those running authentic Windows 7 and Window 8.1 were given the chance to upgrade for free; however, some users failed to do so. Regardless of your reason for not taking advantage of that free upgrade, upgrading to Windows 10 after July 29 simply means having to pay for it.

Upgrading to Windows 10 can be a crucial step to future-proofing your systems. Microsoft's long-term goal for providing a free upgrade is to gradually phase out Windows 7. On January 14, 2020, Microsoft will stop its commitment to provide extended support for it. Putting off the upgrade until 2020 may put your business at risk, because delays, reduce productivity, and make your systems vulnerable to attackers.

After the deadline, your small business can still upgrade by buying Windows 10 and consulting with a reliable network solutions provider for assistance in deployment. This way, you can avoid the guesswork and the upgrade will not have to cause too much downtime in your operations. A specialist can help you determine and confirm your system's readiness for Windows 10, too. They will take measures to ensure that you can upgrade to Windows 10 seamlessly and cost-effectively. Likewise, they can take care of the error codes and other issues that may occur during and after installation.

A Windows 10 upgrade can be automated to help you save time and effort. the deployment can be automated by using Microsoft s SCCM application. There are many benefits to upgrading to Windows 10. Apart from preparing you for the end of Windows 7, the new operating system lets small businesses be more flexible as it works across all devices, including mobile. It empowers BYOD policies while ensuring cost-effective implementation. Windows 10 may help boost your productivity with help from Cortana, the new virtual assistant, and other intelligent features like the unified control panel, enhanced notifications, and virtual desktops. At the same time, your business gets enterprise-grade security for your data.

About the Author:

           

Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.

Source URL : http://www.orionnetworks.net/windows-10-free-upgrade-has-ended-what-happens-next/

Automating Your IT Infrastructure

Manual work can take up too much of your time. Instead of being able to attend to other important tasks in your small business, it leaves you stuck doing repetitive work—thus reducing your productivity and causing you to miss out on opportunities. Have you thought about automating your IT infrastructure? Experts highly recommended this strategy as a first step to boosting your productivity and enabling you to focus more of your time on the major tasks that make your business profitable.

IT automation connects software and disparate systems in a manner that lets them self-regulate and act by themselves. Automation can be as simple as integrating a form into a PDF file that will be routed automatically to pre-assigned recipients, or it can be more complex—like an offsite backup's automated provisioning.

Industry Examples

IT automation eliminates manual processes that can take a lot of your effort and time. Many industries benefit from it, including real estate. Through IT automation, real estate offices can automatically list or find new contracts and customer data as soon as they are submitted. Tasks like transitioning the data and email server to cloud, data backup, and inventory management can be accomplished faster and effortlessly with minimal to zero errors. IT automation is also useful in a business that encourages self-service. With this system, end-users no longer need IT staff to manually collate and organize data.

Save Money and Other Benefits

With IT automation, business operations can become more efficient while helping you save money in the long run. It is crucial for small and mid-sized companies that may lack the resources and budget for additional manpower. IT automation will help a small business boost productivity and throughput, improve the quality and consistency of their data and services, and reduce the need to hire and pay for additional labor. Automation may replace human eliminate the need to have your own IT department, too.

Automating your IT systems will be easier with help from a network solutions specialist that which can provide tools and solutions to get you started with IT automation. Some of these tools can help small businesses save money. LunarPages, for instance, provides web hosting configurations and advanced hosting solutions like complete IT infrastructure, private cloud hosing, business continuity, and disaster recovery solutions. AddressTwo is the online-based CRM software that lets you create several user accounts with unique login credentials at no extra cost.  It records events with details about the user, so you can easily keep track of your sales team's productivity and achievements. 

About the Author:

           

Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.

Source URL : http://www.orionnetworks.net/automating-your-it-infrastructure/

Latest Security News

Microsoft patches for the months of May and June 2016 addressed and fixed a lot of vulnerabilities. In May alone, 16 bulletins were released—and eight of these were rated critical, including MS16-051 (cumulative security update for Internet Explorer), which addresses a security bypass vulnerability in the UMCI (user mode code integrity) component of the device guard when code integrity is not validated properly. Likewise, it addressed vulnerabilities like the scripting engine memory corruption, Microsoft Browser memory corruption, and Internet Explorer information disclosure.

May 2016 patching has provided security updates for VBScript and Jscript as well as for Microsoft Office, which previously showed vulnerabilities in memory and graphics RCE corruption. A security update was released for Microsoft Graphics Component regarding information disclosure and Direct3D use after free vulnerabilities. A critical update addressed the memory corruption in Windows Journal, and the remote code execution in Windows Shell, too.

Patch Tuesday for June 2016 has some similarities to the updates provided by Microsoft in the past several months, with 17 bulletins and 36 CVEs, and additional 37 CVEs in Adobe Flash. Six bulletins were ranked critical, while the others were considered important. Under the critical updates were Edge and Internet Explorer. Microsoft DNS server has a critical bulletin, which could be risky with a publicly released exploit.

The biggest concern is in Adobe Flash, which is embedded in Internet Explorer and Edge. Adobe has been part of Microsoft patches since April. In May, 17 critical vulnerabilities were patched, and in June, 37 issues were addressed.

Goodbye, QuickTime

In April 2016, Apple confirmed QuickTime's end of life in Windows after 11 years of being supported by that OS. Apple will stop issuing patches and updates for the PC version of its multimedia software. Hence, it is best to remove the software from Windows computers or use it at your own risk.

Trend Micro discovered two new flaws in QuickTime 7 for Windows. Apple allegedly knew of these security threats in November 2015 but had no plans to provide a patch, adding that the software would deprecate on Windows. The vulnerabilities included QuickTime playing an infected file or directing the user to a malicious website, making computers vulnerable to remote code execution.

Other hacking news you should be aware of

Certain vulnerabilities in your computer and applications could put your business at risk. Hence, it makes sense to always apply patch updates when they become available. One of the latest hacking incidents occurred with The Clinton Foundation, which was said to have been hacked by Russians. Attacks on the network of the foundation and those of Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic Party caused a stir in the world of digital security. 

About the Author:

           

Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.

Solid State Drives In Servers

A solid state driver is a non-volatile storage device for storing persistent data on solid state flash memory. It is not a traditional hard drive due to the absence of moving parts, like the spinning disk with a write/read head on the mechanical arm. SSDs, on the other hand, have a range of semiconductor memory arranged as a disk drive via integrated circuits instead of optical storage or magnetic media.

SSDs are continuously being developed and adopted due to the increasing need for higher I/O (input/output) performance. They are more reliable in heavy random and read workloads. This is due to the flash SDD's ability to directly and immediately read data from a certain flash SDD cell location. Hence, SSDs are more preferred for high-performance servers that must deliver data in real-time.

Benefits of SSDs to Servers

A growing business always has to deal with growing amounts of data, resulting in conventional storage platforms becoming less effective and reliable, especially when data management systems are concerned. IT managers have been treating SSDs as an alternative storage solution, especially for a business that deals with heavy workloads like e-commerce stores where fast data access is crucial. This way, the use of SSD on their servers is justified.

SSDs are able to deliver high performance I/O operations per second, with minimal latency for transaction-intensive storage and server applications. When used in conjunction with HDD systems, SSDs may help reduce the total cost of ownership with their low operating temperatures and low power consumption. SSD technology continues to develop and thrive, but solid state drives in servers are already available, like the Intel 320 SSDs, which are compatible with Dell's PowerEdge server.

The Cost to Implement SSDs

It may be difficult for a business to completely upgrade to solid state drives in servers due to high deployment costs. However, it will still depend on what the business needs. Consider having your business evaluated for SSDs in servers by talking to a reputable and seasoned IT consultant. This way, you can find practical IT solutions and other alternatives that are cost-effective and can increase your productivity and competitive advantage.

About the Author:

           

Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.

Source URL: http://www.orionnetworks.net/solid-state-drives-in-servers/

Virtual Desktops Environment

A virtual desktop is a desktop that is remotely stored in a server instead of a local computer. This is made possible by software that can separate the desktop applications, operating system, and data from a hardware client so that those elements can be stored in a remote server. A remote server relies on hypervisor software to deliver a virtual machine that simulates local desktop capabilities and environment. With a virtual desktop, you can access your personal desktop over the internet from any device.

Having a virtual desktop can be beneficial for a small business environment. It provides access to files, programs, and other important aspects of your desktop computer anytime and anywhere, from another desktop computer or a mobile device. This way, you can be more productive, and you do not have to carry multiple storage devices every time you are away from your desktop. A virtual desktop may be the solution for increased security within an organization because it eliminates the need to carry around confidential files and data that could be tampered, stolen, or lost.

Certain industries like healthcare (where compliance to privacy regulations is crucial) can take advantage of virtual desktops to effectively manage the security of client data. Medical personnel may access patient records without worrying about downloading confidential information into their devices. They can view those online from their desktop. User data is regularly and centrally backed up, too, so users can be sure that all the data is constantly up to date.

From the perspective of IT professionals, a virtual desktop environment can reduce the time it takes to implement new desktops. Moreover, it helps reduce desktop support and management costs. Experts found that managing and maintaining PC software and hardware are about 50 to 70 percent the TCO (total cost of ownership) of a conventional PC. With virtual desktops, a small business can minimize IT labor costs because everything is centrally secured, stored, and managed. Hence, you do not have to worry about patching, updating, and installing multiple applications, back up files, and scan for malware or viruses on individual desktops, resulting in a streamlined management of assets.

There are different types of virtual desktop vendors. When choosing which one to use, you need to evaluate the needs of your business and the types of data that you need to access remotely. Vmware is one of the leading virtual desktop and cloud software and services vendors that runs on Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. Its bare-metal hypervisors directly run on server hardware, even without an underlying operating system. Citrix is another virtual desktop vendor that you can consider, and it offers universal access to desktops, virtual apps, and data from any device.

Sources: http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/webmaster/article.php/3914891/What-is-a-Virtual-Desktop-and-Why-Should-You-Care.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMware
https://www.citrix.com/solutions/desktop-virtualization/overview.html

About the Author:
   
Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance, and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.

Email Lottery Scam: The Truth about It and What Everyone Needs to Be Aware Of

An email lottery scam is a form of advance-fee fraud that typically begins with an unexpected email notification explaining something along the lines of you, winning a large sum of money in some type of lottery. The recipient of this "You have won!" message (the target of the scam) is also typically told to keep the notice he/or she received a secret because of "a mix-up in some of the entries' names and numbers" and to contact a certain "claims agent," after which he or she will be asked to pay transfer charges or processing fees so the winnings can be claimed or distributed. However, the victim of the scam will never receive any lottery payment.

Email lottery scams will often even use the name of a legitimate lottery organization or some other real, trustworthy company or corporation but this doesn't necessarily mean that the mentioned organization is in any way, shape, or form involved with the scam. Anyone with an email account can be a target of these unscrupulous activities online, but there are always ways to identify fake lottery emails and protect yourself from fraud:

•    Being vigilant and using your common sense will go a long way in keeping yourself from being victimized by these types of scams. Unless you have bought a ticket, you can never really have won a prize. Email draws or lotteries where no tickets were ever sold don't exist. These scams are the invention of dishonest minds who want to victimize unsuspecting people.
•    Scammers will ask you to pay a fee in advance to receive your price. Genuine lotteries will simply subtract those fees (and tax) from the prize. Regardless of what the entity claims the fee is for (whether it be for courier charges, imaginary certificates, or bank charges), you can be sure that they are 100 percent fabricated by the scammer to obtain money from you.
•    Email lottery scams almost always come from free email accounts.

About the Author:
   
Mike Rana is the Chief Technology Advisor of Orion Network Solutions. Orion Network Solutions specializes in providing Computer Installation, Maintenance and Consulting services along with 24x7 help desk services for small and midsize companies. We provide network solutions that enable small businesses to not only lower their management cost but also increases employee productivity at the same low price. We offer network solution that becomes an integral part of your organization and can provide an increase in productivity of your organization.