August 2007
In this issue

> Rebuilding Together
> Are You Strategic?
> Email Mistakes
> Security for PC Users
> Office 2007
 

On Saturday July 28th Databranch participated in the annual Rebuilding Together campaign; a volunteer organization which helps folks in the community who are unable to take care of their homes and yards due to physical or financial limitations. As a national organization Rebuilding Together brings volunteers and communities together to improve the homes and lives of low-income homeowners by providing free repair services for those with the greatest need.

Locally, this year's groups of volunteers worked together to paint homes, replace porches and roofs, fix leaky pipes and get yards into shape. Employees at Databranch volunteered their time and “muscle” to scrape paint, climb ladders, and paint the outside of a home including overhangs and windows. At the end of the day most of us were wearing almost as much paint as the house we worked on! Rebuilding Together is another example of Databranch's continuing commitment to community service. If you would like find out more about Rebuilding Together, please check out their website at: http://www.rebuildingtogether.org/.

Last month we looked at questions to be asked when looking into new or updated technologies for your business. These questions focused on building a long term IT strategy rather than taking care of the "now." Keep in mind the question to be asked: What is the strategy of the business from an IT perspective?

This month we will look at three other technologies that represent growing trends within the technology sector: Data Backup, Data Storage, and Workstations.

Data Backup: The number one reason business owners and C-Level personnel lose sleep at night: the backup. Data backup is the process of technology copying important information to disk, tape, or even CD/DVD. Since companies rely more and more on technology to run their business, it is important to know that their data is stable and recovery will be as painless as possible. However, this depends heavily on the technology used for this important task. Questions to ask when considering a new or updated solution:

Most security articles are written for network administrators charged with the security and availability of corporate networks. As computers have become a pervasive tool in the office, however, they have begun to be an indispensable one at home as well. Around 73% of US homes have a PC in them, and about half of US homes have broadband internet service of one type or another. Many of us are also administering second or third PCs for children, teens, or elderly relatives. While the home PC should definitely not contain corporate secrets, they do safeguard some data close to users' hearts. Imagine how it would feel to lose your family photos, tax records, little Janie's homework projects, emails from great-grandpa, your confirmations and boarding passes for next week's vacation and your grandma's recipe book all in one blow. The data on that home computer is important to you, if not to the network administrator at your office. 

Why would anyone attack your home PC? Simply put, there is a great deal of money to be made by enslaving your computer and using it for nefarious purposes, such as sending SPAM for profit, distributing illegal files, or hacking other networks. Some hackers make a great deal of money by stealing your financial and personal information, and either reselling it to other criminals or using it to make purchases themselves. Either way, a large percentage of PC attacks are made for profit. Frankly, home computers tend to be easy targets, since they don't have professional defenders like corporate networks do.

So, without a professional defender, how can you go about assuring your computer and the rest of your family's PCs are secure? Here are some recommendations.