Symantec revealed the existence of a bug in their products. The problem is that updated files released and time stamped after 11:59 PM on 12/31/2009 are treated  as out of date by the endpoint security product. Symantec has a workaround, but weren’t we supposed to have learned our lesson ten years ago?  This bug is not putting a large number of customers at risk today.  Symantec is simply dating all new definition files 12/31/2009 and giving them new version numbers so users stay up to date. Symantec says they are working on a permanent solution to the problem. Amazing as it is, others are also suddenly finding year 2010 bugs in their software.  Both SpamAssassin and Windows Mobile cell phones are having issues with messages being suddenly marked as from the future — it is likely they are not the only ones. I guess we did not learn our lessons in Y2K!

As summer arrives, so does the season for stormy weather and more unforseen incidents that threaten data.  Hear how one disaster turned into a good news story!  To hear the 30 second summary, click on the link below. Good News from an Earthquake To download The 12 Insider Secrets to Protect Your Data, click here.

Knowledge workers today spend extensive effort in researching and finding data on the Internet. Retain in retrieving researched data is often a challenge.  Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere. Oh yes, did I also tell you that it’s free? Like most web tools, there is an advanced feature set available on a paid subscription basis. Evernote captures your data and allows you to retrieve it from overriding devices from the Web. The Web worker’s job is to make sure you have selected good key words. So there will be easily retrieval later. In addition, Evernot provides client software that allows synchronizing the online database with multiple Windows or Macintosh and even Windows mobile hardware. If you are a road warrior, you will LOVE the mobile client that allows you to search on your PDA! Oh yes, did I also tell you that it’s free? Sharing the information you have stored with coworkers, supervisors or anyone is as easy as clicking on the e-mail icon. Evernote will send the information by e-mail to your recipients. If you are already deeply engaged in the Google online tools, then you may want to use Google notebook instead. Google notebook is similar in functions and of course interacts with the other Google applications. If you later decide to leave Google behind, there is an import facility in Evernote that accepts all the Google notebook data you have created.

The expense and usability of VPNs is not recommended for Web Workers.  Secure remote access is best accomplished using a tool that allows remote control of and in the office computer. This provides access to one of business applications and network speeds with the utmost security. Most Web worker arrangements include worktime in the office as well as worktime an alternate location. With that arrangement the Web worker has a PC already installed in the organization’s office. As a result secure access to the employees dedicated computer is all that is needed to access corporate computing tools remotely. VPN has been the tool of choice, because of its security. Today LogMeIn provides the encrypted VPN tunnel for security with remote access to the employee’s in-office computer. Best of all, operating LogMeIn is simple and highly reliable. LogMeIn is a tool that can easily be set-up, provides VPN encryption, and, depending on the feature set required, is free or inexpensive.  Check out this wonderful application and the different versions available at www.LogMeIn.com.