Bryans Blog

Windows 8 Review

Well its true what they say.  The ever familiar "Start" button is gone, the desktop is still there, but its not the first thing you see when you turn on your PC.  Microsoft’s new "Metro UI" with live tiles is now your "start" button. It took me a couple hours to get used to it, and over the last week or so, I am actually starting to like it.

If you own a Microsoft XBOX 360, it will look very familiar, and work kind of in the same way.  Your "tiles" or shortcuts to your programs now reside on the new interface, when clicked, it opens the desktop and things look and work normally, except for the start button of course.  I have found that there are a couple of free add-ons, that add a start button back to your desktop, but the more I use Windows 8, more I see that a start button really is not needed.

The look of your open windows have changed a little also.  If you use Office 2007 or above, it will look familiar with the new "Ribbon" on top instead of the usual "File, Edit, Tools" menu bar, all the options you had before are still there, just in a different location.

All in all, Windows 8 is growing on me, personally I like it, I have not had a chance to install any business related software yet, but so far, everything that I have tried, seems to work well.

In my next blog, I will talk about the "Live" tiles, and more on the new "Metro UI" interface.

For system questions and concerns, please call the CCS Retail Systems Support Department at 800.672.4806 or email us.

-Bryan

Using Problem Logs.

Does your organization keep problem logs of computer issues?  If not, you may want to consider it. Keeping a problem log of
computer issues can help cut down on IT expenses plus help keep your system running in tip top shape.

Recently, a customer has called to let us know about a slowness to their system, and without a problem log, we may still be
looking for the cause.  By keeping a log of a few simple things, we were able to narrow down and correct the issue quickly.

A Problem log should consist of a a minimum, The time the problem occurred, what PC is having the problem, who was working on
the PC, where in the software did the problem occur and any error messages that occur.  A brief description of what the user
did afterward can be helpful too.

By having this information, CCS can look for patterns, look at log files that coincide with the time the issue happen.  In
the issue with our customer, by having the time written down, we were able to determine that another process runs at the
times users were complaining of slowness and we were able to change the background process to not coincide with the businesses
open times.

The more information that can be logged, the greater the chance of getting to the bottom of the issue quicker.  It takes just
a few seconds to jot down a few key elements to help narrow down an issue to a quick resolution.

If you would like more information about starting a problem log for your business, contact the CCS Retail Systems Support
Department at 800.672.4806 or email us.

Bryan

End Of Year And Your CounterPoint Software.
 

The New Year is just around the corner, which means that you will need to make some changes to your CounterPoint software.  CCS has sent an email out to our customers explaining step by step what needs to be done and where. If you have not received this email or if you do not understand what needs to be done, please call the CCS Retail Systems Support Department to help.  Basically, you will need to change what "YEAR" it is within the software.

If this is not done, along with some other settings, you may not be able to process transactions through the system.  You will also receive a message that the "Current System Date Is Outside The Current Calendar Year".  Depending on your setting, this message will not stop you from accessing the software, but may keep you from processing sales.

Please read the email that was sent and give us a call if you have any questions about when and where to make these changes to your system.

The CCS Retail Systems Support number is 800.672.4806 or you can always email us.

-Bryan

Adapted From Fox News

With the New Year just around the corner, here are some things to consider/be aware of.

No. 1: Small businesses become more of a target

Small business owners may think they are immune from computer attacks but increasingly they are the targets, and that’s only expected to get worse in 2013.

“A few years ago virus attacks were designed to spread around the world as fast as possible to infect as many people as possible,” says Tom Powledge, Symantec’s  vice president of product delivery, SMB and .Cloud. “Now cyber criminals want to get their viruses into your environment and have it stay there under the radar for as long as possible.”

According to Powledge, the cyber criminals are trying to get specific information about the business such as financial records or logins and passwords. The criminals will also use the small business owners’ computers as a jumping off point to attack other places, so it won’t be traced back to them, says Powledge.

No. 2: Computers being held for ransom

A relatively new cyber-attack, one that is just staring to pop up but could become more common in 2013, is ransomware attacks. Basically a cyber-criminal would infect the business owner’s PC, take it over and encrypt the program files on the computer so it locks up. The business owner would see a message that the computer was taken over and if he or she wants the files back they would have to pay the criminal.

“It’s very brazen, very aggressive and something we saw internationally,” says Powledge. “It started in Russia and is making its way out to other countries.”

An example of a Ransomware type attack is one in which malware is installed on a system and keeps an annoying box in the center of the computer screen. In order to get rid of it users have to “Complete an Offer,” which means spending some money or giving up a lot of personal information. In return they get code that will unlock the malware and make the box disappear.

No. 3: Viruses found more commonly on smartphones

It’s no secret that everybody is using mobile phones for both personal and business use, and it’s that melding of different data that is enticing cyber criminals. As a result more and more malware is popping up on mobile devices and that’s expected to continue in 2013.  One unprotected small businesses can expect on their mobile phone in the New Year is mobile adware that will bombard the mobile phone user with advertisements similar to pop up ads infected PCs had to endure years ago. Cyber criminals will also continue to try and steal data when people are using their mobile phones on public Wi-Fi networks.

“Whatever the popular platform whatever people are using is where the cyber criminals go,” says Powledge.

According to Kaspersky Lab, 2013 is likely to bring a “new alarming trend” of personal and corporate data stored on smartphones and tablets being targeted as frequently as on PCs. Kaspersky predicts that new sophisticated attacks will not only go after the Android platform but Apple devices as well.

-Bryan
 

Adapted from an article in the Seattle PI.

Is your smartphone secure? Not unless you’re taking 10 safety steps, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC on Tuesday released a "smartphone security checker" with checklists customized for Android, Apple, Blackberry and Windows phones.

"With less than half of smartphone owners using passwords to protect their devices, this new tool will be of particular value to millions of Americans," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement. "The holiday gift-giving season is a perfect time to remind consumers to take simple steps, like setting a password, to protect themselves from mobile security threats."

Nearly half of Americans own a smartphone and almost 20 percent have been the victim of mobile cybercrime, according to the FCC. The agency said it developed the checker with smartphone security experts from the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Cyber Security Alliance, CTIA-The Wireless Association, Lookout and others.

Here is a link to the FCC Security Checker site. http://www.fcc.gov/smartphone-security.  Once at the site, choose your style of phone, and it will create a list for you to check.  As said in this article, your first line of defense should be a PIN or a password, same goes for your PC’s at your home and office.

-Bryan

Adapted from KOMONEWS on an article By Jon Mitchell
 

Mobile platforms compete on convenience
 

Mobile platforms compete on convenience. Now that Android and iOS are both highly refined, the choice between them comes down to which one fits more seamlessly into your everyday life. Passbook, which came out with iOS 6 this year, was the first feature of iOS that stepped into the realm of check-in and check-out at real-world businesses, a transaction that’s becoming  more digitized all the time.

Many Android phones already had near-field communication (NFC) built in, which can handle that task among others. Apple never bothered with a hardware solution for that. It seems to think that if tickets, coupons, vouchers and such can be securely
delivered to the phone, but it’s all software, it no longer matters what phone a person is using. Google seems to be coming around to that idea.

The new Google Now feature has barcodes only for flights (starting with United Airlines), but it’s a natural place to put passes of all kinds. The really cool part about Google Now’s feature is that it can use your phone’s location to automatically pull up the boarding pass when you’re at the airport, a convenience Apple has not yet built in.

This reminds Jon Mitchell of the geofencing in Square Wallet, which blows his mind every time. Square has built its app to wake up when you approach the location of a business you frequent, so your Square tab opens automatically and closes when you leave. You don’t even have to take your phone out of your pocket. That is convenience.

Beyond passes, Google would love for us to pay for things directly with Google Wallet. Square would like us to pay with Square Wallet. Apple hasn’t yet turned its huge collection of credit cards into a real-world payment system, but I’m convinced it will.

The smartphone is becoming an increasingly critical ticket to real-world experiences. Whether one platform figures it out and locks it up, or we end up using different services for different things, the most convenient mobile passes and payments will win.

With mobile payments becoming more and more popular, it looks like that’s going to be the way to go.  And although NCR CounterPoint SQL does allow for a mobile device to be used to take credit card and cash transactions, an employee is the one with the device.  It would not surprise me if NCR comes out a a payment solution that allows a customer to make a payment with his or her own device in the very near future.

For more information on NCR CounterPoints CPMobile application, call our Sales Team at 800.672.4806, or email us

-Bryan

The Holiday Screen Savers.

Here is another way to possibly infect your system.  We have all seen them, they actually look pretty cool, but are they what you think they are?

Any free software you find on the Internet may not be all that "free".  If you have to give an email address to download, more than likely you will receive unwanted spam in your inbox.  You could also be installing malware right along with that cool screensavers of snowflakes falling on your screen or Frosty the Snowman dancing around.

Not all free things on the Internet are bad, but check what your are doing before you download and install the software, most will mention that it will also install some type of "spyware" in order to use it, and thats never a good idea.  If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. No one wants to spend their Christmas money on removing spyware/malware/virus when that new game for your Xbox maybe right around the corner.

-Bryan

As Reported By KOMO New Radio.
 

The Goblin Virus

I was listening to the news on the way home last night, and I heard a mention of a virus going around one of the school district (Lake Washington).  They are calling it the Goblin virus, and it appears to be network aware, meaning if your PC/Laptop is connected on the same network as an infected PC, the chances of you picking it up are great.

The story went on to tell the number of infected student laptops at about 2500.  It was also mentioned that students can take the laptops home to use, which means if the laptop is infected, it can infect the rest of your PC’s.  Although the machines are protected with Anti-Virus and firewall protection, they still got infected.  More than likely someone clicked something they probably should not have, weather in an email or a link on a website.

With the Holiday season right around the corner, be sure your anti-virus/malware protection is up to date, and do not click links in unsolicited emails.  If the deal looks good, manually type the address in your browser, that way you know you are not being duped into clicking that link that does install malware.

-Bryan

Adapted From An Article On news.verizonwireless.com

What Is NFC – Near Field Communications

Though near-field communications (NFC) technology is widely discussed in the news today, consumers may be unaware of what the technology actually does. Much of the available literature is technical and the distinctions between its three prevailing forms – peer-to-peer, reader/writer and card emulation – aren’t immediately clear. Knowing a few important details eliminates misconceptions about the availability, security and applications of NFC.

Today, many think of mobile payments when they consider NFC, but this isn’t its only application. Practical uses for NFC extend beyond paying for coffee, gas or other common transactions. In fact, alternate uses such as the exchange of media, including songs and pictures, will be many mobile users’ first use of NFC.

For example, the Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Nexus by Samsung both feature S Beam, which allows users to share playlists, pictures and notes between devices. Even app developers, like Foursquare, have added NFC support that allows people to share information such as who they are with and their thoughts about a particular location.

Perhaps the largest misconception is security. The idea of a mobile wallet means integrating banks accounts and card numbers into a smartphone, which could potentially create inroads for unwanted access of personal information. However, credit card companies and smartphone manufacturers are creating effective ways to protect users. With multiple industry security standards in place, the most important protection may be that the proximity required for a NFC transaction is so small that a person looking to compromise information would have a hard time doing so without being noticed.

Despite these misconceptions, the potential applications are endless. Tapping a phone at a concert instead of scanning a ticket or sharing paperless business cards are only two ways NFC can transform people’s lives. As additional infrastructures fall into place, so too will the opportunities to use the technology to make daily tasks more convenient.

-Bryan

Adapted From  Security News Daily

People traveling abroad to be wary of shady scammers planting malware via insecure hotel Internet connections.

If you’ve ever taken a laptop on a work trip, here’s some troubling news: The FBI and national cybercrime agencies are warning people traveling abroad to be wary of shady scammers planting malware via insecure hotel Internet connections.

In an advisory issued by the Internet Crime Complaint Center(IC3) notes that malware perpetrators are masking their cybercrime weapons as popup software updates travelers see when setting up their Internet connections. (The IC3 is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, and funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.)

“The popup window appeared to be offering a routine update to a legitimate software product for which updates are frequently available,” the IC3 explained. “If the user clicked to accept and install the update, malicious software was installed on the laptop.”

Although it looks that this is more of an "Abroad" type attack, there is no reason why it could not happen in the US, or anywhere for that matter.

To mitigate the threat of contracting a harmful virus on your personal computer, or your company laptop, the FBI recommends that “all government, private industry and academic personnel who travel abroad take extra caution before updating software on their hotel Internet connection.”

The FBI advises travelers to perform software updates immediately before traveling, and to download software updates only from vendors’ websites.

-Bryan