Call 980-407-5488
Blog
December 24, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Are you one of the legions of Americans who run on Dunkin’? If so, be advised that your DD Perks Reward Account may have been compromised. The company reported that they were recently breached by a currently unknown third party, and that at least some customer information was compromised. Dunkin’ (formerly known as Dunkin Donuts) […]
Read more »
Tagged
December 22, 2018 by Vertical Axion
IoT startup Trillbit has a big idea with profound implications for the Internet of Things, and by extension, for all of us. The company is currently designing a system called “Trill Tones” that will create a mesh of ultrasonic pulses into a type of sound that the human ear won’t be able to register but […]
December 21, 2018 by Vertical Axion
It’s no secret that ransomware attacks have been on the rise over the last couple of years. Many companies, desperate to get their files back, have resorted to simply paying the ransom and hoping the hackers act in good faith and keep their word where unlocking the files is concerned. That approach just got a […]
December 20, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Apple doesn’t tend to share well with other corporations, but they have made a few efforts to expand their services to the platforms of their competitors. You can, for instance, download Apple Music onto an Android device or on Sonos Speakers. Soon, you’ll be able to access Apple Music on your Amazon Echo. The rollout […]
December 19, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Most people use Google Chrome. In fact, according to the latest statistics, Chrome has more than half the browser market share, with the rest dividing the smaller portion of the market between them. That’s relevant because recently, Google has made important changes to their browser that provide visual cues when a website you’re visiting doesn’t […]
December 18, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Have you ever created an account on Dell’s website to purchase computer equipment? If so, your account may have been compromised. As a precaution, Dell has forced password resets for every account on their site. You’ve likely already got a notification sitting in your inbox with a password rest link and additional instructions and information. […]
December 17, 2018 by Vertical Axion
In recent months, security researchers have unearthed all sorts of new hardware vulnerabilities. Several of them allow hackers to quietly assume control of your PC’s built-in camera or microphone, giving them the ability to spy on you and invade your privacy at will. Normally this is accomplished when a hacker can trick you into downloading […]
December 15, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft just won a huge military contract worth $480 million to bring 100,000 customized AR (Augmented Reality) headsets, based on their HoloLens technology, to the US Army. The army’s plan is to integrate the headsets with their STES (Synthetic Training Environment Squad) system, which allows US forces to conduct hyper-realistic mock battles as practice before […]
December 14, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Akamai has discovered a nasty new hack that’s allowing cybercriminals to move beyond simply compromising routers, but also, in some instances, to use the compromised routers to take control of other machines sitting behind it on your network. The hack, known as UPnProxy exploits weaknesses in the design of the UPnP services installed on many […]
December 13, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Bob Diachenko, the Director of Cyber Risk Research for Hacken, recently made a disturbing discovery. He found an ElasticSearch server open and vulnerable on the internet, without so much as a password to protect it. Unfortunately, the server was leaking a staggering 73GB of data and had a number of databases cached inside the server’s […]
December 12, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Do you have an account on USPS.com? If so, you’re not alone. Tens of millions of Americans use it daily for a variety of purposes. Unfortunately, if you do have an account, it may have been compromised. Recently, the USPS announced the discovery of a critical security vulnerability that exposed the account information of more […]
December 11, 2018 by Vertical Axion
In recent years we’ve seen several companies suffer from hacks of various magnitudes. Over time, we’ve witnessed the growth of what could be described as best practices in terms of how to respond. The typical arc goes something like this: The hack is discovered. Immediately thereafter, the company discloses the pertinent details about the hack, […]
December 10, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Google relies on crowd sourcing to help keep its maps up to date. There’s no other approach that even comes close to being feasible. Sure, Google has employees on the job, roving the nation’s highways, byways, and back streets. Even if the company employed ten times the number they’re currently using, their maps wouldn’t be […]
December 8, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Back in October, Microsoft issued an update for Windows 10 that was a bit of a disaster. It wound up deleting some user files and sparked a completely justified outrage. The company pulled the update back, taking it offline so more people wouldn’t be impacted. Then they recently re-released it, this time, without the file […]
December 7, 2018 by Vertical Axion
There’s trouble brewing at Amazon, although details are sketchy about how much trouble there might be. Recently, the company sent the following message to some of its customers: “Hello, We’re contacting you to let you know that our website inadvertently disclosed your email address due to a technical error. The issue has been fixed. This […]
December 6, 2018 by Vertical Axion
In recent months, Google has taken steps to tighten up its processes so that fewer poisoned apps find their way into the Google Play Store. In addition to that, the company has stepped up its efforts to ruthlessly track down and remove malicious apps whenever and wherever they are found. By most accounts, that effort […]
December 5, 2018 by Vertical Axion
The mobile payment platform Venmo (owned by Paypal) has a fraud problem. That’s not exactly new. The company has struggled with fraud issues for a long time, but recently, things have gotten out of control. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company reported losses of $40 million in just the first three months of […]
December 4, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Bad news for computer users everywhere. Researchers at the University of California in Riverside have discovered that GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) are vulnerable to side-channel attacks like Spectre and Meltdown, which have been plaguing Intel CPU’s for the better part of a year. The team, (consisting of two computer science professors and two PhD students) […]
December 3, 2018 by Vertical Axion
In the world of data security, cryptocurrency mining software is often overlooked or discounted as a threat because it doesn’t do serious harm to the infected system. It bleeds off computing resources, putting them to work for the miners who control the software, working for them to solve complex cryptographic puzzles which generate revenue for […]
December 1, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Remember earlier this year when net neutrality got killed off and everybody said it wouldn’t matter? Well, it seems it might have mattered after all. Recently, three US Senators sent letters of inquiry to four wireless carriers. They are investigating allegations that the carriers have been throttling (slowing down) video services or Skype video calls. […]
November 30, 2018 by Vertical Axion
As you probably heard, Microsoft’s October update of Windows 10 was a bit of a disaster. Sure, it updated your OS, but unfortunately for many users, it also deleted a variety of files. This prompted outrage from the company’s massive user base. Things would have been bad enough if the calamitous October update had been […]
November 29, 2018 by Vertical Axion
Over the course of the holiday season this year, more than half of the working adults in the United States will be traveling with one or more of their work devices. Unfortunately, only a tiny fraction of those fully appreciate the data security risks inherent in travel, which is a grim reality that could put […]
November 27, 2018 by Vertical Axion
If you own an iPhone X and have been experiencing problems with the touch responsiveness of your display, you’re not alone. Apple has acknowledged that faulty components in an unspecified number of iPhone X’s may cause the display module to fail. In response, they’ve launched a new program to replace affected screens for free. If […]
November 26, 2018 by Vertical Axion
The wheels of government bureaucracy turn slowly, but they do turn. Currently, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is slowly pressing forward with an expansion of the available spectrum, on a quest to increase bandwidth for connected devices. Given the explosion of smart devices that has seen the Internet of Things (IoT) become the fastest-growing segment […]
