August 2018

630.850.9039 Continued pg.2 We love this stuff! We are committed to helping businesses use technology to run their organization successfully and profitably. Your Image Here What’s New This monthly publication provided courtesy of Catherine Wendt, President of Syscon Inc. August 2018 It’s time to slip away for the last vacation of the summer; pull up the school shopping list; load up the personal items for the dorm room; and cleanup the grill for the Labor Day weekend. We’re busy updating server operating systems, VMware tools, and moving to Exchange 2016. Lots of planning to ensure successful roll outs! We would like to thank all of you that participated in our Client Survey and hope you’re enjoying a treat on us! Some responded online; the rest (most of them) came in the mail. We are pouring over all the thoughtful comments.Thanks to all! - Catherine Wendt Employees Keeping Your Data Safe? Don’t Count On It One morning late last year, an unemployed man was making his way across London, heading to the library to continue his job search. But on the way, he encountered something peculiar: a USB stick, peeking out among the fallen leaves and shining in the morning sun. Not thinking much of it – and perhaps afflicted with a morbid curiosity – he popped the device into his pocket and continued on his way. Once he made it to the library, he connected the USB to a computer to check out its contents. As he clicked around, he realized with a shock that this was a treasure trove of security information for the Heathrow International Airport: 174 folders packed with maps detailing CCTV camera locations, labyrinthine tunnels snaking below the building, and even the exact route the Queen takes when she uses the airport. Understandably worried, the man quickly ejected the device and brought it – for some reason – to a local tabloid, the Daily Mirror. Today, despite a fullscale security investigation by the airport and the scrutiny of dozens of police and security experts, it’s still unclear just where this extremely sensitive data came from. However, all signs point to the USB drive being dropped by either a hapless employee carrying around a national security concern in their pocket or a less-hapless employee looking to instigate a national security crisis. Either way, the story hammers home a vital point: whether you’re an international airport hosting more than 70 million travelers each year or a small business with less than $10 million in annual revenue, your biggest security risk isn’t some crack team of hackers – it’s your employees. -- 1 of 4 - All Things Tech August 2018 (continued from page 1) Sure, you may chuckle at the idea that any of your employees would actively wish your organization harm, but we’re willing to guess that you probably underestimate the wrath of an employee scorned. Even if you treat your team better than any boss in the world, they are still human – which, of course, means they’re going to make mistakes from time to time. And when considering the cyber security of many SMBs, “time to time” actually means any given day, leaving huge openings in your digital barriers. These errors don’t matter much, really – until the day that a hacker turns an eye toward your business and immediately realizes the laughable security gaps your team is leaving for them to exploit. The thing about cyber security is that it’s a lot more complicated than most people are willing to admit. Today’s digital landscape is fraught with hazards, a thousand little mistakes to be made at every step, resulting in a million workarounds for cyber criminals to use. Even the most tech-savvy among us probably don’t know everything about cyber security, and very few have as much knowledge as the hackers on the other end of the equation. When you consider the uncertainty and potential miseducation of your employees, many of whom probably know next to nothing about cyber security, you might start to feel a little panicked. The battle against digital threats can seem like an endless slog – a war that the good guys seem to be losing – but luckily, when it comes to the security of your business, there are ways to batten down the hatches without dropping a ton of cash. For instance, start with your biggest vulnerability: your team. When a new employee joins your organization, their welcome forms should include comprehensive rules about security policies, from using strong passwords to how they should respond to potential phishing attempts. Deviating from these policies should come with serious consequences. As for your existing employees, train them up! We can help you with our regular, short video blogs and articles to get every single member of your organization up to speed on the most imminent cyber security threats. But even then, cyber security isn’t a one-and-done kind of thing; it requires constant vigilance, regular updates on the latest trends and a consistent overall commitment to protecting your livelihood. Without training and follow-up, even the most powerful of cyber security barriers are basically tissue paper, so put some thought into your team in addition to your protections, and you can drastically increase the safety of the business you’ve worked so hard to build. Cathy and Larry Sightings Catherine heard Darren Hardy speak in Nashville; very inspiring! At the Scottsdale C12 Group meeting, the Core Business Presentation resulted in some great feedback. Larry had some foot surgery; turns out ankles aren’t supposed to move like that! ‘I always wanted to be somebody. I now wish I had been a little more specific’ - Lily Tomlin 630.850.9039 Based on the person that suggested this book to me, I expected it to be a scolding for all managers, telling us everything we’re doing wrong and how we’re supposed to make things easier so our employees can be happy. Knowing that we put a lot of effort into providing a great place to work so we have a great experience for our clients, I was curious as to what this book was all about? This is a very practical book that shares both sides of the equation. I love the references back to movie-character and TV shows examples of styles. Are these the people we should model ourselves after? We’re called to inspire employees, provide opportunities for them to be their best, model the way, and clarify expectations. We also need to know the importance of providing accountability, education, and consequences so all team members feel valued and appreciated. Definitely Recommended! - CMW People Leave Managers...Not Organizations! by Rick Tate and Dr. Julie White “Your biggest security risk isn’t some crack team of hackers—it’s your employees.” -- 2 of 4 - Shiny New Gadget Of The Month: As we draw close to the end of summer, many of us are stowing our grills in preparation for the cooler months. Others never had a grill in the first place, banned by their lease from ever doing any sort of grilling. Regardless of the reason, pretty much everyone bemoans a grill-free existence, even if it’s only for a few months. Enter the Kenyon City Grill, a handy grill for those of us who need to stay inside to cook up a hot dog or hamburger. With some complicated engineering tricks, the grill can cook anything you throw at it with virtually no smoke, far exceeding the requirements of city fire codes and preventing you from getting smoked out of your kitchen. Its $475 price tag may seem a little steep, but consider the convenience of grilling right from your kitchen, all year long – even if you’re in an apartment! – and you can quickly see the benefits. Windows 7—End of Life January 2020 (16 months) Yes, it’s official. Windows 7 Operating System will be end-of-life in January 2020. So what does that mean? When an operating system hits end-of-life, Microsoft will stop sending security updates, which means that any security loop holes that are found will not be patched or addressed; a significant security concern for any business. There are a couple of things to consider as you replace equipment or upgrade software before we get to January 2020: - How old is the workstation or laptop? If it’s more than 4 years old, you may have difficulties during the upgrade process. The older the machine the higher the risk that the upgrade may be painful, or even fail. - If the computer has insufficient memory, drive speed, or space, and the upgrade is successful, you may have serious performance problems. Windows 10 requires more resources and space than Win 7. This is true regardless of the age of the computer. This is about the specs on the equipment itself compared to the requirements of the upgraded software. Windows Server 2008 — End of Life January 2020 (16 months) Windows 2008 R2, the most popular server operating system for small to medium businesses, will be end-of-life in January 2020, as well. The biggest issue we’ve seen when upgrading to the 2016 Server Operating System has been issues with print drivers. Many of our clients have older printers, the true work horses of the office! Due to their age, the manufacturers are not providing updated print drivers for these old printers. So, with the newer operating systems, these old printers will not work. Take a look at your capital planning budget and build in funds to replace older printers well before the deadlines. You’ll need to have the Server OS upgraded BEFORE the deadline to avoid any security risks. Bottom line? Hardware may need to be replaced and software needs to be upgraded. Having an antique car is fun, but not if you need it to get to work every day! - CMW All Things Tech August 2018 630.850.9039 An Indoor, No-Hassle Cookout: The Kenyon City Grill From the Techs As of July, we’ve sent Phoenix Rescue Cookies to 18 companies! Along with beautiful packaging and delicious cookies, they include the story of this great outreach effort! Give someone a cookie for a day, or teach them how to make cookies so they have skills for a lifetime...or something like that. -- 3 of 4 - All Things Tech August 2018 Construction Corner SBS Servers—Many of our clients have taken advantage of the Microsoft Small Business Servers which include Exchange. This has been phased out by Microsoft, and many of these servers are 4 or more years old (ancient in technology [dog] years). You have a couple of options, so you need to get started on some planning: Virtualization has been a game changer! One option is to purchase a host server with lots of memory and drive resources, VMware tools, and virtualize your data and Exchange servers (2 of them). This allows you to stick with one server ‘box’ and still have 2 servers. You still need to purchase 2 operating systems, Exchange licenses, anti-spam, and appropriate cals based on your users, in addition to the virtualization software. You can keep your equipment onsite and under your control. With the additional space requirements, you may need to revisit your backup solution and make sure it has sufficient resources. Another option is to purchase replacement equipment for your data server and move to a hosted Exchange option. Your existing email files can be moved to the hosted environment, and your staff can continue to use the same software they’re familiar with. If you’d rather not deal with the capital expense of hardware, software, and licenses, you can move your data to a private hosted server. In this scenario, you pay for the space and user licenses you need, but you don’t need to purchase the server software and cals, or the labor to replace equipment. These solutions include backup disaster recovery, and you can retain security for your users and data. You have a monthly fee for access to the hosted solution based on the number of users and the size of your data. These plans can include day-to-day user support, new equipment setup, hosted email, or just access to the remote environment. If you have an SBS server, or you’re running MS 2008 Server OS, you’ll need to make some decisions; we’re here to help! Collecting Time From the Field Just Got Exciting! We’re helping our clients collect field time from mobile devices, and we’re fully integrated (really!) with Sage 100 Contractor v20. We can collect cost code information, work order numbers, phases, client signatures, and a whole lot more. Your field can use iPhones, Androids, or Tablets. Interested? Join us for a demo on August 23rd at 11:30am CT! 630.850.9039 This month’s trivia question: The term ‘GUI’ stands for: a) Graphing Ultimate Interface b) Graphics Unused Input c) Gorgeous Unidentiϐied Idiot d) Graphical User Interface Congratulations to last month’s Trivia Contest winner, JJ Eldredge, with Hatϐield Builders & Remodelers, TX! JJ’s name was drawn from the ϐishbowl for last month’s correctly answered Question: Dec 3, 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the ϔirst ever of which type of surgery that now saves thousands of lives every year? d) Heart Transplant Who Wants To Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card? To enter: Go to www.Syscon-inc.com/Trivia and type in your answer. All correct answers will be put into a ϐishbowl and we’ll randomly draw the winner. The Winner will be contacted shortly after the deadline and will be announced in next month’s newsletter. Deadline: August 20, 2018 -- 4 of 4 -