Monthly Archives: January 2022

• A better remote desktop connection

  Posted on January 31, 2022 at 02:45 CST by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 19.05 • 2022-01-31

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  Alas, it’s not the one built into Windows.

  A remote desktop connection (RDC) lets you access and use a distant PC just as if you were sitting at its keyboard, whether that second device is in the next room or halfway around the world.

  For yourself, RDC provides a way to access files and apps from anywhere. Need something from your PC back home, when you’re on the road? No problem: Use RDC to connect and send yourself the files you need.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.05.0 (2022-01-31).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 19.05.F (2022-01-31).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, Remote Desktop Connection

• Tried, tested, and true: Max Stul Oppenheimer

  Posted on January 31, 2022 at 02:44 CST by Chris Husted • Comment in the Forums

  PROFILES

  

  By Chris Husted

  For most people, graduating from either Harvard Law School with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree or from Princeton University in engineering with distinction (cum laude) would mark a lifetime achievement.

  For Max Stul Oppenheimer, writer of the Legal Brief articles for AskWoody, graduating with both marked only the start of long career specializing in law and technology.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.05.0 (2022-01-31).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Profiles AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Profiles

• NotesMan — It’s the simple things

  Posted on January 31, 2022 at 02:43 CST by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  Need a program that excels at doing just one thing? Look no further.

  Last week, we discussed Jochanan Agam’s Info-Base software — and boy, did I get some emails. No, they weren’t bad emails. It was just some of you folks wanting a note-taking program that is very simple and does just one thing — record your notes. I’m right there with you, so I found NotesMan by “OnlyDeLtA.” It may be just the program you’re looking for. It’s simple, it’s free, it’s fast, and it’s portable!

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.05.0 (2022-01-31).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Freeware Spotlight AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Database, Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, Notes

• The other ransonware scam

  Posted on January 31, 2022 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  You can’t decrypt your way back to normal.

  In addition to all the other irons I have in the fire, I help moderate a group that assists information technology professionals in dealing with ransomware as well as other security issues.

  When people ask to join, we try to vet them as best as we can. The vast majority of people joining the group are consultants and firms in the “Managed Service Provider” category who assist small businesses with their technology needs. But there is a second group of people attempting to join, which I’m going to call “the other ransomware scammers.”

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.05.0 (2022-01-31).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Ransomware, scams, Tech Support Scams

• Have you done a privacy checkup?

  Posted on January 30, 2022 at 00:58 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Video here

  January 24 to January 28 was data privacy week. It’s okay if you missed it, rather we should have a privacy year. Start by reviewing this checklist to check out the privacy settings and in particular, their privacy disclaimers of the tech you use.

  While many recommend using VPN services to keep prying eyes away from their data, I was surprised by this listing of recommended VPN providers by consumer reports. It was not the vendors I would have thought would have been recommended. Furthermore  they suggested following “important safety steps, most of which are free, include using a password manager, setting up multifactor authentication, enabling HTTPS-only mode on your web browser, and blocking ads or trackers with a tool like Privacy Badger or uBlock Origin. ”  What did you do this week to increase your privacy?

  Links that I refer to in the video include:

  Data Privacy Week – Stay Safe Online

  Privacy Badger

  uBlock Origin – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US) (mozilla.org)

  DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US) (mozilla.org)

  No More Google

  Manage Your Privacy Settings – Stay Safe Online

  Privacy, Tech Help Patch Lady Posts

• Closing out January

  Posted on January 28, 2022 at 23:29 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  
  It’s nearly the end of the month and it’s time to recap and review our computer systems for the month. Updates have been disruptive this month to say the least.

  For those of you that are not Plus members, one of the key items I work on and update several times during the month is the “Master patch list”. In it I recap the updates released during the month and track if you should – or should not – install the updates.  I place the listing on an Excel spreadsheet and also save it in csv, pdf and html formats. For those of you that would like a sneak peak, you can see it here.  Note I’ve opened it up for a sneak peek at the end of the month for your use and review for anyone – plus member or not – given that this has been a rough month.

  For those of you that are Plus members, remember that I update the spreadsheet on a regular basis and post additional notes on this page. (Plus members only)

  Currently we also send out an alert that gets emailed when we change the MS-DEFCON and alert you to patching issues. In addition, there is a twitter account you can follow as well as sign up for text alerts.

  Question for those that follow the twitter account and the blog?  Would you want me to post a new post when I update the Master Patch Listing?  I don’t want to send out an email or an alert as we reserve those actions for the newsletters and the MS-DEFCON alerts, but I can certainly put a note here so that you know when it’s updated. Please let me know in the comment section as to your preferences!

   

   

  Security MS-DEFCON 4, Patch Lady Posts

• Apple security updates out for January 2022

  Posted on January 26, 2022 at 13:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Just a reminder to those that have and use Apple devices, today there are several security updates out for MacOS, Apple TV, iPhones, iWatch.  Just the other day we had to turn off an iWatch and turn it back on to get it resync’d to the watch.

  Included in these updates are several zero day fixes.

  Apple security updates

  Name and information link	Available for	Release date
  Security Update 2022-001 Catalina	macOS Catalina	26 Jan 2022
  macOS Big Sur 11.6.3	macOS Big Sur	26 Jan 2022
  macOS Monterey 12.2	macOS Monterey	26 Jan 2022
  tvOS 15.3	Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD	26 Jan 2022
  iOS 15.3 and iPad OS 15.3	iPhone 6s and later, iPad Pro (all models), iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, iPad mini 4 and later, and iPod touch (7th generation)	26 Jan 2022
  watchOS 8.4	Apple Watch Series 3 and later	26 Jan 2022

  Apple Patch Lady Posts

• MS-DEFCON 4: A very complicated patching month

  Posted on January 25, 2022 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 19.04.1 • 2022-01-25

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Thanks, Microsoft, for a very messy January.

  This month will be somewhat convoluted for patching, due to the high number of side effects. To make it worse and more complicated, Microsoft has left it up to us to figure out what to install — rather than pushing out the fixed updates via Windows Update or WSUS. The side effects for those with servers are extreme. In some cases, you’ll need to install two updates before rebooting the servers you manage to successfully patch this month.

  I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4 in spite of these difficulties, but business users must be cautious.

  Anyone can read the full AskWoody Plus Alert 19.04.1 (2022-01-25).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AskWoody Plus Alerts, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4, Patch Lady Posts

• 38 years ago an Apple was born

  Posted on January 24, 2022 at 23:30 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Steve Jobs presenting the first Mac in 1984 – YouTube

  

  “Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and their ingenious team at Apple announced on January 24, 1984, the launch of the Macintosh 128K, the original Apple personal computer.”

  On This Day: Apple release first Macintosh computer – Press Las Vegas

   

  Apple Patch Lady Posts

• Twenty years of trustworthy computing

  Posted on January 24, 2022 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ISSUE 19.04 • 2022-01-24

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Are we more secure now?

  It’s been 20 years since Bill Gates wrote the “trustworthy computing” memo and had Microsoft’s developers take a coding pause so they could be trained in how better to write secure software.

  Twenty years later, are we more secure? Do you feel more secure?

  I’m not sure I do. You know I watch this every hour of every day, and it sure feels like we are doing the same updating and patching dance over and over, without feeling more secure. We are promised that the hardware and software we buy will meet the safety promises. We certainly deserve that — period.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.04.0 (2022-01-24).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 19.04.F (2022-01-24).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Bill Gates, Patch Lady Posts, security, Windows

• Inaccessible backups, and a dead laptop

  Posted on January 24, 2022 at 02:44 CST by Fred Langa • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  How can you repair what you can’t get at? Today’s column covers two problems caused by very different access issues.

  In one case, a subscriber is locked out of her old, obsolete backup files; she can neither access nor delete them and thus cannot recover the huge chunk of disk space they occupy.

  In another, a different subscriber needs to data-wipe (“sanitize”) the hard drive of a fatally damaged laptop. But how can he wipe the drive when the laptop won’t even turn on?

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.04.0 (2022-01-24).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, backup, destroy data, LangaList

• ‘Fake’ HDMI 2.1: The standard that isn’t

  Posted on January 24, 2022 at 02:43 CST by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  If you’re interested in buying new monitors for your business or home that support the latest HDMI 2.1 standard — such as many displays that were demonstrated at CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) earlier this month — you may be surprised to learn that HDMI 2.1–certified monitors may not necessarily support the enhanced features that have been heavily promoted.

  The shocking truth is that the HDMI Licensing Administrator (HDMI LA) — an organization in San Jose, California, that has authority over the trademarked term HDMI — is certifying as “HDMI LA compliant” monitors that support as few as one of the at least seven new features that HDMI 2.1 offers over 2.0.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.04.0 (2022-01-24).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, hardware, HDMI, Public Defender, Standards
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