Thanks to the guys over at Droog Media in Manchester (http://www.droogmedia.co.uk/) for coming over to film the promo for us, they did a stearling job and we're looking forward to seeing the final edit. Watch out for the promotional movie, coming soon and also thanks in advance to the clients who ive collared to give testimonials.

Mark

Heres a quick widget if you've ever wondered 'how do i show my outlook calendar as a desktop background'? This one allows you to show your outlook calendar in different views and fades into the background allowing you to overlay windows on top. Its the perfect app if you have a 2nd monitor and want to increase productivity by always having you task and calendar list on view.

To download, go to http://www.outlookonthedesktop.com/ 

The software is shareware which means that its free to download but the author asks for a donation if you find it usefull. The outlook on your desktop app is not supplied by Netcom but as always were here to help so if you have any questions or queries about this or any other it suppot related topic please feel free to get in touch.

Hi Mark

Just wanted to say thanks for all the hard work you guys have put in this weekend. I’ve moved offices a few times at previous companies and this is the first time I’ve moved and everyone has managed to get on line straight away!

Simon has been doing a cracking job yesterday & today too so thanks so much!

Sarah

Sarah Trumble

Client Services Director

In case your interested, heres a few work snaps taken during this install...

 A nice shiney new HP Proliant ML350 next to the old box its replacing. We've virtualised a Windows 2008 R2 to allow for hardware independance and sat the installation on a set of 8x fast drives configured at RAID10. 32GB RAM rounds off nicely and ensures our clients new server lives up to expectations.

 Quad layer 3 Gb switching with teamed network interfaces from the ML350 providing VLAN and network segragation for multiple office networks.

 The server room during the install, we didnt get a photo after the install but suffice to say, its a lot cleaner and fuller now.

 Enough UPS battery backup to power a small town for a week, to ensure that the servers will run for ever!!!!

 An attempt to be arty, heres, one of the switches, you cant see the AVAYA IP office phone system or the Juniper firewall, but, they are there!! Maybe techies should stick to techincal and not art, that said, were always proud of our data cabinets.

How to Calculate The Size of a Server Room Air Conditioner

As always, we're here to help so if you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact us at sales@netcom.uk.net or on 08712300417. We are not air con specialists and regret that we are unable to offer free air con BTU calculations. We are full qualified and certified Microsoft installation engineers and can help with your server and networking equipment requirements.

Call 01143216146 or email sales@netcom.uk.net to get connected to up to 40Mb broadband from £39pcm!

• So what is digital region broadband?

  To cut a long story short, its a high speed network encompassing South Yorkshire, Sheffield, Barsley, Hull and Rotherham which bypasses the Virgin and BT network allowing basic connection speeds starting at 40Mb download and 10Mb upload.
   

• Whats this mean to me?

  Your business will benefit from the increased 40Mb download speed which means that more of your computers can access the internet without loss of performance. You can use a VoIP or broadband based phone system to save money. The 10Mb upload speed means that your videoconferencing and remote working will run much quicker and your remote backups will upload to your backup servers quicker, whats that? You dont have remote backups? Call us today to find out more. The business package and business bias quality of service routing means that you now have a viable cost effective solution to ramp up your broadband speeds and avoid the costs of leased lines or EFM links.

• What if i'm not based in the digital region?

• Business Broadband on an Uncongested Network

• What next?

By K Dawson

http://www.netcom-it-services.co.uk/news

How to use a keyboard might seem academic, but there's more to typing than just tapping the keys. For most people, the keyboard is the primary computer input and control device-that's why it's important to leverage the features and shortcuts that keyboards offer. Read on for tips to maximize ease of use, comfort, and efficiency.

1. Get to know your keyboard

Whether your keyboard is just out of the box or it has seen years of use, it may have features you don't know about. Take a moment to review the literature that came with your keyboard, visit the manufacturer's product website, and familiarize yourself with the layout of the keys. Knowing your keyboard's capabilities and limitations-and where to find time-saving keys-can make it easier to use and can even increase your productivity.

2. Customize keyboard settings

After you're familiar with your keyboard, customizing just a few basic settings can further improve your efficiency and accuracy. For instance, you can adjust:

• The pause before a character starts repeating.
• The speed at which characters repeat, which can help you avoid typing errors.
• The rate at which the cursor blinks, which can enhance its visibility.

You can make these changes right now:

• Windows 7
• Windows Vista
• Windows XP

3. Take shortcuts

Even if you're a genius with the mouse, keyboard shortcuts can still save you time. They're called shortcuts for a reason-they reduce multiple clicks to a single combination of keys, like hitting a chord on a piano. They also economize hand and arm motion.

Using keyboard shortcuts for the things you do all the time, like saving or closing files, can make computing much easier and faster. So whether you want to work more easily and efficiently in Internet Explorer, streamline your Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 experience, or key international characters into your emails, you'll find scores of shortcuts to speed you on your way. The table below offers only a few common standard-keyboard shortcuts, many of which work across Office applications-from Outlook to Access, from Visio to PowerPoint, from Word to Excel. You can find a more complete list of built-in keyboard shortcuts for a particular application by searching in Help for keyboard shortcuts. You can even peruse keyboard-shortcut lists:

• Windows 7
• Windows Vista
• Windows XP

Press this	To do this
F1	Open Help
F7	Check the spelling of titles or words in any Office application with the Spelling & Grammar checker
Windows logo key	Open the Start menu
Alt+F4	Quit a program
Alt+Tab	Switch between open programs or windows
Ctrl+N	Open a new (blank) document
Ctrl+A	Select all content in a document, window, or text box
Ctrl+S	Save the current file or document (works in most programs)
Ctrl+C	Copy the selection
Ctrl+X	Cut the selection
Ctrl+V	Paste the selection
Ctrl+P	Print a document or webpage
Ctrl+Z	Undo an action
Ctrl+Y	Redo an action
Ctrl+F	Find text in a document
Ctrl+H	Find and replace text in a document
Ctrl+B	Boldface text
Ctrl+I	Italicize text
Ctrl+U	Underline text
Ctrl+G	Go to a page, line, or bookmark in a document
Windows logo key +F1	Display Windows Help and Support
Esc	Cancel the current task
Application key	Open a menu of commands related to a selection in a program (equivalent to right-clicking the selection)

4. Make it easier to press multiple keys

If pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del seems an acrobatic feat, you can set up Sticky Keys. The Sticky Keys feature lets you hit shortcut keys one at a time rather than all at once. You can even set Sticky Keys to make a noise so you know it's working.

You can set up Sticky Keys:

• Windows 7
• Windows Vista
• Windows XP

(Tip: In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, Sticky Keys has a keyboard shortcut-press Shift five times in a row.)

5. Find a comfortable keyboard

Keyboards come in many shapes and sizes, and the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard your coworker swears by might feel downright awkward compared to the Comfort Curve 2000 you covet. Keyboards come in a variety of colors and key styles, too, not to mention with and without wires. And some keyboards are definitely louder than others. All Microsoft keyboards are carefully designed to balance form and function with comfort. Test drive a keyboard or two to find the right one for you.

Although using the right keyboard can really make a difference, ergonomics also play a key role when it comes to typing comfortably.

Tips for using your keyboard ergonomically

It is essential to use good ergonomic practices to help prevent or reduce soreness or injury to your wrists, hands, and arms. It is particularly important if you're in front of your computer for long periods.

Here are some ergonomic tips for a safer, more comfortable computer session:

• Position your keyboard at elbow level, with your upper arms relaxed at your sides.
• Center your keyboard in front of you. If it has a numeric keypad, use the Spacebar as the centering point.
• While typing, use a light touch and keep your wrists straight.
• When you're not typing, relax your arms and hands.
• Take a short break every 15 to 20 minutes.
• Type with your hands and wrists floating above the keyboard, so that you can use your whole arm to reach for distant keys instead of stretching your fingers.
• Avoid resting your palms or wrists on any surface while typing. If your keyboard has a palm rest, use it only during breaks from typing.

How you use the keyboard is up to you. But by taking the time to adjust a few settings and to follow the guidelines above, typing on it can become easier, faster, and even safer.

Thanks to Microsoft at Home for this article

The more passwords users are required to remember, the more likely they’ll create weak passwords that are easy for hackers to crack. They will also likely reuse the same password for multiple sites.

Security company Trusteer found that 73 percent of bank customers use their online account password to access other websites. What then is the likelihood that they’re using the same passwords to access your corporate servers? The need for stronger passwords is clear. We’ve compiled some dos and don’ts on creating strong passwords. Be sure to share this list with your users.

Don'ts

Dos

1. Choose a password that is 8 characters or more.
2. Many security experts suggest using a word phrase to help you create strong and memorable passwords. For example, instead of using your favourite colour pink as your password, let's use pink in a series of words that you’ll remember. That could be "the colour of the walls in my bedroom is pink". Your new password could be the first letters of each word: tcotwimbip.
   
   You could make this even stronger using a combination of upper and lowercase letters, for example: tcOTwiMbIp. Better still would be to use a combination of letters, numbers, punctuation and symbols: ?tc0T4w!M1bIp.
3. Choose letters, numbers and symbols from the entire keyboard, not just those you use or see most often.
4. Check the strength of your password at Microsoft's® Safety & Security Center. The checker doesn't collect, store or transmit your passwords; it only rates them according to their strength.  
5. Change all default passwords. Those include factory-generated passwords in new devices, passwords generated by IT, and passwords generated by your password reset requests.
6. Take the time to create strong passwords for the sites that you really care about. Those could be your corporate systems, banking sites and your social media accounts - places where hackers could do serious damage if they were able to gain access.
7. If you want to change passwords every month try this method as suggested by Farhad Manjoo writing in Slate. He begins with a base sentence that allows him to change certain sections each month for specific sites. For example, the base sentence It's 20 degrees in February so I use Gmail would yield the password i20diFsIuG (using the first letter of each word and the numbers). During September (the ninth month of the calendar year) the sentence would be It's 90 degrees in September, so I use Gmail (for a password of i90diSsIuG).
8. Just as your users probably don't leave their door key under the mat, your users shouldn't tape their password to their computer screen. Blogger JetCityOrange suggests storing passwords on storage devices and keeping that off-site under lock and key.
   
   Schneier has developed Password Safe, an open source password generator and management system. It allows users to safely and easily create a secured and encrypted list of user names and passwords. All you need to remember is a single master password to unlock and access your entire list.

Need more reasons to change your weak passwords?
Here are some frightening stats from a BusinessWeek article: The Problem with Passwords.

How long would it take a hacker’s computer to randomly guess passwords of six and nine characters?

Six characters

• 10 minutes if it’s all lowercase
• 10 hours if it includes uppercase
• 18 days if it contains numbers and symbols

Nine-characters

• 4 months if it’s all lowercase
• 178 years if it includes uppercase
• 44,530 years if it contains numbers and symbols

Check out the full list of stats in the BusinessWeek article. 

Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

As always, we're here to help so if you need any further assistance please feel free to call Netcom on 08712030417 or visit our website at http://www.netcom-it-services.co.uk

Daryl B. Chapman

Our clients enjoy hosting services such as hosted Sage Line 50, hosted Microsoft CRM, hosted Act and hosted Exchange.  We supply managed servers and managed hosted solutions created around each clients business needs and budget.  To find out how we can help your business visit our website at http://www.netcom.uk.net or contact one of our helpful friendly team by emailing info@netcom.uk.net or by calling 08712300417 (int +44 114 321 6146).

If this article raises any questions or queries, please feel free to contact us at http://www.netcom-it-services.co.uk or at info@netcom.uk.net

We hope your find this article usefull.  For more help and advise with any aspect of your home or business IT please feel free to email support@netcom.uk.net or visit our website at http://www.netcom-it-services.co.uk where you will find more handy articles and tips.

If your email Inbox is out of control, you might want to rethink your methods for organizing your email and emptying your Inbox. Developing a new approach to processing your Inbox can help you to gain more control, improve your response time, and keep up with critical actions and due dates.

This article covers four key factors that can help you process your email more efficiently-both at home and at the office. Although some of the productivity tools mentioned here are specific to Microsoft Outlook (Outlook 2010, Outlook 2007, and Outlook Web Access), most of the techniques-and even the organizational attitude described here-can help you to more efficiently process email and empty your Inbox, even if you use an email application other than Outlook.

1. Set up a simple and effective email reference system

The first step toward an organized Inbox is understanding the difference between reference information and action information.

• Reference information is information that is not required to complete an action; it is information that you keep in case you need it later. Reference information is stored in your reference system-an email reference folder, your My Documents folder, or a company intranet site, for example.

• Action information is information you must have to complete an action. Action information is stored with the action, either on your to-do list or on your Calendar. (If the action needed is a detailed reply, try converting information into professional communication using these tips on Creating incredible documents more easily using Office 2010.

•  

Most people receive a considerable amount of reference information through email. Sometimes as much as one-third of your email is reference information. So it is essential to have a system that makes it easy to transfer messages from your Inbox into your email reference system-a series of email file folders where you store reference information to ensure you have easy access to it later. Learn more about setting up a reference system.

After you take care of filing your reference information, you can use the next three steps to handle the email that you have to do something with-your action information.

2. Schedule uninterrupted time to process and organize email

How many times are you interrupted every day? It's nearly impossible to complete anything when there are constant interruptions from the phone, people stopping by your office, and instant messaging. So it's critical that you set aside uninterrupted time to process and organize your email.

Many email messages require you to make a decision. The best decisions require focus, and focus requires uninterrupted attention. Establish a regular time each day to process your email so that you can empty your Inbox. Of course, you can scan your email during the day for urgent messages or requests from your boss.

Book yourself a recurring appointment for an hour a day to process email, and mark that time as "busy." During that hour, don't answer the phone or take interruptions, and work only on processing your Inbox. You can also turn off the audio alert that sounds each time you receive a new email-which can be a distraction in itself. In Outlook, click the File tab. Click Options. On the Mail tab, under Message arrival, clear the Play a sound check box.

At first, keeping these appointments will take discipline. But over time, the discipline becomes habit. And after you completely empty your Inbox, you'll see the value of this one hour a day and you'll stick to it like glue.

Microsoft Outlook 2010 makes it easier to keep this email appointment and to process your Inbox. The new anywhere access features of Outlook 2010 mean that you don't have to be at home or at the office to keep your daily email management appointment.

Conversation view in Office 2010 enables you to organize email folders by date and conversation. When Conversation view is turned on, messages that share the same subject appear as conversations that can be viewed as expanded or collapsed, helping you to quickly review and act on messages or complete conversations.#

Also, improved search tools in Office 2010 make it easier to narrow your search results by using criteria, like sender or subject keywords, and other information, such as attachments. The Search Tools contextual tab includes a set of filters that efficiently focus your search to isolate the items that you want. For more information, see Find a message or item by using Instant Search.

Instant Search in Outlook 2010 provides many ways to search your email for specific messages.

3. Process one item at a time, starting at the top

When you sit down to process your email, the first step is to sort it by the order in which you will process it. For example, you can filter by date, by subject, or even by the sender or receiver of the email message. In Outlook 2010, on the View tab, in the Arrangement group, click the arrangement option you want.

From the View tab, you can filter your email by date, category, sender or receiver, and more.

You can also change the arrangement directly from your Inbox. To display the list of options, under the Search box, right-click the Arrange By: box.

The Arrange By: box in your Inbox gives you convenient access to even more options to arrange your messages.

Tip:  If you use Outlook 2010, enable the reading pane (called the preview pane in Outlook 2007) so that you can view your messages without having to open them. To enable the reading pane, on the View tab, in the Layout group, click Reading Pane. To enable the Outlook 2007 preview pane, on the View menu, click AutoPreview.

Resist the temptation to jump around in your Inbox in no particular order. Begin processing the message at the top of your Inbox and only move to the second one after you've handled the first. This can be hard at first, when you might have thousands of messages in your Inbox. But as you reduce the number of messages over a few sessions, eventually you'll get to the point where you can process the 60-100 messages you get every day and regularly get your Inbox down to zero.

4. Use the "Four Ds for Decision-Making" model

The "Four Ds for Decision-Making" model (4 Ds) is a valuable tool for processing email, helping you to quickly decide what action to take with each item and how to remove it from your Inbox.

The expanded Ribbon in Office 2010 is designed to help you quickly find the tools that you need to complete your tasks. Features are organized in logical groups collected together under tabs. You can also customize the Ribbon to include tabs you personalize to match your own style.

The expanded Ribbon in Outlook 2010 replaces Outlook 2007 menus, giving you easy access to tools on conveniently organized tabs.

The Quick Steps feature, new in Outlook 2010, speeds up managing your email even more. This feature enables you to perform the multi-stepped tasks you use most often, such as moving email to a specific folder or moving a message and replying to it with a meeting request, with a single click. The Quick Steps gallery includes buttons for one-click file and flag, sending messages to your team, and other popular commands. For more information, see Automate common or repetitive tasks with Quick Steps.

The Quick Steps feature turns your most frequent tasks-whether forwarding messages to your co-workers or copying messages to a specific folder-into one-click operations.

Tip: Learning a few basic keyboard shortcuts in Outlook 2010 can make performing these tasks even easier and faster. Read our article on how to save time with quick computer shortcuts.

Decide what to do with each and every message

How many times have you opened, reviewed, and closed the same email message or conversation? Those messages are getting lots of attention but very little action. It is better to handle each email message only once before taking action-which means you have to decide what to do with it and where to put it. With the 4 Ds model, you have four choices:

1. Delete it

2. Do it

3. Delegate it

4. Defer it

Delete it

Generally, you can delete about half of all the email you get. But some of you shudder when you hear the phrase "delete email." You're hesitant to delete messages for fear that you might need them at some point. That's understandable, but ask yourself honestly: What percentage of information that you keep do you actually use?

If you do use a large percentage of what you keep, your method is working. But many of us keep a lot more than we use. Here are some questions to ask yourself to help you decide what to delete:

• Does the message relate to a meaningful objective you're currently working on? If not, you can probably delete it. Why keep information that doesn't relate to your main focus?

• Does the message contain information you can find elsewhere? If so, delete it.

• Does the message contain information that you will refer to within the next six months? If not, delete it.

• Does the message contain information that you're required to keep? If not, delete it.

Outlook 2010 helps you get rid of the "noise" in your Inbox by providing two new commands: Ignore Conversation and Clean Up Conversation. If a conversation is no longer relevant, you can prevent additional responses from appearing in your Inbox. The Ignore command moves the whole conversation and any future messages that arrive in the conversation to the Deleted Items folder.

Easily delete an entire conversation so that no new responses to it will appear in your Inbox.

When a message contains all the previous messages in the conversation, you can click Clean Up to eliminate redundant messages. For example, as people reply to a conversation, the response is at the top and the previous messages in the conversation are below. Use the Clean Up command to keep only the most recent message that includes the whole conversation. For more information, see Use Conversation Clean Up to eliminate redundant messages.

Cleaning up your conversations makes it easier to stay focused on the task being discussed.

Do it (in less than two minutes)

If you can't delete the email messages, ask yourself, "What specific action do I need to take?" and "Can I do it in less than two minutes?" If you can, just do it.

There is no point in filing an email or closing an email if you can complete the associated task in less than two minutes. Try it out-see how much mail you can process in less than two minutes. I think you will be extremely surprised and happy with the results. You could file the message, you could respond to the message, or you could make a phone call. You can probably handle about one-third of your email messages in less than two minutes.

Office 2010 helps you respond to email messages faster. You can view the availability of a person and instantly reach out to them using a variety of communication methods-all on a new easy-to-access contact card. You can even customize the context menu of the contact card to include tasks you perform most often, saving you more time.

Delegate it

If you can't delete it or do it in two minutes or less, can you forward the email to an appropriate team member who can take care of the task?

If you can delegate it (forward it to another team member to handle), do so right away. You should be able to compose and send the delegating message in about two minutes. After you have forwarded the message, delete the original message or move it into your email reference system.

Defer it

If you cannot delete it, do it in less than two minutes, or delegate it, the action required is something that only you can accomplish and that will take more than two minutes. Because this is your dedicated email processing time, you need to defer it and deal with it after you are done processing your email. You'll probably find that about 20 percent of your email messages have to be deferred.

There are two things you can do to defer a message: Turn it into an actionable task, or turn it into an appointment. When you're using Outlook, you can defer emails that require action by dragging the messages to your Task List to turn them into tasks. Name the task to clearly state the required action so that you don't have to reopen the email message. The result is a clearly defined list of actions on your Task List that you can prioritize and schedule to complete on your Calendar. Or you can turn the message into a meeting request by dragging it to your Calendar.

Tip: Use the To-Do Bar in Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007 to drag an email message from an email folder to a date on your Calendar or to your Task List. On the View tab, in the Layout group, click the To-Do Bar. When the bar appears, drag the message to your Calendar or to your Task List. This copies the message to the new location; it doesn't move it out of the original mail folder, so you'll still be able to find what you need. Learn more about managing your Task List in Outlook.

Use the 4 Ds model every day

Using the 4 Ds model on a daily basis makes it easier to handle a large quantity of email. Our experience shows that, on average, people can process about 100 email messages an hour. If you receive 40 to 100 messages per day, all you need is one hour of uninterrupted email processing time to get through your Inbox. Our statistics show that of the email you receive:

• Fifty percent can be deleted or filed.

• Thirty percent can be delegated or completed in less than two minutes.

• Twenty percent can be deferred to your Task List or Calendar to complete later.

Of course, if you have a backlog of hundreds of messages, it will take time to get to the point where your daily routine keeps you up to date. It's important to get that backlog down, so I would suggest setting blocks of time aside to work through it.

Thanks to Microsoft and Sally McGhee for this article.

Broadband Speed Test:

Is your broadband running slow? Or are you just interested in your broadband speed? Check your speed and compare against other users on the same networks with this handy ADSL speed test tool.

http://www.netcom-it-services.co.uk/tools/broadband-speedtest/

Free online PDF creator:

Do you need a PDF document? Away from the office? This handy tool will let you create a PDF document from a file or website whereever you are.

http://www.netcom-it-services.co.uk/tools/pdf-creator/

Website health test:

This is a great little tool for checking many things to do with your web hosting. From DNS issues to making sure your not listed on a spam list this tool will help you out. If you have any queries, give us a call on 08712300417 and we'll help you out.

http://www.netcom-it-services.co.uk/tools/webtest/

We're always on the eye out for ways we can help you so if you would like a tool adding to this selection please feel free to contact us and we'll look into it for you.

Mark Kindred, Netcom Technologies at http://www.netcom-it-services.co.uk

• Yes, encryption in Excel 2002 and 2003 IS secure if you know what you are doing.
• Encryption in Excel 2007 is secure only for ".docx". For ".doc" it's NOT secure with default settings
• Encryption in Excel 2002 and 2003 is NOT secure when used with default settings.
• Encryption in Excel 95, 97 and 2000 is NOT secure at all.

How safe is Excel encryption. Is Excel encryption really secure?

This article describes the strength of Excel encryption. Excel encryption is achieved by setting a "password to open". The security level in Excel 2002 and 2003 depends on strength of encryption algorithm and strength of password.

Strength of encryption algorithm

In Excel 95, 97 and 2000 the encryption method contains vulnerabilities. This means that the document can be decrypted within 10 seconds without knowing the password. There are password crackers that even offer online services to do this.

In Excel 2002 and 2003, the default encryption method is "97/2000 compatible", which means that the same insecure encryption method is used.

Fortunately there is a solution. To achieve good encryption, one has to select a strong encryption method. This is done by clicking the "Advanced" button next to the "Password to open" field. A list of available Crypto Service Providers (CSP's) appears.

Choose encryption type with strong encryption capacity in Excel

Here select a CSP with at least 128 bits RC4, like the "Microsoft Enhanced Cryptographic Provider v1.0". 128 bits encryption is considered strong encryption. RC4 is widely used, for example by Online Banking Systems and in PDF encryption.

Strength of password

If the encryption method is strong, the only way for a cracker to break the document security is by trying to find the password. It's important to know the difference between weak and strong passwords.

• A weak password is easy to guess or quick to crack.
• A strong password is hard to guess but easy to remember. It has enough length and complexity.

Password crackers

Password crackers are automated tools dedicated to finding passwords. Usually the steps are:

1.             password guessing

• name of partner, child, pet animal, holiday destination, date of birth, etc. Someone who knows you is able to guess your password!
• Simple words or given names combined with the numbers of the month are considered weak as well, e.g. "welcome01", "Alex11", etc.

2.             dictionary attack (trying all words from a dictionary list, e.g. list of names)

• "qwerty", "letmein", "Aaron",
• brute force attack (if nothing else works: try every possible combination of characters) .
• "a", "b", "c", .., "aa", "ab", "ac", .. , "a1", "a$", "a{", etc.
• Short passwords (less than 5 characters) are weak because the number of possible combinations is limited. These short passwords can be cracked within seconds.

How much time is needed to crack a password by brute-force?

If the password cannot be guessed and is not found in a dictionary, the cracker has to try a brute-force attack. When brute-forcing, the time to crack the password depends on the amount of possible passwords that the cracker has to try. The amount of possible passwords increases with password length and with increasing diversity of characters being used (complexity).

Let's take the scenario of a cracker trying 15 million passwords per second. This is currently the maximum speed being claimed by password cracker vendors. You need a pretty fast computer to achieve this. The following table shows the computed time to crack a password with 15 million tries per second. Notice the incredible increase in time to try all possible combinations when password length and complexity increase.

length: 4, complexity: a-z    ==> less than 1 second

length: 4, complexity: a-zA-Z0-9 + symbols    ==> 4.8 seconds

length: 5, complexity: a-zA-Z              ==> 25 seconds

length: 6, complexity: a-zA-Z0-9        ==> 1 hour

length: 6, complexity: a-zA-Z0-9 + symbols    ==> 11 hours

length: 7, complexity: a-zA-Z0-9 + symbols    ==> 6 weeks

length: 8, complexity: a-zA-Z0-9        ==> 5 months

length: 8, complexity: a-zA-Z0-9 + symbols    ==> 10 years

length: 9, complexity: a-zA-Z0-9 + symbols    ==> 1000 years

length: 10, complexity: a-zA-Z0-9      ==> 1700 years

length: 10, complexity: a-zA-Z0-9 + symbols  ==> 91800 years

What we see is that:

• any password shorter than 5 characters can be cracked within 5 seconds
• any password shorter than 7 characters can be cracked within a day.
• With the password length of 9, the cracking time goes to hundreds of years. In most cases this can be considered acceptable while mostly we need to keep a secret for a maximum of 30 years.

To be on the safe side, we recommend a minimum password length of 10 characters.

Note: the crack times mentioned in the table are needed to try all the possible passwords. There is a great chance that the cracker only needs 50% of this time. Also bear in mind that a cracker can always have a lucky shot at his first try and crack the password immediately. The chance is very small, but theoretically it is possible.

Is Excel encryption really secure?

Yes, encryption in Excel 2002 and 2003 is really secure if you select

• a good Crypto Service Provider
• a strong password (combination of character sets with min. length of 10)

As always, we are here to help so if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us on 0871 2300417 or by emailing support@netcom.uk.net.

Netcom Technologies - www.netcom-it-services.co.uk

If you are sitting at your desk now, take a look around and ask yourself: "What is this desk saying about me?"

For example, what messages does a photo of your mum send to your co-workers, or a low-maintenance cactus, or the tons of boxes and files below your desk?

Ask a psychologist and, unsurprisingly, they’ll tell you that just like the clothes we choose to wear or the meal we take at lunch, our desk is often perceived as an extension of our personalities. Nothing ground-breaking there – but certainly worth bearing in mind.

Recent studies have revealed that desks can be useful to managers attempting to understand and motivate their staff. Vice versa, if you are interested in the way you are perceived at work – and perhaps you are thinking of modifying that perception – a desktop makeover is a great place to start.

When considering the state of your desk and what signals it sends about you, keep in mind the following stereotypes:

The motivated workspace. Strategically placing work targets, charts, graphs and deadlines in plain view of passers-by is likely to make them think you are ambitious and goal orientated.

Family, friends and pets. Lost that human touch? Littering your space with pictures of these will give the impression that you are a “people person”, motivated by the relationships around you.

Hedonist’s shrine. Adventure calendars, holiday postcards and lively screen savers: sprinkling these around says, “I like a good time.” You could well be perceived as the “work to live” type as opposed to the “live to work”.

Fashion hub. Need to say: style over substance? Or rather, style with substance? A few well-placed fashionable gadgets or accessories can raise your style stocks. Be careful though: like beauty, what is fashionable changes between beholders.

The naked desk. Often thought to be the workspace of more introverted types. Other introvert signs are building a wall of office files to hide behind or facing your desk in a position where you avoid eye contact. However, with the rise in desktop interpretations perhaps the bare desk is just a clever workplace poker face.
A talking point. Football team memorabilia, pictures of you hugging your favourite band or a model of your dream car – build a beacon like this to invite workplace comments.People who are happy to reveal their interests are usually seen as extroverted – which can be great, depending on your job.

Controlled environment. Need to show your manager that you are better organised this year? The tidy desktop just might help you take a step in the right direction. Workers with an ordered space are usually thought to be conscientious and punctual … but then appearances can be deceptive!

Chaos theory. Looking to appear capable of high-risk multi-tasking? Consider spreading your stationery across your desk at random, throw in a few half-empty coffee cups, and style a few rough piles of documents. The messy desk can be associated with the flexible multi-tasker able to switch between jobs quickly and without stress. On the other hand, you could just appear disorganised and unreliable...

The next time you walk across the office, take some time to analyse your colleagues’ and manager’s desktops. You might find a new friend, or realise how your desk needs to look to make your boss smile.