What the heck *&#@ did you say about custom software development?

Here is a guest article from Tim Martin of Action Point (www.action-point.com ). I asked for permission to run his blog because it is a very important message. The only thing missing is his unique Irish accent. Tim writes:

What the *&#@ did you just say?

This was the reaction I got from a potential client after our initial meeting to discuss their need for a customized software.  Two days later we signed a contract and they have become one of our most valued clients.

 

It’s about time for a little straight talk around here…

As the head of business development in the US for Action Point I’ve never been accused of being indirect or subtle. In the technology industry in general but especially when dealing with custom software companies, straight talk is a rare commodity. So what did I say to the client?...

What the heck *&#@ did you say about custom software development?2016-03-28T15:00:00-07:00

What is it like to upgrade to Windows 10?

I finally got around to upgrading my Lenovo notebook from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. I can tell you in short it was a relatively fast and easy upgrade. My Lenovo is fairly quick and I have all solid state drive storage so that probably helped make things go fast.

Here is how my upgrade went:

  • I did the pre-download option of Windows 10 so all the files were already on my system when I started the upgrade.
  • Once launched the Lenovo ran for about five minutes with a green screen of...
What is it like to upgrade to Windows 10?2019-05-14T07:29:29-07:00

What is Phishing, aka Social Engineering, and How Do I Avoid It?

I recently warned of a very large recent upsurge in ransomware.  Now I must warn you to beware of new successful social engineering exploits.  What is social engineering?

Wikipedia has a good definition:

Social engineering, in the context of information security, refers to psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. A type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a traditional "con" in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex fraud scheme.

In other words, phishing, the internet term for social engineering scams is simply a way to trick you into doing something so that you reveal vital information like bank account info, tax return info or send money unwittingly to a devious person.

Let me tell you about social engineering exploits in three recent real world examples.  In the first case, City of Hope in Duarte, CA (City of Hope employees fall victim to phishing attack) had three employees targeted by a phishing scam. They unwittingly revealed protected health information (PHI) which by law must be kept confidential. In the other two cases, the loss of data was much more vast. Both Seagate Technologies (Seagate Phish Exposes All Employee W-2’s) and Snapchat (Snapchat falls hook, line & sinker in phishing attack: Employee data leaked after CEO email scam) had an employee get tricked into providing W2 information on all past and current...

What is Phishing, aka Social Engineering, and How Do I Avoid It?2017-09-18T00:27:31-07:00

Tips on Renewing Warranties on IT, Server and Software

Here is a good blog on whether or not you should renew your warranties on firewalls, servers, routers, software, etc. It is written by a friend of mine, Ken Zimmerman, at Trivalent Group out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He provides [...]

Tips on Renewing Warranties on IT, Server and Software2016-03-08T19:12:28-08:00

This New OpenSSL v2 Protocol Flaw Merits Watching

Fortunately OpenSSL is publishing a fix on Tuesday - OpenSSL versions 1.0.2g, 1.0.1s - to deal with the protocol flaw. Many systems are vulnerable to an attack that may be comparable with Heartbleed. “This flaw is more than a product [...]

This New OpenSSL v2 Protocol Flaw Merits Watching2020-04-08T23:15:21-07:00