Earlier this month Internet Explorer released Version 9 of their browser. Google has released Chrome version 10. Firefox, however has released its version 4. While it touts major speed improvements and safety in its browsing capabilities have been upgraded, the point of contention we have seen is compatibility. Certain sites we go to have issues running video or using applications in Firefox 4. Like new operating systems, a new browser version may not work with older web based applications or extensions that you install or use. What do we do in this case? We install the latest version of the preferred browser of our choice, and leave a secondary browser that we know works with our current web applications. In this way we are covered for the latest security issues for the majority of our surfing, but use an older browser for places we trust. 

As if malware isn't bad enough on the computer, new spyware has been found that, if downloaded, conferences your phone calls to malicious sources who can listen in for sensitive or vital information to use for their own purposes. Another piece of malware can transmit data from your phone to a remote server where it will be scoured for any logins to financial or other business related services.

As a small business, you have many functions that need to be run, but oftentimes technology takes a back seat, when it should be one of the critical aspects to secure. Do you have a backup procedure for your files and network? Do you have anti-virus protection and patch your systems on a consistent basis? Do you have a friend of a friend running your IT or do you have a professional group that is insured handling your sensitive data and knows what to do if your systems go down? 

A recent report about HP laptops was scathing about their Wi-Fi software spiking the laptops usage. A simple program that merely checks if a Wi-Fi adapter was turned on or off was causing the issue of spiking the CPU usage to 99% and killing the laptop's performance. A fix has been issued but is not automatically updated on laptops that have been affected.

Attending a security conference yesterday, I was stunned to see that statistic. From the Risk Management Association, 87% is the approximate percentage of Fortune 1000 companies that have computers that are infected with viruses, malware, and/or botnets. With malicious content like that on a network, it is an open door for cyber criminals to siphon intellectual content, financial data, and personnel records easily. In addition, these infected systems can be used to harm other computers out on the internet. 

The last of current internet addresses has been allocated, and there will be no more of Version 4 (IPv4) of Internet addresses. Do not fret, as Version 6 (IPv6) is already in place. However, is your company IP Version 6 compliant? Why is this a big deal? Imagine your current phone number (123) 456-7890. Let's suppose that there are no more numbers that can be given out. The government starts issuing numbers like (1234) 567890 – 123456 to new customers? How do you talk to these new numbers and, if you are new customer, how do you talk to people on old phone numbers? There has been a system in place for a few years to prep for this, BUT this means you need to make sure your network is capable of talking to both types of addresses. 

Kaspersky has reported a dramatic increase in the amount of attacks based from fake anti-virus program installs. The latest one, and one of the slickest looking, is "Antivirus 8". As soon as these programs are installed on a machine, it infects it with malware and other malicious software.

Verizon is suspected to announce its own version of iPhone tomorrow. They are also expected to allow unlimited data plans for those people to prove that their network is stable and can withstand the amount of over the air transmissions that the iPhone can throw at it.

Long time readers, but we have not vanished into the aether. Things have been busy for Renascence IT, but that does not mean we don't have time to keep you up to date. Recently Dropbox introduced its 1.0 version of their software. If you have not looked into Dropbox, we HIGHLY suggest that you do. Not only does this software sync files offsite (to the 'cloud'), but also syncs those exact files to another system that you install and log into with your Dropbox account. New features in version 1.0 include syncing only the folders you want so your work system might contain important documents, but not your music and those incriminating party photos from last week. The best part is that 2 GB of storage is free, while 50 and 100 GB storage amounts are available for $10 and $20 a month respectively.

A new type of malware is out that uses scare tactics to trick users into downloading software that hacks user's bank accounts. Users are shown a pop up ad that tells them that their computer is infected and the only way to solve the problem is to download a specific program. The user is asked to charge around $30 to a credit card to download the "safe" program. Now the user is not only out $30, but their computer is still infected, and a rogue company has the user's credit card information.