 |
| |
Improving Security by Strengthening Adminstrative Passwords |
| Planning Successful Events at CPR |
| CPR Learning Center Special |
| Upcoming Events: •
Managed Services |
Phone Numbers: Grand
Rapids: Kalamazoo:
|
Improving Security by Strengthening Administrative Passwords
Weak
passwords continue to be a major contributor to unauthorized access within
most business networks. Strengthening passwords will dramatically improve
overall network security and costs practically nothing to implement. There
are several practices that will directly improve password strength and
overall network security.
Below
are a few suggestions to strengthen administrative passwords.
1.
Reduce the overall number of user accounts with
administrative authorities.
2. Use different passwords on different systems or
devices including firewalls
and routers.
3. Always configure administrative level account passwords
with rules similar to
the following:
•
Password lengths with a minimum of seven characters.
•
Include
at least one case change.
•
Include
at least one special character.
•
Never
use a company name or abbreviation within
a password.
•
Never
use a single number as a prefix or suffix to a password unless the balance
of the password is
considered “hard”.
4. Never store administrative passwords on palm pilots, in day planners,
or on
post-it notes.
5. Audit accounts with administrative access on a regular basis.
6. Change administrative passwords on a regular basis.
7. Use short phrases as a password. A common phrase can easily be remembered
and typed quickly.
Following
these simple practices will enhance the overall security level of most
organizations.
Planning Sucessful Events
at CPR
The
beginning of fall means a busy events calendar for CPR. Below you will
find a list of seminars with a wide range of topics from email security,
to VoIP Solutions, Backup & Archiving to Monitoring. Our goal is to
present relevant information, on timely topics. Since January 2004, over
550 customers have attended CPR seminars. Each attendee is asked to complete
a seminar evaluation form. We use those evaluations to measure the success
and relevance of the seminar. Below is feedback from our 550+ seminar
attendees.
50% Good
48% Excellent
2% Fair
61% Excellent
37% Good
1% Fair
(Statistics based on evaluations from seminars hosted between Jan 1.04 – Aug 30.05)
We
want to hear from you!
We choose our seminar topics based on feedback from our evaluations. With
that said, we only hear from those who attend events. We are opening up
a survey to all of our e.news readers to find out what types of seminars
you are interested in. Each survey completed is entered in a drawing to
win a Meijer gas card, a Starbucks Gift Card and other prizes. The survey
will be open until October 1, 2005.
Click
Here to complete the survey and for a chance to win prizes!
• MS 2209"Updating Systems Admin. Skills from 2000 to Server 2003"
• MS 2210"Updating System Engineer Skills from Win 2000 to Server 2003"
• MS 2400"Implementing and Managing Exchange Server 2003"
• Flash MX 2004 Advanced
• Crystal Reports 9.0 Advanced
• Project 2003 Intro
Click
here for more detailsFor a complete list of classes and scheduling visit the CPR Learning Center calendar at http://www.cprgr.com/TrainingCalendar/
September Session: Solutions for Companies with 100 or Fewer Employees
Wednesday, September 7, 2005, 8:30am - 9:30am (Grand Rapids Session)
Thursday, September 22, 2005, 8:30am – 9:30am (Kalamazoo Session)
Managed Services can mean many different things, which can lead to confusion and questions. To help our customers better understand the ins and outs of managed services and the solutions that fall under the Managed Services umbrella, CPR is offering Managed Services Briefings. The intent of these 1-hour sessions is to review the types of managed services and the options available for you based on your company’s needs and size. The small group setting allows for group interaction and an opportunity to have your individual questions answered.
Email Security Seminar & Workshop
Tuesday, September 13, 2005, 8:30am – 10:30am (Grand Rapids Session)
Wednesday, October 12, 2005, 8:30am – 9:30am (Kalamazoo Session)
CPR is hosting an Email Security Seminar & Workshop. This interactive seminar will highlight the issues and pitfalls surrounding email security and the solutions available. CPR’s Director of Security, Scott Montgomery, will highlight the Top Email Security Concerns and address remedies. Symantec will respond to those concerns and review the latest innovations in making your environment secure, available and compliant. Immediately following the seminar, individual workshop sessions will be held to assist you in customizing a solution for your company.
Backup, Recovery & Archiving Lunch & Learn
Friday, September 16, 2005, 10:45am – 1:00pm in Grand Rapids
CPR and EMC will introduce you to an innovative way of thinking about backup, recovery and archiving. You’ll hear about best practices, software technologies, and advanced disk-based archival and backup hardware platforms all dedicated to aligning and enhancing your business and IT processes.
Cisco IP Telephony Wednesday
Wednesday, September 21, 2005, 8:30am - 12:00pm in Grand Rapids
Cisco Engineers will demonstrate the IP Telephony Solution, and host a live demonstration featuring the latest in IP Phones and Unified Messaging. Also reviewed will be the business case for IP Telephony.
Microsoft Licensing Breakfast Briefing
Tuesday, October 4, 2005, 8:30am – 9:30am in Grand Rapids
Licensing and Software Assurance often generate confusion and questions. To help our customers better understand the ins and outs of licensing and to make sure they are fully utilizing its benefits, CPR is offering a bi-monthly licensing “Breakfast Briefing”.
If there's something you'd like to see in the next e.news, we'd like to know. Click on the following link to send us your suggestions:
info@cprgr.com.
Unsubscribe