Blue Ridge Technology

Rein In Notifications from Chrome and Windows to Regain Your Sanity If you’ve been using tech for a few years, you can probably appreciate just how powerful, efficient, and even intuitive today’s computers are compared to what you used 10 years ago or longer. Processor speeds have increased exponentially, and other under-the-hood tech improvements have helped, too. But where we’ve really seen improvements in usability and intuitiveness is in the software and operating systems running on our computers. Now that they have more power available to them, software and OS makers have been able to do some pretty awesome things. Like the humble notification. Notifications: A Powerful Tool, But Easy to Abuse Take notifications, for one. Best case, notifications are intuitive and immensely helpful, letting you know about a crucial email, a new Slack message, or even something like a severe weather alert or a missing child. But like absolutely everything new, notifications have a dark side. Even t...

Most ransomware victims would pay up if attacked again If you read much in the news — or in tech news specifically — it’s easy to grow a little numb to the constant reporting of digital threats and attacks on businesses. This is especially true if your business has yet to face a cyberattack: your policies and practices have gotten you by so far, so they must be good enough … right? The truth is, ransomware attacks are a threat, one that businesses like yours must take seriously now, not once you’ve already been attacked. How Ransomware Attacks Work Ransomware attacks can start like any other digital threat. Bad actors could go on a phishing expedition and steal the credentials of an unwitting employee. (We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: two-factor or multifactor authentication eliminates the vast majority of phishing threats.) Or threat actors could identify a vulnerability in your system through more sophisticated computer wizardry. Whatever way the bad guys find a way i...