If there is one thing that we all know about 5G it is that it’s coming? It’s been coming for years. For a decade, the next biggest thing has been 5G. We’ve routinely heard statements like “When we get 5G…” Many of which came from people that had no idea what the “G” in 5G even means (It literally stands for “generation”). Today, we’ll separate the facts from the fiction to get you up to speed on 5G.
Colleges and universities are part-time homes to more than 16 million people, and employ over 1.5 million more. Most of them utilize the networks set up by the college’s bevy of IT administrators. If you consider that most people have difficulty keeping viruses and other malware off of their personal computers, opening up networks that facilitate this kind of user demand can be tricky. Today, we ask: can a campus’ network every truly be secure?
Consider the following question: is your business’ Internet connection feeling a bit sluggish lately? If you haven’t examined your bandwidth since you started your business, then there’s a chance that you aren’t being as productive as you could be if you took a closer look at it. We’ll discuss some ways you can make the most of your IT solutions with proper bandwidth.
Net Neutrality in the United States has been a hot-button issue for almost anyone that uses the Internet. 2018 saw the 2005 principles governing the preservation of an open Internet repealed completely, leaving control over the Internet in the hands of huge companies that deliver Internet services to people. Today, we’ll go back over Net Neutrality and provide an update of what has happened since the Federal Communications Commission repeal of net neutrality laws.
There are a variety of web browsers out there, and that variety is much larger than most people think. While most can list off the main ones: Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox, there are many more to consider. However, the real question remains: which one is best for you?
When the Internet goes down in the modern office, chaos ensues. The only way to subdue the panicked masses is to provide answers and to resolve the issue, ASAP. If you happen to find yourself in such an Internet-less predicament, then be sure to follow these three troubleshooting tips.
While the Internet of Things has made many common tasks much easier through automation, it has also increased the potency of particular cybersecurity threats. For an excellent example, one only has to turn to the increasing prevalence of botnets that are powered by IoT technology.
The Internet is an amazing tool, only bolstered by our ability to access it wirelessly - but what do you know about the devices that allow us to access it, namely, modems and routers? Do you know what each does? For today’s tech term, we’ll dive into exactly that.
Chances are, if you’ve spent any amount of time around a computer, you’ve heard of browser cookies. What you may not have heard, is what these cookies do. For today’s Tech Term, we’ll explore what cookies are, and what they do.
Here’s a question we want you to take a second to consider...How much do you rely on the Internet? The answer for almost everyone is that it is essential to your current quality of life. Technologies have been developed, industries have been launched, and literally billions of people use it every day, making it one of the predominant inventions in human history. At the heart of this phenomenal technology is bandwidth.
Technology has become essential to workplace functionality and personal productivity, but while the long hours spent glued to our tech during the workday are a necessity, the time we spend at home with our personal devices is definitely voluntary. However, more and more people - children especially - are finding it harder to let their devices power down.
Your server room may be somewhat intimidating to consider. Wires everywhere, mechanical boxes that just sit there, lights blinking intermittently, and the distinct feeling that you probably shouldn’t touch anything - not even a proxy server, whatever that is. However, to help you get to know your tech, the proxy server is exactly what we discuss below!
We’ve all become so adapted to the conveniences of the Internet that it’s difficult to remember what society was like before it. This becomes especially obvious when watching old movies. How odd is it to see characters do pre-Internet activities like go to the library to research information and use a phone book? These are just some of the ways that the Internet has dramatically changed society, for better and perhaps for worse.
Malware has traditionally targeted industries that are exceptionally profitable. For example, hackers like to target retailers for their wealth of financial credentials. One of the most profitable industries, entertainment, is also subject to similar torment, including Steam, the PC gamer’s most valuable tool for gaming binges.
Steam is a web-based distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation, which provides multiplayer gaming, among various other services, to gamers. In a way, it can be compared to cloud computing. With over 140 million active users, Steam is one of the most prominent online gaming retailers out there. In October 2013, it was estimated that 75 percent of all games purchased online were through Steam. If nothing else, Steam is a valid online computing outlet that hackers want to take advantage of.
Over time, gamers’ accounts can accrue a “value” of sorts, be it through a collection of purchased game titles, virtual items, or currency, all of which can potentially be stolen by hackers. These items might seem trivial, but they’re giving rise to a new type of hacker on the Steam scene; those who take advantage of Steam Stealer, a new type of malware that helps both experienced hackers and would-be chumps steal in-game items, currency, and other “valuable” assets from other users. This entrance to cybercrime could be seen as a slippery slope. If users find that they can steal in-game items and other valuables, they might one day decide to see if they can exploit other aspects of their rivals’ accounts, like their real-world wallets.
The most dangerous part of Steam Stealer is how easy and affordable it is to take advantage of. People who have no knowledge of malware can easily use Steam Stealer thanks to its included specializations, user manuals, APIs, and its price tag of $15. Other malware-as-a-service offerings are much more expensive and complicated to get involved with, while Steam Stealer makes it exceptionally easy to get a taste of the cyber crime scene. And once they get a taste of the proverbial slice of the Steam-pie, what’s stopping them from eating the whole thing?
In the end, these hackers won’t be satisfied until they hit the real goldmine: the wealth of financial information stored from purchasing games, and other products, through Steam’s online interface. Steam experiences its fair share of account takeovers (around 77 thousand accounts suffer from this every month), so it’s logical to assume that many hackers are after the lucrative information stored within these accounts.
As is to be expected, the best way to keep Steam safe from hackers is to practice a combination of two-factor authentication, and to remain vigilant for potential phishing scams. Changing passwords regularly also helps to keep your security in top order, and keeping a close eye on URLs can prevent potential account compromisation before it occurs.
Do these tips sound familiar? They are all, more or less, valuable tips to help you stay safe online, whether at work or at play. Just because Steam is a gaming platform doesn’t mean that there aren’t valuable lessons in cybersecurity that can be learned from it. Gamers see their precious inventories as valuable assets that cannot be replaced, much in the same way that a business owner must protect their organization’s network infrastructure and the data stored within.
If you’re concerned about the status of your data security, reach out to us at 630-549-6199. While we might not be able to help secure your Steam library, we can most certainly help with your business’s data security practices.