Bullet Points
Should You Replace Your Workstations?

If there are any topics you would like to see discussed in the future or if you have any comments, please contact me at JoeT@HighCaliber.com

• Managed Services - Backup Monitoring

  Last month we discussed the benefits of a managed approach to keeping your network infrastructure up and running as opposed to the break/fix approach that most people are using now. In a nutshell, it makes more sense to head off problems before they cause outages rather than sit back and wait for them to happen. This is especially true when you are talking about your data backup.

  We have noticed that many of our clients are not protecting their data properly. In some cases, people are not rotating tapes or even checking to see if backup jobs actually ran. Often people are not doing test restores to make sure that the backups they do make are valid. (Industry analysts state that tape backups fail to fully restore 50% of the time.) Offsite backup procedures are also sporadic.

  The thing about inadequate backup procedures is that you won't find out about them until you have a need to restore data, usually after a catastrophic server failure or accidental file delete. Then the fun begins. Costs associated with large-scale data loss can be astronomical and, in some cases, threaten the viability of an organization.

  So what's the solution? First, you should make sure you have the right backup solution in place. If you are using tape and more than one tape is required for a full backup, you should probably be looking at an upgrade. Today, many organizations have been opting for a disk-to-disk solution for daily backups with tape, portable hard drives or Internet-based backups being used for regular offsite backups. Internet-based backups have the advantage of being unattended - that is, nobody has to remember to bring something home.

  Next, you need to regularly monitor your backups to make sure they actually run as scheduled. High Caliber's InSite Monitoring service can do this automatically or you can assign this task to a savvy employee and make sure they remember to do it each day.

  Finally, you must do test restores to make sure your backup system is working. You should probably do these at least once a month. High Caliber's InSite Service program includes time for one of our technicians to visit your site and test your backup on a regular basis.

   

• Filtering Contacts in MS Outlook

  There may be times when you want to perform some action on a subset of all the people you have stored as Outlook contacts. For example, you might want to segregate your business contacts from your personal contacts. The best way to do this is to assign Outlook Categories to your contacts.

  To view the existing Outlook categories, select a contact and click Edit in the horizontal menu at the top. Then select Categories from the pull down menu to open the Categories dialog box. If you don't see the category you need, just click in the text box labeled Items belong to these categories, type a category, and click Add to List. Repeat this to add other categories you need.

  To assign categories to multiple contacts, open the Contacts folder and select all the contacts to be assigned the category (hold down Ctrl and click each contact to select multiple contacts). Click Edit and then Categories. Check off the desired category and click OK.

  To filter on categories, create a custom filtered view for it:

  1. Click View
  2. Click Current View
  3. Click Define Views
  4. Click New
  5. Enter a view name
  6. Click OK
  7. Click the Filter button
  8. Click the More Choices tab
  9. Click the Categories button
  10. Select each of the categories to include in the view
  11. Click OK three times
  12. Click Apply View

  You should now see only those contacts that have been assigned the categories that you just selected.

   

• PowerPoint Backgrounds

  Ellen Finkelstein has written an extensive explanation of how you can create your own PowerPoint backgrounds without having to master expensive graphics software such as Adobe Photoshop:

  http://www.indezine.com/articles/backgroundswithoutphotoshop.html

  The author also offers PowerPoint backgrounds you can download for free at:

  http://www.ellenfinkelstein.com/portfolio.htm

   

• Customizing Windows XP's Start Menu

  This tip applies if you want to add/remove items from your Start Menu, remove links to My Documents and/or other folders on the right side, add a permanent link to an application, or otherwise customize this frequently used menu.

  1. Click an empty space on the Start menu
  2. Click Properties
  3. Click Start Menu tab
  4. Click Customize button
  5. Click the General tab. Here you can select whether to include your Web browser and/or e-mail client on the Start menu, and specify which program to use for each
  6. Click the Advanced tab
  7. Under Start Menu Items, select the items you want to display on the right side of the Start menu. You can also select whether you want newly installed programs to be highlighted, whether submenus should be opened when you pause on them with your mouse, and whether to list your most recently opened documents

   

• Useful Start|Run Commands

  Most Windows XP tasks can be accomplished through a Control Panel item, utility, tool, or task accessed through Windows. There are others that can be accessed through the Start|Run window, if you know the right command. These commands can be found here:

  http://www.fixmyxp.com/content/view/20/42/

   

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Here are some ideas that will help you reach regulatory compliance and keep things secure:

1. Make sure you secure things internally just as you would externally-accessible systems. This includes file access controls and network passwords. Most security breaches are created by people inside your organization, not from hackers trying to break through your firewall. Continue to do security testing and audits as well, as this is much less costly than a complete network overhaul or recovering from a malicious attack.

2. Create a regulatory compliance committee. Include one person from human resources, legal, IT and upper management, if possible. This committee can help make sure that money/effort are spent only where they need to be.

3. If you don't already have a security policy document in place, download a template from the Internet or buy a book that has one when you put your initial policies in place.

4. Keep documentation and systems as simple as possible. This allows everyone to clearly know where the business stands in terms of what can and cannot be done.

   Instead of buying third-party security controls, use the controls that are already built into your operating systems and applications such as password enforcement, personal firewalls, access controls and logging.

5. Focus your efforts on systems that store or process confidential or sensitive information and less effort on your less critical systems.

6. Invest in an in-depth security assessment. Do this up front using the right tools, employee interviews, building walkthroughs and business process reviews. If you do it right the first time and implement solid controls, your security will be less costly and much easier to manage long term.

7. Consider purchasing integrated security appliances. These provide firewall, malware, content filtering and other protective measures where possible if you must purchase more technology to help enforce your policies.

8. Focus strongly on employee security awareness and staff training. Resources spent in these two areas can improve your information security as much as everything else combined.

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