Beware Fake Anti-virus Software!

At several client sites recently, we've seen the nasty results of the latest virus/spyware scam to hit the Internet.  Simply put, it's fake anti-virus software.   What you'll see is a message claiming that your computer has many vulnerabilities and/or many infections and the only way to clean them is to download and run a linked anti-virus program.  Of course, the anti-virus program is none of the sort - it's a virus or spyware!   So, please remember (and remind your staff) not to download so-called "free" virus protection (or system tune-up utilities from the Internet.   If you aren't sure, call us and we'll check it out.

You can read about one of the latest scams on Wired's website here: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/09/dan-brown/

It's quite ingenious... they are using Google and the latest current events to ensure they are at the top of current search results and, of course, when you click on it, you get infected or tricked into infecting yourself.

One website that tracks these nefarious characters is StopBadware.org at http://stopbadware.org/   You can check there for the latest scams.

Bye for now!   To ensure you get current updates (like this one), follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/carefreeit

Cloud Computing - Part 5 - What's Next?

There are many theories and ideas as to where exactly the cloud computing paradigm will take us. As I reviewed in my last post, many of the computer industry's larger players (Google, Microsoft, etc) are investing heavily in cloud services so, certainly, there will be many different types of Internet cloud-based services available to your business in the coming years. You can be sure there will be services we haven't even contemplated yet.

But, cloud technologies don't necessarily have to based solely on the public Internet. The same technologies can be used inside your four walls.  In fact, large companies may offer services via their own private clouds. For example, perhaps your bank may offer (or already does offer) services in its own cloud.  You already do your banking online - that's a cloud service - perhaps they'll also add payroll or investment services (if they haven't already).

Companies may create their own clouds to provide the IT services their employees need to do their jobs. Perhaps we'll see companies keeping their core business functionality inside their own networks on a private cloud but use the Internet cloud for other non-critical business functions.   Some predict that the Internet cloud will supplement your internal cloud during peak usage times.  The possibilities are endless!

Now that we know these changes are happening, the logical question is what do we do now? That's what we, at CarefreeIT, have been working on for the past year. We've been testing various cloud technologies. We've logged many hours trying different things... we've created our own private cloud and have been using it in our office. We also have some clients testing various technologies. We believe future systems will be a blend of private and Internet clouds.  

For now, we're going to continue testing cloud computing technologies.   We'll continue to consult with you to ensure we understand your priorities and we'll build and offer services that will make your systems reliable, easy to use, affordable and safe.   Our first new service - the Total Restore service - is a first step in that direction but it won't be the last.   

Over the coming weeks I'll delve more deeply into some of the specific new technologies that I believe will have an impact on your businesses in the near future.  We'll talk about the pros and cons and the costs.    As always, I can't do this in a vacuum.  I need your input to help me understand what's important to you.  Please take an active part in the discussion because we're all facing the same challenges and we'll all benefit by sharing our collective knowledge and ideas.