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Patch Tuesday March 2012

March 16, 2012 By

Time for my review of this month’s release of updates from Microsoft and others.

This Patch Tuesday brings a fairly small number of updates from Microsoft and some updates from Apple.

As I wrote this post, the Internet Storm Center issued a Yellow Alert! This is rare and was done to stress the importance of this Windows Update. It is important that you update now and make sure your Windows computer is updated for the RDP vulnerability below.

While Microsoft’s release is fairly small it has one very important update. The Apple updates affect any users of Safari which might or might not include you even if you don’t have an Apple computer. [Read more...]

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Patch Tuesday December 2011

December 14, 2011 By

December’s Microsoft Patch Tuesday has some important updates.

This month’s updates are important if you use Windows.  :-D

Window Update

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

More specifically, it’s important if you view text on web pages or on emails. This Patch Tuesday is important if you use any Chinese language on your computer. It is important if you use Internet Explorer. It is important if you use Microsoft Office. It is important if you have an Apple computer and have Microsoft Office on it.

What? Microsoft Patch Tuesday important if you have a Mac? Yep.

There’s more too.

[Read more...]

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The Ultimate Guide To Passwords – What You Need To Know

August 1, 2011 By

Passwords – What Everyone and Your Mother Needs to Know About Passwords

Passwords were once something most people only heard used in maybe movies, nearly a kind of science fiction.

Furthermore, just 5-10 years ago, many people might have only one password to deal with in their lives. Things have changed drastically. Nowadays, you may need passwords for your computer, several credit cards, email addresses, your bank account, and countless websites or social networks.
Do you remember your password

Not only that, but what defines an acceptable password has changed drastically in the few years since we started to use them.

What I would have recommended to you with confidence 3-4 years ago, would be a terrible idea in today’s environment. Only the most complex password recommendations from a few years ago still stand today. Chances are you need to change some of your passwords even if you think you chose good ones for them a few years ago. I know I personally have had to change mine.

What you need to know about choosing passwords (and tell your mother too):

Use [Read more...]

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5 Steps To Fixing Your Hacked Email Account

January 21, 2011 By

How to regain control (and security) of your hacked email account.

Are you thinking your email account has been hacked?

Perhaps some of your contacts are complaining that you are sending emails with spammy links. Maybe you keep getting logged out of your account with a message that you are logged in on another computer. These are some things that I have had happen to several people I know recently.

You use your email for a lot of other important accounts.

You may use it to log into your bank account. You use it to create almost any social media account like Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. Once someone gets control of your email address, they can find out what accounts it is used for and then request new passwords for them. Worse, many people use the same password for many of their accounts. You also probably have a lot of personal information in those emails that could really mess up things for you. Your email account is important and needs to be secure.

How can you make sure no one has hacked your email account and it is safe?

Here are 5 steps to securing your email account after it’s been hacked.

[Read more...]

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Windows Updates – Patch Tuesday December 2010

December 14, 2010 By

It’s that time of year – I mean that time of month again.

Microsoft Patch Tuesday for December 2010 is here.

What does it bring? For most Windows computers somewhere between [Read more...]

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An Important Online Shopping and Banking Warning

September 28, 2010 By

Microsoft is issuing an out of band security update tomorrow September 28,2010.

My personal suggestion is to avoid any online shopping and online banking for a day or two.

The exploit affects the Microsoft  .net service that is used for keeping information on a Web server secure.

The SAN’s internet storm center sums up Microsoft’s advisory this way:

Translated, this means that the vulnerability undermines basic web application security.

While there probably be updates for all Windows computers, the real problem is on a Web server that is used for any type of financial account. [Read more...]

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New Email Scam Going Strong

September 9, 2010 By

There seems to be a major malware email worm going around.

What can you expect from this malware?

You make get a link in an email. If you click on the link it will take you to a PDF page which can download and install malware on your computer. In this case, you may be asked to install some program like a screensaver.

The good news? [Read more...]

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Important Adobe Flash Update You Need Now!

June 11, 2010 By

Adobe has just released an update for Flash which you should download immediately.

Late Thursday June 10th Adobe released Flash Player 10.1. This fixes a bad exploit that is currently being used to install malware on computers. You need to visit the Adobe website and install this if you have not gotten the notice for the update from Flash itself yet. You should do this before you [Read more...]

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