ETC Blog, The Tech Resource
It’s Official. Windows365 is here. Windows Subscriptions are optional…for now.
When the "free upgrade" to Windows 10 started I felt like something didn't smell right. To quote the last paragraph of that 2015 post: In a way it is a stroke of genius. How do drug dealers do things? They give you free taste..get you hooked then drain you dry. I...
Another Ransomware Package is Spreading Rapidly
There is a new ransomware package spreading worldwide and it is even getting more companies in the US then WannaCry hit. It uses the Petrwrap ransomware package. This package leverages known vulnerabilities that have had patches out for quite some time. If you are not...
Hosting Company Pays Massive Ransomware Payment. Is Your Web Host Ransomware Resistant?
This is unfortunate. I do not wish this type of disaster on anybody. ANY operating system is vulnerable to ransomware...yes even Apple. This is why I am a big proponent of ransomware resistant backups. ETC Maryland's web hosting service has superior data protection...
Firefox Releases New Version. Let’s Test it Against Chrome.
The Mozilla Foundation has released their new Firefox with multi-process capabilities. This means Firefox should take better advantage of today's computer hardware, namely the multi-core CPUs that are omnipresent in just about all machines less than 3 years old....
ETC Maryland Adds a Third Backup for all Webhosting Accounts
ETC Maryland continues to enhance its data retention capabilities for all hosting accounts. ETC Maryland has now added a third backup for all web hosting accounts. Every night the webservers send a backup to an on premise server inside the datacenter for quick...
The Worldwide Ransomware Outbreak.
Ok the news is on fire with news of a massive malware attack. This malware is called ransomware. I have been talking about ransomware since early last year and I have been talking about how to not get yourself infected since 2010. When I started this company I had...
ETC Maryland Assists in Website Rescue
I got a call from a friend that I had not been in contact with for quite some time. He asked if I could help him with his website. After a good conversation on the phone it turns out what he really needed help with was his server that ran the website. He had...
Why Choose ETC Maryland to Host Your Website
There are tons and tons of companies that can host your website for you. Within the sea of hosting providers what sets ETC Maryland apart from the others? All accounts receive a free basic SSL Certificate All accounts get a free dedicated IPV6 address All accounts...
IOT= You Do Not Own Your Device
In the you do not own your IOT device dept comes a tale of IOT woe. A IOT Garage Door opener has disabled a customer's account due to a poor review and an admittedly toxic comment left by said client. Now the client is effectively locked out of his garage until he...
UEFI is a rich crapware/malware repository.
I posted about a system API inside of Microsoft Windows that allows OEM to put in unremovable software that resides in the UEFI of motherboards. UEFI is the new "BIOS". The possibilities for UEFI problems have been known since at least 2012 as this google search...
Caution: The Latest IOS and MACOS Update Carries a Significant Caveat
The newest IOS and MACOS represents a fundamental change in the very guts of the entire Apple ecosystem filesystem. Apple is changing the underlying file system for all facets of Apple OS operations. This update is available for all supported IOS/MACOS devices. The...
Power Quality and Your Technology. My Recovery From Bad Power Completed.
I mentioned earlier how modern electrical grid technology that is meant to help the power companies reduce service calls and increase the reliability of the grid can also present a danger to your critical technology. I had that same technology cause a failure...
Ransomware: Cheaper to Pay Than to be Properly Prepared?
I saw an article about this recently and went searching for an earlier publication date. This type of thing is typical of a first response, knee-jerk reaction because somebody found a hole in your procedures and this at the time seems to be the cheapest way out....
The Cloud Cleared Out..An Outsiders Perspective on the Amazon Outage
The Internet is Acting Funky and an Update on My UPS Failure.
Don’t Let A Power Outage Take Out Your Technology
Your technology is the lifeblood of your business as it is the lifeblood of my business. Power problems put that technology at risk. I had recently received an alert from my UPS that its batteries were operating in a reduced capacity due to them failing a self-test....
WordPress Security Flaw Under Active Attack. ETC Enhanced/Fully Managed Hosting Sites Unaffected
Wordpress 4.7 was recently released and they added a new API to make it easier for third parties to integrate with Wordpress. Unfortunately, this new feature was not fully evaluated for its security implications before launching. This new system went too far in...
The Windows 10 Disaster Continues
The windows 10 disaster continues. https://www.extremetech.com/…/242537-microsofts-latest-wind… I have removed the update from both of my windows 10 dual display machines that play games and done the one thing you can do to regain control on Windows 10 updates....shut...
A Dubious IOT Product With Some Serious Network Problems..Are We Surprised?
From if it sounds to good to be true it probably is department: I was notified about something being hawked on a public Facebook page. Supposedly you can "fire your cable company" with this little box. What got them suspicious is the fact the seller would only do...
If you want to have access to Google’s latest technology do not pay for a Gsuite account.
I have always wondered why Google always struggles to make it's hardware and new products "stick". It turns out Google doesn't really want folks to be subscribed to it's "Gsuite" accounts. Why do I say this? I just found out that the new Google Assistant(which...
Sophos UTM DNS resolution bug leads to misclassification of web traffic.
*UPDATE 01\10\2017* I FINALLY got an error that calls out a file that is faulting. I started having various ipv6 sites not loading or loading very slowly. Inspection of the logs showed the following: 2017:01:10-10:19:53 etcutm httpproxy[8853]: id="0003"...
Small Businesses and NPOs Getting Fleeced. Something I See Happen All Too Often.
I was contacted by a NPO in Frederick County. They need to replace their primary server which does their local authentication and file services and also runs their e-mail services in house. Unless you have legal requirements this expense is simply unjustifiable. I...
If you want a Windows 7 machine, build custom
Microsoft as of today is no longer shipping Windows 7 to the big OEM computer makers anymore. This means the chances of you finding a Windows 7 machine..or even a win 10 machine with "downgrade rights" to Windows 7 stop existing as well. If you want a real downgrade...
The Basics on NOT Getting Infected (Updated April 23, 2016)
Windows has design issues...I have talked about it many many times. However it IS possible to have a malware free system. It's really not that hard. You do need to change your behavior on how you operate your windows systems. 1. Have a security audit done if...
Mobile Device Security: Simplified
For my second video in my Simplified series I talka bout some basics in mobile device security. did you know that these wonderful devices are actually computers? What do you need to do to keep them safe like you do any computer? Are there some basics to keeping...