Points to know when buying your first computer

Points to know when buying your first computer
The first question you need to ask yourself is why you need a computer and for what purpose you will use it:

* Surfing the Internet
* Sending and receiving e-mail
* Word Processing
* Spreadsheet and Money management
* Listening and recording music
* Storing and manipulating images
* Playing games

When you are certain that you really need a computer then you need to consider what computer to purchase.

The most common type of computer is the PC. Fewer and fewer people these days use Macintoshes and while Apple still makes them they are used primarily for graphics work at the high end multimedia level.

For home or office use you may be far better purchasing a desktop PC with pre-installed software. And PC prices are on the way down.

Of course notebook computers are really great if you want to take advantage of the portability that they offer, although you really need to weigh this against the cost -- as laptops are still much more expensive than your average PC with the same functionality.

You need to determine what capabilities you want your computer to have – the size of the hard drive, the memory and the types of cards – video and audio – that it comes with.

For a standard home or basic office use you should be adequately served by 256Mb of RAM memory with a 80Gb hard drive for storage.

Two other things to consider are that you will need a monitor and software.

For a monitor, try for a 17 inch so that you don’t have to squint to see what is on your screen. Flat panel displays are great for saving space too and the clarity of the displays now are quite impressive.

Most computers will come installed with software. Find what software the PC will come with and work out if this is all you need.

Basic word processing, spreadsheet and email/organizer software is adequate for most people and the ability to access the internet will require a modem installed as well.

If you are worried about learning to use your computer, don't be. There are tutorials within Windows XP to help get you started, and "wizards" are easy to use, step by step programs built into Windows that will help you learn a lot too.

Plus, once you get hooked up and online with your own computer, you will have access to millions of sites ready and willing to help you learn all about your new desktop PC, the software you have, and even learn how to do things you never imagined!

Check out more of our articles on the parts of a computer to help you understand what computer components you need and what you don't before you buy! http://www.cheap-computers-guide.com/computer-components.html

Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips and hints, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques, and insights pertaining to computers, software, viruses and other information, do please browse for more information at our websites.
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www.computers.infozabout.com.

How to get best network service

Everyone desires to find the best network service on Internet for getting involved. There are many networks available who promises to serve best. What catches the attention of every person is the assurance of getting richer. Many of them would promise an above average income with minimalist effort. Some of the networks would even be expecting an investment. The investment can vary from a hundred to thousands dollar and more. Before spending any amount, you must look for certain features in that particular service provider.

It certainly takes time and effort for locating a best network service. It is sensible to do some research about the various networks available. Some people often make a spontaneous decision simply based on the face value. What attract them is a bright and affable website. Even when a company is not asking for large investment, it would use up the valuable time, which otherwise could be spent with some best network service.

The products and services sold by a best Network Service certainly help in gaining appreciation and popularity. They definitely have something additional and special to offer. The best network service provides you something in addition that is not offered by other existing services. For example, they may offer services at lower price or they offer other benefits along with the services and so on. It is very difficult to compete with the similar product or service, which is also possessed by other service providers. You must make sure that the provider offers you the product and prices, which are simply exclusive and inimitable.

It is better to consider a network service that has been in business for not less than five years. The company must give reliable and authentic services. It creates a trust on the customers and also boosts the name of the company and their services. A company who exists from a long time would never let you down in terms of services.

Though there are emerging a lot of new network providers who might also provide you with best network service. Before taking any decision, it is advisable to gather right information and then avail their services. The more you are aware of the company, the more are the chances of choosing best one.

Common Problems in Home Computing

Home Computing is a completely different type of computing, where a PC is used extensively by all kind of users including geeks, experts, and novice users. In such cases the problems caused in home computing are also typical example of technical problems. Troubleshooting of such problems is not as easy as people think.

Home Users

In case of home computing there are three types of users having different choices and reasons of using computer. A Home PC has to bear work load of earning person at home, who take help of computers in their daily work or business, and they need Internet and some office packages for normal day to day work. Second segment of home pc users are kids, they use PC's to play several online and offline games, for them PC is not an electronic device to be handled carefully. They treat Home PC as another set of toys. Third segment of home pc users are housewives who use computers for browsing for new recipes or new ways of decorating homes as well as for being in touch with friends and family in leisure time. Most of these Home PC users are either novice or having less knowledge of computers, Internet and its functioning.

Common Problems: Common problems in home computing are:

1. Problem with Internet Connection – Sometimes due to some reasons Internet Connection can stop working. It can be due to weak strength of internet connection or some cable fault or simply due to a problem with your network interface card.
2. Problem with Sound – Due to incorrect sound setting or bad placement of speakers the output quality of sound may reduce, to modify those settings is not that much tough, you can learn through a little effort
3. Normal working problems – Home users also face normal working problems at the time of work that is due to lack of knowledge in computing.
4. Computer Problems due to mishandling – Mishandling of PC's can cause hardware related issues, and which can affect overall PC functioning.

Among all the above said problems the worst thing is problems caused by mishandling, because that results expensive solutions otherwise rest category of problems are very simple and less time and money consuming. To avoid all these problems caused in Home Computing, you should consult an IT troubleshooting service provider for regular checkup of your computer, just like your regular health checkups. That'll ensure smooth functioning of your PC.

Making System Management Simple From A Distance

Many people are finding that the way to run their business is through remote infrastructure management. This allows for individuals to run their business or their system even when they are away from it.

This is like having a service desk on the line at all times and ensuring that your networks are running properly 24 hours a day. This seems extreme to a lot of people, but when you rely on your network to run your business, it isn't extreme at all.

Many businesses spend endless hours and excessive amounts of money paying for people to maintain their infrastructure for them. The great thing about infrastructure management is that there are people there all the time that are looking out for the network and always ensuring that it is operating at its very best.

This is done remotely so even when the office is closed things can be repaired, slow servers can be noticed and repaired, and when the office reopens in the morning everyone will find that their systems work exactly the way they should, and they are none the wiser of any problems that existed or were repaired the night before.

Remote management means that you are paying an individual or provider to monitor your networks at all times. This means trusting someone, but it also means that you don't have to wait for something to go wrong to call someone in to help you. It also means that a problem can be fixed as soon as it pops up, instead of waiting for it to grow and grow and possibly have a domino effect on the whole system, slowing or shutting everything down.

Many companies go with remote infrastructure management because it is more cost effective. While you have to pay for the service, you may find that the basic service to have the system monitored is very low and even when there is a problem that needs to be addressed it is more cost effective to have the problem fixed remotely instead of having someone come out to the office and fix the problem.

There are many service desk providers that will also provide remote monitoring and management options. This is a great option for any business that wants their network to be secure and run at optimum speeds and levels at all times.

Many are afraid of how much this type of service will cost, but when you look at it and really think about how much you have to pay for someone to come in and fix things once they have gone wrong you will find that these services are worth every penny that you pay for them, perhaps even more!

Any service worth having is an expense, but when the benefits of having the service outweigh the costs associated with them, then you know that you are making a great business decision and that is why so many businesses are taking that leap and purchasing remote management services.

Size and Substance Matter with Used Networking Equipment

Size counts in the used Cisco equipment market as normally just the chief sources of pre-owned computer networking equipment, including used network routers and switches, are capable of stocking adequate inventory to fulfill practically any product requisition.

In the refurbished Cisco equipment market, stock is impelled largely by present market demand, so the primary provider of pre-owned Cisco equipment will support extensive capital and contacts to be able to purchase stock of the most important models. At the upper end, previously-owned Cisco equipment merchants can carry as much as $100 million in used Cisco gear, ensuring that the best-selling as well as difficult-to-find used Cisco gear are available and ready to send out within 24-to-48 hours.

As a result, an ever-increasing number of establishments are moving toward the refurbished Cisco network market as a main alternative when desired Cisco network gear cannot be obtained easily or without delay from the usual retailers. Conventionally, manufacturers store a small amount of replacement gear for the Cisco equipment covered by their maintenance agreements, while keeping volume inventories of only the most recent gear. As a result, coming across used networking equipment to replace current equipment or fill sparing requirements can be a slow and occasionally futile endeavor.

When time is short, some companies pick equipment replacement plans from their networking equipment dealers. Yet, guaranteeing accelerated delivery of emergency substitution equipment results in a high price as manufacturers and their official retailers will bill 15 percent or more of an organization’s total network equipment purchases annually for the rapid-response service. In addition, expensive “next day” replacement agreements often take up to three days before the networking equipment can be shipped, unloaded, mounted and set up.

Pricey manufacturer fees notwithstanding, it really comes down to staying away from a sole point of breakdown in network equipment acquisition. Through the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, network supervisors discovered firsthand the intrinsic difficulties of counting on just a single equipment dealer. Top-selling switches and routers were in such exceptionally high demand that OEM stock reached an all-time low, as some networking equipment was redirected to top-tier customers, leaving the less fortunate in the lurch.

In seeking out choices, lots of firms have learned about the pre-owned networking equipment market and found tested, trustworthy, practical pre-owned networking equipment providers. For example, Network Hardware Resale sells pre-owned Cisco equipment and has an inventory of over $100 million. Such used computer networking equipment firms have worldwide footprints and well-established relationships with an assorted blend of top companies and service providers.

This new environment is helping fix the notion that just small- to mid-sized companies acquire refurbished computer networking equipment. In contrast, worldwide 1000 firms and a large amount of the most familiar brands around the world get previously-owned networking equipment. After all, when a firm of any sort or dimension has an immediate need for network equipment, when every second matters, they are very prone to depend on the most trustworthy and responsive dealer for keeping the crucial networks running smoothly.

Foxpro Help

In the earlier stage, Fox Pro is used to create Programs for various purposes. It is the first language developed by the Microsoft Corporation to create easily by the normal developer. Even today in India, some organisations like Banks, Finance Companies, using the Foxpro Programs for Daily Purpose. It can deliver Fast and Perfect Output, Even in the Slow Computers like Pentium I and II Processors. It is a very useful Language to establish on a Diskless Network like Novell Netware.

SAP Contracts Satisfies SAP Job Search

SAP market finds a tremendous improvement during this turnover of millennium.
SAP offers more innovations to meet the requirements of the SAP users and updates
with new tools and software to the users. Today in this technical world, most
of the business enterprises and candidates are interested in using SAP for the
business integration and up sourcing. SAP contracts are used in big companies
for recruiting candidates looking for SAP jobs. SAP contracts provide satisfaction
for the candidates and recruiters involved in SAP job search with regards to SAP
job board. SAP contracts come up with new and innovated information needed for
the business out sources and to achieve the goal with the help of the information
supplied by SAP.
SAP contracts provide only reputed & well SAP knowledgeable candidates
to the recruiters and also ensure the candidates that they have SAP contracts
with the reputed recruiters. SAP contracts are nothing but looking for SAP jobs
on contracts basis. SAP users can easily verify and submit for SAP contracts
provided by different SAP companies. The SAP contracts may be based on long
term agreements, short term agreements to enable the SAP recruiters and SAP
candidates. SAP contracts involves agreements which states that the candidate
or recruiters will make contract on specific conditions for a specified time
period.
SAP contracts come in different styles and large number of availing the services
provided by SAP contracts, especially for candidates and recruiters. SAP fetches
a good demand the market and it recognized with tremendous innovations and improvements.
Though, more companies offers SAP contracts on different SAP up gradation, SAP
still fetches demand among the candidates and recruiters. When SAP job search
exist in the market, SAP contract will have a good recognition in the SAP technology.
SAP always tries to make up any shortcomings through simplified and tight integration.

SAP contracts will significantly have a strong demand among the customers till
there is need for SAP job. The demand for SAP contracts remains moderate all
over the SAP world. SAP contracts UK have current existence and have more requirements
for SAP contracts for their projects and tools. SAP contracts are offered to
the customer based on the consultant advice and the opportunities available
outside. Some of the SAP innovations are SAP BW, SAP ERP, SAP R/3, SAP CRM,
SAP data warehouse and so on. So, this SAP contracts are enforced on this SAP
tools. When SAP has been updated, the old software finds its existence but the
new fetches the good demand among the customer.

Wireless Internet connection

Wireless network is a concept that lets the people to access the internet without the inconvenience of wiring cables. This wireless internet is making it possible for the people to access the internet regardless to their location.
They can even browse the internet while traveling. They use radio-waves to transmit the signals.

If you intend to use your wireless internet in laptops, the battery may not last long. Battery life can be up to 4 hours (usually less), so they will require re-charging at least twice a day. The wireless connectivity to your pc or laptop gets interrupted by the surrounding environment. Signal strength can be reduced by thick walls, steel constructions and other similar features. This can reduce network speed and performance.

The transmitted signals can leak outside of the required area into the public domain. Although it is quiet tough to prevent this signal leakage, there are steps that can be taken to prevent unauthorized access. There are many firewalls out there that work well for this purpose or you can look into using a network system to set up password protected connections.

Advantages of Wireless Internet

1. Wireless Internet provides super fast broadband speed, approaching 2 megabytes per second or faster.
2. More customers are expecting broader bandwidth, so this number should creep up steadily over the next few months to years.
3. Wireless Internet is more affordable and more reliable than satellite broadband connections, since satellite signals typically have to travel large distances.
4. Wireless Internet is also incredibly responsive, when you call up web pages, download emails, and engage in teleconferencing or video conferencing over the net, your wireless Internet system will yield ultra fast transmission.

Disadvantage of Wireless Internet

1. With wireless Internet service, there’s the problem of someone, within the wireless traffic, hacking into your connection.

Wireless technology comes in various other forms like wireless speakers, wireless headphones, wireless receivers and transmitters and even microphones. The future will probably bring us a world full of wireless technology. Hard wired devices will end up being more of a thing of the past, once wireless technology grows.

IT Outsourcing Companies Provide Services Round The Clock

It is great to see so many different ways of business have benefited from the Internet. One of the benefits has been the ease of outsourcing. Now you can outsource almost everything to the experts, thus save time and money…not to forget peace of mind.

Outsourcing your server management; server monitoring and server maintenance to an IT services outsourcing company usually helps you to focus your time and energy in expanding your own business by focusing on your core expertise, rather than dealing with technical support staff every day and manage the quality they provide to your customers. If you have business critical applications running then server uptime is critical to your business.

Server monitoring and server management is a full time job that needs real professionals who can handle your servers professionally. Outsourcing your server management; server monitoring and server maintenance requires specific skill sets and hiring people with such skill sets and with right attitude is a difficult job in its own way. Due to these reasons, outsourcing of server monitoring, server maintenance and server management has become the norm.

There are many businesses that have business critical applications running on the server. Any kind of server downtime or application down time means a huge loss of money and wasted labor for the day. Not to mention running upgrades, applying patches and analyzing the risk factor before performing these tasks. Due to such reasons server management; server monitoring and server maintenance are critical for these small businesses. There are many IT outsourcing companies that provide these services round the clock…. round the year.

Most of these companies will provide access to your employees with a HelpDesk environment by phone, email, chat or remote control. This Helpdesk environment is a place from where your employees will get in touch with your techs who would have a similar interface to answer our queries. Helpdesk interface is a great way to contact your support team. All of the above mentioned points can be described briefly ...OutSourced Helpdesk.

There are many organizations which have cut costs by outsourcing helpdesk to a third party. Cutting costs is important to all businesses, irrespective of the size.

Utilize Used Network Gear to Reduce Costs

Network supervisors are turning to the used equipment market for pre-owned Cisco gear as an extra measure of insurance from catastrophes and downtime. The daunting task of delivering uninterrupted access to business networks with fully-redundant Cisco hardware configurations has proven beyond the reach of budget-constrained information technology departments.

As a result many companies have resorted to protecting only Cisco routers and switches at the network core, leaving the edge and remote offices vulnerable in the event of a major disaster or mundane outage. The risks far outweigh the rewards in this scenario as a simple equipment failure at a remote site can cause a devastating ripple effect throughout the entire organization.

In an effort to improve company-wide preparedness for disasters of any kind, growing numbers of organizations are embracing more cost-effective refurbished Cisco equipment sourcing and flexible sparing solutions. It pays to have a backup plan for computer networking equipment procurement and today's secondary market providers offer a variety of used networking equipment options for helping companies safeguard their networks.

Since refurbished gear typically offers savings of up to 90 percent off list prices, companies seeking a fully-redundant configuration can more affordably deploy a one-for-one sparing solution. An even more cost-effective alternative is a one-for-many strategy, acquiring a spare router or switch for every three to five identical network elements.

Off-site spares depots are particularly appealing to firms with multiple locations that don't have sufficient space or an ideal central site for storing replacement equipment. Providers of used computer networking equipment often offer warehousing options to expedite equipment availability and shipment. Similar rapid replacement warranties offered by OEMs often cost many times the value of the covered equipment.

Another reason for maintaining a supply of refurbished spares is that it lets companies quickly apply a temporary fix for unexpected problems. The secondary market's ability to provide a wide range of refurbished Cisco equipment with expedited shipping helps maintain maximum uptime. In contrast most OEMs typically need at least four to six weeks to deliver new gear.

When the network is up-and-running again, the interim solution can be re-deployed for testing and/or personnel training. Using spare Cisco switches and routers in this fashion permits these tasks to be performed during regular business hours without placing negative impact on the primary network.

Refurbished Networking Equipment Vendors – Size Matters

Size does matter in the used Cisco equipment market as by and large solely the primary sources of used network gear, including previously-owned network routers and switches, are able to stock satisfactory inventory to fill nearly any merchandise requisition.

In the pre-owned Cisco equipment marketplace, reserves are driven generally by existing demand, so the largest source of restored Cisco gear will maintain vast capital and connections to be able to get inventory of the in-demand models. At the top, used Cisco equipment providers inventory as much as $100 million in refurbished Cisco equipment, making certain that the most popular as well as hard-to-locate used Cisco equipment are able to be obtained and ready to send out within 1 or 2 days.

Thus, an increasing number of firms are moving toward the refurbished Cisco networking equipment market as a main line of defense when required Cisco gear cannot be bought simply or rapidly from the usual outlets. Conventionally, original equipment manufacturers store a small amount of replacements for the original gear covered by their maintenance agreements, while retaining large quantity inventories of only the newly-released equipment. So, discovering previously-owned Cisco gear to substitute for current gear or meet spare-part requirements can be a lengthy and - at times - fruitless undertaking.

If time is of the essence, a lot of firms decide on equipment replacement plans from their Cisco equipment dealers. Yet, assuring expedited transport of emergency substitute gear results in a lofty price as OEMs and their certified vendors add 15 percent or more of a firm’s total networking equipment purchases annually for the speedy-response shipment. Furthermore expensive “next day” replacement promises often times take as long as 3 days until the Cisco equipment can be delivered, unpacked, installed and set up.

Exorbitant OEM fees notwithstanding, it actually comes down to preventing a sole point of failure in networking equipment purchasing. During the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, network managers found out first-hand the intrinsic difficulties of relying on only a sole equipment dealer. Popular network equipment were in such high demand that manufacturers’ stock reached scarcity, as much networking gear was routed to top-tier customers, leaving the less fortunate without resources.

In hunting for options, many firms were introduced to the used Cisco equipment marketplace and uncovered tested, trustworthy, viable used Cisco equipment suppliers. For example, Network Hardware Resale trades used computer network equipment and holds stock of more than $100 million. These used computer networking equipment vendors have worldwide presence and well-established associations with a varied blend of tier-one companies and support vendors.

This new reality is helping fix the notion that solely small- to mid-sized companies buy pre-owned networking equipment. In contrast, global 1000 companies and a good number of the most recognizable brands around the world procure refurbished computer network equipment. After all, when a corporation of any type or size has an urgent need for network gear, when every second matters, they are tremendously prone to depend on the most reliable and responsive vendor for keeping the crucial networks running dependably

Virus Protection

To Protect Your Computer Against Latest Viruses, Trojans and Spywares, you must use a well protecting Antivirus Software Like Mcafee Enterprise or Professional 2008 and an Antispyware like Spyware Doctor or Spybot Destroyer and a Good Firewall like Sygate or Mcafee Firewall.

From the Broadbands the latest Viruses Comes all the Time. If you are not having any Firewall or Antispyware or Antivirus, your system will be definitely affected by the Viruses, trojans etc.,

1. Make Sure you use an Original or Equivalent Operating System

2. Install Mcafee 2008 Antivirus with Firewall

3. Install Spyware Doctor 5.5 or above

These 3 Steps makes you protected from the latest bugs from the internet or another sources like pen Drives. Also, the softwares can be updated online to perform better.

Hari Shankar,

Computer Engineer,India.

Very Easy Home Network

Ahhh yes, life’s pretty sweet with that high speed DSL line. But there is a glitch. The normal ISP dial up account can be used from any computer in the world. A DSL line connects to only one computer.

The obvious solution would be to install a network to carry the line to every computer in the house. I've steered clear of a having network in my home office. I once spent several days trying to hook up 2 computers using Windows 95, and finally gave up after only intermittently being able to make the computers communicate. I swore that my days on the floor with my computers were over and I ran my own "network" by transferring Zip disks from one computer to another.

A new technology is on the horizon, the Home PNA (Phone Networking Alliance) network. I remembered reading about this network that would connect through existing home phone lines. It was in its infancy - so I checked around.

HPNA has made some amazing strides. Now in version 2.0, it will run your home network at ethernet speed, 10Mbps (ten megabytes per second - the same speed as a real corporate network) and extend your high-speed internet connection to anywhere in your home or office. After checking out all the reviews, the same name kept coming up: Netgear.

Netgear offers a home PNA card that not only is plug and play, but also allows you to talk on the phone while using the network. Netgear's "do-not-disturb" feature causes it not to completely take over the phone line, nor will talking on the phone degrade the speed of the network connection.

The card was simple enough to install, just open the computer case and snap it into an available slot. Of course, this is usually the time that things go sour - when you start up the computer. Amazingly, "plug-and-play" was never easier. At first glance the instructions supplied on a single page fold-out sheet look like they’d never do the trick, but they do. Netgear includes a CD with all the software that you need. No need to search for the required drivers, their set-up program takes you step by step. Within a few minutes, you’ll be able to print a page on a remote computer’s printer or share files.

My teenage daughter installed the network on her own computer, and we can now share printers, files, a CD-burner and internet connections without using our "sneakernet" of the past.

My favorite part of the setup is the new Home Network USB adapter. I clipped the small unit to the back of my laptop, and literally within seconds, connected to my other computers!

If this sounds too easy, it probably is. I’m no techie and it worked for me on first try. One caveat though, when it comes to sharing a high speed internet connection over a Home Network line, there are a few more steps. You need to set up a TCP/IP connection. My advice? Don’t even attempt to do it unless you know what you’re doing. Call Netgear’s 24/7 tech support at 888-NETGEAR. They’ll patiently walk you through it, step by step.

I feel like I've really accomplished something, it's not "black-magic" any more. I have a flawless network that I never realized could be as useful as it is. I have a warp speed internet connection that goes beyond my wildest dreams. I passed the boundaries from novice to geek with the help of modern technology. Now my mornings are complete. I can stay that extra ½ hour in bed, watching Matt Lauer and Katie Couric on the Today show. No need to zoom into the office to check my auctions and email. I can just plug the laptop into the phone jack and fly like the wind.

CPUs/Processors – The Brains of Your Computer

Spend any time around computer geeks and you will certainly hear the term ‘CPU’ at one time or another. For most people, a CPU is just something that every computer needs to work. However, if you are inclined to learn a bit more about how your computer works, you may actually want to know what a ‘CPU’ is.

The term ‘CPU’ stands for central processing unit and it is the brain of your computer. Just like your brain, the CPU works in conjunction with a computer’s memory to carry out specific commands and tasks. CPUs are also simply known as processors.

If you have ever read any other articles on CPUs, it can sometimes be difficult to decipher exactly what the central processing unit of your computer actually does. However, you do not really need to be a technically inclined person to understand how the brain of your computer works.

The first step of operation for the CPU is to store instructions in the memory of the computer. Whenever you run a program on your system, specific instructions from the program are sent to the memory and stored. The central processing unit then accesses the memory, retrieves the instructions, and then prepares to execute them.

Before the CPU can execute the instructions it has received from the memory, it must first decode them. After the instructions have been de-encrypted, your CPU will execute them and then returns some sort of result. This result may include storing information in the memory or on the hard drive or displaying something to your screen. Whatever the instruction directs the CPU to do, it does. The speed and performance of your CPU/processor determines how quickly the task is completed.

Your CPU may also have what is known as a CPU cache which also helps to speed up its performance. The cache memory is smaller and faster than the main memory of the computer and stores copies of frequently used information so that it does not have to access the main memory every time it performs a process.

Whenever your computer’s processor wants to access the main memory for instructions, it will first check to see if that information is already in its cache. If it is already stored there, then CPU reads it from the cache location, which is quicker than accessing the main memory since cache memory is local.

CPUs have come a long way since the early day of central processing units. What used to occupy an entire room will now fit easily in the palm of your hand with tons of room to spare. The CPU of your computer is usually a small square with many metallic connectors on the underside that attach to the motherboard via the CPU socket, or slot. These small processors can become very hot after operating for a while and normally have a small fan and heat sink attached on top to help dissipate the heat generated.

If you are purchasing a new computer, you should check the type of processor included in the unit since the CPU is essential to your computer’s function. To get an idea of what type of processor you need for your work, be sure to do some research online and ask around computer forums before making your purchase.

Incident Response Plans :: Why your organization needs one!

Phishing is an effort on the part of criminals to obtain personal information over the Internet through fraudulent means. These scammers are specifically looking for usernames, passwords, and credit card or bank information. They send email messages or instant messages to their victims, trying to direct them to a fake version of a real website. When people are deceived into entering their sensitive information, the scammer takes their information and can steal their money and identity or commit other fraudulent activities.

Why should financial institutions care about phishing attacks aimed at their customers? There are several reasons. First, phishing is a genuine threat, not only to their customers, but to their company as well. Financial institutions are targeted more often than any other business. It is estimated that over 90% of phishing attacks are aimed at customers of banks and credit card companies. The numbers have been rising, too. In 2006, 2.3 million people were victims; the number increased to 3.6 million in 2007. Of these statistics, smaller institutions are phished more often than larger ones, because they are a more lucrative target due to the expense of adequate security measures.

Banks and other financial companies should have a plan to address the case of a scammer phishing for information. No bank would be able to operate without a plan of escape in the case of a fire. Most banks have a button that alerts the police to a robbery. These situations place the bank in a precarious position-they could quickly escalate to a major emergency. Similarly, if banks do not have an incident response plan, a successful phishing attack could quickly lead to a catastrophe.

Phishing attacks are designed to work quickly. After a person enters his or her information into a website, it only takes minutes for the scammers to use it to their own benefit. Often this will happen automatically-the scammer has an automated withdrawal of information or funds, and the phished website will then redirect the victim back to the real website. In a fire, if there is no organized plan of escape, by the time everyone figures out what to do, it may be too late. The same result is true in a case of phishing: if an employee does not already know how to respond, in the amount of time necessary to find the correct phone numbers to call or the proper procedures to follow, the scammer may already have stolen thousands of dollars and disappeared.

It is a fact that people will talk to others about the bad things that happen in their lives. If several friends say that they have been fooled by phishing from a particular financial institution, others may be more likely to do their business elsewhere. Many community banks rely on customer satisfaction and customer referrals to sustain their existence. If they have even two or three major phishing problems, their very survival may be at stake. For the sake of growing their businesses and staying afloat, financial organizations must do everything possible to protect their customers.

Perhaps the most important reason that banks, credit unions, and other financial establishments should have an incident response plan in place is that they are required by Federal Examiners!

Although many smaller financial institutions may think that, in spite of the good that can come from an incident response plan against phishing attacks, the programs to combat phishing are still too expensive for them. Most of the programs, however, are designed for preventative maintenance. An incident response plan simply requires employees of the financial organization to be educated to recognize warning signs of a phishing attack. If they cannot close the phishing site personally, they need a list of companies and professionals and contact information to enable them to call someone who can shut down the site. Because the effort is so minimal, every financial institution, no matter how big or small, should have an incident response plan.

Sophisticated Attacks on Community Financial Institutions Increasing!

In today’s high tech world, maintaining the privacy and protection of customers and employees’ information grows more and more difficult particularly for many financial institutions. These days’ scammers are getting bolder and more brazen in their abilities to get personal information from banking customers as they aggressively target the smaller locally owned community financial institutions.
In fact, a recent customer reported a complex, malicious, and targeted attack took place on their institution’s customers and employees. A well-recognized phishing activity trends website reported that financial institutions saw a continuing rise in phishing activities with 92.5% of attacks targeted on financial institutions.

On average, a phishing site stays online for 3.8 days. The relevance to the number of days online is that the longer it remains online, the more possibilities for the scammer to gather personal information. It is imperative that we are prepared for this type of incident and the response that is needed.

Phishing and Pharming Attacks
There was a time when only the larger financial institutions such as Wells Fargo bank were targeted for phishing and pharming scams, but that’s no longer the case. The increase in phishing attacks on community financial institutions stems from the fact that smaller financial institutions are simply more profitable and are usually less protected from fraudulent activities.

As mentioned above, one of our local community financial institutions was hit with a complex and sophisticated vishing/pharming/phishing telephone scam that focused on customers as well as on the bank’s employees. Fortunately, we have been preparing our client for years for these types of attacks, and therefore they were on the alert, so the attack caused minimum disruption.
Sharp customers and employees recognized that the e-mail messages were a scam because of poor grammar and content in addition to the salutation being addressed to "member" or some other non-descript person. A genuine message from a financial institution always addresses the customer by their full name. Furthermore, the scams did not provide a means for contacting the institution if there were any questions, but instead told the customers and employees in the e-mail message not to reply. No legitimate institution would ever tell you not to reply.

But even with preparation and after years of working in the Internet security arena, we were surprised at the combination of attack vectors used.

Combination of Attack Vectors
The scammers’ used a variety of strategies starting with a mass email and pharming scam as an attempt to steal personal information using a Do-IT-Yourself Phishing kit. The initial attack was then followed up with telephone calls to certain area codes with spoofed numbers and using a technique called Vishing. Besides, using pharming, phishing, and vishing tactics aimed at stealing valuable information such as credit cards, social security numbers, IDs and passwords, the attackers didn’t stop there.
The scammers also included Spear Phishing, an email spoofing fraud that targets financial institution employees in an attempt to gain unauthorized access to confidential data. Because of the banks watchful eye, they caught it in time, but these types of attacks are getting bolder and more commonplace and require a great deal more vigilance in keeping personal information away from scammers.

Why Customers Are Fooled
Approximately 19% of recipients respond to Spear-Phishing, which today is one of the most menacing threats to Internet users. Unfortunately, users do not clearly understand the importance of checking for authenticity, which should include specific indications that the site they are being sent to is secure.
As a busy society, we are so focused on getting the job done quickly and efficiently, we often don’t check for important clues, which is why many users receiving messages or paying bills online don’t watch out for the clues that indicate whether an e-mail message or site is fraudulent.

An Incident Response Plan
As these scams are on the rise in financial institutions, if a financial institution is prepared, and in today’s world, they have to be, the consequences will be minimal. In the event of phishing and pharming scams, staff members in a financial institution should know how to deal with this type of situation effectively.

To ensure the customer’s safety and privacy, an incident response plan should be in place and is required by examiners to be in place. Included in the plan should be an organized approach as to how the problem is going to be handled as well as having a clearly laid out plan to address the situation.

The following should be considered in regard to an Incident Response Plan:
1. Start by assessing the situation so that you know exactly what your bank is dealing with; if an incident has occurred, it’s usually up to the CEO and CIO to handle the overall incident response along with members of a CSIRT.
2. Fight the attacker
1. Educating the end user
2. Redirecting pharming clicks to an education page (most attacks are pulling images from your site)
3. Attempt to shut down the phishing site yourself
4. If needed have a competent vendor to respond to the situation for counter attack; this helps identify who will take down the website as well as which agencies to contact.
5. Exploit the phishing website
6. Communicate with customers
1. Post Bulletins on Website to ensure customers are aware of the situation
2. Have employees assure customers that security controls are in place for the institution.
7. Contact authorities such as Secret Service, FBI; in addition, contact Financial Service Vendors for support on abnormal activity on customer accounts.
8. Feed bogus information to the pharmed sites.
9. Review abnormal activities on Customer Accounts and bogus accounts
10. Implement 3rd party monitoring companies
This is not intended to be a complete incident response plan, but trigger the thought process on items to be covered.

Preventative Actions
At one time or another your institution will be affected by a fraud scam, therefore being prepared with a good response plan for employees as well as providing customer education, in addition to having the resources (either in-house or outsourced) to handle the problem efficiently and effectively are the most effective preventive actions.

Prevention of course is primary insofar as keeping phishing and pharming scams at bay, and therefore as a preventive measure, customers who use online banking in any financial institution should be warned to use caution when opening any type of email with links that appear to come from their financial institution. Even if the message looks legitimate, prudence is always best. Educate customers to be proactive rather than reactive.
Alert customers not to click any links that come in emails, especially if they appear somewhat suspicious. In addition, if the customer has any doubt about the e-mail message, alert the customer to call their financial institution directly to determine whether it could potentially be a phishing or pharming scam.
Provide customers with Security Awareness Training by developing a web page about information disclosure in addition to providing a closely monitored email address for this activity should be set up by your institution where customers can send suspicious activities.

Data Leaks: The Silent Attacker

Data leaks are increasingly becoming a challenge in security concerns with the unprecedented rise in communication mediums. Most data leaks are unintentional rather than deliberate, but can nevertheless cause irreparable damage to a company’s clientele, reputation, or compliance requirements for maintaining confidentiality.

Despite the widespread implementation of security devices such as firewalls and data encryption, data theft is still a relatively common phenomenon. There are many causes of security breaches: one third of data leakages in the previous year occurred because of virus attacks and another third through frauds committed by insiders with access to high security data.

Leaks can also inadvertently occur when, for example, an employee decides to take work home for the weekend and uses unprotected mail systems such as Yahoo! to access sensitive work information. HTTP and FTP links can also act as avenues through which your information can leave your premises without your knowledge.

There are a few strategic ways in which you can monitor your data to check for fraudulent or unintentionally subversive activities:

1. Know where your confidential information is located. It is critical to know the locations of confidential information in your organization. Always ensure that you close access to these when a project is complete or when the files are no longer being actively used. This is also particularly a concern with removable storage, such as disks and pen drives.
2. Keep track of how and where confidential data is transferred. Data often travels from person to person via electronic mail and other mediums. It’s imperative to keep track of where sensitive data is being transferred and to monitor the channels of communication being used by those who have access to confidential data.
3. Create standardized data security policies. Data leaks are not just a security concern, they can have an overall impact on your business and the quality of your work ethic. Standardized regulations or data distribution policies can help you guard your sensitive information so that it cannot fall into the wrong hands.

Many solutions are targeted toward incident response, but effective measures of prevention also need to be implemented to prevent incidents from occurring. All companies should consider acquiring more stringent methods of safeguarding their data and implement Security Awareness Training for employees to prevent unwarranted or deliberate leaks of information. For some companies, Data Leak Prevention resources are critical.

For example, companies under compliance regulations or who regularly work with proprietary client-confidential data, companies that frequently outsource work, or companies with projects being conducted on offshore premises should definitely consider a professional data security package.

Data leaks do not always occur through technology breaches. Always use caution when giving out information about yourself, your clients or your employees over the telephone. Spammers or phishers often penetrate the defenses of their targets by posing as representatives of an organization such as a bank or government office. Managing your intellectual property takes considerable effort and constant monitoring. Never think that your company is too small or your information too irrelevant to be at significant risk of potential pharming or phishing attacks.

Prevention systems need to follow the three key strategies listed below in order to be completely effective. If one or more of these steps is not taken to ensure the protection of your data, you could find yourself the target of various forms of security breaches that could compromise your compliance to regulations or your business as a whole.

1. Discovery:
The discovery of sensitive data and its extant locations is the first key process in identifying your data security needs. This includes internal databases and possible avenues through which such information may be released or distributed. Even legitimate channels of distribution such as internal mail servers and intranets should be identified as carriers of sensitive data which are subject to breaches. Only when these mediums are identified can you efficiently create data protection policies and regulations and implement them successfully.
2. Monitoring:
Once mediums carrying confidential data are identified and the relevant policies have been implemented successfully, it is imperative that such channels be monitored around the clock. Professionally developed data leak prevention tools not only monitor your data, but also create reports so that you are kept constantly updated on the status of your information and its locations.
3. Protection:
Always ensure that your data leak prevention policies are mapped to the rest of your business processes. Automated regulation policies can monitor and control your databases and run real-time checks on your information to ensure that it is secure and to inform you of any breaches as soon as they occur. DLP tools can make you confident that your data is protected at all times, both when it is in use and also while it is stored.

One vendor in particular stands out. Websense provides data leak prevention solutions that can help you manage your databases and the fluidity of your information networks by enabling you to manage your information and the channels through which it is distributed. Websense can assist you in many ways, protecting your data and ensuring that you are the one in charge of who has access to your information:

1. Websense uses state-of-the-art technology such as third generation fingerprinting; agentless, situational awareness and discovery of data networks to minimize and preempt threats of data leakage.
2. Customizable policies and templates can be adapted to suit your needs, and tools, such as those that audit your business processes and monitor your proprietary data, (such as source code) may be implemented to significantly reduce risks.
3. Protect and control your data with policy regulations, incident management and enterprise solutions that fit into your existing infrastructures.

Many providers of professional security data leak prevention systems offer free risk assessments. You might consider such a program to gauge the risks that your intellectual property and sensitive information are exposed to every day. By implementing data leak prevention tools, you can protect your data from external as well as internal leakage and ensure that your business processes run more smoothly.