Newsletter Archives

• Security information for an end-of-life operating system is lacking

  Posted on July 8, 2024 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Lately, I’ve been working on painting the trim on my house.

  We have old-fashioned caulked windows. To make sure that the caulk doesn’t crack with the weather, maintenance is required. That means painting.

  I like doing it because it gets me off the computer and thinking of other things. Painting the house is great for appearances and — more importantly — protects it from weather and other damage.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.28.0, 2024-07-08).

  On Security 0patch, CISA, Clickbait, CVE-2024-27867, CVE-2024-30078, Headlines, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Security, Windows 10, Windows 11

• Microsoft and Apple

  Posted on July 1, 2024 at 02:39 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  APPLE

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft has spent many years, and made huge investments, trying to bring the Apple ecosystem into work environments.

  In 1985, it brought word processing to the Mac. It has provided the means to allow Word and Excel documents to move seamlessly from Windows to macOS. It brought affordable tools to allow small and medium businesses to control and manage iPhones, thus allowing managed service providers to control devices without needing to invest in specific, Apple-centric management tools.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.27.0, 2024-07-01).

  Apple Apple, Business Computing, Email, Intune, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, Security, Smartphones, Word Processing

• Your ‘free’ VPN may actually be a malware bot

  Posted on June 10, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.24 • 2024-06-10

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Law-enforcement authorities, coordinating the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and similar agencies in Germany, Singapore, and Thailand, have arrested the leaders of a worldwide botnet that relied on people downloading and installing software to create “free” virtual private networks (VPNs).

  Before the arrests were announced on May 29, 2024, more than 19 million infected computers in some 190 countries were being used by hackers for credit-card fraud, Dark Web operations, and a lot else. Jailing the so-called 911 S5 organizers and shutting them down dismantled what FBI director Christopher Wray described as “likely the world’s largest botnet ever.”

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.24.0, 2024-06-10).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Public Defender AVG Secure, botnet, CyberGhost, DewVPN, ExpressVPN, Hotspot Shield, IVPN, MaskVPN, Mullvad, Newsletters, NordVPN, PAirVPN, PaladinVPN, PersonalVPN, Private Internet Access, ProtonVPN, ProxyGate, Security, ShieldVPN, ShineVPN, Surfshark, VPNs, Windscribe Pro

• Crooks can take over your video doorbell by pushing a button

  Posted on May 27, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  High-tech doorbells with video cameras sound like a great way to monitor who’s currently on your front porch and who came by while you were away. But cheap models are ridiculously easy for common thieves to take over by merely holding down a button.

  No sophisticated electronic equipment is necessary to give a crook control over your video camera — and possibly your other computer equipment that’s using the same Wi-Fi network. All that’s required is a typical smartphone and an index finger to hold down the doorbell’s button for as little as eight seconds.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.22.0, 2024-05-27).

  Public Defender Amazon Ring, Doorbells, IoT, Newsletters, Ring, Security

• Protecting yourself from AI deepfakes

  Posted on May 20, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  It has been apparent for some time that developments in generative artificial intelligence present serious potential for harm.

  A recent example has made the problem concrete.

  On January 17, 2024, the Baltimore Sun broke the news with the headline “Baltimore County Public Schools investigating Pikesville High principal’s alleged ‘highly offensive’ recording.”

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.21.0, 2024-05-20).

  Legal Brief AI, Deepfakes, Generative AI, Legal, Newsletters, Privacy, Revenge, Security

• Quantum computing is coming to you soon

  Posted on May 13, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  A breakthrough by researchers at Oxford University makes it likely that you’ll be able to access the power of a quantum computing center — remotely from your home or office — sooner than experts previously thought.

  “Quantum computing” is an entirely different animal from “digital computing.” A quantum server harnesses the capabilities of quantum states, weird behaviors that exist only at a subatomic level. In theory, quantum computing can operate much faster than even the speediest processors available today.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.20.0, 2024-05-13).

  Public Defender Blind Quantum Computing, Newsletters, Performance, Quantum Computing, Qubit, Security

• Did hackers buy Roku devices — using your credit card?

  Posted on April 29, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.18 • 2024-04-29

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  In a pair of serious security breaches in the past two months, hackers tried username-password combinations found on the Dark Web. They attempted to log on to more than half a million accounts at Roku.

  Hundreds of users who had unwisely stored their full credit-card numbers with Roku were exploited by the hackers. The victims’ credit-card numbers on file enabled the perps to buy anything in the Roku store.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.18.0, 2024-04-29).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Public Defender Newsletters, Privacy, Roku, Security

• Cleaning up your printer

  Posted on April 22, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.17 • 2024-04-22

  HARDWARE

  

  By Susan Bradley

  You’re probably thinking this article is about cleaning paper dust from a printer or fixing a stuck pick-up wheel.

  We all deal with that sort of thing. This is about something you probably don’t think about before heading to your local e-cycler with that old printer — sensitive information.

  That’s right. Printer manufacturers are increasingly adding beacons, tracking, and — worse yet — the subscription ink plans to wring out every bit of profit from a device that increasingly is being used less and less. That’s data, and it’s tied to you. I’ll get back to that.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.17.0, 2024-04-22).

  Hardware Factory Defaults, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Printers, Recycling, Security, SMTP

• Apple turns on ‘Discoverable by Others.’ Should you worry?

  Posted on April 15, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  The blogosphere has been going nuts lately after learning that Apple quietly turned on by default an iPhone setting known as “Discoverable by Others.”

  Despite your initial shock after hearing this — or seeing it for yourself on your phone — being discoverable may or may not be something you need to be concerned about.

  I’ll explain today what the setting does and why you might want to leave it on — or turn it off immediately.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.16.0, 2024-04-15).

  Public Defender Apple, Discovery, iPhone, Journaling, Newsletters, Privacy, Security

• Let your PC start the new year right!

  Posted on January 1, 2024 at 02:44 CST by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.01 • 2024-01-01

  BEN’S WORKSHOP

  

  By Ben Myers

  Taking the time now to service your Windows PC thoroughly can pay off big time in the coming year.

  Happy New Year! Whether you’re planning to move to Windows 11 or continue with Windows 10, here is what you can do to make sure that your PC starts the year right.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.01.0, 2024-01-01).

  Ben's Workshop Backups, Drive maintenance, Hardware, Networking, Newsletters, PC maintenance, Security

• Gifts for your computer

  Posted on December 11, 2023 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Technology is one of those purchases best done personally.

  It’s often hard to know how people like their technology, but for gift-giving it’s important to know whether they are firmly entrenched in the ecosystems of Microsoft, Apple, Android, or Kindle.

  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat yourself. And your treat shouldn’t be limited to purchasing something new — this may be the time you want to upgrade the technology you already have. Even a Windows 10 PC might benefit from Santa’s visit.

  Your best gift to yourself is to take stock of your daily drivers. Know how much RAM and hard-drive space they have, determine how well your most important apps run, and decide how reliable and dependable the devices are. Do it once a year — the holidays are a great time for it!

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.50.0, 2023-12-11).

  On Security Backup, Buying a new PC, Buying PCs, Hardware Upgrades, Internet connectivity, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Refurbished Equipment, Security

• Tax simplification

  Posted on October 16, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  The Inflation Reduction Act gave the U.S. Treasury Department billions of dollars to create a world-class customer experience for taxpayers.

  Let’s put aside the question “Do we want a world-class customer experience, or do we deserve something better — maybe an Amazon-class customer experience?” Because I’m not really sure how customer-friendly the typical world tax system is. I mean, half the world’s population is in India and China.

  Maybe they’re great — I just don’t know.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.42.0, 2023-10-16).

  Legal Brief Government, Newsletters, Privacy, Security, Taxation
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