Do you know the way to my PC?
GoToMyPC is a service I've used for several years. It allows me to log on to my office computer from home or from a hotel, or to log on to my home computer from wherever I am. It works for computers that are behind corporate firewalls and the latest version of GoToMyPC displays the remote computer in full color and high resolution. (Yes, a high-speed connection is helpful but not essential.)
Several years ago, I was impressed just by the ability to log on to my office computer from home so that I could get a file that I needed. It didn't matter that the image wasn't very good. It ran at a lower resolution than I use at the office and displayed only 256 colors. When some of the things you work on a full-color high-resolution graphics, the difference is visible, obvious, and distressing.
A new version of GoToMyPC released earlier this year does away with the 256-color limit and it also allows users to see the remote screen in higher resolution. Surprisingly, the high-res large images seem faster (or at least as fast) as the lower resolution images. And Citrix, the new owner of the service, has added the ability for users to drag and drop files from the remote computer to the local computer and vice versa. Previously the only way to transfer files was to use a slow file transfer component.
Drag and drop works only with the Windows explorer, not with 3rd-party file browsers such as Xplorer2. That may be more of a limitation of the non-Microsoft file browser than GoToMyPC, but it doesn't really matter. All I need to remember to do is open Windows Explorer when I want to drag and drop a file.
The real strength, though, is the ability to log on to a remote computer and work as if you were actually at the remote location. Yes, it's not quite as fast as if you were sitting in the office in front of your computer, but it's still a lot faster than driving to your office to sit in front of your computer -- at least if your office is more than a block from your home. Yes, you do need a high-speed connection, but most people who need an application such as GoToMyPC will already have a high-speed connection.
How it works
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When you log on to the GoToMyPC website, which validates your identity before passing the connection along to one of your known hosts, you can review a quality of service summary for the previous 10 sessions. |
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When you log on to your remote PC, the GoToMyPC service running on that machine requests a password. I recommend making it a strong password that nobody can guess. At this point, you have been asked for 2 passwords. If you lock the remote computer when you're not there (and you should) you'll be asked for one more password before you can use the machine. |
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Here's a full-screen view of my home PC with the office PC inset. It's small and rather difficult to read this way. |
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Normally I run the remote PC at 75% magnification, which still allows me to see my local screen. If you find the double Task Bar (remote and local) confusing, you can run the remote session full screen and if you have a fast enough connection, you may forget that you're not at the office. |
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When an application on the local machine is active, GoToMyPC dims the remote service. |
What's really amazing is the ability to sit in front of your computer in Columbus, Ohio, when you're actually sitting in a hotel room in San Diego. Or San Jose.*
*Yes, I do know the way to San Jose: Take I-70 west to to I-15, I-15 south to Los Angeles, and hang a right on I-5, then a left on I-580 and watch for the signs. Or, if you want to avoid LA, head north and go west on I-80 to I-680 and hang a left. Tell
Dionne Warwick(e) hello if you see her.
Overall: GoToMyPC is the best way to go there without leaving here.
GoToMyPC was a remarkable application when it was developed and the continued evolution of the application has only improved it. The latest version's enhancements have boosted speed and screen rendering. The annual fee (not cheap, but still a lot more cost effective than having to drive back to your office to get a file you forgot to bring along) includes all the updates to the application. For more information, visit the GoToMyPC website.
Security is up to you
Audits of 5 federal agencies (Bureau of Prisons, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the United States Marshals Service) by the Department of Justice in 2001 may shock you. Three of the agencies lost or had stolen 400 laptop computers. Data from the DEA was so unreliable that it couldn't be used and the INS didn't make note of missing computers.
The audit (Report No. 02-31, August 2002, Office of the Inspector General) showed that the FBI alone lost or had stolen 317 computers.
If FBI agents, who are trained to be cautious, can lose 2% of the computers assigned to them, you probably won't be surprised to learn that portable computers are one of the most common losses that business managers report to insurance companies.
The cost of replacing the computer, substantial as it might be, pales when compared to the value of the data. A list of your clients or a detailed report on product development that disappears with a computer could find its way to a competitor's office.
A lesson from highway engineers: Assume the worst
People who design highways know that errant motorists will hit anything -- signs, light standards, guard rails. If it's located on or near a roadway, somebody will hit it. They design with that assumption in mind. It's why these devices are built to break apart when hit. The objective is to reduce injuries.
If your business owns portable computers, assume that they will be stolen. As desktop computers become smaller, assuming that they will also be stolen isn't a bad idea, either.
Once you've made that assumption, the way forward is clear. The information on the every computer must be protected. This goes beyond the obvious steps of installing an antivirus application and ensuring that it's up to date. It goes beyond installing a software firewall. And it goes beyond sending a cable lock along with every computer that leaves the building.
Cable locks can provide a false sense of security. Few hotel rooms have anything secure to which you can attach the cable. Besides that, any halfway competent computer crook knows how to defeat the lock in 15 seconds or carries along a bolt cutter that reduces the time required to about 2 seconds.
Most computers have the option of installing a CMOS-based password and this should be used for any computer that's removed from the office. Because the CMOS password is effective only when the machine boots, users should encouraged to shut machines down, not to put them in "sleep" or "hibernate" mode.
Consider using data encryption on computers that leave the office, but be certain that data on those machines is backed up at the office in an unencrypted form in case the user forgets the encryption key.
Allow users to create their own passwords, but insist that those passwords be strong. A system-assigned password such as "eI8%FoWQQw" isn't secure because few people will be able to remember such a password and will write it down. A password such as lLij2316Ner@k is just as secure and easy to remember if the person who created it has two daughters ("lLij" is "Jill" backwards, "Ner@k" is "Karen" backwards with @ in place of "a", and "2316" is the house number the user had as a child). A secure password must have upper case and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols.
If you routinely carry mission-critical data, consider buying a removable flash drive (also called USB drives and thumb drives) that includes data encryption. Keep the flash drive with you at all times so that it cannot be stolen when you leave the computer in your hotel room.
Common sense
Imagine that your portable computer case is stuffed full of $100 bills. You wouldn't leave a stack of $100 bills on the front seat of the car while you step in to a Chinese restaurant for take-out food. You wouldn't leave the case unattended in an airport. You wouldn't leave it in your hotel room all day as you're attending conference sessions.
Computers have many enemies. Failing to recognize those enemies and protect against them is costly and embarrassing. Just ask the federal agent who lost his computer after leaving it in his car as he stepped in to a Chinese restaurant for take-out food.
How much technology does FedEx have?
My office moved to a new building this week. We have VOIP telephones. We have networked printers. We have a network server that not much more than an inch thick and about 19 inches square. We also have a relatively low-tech copier, but only because FedEx has some high-tech gear in place and a no-tech willingness to help.
We put off ordering a copier because we hoped that we'd be able to pick it up in town, but everybody has them drop shipped. "We can have it overnighted from Illinois," the vendor told me while offering a discount that about equaled the cost of the overnight shipping.
The next morning I was at the new building by 6. When a co-worker came in shortly after 10, he mentioned a FedEx truck by the back door. I looked. There was no FedEx truck. No truck out front, either. The building was locked because we weren't yet open. We had a working doorbell on the front door. But the back door had a doorbell button. It didn't do anything, it looked real enough.
I knew immediately what had happened: The driver had pushed the button, received no response, and left. We didn't yet have an Internet connection connection at the building, so I used my cell phone to call the vendor who was able to give me FedEx's number (no phones, either) and the tracking number.
My next call was to FedEx. When I made my way to a live person, I explained that I had a problem I hoped she could help me solve: A copier that was to be delivered by 10:30 was on a truck in Columbus. The driver had made an attempt, but left after getting no response. I explained that the fault was partly ours because we hadn't done anything about the doorbell button in back, but could we arrange to have the copier redelivered today because it was an overnight priority shipment.
"Let me check."
Two or three minutes later, she returned and said that I could call back in 30 minutes or so if I hadn't heard something by then. They were attempting to contact the driver, she said, to see if they could re-deliver.
"But how did you do that?" I asked. "I didn't give you a tracking number."
"That's the package for 6666 Foo Bar Lane, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes, but how did you do that!?" I insisted, thinking that I'd just watched a remarkable magic trick. It was just caller ID, of course. I may have given the vendor my cell phone number or FedEx may have done a name match. To say that I was impressed by what technology could do to help in a case like this would be an understatement.
Within a quarter of an hour I heard from the Columbus FedEx center. The person who called said that she had been able to contact the driver and that he would return with the package within the hour. She asked a couple of questions that would ensure the driver would come to the right place.
Final score: The package was scheduled for delivery before 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. The re-delivery happened before 11:30. The package was less than an hour late despite problems. I don't know what kind of 2-way communications capabilities FedEx has, but they've used GPS technology for several years so that they know where their trucks are. All of them. All the time.
But in addition to the high-tech capabilities FedEx brings to bear on problems, they also have low-tech solutions. Both of the people I talked to were willing to take all the time needed to make sure that I understood what was going on. When I asked the first person "How did you do that!?" she didn't brush me off. She assumed the question was serious (it was) and answered it. The Columbus representative noted that the delivery person wasn't our normal driver and apologized for the problem.
FedEx isn't cheap, although $65 to get a package from Illinois to Ohio in less than 24 hours certainly doesn't seem extravagant. I know that I couldn't drive to Illinois, pick up the package, and return to Columbus in less than 24 hours for just $65. The combination of high-tech and high-touch is both unusual and easy to appreciate.
Nerdly News
Dutch police close down a "419" scam
You've probably received mail from the 12 people Dutch police arrested. They picked up the dozen suspects in several raids and seized computers, bank statements, forged passports, and 25,000 Euros in cash. They're accused of being part of a gang that bilked gullible people out of more than $2 million.
It's the typical con, known as a "419 scam", that's named after the relevant section of the Nigerian penal code. Nigeria is where the scam originated decades ago when scammers needed to pay postage and send letters to victims. Today it's an automated process using e-mail.
Typically the scam offers a percentage of several million dollars to those who will help get the money out of the country. The victim is usually asked for some front money or information that will allow the crooks to assume the victim's identity long enough to empty bank accounts.
Dutch police say the gang sent more than 100,000 emails to potential victims in the United States. The 4 principal suspects now face extradition to the United States. The other 8 will stand trial in The Netherlands.
One billion and going strong
Apple says the 1,000,000,000th download from Itunes was "Speed of Sound" by British artist Coldplay. The person who downloaded it got a little something extra -- a 20-inch Imac, 10 5th-generation Ipods, and a $10,000 gift card for anything in the Itunes Music Store.
Apple also established a music scholarship in the name of Alex Ostrovsky of West Bloomfield, Michigan. He's the guy who downloaded "Speed of Sound".
Less than 2 years ago, Apple was celebrating its 100,000,000th download and the 1,000,000,000th download occurred less than 3 years after Apple introduced the service.
Initially available only to Mac owners in the US, Itunes now works for both Mac and Windows users in 21 countries.
Where does Apple go from here? They're already offering downloads of some television programs and there's speculation that Apple will soon announce the availability of full-length films for download.
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