Threat Landscape
Tip of the month
Trivia
Question Box
Spotlight on Us
 

The Question Box

Q: I'm told that the new Windows Vista operating system is just around the corner. Should I wait to buy a new PC until it comes out?
A: Some are concerned that because Microsoft has a spotty record with new software that it might be some time before things are “right”. It's possible that Vista could follow the same path, but it has been in development for 5 years and has undergone extensive beta testing. If there are problems it will probably be with 3rd party vendors that may not have their software updated and ready to work with Vista.

We think that for most users with common software and hardware it will work fine. If your worried about it and you need to buy a PC soon you can buy an XP model now and upgrade to Vista later. The downside is that upgrading can be tricky compared with buying a PC that has Vista factory loaded.
 

Spotlight on Us

Do you know Marcia Sousa?
If you have done business with ITSolutions it's likely that you have met up with Marcia along the way.  Why?  Here's why....

Q: How long have you been with the company? A: 7 years
Q: What is your official job title? A: Service Coordinator
Q: That sounds nice, what do you really do? A: Most of my day is actually talking to customers, scheduling our 8 engineers and shifting around priorities, Kind of like hospital triage.
Q: What do you like best about it? A: I enjoy the constant reshuffling and changing things to accommodate the needs of our customers. It's constant reprioritization all day long.
Q: What's your biggest on the job challenge? A: Making sure that everyone gets what they need when they need it and keeping them happy. There never seems to be enough time.
Q: What's your idea of the perfect job? A: For me, I consider this to be the perfect job, that's why I'm here.

What's on the Threat Landscape?

The tenth volume of the Symantec Internet Security Threat Report was released in September 2006 and discusses the threat environment from January 1 to June 30, 2006. Each Report provides a comprehensive view of the Internet threat environment for a six month period, and is a culmination of analysis based on data collected by 1,600 dedicated security analysts around the world. Learning about the threat landscape is important, because it arms you with the knowledge you need to protect your business.

The Threat Landscape
According to the Report, the threat landscape has shifted from widespread and unfocused Internet worms to targeted attacks aimed at specific companies, with the intent of gathering confidential data for the purpose of fraud and criminal activity. The Report also revealed that cybercriminals tended to focus on targeting client-side applications in the first six months of 2006. Here are some additional Report findings:

Read more...

What's that Sound....Click, Grind, Screech! Ouch!!!

Hard drives sing a sad song when they suffer mechanical failure. In most cases, a drive making unusual sounds is a drive failing. If you continue to try and operate a drive in this condition, you risk damaging the hard drive components and/or destruction of the data. Here's a brief rundown of some of the more identifiable sounds a failing drive.

Clicking, Ticking or Knocking
Actuator/head stack assembly is traversing the platters as it attempts to read positioning information from the disk. The read/write heads normally function without touching the platters. Any head contact with the platters puts your data at great risk.

Grinding or Screeching
Heads contact platter, possible head crash. The read/write heads and/or the actuator assembly may drag across the platters. Recoverability will depend upon exactly where the contact occurs.

Whirring
Motor is bad, possible stiction. Stiction, or "static friction," is a condition where the read/write heads become stuck to a drive's platters. In a clean room environment - a dustfree laboratory that DriveSavers uses to examine and work on the internal components of hard drives - our engineers can safely treat stiction without threatening the viability of the data.

Beeping
Warning that there is possible motor damage and/or failure. Continued efforts to make a beeping hard drive spin only increase the threat of damage to the mechanics of the drive and to the data onboard.

Don't ya know....25 things for the trivia enthusiast
(Become an expert in useless information!)
 

• Smartest dogs: 1) border collie; 2) poodle; 3) golden retriever
• Dumbest: afghan
• Mark Twain didn't graduate from elementary school.
• Proportional to their weight, men are stronger than horses.
• Pilgrims ate popcorn at the first Thanksgiving dinner.
• Your nose and ears never stop growing.
• Hot water is heavier than cold.
• The parachute was invented by da Vinci in 1515.
• There are more collect calls on Father's Day than any other day of the year.
• Coca-Cola was originally green Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters.
• Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.
• Amount American Airlines saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served first class: $40,000
• State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska
• Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28
• Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38
• Estimated percentage of American adults who go on a diet each year: 44
• Percentage of Americans who say that God has spoken to them: 36
• City with the highest per capita viewership of TV evangelists: Washington, DC.
• Percentage of American men who say they would marry the same woman if they had it to do all over again: 80
• Percentage of American women who say they would marry the same man: 50
• Percentage of men who say they are happier after their divorce or separation: 58
• Percentage of women who say they are happier: 85
• Cost of raising a medium-sized dog to the age of eleven: $6,400
• Average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000.