From the category archives:

security

Suddenlink SMC8014WN Stupidity

May 5, 2010

Well this is interesting. I was considering becoming a reseller for Suddenlink Cable since I’ve been very pleased with their internet service. However, if you “rent” the SMC8014WN Wireless Modem/Router/AP from them – BEWARE! Suddenlink has locked down the firmware in the SMC8014WN so that most of the typical features from any $60 router/access point [...]

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Facebook Virus – Nope

May 4, 2010

As a reminder, there is NO SUCH THING AS A FACEBOOK VIRUS. Facebook is simply a webservice/site though your browser. Now, you can get an infection by clicking on a URL (link) that may send you to an outside webpage, which could be malicious. Then you could be infected, especially if you use Internet Exploder, [...]

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Ubuntu Banking – by Florida

March 29, 2010

I’ve preached my security sermon over and over. Now, here is a bank (yes, a bank) telling people to use an Ubuntu Live CD for their banking. Jay McLaughlin, CIO of CNL Bank: Accessing online banking from your everyday PC is just asking for trouble, he says. Your everyday pc? Yes – that means chances [...]

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Skype Encryption and Government Snooping

February 27, 2010

This article is a little out-dated since it was sitting as a “draft” in my blog. I just forgot to publish it. Here is the deal – I’m not a tin-foil hat guy, but I’m also a conservative and definitely was as little government intrusion as possible. This is a prime example. Can anyone explain [...]

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Infected computers at half

January 28, 2010

Well this might be considered “encouraging” if it weren’t so discouraging. According to a report, 48% of over 22 million computers scanned were infected with malware used in phishing scams and password stealing apps. I’ve preached this over and over – your anti-virus is only 1 layer of security. Don’t be lulled into a false [...]

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Gmail gets SSL by default

January 14, 2010

I’m sure it was prompted by the recent Chinese situation, but more kudos to Google for making SSL the default setting for Gmail and Google Apps. Most people don’t realize that your email typically flies around the hotel room, Starbucks, or your work  in an encrypted form. That’s right – it can be easily sniffed [...]

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Conficker – What you should really know

April 6, 2009

Last week was fun in the IT (information technology) world. Not because of any real damage by conficker – but because of the absolute media over-hype of something they don’t have a clue about. I had a couple of customers call me – and the conversations were short: “Rex, do we need to worry?” – [...]

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Classroom Computers

December 27, 2008

============= From Email to a client============= I’ve finally compiled my list of suggestions for helping to secure them and streamline the process of setup. This will help insure consistency of the laptops which will provide a much better classroom experience. Hopefully, the computers will be running XP, but these recommendations will work for Vista as [...]

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Serious IE Vulnerability

December 19, 2008

I know – I know. Typically I don’t post about Internet Explorer exploits. However, this one is pretty serious. I do have a few customers that must use IE for sites such as the Caddo Parish and Bossier Parish websites. Both of them stupidly use Active X controls. Not that either of these sites are [...]

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Formatting or Wiping – Erasing – Drives

December 19, 2008

———————- From Email: going to be donating a couple of old computers to Goodwill. What is the best wayto wipe the hard drives? Is reformatting safe enough?———————- Simply deleting files in Windows (and most OS’es) doesn’t actually delete the data. It is fairly trivial to recover it. The only way to insure security is to [...]

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