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March 12, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Hardly a week goes by that there’s not some or other high profile hacking attack or data breach in the news. These headline making attacks get the lion’s share of the attention because of their scope and scale, seeing the hackers making off with sensitive personal and financial information of hundreds of thousands, and often […]
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March 11, 2016 by Vertical Axion
It finally happened. Ransomware has officially made its first appearance on OSX. Anyone who downloaded version 2.90 of the “Transmission” App (which is a legitimate Bittorrent app available in the Apple Store) on or around March 4 should delete it immediately and install the clean 2.92 version. If you’re not familiar with the term, ransomware […]
March 10, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Software companies seem to be losing their longstanding battle with the hacking community. In a recent blog post, Eric P. Maurice, who is the director of Software Security Assurance for Oracle, reported a devastating new software vulnerability that, while somewhat complex to execute, can result in the complete compromise of a user’s system. Designated CVE-2016-0603, […]
March 9, 2016 by Vertical Axion
There are a lot of things we do on the internet that we take for granted, but in some cases, and in certain parts of the world, there are things that can actually land you in jail. Take a look at the list below, and beware. It pays to be mindful of where you are […]
March 8, 2016 by Vertical Axion
USB-C cable technology has enormous promise, so it’s a real shame that it has been plagued with so many issues in recent months. The problems for the new technology began a few months back, when it was widely reported that cheaply made USB-C cables were being shipped without power regulating features, meaning that you could […]
March 7, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Has your network ever been attacked or successfully hacked by a rogue refrigerator? That sentence sounds silly, but believe it or not, it has actually happened! As the number of smart, internet-connected devices continues to grow, and the “Internet of Things” (IoT) takes on increasing importance in our daily lives, the risks to those devices […]
March 5, 2016 by Vertical Axion
LG has a problem, and if you own an LG phone, you’ve got a problem too. The reason? LG phones come with an app called “Smart Notice” preloaded and activated on literally every phone the company makes. This Smart Notice app is a handy feature, to be sure, but it comes with a critical flaw. […]
March 4, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Landry’s has been in the news recently because like so many other companies, they recently fell victim to a successful hacking attack. The company has released additional details about the incident, and it sheds some light on the root causes of the problem they faced. In their particular case, the hack manifested itself in the […]
March 3, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Windows 10 has seen the fastest rate of adoption of any OS in Microsoft’s history. It’s unquestionably a good product, and even better, at least for a limited time, it’s a free product. That’s a hard combination to beat, but for a variety of reasons, some people just don’t want to upgrade, and that’s their […]
March 2, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Are you planning to file your taxes online? If so, you may see some delays in getting your refund. The IRS has been experiencing intermittent problems with their eFile system that has been making it impossible to take the final step in online submissions. This requires online filers to save their returns and try again […]
March 1, 2016 by Vertical Axion
How long has it been since we’ve seen a full week go by without another headline of yet another data breach? Far too long, and this week is no exception. The latest victim? High-end retailer Neiman Marcus. Fortunately, at least in terms of scope and scale, this breach is a relatively small one. A spokesman […]
February 29, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Everybody’s always looking for new ways to save money. A little here, a little there, and before you know it, you can realize significant savings. The problem with that approach, however, is that sometimes, the quest to save a few bucks can wind up being much more expensive in the long run. Take, for example, […]
February 27, 2016 by Vertical Axion
If you use Microsoft products, you’ve no doubt made at least some use of Cortana, the company’s digital assistant function. If you’re in the Apple camp, then Siri has become an increasingly important part of your life. These digital assistants began as small components of a much larger ecosystem, and in their earliest iterations, were […]
February 26, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Smartphones rule the world. Even a few years ago, a statement like that would seem silly, but today, silly has become fact. There are more smartphones in active service today than there are human beings living on planet earth, and we use them for just about everything. People watch videos, stream music, do work, play […]
February 25, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Have you been hacked? Has your personal information been compromised? If so, what are you worth? What’s your information selling for? If you’re curious, take a trip to the Dark Web to find out. The Dark Web is the “underground” internet. All of the servers are hidden and encrypted. The only way to access them […]
February 24, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Have you heard of Hot Potato? It’s the latest security exploit that Windows-based machines are vulnerable to. Note that this doesn’t target a particular version of Windows, but rather, spans everything from Windows 7, forward to Windows Server 2012. The exploits take advantage of hooks and weaknesses built into the core of the OS itself, […]
February 23, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Ransomware is shaping up to be the most significant threat from the hacker community in 2016. Over the last few days, Locky, a new piece of malware has been spreading like a wildfire across the Internet. The problem began February 16, when Locky was sent to 400,000 unlucky potential victims. In its first form, it […]
February 22, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Do you own a Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, or Surface Pro 3? If so, and if you made your purchase before March, 2015, you should know that Microsoft has just issued a recall for the AC power cords for those devices. According to a spokesman for the company, the recall was issued because over […]
February 20, 2016 by Vertical Axion
A health insurer based in St. Louis, called Centene, has “misplaced” six hard drives. Normally that would not be a big deal, but these particular hard drives happened to contain the personal data of around a million patients. The missing data includes patient names, addresses, birthdays, and social security numbers, but thankfully, not payment information. […]
February 19, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Since 2011, a company called SplashDash has posted a “Worst Password List” based on data mined from hacks and data breaches. What’s remarkable about the annual list is how little it changes from one year to the next. In the age of weekly, high profile hacks, in the age of rampant identity theft, one would […]
February 18, 2016 by Vertical Axion
For many months, Amazon has been planning to take the retail game to the next level. Their ambitious plan first became visible with the inclusion of mysterious “Dash Buttons” on various classes of products. Mysterious, because at least until now, those buttons didn’t actually do anything. Clicking on them would get you absolutely nothing. Quietly, […]
February 17, 2016 by Vertical Axion
As almost everyone is aware, Email was the first “killer app.” It very quickly went from being an expensive, idle curiosity, where users had to buy digital stamps in order to send each and every email, to something so ubiquitous that on average, people have 3 email addresses, even if they don’t regularly use them. […]
February 16, 2016 by Vertical Axion
As the economy continues to improve, and labor gets tighter, wages start to rise. It’s inevitable, and that reality sends shock waves of fear through the small business community. After all, they can’t hope to compete with the big players in their industries, and let’s face it, the lure of a significantly bigger paycheck can […]
February 15, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Back in September, not long after Apple started selling the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, users began complaining of a strange problem with their batteries. You may have experienced this yourself. One minute, you’ll be using your phone, and the next minute, it will simply shut down, citing low battery power. It turns out that […]
