That’s right Windows 8 and 8.1 users, Microsoft is finally caving to the repeated calls for the return of the Start Menu. It will be pushed out in Windows Updates to users running Windows 8.1. If you have not upgraded your Windows 8 installation to 8.1, go to the Store (click on the Store tile) and run the upgrade.
We have been satisfying our clients desires for a Start Menu in Windows 8 by installing ...
Continue Reading →Target Stores stock price was at $67 in November, and fell to $54 in February, and over March has managed to recover back to $60 as of this morning. Not terrible results for a company that was responsible to the loss of 40 million card transactions. But their profits have fallen 46% since the breach, store traffic and sales are down, and there are still fines, penalties, and class action lawsuit settlements on the horizon. The total cost of this ...
Continue Reading →
Browser hijacking is a growing and super annoying problem. I see way too many instances where a client of mine has downloaded a “free” program, only to have the program installer bring a host of unwanted and undesirable adware programs. Many times these freeware programs and games ...
A young support technician was leaving the office late one evening when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.
"Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. Can you make this thing work for me?"
"Certainly," said the young support tech. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.
"Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO, ...
Continue Reading →
Security researcher Brian Krebs, who broke the Target story back in December, continues to be one of the best sources of the continuing story. He recently posted a report from the FBI that warns us to expect more breaches involving the BlackPOS exploit that has affected checkout operations at Target, Neiman-Marcus, and Michaels stores.
It appears that the breach at Target was the result of a compromised user and password that had been created for ...
Continue Reading →
Two members of Norwegian Parliament have nominated Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize. While anyone can be nominated, this does mean that he will be considered for the prestigious award. Nominations will be finalized by March 4th and the winner announced October 10th.
So what is your opinion – is he a traitor or a hero?
As a Comcast customer, this one hits me too. A new post on Silicon Beat tells the tale of a group called NullCrew FTS hacked 34 of Comcast’s mail servers and posted proof of their exploit online. There is no point in taking chances, just login and change the passwords to your email addresses. You might as well change your master account login as well.
This is a shame on Comcast moment, as they had been aware of the ...
Continue Reading →
Lately I have been spending my days UNINSTALLING largely unwanted and unnecessary programs for the computers of several clients who have been complaining about browser redirection, unwanted pop-up ads, slow Internet connections, slow system performance, and boot failure. There is a great story on Sophos that explains why this happens
Usually I start by looking in the Control Panel under Programs and Features to see what is installed. Below is a table showing what I removed from two different ...
Continue Reading →Some users of Yahoo email were advised the company that their user IDs and passwords may have been compromised in data that was stolen from a third party (Target perhaps?) If you are the sort of person who uses on password all over the web, you might want to log on to your Yahoo account and change your password. And then do the same thing everywhere else you have been using that password.
My standing advise to clients is to use ...
Continue Reading →I have been catching up on my reading, and came across an article on the new Neverquest banking malware on TechRepublic. This article first discussed the Zeus Trojan exploit. Zeus was released online in 2011, and was one of the first malware programs that required licensing. Once installed on a victim’s machine it could detect when you went to your online banking website, record your user ID, password, and other banking procedures, and encrypt and transmit this information ...
Continue Reading →