- Published on
NYC Computer Repair Blog
- Authors
- Name
- Raul J Glasgow
- https://x.com/Penny_Mafia
Anti-virus software is dead
An article in the Wall Street Journal of May 5, 2014 summarized what I have been talking about these last few years. 25 years ago, Symantec was one of the first IT security companies to develop commercial antivirus software to protect computers from hackers. Now the company says that's no longer working. Antivirus "is dead," says Brian Dye, Symantec's senior vice president for information security. "We don't think of antivirus as a moneymaker in any way." Mr. Dye estimates antivirus now catches just 45% of cyberattacks. Antivirus products try to keep the bad guys out of a computer. But hackers often get in anyway, using 0-day threats, social engineering and other tactics. So Brian Dye is reinventing Symantec; instead of protecting against the bad guys, he is now focusing on detection and response, following FireEye which recently paid $1 billion for Mandiant who act like hackbusters after a data breach.
Cryptolocker Virus Targeting Medical and Dental Offices
We are bringing this urgent alert of a very serious threat to your practice's sensitive patient data.
Our office has been inundated with many calls of a malware called cryptolocker
What this malicious program does is, it encrypts all of the files on your computer and displays a ransom notice that if $500 worth of Bitcoin is not sent to a specified address within 3 days all of your files will be lost.
See image below. 
Running Windows XP means you are non-compliant and open to liability
On April 8, 2014, Microsoft is ending security updates and patches for Windows XP and Office 2003. After this date, Microsoft will not release any security patches or updates for Windows XP. This will effectively make 
Windows XP non-compliant with HIPAA / HITECH after Microsoft support ends. Just having a Windows XP computer on your network will be an automatic HIPAA violation— which makes you non-compliant with Meaningful Use— and will be a time bomb that could easily cause a reportable and expensive breach of protected patient information. HIPAA fines and loss of Meaningful Use money can far outweigh the expense of replacing your old computers.
**Bit-Coin/ Cryptocurrency In the Dental Office
**
Start accepting Bit Coin in your dental office today!!
**What is Bit-Coin? ** Bitcoin is a very secure and inexpensive way to handle payments. The lowest fees out there Bitcoin's high cryptographic security allows it to process transactions in a very efficient and inexpensive way. You can make and receive payments using the Bitcoin network with almost no fees. In most cases, fees are not strictly required but they are recommended for faster confirmation of your transaction. Protection against fraud Any business that accepts credit cards or PayPal knows the problem of payments that are later reversed. Chargeback frauds result in limited market reach and increased prices, which in turn penalizes customers. Bitcoin payments are irreversible and secure, meaning that the cost of fraud is no longer pushed onto the shoulders of the merchants.
64 bit computers in the dental/medical office.
A lot of my clients have been asking me about these new surprisingly affordable 64 bit computers. Can they work in your dental/medical office?
In a short reply, no.
Stick with 32 bit computers. While the prices of a 64 bit computer may be alluring avoid making the mistake of buying one
Most computer programs made for our industry are not written to take advantage of the 64 bit archeticture so they may just flat out not work or run poorly, or be incompatible with most systems and software.
Dentrix versions prior to G4 will not run reliably on a 64 bit computer. There have been reported errors of dentrix chart and the dentrix ledger not opening. Dentrix did address this issue with some updates to the G4 version.
Affordable Dental Office Computer Services NYC
Dependable and Affordable Computer Services for dental offices in NYC is hard to find. We provide affordable computer services for dental offices.
We specialize in networking, software/hardware installation, dentrix support,Schick support, automatic backups and disaster recovery services.
We also create websites at rates cheaper than any company in the NYC area. If you already have a website but you are unhappy with its rankings, ask us how we can bring your site to the first page on google using our customized search engine optimization services.
Visit us on the web at http://shortcircuited.net/dental-office-it-and-website-design-services.html or call us at 347-415-3813.
Our rates are as low as 225 an hour for IT Support. Call us today to find out what we can do for your dental office.
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