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Computer/ Internet Tips & News
December 2020
This Month:
Massive government and computer systems hack - what you should do ASAP
Goodbye Flash Player
Your old cellphone may stop working soon
Help with more than computer repair
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) : Previous articles and news you may have missed
Get regular computing device maintenance and priority support
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Massive government and computer systems hack - what you should do ASAP
A massive government and business computer hack was discovered early this month (December 2020), but the long term effects likely won’t be known for months or years as more knowledge is obtained about what companies were affected and what data may have been (or will be) breached.
Early details of the hack are explained in these comprehensive articles from CNN and CNET. The hack was spread to thousands of computer systems, altogether likely containing the private data of a majority of US citizens. That data may be compromised and leaked to miscreants if the data on those computer systems was not securely stored or encrypted. Hackers may be holding onto such data for months or years to come.
Adobe Flash Player – not to be confused with Adobe (PDF) Reader – in the last decade had been the most common method of viewing video and animation files in the web browser. But the latest web coding standards includes the ability to play videos and animations natively – without the need for a browser extension or add-on.
In July 2017 Adobe announced it would no longer support Flash Player at the end of 2020, and recently all major web browsers have blocked or completely removed the ability to play Flash content.
What can you do if the web content you are trying to view says it requires Flash Player? Read more...
Your old cellphone may stop working soon
Cell phones operating on the T-Mobile and AT&T networks will stop working soon (as early as January 2021) if they don’t support the 4G/LTE calling standard VoLTE (Voice over LTE). Cell phones without VoLTE support on the Verizon network stopped working in 2020.
If you have an older non-compatible phone hopefully you’ve already been contacted by your carrier to arrange for a replacement. But if you only turn on your cell phone occasionally for emergency use, chances are that you may not know about the impending inability to make phone calls. If the last sentence describes your phone usage, now is the time to check with your wireless phone service provider.
Get regular computing device maintenance and priority support
It's time to be proactive about maintaining your computing devices - rather than calling after problems get out-of-control. With reports of websites and databases getting hacked occurring on a daily basis, and the increasing chance of your personal information being compromised, it’s more important than ever to keep your computing devices secure, up-to-date and maintained.
Thanks to the peace-of-mind that our Computer Maintenance Plan provides, lots of our clients don't have to worry about the seemingly constant barrage of updates, security patches and computer hackers. They also get priority callbacks and messaging replies.
With our Computer Maintenance Plan we will maintain, update and check the security on your computer - and other devices (when performed on-site) - on a convenient regularly scheduled basis.
