Blue Ridge Technology

Beware this malware: It "annoys" you into handing over login details There’s a new malware threat that’s been on the rise since August. This one’s a little…weird, to be honest. But because it’s unusual and unexpected, it’s working surprisingly well at tricking people into giving up their credentials and causing massive risks of data breaches and more. This week, we’re explaining how this malware works, why it’s been so effective, and how you can avoid getting sucked in. Meet Amadey: A New Breed of Annoyance Malware Amadey is what some call “annoyance malware”: it doesn’t lock up your data and threaten you for ransom, and it doesn’t do major damage to your computer or turn it into a botnet. It just emulates a problem with Windows itself and annoys you. And this particular version makes you think the only way to solve the problem is to log in and change your settings. You might already see where we’re going with this: the login link and screen are fake, of course. So if you ent...

Cybersecurity With all the talk of AI everything these days, it’s easy to wonder if a new generation of AI tools is going to create cybersecurity nightmares. Well, many leading cybersecurity firms aren’t worried about AI — at least not yet, and not in the ways we might think. And worst (or best?) of all, the solutions to today’s biggest problems are still actually pretty simple. Here’s what you need to know. New Tech that Could Become a Threat Much of the focus lately has been on a new generation of AI tools, like large language model (LLM) generative AI tools. These systems have the potential to be really powerful, no question about it. It’s not impossible to imagine a future where hackers create a sort of “malwareGPT,” a generative AI tool that creates malicious code. And that’s just one example of how AI tools could increase cybersecurity threats; there are plenty more. AI-powered tools could greatly increase the speed and scalability of creating malicious code, and it’s possible t...

Ever heard of a honeypot? (Outside of stories involving Winnie the Pooh.) It’s something Microsoft is using to continually hone and refine its digital security products and capabilities. In today’s post we’ll explain what Microsoft is doing to help keep users safe, plus what that does and doesn’t mean for your business. Honeypots, Explained “Honeypot” is a term for any kind of scheme or setup that uses bait (honey) to lure people into a trap. You might hear it in your favorite show about government agencies or law enforcement or fictitious spies. The good guys set a trap, maybe involving a cache of (fake) diamonds or an Old Masters painting that looks just easy enough for the bad guys to try and steal. But it’s a trap, of course, and the good guys invariably catch the bad guys. (Seems like it always goes that way in Hollywood, huh?) Honeypots work in reverse, too: real-world bad guys often use nothing more than the promise of money to lure unsuspecting law-abiding citizens into their s...

In late September 2024, life changed for many of us in Western North Carolina. Our team was fortunate to make it through the storm safely, with relatively little damage or disruption (at least compared to many in communities near us). We usually use this blog to share tech tips and IT advice, but this blog post is going to be a little different. First, we want to let clients and readers know that we’re open for business . We’re already supporting our clients around the region, helping them resume normal operations and recover any data or infrastructure that was lost to Helene. Second, we want to pause and think of the hundreds of thousands of individuals and organizations impacted by the storm. Communities around us have been devastated. None of us have ever seen anything like this, and who would have thought that our mountain communities needed to prepare for a hurricane? Full recovery will be months, maybe years, in the making. Observations on Serving as an MSP Post-Helene Our organi...

You’re ready for the upgrade… what’s holding you back? Is your business still running on Windows 10? If so, it’s time to start making plans to switch. Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 in October 2025. That means the end of security updates, the end of customer service, and the end of fixes to broken functionality. In other words: Windows 10 will gradually get less stable, more vulnerable, and harder to troubleshoot. Why Some Businesses Delayed Making the Switch When Microsoft released Windows 11, they included some relatively stringent hardware requirements. These were intended to increase overall security of Windows 11, which they did. But the reality was that at the time some older hardware wasn’t capable of upgrading. Businesses that still relied on that kind of hardware didn’t have a choice: they simply couldn’t upgrade. Other businesses were worried about legacy applications, including some applications where the software maker no longer exists. There was no hope of upda...

That dreaded Blue Screen of Death. Ah, the Blue Screen of Death: It’s been a staple of Microsoft Windows going back decades — way back to 1993’s Windows NT 3.1. Usually a last-ditch response, the BSOD indicates that your Windows PC has crashed — and nothing’s coming back until you restart. What’s so frustrating about the dreaded blue screen is that it seemingly comes out of nowhere. No warning, and no recourse whatsoever. Once it hits, your computer’s unresponsive until you restart, and whatever you were working on might be lost for good. The Real Cost of the Blue Screen of Death Sure, BSODs are annoying, but the real cost is more than your sanity (and that of your employees or team members). Whenever a PC goes down, your work stops — maybe just for a minute or two, maybe for five. But we all know that a five-minute interruption is more than a five-minute impact. Your entire train of thought gets derailed, and any state of flow or high performance is disrupted. Plus there’s the not-so-...

Don’t sleep on this simple, effective security booster Microsoft is making waves once again with some of its customers with a security change. We think it’s a good one — in fact, we think every business should implement this change anywhere they can. Here’s what you need to know, both about the specific change in requirements for some Microsoft users and for why your business should make the switch regardless of whether you’re technically required. What’s Changing: Azure Accounts Must Switch to MFA Microsoft is changing the way Azure users will log into their accounts . Eventually every Azure product will require all accounts to log in using multi-factor authentication, or MFA. MFA is a more secure method of authenticating, or logging into an account. Instead of providing just a username and password combination, logging in using MFA requires an additional factor (method) of authentication (establishing that you are who you claim to be and that you are authorized to use the account you...