4G is finally here. Though it will initially be available only in a few major Canadian cities, it will be available. With Telus officially announcing the rolling out of this technology starting in mid-2011, the prediction made by Deloitte’s Technology Media Telecommunications earlier this year appears to be coming true.

The report had suggested that the adoption of 4G might be slower than expected as some mobile providers have not fully utilized their existing 3G spectrum. Whatever it is, some of us will be using 4G soon. But what exactly is 4G? The term “4G” has been highly used with different carriers having their own definitions for the term making us more confused by the day.

4G, in simple terms, refers to wireless network-based on fourth-generation technology which will provide faster wireless service over 3G. It will be much more reliable and faster than the existing 3G wireless network, and the technology has been developed to cater to consumer’s growing demand for data to power their smartphones and tablet devices.

4G mobile technology and wireless carriers will have to implement one of the two systems, either Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) or Long Term Evolution (LTE) for the service to work. As far as Telus, the pioneer here, is concerned; it will be deploying LTE network and operate on the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS). Rogers, Bell, and Wind Mobile have also been thinking of using the same system but they have not made any announcements yet.

The transition from 3G to 4G will take some time. In fact, some of it has already been done. In 2009, Telus and Bell had brought forth 3G HSPA+ wireless network (also known as 3.5G). The 4G wireless network, according to Telus, will appear in early 2012 (remember, only in major cities) and it will take a short while for the service to be available nationwide.

Earth Day is April 22nd; what is your Canadian firm doing to help improve the environment?

Canadian corporations who promote teleworking and allow key employees to work a minimum of twice a week from home can help save over $53 billion dollars annually. That is not all to it; you could reduce greenhouse gases by a considerably huge amount and save almost 390 million litres of gas, says Canada’s first major national whitepaper on telework.

“WORKshift Canada: the bottom line on telework”, a report released by Calgary Economic Development in collaboration with the Telework Research Network, used census data and analysis of over 400 case studies, research papers and other documents related to telework to show the positive implications that the proper and regular implementation of telework could have on the country’s economy, environment and society.

Adopting telecommuting a minimum twice a week can help employers save $10,000 a year, and employees will also be able to save as much as $600 – $3,500 annually as a result of reduced commuting and work-related expenses. Other positive changes we will be seeing are an increase of 20% in productivity, a 7% reduction in attrition and increased employee empowerment and morale.

Teleworking will also be playing a major role in protecting the environment from degradation through greenhouse gases. And money is not the only thing teleworking will be saving. Teleworking can emerge as a quick fix to solve labour shortages and reduce energy consumption and pollution. With so many things that teleworking could help you change, you should not be wasting any more time ignoring teleworking. If you are an employer, incorporate teleworking into your organization; and if you are an employee, go convince your boss now.

Thinking it isn’t possible? It is. According to Kate Lister, principal researcher and lead consultant at the Telework Research Network, four in ten people can do their jobs at home (at least part-time) and eight in ten can do all their work from home.

As a leading IT security company in Toronto, Dynamix can help your business set up secure remote access systems which promote secure teleworking.  If your Toronto business is looking into the possibility of allowing key employees to work from home or other locations, consider contacting us today for a review of your VPN and remote access solutions.

The corporate sector is increasingly using Internet-based technologies, and cybercriminals have found ways to take advantage of corporate Canada’s adoption of social media and internet technologies.

Using social networks and search engines, attackers are stealing intellectual corporate property which is more valuable than day-to-day financial and customer data by performing astutely crafted social engineering attacks. These attacks are mostly devised by scam artists looking to get insight in the stock or commodities market, or by companies seeking to surpass their rivals.

Thousands of companies in the Canada alone have been targets of such cybercriminals in the last five years; and each month, as much as 30 or 40 companies are facing intrusions with most companies not even reporting the intrusions. In other words, cybercriminals are going rampant stealing corporate secrets to monetize them.

The social engineering attacks usually begin with the criminals using social networking sites like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to find targets. Upon finding one, they lure a particular employee by devising a spear phishing attack which makes the employee click on a viral attachment or Web page link.

Once the computer has been infected, the intruders penetrate deeper into the organization’s network by using various social engineering tactics. Making an administrator give out the username and password is usually a piece of cake for the talented and well-trained scam artist. As the cybercriminals gain more access to useful data, it becomes easier for them to map the layout of the network and make note of key servers that control e-mail and store data.

This is where all the havoc starts building up. The scam artists frequently disable antivirus protection and set up multiple backdoors with different configurations so that even if the intrusion is detected, they can get back and re-infect the network. And before the companies know it, their trade secrets will already have been stolen.

Prevention is the best defense.  Corporations must face IT security straight on.  Training staff and setting up the right defenses is essential.  Dynamix Solutions specializes in providing IT security services in the Toronto area.  Need some help trying to figure out what the right security solution is for your business, give us a call.   No business is free from the risk, and it takes just one breach to bring your business to its knees.  Call us today.