Category Archives: Security

Questions and answers about computer security and privacy

The weakest link in cyber security – the human

Posted on March 15, 2023 by quill

As anti-malware software and firewall protections improve, the classic ‘barging in through the front door’ methods that criminals use to breach a network or deliver malware and ransomware, have given way to gaining access to computers and networks through social … Continue reading →

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QNAP NAS storage owners – time to update your units

Posted on November 6, 2019 by quill

There is a security vulnerability that affects the QNAP NAS storage devices, and their QTS operating system. It has been fixed with a firmware update from QNAP in February, but the catch is — you need to manually install the … Continue reading →

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iPhone 5 Owners need to take action before Nov 3

Posted on October 28, 2019 by quill

Apple announced that iPhone 5 will require updating before Nov 3 or iCloud, App Store, email, web and other services will no longer work. Starting just before 12:00 a.m. UTC on November 3, 2019,* iPhone 5 will require an iOS … Continue reading →

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Purchase Order Fraud – Impersonation scam

Posted on October 18, 2019 by quill

Every week we receive orders and quote requests from companies, universities and hospitals all over North America, requesting expensive IT equipment. Great, right? Not really, because these are fraud artists that are trying to lure companies into sending valuable goods … Continue reading →

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Superfish malware installed on new machines exposes HTTPS browsing

Posted on February 21, 2015 by quill

If you have a new Lenovo laptop, do this today: Check for Superfish and eliminate it Software called Superfish, a “Visual Search enhancer” product pre-installed on new consumer laptops from Lenovo among other brands, has been revealed to have severe … Continue reading →

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Ventir: New Mac malware, Trojan Horse

Posted on October 20, 2014 by quill

As reported by The Safe Mac here, and Kapersky Labs here, a new trojan horse “Ventir” has been discovered which infects Macintosh OSX.  The vector for infection has not been determined, but the Ventir installer must be run, either as … Continue reading →

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Another Phishing Email – “Your iTunes is frozen”

Posted on August 3, 2014 by quill

Online criminals continue with phishing expeditions. Phishing is sending phony emails that mimic legitimate emails from reputable sources, hoping to get you to click on them to download malware, or to steal your login and password when you arrive at … Continue reading →

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CryptoWall and Cryptolocker – what you need to know

Posted on July 2, 2014 by quill

Where did my data go? You might remember a series of viruses (or trojan horses) which “deleted” your data files and charged a ransom to get them back. These were frightening, but not fatal because they only hid files and with … Continue reading →

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NoScript with Firefox gives a higher level of security to web browsing

Posted on April 30, 2014 by quill

Web browsing is full of hazards. Even reputable websites can have poisoned banner ads from third parties, which can attempt to hack your machine or browser settings. You don’t even have to click on a “bad” website to be the … Continue reading →

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Internet Explorer Zero-day vulnerability – time to change

Posted on April 28, 2014 by quill

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Web browser has been exposed to have a vulnerability that hackers have been exploiting — before Microsoft has had a chance to respond with a patch. (this is the meaning of the term Zero Day, a hole … Continue reading →

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Routers – home and small business router vulnerabilities

Posted on March 18, 2014 by quill

We think (a lot) about keeping our computers up to date, virus free and protected with passwords. But stop and consider this: the wireless router that sits in the corner of the office and quietly handles all your WiFi and … Continue reading →

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New ‘NetFlix’ phishing scam

Posted on March 4, 2014 by quill

There is another variation on the bank account phishing scam – this time targetting NetFlix customers and with the potential for a lot of harm. A pop up screen or email claiming that your Netflix account has been suspended, with … Continue reading →

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Don’t Click on the Fake Java Updater

Posted on December 17, 2013 by quill

It’s rearing its ugly head again – the fake Java Update sites are salting reputable websites with poisoned banner ads, which take you to a “Update your Java now” message. These pop up even if your Google Chrome settings are … Continue reading →

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Zero Day Java Exploit – Disable Java Now

Posted on January 12, 2013 by quill

There is yet another series of malware out which exploits holes in the Oracle (Sun) Java language, including the most recent version (Java 7 Update 10) as of Jan 12 2013. Disable Java in your Web browser now. After the … Continue reading →

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Q. How do I get rid of ib.adnxs.com

Posted on October 13, 2012 by quill

ib.adnxs is browser redirect malware that installs into your browser, and sends your web searches to different sites instead of where you want to go. It will persistently popup its own addresses in your browser.  It will change your home … Continue reading →

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