New Technology Reviews!.: Considered

A Potential of 20 Million Hackers Each Using Technology Worth Barely 500 Dollars Considered

Thankfully, the United States government and the United States military is finally getting serious about Cyberwarfare, and the potential of serious threats to our economic infrastructure due to hackers, and foreign militaries attacking our systems. Yes, it is a real threat, one we have to deal with, and it doesn't help that our government continually awards contracts to software providers for patchwork. There are too many people in the know, who understand the code behind all these programs, and far too many coded programs working together in conjunction to make the entire system work, or in many cases not work at all. And the question is how do you fight a bunch of hackers who have very little money invested, and are maybe doing their hacking from a cybercafe somewhere in China? If you think proxy terrorism is bad, consider a nation-state which is covertly funding groups of hackers in Eastern Europe, or patriotic hackers in China. It gets pretty serious pretty quick, and unfortunately our systems are vulnerable, and they have been attacked incessantly. In a recent Lexington "Think Tank" Institute article by Loren Thompson PhD entitled; "What Force Multiplier? US Military Losing Cost-Exchange Advantage in Combat" which was published in October of 2010 brought up a very good point. Dr. Thompson in this paper stated; "The U.S. is spending a billion dollars per month to protect its military and intelligence networks against penetration by overseas spies and hackers. The amount of money our enemies are putting into circumventing these protections is probably a very small fraction of that amount, and the cost of developing kinetic or non-kinetic means for disabling U.S. networks is quite modest." The cyber threat is real, and we've already been jeopardized by hackers, and our allies have been subject to cyber attacks from foreign militaries. Of course, there is also an offensive capability to this, in that we noted that Iran was attacked by someone, no one knows who, and everyone has denied the attack - nevertheless, it prevented their nuclear power plant from starting up. And this thought is rather scary, because all of our infrastructure in the US, as most of it runs on some sort of computer system. We had better get our systems ready to combat cyber attacks, and hackers from destroying our world as we know it. Please consider all this, because if we don't do something, we are all in trouble.

A Potential of 20 Million Hackers Each Using Technology Worth Barely 500 Dollars Considered

Thankfully, the United States government and the United States military is finally getting serious about Cyberwarfare, and the potential of ...

Electronic Money, RFID Implanted Chips, and the Death of the Paper Dollar Considered

Beware read the headline; Big Brother is out to chip you! And no they were not referring to throwing anyone into a wood-chipper, rather they were talking about implanting RFID Chips inside humans for tracking, communication, ID, and banking. Consider if you will that all you'd have to do to buy something is wave your arm over the cash register reader instead of sliding your ATM or credit card to buy something? No more check writing, no more waiting, as you could either buy online, or with your chip in person.Sales tax, use tax, and everything would be collected instantly, and everyone would be happy right? Wrong, you see a Conspiracy Theorist from Pennsylvania emailed me the other day and explained that this was a plot. And so, I told him what I thought of his whole conspiracy issue;You see, I would be concerned with the security issues and ID theft if we use the current RFID systems available. Also, some bio-scientists discuss the issues with the cells around such RFID chips, would vibrate incorrectly cause cancer cells in nearby cells. Even with a passive RFID tag it could be an issue, of course holding a cell phone microwave generating device up to your head isn't exactly wise either.Electronic embedded ID, banking, etc - well, I'd say It is inevitable, as paper money is a problem, viruses and diseases in the fiber, plus it is too easy to counterfeit and it doesn't last very long. Electronic funds move faster thus, it simulates increased money supply. I don't buy into the whole "mark of the beast" thing; remember human superstition doesn't faze me. Physical money has no real future looking forward very far.We need to do what is most efficient in our society, and what makes the most sense, so if they ever figure out the security features needed to protect your RFID implanted chip and protect you from ID thieves or electronic hacking, then it's all good. Right now the technology isn't there yet, so either way you really don't need to be concerned at this juncture anyway. Please consider all this.	 	 		 			 				 					 						Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. <a href="http://www.WorldThinkTank.net" target="_new">http://www.WorldThinkTank.net</a> - Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.

Electronic Money, RFID Implanted Chips, and the Death of the Paper Dollar Considered

Beware read the headline; Big Brother is out to chip you! And no they were not referring to throwing anyone into a wood-chipper, rather t...

Some Things to Be Considered Before Changing IT Support

Maybe you are training a new staff member for your work or are you switching to a new vendor? Do you want to change your IT support staff which could mean threat to your business? Consider asking yourself why do you want to do so? What you need to understand more is the ways to maintain your technical support and technology systems such that it requires less documentation.Lots of experience in service at times of technical backup can keep the Internet Technology services running without glitches.Take the following factors into consideration before switching to another IT department.1) Know in detail what you have.Make a list of hardware and software you possess. Or maybe you can convince your IT Support person to help you with the documentation. Make a note of everything, including networking devices, software applications and operating systems.2) Ensure you know everyone in your company.Make a list of all business relationships including vendors and keep this updated. Making changes to your IT network is like inviting surprises. Keep all important information of vendors like phone numbers, website, data services, email hosting company and any other services managed by the support provider. Keep current service at a place where it is easily accessible and keep them updated. You need to understand each and every service they offer to the company. Information like the response time for a customer service call is useful.. 3) Keep backups.Database backups are one of the important factors to be maintained in business. A person should be curious about this and should ask many questions viz. Who keeps our backup? How often are the backups updated? What is the software used for keeping backups? Which hardware is used for it? Who verifies the backup? At what time? Do we include laptop computers in this? When did we last test this?4) Maintaining passwords.The person knowing all the passwords can leave your company. Hence, you have to know the passwords for each and every software and hardware at the business. You also need to know what the person can access via these passwords. You must also know the place where password records are kept. Change your passwords all over again if you are changing your IT support solution.5) Keeping the documents and disks at a safe place.Collect all the software and hardware configurations and install disks and place them in a systematic order and keep them at a central area. You will also need the license keys associated with the products along with the price, date and day of purchase for each and every application that is operating on the network. This is very important for network troubleshoots. It is also important to produce the license if an audit by the BSA (Business Software Alliance) is conducted or else it can be a big problem. If they fail to produce the license then the company might end up paying fines along with the replacement costs.6) Maintenance must be scheduled.One has to regularly maintain the Internet Technology systems just like a person keeping auto tuned system for optimal performance. This prevents big breakdowns and helps in smooth functioning of the system. Important thing like keeping a checklist is a must. Keep a checklist by day, week or month especially during the time of transition.7) Have your system inspected by experts.Another pair of eyes is absolutely a great idea to inspect the network. If you have a neutral expert from an outside firm or an individual looking after your technology systems then you can ensure that your investments are protected and the expert service provider could detect the problems even before they begin. This could cost well under a hundred bucks but could save big money, recovery efforts, legal expenses or maintenance fees.8) Security.When we talk about security, we are definitely talking about protection from virus, spam and threats from hackers. But these types of threats are only half of the threat - IT systems are usually hacked from within. Keep a record of all the security products and procedures used so that you are sure about your company's protection.9) Where is the key data kept?Where are the data of customers, finance, legal documents stored? Who is the person who can access it?	 	 		 			 				 					 						Philips Taylor Brown offers IT support in the Nottingham area, tailored to suit the needs of any business. Visit their website now for more information if you are looking for <a href="http://www.phillipstaylorbrown.com" target="_new">IT Support Nottingham</a>.

Some Things to Be Considered Before Changing IT Support

Maybe you are training a new staff member for your work or are you switching to a new vendor? Do you want to change your IT support staff...