Category: Blog

Reduce Your Liability Exposure With A Systems Security Health Check

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The Home Depot data breach isn’t going away anytime soon. News continues to pour out about the theft of credit card info from Big Orange, and the tally currently sits at 65 million credit and debit cards compromised.
Several credit unions have sued Home Depot under claims that the retailer knew ahead of time that its systems were out of date and that hackers had access to the data for months before the breach came to light – claims that of course would need to be proven in court. Customers that suffered a loss are able to recoup their losses from Home Depot, and the retailer is offering a free year of credit monitoring to affected customers.
Although the breach doesn’t seem to have hurt Home Depot’s valuation and business the way it hurt Target – maybe because Home Depot deals more in necessities whereas Target deals more in frills – the lesson is resonating throughout North America. We certainly hear the chatter in the IT industry.
The big takeaway, and the advice we give clients, is to avoid potential liability exposure by upgrading any out-of-date systems or software. Note the accusation in the lawsuit I referenced above: That Home Depot knew it was using an out-of-date system.
The truth is that all systems are vulnerable to some degree. Passwords aren’t the ultimate protection. And we do trade risk for convenience whenever we use plastic to for online or in-store purchases. But companies that take every step to protect their data are much less exposed should a problem occur.
Sometimes system servers need a new round of hardening. Sometimes fix-packs or version upgrades are mandatory. Sometimes a vulnerable machine needs to be taken out. The first step is always to scope the current state of your security and compliance, then develop a plan from there. And keep in the mind that SMBs are the most vulnerable, because a single, successful liability lawsuit could signal the end of business.
TxMQ specializes in security and security upgrades (click here for our recent Webinar). Initial consultations are free and confidential. Contact vice president Miles Roty: (716) 636-0070 x228, [email protected].
(Photo by Scott Schiller under Creative Commons license.)
 

TxMQ Sponsors Kevin Pollak at World Series of Poker

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Social media did it again. Chuck Fried, TxMQ’s President, was scrolling through his Twitter account after an evening workout Tuesday, July 1, 2014, when he saw a tweet from actor, impressionist and comedian, Kevin Pollak. Pollak tweeted that he had lost his sponsor for the World Series of Poker Main Event and was looking for a new corporate sponsor. He promised for a $10,000 sponsorship, a couple hundred thousand dollars in air-time advertisements. Out of 336k followers, Pollak got 1 response…Fried.

This is what transpired:

After a series of conversations with Pollak, Chuck agreed that TxMQ would be Pollak’s sole sponsor for this year’s run at the World Series of Poker.

Because Chuck was heading on vacation early for the Fourth of July holiday, the entire deal was inked and signed within hours and shirts were sent to Pollak overnight.  In 2012, Pollak outlasted celebrities like Ray Romano and Jason Alexander, finishing 134th out of 6,598 entrants. He’s become a huge hit on the World Series of Poker circuit because of his comic relief and social media skills.
We have been having a blast this week with the Twitter comings and goings and chatting with Kevin as he ups his ante and moves forward. There have been some ups and downs, but it looks like (with 2 hours left in yesterday’s Day 2 play), he will be advancing to Day 3. He was up to about 60k chips, having doubled what he started with at the beginning of day 2.

TxMQ is Pollak’s exclusive sponsor and Pollak will be wearing the blue TxMQ polo shirt throughout his run at the 2014 World Series of Poker.

Kevin Pollak at World Series of Poker 2014
Being a social media geek and a believer of all things social, I am loving this exchange. It renews may faith that social media can have SOME impact for businesses. I don’t know if we will get a new client out of this effort, but I do know that it will do wonders for the noise out there about TxMQ as a small company in Buffalo. And if just one more person can recognize our name and think of us down the road, then I would say this is money well spent.
However, if you happen to be reading this and you’re a CIO or even better, a Poker-Playing CIO, then you know what company you want in your corner helping you out with your IT needs 🙂 Call us!

Exciting TxMQ/IBM News

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By Wendy Sanacore
TxMQ has been on a whirlwind ride for the past couple weeks.
While we have always been an IBM® Business Partner (TxMQ was actually founded by two former IBMers), we have just recently decided to strengthen our relationship with the software giant and develop a new business path for TxMQ; reselling IBM software.
Look, the reality is that TxMQ’s true strength lies with the depth of technical talent we’ve built up over the years and the solutions we can offer our clients. With more then 30 years of experience, TxMQ can absolutely deliver on the talent needs of our clients – particularly in the WebSphere® spectrum where we have several senior subject matter experts.

However, as an added benefit, TxMQ has become authorized to resell the WebSphere products as well.

This allows us to be a full services solutions provider who can come in at point of sale and see the process to fruition. That means our clients will be working with the same team from beginning to end, allowing for fewer points of contact and a smoother process.
Below is a comprehensive list of the WebSphere core IBM software that TxMQ has authorization to resell. So next time you are scheduled to renew your contract with IBM, just keep in mind that TxMQ would appreciate the opportunity to bid on your project as well. With the ability to bundle software and services, TxMQ is going to be a dynamic partner for your IBM software purchase, staffing and solutions needs.

For more information on WebSphere or the family of IBM products, send us an email.

A

WebSphere Application Accelerator

WebSphere Application Server Product line

 

B

WebSphere Business Modeler

 

C

CICS Tools

CICS Transaction Gateway

 
CICS Transaction Server

WebSphere Commerce

 

D

WebSphere Data Interchange

 

E

WebSphere Extended Deployment

 

I

IBM Business Process Manager

IBM Business Process Manager

IBM ILOG Elixir

IBM ILOG JViews

WebSphere ILOG JRules Business Rule Management System (BRMS) Family

WebSphere ILOG Rules for .NET Business Rule Management System (BRMS)

 

M

WebSphere Message Broker

 
WebSphere MQ

 
WebSphere MQ Workflow

WebSphere Operational Decision Management

P

WebSphere Partner Gateway

WebSphere Portal

R

S

T

V

W