Newsletter - 2009, February

3 Easy Ways to
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I've always worked beyond normal business hours. Twenty years ago that meant going back to the office after dinner if I needed access to files that were on our network. In those early days, there was no internet, no connection to the office and having a computer at home was a luxury that few people could afford – including me.

Fast forward – it's Sunday night, I'm sitting in the den. There is an HD movie on TV. I've just gotten a cup of coffee, let the dog in, and if my timing is right, the accounts receivable batch that I've started posting will have just finished. I can look at my network drive for the excel spreadsheet that I need and then send a report to my printer at work so that it's there when I get to work in the morning. And to think I'm doing everything from my laptop. Maybe I don't need to go to the office after all . . . well, not really.

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Finding a good work-life balance is difficult in many professions, but the business field is one that is particularly associated with long hours, unusual schedules, and a general inability to leave work at the office. The volatile and demanding nature of the job leaves many professionals wanting to reduce their work commitments to make more time for their personal lives.

If you’re one of those overworked souls, here are a few ways to avoid burnout and restore sanity to your work schedule.

Simple to use and cost effective, VoIP (Voice over IP) solutions have taken the communications world by storm. But with this increase in popularity come serious security issues.

The problem with VoIP calls is the very thing that makes them so popular: they travel over the Internet. Because of this simplicity, VoIP calls can be intercepted at two points: the call setup and the call data flow. Tapping into the call setup provides the intruder with information on who called a particular number, and if they listen, what was said on that call. All that's needed to hack into a call is a packet-sniffing program that can be easily downloaded from the Internet and a tiny piece of hardware that taps into a physical wire undetected.

So just who might be spying on you? Anybody from business competitors, employees, your boss, your spouse, organized crime, the government, and nosy-tech-snoops can all listen to outgoing and incoming VoIP calls.

If your paranoia is now shooting off the charts, here’s the good news: there are lots of ways to secure VoIP calls at both the network and the individual user level.

Security at the network level
First of all, both business and individual users should look for equipment that incorporates Wireless security standards such as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), WPA2 and IEEE 802.11i. Make sure your network devices utilize at least one of these technologies.

Security installed on network routers and gateways can protect VoIP-call confidentiality by encrypting both the call setup and the audio stream itself. Businesses and individuals subscribing to a hosted VoIP service like Skype can take advantage of the encryption that is incorporated into the software.

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