Tag: cybersecurity

Fake news needs real tools
As a journalist, I’m often at the forefront of covering major news stories, whether it be a court case or a tornado. The proliferation of “fake news” however, has become a significant issue to the reporting profession. Not only has...

Tech Time Warp: Quite the Hotmail hack, eh?
You might not want to admit it, but you may still have a Hotmail account kicking around. Once your premier account—perhaps an upgrade from AOL—it may now be your throwaway address. Once, though, Hotmail was hip—and quite a target for...

Malware targeted Windows users in Q1 2020
A new security report released by AV-Test showed some startling, but not surprising, malware statistics. The key takeaway from the study: Computers that run Windows are most prone to attacks by hackers. The AV-Test report discovered that 114 million new pieces of...

Municipal contracts and the cybersecurity data to land them
A recent note came to me from a Smarter MSP reader about municipal contracts, and what types of cybersecurity data should be used when trying to land municipal contracts. Assuming they are not the only one with questions on this...

Widespread cloud configuration issues create opportunity for MSPs
The crux of the problem with cloud security has very little to do with the platforms on which applications are deployed. The real issue is the amount of cybersecurity expertise the people deploying cloud applications don’t have. Most cloud applications...

Tech Time Warp: Zotob worm wreaks havoc on the news
One way to make headlines is to go after the journalists themselves. On August 16, 2005, computers at CNN, ABC, The New York Times and The Associated Press were infected by the Zotob worm, along with machines at Caterpillar, and...

Pandemic cybersecurity in South Africa
The coronavirus has brought economic devastation to all parts of the world. As a journalist based in the United States, I understandably tend to focus on the United States. But it’s easy to become so focused on one’s home country that...

Seamless cybersecurity and two emerging threats
For most MSPs, the pandemic of 2020 has been a rush of implementing new policies and procedures while at the same time trying to keep customer cybersecurity fortifications intact. Wisconsin-based SWICKTech is an example of an organization that acted early to...

Lateral movement cyberattacks remain relevant
As the pandemic rages around the world and workers continue to hunker down remotely, it seems as everything has changed. Yet, in some ways, the old adage – the more things change, the more they stay the same – still...

Don’t ignore the basics: Pandemic patching and other musts for MSPs
Business models have been put into a blender and pulsed and pureed since the arrival of COVID-19 earlier this year. The resulting workplace environment has been unrecognizable in many cases with workforces hunkered down at home, businesses shuttered, and security teams...