What is a Firewall?

Simply putting a firewall in place prevents unauthorised access by would be attackers into your system. But it can be more than that. As well as preventing unauthorised access, it can also be used to restrict the type of access in as well as out of your system.

What types of Firewall Exist?

There are two types of firewalls. Hardware and Software. Software firewalls are generally used on individual PC's and play an important role in protecting single user / home user networks. They rely on the computer they are installed on as well as the Operating System of that system. As such, they fail if your PC should fail. They can also be turned off with a click of a button. Regular updates produced by the makers of software firewalls ensure the reliability of these systems. Hardware firewalls are physical devices that sit between the internal and external network. They are not reliant on any PC and generally speaking more secure and robust in their function.

Should I have a Firewall?

This can depend. From a home point of view the general answer is YES in particular if you have ADSL. Windows XP now comes with it own internal firewall, but you may wish to invest in one with which you have more control over. The office is different. There are two types of connection when it comes to Broadband (be it xDSL or Leased Line) namely NAT or NON-NAT. NAT stands for Network Address Translation. We will not go into the technical details of what NAT actually is and how it works, suffice to say if you have a NAT system then a) your internal network is hidden from the external world (i.e. the internet and other users) and b) it is unlikely you have access to your office using the internet as a medium* (See below). If you have NON-NAT then you will need a firewall as you can access your office from anywhere in the world using Terminal Server, view your Exchange messages from anywhere using Internet Explorer, access your office via VPN etc but stop unauthorised access from 3^rd parties.

In essence if you have NAT you do not need a Firewall as you are hidden, in most other cases you should have a firewall. If you are unsure please call us for free advice in securing your environment.

What risk am I really at?

Hard question, but in all honesty if you should have a Firewall but decide not to install one then you are at risk from attack. Many attackers probe a your internet connection to see if it protected or is open to attack. Without a firewall it is possible for "viruses" to make their way into your system and then rely all usernames / passwords, connection info in an undetected email to the sender (this is far easier than you would think). A firewall stops these and most other types of attacks in their path. Once an attacker has all the details, then they can do anything they wish to your system, including stopping your backup for several weeks (see our services about this) without your knowledge and then eventually erase of all your data. With no backup you cannot retrieve your data. What would this cost your company? It makes a firewall a very cheap investment.

Conclusion: If your office should have a firewall then you must get one. To think that you will be safe from attack because you are not a large corporate enterprise is nothing but a false sense of security. If you are in a serviced office or connect to the internet via a router such as a Cisco router then check with the company who installed it if it is firewalled. After all, prevention is always better than cure.

I am still not sure if I need a firewall?

Please give us a call and we can advise you what setup you have as well as supply and install a firewall if required. This is a service we offer for home users as well as the corporate office.

Don’t put your data at risk when a cost effective prevention is available to all sizes of company.

What types of Viruses are there?

The answer is hundreds. The two most common are Worms' & Trojan Horses. Worms as a rule infect email programs like MS Outlook. They work in two ways. The first is to makes changes to files on your PC or delete files and then look up all your contacts in your address book and sends emails out to all of them without your knowledge. Trojan Horses infect your PC and then email details of your accounts, network, passwords and other details to the sender. Nasty if you store your account details on your PC. Most of the other types of viruses are designed to slow your PC down to a crawl, delete files and cause annoying issues on your system, but some are clever enough to trigger off on a particular day of the year and cause all kinds of problems. The cost of repairing the damage caused by some viruses can out way the cost of preventing it with software and service provider services.

How do I know if I have been affected?

With many viruses you may not know, until you receive a call from an irate client or friend your computer recently sent an email to relating to a message that should have gone elsewhere. But if all of a sudden your PC grinds to a halt even after a reboot then you could potentially have one.  If you are unsure and have problems on your PC and have not got up to date virus software installed please give us a call and we will diagnose the fault. A very high percentage usually results in a virus problem.

What measures can I take?

Antivirus Software is the key! If you are a home user or office user you should install antivirus software on your PC's and servers. It is then up to you ensure that the Virus Definitions (these protect your from viruses) are up to date. You can set this up to be automatic, but sometimes the updates do not work and you could be crippled. Corporate Antivirus should be used for central management so everything is handled in one place. This is a centralized system that updates all your users PC's for you. This should however, like all antivirus software, be maintained as updates may fail leaving you open to attack (yes we can monitor your updates are working on a daily basis as well as help and advise you on installing the correct product for your home or office systems services section)

Other measures are; a) do not open file attachments you are unsure of, in particular if you never heard of the company or sender. Use caution. b) Avoid websites of dubious nature, in particular pornographic web sites. c) Ensure auto protect is turned on, on your antivirus software. d) Update you antivirus software at least once a week e) If you hear of a threat then update as often as you can manually by running a live update.

FYI. Clients under contract with Blue Diamond IT, have their antivirus software monitored daily and should a bout of viruses come along then we manually update all our sites as soon as a threat is known.

What are the risks?

Extremely high, the average company can expect to receive half a dozen to dozens a day, most of which are quarantined and then deleted from the system without the user ever knowing. The costs of the not having antivirus can run into thousands if not a lot worse. The cost of not looking after your antivirus will lead to the same result. It’s no good having it if nobody is checking it is being updated.

Backups are essential to any network or data which you cannot afford to lose. Should you ever lose a file or your system crashes it is the backup that will save the day. Large companies spend a small fortune on backing up their system, buying tapes and storage and larger companies still, have an entire budget dedicated to backup. A backup could save your company is the unlikely event of a system failure or data corruption or even an accidental deletion by a user.

No matter how big or small your company is your data is just as important.

What types of backups are there?

Backup's range from simple floppy disk backup to offline backup stored at another location away from your office. Most companies have a tape backup which is sufficient. There are also many other ways of backup to keep your data safe and secure. Feel free to give us a call to find out the various options that suit your specific needs.

How can I perform a backup?

There are two main methods, manually or automatically. For personnel PC data the easiest method is manually so you can backup your data when you seek fit. If large amounts of data are stored on a server then an automated approach is much preferred. The reason for this is that backups use the Servers resources and may lock out the files whilst they are being backed up. As a consequence of this almost all backups run in the early hours of the morning, when most users are not working.

How often should I perform a backup?

Daily. Well at the minimum if using an automated system you should backup Monday to Friday. You need to change you backup tapes daily but many companies do not work in the office on Saturday and Sunday so it becomes impractical to change the tapes on these days. You should also replace your tapes on a regular basis they have a limited lifespan too.

How should I store my tapes?

At the minimum tapes should be stored in a safe, dry, fireproof place such as a secure safe that is not likely to be stolen. Ideally tapes should be stored off-site in case of fire, theft or other damage to your building. If you building is for some reason destroyed, you may lose you computers but at least your data will be safe allowing you to get back up and running quickly. Your data and information on your computers is usually worth much more than the computers themselves. You can replace your computers but you can’t replace your data without a backup.

What else should I do?

Backup's can and do fail. Files do fail to get written to tape. These all need checking. Again Blue Diamond IT can monitor and respond to failed backups. It is surprising how many companies feel that all they have to do is put their tapes in and that is that. It may say your backup is complete but have you tried to get a file back from it? We can check that your backups work and data can be restored.

 

 

From buying a printer to moving office and installing a new network, Blue Diamond IT can help. We have the knowledge and experience to advise you no matter how small or large your consultancy needs are. Rather than just advise you, we ask the relevant questions to ensure that the advise you get covers all the angles. We can liaise with all the companies involved in your project to keep everything on track and a view on the bigger picture.

Many companies suffer from having to deal with several ‘support’ companies, each blaming each other when there are problems. Blue Diamond IT provides a ‘total’ service where we are happy to liaise with your existing ‘support’ companies. For example, when your internet connection is down and you call the ISP does it all sound Double Dutch. Let us speak Dutch on your behalf and get the problem solved.

Blue Diamond IT has developed a unique Remote Monitoring service that allows us to watch over your system twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, checking on many items within your system such as backup, anti virus, critical errors, disk space and many others with full reporting. Should your Server crash we are alerted in real time and can advise your designated contact. Where teamed with our Server Support we will provide resolution of the issue.

Blue Diamond IT understands that your time is valuable and shouldn't be spent on those IT related issues that seem to take up so much time. We can provide a regular visit to deal with all those IT issues. Included within these visits are our system checks and housekeeping to ensure your system runs smoothly.