P.R.E. Microsystems Corp.

Another Google+ data bug exposes info for 52.5 million users

https://www.engadget.com/2018/12/10/google-plus-data-leak-info-52-5-million/

engadget.com The second data leak in three months for Google+ has sealed its fate.

Three LCDs are way better than one ..

Microsoft Broke Windows 10’s File Associations With a Botched Update

Stick with Win 7 for business - at least for now.

howtogeek.com File associations no longer work properly on Windows 10 after a buggy update. Windows won’t let you select certain applications as your defaults. We tested multiple PCs running the stable version of Windows 10, and they all had this problem.

Protect Yourself from Internet Scammers and Identity Thieves

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month; The Tax Department reminds New Yorkers to remain vigilant throughout the year and shares guidance on how to safeguard your information from scams

In recognition of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today encouraged taxpayers to remain vigilant to thwart cyber criminals and their increasingly sophisticated scams.

“Scammers will search for any system vulnerability or tidbit of personal information, whether revealed in a social media post or in response to a seemingly routine email, to help them commit these crimes,” said Acting Commissioner Nonie Manion. “National Cyber Security Awareness Month provides an opportune time to remind citizens to be more vigilant in protecting their sensitive information.”

Identity thieves and cyber criminals steal sensitive information from unsuspecting taxpayers in a variety of ways—from launching sophisticated phishing schemes to dumpster diving for documents containing sensitive personal information.

Their tactics can include the use of threatening phone calls, social engineering, authentic-looking emails with enticing links or attachments, or thumb drives harboring malware.

Microsoft to ‘warn’ Windows 10 users not to install Chrome or Firefox

Microsoft to ‘warn’ Windows 10 users not to install Chrome or Firefox..

theverge.com Yet another annoying prompt

Hidden keylogger found on HP laptops

Security fail - Keylogger code found in brand new HP laptops.. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42309371

bbc.com A researcher finds more than 460 models have the hidden software pre-installed.

Massive Ransomware Attack Hits Ukraine; Experts Say It's Spreading Globally

Massive Ransomware Spreading Globally - Ukraine and Russia appear most affected but also registered hits in Poland, Italy, the UK, Germany, France, the US and several other countries.

npr.org Some have called the previously seen malware "Petya," though others say it is "a new ransomware that has not been seen before." It has been reported in at least a half-dozen countries.

Mac ransomware caught before large number of computers infected

Hackers infected Macs with the "KeRanger" ransomware through a tainted copy of Transmission, a popular program for transferring data through the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing network.

reuters.com The first known ransomware attack on Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) Mac computers, which was discovered over the weekend, was downloaded more than 6,000 times before the threat was contained, according to a developer whose product was tainted with the malicious software.

Google and Levi's Are Weaving Computers Into Your Clothes

Project Jacquard is an effort to invisibly incorporate computers into objects, materials, and clothing. Everyday items such as sweaters, jackets, and furniture will be turned into interactive surfaces that can be used as trackpads, buttons and more.

popsci.com 'Project Jacquard' brings simple, powerful tech to textiles

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-laptops-may-be-vulnerable-to-a-virus-that-cant-be-removed-2015-1

http://www.acrbo.com/blog/cost-of-data-loss

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Mac Browser Hijacking Virus on the rise. Starts with a pop up message with a phone number saying "the sky is falling". This just a month after a security flaw in Apple Inc.’s operating system gave hackers control of over 18,000 Mac computers in what may be the biggest threat to Macs in two years. Most of the infected computers are in the United States. Make sure your anti-virus is up to date.

Cybersecurity: Learn to Think Like the Enemy

According to the 2014 Cyber Security Intelligence Index, an astounding 95 percent of all security incidents involve human error. The most prevalent mistake? Double clicking on an infected attachment or unsafe URL. Other common errors include lack of patching, using default user names and passwords and easy-to-guess passwords, lost laptops and mobile devices, and inadvertent disclosure of sensitive information by use of an incorrect email address.

securityintelligence.com The only way to really test your organization's cybersecurity measures is to attack them — which means learning to think like a black-hat hacker.

The Biggest Threat To Gov't Computers: Federal Employees

The Associated Press says that workers in more than a dozen agencies, from the Defense and Education departments to the National Weather Service, are responsible for at least half of the federal cyberincidents reported each year since 2010, according to an analysis of records.

huffingtonpost.com A $10 billion-a-year effort to protect sensitive government data, from military secrets to Social Security numbers, is struggling to keep pace with an increasing number of cyberattacks and is unwittingly being undermined by federal employees and cont...

Blazing! There is no substitute...

WASHINGTON: Forecasters: Thirteen to 20 storms expected in Atlantic this season - Florida -...

With 13 to 20 storms expected this season on the East coast, it's time to think about backups, disaster planning, and checking the health of your UPS / battery backups to see they are still functioning properly and if the battery is any good. Don't wait - don't invite disaster.

miamiherald.com Expect another busy Atlantic hurricane season, government forecasters said Thursday.

Timeline Photos

Timeline Photos

Timeline Photos

Apple's Computers Attacked by Hackers

"Last year, hundreds of thousands of Macs were hit by a massive attack from a malware program known as "Flashback." and now this. Hackers have increasingly targeted Macs in recent years, reflecting the growing popularity of the Apple brand".

online.wsj.com Apple said some employee computers were infiltrated by hackers, adding to the wave of companies recently reporting cyberattacks.

Did Hurricane Sandy 'knock out' your computers?? You need Anti-Disaster Prep and Data Recovery Planning. If Hurricane Sandy poked holes in your disaster recovery plan, or worse yet, showed you in fact that you didn’t really have one, and data or operational time was lost or resulted in excessive downtime, then perhaps it's time to talk to some experienced data experts who have been setting up strategies for anti-disaster over the past 30 years starting with the NAVY / Air Force, right through decades of proven techniques for reliable office PCs. No geeks here, no guessing, and no fooling around - just serious business. We are staffed by Master's degreed senior aerospace engineers with concentrations in computers, electronics, and programming; We are perhaps one of few original pioneers in this field still servicing the Long Island area combined with servers and workstations that were installed in the field easily over 25 years ago and that are still used in office production on a part time basis. That's a pretty good track record right there and we'd be happy to review your operation as well - big or small - we welcome both.

On the other hand, you might have made it through the storm but realized that certain things were 'hanging by a thread'. Or you may have discovered that there was no immediate possibility of remote operation of your business, or access to your data due to loss of power. How were you supposed to run your business without access to your main program / data? What if your equipment was flooded out, stolen, or not accessible? Maybe you discovered that your regular outside support people were unreachable or unavailable. Maybe you realized the 'silliness' of offsite tape backups that are useless without the original machine containing the tape drive & software which was sitting drenched or powerless at your office. The list goes on and on. Everybody's situation differs a little depending on the operation and requires a different solution based on the required availability.. this is what we help you determine and change for the better.

What we've found during this 'post-Sandy' period are people / businesses running old software (on old machines) with no (useful) backups, machines with no operating system or driver recovery discs on > five year old hard drives (imminent failure), businesses that recently discovered that their "normal support guy had died a few years ago" and were just running on empty, people / businesses who are not sure how their system works, where the program is, where the data is kept ... not sure about backups.. ("the girl that used to do them left and we 'kinda' forgot about them), people / businesses running custom software (either with or without the source) who are stuck because the developer is long gone and who desperately need to either modify the program or need to move on to something else which is custom but yet remain frozen in their current situation, businesses running with no power protection on their lines, no UPS / battery backup, dead cooling fans, motherboards with bloated power capacitors causing hangs and blue screens - (their experts thought is was viruses, yikes!), etc. Again, the list goes on. If you find yourself identifying with one of these situations then perhaps it's time to call and review your case - there are some easy solutions to these types of problems.

Lastly a few last (annoying) facts and advice: According to the Chubb Insurance Group and APB, "One out of two businesses never returns to the marketplace following a major disaster. Of those that do, half go bankrupt within three years. The ones that survive plan their response to a disaster before it strikes. Many businesses never entirely recover - losing orders, contracts, key employees or may go out of business resulting in lost jobs and services to the community’." "A company that experiences a computer outage lasting more than 10 days will never fully recover financially. 50 percent will be out of business within five years. ("Disaster Recovery Planning: Managing Risk & Catastrophe in Information Systems" by Jon Toigo)". Different sources quote different percentages of recovery and prognoses of the patient companies of course but in the end the message is clear - don’t let it happen in the first place.

Remember, even if you’re running new software on a new machine (with a brand new hard drive) you can easily be down in a matter of a reboot .. just like that, "boom" dead ... boot sector gives out or gets corrupted... what are you going to do?
Are you prepared? .. most are not... not even the pros. Disaster planning, or should we say, ‘anti-disaster’ planning is what it’s all about. You or your company runs on computers one way or the other ... disaster, failure, and downtime are imminent. It’s not a question of "if" your system will fail .. the only question is "when" ... and we’re not just talking virus infection or bad power interruption, etc .. we’re talking normal failure of hard drives, motherboards, power supplies, etc ... and many times infant mortalities; they don’t last forever. In fact, nowadays, the newer, cheaper stuff (the foreign stuff) fails much sooner. Manufacturers didn’t drop the price of the hardware – they just learned how to make it low quality (crap) so that it’s cheap to manufacture. What was given up? Longevity and reliability - that’s what. If you think that you can faithfully depend on one cheapee little drive spinning away in that box to keep your data sound and protected .. you'd be sadly mistaken. There are so many considerations here and so many that are specific to the nature of your business and how the computers are used that it’s just not possible to consider it all here. But, if you’re one of the type of businesses that I’ve described above – and basically every business is vulnerable to some degree - then it’s time to have someone review your operation for anti-disaster and recovery ...investigate what’s actually getting backed up – evaluate what’s important and what is not.... and which data should perhaps be backup up offsite at night automatically rather than depending on someone to do it everyday. Remember, disaster preparedness and recovery planning is something you're supposed to do BEFORE you actually have a disaster.. it's best not to wait. Call. Thank you!

Remember, disaster preparedness and recovery planning (or what we like to call "Anti-Disaster Planning), is something you're supposed to do BEFORE you actually experience a disaster.. do not wait - be prepared, it's up to you.

Intel Doesn't Really Deny Calling Windows 8 'Buggy' | InvestorPlace

Par for the course really...

investorplace.com Intel issued a statement yesterday that did not deny that its CEO had told employees that Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system wasn't ready for release.

New Trojan Backdoor Malware Targets Mac OS X And Linux, Steals Passwords And Keystrokes - Forbes

Apple Mac users watch out.. nasty viruses abound ..

forbes.com Russian anti-virus software maker Doctor Web, has identified, "The first Trojan in history to steal Linux and Mac OS X passwords." BackDoor.Wirenet.1, is the first Trojan Horse program that works on the Mac OS X and Linux platforms that is, "designed to steal passwords stored by a number of popular...

FTC hits scary tech support scammers that make 'virtual mayhem'

Beware of ...

computerworld.com U.S. officials today struck at six long-running scams, freezing assets of 14 companies charged with bilking consumers by posing as tech support from Microsoft, Symantec and others.

Hackers Encrypt Health Records and Hold Data for Ransom

Is your data safe? Who reviews your data security? Who reviews your disaster preparedness & recovery? The time to fix it is before there's a problem.

businessweek.com As more patient records go digital, a recent hacker attack on a small medical practice shows the big risks involved with electronic files.

Virus Encrypts Data, Demands Ransom

Getting nastier now .. virus demands ransom after locking up all your data / documents ...

pcworld.com Trojan horse asks you to pay $300 to regain access to your documents.

Mac Security: New Java Driveby Appears, Protect Yourself - Tapscape

Mac malware exploits unpatched drive-by Java vulnerability

tapscape.com This new Mac security threat only affects JRE 1.7, which requires OS X 10.7.3 or higher, and that means OS X 10.6 and earlier users aren't in danger…

Attention, Macs! More Trojan Malware Is Gunning for You | NewsFactor Network - Apple/Mac News

If you still harbor the delusion that Macs are relatively impervious to malware, yet another Mac-targeted attack should disabuse you of that notion.

newsfactor.com The era of Macs being free of malware threats is over. A security firm has located another Trojan designed for Mac OS X, and, like the recent Flashback Trojan, it uses vulnerabilities in Java.

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"Reasons Data Backups Fail: 1) Failure to Backup All Data – The easiest way to recover lost data is to backup ALL data on regular basis. While most organizations backup a portion of their data–about 60 percent – less than half backup all of their data. This means that in case of a catastrophic event, 40 percent of data (including emails, documents, applications, and customer data) would be lost.)" From Black Mountain Software ..

Computer Trojan horse steals credit card details from hotel reception software

Look out!

cio.com.au A remote access computer Trojan (RAT) designed to steal credit card details from hotel point-of-sale (PoS) applications is being sold on the underground forums, researchers from security firm Trusteer said in a blog post on Wednesday.

Who Needs a Disaster Recovery Plan? You Do!

Remember, disaster preparedness and recovery planning is something you're supposed to do BEFORE you actually have a disaster.. best not to wait.

cbsnews.com Big natural disasters like the BP oil spill, Hurricane Katrina and the California wildfires make the news, but even small, everyday disasters can wreck havoc with your small company's ability to function. Agility Recovery Systems CEO Bob Boyd shares tips on disaster preparedness for small companies.