Wait a Minute...I Didn't Send That!
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If you've ever received a return to sender email that indicated
your email message couldn't be delivered, but you never actually
sent the original message, then you've been Backscattered .
With nearly 87% of all email being classified as spam, the defense
against these nuisance messages has increased, but so have the
savvy methods of the spammers that send them. In order to get
past spam protection, spammers have found new means to get their
messages delivered. That's where backscatter comes into
play. If your email address is published anywhere on the web,
then you are a prime candidate for this rising trend. Since
spam filters have become more sophisticated and will reject
messages sent from phony domains, spammers have started to find
ways around this by sending from your REAL email
address.
Using legit email addresses found on the web and sending spam
emails "from" that return email address is how this all
starts. If the email is not deliverable for any reason, the
bounce back message is delivered to the email address that it
appears to have come from, which in many cases is an innocent
victim who didn't actually send the message. These return
emails are often from automated "Out of Office reply messages", old
email addresses that are no longer active, or email accounts that
require verification prior to delivering a message.
Though it is estimated that backscatter makes up only about 3% of
all spam, it can still cause major issues for companies. At a
minimum it is a disruption that can cause a user to worry if their
computer has been infected or hacked, but at its worst, backscatter
can bring a server down from the high traffic it creates. A
prime example of this extreme case occurred earlier this year to
Stephen Gielda, president of Packetderm, when his computer was
flooded with 10,000 bounce back messages per
second. Due to the high volume of email, the server's
Internet connection was throttled and Gielda was forced to take his
site off-line for an entire business week.
Though it is difficult to completely absolve any user of
backscatter, there are steps that can be taken to minimize the
risks involved. One proactive step you can take is to ensure
that your mail server is configured to reject these spam messages
rather than simply bounce them back. If you are unsure if your
organization is set up to appropriately reduce your risk, talk to
your IT support or contact ForeSite to learn more.
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Vista Replacing XP...Not Quite Yet.
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If you haven't already heard, June 30th was the "official" day
Windows XP went off the market. As of July 1st, (OEM's)
Original Equipment Manufacturers and Retail Channels are only
supposed to sell new PCs with the Vista Operating System.
However, the outcry of negative feedback about Vista has forced
Microsoft to offer an option to obtain an XP license for a new PC,
but it doesn't come without its share of frustration.
It all sounds simple enough. A license for XP is provided
with almost every copy of Vista Business or Vista Ultimate.
This can then be installed to "downgrade" the PC to utilize
XP. But, as PC World's Christopher Null has found, just
because manufacturers are allowed to install XP does not
necessarily mean that they will do so or that employees have been
trained to understand the surrounding policies and
procedures.
In his article "What Does it Take to Get a PC
with XP?" , Null spoke with the nine largest PC makers in the
U.S., including Dell, HP and Gateway, to find out just how simple
their downgrade policies appeared to be in writing, and how those
policies translated into actual customer service experience.
Read his article to find out which companies
were clear on their downgrade policies and offered helpful options,
and which companies you may just want to steer clear of until they
better understand how to deal with the inquisitive
consumer.
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Backup a Sec...You Can Do That Online?
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With the rapid increase of mobile workforces and
telecommuting, the need for a reliable remote backup solution has
never been higher. Traditional tape backup systems
located at corporate headquarters struggle to capture the
information of remote locations reliably, fighting firewall
configurations, VPN setups and bandwidth limitations. Online
backup solutions are becoming much more attractive options by
providing a means to backup remote information securely using only
your Internet connection. Added benefits include more
reliable data for restores and never having to remember to change
the backup tape again! If you find yourself worried about your data
backup and security contact ForeSite today for more details about
how we can help!
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Headquartered in East Hartford, CT,
ForeSite has been designing solutions and troubleshooting problems
for computers, networks and web sites, since 1997. We are committed
to providing personalized customer service and practical yet
insightful solutions which fit a wide range of business needs. With
the recent opening of our Worcester office, ForeSite continues to
provide premium technology solutions to the central Connecticut and
western Massachusetts regions.
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New Service Offering!
ForeSite VISION Program
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ForeSite has recently introduced a brand new
service offering, the ForeSite VISION program.
BENEFITS OF VISION INCLUDE:
- Proactive Remote Maintenance
To learn more about ForeSite's VISION program
contact us or call Rosey Das at
1-866-GO-4SITE x22
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Five Enhancements New in Word 2007
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1. Customize
Quick Access Toolbar:
The Quick Access toolbar, located in the upper left hand corner,
displays commonly used commands such as Save,
Open , and Print. You can
choose the dropdown located to the right of the toolbar to
customize the commands to include commonly used icons that don't
appear in the ribbons or are hard to find.
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2. Minimize Ribbon
The new Word 2007 ribbon can take up a lot of room. So to quickly
access more space, hold [Ctrl] [F1] keys and the ribbon will
automatically minimize. The same key combination will
maximize it again.
3. View Styles without Committing to
Them
The new Live Preview feature allows you to select
text you would like to format. Mouse over the Style selections and display the text in that style
without applying the changes.
4. Building Blocks Quickly Create Polished
Documents
Choose the Building Block
Organizer from the Quick Parts menu
on the Insert Ribbon. Here, you can
easily add built-in Cover Pages, Headers,
Footers, Tables, and much more. This is a great tool
to quickly build a professional looking document.
5. Enhanced Spell Checker
Spell
check has always been a great feature that is heavily relied upon
but has never caught the inevitable misuse of "to" instead of "too"
or "there" when it should have been "their". The new
Contextual Spell check now catches just such errors. Simply
go to the Word Options menu under the Microsoft Office Button
(replaced File Menu), choose Proofing in the left column,
and select the Use Contextual Spelling option.
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Check out ForeSite's Newest Web
Releases!
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