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Data Breach

Data Breach: Macy’s customer data stolen after its online store was hacked

By Jeff Fowler | November 21, 2019
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According to Macy’s, their e-commerce website was breached in October. Hackers managed to steal information from unknowing customers as they shopped online. Overall, it’s a very scary situation that proves that data breaches can happen to anyone. Last year, online tech store Newegg was hit with a data breach that skimmed the payments page for…

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Solid State Drives

Solid State Drives, are they worth the expense?

By Matt Ballard | November 11, 2019
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Some people may not be familiar with the term Solid State Drives (SSD). Wikipedia defines a solid state drive as being a storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data persistently. A solid state drive differs from traditional hard disk drives in that they do not contain any moving components or…

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keep running Windows 7

How much longer can I keep running Windows 7?

By Josh Yarbrough | November 4, 2019
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With the End-Of-Life date coming soon for Windows 7, It’s inevitable that the beloved Windows Operating System is dying. It has that all too familiar terminal illness called End-of-Life. Microsoft has announced that it is pulling the plug January 14, 2020 on the version of Windows that most of us have come to prefer over…

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SELLING IN A 3RD PARTY MARKETPLACES

How can selling in a 3rd party marketplaces help my business?

By SandStorm IT | October 28, 2019
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When it comes to partnering with a third-party marketplace, the most appealing aspect of it is the multiple benefits you can get when you join. For one, there are so many products out there designed to help start and grow a business. Because of this availability of platforms, they are easier than ever to use.…

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Windows Defender good enough

Security Alert – Microsoft warns of vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and Windows Defender

By Jeff Fowler | September 24, 2019
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Microsoft is urging users of Windows 10 to update immediately. The flaw lies in Internet Explorer and allows an attacker to potentially install software, modify/view/delete data or even create new accounts. The vulnerability was found by a security engineer with Google’s Threat Analysis Group. The update is for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows…

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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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What is a Domain Name System

What is a DNS attack and how can I defend against it?

By SandStorm IT | August 5, 2019
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What is DNS? The easiest way to explain Domain Name Service (DNS) is to think of DNS as a phone book.  Computers access a DNS server to be able to look up a domain name and return IP address associated with it, much the same as you could use a phone book to look up…

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Windows Server 2008 R2 End-of-Life

Windows Server 2008 R2 End-of-Life Support is Near

By Justin Oliver | June 24, 2019
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Windows Server 2008 R2 End-of-Life Support is near. Windows Server 2008 R2 end-of-life mainstream supported ended back on January 13, 2015. However, there is a more critical date looming. On January 14, 2020, Microsoft will end all support for Windows Server 2008 R2. It seems like 2020 is a way’s off but updating an IT…

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