SCW Blog

Autocorrect--it’s probably safe to say that for every time it’s saved someone from a text message typo, it has also created an awkward situation by inserting a word it has “learned” from the user. This can be especially problematic if an uncouth or inappropriate word has been used often enough on a device that shares responsibilities as a personal device.

In October 2016, an Internet of Things botnet launched a huge Distributed Denial of Service attack on one of the world’s major DNS providers. The botnet, dubbed Mirai, has struck again. This time, the target wasn’t necessarily a DNS provider, but rather an entire country’s Internet infrastructure.

It can’t be denied that, even including their name, hackers sound objectively cool. Entertainment and mass media have created a fascinating and dramatized association between the word and the images of a stoic, principled supergenius (or a geeky, awkward supergenius) sitting at the most technological-looking setup imaginable as they break into some major establishment to “stick it to the man.”

There’s no denying how convenient it is to store your data in the cloud. Although, for those who use multiple cloud-based apps, the convenience afforded by these apps actually becomes an inconvenience when you need to locate a certain file, but you’re unsure where it’s stored. To assist you with this, you can use Findo to search through all of your cloud-based apps.

One of the most critical considerations to using a device is its battery life. After all, it doesn’t do a user much good to be in the middle of one of their tasks and their battery dies unexpectedly. To combat this, devices will display the battery life in a status indicator that tells the user how many hours are left for the charge.

Last August, a hacking tool used by the National Security Agency appeared for sale online, setting off a whirlwind of questions. How did the Shadow Brokers (the group who ran the auction) get their hands on this program? Was it stolen from the NSA itself? How much damage will its release cause? Who was responsible for the leak?

If your Windows PC is acting sluggish, you may want to “check under the hood” to see how your disk space is looking. If you see that your PC is regularly hanging out in the 90-percent-or-higher zone, then you’ll want to do something about that. Here’s how to check the status of your computer’s disk usage space, along with some best practices for troubleshooting performance issues.

You may have noticed that the Internet was acting a little strange for a couple of hours last month. This was the result of a massive Distributed Denial of Service attack against one of the biggest DNS providers in the United States. What’s more, in the wake of this attack, professionals have discovered the surprising cause.

Data breaches: these criminal intrusions are conducted against businesses of all sizes. Critical and sensitive data is copied from the system it belongs on to another, unauthorized one--all for someone’s illegitimately-gained benefit. For many businesses, the threat of being struck by a data breach and having their data put up for sale and/or distribution on the Dark Web is very real, especially for those possessing data of a more sensitive nature.

The use of third parties has become a necessity to successfully complete the tasks that many businesses require to maintain their operations. Unfortunately, not all third parties follow the same stringent security standards, making your dealings with them somewhat laden with risks. As a result, an unfortunate catch-22 results for most businesses--they need third parties to maintain their business operations and processes, but the security risks that third parties pose to their data could result in lost business from a client whose information is compromised.

What makes haunted houses so scary are the ghosts of souls left behind belonging to former residents. These restless spirits manifest at unexpected times, causing problems for the living. What about the virtual realm? Is it possible for your company’s IT network to be haunted? If you have employees connecting outdated devices to your network, then it’s possible for it to be haunted by the ghosts of devices past.

Every six months, Twitter puts out its own Transparency Report, outlining any and all legal rigamarole that the social network has experienced--with anyone--within the time period the report covers. The latest edition of this overview revealed some fairly disconcerting details about the relationship the government of the United States is attempting to form with Twitter.

Do you use Google Maps as your primary GPS device? If you do, then you may (or may not) be surprised to learn that Google keeps track of everywhere you’ve been. While this may come off as a bit creepy, there is a cool side to it; you can access Location History and see all the places you’ve traveled on any given day.

It is no secret that the cloud has overwhelmingly improved much of business computing with its innovative features, yet that does not mean the use of cloud technology is free of concerns for a business to consider. In part due to the cloud’s flexibility with solutions, many companies have encountered serious problems that go so far as to put the entire business at risk. What follows are some concerns that businesses that plan to introduce the cloud to their workers will have to consider and prepare to deal with.

Based on recent scientific findings, it would seem that computers have begun to replace human memory. Researchers Benjamin Storm, Sean Stone, and Aaron Benjamin have found that, with the near omnipresent availability of the Internet for the human race to reference for answers, the tendency to rely on external references as a source of information over a brain’s memory has increased, and what’s more, continues to increase at an observable rate.

The Internet has become such a distracting place that it takes great discipline to stay on task and not get bogged down by its limitless supply videos, games, memes, and more. Thankfully, those needing help staying focused can find it in the form of free browser extensions.

Nobody who relies on IT to do their job relishes downtime. When the clock is ticking towards the deadline for a project and suddenly the network disconnects, the stress levels of everyone involved spike upwards. What’s worse is when some part of the company infrastructure is down for a time longer than a few minutes--at that point the business is at risk of losing revenue, repute, and if the outage is severe enough, its ability to remain open.

While locks remained largely free of major innovation for centuries, that changed with the creation of the smart lock. As a technology-oriented, modern company, it may make sense that your place of business incorporate this particular piece of tech.

A Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy can be a great way to manage mobile devices. After all, if an employee brings in their own device to use for work, that’s one less device you have to provide (and foot the bill for). This is not to say that implementing BYOD is free of concerns, including data ownership and accountability. However, there is another concern to contend with when an employee uses a personal device for professional purposes: how can you be sure that the data you are reimbursing was used to benefit your business, and not to play Pokemon Go?

Until very recently, there was a zero-day vulnerability in the Business Manager function on Facebook that could have allowed anyone to access, wreak havoc upon, and/or destroy any business’s representation on the social network if they so pleased. Fortunately, researcher Arun Sureshkamar discovered it, allowing Facebook to nullify the vulnerability.