Computer Safety & News

A review of some of best portable power strips and surge protectors with USB charging https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/26/the-best-portable-power-strips-and-surge-protectors-with-usb-cha/ After researching dozens of models and extensively testing the eight best-specified and -designed, we think the best power strip for travel in North America is sold under two different brands, as either the Accell Home or Away Surge Protector […]

While corporations can continue to set password rotation controls Windows 10 v1903 — that option is being changed in group security policies to no longer be the “default” as shared below. https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/04/27/microsoft-confirms-change-to-windows-10-passwords-that-nobody-saw-coming/ It would appear that, with the arrival of the Windows 10 May update, Microsoft is finally no longer going to be amongst that […]

The 2nd generation of Apple Air Pods are reviewed in detail as follows https://www.techradar.com/news/apple-airpods-2019-vs-beats-powerbeats-the-battle-of-apples-true-wireless-earbuds Until we’ve reviewed both models fully, we can’t speak to whether the Powerbeats Pro or the AirPods (2019)come out on top in terms of sound, but we can safely assume connectivity and pairing times are near-enough identical, as both models use […]

The TOPICs page offers a offers comprehensive portal of many resources to track current vulnerabilities in security https://securitytracker.com/topics/topics.html https://securitytracker.com/archives/summary/9000.html

Corporate ADMINs should monitor Oracle Weblogic security releases as applicable to quickly apply needed security fixes as noted below https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/Unpatched+Vulnerability+Alert+WebLogic+Zero+Day/24880/ The news today is full of a new deserialization vulnerability in Oracle WebLogic.  This affects all current versions of the product (the POC is against 10.3, but 12.x versions are also affected).  The vulnerability affects […]

The CIH virus with its April 26th payload in 1998 was one of the most destructive virus attacks I witnessed during my career in cyber-security.  3 of our PCs in the burn-in room were being built & did not have AV in place — so they accidentally got infected.   Those 3 PCs would only boot to […]

https://redmondmag.com/articles/2019/04/25/office-365-proplus-cloud-policy-service.aspx Organizations using Office 365 ProPlus productivity suite applications are getting an alternative to Group Policy for managing user-based policies. This week, Microsoft announced the release of an Office Cloud Policy service accessible by IT pros via a portal page, as well as a related management element at the preview stage called “Security Policy Advisor.” The Office Cloud […]

https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2019/04/23/Google-Releases-Security-Update-Chrome-0 Google has released Chrome version 74.0.3729.108 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. This version addresses multiple vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit to take control of an affected system.  The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encourages users and administrators to review the Chrome Release and apply the necessary update.

The top 2018 usage of Artificial Intelligence was for cybersecurity applications — which must match virus signature patterns & monitor heuristic behavior associated with malware & other attacks https://www.pcmag.com/news/367929/ais-top-use-in-2018-was-in-cybersecurity-applications AI’s Top Use in 2018 Was in Cybersecurity Applications — Data suggests that artificial intelligence was put to work in a cybersecurity capacity more than in […]

Even if organizations are not using IPv6 in an Intranet or widely yet on internet — the guidance is to “prefer IPv4 over IPv6” & to “keep IPv6 always enabled”. Otherwise, networking may not work as smoothly. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929852/guidance-for-configuring-ipv6-in-windows-for-advanced-users It is common for IT administrators to want to disable IPv6. This is often because of some […]