You may have heard that you should always have a backup plan in place and that if you have one, you have none; nevertheless, not everyone takes these maxims as seriously as they ought to. Unfortunately, not everyone is aware of the necessity of a backup or the requirement for more than one copy. Data…
Your Data: It’s valuable to you. Imagine arranging your wedding for months only to discover your complete set of plans vanished when you wake up one morning. This is the unfortunate reality for the unprepared. Imagine putting ten years of effort into your family’s genealogy just to lose everything you’ve accomplished due to a hard…
Even though the “cryptojacking” cyber threat has been dominating news headlines over the last couple of months, ransomware is a risk that computer users in the High Desert should keep in mind. The spectacularly damaging WannaCry and NotPetya ransomware attacks that took place in 2017 and 2018 are unlikely to be repeated because information security…
As we head into the final months of the year, information security firms are starting to compile cyber attack data in an effort to detect cybercrime and malware trends. The goal is to get an idea about the potential direction malicious hackers may take in the near future. The year 2018 has been problematic because…
Over the last few years, ransomware has stood out as being of the most destructive and pernicious cyber attacks in history. Global ransomware attacks have disrupted public health and transportation systems as well as municipal governments. Data backups are the best protection strategy against ransomware, but sophisticated hackers have come up with a way to…
The growing popularity of cloud computing, flash memory storage and “always-on” personal computing devices are leading some individuals to believe that hard drive failure is a thing of the past, and this can be a problematic misconception. While it is true that solid state drive technology has vastly improved over the last few years, this…
Ransomware attacks, one of the latest trends in cybercrime, are not subtle at all. Hackers who intrude upon networks for the purpose of infecting them with ransomware make it a point of letting their victims know that their data has been compromised and that it could be destroyed unless a ransom payment is made. When…
Most computer buyers will not complete their purchases without first inquiring about the type of warranty that will cover their new equipment. Manufacturer warranties are pretty much standard for off-the-shelf and custom-built systems; in some cases, refurbished computers may also include a limited warranty offered by the store or the service center. In other cases,…
Ransomware infections were the most painful headaches that information security experts had to deal with in 2017, and the same can be said about this particular cyber threat in 2018. Ransomware has proven to be one of the most profitable revenue channels for malicious hackers and cybercrime groups, and there are various reasons why computer…
Although there is no question that passwords have served a crucial service to society during the Information Age, most security researchers agree that the time has come to look for more hermetic measures of access control and data protection. Tech giant Microsoft has been working on new security measures to replace the standard username and…