small and medium business – Page 2 – Computer Security Articles

How to securely erase your Android device in 3 simple steps

January 13, 2024 admin Android, google, Mobile, Security, small and medium business, smartphones

It’s an inevitable moment in the smartphone-owning cycle: the point at which a newer, shinier model comes along and your trusty old device is no longer needed.

Maybe your company bought you a new Android phone. Maybe your old one was getting too slow. Or maybe you just love electronics and couldn’t resist the lure of whatever eye-catching new Android gizmo your favorite manufacturer started selling.

Whatever the case, it’s common nowadays to find yourself with an extra phone. And while there are plenty of practical uses for an old Android device, there’s also a time when the best choice is to sell, donate, or otherwise pass it along.

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ComputerWorld Independent

For December, an exceptionally light Patch Tuesday

December 15, 2023 admin microsoft, Security, small and medium business, windows

Over the past year, we’ve seen Microsoft make radical improvements in its browser stability and significant positive changes to its Windows update communication and telemetry strategies. And this month’s Patch Tuesday release brings with it an incredibly light set of updates — maybe the fewest number of updates I have ever seen.

There are no zero-days, which is a great finish to 2023, though Windows gets three critical updates and Visual Studio will require immediate attention due to several re-releases of past critical application patches.

The team at Readiness has created a helpful infographic to outline the risks associated with each update in this last release of 2023. One note of caution: we have seen several potential updates to older patches (October/November) potentially coming down the release pipeline from Microsoft. It might be worth checking in during the upcoming holiday break to see whether there are any out-of-band patches for the Windows ecosystem.

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ComputerWorld Independent

What is Stolen Device Protection for iPhone and how does it work?

December 13, 2023 admin apple, iPhone, Mobile, Security, small and medium business

Take that, iPhone thieves — Apple is about to make it even more difficult to use its smartphones when you have no right to do so. In the upcoming iOS 17.3, it is testing out a new security system called “Stolen Device Protection.”

Here’s a look at what this is, and what it does.

Stolen Device Protection explained

Apple’s beta notes explain: “Stolen Device Protection adds an additional layer of security in the unlikely case that someone has stolen your iPhone and also obtained your passcode.”

The company explains the features this way:

Accessing your saved passwords requires Face/Touch ID to be sure it’s you.
Changing sensitive settings like your Apple ID password is protected by a security delay.
No delay is required when iPhone is at familiar locations such as home and work.

The idea is that Stolen Device Protection introduces another obstacle that makes it difficult for thieves to gain access to your data, erase it, or delete the device to factory fresh status for resale.

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ComputerWorld Independent

How Fake Lockdown Mode can fool you into a sense of security

December 5, 2023 admin iOS, iPhone, Mobile, Security, small and medium business

In yet another illustration of just how devious criminals have become in their attempts to undermine security, Jamf Threat Labs has identified a potential tampering technique that puts a device into Fake Lockdown Mode.

As most people know, Lockdown Mode is an extreme protection feature for iPhone designed to protect the kind of high-value targets some of the nastiestsurveillance and state-sponsored attackers aim for.

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ComputerWorld Independent

Apple secures WebKit as global ransomware attacks surge

December 1, 2023 admin apple, iOS, MacOS, Mobile, Security, small and medium business

If nothing else, Apple’s most recent emergency security update should be considered proof of an increasingly tense security environment.

Enterprises must understand that while Apple maintains a pretty solid ecosystem — certainly at present the most secure, even according to Cisco — that doesn’t mean it’s entirely safe, and every Apple customer needs to get wise to the growing proliferation of threats.

With more and more business users turning to the company’s solutions, it’s important to get ahead of the threat.

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ComputerWorld Independent

Critical zero-day flaws in Windows, Office mean it's time to patch

November 17, 2023 admin microsoft, Microsoft Office, Security, small and medium business, windows

We are now in the third decade of Microsoft’s monthly Patch Tuesday releases, which deliver fewer critical updates to browsers and Windows platforms — and much more reliable updates to Microsoft Office — than in the early days of patching. But this month, the company rolled out 63 updates (including fixes for three zero-days in Windows and Office).

Updates to Microsoft Exchange and Visual Studio can be included in standard patch release cycles, while Adobe needs to be included in your “Patch Now” releases for third-party applications.

The team at Readiness has provided a detailed infographic that outlines the risks associated with each of the updates for November.

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ComputerWorld Independent

Windows Hello for Business: Passwordless authentication for Windows shops

November 8, 2023 admin Endpoint Protection, Security, small and medium business, windows, Windows 10, windows 11

Microsoft is trying to get rid of that sticky note that you see taped to everyone’s office monitor. You know, the one with the password on it. The one with all of the old passwords crossed off one by one, each one subtly different from the last — an exclamation point turning into an ampersand, a one into a two.

Enterprises have really done this to themselves. The passwords that most organizations require — which have to be complex, with long strings of numbers and specially cased phrases with some (but not all! heavens no, not the one you want) symbols — are difficult to remember. There’s no hope except to write them down. Then you have to reset them every so often. Then they get recycled. And on and on the cycle goes.

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ComputerWorld Independent

New Jamf CEO John Strosahl on Apple in the enterprise, Jamf's future

November 1, 2023 admin apple, enterprise mobile management, Mobile, Security, small and medium business

John Strosahl became Jamf CEO in September. He isn’t a new face and was one of the first employees then-incoming (now former) CEO Dean Hager hired eight years ago. Together, they managed the company’s transition into a leading Apple solution integrator across the enterprise, medical, and education industries.

I caught up with both men to talk about Apple’s growing place in the enterprise and Strosahl’s plans for the future of Jamf.

The culture thing

Mac admins like to say that Jamf has a unique company culture, which is particularly visible at the company’s public events.

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