Windows 7 and EOL systems and their impact on the IT workload

As of January 14, 2020, Microsoft has discontinued Windows 7 support as planned for the operating system's End of Life (EOL). To some organizations, this operating system (OS) might seem like a distant memory. However, nearly 30 percent of the world’s computers -- or more than 400 million -- still run Windows 7 and are only now contemplating migration to Windows 10. Millions of users will be depending on an unsupported OS for some time after its retirement and IT teams will still be responsible for maintaining these systems. While Microsoft will not be globally pushing out any more security patches for… [Continue Reading]

Businesses want zero trust capability despite lack of confidence deploying it

To combat growing cyber risks, 72 percent of businesses plan to implement zero trust technology this year, yet 47 percent of security professionals lack confidence in their ability to apply it. A new report from Cybersecurity Insiders and Pulse Secure, based on a survey of more than 400 cyber security decision makers, finds a striking confidence divide among cybersecurity professionals in applying zero trust principles. "The sheer volume of cyberattacks and enormity of data breaches in 2019 has challenged the veracity of secure access defenses, even in well-funded organizations," says Scott Gordon, chief marketing officer at Pulse Secure. "Zero trust… [Continue Reading]

7 types of attacks SDP protects against

Software-defined perimeters (SDP) use a combination of strong authentication, granular authorization and network segmentation to enable access from anywhere, creating a new kind of defense against a variety of cyberattacks. SDP is more secure than a firewall or a VPN and is more granular than a NAC. Compared to these alternative approaches, SDP offers improved security and operational simplicity for users and IT admins alike. SDP employs multiple techniques in order to provide secure access. First, it leverages identity and access management (IAM) to authenticate every user that attempts to access a resource or application on the network. It then… [Continue Reading]

Mobile malware incidents increase by 142 percent

According to a new study, 36.5 percent of all organizations have experienced a malware incident on a mobile device in the past year, which represents a 142 percent increase from 2018. Research from mobile security specialist Wandera finds 57 percent of organizations have experienced a mobile phishing incident, with 60 percent of mobile phishing attacks occurring over HTTPS. Based on data from Wandera's global network of 425 million sensors across both corporate-owned and BYOD assets, the report also shows a significant increase in the number of jailbroken and rooted mobile devices in use. In 2019, the number of jailbroken iOS… [Continue Reading]

Cyber theft experts say millions of credit cards exposed in breach being sold online

  The compromised information from credit card breaches often ends up on dark web marketplaces, leaving victims at risk for having their precious information sold in a transaction that's entirely out of their control. But, people often are clueless about whether their breached data ended up on the dark web. Many assume it did and, hopefully, go through the recommended steps to stay safe from cyber identity theft. However,  cybersecurity experts from Gemini Advisory have evidence that details from millions of credit cards taken during a recent breach associated with Wawa, Inc., the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain, are for sale… [Continue Reading]

Switching from Windows 7 to Ubuntu Linux is very easy, so why is Canonical making it seem so hard?

I am a huge proponent of using Linux-based desktop operating systems, and I try to convert people from Windows whenever it makes sense. Why do I do this? Well, Linux distributions, believe it or not, are often easier to use than Microsoft's operating system. With so many people living in the web browser these days, a Linux installation with Google Chrome is largely all an average user needs. More advanced users can install excellent free software such as LibreOffice or GIMP -- if needed. Not to mention, it can be argued that Linux is more secure than Windows. Overall, switching… [Continue Reading]

Facebook Messenger Kids now lets parents view their kids' chat history and remotely log them out

Facebook has announced a raft of changes to its Messenger Kids service, giving parents more control and oversight over what their children are able to do. Parents are now about to see 30 days' worth of chat logs as well as details of the types of conversation they are having with different contacts. Other new features include the ability to see images that have been shared, and also to remotely log their child out of chat sessions using the Parent Dashboard. See also: Google may have shared your videos with strangers Facebook promises to give users more control over their… [Continue Reading]