General

Windows XP was released in 2001, and at 12 years old is long in the tooth.  Microsoft will officially discontinue support for Windows XP in April 2014.  At that point in time, all security updates for what has been a security nightmare will cease.  Any new vulnerabilities that are discovered, and new threats that are developed to exploit them will remain unpatched.  It’s time to move on.

Sure, you wisely skipped the disappointing and troublesome Windows Vista.  But you have missed ...

Those of us who own or manage a business know that you can’t run your business without a good General Liability insurance policy to cover you in the event something bad happens to a co-worker or client.  Some of us also need to have Errors and Omissions insurance or Malpractice insurance.

All of us need to at Cyber-insurance to the mix.  Every day I read about another company who has suffered a serious financial loss at the hands of cyber-criminals, who ...

A nine-person Californian escrow firm lost $1.5 million in three electronic transfers in December 2012 and January 2013, and has subsequently been closed down by state regulators. The culprit?  A remote access Trojan horse program that was installed on the computer that they used for online banking.  The money disappeared into Russia and China, and only the Russian transaction has been recovered so far.

You can read the entire sad story on Sophos, but the important takeaways follow.

First, while ...

Every once in a while I get pulled off-topic in this blog.  Those of you who really enjoy local craft beers will find this online mapping service to be a valuable addition to your browser bookmarks.  I was astounded to learn that there are forty breweries within 25 miles of my home in Bayport MN.  There are four with 5 miles!  Go ahead and check it out at http://www.brewerymap.com/

We are currently watching three different but somewhat related events in the area of breaching national security secrets. 

The first is the trial of Pvt. Bradley Manning, who released classified information about the war in Afghanistan to Wikileaks in 2010.  He is currently being court-martialed, the verdict is due tomorrow.  Pvt. Manning is 26 years old.

The second, of course, is the saga of Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor who also released classified information about the NSA and it’s domestic spying ...

Friday is System Administrators Day, and this post is just a gentle reminder that gifts, food,  appreciation, and, dare I say it, even tokens of affection are appreciated by those of us who toil in the hot and noisy server rooms, dusty equipment closets, and under your desk kneehole as we work to keep the networks secure and the computers humming.

There are some splendid gift ideas on the SysAdmin Day website.  I am not sure that ...

With everyone and their Uncle Sam spying on your online activities these days, the question is: should you be using encryption to keep your online communications private.  The answer is: you probably are already.

For instance, any time that you are using a web site that has an HTTPS address, such as, https://www.mybank.com, that session between your computer and the bank’s server is encrypted.

Some of us are using encrypted email systems.  You may be doing so without even knowing you ...