Russell Mickler 7/19/20 Russell Mickler 7/19/20

Microsoft is the Problem, Not the Solution

Microsoft has a proven track record of failure: updates prone to harm systems, vulnerabilities that allow ransomware to exist, unacceptable online compromises and downtime … nobody can trust Microsoft products in their small business.

On Wednesday July 15, 2020 - across the world - millions of Microsoft customers went to open Outlook and it crashed. Completely. Users couldn’t access their email using their Windows computer at all - not unless they bypassed Outlook and went online to use a web-based version of Outlook.

Microsoft eventually posted a server-side fix for the issue, rolling it out around noon PST. This is to say that millions of people - on tax day in the United States, no less - lost nearly a day’s worth of productivity.

And Microsoft just shrugged.

In February 2020, Microsoft released security updates that deleted the private data of Windows users. This came on the heels of over four years of disruptive updates that spoiled industry confidence and forced Microsoft to try and explain themselves; even an ex-Microsoft employee described the quality control problems at Microsoft as being systemic.

And Microsoft just shrugged.

So how about - in January 2019 - when Microsoft Office365 was down for two whole days?

Yeah, Microsoft just shrugged.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Office 365 security is equally questionable. In 2020 alone, to date:

January 2020. Hackers use malicious apps to gain access to Office 365.
April 2020. An alert from US-CERT describing the vulnerability of millions of MsO365 users; more than one million compromised accounts per month.
May 2020. A hacking threat to Microsoft Teams was announced, threatening another 75 million users.

Microsoft just shrugged.

And finally, ransomware is a significant issue: attacks by aggressors who extort users by encrypting their data. Yet, Microsoft’s mediocre quality control is responsible for the most prominent malware of 2018-2020:

Cryptolocker. It exploits a vulnerability in the Windows platform.
Wannacry. It exploits a vulnerability in the Windows platform.
Cryptowall. It exploits a vulnerability in the Windows platform.
Locky. It exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft Word.
Petya. It exploits the file system of Windows.

Microsoft just shrugs.

One could ascertain that the problem is that Microsoft doesn’t give a hoot about its customers.

Others might suggest that Microsoft looks at systemic vulnerabilities as a marketing opportunity to convince users to upgrade or replace their computer systems.

Yet others could criticize Microsoft’s shoddy quality control.

Whatever the reason, Microsoft is chiefly responsible for the lack of security, quality, and confidence in their products and services.

It’s Microsoft’s inattention to these matters that put small businesses and their data at risk. Our computing platforms should be ever more resilient, more reliable, and more secure - every year - but Microsoft’s solutions prove the inverse.

It is my opinion that it would behoove any small business to seriously consider in what ways they could minimize the use of Microsoft’s products within their control.

And here’s the great news: there’s a ton of other options for small business that doesn’t involve Microsoft solutions. Ask me how.

Home Routers are a Huge Risk

Home routers aren’t receiving security updates. Because of that, they’re vulnerable to attack, potentially exposing your data and home to hackers. Hire a computer consultant to help you upgrade your router.

So a little while ago, I wrote about the risks that remote workers face while working from home.

A recent study of home routers does well to illustrate these vulnerabilities.

In a study entitled Home Router Security Report 2020 conducted by FKIE, it was found that 43/127 commercial routers hadn’t received security updates in the last year from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), despite the fact that these devices are affected by hundreds of known vulnerabilities. In the worst cases, the devices hadn’t bee updated by the OEM in more than five years.

Over ninety percent of the evaluated routers run versions of the Linux operating system. Yet, the updates provided to the routers fall far behind the standards we’d expect for desktop or server machines running the same operating systems. These vendors could distribute security patches and updates several times a year, but often they do not.

FKIE’s study only complements a 2018 study conducted by American Consumer Institute demonstrating that 83-percent of sampled routers were found to have an average of 186 vulnerabilities to potential attacks in the router’s firmware.

Such evidence suggests:

Home router manufacturers aren’t preparing firmware updates in a timely fashion;
Users are not applying available updates in a timely fashion, or, may not understand how.

This is a severe problem, especially in the age of COVID as many millions of workers are conducting important commercial business on the backs of outdated router firmware with known bugs.

But you can do better. Hiring a computer consultant to investigate your router, update its firmware, or replace the router, can secure your small business. It’s a practical step in deterring potential aggressors and in safeguarding your information assets. Just ask us how it’s done.

Russell Mickler 7/10/20 Russell Mickler 7/10/20

Working from Home? You Need a Computer Consultant.

Today more than ever, small businesses and home office workers need a reliable computer consultant to help them navigate computer problems. We recommend you get to know someone local who can help you when you need help.

In the age of COVID, everyone is making changes, particularly as it relates to the nature of work.

If you’re a knowledge worker operating out of your home office, you’re using computer and networking equipment that you’ve never had to really rely upon. Your home PC, your home router, your home wifi - these were devices of convenience.

Today, though, you’re relying on your network and computer equipment is a matter of making an income, running your business, and servicing your customers. In the past, a bit of jitter in watching Netflix wasn’t a big deal, but if you can’t complete a clean teleconference, you might not land that agreement. You need the same security, performance, and reliability out of your home network as your office network, and you need somebody to help you get there.

A computer consultant can help you with these problems. They’ve got real-world industry training and discipline that we can bring to the equipment found in your home office. The same practices and techniques that keep your office network safe can be applied to your home. It’s about enterprise computing at home office scale.

Computer analysis and endpoint monitoring
Antivirus, malware, and intrusion detection
Router inspection and firmware upgrades
Security analysis and application of best-practices to keep you safe
Disaster recovery and data backups
Work telephones and conferencing
Remote support and troubleshooting

Including all of this, a computer consultant can just give you good, practical advice. Things you should know about and be aware of.

If you believe that the COVID experience isn’t going to end any time soon, and that work-life balance is inexorably going to change one way or another, then establishing a good relationship with a local technical professional is your hedge against data loss, down-time, or critical failure. Get to know someone who works when you work, and can get you out of a tight spot when you really need them.

Just give us a call. And we don’t charge anyone to get to know how we can help them, so it’s not going to cost you anything to just open up a conversation.