Kevin Williams

All posts by Kevin Williams

Kevin Williams is a journalist based in Ohio. Williams has written for a variety of publications including the Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, National Geographic and others. He first wrote about the online world in its nascent stages for the now defunct “Online Access” Magazine in the mid-90s.

ATM security
ATM security threats: Jackpotting and beyond

ATM security threats: Jackpotting and beyond

It’s easy to forget ATMs have been around so long. When ATM machines began showing up in my Ohio hometown sometime in the late 1970s, my grandmother found the technology incomprehensible. “Isn’t it nice that the banks give you money?”...

/ May 15, 2018
school IT security
MSPs have to outsmart wily students

MSPs have to outsmart wily students

There was a time when a teacher using an overhead projector was considered high-tech, but now smartboards, student tablets, smartphones, laptops, and campus-wide networks have turned schools into hubs of connectivity that are often too much for an in-house staff...

/ May 9, 2018
Artificial intelligence cyber warfare
Weaponizing artificial intelligence

Weaponizing artificial intelligence

Fending off ransomware and other malware attacks has already become part of the daily MSP landscape. But in the ever-evolving world of threats, a new one will begin to emerge with greater frequency in the months and years ahead: weaponized...

/ May 3, 2018
ransomware warning
MSPs Beware: The Future of Ransomware

MSPs Beware: The Future of Ransomware

The idea of a shady cabal or a nefarious cyber army of one holding an entire city’s data hostage while they negotiate for ransom sounds like a plot lifted straight from a 1990s B movie. But yesterday’s fantasy is today’s...

/ April 25, 2018
Atlanta ransomware attack
Atlanta ransomware attack highlights IT vulnerabilities of cities

Atlanta ransomware attack highlights IT vulnerabilities of cities

Atlanta, car-clogged highways aside, is the elegant, magnolia-draped metropolis of the South: cosmopolitan, visionary, and Olympic caliber. But, for a few days in March 2018, the daily rhythms of governmental life came to a screeching halt. Water bill payments couldn’t...

/ April 17, 2018
malvertising
Malvertising morphs into cryptotising

Malvertising morphs into cryptotising

In the early days, malvertising was simply about slipping some code into an ad to induce more clicks to drive up a higher ad payout from an unsuspecting advertiser. It almost seemed like a childish prank (unless you were the...

/ April 11, 2018
cryptojacking
Threat Watch: Cryptojacking

Threat Watch: Cryptojacking

If one of your customers calls or texts you to tell you their system is slow or overheating or gobbling up a lot of power, you need to add a new possible diagnosis to your checklist — cryptojacking. Cryptojacking is...

/ April 5, 2018
cyberattack on CPAs
2018 will be the year of the targeted cyberattack on CPAs

2018 will be the year of the targeted cyberattack on CPAs

April tax deadlines are looming, and that means accounting firms are neck-deep in returns as everyone races to file on time. While accountants are focused on deductions and earned income credits, bad actors are watching and waiting, ready to pounce...

/ March 28, 2018
ransomware protection
The never-ending battle against ransomware

The never-ending battle against ransomware

Ransomware has largely faded from the headlines since WannaCry and NotPetya wreaked havoc across the globe in 2017. In some ways, ransomware creators were victims of their own success. The attacks garnered so much attention that, as Malwarebytes’ Chris Boyd told...

/ February 27, 2018 / 1 Comment