Blog
5G Ready In 2018, May Not Be Seen Until 2020
Qualcomm has made a bold announcement in advance of this year’s 4G/5G Summit in Hong Kong. Their newest offering, the X50, will ship in the second half of 2018, and is being billed as a 5G modem. It will feature download speeds of up to 5GBps where networks support them, and represents a big leap […]
Watch Out For Facebook Private Messages That Include Videos
File this one under “public service warning.” If you’re a fan and regular user of Facebook, beware of a new virus that’s making the rounds inside the social media giant. If you see a video on your wall titled “My First Video,” don’t click on it to play it. If you do, it will tag […]
Spotify Ads May Have Served Up Malware To Your Computer
Are you a Spotify user? If so, you may have been infected. Recently, the company reported that one of its advertising partners had displayed an ad containing malware. As with most software of this type, it wrests control of the user’s browser, opening additional tabs on its own, and directing users to web pages loaded […]
Be Careful With ID Selfies: New Android Trojan Steals Info
Some credit card companies have begun using selfies as an alternative to traditional, text-based passwords in order to provide enhanced security. No system is perfect, though, and hackers have already begun experimenting with various exploits to the new paradigm. Far and away, the most successful exploit so far has been the Acecard Trojan. This malware […]
Bogus Encryption Software Downloads Are Delivering Malware
Online security has become increasingly important to rank and file users in recent years, and with good reason. 2015 saw the largest number of hacks and successful data breaches in the history of the internet, and 2016 is on track to surpass it. Even worse, it’s not just the number of attacks that are increasing, […]
Insulin Pump Hack Takes Technology Threats To A New Level
The risks and dangers associated with the Internet of Things continues to grow. Unfortunately, these days, a hacking attack can actually kill. Recently, a researcher uncovered a major security flaw in an insulin pump sold by Johnson and Johnson. The Animas OneTouch insulin pump has a WiFi feature that allows a diabetic patient wearing the […]
Has Government Been Scanning All Yahoo Email Messages?
Did they, or didn’t they? That seems to be the central question surrounding the recent revelation reported by Reuters. According to the news story, Yahoo complied with a Federal government request to track and monitor all incoming messages, forwarding any that contained a certain set of keywords to government agents. If the allegation is true, […]
Google Gets Facts Straight By Adding News Fact Checker
Back in September, President Obama called the news media out for their complacency. In a year marked by an extremely divisive political campaign, people have lamented the fact that many of the nation’s major news outlets are dealing in false equivalency and spin of one flavor or another. It’s creating a climate of misinformation that […]
FAA Threatens Prosecution For Samsung Note 7 On Planes
It was supposed to be a landmark achievement for Samsung, and the start of an era of record-breaking profits. The release of the Note 7 was widely anticipated, and when it hit the shelves back in August, customers flocked to buy the new devices. That’s when the trouble began. The new devices were plagued with […]
Will Your Body Provide Passwords To Devices In The Future?
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed an intriguing new technology that can actually transmit secure password signals through the body, using the fingerprint sensors and touchpads on smartphones and laptops, in what they’re calling “on-body transmission.” The signals are then authenticated when the password-protected devices touch the body. This is fundamentally different from […]
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.
