Welcome to the Cypress Systems, Inc. technology blog. Our blog focuses on technologies that are of general interest to our clients, quick tips and how to guides in order to stream line your digital life.
Malware Infects TV’s Now
FLocker Maware Infects Smart TV’s
Interesting article over at TrendLabs (make of popular security software TrendMicro). The author writes about the Android Malware FLocker and how it infects Android based Smart TV’s.
From the author:
FLocker is a police Trojan that pretends to be US Cyber Police or another law enforcement agency. It accuses potential victims of crimes they didn’t commit. Then, it demands 200 USD worth of iTunes gift cards. And based on our analysis, there are no major differences between a FLocker variant that can infect a mobile device and one that affects smart TVs.
Another reminder in the modern era to always be guarded and safe with your devices.
Tagged Viruses
New Security Threat: ATM Skimmers Now Attacking the Wires
Security Threat: ATM Cables Are Now Thieves New Target
Krebs on Security has an interesting article on how ATM thieves are now inserting specially crafted devices between the ATM and the outbound data lines intercepting all data to and from the ATM itself. Thieves additionally attach the typical skimming devices to the ATM to grab PIN’s. The article outlines how security experts see this as an ongoing trend of data thieves becoming more creative and using alternate methodologies to grab ATM user’s data. This makes it critical for users to only use ATM systems that they feel are secure in location and reputable in nature.
Are Solid State Drives Safe?
Solid State Drives are more popular than even in today’s consumer market. It is the one upgrade that can give a computer a significant increase in performance at a reasonable price. With this being said they are not without some downsides, especially when you need to retain data long term. There is an interesting blog post at KoreLogic Security pointing out that unpowered SSD’s long term storage capabilities can be impacted by temperature:
For every 5 degrees C (9 degrees F) rise in temperature where the SSD is stored, the retention period is approximately halved. For example, if a client application SSD is stored at 25 degrees C (77 degrees F) it should last about 2 years on the shelf under optimal conditions. If that temperature goes up 5 degrees C, the storage standard drops to 1 year.
The takeaway is that if you need long term storage archiving to a standard mechanical drive is the way to go.
Tagged SSD