February 17, 2009

In this issue

• "The biggest worm attack in years"
• Feeling hot, hot, hot
• Chaos in the capital
• Computer hardware - cost or investment?
• Jargon Unjumbled - phishing
• Team talk
• What our clients say...

Little Bytes

This month’s smokin’ hot specials
Check out these great deals on Philips LCD monitors (pdf)!  Available for a strictly limited time, so contact the Sales Team today on 04 494 9670 or email sales@lantech.co.nz.  

Website of the month
Want to be first to know about all the weird and wonderful inventions, innovations and emerging technologies out there? Check out www.gizmag.com, an online magazine with articles on everything from personal computing and mobile phones, to creating your very own robotic twin! 

Pass it on

Sign up

Hi

"The biggest worm attack in years"

That’s how security experts have described Downadup, in a recent article on NetworkWorld.com. Also known as Conficker or Kido, this worm first wriggled it’s way into cyberspace in October last year. Since then, it has infected an estimated 9-10 million PCs worldwide, including the network at New Zealand’s Ministry of Health! It’s nasty and it’s clever, with the potential to cause havoc to your network if even one workstation isn’t adequately protected.

If you’re a LANtech LANcare client, you can rest easy knowing that regular security patching of workstations is carried out automatically and the patches to protect your PCs from this worm have already been installed. Unfortunately, for many other businesses, keeping up to date with the latest Microsoft patches is something they will get around to “one day” - then never do due to the time and cost involved. If this sounds like your business, or if you are unsure whether or not your network is protected against this threat, please contact LANtech’s Help Desk today on 04 494 9679. We can arrange for an engineer to visit, assess your risk and advise you on the remedial action required.

You can find out more about this major virus alert on our website.

Please feel free to forward this email to any colleagues, friends and family who use PCs. The more people who know about this worm the better.

Feeling hot, hot, hot

And we’re not just talking about body temperature! While we bask in the warmest month of the year (albeit, not today!), it’s a good time to point out that the increase in outside temperature can also affect your IT equipment inside – particularly servers and switches. Yes, your server may be held in an air-conditioned room, but what happens if the air-conditioning unit fails during a hot weekend?

If a server temperature rises above 30 degrees celsius, permanent damage can occur. High temperature can also cause premature hardware failure and a consequent loss of business productivity. What’s more, if hardware vendors suspect that the damage has occurred because of overheating, your warranty won’t cover the cost of replacement.

Now for the good news! LANtech has launched a new environmental temperature monitoring service that will alert us when the temperature exceeds a set threshold. Already one of our clients has avoided potentially costly hardware failure when their air-conditioning unit broke down.

We’re offering our LANcare clients a special discounted rate for this service until the end of March of $55.00/mth (+gst) - that’s a saving of $45/mth! (T&Cs apply).  And it’s a small price to pay to protect your hardware investment.  Call your LANtech Account Manager today.

And if you’re not a LANcare client, call us to find out just how easy it is to become one.

Chaos in the capital

Temperatures reached boiling point a couple of weeks ago as a power cut caused early morning traffic chaos in Wellington. Closely followed by power outages in Auckland, these events left thousands of businesses without power and according to Cameron Brewer, Newmarket Business Association head, “the cost (to business) would have to be several million… “ (Source: www.stuff.co.nz). 

Unexpected power outages can corrupt and damage your network servers. You are also at risk of losing critical data if your server hasn’t had time to back-up properly. One way to protect your sensitive electronic equipment from power cuts is with an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). We recommend you have one installed on any business critical hardware - certainly on your server(s) - but potentially on your communications equipment and even printers too. That way, you’ll have the confidence of knowing that your equipment will run as normal even if the power is (unexpectedly) shut down.

For further information, please contact your LANtech Account Manager.

Computer hardware - cost or investment?

The heat is being turned up on many small businesses now as they look at ways of surviving the recession. One way to save money is to cutback your computer hardware investment. LANtech of course, would strongly advise against this! But just in case you think we’re biased, check out this article from TechRepublik  (pdf) - short term savings could actually cost you more in the long run.

Jargon Unjumbled - phishing

This term comes from ‘password fishing’ - the act of sending email that falsely claims to be from a legitimate organisation. This is usually combined with a threat or request for information: for example, that an account will close, a balance is due, or information is missing from an account. The email will ask the recipient to supply confidential information, such as bank account details, PINs or passwords; or the link provided sends the user to a bogus site (which looks legitimate). These details are then used by the owners of the website to conduct fraud. Even secure 'https' sites are now no longer confirmed secure sites, as fraudsters are acquiring encryption certificates to get around this.

Protecting your computer (or mobile phone) from phishing attacks is an important part of your IT security strategy. Make sure you don’t get caught! Contact the Help Desk on 04 494 9679 for more information.

Team talk

We like to keep it simple here at LANtech, and in our never-ending quest for standardisation and improved communication, we’re delighted to welcome (another) Jason to our team. Jason Johnston (aka “JJ”) recently completed his field training with Computer Power Institute and is now happily settled into his new engineering role, alongside our other 3 Jasons!

Meanwhile, we’re not one to gossip but…

There’s a whisper in the wind that one of our team will be waltzing down the marital aisle next month – or should that be an Irish jig? Our roving reporters are hot on the heels of this story, so watch this space!

What our clients say...

“Te Whaea National Dance and Drama Centre in Newtown is one of Wellington’s major Arts facilities. It is the home to Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School and New Zealand School of Dance, the leading dramatic arts and dance institutions in the country. Each year the Schools produce the next generation of New Zealand Arts practitioners in the best training facilities available. LANtech has worked with both Schools for nearly three years providing IT services throughout Te Whaea National Dance and Drama Centre. We are very grateful to LANtech for their new level of support to both Schools and look forward to working with LANtech in the future and welcoming them to our 2009 productions.”

Thanks heaps to the team at Te Whaea for this contribution to our newsletter. Keep the feedback coming, we really appreciate it.

Until next time,
the team @ LANtech