ETC Blog, The Tech Resource
When the Cloud Goes Boom: Dropbox Edition
This is one reason i am not a fan of putting ANYTHING critical on the cloud. It takes one bug..or hack..or mistake and your data is gone. I posted long ago about what the cloud is. It isn't anything revolutionary but de-evolutionary and worse on security. I'll...
How to safely buy a resold apple device.
Apple introduced the Activation Lock feature in iOS 7 to help deter phone theft—if you've signed into iCloud and enabled Find My iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, you can't erase your phone without entering your account password first. Even if a thief put your phone into...
Apple could be really screwed if this deal is completed.
If Samsung buys the company behind Siri Apple is going to either loose Siri altogether or will be paying some serious licensing rights to Samsung. Unbeknownst to many, Apple does not own the technology behind Siri. The technology is provided by Nuance...
Thin is Getting Stupid
Semiaccurate.com has it right with the race to the thinnest device. I'm noticing increased thermal issues with my mega..that were not present with my nexus. The race to thin has passed it point of being sensible now. Read the article for details.
Still Think the Cloud is Secure? Icloud is Even Wrose
I have an entire section of this blog devoted to the cloud. I has gotten so bad it's impossible to post quickly enough to keep up. Icloud as soon as it launched I figured was going to be a disaster, especially with how little Apple has really valued security. they...
Cloud Computing Essay (outline)
I've finally have items organized in my head. This is an outline for my cloud computing essay. Here is my outline for now. How cloud computing is presented: 1. Marketing usually presents cloud computing as "The wave of the future!" 2. It is the way to...
Big Security Day Postings 4/8/2013
Between Heartbleed and the sunsetting of Windows XP and other mIcrosoft products there's a ton to write about. I'm currently working on posts for both..:)
Security Issue I’ve Been Seeing With Microsoft Word and Malware Infections.
There is an active exploitation of a security flaw in all versions of Microsoft Word right now. The various online media have been saying this is a targeted attack but i'm seeing general infestations with this security issue. If your machines aren't updated you...
DS11Slim
Here's the info you wanted..:) one of these; http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822108077 two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236221
Bizarre attack infects Linksys routers with self-replicating malware | Ars Technica
The hits to Linksys(now Belkin) routers keep coming. It's really gotten to the point I can't recommend these any longer. Might be time for a spike in Sophos UTM home installations? Bizarre attack infects Linksys routers with self-replicating malware | Ars...
The Breaches Keep Coming
First it was Target. Then Neimen Marcus notified. Next was Michael's. Now it is White Lodging's turn. I'll simply quote from Brian Kreb's article: White Lodging, a company that maintains hotel franchises under nationwide brands...
The Latest Facebook Privacy Invasion
People have been getting riled up about the latest Facebook permission. There's good reason to be concerned. Now the official response: If you add a phone number to your account, this allows us to confirm your phone number automatically by finding the confirmation...
Another Geek Squad Rescue
Geek squad used to be competent albeit overpriced. I now have a client machine here that was diagnosed with a series of problems over the past few months to a year. 1. bad internal nic. new nic was installed. It was a good one(Intel) at least. 2. The machine...
New Client Upgrade
ETC Maryland has been working with this client for several years. The network this setup replaced was first installed in 2005 when this clients business first started. Due to ETC Maryland's forward thinking this system was able to be literally rolled into this new...
MIcrosoft Office365=fail
Being a Microsoft partner when i saw they were giving MAPS subscribers their top of the line Office365 package I thought this would be great. I was met with several challenges right off the bat: 1.Setting up the account isn't straightforward at all. In...
Target’s Been Hacked Before
The latest breach isn't Target's first breach it turns out. Back in 2005 they were compromised as well. If this report is true many retailers have not upgraded to modern security on their front ends in over 10 years. If this is true the big box stores are going to...
Neiman Marcus Network Compromised Even Longer Than Target
NM's breach is more significant than Target's because of the length of the known compromise. Folks the same advice i gave for Target now goes to NM. If you used the same card at Target and NM and you've already re-issued that's good. If you don't know which one it...
Starbucks is an open door to your bank account.
There's not much more to say. If you have the Starbucks app on your phone get it off of there and don't put it back on. Starbucks has a lazy attitude towards security and it appears they aren't going to change that anytime soon. The Starbucks mobile app, the...
Target Was Totally and Remotely Compromised
So Target was running Windows XP embedded and it appears they will for quite some time as it's going to take quote a while to replace all of their vulnberable windows based POS systems with something else. The problem is even if they switch to something else if the...
2014 and What it Means For Your Technology and Network
I know there are many small businesses that are running Windows XP still. As of April of this year Windows XP officially dies. Many programs are simply going to not work anymore as announced by their creators. Sure you can hang onto the old versions but as more and...
Told You So!(Target Got Totally Owned)
If you have ever shopped at Target your information was taken. 100 million? This means Target was totally compromised and they had no idea. They'll never be able to tell EXACTLY how many...if you are smart just assume everyone who has ever used any kind of...
The Target Breach: The Full Extent is Becoming Known
When the first reports were only a limited subset of their data but a huge amount of customers I figured it was much worse. Target was just going to bide time for AFTER the holidays to fully report. NOw that the holidays are over the real extent is coming out....
More Nails in the Coffin of Windows XP. It’s Time to Upgrade
If you still have a windows xp machine. Contact ETC quickly for upgrades or replacements. If you are content to deal with Windows 8 you can go to any store and pay little for a computer...if you can use the computer with the interface disaster that is Windows 8. If...
NSA’s ANT Division Catalog of Exploits for Nearly Every Major Software/Hardware/Firmware | LeakSource
All I can say is wow. NSA’s ANT Division Catalog of Exploits for Nearly Every Major Software/Hardware/Firmware | LeakSource.
HOw Insecure are Smartphones?
Alli can say is READ THE ENTIRE LINKED ARTICLE then come here for the link to part 1 of the talk. I am providing links to part 1 and part 2 below. Part 1: The militarization of the Internet part 2: Remote Iphone Compromise Following up on the latest stunning...