Trigon Technology Blog

Save us Dropbox, You’re Our Only Hope.

So have you heard about this iPad thingie? Pretty slick, I'd say.

But would you really be able to use a netbook-esque tablet computer with only 16GB of storage space? One could argue that because of the iPhone OS's simple file structure or seemingly locked down nature that it would be rather simple to maintain space. I however, would argue that you're just being silly.

(This is where I say that goofy overused first line of a paragraph where I get into the main thought of this article)

Enter Dropbox. As you should already know, especially if you're in IT Support, Dropbox is this delicious application that lets you sync files across multiple computers and even the cloud. On your PC or Mac, it looks like a simple folder on your desktop or anywhere else. You drop a photo into that folder, and it will instantly sync to your desktop upstairs or any other computer with Dropbox installed. Killer, right? This is all free if you plan on using only 2GB of space.

It gets even better. They have an iPhone app version of their software. It gives you access to everything you store whether it be video, audio and pdf files. You can even peruse your photo collection. Android and Blackberry apps are in the works.

About a month ago I decided to upgrade to one of their Pro options. 50GB for $10/month. I moved my entire music collection into Dropbox, and have slowly started moving my photos into it as well. It works just swell on my Windows 7 box, because when I added my collection from my Mac into the folder, my Zune software on Windows 7 automatically installed it into its library. Easy wireless syncing to my Zune HD, neerrrrrddddd!

But enough about outdated laptop and desktop computers, they're essentially like cassette players now.

Right out of the box, iPad will be able to utilize Dropbox using its existing app. All of my music and movies will be able to stream right to iPad. Booyah! My own personal media player without storing ANY of the files on the actual iPad itself. I can stream Casino while downing a bag of cheesy poofs on the couch until I keel over. Sure, I could do that with the iPhone, but you get the idea. It's a bigger screen, son!

So thanks to Dropbox, we don't need to worry about 16GB on iPad. If they *really* wanted to blow everyones socks off, though, they would add some general media player capabilities to the app itself. Playing a movie is great because it's just one standalone file. Music is handcuffed because of the same reasons. If I want to listen to multiple songs(files), I need to fire them up after they finish. Lame.

Dropbox, if you add even the most barebones of media player options, you will belt brains.

Brains!

For more information on Dropbox or other IT Services & Solutions, contact Trigon Technology at solutions@TrigonIT.com. 

An In Depth Look At Password Security - Part 2

To see part one of this blog, read An In Depth Look At Password Security - Part 1 

To verify that people are ultimately lazy with passwords, and think their accounts will never be hacked, I did my own limited survey of password use. I asked co-workers, client users, family, and friends if they used any variation of the 123456 password, names, slang, important dates, dictionary words. I found that those not in the IT Support field used names and dates as passwords, I even had one person admit to using 123456. Those in the IT field mostly used names with numbers, capitals, and non standard characters or substitutions. Only two people indicated they used abbreviated phrase based passwords (more on that later). So even in my Monkey Sphere (look it up if you don't know this) I found people taking the easy way.

Those of us in the IT Services field know how to fix this: using the technology provided to restrict the usage of simple passwords and require more complex passwords and training users.

The report also references NASA's password policies. I took a look about the internet and found a FAQ from NASA about their password policy and found that they apply the following criteria:

• The password must have a minimum of 12 characters.
• The password must contain at least one character from at least three of the four following sets of characters:
• o Uppercase Letters (A, B, C, etc.)
• o Lowercase Letters (a, b, c, etc.),
• o Special Characters (~, !, @, #, $, etc.)
• o Numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.).
• You may not reuse any of your previous 24 passwords.
• Password changes are set for every 60 days (That's up to four years till you get to use the same password again.)

WOW! That is restrictive! I love it, and I know the average user would hate it. Do you think this would be acceptable at your average client...probably not?

One tactic that both the report and NASA brought up was using password phrases. I have switched over to these recently and it is very easy to remember passwords based on this.

Basically it goes like this:

Take a sentence and turn it into a password, for example: "Passwords should be complex and hard to hack" might become pwSbc@h2h, that's a nine character password that is not in the dictionary. Picking a sentence that is easy to remember and utilizing substitution, capitalization, and maybe a random character will make a strong password (write that down in your IT Security notes).

All this is not new information to anyone in IT. But it could be new information to the users who just don't know better or new to the work force. It is our responsibility to provide not only the restrictions to make sure the passwords are strong, but the training to the users so they can understand why we have fits when we find passwords like 123456.

I can hear you all say "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink". Well I say, if the password complexity restrictions are leading the horse (the user) to the water, the training will be me pouring the water over the horse... eventually some water will get into the horse.

If you're located in the Philadelphia area and you were interested in the tips and information in this article, call Trigon, a Philadelphia IT Support company that can help you with IT Security and other IT problems through our PinnacleCare Managed Services Program!

An In Depth Look At Password Security - Part 1

I recently came across a report on password security that was...well.... disturbing.  Especially since I work in IT Support. 

The report was conducted by Imperva and can be found here.

The report was based on a password study of 32 million passwords, yes 32,000,000. Let's put that number into perspective because it is a large number. If each person in NY City had one password, 32 million passwords would be 3.8 NY Cities!!! A more local comparison would be the same criteria applied to the city of Philadelphia which would work out to be 20.7 Philadelphias!

The passwords were from a hacker who obtained them and posted them in clear text on the internet. Imperva points out that this is a rare opportunity to get actual passwords to study, most password studies are conducted via surveys not actual data. This is the raw data they got to study, not coy answers from people.

The study produced several key findings:

• About 30% of the users chose passwords which had lengths equal or below six characters.
•        o Let me do the math to you, 30% of 32 million passwords is 9.6 million passwords. That is everyone in NY City and some of the surrounding areas all having a single insecure password with six or less characters.
• Almost 60% of the users chose passwords for a limited set of alpha-numeric characters.
•       o Read: Variations of 123456. Again, I can do the math for you....works out to be....19.2 million passwords. That everyone in NY City and some of the surrounding areas times two!
• Nearly 50% of the users used names, slang words, dictionary words, or trivial passwords (consecutive digits, adjacent keyboard keys, and so on).
•       o That means 16 million of those passwords were based on criteria that can easily be discovered through brute force attacks.
• These results compared to another password break 10 years ago which provided a large amount of passwords to be studied and a 1990 Unix password study showed there has been little improvement in user's selection of passwords. The same issues found in the 2009 study are also in the 1999 and 1990 studies.

Why did I find all this disturbing...well it shows something we all know is true, but never to this scale. People are lazy....particularly, lazy with passwords. They will always choose the simple password to remember rather than some obtuse password that is secure if you let them. No matter how often they hear about accounts getting hacked they seem to take the "it won't happen to me" and "remembering is hard" viewpoints.

Be sure to check out Part 2 of this blog later this week!  If you need further information on IT Services or IT Security, feel free to contact Trigon!

Critical Microsoft Security Update

As an IT Support Company, we thought it was important that the following information be shared with you.  If you haven't heard already, on January 21, 2010, Microsoft released a Security Bulletin concerning a critical IT security issue.  Microsoft states "This security update resolves seven privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The more severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.  Microsoft then goes on to say "This security update is rated Critical for all supported releases of Internet Explorer: Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, Internet Explorer 7, and Internet Explorer 8." 

If your computer has automatic updating enabled, you shouldn't have to do anything to download the security update.  Your computer will do it automatically.  However, if you don't have automatic updating enabled, check for updates manually and install the update IMMIDIATELY. 

With computer attacks and IT security issues floating around that could cause an unheard of amount of damage to your computer, and ultimately your business, it is important to make sure that your IT systems are safe and secure at all times.  Make sure that your IT Support staff or Managed Services Provider has your systems as secure as possible.  Trigon offers many IT Services and IT security solutions to businesses in the Philadelphia area.  If your Philadelphia area business needs help with IT support and IT security, be sure that you check Trigon out!

Also, make sure you take advantage of the Free IT Consultation that Trigon offers to see how your IT systems could become more secure and better optimized for your business!

A Trigon Engineer's Experience with Google Voice

Working for an IT Support Company, I have been a convert to the Google Voice service for a while now.  I love all the features it brings to my phone, and the number I picked is so easy to remember.  The voice mail transcription feature is just amazing, although it's not always spot on, but sometimes it's easier and lot faster just to read a voice mail.  Did I mention this is all free? I know you're asking yourself what's the catch?  Well, for me and all the other iPhone users out there, the chance that Apple was going to approve an app for the iPhone that truly integrates the features of Google Voice seemed to be approaching nill.  Something about altering the phones basic interface and replacing a base feature, bla bla bla.

The other day, Google announced a web app that you can launch from your phones Safari browser.  This is truly as close as we get, given the aforementioned chance that Apple would see the light.  Also, it's rumored that Apple is trying to shake off Google, and that they are trying to work out a deal with Microsoft to replace Google with Bing as the default web browser, but that's a blog for another time.  

Now what can the web app do for you?  Well, actually a lot!  It provides a keypad for calling using your Google Voice number.  The call function is a little strange, as it starts the call to Google first - the outgoing call doesn't seem to be going to the right place at first, and takes a little getting used to.  You have access to your voice mail, and it launches the messages in the QuickTime player.  You also have access to all of your online contacts, but not your local phone based contacts, although there is Google Sync that should help you get everything synced up.  The web app truly provides a much more polished experience using the service from your iPhone, and I am betting it's as close as we are going to come to an app for our phones.  It may not be flawless, but it makes using the service a lot less of a hassle.  If you haven't tried out Google Voice, I would truly recommend you find a friend that is using it or request an invite to the service, it's free and you can start really slow.

 For help implementing this and other Mobile IT Solutions, be sure to find out what Trigon can do for you! Also, feel free to check out our other IT Services!

Preparing for the Unexpected: Disaster Recovery & Back up

In my previous life, I played the role of a mildly successful branch manager for the nation's 4^th largest bank and during this time, I participated in many a campaign and many initiatives to drive business into my branch, bolster my monthly sales results and single handedly feel as if I was positively affecting the price for a share of my company's stock.  Why does this matter?  It doesn't, other than to provide a base to present an idea that stuck with me over the years and to provide a nice seguay on how to practically apply this concept in the world of IT Support.

Preparing for the unexpected.  As part of our internal profiling strategy at the bank, this was a question we would ask our clients as a way of probing deeper into their financial ‘hey nows' in the hopes of attracting them with additional services that the bank provided.  Preparing for the unexpected is not a foreign concept to most, though I am sure that when you are with your friends, it is an idea that NEVER comes up. No one likes to talk about the unexpected, let alone prepare for the unexpected.  We are all going to live until we're 100. . .maybe longer. . . right?

If I asked you to associate the concept of ‘Preparing for the unexpected' to the IT Services world, I am confident that our conversation would take an express elevator to the floor where we would get off and begin discussing your company's back up strategy. I am certain this is what the phrase conjures up, and rightly so.  In the world of IT, the ‘unexpected' would in no doubt take the form of some sort of data or information loss and ‘Preparing for this' would in no doubt be identifying the best (albeit ‘best' may = most cost effective)  type of back up strategy and disaster recovery plan to  put  in place.   But I ask you, and challenge you to consider that this concept can be and should be applied to all spectrums of your IT environment. Whether it be a large arena like implementing a sound back up strategy that will affect everyone or a one on one interaction, perhaps with a principal of your company, where you thought      that you had done your due diligence, but in reality may have been blindly walking through the paces, we can all benefit from the idea that we need to prepare for the unexpected.  Emphasis is clearly placed on those ideas that will most certainly negatively impact a large audience, but many of us forget, including myself, that it is often the small one on one interactions that, if done with true thought and purpose can have resoundingly great effects but, if overlooked and neglected, can have an unsightly ripple effect that may seem to never end.   I offer that preparing for the unexpected does not always need to be an overly involved, multi-tiered process involving input from many different resources.  In reflecting on incidents and interactions from my past (I say that tongue in cheek), planning for the unexpected can be something as simple as a 10 minute meeting with an associate to review, plan and confirm or even checklist or work order sign off document.  

This concept is not new, ‘Preparing for the unexpected', but in writing this, I am overwhelmed at the idea that I (I will only speak for myself on this point!)) continue to overlook the easy things in life, the things that should be absolute ‘gimme's', and still  cannot understand why.  It is dawning on me that perhaps rather than ‘Prepare for the Unexpected', I should begin ‘Planning for the Expected' -  I may just surprise myself with the results.

Sign up for your free IT Consultation and find out how Trigon can help you with your Disaster Recovery Plan!

Apple & Microsoft Joining Forces, Melting Brains?

As shocking, disturbing and downright depressing of a possibility, it just may happen. That is, if you believe the internetz. And I sure as heck do. How do you think I found out that I could write a check in red ink?

 

If you believe the WSJ, NYT, Engadget, Gizmodo, Slashgear, TechCrunch and People Magazine, then Bing may just become the default search engine for your beloved Apple product. (Ok, maybe not People Magazine) Why on the planet Earth would Steve Jobs shake hands with the raving lunatic that is Steve Ballmer on such a deal? Simple, the Google.

 

Google is quickly becoming what Microsoft wishes it was 5-10 years ago. Heck, Google is what Microsoft wishes it was today. And they’re scrrrd. (slang for ‘scared’) Granted, MS has the business side pretty much locked up, and some solid, positive feedback going for their new Windows 7 operating system (Note: I work in IT Support.  Of course I had to throw Windows 7 a bone.  Give credit where it's due) . What else do they have? You don’t hear many people saying, ‘Oh boy, my HTC Windows Mobile phone sure is hella sick! Did you play that Scrabble application , yet? OMG!” Gross.

 

While Bing is certainly making some inroads in the web search department, it could definitely use all the help it can get. You don’t hear many people say, “I’ll just Bing it.” Ok, I do. But that’s more of a sarcastic joke than an actually statement of fact. Being the default search engine on iPhoneOS would be a big jump in an installed user base, if not completely ludicrous.

 

Does Apple really see Google phones as such a big  threat that they are willing  to switch to Bing as the iPhone's default browser? I can’t image so. And even if they did, it would be the equivalent of seeing Batman and the Joker strolling through the park hand in hand with a picnic basket. Batman laying down the blanket while Joker furiously waves his hand at a nearby beehive to protect their chicken salad.

 

To quote the great ‘Johnnie Cochran Chewbacca Defense’ from South Park; “It does not make sense!”

 

To find out what Trigon's IT Services can do for your Mobile Phone (including your new Bing-equipped iPhone), contact us at solutions@TrigonIT.com

Simple IT Solutions: Sharing Folders on Business Networks

At Trigon, we deal specifically with small and midsized organizations.  And we like to provide our clients with peace of mind when it comes to technology.  Essentially, through our IT Services, it's our goal to allow people to use their technology for the benefit of their business, and to have it integrate seamlessly into their business plans and objectives.    

Often times, our clients find it necessary to have a certain number of PCs running on different versions of Microsoft Windows.  While this in itself isn't a problem, it seems that sharing folders and files on a network through this setup can be somewhat difficult. 

That's why we thought it was important to point out to you that Cisco offers a product called Network Magic that can make things a heck of a lot more convenient for you.  Network Magic is a tool that allows you to share files and folders, and also looks for security holes in your network.  So, for around $30, you can secure your network and make sharing files and folders across a network easy. 

As for how it works, it's quite simple...  Once you install Network Magic on each PC..Voila!!  You can share files and folders with just three simple clicks.  The product comes in two editions; a $30 edition, Essentials, which offers licenses for up to 3 PCs.  And also a $40 version, Pro, which offers licenses for up to 8! 

So if you're having trouble setting up a network at your small or midsized business, be sure to check out Network Magic.  And don't worry, your local IT Support Company can assist you in getting it up and running properly. 

IT Strategy: Why upgrade when you don’t have to?

Often times, business owners are under the impression that they need to purchase new technology in order for their systems to work better.  This is not always the case, though.  It is essential that your organization maximizes every dollar that it spends on technology.  There is not always a need to upgrade when an aspect of the system is properly functioning.  In fact, spending more money on new technology is rarely the answer.  Trigon Technology, a Philadelphia based IT Support Company, can help you figure out what your organization truly needs.  Trigon will help you layout a personalized IT Strategy by implementing our IT Strategy Solutions and tailoring them to your business.  With the help of Trigon, your organization will be able increase productivity, efficiency, and also save some cash. 

For more information on how Trigon can help you, feel free to contact us: solutions@TrigonIT.com. 

Google Hacked!!

No one that has a connection to the Internet is ever completely safe from being hacked.  As the industry-leader for search engines recently found out.  Google was hacked in what appears to be a cyber-attack that may have included employees of the company.  According to the website, the Hydraq trojan made its way into the Google network, which allows unauthorized access to information.

Now the question becomes - are you as protected as you can be?  Some companies do not have any protection from the Internet and are easily exposed to these types of threats.  Those that have protection, such as clients of Trigon Technology Group, LLC, have a number of safe-guards that drastically reduce their vulnerability.  Some of these safe-guards include a properly configured Cisco firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware applications, a network that is not accessible to the Internet without the aid of other devices (such as a firewall), and an intrusion detection system (IDS).

If you would like to find out if you are properly protected, you can review the following information from our webpage.  Trigon's Networking and Infrastructure Solutions will allow Trigon to find any items on your network infrastructure that could use modification to make the internal network run to its peak efficiency.  Trigon's IT Security Solutions will have Trigon review your external information to be sure you are properly protected from threats, such as the Hydraq Trojan, that come from the Internet.