bruceb news

These are the rules for being safe using a Windows computer in 2012. Memorize them, forward them to your friends, post them on Facebook, alert the troops, sound the alarm, and walk from door to door passing them out to your neighbors!

If a web site brings something up on your screen that might be malware, turn your computer off with the power button. Get your hands off the mouse and do not click on “OK,” “Cancel,” or the X in the upper right corner! Anything that you click might lower the defenses on the computer and install malware.

Antivirus software & UAC will not always protect you against malware if you click OK at the wrong time. […] continued

MyPermissions.org does something very simple and very helpful – and it might be an eye-opener for some of you.

The site has gathered shortcuts to the pages that list the permissions you’ve granted to access your information on eight social networking services: Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Instagram, and Flickr. The app permission management pages make it possible for you to guard your privacy and control how your information is used.

Let’s use Facebook as an example. If you have a Facebook account, you are asked constantly if you want to link this or that to your Facebook account. Maybe it’s comments on an online forum, or an add-in for a program (like Outlook’s social connector), or apps on your phone. […] continued

LogMeIn has moved far ahead of its competitors for working with computers remotely. It introduced major changes to its product lineup a couple of days before Christmas – not a good time to get much attention but an appropriate time to deliver lovely presents, since the changes include new features that will be useful for many of you.

Let’s start with the basics.

COMPUTERS

LogMeIn provides a small bit of software that installs on your computer at home or the office. It’s tied to a LogMeIn account – an email address and a password. The basic program is free for connecting from one computer to another computer. […] continued

Bruceb Cloud Backup exists in part because I lost confidence in JungleDisk, the online backup service that I was using for myself and several clients.

At the beginning of 2010 I wrote several articles about JungleDisk, which was at that time the most attractive online backup service for small businesses. The software was not glamorous but it was functional, and new features were being added that had potential – the company had introduced a rudimentary system for syncing files among computers and setting up a mapped drive in the sky that could be accessed from multiple locations, and was working on centralized management for servers. […] continued

Happy Thanksgiving from Bruceb Consulting! Remember to look up from your computer and smartphone and iPad and Kindle Fire on Thursday – your family and friends are right there hoping to spend some of that old-fashioned face time with you.

Friday is shopping time, right? Well, so the retailers want you to think. It’s all hype to create an artificial sense of urgency but maybe you’ll be caught up by an urge to spend money. If you sit at your computer to do it online, LastPass has an overlooked tool to make it easier: the Form Fill feature will help you fill in shipping and billing screens with a single click, along with filling in credit card information if you choose. […] continued

Previously:
Redundancy, Backups, And Redundancy
Introducing Bruceb Cloud Backup

Subscribers to Bruceb Cloud Backup have the option to use it for onsite backups, in addition to storing backed up files in the cloud. It adds some interesting flexibility and can be a way to cut costs.

When you add the local option to your Bruceb Cloud Backup subscription, I’ll supply a 2Tb external hard drive to plug into the server or workstation that holds your business data. We’ll configure the Bruceb Cloud Backup software to back up all of your important data to the external hard drive, with no space limitations or per-gigabyte charges. […] continued

Previously:
Redundancy, Backups, And Redundancy

I am excited to be able to offer Bruceb Cloud Backup, a managed online backup solution designed for small businesses and individual users. It is secure, flexible, affordable, and adds an important level of protection for your files.

Unlike a backup to an external hard drive, Bruceb Cloud Backup securely transmits your files to state-of-the-art data centers, where they are safe from theft, fire, spills, power spikes, and all the other things that can happen in your office or home.

There is detailed information about the service at the Bruceb Cloud Backup web site. […] continued

You’re all doing backups. Good job!

(You’re not doing backups? Pfft. That’s just foolish. Call me – don’t put it off, just call me.)

Let’s go through the backup strategies that you have in place. I have some anecdotes that lead me to think that a single backup plan isn’t enough. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the new online backup service that can – and should – be doing redundant backups for you.

(Want a peek? Shh. Take a look but don’t tell anybody.)

Here are some stereotypes. Tell me if you recognize yourself.

If you have a home office or very small business with a handful of workstations, you’re probably running the backup system included with Windows Vista and Windows 7 on the computer that you refer to as the “server” because it holds all the important files – but maybe not on the other computers. […] continued

Many people instinctively protect their privacy. In their minds, it’s not anybody else’s business where they shop, who they visit, what they talk about, or what movies they watch.

The divide is getting wider between naturally private people and the rapidly growing number of people who simply do not have that instinct and are living their lives in public with no reluctance and little regret. Facebook is the obvious source of much of the information being made public but it is only one of many ways to put your life online. Between Facebook posts and photos and location-based phone apps and activities tracked by advertisers, almost everyone is able to be followed online to some degree, voluntarily or not. […] continued

Keeping your computer up to date with patches has become the most important element of being secure online. New studies show that fully patched systems have significantly more protection against malware spread by poisoned web sites and the other forms of viruses and malware floating around.

The monitoring and updating service that I offer for a few dollars each month is just as important for your security as your antivirus program. If you haven’t signed up yet, give me a call or drop me a note. It takes seconds to install and gives you the peace of mind that Java, Flash, Adobe Acrobat/Reader, and other third party products are up to date all the time, in addition to Windows, Internet Explorer, Office programs, and more. […] continued