NBC Philadelphia - Tracy Davidson
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Showing posts with label 905 geek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 905 geek. Show all posts
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Expert Explains Webcam Spying Software
An expert from Geeks on Call explains how software used to turn on your webcam into a spying device.
NBC Philadelphia - Tracy Davidson
NBC Philadelphia - Tracy Davidson
Friday, February 19, 2010
Zeus Trojan found on 74,000 PCs in global botnet
More than 74,000 PCs at nearly 2,500 organizations around the globe were compromised over the past year and a half in a botnet infestation designed to steal login credentials to bank sites, social networks, and e-mail systems, a security firm said Wednesday.
The systems were infected with the Zeus Trojan and the botnet was dubbed “Kneber” after a username that linked the infected PCs on corporate and government systems, according to NetWitness.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Merck, Cardinal Health, Paramount Pictures, and Juniper Networks were among the targets in the attack. NetWitness speculated that criminals in Eastern Europe using a command-and-control server in Germany sent attachments containing the malware in e-mails or links to the malware on Web sites that employees within the companies clicked on.
NetWitness said it discovered more than 75 gigabytes worth of stolen data during routine analytic tasks as part of an evaluation of a client network on January 26. The cache of stolen data included 68,000 corporate login credentials, access to e-mail systems, online banking sites, Facebook, Yahoo, Hotmail, 2,000 SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate files and data on individuals, NetWitness said in a statement and in a whitepaper available for download from its Web site.
In addition to stealing specific data, Zeus can be used to search for and steal any file on the computer, download and execute programs and allow someone to remotely control the computer.
More than half of the compromised machines were also infected with peer-to-peer bot malware called Waledac, the company said. Nearly 200 countries were affected, with most of the infections found in Egypt, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States.
The news comes after Google announced an attack targeting it and what is believed to be more than 30 other companies and which was linked back to China. McAfee dubbed that attack “Operation Aurora.”
“While Operation Aurora shed light on advanced threats from sponsored adversaries, the number of compromised companies and organizations pales in comparison to this single botnet,” said Amit Yoran, chief executive of NetWitness and former Director of the National Cyber Security Division. “These large-scale compromises of enterprise networks have reached epidemic levels.”
February 17, 2010 6:59 PM PST
by Elinor Mills
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
Broad New Hacking Attack Detected
Global Offensive Snagged Corporate, Personal Data at nearly 2,500 Companies; Operation Is Still Running
Hackers in Europe and China successfully broke into computers at nearly 2,500 companies and government agencies over the last 18 months in a coordinated global attack that exposed vast amounts of personal and corporate secrets to theft, according to a computer-security company that discovered the breach.
The damage from the latest cyberattack is still being assessed, and affected companies are still being notified. But data compiled by NetWitness, the closely held firm that discovered the breaches, showed that hackers gained access to a wide array of data at 2,411 companies, from credit-card transactions to intellectual property.
The hacking operation, the latest of several major hacks that have raised alarms for companies and government officials, is still running and it isn’t clear to what extent it has been contained, NetWitness said. Also unclear is the full amount of data stolen and how it was used. Two companies that were infiltrated, pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. and Cardinal Health Inc., said they had isolated and contained the problem.
Starting in late 2008, hackers operating a command center in Germany got into corporate networks by enticing employees to click on contaminated Web sites, email attachments or ads purporting to clean up viruses, NetWitness found.
In more than 100 cases, the hackers gained access to corporate servers that store large quantities of business data, such as company files, databases and email.
They also broke into computers at 10 U.S. government agencies. In one case, they obtained the user name and password of a soldier’s military email account, NetWitness found. A Pentagon spokesman said the military didn’t comment on specific threats or intrusions.
At one company, the hackers gained access to a corporate server used for processing online credit-card payments. At others, stolen passwords provided access to computers used to store and swap proprietary corporate documents, presentations, contracts and even upcoming versions of software products, NetWitness said.
Data stolen from another U.S. company pointed to an employee’s apparent involvement in criminal activities; authorities have been called in to investigate, NetWitness said. Criminal groups have used such information to extort sensitive information from employees in the past.
The spyware used in this attack allows hackers to control computers remotely, said Amit Yoran, chief executive of NetWitness. NetWitness engineer Alex Cox said he uncovered the scheme Jan. 26 while installing technology for a large corporation to hunt for cyberattacks.
That discovery points to the growing number of attacks in recent years that have drafted computers into cyber armies known as botnets—intrusions not blocked by standard antivirus software. Researchers estimate millions of computers are conscripted into these armies.
“It highlights the weaknesses in cyber security right now,” said Adam Meyers, a senior engineer at government contractor SRA International Inc. who reviewed the NetWitness data. “If you’re a Fortune 500 company or a government agency or a home DSL user, you could be successfully victimized.”
Disclosure of the attack comes on the heels of Google Inc.’s allegation that it and more than 20 other companies were breached by Chinese hackers. This operation appears to be more far-reaching, infiltrating some 75,000 computers and touching 196 countries. The highest concentrations of infected computers are in Egypt, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the U.S.
NetWitness, based in Herndon, Va., said it was sharing information with the companies infected. Mr. Yoran declined to name them. The company provides computer security for U.S. government agencies and companies. Mr. Yoran is a former Air Force officer who also served as cyber security chief at the Department of Homeland Security.
Besides Merck and Cardinal Health, people familiar with the attack named several other companies infiltrated, including Paramount Pictures and software company Juniper Networks Inc.
Merck said in a statement that one computer had been infected. It said it had isolated the attack and that “no sensitive information was compromised.”
Cardinal said it removed the infected computer from its network. Paramount declined to comment. Juniper’s security chief, Barry Greene, wouldn’t speak about any specific incidents but said the company worked aggressively to counter infections.
Journal CommunityDISCUSS
“The key is not to pour money into protecting information, but to develop a global approach to neutralizing its value. By creating secrets, we have created value, which is pursued by opportunists. ”
—John M. Brock
NetWitness, which does extensive work for the U.S. government and private-sector clients, said it was sharing its information with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI said it received numerous allegations about potential compromises of network systems and responded promptly, in coordination with law-enforcement partners.
The computers were infected with spyware called ZeuS, which is available free on the Internet in its basic form. It works with the FireFox browser, according to computer-security firm SecureWorks. This version included a $2,000 feature that works with FireFox, according to SecureWorks.
Evidence suggests an Eastern European criminal group is behind the operation, likely using some computers in China because it’s easier to operate there without being caught, said NetWitness’s Mr. Yoran.
There are some electronic fingerprints suggesting the same group was behind a recent effort to dupe government officials and others into downloading spyware via emails purporting to be from the National Security Agency and the U.S. military, NetWitness’s Mr. Yoran said.
That attack was described in a Feb. 5 report from the Department of Homeland Security, which said it was issuing an alert to the government and other organizations to “prevent further compromises.”
A DHS official said that ZeuS was among the top five reported tools for malware infections.
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Call us today 1-800-905-GEEK (4335) or visit us online www.geeksoncall.com
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Geeks On Call Strengthens Its Position Since Acquisition
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the late-fall acquisition by On Call Holdings International, LLC (OCHI), Geeks On Call has reorganized, refocused and is methodically expanding its reach of businesses and the services it provides.
"We will be the premiere provider for small and medium-sized businesses for both technical support and telecommunications services," announced OCHI CEO Glenn Davis. "The Geeks On Call brand will continue to provide expert assistance for the individual user, but the partnerships we've created will expand services for business telecom needs." Davis has revamped the Geeks On Call website, www.geeksoncall.com, to make it more interactive and user friendly.
Davis was the President of Comverge, a successful telecommunications firm based in Hampton Roads, Virginia, which has provided business telecom services for the past eight years. He initiated the Geeks On Call acquisition with the goals of returning the organization to profitability, renewing the partnership and connection with franchisees, and growing the business model to a more modern marketplace. The deal included all of the franchise agreements, trademarks and brand of Geeks On Call.
"It's honestly a case study of how to make a deal to turn a company around," explained Davis. "But the hardest work was to restore confidence of our franchisees."
Goal number one was to repair, strengthen and reenergize the existing 129 franchises, and earn their trust in Davis' business model and his plans for profitability. To date, franchisees have been excited and positive about the new leadership and the positive direction. In just a few short months, Geeks On Call has grown to 190 franchises.
On Call Holding International's next step will be to maximize existing partnerships to grow Geeks On Call into servicing small and medium-size businesses with technical support and telecommunications services.
It's a part of business services that Davis' team knows all too well. "I thought the marriage of the Geeks On Call technical expertise and our experience in business telecom was a natural fit," explained Davis.
Leveraging partnerships with companies like Qwest, ACC - an AT&T company, Paetec and Cavalier Telephone will bring substantial benefits to clients. Geeks On Call plans to consider additional franchisees by the end of the second quarter.
CONTACT: Brian Kirwin, +1-757-718-3225, brian@rourkpr.com, for Geeks On Call
SOURCE Geeks On Call
RELATED LINKShttp://www.geeksoncall.com/
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Philadelphia Geeks On Call Owner, Guy Dunn Makes Headlines
Below is an exerpt from "A Cup of Cappuccino for the Entrepreneur's Spirit Volume II"
The Idea Guy - Guy Dunn
When I was a young boy of eleven, my dad worked in New York’s
garment district dispatching people for his employers. Although he was a very driven man and was making a lot of money for other people, my dad was bringing home a pittance. He soon realized his situation and didn’t like it one bit, especially since he had five children he wanted to send to college. You see, my dad grew up poor in Brooklyn and never went to college, but he had a dream that he could provide the opportunity of higher education to his children and to his nieces and nephews.
My dad decided he’d rather make money for himself than for his employer, so he quit his job and started his own business, Hour Power. This unskilled labor employment agency lasted about two years until my dad noticed many of the jobs he received were for cleaning offices. At this point, he folded Hour Power into Dunn and Sons Maintenance, a janitorial business owned jointly with one of his brothers and one of his sisters. He always said, “Office cleaning is one business that will never go away.”
Through relationships he developed, he became aware of the federal Small Business Administration 8(a) program. This program sets aside government contracts for companies owned and operated by disadvantaged individuals. SBA 8(a), as it is known, was geared toward minorities in the 1970s and my dad took full advantage of it. He became a star in the program and within a few years was grossing two million dollars annually.
By this time, I was in high school and all my brothers and sisters and many of my cousins worked in the family business. Growing up during this period meant we all worked from a young age. You name it, we cleaned it: offices, factories, stores, and construction sites. I enjoyed working; I liked making my own money and I loved the independence it gave me. Unlike some fathers, my dad didn’t give us an allowance; he allowed us to work and earn our money. I always respected him for that.
During my senior year, I was in a class called “distributive education.” Through this program I got a job working as a teller at a local bank. I worked there for about one year and, although I liked it, I didn’t enjoy having other people control my professional life. It was then I decided I was going to own a business. I knew it meant a lot of hard work, but I also knew the level of independence it provided. It was then I started to plan.
After high school, I decided I was going to Morehouse College. In my youthful arrogance, I applied only to Morehouse and nowhere else—it was risky, but I was confident they would never turn me down! I also knew going in that I would graduate with an accounting degree, work for my dad for a couple of years, and then start my own business. And that is what I did. When I came out of college in four years with my accounting degree from Morehouse, I worked under my brother as Assistant Controller for Dunn and Sons.
By this time the company was making about five million dollars annually and I learned a lot, including how to juggle priorities. In small businesses there are ebbs and flows in the cash flow cycle and they can make or break a business. My job was to monitor the cash flow on a daily basis to determine who to pay. I had to anticipate payroll and payable needs and then coordinate them with receivables and our line of credit. To me it was great and I loved the challenge. I developed spreadsheets to manage the process and enjoyed the science of it. I was enamored with creating formulas and projections that I monitored to help run this million-dollar business.
While working in my dad’s business, I also had my own businesses. I started my first venture, Positive Image Resumes, with a friend. With the invention of desktop computers, I saw an opportunity: people needed resumes, they needed them on the fly, usually in quantity, but they didn’t have the equipment to make it happen. We decided to purchase a couple of computers and provide a resume writing and printing service. We each chipped in from our savings to buy computers and supplies. It was a small venture and while it didn’t make us rich, it allowed us to keep a few dollars in our pockets.
Around this same time I was dabbling in real estate and started another business with some of my father’s friends in Philadelphia. I had more ideas than time. One could say I was already a serial entrepreneur. One of my most successful projects began as a cleaning business in Philadelphia. Marion Scott and his wife wanted to grow their company through government contracting.
Since my dad was so successful in this area, he suggested I go to Philly to work with the Scotts. We wanted to replicate the success my dad achieved in northern New Jersey. Our journey began in the living room of the Scott’s house as we launched Scott and Sons Maintenance.
Like my father before me, I went to the Small Business Administration to apply for the 8(a) program. Through a friend of a friend of my father’s, we were ushered through the process of getting into the program. This connection at the SBA proved to be a great asset to us. He helped us get into agencies and advocated for us. I’m sure if we didn’t have him, or someone like him, on our side we wouldn’t have achieved the success we did. This experience proved to me at an early age that success largely depends on relationships and how you work them to your advantage.
We grew the business from nothing to eight million dollars within nine years. We became one of the fastest growing companies in the Philadelphia region by listening to those who helped us, paying attention to our customers’ needs, and learning from the mistakes of others.
I was the initial Controller because of my accounting background. I had a good handle on the financial aspects of a small operation and I put together proposals and bids for our contracts. I actually enjoyed the work because it was simple and concrete. I enjoyed manipulating the numbers to give various scenarios based on all of our available options and then deciding on winning strategies.
We won contract after contract based on our relationships, our proposal writing, and our reputation. I was proud to be a part of an organization that was considered one of the best. We were very conscious of our customers’ needs and made customer satisfaction our number one concern. If necessary, I believed it was worth taking a small loss on a job if it meant maintaining a relationship or keeping our reputation intact. This did not happen often, but it did happen.
One of the other lessons I learned was the value of diversification. We started in the office cleaning business, but we evolved into a labor management company. We had a janitorial operation, but we also had grounds maintenance and food service divisions. Diversification is another area where our reputation, as well as
I also learned that financing is the key to managing growth and building a business. Here, I was able to utilize my accounting background and personal resources. In a pinch, my father had the ability to lend our company money. When we received our first large contract, I put the loan package together for our company. I shopped our package to twelve banks and was turned down at eleven of them. In spite of the numerous rejections, I always believed we would get the money we needed. Each time I kept going back and asking what I could have done to make our package better. Finally, one of the banks did give us a loan and from then on we were able to get money as we needed it. I was a whiz at making our statements look the way they needed to look to get to that yes answer.
After selling my interest in Scott and Sons Maintenance, I
As a serial entrepreneur, I have continued to be involved in many business opportunities. I am an entrepreneur first and foremost. I have spent most of my adult life running, managing, or showing people how to run a business. I am thankful to my dad for his example and for my focus and drive to succeed. I have lots of ideas. I just wish I had the time to implement them all!
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS: Hard Work, Drive, Focus, Perseverance, Determination, Reputation, Customer Service, Networking, Ideas
RECOMMENDED BOOK: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Follow Guy
The Idea Guy - Guy Dunn
When I was a young boy of eleven, my dad worked in New York’s
garment district dispatching people for his employers. Although he was a very driven man and was making a lot of money for other people, my dad was bringing home a pittance. He soon realized his situation and didn’t like it one bit, especially since he had five children he wanted to send to college. You see, my dad grew up poor in Brooklyn and never went to college, but he had a dream that he could provide the opportunity of higher education to his children and to his nieces and nephews.My dad decided he’d rather make money for himself than for his employer, so he quit his job and started his own business, Hour Power. This unskilled labor employment agency lasted about two years until my dad noticed many of the jobs he received were for cleaning offices. At this point, he folded Hour Power into Dunn and Sons Maintenance, a janitorial business owned jointly with one of his brothers and one of his sisters. He always said, “Office cleaning is one business that will never go away.”
Through relationships he developed, he became aware of the federal Small Business Administration 8(a) program. This program sets aside government contracts for companies owned and operated by disadvantaged individuals. SBA 8(a), as it is known, was geared toward minorities in the 1970s and my dad took full advantage of it. He became a star in the program and within a few years was grossing two million dollars annually.
By this time, I was in high school and all my brothers and sisters and many of my cousins worked in the family business. Growing up during this period meant we all worked from a young age. You name it, we cleaned it: offices, factories, stores, and construction sites. I enjoyed working; I liked making my own money and I loved the independence it gave me. Unlike some fathers, my dad didn’t give us an allowance; he allowed us to work and earn our money. I always respected him for that.
During my senior year, I was in a class called “distributive education.” Through this program I got a job working as a teller at a local bank. I worked there for about one year and, although I liked it, I didn’t enjoy having other people control my professional life. It was then I decided I was going to own a business. I knew it meant a lot of hard work, but I also knew the level of independence it provided. It was then I started to plan.
After high school, I decided I was going to Morehouse College. In my youthful arrogance, I applied only to Morehouse and nowhere else—it was risky, but I was confident they would never turn me down! I also knew going in that I would graduate with an accounting degree, work for my dad for a couple of years, and then start my own business. And that is what I did. When I came out of college in four years with my accounting degree from Morehouse, I worked under my brother as Assistant Controller for Dunn and Sons.
By this time the company was making about five million dollars annually and I learned a lot, including how to juggle priorities. In small businesses there are ebbs and flows in the cash flow cycle and they can make or break a business. My job was to monitor the cash flow on a daily basis to determine who to pay. I had to anticipate payroll and payable needs and then coordinate them with receivables and our line of credit. To me it was great and I loved the challenge. I developed spreadsheets to manage the process and enjoyed the science of it. I was enamored with creating formulas and projections that I monitored to help run this million-dollar business.
While working in my dad’s business, I also had my own businesses. I started my first venture, Positive Image Resumes, with a friend. With the invention of desktop computers, I saw an opportunity: people needed resumes, they needed them on the fly, usually in quantity, but they didn’t have the equipment to make it happen. We decided to purchase a couple of computers and provide a resume writing and printing service. We each chipped in from our savings to buy computers and supplies. It was a small venture and while it didn’t make us rich, it allowed us to keep a few dollars in our pockets.
Around this same time I was dabbling in real estate and started another business with some of my father’s friends in Philadelphia. I had more ideas than time. One could say I was already a serial entrepreneur. One of my most successful projects began as a cleaning business in Philadelphia. Marion Scott and his wife wanted to grow their company through government contracting.
Since my dad was so successful in this area, he suggested I go to Philly to work with the Scotts. We wanted to replicate the success my dad achieved in northern New Jersey. Our journey began in the living room of the Scott’s house as we launched Scott and Sons Maintenance.
Like my father before me, I went to the Small Business Administration to apply for the 8(a) program. Through a friend of a friend of my father’s, we were ushered through the process of getting into the program. This connection at the SBA proved to be a great asset to us. He helped us get into agencies and advocated for us. I’m sure if we didn’t have him, or someone like him, on our side we wouldn’t have achieved the success we did. This experience proved to me at an early age that success largely depends on relationships and how you work them to your advantage.
We grew the business from nothing to eight million dollars within nine years. We became one of the fastest growing companies in the Philadelphia region by listening to those who helped us, paying attention to our customers’ needs, and learning from the mistakes of others.
I was the initial Controller because of my accounting background. I had a good handle on the financial aspects of a small operation and I put together proposals and bids for our contracts. I actually enjoyed the work because it was simple and concrete. I enjoyed manipulating the numbers to give various scenarios based on all of our available options and then deciding on winning strategies.
We won contract after contract based on our relationships, our proposal writing, and our reputation. I was proud to be a part of an organization that was considered one of the best. We were very conscious of our customers’ needs and made customer satisfaction our number one concern. If necessary, I believed it was worth taking a small loss on a job if it meant maintaining a relationship or keeping our reputation intact. This did not happen often, but it did happen.
One of the other lessons I learned was the value of diversification. We started in the office cleaning business, but we evolved into a labor management company. We had a janitorial operation, but we also had grounds maintenance and food service divisions. Diversification is another area where our reputation, as well as
I also learned that financing is the key to managing growth and building a business. Here, I was able to utilize my accounting background and personal resources. In a pinch, my father had the ability to lend our company money. When we received our first large contract, I put the loan package together for our company. I shopped our package to twelve banks and was turned down at eleven of them. In spite of the numerous rejections, I always believed we would get the money we needed. Each time I kept going back and asking what I could have done to make our package better. Finally, one of the banks did give us a loan and from then on we were able to get money as we needed it. I was a whiz at making our statements look the way they needed to look to get to that yes answer.
After selling my interest in Scott and Sons Maintenance, I
As a serial entrepreneur, I have continued to be involved in many business opportunities. I am an entrepreneur first and foremost. I have spent most of my adult life running, managing, or showing people how to run a business. I am thankful to my dad for his example and for my focus and drive to succeed. I have lots of ideas. I just wish I had the time to implement them all!
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS: Hard Work, Drive, Focus, Perseverance, Determination, Reputation, Customer Service, Networking, Ideas
RECOMMENDED BOOK: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Follow Guy
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