Information Technology Challenges

The information technology needs of almost all businesses involve computers in some way. Many companies that use a remote or mobile workforce will likely use laptops. A laptop is great for the mobile and remote workforce because it has a keyboard (may include touchpoint mouse in IBM designed machines), mouse (touchpad) and monitor (often called a display, screen or LCD) built into the computer.  Laptop capabilities are often expanded using a docking station. A docking station is essentially a USB device that allows you to have a permanent work station set up while providing the capability to remove the laptop for travel. Docking stations allow for multiple monitors, hard wire network connections and peripherals such as a larger keyboard and handheld mouse. Some laptops can be streamlined further and include a touchscreen. The keyboard can be removed or stored on the computer. The Microsoft Surface Pro and Lenovo Yoga series are examples of hybrid laptop/tablets and usually have Win...

In 2017, I started my first job in Information Technology as a desktop support specialist at an international telecomunications company. The job was a part time position with 25 hours per week. I was very excited to start working in a field that I had spent the last three years studying. My first day on the job was interesting and some of what you might expect. My boss was the senior network administrator. He assigned me the task of setting up my work space. He had a cart with two monitors, a mouse, keyboard, a Dell 6400 series laptop and docking station. I wondered if this was some sort of test. Dell E6400 series laptop from a Google image search. I set up the equipment to perform the duties required of a person in my position. My boss explained to me that this is a Tier One position and my job would be helpdesk and deploying laptops. In Information Technology (IT), a Tier One Specialist is the first person to answer the phone, chat, or email about an IT problem. The job o...

Over the last few weeks I have covered several areas. The area that seemed to be of most concern to me was mobile apps. With the use of smartphones continually increasing, the chance of attacks coming from them may also increase. Other concerns also caught my attention and I don't feel I specialized in any one area. I have used many resources to back up my articles. The text for the course was CISSP Guide to Security Essentials by Peter H. Gregory. In addition to the text, I have used some of my life experiences such as my service in the United States Air Force to provide some examples of situations that require a response plan. I think that using examples from daily life can provide valuable lessons as well. For example, after fixing a friend's computer, I was able to write about that experience. Other references that I have used are the experiences from the applications and tools that I have used in the course that inspired this blog. I used the Google Play Store to resea...

This week I learned about some software that can evaluate how secure your computer is. The cool thing about this software is that it is free for personal use. I used this to evaluate my system and was amazed at how much information was available in this evaluation. This tool is called the Belarc Advisor. Details are provided for the system hardware and software installed on the system. This tool will even give you a list of software licenses on your computer. What I found interesting was the different versions of software that are installed on my system. The tool doesn't just stop there. Evaluations are available for the network you are connected to. Even the devices that are connected to the network can be mapped. The advisor will even give you a list of the device names. Maybe the most important part is that it can give you a snapshot of your virus protection and updates. These are important because viruses can destroy information systems and unpatched software can allow ne...

This week my wife asked me if I could fix her friend's computer. I asked her what made her think it needed to be fixed. She said that her friend said that it was running slow. I thought this would be a great way to practice what I had learned in all of my coursework for my Associates of Applied Science Degree in Computer Information Systems. Her friend brought the computer to me and we pressed the power button. About five minutes later, she was logging in using a fingerprint scanner. About ten minutes after that, I was looking at her desktop. I could see that her computer was moving painfully slow. I wanted to see what was using all of her resources so I opened task manager on her Windows 7 machine. Nothing seemed to be bogging down the processor so I looked at what programs she had installed. I went to settings and looked at the system information. She had 4 GB of RAM which is plenty for Windows 7. Her processor was faster than mine. I decided that it was not a hardware issu...

This week in my network security class, we covered ways to apply administrative countermeasures to security threats. One way that I found to be the cheapest and most reasonable was the separation of duties. This way of doing business has multiple benefits. First, separation of duties can lessen the possibility of fraud. According to our text, CISSP Guide To Security Essentials by Peter H. Gregory, when a task requires two or more people, the chances of cooperating are reduced. Inappropriate actions are less likely to be carried out because someone is there to halt the incorrect act. If the other person sees a reason the task should not be performed, the task can also be stopped. The addition of a user account should be controlled by more than one person to prevent unauthorized or unnecessary access to a network or system. The individual requesting access should be required to submit a formal request to that person's supervisor. In turn, that person's supervisor should be ...