Blog
Why Do Ransomware Attacks Continue To Rise?
The total number of ransomware attacks has seen a massive spike, with nearly 50 percent more attacks against PCs occurring this year than last year. In the same time period, ransomware attacks against mobile devices fell marginally from 137,000 by this point last year to 130,000 this year. However, those numbers are tiny compared to […]
Social Media Data Helping To Predict Violent Threats
A new study conducted by Cardiff University provides some insights about the power of social media that are both surprising and completely expected in the same moment. The study focused on Twitter and using tweets to help identify dangerous situations, with the goal being to learn if social media trends could be used to identify […]
New Vulnerability Found In Skype That Could Allow Hackers Access
If you’re one of the millions of Skype users around the world, check to see what version you’re using. If you haven’t upgraded to the latest build, you’re at risk. Recently, a new vulnerability came to light that allows hackers to take advantage of a security flaw in the software’s clipboard function that could spell […]
New Survey Shows Alarming Trends In Cybersecurity For Businesses
A new survey released by Guidance Software reveals some disturbing trends about the state of cyber security. The survey asked 330 IT and digital security professionals questions about cyber-attacks and their impact on the organizations they serve. The biggest news was in how many organizations reported that they’d been the victims of a malware attack […]
Microsoft Releasing Feature To Help With Malicious Files Like Ransomware
Microsoft recently announced a new change coming to Windows Defender in the fall called “Controlled Folder Access.” As the company describes the feature, it should enable Windows Defender to prevent files in specified folders from being modified (including encryption) by untrusted applications, which means that the new security measure would provide powerful defense against ransomware-style […]
New Mobile Fingerprint Sensor Can Detect Blood Flow And Heartbeat
Qualcomm has recently announced the release of their next-generation fingerprint biometric technology for mobile devices, and on its face, it seems to be a significant improvement. The problem that the current generation of fingerprint scanning technology suffers from is that hackers have been able to find a variety of clever, shockingly simple and devastatingly effective […]
Google Gets Huge Fine From EU For Manipulating Search Results
Google is in trouble with the EU. This is nothing new. The search engine giant has been fighting an ongoing battle with the European Union for a number of years now over a variety of claims that they’re unfairly using their dominance in search to skew results against selected competitors. What has changed is that […]
Internet Crime Has Become A Billion Dollar Industry
Anyone who works in IT or has any interest in data security at all can tell you that the number of hacking attacks is on the rise. Worse than that, though, is the fact that the hackers themselves are getting increasingly organized, and that organization is allowing them to share code and develop entirely new […]
A Third Of Former Employees Take Company Information With Them
How safe is your company’s data? According to a new survey released by tech giant Dell, it is not very safe. The statistics revealed by the survey are dismaying. Be sure you want to know before reading any further, because once you do, it may well change the way you view your own employees. The […]
Gmail Will No Longer Be Scanned To Serve Google Ads
On its face, Google’s announcement that it will no longer be scanning Gmail inboxes to serve up more tightly targeted ads looks like a big win for privacy advocates. Dig a little deeper, though, and you’ll realize that the move is mostly smoke and mirrors designed to ease the concerns of Enterprise clients who are […]
A Visionary Approach to Your Security
The purpose of an IT partner isn’t just to fix something when it is broken, it is to keep your people working and your data secure. Astral moves beyond traditional managed services by addressing all the key areas of cybersecurity in today’s complex landscape.
