Survival Steps After Windows Server 2003 End of Support

On July 14, 2015, Microsoft stopped providing extended support for Windows Server 2003 (WS2003). Ending this support meant no more security updates or incident support for customers who retained the older operating system.

While this change didn’t cause everyone’s computer to suddenly stop working, implode or jump the track, it does mean that over time, both security and safety could be compromised. It also means that if you are still using WS2003, some changes need to be implemented to ensure that your company remains safe, secure and compliant.

Change In Product

WS2003 has undergone a number of changes since its release in April 2003, including two major updates in 2008 and 2012. However, many companies did not upgrade. An AppZero Study reported that more than 10 million computers were still using WS2003 just prior to the cessation of all support. Some of their reasons for retaining WS203 were:

• Lack of urgency for switching operating systems as long as Microsoft continued to offer support for WS2003
• Difficulty modifying customized or packaged applications software to the new operating systems
• Financial concerns, i.e. cost of upgrading existing system and software

What If It Still Works?

Although your computers and businesses will continue to function, problems will accumulate over time.

For instance, lack of security updates leave your system vulnerable to new viruses or inventive hacking.

Power outages may mean crashed systems, lost data and impossible recovery.

Existing software applications may no longer function or be available as companies adapt to the newer operating systems.

And for organizations tied to compliance regulations (such as healthcare and HIPAA or businesses who deal with credit card information and PCI), compliance issues will emerge sooner rather than later. 

Furthermore, simultaneously putting your business through a server migration in addition to a compliance assessment can put your business operations at risk as the demands on your internal resources spikes and accelerated deadlines are being enforced by auditors, industry regulators or your clients themselves.

Instead of placing your organization under the gun of tight timelines to hit a compliance assessment date, get started now to make sure your your migration is built to last.

What To Do

There are steps you can take to keep your computers — and your business — running while you migrate to a new operating system. Ed Tech Magazine recommends the following actions:

• Step 1: Conduct an assessment and determine which applications are still running on Windows Server 2003.
• Step 2: Prioritize your applications by importance and ease of transition.
• Step 3: Test your applications with free trials of newer platforms before purchase.
• Step 4: Build a migration plan.

Get Help

If these steps seem overwhelming, your Bay Area IT support specialists at Bay Computing have years of experience and are available to help your organization avoid complications and safely navigate the transition.

Instead of struggling through the process alone and running the risk of prolonged downtime, let our team architect your implementation plan, complete your migration and test your applications to make sure your systems are configured to perform optimally and to help you avoid future business interruptions.

One Stop Shop for Small Business Server Migrations

Our team of experts can help you get started by conducting your free onsite network assessment and then help prioritize your needs throughout each step of the the migration as they work with your team to develop a thorough understanding of how your team uses each specialty application.

You invest in technology to help improve your business operations. Make sure your business continues to run uninterrupted as you run your company and accomplish your goals, all while strengthening and moving your IT infrastructure into the future.

Don’t wait until disaster strikes or a deadline is looming. Contact your Bay Area IT support specialists and get your business back on track today!

Information Security: What’s It Mean for Healthcare IT ?

The pervasive use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) has made sharing patient information significantly easier. While this has dramatically improved the quality of patient care, how secure is your confidential patient information?

Information Security in Health Care

The goal of EHR is to collate information for better patient care and encourage smarter spending. But what happens when patients are wary of the accuracy and confidentiality of their EHR? They may refuse to divulge information crucial to getting proper medical care.

Security Breach Risks

Ideally, healthcare IT should be an invulnerable fortress. But is it really? Let’s take a look at the weak spots that need improved fortification.

Endpoint Encryption

According to this Forrester report, several healthcare organizations get by on a miserly security budget, and only 43 percent of healthcare firms have a comprehensive data security budget. As a result, securing endpoint data does not get the priority it should. Very few healthcare organizations use file-level or full-disk encryption.

Hackers

Progressive technology is a breeding ground for sophisticated hackers. Hackers are more interested in financial fraud and identity-theft-related data, such as a patient’s social security number, than health-related information. In fact, recent months have seen a 600 percent increase of such attacks.

Healthcare Workers

Healthcare workers’ passwords are often the first breach in the battlefront of patient information security. For example, sometimes they forget to log out of their work station. Such mistakes lead to about 25 percent of security breaches, including identity theft and access to patient information records. Unless employees are given adequate security training, all security revamps will only be wasted effort.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

BYOD permits healthcare employees to access work data via their personal devices. This trend adds a whole new dimension to patient health information security. Without an inclusive, operable and strictly followed security system in place, BYOD is the equivalent of encouraging a jewel thief to gate crash a celebrity wedding.

Business Associates (BA)

Most external threats to patient information security are due to the carelessness of BAs who have access to such information. They are the cause of about 20 percent of recent security breaches.

The Technology-Expertise Gap

Often, even if healthcare organizations have the budget to implement the right technology to detect pitfalls, the security technology remains unexploited because most in the organization are not trained and equipped to implement it.

The key to countering security threats, whether external or internal, is awareness and training. Training should be an ongoing process in order to address changes in technology and new threat sources.

Windows 10: Helping Your Office Bridge the Gap Between PCs and Tablets

When Microsoft released Windows 8, it went too far in focusing on the tablet experience, leaving desktop computer users out to dry. Now it’s time for Windows 10 to show that Microsoft has an operating system truly capable of bridging the gap between PCs and tablets. Approximately 74 percent of companies promote some form of bring your own device (BYOD) policy, according to ZD Net, resulting in a mix of tablets and other mobile devices in the office. Now Windows 10 is going to allow users to easily switch between tablet and PC without major transitions each time.

Universal Apps

Apps from the Microsoft App store are no longer treated differently from other programs. They have a similar appearance, are controlled the same, and are also universal between tablets and PCs. Instead of using two different programs in your office for mobile and desktop uses, you can now use the same app on both platforms. For example, Adobe Photoshop Express allows you to start work on a desktop and then open up the app on your tablet. The Microsoft Office suite is another universal app that allows you to use the same program on both devices. This cuts down on training time and improves productivity.

Redesigned User Interface

One of the biggest problems the original Windows 8 user interface (UI) had is that it focused too much on the touchscreen dynamic. The shake-up caused many people to reach out to IT help desk services to figure out how to use the UI on a non-touchscreen desktop, and it caused significant frustration. Microsoft has learned its lesson with Windows 10. The UI retains the familiar Start menu, with the Windows 8 metro style design incorporated as a small part of this menu. Microsoft also added a virtual desktop feature, allowing you to group and organize open programs into their own desktop. You get a good balance of familiar features and new ones that makes this operating system easier to use.

Seamless Tablet Mode

Some of the most popular tablets on the market can switch between tablet and laptop mode. Windows 10 accommodates for that by seamlessly switching to the tablet mode UI as soon as the keyboard is detached from the tablet. This mode optimizes the UI for touchscreen control, taking windows and apps full screen. Once you connect the keyboard back to the tablet, it switches to standard Windows 10 view.

Windows 10 learned many lessons from Windows 8, resulting in an operating system that allows users to easily transfer from PC to tablet and back again.

Elect a Leader that Understands

Hire Only Who You Need

Why Not Outsource?

Everyone was YiSpecter Fighting, Those Hacks Were Fast as Lightening

Your “how to” blog post should teach the reader how to do something by breaking it down into a series of steps.

Begin your blog post by explaining what problem you are going to solve through your explanation and be sure to include any relevant keywords. Add in a personal story to establish your credibility on this topic. And make sure to end your blog post with a summary of what your reader will gain by following your lead.

Need some inspiration? Check out these “How-To” examples from the HubSpot blog:

• How to Write a Blog Post: A Simple Formula to Follow
• How to Do Keyword Research: A Beginner’s Guide
• How to Write an Effective Meta Description (Yes, They Still Matter)

BODY:

Now deliver what you promised in the first section. This is the longest part of the post, so make it easy to read. Use short paragraphs, bullet lists, and bold headings to set different sections apart. 

Some common section headers include:

Step 1: Getting Started

Step 2: Do Your Background Research on…

Step 3: First Steps for…

Step 4: Analyze and Repeat

Step 5: Wrapping Up

You can use bulleted lists, numbered list, or multiple headings. Include as many steps, numbers, or bullets that will allow you to discuss your topic thoroughly.

Here are some pointers to make the best possible body of your blog:

• Include visuals
• Include short explanatory phrases in your headers
• At the end, transition into your conclusion

CONCLUSION:

Now it’s time to say goodbye and wrap up your post. Remind your readers of your key takeaway, reiterate what your readers need to do to get the desired result, and ask a question about how they see the topic to encourage comments and conversation. Don’t forget to add a Call-to-Action to turn your blog post into a marketing machine!

Congratulations! What a lovely how-to post you’ve created. 

Experts Finding Malware Creativity Advancing Faster Than Ever

How many technology solutions does your business rely on? Integrated software packages, softphone-based VoIP systems, productivity enhancing smartphones — technology has transformed workplace productivity, but it comes with a dark side. Malware, which is malicious software such as viruses and trojans, continue to be a major problem. One anti-virus software company detected 2,205,858,791 attacks in Q1 2015.

As more businesses gather sensitive data stored in on-premise and cloud-based tech solutions, the malware attacks become more sophisticated. User computers, network infrastructure, and mobile devices are all viable attack vectors for a creative cybercriminal. Once your computers get infected, the direct and indirect costs can be enormous, and you might not even know how the malware got in. Here are two of the most creative, and most dangerous malware threats to the business world.

Cryptowear

What would happen if you lost access to mission-critical parts of your business system for a day? A week? Cryptowear is one of the latest malware trends. It locks down essential parts of a system and demands payment before you can use the system normally again. In many cases, these applications look like legitimate software prior to launching the attack. If you don’t pay up, you’re going to need to go through a lengthy backup restoration process to get everything back to normal.

Malware App Mods

Does your business have a bring your own device (BOYD) policy, where employees can use their own personal mobile devices for business purposes? If you do, you could be inviting all manner of malware into your network. One of the latest mobile malware trends are apps that offer modification or cheat codes for popular mobile games. The user downloads and installs the mod app, which actually contains malware. If it’s not detected early, the infection could end up hitting your entire business network.

How to Protect Your Business From Malware

So how do you stay a step ahead of the cybercriminals? The right IT security safeguards and solutions go a long way to staying on top of potential attack vectors. A technical support provider gives you the ability to use your resources to get the knowledgeable help you need to handle IT security issues.

Need help with keeping malware from ruining your business? Contact us for all your Bay Area IT services needs, whether you’re fighting an active malware infection or you want to proactively handle issues.

Want to kick-start new business leading into 2016? Enable growth with best-in-class technology and IT Support Services

42 percent of small businesses have no IT department, yet many of these businesses rely on technology-based solutions to fuel their future growth. Without dedicated IT professionals, business owners or other critical personnel are regularly pulled away from their core business responsibilites to address ongoing IT issues.

Your business can’t grow if you’re constantly running around and putting out fires, but you aren’t at the point where your budget supports having a full-time technical staff. It’s time to consider the ways San Francisco IT support helps your business grow over the long term.

1. Cost-Effective Technology Procurement

You know what processes you deal with on a day-to-day basis, but you don’t have time to read up on every technology business solution available to figure out which options make the most sense for your company.

If you sit down to do the research yourself, you take time away from your actual business duties. IT Services Bay Area helps you identify your business work flows that benefit most from technology, locates the best vendors for these options and helps you with the procurement and deployment process.

Think of the IT service as a trusted friend who knows all about the hottest restaurants in town, and exactly what to order off the menu to suit your tastes.

2. Proactive Maintenance

You don’t think about what could go wrong with your IT infrastructure—until it’s your busiest day of the year and all of your mission-critical business systems are down. Instead of ignoring small problems until they snowball into major blows to your business growth and finances, using IT services for proactive maintenance keeps your infrastructure stable and strong. If you take your car in for its regular oil change, why wouldn’t you get systems looked at when they’re critical for your business success?

3. Leveraging IT Expertise

Let’s face it: As a business owner who isn’t working in a technology sector, you don’t have time to stay up to date with IT best practices, the latest threats, company-changing innovations and other tech-based business intelligence.

You need the ability to put this information to use to stay competitive without dealing with the overhead costs associated with brining on a full-time IT employee. Some days you only need simple troubleshooting, other emergencies may require a full technical support team.

When you partner with a Bay Area IT support services provider, you leverage their entire team’s expertise so your business stays on top of the latest threats and trends, and is provided with a cost-effective method of handling your IT needs and creating a solid foundation for your future business growth.

San Francisco IT support goes far beyond simply providing helpdesk technicians to fix technical problems as they occur. With the right managed services provider, your organization helps you design, implement and create a technology foundation for fueling your business success. 

When you keep your IT systems healthy and functioning at peak performance, you continuiously build upon your competitive advantages and improve your opeational capabilities to help blow your completition away.

Businesses in the United States spend well over $13 billion each year on cloud computing services. As “Cloud” picks up steam as the latest buzzword, migrating to the cloud is no longer an expensive, risky venture reserved only for major enterprises.

With prices continuing to drop as the technologies develop and mature, the latest studies are finding that companies with fewer than 19 employees are now 20 times more likely to adopt cloud technologies than their larger competitors.

The Lay of the Land

The hybrid cloud, a mix of public and private cloud computing options, is a new choice that’s growing quickly in popularity. Gartner predicts 50 percent adoption by 2017 of this flexible and secure option. Despite the fact that cloud is a quickly growing choice, there are some pervasive myths surrounding it:

1. The Cloud Is Insecure

Modern organizations are rightly concerned about cybercrime leading to costly data breaches. However, Gartner highlights that the idea that cloud is less secure is based on a “trust issue,” and not necessarily fact.

As with any other major technology investment, when considering cloud services, proper due dilligence is necessary to confirm that appropriate security has been implemented. That being said, many cloud providers are not only aware of common information security concerns, but proactive in their approaches to cybersecurity.

In many cases, as an additonal assurance to their customers, cloud providers will voluntarily undergo a number of industry security and compliance audits, such as PCI-DSS and SSAE 16 SOC 1 and SOC 2.

Furthermore, for those companies who feel more comfortable with a tighter control over their organization’s security, it should be noted that both  cloud computing and hybrid cloud solutions can provide critical protection for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB).

3. The Cloud Is Virtualization

Virtualization can be used to provide cloud computing, but they’re not one and the same. The cloud can offer distinct advantages, including automated management, distributed control, and scalability. Additionally, there are certain security and end-user benefits tied to the cloud above virtualization, making it a more popular choice for both SMB and major enterprises.

4. Cloud Implementations Are Painful

Much like any technology solution, cloud implementations have both pros and cons. Companies that opt to entirely outsource their cloud to an out-of-the-box solution are dependent on their vendor’s support (or lack thereof), rely on vendor security measures for protection, and may face uncertain periods of downtime. Depending on the solution and organization selected, being locked-in long-term to a suboptimal solution can accidentally become your reality.

However, there are significant advantages to cloud implementations, which can include increased storage capacity, efficiency gains, and cost savings.

By working with your IT services provider, your organization has easy access to dependable cloud computing technical support while also having the advantages of cloud technologies at their fingertips.  With the right technical support team, implementing cloud-based technologies can be far less painful than you have ever anticipated.

5. Working With the Cloud Must Be “Mysterious”

Many people who are new to cloud technologies believe that incorporating cloud options translates into an automatic lack of transparency.

But hybrid and private cloud deployments can offer total transparency to users, particularly when technology teams work with your organization’s office end users to help them understand their technology infrastructures clearly and fully.

In a busy medical office, it’s hard to keep track of each and every HIPAA regulation, and accidental HIPAA violations can easily occur. 

In many cases, practices discover multiple violations in place upon beginning compiance examinations before you or your users even realize you’ve done anything wrong. 

Unfortunately, violations can lead to stiff fines if you’re caught breaching regulations. Every year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services receives approximately 4,000 complaints about HIPAA violations. Make sure your office isn’t on the list by avoiding these common HIPAA related “trouble areas.”

Accident #1: Exposing Confidential Information to Other Patients

 Although everyone in your office understands it’s important not to discuss one patient with another or provide information to a family member without a signed release form, your team may not realize just how easy it is to accidentally expose protected information with the next patient in your exam room or even the entire waiting room.

Keeping patient information private requires scrupulous attention to the way your entire office handles files and all possible forms of patient information.

It’s easy to say, but harder to remember: Don’t leave anything containing Protected Health Information (PHI) unprotected where other patients can see it, and always sign out (or lock) any computer screens  that contain patient information before showing the next patient into an exam room.

Keep in mind, even simple info such as addresses are considered private information. It’s far better to ask patients to review forms than to rattle off an address to verify if the one listed is current.

Accident #2: Neglecting Your Computer Network

 Patient records are a treasure trove of information for identity thieves and cybercriminals. Once they hack into your system, it’s game over.

In one fell swoop, the bad guys suddenly have unlimited, centralized access patient names, addresses, social security numbers and credit card information.

Your firewall stops thieves from accessing your system, but no firewall can do its jop properly with its hands tied (AKA when it isn’t kept up to date.) 

 Make sure your IT services resource sets your network firewall to receive automatic updates and regularly monitors and checks your log files for signs of attempted intrusions.

From there, make sure your office team doesn’t ignore alerts and any time you suspect a breach, reach out to your managed services provider follows HIPAA reporting procedures for any computer breaches if your office falls victim to a malicious attack.

Being Lax with Your Laptop

Thanks to your laptop, you’re no longer chained to the office computer. Now you can take your work home with you and not miss out on family time!

That being said- No matter the setting, you must stay vigilant and make sure to not let a relaxed family setting lull you into being careless. After all, ePHI is still protected by HIPAA, be it at the office or inside your home.

It may seem simple, but it is imperative that you do not leave information on your screen, even if you’re only leaving the room to get a glass of water.

Password protect your laptop, close out all screens and tabs when not in active use and make sure to keep your computer locked away when it is not in active use.

More specifically, with the increasing rates of automobile theft in the San Francisco Bay Area, save yourself the time, money and headache of having to file a technology incident report andmake sure you do not leave your computer unattended in your car.

Texting Confidential Information

Texting is one of the fastest ways to share information with another medical professional, but it sends that information into cyberspace where anyone can potentially access it.

Make sure all users know the rules:

-Don’t text unless you’re using a special encrypted program to send texts.

-Only send those texts to other people if you’re positive they’re using the same appropriate program.

By keeping these potential programs in mind and educating your staff about HIPAA basics, you can avoid a costly, and potentially embarrassing, violation.

Customer focus and supporting the effective delivery of quality care is the aim of healthcare information technology solutions. However, it can be all too easy to forget that practices have two customer bases to please: employees and patients. As you seek to satisfy the needs of both sides, consider implementing the following healthcare IT best practices.

Mirror Portals

Patient information technology has developed at different rates. In-office computerized patient record systems came into common use years before many practices invested in patient-facing electronic health records. However, when portals are a mix of these two different record systems, communication is made difficult. Care must be taken to align these systems.

Ensure information like test results, prescribed medications and prior procedures accessible to internal customers—nurses, medical assistants and aides—mirrors information available to patients at home. After all, patient engagement often relies on information availability and transparency, as well as timely communication. Make sure your patients aren’t among the 40 percent of patients who are unsure if their physicians have a patient portal system.

Keep Information Where Your Customers Are

Patients receive information about their health in a variety of media. Most IT-related solutions ensure that data can be accessed through mobile devices, home computers or printed documents. Caregivers also need the same ability to access information to respond to patient queries quickly.

Consider how much time can be saved if an out-of-office practitioner can access a secure patient snapshot and answer a simple question. Now, the issue doesn’t need to be elevated, diverted or put on hold until Monday. Easy access from anywhere also ensures that information sharing isn’t subjected to a gatekeeper. If only one person knows about an issue, other equally qualified professionals are unable to respond if the gatekeeper is out-of-reach.

Respect Your Time and Your Patients’ Time

Precious time is often wasted updating routine health information at the start of appointments. With the availability of next-level technology, instead request patients update their records from home prior to appointments, or during time spent in the waiting room. Practice-supplied tablets can be handed to patients upon check-in, primed to walk patients through a questionnaire. This same software can then alert the caregiver to changes and prompt on-target discussion.

The most beneficial healthcare IT solutions for your medical practice are those that are equally beneficial to both health professionals, caregivers, and patients alike.

From mirrored portals to accessible data and optimized in-office time, by working with the right IT services provider, practices can leverage technology to  heighten both patient and employee satisfaction.