Online ID Theft: employee awareness pack

Online ID Theft: employee awareness pack

MessageLabs has published an information pack for companies to give to their employees. It contains:

1 x downloadable handout about online ID theft
1 x downloadable poster
1 x PowerPoint presentation
1 x internal email template which includes a list of Does and Don'ts when emailing

Download it here at http://www.creativesql.co.uk/cw/mlabs/mlabs_theft_frm.htm

ICT Excellence Award

Coleshill company, Acutec Limited, celebrated its success at the coveted ICT Excellence Awards 2008.

The growing and successful IT Services company was highly commended for the Most Improved Business Award.

Acutec Limited has achieved a whole raft of technical standards this year, including partnerships with Cisco, Microsoft and Citrix, the UKita Quality Mark and both Network Design and Installation and Software Product Design and Development segments of the prestigious Accredit UK standard, which recognises the best technology suppliers in the country.

Chris Roche, Managing Director of Acutec Limited, said, “we're delighted to be honoured with this success and the wider recognition it brings for us within our industry. It's also a great motivation for the team to have their hard work acclaimed in this way. Finally, it's been fantastic taking part as the feedback from the judges has been invaluable to us.”

Mike Musson, ICT Cluster Manager, added: “This year we've seen the highest standard of award entries yet and competition has been incredibly tough. The judging process has been rigorous and the panel faced a major challenge in deciding the final winners due to the sheer quality, innovation and excellent service provided by all the finalists. The awards are testament to the quality and diversity among technology companies in the West Midlands region.”

The ICT Excellence Awards were presented at the evening Awards event following the Annual ICT Cluster Conference held at Birmingham Motorcycle Museum on 20 November 2008.

Opening Office 2007 documents in earlier versions

I've received a file in .docx format - how do I open it, i'm using Microsoft Office Word 2003?

The documents can be opened it but you will first need to download the Microsoft Compatibility pack for 2007 Office - you can download this at the following link http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100444731033.aspx

This will allow you to open other Office 2007 documents such as Excel and PowerPoint.

Changing passwords

How do I change the password to access my PC?

Hold down Ctrl, Alt and Del, choose Change Password - enter your current password and then your new password twice.

We mentioned in a previous post passwords should be changed at least every 120 days.

How do I prevent confidential data leaving our offices on USB sticks?

Administration settings on PCs can be changed to block the transfer of data to external storage devices such as downloading via USB or Bluetooth. Ask your administrator or IT support.

Backup Tapes

My backup tape won't eject what shall I do?

There are a number of reasons why this could happen:

1. The tape just needs some more time to rewind or complete what its doing
2. The tape is in use – possibly something has gone wrong with the backup and it is still running 3. The backup program or controlling software using the tape drive has failed and left the drive locked
4. The tape is damaged and has jammed
5. The drive is damaged and is jammed

I am going to assume that you have made a few attempts to eject the tape, and waiting for more than 10 minutes as the drive may need to rewind the tape before spitting it out. You should also check that your backup software isn’t running and has locked the tape as its using it. If your software is running try using the software to eject the tape.

At this point, if you have a warranty or support for your server you should call them. Most drives have an eject button on the front of the server and you can often get the drive to force the tape out by holding down the eject button. Some drives you need to do this whilst powering the drive up – hold down the eject button and then switch on the drive. Many drives are built into the server as you don’t have access to the drives power - in which case you will need to shutdown and power off the server to do this.

If all this fails – call your support people or the manufacturer of the drive – it is likely you have either a damaged tape (in which case you need an engineer to remove it without damaging the drive) – or you have a damaged drive in which case you need a replacement.

Phishing

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a way of luring email users into providing sensitive details eg bank details, passwords / PIN numbers either by replying to an email or asking recipients to click on a link and enter details into a form or website that has been replicated to look genuine, eg ebay or a bank.

The phishers will then use this information so do not enter your sensitive details and contact your bank if you are concerned.

Remote Assistance

What's remote assistance?

Remote assistance allows an IT support professional to remote control your PC via a secure link over the internet. They will be able to see your screen and control your PC as if they are sitting in front of it.

This has revolutionised IT support – you can now phone in with your support issue and the IT engineer can take control of your PC and fix the issue before your eyes and while you are still on the phone. It’s not just for fixing problems though as we also use this for training - ‘how do I change the layout of a table in Word 2007’ is very hard to describe over the phone but very easy to demonstrate.

So you get immediate support – no waiting for an engineer to arrive, no following complex instructions over the phone. The engineer likes it too – he/she doesn’t have to move out of his comfy seat to help you or try and work out what’s happening on your PC from your description (‘The pointer thingie disappeared after I clicked on the icon that looks like a chicken on a bicycle and now it is just sitting there making a funny clicking noise’).

To summarise you get a faster, better service and as this drastically reduces the need for an engineer to visit you in person it probably is going to cost you less too!

Monitor Resolution

How do I know what the correct resolution is for my monitor?

Most people nowadays use LCD displays and these have a ‘native resolution’ – basically the resolution the monitor is designed to display. If you pick a lower resolution your display will look fuzzy – because the image produced by your PC doesn’t line up with the dots that make up your display. If you pick too high a resolution your screen acts as a window scrolling around a bigger virtual desktop which is more than a little confusing!

You can find your native resolution from at least one of the following sources:

• Look on the back of the monitor
• Check the documentation that came with the monitor
• ‘Google’ the model of your monitor and get the information online

You set your resolution by right-click on the screen background and depending on your operating system select ‘Properties’ or ‘Personalise’ – look out for ‘Settings’ and use the slider to adjust the resolution up or down.