17Mar 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

How to handle Open Source Software and Security.

Computer PC Tips - bits and bytes
How to handle Open Source Software and Security. Open source has always left so many questions unanswered on whether your comfort level for software security is high or you have sleepless nights. The keys for open source have the following open questions, can someone else view the source and modify it  or do you rely on internal software developers fix the security flaws.   Open source is mostly freely written software by developers who love to write software code and do not mind submitting their projects for all to use. When using open source, the internal developers need to test the piece out and whether it can be used in the production systems.  It is up to the developer to test the code on a machine that can be safely…
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23Feb 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Four steps to reduce the pain of Windows 7 installations using cumulative updates

Computer PC Tips - bits and bytes
Four steps to reduce the pain of Windows 7 installations using cumulative updates Excellent article by Ed Bott about reinstalling a fresh Windows 7 machine.  A few simple steps and you can cut down the amount of time necessary to install Windows 7.  As an technical person the time and effort to reinstall any operating system can be long and boring.  Various times in the day you need to stop to review what point you are up to and go back to the other tasks at hand. Windows 7 celebrates its eighth birthday in 2017.  Based on Microsoft there will be a 10-year support plan so the phase out will happen sometime in 2020.  There has been numerous updates over the past 8 years so it does take a lot…
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10Feb 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Getting Started with WinZip 21

Computer PC Tips - bits and bytes, Software Releases
Simple tutorial on how to use WinZip 21 How to Zip Files WinZip is the perfect tool for collecting and compressing files that you want to share or archive. In addition, when sending and receiving confidential files, it makes for an easy-to-use security tool. Let’s look at two ways to zip files: one quick, one with more options. How to zip a group of files quickly This is a quick way to zip files that are stored in the same location. It takes very few steps, but still gives you access to settings for encryption and other options. Select the files that you want to add to the Zip file (they must be in the same location). Right-click one of the selected files and choose Add to Zip file... The…
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10Feb 2017 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Cybersecurity risks expected to increase in 2017

Computer PC Tips - bits and bytes, Software Events
Cybersecurity risks expected to increase in 2017 The year 2016 saw a rise in cyber-attacks, both ransomware and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) on small and large corporations globally.  Close to 50 percent of companies were subjected to some form of cyber-ransom attack in 2016.  Whether the ransom was medical records or street lamps, the threat is real.  Major DDoS attacks compromised many websites including prominent ones such as Twitter, Netflix, PayPal, and Pinterest. Yahoo was hit with the biggest data breach in history with information being stolen from 500 million user accounts. Company concerns should focus on these items Data loss. Service Outage. Damaged Reputation. Customers or partners loss. According to a recent report by Forbes on cybersecurity risks in Asia-pacific in 2017, DDoS attacks will be an increasing threat to…
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16Dec 2016 by richard@baronsoftware.com

Learning from the Yahoo hack and how to protect yourself

Computer PC Tips - bits and bytes, Software development Concepts
Learning from the Yahoo hack and how to protect yourself How and what can you do to protect yourself or your company from being hacked from malware or virus ?  Some of this are very simple steps that you can do on a daily basis. Safe steps to protect yourself Step 1 - Make sure the email you are receiving is from someone or company you know before you do anything.  Opening up an email can trigger an attempt by an outside party to install something on your system. Step 2 - Make sure your workstations and servers have up to date virus and malware software installed.  Staying on top of updates is now necessary due to the daily virus creations that are being done.  You need to make sure that…
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