News IT: A Bright Spot in an Economic Slowdown The economy might have slowed to a crawl, or even begun to recede, but productivity remains solid, thanks to technology. It's a lesson CIOs must share with their bosses. "Typically in recessions, productivity--the output squeezed from each hour of each worker's day--shrinks, because output stalls faster than companies can trim fat," writes Mark Gongloff in The Wall Street Journal. "That changed with the 1990s technology boom; productivity grew like it was on steroids in the 2001 recession. Something similar, though less dramatic, has happened in this slowdown. Even as the economy has spun its wheels for the past three quarters, productivity has surged." The government reported Tuesday that nonfarm business productivity rose last quarter by 3.2 percent from the first quarter of 2007, the biggest jump since the second quarter of 2004. Gongloff sees the gain was a testimony to the lasting power of the tech boom But the nearly two-decade-old productivity boost from technology may soon vanish. "The catch is that after gorging on tech in the 1990s, businesses have invested more daintily in recent years," he writes. "That could eventually hurt productivity." Indeed, as long as CEOs and corporate boards see technology spending as an expense and not an investment, the true value IT brings to the enterprise in productivity and costs savings won't be realized. "Companies understand that IT produces value, but they view IT as a cost because it's so much harder to figure out where the value shows up in terms they can get their hands on," says economist and metrics guru Howard Rubin, in an interview with CIO Insight. "They gravitate to what's tangible, and what's tangible is the budget item. "When you look at annual reports, go to 'operating expense.' First you find 'compensation,' and then you find 'communications and technology.' IT, also through accounting principles, just makes itself look like a cost. The businesses themselves aren't necessarily cost-focused: IT shows up as a cost and finding the value is much more elusive; it's a self-feeding system." By Eric Chabrow on June 4, 2008 9:46 AM TJX Security Was 'Inadequate' Sicoir Tip: If you are a business still using WEP for your wireless security (or even worse, if you don't know), read this article and consider the consequences of not protecting your customers/clients data. Just days after TJX Companies reached a tentative settlement with millions of consumers who had their credit or debit card data stolen, the Canadian government issued a report Tuesday of its investigation into the company's security troubles that lead to the breach in the first place... Full story You think your wireless connection is secure? WEP: Cracked in 60 Seconds Long story short... "WEP should not be used. It's better than no security, but it's also close to no security if you've got trespassers with enough desire and smarts." Full story Cisco/Linksys routers threatened by drive-by pharming according to Symantec Cisco Systems is advising customers to change the default user names and passwords on their routers to guard against a new attack technique Symantec Corp. and Indiana University warned about last week. Symantec and the university said millions of broadband users are at risk for a new kind of attack called drive-by pharming, which targets password weaknesses in the victim's router. Cisco released its own advisory saying that 77 of its routers are susceptible to the attack. [Sicoir Note: The study claims 50% of the population's routers are problematic... I'm guessing that number might be a bit higher yet.] Full story Thinking about an upgrade to Vista? If you are considering an upgrade to Microsoft's newest version of Windows, try their upgrade advisor first (link to the right). The upgrade advisor will tell you whether your computer is equipped to handle Windows Vista and if not, why not. Maybe it's something as simple as a memory upgrade or video card upgrade... either way, Sicoir can help make your transition smooth. Full story Unprotected Computer Leads to Police Raid A Denver (CO) woman was surprised when four armed Boulder County sheriffs with a search warrant knocked on her door and demanded she turn over her computer. The woman's computer was apparently infected and being used to make fraudulent purchases with a stolen credit card. The woman said she had removed a firewall from her computer because it made the machine run too slowly. Sicoir Tech Note: Need any more incentive to keep your anti-virus up-to-date? If you notice your computer running slow, please bring it to us or another qualified technician to ensure you don't have viruses or spyware running on it. Full story Disabling Internet Explorer 7 from installing as an automatic update Details - The Blocker Toolkit will prevent machines from receiving Internet Explorer 7 as a high-priority update via Automatic Updates. ***Please note this method is an alternative to simply disabling Automatic Updates.*** How To 1) Click here to download the toolkit 2) Click 'Run' or 'Open' to automatically run the program after it is done downloading 3) You should receive a message stating "The operation completed successfully" if it worked FTC offers guidelines to reduce online shopping risks Online merchants may be ready for holiday season Web orders this year, but Grinches will also be on the Internet. Holiday shopping online is expected to reach new peaks this year, and with the surge comes concern over the safety of transactions, according to technology services company EDS Corp. and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), both of which have issued guidelines for Web shoppers. Note: The link to the FTC website/recommendations can be found at the bottom of the 'Full Story'. Full story