Newsletter Archives

• Reviewing your subscriptions

  Posted on December 23, 2024 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  On an annual basis, I like to review those subscriptions and services that impact my bank account.

  Many times, vendors use the end of a year to change their focus or — as is apt to happen more recently — increase their prices. You should do the same. Review each and every subscription to make sure it’s delivering the value you expect.

  One recent announcement? YouTube TV just raised its price by $10 per month, a 14% increase.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.52.0, 2024-12-23).

  On Security Backup Software, Browser Protection, Endpoint Protection, Newsletters, Password managers, Patch Lady Posts, Software Subscriptions, VPN, Windows 10 ESU

• Why Proton means privacy

  Posted on October 7, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  If you want privacy in your email, cloud storage, and other parts of your digital life, then go to Proton’s suite of very secure but easy-to-use services.

  Proton is a Swiss company with a suite of familiar services – email, cloud storage, VPN – but with an important difference: Proton is serious about privacy. Others, such as OneDrive and Dropbox, talk about privacy but aren’t so great in delivering it.

  In this article, I’ll focus on the three important offerings of Proton and its free plans for private encrypted email, secure cloud storage, and properly private VPN.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.41.0, 2024-10-07).

  Microsoft 365 Cloud storage, Email, Email security, Newsletters, Outlook, Outlook (new), Privacy, Proton, Secure Email, Security, VPN

• Do you need antivirus for your phone?

  Posted on May 13, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.20 • 2024-05-13

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  For many years, I thought it silly to consider adding an antivirus program or other security software to our phones.

  Phones were seen as gated communities the bad guys couldn’t enter. Windows was the Wild West, where anything could be downloaded, and we found ourselves with malicious software installed on our systems.

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

  On Security Android, Antivirus, App Dashboard, App Privacy, Apple Store, CleanTalk, iPhone, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Private Relay, Smartphones, VirusTotal, VPN

• MS-DEFCON 2: May updates are right around the corner

  Posted on May 9, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.19.1 • 2024-05-09

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Patch Tuesday is only a few days away. As usual, caution is in order.

  I’ve therefore raised the MS-DEFCON level to 2. Make sure your system is backed up and you have deferred updates.

  In addition, I urge you to take stock of the other software that is installed on your system. Often, it’s this third-party software that may result in side effects.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.19.1, 2024-05-09).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, Android, Android Phone, InControl, iPhone, KB5036979, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, NTLM, VPN

• Microsoft is not fixing its mess

  Posted on May 3, 2024 at 03:00 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.18.1 • 2024-05-03

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft has now made it official. It does not plan to fix the mess it made with KB5034441.

  As you may recall, I was not pleased with how Microsoft handled this vulnerability. It took a sledgehammer to a problem that should have been handled with a precision tool. Instead of explaining the risks and letting business patchers make their own deployment calls, it shoved out an update that to this day is blocked on my sister’s Windows 10 PC due to the lack of sufficient space in the recovery partition.

  Read the full Plus Alert (21.18.1, 2024-05-03).

  AskWoody Plus Alert Alerts, Anywhere Access, BitLocker, Copilot, Edge, KB5034441, NTLM, Patch Lady Posts, VPN, WinRE

• Closing the year on patching

  Posted on December 18, 2023 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  We need a little Copilot, now.

  I have a favorite Christmas song called “We Need a Little Christmas” (now). That comes to my mind because for those of you who want to partake in the artificial intelligence experiment know as Windows Copilot, you may end up humming the slightly modified song “I Need a Little Copilot” (now).

  The December updates start to bring Copilot into Windows 10. I say “start” because, like many things in Microsoftland, features and changes are no longer released en masse to everyone in the form of a service pack. Instead, the changes are dribbled out or limited to certain geographical areas.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.51.0, 2023-12-18).

  Patch Watch Apple, BitLocker, CVE-2023-20275, CVE-2023-35628, CVE-2023-35636, KB5008383, KB5025885, Newsletters, NTLM, Patch Lady Posts, VPN, Windows Copilot, Zero Day

• Traveling with security

  Posted on July 10, 2023 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  With the past few terrible years behind us, more and more people are beginning to travel again.

  But modern traveling raises technology questions. What to take, how to connect securely to the Internet, and how to do it affordably? Those roaming charges can be expensive!

  Here are some tips for those returning to the road, along with a bit of travel advice.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.28.0, 2023-07-10).

  On Security Currency, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Travel, VPN

• Is Secure Boot important for security?

  Posted on May 22, 2023 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  During the last few months, some chinks have appeared in Secure Boot’s armor as the result of various attacks and vulnerabilities.

  Let’s go back in history and understand how we got here.

  When a computer boots up, and before the operating system is launched, other code runs. For many years, that was the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) pioneered by IBM in the original IBM PC. Unfortunately, inventive attackers found ways to permanently install malicious code as part of this launch sequence.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.21.0, 2023-05-22).

  On Security IPSec, Microsoft Outlook, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Secure Boot, VPN
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