Security

  I guess it was inevitable. The Patch Tuesday I’m scrambling to get a hundred things done in two days before traveling is when Microsoft releases an “extra large” slates of fixes.   This is not only a hefty Patch Tuesday; it’s also an important one. Two of the critical updates patch zero-day vulnerabilities. Zero-day […]

GFI – Top Cyber Stories for August 2019 Digital assistant makers admit staff listen in on users   Digital assistants – mainly home speaker/microphone combos such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant range, plus similar technologies deployed in smartphones and other devices – are fast becoming an everyday thing, present in growing numbers of homes […]

August is over, and that always comes with a bittersweet aura. In Texas, we’re happy to see the intense heat take its leave and make way for the crisp coolness of fall – but it also signals the impending end of summer fun and the hectic holiday months ahead. August may be a “lazy” month […]

Hacks, Cracks, and Malware Attacks The term “spear fishing” might conjure up images of an ancient method of hunting an aquatic dinner, a sport once considered (but rejected) as an Olympic category, but the alternate spelling means something very different to those in the IT field. Spear phishing is a less widely known subcategory of […]

Patch Central Some like it hot. If that describes you, August in Texas should be right up your alley. We’ve been “enjoying” 100° F temperatures for the past few days, which has me daydreaming about taking another cruise to Alaska as summer goes out in a blaze of glory. Hot or not, the attackers never […]

Top cyber stories for July 2019   No jail time for malware author turned WannaCry hero   Marcus Hutchins, the security researcher credited with averting the WannaCry worm but later accused of creating malware himself, has been released from the threat of jail with a “time served” sentence.   Hutchins’ name hit the headlines in […]

Patch Central – Third Party Patch Roundup  – July 2019 As July comes to an end, summer is winding down in most of the northern hemisphere. Parents and children in many areas are starting to prepare for the beginning of a new school year.  Parts of Europe will soon be experiencing “August shutdown” as many […]

Patch Central We’re now well into the long, hot summer of 2019 and many of us would like nothing more than a day at the beach with a refreshing drink and the ocean breeze blowing our hair. For most of us, though, today is not that day. As usual on the second Tuesday of the […]

Each month, we’ll take a look at what’s happening on the front lines of the battle against various types of cyber-attacks, new variants of malicious software, phishing and other scams, vulnerability exploits, and other threats to the security of your networks, systems, and data.  There was a time, not so long ago, when the only […]

Network configuration used to be a never-ending task for IT admins.  Configuring each branch office network would have required manual setup and most likely, an on-site technician to do it.  The same applies for any changes. If you decide to install teleconferencing at your branch offices, your technician (or third-party expert hired to help with […]