Tech Spot

There is a misconception out there that if you have a Mac, you are exempt from getting hacked. However the real answer is yes Macs get hacked. In many cases this is due to social hacking (read my previous blog on this). Computer operating systems in general are similar enough that malware developers can easily create a version for each operating system. Are you less likely to get hacked if you have a Mac? The only way you are less likely to get hacked is to use quality tools and educate yourself on scams and cyber security. Just because you have a Mac will not automatically protect you from hacking. How to protect yourself on a Mac? Anti-virus is highly recommended for all Macs. I install Anti Virus on all Macs I manage. Not a free anti virus but a high quality anti-virus. See my blog on anti-virus. Also educate yourself about how scammers work because they are very sneaky and will convince you to navigate around the built in security features on your Mac and infect your mach...

Yes it is true, January 2020 is the end of the road for Windows 7. It is necessary to end use of this very popular operating system. At this point Windows 10 is a proven mainstream operating system. Some may not like windows 10 but now is the time to move on. Windows 10 is more secure than Windows 7 and it is here to stay.  So let's get you updated! How much will it cost to update to windows 10? Most (not all) Windows 7 licenses are allowed to upgrade to windows 10 for no license fee. If you are a DataCom Technologies Uptime Subscriber, you can upgrade with no service charge on any covered device! Otherwise a standard service fee will apply. This is all the more reason to subscribe! All new subscribers can upgrade to Windows 10 with no service fee.  Will I be able to keep all my applications when I upgrade? Most (not all) applications are written to upgrade to windows 10. An evaluation of your current applications is necessary to determine if any applicat...

Unfortunately in IT there are a lot of acronyms. And DDOS is no simple acronym. DDOS stands for Distributed Denial of Service, which does not give us any explanation. DDOS attacks can be the hardest and the scariest type of attack to deal with as a business owner. In my career I have only dealt with this on rare occasions. On the dark web there is software that can be purchased to launch a DDOS attack. This has made it very easy to launch these types of attacks. How does a DDOS attack work? An attacker will launch this sophisticated attack from multiple locations in an attempt to flood your network or website with so much traffic that it cripples you. Typically these attacks are targeted at a website and not a network. Generally these types of attacks are targeted at large companies. However DDOS like attacks can happen to small companies and residential. A hacker could make you apart of their DDOS attack by using your network resources to attack a large company. This will als...

Hacking is a very diverse word now. Hacking is something that has many different meanings. In the IT world we get the responsibility of dealing with all types of hacks even if they really do not fall into our category of work.  One of these areas that is not real hacking by IT standards is Social Hacking. Social Hacking does not involve any real computer expertise to do. Anyone who is good at lying or deception can be a Social Hacker. Real hacking involves real computer knowledge to break into accounts or computer systems and steal the information. Whereas Social Hacking is the practice of convincing you to give the hacker your information or pay them money. Why would you give a hacker your information? Social Hackers are scam artists, they intend you trick you in some way and steal your information. For instance a Social Hacker may call you and state that they are from your bank and they need to confirm some information about your account. In this process they will attem...

Passwords are an essential part of cyber security. In fact they are the oldest form of cyber security. Without a doubt you have used a password for something online, or on your computer. Passwords are important! But how you store them is just as important as all the other elements of a password. Saving passwords is one of the hardest subjects for users. How do you remember all the passwords? Why can't I use one password for everything? To answer all of the questions surrounding  passwords a whole series of articles could be written. For the sake of this article we will assume you use a different password for every account. How to save passwords? The most common way passwords are stored are sticky notes on a desk or in a note pad. Often the note pad says "passwords" on the front. A note pad is not necessarily a bad way to store your passwords, if you store your notepad in a safe that only you have the key. However these notepads are often left on desks for a...

Of all the questions I am asked this is the hardest to really answer because this idea is very abstract. To answer this question I will have to define computer networking as a whole. Computer networking is a vast amount of computer that talk to each other. This network (the internet) is made of all sorts of devices connecting to it and they do all sorts of different tasks. IOT is the next generation of this vast network. IOT stands for  "Internet of Things" . Your probably are already thinking, isn't the internet already an internet of things? Yes it is, however these things are more automatic than your computer or phone. These IOT networks when deployed do not need any user interaction to function. They are sensors and devices that perform simple or complicated tasks and report to a central server. An example of a IOT network can be a connected network of traffic sensors. This network could compile the data of traffic light changes. Other sensors could count how ...