Big Tips and Ideas for Small to Mid-size Businesses

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1 Big Tips and Ideas for Small to Mid-size Businesses MAY NEWSLETTER 2014 IN THIS ISSUE Security Advisory: Microsoft Warns of Attack on Internet Explorer Ignoring Social Media, SEO can make your business Extinct Why Choose Symantec Cloud Solutions? 33 Elizabeth Street, 2 nd Floor Derby, CT Eva Andrews, Director, Business Development eandrews@brunerconsulting.com (203) or (800) FAX: (203) Web:

2 Security Advisory: Microsoft Warns of Zero Day Attack on Internet Explorer Microsoft has just released a Security Advisory that warns about a significant vulnerability detected this past weekend. The flaw enables remote code executions in Microsoft's Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11. At this point, Microsoft it is "aware of limited, targeted attacks" using the IE flaw. "An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights." Why is this an important announcement? Microsoft has released a patch for this issue as of 4/28/14). As a precaution, always exercise discretion when opening s or surfing on the web. Be aware that when a patch will be issued, it will NOT apply to Windows XP. This goes for other future threats, too! If you are on Windows XP, discontinue using Internet Explorer from now on. If on Windows XP, give serious consideration to upgrading your machine for security's sake. Other workaround that Bruner Consulting Associates can assist with. If you have a problem running Internet Explorer, you should set the Internet and Local intranet security zone settings to "High" to block ActiveX Controls and Active Scripting in these zones. The Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit v4.1 should be installed. However, it only works with IE 10 and IE 11. AND it is NOT a fix for Windows XP inasmuch as Windows XP only supports version 8 and lower. Ignoring social media, SEO can make your business extinct Want to hurt your small business? Be a social media dinosaur. That s the message from Forbes contributor Larry Myler, who recently wrote a column about how important it is for business owners to embrace both social media and SEO based content. Businesses that rely on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to communicate with customers give themselves an edge today, Myler wrote. And those who work with outside companies to boost the SEO strength of their webpages gain yet one more tool to help them reach success.

3 The history of business tech Myler illustrates his column with what he calls a brief history of business technology. In the late 1980s, he writes, businesses needed a fax machine and a fax number on their business cards to survive. In the late 1990s, businesses needed a website. In the late 2000s, business needed proactive plans to manage their social media. And in the late 2010s? Myler writes that if you still have a fax machine and a fax number on your business cards that you re in serious trouble. Why social media matters Businesses need to increase their social media footprints today, Myler writes. It s the best, and most economical, way for them to reach current and potential customers. Through sites such as Twitter and Facebook, businesses can inform their customers of upcoming sales and events, they can advertise new products and they can engage their paying customers in dialogue. It s a way to makes customers feel closer to businesses. SEO issues SEO is important, too. You want potential customers to be able to find your business website, blog and social media pages online. SEO gives you the best chances of luring all those Google searchers to your business online homes. Myler states that it s a good investment to spend on a qualified SEO firm to help make your company s website more visible. Why Choose Symantec Cloud Solutions? Symantec provides your small business with a variety of security and backup solutions to manage technology at a lower overhead, and with fewer resources. Symantec cloud solutions come with 24/7 customer support, and 100% uptime SLAs. Symantec cloud solutions protect over 31,000 organizations and 10.9 million users across the globe from spam, phishing, viruses, malware, spyware, inappropriate Web use, and data loss. Is Symantec Cloud Solutions Right For Me? I do not want to invest in expensive hardware solutions. Will my remote employees have access to cloud data? Our cloud solutions do not require any hardware required. You only pay for the amount of service you require. Your employees can have secure access to your information anytime, anywhere. Our solutions adapt as your business scale changes. Will the solutions keep pace with the growth of my Storage space and licenses can be updated on an asneeded business? basis. I am concerned about the security of the information in the cloud question. Your sensitive information is safe.

4 Cloud Solutions at Work It s 2:00 a.m. and a new virus is hitting the Internet from the other side of the world. Symantec is already on top of it, seamlessly updating your systems through the cloud while you sleep easy. At 7:30 a.m., you open your to find out what events have transpired the night before. Threats averted business as usual. Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition 2013 at work. An employee is surfing websites during their lunch break, and inadvertently clicks on a link that attempts to install a virus into your company s system. Not to worry. Symantec discovers and blocks it immediately, without requiring you to do anything. Symantec Endpoint Security Small Business Edition 2013 at work. You get hit with a lawsuit, and your lawyer needs to review all communication between the parties. Your complete , instant message, and collaborative interchange archives give you access to all relevant communication instantly, even though s have been deleted from personal accounts. Symantec Enterprise Vault cloud at work. Get Symantec Cloud Products Advanced Endpoint Protection Delivered through the Cloud Simple, fast, and effective protection for your laptops, desktops, and servers from viruses and malware. Easy to manage and easy to use, you can protect your systems in minutes. Automatic updates help keep you focused on running your business. Message Archival and Easy Retrieval Easy, automated, cloud-based archival to save on storage and compliance costs. Your employees communicate through , collaboration applications and instant messaging, so messaging is an important repository. Symantec will ensure you never lose it.

5 To opt out of this newsletter, please send to and enter (Unsubscribe) in the subject line. 33 Elizabeth St. 2 nd Floor Derby, CT Eva Andrews, Director, Business Development eandrews@brunerconsulting.com (203) or (800) FAX: (203) Web: