Technology Tips

5G Cellular Service Is Beginning To Roll Out

March 9, 2018 by Joseph Martin

AT&T has big plans for their future and yours. If they’re your carrier of choice, and if you live in the cities of Dallas, Atlanta, or Waco, then you stand to be on the cutting edge of the changes the company has in store. Those locations have been selected to be the first to receive AT&T’s 5G network upgrade.

Often, whenever a new technology is touted, you hear the phrase “this changes everything” associated with it. However, after listening to an AT&T spokesman talk at length about the capabilities of the new 5G network, the phrase is much more than just hot air and wishful thinking. From the sounds of it, it really does change everything.

Here’s what a company official had to say on the matter:

“We are working with our vendors on an aggressive schedule to help ensure customers can enjoy 5G when we launch the network this year. We will add more 5G-capable mobile devices and smartphones in early 2019 and beyond.

After significantly contributing to the first phase of 5G standards, conducting multi-city trials, and literally transforming our network for the future, we’re planning to be the first carrier to deliver standards-based mobile 5G–and do it much sooner than most people thought possible.

What this means for our customers in these cities is that they will be the very first to access this next generation of wireless services. The experience we’ve gained by leading the industry transformation to network virtualization and software control will help our customers to get the most out of 5G. Ultimately, this means new experiences with augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR), future autonomous cars and delivery drones.

In order for these new experiences to become reality, you need mobile 5G powered by SDN and edge computing. We’re making the cloud smarter, faster, and local.”

By all accounts, there are exciting times ahead. If you’ve been thinking about switching to AT&T, this might be a good reason to do so.

Joseph Martin

President & CEO
I hope you enjoyed this article. My mission is to take your stress away from dealing with IT problems. Call (252) 565-1235 or send me a message at our contact us page if you have a question, comment or want help.

Android Ransomware Infections Declined in 2017

March 8, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Android users have a reason to cheer. According to the latest report by ESET, the number of ransomware attacks targeting Android devices declined in 2017. The decline represents a bit of an anomaly, given that in 2017, the most common type of malware attack (by a wide margin) was ransomware. Given that security researchers can’t name a particular reason for the decline, it’s important not to read too much into the data. Whether there are declining figures or not, ransomware attacks still played a prominent role in last year’s threat landscape across a whole spectrum of devices. This year is shaping up to be no different.

Where Android-based ransomware attacks were concerned, several old standbys were still seeing frequent use, including both Charger and SimpleLocker. The most prominent new player in 2017 was DoubleLocker, which was first seen in the wild last October. It is unique in that it was the first Android malware to take advantage of a vulnerability in the Accessibility service to gain admin rights and infect users.

Interestingly, Android-based banking Trojans have been abusing the Accessibility service for literally years. It’s not immediately clear why hackers didn’t begin using it as an attack vector where ransomware was concerned until the appearance of DoubleLocker. Now that it’s on the scene, we can expect to see an increasing number of similar attacks.

In any case, given the fact that ransomware is poised to dominate the threat landscape in 2018, all users would do well to stay on their guard. The slight decline in ransomware attacks against Android users, (while a welcome sight), is probably going to be short-lived. If there’s one thing you can be sure of, it is that 2018 will be another record-breaking year where hacking attacks are concerned.

Joseph Martin

Sim Cards Can Now Be Built Into Processors

March 7, 2018 by Joseph Martin

SIM cards have long been a source of frustration for equipment manufacturers. With the relentless drive to produce smaller and smaller devices, the SIM card is a hurdle to be overcome. It’s relatively large, and when you account for the necessary housing, it becomes quite the design challenge.

That challenge seems to have been met, however. ARM, a prominent chip design firm, has recently announced the development of the iSIM. The iSIM is built into the processor, and according to the company, only takes up a fraction of a millimeter squared. To put that figure into context, today’s SIM cards measure 12.3 x 8.8mm, so ARM’s new design represents significant space savings indeed.

There’s a catch, though. Although the new design is ready, and is already in the hands of ARM’s business partners for evaluation, there’s no guarantee that cell phone providers will accept the new technology and incorporate them into the next generation of phones.

ARM doesn’t think this will be an issue, although phones weren’t at the forefront of the company’s mind when they developed the iSIM. Their main goal was to build the integrated SIMs to help power the next generation of tiny IoT devices, but this, ARM contends, is the very reason why phone carriers will welcome the new technology with open arms. After all, more devices connected to their respective networks means more opportunities to profit.

In any case, time will tell the tale. ARM is expecting that their business partners will readily embrace the new technology, and we should begin seeing products on the market utilizing the iSIM by the end of this year. This will be a fascinating innovation to watch. If it succeeds the way ARM hopes,, it will lead to the creation of a whole new generation of even smaller devices.

Joseph Martin

New Apple Update Available for Character Bug Solution

March 6, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Recently, another “exotic character” bug was found in iOS. If someone sends this particular character (a special character that’s part of the Indian language pack) to your phone via any messaging app, it will not only crash your phone, but cause a variety of messaging apps to stop functioning.

When the bug was initially reported, Apple treated it as a somewhat low priority item and announced their plan to fix it with the release of iOS 11.3 later this spring. The company’s loyal user base, however, had other ideas. Faced with a growing chorus of demands for a more immediate fix, Apple has incorporated it into the 11.2.6 release which is now available.

If you’re set up to automatically receive OS updates, there’s nothing for you to do, and if you haven’t already encountered this issue, you never will. If, on the other hand, you are in the habit of manually applying OS updates, this is one you won’t want to miss. While the chances of someone sending this exotic character to you are quite low, there’s nothing to be gained by exposing yourself to needless risk.

Long time users of Apple’s products will recognize a trend here. This is hardly the first time an exotic character or other unusual event has caused iOS to crash. Just last month, there was a similar (though less serious) issue with another special character. Last year, it was discovered that a properly formatted URL could crash any system running iOS. Not long after that discovery was made, a five second video went viral that, if watched on a device running iOS, would crash it.

In any case, the user base spoke and Apple listened. Grab the latest update and you won’t have anything to worry about. At least until the next unusual crash bug is discovered.

Joseph Martin

Known Bug On Macs May Be Causing Lost Data

March 6, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Do you own a Mac? Do you use APFS “sparse disk images?” If so, be aware that under certain conditions, your trusty computer may allow you to copy important data into the void where it will be lost forever, without giving you a heads up first.

This unusual error was recently discovered by Mike Bombich, the creator of Carbon Copy Cloner, which is a popular Mac backup application. According to Mr. Bombich, the bug is only likely to impact a small percentage of users, but if you’re one of the unlucky few who lose important data, that’s going to be small consolation.

Here’s how the bug works, and where it can get you into trouble:

Let’s say you’ve created a 100 GB APFS-formatted sparse image whose data is stored on a remote network share.

Time passes, and you copy 90 GB worth of data to the remote network share, which leaves just 10 GB for use by your sparse image, but therein lies the problem. The sparse image still thinks it’s got the full amount of space to play with.

At this point, if you copy a 20 GB file, the copy function will appear to succeed. In the short run, you’ll still be able to access and open the file until you reboot your machine. After restarting, 10 GB of the 20 GB file copy vanishes, and the file becomes corrupt and unusable.

Details of the bug have been forwarded to Apple, and the company is in the process of reviewing them. At this point, no ETA has been given on when a fix might be made available. Until it is, be very careful when using sparse images, because the system will let you copy your files right into oblivion.

Joseph Martin

Traditional Hard Drive Technology Is Evolving

March 5, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Rumors of the death of HDD technology have been greatly exaggerated. The advancement of solid state technology and its increasing rate of adoption has been largely responsible for this, but don’t count old school HDDs out just yet. They still have many important advantages, and recent breakthroughs should add further to the longevity of the tech.

Right now, the biggest advantage that HDDs have over their solid-state counterparts is sheer size. While it would be prohibitively expensive to purchase 20+ Terabytes of solid-state storage, getting that amount (or more) of HDD storage is a trivial undertaking, a fact that it’s impossible to discount.

Even more exciting though, consider the recent breakthrough in 3D nano-magnets. These were invented at the University of Cambridge, and stand to completely change the game. They allow data to be stored and processed in three-dimensional space, which will not only increase HDD storage space exponentially, but should see similar gains in terms of speed of access.

Another exciting recent breakthrough is a new magnetic system that turns heat into motion, which could be used to power miniaturized IoT sensors and actuators. Such a system could also be applied to HDD technology by using the heat to power lasers, which would write data using the heat from the system itself, leading to an incredible boost in operating efficiency.

Finally, consider the invention coming out of the Imperial College of London. Researchers there have figured out a way to write magnetic patterns onto nano-wires, which the research team claims could mimic the function of the human brain. While this technology is still in its infancy, imagine the possibilities of having a computer, or even parts of a computer (like your HDD) powered by something that mimics the function of the human brain, and the dazzling possibilities that open up.

All that to say, while HDD tech might be a little long in the tooth, it’s not dead yet. Not by a longshot.

Joseph Martin

IRS Labeled Email Could Contain Ransomware

March 5, 2018 by Joseph Martin

There’s a new strain of the “Rapid Ransomware” making the rounds, and because of how it’s being transmitted, it’s destined to have a higher than average rate of infection. The new strain was first discovered by Derek Knight. It is disturbing because it claims to come from the IRS, and will feature subject lines like “IRS Urgent Message-164.”

The body of the email then goes on to say that the recipient owes some amount of money in real estate taxes, and “helpfully” includes instructions for how to settle in the attached file. Inside the zipped file, the user will find a word document. You’ll need to click on “Enable Editing” to see the file, and unfortunately, the moment you do, you’re doomed. “Rapid” will scan the target computer for data files and encrypt them, appending each with the “.rapid” extension.

As soon as the malware finishes encrypting your files, it will automatically open “Recovery.txt” which will display details on how much you’ll have to pay the hackers to get your files back. Unlike most other ransomware strains, this one will configure itself to start every time you login to the computer, so if you pay the ransom to get access to your files again, but fail to completely remove the malware, you’ll be facing the same problem the very next time you use the machine.

Observant users will take note of the fact that the email address is not a .gov and likely not be taken in. Unfortunately, many people will look no further than the subject line and immediately begin following the instructions contained in the email, which is obviously the reaction that the hackers are hoping for.

As ever, protecting yourself from threats like these comes down to two things: Education and vigilance.

Joseph Martin

40 Percent Of All Login Attempts Are From Bots

March 5, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Here’s a statistic that is as disturbing as it is frustrating. According to the latest “State of the Internet/Security” report for the fourth quarter of 2017, as published by Akamai, bot-traffic accounts for a staggering 43 percent of all login attempts. As bad as that figure is on its face, it’s far worse for companies in the hospitality industry, where the figure is an almost unbelievable 82 percent.

The reason? Hackers are increasingly using bots to perform “credential stuffing” attacks.

Although human traffic still dominates the web, bot traffic is rapidly catching up. According to Akamai’s estimates, not counting streaming video, bot traffic accounts for 30 percent of the total, and that figure increases every year. In fact, even though bot traffic is still a minority in absolute terms, some industries already see more bot traffic than human traffic.

TicketMaster is a great example of this. The web’s premier site for purchasing concert tickets online is almost unusable by humans these days, because virtually all of their traffic is bot-driven, with bots often being used to buy every available ticket the moment they become available, so they can be resold later at a hefty premium.

Akamai’s Martin McKeay had this to say about the report: “Increased automation and data mining have caused a massive flood of bot traffic to impact websites and internet services. Although most of that traffic is useful for internet businesses, cyber-criminals are looking to manipulate the powerful volume of bots for nefarious gains. Enterprises need to watch who is accessing their sites to differentiate actual humans from both legitimate and malicious bots. Not all web traffic and not all bots are created equal.”

These are wise words, and it bears some consideration. How much of the traffic coming to your business website on any given day is human?

Joseph Martin

New Bug Discovered in iOS That Can Disable iPhone Apps

February 28, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Last year, Apple had to fix a “special character” bug in their Message app that was more of an annoyance than anything. This year, a new special character bug has been found, but this one is much more serious and could allow an attacker to crash your phone and block access to a variety of messaging apps.

The bug is specific to iOS 11, so if you’ve got an older version, you don’t have anything to worry about. The company has already announced that it will be fixed in the upcoming release of iOS 11.3.

Unless you’re in the habit of getting messages in Telugu (Indian language), you’re not likely to see it, because the bug relies on one of the special characters utilized in that language pack. Once you receive a message containing the special character, your phone will crash. Even after you restore it, you’ll find that you’re not able to access iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Gmail, or Outlook for iOS. Although if you use either Telegram or Skype, these appear to be unaffected.

Unfortunately, you don’t have a lot of control over who sends text messages to you, so until the patch is released this spring, there’s not much you can do except to be mindful that it could happen.

If you’re a long time user of Apple products, then you know that this is hardly the first time that strange things have caused the OS to crash. Just last month, it was discovered that a properly formatted URL could cause a system crash. In 2015, researchers discovered that a properly formatted text string could cause iMessage to crash. Just last year, a five-second video caused iPhones around the world to crash. All that to say, keep an eye out for strange text messages, and definitely upgrade to iOS 11.3 as soon as you get the opportunity to do so.

Joseph Martin

Smart TV’s May Be Tracking You And Vulnerable To Hacks

February 27, 2018 by Joseph Martin

Do you own a smart TV? More than half of all television sales in the US last year were smart TVs, so chances are decent that you own one. If you do, be aware that it may be collecting far more data about you than you think.

Recall that last year, Samsung, (one of the top smart TV manufacturers) found itself in hot water when it was revealed that the TV could listen in on conversations, record them (for better voice recognition) and save them on a Samsung server.

Those issues still persist to varying degrees, but a recent Consumer Reports study underscores something most people in the tech business have known all along. Smart devices really aren’t all that smart, at least when it comes to security.

The Consumer Reports study concluded that most smart TVs and associated technologies like the Roku have only the most rudimentary of security features and can easily be hacked, giving the hackers total control of your TV. This includes the ability to turn it off, on, change the channel, and monitor your viewing habits. Given that, these TVs can also be voice-controlled. Once a hacker is in control of your set, he could monitor any conversations that take place near it without your knowledge.

In addition, the most recent smart TVs come with a feature called Content Recognition. For example, if you watch the latest episode of the Walking Dead (whether on AMC or Amazon Prime or some other streaming service), the next time you pull up a web page on your PC or smart phone, you’ll start seeing advertising related to the Walking Dead.

This, of course, gives any would-be hacker a much deeper view into your viewing habits and history.

The upside is that most of these features can be deactivated if you have the patience to sift through the television’s menu system. Of course, if you do that, then it’s no longer a smart TV, and thus, not worth the extra money you spent on it.

As ever, the bottom line is this: These kinds of risks aren’t going to go away on their own. Until and unless smart device makers start taking security more seriously, we’re going to keep hearing about potential or actual abuses.

Joseph Martin

5G Cellular Service Is Beginning To Roll Out

Android Ransomware Infections Declined in 2017

Sim Cards Can Now Be Built Into Processors

New Apple Update Available for Character Bug Solution

Known Bug On Macs May Be Causing Lost Data

Traditional Hard Drive Technology Is Evolving

IRS Labeled Email Could Contain Ransomware

40 Percent Of All Login Attempts Are From Bots

New Bug Discovered in iOS That Can Disable iPhone Apps

Smart TV’s May Be Tracking You And Vulnerable To Hacks

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