.:23 January 2016 Hacker Playdate:. Real-World Information Security for the Small to Medium Business    The first Hacker Playdate of 2016 has been scheduled for 23 January.  While the event is free and open to anyone, we are targeting business owners, leaders and IT professionals with presentations and demonstrations on real-world threats and countermeasures in the small to medium business.    Where, When and How Much? When - Saturday, 23 January 2016 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm EST Where - Cyber Tech Cafe & Primo's Cantina, 148 West Main Street, right across from Findley's Butcher Shop on Main Street.  We will be using the meeting room at Primo's. How Much - FREE Who should attend: Business owners, leaders and managers.  Do you own a business or are you responsible for managing…

  Cyber Tech Cafe will be closed on Monday, 7 September 2015 in observance of Labor Day.  We will reopen during normal business hours on Tuesday, 8 September 2015 and will respond to all support requests submitted over the holiday weekend at that time.  If you need emergency support before Tuesday, 8 September 2015 please call the office and choose the emergency support option, submit an emergency support request via our helpdesk website or send an email to the helpdesk with the word 'emergency' in the subject.

According to this article on ThreatPost, Microsoft has released an out-of-band patch to resolve an issue that could allow a remote attacker to gain full access to a vulnerable system by tricking the user into opening a malicious document or visit an infected website.  I do not (yet) have confirmation, but no additional user interaction seems to be required (i.e., if you visit an infected site, it won't prompt you).  Some important notes: Allows a remote attacker to consistently exploit the vulnerable system. Affects all support versions of Windows. Windows Server 2003 is not being updated.  Support for Windows Server 2003 died last Tuesday and Microsoft is making it clear that there will be no more support. For those keeping score at home, this is not CVE-2015-2387 (a vulnerability in the…

The fake tech support calls have been making the rounds again and we have seen countless cases where the victims realize that they're being scammed only after it's too late.  Today though, that wasn't the case.  Today, there was no victim.  I wanted to briefly share what happened in hopes that others may benefit from this fast-thinking would-be victim. I received an email from a long time client with the subject 'Windows Emergency'.  My heart sank for a moment, fearing the worst, until I read the message.  It was very short but the client had received a telephone call from 'tech support' warning that they [the 'tech support'] had identified a Windows Emergency.  The client's response was perfect.  Rather than letting the 'tech support' onto their computers or discussing the matter further with the fake…