Archive for July, 2010

Microsoft have released on their blog that the National Cyber Security Alliance recently hosted a discussion about the role of the individual in computer security. Representatives from Microsoft and other companies agreed that businesses are responsible for providing security tools in addition to education and they discussed the steps that individuals should take to secure their own computers.

Andrew Cushman, senior director of Trustworthy Computing at Microsoft stressed that people should use updated web browsers when they surf the Internet.

Here are four steps you can take right now to increase your security:

1. Keep your firewall turned on.

2. Keep all your software and your operating system up-to-date.

3. Keep your antivirus software up to date.

4. Keep your antispyware technology up to date.

BBC News reports today that telecoms giant BT has said it will increase call charges by 10% and its monthly line rental by 50p from the beginning of October.

The majority of customers will be informed of the move by letter this week.

The cost of connecting a call will go up from 9.9 pence to 10.9p. The daytime rate rises from 5.9p to 6.4p a minute.

Customers who sign up to a year-long contract upfront will avoid the increased charges.

BT said it estimates the impact of the changes will be just 1p a day, because its average customer makes only 80 seconds of daytime calls each day, and more than half subscribe to inclusive packages.

It said “calling plans enable customers to avoid the set-up fee and charges for most calls altogether”.

From October, BT customers will pay a landline rental charge of £13.29 a month, or £12.04 if they receive their bills by e-mail.

The price changes are part of a concerted move by the company to get customers to sign up to longer-term contracts and special bundled packages.

They are offering cheaper rates for those that do.

After 1 October, the standard cost of a landline will be £159.48. For those who pay the entire sum upfront, it will be £131.88. If they sign up before the end of October, the cost will be £113.88, which works out at £9.49 a month.

If you would like advice on switching your telephone provider to ensure that this increase does not affect you, please d not hesitate to contact us on 0845 180 0000.

Today Microsoft released 4 new security updates.

• 2 updates for Microsoft Windows
• 1 update for Microsoft Office
• 1 update for Microsoft Office Outlook

You can download the updates via Windows Update or click here to visit the bulletin page.

Previously, we mentioned that support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) will end on July 13, 2010.

Today is the day. If your computer is running these operating systems you have two options.

· Upgrade to Windows 7.

· Install the most current Service Pack: If you are not ready to move to Windows 7, then apply the most current Service Pack to continue to receive updates and support. For Windows Vista support and updates, upgrade to Windows Vista SP2, and for Windows XP support and updates, upgrade to SP3.

The UK jumps from ninth to fourth place in the ‘Dirty Dozen’ of spam-relaying countries

IT security and control firm Sophos has published its latest report into the top twelve spam relaying countries, covering the second quarter of 2010. The USA continues to be the number one spam polluter, piping out 15.2% of all global spam messages – an increase from 13.1% in the first quarter of 2010.

The UK – a nation that last year fell out of the spam hall of shame – also saw a significant rise in the proportion of spam it relayed. With a total output of 4.6% of the world’s spam, this puts the UK in fourth place overall compared with ninth earlier this year.

The top twelve spam relaying countries for April – June 2010

Sophos warns that spam is becoming increasingly malicious – not just advertising unwanted goods, but spreading links to malicious websites and computer-infecting malware.

“It’s sad to see spam relayed via compromised European computers on the rise – the UK, France, Italy and Poland have all crept up the rankings since the start of the year,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. “Financially-motivated criminals are controlling compromised zombie computers to not just launch spam campaigns, but also to steal identity and bank account information. It’s an uphill struggle educating users about the dangers of clicking on links or attachments in spam mails, and that their computers may already be under the control of cybercriminals. Businesses and computer users must take a more proactive approach to spam filtering and IT security in order to avoid adding to this global problem.”

This rise in spam email generated in individual European countries is reflected in the breakdown of spam relayed by continent:

Top spam-relaying continents, April – June 2010

Europe has leapfrogged over Asia to become the most prolific continent for spamming. Although the USA continues to be the top spam-relaying country, North America remains in third place by continent, a long way behind Asia and Europe.

“Spam will continue to be a global problem for as long as it makes money for the spammers. It makes commercial sense for the criminals to continue if even a tiny proportion of recipients clicks on the links,” explained Cluley. “Too many computer users are risking a malware infection that sees their computer recruited into a spam botnet. To combat the spammers, it’s not only essential for computer users to run up-to-date security software, they must also resist the urge to purchase products advertised by spam.”

Spam emails make up 97% of all emails received by business email servers, both putting a strain on network resources and wasting a huge amount of time to lost productivity. Used largely as a method for selling counterfeit or illicit goods, virtually all spam comes from malware infected computers (known as bots or zombies) that are controlled by ‘botherder’ cybercriminals.

Computer users can unwittingly allow their PCs to become part of a botnet in a number of ways, including clicking on malicious links that are frequently contained within the spam messages that the botnets are used to distribute. The best way for users and administrators to reduce the risk of being compromised is to run anti-spam and anti-malware protection, behave sensibly when online, and ensure their systems are up-to-date with security patches.

Sophos recommends that companies automatically update their corporate virus protection, and run a consolidated solution at their email and web gateways to defend against spam and viruses. If you are concerned about your IT security, please contact one of our team, confidentially, for advice on 0845 180 0000.

Filemaker has released an update to their recently released version 11 of their popular database development platform.

This software updates FileMaker Pro 11 or FileMaker Pro 11 Advanced to version 11.0v2

Some of the elements of FileMaker Pro 11.0v2 which are updated are:

1. Field Definition:

2. Recovery:

3. Snapshot Link:

4. Scripting:

5. Quick Find:

6. Value Lists:

7. Printing:

8. Runtime:

9. Plug-ins:

10. General

11. Excel Import

12. IWP
13. xDBC

The updaters for Windows & Mac can be downloaded here. If you feel your business could benefit from having a Filemaker database please do not hesitate to contact one of our team for further advices.