Computer Tips

Protect Your Online Information

Posted on by GiantsFan
It's important to know how to protect your online information. While millennials don't seem to care much these days about their online privacy and information, as time goes on, they'll rue the day they decided to post that college party selfie or tweet that asinine observation. But our online presence goes beyond posting photos and superfluous missives -- it holds our identity.
Continue reading →

Tech Tip: New Microsoft Patches & Updates

Posted on by GiantsFan
On December 9th, Microsoft released a batch of security patches for several of their products. Three critical (and seven total) updates affected Internet Explorer, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Windows, and Microsoft Office. All one needs to do to update their system is accept the update on your computer through its notification. These updates will require a restart to finish the installation.
Continue reading →

Windows 10 is Coming…

Posted on by GiantsFan
It seems as though Microsoft Windows 8 came and went in a flash. Currently on 8.1, Microsoft has announced that Windows 10 (they're skipping version 9) will be released in late 2015. While many users are still using Windows XP, most who have tried (or read about) Windows 8 prefer to use the version before -- Microsoft 7. Windows 8 caused quite a stir with its release, as many users were frustrated that the new design was not intuitive and did not provide the Windows feel and appeal. The hurried release of Microsoft 10 comes from complaints and criticism of Windows 8. Version 10 will still have a touch user interface option but will also include elements that many adored in older versions. 
Continue reading →

Shellshocked

Posted on by GiantsFan
A new security threat has been discovered--Shellshock, also known as the "Bash bug" for affecting the Bash program in Linux and Unix systems. You may have heard of this as it has been compared to Heartbleed, the virus that hacked into data on millions of computers this summer. The main issue that system administrators are experiencing with Shellshock is that it affects "a common bit of code that is used all over the place," according to Robert Graham, security expert and CEO of Errata Security. Currently, nobody knows exactly how to fix Shellshock and solving the overall problem has been estimated to take months to years, though security companies and even the US Department of Homeland Security have been releasing patches to help aid affected servers.  
Continue reading →

5 Million Gmail Accounts Hacked

Posted on by GiantsFan
It's been a busy week for hackers! A group of hackers from Russia have been discovered to have stolen and published the passwords and associated emails of 5 MILLION Gmail, Yandex and Mal.ru accounts. Though it's not clear how they hacked into the systems, it is most likely due to phishing and weak passwords, just like the celebrity iCloud hacking scandal that we previously wrote a blog about.
Continue reading →

iCloud Hack

Posted on by GiantsFan
If you've paid any attention to the news this past week, you'd have heard that dozens of celebrities' iCloud accounts were hacked into. Hundreds of personal photos were then shared over the internet to a swarm of viewers, in a clear violation of privacy. You may be wondering how this could have happened. Well, unfortunately, fairly easily.
Continue reading →