If you've used Windows 10 for any length of time, you've probably had this happen to you. You're right in the middle of working on something important, and all of a sudden, your OS decides it would be a great time to install some updates! In response to user complaints, Microsoft introduced a "snooze" feature that allowed users to delay the installation of upgrades. However, this sparked as many complaints as it silenced, because unfortunately, it causes more frequent device reboots. Now, … Read more
E-Mail Is A Big Threat To Your Organization
Mimecast's 2018 "State of Email Security" report is out, and although it's contents are hardly a surprise, the news it contains is mostly bad. For starters, it confirms what most IT professionals already know: Email continues to be a big threat for organizations of all sizes. Unfortunately, the C-Suite (CEO's, CIO's, CFO's, and the like) are a major part of the problem, representing a significant weak link in Enterprise security. Not only are they a prime target for hackers, but … Read more
Chrome Now Shows Sites Without SSL as Not Secure
There is a small but significant change from Google, with the release of Chrome 68. The updated browser will now prominently notify browsers when they surf their way to non-HTTPS websites, displaying them as "Not Secure." This is Google's latest step in a long campaign to try and make the web a safer and more secure place for internet users around the world. If you're not especially tech-savvy, here's why it matters: Anything sent over a non-HTTPS connection is in plain text, including … Read more
Bluetooth Vulnerability Allows Hackers To Access Devices
There's a new Bluetooth security vulnerability to be aware of, tracked as CVE-2018-5383, and it's a nasty one. It's a cryptographic vulnerability that affects firmware or operating system software drivers from a number of major vendors, including Qualcomm, Broadcom, Intel and Apple. At this point, the implication of the bug on Linux, Android, and Google are unknown. The flaw is related to two important Bluetooth features: BR/EDR implementations of Secure Simple Pairing in device firmware … Read more
Girl Scouts Can Now Earn New Badges For High Technical Skills
The girl scouts have officially moved into the 21st century. The Girl Scouts of America recently announced the creation of a whole raft of new badges that address (in the organization's words) "some of society's most pressing needs." A total of 30 new badges will be available exclusively for girls between the ages of five to eighteen for efforts and advocacy in the following areas: Computer Science Cybersecurity Environment Robotics Space Exploration Badges are awarded on … Read more
Hackers May Set Their Sights On Your GPS Next
If you're like most people, you probably rely heavily on the GPS function of your phone. Type in an address and your phone helpfully guides you, turn by turn, to your destination. It's one of the most often utilized features of a smartphone, and of course, the hackers are very interested in interfering with it. Until now though, hackers have been unable to fool humans into driving to the wrong destination by hacking their GPS, because their instructions often make no sense given the … Read more
New Report Shows 32 Percent Increase In Cyber Attacks
Positive Technologies has just released a new report that paints a grim picture for IT professionals. If your sense is that the number of cyberattacks are increasing, you're not wrong. In fact, it's probably worse than you realize. So far this year, we've seen a staggering 32 percent increase in the total number of cyberattacks in the first quarter of 2018, compared to the same period last year. Even worse, malware attacks have increased by a mind-bending 75 percent since the first quarter of … Read more
Survey Shows Businesses Feel Prepared For A Data Breach
A majority of business owners from around the world (68 percent) feel that they're better prepared to ward off a cyberattack and prevent a data breach than their competitors. This is a figure which is up 8 percent over last year's statistic for the same question. This, according to a recent survey by FICO. In the US, power and industrial companies were the most confident, with 86 percent of companies from these sectors rating their firms as either above average, or top-tier in terms of their … Read more
World Cup Avoided Nearly 25 Million Cyber Attacks This Year
According to the Kremlin, Russia prevented almost twenty five million cyber-attacks during the World Cup this year. President Vladimir Putin praised the nation's digital security forces by saying the following: "I expect that your close and constructive interaction will continue and will contribute to ensuring the security of our states and our citizens in the future." Given the high-profile nature of the event, it was hardly a surprise that it would be a tempting target. In a survey … Read more
Clinic Employee Learns That Traveling Increases Data Theft Risk
On May 14th, the Billings Clinic in Montana issued a breach notification statement, which explained that they detected unusual activity within one of its employee's email accounts. The employee in question was traveling overseas on a medical mission when the email account was compromised. "As a result of the forensics investigation, we learned that an unauthorized individual had access to emails and attachments within that one account, some of which included patient information." As for … Read more
