Lenovo caught (again) installing SpyWare and Malware on Computers! September 27, 2015
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: china, Chinese, cybersecurity, data theft, hacking, lenovo, Man in the Middle, MitM, rootkit, spyware
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I just saw on TheHackerNews Security Blog on a link I picked up on LinkedIn. If true (no reason to think it is not), this is truly bad business and shameful practices by Lenovo..AGAIN. Keep in mind that two years ago Lenovo (a Chinese company, BTW) was banned (Again..) from providing computers to the US Intelligence and defense services of Australia, the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand over spying issues. They were first banned in 2006! Then, in January 2015, Lenovo was caught…ONCE AGAIN..installing SuperFish malware onto refurbished laptops. SuperFish has a serious vulnerability which makes it vulnerable to Man in The Middle Attacks (MitM). Now, according to TheHackerNews Lenovo was caught in August installing a rootkit into their computers. This rootkit, known as the Lenovo Sevice Engine (LSE) installs into the BIOS on the computer. According to TheHackerNews: “One of the most popular Chinese computer manufacturers ‘Lenovo’ has been caught once again using a hidden Windows feature to preinstall unwanted and unremovable rootkit software on certain Lenovo laptop and desktop systems it sells.”
So what does this really mean for you…the consumer? If you want to buy a Lenovo I would only ask that you email me as I have a great bridge for sale in Utah and would love to introduce you to some Ukrainian friends who love to give high interest loans. Honestly, if you are going to buy a Lenovo after reading this, you probably deserve what you get. I can tell you that I would never own a Lenovo again (had one in the 1990’s). Fool me once…shame on you…fool me twice shame on me…fool me a third time? Seriously?
P.K. Subban…WOW!!…A True Hero!!…Go Habs Go! September 16, 2015
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: Canadiens, Childrens' Hospital, Donation, Hero, Hockey, Montreal, NHL, Subban
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In today’s world of pampered athletes who complain about their pool cover colors, use PEDs and generally act like pampered jerks by claiming that “Money doesn’t make me, I make money” (Floyd Mayweather), it is awesome to see an athlete who believes in using their wealth to help others. I am not a huge Hockey fan but I saw this article and had to comment. WOW. this man is a true hero. P.K. Subban of the Montreal Canadiens’ is not just a great player but is donating $10,000,000 to the Montreal Children’s hospital! Major respect to Mr. Subban! Thank you!! Go Habs Go!
Chris speaking at the 2015 AT&T Security Conference: “Mobile Retail Security” September 3, 2015
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: Breach, chip, compromise, EMV, hack, information, mobile, P2PE, PIN, risk, security
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I have been invited to co-present on Mobile Retail Security at the 17th Annual AT&T Cyber Security Conference. The conference is October 5th and 6th in Manhattan and will feature some amazing speakers including AT&T’s own CSO Dr. Ed Amoroso, Palo Alto’s CSO Rick Howard and “Dr. Chaos” Aamir Lakani to name but a few. If you are going to be in NYC on Oct 5th and/or 6th and want to attend…registration is FREE!...Check it out!!
Hacking, Facebook Fakers, and Felonies…What you don’t know can hurt you August 20, 2015
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: access, block, computers, control, cybercrime, facebook, hacking, information security, security, unauthorized, utah
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Consider this situation. You want to see what your ex husband/wife is up to in 2015 and try to access his/her Facebook account only to realize that you have been ‘blocked’! Oh the Humanity! in response you decide to set up a ‘fake’ account and go to his/her public page to download some content. No harm no foul, right? Not so fast brainiac from Smartron 5! Let’s take a closer look at this situation. You could be committing a crime…and a felony no less!
Many states, including Utah, have statutes (laws) against. ‘Hacking’ which is generally acknowledged as ‘unauthorized’ access to computer systems (this is a blog post so some more detailed info is not included). Since I live in Utah, I will use the Utah law Utah Computer Crimes Act (76-6-702) as an example. First…let’s lay some ground work. (more…)
My Confession about “The Other Woman”- Carly August 9, 2015
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: carly, CEO, conservative, debate, fiorina, GOP, HP, president, Republican
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I apologize for using some ClickBait to get your attention but I wanted to talk about “The Other Woman” in the 2016 US Presidential Race. Carly Fiorina. I watched the early debate without any real interest until I heard Carly speak. Carly Fiorina was impressive (IMHO) in the debates and really got my attention! The dig on Carly Fiorina has been a “fake scandal” (see how I did that? Using a Clinton cliche?:) related to her role as CEO of HP and her ‘laying off’ of 30,000 employees. Like many readers of this blog, I lived through the Dot Com Crash. At the time I worked for the World’s largest Hosting provider (over 4,000 employees). After 12 rounds of lay-offs the company went bankrupt. The idea that it is unacceptable for the CEO (any CEO) of HP to restructure during this time is laughable. CEO’s get paid to make tough choices and sometimes those choices affect employees. CEOs of public companies have a fiduciary duty to shareholders. This means that she is legally required to act in the interests of the shareholders first. Not doing so can actually be a crime. This is business 101.
If you have not had a chance to watch the debates, please take the time as I believe it will be worth the investment. Carly was impressive and, more importantly to me, she was earnest and had a plan. She was direct, articulate, presidential and demonstrated she understood the issues. I hope to see more.
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