World Backup Day

backupMarch 31st is World Backup Day.  On my way to the office today I saw someone driving down the highway in reverse. Not completely clear on the concept.

It has been three months since you made your New Year’s Resolution to really backup you data this year for sure!!  Still kicking this one down the road?  Well today is your day.  Sign up for something easy like Carbonite and be ...

Continue Reading →
0

Perils on the Edge Revisited – More Bad Router News

router diagramWe recently reviewed the bad state of affairs in the world of edge devices, routers, cable and DSL modems, and wireless access points.  I just read an article on CSO the talked about the dangers that exist with the routers that router traffic and basically run the Internet.  The problem is that these routers are running a Linux kernel in their core that ...

Continue Reading →
0

Trust In Technology?

We have heard plenty of stories about people who blindly followed their GPS over a cliff or missing bridge to their doom.  Now this bit of research from Slate Magazine.

 “Researchers at Georgia Tech had 42 volunteers follow a seemingly autonomous robot into a conference room. However, the robot was actually guided by a hidden researcher, whose goal was to intentionally lead the test subjects astray in order to establish the bot’s unreliability.

Sunday Funnies – Retribution

jrrc-1200Are your tired of telemarketers?  How about political campaigns?  How about the robocalls that listen for your responses and try to engage you in a pseudo conversation?  Here is your revenge.  Use the call transfer feature of your phone to send the call to 1-214-666-4321.  This number is run by the Jolly Roger Telephone Company, and uses the same canned ...

Continue Reading →
0

IRS Strikes Again – IP PIN Epic Fail

irs-logoWe wrote last year about how the IRS and their Get Transcript service was instrumental in helping identity thieves file fraudulent tax returns for big refunds.  The problem was that the IRS used static user identity information that was available elsewhere online.  They promised to fix this security problem, but have not.  This year, many users of the IP PIN  system that was supposed to harden ...

Continue Reading →
0

Windows 10 Most Secure OS Yet – Or Is It?

Windows10Windows 10 is getting kudos from technology pundits everywhere for producing an operating system that is efficient, technically excellent, and more secure than anything Microsoft has ever produced.  But this is an operating system that is attached to cloud services, and that collects and transmits more personal data to Microsoft and other cloud providers.  Just like your smartphone, your Windows PC and all those Apps are keeping track ...

Continue Reading →
0

Watch Out For HawkEye

hawkeyeWe haven’t seen macro viruses for a while, but they are back. HawkEye a new variant of the resurgent use of unpatched vulnerabilities in Microsoft Word and other office documents.   Using macros, written in Visual Basic, attackers are using Word document attachments to run code on victim computers.

Last week we wrote about the Locky ransomware exploit that encrypts your ...

Continue Reading →
0

Who Killed Dyre Wolf? The Russians?

Bank-trojanDyre Wolf is one version in the family of banking Trojans that started with Zeus and NeverQuest, and now includes Dridex, SpyEye, Shylock,Shifu, Gozi, and Tinba.  Banking Trojans are designed to sit unnoticed on your computer, and to capture your banking and financial login credentials and send them to criminals who use the information to empty your accounts.  They are among the worst exploits that can happen to you, followed closely ...

Continue Reading →
0

Crypto-Ransomware Round-Up

cryptolockerSome of the nastiest exploits going around are the many variants of the CryptoLocker and CryptoWall malware that encrypt all your personal files and hold them for ransom.  Payment in bitcoin is required, in amounts starting at $200 and ranging upward to the $17,000 (400 BTC) that Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital just paid to unlock their files.  Or even more.  The amount will be whatever the attackers think they can extract from the victim.

  • The ...
Continue Reading →
0
Page 1 of 2 12