Check out our updated client page.
CNET Support has added eight new clients since January
2007! We want to give a special thanks to Dan Friend at
Norfolk Surgical
Group, Kurt Noer with
Customer Magnetism and Courtney Evans with
WSI.
Thank you to everyone who has given CNET Support the
opportunity to provide technical support to their
businesses. We could not have done it with you!
telework!va
If you have considered transitioning to
a telework program, you must check out this website.
Telework!VA is a public / private partnership administered
by the
Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation
through
Traffix. It is offering employers up to $35,000 to
start or expand a formal telework program. Companies can
receive as much as $3,500 per employee for up to ten
employees to establish a telecommuting link and to lease home
office equipment. For more information, check out the
telework!va website or contact Jeff Fykes at jfykes@hrtransit.com.
New Phishing Scam—“Man in the
Middle”
Phishing scams, when fraudulent e-mails
dupe users into giving up their personal information by
masquerading as legitimate institutions, were one of 2006’s
major cyber security issues. A new type of attack emerging
in 2007 is a slight variation, acting as a middle man
between the victim and the genuine website.
Here’s how it works: The victim
receives a normal looking phishing e-mail and when they
click on the link they are directed to the fake site. The
victim then interacts with the genuine content from the
legitimate website—which has been ‘imported’ by the attack
into the phishing URL. This means the fraudster can make an
immediate financial transaction.
PayPal, whose website is often spoofed
by phishers hoping to steal user account information, is
trying to help its customers from taking the bait. It plans
to offer a new two-factor authentication system for $5. The
security key is a small electronic device that calculates a
new numeric password every 30 seconds. Logging onto the
online payment service will require users to enter their
regular passwords as well as the number displayed on the
key.
Financial institutions who are also
often the
target of phishers are testing similar one-time password
products, like VeriSign’s tokens. Others are testing new
software called BioPassword that resides on the web servers
of the banks, analyzing typing rhythms to allow or deny
access.
These products are designed to add a
second layer of authentication to online transactions. This
is a result of new federal guidelines in the US that require
banks to establish multi-layer authentication security
protocols for customer log-ins. Experts estimate that
financial losses due to phishing totaled $2.8 billion last
year.
Mobile Malware
We are all aware of spyware on our
PCs, but have you heard about mobile snoopware? It all
began with jealous spouses wanting to monitor their
partners’ text messages and calls. Mobile phone snoopware
has the classic signs of computer spyware: it installs
without any indication of what it is, it hides from the
operating station, and it passes information on to a third
party.
Phones with spying software typically
utilize SMS forwarding, SMS and voice call log information,
remote listening, covert conference calling and localization
services. As our phones take on more of the capabilities of
our computers, attacks targeting mobile devices are on the
rise.
This past December spyware applications
targeting the Symbian operating system for mobile phones had
been found. It tracked text messages and copied log files
with the phone number of incoming and outgoing phone calls.
This marks a change in direction of malware, instead of
destroying data; it is stealing it for profit.
There have also been incidents of
phishing, coined “smishing” attaches. Consumers are warned
that they will be charged a certain amount of money per day
if they do not cancel a fictitious website purchase. When
victims attempt to cancel the order, they hand over
confidential information, or leave themselves open to
malicious websites.
Smart phones, combined mobile and PDA
like the Blackberry, are of more interest to hackers. In
addition, Apple’s new iPhone which is due out this June is
expected to be a target of malware.
According to analysts, this year may
bring on the first large-scale cell phone virus strike.
Malware developers could implement an attach if they create
a way to embed a virus in VoIP programs that users download
to their mobile phone operating systems to reroute pricey
mobile phone calls to the Internet.
Did you know…
9 out of 10 computers
have Spyware on them? Red flags that you have spyware on
your computer are pop-ups, slow or no Internet connection,
computer freezing or hanging, frequent system crashes, &
system slowdown. The only way to protect your computer is
to run a good spyware detection program in addition to your
virus software.
Some free ones are:
But remember, you can only run freeware
on home PCs. Contact CNET Support to setup network spyware
/ adware software package.
Voice over IP Phones
CNET Support has expanded its service
and product offerings to include Voice over Internet
Protocol Phone systems. First vocabulary, Voice over IP or
VOIP is the routing of voice conversations over the
Internet. PBX is short for Private Branch Exchange, which
is a private telephone network for your business. Users of
the PBX share outside lines for making telephone calls
external to the PBX. Most companies use a PBX because it is
significantly less expensive than connecting an external
phone line to every telephone in the organization.
CNET Support supports and sells
Switchvox phone systems. Switchvox is a full-featured,
easy-to-use IP PBX solution for small and medium sized
businesses. It provides the advanced capabilities of an
enterprise level phone system at an affordable price. It
has many other features including: Digital Receptionist,
Music on Hold, Time-based Behavior, and Voicemail to your
e-mail inbox, Support for analog phones, Support for VOIP
Phones, Message Waiting Indicator, One Touch Voice-Mail
Retrieval, Unlimited Nested IVR Menus, Call Transfer, and
powerful on-line tool suites for administrators and users.
