Yearly Archives: 2019
Latest News from Yearly Archives: 2019
Why it is important to log off or close an application program before shutting down your computer
Recently, we had a client call us in a panic stating “all of my project files are gone”. It appeared that all the project files they were working on, some as old as two years, went “missing”. Upon further investigation we found that all of these files, close to 200, were still on the server, but they were corrupted. Since they were corrupted, the files More »
Ontario Science Centre Data Breach
The names and email addresses of 174,000 members, donors, and customers of camps and birthday parties at the Ontario Science Centre were exposed in August, according to the company that does email blasts for the provincially owned tourist attraction. The breach was made public Monday evening when the Science Centre alerted its newsletter subscribers, although the Science Centre has been aware of the breach since More »
LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen officially launching in Canada on Nov. 1
The LG G8X ThinQ inherits much of the hardware of the original LG G8 ThinQ: A Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. It also features a 12MP standard wide camera, a 13MP Super Wide camera, and a 32MP front camera. On the software side, the G8X ThinQ runs the LG UX based on Android 9 Pie. LG’s take on a Dual More »
Alexa and Google Home Abused to Eavesdrop
Privacy threats posed by Amazon Alexa and Google Home are common knowledge. Workers for both companies routinely listen to audio of users—recordings of which can be kept forever—and the sounds the devices capture can be used in criminal trials. Now, there’s a new concern: malicious apps developed by third parties and hosted by Amazon or Google. The threat isn’t just theoretical. Whitehat hackers at Germany’s More »
Report Says Average Cost of Downtime Due to Ransomware Highest in Canada
The world’s most prominent malware threat is alive and well, and its devastating financial impact on businesses has only increased, especially in Canada, according to Datto Inc.’s fourth annual Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report. In 2019, Canada has the highest average cost of downtime related to a ransomware attack at $180,000, according to Datto’s annual survey. Last year, that number was $65,724. More than 1,400 managed service More »
Pitney Bowes Hit by Ransomware
Pitney Bowes, A US mailing technology company has been hit by ransomware over the past few days, highlighting the continued threat to businesses of all types. Pitney Bowes, provides services to print labels, track parcels and manage expenses. It claimed a third-party attack “encrypted information on some systems and disrupted customer access to our services.” SendPro products, postage refill, and Your Account access have all More »
Why You Should Never Swipe Your Credit or Debit Cards
Hopefully credit and debit card users know about cards with little gold squares called security chips. If you have a card with a chip you should NOT swipe the card when you pay for things. Swiping is bad, because the machine reads your personal data on the black stripe on the back of the card. And the machines that read that data can be easily More »
US Bank Withholding Canadian Coffee Stand’s Revenue
The owners of a Toronto coffee stand say Square Canada has told them they can no longer use the popular payment technology because of concerns the coffee stand is selling beverages made from Cuban coffee beans. Square Canada allows customers to tap or swipe their financial cards to pay for things — in this case coffee from Toronto’s Little Havana coffee stand https://www.thelittlehavanacafe.com/ Little Havana’s More »
Hackers have crippled the computer systems of three Ontario hospitals
The malware, known as “Ryuk,” attacks computer networks but remains invisible to average users for weeks or months. During that time, it collects information about the organization and its perceived ability to pay a ransom. Ryuk then locks files, demanding the network owner pay a sum of money to make them accessible again. The impact of the malware attack has been wide-ranging for the three affected More »
Microsoft is back in the Phone Business.
At its Surface launch event in New York last week, Microsoft made an unexpected move and unveiled the Surface Duo, a foldable Surface tablet smartphone The Surface Duo is absolutely massive. A single half is large enough to dwarf the Galaxy Note 10 Plus, making it nearly impossible to fit into pockets. Details of the Surface Duo are scarce, but we do know that it’s running More »