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used with permission from Norton by Symantec, by Nadia Kovacs

You may have noticed growing reports in the media about the dangers of using USB memory sticks. It is true, they are susceptible to being exploited like everything else, however, and these exploits aren’t terribly easy to carry out by hackers. Mostly because an attacker needs physical access to your computer in order to infect it.

What Can a “Bad” USB Stick Do?

A malicious device can install malware such as backdoor ...

used with permission from Norton by Symantec, by Nadia Kovacs

Ransomware is a form of malware that will lock files on a computer using encryption. Encryption converts files into another format, like a secret code and can only be decoded by a specific decryption key.

Types of Ransomware

Ransomware can present itself in two forms.

• Locker ransomware will encrypt the whole hard drive of the computer, essentially locking the user out of the entire system.
• Crypto ransomware will ...

For most Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PCs, the answer is Yes, but not now. The first step should be to click on the Windows icon at the bottom right near the clock and review the compatibility report. For users who have big problems with this report, then you can evaluate what it would take to upgrade your software. Depending on the updates required, you might determine Windows 10 is not ...

Have you ever signed up for an event and received a download link to “add this event to your Outlook calendar”? You can create your own! These files have a lot of uses, but especially to create your own event registration system.

Step 1: Create the Event in Outlook

Click the New Appointment button on the Ribbon, and setup your event details as you usually would: Subject, Location, Start Time, and End Time. If your event is not local, such ...

used with permission from Microsoft for Work, by Rieva Lesonsky

Whether you’re traveling for business or leisure this summer, chances are that as a small business owner, you’ll be working on your trip. But with unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots and the potential for physical theft, among other risks, there are several steps you need to take to ensure security issues don’t interrupt your productivity.

Use these tips to keep your devices and data safe on the road.

Before you go

• Back up your ...

used with permission from Microsoft for Work

The genius that happens every day in the offices of the world requires a certain amount of focus. Unfortunately, most offices are awash with both physical and mental distractions that pull our attention away from the task at hand. To help you identify common pitfalls, we’ve zeroed in on the top five productivity killers in the modern age. Better still, we gathered expert advice on ways to block out the noise and ...

used with permission from Microsoft, by Terry Myerson

Today, I’m excited to share the availability date for Windows 10. In fact, I thought I’d let Cortana, the world’s most personal digital assistant, share the news. You can ask Cortana for the answer! Or if you don’t have a Windows phone or a PC running the Windows 10 Insider Preview handy – you can hear it for yourself here.

Through the feedback and testing of over four million Windows ...

used with permission from Microsoft Safety & Security Center

Does your phone know where you are? If you’ve used your phone to find directions or locate a nearby restaurant, you’ve used its global positioning system (GPS) and it’s likely that it would be able to pinpoint your location within a close range.

Location services can be convenient for automatically adding location information (geotags) to photos. Some people also use location services to post their locations to social networking sites, such as Facebook. ...

Sometimes you want to run a PowerPoint presentation on repeat – looping the slideshow so it can play in the background during an event, perhaps at a booth at a tradeshow. Is it possible to automatically loop a slideshow in PowerPoint? Yes! In PowerPoint 2013, it’s easy.
 

1. Open your PowerPoint file.
2. First, make sure your slides are set to advance automatically.
3. Go to the Transitions tab on the Ribbon.
4. On the far right side, under Advance Slide, check the box ...

used with permission from HP Technology at Work

Businesses often don’t realize how vulnerable their confidential data is until it’s exposed by a hack. By now, many are aware of external threats to data security and (hopefully) prepare accordingly, but breaches can still occur—despite taking the necessary security precautions. And with phishing, threats don’t need to sneak in the back door; sometimes they walk right through the front.

The ins and outs

Phishing is the act of posing as a ...