Newsletter Archives

• Brute force vs. local admins

  Posted on October 24, 2022 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Microsoft recently added new protections to ensure that ransomware operators can’t use a brute-force attack to discover the Local Administrator account’s password.

  The company introduced a new policy that provides “account lockouts for Administrator accounts.” Beginning with the October 11, 2022, or later Windows cumulative updates, a local policy will be available to enable Local Administrator account lockouts. As described in “Account lockout available for Local Administrators” (KB5020282), the capability is available for almost all versions of Windows dating back to Windows 7 and Server 2008.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.43.0, 2022-10-24).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security Administrator account, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Brute-force cracking, local account, On Security, Patch Lady Posts

• The ASR GUI tool is safe

  Posted on June 13, 2022 at 02:44 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Most antivirus programs flag ASR GUI as infected. Those results are false positives.

  In my most recent AskWoody MS-DEFCON Alert, I recommended a tool to help you set preventive attack rules, otherwise known as ASR (Attack Surface Reduction) rules. I’ve recommended ASR GUI tool for years because Microsoft doesn’t provide an easy GUI to set rules for standalone computers.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.24.0, 2022-06-13).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security, Patch Lady Posts

• Dealing with MFA

  Posted on June 6, 2022 at 02:41 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  In my excitement about the three-day weekend for Memorial Day, I left my phone at the office.

  In years past, I would merely confirm that the phone was safe and sound at the office by using a finder app such as Find My Phone or Life360. Then I’d just get the phone the next time I was at the office. Yes, I used to be able to live without the phone for a day or so.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.23.0, 2022-06-06).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Multi-factor Authentication, On Security, Patch Lady Posts

• Gearing up for cyberwar

  Posted on April 25, 2022 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Once upon a time, I used to publish maps showing the location of each water pump in the city where I live.

  Fresno residents rely on the underground water supply and pump much of the drinking water from various wells throughout the city. And then Fresno — like every other city — realized that publishing information about critically important infrastructure items, such as drinking water, probably wasn’t wise. That was especially driven home after 9/11; governments realized that they were handing over helpful data to those who might use it to attack us.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.17.0, 2022-04-25).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, cybersecurity, On Security, Patch Lady Posts

• Security isn’t just a Microsoft thing

  Posted on November 1, 2021 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Here at AskWoody, we concentrate on Microsoft patch days and security issues.

  But insecurity, privacy, and protection of your sensitive information aren’t just a Microsoft thing. Attackers go where there are people, and computers, to attack. Recently, an ad claiming that Chromebooks were immune to ransomware caught my eye. While makers of Chromebooks can state that they do not have the operating system targeted by ransomware, that’s not to say they are immune from all security risks. There should be a certain amount of paranoia on every platform.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.42.0 (2021-11-01).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Backup, On Security, Patch Lady Posts, updates

• Is the cloud unsafe?

  Posted on May 10, 2021 at 01:00 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Using the cloud isn’t always a bad thing.

  During this year of the pandemic, we’ve pivoted from doing many things in person to many things online. In my industry, one of the key changes is moving from in-person meetings to online meetings via services such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Another is doing more and more financial transactions online, including accounting for them.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.17.0 (2021-05-10).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Cloud, On Security, Passwords, Patch Lady Posts

• Patch Lady: Making your tech toys secure

  Posted on January 21, 2019 at 19:48 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  The holidays often bring exciting new technology into your home. But tagging along with those new toys are potential threats to your personal security.

  Here’s how to ensure that your digital devices are keeping you safe from online predators.

  See Susan Bradley’s On Security in issue 16.2.0 of the AskWoody Plus Newsletter

  Other AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security, Patch Lady Posts