Malware – a portmanteau of “malicious software” – is any unwanted program that interferes or subverts the normal, everyday use of computing device. Malware continues to proliferate through email and on the Internet and although malware can be difficult to discern from legitimate software, the FTC has compiled a great list of easy-to-remember steps you can take to […]

This October is the 13th annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month. This event was founded in order to raise awareness about the risks we face online and our responsibilities to protect ourselves and our data in an increasingly Internet-connected society. Check out the attached flyer for basic tips for staying safe online and look for more cyber security […]

/ Whether it’s a Micro USB, Lightning, USB Type-C, or something else, invariably one side of the charging cable that we use with our phones has a standard USB (sometimes called Type-A) connector. Although it’s easy to think of these cables as just a way to recharge your device, the USB standard was introduced primarily […]

You may have heard about an account breach with the cloud storage and file sharing service Dropbox that involved the disclosure of usernames and password hashes in 2012, but the full extent of that breach has not been public knowledge until this week. Over 68,000,000 account records have been discovered online and verified as authentic. […]

Security research company Avast Software set up fake Wi-Fi access points with network names like “Google Starbucks”, “Xfinitywifi”, “I Vote Trump! free internet”, and “Attwifi” at various locations around the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last week. While many attendees intentionally connected to these networks, many others did so unknowingly because their devices were set […]

GHC ITS has been alerted about a new ransomware campaign that took place at another University System of Georgia institution recently. The attack consisted of an email message masquerading as a document sent with a scan-to-email function from a printer at that institution. This message contained a malicious attachment with a ransomware and remote access trojan […]

Smartphones have become so powerful that there are only minor technical differences between the computer in your pocket and the one on your desk. Phones (Android devices, in particular) are vulnerable to the same types of malicious software that can infect Windows computers. Kaspersky Labs recently released a study that notes a dramatic rise in […]

Have you ever heard of the 3-2-1 rule for backing up your data? At a minimum you should have: 3 – total copies of your data 2 – copies of your data on different devices onsite 1 – offsite backup Following this strategy makes it extremely unlikely that you’ll lose your important files. While you’re […]

In hacker slang, someone has been ‘pwned’ if a hacker has violated that person’s digital security by exposing his/her login and personal information. Major account breaches are occurring with increasing frequency and information about hundreds of millions of people is being traded and sold on the Internet. You can find out if you’ve been pwned with a […]

Are you using Linkedin to stay in touch with colleagues? Maybe you tried creating a blog on Tumblr a few years ago or a Myspace page several years before that. Unfortunately, all three have been the subject of massive account breaches and usernames and password hashes from those accounts are now being traded on the […]