Archive for November, 2009

WingSwept Introduces New Partner Advisor to Strengthen Customer Relationships

WingSwept is pleased to announce that Cray Carter has joined WingSwept’s growing staff.  As a Partner Advisor, Cray will help nurture and develop client relationships and be an overall valued asset to the IT consulting firm, specifically working in the Network Support division.

The Network Support division’s purpose is to provide peace of mind to businesses that value uptime and want to avoid the costly trouble of network downtime.  WingSwept works with clients to develop stable and effective information technology infrastructures which provide a positive return on assets for business owners through increased uptime and continuity of operations.

Cray’s professional background consists of over 10 years in business development, where he spent his time working in the Insurance field with small business owners in the eastern part of the state.  He knew of WingSwept’s successes but was further intrigued when he learned of its great record of employee satisfaction and morale.

“I am thrilled to work with this leading local IT firm that has proven its strengths through continuous growth despite a gloomy economy.” said Cray.  “WingSwept has given me an excellent opportunity for professional advancement as well as the chance to experience their impressive corporate culture.  I look forward to meeting WingSwept’s clients and further developing our partnerships.”

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Latest Technology Scam- How to Avoid becoming a Money Mule

Cyber criminals are always developing news scams that will lead them to your information and possibly into your bank account.  These criminals may even use you in the process.

WingSwept’s partner, Trend Micro, suggest you never send sensitive personal or financial information via email, and don’t provide it at all unless you know you are dealing with a reputable company.  Trend Micro has tools to prevent such scams, but most people do not. Below is a recent case of someone falling victim to such a scam that was shared through Trend Micro’s newsletter.

A ”company” approached a woman who had her resume posted on a career website and offered her a job as a financial manager that could work from home. In order to hire her, they needed personal and financial data of hers (like her license and bank account).  They informed her that they would be transfering large amounts of money into her bank account, which she was to withdraw after taking out her commision, and send on via Western Union to the investment firm.  The woman’s bank discovered this criminal activity, shut down her account, but then came to discover she was a victim and being used as a money mule.

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Extend the Life of Your PC

Although there is no definitive answers to the life span of desktop PC, there are definite ways to increase your PCs performance and help extends its life. One way is to use a surge protector. It helps prevent the sensitive components of a computer from being adversely affected by fluctuation in power of lightning strikes.

Hope this tip brought to you by WingSwept is helpful!

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Hacker Penetrates Phone System and Charges Thousands

Only a couple months ago in August, a hacker got into the phone system of a computer design company called Prospect Heights and started charging calls to Somalia. The hackers remained in the system for days and rang up a total of $17,381.94.  The business owner is rightfully concerned that he is going to be stuck with these charges if the phone company does not take responsibility for catching the hacker earlier. [Read entire Chicago Tribune article here]

This article explains that “hackers go into companies’ voice-mail systems, generally after hours, and begin ‘dialing around’ to see if they can penetrate the system. Once they identify the voice-mail passwords, the hackers use a paging function to route calls through the company’s phone numbers.”

Such crimes can be prevented with the help of user education and configuration. Hackers target users who do not have their systems configured securely. For such reasons, WingSwept always configures customer’s phone systems to protect them from such fraud.

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Cost of Data Breaches on the Rise- Ponemon Institute Reports

In 2008, the Ponemon Institute determined that data breaches had grown growing 43% since 2005 to an average $197 per record compromised. According to the 2008-2009 Ponemon Institute Annual Cost of a Data Breach study, the average cost of a data breach has risen to $202 from last year’s $197 per customer record. Find the research study, here.

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10 Biggest Security Threats & How IT Can Help

CRN Magazine, in their September issue, examined the current state of technology, security solutions and what is to come. They rated the biggest security threats that will be facing customers in the next 12 to 18 months.

The 10 Biggest Security Threats Are:

  • 39.7% – Data Loss/Breaches
  • 35.9% – Internal Threats
  • 34.3% – Social Networking Threats
  • 33% – Trojans/Information Stealing Keyloggers/Fast Flux Botnets
  • 22.5% – Phishing/Social Engineering
  • 21.1% – Viruses
  • 20.6% – Internet Worms
  • 20.1% – Organized Cybercrime Networks
  • 13.9% – Cyber Espionage
  • 10.5% – Zero-day Exploits

Enterprise-level businesses are not the only ones who can afford protection from these things. WingSwept offers small and medium sized businesses security solutions  to meet each customer’s unique needs.  WingSwept specializes in Managed Services, Disaster Recovery, Data Loss Prevention, Virus/Spam Protection and much more. Keeping customers in business is WingSwept’s top priority. The suffering economy means businesses need cost-efficient solutions to adapt to increasing threats and new technologies.

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