Disaster Recovery Posts
Some say that we don’t really need to have antivirus software installed on our Mac simply because there is no way for a Mac to get virus.
Is this true or false?
After all, a safe environment from viruses is one reason why people generally switch from using the PC to Mac. From my research, I found that even Mac OS users can get viruses on their machine if one does not practice safe browsing, opens every single email attachments, or surf malicious sites.
Although there are fewer viruses written specifically to target the Macintosh OS, Mac viruses do exist. Cross-platfrom threats, such as many of the Office macro viruses, can also be a problem for Mac users. Because of this vulnerability, security companies have developed anti viruses for Mac users. As usual there are free and open source anti virus as well as those which you need to pay. The following is a list I’ve compiled:
Free and open source antivirus for Mac
- ClamXav - ClamXav is a free virus checker for Mac OS X. It uses the tried, tested and very popular ClamAV open source antivirus engine as a back end.
- MPP Free Edition 1.2.113 - MPP Free Edition is a high performance application that provides virus and spam protection with ClamAV and SpamAssassin, with GUI management, optional end-user review of virus and spam quarantines and many extras like email signatures, max file size limits, extnstion bloking and more. Think of the MPP Free Edition as an ultra-fast alternative to open source tools such as MailScanner or AmavisD, with great GUI management, user-friendly installation for most Linux distributions, Mac OS X and FreeBSD, complete documentation and management. MPP requires no compiling or Perl expertise.
Not free antivirus for Mac
- Virus Barrier - VirusBarrier X5 protects your Mac from viruses by constantly examining all the files that your computer reads and writes, as well as watching for suspicious activity that may be the sign of viruses acting on applications or other files. With VirusBarrier X5 on your computer, you can rest assured that your Macintosh has the best protection available against viruses of all kinds.
- PC Tools iAntiVirus - With PC Tools iAntiVirus you are protected against the most nefarious cyber-threats attempting to gain access to your Mac and personal information. It also provides real-time protection and comprehensive system scanning to ensure your Mac remains safe and virus free.
- Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac - provides integrated cross-platform virus detection on Macintosh servers, desktops and laptops. The powerful Sophos virus detection engine scans all entry points, and also detects non-Mac viruses that could be harbored on Mac computers.
By SPAMfighter
Installing spam filters at server stage and especially on Microsoft Exchange Server allows businesses to be more efficient in controlling spam and maintain the confidentiality of their mails without revealing it to external factors.
The unwanted commercial e-mail, known as Spam, is turning out to be an acute threat for the organizations and even individual users. In present time, spam, or the unsolicited junk e-mail, has become one of the biggest hazard intimidating the Web world, and removing this menace from the computers has become a task in itself. As per expert researches, worldwide, the cost of spam varies from millions to billions of dollars. All the security companies and researchers are working hard to find out ways to get rid of this ever-increasing giant and integrate spam filters into popular mail systems like Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, 2003 and 2007. 
Filtering loads of messages to identify which e-mails are spam and which are not is an exhaustive process. Thus, the primary function of every server administrator who is accountable for the messaging and collaboration server system is to install a superior spam e-mail filtering system.
For several years, preventing spam at the connection stage has been considered as the ideal measure for organizations, as it prohibits entry of spam into the company’s network. This element works by simply assessing the incoming Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) connections for probable spam that can be minimized if the connection SMTP host is a prominent Spammer.
To protect the business atmosphere, an anti exchange server spam is highly indispensable and should undeniably be incorporated in the network security strategy to save the company’s time, money and despair related to system failure. Installing suitable and advanced software to counter spam a complex task but is very necessary so that all the mails, data and online information received by the computers through the server are completely protected against spam. Continue Reading »
Exchange Server And Antispam
I used to be a technical consultant implementing projects at various client sites. The project implementations usually last for about 2-3 months. Each time after a project completes, my machine will be loaded with lots of documents, source codes, and installed programs. There’s nothing wrong with this except that my hard disk space has decreased and the performance of the machine has deteriorated due to many installed programs. Now that I’m heading to another project, I wished that my machine was at its original state when it was all clean and speedy.
One advice given by our hardware guy would be to use Norton Ghost to create an image of the entire partition when the machine is in a clean state. With the image, we can easily just pop in the imaged cd and restore the entire partition back to the state when it was imaged. At that time Norton Ghost was a software every technical consultant needed.
Now that I’m out of the organization, I no longer have access to a licensed copy of Norton Ghost. It’s time to seek free norton ghost alternatives.
From my research, I found the following free to use imaging tools:
A backup and disk imaging software program for Microsoft Windows developed by Paramount Software UK Ltd in 2006. It creates disk images and file backup archives using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service to ensure point in time data accuracy. This means that you can create a full backup of your hard drive through imaging even when you’re logged on in Windows.
Standard Macrium Reflect features
- Create a disk image whilst running Windows using Microsoft Volume Shadow copy Service (VSS).
- Image to Network, USB, FireWire drives and DVD.
- Built in scheduler.
- 32 bit and native 64 bit versions.
- Industry leading compression levels and speed.
- Linux based Rescue CD with Network access and full GUI. Only 6.5MB in size!
- Built in CD/DVD packet writing engine. Supports packet writing to DVD DL media with Windows Vista.
- HTML log files.
Have you ever encounter this? Your machine locks up, hangs for over 10 minutes and when you decide to hard reboot it, it just never comes back? Your machine just fails to start! If you are in that situation right now, you must be asking yourself… why didn’t I save those important files on my external hard disk? It is quite common not to backup our files and data externally simply because we trust that our hard disk will never fail on us. Not having backups is like walking on a thin wire. You’ll never know when it will just fail and fall.
So before any disaster strikes, do you have a reliable backup solution in place? Can your machine be restored in case of a deadly virus attack? If you have several servers in your data center, do you have a disaster recovery plan in case any of the servers go down? How long can your customers wait before they decide to just drop and move on? No doubt, high percentages of uptime can only be achieved with reliable and affordable backup software in place.
With so many backup solutions out there in the market today, it can be a daunting task to select a particular backup solution. We also know that most enterprise backup solutions are expensive. Thus we will recommend a backup solution which is reliable and affordable called Backup for Workgroups by Lockstep Systems. Lockstep Systems is a privately held company located in Scottsdale, Arizona, founded by the team who developed the backup software now known as Computer Associates’ BrightStor Mobile Backup.
Some key features of Backup for Workgroups
- Ability to backup any windows based OS including vista.
- Backup Exchange server, SQL server, Active Directory.
- Backup to multiple hard drives.
- Supports 32 bit and 64 bit.
- Easy to manage user interface.
- Up to four restoration options.
- Reports for the automated backup activities.
I trust that this backup software is reliable because the product is more than 5 years old and it’s being used by many customer from all around the world. Check out the testimonial page and you’ll be impressed with the long list of satisfied customers.
Another good point is its price at only $99 per workstation to backup which is affordable not just for large enterprise but for small companies as well. It’s really not a high price to pay for buying security, disaster recovery and a peace of mind.
Head on over to Backup for Workgroups and start planning how best to keep your machines backed up fully. Don’t forget to download the 30-Day Backup for Workgroups trial software so you can check the software out before actually purchasing it.
