Final Word on Windows 7

February 28, 2020

You are probably aware that Microsoft ended support for Windows 7 on January 14th of this year (2020). On January 14th, Microsoft released the last batch of security updates for Windows 7. Going forward, there will be no more security updates to Windows 7. New security vulnerabilities are discovered in Windows every week. Those newly […]

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Microsoft to Nag Windows 7 Users to Upgrade

April 23, 2019

We’ve told you here in our newsletter that Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7 on January 14, 2020. We’ve recommended that those of you still running Windows 7 upgrade or replace by the end of the year (don’t wait until the last minute). Now, Microsoft will be nagging you too. If you still have Windows […]

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How to Spot a Fake Email

March 27, 2019

You get an email from your bank or some other company you do business with. But you aren’t sure if the email is really from that company or if it’s fake. The name of this type of email is a Phish email. It can be hard to tell because the fake emails are often pretty […]

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Internet Explorer Not Safe

November 28, 2018

In the last 4 years, we have been recommending that use of Internet Explorer (IE) be avoided for many reasons. Those reasons included the fact that IE is slow and not as safe as other browsers. Since the release of Windows 10 in 2015, Microsoft has been phasing IE out and phasing Edge in. Microsoft […]

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Passwords…Again

July 20, 2018

Passwords…Again I know we keep writing articles about passwords, but it’s because they are so important. And we have some new and interesting information for you. Having a good password is important. Many people set a password and say, “Nobody will guess that password.”. However, the truth is, most of the time a password is […]

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Meldown & Spectre CPU Vulnerabilities

January 12, 2018

You may have heard on the news about vulnerabilities in Intel, ARM (Apple), and AMD processors that lets a hacker access your system. You may not be aware that CPU makers knew about this problem for 7 months before someone discovered it and told the world. But I digress. Here’s what you need to know […]

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Security Software Roundup

December 19, 2017

(Updated February, 2022) This is a roundup of security software packages. For the purposes of this article, we are focusing on consumer versions targeted at residential customers and small businesses that do not have a server. We will cover business oriented security products in a separate article. After reading this article, see what security software you […]

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How to Create a Good Password

July 31, 2017

With all of the hacking going on these days, it’s important to have good complex passwords on your important accounts. Important accounts include email, online retailers, banks and other financial institutions, etc. When you create a password you want it to be something that nobody could guess, but you also want it to be something […]

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How to Encrypt Your Email

June 28, 2017

In past newsletters, we have told you how email is not a secure form of communication. As an email travels from one sever to another, it can be intercepted and read by programs (called bots) that harvest information from email. We told you to never send sensitive or important information of any kind through email. […]

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Yet Another RansomWare

June 28, 2017

Last month we had the WannaCry Ransomware attack. WannaCry was squashed by the discovery of a “kill switch” that killed WannaCry. But now, this month, there’s a new one called Petya. Like WannaCry, Petya has mostly affected Europe. However, it has affected the US. One of the victims in the US was the Pennsylvania’s Heritage […]

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