WyzGuys Tech Talk

It is Community Education season again at WyzGuys, and I am teaching at 9 districts this year.  The first class offering is The Secrets of Windows 8.

Who moved my cheese! Windows 8 is Microsoft’s newest operating system and represents an entirely new look on the desktop. It is completely optimized for the touch screen monitor or tablet. What happened to the Start Menu? We will compare the differences and similarities between the new Windows 8 system and Windows 7, ...

The numerous security problems and vulnerabilities of the Windows operating system are well known.  In the last two years, we have seen successful exploits written for the supposedly invulnerable Apple platform.  Now there is news of a Trojan horse written for the Linux operating system.  Named “Hand of Thief,” this exploit works against 15 of the most popular distributions including Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora.

Most Linux users tend to be experienced, savvy,and most importantly, wary computer professionals.  But Linux is beginning ...

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 ...