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March 4, 2020 by Vertical Axion
It’s tax season, and if you’re like many people, you make use of one of the numerous e-file platforms offered by TurboTax, TaxAct, and similar companies. Unfortunately, tax season also presents a tremendous opportunity for hackers. So much that the IRS has issued a formal warning to accountants and taxpayers alike, urging them to enable […]
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March 3, 2020 by Vertical Axion
In November of 2019, Microsoft made an announcement and gave users an early look at a new unified Office app designed specifically for Android and iOS devices. The purpose, of course, was to provide the essential functionality of Office in a faster, leaner, and lighter package that was better suited for use on mobile devices. […]
March 2, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Are you ready for the world of 5G? Even if you are, the available storage you have on your favorite devices may not be as robust as you’d like it to be. Anticipating this problem, Western Digital has announced a new bit of technology that will be available on the next generation of devices. The […]
February 29, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Finally, a smart device manufacturer is taking device security seriously, and that’s great news indeed. You may recall reading about a serious issue with Ring security systems recently. The news was that the security issue allowed hackers to commandeer user systems and spy on them. The hackers were sending the users messages and making disturbing […]
February 28, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Google continues to increase the versatility and usefulness of the G-Suite. This time they are adding the much anticipated Smart Compose feature to Google Docs, and it is now available to all G-Suite users. The new feature launched in beta in November of 2019 and was well-received. The technology relied on Google’s extensive AI expertise […]
February 27, 2020 by Vertical Axion
LokiBot burst onto the scene in 2015, and has earned a reputation as being a powerful. This fearsome trojan is being distributed in a new way that poses a very real threat to targets of all shapes and sizes. The latest campaign emulates the launcher for Epic Games, which is the developer behind the game […]
February 26, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Do you use the Dashlane Chrome web extension to help you manage your passwords? If so, you’re not alone. The extension has more than three million users based on download stats. Unfortunately, Google recently announced that they took the extension down from the store temporarily because of issues with the “Use of Permissions and User […]
February 25, 2020 by Vertical Axion
There was a day when worms were once common, terrifying threats on the internet. In the early days of the world wide web, there were a number of famous attacks that were considered highly advanced for their time. Time and technology have moved on of course, and these days, modern malware is significantly more advanced. […]
February 24, 2020 by Vertical Axion
For most of Apple’s history, the company has been able to cast itself as a safer alternative to Windows-based computers.Hackers tended to focus the bulk of their efforts on Wintel boxes (Windows processors), rather than Apple machines. That has been changing in recent months. According to research conducted by Malwarebytes, over the past twelve months, […]
February 22, 2020 by Vertical Axion
A lot of people raise a curious eyebrow when they hear the term Windows 10X for the first time. It’s a bit of a niche product, but it is interesting. In recent years, several smartphone manufacturers have announced that they’d be experimenting with models sporting larger screens. For example, folding smartphones that when unfolded give […]
February 21, 2020 by Vertical Axion
If you’re not already familiar with the Emotet trojan, it deserves a special spot on your radar. It’s one of the most dangerous forms of malware in the world today. Their success is thanks to the fact that its creators have worked hard and diligently to keep it upgraded by bolting on a variety of […]
February 20, 2020 by Vertical Axion
There is no low that hackers and scammers won’t stoop to. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a warning about a worldwide scam in progress relating to fears surrounding the CoronaVirus. The FTC’s announcement speaks for itself. Their announcement reads, in part: “Scammers are taking advantage of fears surrounding the Coronavirus. They’re setting […]
February 19, 2020 by Vertical Axion
On February 5th, after the latest Windows 10 update, many users found that they were unable to make use of the search function built into the operating system. The most common result was a blank black or gray box when a search is executed. While no one at Microsoft has stated definitively what the core […]
February 18, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Despite the age of the OS, Windows 7 has enjoyed a surprisingly large and loyal user base. That changed suddenly when Microsoft finally pulled the plug on Windows 7 support. It couldn’t have come as a surprise to many people. After all, the company has been sounding the alarm and has announced the end of […]
February 17, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Security lapses can happen to any company, large or small. No one is immune. Not even Google. Recently, the company began sending out email notifications to some users explaining that a bug in their system caused their videos to be shared with other users. Their email notification reads in part as follows: “…some videos in […]
February 15, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Hackers will take any and every opportunity presented to them, even if it means hacking smart light bulbs. Recently, security researchers at Check Point discovered a bug in the Philips Hue smart bulb that makes it vulnerable. The bug is being tracked as CVE-2020-6007 and scores an impressive 7.9 out of 10, making it the […]
February 14, 2020 by Vertical Axion
There’s a new threat making the rounds called ‘Metamorfo’ that you should be aware of. The malware began its life as a banking trojan. This news is from researchers at Fortinet, who report that the malicious code has recently gotten some upgrades that make it particularly nasty. Like many similar programs, this one finds its […]
February 13, 2020 by Vertical Axion
If you work in the financial sector, be advised that there’s a large scale botnet-driven malware campaign underway. It has been targeting firms in both the US and the UK. The malware at the heart of the campaign is Emotet, which began life as a banking trojan, but it has morphed into something quite different […]
February 12, 2020 by Vertical Axion
It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of popular movies. Hackers know this and are beginning to incorporate Oscar Nominated movies into their strategies. They’re using enticing images to bait unsuspecting users to install malware and lure them to phishing sites designed to steal credit card and other sensitive information. After all, wouldn’t […]
February 11, 2020 by Vertical Axion
There have been a dizzying number of high-profile data breaches in recent months, and now we have one more to add to the growing list. Health Share of Oregon is a Medicaid Coordinated Care Organization. They recently disclosed that they lost control of health and personal information belonging to more than 650,000 people. The root […]
February 10, 2020 by Vertical Axion
If you use Google Chrome on a mobile device, you’ll notice something any time Google displays a list of sites. Let’s say for example, if you perform a search for a keyword on Google.com, each website’s favicon will be displayed next to the link. This is to provide a visual cue about exactly what site […]
February 8, 2020 by Vertical Axion
On January 17th of this year (2020), Microsoft discovered and disclosed the existence of a zero-day vulnerability. It was present in Internet Explorer versions 9 through 11. Hackers could display specially crafted websites that would allow them to remotely execute commands on a site visitor’s computer without their knowledge. That is, if they browsed the […]
February 7, 2020 by Vertical Axion
Just about everyone has made use of Google Translate at one point or another. You find some text on a website written in a language you don’t understand, pop over to Google.com and within seconds, you know what the mystery text says. It’s a great feature, but it’d be even better if Google had a […]
February 6, 2020 by Vertical Axion
As you’re probably aware, Microsoft has officially pulled the plug on Windows 7 support for everyone except those who are paying for the privilege via the company’s ESU (Extended Security Updates) policy. The final Windows 7 update was KB4534310. After that, unless you’ve paid for ESUs, no further updates are coming, no exceptions. Well, except […]
