RMSCare Package November 2013

November, 2013
Issue 2411
What’s
Inside
Meet our New
Employees
Randy A. Rowe
President
I can hardly believe it is November but looking out the window at all the
leaves falling, I know fall has arrived. This time of year I think of all the things
we have to be thankful for. We are thankful for living in such a wonderful country and for all those who serve in the military for us to be able to enjoy the freedoms we are blessed to have. We are thankful for our friends and family and we
are certainly thankful for our wonderful clients!
We want you to be thankful for us too so if you know of anything we can do
to improve our service to you, please send me a note or give me a call and let
me know. And if you are thankful for any of our employees who have gone beyond the norm, please let me know about that too so we can appropriately
thank them.
As you read this, Claudia and I will be enjoying a week in sunny & warm Key
West. With that in mind, remember, it’s always 5:00 somewhere!
Have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving!
Diego Aburto
3 “Techie” Reasons You Can Be
Won Allen
Page 2
Thankful This Season
Is Windows 8
Right for Me?
1.
Cyber Thieves Keep A-Knockin’ But They Can’t Come In. A study presented at the International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks showed that small-business networks are attacked every 39 seconds by some type of hacker or malicious software.
Thankfully, having the proper firewall and office network security tools can prevent even
the most determined cyber hacker from getting his hands on your network.
2.
Downtime Should Be A Thing Of The Past. Thanks to monitoring and maintenance tools
that are openly available, any reputable computer company can now actually notice when
things go awry and prevent your computers from having issues. Hot fixes, patches and
security updates are generally items that, when maintained on a regular basis, keep a
network healthy and up and running. If, for some reason, your network still has some kind
of downtime, cloud-based remote management tools allow your IT professional to access
your system from anywhere, getting you up and running more quickly than ever before.
3.
If Disaster Strikes, You Can Be Back Up & Running In Minutes Instead Of Days. In addition
to lost data, many businesses’ operations would be completely down for days or weeks if
a major disaster like fire, flood or theft ever occurred. Here’s where Backup & Disaster
Recovery solutions (BDR) can help you feel very thankful indeed. Most of today’s BDR
solutions include a “virtualization” component, which means an exact “picture” of your
server and computers is taken throughout the day and stored elsewhere. If you ever need
to get back up and running, your IT company simply restores that image…and you’re back
in business.
By Bob Williams
Page 2
How to Prevent
ATM Skimming
Page 3
Want To Feel Thankful Instead Of Frustrated With Your Computers? Call us at 770-988-9640
to eliminate problems on your network and give you peace of mind.
Page 2
To
better
server our clients, RMS has hired 2 new employees and we’d like you to get to know
Page
2
them. The Customer Of The Month column will return next month.
RMS’s Newest Employees
Diego Aburto
Won Allen
When you call RMS, Diego usually
Won is from Emlsford, a small town in NY,
answers the phone. We love this be-
although he has lived in Georgia for the past 9
cause he is always so friendly and pro-
years. Prior to 2005, Won was a professional
fessional Diego was an interpreter in
sound engineer. To help transition from
the past which really helps us communicate with some of our
sound waves to IP Addresses, he graduated
Spanish speaking clients. When Diego saw his 2 brothers
from DeVry University with a degree in Network System Ad-
working as System Administrators and how much they loved
ministration. He says two of his favorite sayings are “Never
their work, he decided to go to Atlanta Tech to follow in their
underestimate the power of a reboot” and “Computers and
footsteps.
violence don’t mix…so if you think smacking the screen will fix
Diego was born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica until he
it …think again.”
was 15. He’s lived in the US for 13 years (10 in GA and 3 in
Won is married to Audrey and has 2 children, Sun Tyler
OR.) Diego has been married for 4 years to Polish born Ag-
(named Sun because he shines like one!) and Sitafa (who is
nieszka - interesting name for a beautiful lady! Although Die-
completing her Marketing Degree at Mississippi State.) He also
go is a big fan of the Atlanta Falcons and Braves, his first love
has a Shih Tzu /Chihuahua named Jazz. Won loves ping pong,
is still soccer. He’s been celebrating this month since both the
card games, and making good music!
US and Costa Rica teams qualified for the World Cup .
Is Windows 8 Right For Me?
By Bob Williams,
You may have heard all the chatter about the new Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft, and be wondering if you should upgrade your old XP or Windows 7 to it. If you
search on the Internet and read some opinions, you might think that Microsoft had set out to
ruin your life! Some folks may try something once, and say “they hate it!” - kind of like when
a kid first tries broccoli.
So, is it right for me? Let’s answer a few questions:
Are you still running XP? Well, you need to be upgr ading to SOMETHING. Read on.
Bob Williams
RMS Service Manager
Do you always sit at a desktop to work, and have no desire to use a laptop? If yes, you
can stick with Windows 7 or wait for Windows 8.1 which will have the start button back, and an option to boot to the
desktop.
Do you want a laptop, or one that can double as a desktop computer? Laptops let you sit in your easy chair
and work or play on the computer, or let you travel, but stay connected with your office. You can still place it on a
desk and attach a keyboard, mouse, and even a large monitor, and wha-la! A desktop!
On a laptop is where the Windows 8 “Metro” screen starts to shine. You really need a touch screen to get the full
joy. The Metro interface is where all the controversy lies, but also where you may find you were born to run. That silly little mouse pad that always clicks on the wrong thing? For-getta-bout-it !!! Now you navigate around by swiping
your fingers across the screen. You flick left and right, up and down- programs dancing on and off the screen. It’s like
conducting a symphony! It does take a few hours of research and practice to learn it, but before you know it, you’ll be
navigating around like a rich little college kid.
Continued on Page 3
Page 3
Shiny New Gadget of the
Month: Tile
Now it’s super easy to keep track of
stuff on the go. Just attach, stick or
drop your Tile into any item you
might lose: laptops, wallets, keys, guitars, bikes—you name it. Download
and sync the app and you’ll never
have to worry about losing it again!
Pre-order this little device and you’ll
be able to:

Use Tile on as many things as you
want. Add up to 10 Tiles on an
account.

Share access to Tiles with friends,
family, and trusted coworkers.


Hear the alert notification when
your items are triggered to find. If
you can hear it, you can find it.
Use the Tile app to remember
where it last saw your Tile, so you
can easily find it right where you
left it.
Pre-order your device today at
http://www.thetileapp.com.
How To Prevent ATM Skimming
Over a billion dollars are lost each year in
the United States through “ATM Skimming”
– far more than any losses from bank robberies – and it’s growing at a rate of more
than 10% every year.
ATM Skimming is a cybercrime where the
criminals steal (or “skim”) your ATM/debit
card data when you’re using a typical ATM
machine. They do this by fitting a small card
reader over the typical ATM card slot, thus
capturing your information. Additionally, the
criminals install mini cameras above or near
the ATM to capture your PIN number. The
data is then transmitted via Bluetooth to the cybercriminals somewhere
nearby. The average skimming attack usually lasts only an hour or two during peak ATM usage times (i.e. lunch hour or after work.) Meanwhile, you
have no idea that you’ve just been had and are at risk. These cyber-criminals
will then sell the data on the cards to others so that they can either clone
your debit card or wipe out your bank account.
5 Tips To Prevent ATM Skimming
Cover your hand as you type. Obstr ucting the view of your pin fr om
any cameras will render your data useless.
Pay attention to the area around the ATM card slot. If anything looks
loose or out of place, pull to see if you can remove it.
Be aware of surroundings. Be extr a car eful of ATMs in dar k or isolated
places.
Does the machine look different? If anything looks out of place (extr a
signage, mirrors, etc.) then avoid the machine.
Notify the bank. If you find or suspect an ATM has been compr omised,
notify your bank and law enforcement immediately.
Is Windows 8 Right for Me?
Cont. from Page 2
For using at a desk, you can setup the “desktop” portion much like your Windows 7 machine, and navigate around
with a mouse. Good for getting some serious work done.
But those meanies at Microsoft took away the Start button. How can I live without that? This is the biggest
complaint of all from the repressed masses. You can live without it by setting up your most used icons on the desktop,
then switching to the Search screen to find and run any other program, as needed. And Windows 8.1 will put the Start
button back. 8.1 will be a free upgrade for Windows 8 users.
Is all this change really necessary? The pur pose of the new Metr o inter face is to br ing consistency, usability,
and a little fun to all of your devices, from the phone to the desktop. For instance- you can update your shopping list
in One Note on your desktop, which saves to the cloud. Then when you are in the grocery store, use your phone to see
the same list and “check off” items as you grab them.
Your RMSCare Package
Page 4
Services We Offer
 Cloud Solutions
 Technology as a Service
 Total Business Continuity
Protection
 Proactive Network
Maintenance/Monitoring
 Network Design & Implementation
 Network Security
 SPAM & Virus Remediation & Prevention
 3CX VOIP Phone System
“Like” RMS Associates, Inc. on FaceBook to get the
latest IT news, tips, and even an occasional laugh at
facebook.com/RMSAssociates
We Would Love To Hear From YOU!
Check out our blog at
mysupportguys.com/blog
Subscribe to our RSS feed at
mysupportguys.com/feed.
If you have noticed an RMS associate going above and beyond the
ordinary for you either on-site or over the phone, please let us know
so we may reward them! Please e-mail me at rrowe@rmsatl.com.
Thanks!
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