McStyles Software

We’ve been busy here, especially during the last several months. McStyles has created over 100 web sites, and is responsible for maintenance for over 100 web sites. Most of the sites we have produced are content sites supported by advertising. Others are business storefront sites.

The work we’ve done recently is a big change from doing primary contracted software development. As it became apparent that Kristyne McDaniel, our primary consultant, was going to need to work entirely from her home office, it was also apparent that it was not possible without a paradigm shift in our business model. We had three contracts last year for contracted software development that was to be done in our own home office, but the clients were not happy with the reduced level of personal contact with Kristyne. After several failed attempts, we decided that our current clients would not be able to make the transition effectively, so we had no choice but to allow those contracts to expire.

Meanwhile, our foray into internet marketing has been slowly gaining ground. While we are not yet fully up to the revenue levels we previously experienced, we believe the climb in revenues will continue and will completely replace our lost contractor programming revenue. This is great news for Kristyne, who has opted to stay near her disabled spouse to the maximum extent possible.

More news to follow soon!

The Computer Systems Auditing field has really exploded in the last 15 years and this is due to the rise in systems being used at the small business level, handling three times as much data as before. If you are a small business with a network, you should have some type of computer audit program in place.

A computer security audit is a systematic, measurable technical assessment of how the organization’s security policy is employed at a specific site. Computer security auditors work with the full knowledge of the organization, at times with considerable inside information, in order to understand the resources to be audited.

Security audits do not take place in a vacuum; they are part of the on-going process of defining and maintaining effective security policies. This is not just a conference room activity. It involves everyone who uses any computer resources throughout the organization.

Computer security auditors perform their work though personal interviews, vulnerability scans, examination of operating system settings, analyses of network shares, and historical data. They are concerned primarily with how security policies - the foundation of any effective organizational security strategy - are actually used. There are a number of key questions that security audits should attempt to answer:

• Are passwords difficult to crack?
• Are there access control lists (ACLs) in place on network devices to control who has access to shared data?
• Are there audit logs to record who accesses data?
• Are the audit logs reviewed?
• Are the security settings for operating systems in accordance with accepted industry security practices?
• Have all unnecessary applications and computer services been eliminated for each system?
• Are these operating systems and commercial applications patched to current levels?
• How is backup media stored? Who has access to it? Is it up-to-date?
• Is there a disaster recovery plan? Have the participants and stakeholders ever rehearsed the disaster recovery plan?
• Are there adequate cryptographic tools in place to govern data encryption, and have these tools been properly configured?
• Have custom-built applications been written with security in mind?
• How have these custom applications been tested for security flaws?
• How are configuration and code changes documented at every level?
• How are these records reviewed and who conducts the review?

These are just a few of the kind of questions that can and should be assessed in a security audit. In answering these questions honestly and rigorously, an organization can realistically assess how secure its vital information is.

As a small business, your audit checklist might not be that detailed but these are some of the questions that you want an outside auditor to ask just in case you decide to have your system audited.

If you are interested in getting IT Certification so you can understand how the computers of IBM work, then there are also several options that are available for you.  IBM offers several levels of hardware certification, each which can help you to become more proficient in understanding how the technology and computer programs work from their internal drive.  This will allow you to problem solve, maintain or develop hardware programs that can be used.  It offers hardware systems that are not only located externally, but also that are located as areas on the Internet.  There are also storage IT Certification courses that you can take in order to understand how to more effectively use space with the hardware that is available.

Other IT Certifications

IBM also has several other programs that they will offer IT Certification in.  One of the programs that they offer is known as the infrastructure systems architect.  This will allow someone who is getting the certification to understand the technical areas that are related to IBM.  Things such as sales and skills for business can be developed through this certification.  This will also help those getting the certification to understand how infrastructure of a computer program and design can help to sell to customers, either through the Internet or through a different type of technological display.

The other part of these miscellaneous IT Certifications is related to getting on demand business as well as learning how to use technology for retail stores.  Certain types of technology can help to not only boost business, either on the web or locally, but will also help in the maintenance and organization of that business.  If you have a business and are looking for solutions to organize, maintain or increase your business size, then you can look into these types of IT Certifications to give you the necessary technology background in order to help with sales.

IT Certification Levels

After you have decided the area that you would like to get the IT Certification in, you will need to look into the degree that you will want to get.  Beginning courses will be offered, but there are also several levels above this.  By setting this goal, you will know how much training you will get in each area.  IBM begins with offering an IT Certification as a specialist, which understands the specifics of each program.  From here, you can grow into becoming an associate, which allows you to understand the universal database that is part of IBM.  After this point, IBM offers different levels of developers that move into understanding the specific details that are associated with databases, web development, and hardware development.  Depending on your interests, you can get as detailed as you want with the IT Certification from IBM.