Blue Ridge Technology

Digital security has never been more important for your business than it is today, and now a new report from the FBI has businesses scrambling to shore up their cyber defenses. Ransomware attacks are serious threats to businesses of all shapes and sizes, and the FBI recently warned about a new ransomware group that is taking an especially aggressive approach. The group is called Interlock— here’s what you need to know. Meet Interlock Interlock is a group of cybercriminals that first hit the scene around September of last year. They have made a name for themselves by attacking businesses and infrastructure in the US and Europe, including some fairly high-profile targets. Their usual attack starts with a threat and a request for ransom. Once Interlock gains control of a business’s systems, they steal sensitive information and then lock businesses out via encryption. Next comes the ransom demand: pay up within a few days, or else. If you don’t, then your files all end up on the dark web—n...

Battery Life Battery life in your mobile devices is something most of us think about day by day. Our smartphones last the day if we’re lucky, and our laptops are even worse. Even though the batteries inside are larger, laptops have much heftier power needs, so they run through those batteries faster. That’s especially true when you’re doing resource-intensive work on your computer (things like photo or video editing, rendering, compiling, and so on). Device makers have responded with a power-saving feature, called things like Low Power Mode and Energy Saver. These limit a device’s capability, sometimes literally slowing it down or lowering max screen brightness, to limit battery drain. It’s a trade of performance for battery life. That makes sense if you’re white-knuckling it home on 5%, relying on your smartphone map to get you there. But on your laptop, it can get in the way of everyday computing tasks. Microsoft Windows already has an energy saver mode, but it’s an all-or-nothing so...