A list was released in the past few months that included the most commonly-used passwords of last year. These passwords, and any variation of these passwords, are some of the passwords that will be tried first when a hacker is attempting to get into an account.

You may think it’s a little outlandish that you have to protect your phone from cyber attacks, but unfortunately, celebrities aren’t the only people who get their phones hacked. In reality, it’s much easier than anyone thinks, and even an amateur can manage to get into your voicemail or view your smartphone’s browsing history.

With hacking attempts, DDoS attacks, and stolen data becoming more prevalent as of late, it’s more important than ever that you and your employees exercise the proper protection techniques. This starts with knowing what to look out for. Since we all use email regularly to communicate with others, it makes sense to start there when it comes to protection from hacking attempts.

Two of Microsoft’s flagship services are going to no longer have any support as of April 8th, 2014: Windows XP and Office 2003.

So what does this mean for the business owner that depends on these products to run their business? Microsoft simply says it means you should “take action”. There will no longer be any security updates or assisted support options, online or otherwise, through Microsoft.

If your network gets breached, it can cost you some serious cash to get it handled. A lot of small businesses, especially startups, simply don’t have that kind of money to hand out to fix the problems caused by a breach. When data is lost, not only do you need to reach out to your customers, you have to handle the massive amount of fallout that happens in response.

Are you back in school trying to get a new degree, or do you still use your .edu email? Here’s an offer that’s hard to refuse: free Office 365.

For qualifying .edu accounts (one that came from actual colleges), Microsoft has decided it will start offering free Office 365 with full functionality for three months.

Google has always been good about offering money to those who find vulnerabilities in their systems, and this particular case is no different. MWR Labs has won a $100,000 prize for finding a way to get into Windows from Chrome.

The Pwn2Own competition takes place every year in Vancouver.

You’re zipping along on the Internet and suddenly you’re struck by a slow Internet connection. You have no idea why, and it’s not immediately obvious how to fix it. You know something has to be hogging your bandwidth, but you’re not sure what, and in some cases, who.

Naturally, the malware market is still growing in volume as more and more people decide that there’s money to be had in the market. However, malware isn’t just growing in volume, it’s growing in sophistication, too.

McAfee’s fourth quarter report from last year that gauges threats has indicated that more and more organizations, large and small, are being targeted by clever and sneaky cyberattacks.

In an age with so many security choices at so many different price points, it can be difficult to figure out what you actually need and what is best for your company. The best antivirus programs not only stop computer viruses from infecting your machines, but they also ensure you’re protected from the plethora of other threats that a machine hooked up to the Internet will find.