Please be aware that there are several new Virus/Spyware threats hidden behind the links attached to and associated with “Delivery Status Notification (Failure) messages. There has been a major uptick in the sending of these messages and many anti-spam and anti-virus gateway programs are not blocking these messages because the sender is random and the threat is contained in a linked site, not in the message itself.

In your outlook inbox, they look something like this:

The purpose of legitimate notifications is to inform the sender that a message they tried to send did not go through. The danger here is that these look exactly like the real thing. People are clicking the link to see what message they sent that got bounced back and the link executes virus code that infects the machine.

Centrend’s clients are protected with Antivirus/Antispyware software that will block the threat even if the user does click the link. However, even with the best protection possible, the safest practice is to never open an email message if you don’t recognize the sender and/or if you don’t know why you are receiving it.

-Paul
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Paul LaFlamme
President & CEO
Centrend, Inc.
508-347-9550 x115

It does happen that companies are found to violate software licensing agreements. Not only are each of these organizations held responsible for the software that was intentionally installed by the business, but also whatever programs the employees have installed on their own. Unfortunately, software licensing is an area that many organizations really don’t treat with much seriousness. After all, is there such a thing as the “Software Police"? Actually, there is such a thing, and the fines imposed on violators can be significant.

According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a Washington, D.C. firm acting as an international IT industry voice, software license violations can involve fines up to $150,000 per software title illegally copied. The BSA actually offers big rewards (up to $1 million) for turning in software pirates.

Here is the part we invariably skip over when installing a new program on our PC: Nobody wants to read endless pages of legal banter when anxious to get the newly purchased program up and running. Whether you have paid for the software, or you have been legally granted free use of it by the developer, chances are you had to acknowledge that you are in agreement with the terms of its legal use, you are disclaiming liability for the developer, and promising that you will not copy or distribute the program to any machines or users other than what are included in the agreement.

The software companies are serious about the amount of money they are potentially losing due to software piracy. Microsoft and others have been spending millions to enhance their programs to be able to detect unauthorized installs, and shut them down. In some cases law suits emerge, presumably to make an example of those who willing or unwittingly circumvent their main source of revenue: the paid use of the product. There is not really any good defense when an unauthorized installation of a program is residing on a PC.

Sometimes an organization may not even realize that it is a software pirate. There are many different types of software licenses. The aforementioned software license agreements can be quite complex, and could be for a different type model than what you may think. There are volume licenses, leases and subscriptions, as well as concurrent user licenses, per PC licenses, upgrade, OEM, and the list goes on. For example, with a per PC license agreement, if you have 100 PCs running a particular program, then you must have 100 licenses for that software.

In defense, a business cannot successfully claim that it was not aware of the licensing violations, if it is the company which owns the machines. Each individual or business entity is responsible for the software which is installed on its computers. The actions of the employees of the organization represent the company, and any unauthorized copies of software in use by its employees could result in a problem for the employer. This happens often, and it’s either without the employer’s knowledge, or without the employer’s concern.

Some organizations utilize third parties, such as an IT Outsourcing company, to manage their networks and PCs. In this case, it is still the ultimate responsibility of the client organization, not the IT provider, to make sure that the software installed on its computers is up to date and legally licensed to the organization. Ignorance of the actions of your IT provider is not a sufficient defense. It is best to utilize an IT company that you know is above board, and can readily prove to you that you are in legal compliance with all license agreements, and that all the software installed on your systems is valid.

What is your organization’s acceptable use policy regarding employees and computers? Does it include wording about the installation of software by employees, and possible disciplinary actions resulting from a policy breach? Many companies do not take this seriously enough, and some have found that the worst-case scenario legal costs can be crippling.

Actions that you should take now include a software evaluation of all your systems, and a policy review. If you discover a problem with unauthorized installs, there are controlling measures available to you. Further action can include assigning administrator credentials to key personnel, and restricting user access to disallow administrator privileges on PCs, which will control the majority of installations. However, this requires some thoughtful planning, and is best done by skilled IT professionals. If you need help with this, contact your professional IT provider, and be certain that the company that you’ve hired is qualified, and has policies of their own which uphold your organization’s best interests.

- Bill

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Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor
Centrend, Inc.
508-347-9550 x135

You may be hearing about Unified Communications, one of the technology industry’s latest catch-phrases. It’s quite possible that one of your competitors has already moved to this communications platform, and you may be considering it, yourself. To really understand whether or not this concept is going to help your business, let’s examine what the term means, what business purpose has driven its development, and what cost of ownership considerations are involved. Moving to this platform will involve complex technology choices, but the underlying concepts are clear and understandable.

Unified Communications (UC) is a technological architecture that enables us to have “transparent presence". For you to be truly transparent in your presence, your communication methods must be streamlined and free of device dependence. The beginnings of this concept can be traced to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, and what was referred to as “Unified Messaging", where you could retrieve your phone messages from your e-mail. But, UC enables functionality far beyond messaging.

Phone calls, e-mail messages, Instant Messaging, video, Internet, and other content delivery methods traditionally require specific devices to work. For example, you need a telephone to make a phone call, and the person you are calling needs one too. The phone that you call is the one that they answer. However, in a UC environment, our goal is device independence.

When looking at the phone call example, on a UC platform, we would just think of the phone call simply as a communication, and it’s not limited to just being a phone call, it could be an Instant Message, or anything else, and the device that is used is whatever is most convenient. So, when we free up our dependence on specific devices, and consider our availability to others as our “presence", then we are able to communicate on a much higher level of efficiency, with greater ease of use, and at a reduced overall cost.

For the business, Unified Communications often translates into better customer service, increased competitive advantage, and reduced communication latency. Real-time collaboration can exist when previously, there was a lag. Service organizations, such as financial institutions, healthcare and insurance companies are the first to embrace and adopt the technologies that enable Unified Communications. Providing a universal presence to your customers enables opportunities for excellent service delivery and faster results.

On a well thought out and functioning UC platform, the communications problems often experienced with having a distributed workforce practically go away. Whether it is home-workers, road warriors or branch offices, the architecture provides for highly efficient work-flow, with all functioning together over a seamlessly inter-woven combination of methods and devices.

Adopting this concept at your business will undoubtedly require a technology investment. The underlying foundation to enable Unified Communications is primarily your computer network and the Internet. The devices that you use are highly dependent on your business purpose and personal choices, and some will be better than others for you. Workflow efficiency, customer turnaround times, energy use, and travel expenses are all good places to begin an evaluation of Unified Communications for your business.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

- Bill

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Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor
Centrend, Inc.
508-347-9550 ext 135
bbowman @ centrend . com

Let’s say a wireless Internet connection is like a swimming pool…the pool covers a certain physical area, and the water is a resource which must be purchased and maintained.

Now let’s say that you are out for a walk and pass by a home that has a swimming pool in the back yard. The people who live there have a gate, but it’s left wide open. Not only that, but there is a sign next to the gate that reads, “POOL", with an arrow pointing in its direction. It’s the hottest day of the year, and because it’s so hot, you happen to be wearing your swim suit while out for your walk. Is it immoral for you to enter their yard, without permission, and have a swim in the cool water? No one appears to be home, there is no one to ask for permission, would you think about it?

Does it make a difference WHERE an unsecured wireless connection is broadcast?

If your neighbor built their swimming pool in YOUR yard, then you probably would not think it’s immoral for you to have a swim whenever it pleases you, right? So, let’s say your neighbor’s unsecured wireless access point broadcasts all the way into your house … you didn’t ask for this, but there it is … is it wrong for you to take advantage of their Internet connection? After all, they are sending it right to you.

Myself, the moral implications are mainly what keep me from using my neighbor’s Internet access, and I do have other reasons. But, what about the moral implications, and what are to be the legal implications which will eventually follow?

It is illegal to gain access to someone else’s network to commit theft or malice. Does using someone’s bandwidth constitute theft? Since we must pay for the use of the Internet, and bandwidth is sold in increments, costing more as we utilize more, then one could say that tapping into someone else’s Internet connection without permission is, in effect, stealing their bandwidth, which is valuable.

I don’t like the idea of using my neighbor’s Internet access because it could be interpreted by them as an invasion by me, and I have no control over the state of the network, or the availability and reliability of the connection. Then there is the moral and potential legal argument that I would be stealing a valuable resource from them…the bandwidth allocated to them by their ISP, which they have paid to use.

Now, if you are friendly enough with your neighbors, you could approach them and ask if they want to share the resource and split the cost. In this case, just remember that if the connection goes down, do you really want a call from your neighbor at 2-AM because they want to finish watching “Family Guy” on hulu?

We can’t forget to think about the select few who really don’t mind if you tap into their wireless access point. Some people want to share their Internet connection, and purposely set up their wireless access unsecured, for free access by anyone. This is fine and noble, but these generous souls are definitely exposing themselves to a certain degree of risk. Criminals are looking for these openings. In this case, professionally configured and maintained network protection is an excellent idea.

One of my favorite authors, Robert Frost, once wrote, “Good fences make good neighbors.” So, if you want to be a good neighbor, then I recommend obtaining your very own Internet connection, and if you’re going wireless, securing it with wireless access protection and encryption, so that your neighbors will be good, too.

- Bill

***
Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor
Centrend, Inc.
508-347-9550 x135

Integration does not have to equal complexity. Quite often the purpose of integrating systems is to enable cross-functioning departments and teams. If at any point during the evaluation, planning or implementation stage, you perceive that you’re moving away from this enablement, then you have the wrong consultants or the wrong software being implemented.

Take a step back and consider the business purpose driving each of your IT strategies. IT planning should always support your business initiatives, hand-in-hand.

- Bill

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Bill Bowman
Senior Technology Advisor
Centrend, Inc.
508-347-9550 x135