May 6th, 2011
We have recently been looking at a solution that allows you to host your own off-site backup without having to subscribe to a hosted solution. When I first saw this I was very interested in it as a concept but was not at all sure that it would work. I thought that the amount of data having to be transferred over a simple ADSL link would simply be too much for a daily backup or that the set up and management would be so difficult that it would not be worth doing, however having tried it out ourselves it really works well.
How to host your own off-site backup
This involves having a “master” backup device installed on your network that would carry out a full backup of your server creating an image in the first instance, the system would then carry out an incremental backup each night keeping the previous versions of the backups in place giving you the ability to roll back to an earlier version of any file. This gives you a good on site backup.
A second “slave” box would be paired to the master with the data being synchronised initially whilst both devices are on the network. Once the two boxes have syncronised for the first time you would take the slave box to your home and plug it into your broadband router, at this point it would seek out the master box over the internet and from that point onwards synchronise any changes automatically, this can be done several times a day if you like. All data sent between the boxes is encrypted so you are not in danger of someone sniffing out and stealing your data as it moved over the internet, and of course you are only sending the changes in any case.
At this point it would be worth mentioning that as well as compression the backup software uses a deduplication feature that minimises the size of the backups and as we are only talking about transferring changes made at block level this means that the amount of data transferred is minimal.
This gives you the off-site backup. Below is a table that gives an idea on the time needed to transfer data.
You now have a backup in place that provides both an on and off premise backup solution. in the event of needing to do a restore a file or database you will be able to do so from the master box in the office. In the event of a site disaster you will have an off-site backup that you can carry out a bare metal restore from to dissimilar hardware to get you up and running quickly. you can even mount an image as a virtual machine to expedite the recovery time.
this works really well and is worth looking in to if you need an off-site backup but don’t want to have your data hosted at someone elses data centre and pay the costs associated with that service.
Different options are available from 160GB devices to 10′s of GB solutions, the one that we tested was a 1TB box that worked a treat. If you want to talk to us about this fel free to contact us mailto:sales@cselimited.co.uk or take a look at our website to see how we can help you www.cselimited.co.uk
Tags: backup, host your own off iste backup, network security, off-site backup, remote backup, restore from backup
Posted in Security | No Comments »
February 2nd, 2011
CA have given advance notice that they intend to withdraw future support for Arcserve 11.5 and so its worth looking to see if you are using this version and if so planning to upgrade to a later version or different product over teh not too distant future. The notice that they have issues is copied below.
“CA ARCserve Backup for Windows r11.5
End of Service Announcement
To: CA ARCserve Backup Customers
From: The CA ARCserve Backup Product Team
Subject: End of Service Announcement for CA ARCserve Backup for Windows r11.5
Date: January 31, 2010″
“CA is continually working to improve our software and services to best meet the needs of our customers. In accordance with our CA Support Policy and Terms (https://support.ca.com/phpdocs/0/common/techsupp_policy.pdf), please consider this letter your minimum 12 month notification that we are discontinuing support for CA ARCserve Backup for Windows r11.5. This will allow our Development organization to effectively focus its resources on and add value to CA ARCserve Backup r15 and later.
As development of Release r15 progresses, we encourage you to consider your migration plan, and we will contact you again with migration path information, as well as updates on features and functions of Release r15, and proposed dates for End of Service of Release r11.5.”
Might be a good time to think about off-site backups too have a look here for more information
Tags: arcserve, backup, offsite backup, restore from backup
Posted in Software | No Comments »
January 21st, 2011
By now everyone knows that they need to have antivirus software installed on their computers, even if in practice there are still some crazy people that dont bother.
Perhaps what is not known as well is that there is a threat to the new “smartphones” and at first glance it is perhaps surprising that you would need to protect your phone from viruses! But then when you step back and think about it why wouldn’t you? Your new phone is likley to be able to browse the internet, run apps (software applications) and has access to lots of personal information such as user names, passwords, contact data and the ability to dial premium rate telephone numbers. A-ha an opportunity for the virus writers to make a quick quid or ten.
According to leading sources this year will be a boom year for mobile viruses, have a look at the following link for more information. It suggests that Windows, Android and Apple based phones (particularly if you jailbreak it to get non apple apps) are all at risk and so if you have one of these you might want to take a look.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/vpndevc/security_annual_report_2010.pdf
So what can you do? can you even get antivirus software for mobile phones? Yes we can! (sorry that’s a bit old now) but you can.
Eset is the product that we recommend http://www.cselimited.co.uk/security-antivirus.html but there others.
So if you take my advice I would seriously look at putting some protection in place before you become a victim of this crime.
That’s all for now, why not check out my website www.cselimited.co.uk and have a look at our services.
Tags: anti-virus, antivirus, data security, mobile phone, mobile security, mobile virus, Security, smartphone, virus
Posted in Security, Software | No Comments »
November 19th, 2010
Strange as it may seem there are now reports of call centres being set up to try and trick computer users in to downloading viruses on to their computers.
I know I have blogged about this a few weeks ago but thought that it was worth re-emphasising as the problem seems to be rife at the moment, I have had friends and customers, home users and businesses who have been called with someone claiming to be from Microsoft or one of the antivirus companies saying that they are calling about an infection on a computer at their address. Sometimes they pretend that they are responding to error reports generated by the computer.
We have all seen the message on our screen that requests us to send an error report off after a program has crashed and do we want to send it to Microsoft, sometimes if there is a known fix we get a link to a web page with suggested fixes back right away. However rest assured that Microsoft NEVER ring up a customer as a result of these reports, you can be sure of this because they don’t collect any personal information so they couldn’t even if they wanted to, not that they would have the time any way.
Anyway getting back to the cold callers, the scam is that if they can catch you out and convince you that there is a problem you will be asked to go to a website and download a file to “check or fix” your computer and of course this is how they infect your machine. they will often want to take payment details for the privilege and then they can steal your money too! Don’t fall for this you have been warned.
Similarly if you ever see a pop up on your screen telling you that you have an infection on your system, and its not from your own antivirus software, then don’t press any of the buttons that they offer you, not even the cross that would normally shut down the window, this is because that too will likely have been set to download the payload. My advice would be to close the window by pressing the “ALT” and ”F4″ keys at the same time which will then allow you to shut down the window, then if another window opens and appears to be doing a scan hit the same keys again to shut that down too.
Tags: antivirus, computer scams, microsoft, network security, scams, Security, telephone scams
Posted in Security | No Comments »
October 18th, 2010
Having a verified security certificate installed on your server can make life much easier, particularly when you are looking to allow remote access, push emails out to mobile phones, Blackberrys and iPhones, or even using Outlook anywhere. In fact on the latest version of Exchange 2010 you will really need one of these certificates to be able to get the best out of it.
So what is a security certificate? There are various types of certificates depending on what you want to do with them but in essence a security certificate is a small electronic file that is installed on your server that allows the server to prove who it says it is, the certificates are issues by a certificate authority who verify the credentials of the organization before issuing the “trusted” certificate. When a remote connection is requested the remote site looks to see if there is a valid certificate in place and if so it goes ahead and allows the connection, you will have seen this type of secure connection if you use shopping sites on the Internet, your address bar will generally go green if you connect to a trusted secure site and if the site does not have a valid certificate the address bar will go red and you will get a warning saying that it is not recommended to proceed to the site. If you already use Outlook Web Access and don’t currently have a certificate you will also see this warning web page which you have to navigate before getting to your emails.
The problem comes when you try to get some mobile devices to link up with the server over the Internet, these devices require a certificate to be in place or they will refuse the connection meaning that in order to use them you would need to install a certificate.
Sounds expensive! So how much are they? Well until recently these have been quite expensive, being predominantly used by on-line shopping sites and larger organisations, however with the advent of unified communications being more readily available there has been an increase in competition and now the certificates can cost as little as £50 or £60 a year. If you want to know more about certificates why not use the contact us page on the website to request more information.
Tags: network security, Security
Posted in Security | 1 Comment »
September 24th, 2010
Cybercriminals often include the names of well-known companies, like Microsoft, in their scams to try and convince you to give them money or your personal information usually by e-mail but they sometimes use the telephone.
Scams that you might come across are:
• “You have won the Microsoft Lottery”
• Microsoft “requires credit card information to validate your copy of Windows”
• You receive an email saying its from Microsoft with attached security updates
• Someone claiming to be from “Microsoft Tech Support” calls to fix your computer
Avoid these hoaxes
Microsoft do not send unsolicited e-mail or make unsolicited phone calls to request personal or financial information or fix your computer, so you can just delete/hang up with confidence.
You have not won the “Microsoft Lottery” There isn’t one!
Microsoft does not ever request credit card information to validate your copy of Windows. In fact, they do not collect information that can be used to identify you such as your name, e-mail address, or other personal details when you are validating your copy of Windows.
Microsoft does not send unsolicited communication about security updates. Legitimate communications do not include software updates as attachments. They never attach software updates to security communications.
Microsoft does not make unsolicited phone calls to help you fix your computer. This has happened to people we know and they say that they were quite convincing. In this scam cybercriminals call you and claim to be from Microsoft Tech Support. They offer to help solve your computer problems. Once the crooks have gained your trust, they attempt to steal from you and damage your computer with malware including viruses and spyware. Treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism. Do not provide any personal information. If you receive an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft Tech Support, hang up. They won’t call you to offer to help.
If you think you might be a victim of fraud, you can report it. For more information, see: What to do if you’ve responded to a phishing scam by following this link. http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/phishing/respond.aspx
Tags: antivirus, data security, malware, microsoft, network security, PC Health, phishing, prevent data theft, Security, Vista, Windows 7, XP applications
Posted in Security, Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 20th, 2010
We would like to wish Tony Trinder of OPM Finance a very happy 57th Birthday today.
Tony and his much younger looking wife Janine
OPM are specialists in financing all types of business equipment from complete IT solutions, software funding, security and telephone systems, leisure equipment to vehicles. Unique facilities for all types of equipment are provided to UK commercial business users, universities, colleges, schools and local government.
CSE have been pleased to provide IT support and solutions to OPM for the last 10 years and look forward to continuing to do so for many more.
Happy Birthday Tony from all at CSE.
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Tony
Happy Birthday to you!
With thanks to Scott for ratting on him.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 10th, 2010
We are very pleased to announce that CSE have achieved Silver Partner Status with ESET.
This has been achieved within the first 12 months of registering as a reseller for the ESET products and is in recognition of our having completing both technical and sales training as well as reaching certain revenue levels and shows that we are able to supply, install and support the products to a high standard.
Have a look on our website for more information, there is also a link to a free scanner that you can run to see if you have any infections www.cselimited.co.uk the link is neaxt to the blog link.
If you have any requirements why not drop us a note from our contacts page and we can get back to you, there is an offer on at the moment for 3 years for the price of 2 until the end of August 2010 so could be a good time to switch. www.cselimited.co.uk/contact.html
We have been very happy with the ESET range of products and would recommend them but if you are not convinced we can also arrange a free trial for you. See www.cselimited.co.uk/security-antivirus.html for more details.
Tags: adware, anti-virus, antivirus, BOT, cleanup PC, data security, data theft, eset, microsoft, network security, Security, silver partner, virus, virus protection
Posted in Security | No Comments »
July 13th, 2010
We all rely on our connection to the outside world more than ever these days! It’s not enough to have the computers on, they need to be connected to the outside world for email, web browsing and instant messaging etc. This is especially true for businesses of course who rely on their connection to trade with their customers. Generally speaking most small businesses rely on a single ADSL line and if that goes down, which they do from time to time, then they are helpless until it comes back on-line which can be anything from a few hours to a few days in some cases.
Why not consider having a second ADSL line put in place, they are not expensive these days and you can get one for about £30 a month, preferably with an alternate provider so that if you have a problem with one line the other will carry on working.
If you POP your mail there will be no problems and if you get your mail via SMTP then with the right routers and rules set up at your Internet service provider hosting your mail you can send and get your emails via both lines. You can also bind the two lines together for faster broadband access too. The big advantage of course is that should one line go off you will still be able to get your mail and browse the Internet.
How two lines are better than one.
This will give a large degree of fault tolerance, you can go further than this with load balancing routers that can switch over the lines between them but as a first step this is a very sensible and economic option that will keep you working through an outage that would normally stop you. Of course you will still be going out to the Internet through your local BT exchange, but the chances are that this is not going to be down altogether, it is much more likely that there will be a problem with a single line, or a card in the exchange.
All in all I can’t see why any one would not want to put this type of system in place these days, the low cost makes it a no brainer.
Have a look at our website and contact us if you want more information on this type of solution www.cselimited.co.uk/contact.html and drop us a line, we would be happy to help.
Tags: ADSL failure, ADSL fault tollerance, broadband, business continuity, dual ADSL lines, email, email systems, internet at work, keep working
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
July 2nd, 2010
A vulnerability has been recently discovered in the “Windows Help and Support Centre” as used in Windows XP. Basically this is a tool that is used to offer basic assistance to users and makes use of the internet to gather information and offer advice and downloads including drivers and updates.
The problem is that it uses the HCP protocol as well as the http one and it’s not too fussy about the sites it connects to as it cant validate URL’s properly when using the HCP protocol.
This has led to the bad boys writing websites and links that exploit this vulnerability and if a site with this code is browsed, or a link in an email followed to this code it can then download the “payload” to your PC and in effect do what it wants.
There is more information here on Microsoft’s technet site if you want to learn more.
The best advice for the moment is to keep your antivirus and security software as up to date as possible. There is a workaround listed on the site that involves editing the system registry to disable the HCP protocol but this should not be attempted by the feint hearted as in the words of warning at the beginning of the post “Using registry editor can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system” and this is not a fix, its just a workaround until a fix is available.
The worst affected countries at the moment seem to be Portugal and Russia but it will spread.
Windows 7 is not affected by this problem.
Tags: antivirus, malware, network security, Security, virus, Windows help and support
Posted in Security, Software | No Comments »