Computer Safety & News

This article shares Penetration Testing techniques and tools for Wi-Fi networks to assess security controls for the router and wireless protocols being used. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2477437,00.asp How to Hack Wi-Fi Passwords – Your intensions when cracking a Wi-Fi password are no doubt noble—we trust you—so here’s how to do it    Once you’re asked for a username/password, what do you do? […]

The Internet Storm Center features a well-written awareness document for PtH attacks. Microsoft also has a centralized high-level resource that shares awareness & mitigating controls for this popular hacking attack to gain unauthorized access into vulnerable systems. https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/Pass+the+hash/19479/ http://www.microsoft.com/pth Passing the hash is a form of login credential theft that is quite prevalent. In it, […]

This excellent leadership article from John Maxwell shares some of his favorite quotes regarding the importance of communications http://www.johnmaxwell.com/blog/good-words-on-communication One subject where I have literally dozens of wonderful quotes is communication. It’s one of my passions, so I pay close attention to what great communicators have to say on the subject. Here are just a […]

As documented below, a few security concerns have surfaced regarding the special private email server solution.  These findings document the need for robust encryption and email server best practices that are beneficial in protecting sensitive information.  However some basic protection was in place, and so far no security breaches have been reported with this special arrangement. http://www.eweek.com/security/hillary-clintons-private-email-use-and-the-state-of-ssltls-security.html […]

Trend Labs documents a new Ransomware attack that is designed to spread as both a file infector and worm for an infected computer.  As documented, it can spread rapidly in a network setting.  It is noted that code stubs are present for incomplete coded routines and it is believed that future variants will be even more […]

For a few hundred dollars, a specially built device can brute force crack iPhone PIN numbers which are 4 or less characters. It even works around the “Erase all data after 10 failed attempts control”. A best practice is to use PIN codes that are longer and more complex codes to lock the device. http://blog.mdsec.co.uk/2015/03/bruteforcing-ios-screenlock.html […]

Occasionally unique subdomains are built for special business and technology needs. When alternative techniques or a discontinuation of services occur, these sites may still remain open and active at the hosted ISP site.  As a best practice, companies should also ensure they are discontinuing the subdomain at the same time special support needs change  http://www.computerworld.com/article/2838218/abandoned-subdomains-pose-a-security-risk-for-businesses.html Many […]

Microsoft has announced launch of preview version for Office 2016 http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/16/8223413/microsoft-office-2016-skype-for-business-preview Microsoft is improving Outlook 2016 search, storage footprint, and email delivery performance, alongside some improvements to image insertion in Word 2016 and Excel 2016. While Microsoft has previously added new ways to extend Office for developers, the software maker says it’s not touching add-ins […]

This USB Flash Drive proof of concept experiment highlights a special re-engineering process that could permanently damage the BIOS, motherboard, and other circuitry of the system. It is designed to store electricity until a maximum harmful amount is collected and then surge it back into the computer to fry componenets. If this were physically mailed […]

Critical security updates to Microsoft Windows, Office, IE, and other products became available on Patch Tuesday and users should promptly update for the best levels of protection against new threats https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/Microsoft+March+Patch+Tuesday/19445/ http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/MS15-MAR