The security of your business’s website should be one of your highest priorities. A secure website is one of the best ways that you can establish trust with your customers. The security of your website will directly impact your number of visitors and has the potential to hinder or boost your sales. With the massive number of website intrusions this year alone, hacking has become a major concern for most online shoppers. Whether it is to protect your website or your customers personal or financial data, a secure website is a must have. The following are some tips for creating a strong and secure website environment for your consumers.

Use a Strong Administrative and Database Password:

Creating a strong administrative and database password will prevent hackers from accessing the admin interface and from taking over your entire online business. If a hacker does gain entry to your website’s administration panel they can pretty much do whatever they please from defacing your website to committing fraud by pretending to be you or your company. To learn more about creating strong passwords visit Elements of a Strong Password.

Secure Admin Email Address

An admin email address is used to login to your web server, CMS, database. It should be kept private and different from the one that you have on your contact page.

Make sure you have Firewalls Implemented:

Configuring a firewall will help prevent unauthorized access to your site and acts as a filter for the information that is sent to and from your website. You should configure your firewall to the highest security preferences so that it will deter hackers from attempting to gain entry to your site.

Update Your Antivirus Program Regularly:

New malicious programs are created and discovered every day so… Read the rest

Shortly after the release of the iPhone 4S and the iOS 5 software update many users began experiencing major problems with the life of their iPhone batteries. In our last blog post we addressed these issues and even provided some tips for conserving your iPhone’s battery. In the article we discussed how Apple had announced that their iOS 5 update was at fault and that they were working hard to bring an update to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Image of the iPhones Full Battery Icon

Yesterday, Apple released the new iOS 5.0.1 software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, the update is supposed to fix the battery problems that a number of users have reported with iOS 5 over the last few weeks. Along with a fix for the bugs that were affecting the battery life, the latest update also added multitasking gestures for the original iPad, resolved bugs with documents in the cloud, and improved voice recognition for Australian users using the dictation feature.

The update is now available in iTunes or also available with the over-the-air function for existing iOS 5 users. Users with the previous iOS 5 can update by going into Settings>General>Software Update to update their device over-the-air. Using the update OTA provides a much faster experience due to the smaller size of the update file. For users who are not operating on iOS 5 they can update their operating system the traditional way by plugging in their device into iTunes.

Image of iOS 5.0.1 update

Although the update has only just been released it has been reported at PCWorld that some users are still experiencing a slightly faster battery depletion rate. One user posted on… Read the rest

A couple weeks ago Apple released the iPhone 4S which is their latest mobile device. Along with the 4S, Apple also released their latest mobile operating system upgrade. The iOS 5 comes standard on the iPhone 4S but is also available as a free download to all compatible iPhone users. Since the release, a small but significant number of users have reported a drastically shortened battery life.

iPhone’s Low Battery Display

According to The Loop’s Jim Dairymple on Wednesday November 2, 2011 Apple confirmed that the battery issues were due to a bug in the iOS 5 software update. According to the article Apple reassured users that they have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and will release a software update to address them in a few weeks to help conserve your iPhone’s battery life.

In light of the recent problems surrounding the iPhone’s battery we thought it would be beneficial to discuss some methods for conserving your phones battery life. Although this particular problem was a result of a bug in the software we feel that these tips will still be tremendously useful because iPhones already have a natural short battery life due to its powerful performance and crisp display. The suggestions below for saving your phones battery are applicable to all iPhone models and are designed to ensure that you have the juice when you need it the most.

• Close Background and Inactive Applications – Double tap the home button to access the list of running applications. Similar to how you would move the apps hold your finger down on the application for a couple seconds and then select close when the app begins to shake.

• Use the Auto Brightness Feature – Access the settings folder,

… Read the rest

Saying that Google changed the +Search command may not be the best way to describe Google’s actions. Instead of announcing that they were going to be replacing the +search command they quietly pulled the rug out from under its users and completely removed the Boolean + search command. Google is now ignoring the + symbol without so much as a blog post to let people know.

Although Google has decided to ignore searches with the + command they have expanded the role of the quotation marks to incorporate the + command functionality. After years of performing searches with + commands it will probably take time for some users to get used to the new way of searching.

Old Way: Keyword + Keyword + Keyword

New Way: Keyword “Keyword” “Keyword”

On a Google Help Forum, Kelly an employee from Google offered the following explanation.

“ We’ve made the ways you can tell Google exactly what you want more consistent by expanding the functionality of the quotation mark operator. In addition to using this operator to search for an exact phrase, you can now add quotation marks around a single word to tell Google to match that word precisely. So, if in the past you would have searched for [magazine +latina], you should now search for [magazine "Latina"].”

“We’re constantly making changes to Google Search – adding new features, tweaking the look and feel, running experiments, – all to get you the information you need as quickly and as easily as possible. This recent change is another step toward simplifying the search experience to get you to the info you want.”

Google may have stated that they have made these improvements to help users get to the information quicker and easier but it doesn’t really seem to benefit anyone but them. Some online… Read the rest

File sharing is the storing and distribution of digitally stored information. File sharing has quickly become an integral part of most businesses. With file sharing, companies and their employees can easily share resources such as computer applications, multimedia content, and documents.

Companies utilize a file sharing environment to:

from http://www.zimbra.com/products/desktop_features.html, Oct 2011

• Save time
• Cut costs
• Increase productivity
• Organize and centralize information for easy retrieval
• Make content sharing faster
• Share of hardware
• Protect data and make backups
• Increase the performance of existing PC equipment

File sharing can occur in a couple of different ways, the two most popular being a centralized server on a network and a collaborative cloud based service. Recently more and more businesses have been moving more towards the cloud based services, which is why we decided to look into some of the most popular collaborative cloud applications. The one that stood out the most was Zimbra Collaboration Server. Zimbra is advertised as the leader among open source email and collaboration systems. Zimbra uses a cloud infrastructure as its primary storage as opposed to using the desktop or a network server like Microsoft Exchange and Outlook.

Zimbra is a browser based enterprise class open source email, calendar, and collaboration platform that is designed for portability over private and public clouds. Along with its mobility it is also simpler to manage and more cost effective to scale. Zimbra keeps you organized and productive because your information is always assessable.

The Zimbra Collaboration Server offers rich email, contact management, group calendars, Tasks, sharing and document management, mobility, desktop sync, archiving and discovery, and powerful administrative tools. With the free Zimbra desktop client you are able to combine both online and offline services. The desktop client enables users to store and… Read the rest

Back in 2005 the FBI reported that the losses due to laptop theft were estimated around $3.5 million. They also identified that the average cost associated with a lost company laptop was around $32,000. Since 2005 the number of laptop users has dramatically increased and it has been assessed that one in ten laptops have or will be stolen. Laptop protection has become a major concern for many laptop users. The threat that laptop thieves pose is more than just concern for our expensive devices, it triggers our fear that someone could have access to our stolen and vital personal information.

Laptop theft is a significant and serious threat. Thieves will often target laptops because they are small, easy to grab, easy to conceal, there is a market for them, and they are a quick way to get cash. Most of these criminals target laptops because they know that a property theft charge is a better alternative to a personal robbery charge. Once stolen, a laptop can then be sold to a used computer store or pawn shops for as much as half the original retail costs.

What can you do to secure your laptop? There are two components to laptop security, the physical side and the virtual. Physical protection refers to instinctual protection like keeping your laptop with you, keeping it out of sight as well as purchasing protection devices such as cable locks, laptop safes, and motion detector alarms. Virtual security on the other hand implies defenses such as software protection programs, passwords, and tracking safeguards.

The following guide is intended to identify security techniques and tools to protect you from being a victim of a laptop theft. The tips will cover practical security methods, virtual defense techniques, and physical protection devices. For the best protection it is recommended that you use a… Read the rest

from http://www.piriform.com/defraggler, October 2011

Defragmentation is a process that mitigates and reverses fragmentation. File system fragmentation occurs when the system is unable to maintain the data in a sequential order. During fragmentation data that is in memory is broken into pieces and dispersed throughout the system. One of the major problems that occur with fragmented data is an increase in the time it takes for the system to access files and programs.

Files on a drive are commonly known as blocks or clusters. These files are stored on a file system and are positioned one next to another. When files are added, removed, or changes the amount of space between these files is altered and the system no longer has enough room to hold the entire file. The system will then fill in these small spaces with portions of new files or files that have been adjusted, causing data to become separated from the rest of the file. This separation creates a delay in Seek Time and Rotational Latency. Seek Time is the time that it takes the head assembly to travel to the portion of the disk where the data will be read or written. The Rotational latency is the delay waiting for the rotation of the disk to bring the required disk sector under the head assembly.

The primary purpose of a defragmentation tool is to sort, organize, and compact similar blocks of data in order to reduce wasted space as well as to speed up access time. Windows operating systems come pre-installed with their own “Disk Defragmenter” utility. This utility is designed to increase access speeds by rearranging files contiguously. Many users feel that the pre-installed defragger isn’t the best on the market and have considered using alternative defragging tools. For the most part defragmentation software all does the same thing but it is… Read the rest

Identity theft is when a criminal illegally obtains and uses an individual’s personal information such as their social security number and driver’s license number, for fraudulent purposes. Once Identity theft criminals gain access to this private information they will pose as that person usually to acquire credit, merchandise, or services.

There are two main types of identity theft, account takeover and true name ID theft. Account takeover identify theft is when a thief uses the stolen personal data to gain access to existing bank accounts. True name identity theft they will use the personal information to open new accounts, credit cards, and services.

The Internet provides these types of criminal with a perfect hunting ground. It’s extremely easy to target Internet users because of the vast accumulation of information as well as the effortlessness of performing a transaction without verification. Although recently the number of database hacking attacks has dramatically increased, most identity thieves still obtain our information from spying over our shoulders or digging through our trash.

According to a recent survey from Javelin Research and Strategy

“In 2010, identity theft and fraud claimed fewer victims than in any other period since Javelin began conducting surveys in 2003. Driving that decrease was the reduced rate of existing account fraud, although incidents of all types of fraud dropped from 2009. Meanwhile, consumer costs, the average out?of?pocket dollar amount victims pay, increased, reversing a downward trend in recent years. This increase can be attributed to new account fraud, which showed longer periods of misuse and detection and therefore more dollar losses associated with it than any other type of fraud.”

The survey also identified account takeover, friendly fraud, and improper use of privacy settings on social media networks to be the growing problems. Several other issues include people not shredding important documents, using weak online passwords, and neglecting to use anti-malware software. The survey found that 48%… Read the rest

It is critical to perform routine maintenance on your PC in order to preserve its performance level. Computers can quickly get bogged down with too much data and the inability to quickly locate your important documents can lead to frustration. The same organizational skills that you practice in the real world should translate over into the virtual space of your computer. Keeping your PC clean and organized will not only help to keep your files easily accessible but it can also reduce your stress and save some time. The following are some simple tips to follow when it comes to organizing your PC files.

• Clear up your Desktop:

The desktop is the first thing that a user encounters and should be the starting point for cleaning up your computer. Remove the files or programs that you do not use, leaving only the programs that you use frequently. Attach the most frequently used programs to the desktop toolbar. Create labeled folders and group the files or applications appropriately. The typical icon layout will group the desktop icons along the right side of the computer screen however these icons can be grouped and moved elsewhere if beneficial. Based on their level of usage arrange your icons and folders in an order that makes the most sense to you. Additionally you can use desktop wallpaper that displays a grid so you can group and move icons into particular sections or categories.

• Organize your media content:

Keep your music with music, photos with photos, and movies with movies. Typically your computer will have preset folders for your media content, however over time it’s easy for these files to be unintentionally scattered and saved in other locations. You can also create your own media folder which holds separate folders for each type… Read the rest

In our past blog postings we have talked about computer maintenance issues like performing backups, removing unwanted files or programs, and increasing the speed of your computer. In our posts for helpful hints to extending the life of your computer we have also briefly mentioned external conditions that can impact your computer but we have yet to address how to clean the actual PC and its peripheral components.

Keeping your computer and work environment clean is critical to the operations of your system and it can drastically extend the life of your PC. Dust is a common cause of overheating and the deterioration of important computer components. Computers may have advanced significantly but dust and dirt can still present major issues and glitches for internal elements. It is estimated that up to 70% of computer hardware problems can be attributed to dust and improper maintenance. Computers and external equipment should be cleaned routinely in order to prevent unnecessary problems caused by dust.

Although the fans of a computer are vital for the ventilation and cooling of the system they also provide a perfect opening for dust. Along with the cooling fans any small openings on monitors, keyboards, or any other devices are also dust gateways. In short the dust can settle on internal components and prevent the release of heat, causing the computer to short and overheat.

When everyday household items aren’t enough there are many products to choose from that are designed specifically for PC maintenance. Some of the available products include microfiber cleaning clothes, CD/DVD lens cleaners, anti-static monitor wipes, LCD cleaning solutions, aerosol duster, anti-static dust vacuums, wet wipes, and screen protectors.

Basic tips that you should know before cleaning:

• Clean the area surrounding the computer before cleaning.
• Always spray the cleaning solutions on a rag first, never apply directly to

… Read the rest

Tuesday August 23, 2011 Facebook made several announcements, the majority of which addressed the upcoming sharing and privacy improvements. In addition Facebook addressed smaller topics like the phasing out of the mobile only “Facebook Places” and the renaming of a long time Facebook attribute.

from http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=10150251867797131, August 2011

Privacy and security have always been a major concern for Facebook users. In response to these worries Facebook has made multiple changes to the process for sharing posts, photos, tags, and other any other content. The new set up focuses on making the policies of concern more assessable and understandable to all users. The following Profile Control changes are expected to begin rolling out sometime this week, at that time users will encounter a prompt to tour the new Facebook Profile Features. (August 25, 2011)

The primary adjustment to the new profile is the new location for the privacy and sharing controls. The sharing controls are now available directly on a user’s profile page. These controls were previously only available on the settings pages. The aim for this redesign is to present users with a clearer and more consistent sharing experience. The new inline drop down menus that are now located next to the content posting area can enable a user to instantly adjust who has permission to view the content. Whether it be your thoughts, images, or videos each user will be able to see who can view their content and allow them to grant or deny access with one simple click. Additionally, since many of the settings options have been compiled into these smaller inline menus the previous settings page has also been simplified.

Also launching with the new profile sharing controls is the following sharing, tagging, and privacy policies.

• Control who can view your post while posting

With… Read the rest

Thursday August 18, 2011 Hewlett-Packard confirmed both their recent discussion with Autonomy Corporation regarding a possible offer for the company as well as the upcoming discontinuation of their webOS devices. In a press release HP expressed their plans to discontinue production for webOS devices including the recently released HP Touch Pad. HP also reported that its board of directors had approved the exploration of strategic alternatives and that they will be considering a wide range of options such as full or partial separation of the Personal Systems Group from HP through a spin-off or other transaction.

from http://www.hp.com, August 2011

This decision follows only 2 months after HP latest product launch, the HP Touch Pad. The HP Touch Pad was initially thought to be a major competitor for the iPad. However, following a rocky launch that included an announcement of a better model just days after the initial release, drastic price changes, and bad PR it was clear that HP had fumbled the release and the HP Touch Pad didn’t stand a chance against the iPad or other competitors.

Along with the dwindling release sales for their new tablet HP was also far behind their mobile competitors. Although the fastest growing consumer electronics are mobile devices according to HP’s chief financial officer Cathy Lesjak “the webOS would require significant investments over the next five years, generating a risk without clear rewards”. HP webOS users currently only account for 3% of the market while Android occupies a steady 40% and Apple controlling fewer than 30%.

HP also faced struggles obtaining developers to build applications for their devices. The more developers there are usually means more applications and more importantly more customers. However because the platform with the most developers usually attracts the most… Read the rest

A couple weeks ago Google announced a new Page Speed Service which is currently available to only a limited number of webmasters. The new Page Speed service follows many previous speed assessment products that Google has released over the years, releases that include the Page Speed Browser Add-ons and Page Speed Online. These previous releases focused on scoring a websites speed performance and providing users with suggestions or feedback to increase their speed score.

from http://code.google.com/speed/pss/index.html, August 2011

The new Page Speed is a service that doesn’t analyze your website’s speed but instead automatically increases it. The new service retrieves your content from the website server, rewrites the website using their specified guidelines, and then delivers it the site visitor even faster using their servers.

While using the Page Speed Service a website can expect to see a 25%-60% improvement however the exact amount of speed depends on a number of different factors. These factors include the amount of content on your pages, the browser, geographical location, bandwidth and more. Visit the web page test to analyze your website and determine the exact speed increase that the new page speed service can produce for your website.

The test works by simply visiting your site and then repeating the same test by substituting your website into the Page Speed Service. The test takes only minutes to perform and once complete the user is presented with a chart that details the load time from the original server, the load time from the Page Speed Service, the load time for repeat visits from both servers, the percentage of the speed increase, and multiple links to test details. The results also provide a visual rendering for the… Read the rest

According to a recent Tweet from Matt Cutts, Google has released their biggest spam report form refresh in roughly ten years. Along with their own attempts Google also relies on individual users to help combat websites that are spamming their index. As a part of Google’s continuous effort to improve the quality of search results, they ask that you submit a spam report if you come across a site that isn’t following the webmaster guidelines or acceptable practices. Google users can submit spam reports using their Webmaster Tools.

The previous spam report form was only a single page and had simple check boxes for users to identify the type of spam that was encountered. The new spam center however has a main page that provides a user with 8 different links. Each of the 8 links is for a different type of spam. The links include paid links, objectionable content, malware, other Google products, copyright, legal issues, personal/private, phishing, and other. These links will each direct a user to a separate spam complaint section where the user can then report the web address and express their concerns in full details.

Google depends on their “webmaster quality guidelines” as well as these detailed spam reports to help them generate scalable spam solutions. Instead of struggling against spam one by one they are always seeking new information to enhance their algorithm and combat large bodies of spam. Google’s quality guidelines express the various forms of deceptive or manipulative behaviors and describe how websites can avoid the misleading practices. The basic quality guidelines established by Google are as follows:

• Design pages for users, not for the search engines. Don’t deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users (cloaking).

• Don’t use tricks that

… Read the rest

Earlier this month the WordPress version 3.2 update was released. Version 3.2 is the first WordPress update that requires PHP 5.2.4 or greater and MySQL version 5.0 or greater. WordPress made the announcement concerning the discontinued use of PHP 4 and MySQL 4 a year prior its release to give users ample time to prepare for these changes. WordPress provides several resources for upgrading WordPress but despite the extra preparation many users have encountered bugs in the recent software. Since the release most of the issues have been resolved with the 3.2.1 update however some users continue to experience problems.

Before we began upgrading our own WordPress we first made certain that we met the required specifications. After completing the version 3.2 update we began to experience some problems on our Internet Beacon blog. The issue we encountered didn’t impact our blog but rather our recent blog PHP script that is located on the bottom of our Internet Beacon home page. This section would normally list some of our latest blog but following the update it stopped generating content.

from http://www.internetbeacon.com/, July 2011

Unaware of how to rectify this issue we consulted with the WordPress community and various chat boards. This matter also spurred us to write the blog WordPress 3.2 is Available: Are you ready for the Upgrade? In this blog we informed readers of the buggy nature of 3.2 and detailed how to be prepared for the upgrade as well as how to make certain you can reverse the upgrade process. During the weeks following this post we were still unable to resolve our problem. We did however recently determine… Read the rest

On Wednesday July 20, 2011 the Obama Administration announced their plan to close 800 of their 2,000 data centers over the next four years. The Federal Government initially scheduled the shutdown of 137 data centers by the end of this year. However, currently the process is ahead of schedule with already 81 sites closed so they now expect the closure of 195 facilities. In addition to the revised figure of 195 data centers for 2011 the White House also announced that nearly 200 complexes will be closed by the end of 2012, making the accumulative shutdowns just shy of 400 data centers.

from http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/07/20/shutting-down-duplicative-data-centers, July 2011

Since 1998 the United States Government has quadrupled their amount of data centers. Throughout the years the development of software that allows for multiple platform access has enabled the government to become more efficient and reduce their need for most data centers. It is reported that many of these sites operate only using 27% of their computing power even though taxpayers continue to pay for the entire infrastructure (land, facilities, equipment, cooling processes and special security elements).

According to the plans of the United States Government, the elimination of these data centers will help them be more efficient during this time of deficit. Over the next four years the shutdowns will allow for more real estate and a drastic reduction in unnecessary spending. The data centers that are marked for termination range in size with some occupying over 200,000 square feet and others residing on only 1,000 square feet of land. The geographic locations of these data centers also vary with locations scattered throughout 30 states. Due to the special equipment contained within these data centers the average power consumption can be 200 times more than regular office buildings and is… Read the rest

Scams, viruses, and Facebook Frauds that prey on the curiosity of unsuspecting users are nothing new for the popular social network. Facebook and social networking sites alike create a perfect environment for spammers to instantly reach millions and rapidly spread their lucrative scams. Although the majority of users have learned how to Spot and Avoid Facebook Scams, there are some creative and devious scams that continue to attract the attention of many users. These scams are extremely misleading and publicize something that is either too good to be true or reel users in by taking advantage of the recent headlines.

from http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9874388706&v=wall, July 2011

These scams are usually created to generate some kind of financial gain for spammers and to further spread their spam. Often the fraudulent posting will advertise one thing and then direct a user to a completely unrelated page. Previous Facebook scam such as the “Free iPad scam” and the “See who is viewing your profile scam” have been used as a spamming technique called ClickJacking.

ClickJacking presents a page to the user with a seemingly harmless action button, unbeknownst to the user there is usually a transparent layer with an alternative button positioned directly on top. In other words, when the user thinks that they are clicking the one button they are really clicking the hidden button. The hidden button is usually something that a user would probably avoid if given prior knowledge. For example the button could initiate an unauthorized purchase, an adjustment to your social profile, a twitter follow, or the spamming of your Facebook contacts.

New spam scams are created each day, this week alone we have already seen three new Facebook scams that draw in users by exploiting popular news headlines. Among the scams that appeared this… Read the rest

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) several industry leaders from music, movie, television and broadband services have teamed up to educate consumers and diminish online content theft. Among the organizations volunteering are Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc, Universal Music Group Recordings, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music North America, AT&T, Comcast Corp, and Verizon. These companies and more have all come together to create the foundation for the new Copyright Alert System.

from http://www.riaa.com/toolsforparents.php?content_selector=legal-music-services July 2011

Piracy is a major problem and even with the increased prevention and restrictions it continues to plague the various entertainment industries. For most individuals downloading protected media is often viewed as a minor crime, if one at all. When compared to other illegal activities it does seem minor however when considering the worldwide accumulation of pirated material obtained without compensation the loss and industry devastation is in the millions. The impact of piracy is felt by all parties involved in the media creation process and not only does it affect jobs but the future production of the content we enjoy. As the volume of pirated content continues to increase the amount of revenue continues to decrease and even with digital sales the earned revenue isn’t enough to make up the loss.

P2P file sharing programs like LimeWire are illegal as you can tell upon visiting their court ordered deactivated website. Organizations like the RIAA continually monitor these applications and focus their resources on disbanding them. Fortunately for users there is a ton of legal alternatives for low cost digital content. Some of these programs include Amazon, iTunes, Napster, Pandora, and AOL Music.

According to… Read the rest

It was only a year ago that Google implemented a new visual design that focused on providing users with a visual refresh and a convenient sidebar navigation tool. The June 2010 updates also introduced a time based search feature that enables users to search during a period of time such as the last 24 hours, the past year, or a custom range. During Google’s Spring Metamorphosis last year they had mentioned that they are always working on improving the design and experience of Google which has led to many of their latest changes. Users may have noticed that on Tuesday June 28, 2011 that some changes had taken place in an effort to evolve the design and Experience of Google. Not only did Google modify its search engine but that same day Google had also announced the Google+ Project.

from http://www.google.com July 2011

The clean, spacious, and simple design of Google+ coordinate with the new look of Google and are already carrying over to the other Google services like Gmail. The new Google home page has even gone through its own changes. Now with a smaller logo and the links moved to the top and bottom edges, the page has a cleaner and more intuitive feel. Additionally Google now has a universal toolbar that is located at the top of the page and is also consistent across each page and service.

According to Google, “The way people use and experience the web is evolving, and our goal is to give you a seamless and consistent online experience—one that works no matter which Google product you’re using or what device you’re using it on”

In their Google Blog, Google mentions that their new design was based on 3 principles focus, elasticity,… Read the rest

Earlier this month Apple held its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, during the event Apple unveiled the new features of iOS 5 which is set to arrive later this fall . Although the much anticipated release of the iPad2 had come and gone back in March, the news of the newest iOS  has seemed to spur iPad2 sales. At a price range set from $499-$829, these devices are definitely an investment that is worth protecting. The following are ten tips to help ensure the safety and protection of iPad devices. The list covers both physical and virtual security so that customers can hopefully prolong the life of their device and be able to take full advantage of the upcoming iOS improvements.

from http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/, June 2011

• Use a Case:

The iPad Smart Cover isn’t a customer’s only choice however it seems to offer the most protection along with usability. In addition to providing protection, the Smart Cover can also be transformed into an iPad stand with various positions, activate the sleep mode when covered, wake the device when uncovered, grip the iPad using built in magnets, comes in a number of colors and is available in two different materials. Users can also choose to use full shell cases for heavy duty protection or portfolio and envelope cases for the professional environment.

• Screen Protection:

A case or cover doesn’t necessarily mean the screen is fully protected. Screen or scratch protectors are well worth the purchase and not only do they prevent scratches but they have also been known to prevent the screen from shattering on impact. Prior to the release of the iPad2, Apple had stopped selling all anti-glare and screen protection film as what was thought to be a way… Read the rest

It’s hard to miss all of the news headlines about hacker groups and security intrusions. These attacks now seem to be unavoidable even for Government agencies. For weeks now the public has been following the Sony Incident, which now appears to have been only the tip of the iceberg. Even the State Senate computers have fallen victim to a group of hackers known as Lulze Security.

Anonymous

In the past week both the Lulze Security group as well as the cyber group “Anonymous” have taken responsibility for several attacks. Lulze Security have claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Sony Picture’s website, PBS.com, Fox.com, and the DDoS attacks on game company Bethesda.  According to thier LulzSec Twitter Page they are now apparently taking hacking request through a messaging hotline. As for Anonymous they have claimed to be responsible for the Bank of America attack, the Spanish Police Department attack, and are thought to be behind the Sony PSN disaster. To prove their infiltration on the Senate network Lulze Security has posted a list of files online along side their other postings. However, it was said that none of the data taken from the Senate’s network contained sensitive information. Although it’s not completely clear whether or not sensitive files were actually obtained, the intrusion itself displays the group’s capabilities and malicious intent.

Compared to last couple months, it seems that these types of attacks have changed direction moving from the acquisition of personal information to the infiltration of high powered and influential organizations. Besides gaining access to personal or financial information, perhaps these attacks are based on retaliation, display of power, or reputation. Speculation aside what’s truly concerning is the lack of security or the… Read the rest

This week major companies have taken to the stage to introduce their new and future products. Having the E3 Expo and the Worldwide Developers Conference scheduled for the same week certainly provided a week full of exciting news and entertainment for customers. At E3 companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all provided insight into their latest developments that included PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Wii U. Apple was the first to publicly display their future software products at the Worldwide Developers Conference that took place on June 6, 2011.

from http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/, June 2011

There had been a lot of talk leading up to Apple’s announcements, even more so than usual since this year they went so far as to provide an outline of key topics prior to the conference. Among the announcements made by Apple was the new iCloud, OS X Lion, and IOS 5. We have been hearing rumors for some time now about Apple’s new iCloud product which for the most part have all been confirmed. To learn more about iCloud you can visit our “Apple iCloud Rumors to Be Addressed at the 2011 WWDC” blog post and to learn more about OS X Lion check out 9 Things to Know about Apples latest OS. Bringing us back to IOS 5, like OS X Lion this software version introduces a ton of new features. Here is a round-up of some of the key features that IOS 5 will have to offer when it becomes available later this year.

IOS 5 will offer over 200… Read the rest

It has been over a month since Sony announced that the reason for the shutdown of their PlayStation Network service on April 20, 2011 was due to an external intrusion. On May 4, 2011 Sony had confirmed that the PSN Attack was able to obtain the personal information from over 100 million users. Following the hack, Sony remained confident and projected a short downtime for the network. Although Sony initially stated that they would fully restore their services by the end of the week, the recovery process experienced unforeseen problems.

After being disabled for approximately 23 days, on May 15, 2011 the Sony PlayStation Network began restoring parts of their service country by country. At this time the sign-in for the PSN/Qriocity services, online gameplay, rental content, third party services, friends list, and chat functionality were all restored. Missing from the services that were brought back online was the PlayStation Store. Once back online the network again faced an issue concerning the password reset page. It was discovered that the password reset process was enabling unauthorized users to change the passwords of other users provided that they had knowledge of their email address and date of birth. After the discovery of this exploit the network disabled the password reset pages and resumed working to restore the PlayStation Store.

Sony announced that they will be offering customers free content as a part of a “Welcome Back Program”. The free customer appreciation content will be available sometime shortly after full restoration. Sony has also stated that the cost of the network outages and restoration was $171 million which includes the costs of security enhancements, customer reimbursements, and loss of content sales.… Read the rest

Recently the MacDefender Malware has created a lot of concerns for Mac users all around the world. Quickly spreading, the MacDefender Malware is a phishing scheme that presents  a message that informs users that their system has been corrupted. The ploy goes on to tell Mac user that the only way to remove the viruses is to utilize the MacDefender app. The MacDefender malware can also appear as MacProtector and MacSecurity. The malware does not infect a user’s machines with viruses or monitor keystrokes. Their sole purpose is to frighten and persuade users to purchase the MacDefender application thus gaining access to the customer’s credit card information.

from http://www.Apple.com, May 2011

Mac has estimated that between 60,000 and 125,000 Mac users have already been exposed to this malware. Most users have encountered this problem through poisoned Google images. When users access a poisoned link, a page will launch and display a virus scan. After being transferred to the infected webpage the software begins to download and informs users of an infection. Previously the malware required permission to install but despite the efforts made by Mac a newer version of the malware has been created, which no longer needs the user’s permission. This MacDefender version automatically installs on a machine during the fake scan process.

Mac has yet to take action against the initial malware but has stated they will have a resolution with their next OS X Update. Mac states that they will “deliver a Mac OS X software update that will automatically find and remove Mac Defender malware and its known variants. Mac however has not addressed the new version of the malware and has also informed their support staff Not to assist users with MacDefender removal. Although… Read the rest

In case it wasn’t bad enough that Facebook was discovered to be behind the recent Google smear campaign they now have to also deal with looming government regulations. Although it has only been a couple of days since it was announced that Facebook hired PR firm Burson-Marstellar to smear Google’s name, both companies have teamed up to take on the Social Networking Privacy Act (SB 242). Along with Google and Facebook, Twitter and Skype were also mentioned to have cosigned a letter strongly opposing the new bill.

This isn’t the first time that we have heard of the bill that was introduced by California Senate Majority Leader Ellen M. Corbett. The bill previously addressed the privacy and security for users under 13 but has since been amended to incorporate all users after initially facing heavy opposition. The motivation behind the legislation was to protect underage users, it’s estimated that although the Facebook age limit is set at 13, over 7.5 million users are under that age and 5 million of those users are even under the age of 10. The Polly Klaas Foundation found that over 42% of teens post personal identifiable information on social media sites which provides a solid foundation to Corbett’s concerns.

The Social Networking Privacy Act would require users to select and acknowledge their privacy settings before submitting their user registration. The default privacy setting would list only a user name and city of residence until that user decides to adjust their user settings. In Senate Majority Leader Corbett’s words “you shouldn’t have to sign in and give up your personal information before you get to the part where you say ‘please don’t share my personal information.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg states that “making personal data public is… Read the rest