Microsoft Edge – IE Reskin or Powerful New Browser?

Internet
12
Aug 2015

Microsoft_Edge_logo-1000x562

Browsing the web with Internet Explorer can be a risk, so it’s no surprise that it lags behind. Microsoft is hoping to catch up with its new browser Edge.

Many years ago Internet Explorer was the go to choice for web browsing, but in the last 10 years more innovative browsers such as Chrome and Firefox have come to the fore. Not only are they less clunky, they also improve the user experience.

Naturally, Internet Explorer has fallen to the wayside and feels like a relic from a bygone era of dial-up modems where a single MP3 took an age to download.

Microsoft, it seems, has finally had enough of trailing behind in a niche which they previously dominated, so they’ve announced Edge for the upcoming Windows 10 release.

What is Microsoft Edge?

First and foremost, let’s get one thing straight: Edge is not an evolution of Internet Explorer. It won’t simply be Internet Explorer 12 with a fancy name. Instead, Microsoft is planning for Edge to be a complete revolution of their browsing capabilities.

One of the biggest complaints about Internet Explorer has been its rigid, antiquated design in an age of streamlined simplicity where speed is the key. Edge will be powered a by a new rendering engine which promises to deliver a more user friendly design which will slot seamlessly into mobile as well as desktop devices.

With Chrome being the most popular desktop browser, it’s no surprise to learn that early previews of Edge have revealed it to have a similar, lightweight aesthetic. The accessibility of Chrome will also be apparent in the new features offered by Edge.

Voice activated software has come a long way in the last few years – thanks to Apple’s revolutionary Siri. Microsoft is keen to integrate a similar feature into Edge. That’s why Microsoft’s voice assistant ‘Cortana’ will be available to perform searches and check emails for you.

Touch screen technology is also an area that Microsoft is investing heavily in with Edge and this raises the opportunity for users to annotate/share pages via a stylus which, again, is an amazing increase in accessibility over Internet Explorer.

Edge is also heavily rumoured to be lined up as a downloadable app rather than the built-in default of Windows devices that Internet Explorer is. Not only will this widen the audience available for Edge, it also enhances the ease with which updates can be distributed via the Windows Store.

Will Edge Succeed?

microsoft-edge

Microsoft certainly has an uphill struggle on their hands to compete with the current market leaders in the battle of the browsers. Due to the popularity of mobile devices in the current digital landscape, users feel more in tune with Chrome, Firefox and Safari.

And developers, too, have been concentrating their efforts on the more popular browsers at the expense of compatibility with Internet Explorer.

With Edge, though, Microsoft appears to finally be getting on track with the trends of this new era of accessible and intuitive browsers. It remains to be seen exactly how much of a dent Edge can make into the market, but by canning Internet Explorer they’ve made a great start!

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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Google Chrome Helps Block Flash Ads

Internet, , ,
05
Aug 2015

frame_ext

Wouldn’t it be great if you could block Flash ads which drain your PC’s resources? New features in Google Chrome disable flash ads automatically.

The Problem with Flash Ads

There is nothing more irritating than loading up a webpage and beginning to devour the content on offer when, out of the blue, a noisy Flash advert pops up and takes over your speakers.

It jars your concentration and means you lose focus on that amazing article about Malware you were enjoying.

Yep, we’ve all been there and we’ve all rolled our eyes and tutted aloud!

Unfortunately, for users of Chrome, the only choice they’ve had in these situations is to take a heavy handed approach to Flash plugins (tiny pieces of software embedded in a webpage). The choice has been to either allow all Flash plugins or disable all Flash plugins.

Now, with the dynamic nature of the web these days it’s impossible to disable all Flash plugins or you’ll find that you miss out on key information e.g. some older website still use flash to deliver the content you want.

Taking on the Ads

adobe-and-google-logos

Google, as we all know, are pretty much the guardians of the internet these days. They protect us from dangerous websites, offer us incredibly personalised search results and even find us the best price for a pair of jeans.

It’s this dedication to customer service which has inspired them to go that little bit further and make our web experience smoother than ever.

This is why Google has teamed up with Adobe (creators of Flash) to tackle this advertising nightmare through the Google Chrome browser.

Hitting the Pause Button

By utilising intelligent software, Google and Adobe have managed to program the latest beta version of Chrome to give context to content on a web page.

Say, for example, you’re on a website which features IT tutorials and you want to view their video on how to setup printers. If there’s a series of Flash adverts trying to sell you holidays to Brazil then Chrome will be able to determine which one to silence.

And, believe me, you won’t be hearing about holidays to Rio de Janeiro for long!

No piece of software, of course, is 100% fool proof so, yes, there’s a chance that Chrome could accidentally pause your video tutorial on printers. But the key word here is “pause”. No content will ever be blocked and it will all be readily available at the click of a button.

Thumbs up for Chrome

Google is cooking up something special with this latest advancement in browser software and we can only applaud them for it. We wouldn’t stand for an advert popping up unannounced in the middle of a TV show, so why would we tolerate it online?

The feature is currently only available in the Chrome desktop Beta version, but all the signs are pointing to it becoming a permanent Chrome feature in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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8 Misconceptions About the Cloud

Internet,
29
Jul 2015

Futuristic Cloud Computer

With plenty of claims floating around about “the Cloud”, it’s no wonder many people find it somewhat confusing. Here are 8 misconceptions about the cloud.

The Cloud; a buzzword that has been tossed around for many years into the vocabulary of  businesses and individuals alike. We’ve written this article to address some myths regarding cloud computing.  According to Wikipedia, the Cloud is a “metaphor” for the Internet.  One could say that the Cloud is a modern way to describe how the Internet is used to store and access data files in large data centers. Like any other physical system, data centers run physical disks to store data that and could be thought of as the Cloud. Despite the latter, the files accessed by cloud users appear as “virtual” when accessed from their systems or devices.

 

Typical_Data_Center

How confusing can all this be?

Applications_in_the_Cloud

According to many circles of IT professionals and businesses alike, the cloud concept has deviated from being a solution for accessing files on the Internet, to many other outrageous things we hear about.  Here are some examples of popular misconceptions:

“The cloud will solve all of your organization’s problems”

The Cloud still isn’t entirely secure and there are other aspects to running a business that the cloud has not yet reached, there’s still a way to go for this.

“Is always available with no down time”

The Cloud solution of choice is just as susceptible to downtime as any other system on earth. This ranges from a genuine outage to scheduled maintenance. Anyone and everyone’s files on the cloud are stored virtually on a company’s physical disk. This means that the Cloud Company is also susceptible to down-time like any other business.

“Needs no backups or disaster recovery plans as the data cannot be lost, deleted, or is never down”

Even files on the Cloud should be backup up (ideally offline ). The Cloud is not 100% guaranteed to hold your files. Cloud servers could go down or even ransom-ware could reach file shares to encrypt or wipe them altogether. For instance Dropbox has been known to be susceptible to ransom-ware attacks.

“I’ve never used the cloud”

Many claim to have never used the cloud despite having used the internet before, a lack of understanding perhaps?  If you’ve accessed email online, social media sites, online banking, shopped online, you’ve definitely accessed the cloud.

“The Cloud gets affected by the weather”

Many believe the literal meaning of the word “cloud”, and associate it with the “fluffy white thing” that is seen over the skies.  Of course, we know that this is complete nonsense!

Cloud Smile

“It’s a backup”

The Cloud is not a backup; however third party services over the cloud like Amazon AWS can be used as a service to form part of a backup strategy.

“With cloud computing you’ll never need to buy hardware again”

Not true. You still need to purchase systems and devices to access the cloud.

“Our Virtual machine environment at our business is the Cloud”

Not entirely wrong. Virtual machines will form the company’s private Cloud which is different to a public cloud.

To help clear up the mental fog about the broad use of the term “Cloud” for many individuals or businesses, it’s best to understand the difference. In reality, the cloud can mean many different things to different people. In essence, the difference for many businesses will mean choosing between an in-house solution or the “cloud” solution “. Of course, they can have both if they wanted to.

For more ways to safeguard your data, contact your local IT professionals.

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Is the Cloud Secure?
Is the Cloud Secure?

Is the Cloud Secure?

Internet, Network, Office IT, Office Network,
24
Oct 2014

Is the Cloud Secure?

If you own a computer, chances are you are using a cloud service that holds your data.  What exactly is the cloud and is the cloud secure?

What is the cloud?

At a high level putting your data or information on to the cloud means storing your stuff on someone else’s hardware.  What is the benefit of storing information on someone else’s computers when your computers are already storing your data?

What is the cloud

This is where the cloud business model comes in to play.  Keeping your information on someone else’s hardware, whether it’s your phone contacts, your computer backup or your business files and folders, allows you to access your information from virtually anywhere and to share it with virtually anyone.

Is the cloud secure?

The downside to having your data accessible from anywhere in the world is that it must be accessible from anywhere in the world.  Most cloud service companies will provide a website or an application on your phone or computer to get to your data.

The Cloud Service can be Accessed by Anyone

These websites and applications are accessible by anyone over the internet and are a prime target for criminals and hackers to break in to.  A recent example of this is the iCloud vulnerability which gave criminals access to private photos and videos of celebrities.

Having your cloud accounts stolen can be done by criminals either attacking the cloud website like the iCloud example above or my infecting your PC and stealing account login information.

How can you protect yourself?

Unfortunately there isn’t much an individual can do to ensure companies are fixing bugs and vulnerabilities in their internet facing cloud websites and applications.  It is important to watch for announcements from cloud services you use about whether they’ve had a recent breach.

As an end user, there are some basic steps you can take to protect yourself on a regular basis:

Onsite PC Solution managed services clients receive regular updates, patching, scanning and 24/7 monitoring against vulnerabilities which could lead to a data breach.

For more information about securing your business data and choosing a reliable cloud service for your business needs, contact your local IT professionals.

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Windows CVE-2014-4114 Exploit
Windows CVE-2014-4114 Exploit

Zero-day Microsoft Windows Exploit CVE-2014-4114

Internet, Office IT, Security, , ,
20
Oct 2014

Windows CVE-2014-4114 Exploit

A Zero-day Microsoft Windows Exploit CVE-2014-4114 has been found which impacts all versions of Windows. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself.

The Russian espionage group, known as the “Sandworm team”, are the prime suspects believed to have launched a campaign to exploit a range of Microsoft Windows vulnerabilities.  The exploits are classified as Zero-Day, meaning they are so new that no anti-virus companies have figured out how to detect them yet. The ultimate goal is to inject and execute malicious code into systems and networks to leach data from computers.

Sandworm Team Logo

Their targets have involved NATO, US academic organizations, Western European Union and Ukrainian government agencies, European energy and telecommunication companies.

Systems are infected from files being attached to legitimate looking emails and extended through to social engineering methods. Most versions of Windows are affected – including server 2008 and 20012, but excluding Windows XP.

Sandworm CVE-2014-4114 Vulnerability Timeline

iSight has provided a timeline of the Sandworm infection campaign.

The cyber intelligence firm, ISight, has been monitoring Sandworm’s activities. After alerting Microsoft, a patch was released called MS14-060 which is found in Window’s Automatic Updates. The fix is still an on-going work in progress.

The vulnerability explained

Here is a high level overview of what the CVE-2014-4114 Zero Day exploit entails:

  • The vulnerability allows a computer to have code executed remotely through a file that is initially opened by an unsuspecting user via an email attachment.
  • Within most software installation files, you’ll find a component called OLE (Object linking and Embedding) Package Manager.
  • An OLE package allows applications to share files and functionality.
  • The OLE package manager contains a file which permits it to download and run INF files.
  • This is where a computer is vulnerable since a hacker can run any program, virus or malware on a system.
  • Any acquired arbitrary code can then run from the downloaded INF files, which is presumed by the system to be associated with the application’s package.
  • This package will run from the logged-in user’s credentials, such as an administrator or anyone with admin rights.
  • The danger then rests from specific commands given to the file during the execution of the application.
  • It has been observed that unsuccessful attempts from this exploit can also lead to a denial of service, which can lead to service disruption.
  • As mentioned previously, the usual mode of target is through fake emails with attachments and social engineering, where the user would need to be convinced and tricked into opening the file.

Proactive measures to prevent an infection

Follow these guidelines to protect yourself or to quickly recover from a compromised system.

If you find your system compromised

For more details about the Zero-day Microsoft Windows Vulnerability CVE-2014-4114 issue and other security issues putting your business and private data at risk, contact your local IT professionals.

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