Protecting Employee’s Details and kee your Data Secure
Sensitive data seems to be getting leaked, left right and center nowadays. You only have to look at Wikileaks to see how information getting into particular hands can effect certain institutions. I use the word particular because, everyone should be operating ethically and not keeping dodgy dealings secret (or even doing dodgy dealings), so these hands are not necessarily the wrong hands – although everyone has a right to privacy. Anyway, I digress. Information being stolen can be very dangerous for a company, especially if this information includes any sensitive data about employees.
The Data Protection Act 1998 makes it a criminal offense to ‘lose’ data and this can carry prison sentences and/or fines with it. This can often be the beginning of your problems though. For instance if a bank lost details of customer’s bank accounts, this wouldn’t just be bad for the bank, but also for the customer’s themselves. Thieves may use these customer details themselves or even sell them to those that want to use them.
This problem has become much worse in the digital age. Back in the days of paper records, it would have been very difficult to easily get away with thousands of people’s data – it would just be too heavy!
It has become much easier because of factors like wireless internet connections, losing USB memory sticks and leaving Laptops or Hard-drives in the wrong place. It may seem ridiculous that someone knowingly carrying sensitive information may let it slip their mind if they leave their laptop somewhere, but it does happen. There’s an old question, my friend used to ask me: If you found a Million in whatever currency in a suitcase, what would do with it? Like most people I would answer ‘hand it in’ and he always used to reply ‘but if someone can afford to forget and lose a million, surely it can’t be that much money to them’. His answer does have elements of truth to it, but even the most trust-worthy well intentioned people can make mistakes. The best way to prevent these mistakes, is to not allow for the situation to arise in which it can be lost.
Many of the ways to do this are very simple and some are not. Here I will discuss a few in the context of an office protecting their employee’s details.
1) Train employees to constantly change their passwords. Most people who work with computers will probably do this already, but if not, it is difficult to stress how much of an effect it can have. One of the first ways this can be abused is by possible disgruntled co-worker. I have seen many times people on social network sites like Facebook or twitter who are posting things out of character. Often this is maybe an ex-girlfriend, or a friend who just wants to make you seem like telling the world you smell like fish is a good idea.
These can often be harmless. The password can usually be changed again and things returned to the way they were but in terms of business this can be very damaging. For instance, say your company deals with High profile clients. Two of your co-workers have had a recent disagreement and one of them takes revenge by emailing that high profile client under the persona of the other co-worker. They may think it’s probably harmless and the email will be ignored. Before you know it, the client is no longer using your service and is telling other high profile clients not to use it either. suddenly your reputation is extremely damaged beyond control and it’s all down to one worker who didn’t change their password.
I have also heard of workers, using their co-workers details to steal from the company and the wrong employee losing his job. As a company you want to avoid any events such as this, especially if the worker decides to take legal action.
Passwords that find their way out of the office and into the hands of, let’s say a hacker, has obvious repercussions.
2) Using adequate security software. Like your immune system, your security software has to be able to adapt due to the possibility of constant attacks. It’s always best to be prepared for the worst than to be caught short at the worst moment. The best way to keep up-to-date is to use a security software, developed by a company that invests a great deal of time in fighting the latest security threats and releases patches and up-dates regularly.
3) Define company rules about social networking. It would be best to advice employees to not use social networking and you could even block them from being used. Personally I think they boost moral. Sometimes it can be beneficial for some work places to have a presence on Facebook and Twitter because of how they have been integrated into everyday life. I personally feel more enthusiastic about my work day if I can post the occasional personal tweet.
What you don’t want though is employees talking about sensitive things that shouldn’t really be talked about in the public domain. Having this online presence can, like the password issue I mentioned first, can lead to profiles being hacked and un-wanted things happening on-line as this can make you look very bad. On twitter, many celebrities are hacked and this can lead to gaining a bad reputation. Just think, over night you could be made to look like the next Charlie Sheen.
4) Minimize the use of storage devices such as USB memory sticks. I don’t know a single person who has never lost one. That itself is quite self explanatory.
5) Encrypt your data. Although there are whizz kids out there who know their way around encryption codes, your information is more than likely going to be picked up by people who do not. By encrypting your data, it allows you time to recover it or deal with the loss of data on your side. This kind of thing comes in useful when you have lost your mobile phone. Mine is password protected and it will take anyone at least a few hours to guess my combination, allowing me time to block my phone before they can access it. This example may be even more relevant if your employees are all given smart-phones to access their emails on the go.
Finding the Right Drivers for Your New Laptop Without Stress!
Getting a new laptop is a great way to really improve your productivity. The biggest thing that a laptop does is give you freedom of movement — instead of worrying about how and where you will get work done; you can rest assured that you will be able to get everything accomplished just by opening up your laptop. You can be as far away from home as you want as long as you are able to carry your laptop along with you.
However, what if you had to upgrade the drivers on your laptop? If you picked up one of the new Lenovo laptops, this would mean starting with Lenovo driver. All a driver does is control specific functions in your computer. However, a driver is no mere piece of software — it’s actually vital to your laptop running smoothly.
If you have a superior graphics card, such as one of the cards from the Nvidia line of graphics cards, you might want to think about upgrading your Nvidia drivers. You can find Nvidia drivers right at the company’s site, or you can go onto the IBM site and look at the drivers available for your Lenovo laptop.
Getting a new graphics card for your laptop just wouldn’t be enough if your goal was to really enjoy your new laptop to the fullest. You will need to also look into a webcam, and one of the best brands out there is Logitech. However, one of the most important things to do when you have a Logitech webcam is to make sure that you have the right Logitech drivers for it.
Again, you can solve this problem as easily as you took care of the Nvidia drivers — just go online. There are sites devoted to finding the right drivers for your laptop, without forcing you to run all over the place. This is just a waste of your time, especially when it’s quite possible to get what you’re looking for without all that stress.
Overall, if you’re ready to get the right drivers for your new laptop, all you really have to do is go online right to the manufacturer’s support website, or a driver directory site devoted to the purpose — why not get started today?
The Dell Tablet Launch in the next Week
Wall Street Journal has submitted a report stating that the launch of the Tablet (7-inch) Dell would take place over coming weeks.
The information is courtesy of Amit Midha, president of Dell China, who said, “Tablet 7 was shown at the Oracle World 2010 last week and now we will launch in the coming weeks “.
The Chairman confirmed that the 7-inch tablet comes with the Google Android operating system, but noted that future products would be released under Windows 7, Microsoft.
The Executive Director also mentioned that Dell Tablet of 3 and 10 inches would be released in the next 6 or 12 months.
Once again we reaffirm that Tablets will very shortly older computers preferences and income on the market, so do not rule out a possible mandate to laptops. These definitions may be too hasty, but we believe that higher incomes in the world of technology in a not too distant future are here in the fabulous and inventive tablets.
A Few Things to Preserve your Battery Life
Nowadays, almost all sony laptops adopt the advanced technology and offers sophistication and elegance at much a favorable price. It probably includes functions for Blu-Ray DVDs, huge hard drives, powerful processors and some other amazing features. All these features are amazing and bring you convenience and enjoyment, but they can drain your sony vgp-bps2 battery quickly when you are using the battery. However, you can do a few things to preserve your battery life and solve some simple problems that may arise.
The battery life can usually range from 3 to 7 hours on normal settings depending on your model of Sony Vaio laptop, the age of your battery and how you use your laptop. If you need to extend the life of your sony laptop while away from its AC adapter, buy a sony large capacity battery. This will increase your battery life by approximately 1.5 times. When you’re at home, keep your laptop plugged into the wall with the supplied AC adapter. This will keep your sony vgp-bps2 battery charged at 100 percent. When on the road, avoid using multimedia features such as the DVD player and speakers, as these drain the battery quite a bit. If you’re not using the Internet, turn off your wireless connection. If you need to leave the computer for a period of time, close the cover so it goes into hibernation mode. You can save additional battery power by turning off Bluetooth and removing USB devices. Also, avoid exposing it to extremely hot or cold temperatures.
Following certain guidelines will help extend your battery life. Use Window’s included power management software (accessible though the Control Panel) to fine-tune your laptop’s power settings for a longer battery life. Sometimes older batteries are too weak to start the computer. If your laptop won’t power on, try plugging it in to charge it for awhile. If your AC adapter gets very hot or is emitting a humming noise, replace it to avoid damage to your sony vgp-bps2 battery and computer.
Almost all the sony laptop batteries are made of li-ion cells. Laptop lithium ion batteries are subject to certain scientific rules, and sony laptop batteries are no different. Generally, a battery will lose its ability to hold charge naturally, so after a few months you will notice a difference (especially if the battery was brand new). A normal laptop battery can undergo 500 charging and discharing cycles. That is to say, a battery can only be used for 1 to 2 years if we use it everyday. Also, exposing the battery to extreme heat (leaving it in a hot car, for example) will reduce the battery’s overall capacity quickly. If you’re going to store your Vaio for long periods of time, remove the battery before doing so.
