Next-Generation Firewalls

The humble firewall has come a long way since the packet-filtering days, originally founded in the 1980's. These early firewalls operated mainly on the first four layers of the OSI model, intercepting traffic and inspecting the properties of every packet to determine if they matched a pre-configured set of rules. Firewall development did not take a breather between then and the next-generation firewall of today. In fact, the ride from there to here has been largely organic – developments in firewall technology, intrusion detection and prevention, and user or content management have all been assimilated into the unified threat management (UTM) platform of today.

 Watch out for "Some Limitations Have Been Placed on Your Apple Account" E-mail Scam

This Tech Tip addresses some frequently asked questions about how to safeguard your computer data on a personal and business level.  First, it makes sense to designate one or two specific folders on your computer as the main folder for confidential file back-ups for several reasons.

Just because you have a backup and a disaster recovery plan doesn't mean that you’re fully-prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Hurricane Season is Here... Who Cares, Really?

At the end of June, I was in the garage looking for 4th of July decorations (per my wife's instructions) and I couldn't help but notice the hurricane shutters in the corner. As a Florida native, I have seen the terrible destruction that hurricanes can bring homes and businesses. And predictably, the "disaster marketing" engine started up last month with questions like "Are you ready for hurricane season?"

Cyber Security Workshop Coming to Businesses Near You

Last week, our own Master of Disaster, Jonathan Garber, presented a Cyber Security Workshop for the Florida Institute of CPA’s (FICPA). This was a CPE-certified course reviewing common system threats, with a general overview of all aspects of cyber security.

To most business owners who have spent years or decades and thousands of dollars

Time-Saving Tech Tips for Your Keyboard!

You're going to love these tips!  Check out some cool typing and keyboard shortcuts – some simple time-saving tricks you may not be aware of:

Websites are racing to patch the Heartbleed bug, the worst security hole the Internet has ever seen.  As sites fix the bug on their end, it's time for you to change your passwords. The Heartbleed bug allowed information leaks from a key safety feature that is supposed to keep your online communication private -- email, banking, shopping, and passwords.