OTS-Networks

Three Visio Code Execution Vulnerabilities

2009-02-10T23:12:00.000-05:00

Severity: Medium

10 February, 2009

Summary:

This vulnerability affects: All current versions of Visio
How an attacker exploits it: By enticing one of your users into opening a maliciously crafted Visio document
Impact: An attacker can execute code, potentially gaining complete control of your users' computers
What to do: Deploy the appropriate Visio patch as soon as possible

Exposure:

Microsoft Visio is a very popular diagramming application, which many administrators use to create network diagrams.

In a security bulletin released today, Microsoft describes three security vulnerabilities that affect all current versions of Visio (but not the standalone viewer application). Though technically different, all three vulnerabilities share the same scope and impact: By enticing one of your users into downloading and opening a maliciously crafted Visio document, an attacker can exploit any of these vulnerabilities to execute code on a victim's computer, usually inheriting that user's level of privileges and permissions. If your user has local administrative privileges, the attacker gains full control of the user's machine.

Solution Path:

Microsoft has released patches to fix these vulnerabilities. You should download, test, and deploy the appropriate Visio patch as soon as possible.

Status:

Microsoft has released patches to fix these vulnerabilities.

References:

MS Security Bulletin MS09-005

This alert was researched and written by Corey Nachreiner, CISSP.

February's Cumulative IE Patch Corrects Two Critical Vulnerabilities

2009-02-10T23:09:00.001-05:00

Severity: High

10 February, 2009

Summary:

This vulnerability affects: Internet Explorer 7 and earlier versions
How an attacker exploits it: By enticing one of your users to visit a malicious web page or link
Impact: In the worst case, the attacker can execute code on your user's computer, gaining complete control of it
What to do: Deploy the appropriate Internet Explorer patches immediately

Exposure:

In a security bulletin released today as part of its monthly patch update, Microsoft describes two vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer (IE) 7.0. These flaws may also affect IE 5.x and 6.x; however, Microsoft no longer supports those versions.

Though they differ technically, both vulnerabilities share the same general characteristics: IE doesn't properly handle certain HTML objects or elements, which causes memory corruption. By luring one of your users into visiting a maliciously crafted web page, an attacker can exploit either of these memory corruption vulnerabilities to execute code on that user's computer, inheriting that user's privileges. Typically, Windows users have local administrative privileges. In that case, the attacker could gain complete control of the victim's computer.

In addition to fixing these two newly announced flaws, today's Internet Explorer patch also fixes all previously known flaws.

Solution Path:

These patches fix serious issues. You should download, test, and deploy the appropriate IE patches as soon as possible.

Internet Explorer 7.0
Note: While these flaws may also affect older versions of IE, Microsoft currently only supports IE 7.0. If you use an older version, you should upgrade to 7.0, then apply this patch.

Status:

Microsoft has released patches to fix these vulnerabilities.

References:

MS Security Bulletin MS09-002

This alert was researched and written by Corey Nachreiner, CISSP.

Reclaim Free Space on Your Hard Drive

2008-12-13T19:42:00.004-05:00

December is a great time to clean up your hard drive. It allows you to start the New Year with plenty of drive space, and you'll have peace of mind knowing your old data has been archived and secured. Archiving is the process of permanently removing data from a drive and storing it safely on removable mediaversus backing up where you consistently make identical copies of current files.

Begin the archiving process by sorting through files and moving them to a new folder. Choose the media type for your archive data: DVD Recordable (DVD-R) and Blu-ray (BD-R) are good choices because data can only be written once to these types of discs.

After you have set aside files to be archived, burn three copies of each disc. Verify all discs after burning to ensure data was written without errors. Store each disc at a different location: One copy at your office for your use; another secured offsite (home or safety deposit box); and give the last copy to your attorney or accountant to store in a locked location.

Having safely archived your data files and checked the newly created discs, you can safely delete the archived data from your hard drive.

Remember, an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure.

As an reseller for DriveSavers, Inc. I hope they don't mind me using this great advise! Call 1-800-440-1904 and use the code DS15345 to get 10% off any Data Recovery Procedure from DriveSavers!

Official Gmail Blog: Fast PDF viewing right in your browser

2008-12-12T18:33:00.000-05:00

Official Gmail Blog: Fast PDF viewing right in your browser

I can't wait to see what happens next! I love Google!

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Tasks

2008-12-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Tasks

Can you believe it. I've been waiting years for this feature.

Lets see now. Contact Management, Chat, Video Chat, SMS, Tasks, Spam Filter, Calendar... when will the list end? I hope never. Google is forever!

Official Gmail Blog: Really new in Labs this time: SMS Text Messaging for chat

2008-12-11T22:12:00.000-05:00

Official Gmail Blog: Really new in Labs this time: SMS Text Messaging for chat

Last minute shopping with instant delivery!

2008-12-09T15:36:00.004-05:00

Click here to send Amazon Gift Cards to all!

There are 4 easy ways you can give Gift Cards:

1) E-mail a personalized gift card for immediate delivery.

2) Print a personalized gift card on your own printer. (Remember to have your credit card handy when you're ready to print).

3) Mail a personalized gift card (shipping is free, of course). Please allow 5-7 business days for delivery.

4) Add a $25, $50, or $100 Gift Card – or a box of them! – to your other purchases in your Amazon.com shopping cart.

High Speed Internet for your Business!

2008-12-01T19:15:00.002-05:00

FREE Incorporation or LLC formation for an entire week - December 1-5, 2008.

2008-12-01T15:59:00.005-05:00

Customers need to use coupon code MYGIFT during check out to save $149 on the formation of a new corporation or limited liability company. Note: document shipping, state fees, publication fees, and additional product fees will be charged at regular rates.

High Speed Internet

2008-12-01T11:06:00.008-05:00

One of the most important things that we can do for our home offices is to make sure that we have dependable internet service. That is why I am endorsing Comcast to every market where they are available for our customers!

Take a look for yourself. See if you can get it in your area!

I use it and won't use anyone else for my internet connection. Comcast Rocks!

About me

2008-11-30T00:31:00.003-05:00

Here's a bit about me. I live in South Bend, Indiana. I am happily married and have 5 children

Everyone always wants to know their ages so here they are...
15, 12, 10, 8, 7; 3 girls and 2 boys in that order

I am 40 years old and I have many different areas of expertise.

Restaurant Management - opened 15 restaurants for a variety of corporations and trained the management teams. I've also personally trained over 2500 employees in this field.

Credit Collection - personally managing $2.8 million in bad debt from 350 accounts, all of which were 120+ days in arrears collected an average of $102,000 per month.

Insurance - as a licensed agent and brokerage manager I've trained over 200 agents and sold over 1000 different products from 52 different companies in 80 Agencies and managed 12,000 Health Insurance Policies. Our brokerage maintained #1 statewide sales for 3 companies. John Alden, The Guardian, and American Community.

IT Management - Network Architect (and all that implies)

On January 1st of 2000 I started working for myself with the intent to do something great. I saw what was happening in the IT industry as companies were trying to take advantage of so many small companies who were not able to afford a full time IT staff (like telling them that all the computers were going to be useless unless they bought new ones because of the millennium bug). I knew that something had to be done to teach business owners that times were changing quickly and they needed to grasp the bull by the horns and embrace technology as the way to make more dollars and to save labor costs by becoming more productive. I have helped small businesses save hundreds of thousands of dollars while advancing their technology footprint to include the newest technologies at basically no cost to them.

Beginning in 2009 my focus will be directed 100% on the Home Based Business Owner. I myself can work 100% from home now and I understand all of the ups and downs that you go through and will work with you as we go through this step by step

Batteries.com Save 15% on Everything in Stock!

2008-11-21T09:08:00.002-05:00

The cold weather is here and that can only mean one thing. The holidays are just around the corner! We all know how hectic and busy life gets around the holidays, and mostly because of all the shopping that has to be done in preparation for such an event. The holiday shopping season has already begun, and we, at Batteries.com are here to help ease some the stress with our awesome holiday promotions!

Not only does Batteries.com have everything you need to power your electronic devices on a daily basis, but we also have in stock every battery imaginable for Christmas Morning. How many times during the holidays do we see the dreaded "Batteries not included" label? The holidays don't have to be dampered by a lack of power! Batteries.com offers the top brands in batteries, and the Batteries.com Brand which is a great value for any budget!

Coupons:

Below is the current active coupon with the code listed below, just copy & paste!

Details: Save 15% On ALL Items in Stock!
Coupon Code: FALL08
Valid Through: November 25th, 2008

Coupon Code Link

QuickBooks 2008 Tax Forms and Free Envelope Stuffers are Now Available

2008-11-21T09:04:00.001-05:00

10% Off –PLUS FREE SHIPPING on 2008 W-2’s & 1099 forms for QuickBooks.

Offer runs from now through Jan 15, 2009.

Save now on Web-Leading Internet Security from Webroot!

2008-11-21T08:59:00.000-05:00

The exciting brand new product Webroot® Internet Security Essentials is now $10 off! This great software is a complete security suite with everything you need to keep your PC safe, all in one easy-to-use application. And unlike other security suites, Webroot Internet Security Essentials has a streamlined design to make sure your computer doesn't lose any speed or performance.

Webroot Internet Security Essentials includes:

Award-winning antivirus, antispyware and firewall security

Proactive protection against data theft, hackers and malware

Streamlined design to maintain PC speed and performance

Automatic backup to protect digital photos and irreplaceable files

Make sure to take advantage of this awesome deal!

OTS Partners with Salesforce.com

2008-11-11T23:36:00.004-05:00

I am honored to announce that OTS has partnered with Saleforce.com With the advent of Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing Salesforce.com has developed an easy-to-use Web-based CRM solution for sales, service, marketing, and call center operations that streamlines customer relationship management and boosts customer satisfaction.

Salesforce.com is the worldwide leader in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) services. More companies trust their vital customer and sales data to salesforce.com than any other on-demand CRM company in the world.

Enough of the B$. Here's the skinny. this is such a great product and company that I had to endorse it. I know that you need to contact your more customers and if you don't your business will fail. Period. Up until now have how well has your plan been working? mm hmm. I thought so. This is what you need to do.

I've used other software. I've tried to automate my marketing plan. I've tried to read into my numbers without using analytics. Do what I'm doing. I've stopped trying everything else and now I'm plugged into Salesforce.com. I will not promote any other CRM tool.

I personally guarantee you that by using Salesforce.com you will save money, contact more people and make more sales than with your current solution or you won't pay me a dime.

I sell computers

2008-11-11T07:19:00.009-05:00

Someone asked me the other day if I sell computers. I chuckled to myself. Not because of the obvious nature of the question but because I'm almost repulsed by it. Its an automatic response now. I can barely control it. What he really needed was so much deeper.

Most of the people that ask if I sell computers are looking for something cleaner and prettier than the machine they are currently using. They usually have unintentionally misused their existing machine by not maintaining it (sometimes just because they don't want to learn how) and now they are willing to borrow $500 (for the cheapest new computer they can find) on their credit card because of the "low payment" but can't justify paying $150 to $200 to service their existing machine because that would seem to be "less of a deal". (At our house we call that "paying stupid tax")

My advise to Joe the PC Owner? Learn the basics of how a computer works and what it takes to maintain it. You don't have to know how necessarily, you just need to know that there are things to do on a regular basis. Similar to changing the oil in your car or maintaining good tire pressure, You need to know these things. If you don't take care of them your computer will break down sooner. And it will break down.

There are some very basic things that all computer users must learn how to do.

Know what the latest terms are in PC security and what they mean
Use a firewall program and know what it is and why we use them
Use anti-virus software and keep it up to date
Use anti-malware software and keep it up to date

If you don't know the basic terms that people are using in PC security you'll be no better off than the guy who walks into a jungle with a bottle of Skin-So-Soft, instead of insect repellent, a knife, a handgun and a 12 Gauge Shotgun. Be prepared, as the old boyscout motto goes. Be aware of your surroundings. Being ignorant of what can harm you is stupid. Protect yourself from virus attacks, mal-ware infestations, back door access, and security holes by knowing that they exist and that you can stop them with a little bit of knowledge.

Most people know (at least they should know), that if you run your car engine after someone puts sand in your gas tank that bad things will happen. The same is true for "cruising the internet". Most files that you download are harmless but sometimes people create files that are harmful and find ways to get them into your computer without your direct knowledge. (This is why people buy really good car alarms.)

No one beside you can make the decision to protect your computer. There is no "government bailout" for this one however. If you get burned its your life, your money, and your privacy. Warranties and guarantees do not cover data loss. EVER.

Clean up after yourself. Every time that you use a computer it creates logs to all of the activity that you have created or accessed. This information can be used by others to define what your habits or influences are. This data is usually harmless but anytime that you use your computer you should be aware of the outcome of your actions. The second reason you should clean up after yourself is because the space on your hard drive is limited and it burden's the computer to have to keep track of useless data.

(I remove countless GIGABYTES of data from the computers that I repair so that I don't have to back up useless data and sort through it later when I'm restoring all of it to your computers. (some techs aren't that nice and just put it all back on there)

Be organized. Keep your data neat and orderly. Defrag your hard drive often.

(90% of all speed related problems with your Microsoft driven PC comes from a heavily fragmented hard drive. )

Back up all of the data that you created. All of it. You should maintain the data on your computer so that if your computer fails that you can immediately have access to all of it up to the point of your last backup. I keep three copies of my data; the original, the first backup, and another in cyberspace. I recommend that you do the same. If your home or business is affected physically where you don't have access to your data then you can be assured that your data is always safe this way.

(A lot of people say to me "I only use the computer to get on the internet." Others that I know use then as tools that make calculations that no human could do in a thousand lifetimes. You can bet that the people who are using computers to make those calculations are backing up their data because if its importance to mankind.

But what about you? The letters that you've sent. The pictures you have taken, The music that you've paid for? These are the digital records of our lives.

Times are changing. We don't keep photo albums like our grandparents did (We use Picasa). We don't have stacks of vinyl records holding our audio media (We use iTunes). We don't keep huge file cabinets in our homes anymore with our "important" papers in them (We scan them). We don't keep almanacs and maps in our cars (We use GPS). Some of us don't even have home telephones anymore (We use VOIP). All of this information should be backed up and saved. )

It takes time to diagnose computer problems, to research and determine the possible fixes and to implement the repairs. You need to choose how you are going to proceed. Are you going to buy a new computer so that you can start this vicious cycle all over again or are you going to take some initiative to learn how to protect yourself. I know that your computer is broken now and that you need to get back to work. But the issues remain. You need to step up and acknowledge that a new $500 PC is not the answer.

Most likely, as I've seen so many times is that you need to invest in a solution that will grow with you for the next five or six years. It will need to have external storage to be sure that your data is backed up properly. You will need to find excellent software to protect you and you'll need to learn to use it. Don't forget to back up off-site! Oh! And you'll also want to make sure that your network is secure from intrusion.

"Sure, I sell computers", I told him, "But what I specialize in is providing complete technology solutions."

ClearCheckbook.com ROCKS!

2008-11-02T17:34:00.003-05:00

OK. I told you I was going to review this site/service and here it is.

Registering was easy, now for the scary part. importing all of my financial data. I logged into my online banking accounts. Chose to format that I wanted to use (I picked quicken) and saved it on my desktop. From there I switched tabs in my browser into ClearCheckbook and uploaded all of my transactions. As Emeril Lagasse would say "BAM!" It was done.

All of the transactions jumped into the application and I started editing them right away. I created different categories and additional accounts with ease.

After spending a couple of hours playing with all of the combinations of how I can look at my money and how we've spent it. I'd have to say that I'm hooked. This beats my paper checkbook register hands down. And since I hate using paper (the piles annoy me) I'll be using this system for years to come!

Managing your finances

2008-10-30T09:04:00.005-04:00

All of you know that managing your finances is crucial to success. I found a site today called ClearCheckbook.com I'll be reviewing giving it a full review next week but as far as I can tell I don't know how I've lived without it up until now.

Here's what they have to say about themselves.

ClearCheckbook.com is one of the fastest growing and most helpful tools on the web for managing your finances.

Here are just a few ways ClearCheckbook can help you stay on top of your finances:

Balancing - Ability to balance your checkbook from anywhere you have internet access.
Reports - View based on your spending and what you're spending your money on
Mobile - Specially designed interface for your iPhone and iPod Touch. Manage your finances from anywhere you have a cellphone or wifi connection!
Automation - Automatic recurring transactions and notices so you never forget to pay your bills
CheckBot 2.0 - Update your account from your cellphone SMS or AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo!, and Google Talk Messenger services
100% Free! - That's right, ClearCheckbook doesn't cost a penny! It's completely free to use.

Has anyone else used this site? Please give me your feedback.

Availability Calendar

2008-10-15T00:14:00.009-04:00

Tigerdirect.com gives OTS Exclusive Deals!

2008-10-14T23:31:00.003-04:00

I just got this email in from TigerDirect.com and it is really good news for all of us. I love saving money for you and a little profit never hurt either!

Hi Rob Thomas,

We are pleased to have you as our partner and look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship.

If you're looking for outstanding deals at amazingly low prices, We've got them! Don't miss out, Promote These Great Deals on your Homepage Today!
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As a TigerDirect affiliate you have access to very exclusive product offers for TigerDirect. We discount our prices on several products "EXCLUSIVELY" for our affliate partners, these savings will only show when customers click on a TigerDirect.com Affiliate link posted on your website. You can link your customers directly to any exclusive deal of your choice or you can also link them to our Affiliate Exclusive Deals - Special Custom Landing Page.

Here's a text link to our Custom Landing Page with all current exclusive offers:

LS: http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=D2Vvn5173WI&offerid=102356.10000021&type=3&subid=0