The Latest in Tech Today
Your Disease Cure May be Right In Your Genes
Your Disease Cure May be Right In Your GenesIt’s only been seven years since scientists first learned how to precisely and reliably splice the human genome using a tool called CRISPR, making it possible to think about snipping out disease-causing mutations and...
Toxic pesticides causing an Insect ‘apocalypse’ in U.S.
Toxic pesticides causing an Insect 'apocalypse' in the U.S. America’s agricultural landscape is now 48 times more toxic to honeybees, and likely other insects, than it was 25 years ago, almost entirely due to the widespread use of so-called neonicotinoid...
Changes Coming to Skype for Business Online Customers
Changes Coming to Skype for Business Online Customers Today we’re announcing that Skype for Business Online will be retired on July 31, 2021. This post provides details on the retirement plan, a brief explanation of why we’re making this announcement now, and a...
Edward Snowden His Book
Edward Snowden the BookEdward Snowden, the former CIA employee and National Security Agency contractor who spilled some of the deepest secrets of the US government's electronic surveillance operations, has written a memoir. Permanent Record, published by MacMillan...
Retain Employees Increase Security
Retain Employees Increase Security People, processes, and technology: the three most important components of security operations. Processes can be designed and documented, technology can be purchased and implemented, but people are most often the X...
Smart Home Devices Leak Private Information
Smart Home Devices Leak Private Information A publicly accessible ElasticSearch cluster owned by Orvibo, a Chinese smart home solutions provider, leaked more than two billion user logs containing sensitive data of customers from countries all over the world....
AI in Medicine and its Drawbacks
AI in Medicine and its DrawbacksEach year, one out of every five patients admitted to a hospital in the United States for serious care develops acute kidney injury. For a variety of reasons, these patients’ kidneys suddenly stop functioning normally and become unable...
Cybercrime costs are Rising
Cybercrime costs are RisingThe costs of cybercrime are extremely high these days. This year we’ve seen how a church lost $1.75 million in a BEC scam; two cities in Florida paid ransoms totaling over a million dollars after ransomware attacks; and British Airways had...
Hackers Stick a Bullseye on Schools and School Districts
Hackers Stick a Bullseye on Schools and School DistrictsSome hackers demand ransom; others sweep up personal data for sale to identity thieves. But whatever hackers’ motives, school systems around the country have been the targets of their cyberattacks. One attack...
Storing your Password in Plaintext…Say What????
Storing your Password in Plaintext...Say What???? Stock trading company Robinhood has admitted to storing passwords of some of its users in plaintext. The California-based firm said that it came across this security lapse on Monday this week. In an email, it...
SMB Cyber Security and Audits. The Why’s, the How’s, and the steps…
SMB Cyber Security and Audits. The Why's, the How's, and the steps... Why? To maintain your company's "security hygiene." To identify critical weaknesses in your cybersecurity protection measures To Keep in Compliance with Industry Regulations - When you get audited...
Is Someone Lurking in Your Computer?
Is Someone Lurking in Your Computer? Whether you're in an open office where colleagues regularly wander past or live somewhere—like a college dorm—where you may feel comfortable leaving your laptop unattended in the presence of relative strangers, it can be all too...
Are Your Cloud Vendors Paying Attention to Security?
Are Your Cloud Vendors Paying Attention to Security? Cloud adoption is on the rise: According to International Data Corporation (IDC)’s “Nine Ways to Maximize the Value of Cloud Contracts,” 52 percent of all companies are currently using cloud-based delivery...
Ready for Computerized Brains…
Ready for Computerized Brains...Since its founding in 2016, Neuralink has remained one of Elon Musk's quieter ventures. It's the mission of linking human and computer technologies have been, compared to Musk's work at SpaceX, Tesla, or The Boring Company, relatively...
Is Your CEO real or Is He a DeepFake?
Is Your CEO real or Is He a DeepFake? “Deepfakes” refers to media that has been altered by artificial intelligence to make it appear that a person is doing or saying something that, in fact, that person has never done or said. The technology first began appearing a...
Who is Looking Back At You?
Who is Looking Back At You? A recent scare had Apple releasing silent patches for macOS to help fight off the Zoom vulnerability that could lead to “camfecting” or hijacking the webcam on MacBooks and other cameras connected to the system. Yes, that means that...
Putin’s FSB Hacked!
Putin's FSB Hacked!Red faces in Moscow this weekend, with the news that hackers have successfully targeted FSB—Russia's Federal Security Service. The hackers managed to steal 7.5 terabytes of data from a major contractor, exposing secret FSB projects to de-anonymize...
How Old is Your Tech?
How Old is Your Tech? Certain Boomer basements are little shrines to obsolescence, untidy stockrooms of the one-time cutting-edge: VCRs, corded telephones, immense beige PC monitors, etc. Way fewer Millennials will have basements to store trash in (‘home...
Do you *HEART* Your iPhone?
Do you *HEART* Your iPhone?Historically, iPhone users have proven a loyal bunch with relatively few of them ditching their handsets and opting for alternative brands. That seems to be changing, however, with a survey released last week finding that iPhone loyalty has...
Encrypting Your Data – Reward or Risk?
Encrypting Your Data - Reward or Risk? Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday that increased encryption of data on phones and computers and encrypted messaging apps are putting American security at risk. Barr’s comments at a cybersecurity conference mark a...
LinkedIn No Longer an Asset but Now a Liability
Business leaders use Social Media, too. And LinkedIn is now being used to attack us on an unprecedented scale. But this is different. Social Media is no longer about tweens, teens, and college students. It's at the point now where most adults find it hard to...
Volume 7 July 2019 CEO Security Intelligence Brief
July 2019 - CEO Security Intelligence Brief Third Parties are either directly or indirectly responsible for 63% of all cyber attacks. The costliest threats to small and medium businesses involve data leaving the organization via third-party providers....
The Fertile Garden of Social Media is ripe for attracting Cybercriminals to your Business
Are you or your employees giving away the keys to your kingdom? The magnetism of Social Media If you have teens and you will understand the magnetism that social media seems to have over them. However, it is not only teens, but almost our entire society is...
Increases in Teen Depression — Check their Social Media Usage
Increases in Teen Depression -- Check their Social Media Usage Teen suicide rates are at their highest level since 2000. And a new study released Monday says too much time on social media could be contributing to that. A study published in the journal JAMA...
How Cold? Researchers Predict Large Decrease in Sunspot Activity
How Cold? Researchers Predict Large Decrease in Sunspot Activity NASA’s forecast for the next solar cycle (25) reveals it will be the weakest of the last 200 years. The maximum of this next cycle — measured in terms of sunspot number, a standard measure of...
When Governments Demonetize by Force
When Governments Demonitize by Force It can be easy to take cash for granted, especially in a wealthy, developed economy. Those fortunate enough to live in a stable society usually suffer no lack of payment options. They are getting more advanced all the time,...
Big Tech Banks, U.S. says Not So Fast
Big Tech Banks, U.S. says Not So Fast A proposal to prevent big technology companies from functioning as financial institutions or issuing digital currencies has been circulated for discussion by the Democratic majority that leads the House Financial Services...
How DMVs Make Millions – Selling Your License Information
How DMVs Make Millions - Selling Your License Information An investigation by ABC affiliate WFTS in Tampa Bay, Florida has found that the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is selling the personal details of Florida drivers to outside...
Thousands of Horses Escape — Now Microsoft is Starting to Close the Barn Door
Thousands of Horses Escape -- Now Microsoft is Starting to Close the Barn Door It might be difficult to fathom how this isn’t already mandatory, but Microsoft Corp. says it will soon force all Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) that help companies manage...
Insecurity Strike Again – Major MSP Hack
Insecurity Strike Again - Major MSP Hack Hackers breached the infrastructure of PCM Inc., one of the major U.S.-based cloud solution provider. According to the popular investigator Brian Krebs, the attackers gained access to email and file sharing systems for...