Author: nathan

   What's New Disable Windows 10 Notification - Our policy regarding Operating System (or any other major) upgrade has always been to proceed with caution and upgrade when a) you have a need to, b) your environment (hardware, software, etc.) supports it and c) it's stable.  Microsoft has been pushing Windows 10 since it's release and has gotten more and more aggressive with the rollout with each monthly update cycle.  Our policy is still, if you are currently on Windows 7 and have no business requirement to upgrade, stay with Windows 7.  If you have Windows 8.x, Windows 10 is a slight upgrade but Windows 7 is battle tested, well supported by third parties and is scheduled to be supported by Microsoft until January of 2020.  All of that said,…

   What's New Hacker Playdate - The Q2 2016 Hacker Playdate "Business Edition" is scheduled for 23 April 2016 at the Bartow County Library.  Huge thank you to the Bartow County Library for all of their support and for the new venue.  Additional details are available here. Ransomware & Rogue Tech - We continue to see computers that are infected with ransomware that encrypts the data and demands a ransom (generally payable by Bitcoin) and rogue tech support calls.  Backup your data.  Don't let strangers onto your computer.  That is all (for now) :)  Windows 10 -  We are seeing a LOT of folks who are installing Windows 10 'accidentally'.  Two very important things to note on this are that you have 30 days from the time you do the…

   What's New Hacker Playdate - The Q1 2016 Hacker Playdate, despite some weather concerns, was a huge success.  Many thanks again to our sponsors and participants Cisco ASA Vulnerabilit - A vulnerability in Cisco ASAs (firewalls) was disclosed last week that could allow a remote attacker full access to an affected Cisco ASA.  Scans for vulnerable devices have been very aggressive since the disclosure Cisco, to my knowledge, has not released an update to patch the hole.  Some sites have reportedly disabled host-to-site IPSec VPNs as a result.  Additional information is available at SANS here. DMA Locker - We have reported on ransomeware (I believe that this was our first article on it back in 2013) and it looks like the genre has experienced another evolution.  This latest variant encrypts…

   What's New Hacker Playdate - The Q1 2016 Hacker Playdate is right around the corner and we're starting to get excited.  We're doing this one a little different and are specifically targeting the presentations and the villages toward business owners, managers and IT professionals.  One of the new things that we're trying this time is a CTF village with multiple vulnerable machines and several 'attack' laptops setup to give attendees an opportunity to try the tools and tactics that attackers are using in the wild (and we'll have solutions available for those who just want to get to the end).  As always, it's free and open to anyone.  We will be in the meeting room at Primo's Mexican Cocina from 12:00pm EST to 5:00pm EST on Saturday, 23 January…

   What's New Hacker Playdate - We're still ironing out a few details but the next Hacker Playdate is scheduled for 23 January 2016.  Expect additional details soon. Windows 10 -  We are seeing a LOT of folks who are installing Windows 10 'accidentally'.  Two very important things to note on this are that you have 30 days from the time you do the upgrade to revert back to the previous version of Windows and that Windows 7 will still be supported until 14 January 2020.  That said, unless you *need* to upgrade to Windows 10 (your software / hardware vendors require it), we recommend sticking with Windows 7 until a specific need to upgrade arises for production environments. Updates Executive Summary -  An appropriate theme for this month would…

   What's New Hacker Playdate - It's a little early but, with the upcoming holidays, the next Hacker Playdate will be on us before you know it.  We will be announcing more details in the December newsletter but the next Hacker Playdate is scheduled for 23 January 2016.  Windows 10 -  Most of you have heard about, many have signed up for and some have installed Microsoft's new version of Windows, Windows 10.  We have been testing Windows 10 for several months now in preparation for the release and can support it but our position has not changed regarding new Windows releases.  If you have a business or other *requirement* pushing you to upgrade, do so in a planned / controlled fashion and test, test, test before installing into a…

   What's New October is National Security Awareness Month -   We should always observe security best practices, but October is National Security Awareness Month and is a good time to take a look at what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong and what we can do better from an InfoSec / NetSec / OpSec standpoint.  Additional information is available here. Windows 10 -  Most of you have heard about, many have signed up for and some have installed Microsoft's new version of Windows, Windows 10.  We have been testing Windows 10 for several months now in preparation for the release and can support it but our position has not changed regarding new Windows releases.  If you have a business or other *requirement* pushing you to upgrade, do so…

   What's New Hacker Play Date v2.0 -  The first Hacker PlayDate (HPD) ended up being a much bigger success than we expected and, as a result, we will be hosting the second Hacker PlayDate (HPDv2.0) on 12 September 2015.  HPDv2.0 will be held in the meeting room at Primo's Mexican Cocina (next door to Cyber Tech Cafe) so we won't be quite as cramped.  The format will be similar but we plan to have some additional booths (tables) setup for things like the lock-picking, Raspberry Pi, etc. (the lock picking table seemed to be a big hit at HPDv1.0).   If you are interested or if you know someone else that would be interested in a demo (anything from lock picking to physical security to hacking a Raspberry Pi to setting…