10 Reasons Why You Need to Use Social Media for Your Business

2012-01-17T08:07:00.000-08:00

10 Reasons Why You Need to Use Social Media for Your Business
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
8:30 AM to 9:30 AM

Event Details

Our Web Development Team has launched Our New Website

2010-06-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

To view our new website please visit: www.alpinebiz.com

Our new Website gives you:

- Easier, faster asscess to our support team.
- A wealth of information on exciting new technologies available to you today.
- The ability to quickly find us on search engines.
- Easy registration for technology seminars through our interactive web forms.

If you are interested in a new website design, or simply want to enhance or update your existing site, please contact us through out website: www.alpinebiz.com

Enhancing your web presence will:

- Reinforce your corporate brand and identity.
- Expand your marketplace
- Build an efficient, interactive channel for communicating with customers and suppliers
- Collect e-mail addresses and other information from your visitors
- Keep your clients/prospects informed; anytime, anywhere, and as often as they need

The Hidden Dangers of Copy Machines

2010-06-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

The copier you are returning could have thousands of your private documents on it's Hard Drive.

Are you thinking about replacing your copier?
Are you about to lease another one?

We can help protect your private information AND we can help you be sure you get the right copier at the right price.

Watch a video from CBS News on this issue.

Alpine Business Systems has been chosen by Level Platforms

2010-02-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

Alpine Business Systems has been chosen by Level Platforms in 2010 as being exceptional in their delivery of superior IT services to small- and medium-sized business customers over the past 12 months. Level Platforms, a renowned provider of network management and monitoring software located in Ontario, Canada, chose Alpine out of several thousand firms with whom they work. They noted that Alpine’s success was in spite of the severe challenges they and their clients faced relative to the global economic downturn. Alpine Business Systems is located in Somerville, New Jersey and can be reached at 908-707-9696 or on the web at www.alpinebiz.com.

Alarming rise in attacks on users of social networks...

2010-02-02T06:14:00.000-08:00

We at Alpine Business Systems work every day to protect our client’s networks, computers, data, and information assets.

We have seen a steady increase in the number of attempts to access and steal data. Recently published research has quantified the increase.
Read Article >>

The hackers have found that there is a huge market for stolen data, as well as the programs to steal it. NY Times article chronicles one such gentleman in China.
Read Article >>

We offer a free 45 minute seminar on the dangers facing all of us in today’s very hostile world relative to our home computers and business networks. To request a private seminar for your organization click here.

Are we unknowingly opening our doors to criminals and terrorists?

2009-07-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

A bright young man watches helplessly as his mother suffers through the final stages of an incurable cancer. For whatever reason, he blames the institution for her suffering; a place where he spends hours visiting her every day, often with nothing to do. He discovers a vulnerability in the institution’s network security, and rather than take the risk of actively exploiting it himself, he decides to anonymously publish it on the Internet for others more brave and devious than him to exploit.

A specialist is performing a delicate, highly sophisticated operation. She is using the latest computer-aided technology to perform the operation in a way that was impossible 15 years ago. The system also lowers the procedure’s risk significantly by providing audible alarms and visual feedback, alerting her to any adverse conditions. Suddenly the screens go blank, forcing her and the team to drastically change the course of the operation.

One of the reasons the medical center invested this year in a new Electronic Medical Records system was to improve the accuracy of patient data across all systems. But several patients over the past month have been improperly medicated, and it was found that some of their data points were either wrong or had been changed in the system. How did it happen?

These may be nightmare scenarios to you and I, but I can assure you, these stories are delightful and exciting to large groups of well organized, highly sophisticated criminals and terrorists around the world who would enjoy nothing more than making these stories a reality. The very best things about technology, enabling new and wonderful things in every aspect of our lives and connecting us to people and information instantly, are the very things that provide the vulnerabilities that our enemies can easily exploit.

Corporate IT departments have gotten very good at protecting their networks with firewalls, anti-virus, and other tools. This has forced the bad guys to find other ways to get in. Here are some of the ways they can gain access and wreak havoc.

Wireless Network Access Points – These make it easy and convenient to connect, especially for the criminals. They must be configured not to broadcast the SSID’s and to enforce strong encryption. Additionally, access can be restricted to only certain computers by MAC address, something any good IT person should know.

Open doors - We regularly see doors wide open to server rooms, telephone closets, electrical panels, and other network connection points. In seconds an entire network could be brought down or compromised. Every door should be closed, locked, and alarmed. Video surveillance is also recommended because it is inexpensive and one of the best deterrents. Crime on the streets of London was dramatically reduced by a network of cameras.

Network jacks in publicly accessible areas – Conference rooms, auditoriums, and other areas all have network connections for internal users and guests. When these rooms are not in use, those jacks, if not disabled, can provide full network access to anyone who plugs in their notebook computer. Be sure they are only enabled during times that they are being used and for that time only. A call can be made to the IT department to turn it on and when finished, it can easily be turned off.

Kiosks and publicly accessible computers – We have all seen them. They serve many useful purposes – directions, information, job postings, advertisements, etc. Unless they are physically hardened and secured, a hacker can easily boot to the CD-ROM, compromising the security of the installed Operating System, access the network, copy files to a keychain USB drive, and leave totally unnoticed. Publicly accessible computers should have no CD-ROM drives, USB ports, or floppy drives, and their network card should be locked with a device that makes it inaccessible. When the USB key vulnerability was discovered several years ago, to prevent even authorized users from copying sensitive data, many US Federal Agencies dispatched teams with hot glue guns to inject glue into the USB ports to disable them.

Unattended PC’s left on or passwords left on the desk – Walk around the office after hours and notice how many PC’s are turned on and logged in. Even if they are turned off, look around the desks a little and you are sure to find passwords written down, or worse, taped to the monitor! Always logoff every night and never keep your passwords on or in your desk. If you must right them down, keep them in a safe place (not the top drawer with your pencils), and make them understandable to you, but disguised for anyone else who sees them.

PC’s not updated to the latest service packs and security patches - There is a reason why your computer wants to always run the latest Microsoft updates. If a networked computer does not have the latest updates, or even worse, it is running an old, unsupported Operating System like Windows 2000, it is incredibly easy to access that computer remotely and control it from anywhere on the network. And that means the entire world, given the fact that most, if not all, networks are connected to the Internet. And once a computer on the network is compromised, it can be used to access and control any number of other computers, network resources, or data. Network administrators can control their networks from their cell phone on the beach. Imagine what a terrorist could do. Always keep your computers updated. The problems you may encounter with an update are far less problematic than the alternative.

Social Engineering – Here we have the oldest, most effective trick in the book. Simply put, convincing someone to do something you want them to do, actively or passively, always unknowingly, and most likely not in their best interest. There are hundreds of web sites and manuals written by the bad guys to instruct others on the best techniques to use to not only go unnoticed, but convince others to assist them and divulge confidential information.

Often when performing security audits, because we are wearing suits and look official, not only do we go unnoticed, but often employees assist us by clearing room on their desk for us to work and offer any help they can. When sitting in public areas, intensely working on a laptop that we have plugged in to an open network jack to browse the network, we are offered coffee by a helpful, kind “fellow” worker.

Want someone’s password? Call them and say that you are from the IT department and you were noticing that their computer is performing erratically from time to time. Whose doesn’t, right? Tell them you can fix it right now, all you need is their username and password, because for security reasons, even the IT department doesn’t keep them on file (which is true by the way).
Guessing the user name structure and domain name is easy for nearly any company. Many of them are published on their web site! Do you want to find out more about their network, remote access, VPN’s? One web site encourages you to “just hang outside their offices on a regular basis with the employees on break. If asked, tell them you work for another company in the building. It won’t be long before you can find out a lot about how they use their network.”

Conclusion – There are some obvious things that can be done to better protect networks and confidential information from the predators that are searching for vulnerabilities every minute of every day from every corner of the world. Regular, unannounced audits and assessments are a good first step. These can be done quickly, inexpensively, and will provide immediate feedback and action plans to mitigate and minimize risk and vulnerabilities.
Network security today, though, is everyone’s job. As we continue to encourage our fellow employees to be more client-focused, service oriented, and generally very helpful, we need to also make them aware of the dangers of being too trusting and helpful in certain situations. They should be made aware of the above scenarios and should always feel comfortable and justified in calling attention to any suspicious activity, as innocent and normal as it may seem. As the criminals become more devious and resourceful, we all need to raise our level of awareness, prevention, and response. The stakes are very high.

Alpine Business Systems: Computer Consulting Company in New Jersey

10 Reasons Why You Need to Use Social Media for Your Business

Our Web Development Team has launched Our New Website

The Hidden Dangers of Copy Machines

Alpine Business Systems has been chosen by Level Platforms

Alarming rise in attacks on users of social networks...

Are we unknowingly opening our doors to criminals and terrorists?