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September 21, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Consumer electronics giant Samsung just released its latest update to its flagship product, the Galaxy Note 7, two weeks ago, as of the writing of this piece. The company has sold some 2.5 million units worldwide, and now, they are …
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September 20, 2016 by Vertical Axion
As you probably know by now, ransomware is a particularly insidious form of hacking attack whereby a target computer’s files are locked or held hostage in some way, and besides restoring from whatever backups you have, the only way to …
September 19, 2016 by Vertical Axion
The story of the fall of the hacker going by the alias “Track2” is an absolutely riveting one. Track2, whose real name is Roman Valerevich Seleznev, is a thirty-one year old from Russia. His criminal enterprise thrived from 2009 to …
September 17, 2016 by Vertical Axion
If you’re a Mac user who downloads files using the torrent software called “Transmission,” you may want to check your machine for signs of infection. It was recently discovered that a malicious copy of the torrent software had found its …
September 16, 2016 by Vertical Axion
There have been papers written and demonstrations conducted in recent months to show how it’s possible to wirelessly log your keystrokes. All of those demonstrations have relied upon specialized gear you can make using off-the-shelf components, but given that requirement, …
September 15, 2016 by Vertical Axion
If you’re one of the millions of Dropbox users around the world, you were probably mildly annoyed recently when you logged on to find that you were being forced to change your password on that system. It’s one part of …
September 14, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Opera does not have anything that could be described as a commanding share of the web browser market, but as one of oldest and best loved browsers in existence, the company still commands respect, and has a collection of die-hard …
September 13, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Shaun Treacy, the President of MHR (Millennium Hotels and Resorts) North America, has recently sent a communication to guests who stayed at some of the company’s locations between March and June of 2016. In his letter, he warns that an …
September 12, 2016 by Vertical Axion
An interesting and disturbing new form of Ransomware was on display at this year’s Def Con convention, in Las Vegas. So far as anyone knows, this is the first, proof of concept ransomware that targets smart thermostats. Yes, you read …
September 10, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Much has been written in previous months about the explosion in growth of the (IOT) Internet of Things, and the security risks posed by that growth. Where PCs, laptops, and smartphones all have fairly robust security measures in place to …
September 9, 2016 by Vertical Axion
In some important ways, the media has a tendency to distort the reality where hacking and data breaches are concerned. The stories that tend to make the headlines are the external breaches that see hackers making off with tens of …
September 8, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Although a number of tech companies have been working hard to create new and ever more robust security and authentication protocols, a recent survey revealed that the American public in general remains highly skeptical of the new procedures, and only …
September 7, 2016 by Vertical Axion
You probably don’t know the name Benson Leung. He’s one of the internet’s unsung heroes, and in recent months, he’s been quietly waging a one-man war against manufacturers producing faulty USB-C chargers. Many users have reported having their smartphones fried …
September 6, 2016 by Vertical Axion
There has been an explosive growth in companies offering private cloud as part of a broader offering of managed services, and businesses are responding positively to the trend. Interestingly, while companies are moving to embrace the private cloud and managed …
September 5, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Sage, LLC, a British company providing business software solutions for clients around the world, was the latest victim of a data breach. This one, however, came from inside the company itself. This is an increasingly common problem, though not as …
September 3, 2016 by Vertical Axion
What do you do when you get a popup window generated by some piece of software you use, informing you of a critical update? Do you stop what you’re doing right then and perform the needed update? Most people don’t, …
September 2, 2016 by Vertical Axion
You’ve probably seen the headlines. This year, hardly a week goes by that there isn’t a report of a company in some way connected to the health care industry falling victim to ransomware. If you think it feels like they’re …
September 1, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Researchers at University College London have created a fascinating algorithm that can take a sample of hand-written text, and imitate it with eerie similarity. At first glance, that might seem like a silly, or even trivial thing to spend time …
August 31, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Adobe’s beleaguered Flash player may finally be seeing its last days, at least if Google has anything to say about it. The player has been exceedingly popular, and at its peak, a vast number of websites relied on it heavily …
August 30, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Microsoft is a company that definitely understands the need for better and more secure information systems. Like many other tech companies, they’ve been pushing hard for two-factor authentication protocols covering large swaths of their online ecosystem. Unfortunately, their approach has …
August 29, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Remember not long ago, when the big credit card issuers went on at some length touting their latest advances in smart chip technology? The new tech was supposed to vastly improve the security of credit cards, rendering them virtually immune …
August 27, 2016 by Vertical Axion
There have been a number of scams in recent years involving malware that creates false flag problems on your desktop. The faux problem is presented, along with a phone number you can call to get help resolving the issue. Consider …
August 26, 2016 by Vertical Axion
Printing company MOO Labs has just brought the humble business card into the information age. Employing the same NFC (Near Field Communications) technology that makes it possible to make a credit card purchase without actually having to swipe your card, …
August 25, 2016 by Vertical Axion
The unfortunate reality is that most instances of hacking occur from within a company itself. It’s true that the high profile cases that make the news are successful breaches from outside the company, but the statistics bear out the fact …
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