Or maybe you do have a pulse-pounding reaction to worksheets, but it’s due to anxiety, not excitement. What am I supposed to see in all this data? How hard is this going to be to decipher? Am I really smart enough to figure all this stuff out? What time is lunch?

You can lessen this type of math anxiety for those who view your worksheets by using some simple techniques in Excel to get your data message across clearly. Here are a few tips to get you started.

#1: Give your worksheet a good title

The ultimate goal of your worksheet is to present information in a way others will understand, right? Give readers a head start by titling your worksheet clearly. A good title lets readers know immediately what the content of the worksheet is going to show them — that way, they won’t have to work so hard. “2008 Projections” isn’t bad, but it leaves a lot of things out. What kind of projections? Sales? Hired Employees? New Store Openings? Be as clear as you can and, if necessary, add a subtitle. And if you plan to circulate the worksheet by e-mail, be sure that you title the worksheet file with something that reflects the content of the sheet itself. That way, when people open the file, they’ll know what to expect.

#2: Wake people up with color

Sure, black and white does the trick. But. It’s. Boring. For those of us who aren’t numbers people to start with, pouring over a black-and-white grid stuffed with an ocean of numerals is torture. Jazz it up by splashing a little color on the page. Choose an energizing color — green, orange, purple — for your column heads. Do something special with the title — maybe format it in a complementary color, add a picture at the top, put a background behind it to make it pop. Just be sure the color you add doesn’t actually detract from the readability of the page. You want the color and design of the worksheet to draw people into the page, not make them forget what they’re looking at.

Excel makes it easy to add a picture to the background of the worksheet as well. This is really a neat effect, if you have a reason to use it. As a general rule, don’t put pictures behind your data just for the fun of it — readers have to work harder to see what’s in the foreground. But if you want to promote something fun, such as a summer sales competition, you can raise the energy by adding a special picture behind the scenes.

#3: Let the format lead the eye

Have you ever felt your heart sink because you’ve got five minutes to prepare for a meeting and the worksheet you’re looking at makes no sense? Chances are, the problem is one of three things:
* You can’t immediately tell what you’re looking at.
* You can’t tell where to start on the page.
* You don’t have a context for the information.

The way in which you format your worksheet can solve all three of these potential problems for you. As a general rule, the largest items on your page will get the first look. Then, the eye will look for the next largest, and the next largest after that. The actual content — the data in the cells — is likely to be what your readers see last.

You can use this idea to your advantage when you plan the format of your page. Make the title stand out, good and bold, and make sure it says something clearly about the content you’re showing. Next, enlarge the column and row heads just a bit and put them in a second color. Readers will quickly scan the column and row headings to get a sense of how the information on the worksheet is organized. This will help them see what’s most important on the page and where they should begin.

If you have extra information you want to be sure readers see — for example, a note explaining why you’re displaying projected 2008 data even though it’s only 2007 — you can set it off by enclosing it in a border or using a second color. This will draw the reader’s eye to the note after they’ve taken in the most important items on the page.

#4: Apply a theme

Excel 2007 benefits from the hip new (or should I say, expanded and improved) themes feature that has been added throughout the core Office 2007 applications. Themes exist in Office 2003, but they were limited in design and functionality (and much less fun).

When you apply a theme to your Excel 2007 worksheet (by clicking the Page Layout tab and choosing Themes), you make a design choice that includes the font, color, table style, and effects of the information on your worksheet. The great thing about this feature is that you can dramatically change the look and feel of your information simply by opening the Themes gallery and clicking another choice.

#5: Don’t cram your charts

What would we do without charts in Excel? Charts are a saving grace for those who need to provide their information in the easiest possible way for readers to understand. A chart quickly shows readers what’s most important in your data (or at least, what’s most important in what you want to show right now) and presents each data item in relation to other items in the chart.

One mistake that Excel chart novices often make is to try to show absolutely everything under the sun in a single chart. You’ve got one shot, right? The best way to ensure that your readers will keep viewing your information is to make sure they understand what they’re looking at. And that means paring your chart down to the essentials and not littering the bars or pie slices with all sorts of labels and percentages and other nonessential items. Show what you need to get your point across and no more. Your readers will thank you for it.

#6: Diagrams are helpful

Excel 2007 includes another way to show your data visually. Now you can use SmartArt to create professional-looking diagrams for flowcharts, org charts, and much more. Creating a SmartArt diagram is similar to creating a chart — you choose the type of diagram you want to use, add your text, and then add bars, lines, suns, moons, whatever. You can tailor the diagram in an almost unlimited number of ways (including adding pictures to the shapes in the diagram).

#7: Take advantage of conditional formatting

I admit that I am easily amused by simple, colorful things. So I love the improved conditional formatting in Excel 2007. This is another feature that’s been dramatically enhanced and made easier to use in the newest version. Now you can use a variety of visualizations to help show trends in the data you’re presenting. You can use symbols, color bars, and more. To add conditional formatting to your worksheet, select the cells you want to showcase and click Conditional Formatting in the Styles group of the Home tab. Select the style of formatting you want to apply, and Live Preview will show how the formatting will look on your data. Nice.

#8: When in doubt, spell it out

If you are working on a complex worksheet and just can’t see how everyone will understand what you want them to focus on without a note or two, you can easily add comments to cells in the worksheet. Simply select the cell or range you want to add a note to, right-click, and choose Insert Comment. A small text box opens on top of your worksheet so that you can type the note you want to add. Your readers will know a comment exists at that point in your worksheet because a small red triangle appears in the upper-right corner of the cell. When a reader hovers the mouse pointer over the triangle, the note opens.

#9: Frame it

It’s an old trick, but it still works — if you want to draw a reader’s eye toward something on the page, box it. Newspapers do it, magazines do it, Web pages do it. If the design is done well, readers think they are getting something “extra” in that little box — and we all love getting something extra.

Select the cells you want to border and right-click on your selection. Choose Format Cells and select the Border tab. Test out different border styles and choose one that frames but doesn’t overwhelm your worksheet design. Click OK when you’ve found the style you want to use.

One caveat: Use the box idea sparingly. If you create more than one box on the page, readers might get confused about which one to read first and maybe even give up on reading any of it.

#10: Invite feedback

Finally, if you really want to make sure people are getting the message of your worksheet, ask. E-mail one or two coworkers and ask them to take a quick look at your data; then find out whether:
* It was easy to understand what the worksheet is about.
* They could clearly see what was most important on the page.
* They have any suggestions for ways you could make it easier to understand.

So what’s the result of all this? People will smile at you more when they pass you in the hallway, because you made their day easier — and helped them feel smarter — by making your information easier to understand. And who knows, you might even get a free lunch out of the deal.

FakeAV (Fake AntiVirus), also known as Rogues, or ScareWare, is malware that displays false alert messages about a threat that doesn’t actually exist. These alerts often prompt users to visit a website where they are asked to pay for these non-existent threats to be cleaned up. The FakeAV will continue to send these intrusive “alerts” until a payment is made. To learn more about these dangerous and innovative threats and how you can protect your business against them, please enjoy this insightful paper from Sophos Inc.

https://secure.sophos.com/sophos/docs/eng/papers/sophos-what-is-fakeav-wpna.pdf

How the app stores work

When it comes to apps, Apple led the way. Blackberry, Google, and Microsoft jumped into the fray soon thereafter. Apple and Google have garnered the lion’s share of the market, and here’s how they operate:

The problem

At this year’s Mobile World Congress, Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Labs was quoted as saying:
“This year and next year we expect to see the industrialization of smartphone malware.”

The FBI is also concerned. Spencer Ante of the Wall Street Journal quotes Gordon Snow, assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cyber Division:

“Mobile phones are a huge source of vulnerability. We are definitely seeing an increase in criminal activity.”

Mr. Ante then paraphrases the rest of his conversation with the assistant director:

“The FBI’s Cyber Division recently began working on a number of cases based on tips about malicious programs in app stores. The cases involve apps designed to compromise banking on cell phones, as well as mobile “malware” used for espionage by foreign nations. To protect its own operations, the FBI bars its employees from downloading apps on FBI-issued smartphones.”

Experts have a good idea as to how this will happen. All the pieces are in place: immense traffic to the app-store sites, a great software delivery system, and no simple way to tell if an application is malicious or not. On top of that, with the number of applications being written and submitted every day, how is it possible to check every line of code? Cybercriminals have to be smiling.

Apple’s solution

Most developers dislike the tight control Apple has over the App Store. But, that control is in the iPhone user’s favor when it comes to vetting app software. According to CEO Steve Jobs, Apple checks each piece of software for the following:
* The app must work as advertised.
* The app cannot crash the iPhone.
* The app cannot use private application programming interfaces.

Google’s approach

Google does not vet applications submitted to their Android Marketplace. Google has specific rules, but relies on users to point out bad software. Google’s policy is as follows:
* Google will remotely disable apps found to be malicious.
* Google requires developers to register with Checkout.
* Google requires developers to declare what their application will need to interact with the phone.

What can we do?

If you pay attention to tech media, you know that neither Apple nor Google is impervious to malicious applications in their stores. Since that’s the case, here’s what we at Responza recommend to avoid downloading smartphone malware:
* Positive reviews: Examine reviews to ensure the application is from a reputable developer. There are web sites that test software for all smartphones. That’s a good place to start.
* Negative news: Due to the nebulous nature of smartphone app development, any negative information should be taken seriously, especially ones dealing with your finances.
* Healthy skepticism: The way app stores work should encourage a lack of trust on the user’s part.

The signs are here. Yet another useful and amazing technology is about to get used for evil. Thankfully, you have Responza on your side to prevent, diagnose, and eliminate new threats as they arise. If you think your smartphone has been compromised by a crooked app, call us right away.

And how did this affect them? www.quickbooks.com went down for hours. Also, over the past several years Intuit has quietly incorporated cloud dependant services into their software so if you use Payroll Services inside QuickBooks, you would not have been able to process your employees’ hard earned salaries.

E-mailing invoices and purchase orders from within QuickBooks also relies on cloud and you may not have been able to send them. If you accept credit card payments through QuickBooks, you may not have been able to get approvals or receive their associated deposits.

In QuickBooks 2010, Intuit has also added highly integrated document management to scan and attach documents like packing lists and bills to QuickBooks transactions. These files were also inaccessible during the outage.
If you use Intuit’s hosted version of QuickBooks, you could not use the software at all. This may have been an inconvenient interruption to your business, but all companies should be able to work around such occurrences by considering these possibilities and backup plans:

In the instance of a cloud outage, be prepared to continue to work using manual processes. Whether writing checks, processing payroll, or keeping track of the day’s receipts. If you have not considered such plans, a cloud outage could lead to a very frustrating several days.

The thing users must remember is that the cloud is not infallible. There will be outages, and everyone needs a plan in place to deal with them. Fortunately, your team of Responza IT consultants are disaster recovery experts ever at the ready to keep you dry when the cloud is all wet.

1. Backstage
   Consider it “mission control” for Office 2010 applications. Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and other applications in Office 2010 feature a Backstage area where users can send, save, share and perform a host of other functions without closing the current document. Backstage is also the nerve center where users can get real-time information about their documents and applications.
2. Outlook Quick Steps
   Outlook 2010 lets users set up what Microsoft is calling “Quick Steps,” which live in the middle of the ribbon. Quick Steps are essentially pre-defined macros that users create a button for, which assigns a short cut. For example, if a user changes jobs or responsibilities he or she can set up a Quick Step that when clicked will auto-generate a forward to the current person in that position, and will generate a reply alerting the center to the new contact person and delete the message. Up to 10 actions can be carried out in each Quick Step.
3. PowerPoint Broadcast
   PowerPoint Broadcast lets users broadcast a PowerPoint presentation on the fly. The cloud-based service is free; all users need is a Windows Live ID. A user builds a PowerPoint presentation, connects to the Broadcast service and sends the presentation to the cloud. From there, a URL is generated and the link can be sent to users in an IM, in an e-mail or can be copied and pasted. When the viewer clicks the link, it launches the presentation in their browser so they can view the presentation along with the presenter.
4. PowerPoint Photos
   Microsoft Office 2010 eliminates the need to paste and undo when it comes to editing photos and adding them to PowerPoint presentations. Now, a photo editor is included in PowerPoint. Users have access to most common photo editing tools. Users can crop, chop and change the background of images, correct colors, add artistic effects, and perform a host of other photo editing actions without leaving the PowerPoint application. Most of these features likewise apply to video.
5. Outlook Conversation View
   Conversation View collapses the Outlook inbox based on conversation IDs, not subject lines. That means a user can see all e-mails that are part of a single conversation collapsed into one chain, cleaning up inbox clutter and keeping the conversation flowing. Conversation View eases email management, letting users view only the most recent message in a discussion and move, flag or delete entire conversations in one fell swoop. Outlook 2010 also adds new features like previewing voicemail in the inbox where the first few words of a voicemail message are transferred to text in an e-mail and each word is hot linked to let users jump to a certain point in a message. There’s also a new Live Calendar Preview in Outlook that lets users view a meeting invite and see their calendar all from the inbox without having to jockey between the inbox and calendar tabs.
6. Outlook Social Connector
   Outlook Social Connector does just what it says it does, provide a social networking tool available in users’ inboxes. Users can pivot e-mails based on people. The pane at the bottom of the screen shows that person’s image, along with thumbnails of others on the e-mail string. From that view users can view attachments from a single sender and review e-mail exchanges. Additionally, when connected to SharePoint it gives access to social feeds and collaboration tools. Facebook and LinkedIn information integration is also available.
7. Excel Web App In Windows Live
   Microsoft Office 2010 also offers an Excel Web App that offers the same functionality of a desktop-based Excel app in the cloud. This App functionality also applies to sharing Excel documents in SharePoint.

Cloud computing is an elusive term, but it has become a catch-all for technology services delivered on-demand over the Internet. Nearly all of the big vendors in IT are talking about the cloud, from IBM to HP to Cisco and after several years of scoffing, IT leaders have changed their tune in 2010 and listed virtualization (a cloud-enabler) and cloud computing as their top two priorities.

Google and Amazon want to help companies ditch their existing IT infrastructure, migrate to the cloud, and then pay for usage. In May, IT giant EMC, Inc. scoffed at the idea that most enterprises would move to “the public cloud” hosted by companies like Amazon and Google. Instead, they promoted the vision of a private cloud, which would allow enterprises to keep much of their current investment in software and applications while taking advantage of the cloud. Calling this “the private cloud” is a bit of a marketing ploy. It’s really just a move to virtualize existing enterprise servers and storage.

Since Microsoft has such as huge existing customer base, it’s natural to expect that they would take a similar approach to EMC. However, in addition to its role in virtualization and traditional data centers, Microsoft has also been on a massive data center building binge aimed at growing the company’s cloud capacity.

How does it all fit together? Here’s how Microsoft illustrates its vision of public vs. private cloud:

Essentially, Microsoft will play both sides:  serving existing customers that have huge investments in old infrastructure while winning new business from organizations looking to go all-cloud. While that lack of focus is the kind of thing that has hurt Microsoft in the past, it may actually be a sound strategy when it comes to the cloud because no one knows just yet how this will all shake out once cloud hype dies down.

Even when the cloud gets huge, there could likely be a 50/50 split between private and public cloud deployments for the next decade as enterprises transition old systems. Microsoft is one of the few companies with significant assets on both sides, which will put them in a great position to help companies that want to split IT systems between private and public clouds. That could become an increasing trend as both platforms mature, with commoditized data moving to the public cloud and more sensitive or mission-critical information being reserved for the private cloud. At Responza, we pride ourselves at keeping abreast of the emerging possibilities that cloud computing has to offer. Call us when you start considering those possibilities and we’ll guide you towards the options that offer both cutting edge opportunities and tested network safety.

Viruses and worms are old news. We all protect ourselves and our organizations from common attacks that flow through the Web looking for targets of opportunity. General phishing attacks are easily detected today, and even casual users smell a rat occasionally. But those positive efforts are affecting the bottom line of cybercrime, so they are making life easier for themselves and harder for others by aiming for some higher value targets.

Attacks against specific organizations or individuals are known as targeted attacks. Rather than throw malware at the Internet and wait for vulnerable systems, targeted attacks use elements of social networking.  In other words, they present themselves in a form that convinces a targeted user that an email or other electronic object is legitimate, thus allowing these messages to pass through filters since they fail to violate the established rules.

Relevance is very important when targeting senior management or other key employees. Attackers might investigate a company for months to identify:

* individuals in the target organization who have access to desired information;

* major projects in process;

* common business partners, vendors, etc.; and

* names and email addresses of individuals who regularly send mail to target users.

Using this information, an attacker can create emails relevant to a business deal, project, etc.  They will most likely spoof the source addresses, making the messages look like they came from a business or individual with whom the target users regularly communicate.

The goal of an attacker using these methods is stealth. To be able to collect as much information as possible from the target user, the malware must be hidden and the transfer of information must look like normal network traffic. Because of these requirements, it is difficult for security teams to identify them using anti-malware solutions, but it isn’t impossible.

The first line of defense is not a piece of software or a network appliance. Rather, it is understanding that the computers of key employees are valued targets. Compromising these devices provides an opportunity to collect information used or created by the target user. Users in the organization with the broadest access, or access to the most sensitive information, are at the top of any attacker’s list. The best choice for an attack in most organizations is senior management. This includes C-level executives and department heads. And unfortunately, the computers used by these individuals are often the least protected thanks to a double-standard in security controls. Many executives believe they are smart enough to avoid malware infestation or simply prefer not to have to deal with internet restrictions imposed on the rest of their workforce.  This double-standard presents a large attack surface to any thieves using a targeted approach.

To help meet the challenges of targeted attack defense Responza recommends the following:

1. Eliminate any double-standard used when applying security controls. Managers should understand that they are at higher risk as attackers shift from broad- to narrow-scope attempts to compromise systems.

2. Under no circumstances should a user who processes sensitive information have local administrator access to their computer. Even if a user opens an infected attachment, there is a good chance it can’t install. This is the best way to throw up a wall between the target and the attacker.

3. Ensure all systems are patched, including applications.

4. User awareness of the threat is necessary. This begins with training users about how targeted attacks work and how to react to a possible threat. Training is followed by including targeted threat awareness information in the existing security awareness material.

5. Finally, common controls must remain in place. These include anti-malware software, intrusion detection/prevention solutions for both host and network, email filtering, etc.

Guarding against targeted malware attacks isn’t always easy, but it is increasingly necessary.

Power surges can wreak all sorts of havoc on an IT network. Now that summer has arrived, lightning storms can’t be far away so it couldn’t be a better time to learn more about the benefits of running your systems through an Uninterrupted Power Supply. Here’s what research analyst Victor Avelar has to say about it:

http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/SADE-5TNQXZ_R3_EN.pdf

Earlier this year, a phishing attack directed at Blogger and Google users was based on a template that effectively downplayed the phony seeming nature of most “phishing” e-mails. Another attack used CNN.com as a stopping point on the way to a work-at-home scam. Spammers and cybercriminals use experimentation to reach their goals. They are always testing new techniques to lure their victims, from using familiar formats and domains to creating entirely new ways to entice action. Whenever you are in doubt about the safety or legitimacy of an e-mail message on your network, contact your Responza support team immediately so we can neutralize the problem before it becomes a serious threat.

In a security advisory, Adobe said: “There are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild against both Adobe Flash Player, and Adobe Reader and Acrobat”. Whilst it works to fix the problem, the company suggests upgrading to the latest versions of their software, which appear to be less vulnerable”.

Alternatively, the company said that advanced Reader and Acrobat users could delete or rename the “authplay.dll” file on their system but that doing so means users will experience a non-exploitable crash or error message when opening a PDF file that contains Flash content. Keeping anti-virus software up to date will also help to avoid problems.

If you feel that your network is at risk or that your PCs may have been affected by this vulnerability, call Responza at (206) 762-5100 for advice and support.