Regulatory compliance can take on different definitions according to the industry in which you are applying the policies. Since compliance means incorporating standards that conform to specific requirements, regulatory compliance is the regulations a company must follow to meet specific requirements.
When you apply regulatory compliance to IT, the regulations apply to two different aspects of company operations which include the internal requirements for IT and compliance standards that are set forth by external entities. Both types of regulatory compliance affect IT company operations and can potentially restrict (more…)
Network Monitoring Methods
Network monitoring is an essential responsibility for businesses of all sizes. Medium-sized and large companies typically have a network monitoring system in place either onsite or offsite in the cloud but what about small businesses? This is exactly what hackers are asking when they are seeking to breach a network.
In the last few years small businesses have become (more…)
How Hackers Use Backdoors to Access a Network
Backdoors are a method that hackers use to establish unauthorized access to a network from a remote location. Hackers use backdoors as a means of gaining repeated access to a network without being logged by the systems administrator. This type of network intrusion hides its presence while the hacker is actually using the network without the knowledge of others.
How Backdoors Work
Hackers gain access to a network by (more…)
Key Metrics You Should Use when Measuring IT Service Delivery
There is an old adage in business success that says, “You cannot manage what you fail to measure.” This is a valid point when it comes to focusing on a set of metrics that provide the best solutions in IT service delivery. The type of metrics which are used will depend upon the needs of the enterprise. However there are key metrics which should be used across the board regardless of business objectives.
Many companies that have a series of branch offices or a staff that works remotely deploy what is known as a virtual private network or VPN. The primary purpose of a VPN is to allow business partners to communicate over a secure network from a remote location via IPsec or Internet Protocol Security. By using a VPN companies view this as one of the safest ways to link users together that are distributed across multiple locations.
Not only are VPNs used to communicate securely over a public network such as the Internet VPNs are also (more…)
Protecting Your Inbox from SpamOpening your mailbox only to find it filled with spammed mail can give you a real headache. It is a real nightmare to sort through your valuable mail when you have tens or hundreds of spam messages in the mix. Spam is an unsolicited email, usually used for commercial purposes such as advertisement of a product or a service.
There are several ways to get rid of these nuisances.
Using Internet Security or Anti-Spam Software
One of the best ways to stop spam is to (more…)
Tips on Assessing the Health of Your Network
Most people only regard bandwidth and latency as the health of a network. They don’t realize the importance of security and loads on servers. Viruses and bugs decrease the quality of your network. High load on servers can lead to high response time or sometimes poor internet speed.
First thing you should analyze is (more…)
How to Turn Off “Enable Editing” in Microsoft Office 2010Are you working in Microsoft Word 2010? If so, how many times have you tried to jump into a document and start making some changes and nothing happens? Oh, that’s right….. You forgot to click on that annoying, little, yellow button on the top of the document. You idiot!
As annoying as it may be, there are valid reasons for this new security feature in Office 2010, which is an improvement over security features in previous versions of Office. As explained by the Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering Team…
“With any piece of complex software, over time new file parsing exploits against it may be found. The older Office binary file formats had been susceptible to these types of attacks. Over the past years hackers have discovered ways to manipulate Office binary files so that when they are opened and parsed, they cause their own code embedded within the file to run. To address these binary file parsing attacks in Office 2007, several new XML based file formats were introduced.”
If you are generally savvy enough to not open documents from suspicious sources and enjoy an occasional walk on the wild side, well then here is a quick “how-to” on just turning the darn thing off permanently: (more…)