POODLE – it’s a Dog of a Security vulnerability

The security community recently identified a new vulnerability in the SSLv3 protocol, known as POODLE (Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption). This article helps you understand POODLE and the steps you should take to protect your systems. Recently, researchers uncovered a security flaw in a widely used encryption technology called SSLv3 (Secure Sockets Layer version 3). SSLv3 was utilized by … Read More

Scams – Phishing E-mail

Phishing is when a scammer uses fraudulent emails or texts, or copycat websites to get you to share valuable personal information – such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, or your login IDs and passwords. Scammers use your information to steal your money or your identity or both. Scammers also use phishing emails to get access to your computer or … Read More

Security in 2017: Ransomware king | Malwarebytes Labs

Source: Security in 2017: Ransomware king | Malwarebytes Labs 2016 was the year of ransomware, with hackers focusing their attention on exploiting Internet users and businesses around the world for profit. According to the FBI, cyberextortion losses have skyrocketed and ransomware was on track to become a $1 billion a year crime in 2016. Our research shows no sign of … Read More

Windows 10 for Small Business – auto upgrade or not ?

Many smaller businesses don’t have enterprise versions of Windows 7 or Windows 8 installed, or lack Windows volume license agreements. This means your staff are probably using Pro versions of those operating systems, which, in turn, means they are seeing the new “get your free upgrade to Windows 10″ button. Do you really want your business getting this free-for-one-year upgrade … Read More

The Truth About Your PC’s Factory Settings: One Size Fits None

Even a brand new, state-of-the-art computer was built for no one in particular. Windows comes installed on your PC in average (“Balanced”) power mode. This means your computer arrived trying to perform a balancing act between users who want to save power and those who want raw speed. The result is your new PC is constrained by a mediocre system … Read More

Is your Home Network secure ? what about your NAS

The following article was posed on the BBC website, written by Mark Ward – Technology correspondent, BBC News. I have re-posted it here as it touches on a subject near to my heart.  Data security and backup these days is becoming more and more key.  I have a friend who religiously backed up all his data to an external hard drive. … Read More

USB Flash vs USB Storage

An interesting situation arose today with a Client who had a Windows 8 tablet and he wanted to make a system image backup to a 64GB USB Mass Storage Device and it wouldn’t work – the error message was “drive not valid”. Before I go on, here is a link that helps guide you through the making a system image process … Read More

Gameover Zeus reminds us of the basics of online security

The UK’s National Crime Agency has advised that it has identified the gang behind prevalent virus, Gameover Zeus, and warned users that they have a two week window to ensure their computers are secure, before it can be expected that the cybercriminals regain control and potentially unleash a large scale cyber-attack. The warning comes after the NCA, working with the FBI, managed … Read More