Computer Safety & News

https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2019/03/19/Microsoft-Ending-Support-Windows-7 All software products have a life-cycle. After January 14, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or support for PCs running the Windows 7 operating system. After this date, this product will no longer receive free: •         Technical support for any issues •         Software updates •         Security updates or fixes Computers running the […]

https://redmondmag.com/articles/2019/03/13/windows-7-support-notices.aspx Microsoft plans to issue regular notices starting next month that will inform Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) users that the operating system will reach its end-of-support phase on Jan. 14, 2020.    These notices will be sent as a “courtesy reminder” to users and will recur “a handful of times in 2019,” unless the […]

Mozilla Firefox version 66 has added automatic video-play blocking as a default security setting in this new release https://www.engadget.com/2019/03/19/firefox-66-blocks-auto-playing-videos/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/66.0/whatsnew/ As promised, Mozilla is about to make web videos decidedly less annoying. Its newly released Firefox 66 blocks auto-playing videos by default, preventing web ads or video sites from startling you when you’re not ready […]

Major events are often used as themes for fake donations, email scams, and to spread malware.  Users should be cautious as US CERT shares a warning below https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2019/03/15/New-Zealand-Related-Scams-and-Malware-Campaigns In the wake of the recent New Zealand mosque shootings, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advises users to watch out for possible malicious cyber activity […]

https://www.pcmag.com/news/367232/myspace-loses-12-years-of-music The data loss apparently extends to any audio, photos, or video uploaded between 2003 and 2015, which means over 50 million songs from over 14 million artists have been lost.  MySpace is probably a distant memory for internet users today and a complete unknown to younger generations, but for a time it was the […]

The new 2019 Apple iMac models feature several new options.  The top model users the Intel i9 core CPU providing 2X throughput of past workstations. https://www.pcmag.com/news/367249/apple-brings-intels-core-i9-to-the-2019-imac https://www.pcmag.com/review/358585/apple-imac-pro At the top end, the iMac is now an attractive alternative to the iMac Pro as a powerhouse all-in-one. The entry-level version gets no update, and middle models […]

Wireshark & Npcap are excellent tools to support network PENTEST & monitoring needs.  The SANS ISC shares an FAQ for the new version 3.0 toolset https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/Wireshark+300+and+Npcap+Some+Remarks/24758/ I received a couple of questions regarding Wireshark and Npcap.  First of all, it’s not a requirement to install Npcap if you want to upgrade to Wireshark 3.  Johannes also […]