Java Security Hole

There is a hole in your Network’s Security and the Bad Guys know It’s There

The Wall Street Journal published an article today (December 2, 2011) regarding a system vulnerability in Java. It was discovered over the summer and hackers and virus writers are continuing to exploit it by adding malicious code to various web sites. The National Vulnerability Database rates it a 10 out of 10 on the severity scale.

The fix is fairly simple; patch (update) your Java application. The difficult part may be understanding how to do that or having the time and resources to go around to each PC on your network to run the update.

Cyber attacks and vulnerabilities are common today, which makes it critical that businesses keep on top of web and network security. A good place to start is a hardware firewall to block incoming and outgoing “holes” in your network. Implementing a web-filtering software to protect web surfers from harmful code and malicious websites is also a valuable investment, especially if monitoring your staff’s surfing habits is of interest to you.

Utilizing the services of a technology consulting firm like Zarti Group offers business owners the comfort of knowing security patches are being implemented on a monthly schedule and that their security tools are configured properly.

For more network security advice or to discuss how to protect your firm against this Java issue, please contact Jon Edwards at 732.395.4281 or jedwards@zartigroup.com.

Click the link to read the Wall Street Journal article, “Why Today is A Very Good Day to Update Java on Your Computer”.

Are You Losing Productivity?

If you and your staff are not utilizing multiple monitors, you are losing 20-40% productivity.

According to a study done by the Jon Peddie Research, productivity increases an average of 42% when using multiple monitors. Likewise, a study conducted by the University of Utah and NEC found 20% reduction in errors (plus reduced stress) for test workers that were using multiple monitors.

More and more firms are implementing additional displays for their staff in an effort to increase productivity, keep pace with "paperless" initiatives, and allow for easy comparison of documents.

In a recent edition of "The Journal of Accountancy" an article discussed the productivity benefits of 2, 3 or even 4 monitors to display multiple applications. The article also elaborates on the “techie” process to getting these monitors up and running. It sounds easy, but it can be a hassle if you’re not familiar with computer hardware.

You can read the article “Increase Productivity with Multiple Monitors” here.

Ergotron, makers of Digital Display Mounts, have a great tool on their website that helps calculate “payback” for adding multiple screens into your workspace.  

Feel free to contact me about how to set up additional monitors in your office.

Business Meet's iPad - Does it Work For You?

The Wall Street Journal published an article on March 17, 2011 discussing some ways for users to integrate the iPad into daily business life.  Many unknown methods and tools that are available allow you to transfer documents from an office PC to your iPad and also provide you with the ability to  easily edit and share files.  Apple has even created apps that give you control over your home and office PC through your iPad.

Feel free to contact me with any questions regarding the integration of the iPad into your business world or how to better use office documents on the device.

To read the WSJ article, please click [here].

5063 Incoming Emails, Only 152 Allowed. How’s your spam filter?

Zarti recently implemented an e-mail filtering solution for a client and the results are staggering.

In a 24 hour period, 5063 messages were delivered to our Client’s domain; 97% were outright denied from ever entering the email exchange and 262 of the messages were tagged as spam, 19 of which contained viruses.

After sitting with our client we realized that they were paying for multiple email protection software packages that were running on their own server. In addition, the software wasn't up to par; they were still receiving spam, their addresses were being "spoofed" and users were checking the spam folder as much as the inbox. Ultimately, we chose MX Logic's hosted service as the right solution.

The benefits to having Zarti implement this solution for your company are simple.

• It's a hosted solution which means no software or hardware is involved. The mere fact that the Client’s exchange server is no longer forced to process 4,892 spam messages and distribute them to the intended recipient saves bandwidth and processing power; potentially extending the life of the exchange server in the long run;
• Users will spend less time deleting and managing spam in their inbox and junk folder which will lead to increased productivity;
• Stopping Spam or Phishing attempts before they get to the server reduces the liability that an employee will accidentally click on a malicious message and cause some serious damage to the system;
• Reduced spoofed addresses will help keep your domain name off of email blacklists and keep you communicating with clients.

Business owners should understand that e-mail server management is a critical “Back of House” function and should not be overlooked. We can implement this hosted solution for your business and assist you in developing e-mail use standards to reduce liability and increase productivity.

I would recommend that anyone with a company email exchange server call me to discuss how this business solution can benefit your firm.