Category Archives: Definitions

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Should you Unsubscribe from SPAM?

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A reprint from the PC410 Security Newsletter:

Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no. Here’s how to tell the difference, and why.

First, definitions: SPAM is unsolicited, untargeted email, generally selling something. It’s named after an old Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch that featured a restaurant with vikings that repeatedly burst into song, singing about Spam, the meat product. They’re still doing it here:

There’s also HAM, which is targeted commercial email, or email that is pointed at someone who is a possible purchaser. A lot of this is completely legitimate, difficult to filter out, and safe to unsubscribe from. Most junk mail that gets past spam filters is ham, and much of the ham can be removed from your daily email.

Don’t Try to Unsubscribe from Everything

If the sender’s email in a spam is an address that has nothing to do with the product, it was probably sent out from a BotFarm of infected computers using stolen email services. Any reply to that just goes to the email server used by the infected computer. Don’t send replies; the owners of those systems have enough problems already–thousands of bounces and “I’m out of the office until…” messages are already clogging their systems. And don’t click any unsubscribe links in those messages, either; they’re either confirming that you read the message, so they can send more spam, or they will go nowhere. Just delete these messages.

If the sender is an actual company that you’ve done business with, and the unsubscribe link is to their own web address, or to a known good newsletter company, yes, click the link and unsubscribe. The best-known newsletter companies are Constant Contact, MailChimp, and MadMimi, and they take spam very seriously, and will honor your unsubscribe requests.

Some of the worst offenders are retail stores, and these are safe to try and unsubscribe from, but unless they’re using a service, their actual removal process may take weeks, or may not actually succeed. Resorting to a phone call is unlikely to work; contact your email provider for a block if the volume of HAM from any one company is annoying.

And a reminder: Float the mouse over a link, without clicking, and the destination should appear at the bottom of the screen. If it’s not going where you expect it should, it’s either evil, or it was sent by someone who doesn’t care about security. Just delete it and move on.

Backup Glossary: Pick Two Types

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by Jerry Stern
PC Systems Consultant, PC410.com
Westminster, Maryland

I’ve explained image backups here a few times, but a refresher is due: An image backup records the contents of an entire hard drive. It’s like a snapshot, so that if the drive stops working, the image can be copied back onto a replacement drive.

It’s a misleading term, because backup software products, mostly, don’t have that option. They each have a few options, and then the large-business products add more. It’s complex, but remember that two of these backup types are all you need, with one of them out of the building.

  • File Sync:  This is an uncompressed copy of a set of folders to a backup location. It’s a cheap version of replication, for documents only. For a very small network, the drive used as the backup can be switched into use as a very basic file server in a few minutes.
  • System Backup: Usually, this is a backup of Windows, the ‘C:’ partition, and documents and data stored in the default ‘Users’ folders. It doesn’t include the contents of other drive letters. This works as an image backup if the computer’s drive has no additional drive letters.

hard-drive-to-backup

  • Disk Backup: This is close to an image backup, but usually not reliable for bootable drives like C:, because not all backup software will restore the boot settings.
  • File Backup: Choose your folders. It’s a very targeted backup.
  • Replication: This is a virtual copy of a server, usually saved to a NAS/network-attached drive, or a SAN/storage-area-network (same thing, but more of them). When a server fails, the virtual copy can replace the original as an online (local or cloud) copy of the original server, and work well enough to make do until a new server can be put in place.
    Advantage over the other backup types: Speed, under 5 minutes downtime. Disadvantage: Cost: Around $200 per month for a single server, plus a pricey high-end network-attached drive.
  • Cloud Backup: That’s backup to backup servers on the internet, and it can run either nightly, or it can backup documents all day as you edit, and generally keeps multiple versions. Best for document backups, but not practical for image/system backups, because the volume of data to upload would be too large in most offices; it would use up all your data allowance on your internet connection, even on cable, which is usually limited to 250 Gb per month.

Way too many options, right? Again, most offices should pick two.

The choices are based on a few factors:

  • What risks you expect: Drive failures and cryptoware are the same problem, on one computer–everything is missing. Both require full-image backups and document backups. For a small network, replication of the file server is a better strategy.
  • What you back up: Documents and databases are handled in different ways, and the best backup for ‘nothing but spreadsheets’ is not adequate for a database.
  • How much you back up: How many users’ documents need to be backed up.
  • How much down time you can afford: How long until you need to be back in business after the lightning strike?
  • How many offices you have: Two offices can backup to each other, like a private cloud.
  • How much data you can afford to lose: If your answer is ‘one day of data entry’, nearly any nightly backup will work. If it’s ‘one second’ of work, you’re probably running a multi-national airline, and there are multi-continent real-time synchronization and automatic load-balancing and failure management systems for that, with more acronyms and unclear names.

Gift Idea for an Outdoor Lover – Solar Charger Backpack

Definitions

By Mike Drisgill

Have someone on your gift giving list that loves the outdoors? Help them to be actively energy efficient while being active. Enjoy the outdoors and preserve it at the same time. With this backpack you can protect yourself, your planet and your devices. Have a mobile charging station, hydration station, and a backpack all in one! Solar power is an abundant, clean and renewable source of power. Never be left with a dead battery again! Play music aloud on your hikes. Charge your battery during the soccer game so you can take twice as many videos!

Not recommended for night time use
🙂

 

solar

Get it now from Amazon!

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