The hits just keep coming, with Disqus being the latest company to issue a breach disclosure. If you’ve never heard of it, Disqus is an incredibly popular, plugin-based comment service for blogs. Although the breach was only just discovered, it occurred five years ago in July 2012 and impacted more than 17.5 million users. Evidence of the breach was initially discovered by an independent security researcher named Troy Hunt. It was then reported to the company and disclosed 24 hours later … Read more
Archives for October 2017
Disaster Recovery Plan: Preparing for the Storm Ahead
How Long Will It Take to Get Your House in Order When it comes to a proper disaster recovery plan for your business, do you feel satisfied and secure with simply having your data backup on a hard drive or in-house server? If you said yes, then you could be setting your business up for failure. Simply having your data backed up doesn't account for the time and effort it's going to take to get things back up and running again. Many business owners fail to take into account the time needed to … Read more
Microsoft Officially Pulls Plug On Windows Phone
The Windows phone is officially dead, with the announcement from Joe Belfiore that there would be no new feature updates and no further development. The writing has been on the wall for a while now, with Microsoft gutting its phone division and laying off thousands of employees. But until Belfiore’s announcement, the company hadn’t made it official. Microsoft was very slow to recognize how big a footprint smartphones would ultimately have on the market, and as such, paid little attention … Read more
The IRS Awards Security Contract To Equifax Even After Hack
You’ve probably heard about Equifax’s recent troubles. More than 145 million consumer data files were exposed, including names, addresses, social security numbers and more. The problem was viewed as so serious that Equifax’s CEO stepped down and congressional hearings were launched, but then, a funny thing happened. Equifax got awarded a no-bid government contract worth millions ($7.25 million, to be exact) to help the IRS verify taxpayer identities in order to prevent fraud. One might … Read more
Microsoft Edge Browser Coming To Android And IOS
Since ditching its beleaguered Internet Explorer browser, Microsoft’s latest offering, Edge, which is bundled with Windows 10, has been struggling to gain a foothold in the market. Yes, it comes preloaded on Windows 10 machines, and that fact alone has prompted significant use. However, the browser has its share of weaknesses and limitations, one of the largest beings that it has, until now, completely lacked a cross-platform, multiple device experiences. That has changed. Users can now … Read more
Sonic Drive-In Latest Company With Credit Card Breach
Another week, another data breach, and this time, popular fast food chain Sonic found itself in the crosshairs. The breach came to light when a Brian Krebs, a journalist for Infosec, spotted a large batch of credit card data for sale on an underground website. IBM’s “X-Force” division confirmed Krebs’ findings, and later that same day, Sonic confirmed the report, offering all of its customers two years of free fraud and identity theft protection. At this point, the company has released … Read more
Google Has Announced Earbuds That Translate Language In Real Time
Google Labs has produced some amazing ideas. Some of them have found their way to the market, and many others have not. The one thing they have in common, though, is that they’re all intriguing and exciting. That’s especially true of Google’s latest offering, Google Pixel Buds. If you’ve ever read “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy,” then you know the term “Bable Fish.” If you grew up watching Star Trek, then you know all about the Universal Translator. Well, Google has built the … Read more
Phone Recording: Know the Law
As we have discussed in our previous blogs, recording the calls at your business or office can be a useful tool. It allows you to review how your employees engage the clients/customers and the success or struggles of your sales team. However, before you hit the record button, it's important to know law for recording phone conversations. Here is a breakdown of the Alabama state code as it applies to recording phone conversations: Unlawful eavesdropping is regarded as overhearing or recording of … Read more
Firefox Will End Support For XP, and Vista Users In 2018
Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP and Vista quite some time ago., Butbut so far, Firefox has been hanging tough, continuing to provide updates to their browser’s users on both platforms, doing at least something to extend their useful life a bit longer. That’s soon coming to an end going to change soon. Mozilla recently announced that as of June 2018, their support for both XP and Vista would be coming to an end. Originally, Mozilla planned to discontinue support to both XP and Vista … Read more
Even Minimal Exposure Can Result In Huge Fines
Data security is no laughing matter, and even small exposures can lead to hefty fines, no matter the size of your company. Last year, the federal government sent shockwaves through the industry when they began an aggressive campaign of investigating and punishing companies for HIPAA infractions, logging more than a dozen high profile settlements. While it’s true that this particular case did not involve a HIPAA violation, it has much in common with the hefty fines the federal government … Read more
