Computer (In)Security

Yesterday, the owner of another business in our building rushed into our office and reminded me just how important computer security is. His IBM ThinkPad had been virtually paralyzed by a malicious trojan. He stated that he had been surfing the Internet the night before when something popped up and said he had a virus. This pop-up instructed him that he must download something to fix it right away. Naturally, he obeyed as he certainly didn’t want his system to be infected.

Unfortunately, the pop-up was simply an Internet ad meant to scare people into downloading a malicious program. This particular ad led to a download, and the software downloaded was cleverly disguised as antivirus software, even though it was actually the virus that was paralyzing his system. Once on his system, the program told him the only way to fix the issue was to pay a license fee. This is typical of the latest generation of malware (known as crimeware) which is designed to make the creator money by either stealing information or tricking you. Thankfully, our fellow tenant came to us before paying the license fee. We were able to remove the virus and get his system running smoothly again without any loss of data.

What can you do to prevent a situation like this and maintain your computer security?

First and foremost, get good antivirus software. We use Kaspersky Total Space Security on our network here at Wasatch Software. It’s light on system resources, yet effective. Of course, there are a number of other good solutions from companies like Symantec or Trend Micro.

Next, be a skeptic. No antivirus program is perfect, and certainly not user-proof. Therefore you must use good judgment. If you aren’t sure if you should do something, contact an I.T. professional or someone you know who is computer savvy.

Last but not least, backup your data. If your system does get infected beyond repair, at least you can get things back to normal in a reasonable period of time. Backup Exec System Recovery is a great tool for this. If you’re using Windows XP or Windows Vista, be sure to create regular restore points so you can ‘turn back time’ on your system settings.

Have you experienced any similar situations? How did you resolve them?

Wasatch Software's Symantec Partnership

I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas. Naturally, the day after Christmas is pretty slow here at Wasatch Software. We’d rather be talking to customers and processing orders, but this downtime provides a great opportunity for another blog post.

As we approach the end of the year, I wanted to talk about strides we’ve made in our partnership with one of the world’s leading software companies: Symantec. In 2008, we progressed from being just a Symantec Registered Partner to becoming a Symantec Silver Partner. What is required to become a Symantec Silver Partner? Basically, Wasatch Software had to achieve minimum revenue goals and also obtain a certain number of sales and technical certifications on Symantec products. This investment in time and training for our staff has helped our customers in numerous ways. Perhaps foremost is the fact that we have put in the time and effort to train on solutions to help our customers make the right decision about their network security, data backup, and data archiving needs.

Our team here at Wasatch Software has successfully become certified in numerous Symantec products:

• Backup Exec for Windows Server
• Backup Exec System Recovery
• Symantec Endpoint Protection
• Symantec Ghost Solution Suite
• Symantec Mail Security for Exchange

Another achievement that our organization has made in regards to Symantec in 2008 is our achievement of the Symantec SMB Specialization. With this specialization our customers can rest assured that we have the knowledge and ability to provide and implement technologies in a very successful manner for small and medium sized businesses throughout the country.

Additionally, we are happy that we have had the chance to build a stronger relationship with our contacts at Symantec, especially with Mahlon Findtner, who is their representative that handles our area. It was especially our pleasure to participate with Mahlon at our Utah Jazz event last month.

So, what is coming up in 2009 for Wasatch Software and Symantec? Our goals for this relationship include further training and certifications, particularly on Symantec Enterprise Vault. We also have our sights set on becoming Symantec Gold Partners next year!

Kaspersky, Trend Micro Increase Anti-virus Market Share

It was my pleasure to provide some input about security and anti-virus software to Kevin McLaughlin of CRN. Here's an excerpt from his article titled "Channel Best-Sellers: Winning Security Players ":

Security vendors that manage to strike the right balance between functionality
and performance are fast becoming favorites in the channel, signaling an end to
the days of security "bloatware."

Tokyo-based Trend Micro and Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab shared the top spot in the Security Suites category of this year's CMP Channel Channel Best Sellers survey, with each seeing a 4.4 point jump in dollar volume share compared to last year. McAfee placed second with 0.7 points of growth, while Symantec and CA both experienced significant losses during the period...

...Spencer Ferguson, president of Wasatch Software, Salt Lake City, said what sets Kaspersky apart in the channel is the vendor's willingness to work with partners on an individual basis.

"We've worked with security vendors that have started working with us only to have it fall through later, but that hasn't been the case with Kaspersky," said Ferguson.

You can read the entire article here:

http://www.crn.com/security/204200883?pgno=4

As Wasatch Software is a reseller of all of the security and anti-virus software products that were mentioned, I can certainly understand why the numbers are increasing for Kaspersky and Trend Mico, and decreasing for Symantec and Computer Associates. What do you think about the climate of security software vendors?

CA Software

Wasatch Software is pleased to announce the launch of our CA Software product center. Computer Associates (CA) has long been an industry leader in computer security, backup and antivirus solutions for organizations of all sizes.

Take advantage of this and many other antivirus software offerings by contacting us today!