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The perfect BYOD recipe:”Finding the balance between protecting corporate data and providing privacy”

September 16, 2013 by webcare Leave a Comment

used with permission from HP Technology at Work
by Mike Jennett, Senior Program Manager, HP Enterprise Mobility

byod recipeI was just listening to Jon Stewart interview NY Times writer Michael Moss about his new book Salt Sugar Fat and he said something that struck a chord with me. He was talking about the science of creating food and something called the “Bliss factor.” That perfect balance that will ensure that the products are a smash hit with consumers. That’s where I want to go with BYOD policy. I’ve been searching for that perfect mix of hardware, software and education that will protect my IP—yet give my consumers that rush they get when eating a Twinkie. OK, I know it’s a bit of flight-o-fancy to think that a BYOD policy can compare to a Twinkie (they are coming back!), but why not, why not venture out on that quest, at least for a little bit.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Newsletter Tagged With: BYOD, mobile, privacy, security, smartphones, tablets

Safely Using Airport Wi-Fi

September 16, 2013 by webcare Leave a Comment

airportwifiHeading out of town to visit relatives during the Holidays is as traditional as turkey dinners, electronic gifts, mistletoe, and snowmen. But what many people do not look forward to is the hustle, bustle, and time-consuming activity of actually heading into, through, and out of airports. This year, more than ever, millions of travelers will be using the public Wi-Fi systems available at municipal and International airports around the world. You may be one of them. With your handheld device, your laptop, or your tablet computer, you’ll be checking on your flights, sending out email, or maybe even working on that report that you promised your boss by January 3rd. But how safe is the airport’s wireless security?  How do you protect yourself – and your private information – from identity theft, fraud, and other cybercrimes?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Newsletter Tagged With: mobile, security, travel, Wi-Fi, wireless

Get smart about security

April 18, 2013 by webcare Leave a Comment

used with permission from HP Technology at Work

security

Congratulations, you’ve taken every step to secure data on your networks and PCs against increasingly malicious worms, Trojans and viruses. But don’t rest easy. All infrastructure elements, including printers, servers, storage, Wi-Fi networks and cloud computing are just as susceptible to surprising security threats. Forget them and your sense of security is nothing but a dream. Whether they’re criminals looking to blackmail your business, technically savvy vandals getting their kicks, revenge-minded former employees or even competitors, hackers all have one thing in common: they want to disrupt your business operations for money, other gain—or simply for fun. So, what can you do? Read on for some valuable tips to bolster your overall IT defense. Combined with regular and diligent employee training and education, these pointers can help you better spot and prevent disruptive security attacks.

Mobile dos and don’ts

More than large companies, small businesses are issuing or implementing bring-your-own device (BYOD) policies regarding smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. The ubiquitous nature of such products can cause companies to assume that their business information safely resides on them. Wrong. Your IT department is responsible for protecting company data, regardless of where it’s housed. What to do? For one thing, businesses must set firm policies about what data are allowed on employee-owned devices. It’s also wise to weigh the relative safety of available smartphone operating systems and perhaps require data to be stored on an approved server or in the cloud.

Safe and secure storage

Servers and storage devices also present a unique set of security challenges. Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, for example, can overload those running web applications and compromise network bandwidth, memory, CPU use and hard-disk space. Solutions like the HP ProLiant G8 servers deliver comprehensive data and client protection and security.

Working without wires

Wi-Fi networks aren’t immune from sabotage-minded attackers, either. Consider these dangers:

  • Weak personal identification numbers (PINs) allow the ability of any user to access any wireless network at will. A laptop-equipped troublemaker sitting in your parking lot might be able to hack into your important data this way.
  • Security gaps allow wireless users to snoop on each other’s networks.
  • Operating system flaws provide easy backdoor access to a single computer—or even up to an entire network.

Easy first steps to securing your network include simplifying network management, implementing clearly defined BYOD security policies and making rogue Wi-Fi access more difficult with services like HP TippingPoint networking security solutions.

Consider the cloud

True, the cloud improves server, storage and network access and is less expensive than physical systems. But with easy data-access comes serious confidentiality concerns. Careful monitoring, strict access control and encrypted data are among the best security measures, along with the use of a private, rather than a public enterprise cloud. IT infrastructure aside, simple password security is surprisingly often overlooked in developing an overall security plan. Increased password complexity, and the use of single sign-on and other technologies, is essential. Staying one step ahead of cyber criminals demands detailed development of security policies and processes. Proactive businesses that develop comprehensive security plans better ensure their own safety, integrity, reputations and bottom-line profitability.

Filed Under: Newsletter Tagged With: mobile, security, wireless

Data growing pains?

April 18, 2013 by webcare Leave a Comment

used with permission from HP Technology at Work Virtualization.

data-center

Like other technology buzzwords, some users work this term into business conversations without really understanding its meaning or how its strategic application can streamline operational efficiencies, improve resource allocation, enhance network security and reduce costs. It’s worth learning. Careful evaluation of existing non-virtualized environments is the most vital first step toward choosing the best virtual server and storage solutions for any given environment. This evaluation should be done with an eye on present and anticipated computing and power requirements, as well as the number of existing and future users. Growing data storage requirements are always a major concern of large corporations and institutions. But “big data” has become an issue for small businesses, too. Varying operating systems, a growing number of applications and the increased use of mobile, BYOD and other technologies threaten to overwhelm existing physical server and storage solution capacities. Rather than allocating resources toward upgrading aging servers or buying new ones—the ‘ol “throwing good money after bad”—more IT and other administrators see the benefits of “going virtual.” Indeed, Acronis’ Global Disaster Recovery Index found that 21 percent of surveyed small businesses planned to adopt virtualization last year, a number most likely to increase in 2013. Additional virtualization benefits include enhanced network performance, lower maintenance costs, streamlined and centralized management capabilities, improved disaster recovery, and the flexibility to easily accommodate additional users and applications. The buzz surrounding virtualization is well deserved. But what does that aforementioned network evaluation consist of? How do you get from Point A (physical storage environment) to Point B (virtualization)? Ask yourself the most pertinent questions:

  • How many physical servers do you have? What functions do they perform? How many do you need?
  • How many users do they serve? Are you experiencing any issues with your current servers? Are you looking to streamline any business processes?
  • What percentage of your resources is underutilized? By how much?
  • What are your present and anticipated storage requirements? How much of your existing infrastructure can you virtualize?

As server hardware and storage solutions become increasingly clogged with users accessing a growing number of applications to perform business processes, system responsiveness can lag on various days at different times. Asking these questions while conducting component inventory and performance metrics helps determine the amount of virtualization needed. Virtualization improves application and process access through pooling, sharing and clustering on an as-needed basis. It also reduces the need for physical solutions and their related operational and ownership costs. Generally speaking, the best candidates for the virtualization of hardware and storage solutions are older servers requiring frequent upgrade costs, infrequently used servers, and multiprocessor servers dedicated to single-processor applications. Applications such as those in a development or test environment, those using a single processor and those with low use rates/frequent idle times are best offloaded onto virtual storage solutions. Ever-increasing storage requirements, irrespective of business or industry, call for migration to a virtualized infrastructure. Massive file sharing, increasingly sophisticated applications and the ever present danger of costly downtime from technician mistakes or cyber attacks further underscore the need. HP’s Converged Infrastructure systems bolster network performance, decrease maintenance and save money. These systems comprise a wide variety of server and storage solutions in addition to delivering the virtual bandwidth required to handle massive amounts of data. HP ProLiant servers, running VMware and Microsoft® Hyper-V® virtualization software, help optimize performance, simplify management, speed deployment and reduce risk. HP Converged Storage virtual solutions bolster ROI by eliminating physical, logical and management boundaries, leveraging such technologies as deduplication, compression, metadata search and object APIs for cloud applications. Similarly, HP Storage for Server and Client Virtualization utilizes scale-out designs with clustered architectures for optimal performance under unpredictable mixed and heavy VM workloads. Hardware-assisted thinning converts legacy storage and cuts capacity requirements by 50 percent, while enabling the deployment of new VMs in seconds. These innovations are able to cut management overhead by as much as 90 percent. Simply stated, before the introduction of virtualization technologies, businesses had to operate separate servers for incompatible, platform-specific applications. The result? Massive hardware investments and maintenance costs. In a virtualized environment, a single server can run multiple operating systems while supporting a variety of business applications. The question is no longer whether to virtualize, but rather when.

Filed Under: Newsletter Tagged With: BYOD, mobile, virtualization

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