ComputerWorld – Page 31 – PossibleThreat Articles

Russia is losing the cyberwar against Ukraine, too

May 2, 2022 0 Comments Security, small and medium business, Windows

Credit to Author: Preston Gralla| Date: Mon, 02 May 2022 03:00:00 -0700

When Russia launched its all-out attack against Ukraine in February, the world expected the invaders to roll over the country quickly. That didn’t happen, and Ukraine today, though still under assault, has so far thwarted Russia’s ambitions to conquer it.

Russia has also been fighting a quieter war against Ukraine, a cyberwar, deploying what had been considered the most feared state-sponsored hackers in the world. And in the same way that Ukraine has fended off Russia’s military might, it’s been winning the cyberwar as well.

In that cyberwar, as always, the terrain is primarily Windows, because it represents the largest and most vulnerable attack surface in the world. The facts about what exactly is going on have been shadowy. But there’s plenty of evidence that Ukraine may keep the upper hand.

To read this article in full, please click here

ComputerWorld Independent

Think the video call mute button keeps you safe? Think again

April 28, 2022 0 Comments Data privacy, Privacy, videoconferencing

Credit to Author: Evan Schuman| Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2022 11:35:00 -0700

Have you recently been on a video confefence call, hit the “mute” button and then offered up some nasty comments about a client or a colleague — or even the boss?

Or maybe while in a conference room with colleagues — muted — and pointed out that some proposed action would violate the terms of a secret acquisition in its final stages?

If you were comfortable that the mute button was actively protecting your secret, you shouldn’t have been.

Thanks to some impressive experimentation and research from a group of academics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Loyola University Chicago, utterances made while the app is in mute are still captured and saved into RAM.

To read this article in full, please click here

ComputerWorld Independent

Jamf adds network and endpoint security tools for enterprise Macs

April 26, 2022 0 Comments Apple, endpoint protection, MacOS, mobile device management, Security

Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2022 07:46:00 -0700

Jamf has announced a series of significant updates to Jamf Protect, introducing a unique set of technologies designed to make enterprise devices more secure while also identifying and responding to incoming endpoint threats. The company also introduced, Jamf Trust, which aims to make this kind of security simple to use. (The latter is also available for Android and Windows.)

What’s new in Jamf Protect?

The big news for Mac security, Jamf Protect, now offers a comprehensive endpoint and network security solution, supplementing its existing protections with new tools for:

To read this article in full, please click here

ComputerWorld Independent

When it comes to data, resist your inner packrat

April 22, 2022 0 Comments Data privacy, it management, Security

Credit to Author: Paul Gillin| Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2022 04:30:00 -0700

Human beings are natural pack rats, as evidenced by the 2.3 billion square feet of self-storage space that’s in use in the U.S. Fear of getting rid of stuff even has a name: disposophobia.

Keeping every pair of shoes your kids have ever worn isn’t a problem for anyone except those with whom you share living space.

But the same rules don’t apply to data.

All industries have records retention guidelines spelled out in compliance rules. They are usually strictly enforced for regulated companies, and firms that run afoul of them can be punished.

To read this article in full, please click here

ComputerWorld Independent

In a remote-work world, a zero-trust revolution is necessary

April 22, 2022 0 Comments remote work, Security

Credit to Author: Mike Elgan| Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2022 03:00:00 -0700

Last summer, law enforcement officials contacted both Apple and Meta, demanding customer data in “emergency data requests.” The companies complied. Unfortunately, the “officials” turned out to be hackers affiliated with a cyber-gang called “Recursion Team.”

Roughly three years ago, the CEO of a UK-based energy company got a call from the CEO of the company’s German parent company instructing him to wire a quarter of a million dollars to a Hungarian “supplier.” He complied. Sadly, the German “CEO” was in fact a cybercriminal using deepfake audio technology to spoof the other man’s voice.

To read this article in full, please click here

ComputerWorld Independent

12 Android settings that'll strengthen your security

April 22, 2022 0 Comments Android, Mobile, Mobile Security, Security, small and medium business

Credit to Author: JR Raphael| Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2022 02:50:00 -0700

You might not know it from all the panic-inducing headlines out there, but Android is actually packed with practical and powerful security options. Some are activated by default and protecting you whether you realize it or not, while others are more out of the way but equally deserving of your attention.

So stop wasting your time worrying about the Android malware monster du jour and which security company is using it to scare you into an unnecessary subscription, and take a moment instead to look through these far more impactful Android settings — ranging from core system-level elements to some more advanced and easily overlooked options.

To read this article in full, please click here

ComputerWorld Independent

California eyes law to protect workers from digital surveillance

April 21, 2022 0 Comments Government, Privacy, remote work

Credit to Author: Matthew Finnegan| Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2022 09:01:00 -0700

The California State Assembly is considering new rules that would offer workers greater protection from the use of digital monitoring tools by employers.

The “Workplace Technology Accountability Act” (AB 1651), introduced by Assemblymember Ash Kalra, would create a way to protect workers against the use of technologies that can negatively affect privacy and wellbeing.

The bill would “establish much needed, yet reasonable, limitations on how employers use data-driven technology at work,” Kalra told the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee on Wednesday. “The time is now to address the increasing use of unregulated data-driven technologies in the workplace and give workers — and the state — the necessary tools to mitigate any insidious impacts caused by them.”

To read this article in full, please click here

ComputerWorld Independent

Top 6 e-signature software tools

April 20, 2022 0 Comments authentication, document management systems, enterprise applications, productivity software

Credit to Author: Keith Shaw| Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2022 03:00:00 -0700

The COVID-19 pandemic did not just disrupt physical meetings and physical office spaces; workflows that relied on in-person interaction, such as signing documents and contracts, were also highly impacted. Electronic signature (e-signature) software has surged in popularity over the past two years as enterprises looked to modify their signature workflows to support a remote workforce, said Holly Muscolino, group vice president for content strategies and future of work at IDC.

With many companies returning to an in-person office environment or adopting a hybrid workforce approach, where employees work some days in the office and some at home, e-signature vendors are working to convince businesses that they are still relevant. Although the market has slowed down, Muscolino said, “it’s still showing healthy growth, because there are still companies who have not adopted this technology. There is still significant room for adoption.”

To read this article in full, please click here

ComputerWorld Independent

When humans make tech mistakes

April 18, 2022 0 Comments Microsoft, Security

Credit to Author: Susan Bradley| Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 08:54:00 -0700

We often think vendors are perfect. They have backups. They have redundancy. They have experts that know exactly how to deploy solutions without fail. And then we see they aren’t any better than we are.

Let’s look at a few recent examples.

In the small to mid-sized business (SMB) space, StorageCraft has long been a trusted backup software vendor. One of the first to make image backups easy to do, it was used and recommended by many managed service providers. After StorageCraft was acquired by Arcserve in March 2021, there were no immediate major changes in how the company ran.

To read this article in full, please click here

ComputerWorld Independent

April's Patch Tuesday: a lot of large, diverse and urgent updates

April 15, 2022 0 Comments Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Security, small and medium business, Windows

Credit to Author: Greg Lambert| Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2022 10:40:00 -0700

This week’s Patch Tuesday release was huge, diverse, risky, and urgent, with late update arrivals for Microsoft browsers (CVE-2022-1364) and two zero-day vulnerabilities affecting Windows (CVE-2022-26809 and CVE-2022-24500). Fortunately, Microsoft has not released any patches for Microsoft Exchange, but this month we do have to deal with more Adobe (PDF) printing related vulnerabilities and associated testing efforts. We have added the Windows and Adobe updates to our “Patch Now” schedule, and will be watching closely to see what happens with any further Microsoft Office updates.

To read this article in full, please click here