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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Blackberry Device Support Is Now Officially Gone

You may find many people who would argue that the iconic Blackberry was ahead of its time.  It was in many ways the godfather of the entire smartphone industry. When it was initially released it was an absolute game changer.

Of course, time allowed other companies including tech giants Apple and Google to catch up and ultimately surpass what the Blackberry was capable of. It was clear quite some time ago that the sun had essentially set on the once ubiquitous device.

What you may not have known was that the Blackberry was still supported until very recently.  In fact, it wasn’t until September of 2020 that the company announced the formal end of life for the product which was set for January 4 of this year (2022).

That day has now come and gone. At this point the party is officially over for Blackberry.  All of its related services including Blackberry Messenger and Blackberry email are now gone.

There’s a short message on the company’s website announcing this fact.

It reads simply:

“As of this date (January 4, 2022), devices running these legacy services and software through either carrier or Wi-Fi connections will no longer reliably function, including for data, phone calls, SMS and 9-1-1 (emergency) functionality.”

It is truly the end of an era and Blackberry was given a Twitter send off as people around the world read the announcement of the final curtain call for the technology. Most of them were speaking in fond and wistful terms about what was a revolutionary piece of technology when it was first introduced.

Farewell Blackberry.  You were truly ahead of your time and the digital ecosystem will be a little bit dimmer without you in it.  You will be missed.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

4 things to do to ensure your business continuity planning is a success

4 things to do to ensure your business continuity planning is a success

Working on creating a contingency plan for your business? That’s great! Here are 4 things you need to consider when preparing your new business continuity plan.

Audit of your business continuity plan
Having a business continuity plan alone is not enough. You need to audit it at regular intervals to ensure it is up-to-date and relevant. Often, business continuity plans aren’t used for years, and may be obsolete or irrelevant by the time an actual emergency occurs.

Creating a team for business continuity
Constitute a team for your business continuity project. Decide who will take ownership of implementing the business continuity in the event of an emergency. Break down the business continuity plan into smaller elements and decide who is responsible for each of them. Also, remember to designate a back up for each person in the team.

Mock Drills and Dry Runs
After your business continuity plan is ready you need to check if it really works. A dry run will tell you if it is really effective and also point out to loose ends, if any, that you can fix before the actual emergency.

Don’t forget a debrief
In case you do end up using your business continuity plan, make sure you do a debrief. It will help you determine the effectiveness of your business continuity plan. The brief should focus on identifying the losses you incurred from the disaster, the time taken for implementation of the business continuity plan, the key positives of implementation of your business continuity plan and also offer suggestions, if any for improvement. Irrespective of the size of your business, business continuity planning is indispensable. Bigger companies often have their own staff (IT as well as non-IT) for business continuity planning, but for SMBs to have their own business continuity planning team can be a bit of a strain on their resources. Consider teaming up with a MSP who is experienced in disaster recovery planning, so you don’t cut corners now to regret later.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Purple Fox Trojan Delivering Malware Via Popular Messaging App

A research team from Minerva Labs are working in conjunction with the MalwareHunterTeam.

They have recently been tracking a Trojan called Purple Fox and have published a warning about it.

The group behind the Trojan is now distributing their malicious code disguised as a Telegram installation file.

If you’re not familiar with that name Telegram is one of several online messaging apps available on the web. The Trojan has been around since at least 2018 and the hackers who control it have tried a number of different ways to get their malicious code onto unsuspecting desktops.

The use of Telegram as a masking agent is new and the group is also now breaking their malware up into several small files. That makes it less likely to be detected and the researchers have been able to confirm it.  They found few AV engines capable of detecting a Purple Fox installation and it is worrisome indeed.

The team behind Purple Fox isn’t resting on their achievements either.  They have been steadily adding features and functionality to their code. These new features include a new .net backdoor dubbed “Fox Socket” spotted by Trend Micro in October of last year (2021) and Guardicore Labs discovered a version of the code with wormlike capabilities which allowed the variant to spread with blinding speed.

In addition to that, the malware comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit variants so this one is not to be underestimated.  Purple Fox may wind up being one of the biggest threats on the landscape in 2022.

Of course, it’s early days yet and we haven’t seen what other nasty surprises that the hackers of the world have been cooking up over the holiday season, but the bottom line is that Purple Fox is one to watch.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

FTC Enforcing That Businesses Patch Log4j Java Security Issue

By now you’re almost certainly aware of the Log4j Java issue.

It’s a serious and fixable flaw relating to java logging.

Recently the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a chilling warning to anyone who hasn’t yet fixed the flaw and protected against the vulnerability.

The FTC’s statement reads in part as follows:

“The FTC intends to use its full legal authority to pursue companies that fail to take reasonable steps to protect consumer data from exposure as a result of Log4j, or similar known vulnerabilities in the future. 

Failure to identify and patch instances of this software may violate the FTC Act.

The Log4j vulnerability is part of a broader set of structural issues.  It is one of thousands of unheralded but critically important open-source services that are used across a near-innumerable variety of internet companies. 

These projects are often created and maintained by volunteers, who don’t always have adequate resources and personnel for incident response and proactive maintenance even as their projects are critical to the internet economy.

This overall dynamic is something the FTC will consider as we work to address the root issues that endanger user security.”

The FTC has already made it clear that they’re not playing around with this issue either.  Not long ago in 2019, they hit Equifax with a staggering $700 million fine because of customer data exposure.

The FTC clearly has the muscle to make this threat stick. So if you haven’t already installed the remedy for Long4j, do it now before you lose track of it. Keep an ear to the ground for other similar issues.

Fines of the sort that the FTC is threatening are enough to rock any business back on its heels. So don’t take any chances.  Stay vigilant out there.  It’s going to be an interesting year.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Google Working Towards Easier Integration Between Android And Windows

If you’re managing a company of any size and interested in copying from some other firm’s playbook, Apple is almost always a good choice.  Even the folks at Google seem to think so.

The search giant recently announced a plan to tighten the integration between Android/Chrome and Windows to create a seamless and hassle-free user experience.

One important first step down that road is Google’s introduction of “Fast Pair.”  Working with Acer, HP, and Intel, the company is aiming to make it quick and easy to pair your Windows PC with your Android phone.

Once the link between the two has been established users can then easily set up Bluetooth accessories, sync text messages across interconnected devices, and even share files using the company’s “Nearby Share” feature.  Development is already well underway, and the company reports that users should see this new functionality appearing on select PCs later this year (2022).

The company is also extending the Fast Pair concept beyond just desktop PCs and is hoping to bring that same kind of functionality to a wide range of wearables, cars and even things like TVs and other smart devices.  For example, if you own a Chromebook it is already capable of detecting your Fast Pair-enabled headphones when you turn them on, allowing you to connect them with a single click.

That ties in with Google’s vision of Ambient Computing.  Ultimately the goal will be to tie all of your smart devices together to create a seamless whole that’s easy to use and vastly more convenient than the world we live in today.

It will undoubtedly be a long road.  Apple has a head start on everyone but all of the major tech companies are moving in that direction. It won’t be long before our already highly connected world is even more tightly integrated than it is today and that is a very good thing.

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