Intel’s CPU’s have been discovered to have yet another hardware flaw that exposes them to a major new vulnerability.
The flaw being called Foreshadow, has been identified by security researchers that claim all Intel CPU’s released after 2015 may be affected. This new flaw may also affect cloud based systems (aka servers). And even extends to virtual machines. A new first for this kind of issue.
The flaw may let third parties or hackers access information on a Intel based CPU. The included list of affected CPUS include the company’s high-end Core and Xeon CPUs.
The Associated Press is reporting that Google keeps tracking you even after you have turned off location history on your devices…
This report, confirmed by computer researchers at Princeton, have found privacy issues with Google’s Location History settings affecting most Android devices and even a large percentage of iOS devices (aka Apple) for consumers that use Google Maps or Google search. The investigation found that even when users “paused” Location History on mobile devices, Google services will continued to save user data.
Twitter posted yesterday that it has been storing your password in plain text on their servers. Which means anybody could have your password right now. Now if your smart and have been reading this blog for awhile you already know never to use the same password on all your accounts. And it should be an easy fix to log back into twitter and change that password.
If like most people I encounter, you use the same password on every account this means ALL your accounts could be compromised. So it’s even more important to change your password. Hopefully you will use a DIFFERENT password on each account so that no security flaw will ever leave all your accounts in jeopardy in the future.
Reports around the internet show that google has started their gmail update. With some new features like a brand-new sidebar, snooze and Smart Reply, Confidential mode. And more obvious security warnings about suspicious emails added and redesign of the user interface. Initial impressions are overall good. But it might throw few people off when they log in and see the new look.
One of the most common themes I cover on all the blogs I have kept is making backups. Almost any computer disaster can be recovered from with a good set of backups.
Unfortunately, I see customers daily with bad or non-existent backups. Some have installed backup software and then never checked that it was working. Others are backing up to full hard drives or even worse to the drive they are trying to backup from.
And many forget that in today’s modern world, it’s not just the computer that has to be backed up. Phones, tablets and other devices may also need to be backed up.
Backing up is not just the pictures you have taken and documents you have created. It’s downloaded software you use everyday, your copies of the install programs you have on CD’s. It “ALL” your passwords and product codes. The list goes on and on.
So when I ask the question “What did you backup today?” I am asking what have you done to protect your digital life from the next hardware failure, ransomware attack, bad relationship or disgruntled employee.
If you don’t have an answer to this question then you need to contact RenoGeek to setup a real plan that protects all the data you need to keep safe.
Windows 10 Spring Creators Update seems to have missed it’s April 10th tentative release date. Rumours indicate a bug has stopped the update from being release to the general public.
When Microsoft was asked about the delay they replied in typical CORP-SPEAK with…
“We’re excited to release the next update to Windows 10 and we’ll share more when we’re ready.”
So in other words you will get it when you get it. lol 🙂
But at least it gives end users a bit more time before the next major slowdown of their computers.
This past week the FTC has started putting manufacturers on notice that they must honor their warranties and stop interfering with their customers right to repair equipment themself or have an outside company perform repairs for them. Therefore enforcing the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975.
What this means to regular consumers is that they no longer void their warranty when they decide to try and repair an item such as a computer or they hire a outside company such as RenoGeek to do computer repairs for them.
They even took note of the Warranty Void stickers we see on most electronic devices, stating that such stickers are both misleading and illegal.
What this means for the average computer user is that they no longer need fear losing their warranty if they repair their equipment or hire somebody to do it for them.
It’s also evidence that the government will take action against the growing trend by some companies like Apple, who try and make their computers almost “repair proof”. In other words, they try and design a product that is very hard to almost impossible to repair to insure customers buy new equipment or send their equipment back to the manufacturers for repairs that in general are much more expensive than the going rates at most repair shops.
While Facebook has been on the bad end of the news cycle for a time now with all their privacy issues. It might surprise some (or not) all the information Google keeps on you.
Searches, visited websites, tablet and phone access and more. A warning here if your on a shared computer (everybody using the same browser and account) you might not want to see this.
But if your curious how much google has on you click the link to your account information… You can also delete this information from this page. Which I might suggest becomes a new habit for you.
Somebody found a flaw in the way gmail treats email addresses with “.” in the email address. To put it simply if my email address was james@gmail.com but somebody sends an email to j.ames@gmail.com. Gmail assumes it is for james@gmail.com and sends it to me. Even though the address is not mine. In other words gmail ignores periods in email addresses.
Why is this bad? Well it makes it easier to trick you into thinking you are getting a legitimate email from people and companies when in fact you might be getting setup for an attack. How would this attack work?
A hacker can sign up for common services like netflix, hulu or amazon prime and use the suspect version of your gmail address. From there when they are done signing up they can order products or services with a bogus credit card number and when it fails you (the one with a good gmail address) may get an invoice or request to update your credit card from these companies and you might assume it’s your normal bill and pay it.
This would then mean the hacker got you to pay for services because gmail assumed the bogus address was yours and you thought it was legit because it came from a service you use already.
How to protect yourself beside deleting your gmail accounts? Always check carefully where and email came from AND who it was addressed to. For any email asking for money or account information.
