Business
One in five employees share their email password with co-workers
https://www.zdnet.com/article/one-in-five-employees-share-their-email-password-with-co-workers/ The link above is to a study by Switchfast, an IT consultancy based in Chicago. Eileen Brown at ZDNet gives a great overview of the findings. In short, your business is usually your own worst enemy. Which is why it needs comprehensive solutions for security and managed IT. Enter Monarchy IT, where this is…
Read MoreFBI: Reboot ALL Routers
https://www.zdnet.com/article/fbi-to-all-router-users-reboot-now-to-neuter-russias-vpnfilter-malware/ Click the link above to see the report by Liam Tung at ZDNet. The FBI has advised all home and small business router users, even those not listed as currently affected by the exploit VPNFilter, to restart/reboot their routers to flush the vulnerability. At Monarchy IT, we take security seriously. It’s our #1 priority. …
Read MoreHospital hacks: Default passwords and no patching leaves healthcare at risk
http://www.zdnet.com/article/hospital-hacks-default-passwords-and-no-patching-leaves-healthcare-at-risk/ Check out this great review of McAfee’s March 2018 Threat Report at the link above by Danny Palmer at ZDNet.com. In sum, poor IT security practices, even at venerable places like hospitals, are rampant, and continuing to pose a massive security risk for patients and providers alike. At Monarchy IT, we are the security…
Read MoreMeltdown/Spectre Breakdown
https://www.pcmag.com/news/358249/intel-chips-have-a-major-design-flaw-and-the-fix-means-slowe New year, new major security vulnerabilities! In the above linked article, Matthew Humphries and Michael Kan at PCMag.com do a great job of breaking down what exactly these 2 vulnerabilities are and why they are getting so much press. In a nutshell, Intel and other chip manufacturers have inherent design flaws that make them…
Read MoreGlaring Apple Mac OS Security Flaw
http://www.zdnet.com/article/stupid-stupid-macos-security-flaw/ Click the link above to read Steven Vaughan-Nichols full explanation of the recent Apple MacOS security mishap, which gave everyone who wanted it full admin access with an empty password. Though the flaw has been patched, it is still a stark reminder that no software is ever free from flaws, which means businesses must…
Read MoreOffice & Outlook 2007 are gone!
http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-just-ended-support-for-office-2007-and-outlook-2007/ Check out the article by Liam Tung over at ZDNet from a couple weeks ago for details. For those who may be unaware, Microsoft has a 10 yr. support cycle for most of it’s software. The first 5 years are Standard support, and the last 5 are termed Extended support, where only security updates…
Read MoreKRACK!!!
http://www.zdnet.com/article/wpa2-security-flaw-lets-hackers-attack-almost-any-wifi-device/ Check out the excellent article above by Zack Whittaker at ZDNet.com to learn everything you need to know about the rampant security flaw that was all over your TV’s today. At Monarchy IT, client security is our top priority. By patching software and keeping hardware up to date, attacks like this can almost always…
Read MoreCloud Security Trends: Winter is Coming
https://blog.redlock.io/cloud-security-trends-and-cloud-threat-defense Check out this report from RedLock on their recent cloud security findings. Needless to say, it leaves a lot to be desired. While “the cloud” has been all the rage in the small/medium business space for the last 5 years or so, the implementation of security over these services is still evolving. At Monarchy…
Read MoreEquifax breach
News got out on the 8th that Equifax, one of the 3 main credit bureau’s in the US, was breached months prior, exposing over 143 million confidential records. The hack was caused by numerous poor security measures by their internal IT structure, making it simple for the perpetrators to gather sensitive data. Please check the…
Read MoreDon’t Get Hooked: How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Attacks
https://digitalguardian.com/blog/dont-get-hooked-how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-attacks-infographic Check out the link above to a great info-graphic on “phishing” attacks by Nate Lord at Digital Guardian. At Monarchy IT, our top priority is the security of our clients’ systems. But we also have a duty to people at-large who would benefit from information such as what’s provided in this info-graphic. We hope…
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