Halo Information Systems

Happy folks!

Okay but once you get it it's hilarious. 🤣 🤣 🤣

Happy and Happy

Seriously, being a MSP means even when we are on holiday we are working. 😭 😭 😭

Happy and Happy !!

Bonus Valentine's and tech meme today. 🥰

Happy

We laughed way harder at this one than we should have. 😂 😂

Our first of the year! Everyone meet Steve Blackwell of in Ashburn! I enjoyed getting to know him and I hope you will too. Please give this article a read! https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/halo-client-spotlight-steve-blackwell-halo-information-systems/?published=t

Halo Client Spotlight - Steve Blackwell by Amanda Gentry January 31st, 2022 Steve and I sat down on Teams for me to drill him about everything Steve and Ace Handyman. I was a bit nervous about interviewing one of our clients as it was my first ever interview but he immediately put me at ease with his charm and I was ready to start firing

Happy

Why is this true??? 🤣🤣🤣

Happy

It's the future! Tip: Don't connect to unsecured Wi-Fi and if your business allows free Wi-Fi to clients make sure it's on a network segregated from the business network.

Happy we got another great

From us to you: Don't do this 🤣🤣🤣

Always use two-factor authentication and strong passwords.

Happy this is from "The IT Crowd" which we have, of course, watched. It's a family favorite.

Believe it or not we had to do this roughly 15 times our first day back in the office after the holidays.

Happy . We hope you all had a lovely and ! Time to get back to work!

Happy . You know when people say "I felt that"? Seriously, We feel this meme in our souls. Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday. Have an awesome celebration and we will see you next week!

Happy and Merry Christmas! Here's some insight into our holidays. Actual image of us from Christmases past.

Happy . We run into this a lot. It's okay guys, just ask. 😂😂

Introducing . Every Monday Halo will post an IT meme. And this first one is a classic. We totally agree with Geek & Poke btw.

We've been seeing a resent surge of phishing attempts with our clients. Be careful! Never give your password for your account to anyone ever. ...OK, that's hyperbole... but use caution. 99% of the time, request for you to reset your password ARE FAKE.

Want to take your IT infrastructure to a greener-place? Halo's Cloud9 system hosts your server and desktops in a 100% renewable energy backed data center. The data center is also the world's only Tier-5 Platinum certified data center!
https://www.switch.com/tier-5/

Tier-5 The World's Leading Data Center Ecosystem

https://i.chzbgr.com/full/9114181888/hA356867A/

i.chzbgr.com

Recent version of CCleaner, a well known and trusted app for cleaning up computer systems, was compromised and contained a virus! Fortunately, the company acknowledged the problem and have released a new version.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ccleaner-compromised-to-distribute-malware-for-almost-a-month/

CCleaner Compromised to Distribute Malware for Almost a Month Version 5.33 of the CCleaner app offered for download between August 15 and September 12 was modified to include the Floxif malware.

Verizon Ashburn Campus is hosting a recycling event Thursday Sept. 14th! Pull-out those business hard drives (they won't be wiping/destroying them) and don't bring your big bulky UPS devices (no battery or hazmat items) but get rid of those old computers that have been sitting in the office closet!
http://loudounnow.com/2017/09/11/verizon-offers-electronics-recycling-on-thursday/

Verizon Offers Electronics Recycling on Thursday ​ For the seventh time, Verizon employees will gather in the parking lot of the company’s Ashburn campus to collect unwanted electronics and other material for recycling. This year’s Recycling Rally will be from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 14. The event, which is free and open to area consume

New fake emails from Microsoft Office 365 look legitimate but are not! Be careful of you get one of these in your email inbox. The link looks like it goes to the correct address on the internet, but it doesn't. It's a scam-link.

Want to know what it looks like when you're hit by ransomware? Want to know what it looks like when RansomFree blocks it? Check out the video below, and download RansomFree for... well... FREE!
https://ransomfree.cybereason.com/demo/

Demo - RansomFree discovers and blocks ransomware Watch how Cybereason RansomFree detects and blocks ransomware from encrypting files on a computer

Celebrity deaths scams such as Prince, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Paul Walker and Robin Williams have been used by bad guys for their own criminal purposes. Don't be a victim of these scams. Never click on links in emails or text messages promising you photographs, videos or even new information about celebrity deaths.
Don't go to unfamiliar websites to find such information because your workstation may get infected with malware or your identity stolen just by browsing the website without clicking on any links. For more information about these events, only go to reliable, reputable sites where you normally go. Remember, "Think Before You Click!"

Hacking: Good guys do it, guys who think they're good do it, and bad guys do it. Learn the differences in this short video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0F-pv-n_lc

Types of Hackers (Hats) Explained What are "white hat," "gray hat," and "black hat" hackers, and what are some of the more noteworthy hacks from each group? TunnelBear message: TunnelBear is ...

While this new virus from APT28 isn't freely available out in the wild, it is something that can be used as a targetted attack on Mac users. Be aware of what you click on, on the internet. Use Mac antivirus. Be aware, most especially if your Mac is used for business!
http://www.cultofmac.com/467433/new-mac-malware-steals-passwords-iphone-backups/

Russian Mac malware steals passwords and iPhone backups Security researchers have discovered sophisticated new Mac malware from Russian hackers that targets your saved passwords and iPhone backups

RansomFree is a new free software that protects against Ransomware attacks. That's the virus type that holds your files hostage. Very annoying. Anyhow, I'll be giving their tool a try and will give a review of it in a couple of weeks!
http://lifehacker.com/ransomfree-proactively-protects-your-computer-against-r-1791429681

RansomFree Proactively Protects Your Computer Against Ransomware Attacks Windows: RansomFree is a new tool that promises to stop ransomware attacks before they can get busy encrypting all of your data. Instead of watching specific processes or trying to use signatures to identify ransomware, it observes the behavior of running processes instead, warning you when somethin...

Wishing you all a safe and Happy New Year!

It's a neat time to be a techie. Connected and pseudo-intelligent computing systems are changing the way we live and work. Here's a look at 4 innovative companies that are making headway into new computing that I think are doing things differently.
http://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/creativity/4-technology-companies-that-are-breaking-barriers-through-innovation-and-creativity/

4 Technology Companies That Are Breaking Barriers Through Innovation and Creativity The tech industry is undeniably innovative—so why is tech marketing so dull? These four companies are breaking barriers with their marketing initiatives.

Varonis did a terrific YouTube course on the basics of technology and internet security for the common person. Below is the quick 4 minute summary of what's taught. Check out his short series of videos to make it more difficult for the bad guys to steal your data!
https://youtu.be/xlEoB8wC9wg?list=PLYEr6kVanyrPu1qZ5g6iOr0v4ImpOOCSH

5 ways to protect yourself online How can you protect yourself online? What's the best way to stay secure on the internet? Learn 5 ways to protect yourself online with Troy Hunt, security exp...

'Tis the season to go phishing! It's unfortunate, but sometimes the best way for a virus to get onto your computer is through an email with an attachment or a link that looks like it goes somewhere safe online, but it really goes to a download page for a virus. Be careful and follow a few simple tips from Consumer Reports WebWatchhttp://consumersunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/phishing.pdf

consumersunion.org

Part of the San Francisco Public Transportation was hacked recently, shutting down over 2,000 computers in the process. It's a testament to the fact that nothing is 100% virus/hack proof. Want Halo to take a look at how secure your office systems are? Let us know!
http://thenextweb.com/security/2016/11/28/san-francisco-transport-hack/

The hacked San Francisco public transport is a reminder our systems aren’t perfect In an incident that feels like an episode of Mr. Robot, hackers managed to gain access to parts of San Francisco's MUNI transportation system.

Wishing you and yours a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

I have mixed feelings about awesome, powerful hacking tools. They're neat but also kinda scary. Check out how this little "PoisonTap" device can own your laptop, even if it's closed and sleeping!
https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/16/the-5-poisontap-quickly-completely-hijacks-even-a-locked-computers-internet/

The $5 PoisonTap quickly, completely hijacks even a locked computer’s internet After I learned of this clever exploit from Samy Kamkar, my poor 2012 MacBook Air looks more vulnerable than venerable: Asleep on the table, its USB ports..

Don't be so quick to use the Free Wi-Fi at the mall. Tyson's Corner Center was ranked among the top 10 most risky when it came to free Wi-Fi that was in some way malicious. Tests showed at least 5 fake/malicious Wi-Fi signals that might be providing malware to your phone, and could possibly steal your Username and Password info. Beware Holiday Shoppers!
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2016/11/18/riskiest-shopping-malls/

Riskiest shopping malls for mobile devices - Help Net Security As the biggest shopping weekend of the year in the US approaches, Skycure is advising shoppers to beware of mobile threats while browsing in both physical

With so much being automated, and the ability to remotely access servers and systems, it's not to hard to understand how one person can take down the whole internet. Well... almost.
http://www.nbcnews.com/mach/technology/could-person-take-down-internet-n684096

Could one person take down the Internet? If you want to commit the greatest conceivable act of terrorism and declare a version of war against every country on the planet, you only need to take the world offline.