We moved our blog!

To make it easier for our customers and followers to learn more about reducing operating costs by utilizing Tier 1 IP's IT, communications, and network cabling services, we have moved all blogs to our main domain:

Please visit blog.tier1ip.com

The Official Launch of Google Wave

Today's technology BUZZ is that Google officially began sending out invites to it's new application, Google Wave.  Wave is a real time application, meaning data is transmitted live to participants allowing users to have faster, interactive conversations.  Google plans to send invites to 100,000 lucky participants to start.  I did not receive an invite from Google as of yet -- hopefully, one of those lucky  participants will invite a friend who will invite us to particpate soon as we are excited to test out this highly publicized application.  Until then, Tier 1 IP techs will continue to build high-performance structured voice and data cabling networks for our customers to prepare for when they all interact with Google Wave in the near future.  

To learn more about Tier 1 IP and how we can help your business operate better, visit us at http://tier1ip.com

Cisco and Other Vendors Vulnerable to TCP DoS Flaws

Summary:

§ These vulnerabilities affect: Many of Cisco's products, including those that run IOS and CatOS. Also affects CheckPoint devices and Red Hat Linux

§ How an attacker exploits them: By flooding a device with excessive, specially crafted TCP connections

§ Impact: An attacker could prevent your device from opening any new TCP connections, essentially blocking most network traffic

§ What to do: Download and install the appropriate vendor updates as soon as possible

Exposure:

Over a year ago, two researchers with Outpost24 claimed they had discovered a flaw in the TCP protocol, which attackers could leverage to either crash or lockup network devices. At the time, they did not release any technical details about this vulnerability, both because they wanted to give vendors time to patch, and because they were working with the Finnish Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-FI) to release a coordinated alert on the issue. Sadly, one of the researchers who found the vulnerability passed away due to smoke inhalation during a fire in his home, which probably contributed to the delay with this coordinated release. Nonetheless, today CERT-FI finally released an alert about this TCP Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability.

According to CERT-FI's alert, the two researchers discovered these flaws while using a special TCP socket stressing framework called Sockstress. Sockstress is a tool that allows attackers to open an arbitrary number of TCP connections with specially crafted payloads, windows sizes, and TCP states. By flooding a devices with many specially crafted TCP connections, the researchers learned they could cause DoS states on some network devices. The DoS affects ranged from temporarily blocking TCP traffic on a device, to completely locking it up, requiring you to reboot.

CERT-FI's alert lists a number of vendors that have reported vulnerability to Sockstress attacks in some way. Below is a list of the affected vendors and links to their alerts:

§ Cisco

§ Microsoft (WatchGuard published a LiveSecurity Alert on this Microsoft issue yesterday)

§ CheckPoint [ Alert 1 / Alert 2 ]

§ Red Hat

If you use any of these vendors products, you should check that vendor's individual alert for the recommended solution to this issue. WatchGuard believes this TCP DoS vulnerability poses the greatest risk to administrators with Cisco devices. Most of our customers use Cisco routers or switches in their network. Cisco's alert warns that many of their devices, including those running IOS or CatOS, suffer from various forms of this TCP DoS vulnerability. The Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability may only pose a marginal risk to client machines. However, they pose a very high risk to gateway devices, such as a Cisco router. If an attacker can exploit this vulnerability against your gateway router, he could knock you off the Internet for the extent of his attack. We highly recommend Cisco administrators apply the upgrade or workarounds suggested in Cisco's alert.

Solution Path:

Cisco, and other vendors, have released patches to fix these TCP vulnerabilities. If you use one of the vulnerable devices, you should immediately consult the corresponding vendors alert for a patch or remedy. We listed the vendor alerts again below, for your convenience:

§ Cisco's TCP State Manipulation Vulnerability Alert

§ Microsoft Security Bulleting MS09-048 <-- (WatchGuard published a LiveSecurity Alert on this Microsoft issue yesterday)

§ CheckPoint [ Sockstress Alert / TCP Timer Alert ]

Red Hat Sockstress KB article

Tier 1 IP Boosts Web Hosting Security

TIER 1 IP BOOSTS WEB HOSTING SECURITY

New TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention Systems Protect Dedicated and Virtual Dedicated Hosting

Tier 1 IP, a turn-key technology solutions provider, has added another layer of security to its web hosting platform, deploying TippingPoint™ Intrusion Prevention Systems to block attacks.

Tier 1 IP has put TippingPoint systems in place to protect all dedicated and virtual dedicated hosting servers at no additional cost to customers. An intrusion prevention system is an in-line device that scans traffic and, based on rules, determines whether data packets are legitimate or malicious.

In addition to this valuable security feature, each dedicated and virtual dedicated hosting plan currently includes free rapid setup, a free SSL certificate and 24/7 customer support, physical security and network monitoring.

One customer “blocked over 20,000 individual infection attempts within the first hour and helped their business by reducing downtime and avoiding crippling infections" by using a solution from Tipping Point.

For more information on Tier 1 IP’s hosting plans, visit http://webhosting.tier1ip.com/ today.

TippingPoint systems deliver powerful network protection, functioning transparently at gigabit speeds to guard against cyber attacks. TippingPoint's Digital Vaccine® service updates filters regularly to maintain defense against the latest vulnerabilities, viruses and rogue applications.

About Tier 1 IP

Founded in 2002, Tier 1 IP provides a complete range of telecommunications and IT solutions using copper and fiber optic technologies. Service areas include the company's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

Whether your company is a small business or a large enterprise, Tier 1 IP provides you the solutions you need to stay connected. Best of all, we answer your questions and explain your options in language you can understand.

Contact Information: http://www.tier1ip.com/ 800.298.0311

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Protect Your Laptop Data

If your business stores important data on a laptop, here's something you should know:

Without proper backups, your data is at extreme risk!

So set up on a FREE 30-Day Remote Data Backups Trial today
 ...and protect your laptops from the inevitable, before it's too late!

• Did you know that 1 in 10 laptops are lost or stolen each year, and about 97% are never recovered?
• Laptops are fragile and often get dropped and damaged.
• Packed with tiny, fragile components, they can easily overheat, and suffer more hard drive failures than servers and PCs.
• And unsecured wireless network connections can expose your data to malicious viruses and hackers.

Another disturbing fact is that most laptop users...

• Don't store their data on a server,
• Are not highly technical,
• And rarely if ever back up.

While a laptop is easy to replace, losing important data they store can be devastating. Studies show 7 in 10 firms suffering a major data loss go out of business.

That's why it's so important to protect your laptop with Tier 1 IP's Remote Data Backups.

Our secure, automatic, offsite backup solution is designed with the mobile user in mind. Our easy, award-winning software includes settings to:

• "Backup on a connection to network"
• Backup on Windows exit
• and Run a Backup, then exit Windows.

Block-level incremental backups are fast and efficient, typically taking just minutes over our redundant fiber optic lines.

Your data is encrypted before it leaves your computer, in transit and in storage at our two world-class, mirrored underground data centers, so you know it's always safe and secure.

You'll also enjoy the convenience of secure access to your files from any Internet connection.

We're here to help!

Please let us know if you have any questions or requests.
Thanks for all your support, keep up the good work, and have a great summer!

ABOUT TIER 1 IP

Founded in 2002, Tier 1 IP provides a complete range of telecommunications and data solutions using copper and fiber optic technologies. Service areas include the company's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

Whether your company is a small business or a large enterprise, Tier 1 IP provides you the solutions you need to stay connected. Best of all, we answer your questions and explain your options in language you can understand.

Contact Information:
http://www.tier1ip.com
800.298.0311

Why Businesses are Moving to Managed IT Services

Why more businesses are choosing Managed Services from Tier 1 IP?

1. You need things done regularly and to a high standard.
   At Tier 1 IP we can take on your regular IT tasks and use our industry experience to perform them with the utmost care and diligence.
2. You need the reassurance of Service Level Agreements.
   We provide all our managed service customers with the reassurance of robust SLAs. This means that you know exactly what we're doing and what you can expect from us. So there's no need to worry about those little tasks and headaches because we have you covered.
3. You need a fixed monthly cost.
   We realize that unexpected costs can mount up in IT, so with our managed services we'll provide proactive maintenance and monitoring services for a fixed monthly cost. This way you know how much those services will cost on a month-by-month basis, allowing you to maximize your budget without the worry.

ABOUT TIER 1 IP

Founded in 2002, Tier 1 IP provides a complete range of telecommunications and data solutions using copper and fiber optic technologies. Service areas include the company's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

Whether your company is a small business or a large enterprise, Tier 1 IP provides you the solutions you need to stay connected. Best of all, we answer your questions and explain your options in language you can understand.

Contact Information:
http://www.tier1ip.com
800.298.0311

Tier 1 IP Partners with Remote Data Backups, Inc. to Protect Clients' Data

Tier 1 IP today announced it has partnered with Remote Data Backups, to provide its customers with the the most cost effective, convenient and secure way to automatically back up their data offsite.

"This is a mission-critical service every business needs," Howson said. "We are excited to be able to integrate Remote Data Backups into our core offerings. They have an impressive list of clients who praise their reliability -- the most important aspect in data protection -- and ease of use."

One in 4 PC users suffer from data loss each year, according to a Gartner Group study. Seven of 10 small firms experiencing a major data loss go out of business within a year (DTI/PriceWaterhouse Coopers).

"We know how frequent and damaging data loss can be, and this is the best way to prevent it," Howson added. "Backups need to be automatic, secure and offsite. With RDB, you can rest assured your data is safe."

Clients are encouraged to take a free 30-day trial at http://tier1ip.databu.com. Setup is simple and takes just a few minutes.

After the initial backup, nightly automatic backups compress and securely transfer only new files and block-level changes, for fast, efficient backups with minimal bandwidth usage and transfer time. With one click, you can also run backups on-demand any time, on Windows exit, or on network connection (great for laptops) backups.

Users can retrieve files via the desktop agent or securely online through the Remote File Access feature. Easy System Restore provides a full system backup to protect the operating system, progam files and registry settings.

About Tier 1 IP

Founded in 2002, Tier 1 IP provides a complete range of telecommunications and data solutions using copper and fiber optic technologies. Service areas include the company's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

Whether your company is a small business or a large enterprise, Tier 1 IP provides you the solutions you need to stay connected.  Best of all, we answer your questions and explain your options in language you can understand.

Contact Information:
http://www.tier1ip.com
800.298.0311

About Remote Data Backups

Since 1999, Remote Data Backups, Inc. has been
the leader in the online backup business.

Remote Data Backups' unbeatable combination of easy, reliable
software, rock-solid infrastructure and free, friendly, responsive 24/7
customer service translates into thousands of ecstatic clients.

With RDB, you're protecting your missioncritical data with the most dependable, reputable and stable online backup company.

Remote Data Backups: Fast Facts

• RDB provides data backups to clients in more than 30 countries globally.


• Remote Data Backups currently protects over 400 million client files.


• Clients have used RDB's backup service to restore over 35 million files.


• More than 5,000 IT, Web and business consultants, including most major IT franchises, actively promote our service through our backup affiliate-reseller partner program.


• RDB has the world's most secure commercial data centers, located 1,200 miles apart.

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Tier 1 IP | OnDemand - Managed IT Services

Tier 1 IP announces a shift in business support practice from the usual break-fix routine to a more proactive, managed model.

Our new solution will dramatically reduce the time from network failure to overall issue resolution, resulting in increased employee productivity and cost savings. It accomplishes this with remote device troubleshooting and remediation, as well as remote end-user support. Given that performance and predictive failure monitoring is a key component; this will also lead to a modest reduction in the number of downtime occurrences that your business would experience without this solution.

There are four (4) main components to the program:
1. Monitoring. Performance and availability monitoring on server, desktop and network devices. 2. Service Automation. Remote access, software distribution and automatic script execution.
3. Reports. On demand reports to support daily operations, troubleshooting and capacity planning.
4. Labor Services. Discounted service rate for proactive or reactive services.

Based on the above monitoring components, the Tier 1 IP's OnDemand system customer success program takes two basic forms. The first is a Basic Bundle, comprised of monitoring services to support essential server, network and desktop health and performance. The second is a Premium Bundle, which includes all aspects of the Basic Bundle plus security monitoring services.

- Mike Howson
Tier 1 IP Providing Visibility into Your Network
800.298.0311

Founded in 2002, Tier 1 IP provides a complete range of telecommunications and data solutions using copper and fiber optic technologies. Service areas include the company's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.