Vol. 12, #47 - Dec 10, 2007 - Issue #653 Zero Tolerance For Zero Retention Editor's Corner Zero Tolerance For Zero Retention Security Morphing From 'Technical' To 'Business' Problem Quote Of The Week Admin Toolbox Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without Tech Briefing WinXP SP3 Is High Priority Microsoft Slates Seven Patches Next Week Vista Service Pack 1 To Kill The WGA "Kill Switch"? Microsoft Bashes Windows XP, Vista Benchmarking How To Troubleshoot Windows XP Device Manager Errors IT Managers Share Windows Vista Install Plans Ask The Expert: Managing Network Access For Single Users In AD FAQ Guide: VMware Windows Server News W2K8 RC1 Out Microsoft Slates Office 2007 SP1 Release For Dec. 11 5 Tips In 5 Minutes: iSCSI SAN Storage For Microsoft Exchange WServer Third Party News Famatech Assumes Sales and Support of Remote Administrator Ninja Email Security Has Gone To V2.1.4374 WServerNews Fave Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff. WServerNews - Product of the Week Get Rid Of Your Old Second Generation Exchange AV Instantly Reduce Your Exchange Message Store 80% Sunbelt Exchange Archiver (SEA) improves performance, productivity and allows you to comply with legal and regulatory retention requirements, within budget! SEA allows you to handle many email problems in one fell swoop. You are ready for lawsuits, get an 80% smaller message store, faster backups, end-user self- service for lost email, built-in HSM, quicker disaster recovery and much more. Get a quote and compare SEA cost versus Symantec Enterprise Vault. http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Sunbelt-Exchange-Archiver Editor's Corner Zero Tolerance For Zero Retention One year ago, new Federal Rules for Civil Procedure went into effect. And after 12 months of experience in the courts, the verdict is very clear. You need to create a retention policy ASAP! Any company that might sue or get sued needs systems brought online to support retention lifecycles and collection requests for litigation. Although it did not codify the exact rules for e-discovery, FRCP certainly made it clear what e-discovery features and policies should be. IT and Legal need to get their heads together and hammer something out pronto. The fines if you don't are very painful. In 2008, these features will be implemented in more and more companies. It is obvious that every company that may face litigation will be rolling out systems to make it compliant with the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It's more than a good idea. It's the law. More at the 'Reality Check' blog from Ephraim Schwarts at InfoWorld: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Civil-Procedure Security Morphing From 'Technical' To 'Business' Problem A lot of you are supporters of SANS, and so are we. It was no surprise when I received the latest SANS NewsBites that they came out and clearly said that security in many cases is not just a technical problem, but really a -people- problem. Well, we all knew that gullible end-users who click on a craftily 'social-engineered' link can infect systems. SANS Top 20 Risk was: "gullible, busy, accommodating computer users, including executives, IT staff and others with privileged access". What they suggest we do about it is not so easy though. First they suggest launching internal test attacks against users, and cut off Internet access for those who fail the test. Sure, as if that will ever happen. Second, increase monitoring and forensics systems, to constantly block intrusions. At least that will not get users ticked off, but these systems are very expensive. You'll never get the budget. So, how to solve that issue? IT needs to communicate to top management that security -really- has become a business issue, as opposed to expensive overhead that generates no revenues. How? Security needs to be positioned as -enabling- the business instead of a cost center. IT needs to present Security as the provider of more reliable systems, less downtime, safer customers, safer employees and safer company financial resources. And I would start with Anti-phishing "training", it's a REALLY good idea for both everyone in the business (especially the execs) and family: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Anti-Phishing Quote Of The Week "There are no hopeless situations; There are only men who have grown hopeless about them." -- Clare Boothe Luce Thank you for being a WServerNews subscriber. Please tell your friends about us. They can subscribe here: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Subscribe Hope you enjoy this issue of WServerNews! Warm regards, Stu  |   Email me: feedback@wservernews.com With 2008 quickly approaching, there's never been a better time to implement or re-asses your disaster recovery plans. The success of your business depends on a comprehensive disaster recovery solution that provides immediate recoverability. In the event of a disaster, don't be caught without a solution to protect and recover your business critical applications. attend this LIVE webinar to learn: The basics of getting started and simplifying the process The largest myths regarding your DR strategy The top mistakes companies make How to develop the right DR Plan for 2008! Register today. Date: December 12th, 2007 Time: 11am - 12pm EST http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Double-Take-Webinar Admin Toolbox Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without If you are working in an RDP or ICA Session, the following are keyboard shortcut key combinations that map to the native Windows shortcut keystrokes. http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Keyboard-Shortcuts 15% off the fully functional version OR download the Free Community Edition for a taste of the possibilities with rDirectory: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-rDirectory Extend Active Directory to your UNIX, Linux, Mac, web and database platforms. Free authentication guide: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Centrify Network World has a good techie holiday gift guide, with lots of cool tools, and a video showcase of 5 great tech gifts under $100: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Holiday-Gift-Guide Tech Briefing WinXP SP3 Is High Priority Network admins really should start planning for XP SP3. Slated to be released in the coming months, this SP3 could represent significant change to internal networking. There is discussion that this service pack will add Vista features to XP, which of course could potentially break existing functionality. Furthermore, as mentioned by our friends at eEye Research quite a few times, Silently Fixed Vulnerabilities could also be patched in this Service Pack, leaving SP2 users at potential risk if they do not apply the patch quickly. Admins should start beginning their test-planning phase, and if the service pack RC is available to them, they should begin testing it against internal applications ASAP. More at Redmond's TechNet site: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Windows-XP-SP3 Microsoft Slates Seven Patches Next Week Microsoft plans to roll out seven patches next week, including five aimed at fixing vulnerabilities in Windows Vista. Here is the fresh MS pre-patch notice: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-December-Patches Vista Service Pack 1 To Kill The WGA "Kill Switch"? Who says Microsoft doesn't listen to their customers? Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) has been the subject of much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth - and more than a handful of folks have avoided upgrading to Windows Vista in part or in whole because of it. We've heard reports of users' systems being mistakenly flagged as having pirated software, with dire consequences. Now for the good news: Vista Service Pack 1 will remove the so-called "kill switch" that puts the OS into a reduced functionality mode if you don't activate it within 30 days after installation or 3 days after certain hardware changes. This change will be welcomed by Windows users everywhere. Read more here: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-WGA-Switch Microsoft Bashes Windows XP, Vista Benchmarking ComputerWorld reported that Microsoft and a performance testing researcher are trading barbs over recent benchmarks that claim the unreleased upgrade for Windows XP runs Office faster than the upgrade slated to ship early next year for Vista. According to tests run by Devil Mountain Software Inc., Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) blows through the company's OfficeBench test suite about twice as fast as Vista SP1 does. Nick White, a program manager for Microsoft's Vista team, bashed the benchmarking in a post to a Microsoft blog last week, and called Devil Mountain to task for testing before either operating system reached its "Release to Manufacturing" (RTM) stage, the so-called gold code that is actually duplicated on disc. "Publishing benchmarks of the performance of Windows Vista SP1 now wouldn't be a worthwhile exercise for our customers, as the code is still in development and, to the degree that benchmarking tests are involved, remains a moving target," White argued. More at ComputerWorld, with a link to the MS-blog: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-XP-Vista-Benchmarking How To Troubleshoot Windows XP Device Manager Errors In Windows XP, the Device Manager is a centralized console for configuring all of your system's hardware. If a piece of hardware is malfunctioning, you will almost always be alerted through the Device Manager. Unfortunately, Device Manager errors tend to consist of error codes and a brief, often cryptic, description of the problem. In this tip, learn how to familiarize yourself with error codes used by Windows XP Device Manager so you'll know how to fix the problem. (registration required) http://www.wservernews.com/071210-XP-Device-Manager IT Managers Share Windows Vista Install Plans Few Windows shops had plans for Windows Vista migrations in 2007, and it appears that there may also be little interest well into next year. Of more than 800 responses from IT managers to an online survey conducted by SearchWinIT.com, 37% said they had no plans whatsoever in place to install Vista, while only 8% said they would begin adding the new desktop OS in the first quarter of 2008. Learn more now! http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Vista-Install-Plans Ask The Expert: Managing Network Access For Single Users In AD One of your peers is running a Windows 2000 Active Directory domain controller and has a user running Windows XP SP2 on their domain. How can he set the domain to limit network access and allow only one user to log in? Find out in this expert response. http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Network-Access FAQ Guide: VMware With their ability to reduce hardware costs and lower admin overhead, virtual machines like those from VMware are changing the face of the data center. If you're a value-added reseller (VAR) working with VMware and virtual machines, this SearchSystemsChannel.com FAQ Guide has information that can help you get ahead of VMware trends to grow your VMware business and deliver better service to your clients. VMware expert Harley Stagner's answers to all of these common VMware questions are also available as an MP3 file to download and take with you to your clients' sites. http://www.wservernews.com/071210-VMware-FAQ Windows Server News W2K8 RC1 Out Redmond released the second W2K8 release candidate (RC1) this Wednesday. It's now ready for anyone to play with. The Launch event planned for late Feb is called "Heroes happen here." Redmond claims that up to now, just under 2 million people have gotten copies of W2K8 code, and you can expect one more CTP-beta before the code ships. They are still working on Group Policy with Group Policy Preferences, which used to be called PolicyMaker Standard Edition and Policy Share Manager. Redmond has 300 Microsoft partners enrolled in their early access software certification and "Works with" program. You can get your hands on the code and the documentation here: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-W2K8-RC1 Microsoft Slates Office 2007 SP1 Release For Dec. 11 Redmond confirmed today that it will release the first service pack for Office 2007 next week. "Service Pack 1 for the 2007 Microsoft Office system will be available for download on [Dec. 11]," a spokeswoman said today in an e-mail, adding that the update focuses on stability, performance and security improvements. Previously, the company had pegged the SP1 ship date to the first quarter of 2008, which makes next week's release one of the few Microsoft updates to beat its originally scheduled shipping date. Microsoft has been mostly mum about SP1's contents, and today it would say only that it would offer more information on Dec. 11 when it posts the pack on its Web site. But according to a Microsoft employee who posted on a company blog today, users will initially need to retrieve the update manually; SP1 will not be pushed out via Windows' Automatic Update mechanism. More at ComputerWorld: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Office-2007-SP1 5 Tips In 5 Minutes: iSCSI SAN Storage For Microsoft Exchange In this excerpt from "The Shortcut Guide to Exchange Server 2007 Storage Systems," author Jim McBee leads you through the process of implementing an iSCSI SAN storage system for Microsoft Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2007 using Windows Server 2003 and the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator software. http://www.wservernews.com/071210-iSCSI-SAN-Storage WServer Third Party News Famatech Assumes Sales and Support of Remote Administrator CLEARWATER, FL--(Marketwire - December 6, 2007) - Sunbelt Software, a leading provider of Windows security and management software, today announced that ongoing development, sales, and support for its award-winning remote control tool, Sunbelt Remote Administrator (a branded version of Famatech's Radmin), will be assumed by the product's original developer, Famatech International Corp. All customers under current maintenance contracts will continue to receive product support and product updates through Famatech. Sunbelt will continue to provide support and honor any existing quotes for purchases of Radmin through December 31, 2007. After this date all purchases of newer versions of Radmin should be made via Famatech's website or other sales channels in accordance with Famatech's licensing program. Customers under existing maintenance plans for Radmin should go to the famatech site for more information: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Famatech Ninja Email Security Has Gone To V2.1.4374 This new version has several benefits. We have moved the Cloudmark engine in a different process(service) so that mail flow will be stable and uninterrupted. The Cloudmark cartridge was upgraded to version 3046.2.0.23 (released Oct 26th 2007. A SMART filter was added for Office 2007 documents, the Advanced Antispam Engine is now better configurable through the UI, and various smaller bug fixes related to: disclaimers, SMART filters (gif/jpeg/pdf) etc. You can get Ninja here: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Ninja-Email-Security WServerNews Fave Links This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff. This is my 2007 all-time fave. The Deep Field images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope represent the farthest we've ever seen into the universe. The figures are mind boggling, and show that it's pretty plausible we are not alone: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Hubble-Deep-Field Google co-founder Larry Page weds Lucy Southworth this weekend on Richard Branson's personal Caribbean island with Branson as best man and 600 guests in attendance. Here are some pictures... http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Larry-Page This gent created a high-tech Tesla Christmas tree with long exposure camera: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Tesla-Xmas-Tree The things people created with cans. Yeah, them metal cans with food in 'em: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Canstruction Automobile of the future: The Pocket Car: Animation from the Sci-Fi channel: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Pocket-Car USA Today has a fun tool to cut through the political clutter. They ask you for your position on about 11 issues, and then match those with a candidate: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Candidate-Match-Game OK, it's finally here. A Dick Tracy phone that takes a SIM card: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Dick-Tracy-Phone Bazooka vs Bullet-Proof Window. In Japanese but the blast is real: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Bazooka-vs-Glass The Javelin is a small high-speed personal jet being developed by Aviation Technology Group. Planned for FAA certification, the Javelin is a civilian jet designed like a fighter aircraft. Max. speed: 575 mph (925 km/h) Range: 1,151 mi (1,852 km) Cost: US$ 2,995,000. I want one: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Javelin-Jet As noted on 'Good Morning, Silicon Valley', this is"...quite possibly the funniest short video about the Silicon Valley experience ever set to a Billy Joel song." There is speculation about a second dot-com bubble, known as Bubble 2.0: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Technology-Bubble Pres Bush signed in a new drug safety law that requires drug ads to carry a conspicuous notice, "You are encouraged to report negative side effects to the FDA, with a FDA MedWatch website address. A good link to promote: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-FDA-Medwatch R2D2 Translator: Very busy site, so keep trying. You can download the translations to your cell phone!! http://www.wservernews.com/071210-R2D2-Translator A motorcyclist jumps over a runway while a stunt plane flies under him: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Bike-Airplane-Stunt Pretty good special effects in new Nissan Rogue ad where the car is navigating around downtown Los Angeles like a marble in a labyrinth game: http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Nissan-Rogue WServerNews - Product of the Week Get Rid Of Your Old Second Generation Exchange AV Yeah, it may work OK. But the yearly maintenance is scandalously high. You can spend your valuable IT budget on something better than that. Get Ninja for your Exchange AV. It is cheaper than Trend, McAfee or Symantec and true third generation, integrated, policy-based antispam, AV, disclaimers and more. It's very little money if you take advantage of the competitive upgrade program. Try Ninja for 30 days. You will be amazed how easy it is to set up and run: 50% less admin time than the others! http://www.wservernews.com/071210-Ninja