We recently brought one of our beloved Minis to the repair shop after a warning light lit up.  The repair shop was able to fix the problem, but we were gently chastised by the mechanic for not properly maintaining the car.

Periodically checking things like oil levels and tire pressure is not enough.  Because the Mini is really a little computer on wheels, it needs consistent preventive care to keep it happy and healthy.

Unless the car tells us that something is wrong, we wouldn’t think to check for any vital signs on a regular basis.  And that’s a mistake.  Cars – like people - need proper care and feeding.
Your office network is the same. Sometimes it’s difficult to know when problems are brewing.  Usually, we don’t realize we have problems until something doesn’t work, like you can’t log onto the network, can’t print, or can’t get your emails.

How would you know your network is in trouble?

There are a few signs that indicate potential problems.  And if you catch those issues sooner rather than later, you can prevent expensive downtime and repair costs:

Persistent viruses

Do you get those annoying pop-ups?  Are your computers slow?  Are they locking up or freezing?  Are you getting warning messages?  These are good indicators of deeper problems and your network not being properly maintained.

Granted, no network is completely immune from viruses and spyware. However, if the problems are regular and persistent, something is amiss and it needs to get fixed asap.

Multiple and ongoing complaints

If several employees complain of computer issues and their productivity is legitimately affected by those issues, then you need to pay closer attention. Multiple complaints are a good indicator your network is in trouble.
Imagine you are sailing a ship and your crew members are reporting leaks from different spots on the ship. It’s probably time to dock and do some maintenance and repairs.

Sluggishness

If it takes forever to log into Windows, to open a program or to copy a file -
it’s a symptom of network trouble.

Remember, the original purpose of computing is to boost productivity, save money, and increase earnings. If you have to wait for several minutes to open a document, you are wasting your time and money.  The more employees you have who are affected by slow speeds, the more money your business is wasting.

Expired Updates

Do any of your computers have a little yellow shield with an exclamation point on it?  Typically you will find it in the lower right hand corner of your computer screen.
That shield is a warning message from Microsoft.  It means you’re missing important software updates.  It’s critical to update your software regularly to make sure you have adequate protection against viruses.

Likewise, if you’re logged into Windows and you are prompted to update Adobe, Java, or another application, it’s a clear sign the network is not being properly maintained.

No one knows

Does your office suffer from “no-one-know-itis”?  For example, no one knows where the important documentation is located, no one knows whether the backup works, and no one knows when the passwords were last changed?

If you were in a hospital and discovered your patient history is missing, no one remembers your name or that you are allergic to a certain antibiotic, you get out of that hospital as soon as possible.

As for your network’s health, it’s critical your important information, such as passwords and network map, is securely stored.  You also want to be sure there is a designated person responsible for managing that information.

You should be able to ask that person whether the backup was actually tested, when it was last tested, and whether there’s a recent backup offsite.

The bottom line is this:  If you feel something may be wrong with your network, or if your computers get in the way of your work, then your network probably has problems.

A healthy, happy network is critical to business.  Any downtime means high costs and missed opportunity.  Be sure to take care of the problems before they become expensive disasters.

Get FREE Network Assessment

James Kerr is Chief Geek of SuperGeeks.  You can also follow him on Twitter: Supergeeks.

If you recently picked up a new computer, consider yourself one of the lucky ones.  The rest of us are still waiting for our chance to justify the expenditure.

To mitigate the cost of ownership, there are some free goodies out there you may want to consider installing while your computer is still fresh out-of-the-box.  And though ‘free’ in the computing world doesn’t necessarily equate to ‘good’, all of the software listed below has been thoroughly geek-tested and is wholly SuperGeeks-approved:

Enjoy your new computer.  Take good care of it.  Let me know if I can help with anything.

James Kerr is Chief Geek at SuperGeeks.  You can reach him at (808) 531-GEEK and on Twitter: SuperGeeks

It is difficult to protect your child from every imaginable danger lurking online.  It is possible, however, to greatly minimize the risks.  The way to do it varies based on the child’s age.

1. Pre-K

The littlest keiki will require your help going online.  The key is not to let her play online too long, limit the time to 30 minutes.  It should be a collaborative experience, similar to reading a book together.  A small child will have manual dexterity issues but will enjoy computing very much.  With the right approach, it can be a valuable, educational and interactive experience.

2. Elementary to middle school

This age group is more autonomous but still very innocent.  They can stumble across inappropriate information online.  You should closely supervise all online activities and explain what is acceptable online and what is not.

You can take advantage of many parental control tools supplied by ISP providers, routers, Windows Vista, Mac OS, or stand-alone software.  See, for example, Vista parental controls options: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/parental-contr ols.aspx.  Some common antivirus software like Norton, Trend Micro, or McAfee may include parental control features or offer them as optional downloadable extension.

3. Teens

Protecting your teen involves a whole new host of issues, iluding ncbullying, sexual predators, divulging personal information, etc.

As a starting point, it is imperative that your computer stays in a public space where you can monitor any online activities.  Leaving your child in a room behind the closed door with computer and internet is like leaving him within the arms length of a sexual predator.  Naturally, teenagers are at a highest risk because of their tech savviness, pressures of adolescence, and superhero belief that nothing bad will happen to them.  Add their reluctance to listen to the parents and you have a recipie for disaster.

Another problem is teens’ frequent use of the file sharing sites, such as Kazaa, Lime Wire, Bit Torrent, etc.  These sites are swarming with spyware and viruses that can expose all of your computer files to the rest of world.  You should encourage use of legitimate sites, for example, iTunes.  Having a full security suite and frequent updates is also a must. Finally, you should probably reformat your operating system at least once a year to purge all the accumulated spyware and viruses.

It’s also a good practice to have your teen sign a computer usage contract – agreeing to acceptable behavior.  You should educate yourself and your child about the online dangers and teach them not to be too trusting.  Everything in the online world is not what it seems to be.  People you meet online – are frequently not people say they are – a woman can turn out to be a man, a young boy can actually be a grown man.  The best protection is behavioral.

As parents, it is important to take interest in what children are doing, develop rapport, and keep an eye on dangers.  Spend time to learn about online issues – the same way as you learned about how to buy a home, fill out a college application, or garden.  With your child’s safety at stake, you can’t waive your arms and say ” I don’t know anything about computers.”

The bottom line is, I don’t encourage spying on every keystroke of your child.  The best fence is no fence at all. You can use a great monitoring software but the best protection is – an open communicative relationship and laying down the laws – such as : you can’t meet with strangers you met online.

James Kerr is Chief Geek at SuperGeeks. You can also follow him on Twitter: supergeeks

We are all familiar with the Nigerian scams, and can usually spot a scam however our office was recently “probed” by a very sophisticated scam.

First of all, the email correspondence was well written, no typos, bad grammar, etc. It came from an Asian company with a link to their website in the email. The company really existed. They wanted us to collect debt from a Hawaii company that really exists and the connection between the two companies made sense (one manufactures an item that the local company installs) The BIG hook was that they used the NAME OF AN ATTORNEY FORMERLY ASSOCIATED WITH OUR FIRM AS A REFERRAL!! Unfortunately, this attorney received a cold call and was asked for the name of a Hawaii law firm that could help them and he did indeed give them our name.

The scammers hook the attorney into an attorney/client relationship (thus barring you from reporting them), then request funds to be sent immediately upon receipt of funds from the local company. (you get a check from the local company for “amounts due”, you deposit it, then wire the funds out before making sure the local check has cleared) Attorneys on the mainland have had hundreds of thousands stolen from their IOLTA accounts.
Things that should set off alarm bells:

1. The urgency of acting quickly. You must do due diligence.
2. Client wanting funds before checks deposited have cleared your IOLTA account;
3. When a logical referral name is used, check with the referral source about the legitimacy of the referral.
4. They make excuses that they cannot find a convenient time to talk on the phone, they strictly stick to email correspondence.
5. The email is different from the company email.

Make sure your attorneys do not make referrals to cold callers, let the HSBA referral line do that.

We have had a staff meeting regarding this latest development so everyone in the firm is aware. I have attached some info to supplement any staff meeting you wish to have.

lawyers targeted.pdf

The bad guys are especially savvy at giving you what you expect.  If you’re expecting a rebate check, you may receive an email about claiming your check.  Or if you’re a PayPal user, you may receive an email about your PayPal account and the need to ‘update your records by clicking here.’

In both cases, the emails contained payloads which – if you clicked on the links – quietly installed viruses on your computer.

The latest scam uses the same kind of social engineering tactics.  Instead of an email, the cybercriminals will send you a fairly official looking pop-up which says,

“WARNING! Viruses detected on your computer.  Click OK to remove.”

If you click OK, you risk getting infected, let alone being conned into buy software which doesn’t work.

If you see one of those messages and you’re not sure if it’s legitimate, you should NOT click on anything on that pop-up, including the ‘X’ in the top, right-hand corner.

Everything from the ‘Yes’ to the ‘No’ to the ‘X’ in the top right corner may contain  a payload of malicious software.  Your computer risks infection just by clicking on anything in that warning message.

Instead, do this:  Alt + F4.

In other words, to close the window, hold down the Alt key and hit F4.

So how bad is rogue security software?  Fake antispyware and antivirus programs have been around for a few years now, but we’ve noticed more computers coming in with this problem.  We are now so conditioned to keep our computers clean, we respond almost automatically to any urgent requests to remove viruses.  The bad guys know this, hence the ‘scareware.’

For a growing list of fake programs masquerading as the real thing, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_software

Be careful of wolves in sheep’s clothing.