Adobe Reader has had issues in the past with being the most vulnerable program out for Windows. Apparently, Google research has found even more holes that Adobe can't even patch quickly enough for Windows, Mac, AND Linux. As a result, users are being told NOT to use Adobe Reader to avoid being hacked or triggering a malware attack on their computer. 

Microsoft has released an alert and fix for Windows 7 and Vista users. This alert affects the use of Sidebars and Gadgets; small desktop applications that pull data from the web that can deliver financial, weather, or other data directly to a computer's desktop. The issue is that hackers can use those as point of entries to gain access to those machines. 

LinkedIn has been compromised by Russian hackers who have proven that they gained access to the data of at least 6,458,020 users. 

If you have a LinkedIn account, it's advised you change your password as soon as you can to protect yourself. Also, if you've used the same password on other accounts like your email, bank accounts, and other sensitive personal or company data, you should probably change those to avoid other breaches.

You can read more on the story here and info on how to change your password:

http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-to-change-your-linkedin-password-after-todays-security-breach-2012-6

The Olympics are on the horizon and that also means with the trend comes targeted malicious email based off this event. A new email being sent out supposedly contains a schedule of the 2012 London Olympics. It actually contains a payload that targets machines with outdated Adobe Acrobat/Reader products and installs trojans and other ways to compromise a network.

Hundreds of thousands of computers will not be able to access the internet after July 9th. This is due to a piece of malware called DNSChanger that has infilitrated these systems. The program changed where computers go when they click on a link; many times going from a legitimate site to a malicious one. On July 9th, the FBI will turn off the servers that hosted this program, making those machines go dark. The link below contains information on how you can check to see if your machine might be infected and how to correct it.

Over 600,000 Macs have been infected with the Flashback trojan horse. This was originally introduced last year by tricking people into installing it through social engineering. However, the latest version uses exploits found in Java to weasel itself into an unsuspecting Macintoshes. Once infected, the system becomes part of a network than can be used to attack networks, turn over user's information, or hack into other systems. Users can download a patch for Java that will assist in blocking the attack.

Today marks the two year anniversary for Renascence IT Consulting, Inc. Working as a consultant since 2005, I want to express my gratitude to clients, employees, and partners that have allowed Renascence to grow and prosper, especially during the slow economy. We look forward providing world class IT services to current and future businesses for years to come. 

Yes, today is World Backup Day. Probably the MOST essential component to any business is the ability to make sure that their data is available in the event of a hardware failure, natural disaster, or rogue employee. A recent survey showed that 70% of business that have a major data loss fail within a year and 75% of businesses that do not have a business continuity plan fail within 3 years.

Adobe has released yet another critical update for its Flash player. This fix corrects an issue that would allow attackers to corrupt memory, and in theory, take control of the user's system. This marks the second time in one month that Adobe has patched its Flash program.