Homeland Secure IT Alert for Saturday, October 30, 2010   FireSheep add-on for Firefox browser is proof-of-concept why you should NOT use public / unencrypted Wi-Fi to access without extreme caution. Last week, a tool was released that makes it possible for anyone to easily hijack your web sessions from within a browser view. When I say anyone, that …

Homeland Secure IT Alert Homeland Secure IT Alert for Thursday, October 28, 2010 In the news today you will find that a new variant of the infamous Koobface is making the rounds via social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. Unsuspecting users are enticed to click a video link in a direct message which links to a bogus …

Homeland Secure IT Alert for Friday, October 22, 2010 Apple has issued two advisories which outline Java security updates for OS X 10.5.x and OS X 10.6.x (Tiger and Leopard). These advisories warn of several vulnerabilities in the OS X Java components (a total of 10). There are updates out to address a few of the flaws, however, many still …

You could have a happy ending to your story, where your laptop is stolen (or lost) and the person has mercy on your soul and sends your data back to you (See THIS STORY). However, if you are like me just a few years ago, you will lose your notebook and your data along with it. Avoid this by using …

Homeland Secure IT Alert for Tuesday October 12, 2010   Well folks, we have a boat load of updates this go ’round…. These updates affect Microsoft Office on both MIcrosoft Windows and Microsoft Macintosh operating systems. Then of course there are updates to the Microsoft Windows Operating System itself, and Microsoft Internet Explorer. The Reader’s Digest version(tm) goes like this …

Homeland Secure IT Alert Homeland Secure IT Alert for Wednesday, October 6, 2010 I realize I am sounding like a broken record (remember those?), however, Adobe has addressed vulnerabilities in their Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat, and also Adobe Air products which you should be aware of. Skipping to the chase, please, for the love of God, update your Adobe products …

It’s that time again! Intuit is releasing their fiscal year 2011 products on Monday, September 28th. Products that have been updated include: QuickBooks Simple Start 2011 is the easiest way to track sales and expenses. All your finance information is organized in one place, so you can easily stay on top of your business and be ready for tax time. QuickBooks …

According to a story published in the Washington Post, computer users are happier with their PCs than at any time since the first year (1994) that this was tracked! This was based around a poll run by ACSI LLC. It was not surprising that Apple had the highest user satisfaction with their “cult-like” Mac following, though it may catch some …

Homeland Secure IT Alert Secure IT Alert for Tuesday, September 21, 2010 This is not a repeat… I repeat, this is not a repeat. Sorry, that was redundant… Adobe announced yesterday, September 20th, the release of additional patches to Adobe Flash Player to address vulnerabilities. These affect Microsoft Windows, as well as Mac, Linux, Solaris and even Android. It’s the …

If you have issues with your business computer systems, who do you call? If you are calling a one-man-shop, you may be getting a great deal in terms of hourly rates, however, you may find that the wait for this one person to finally get around to you could lead to inconvenient downtime. Unfortunately, the better the technician, the more …