Secure IT Alert: Multiple updates for Microsoft and Adobe products for November 2012

Microsoft “patch day” for November is upon us like the cool autumn nights…. It looks like the Microsoft has a total of six bulletins with four of those being CRITICAL. In all, 19 vulnerabilities will be corrected and they will affect the .NET Framework, Internet Explorer and Office, in addition to Windows itself. But wait, that’s not all! You also …

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Is gas mileage affected by your air conditioner?

A while back, I was involved in a conversation where a person was convinced that the air conditioner in their car affected their gas mileage. They were so certain of this that they only run the AC when they absolutely have to. (Which for me is most of the time). So, first a little info….  The AC compressor in most …

Not to beat a dead horse, but even MORE social security numbers likely exposed in SC DOR hacking

The news only gets worse…   This morning, officials in the South Carolina Department of Revenue data breech investigation are saying that the number of tax payer social security numbers that were reaped in the hacking event is much higher than initially thought. They have expanded it to an additional 200,000 SSNs, taking the grand total up to an estimated …

Firewall your business network! Don’t rely on home routers for protection!

This is pet peeve of mine: Business networks should be behind firewalls, not behind home routers! When we visit a client location, we generally find one of the following configurations. Absolutely NO firewall – just the router provided by the ISP A Linksys, TrendNet, Netgear, D-Link wireless router designed for home use An actual firewall such as a Cisco, WatchGuard, SonicWALL, …

Your South Carolina business credit may at risk

You would have to be living under a rock to not be aware of the fact that network security at the South Carolina Department of Revenue has been compromised and that millions of Social Security Numbers have been potentially absconded with. What you might not know is that over 650 thousand businesses have also potentially been affected as well! The …