The Top Three Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Dedicated Computer Repair Service

Every corporation knows that when their computer is down they are rapidly losing business, resources and losing touch with the operations side of their company. With modern technology, everything is digital and documented on an operating system. Losing this necessary tool could completely sidetrack a business's daily workload until the problem has been resolved.
There are three circumstances when a business should definitely hire a dedicated computer repair specialist and this includes for: general repair and troubleshooting, virus removal and for MS Office and custom application training. With these services, businesses can always count on the same company to know their equipment, arrive with reliability and get the business back up and running as soon as possible.
Why Hire a Computer Repair Service?
1. Troubleshooting and Repair
A general service for troubleshooting and repair is extremely important for businesses to be partnered with. There are a number of things that can go wrong with a computer and it can be incredibly frustrating to not know the problem or worse; try to fix it yourself and make the issue more severe!
A computer repair company will be able to:
• Diagnose the Problem
• Save Important Files
• Help you Understand the Issues
• Resolve the Problem
• Prevent it from Happening Again
With technology such as remote software and a genuine desire to understand the company's needs, a high quality computer repair service will be able find the problem and fix it, with little to no time lost.
2. Virus Removal
A computer virus is a business's worst fear. It can mean not being able to use the machine at all. Some symptoms of a virus can include:
• Computer running slow
• Will not boot up
• Gives an error message
• Anti-Virus software won't run
• Browser won't open web pages
• Seeing unfamiliar web pages.
A computer repair company has the experience and know-how to get rid of computer viruses for good and they will be able to make recommendations so that the business's computers will not be susceptible to an attack again.
3.Software Training
If your team members are new to MS Office or your business has just had a custom application developed, it may be necessary to hire a computer service to assist with effectively training the staff. There are many benefits to hiring a third party service including, experience in a computer program teaching role, saving time by passing over the learning curve and an instructor that guarantees every part of the software has been displayed and explained. This means that everything in the program will be used as it is intended and that the software will be doing its job at its optimal capacity.
Partnering with one computer repair service for all of your businesses maintenance and troubleshooting requirements is the best way for computer technicians to thoroughly understand your business and how your computers can be used to the enterprise's best advantage.
For computer repair services in Dallas and Fort Worth visit Custom Computer Systems at, http://www.custcomp.net
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kaleena_A_Lawless

Cell Phone Data Recovery

Whether you have a cheating spouse or cheating employees in the workplace it is now possible to recover all kinds of data from a cell phone. Often times, even deleted information can be recovered.
People think that their tracks have been covered, but little do they know that their very own mobile phone contains a wealth of data. Think about this, many smart phones have a built in GPS. A skilled investigator can find out everywhere that phone has been. Was your husband at his girlfriend's house? The smart phone knows. Was your employee where he/she was supposed to be at the correct time? Well you can find out.
Are people using social networks to hook up? You better believe it, it happens all the time. A cell phone contains the history of social network activity. Even if things have been deleted, they can often be recovered, if it has not been a long period of time since deletion.
Company fraud and theft happens all the time. If your employees have company cell phones, you can view all the data from the phone and find out what your employees have been up to.
Data recovery can be done quickly and discreetly.

• If you suspect your spouse or significant other is having an affair, or is up to some other kind of activity you can find out what has been going on with their cell phone with the help of a private investigator.
• In the workplace company cell phone are used extensively.
• Teenagers sometimes get into trouble. You can find out what has been going on with their cell phones and nip a potential problem in the bud.
• If you have a legal issue with anyone, be it friends, relatives, co-workers, significant other, employer, employee or some other person, we may be able to help your case with cell phone forensics.

Data can also be recovered from Computers, Laptops, iPads, tablets, GPS and other electronic devices. The recovery process is quick and discreet. The person will not realize their phone has been investigated.
The evidence obtained from a cell phone can help your case in court. Whether you are involved in a divorce, child custody issue, theft or other legal issue, cell phone forensics may be able to help you.
Mobile Phone Forensics can Recover:

• SMS and MMS messaging
• social networking service posts and contacts
• call logs
• contact lists
• web browsing,
• Wireless network settings
• geolocation information (including geotags contained within image metadata)
• e-mail and other forms of rich internet media, including important data -- such as
• smartphone apps
• Pictures, video and sound recordings

A skilled investigator knows what to look for and how to sort through the data.
Danny Barham Private Investigator since 1977
Danny Barham, Private Investigator.
http://realdetectivestories.com/
919-740-9148
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Danny_Barham

File Integrity Monitoring - Database Security Hardening Basics

The Database - The Mother Lode of Sensitive Data

Being the heart of any corporate application means your database technology must be implemented and configured for maximum security. Whilst the desire to 'get the database as secure as possible' appears to be a clear objective, what does 'secure as possible' mean?

Whether you use Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, or even MySQL or PostgreSQL, a contemporary database is at least as complex as any modern server operation system. The database system will comprise a whole range of configuration parameters, each with security implications, including:

• User accounts and password settings
• Roles and assigned privileges
• File/object permissions
• Schema structure
• Auditing functions
• Networking capabilities
• Other security defense settings, for example, use of encryption

Hardened Build Standard for Oracle, SQL Server, DB2 and others

Therefore, just as with any Windows or Linux OS, there is a need to derive a hardened build standard for the database. This security policy or hardened build standard will be derived from collected best practices in security configuration and vulnerability mitigation/remediation, and just as with an operating system, the hardening checklist will comprise hundreds of settings to check and set for the database.

Depending on the scale of your organization, you may then need hardening checklists for Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g, SQL Server, DB2, PostgreSQL and MySQL, and maybe other database systems besides.

Automated Compliance Auditing for Database Systems

Potentially, there will be a requirement to verify that all databases are compliant with your hardened build standard involving hundreds of checks for hundreds of database systems, so automation is essential, not least because the hardening checklists are complex and time-consuming to verify. There is also somewhat of a conflict to manage in as much as the user performing the checklist tests will necessarily require administrator privileges to do so. So in order to verify that the database is secure, you potentially need to loosen security by granting admin rights to the user carrying out the audit. This provides a further driver to moving the audit function to a secure and automated tool.

In fact, given that security settings could be changed at any time by any user with privileges to do so, verifying compliance with the hardened build standard should also become a regular task. Whilst a formal compliance audit might be conducted once a year, guaranteeing security 365 days a year requires automated tracking of security settings, providing continuous reassurance that sensitive data is being protected.

Insider Threat and Malware Protection for Oracle and SQL Server Database Systems

Finally, there is also the threat of malware and insider threats to consider. A trusted developer will naturally have access to system and application files, as well as the database and its filesystem. Governance of the integrity of configuration and system files is essential in order to identify malware or an insider-generated application 'backdoor'. Part of the answer is to operate tight scrutiny of the change management processes for the organization, but automated file integrity monitoring is also essential if disguised Trojans, zero day malware or modified bespoke application files are to be detected.

File Integrity Monitoring - A Universal Solution to Hardening Database Systems

In summary, the most comprehensive measure to securing a database system is to use automated file integrity monitoring. File integrity monitoring or FIM technology serves to analyze configuration files and settings, both for vulnerabilities and for compliance with a security best practices-based hardened-build standard.

The FIM approach is ideal, as it is provides a snapshot audit capability for any database, providing an audit report within a few seconds, showing where security can be improved. This not only automates the process, making a wide-scale estate audit simple, but also de-skills the hardening exercise to an extent. Since the best practice knowledge of how to identify vulnerabilities and also which files need to be inspected is stored within the FIM tool report, the user can get an expert assessment of their database security without needing to fully research and interpret hardening checklist materials.

Finally, file integrity monitoring will also identify Trojans and zero-day malware that may have infected the database system, and also any unauthorized application changes that may introduce security weaknesses.

Of course, any good FIM tool will also provide file integrity monitoring functions to Windows, Linux and Unix servers as well as firewalls and other network devices, performing the same malware detection and hardening audit reporting as described for database systems.

For fundamentally secure IT systems, FIM is still the best technology to use.

NNT is a leading provider of PCI DSS and general Security and Compliance solutions. As both a File Integrity Monitoring Software Manufacturer and Security Services Provider, we are firmly focused on helping organisations protect their sensitive data against security threats and network breaches in the most efficient and cost effective manner.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Kedgley

File Integrity Monitoring for PCI DSS - Card Skimmers Still Doing the Business After All These Years

Card Skimming - Hardware or Software?

Simplest is still best - whether they are software-based (as in the so-called 'Dexter' or 'VSkimmer' Trojan - Google it for more information) or classic hardware interception devices, card skimming is still a highly effective means of stealing card data.

The hardware approach can be as basic as inserting an in-line card data capture device between the card reader and the EPOS system or Till. This sounds crude but in more advanced cases, the card skimming hardware is cunningly embedded within the card reader itself, often with a cell phone circuit to relay the data to the awaiting fraudster.

Software skimmers are potentially far more powerful. First of all, they can be distributed globally and clearly are not physically detectable like the hardware equivalent. Secondly, they provide access to both 'card present' i.e. POS transactions as well as 'card not present' transactions, for example, tapping into payments via an eCommerce website.

EMV or Chip and PIN - Effective up to a Point

Where implemented - which of course, excludes the US at present - EMV technology (supporting 'Chip and PIN' authorizations) has resulted in big reductions in 'cardholder-present' fraud. A card skimmer would need not just the card details but the added encryption PIN (Personal Identity Number) to unlock it. Embedded card skimming technology can grab the PIN as it is entered too, and hence the emphasis on requiring only approved PIN entry devices that have anti-tampering measures in-built. Alternatively, just use a video camera to record the user entering the PIN and write it down!

By definition, the EMV chip security and PIN entry requirement is only effective for face-to-face transactions where a PED (PIN Entry Device) is used. As a consequence, 'card not present' fraud is still increasing rapidly all over the world, proving that card skimming remains a potentially lucrative crime.

In a global market, easily accessible via the internet, software card skimming is a numbers game. It is also one that relies on a constantly renewing stream of card numbers since card fraud detection capabilities improve both at the acquiring banks and card brands themselves.

Card Skimming in 2013 - The Solution is Still Here

Recently reported research in SC Magazine suggests that businesses are subject to cyber attacks every 3 minutes. The source of the research is Fire Eye, a sandbox technology provider, and they are keen to stress that these malware events are ones that would bypass what they refer to as legacy defences - firewalls, anti-virus and other security gateways. In other words, zero day threats, typically mutated or modified versions of Trojans or other malware, delivered via phishing attacks.

What is frustrating to the PCI Security Standards Council and the card brands (and no doubt software companies like Tripwire, nCircle and NNT!) is that the 6 year old PCI DSS advocates arrange of perfectly adequate measures to prevent any of these newly discovered Trojans (and buying a Fire Eye scanner isn't on the list!) All eCommerce servers and EPOS systems should be hardened and protected using file integrity monitoring. While firewalls and anti-virus is also mandatory, FIM is used to detect malware missed by these devices which, as the Fire Eye report shows, is as common as ever. A Trojan like VSkimmer or Dexter will manifest as file system activity and, on a Windows-system, will always generate registry changes.

Other means of introducing skimming software are also blocked if the PCI DSS is followed correctly. Card data storing systems should be isolated from the internet where possible, USB ports should be disabled as part of the hardening process, and any network access should be reduced to the bare minimum required for operational activities. Even then, access to systems should be recorded and limited to unique usernames only (not generic root or Administrator accounts).

The PCI DSS may be old in Internet Years, but fundamentally sound and well-managed security best practises have never be as relevant and effective as they are today.

NNT is a leading provider of PCI DSS and general Security and Compliance solutions. As both a File Integrity Monitoring Software Manufacturer and Security Services Provider, we are firmly focused on helping organisations protect their sensitive data against security threats and network breaches in the most efficient and cost effective manner.
NNT solutions are straightforward to use and offer exceptional value for money, making it easy and affordable for organisations of any size to achieve and retain compliance at all times. Each product has the guidelines of the PCI DSS at its core, which can then be tailored to suit any internal best practice or external compliance initiative.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Kedgley