Jeff Fowler

Latest Posts from Our Blog

USB4

USB4 is coming in 2020 – What’s the difference?

By Jeff Fowler | September 23, 2019
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Earlier this month, the USB Implementation Forum (The industrial group that helps standardize and implement USB technology) finalized the specs for USB4. This means that it’s just a matter of time before you begin to see USB4 devices rolling out, which are expected in 2020. While a lot of the features already exist today, such…

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Is Biometric actually more secure?

Is Biometric actually more secure?

By Jeff Fowler | September 9, 2019
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With the latest in face recognition and other biometric technology coming to the consumer level, biometric security may begin to cross your mind. You may wonder “Is biometric actually more secure?”  The short answer is that it’s stronger than using a weak password, but not as strong as using a strong password. For more info…

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Windows Defender good enough

Security Alert – Update Warning for Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10

By Jeff Fowler | August 19, 2019
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At SandStorm IT, we typically suggest doing all updates (especially Operating System) as they become available to avoid security vulnerabilities, In the latest batch of Microsoft updates, there were some “known issues”. In this security alert, we’ll cover “What’s the issue?”, “What versions of Windows does it affect?” and “What can I do?”. What’s the…

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Data Breach

Data Breach: Almost 20 Million Patient’s Data Stolen in 2 Separate Medical Laboratory Data Breaches

By Jeff Fowler | June 5, 2019
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Just a few days after Quest Diagnostics reported that a data breach compromised the information of 11.9 million patients, LabCorp is reporting that it was breached as well, affecting 7.7 million additional records. What happened? An unauthorized user installed malicious code on the payment pages of the American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA), a 3rd party…

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Remote Desktop Vulnerability

Remote Desktop Vulnerability discovered in Windows XP, Windows 2003 & Windows 7.

By Jeff Fowler | May 17, 2019
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A recent update from Microsoft addresses a vulnerability in the Remote Desktop Service used in older versions of Windows, namely Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows 7. Given that both XP and Windows Server 2003 has been End-of-Life for a few years now, this is an unusual action for Microsoft. Here’s what Microsoft is…

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(VPN) APPLICATIONS ARE STORING COOKIES INSECURELY

Vulnerability Alert: Multiple Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications are storing cookies insecurely

By Jeff Fowler | April 18, 2019
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At SandStorm IT, we try to keep you up to date on the latest in tech news. This is especially true when the case is a potential vulnerability that could affect your business. A recent report from Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute is warning of an issue with multiple Virtual Private Network applications that…

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WINRAR

Vulnerability in popular tool WinRAR is being used to install malware

By Jeff Fowler | March 15, 2019
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“Earlier this month Check Point Research reported discovery of a 19 year old code execution vulnerability in the wildly popular WinRAR compression tool. Rarlab reports that there are over 500 million users of this program. While a patched version, 5.70, was released on February 26, attackers are releasing exploits in an effort to reach vulnerable…

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WHAT ARE GOOGLE ADS

What are Google Ads and How can my business benefit from them?

By Jeff Fowler | March 11, 2019
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So, what are Google Ads? If you’ve ever used Google, then you’ve likely experienced ads in the search results. “Google Ads” is the name of the advertising arm of Google. It allows advertisers to display clickable ads as paid placements within Google search results. It’s not easy to tell the difference between a sponsored and…

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Zero-Day Vulnerability Found in Google Chrome

Newly Discovered Zero-Day Vulnerability Found in Google Chrome

By Jeff Fowler | March 6, 2019
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In order to stay secure using Google Chrome, you need to update your browser immediately. There is a security vulnerability in the FileReader component of Chrome that could allow remote attacker to access memory and execute code to take unauthorized control of your machine. Here’s the official notice from Google: “The stable channel has been…

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5G NETWORK

What does the 5G network mean for me?

By Jeff Fowler | February 11, 2019
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With the talk of 5G revolutionizing the way we connect over the upcoming years, we wanted to shine some light on exactly what the 5G network is and what it means for you. What is the 5G network? “5G” is the name given to the latest (fifth) generation of mobile communications networks. Much like other…

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