New Phone Dialing Rules

In December 2009 there will be 2 new area codes available in Connecticut, 959 and 475.  With the addition of these 2 new area codes we will now need to dial 10 digits for all local calls made in Connecticut.

10 digit dialing for local calls will become effective on 11/14/09 here in Connecticut.  Most other areas of the country already use 10 digit dialing so we are just catching up.  It actually makes things easier for automated systems.

This means that systems that automatically dial out (to local numbers) may need to be changed to have the area code added to the local number.  These devices include modems, fax machines, security alarms, cell phone address books, phone system call forwarding, etc.

Windows 7 Countdown Widget

Conficker Worm Update

April 1st came and went without the Conficker Worm seeming to do anything. Often, when the media gets a hold of these things they get a little out of hand. Don't take that to mean that the Conficker Worm is not serious. It is. The problem is that the writers of this worm are very clever. They have been able to get this worm installed on millions of computers and the worm is just waiting for more commands from them.

Here are 2 videos put together by F-Secure, a major Internet security provider. You'll be amazed at how clever and tough to catch these guys are. However, as you will see, the good guys can be clever as well.

Video 1
Video 2

Microsoft Changes Windows XP Deadline...Again

Jun 09 was the latest date that Microsoft pegged for the end of Windows XP sales. Through that date system builders such as ourselves could sell workstations with Windows Vista but then apply downgrade rights and actually install Windows XP. This week Microsoft moved the date out to April 2010.

While I understand that many companies are reluctant to start migrating to Vista for various reasons, I do not think this is the best move for Microsoft. My reasoning may not be what you you expect. By continually extending the end of life of Windows XP, Microsoft is allowing major software vendors to continue to drag their feet in making sure their applications will run properly in Windows Vista and now Windows 7 which is expected to ship later this year.

If the April 09 date was kept, many major software vendors will still not be ready. This is just ridiculous. Windows Vista was released in 2007 and available to software vendors as far back as 2006 in beta versions. And at this point Windows Vista will be replaced with Windows 7 later this year. This affects you. If the June 08 date was kept, you would be in a situation where you would not be able to run these applications on new computers. This is not a good thing. Software vendors need to move faster in migrating to new operating systems. I don't think 4 years fast enough.

At least Windows 7 is fairly close to Windows Vista as far as software development is concerned, so software vendors should be able to migrate to Windows 7 fairly easily as long as they are at least close to rolling out there Windows Vista versions of their applications. Let's hope that is doesn't take another 4 years.

Conficker Worm In The News

On Sunday night, 60 Minutes aired a story on the Conficker Worm (a virus).  I thought the story had some pretty good information, although it came across as an ad for Symantec as well.  Here is a link to the segment of the show.

Conficker attacks a known issue in Windows that Microsoft created a patch for back in October 2008.  I posted an article here back in October that discussed how to get the patch and how to tell if the patch has been installed on your computer.  You can view that article here.

This worm is getting a bit of air play right now because one of the variants is expected to cause various types of issues on April 1st. 

So what should you do regarding this virus.  First, make sure you have the latest virus definition files for your AntiVirus software.  If you hover over or click on your AV icon on right side of your taskbar, you should see the version and possibly date of the last update.  Make sure it is recent.  Note that one of the symptoms of this virus is that it disables the updating portion of your AV program.  If you are not getting updates you may be infected.  The next thing is to make sure you have the latest Windows updates installed on your computer.  If you are on our Monitoring Service that includes updates, you should be all set.

Make sure your staff are aware of this issue.  Computer users need to be constantly reminded of safe computing practices.  Your computer usage policies need to be constantly reviewed to insure that you are protecting your IT assets as well as you can.

Let me ask this question.  You know those users that are logging in to your network from home.  Do they have the latest AV updates on their computers? The latest Windows updates?  Are they already infected and connecting in? 

How about the person that comes in to your office for what ever reason, the accountant, consultant, auditor.  If they connect their laptop to your network either by wireless or wire, can you answer the above questions?  Just something to think about.