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| Issue 6 - Tuesday, June 3rd 2008 |
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 In Today's Issue..
Welcome to WebGuard, welcome to a faster, safer Internet as well as a more productive workplace environment.
Ask your OnServe representative to add WebGuard to your list of managed services, today!
How does the service work?
WebGuard enforces Internet usage policy by blocking access to Web sites and Internet applications that are not related to business, and it automatically scans and removes harmful viruses and spyware. The WebGuard Service is an integrated content filtering, application blocking, and spyware protection solution that is powerful, easy to use, and affordable for businesses of all sizes. No more productivity loss trying to repair computers or make computers usable again.
WebGuard employs a unique approach to integrate gateway and desktop spyware protection strategies. In providing Web security at the gateway, we prevent new spyware and virus infections as they attempt to penetrate your network. In addition, WebGuard facilitates automatic removal of spyware from previously infected Windows computers with a special ActiveX control that can be served up automatically upon detection of spyware protocol activity (i.e., “phoning home.”) .
By adaptively targeting those machines that are infected, WebGuard provides widespread protection and removal without requiring preloaded client software on every machine on the network.
Large and small organizations alike demand solutions that are affordable not just today, but also in the future as they grow. WebGuard is the most affordable content filtering, application blocking, and anti-spyware service available.
Why WebGuard is right for your business:
Call or email OnServe, to add WebGuard to your list of active services.
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Social sites: more foe than friend? 2008-05-01 – By John Wagley
Phishing e-mails, which aim to dupe targets into revealing financial and other personal information, are increasingly targeting high-level executives, according to recent reports. For one major e-mail managed services firm, the main culprit is clear: social networking sites.
Users of sites such as Facebook often make new contacts without verifying their legitimacy, says Mark Sunner, chief security analyst at London-based MessageLabs. Facebook and similar sites also make all information public by default, he says. Other sites such as LinkedIn can provide a wealth of information on issues such as employment history.
The trouble with such information sharing is that it makes users more vulnerable to come-ons from nefarious characters. In phishing, just a touch of familiarity in an e-mail makes targets far more likely to bite, says Sunner.
“Social sites are a goldmine for phishers,” he says. In 2007, MessageLabs intercepted about 10 targeted attack attempts daily, according to the firm’s 2007 annual security report. That’s up from about one per day the year before and two per week in 2005. All of the messages showed some familiarity with either the targets or their functions. Many of last year’s messages contained the recipient’s full name and job title in the subject line. Many had either a .Zip file or Microsoft Word attachment with an embedded spying Trojan.
In a recent poll, MessageLabs found that about 75 percent of its customers said the number of visits to social networking sites by their employees had increased in the prior six months. A recent Silicon.com survey says 8 percent of employees admitted to spending between one and five hours a week visiting the sites. Two percent admitted to visiting for five to ten hours a week. To mitigate their risk, firms should have a policy governing the use of the sites, says Sunner. This can range from learning who receives networking site e-mails to banning the sites’ use, he says. And firms should educate employees, “even if just by sending a memo,” about some of the risks of divulging too much information. They should also employ at least a minimal form of site monitoring.
Many companies already filter the sites. One major e-mail and Web security firm, Barracuda Networks, says that more than 50 percent of its Web Filter customers block either MySpace or Facebook. Web filtering in general is also on the rise, according to the Campbell, California-based security firm. In a study of 228 IT professionals, Barracuda found that 53 percent of businesses use automated Web filtering. A growing number—65 percent—intend to do so by the end of 2008. Seventy percent of respondents named virus and spyware blocking as a top reason for site blocking, while 52 percent named productivity drain.
While acknowledging the sites’ risks, Forrester Principal Analyst Chenxi Wang says it may be too soon to know the extent of the risk. “Part of the concern may be because [the sites] are new.” she says. “I haven’t seen proof that that’s where criminals get their information.”
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Adobe Flash Player Attacks
Every computer should have Flash updated right away. Nearly every computer uses Flash today; it runs seamlessly in the background plugged into web browser programs. This is the video and movie technology that affords websites like You Tube, Facebook, as well as countless other websites that rely on moving graphics, animation and sound.
Security Focus (Semantec) published an article that contains vital information about the exploit. Multimedia tools developer Adobe stated on Tuesday in a brief blog post that the company is investigating reports of a previously unknown vulnerability in its Flash software, after it received evidence that attackers are using malicious Flash files to compromise computers. The exploit -- first reported by security software company Symantec, the owner of SecurityFocus -- appears to be fairly widespread. The original Symantec report indicates that nearly 20,000 pages are hosting malicious Flash (SWF) files, while antivirus firm McAfee points out that Google returns nearly a quarter million search results for the attack's telltale code.
"Through looking for sites serving these SWF exploits we’ve found a connection with recent mass hacks," Craig Schmugar, senior antivirus researcher for McAfee, stated on the company's blog. "Hacked sites reference an external script, just as they have for quite some time. But, the external scripts now reference an SWF file."
Security researchers and malicious attackers have increasingly focused on finding flaws in the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player. Late last year, a Google researcher warned that flaws in the authoring tools that create Flash files had led to widespread cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. Adobe and other tool developers fixed the issues, but Web site owners must still rebuild all their Flash files to eliminate the vulnerabilities. Adobe also upgraded its Flash Player to add security features, warning that the changes would break some functionality.
In the latest incident, the malicious Flash files attempt to install an obfuscated download program on victims' computers. The downloader will then attempt to install a known password stealer, although the detection of the components of the program are spotty among the different antivirus programs, researcher Dancho Danchev stated in a blog post. Danchev recommended that administrators block 15 different domains that appear to be hosting the malicious code.
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EGM Insurance Brokers
EGM was founded in Pembroke and dates back to 1942. Mac Edmonds, Ed Gallagher and Robert McLaughlin merged their firms together and thus they became known as Edmonds, Gallagher, McLaughlin.
Over the past 66 years they have amalgamated with several local firms. With each acquisition and merger, they created a stronger insurance team that truly provides the broadest and most comprehensive level of insurance expertise in Pembroke, Petawawa, and the surrounding area.
Over the years they have established a network of relationships with both traditional and up-and-coming insurance providers in Canada. EGM Insurance has developed these relationships the same way that they deal with their clients: through a high level of professionalism and strict adherence to the ethical codes of conduct required of all licensed insurance brokers.
This level of experience allows EGM to not only service your needs – but to also anticipate emerging issues as your life evolves – including career, family and assets.
They also appreciated that the OnServe staff were always working in the background to make improvements and to reduce headaches. “One of the real benefits that we have experienced in working with OnServe is that they check on our system daily. When our staff comes in at 8:30am, or when the office opens at 9:00am, if they are working on any problems they make us aware of them right away, and give us a time for the issues to be resolved. This is huge for us. We need to be able to provide service to our clients and with OnServe supporting our network, we know we’ll be able to deliver!”
“We also knew that it was time to upgrade our system”, says Lisa.
“OnServe came in and did a strategic plan for the upgrading of our Servers. They studied and analyzed our existing systems and equipment, in both our head office in Pembroke and our Petawawa branch office, and made recommendations for us.
They were very thorough and that new set of eyes looking at how our systems worked, and suggesting ways to improve our network with the new servers, proved invaluable. They even provide us with monthly reports which show us how our network is performing.”
As a business owner, Lisa found that the predictable monthly budget was also a bonus. “We like the advantage of being able to forecast a fixed cost for the year on our computer-related costs and support. The fixed monthly fee for service is great for budgeting.”
For More Information about OnServe, Click Here.
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