Does Anti-Virus make a difference?

Like so many of us in the profession, I was asked to look at friend’s computer. Nothing specific was wrong; she had just moved out of an “Friend/Ex-Friend’s” house. She was worried that they might have done something to her machine. So I started looking at it. Nothing looked really out of place. The owner would never install anything (including updates or e-mail links). So after updating everything, I started to scan for viruses and malware. That’s when I noticed that there was no anti-virus software. I thought that was odd because there was the update program. I asked if she had uninstalled it and she said, “no.” It then hit me:  the “evil plan” was to remove her anti-virus and trouble would soon follow.  Fortunately, her “safe-surfing” habits of never opening or installing programs had saved her! Even after 3 months of surfing, she still had a clean machine. I guess this is pretty good evidence that “Safe-Surfing” and a little luck can keep you safe.

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Physical Security in MDF,IDF, and Phone rooms

Physical Security in MDF,IDF, and Phone rooms

All the companies that I’ve worked for have had the policy of “Never leave unauthorized people alone in the MDF’s, IDF’s , and the phone room’s. “ That being said, over the past year or so I’ve been talking to Phone Guy’s/Gal’s and such that have come to do work in these “sensitive areas.”

I asked them “How many companies require someone be with them? The answer is about half. That doesn’t seem very good. So then I start asking about the people that hang out with them. It seems that again only about half are computer and/or phone people. It seems odd that you would put a guard on the worker that doesn’t know anything about phones and computers.