Todd's Blog

Today, we launch a revolutionary new Ultra High Speed Internet option for residential service. The product is called LightSpeed DSL and features the most leading edge technology available today with speeds up to 75 Mbps! The reason our DSL is different is that it is directly connected to the PocketiNet fiber backbone which makes it super fast. What is also amazing is that you can also receive Home Phone Voice service on the same DSL connection from PocketiNet and say goodbye to the phone company! Service is available today in the Walla Walla Plaza Way area with other areas and communities coming online soon. We're very pleased to offer our customers the best in Internet technology as we are constantly innovating new technologies and services to better serve you. If you received a door hanger it's because we have pre-qualified your home for this service. Stay tuned for further details! thanks, Todd

PocketiNet is about to launch in the Walla Walla market a very exciting ultra high speed DSL solution. Depending on your distance from our network you could qualify for speeds up to 75 Mbps! We understand that a lot is changing on the consumer front and this project is slated to deliver speeds that could enable the consumer to cut the cord on their cable and phone company. Thus, we're looking to provide not only a ultra high speed Internet connection, but a crystal clear Voice phone alternative, and soon to come a cable alternative for video! Stay tuned for more details as we'll be launching the first site for this on the South side of Walla Walla....thanks, Todd

I'd like to introduce the best way to keep in touch on Internet technology and trends.  Join PocketiNet's Facebook page where you'll learn about new products that we're introducing as well as new services. 


http://www.facebook.com/pages/PocketiNet-Communications/138382309530167  Click on this link and Like us to follow.

Thanks for you ongoing support!  - Todd

 

Hello!

It seems that more and more people are blogging about most everything so what I'd like to do in this forum is talk about Internet Technology trends and of course, voice my opinion on solutions as it relates to you, our valued customer!  My hope is that you find this information helpful and if you have a topic that you would like to understand better please let me know and I'll incorporate it into a future posting!  Email me at  todd@pocketinet.com. 

With an increase in email scams covering the internet, we'd like to help you avoid becoming a victim by providing some helpful knowledge. Please don't hesitate to call us directly at 877.726.5026 anytime you receive an email that you question the validity of.  Never trust a link or phone number in an email - only call known phone numbers that you can verify.  Also, please know that PocketiNet will NEVER ask you for personal information via email and we will not request you to click a link on an email without also advertising the request on the home page of our website.

I want to share with you the following article recently posted by Microsoft.  It does a great job of explaining several email scams, hoaxes and fraudulent links sent via email. 

HOW TO RECOGNIZE PHISHING E-MAILS OR LINKS

A few clues can help you spot fraudulent e-mail messages or links within them.

Phishing e-mail messages are designed to steal your identity. They ask for personal data, or direct you to Web sites or phone numbers to call where they ask you to provide personal data.

Phishing e-mail messages take a number of forms:

• They might appear to come from your bank or financial institution, a company you regularly do business with, such as Microsoft, or from your social networking site.
• They might appear to be from someone you know. Spear phishing is a targeted form of phishing in which an e-mail message might look like it comes from your employer, or from a colleague who might send an e-mail message to everyone in the company, such as the head of human resources or IT.
• They might ask you to make a phone call. Phone phishing scams direct you to call a customer support phone number. A person or an audio response unit waits to take your account number, personal identification number, password, or other valuable personal data. The phone phisher might claim that your account will be closed or other problems could occur if you don't respond.
• They might include official-looking logos and other identifying information taken directly from legitimate Web sites, and they might include convincing details about your personal information that scammers found on your social networking pages.
• They might include links to spoofed Web sites where you are asked to enter personal information.

To make these phishing e-mail messages look even more legitimate, the scam artists may place a link in them that appears to go to the legitimate Web site (1), but actually takes you to a phony scam site (2) or possibly a pop-up window that looks exactly like the official site.

Here are a few phrases to look for if you think an e-mail message is a phishing scam.

"Verify your account."

Businesses should not ask you to send passwords, login names, Social Security numbers, or other personal information through e-mail.

If you receive an e-mail message from Microsoft asking you to update your credit card information, do not respond: this is a phishing scam.

"You have won the lottery."

The lottery scam is a common phishing scam known as advanced fee fraud. One of the most common forms of advanced fee fraud is a message that claims that you have won a large sum of money, or that a person will pay you a large sum of money for little or no work on your part. The lottery scam often includes references to big companies, such as Microsoft. There is no Microsoft lottery.

"If you don't respond within 48 hours, your account will be closed."

These messages convey a sense of urgency so that you'll respond immediately without thinking. A phishing e-mail message might even claim that your response is required because your account might have been compromised.

WHAT DOES A PHISHING LINK LOOK LIKE?

Sometimes phishing e-mails direct you to spoofed web sites. Here's an example of the kind of phrase you might see in an e-mail message that directs you to a phishing Web site:

"Click the link below to gain access to your account."

HTML-formatted messages can contain links or forms that you can fill out just as you'd fill out a form on a Web site.

Phishing links that you are urged to click in e-mail messages, on Web sites, or even in instant messages may contain all or part of a real company's name and are usually masked, meaning that the link you see does not take you to that address but somewhere different, usually an illegitimate Web site.

Notice in the following example that resting (but not clicking) the mouse pointer on the link reveals the real Web address, as shown in the box with the yellow background. The string of cryptic numbers looks nothing like the company's Web address, which is a suspicious sign.

Example of a masked Web address

Con artists also use Web addresses that resemble the name of a well-known company but are slightly altered by adding, omitting, or transposing letters. For example, the address "www.microsoft.com" could appear instead as:

www.micosoft.com

www.mircosoft.com

www.verify-microsoft.com

This is called "typo-squatting" or "cybersquatting."

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Hello!

Speaking to our business clients, a lot has changed over the last two years. Probably one of the biggest issues that we all face is SPAM and the annoyance that it has become. Did you know that 14.5 billion messages are sent each day and that some sources estimate that up to 73% of this is SPAM! I know, it is one of the most frustrating things for a service provider because most SPAM is generated overseas beyond our country's ability to enforce legislation. So what can we do to eliminate the junk?

What you can do to get rid of SPAM:

• Do not try to respond to surveys or websites that solicit your email. Usually these emails are collected into lists and sold to any company willing to pay for them. Try to limit giving your email ONLY businesses that you have to.
• If your on a list you can TRY to email the list to be removed, however depending on the company this may or may not have any impact.
• Make sure you have a good Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus program that is kept current on your computer. You can be infected with spyware very easily these days. Most programs will scan incoming messages (as well as outgoing) to filter these out.
• Enroll in a premium Anti-SPAM control through your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Most ISP's include basic levels of Anti-SPAM, Anti-Virus protection. It's almost impossible to filter out SPAM because believe it or not, some people like certain SPAM. However, if your not of that opinion you may have to pay to have individual control to adjust your level of Anti-SPAM protection. Many of these can also block certain domains and email accounts as well.
• If all of the above fail, the easiest way to eliminate SPAM is to change your email address. I know, this is a pain, but desperate times call for desperate measures. In essence your starting fresh with a new address and then you can limit the sites you give your address out to.
• Future trends
  In the future the email standard will need to be redone to finally get rid of SPAM once and for all (much to the dismay of marketeers). It will possibly take the form of a "trusted recipient list" whereby you receive mail that only you authorize to receive. Look for these changes in the next 2 years or so (I hope).

Before I get into the benefits let me just comment on some things you need to know as a business in regards to email.

But first some alarming facts:

• The average employee spends about 2.2 hours per day processing email (or roughly 34% of their time)
• Almost 30% of your employees email is personal in nature and some estimates put the figure of receiving "inappropriate" email at nearly 50%.
• Also some 27% of Fortune 500 companies end up having to defend themselves in court over sexual harassment charges from inappropriate email.
• So, what are we supposed to do? Be involved in your IT discussions regarding email policies and be forthright with your employees on what is appropriate or not in email correspondence. In fact, you might want to notify them that company email is the property of the company and is subject to routine inspections as needed. Being honest upfront can set expectations from the beginning.

Additional Email Compliance you need to be aware of. Did you know there are laws that govern email security? Depending on the industry that you're in you need to be aware of your compliance.

• HIPAA (Health Insurance Portibility and Accountability Act) applies to Health care organizations regarding confidential patient information. More information can be found here http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HIPAAGenInfo/
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) applies generally to the financial industry to ensure privacy and security of all non-public information. More information can be found here. http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/glbact.html
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX or SarbOx) applies to companies that are governed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Controls call for retention of communications (including email) for at least 6 years. More information can be found here http://www.sarbanes-oxley.com/

There are several other laws in addition not mentioned above. Now whether or not you are involved in one of these industries it just makes good business sense to understand what your liability is in regards to email communication. I'm not a lawyer and don't pretend to be so be sure to check with your attorney as to your risk assesment. Being informed has never been a bad policy.

Advancing Business Communications through Microsoft Exchange Email

At this time I'd like to introduce a new advanced business email service available through PocketiNet called Microsoft Exchange. Most larger businesses that have IT staff, chances are your already running Exchange without knowing it. The client side on the computer usually is running Microsoft Outlook 2007 (not Outlook Express) and is able to do quite a few things not found in conventional email. Overall, it's a very compelling email system designed from the ground up for business.

The Benefits:

• Shared Calendars amoungst workers and now even resources (such as meeting rooms, equipment check out's, etc)
• Shared Company Contacts & Tasks
• Multi-site Email access (work, home, business trips) to the same features at the office
• Wireless Email to mobile phones/PDA's - automatic PUSH technology when the email arrives to the mobile phone
• Public folders (internal to the company)
• Encrypted Email - Encrypted messages can be sent to anyone to access the locked email and features digital signatures for authenticity (optional service)
• Email Compliance
  • Compliant Achriving - Complies with Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, NASD, and NYSE regulations
  • Message Mirror - creates a copy of each email sent and received for staff monitoring
  • Company Disclaimer - company disclaimer feature is an effective way to help your customers enforce a company-wide email policy
• Advanced Anti-SPAM Protection
  • Content filtering - Protects on the server side against bad headers and suspect attachments.
  • Company-wide white and black lists - Define in detail which senders should always or never be allowed to email you, both at the mailbox level and across your account at the administrator level.
  • Outlook integration - End users can control their personal white and black lists directly from Outlook.
  • Flexibility - Administrators can manage all spam settings and users get mailbox-level white/black list control.
  • User-defined sensitivity - Customers can refine spam sensitivity levels according to their company's email usage.

 

There are many more features available in this platform and we are making this available as a paid upgrade to our valued business customers. Prices start at just $12.95/mo per email box and you can either select individual email accounts to be on Exchange or you can move your whole domain (www.business.com) onto this platform. Your choice.

At PocketiNet we're constantly striving to better our portfolio of services we offer our customers. Offering a new level of business communication based on leading software from Microsoft is yet another way to make your business more productive and efficient.

If your interested please call us at 509-526-5026 or email info@pocketinet.com for more information.

Ok, so that's the end of my sales pitch and blog entry. Again, let me know what topic is of interest to you and I'll write about it in the future.

Thanks for being a loyal PocketiNet customer!

Todd
President, PocketiNet Communications, Inc.

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