Major Facebook Breach May Have Affected Your Account 

October 15th, 2018

Facebook got hit hard by a currently unknown group of hackers.  If you recently found yourself inexplicably logged out of the social media site, Facebook did it in response to the breach.

The breach resulted in the theft of data pertaining to more than fifty million of the site's users.

Apple Update Fixes A Number Of Issues with iOS12

October 13th, 2018

The new iOS 12 was released just three weeks ago, but security flaws have already been discovered. Some of them are quite serious. This event prompted Apple to release the first update to the OS.

The 12.0.1 update is available to all users with iOS 12.  If you're not set up to receive automatic updates, just go to Settings - General - and Software Update.

Apple IOS12 Users’ Photos And Contacts May Be Vulnerable

October 12th, 2018

Jose Rodriguez, a Spanish Apple enthusiast, has discovered a new security flaw to be aware of. He posted a Proof of Concept video showing the exploit in action. 

We'll say upfront that this is a highly convoluted attack involving more than two dozen discrete steps.

Microsoft Is Changing How Searches  Will Work

October 10th, 2018

Change is coming to the way Microsoft handles search across its ecosystem.  If you use the home edition of Office, you're not likely to notice, but if you use Office 365, the changes will be significant.

Here's what's happening:

First of all, the search bar will get bigger, taking a more prominent and visible place on your screen's real estate.

Google May Be Getting Rid Of Google Plus

October 10th, 2018

If you're one of the relatively few people who use Google+ in something other than an Enterprise setting, be advised that the clock is ticking.  Google has just announced that they're sunsetting the service.  It will be going offline for consumers at some point over the next ten months.

Payment Pages Are Being Compromised To Steal Data 

October 9th, 2018

Symantec's most recent statistics have revealed a disturbing trend.  Malware designed to compromise checkout pages is seeing a big spike in use, with the company reporting a staggering 248,000 attempts since August 13th of this year, with more than a third of them (36 percent) between September 13th through September 20th.

How Long Before You Experience A Cyber Attack?

October 6th, 2018

According to this year's Traveler's Risk Index, published by The Traveler's Indemnity Company, a majority of business owners have a somewhat fatalistic view of hacking and data breaches.

The index includes 52 percent of survey respondents indicating that they believe a cyber-attack is inevitable.

Firefox Adds Data Breach Monitoring Service 

October 5th, 2018

Firefox is upping the ante where digital security is concerned, having just announced the release of a new, free service called 'Firefox Monitor.'  The new service is designed with one specific goal in mind:  To assist users in finding out if their accounts were exposed via a data breach.

Windows 10 Adoption Continues To Grow 

October 4th, 2018

Windows 10 is far and away the fastest growing version of the OS in the company's history.  It recently hit an installation base of a staggering 700 million devices after about three years on the market.

Note that these installation figures include installs not just on PCs, but also on Surface Hubs, Xbox, HoloLenses and smartphones.

Government Payment Processor Exposes Data On Millions Of Americans

October 3rd, 2018

If you use the GovPayNet portal, be advised that your personal information is currently at risk. Although at this point, there's no indication that any hacker has made use of it.  The portal is run by Government Payment Service, and is used by many Americans to pay fines, fees and bills generated by more than two thousand different government agencies operating in 35 states.