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May 16, 2017 by Vertical Axion
This past Friday, a new ransomware threat burst onto the scene globally in what was described as an attack “unprecedented in its scale.” Before the original version was stopped by a young, anonymous digital security expert, it had brought England’s …
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May 15, 2017 by Vertical Axion
IHG, The Intercontinental Hotels Group, which owns Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, has recently announced a serious data breach that impacted 1174 of its franchise locations. The company reports that their Point of Sale (POS) system was found to have …
May 13, 2017 by Vertical Axion
The landscape of ransomware attacks is changing. When the malicious software first hit the internet a couple years back, it did so in a big way, primarily targeting large hospitals, insurance companies or other health-related businesses. These high-profile attacks temporarily …
May 12, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services made headlines by issuing more than a dozen hefty fines to big companies that deal with Protected Health Information for noncompliance with HIPAA regulations. That trend has continued into 2017, but …
May 11, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft is in the habit of releasing regular security updates and patches on the second Tuesday of each month. This month, though, in addition to the regular patch, the company’s massive user base got a second update that was rushed …
May 10, 2017 by Vertical Axion
It’s not an overstatement to say that Linksys, to a large degree, powers the web. The company makes a broad range of routers that lie at the heart of everything from small home networks to keeping small and medium sized …
May 9, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Hackers have once again pushed the envelope. They’ve again come up with a new way to infect target computers and get around whatever detection software is in place. The latest twist is sending encrypted Word files to your employees. These …
May 8, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Each month, hundreds of millions of people rely on Google Maps. It has become the replacement for GPS in most of our cars. We rely on the service for everything from getting simple directions to doing research on a new …
May 6, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft is taking some heat, thanks to a nasty exploit in Microsoft Word that is being used to install malware on the PCs of unsuspecting users. The exploit was discovered by both McAfee and security firm FireEye, and based on …
May 5, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you shop at GameStop.com, keep an eye on the credit card you used for signs of suspicious activity. According to security researcher Brian Krebs, sources inside the financial industry are reporting that the company’s website was breached between September …
May 4, 2017 by Vertical Axion
The city of Dallas, Texas is under siege by hackers. Not long ago, an unknown hacker took control of several of the city’s signal lights. Even more recently, another hacker commandeered all 156 of the city’s emergency sirens and activated …
May 3, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you use torrent software to download advance copies of movies or your favorite TV shows, your machine could be part of a large and sprawling botnet called Sathurbot. The hackers behind the botnet upload infected torrent files that contain …
May 2, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you’re a small business owner, you may feel completely overwhelmed by the digital security threats you face, and you’re not alone. A recent survey indicated that more than 70% of all cyber-attacks are made against companies with fewer than …
May 1, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you’re in the market for new hardware, PC or smartphone, now is the time to buy. All indications are that prices are going to be rising in the next year. There are a few different factors in play here. …
April 29, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you participate in blog conversations, then you’ve probably heard of Disqus. It’s the largest and most well-known blog commenting software on the web today, used by a variety of news media sites and blogs of all shapes and sizes. …
April 28, 2017 by Vertical Axion
What’s old is new again. In the days before the internet, scammers frequently weaponized the telephone, but now, that’s considered old school. While telephone scams still exist, they’re not nearly as common as they once were. Recently, however, a new …
April 27, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft hasn’t been making many friends, thanks to its rather invasive data collection policies. In fact, the sheer amount of data the company collects on you via Windows 10 is nothing short of alarming, and it has even caught the …
April 26, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Amazon has been in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission since 2014 for not warning parents that the free apps they let their kids play with can be used to authorize in-app purchases. Thanks to this policy, some $70 …
April 25, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Over the past two years, the hackers of the world have begun to shift focus. Previously, their preferred targets had been big credit card companies, and all over the dark web, interested parties could find as many credit card numbers …
April 24, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you use either an Android or Apple smartphone, which describes approximately 100% of the world’s smartphone-using population, then you’ll want to pay close attention to the security updates that both Google and Apple released recently. Four months ago, Google …
April 22, 2017 by Vertical Axion
Samsung, the world’s largest cellphone manufacturer, has a problem with their flagship offerings, the new S8 and S8+ devices. Both were released with a new facial recognition software the company used as an advanced security measure. The idea was a …
April 21, 2017 by Vertical Axion
If you have a laptop, you’ve probably noticed that your laptop’s battery doesn’t seem to last as long as the manufacturer says it will. Maybe you just figured you were a power user, or maybe you thought it was just …
April 20, 2017 by Vertical Axion
In 2016, security firms Lookout and Citizen Lab identified a dangerous new type of malware, dubbed Pegasus, that surfaced in the iOS ecosystem. The software was developed and sold by the NSO Group, a licensed cyber-arms dealer operating out of …
April 19, 2017 by Vertical Axion
WordPress remains the undisputed king of content management systems. It is the web’s most popular site-building platform, and odds are good that you either have a WordPress site or know someone who does. Legions of businesses use the open source …
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