Unauthorized Internet Usage

Unauthorized usage of the Internet by employees is a very big problem for most organizations and they may not even realize it. According to a study by Palo Alto Networks, more than half of the application traffic on the 60 large organizations surveyed can bypass the traditional security infrastructure. Consequentially, more than half of the bandwidth at these organizations is being consumed by online shopping, social media, and peer to peer file sharing.  

Blocking port 80 and 443 is not an option for most businesses as the Internet is a key business tool. However, it is essential to have a firm Internet usage policy in place stating what is and what is not allowed. Additionally, it is important to keep an eye on bandwidth usage and employee productivity. With Cisco NetFlow and a tool such as Orion NetFlow traffic analyzer from Solar Winds, organizations can compile employee bandwidth usage reports.

By correlating high bandwidth usage and low productivity, the abusers can be identified and weeded out.    

The 64 bit computer revolution is coming

The processor technology for 64-bit computing has been available from Intel and AMD for several years but consumer acceptance has been slow due to hardware issues and a lack of 64-bit application software. Microsoft has had a 64 bit desktop OS starting with XP Pro but it saw little success.  That is rapidly changing as software developers and manufacturers are coming out with a flood of 64-bit applications. The new Windows 7 operating system comes in a 64-bit version that is becoming the choice among the early adopters of the OS over the 32-bit version. 

Microsoft 64 bit technology offers 32 bit compatibility but DOS and 16 bit support are no longer available. Several Microsoft application servers have 64 bit versions with 64 bit Office applications expected by 2010. Manufactures such as Adobe and Apple are offering or have in the works 64-bit versions of their popular software.

One of the main advantages of the 64-bit operating system is memory addressing. A 32-bit OS is limited to 4GB of RAM. However, the amount of memory a 64-bit OS can access is exponentially greater, potentially up to several million gigabytes of RAM.

As more 64 bit applications are written and as the cost of memory comes down, the 64-bit revolution will be just around the corner.

Hybrid clouds come of age

One of the most exciting new technologies to evolve from the Internet, intranets and extranets is cloud computing. Business enterprises are now beginning to implement the concept despite initial concerns. With cloud computing databases, applications, and services can be accessed and shared by researchers and strategic partners across multiple platforms.

Hybrid clouds may be the next step in cloud computing for business. A hybrid cloud combines a company’s internal cloud with a public cloud service provider. Higher utilization rates, lower costs and better security can be achieved by keeping sensitive and frequently accessed data in the enterprise’s private cloud and “cloud bursting” or sending the extra load to the public cloud when demand is peaking.

At this time, cloud computing and hybrid clouds are mainly of interest to large enterprises. Amazon, Google and Microsoft are rushing into the cloud space as well as dozens of other lesser known tech firms. Software companies are increasing their investment in virtualization and enhanced security to overcome earlier concerns and meet the demands of cloud computing.

The building and maintaining of a hybrid cloud computing infrastructure is not an inexpensive undertaking. However, as the cost and availability comes into line, small to medium sized business will begin to embrace the concept.

Apple’s Snow Leopard, no big deal

Apple released the latest version of its OS software, Snow Leopard and early indications are that it is no big deal. The $29 price tag may be the first clue, rather than the $129 Apple has charged for the previous version of the OS. Users report that it doesn’t look much different than the previous version, OS X. 

During his weekend radio show, Leo LaPorte, a devoted Apple user, called Snow Leopard “a snow job”. He observed that aside form accessibility enhancements and support for Microsoft Exchange 2007, nothing on the surface has changed. “We don’t know what exactly has changed under the hood” LaPorte commented.

Why release Snow Leopard at this time? Maybe Apple wanted to upstage its old rival Microsoft, now in the process of rolling out Windows 7. After the initial sales spike from Apple devotees, it will be interesting to see if there is a general acceptance or if any new users are persuaded into the Apple camp by Snow Leopard. Time will tell if this is a worthwhile upgrade.    

Feds bust major hackers

The feds indicted Albert Gonzales and two unnamed Russians on Monday; breaking what according to a press release by acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr. “is believed to be the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice”. The case involves the theft of over a 130 million credit card and debit card numbers along with account information stolen from Heartland Payment Systems, 7 Eleven, Hannaford Brothers Co., and two other companies that have not made their breaches public.

An unindicted co-conspirator also emerged in this case, PT, obviously an alias to protect someone who is co-operating with the authorities. These cases are difficult to prosecute without an insider spilling the beans. However, will the Feds make the same mistake that they made with Gonzales back in 2003? He was arrested on ATM and debit card fraud charges but apparently not prosecuted because he co-operated with the authorities.  He was allowed to move to Miami and when nobody was looking, he formulated and launched his latest attacks.

A Scarface like hacker from Miami, two Russian mobsters and a snitch named PT hack into corporate America and steal millions of credit card numbers. This has all the elements of a cult movie.    

Windows 7 bug? Say it isn’t so

Just when it looked like smooth sailing for Windows 7, reports of a bug began popping up on blogs earlier this week. InfoWorld’s Randall Kennedy wrote today that the RTM build 7600.16385 is reported to have a bug that causes a potentially fatal memory leak when running chkdsk.exe (not something that the average user would do very often).

I have been testing Windows 7 RC with various business apps and have found no problems so far. In fact, I rather like it. Whether this is a “show stopper” remains to be seen. Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft Windows division president blogged that Microsoft does not consider it “one of those issues” but he says that they are trying to reproduce what was reported.

Stand by, as this could get interesting.    

Testing Windows 7 RC for business

I was finally able to finish my new Windows 7 test computer, in spite of the mountain of projects that I am currently facing. I didn’t set out to build a hot rod gamer but rather something that would be a good business PC platform for Windows 7 with some flexibility for testing various software applications and hardware components.

After reviewing the Windows 7 system requirements from Microsoft for a second time I went back to a previous post of mine in Business Intelligence back on June 5, 2009: Windows 7 Release Candidate ready for testing – part 2 to put together a shopping list.

I wanted a processor that supported the 64 bit OS and Intel Virtualization Technology for compatibility with legacy apps. The Intel Processor Spec Finder was a big help in making my choice. A matching mother board that would support lots of DDR3 dual channel memory was also on my list. AMD has some very good processors that should run Windows 7 without a problem. However, I lean toward Intel from habit more than anything.

Poking around the local CompUSA store, I came up with an Intel Core^TM 2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz processor and an Intel DP45SG mother board. I wanted the flexibility to experiment with different video cards and of course the DDR3 dual channel memory support. I could have gotten a less expensive board but I prefer to run Intel on Intel. I found a cheap case and added a 400 Watt power supply just to be on the safe side. In my next post, I will discuss the Windows 7 RC installation and what I found running both new and old software apps.     

Confessions of a Windows XP Pro diehard

Ok, I admit that I have been hanging onto Windows XP Pro like grim death. I tweaked, patched and massaged it over the years to the point that it was as comfortable as a pair of old shoes. My grip tightened as it was clear from the onset that Vista was not an option. However, the end is near and my hold is loosening as I learn more about XP’s replacement, Windows 7.  

Windows 7 carries over some of the flashy features of Vista that most business users do not really care about but apparently, Microsoft has done this without the Vista bloat. I can live with that. One new feature that should be of interest to business users is XP mode in Windows 7. With this feature, you can install and run Windows XP applications in Windows 7 with the new Windows Virtual PC utility.

There are some hardware requirements and I will be checking out this feature and reporting on it in future posts. Additionally, I hope to learn about the ease of installation, hardware compatibility and security issues as I work with Windows 7 RC. Let me know if you have downloaded Windows 7 RC and what your take on it is.

Windows 7 Release Candidate ready for testing – part 2

In Windows 7 Release Candidate ready for testing – part 1, I talked about how to obtain the OS download and the Windows 7 Upgrade advisor. In this installment, I will discuss the system requirements.  

The minimum requirements and I do mean minimum, are outlined on Microsoft’s site. As in the past, I think that Microsoft has set the minimums extremely low. If you are planning on using Windows 7 in a production environment, I would suggest beefier specs. The following system requirements are from Microsoft with my comments: 

·       1GHz 32 or 64 bit processor; I would recommend a 64 bit processor  in the 3GHz range.

·       1 GB RAM; RAM is cheap. Install at least 2 GB or more, if your machine can handle it.

·       16 GB (32-bit) / 20GB (64-bit) disk space; Don’t cramp yourself. You know that patches and updates are  coming. Build a large enough partition for future growth, 25 - 30 GB.

·       DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model) 1.0 or higher driver; this could be one of the gotchas that stops a lot of upgrades from XP Pro. You will have to decide if the old box is worth the cost of a new video card.

Windows 7 looks promising as a replacement for XP and hopes to smooth over the ruffles that Vista caused. Businesses need to take a serious look at this new operating system as XP Pro is now a bit long in the tooth and support for it will vanish as soon as there is any degree of acceptance for Windows 7. One final caveat, Microsoft advises that the Windows 7 (RC) software will expire on June 1, 2010. On March 1, 2010, your PC will start to shut down every 2 hours as a gentle reminder. Let us know how your Windows 7 (RC) testing goes. Good luck.

Windows 7 Release Candidate ready for testing - part 1

If your organization is considering an upgrade to Windows 7, now would be a good time to start evaluation and testing. Windows 7  (RC) is now available for download to IT pros from Microsoft TechNet. It will be available through July 2009 and Microsoft is not limiting the number of license keys, allowing you to set up a test network with real hardware.   

If you are upgrading from Vista, no problem but if you are currently on XP Pro, there is no direct upgrade path, a clean install is necessary. Also, if you are running Vista, Windows 7 (RC) should run on the same hardware without a problem. However, machines that are running XP Pro should be evaluated for compatibility. A good place to start is the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta .

Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade advisor will also test any peripheral devices such as printers, external storage, and scanners; so make sure that everything you plan to run with Windows 7 (RC) is plugged in, including all USB devices.

In Windows 7 Release Candidate ready for testing - part 2, I will layout Microsoft’s minimum system requirements and add my own recommendations and comments.