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The Premier IT, Inc. (Premier IT) Blogs are an informal means of communication to clients and visitors of our site. Individual authors are chosen by Premier IT to blog. Authors are encouraged to write about topics related to Information Technology.

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Why We Patch

Patching refers to a process in which we, IT support, install a piece of software provided by the vendor that is designed to fix a problem or flaw.  All too often I get a request to suspend patching for a particular group of computers or asked to justify the need for patching.  Patching for an IT support organization is a very labor intensive process and one that requires a significant amount of time and follow-up to ensure that the patch has been applied properly.  It is also a process that often impacts the user performances and/or stability.  That leads to the obvious question: “Why do you patch?”  

The answer is relatively simple: We patch to protect you from them.  A more detailed explanation is that we patch to protect the company that owns the computer from unnecessary costs and to protect the company’s and individual’s sensitive data.  The patches we apply are related to security flaws in a previously installed application or Operating System.

The top 10 application vulnerabilities, according to Kaspersky Labs, for 2010 are the following:
  • Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Excel & Outlook
  • Adobe Flash Player, Reader & Acrobat
  • Sun JAVA client
The vulnerabilities in these applications usually result in a hackers ability to download and install their own custom program which will then allow full access of your computer to the cybercriminal.  Often they are recording the key strokes when an individual logs into their bank or credit card web site to pay bills.  Or gain access to employees personal information such as home address, social security information and phone number in order to steal their identity.  If that information is not available to them, they often use the hacked computer to share illegal content, or use that computer to hack into other computers that will contain sensitive information.  Both result in performance issues related to the computer and companies internet performance.  Which affects all users. 

According to Kaspersky lab in their 2010 first quarter review, the volume of attacks are increasing:
  • A total of 327,598,028 attempts to infect users’ computers in different countries around the world were recorded, that is 26.8% more than in the previous quarter.
  • A total of 119,674,973 malicious host servers were identified. The US and Russia were both ahead of China in terms of the number of malicious hosting servers
  • Almost any device that synchronizes with a computer is used by the cybercriminals as a carrier of malware these days. The most unusual of which has so far been a USB charger for Energizer batteries.

Attacks and vulnerabilities are increasing with no real end in sight.  As there are more attacks, there will be more patches to reduce the vulnerabilities that are found.  The result is a never ending pursuit for us to protect you from them.  

 - Jarrod Koch, Premier IT, Inc.

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Posted by jarrodk on Tuesday, June 08, 2010 3:14 AM
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Macs in the corporate world

Some people like PCs, others like MACs. Which one is better is not a question that will ever be answered. It’s a personal choice more than anything. Both can do the same things, it all depends on what you use it for, how well you know it, your hardware and so on.

 

However, when it comes to the corporate world things change a bit.

 

The simple fact that you can’t manage MACs as easily as Windows creates a problem for IT departments.

 

Sure, you can add them to Active Directory, but no matter what, having more than one operating system to support complicates things, as you can’t script out simple tasks anymore and that can mean having to do things locally one by one, or creating different scripts for the same things; a big problem in some instances.

 

Some Mac people also like to update their Operating Systems without informing the IT department or making a backup first, so when Apple releases buggy updates it causes grief for a lot of people.

 

Also, despite the fact that people tend to think that Macs have less problems than PCs, I find that is not true in the business world.

 

There is no email client that handles big mailboxes very well. Mail and Entourage tends to crash or run extremely slow when the mailboxes get too much past 1GB, not to mention when the contacts or calendar applications decide to just delete all your entries with no warning. In a world of emails containing attachments upwards of 7MB this can be a problem very quickly.

 In the recent years Apple has been gaining a bigger and bigger market share, but I think these and other factors like costs and applications compatibility still make PCs the best choice for companies big and small. That’s not to say you shouldn’t get a Mac for your home though. Not being susceptible to as many cyber attacks is a pretty big thing nowadays.

 - Aline Menezes, Premier IT, Inc.

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Posted by AlineM on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 3:59 PM
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