Security

Ransomware has been a constant cyberthreat since the early 2000s, although the first acknowledged instance was as early as 1989 when a file-encrypting Trojan was distributed on compromised diskettes, coupled with demands for a $189 payment. If you thought ransomware was a threat that only impacts technophobic grandmothers, reckless teenagers, and other home computer users, […]

November is bringing arctic winds to many parts of the United States, but as we sit and shiver and try to stay warm (and in my case, dream of the sunny Caribbean islands where I’ll be sailing later in the month), the hackers keep on hacking and the attackers keep on attacking, exploiting whatever vulnerabilities […]

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a part of the Internet that the typical business or individual computer user rarely thinks about. Many whose everyday work depends on it don’t even know it exists, and even some IT pros don’t really understand how it works. But without it, we would all have to memorize a myriad […]

October is here and fall is in the air, even in Texas. Temperature dropped this past week from highs in the 90s to lows in the 50s (Fahrenheit). The state fair is in full swing here, and the stores are full of Halloween decorations. But to us IT security folks, ghosts and goblins aren’t nearly […]

Who doesn’t love a good spy thriller?  From James Bond to Jason Bourne, the espionage fiction genre has been a favorite of readers and movie-goers since the 1800s. It’s all fun and games until you find yourself in the middle of your own private spy story as the person (or company) that’s the victim of […]

  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 […]