Another IRS Phishing Campaign To Watch Out For

September 10th, 2019

The Internal Revenue Service recently issued a warning that all taxpayers should be aware of.

The agency has received a growing number of reports concerning unsolicited email messages bearing the subject lines:

Electronic Tax Return Reminder
Automatic Income Tax Reminder

These messages are not from the IRS, but rather, from spammers trying to steal your information.

Windows 10 May Make WordPad And Paint Downloadable Soon

September 9th, 2019

There's another chapter in the ongoing MS Paint saga.

In case you missed the first part of the story, several months ago, Microsoft upset its user base when a Windows 10 Build took Paint out of the equation. They replaced it with an updated version of the software that supported 3D effects and other advanced features.

Texas Government Gets Hit With Major Ransomware Attack

September 7th, 2019

This year stands to shatter last year's record in terms of the number of successful hacks against businesses and government agencies. It seems that the hackers have a new favored tool:  The ransomware attack.

According to statistics gathered by Malwarebytes, attacks against government and business are up by a whopping 365 percent.

Medical Device Security Outlook Continues To Look Bleak

September 6th, 2019

There's a mix of good news and bad news concerning the security of smart devices in general, and smart medical devices specifically.  As most people are aware, the Internet of Things (IoT) has a serious problem.

The overwhelming majority of such devices have little to no security and are incredibly easy to hack.

Open Source Programs Continue To Get Attacked By Hackers

September 5th, 2019

This year hasn't been good for users of Open Source software, which at one level or another, includes just about everybody.  Unfortunately, a recent grim discovery makes it unlikely that we'll see the number of attacks decline any time soon. Not long ago, two new back doors were discovered in more than a dozen libraries that have been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times by server administrators.

Nvidia Releases Graphics Drivers With Major Improvements

September 4th, 2019

There's great news today in the tech realm for gamers around the world.

Nvidia recently announced a major driver update for its graphics cards that offer a variety of improvements.  The 436.02 update promises a framerate improvement of up to 23 percent for World War Z, Strange Brigade, Forza Horizon 4, Battlefield V, and Apex Legends.

YouTube Will Soon Stop Displaying Ads Targeted At Kids

September 3rd, 2019

Earlier this year, Google, the parent company of YouTube, found itself in hot water for YouTube's violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPA). They got in trouble for their data collection practices and the fact that the company allowed third-party ads to run rampant on videos that were more likely to be viewed by children under the age of thirteen.

Google Hangouts Extending  Support Until Next Year

September 2nd, 2019

If you're a G Suite user, you're probably already aware that Google has been making plans to shut down Google Hangouts.  In fact, the original plan was to begin phasing it out of the G Suite in October of this year (2019).

If you're a fan of the service and rely on it for interoffice communications, you can breathe a short-lived sigh of relief.

Gmail Users Will Get Updated Spelling and Grammar Assistance

August 31st, 2019

There are changes afoot in Gmail designed to help improve the quality of your writing using new AI features.

These features will auto correct simple spelling errors and offer suggestions to improve your grammar.

As the company notes in a recent blog post on the matter:

"If you're working against deadlines to write a lot of emails daily, correct spelling and grammar probably isn't top of the mind.

Payment Forms Cause Large Amount Of Online Data Breaches

August 30th, 2019

When surveying the state of your company's security, it's important to understand what your biggest risks are.

According to the 2019 Application Report published by F5 Labs, the answer is simple.

Fully 71 percent of all web-related data breaches in 2018 specifically targeted customers' financial information.