I had to mention this just due to the sheer irony of it. Microsoft has released a gadget that will countdown to the end of support for Windows XP, however since it's a gadget it will only run on Vista or Windows 7.
I thought that was pretty funny.
Obviously this is most likely intended for system administrators on corporate networks that are still in the process of migrating off of Windows XP, it's still funny that the only way to get a countdown timer for XP support is to not be on XP.
So, for all you XP users out there, there's only a few years left! Time to upgrade!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Epsilon Data Breach - What To Do?
I've had a couple of my clients contact me after they read about the data breach that occurred at Epsilon that was announced last weekend. They were curious as to why I didn't post about it on my blog.
The short answer is "I was busy."
However that doesn't mean that I don't think that this is a serious issue. I just think that if my clients are following the best practices which I've outlined in several other posts, they won't have to worry about this particular breach.
Will the data that was obtained be used in phishing attempts? Almost certainly. Will those attempts be sophisticated? I believe so. It's still not a reason to panic.
I fall back to my default position vis-à-vis email security. If a company contacts you via email with a link, and you weren't expecting it, don't click on it. Call the company, or contact them via their website (getting there manually, of course) and verify that the email is legitimate. Never enter any account, credit card, or personal information in an email reply or a form linked via email. If in doubt, delete the email and contact the sender.
I trust that my clients (all of whom are brilliant and successful in their own fields, and circumspect by training if not by default) will "do the right thing" when it comes to email use and security. I don't think I have to be "chicken little" every time a new breach occurs.
So, the "long" of it is, loyal reader, I trust you, even if I can't trust marketing corporations.
The short answer is "I was busy."
However that doesn't mean that I don't think that this is a serious issue. I just think that if my clients are following the best practices which I've outlined in several other posts, they won't have to worry about this particular breach.
Will the data that was obtained be used in phishing attempts? Almost certainly. Will those attempts be sophisticated? I believe so. It's still not a reason to panic.
I fall back to my default position vis-à-vis email security. If a company contacts you via email with a link, and you weren't expecting it, don't click on it. Call the company, or contact them via their website (getting there manually, of course) and verify that the email is legitimate. Never enter any account, credit card, or personal information in an email reply or a form linked via email. If in doubt, delete the email and contact the sender.
I trust that my clients (all of whom are brilliant and successful in their own fields, and circumspect by training if not by default) will "do the right thing" when it comes to email use and security. I don't think I have to be "chicken little" every time a new breach occurs.
So, the "long" of it is, loyal reader, I trust you, even if I can't trust marketing corporations.
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