Sep 29, 2009
Cyber Insurance
Great article by Kim Komando. She lives in Phoenix AZ and is fabulous at teaching about computers and technology! Enjoy the article and you may also want to visit her website or facebook account! http://j.mp/V4nqH
proAktivR Basics
proAktivR Questions and Answers
the low cost solution to a healthy computer network
What exactly does proAktivR do?
Our computer services are very simple. We remotely watch over and verify accuracy in 4 basic areas: (1) Data Backup and Recovery (2) Virus’ (3) Software Patches and Updates (4) User Activity & Compliance with corporate IT policies. Your company’s future may be in jeopardy if you are exposed in even one of these areas. Don’t risk it! Call in the watchdogs!
I think we already do backups. Why would I need to sign up for your Backup Monitoring & Verification?
Many companies THINK they have a backup routine. Many companies, unfortunately, have to learn the hard way that their “backups” haven’t been running properly, if at all. We analyze your data and configurations, set you up on a good backup routine either on equipment at your office, or online through our affiliation with Mozypro. We then monitor your backups EVERY DAY to make sure they have executed properly and backed up all data as required. We communicate with your contact person EVERY DAY letting them know the status of the backup and if there have been any problems that need to be addressed.
Why would I need your Virus Protection Monitoring & Verification? I already have virus software.
Virus protection in this day and age is of vital importance – second only to data backups. In a corporate network environment simply running standard virus software is not enough. Similar to our Backup Service, our Virus Service will monitor your systems in detail on a weekly basis. We make sure your anti-virus software is running and up to date with the most recent virus definitions. We analyze activity on your systems and watch for possible risks and threats. We communicate with you weekly with status updates and advice on action items.
What is the Software Patches and Updates Monitoring & Verification?
Software Patches and Updates go hand in hand with keeping an eye on virus activity. Unfortunately, there are people out there looking for opportunities to send viruses your way and compromise your corporate information. These “hackers” can find “holes” in software and voila, your information has been compromised. Microsoft software holds the biggest lure for such hackers. Fortunately Microsoft knows this and is dedicated to providing free patches and updates for their customers. We keep you current on these updates and patches and communicate the status weekly.
Using software that is installed on workstations at your place of business, we track and monitor activity, including internet sites visited, email sent and received, files opened from emails, anything that happens on the computers will be tracked. You decide the level of monitoring based on your corporate policies. Why do you need this? Keeping your systems and information safe and running well means making sure employees are not compromising your company through risky behavior. It’s not about looking over employees shoulders; it’s about protecting your business and your information. It’s about figuring out why one particular computer seems to crash constantly - costing you time and money with your IT person. We monitor this activity, keep you abreast to what’s going on, and give you our expert advice on how to make corrections and educate your employees.
Contact Us For more information on proAktiv R services please contact Kristin Qualls at advantage@proaktivr.com or call 425-788-1181. Even if you are not interested in our services right now – I welcome your friendship! Maybe you can find some helpful tidbits from posts I’ve made or maybe we just enjoy chatting back and forth once in awhile! www.kristinqualls.com (my blog) www.facebook.com/kristinqualls www.twitter.com/kristinqualls
Are Employee's Compromising your Data?
You've heard it before - company get's attacked by virus - data integrity is compromised. How does it happen? Why are companies so vulnerable to these attacks? According to an article by Information Week Business Technology, the problem may lie with your employees.
"The findings from a global security study on data leakage revealed that the data loss resulting from employee behavior poses a much more extensive threat than many IT professionals believe."
"In the hands of uninformed, careless, or disgruntled employees, every device that accesses the network or stores data is a potential risk to intellectual property or sensitive customer data. Magnifying this problem is a disconnect between the beliefs of IT professionals and the realities of the current security environment for countless businesses. The new findings show that "insider threats" have the potential to cause greater financial losses than attacks that originate outside the company.
As a company committed to helping neutralize these threats, we have long encouraged our customers to write policies and procedures in respect to internet and email usage. The best and most safe route is to restrict usage of the internet to those websites that your IT professional has already researched and deemed "safe". Set employees up without administrator access rights such as installing programs and downloading files. Restrict email attachments - possibly setting up an alternative way for receiving them. There are many options you can discuss with your IT professional. Of course, in reality, you can't restrict employees to the extent that their hands are tied and they can't even do their jobs and use the awesome technology at their disposal to assist and empower them to do their work. It's a fine balance and one that each company has to explore for themselves - deciding what level of risk they are comfortable with.
Maybe you have questions about security risks and how vulnerable your company is ... maybe you know that you have some level of protection but are worried about if it's even working properly - do you even have your data backed up - are you sure?
Call or email us - we'd love to visit with you and suggest ideas you can do yourself - or we have services to address these areas if that is what you feel will work for you company. What ever you do, don't ignore IT Security - it could mean the difference between being in business and going out of business.
advantage@proaktivr.com
Aug 31, 2009
Leading by Serving
In my bathroom is a nice basket where I toss all of my magazines, including the Costco Connection. When I have time to myself (tee hee) I pick up one of those magazines and scan through them. TheAugust 2009 Costco Connection sat in that basket for quite a few weeks - getting superceeded by my Ladies Home Journal (nice reading material!).
Recently I was cleaning out the basket and the front of that Costco Connection caught my eye. Ralph Broetje was pictured front and center. Broetje "First Fruits" Orchards is solid to its core was the title. Ahhh - that was the orchard where my daughter, Ashley, did a mission trip with our church, Washington Cathedral, one fall to pick apples and donate them to needy families. Little did I know that what I was about to read would start me on a path - a wonderful path - an exciting path - a path of Servant Leadership inspired by 2 of the most sincere and humble people I've had the pleasure of speaking with.
I wondered if Ralph Broetje would even be willing to talk with me on the phone. I was a bit nervous to call after reading about his $80 million apple and cherry orchard business. Tentatively, I dialed Broetje Orchards but my nervousness was quickly disarmed with Ralph's quiet and gentle demeanor. In the background I could hear employees calling across the room to each other about the business at hand ... farming apples! I pictured a large barnlike structure with an old fashioned dialing phone in the corner that when ringing, got picked up by who ever happened to walk by. Someday I'd like to visit that office and see what it looks like in person!
Ralph deferred me to his wife, Cheryl, not because he didn't have time to talk with me, but because in his mind she was the one with the passion for the leadership model their business followed - servant leadership. He even gave me her cell phone number! I'm still on my inspirational high from my conversation with Cheryl. No wonder the Lord is blessing their business - their business model is one that my husband, Chester, and I are excited to learn more about and to build our business on the same foundation.
Hopefully you will click on the link above and read the Costco article for yourself if you haven't already. I pray you are as inspired as I am about what you will read. Maybe we can change the world - the way Jesus instructed us to - one person at a time - and with great passion and conviction.
Aug 28, 2009
Follow Up on Cheap Textbooks
Ok so when I wrote my previous entry, I hadn't actually finalized my purchase. That was a mistake! By the time I tried to pay for my cheap textbooks - the ones I needed were SOLD OUT! Words of wisdom for all of us in the future ... don't wait until the last minute to get your college textbooks! (or anything else for that matter!) Next semester as soon as Ashley is registered for classes and knows the books she'll need, you can bet we'll be on www.textbooks.com or www.chegg.com pricing things out and getting the best deal we can find. AND then we'll get FREE SHIPPING!! Gotta like that. Oh well - we can always learn from our mistakes - right!
Aug 27, 2009
Cheap College Books
Chester and I are so proud of our daughter, Ashley, who is just starting her Sophomore year at Vanguard University - which is our alma mater! Classes started yesterday and today she has a list of all the (expensive!) textbooks she will need. Yikes! It looks like it will be a whopper with around $600 this semester. Ashley had mentioned to me something about ordering textbooks for cheaper online and also that there is somewhere that actually RENTS textbooks! Cool idea! I gfawed it at first - we always bought our books at the bookstore! It's easy and fast. But after hearing the gauging my pocketbook was going to take I decided to do some research. I was astonished to find that she could get her textbooks for about 1/2 the price online and with free shipping if we could wait for UPS ground. If we needed them next day .... only a $19.99 charge and 2nd day less than that. And this is for up to about 5 books - no matter what they weigh. Now that sounds like a great deal to me! We're in a rush and needing them asap - but with the $19.99 shipping charge, we're still saving $100's of dollars. Renting looks even cheaper - I might have her do that next semester if we plan ahead better. Here are the links to websites I found that do cheaper books and book rentals. Enjoy saving money! PS: This is a picture of my pretty college girl!
Aug 20, 2009
Nothing like Family!
I was so excited to get to stop in Oregon to spend time with my mom's side of the family. Our family spent June and July in Washington (our home away from home!) and we were on our trek back to Phoenix area. My aunt Dee had been hospitalized for a stroke and Aunt JoAnn had just had knee replacement surgery. It was so fun to get to see them - I love my aunts, uncle's - I happen to think I have the best ones in the world! Anyway that evening we stayed at Aunt Bev and Uncle Elroy's place in Canby OR. What hospitality! Here is a picture of most of us (my cousin Lori is taking the picture).
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