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June 17, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft has been talking for months about their new Edge browser based on Chromium technology. Users will finally be able to see it in action as of the KB4559309 Windows 10 update, which will replace the legacy Edge browser with the company’s latest offering. It should be noted that previous Windows 10 releases did include […]
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June 16, 2020 by Vertical Axion
In late 2019, a new strain of malware called “Valak” was detected. In the six months that followed its initial discovery in the wild, more than 30 variants of the code were detected. Initially, Valak was classified as a simple loading program. As various groups have tinkered with the code, it has morphed into a […]
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June 15, 2020 by Vertical Axion
For more than 20 years, “Disk Cleanup” has been a feature in every Windows Build. It’s a quick, easy way to free up hard disk space by getting rid of unneeded system and temporary files. In the October 2018 release of Windows 10, Microsoft added a checkbox that allowed users to also delete the contents […]
June 13, 2020 by Vertical Axion
A new study was published by researchers from the Carnegie Mellon University’s Security and Privacy Institute and was presented at the 2020 IEEE Workshop on Technology and Consumer Protection. The study has grim news for IT Security Professionals. The key finding in the report is that only about one third of users will change their […]
June 12, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Mozilla’s Firefox browser, like most modern browsers, has a built-in password management feature that allows you to save passwords for sites you log into on a regular basis. Since the browser stores the information, that’s one less thing you have to remember. That allows you the convenience of one click access to the sites you […]
June 11, 2020 by Vertical Axion
By the time you read these words, Apple will likely be previewing iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 at the all-virtual WWDC 2020. While the latest version of Apple’s OS will no doubt be packed with features you’ll love, unfortunately, it may not be compatible with some older iPhones and iPads. That could mean you’ll have […]
June 10, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Recently, Cisco disclosed the existence of four serious security flaws in their routers that use iOS and iOS XE software. One of the four, CVE-2020-3227 is rated at a severity of 9.8 out of 10. It allows a remote attacker without credentials to execute commands to the operating software without proper authorization, which in turn, […]
June 9, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Google is in hot water with a complaint filed to the District Court of Northern California. The complaint alleges that the tech giant tracks users’ browsing data and a variety of other identifying information via Google Ad Manager, Google Analytics, and a variety of other applications. It tracks data even when users are accessing the […]
June 8, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft recently issued a security advisory about a new strain of ransomware that’s been cropping up with increasing frequency in India, Iran and the US. Called PonyFinal, one of the things that differentiates this strain from the pack is that it’s deployed in what the company describes as human-operated ransomware attacks. Most of the ransomware […]
June 6, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Do you have an account on LiveJournal? If so, you may have heard the persistent rumors that have been circulating since 2014 that the company was breached and some 33 million user records were stolen. To this day, LiveJournal denies that they were breached. Unfortunately, this month (May, 2020), a database containing 33,717,787 records, each […]
June 5, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Ransomware attacks have evolved quite a lot over the course of the past year, and have become one of the most visible threats organizations of all sizes face. That is, based on recently published research conducted by Group-IB, which analyzed the rapidly changing threat landscape. Their findings should disturb every business owner. Here’s a quick […]
June 4, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Great news for the legions of Windows 10 users around the world. Version 2004 comes with a significant WiFi update that includes Wi-Fi6 and WPA3 support, which will give users better wireless performance and increased security. That’s great news, but of course, there’s a catch. In order to make use of WiFi 6, you’ll need […]
June 3, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Thanks to the pandemic, tens of millions of people are working from home. Even before then, the Cloud was experiencing a tremendous amount of growth, but since shelter in place orders were issued by many governments around the world, growth has absolutely skyrocketed. This has drawn the attention of a number of hacking groups, which […]
June 2, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Google recently announced a change to Gmail that will make it easier for the service’s 2 billion+ users to experiment with different themes, layouts and settings. Even better, users can see the results of their changes before actually applying them. To make use of the new feature, all you have to do is click the […]
June 1, 2020 by Vertical Axion
The hacking group calling themselves ‘The Shiny Hunters’ has been busy. Recently, they put databases containing user records from eleven different companies up for sale on the Dark Web, including a massive database containing some 40 million records belonging to the popular Wishbone app. Wishbone is a social media platform that’s especially popular among children. […]
May 30, 2020 by Vertical Axion
If you’re like many business owners, you may have recently applied for a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which was one of the COVID-19 relief funds established by the Federal government in response to the global pandemic. If you applied for that loan through Bank of America, be advised that the company recently […]
May 29, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Be advised that Microsoft has announced it will begin phasing out support of the 32-bit version of Windows 10, beginning with OEM’s. The change is effective as of the May 2020 release. Microsoft had this to say about the recent change: “Beginning with Windows 10, version 2004, all new Windows 10 systems will be required […]
May 28, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Are you a Home Chef customer? If so, be advised that the company recently announced a data breach. It was discovered after the hackers who broke in sold more than 8 million user records on the Dark Web. The group, calling themselves “The Shiny Hunters” has been busy of late. They’ve been selling databases containing […]
May 27, 2020 by Vertical Axion
The latest release of iOS and iPadOS (13.5) is out, and contains the usual variety of bug fixes and modest improvements. In addition to the usual fare though, it also makes an important change to the way FaceID works for users wearing a mask. Also, it contains an important new COVID-19 Contact Tracing feature. Some […]
May 26, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Recently, Google announced a change that should be a welcome relief to many users, especially those who surf primarily on laptops or handhelds. Beginning in late August, the browser will automatically unload ad iframes that soak up an excessive amount of computing resources. Advertising is, of course, ubiquitous on the web. There’s little you can […]
May 25, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Do you use SiteOrigin’s Pagebuilder plugin for WordPress? If so, you’ve got plenty of company. The intuitive, widget-based plugin has been installed more than a million times and is used by webmasters all over the world to create responsive grid pages for websites. Unfortunately, a pair of security flaws in the plugin’s code recently came […]
May 23, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Some Windows 10 updates are big. Most of them range in size from 200-500MB, but some are even larger. This month’s, for example (May 2020), is more than 2GB in size, which is big enough that downloading and installing it can hog all the bandwidth you’ve got. That can easily bring your system to a […]
May 22, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Family safety features have been a part of the Windows 10 experience since its release, and those tools were made available on the Xbox in tandem with the release of Windows 10. You may, in fact, already be using them on your home computer and your Xbox. Unfortunately, similar protections were simply unavailable from Microsoft […]
May 21, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Hackers who use ransomware to conduct their attacks have a new trick up their sleeves. A ransomware family has begun employing the tactic of not only demanding payment to unlock infected systems, but also demanding an additional payment. They’re demanding an extra payment to keep them from publishing copies of the files they stole before […]