Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Several people have messaged me this morning asking if the viral notice to update their Chrome browser to the latest version is real or a hoax.
Well, as you know, hoaxes abound on Facebook, but this isn’t one of them.
If you haven’t done so already, you really do need to install the latest update for Chrome in order to prevent hackers from exploiting a very dangerous security flaw.
And you need to install this update right now because the flaw is actively being exploited as we speak!
Last week’s RicksDailyTips Weekly Newsletter explained why ransomware is so dangerous and gave you some tips for avoiding it. Well, things are about to get even worse.
Researchers at Cisco Talos have learned that new strains of ransomware will soon begin spreading like traditional viral “worms” without requiring the victims to click on a link.
In other words, the infection will occur automatically, with no user interaction required. [Read more…]
It seems that free public Wi-Fi networks are everywhere these days. In fact, you’ll probably need to look no further than the nearest fast food joint.
The widespread availability of public Wi-Fi networks is great for when we’re traveling or the rare times when the Internet is down at home for whatever reason, but they do have one serious downside: They are typically unsecured.
To keep things as simple and non-intrusive as possible, the owners of most public Wi-Fi networks make them available as open, non-encrypted networks that don’t require a password. Unfortunately, these networks can leave your sensitive data wide open to hackers. [Read more…]
Microsoft has announced that certain versions of Internet Explorer are vulnerable to being hacked due to a security flaw in the software code.
Machines running one of the affected versions of I.E. can be compromised by allowing a hacker to remotely execute malicious code on your system.
If Internet Explorer is installed on your system (and it almost certainly is), you’ll need to ensure that this update is installed ASAP even if you never use Internet Explorer to browse the Internet. [Read more…]
Do you own a Samsung Galaxy S4, S5 or S6?
If so, there’s a good chance that a flaw in your phone’s keyboard software has left your phone vulnerable to a hacking attack.
Fortunately, the vulnerability seems to only be an issue when the phone is connected to the Internet via an unsecured Wi-Fi connection. [Read more…]