Discover how mastering email communication can boost business efficiency, avoid common pitfalls, and ensure secure, respectful online interactions.
Turkey Revenge
The turkeys are pissed this Thanksgiving they are seeking revenge.
Germs Infest 60% of Americas Phones
60% of Americans sleep with their phones, harboring germs. Cleaning regularly with UV sanitizer or alcohol wipes can help keep your phone and bed germ-free.
Smartphone Sanitizing: A Practical Guide
Securely erase personal data from your old smartphone before recycling. Protect your identity from hackers—easy steps to follow.
Why Soft Skills Matter in Today’s Job Market
Boost your career with essential soft skills like communication, teamwork, and emotional intelligence. Learn why they’re crucial for workplace success.
Volunteers Take Down 124K Malware Sites
CircleID reports that abuse.ch, a non-profit cybersecurity organization based in Switzerland kicked off a volunteer-based information sharing project called URLhaus in March 2018. URLhaus collects and shares URLs identified to be distributing malware. Since its start up, URLhaus has proven to be quite effective in taking down over 124,000 malware distribution sites.
Abus
e.ch’s URLhaus project allows anyone to sign up with a Twitter account to report malicious URLs. The system will download and analyze the site’s payload and try to identify it before submitting it to Anti-Virus vendors and blacklist providers such as Google Safe Browsing, Spamhaus DBL, and SURBL, according to the blog post.
CircleID reports that 265 security researchers located all over the world have identified and submitted on average 300 malware sites to URLhaus each day. The article said URLhaus succeeded beyond the infosec community; the project also managed to get the attention of many hosting providers which is not an easy task, especially for large hosting providers that have tens of thousands of customers and hence a significant amount hijacked websites in their network that are getting abused by cybercriminals to distribute malware.
The chart below produced by abuse.ch shows the number of active malware distribution sites tracked since the launch of URLhaus.
abuse.ch reports that the US or China hosts 2/3 of the top malware hosting networks. The overall average malicious site take-down time is 8 days, 10 hours, 24 minutes. The three top Chinese malware hosting networks have an average abuse desk reaction time of more than a month!
That’s more than enough time to infect thousands of devices every day.
Top malware hosting networks
The top malware hosting networks, hosting active malware content identified by abuse.ch as of January 2019.| Rank | ASN | Country | Average Reaction Time | Malware URLs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AS14061 DIGITALOCEAN-ASN - DigitalOcean, LLC | US | 6 days, 12 hours, 56 minutes | 307 |
| 2 | AS4134 CHINANET-BACKBONE No.31,Jin-rong Street | CN | 1 month, 9 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes | 256 |
| 3 | AS4837 CHINA169-BACKBONE CHINA UNICOM China169 | CN | 1 month, 23 days, 8 hours, 41 minutes | 163 |
| 4 | AS48815 CRITICALCASE | IT | 21 hours, 58 minutes | 151 |
| 5 | AS46606 UNIFIEDLAYER-AS-1 - Unified Layer | US | 2 days, 11 hours, 54 minutes | 127 |
| 6 | AS53667 PONYNET - FranTech Solutions | US | 13 days, 3 hours, 37 minutes | 105 |
| 7 | AS16276 OVH | FR | 5 days, 22 hours, 6 minutes | 104 |
| 8 | AS60144 THREE-W-INFRA-AS -- TRANSIT -- | NL | 9 days, 10 hours, 37 minutes | 83 |
| 9 | AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc. | US | 13 days, 7 hours, 5 minutes | 67 |
| 10 | AS37963 CNNIC-ALIBABA-CN-NET-AP Hangzhou Alibaba | CN | 1 month, 2 days, 0 hours, 1 minutes | 66 |
| 11 | AS8342 RTCOMM-AS | RU | 10 days, 8 hours, 9 minutes | 63 |
| 12 | AS36352 AS-COLOCROSSING - ColoCrossing | US | 16 days, 9 hours, 57 minutes | 53 |
| 13 | AS3462 HINET Data Communication Business Group | TW | 17 days, 6 hours, 19 minutes | 51 |
| 14 | AS23650 CHINANET-JS-AS-AP CHINANET jiangsu province | CN | 3 days, 11 hours, 50 minutes | 51 |
| 15 | AS3462 HINET Data Communication Business | TW | 17 days, 6 hours, 19 minutes | 51 |
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abuse.ch offers the URLhaus black list for free to help protect your networks and users from malware. You can get more details from abuse.ch here.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Uncategorized |
Tags: 2019, abuse.ch, Alibaba, ASN, China, China Unicom, Chinanet, Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Malware, Security, UnifiedPlayer, URLhaus
Comics Explain Quantum Computing
In case the brief quantum computing primers I posted on BachSeat didn’t make it crystal clear, help is here. The National Science Foundation‘s EPiQC (Enabling Practical-scale Quantum Computing) program, out of the University of Chicago, has published some graphic novels (aka comic books) that explaining quantum computing.
HPC Wire reports that 8 quantum computing comics have been published which offer some clarity and a little levity on the math-heavy topic. You decide how successful the comic books are. Links to all eight comics are below.
- History of Quantum Computing
- Quantum Computing
- Quantum and Measurement
- Superposition
- Entanglement
- Quantum and Reversibility
- Measurement vs Operations
- Quantum Notation
University of Chicago’s Diana Franklin wrote that the reason behind the comics is that quantum computing is hard to understand in large part because it relies on quantum mechanics whose behavior defies the common sense that we humans have developed from our direct experiences.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Uncategorized |
Tags: 2019, Comic book, Einstein, Entanglement, Hardware, NSF, Quantum computing, Superposition
Data Privacy Day
Data Privacy Day is January 28, 2019. Data Privacy Day began in 2008 as a celebration of the signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) leads the Data Privacy Day campaign. Here are some tips from the NCSA to own your online presence.
The first step is to STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™: take safety measures, think about the consequences of your actions and connect knowing you have taken steps to safeguard yourself and your family when online.
Share with care. What you post can last a lifetime: Any information shared online can easily be copied and is almost impossible to take back. Consider who might see a post and how it might be perceived in the future.Protect it.
Protect your info. Information about the games you play and what you search for online, has value – just like money how else does Zuck make $6 million a day? Be selective with the information you give to apps and websites.
Own your online presence. Learn how to use the privacy and security settings on your favorite online games, apps and platforms.
Stay current. Keep pace with new ways to stay safe online: Keep up with new technology and ways to manage privacy. Visit staysafeonline.org or other trusted websites for the latest information about ways to stay safe online.
Personal information is like money. Value it. Protect it. If you don’t you will be the victim of a data breach.
Related articles
- Biggest Data Breach Yet Has Leaked 773 Million Emails. Here’s What You Need to Do Now (Science Alert)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Uncategorized |
Tags: 2019, Data breach, Digital footprint, Facebook, FB, National Cyber Security Alliance, National Privacy Day, NCSA, Security
Don’t Be SAD
The holidays are in the rear-view mirror. You drive to work in the snow. You have to dodge potholes in the dark on the way home. And we have 8-10 more weeks of winter. The likelihood of a getaway to the sun and sand is pathetically low. No wonder your mood sucks. It is SAD.
Officially it’s Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD includes feelings of fatigue, depression, and anxiety that occur every winter. Experts say SAD impacts over two million people. SAD is rooted in several factors. The lack of sunlight in winter can throw off your circadian rhythms your biological clock. This cut levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin (a brain chemical that regulates your mood) and melatonin (a chemical that regulates sleep and mood). This can lead to a rough few months. Fortunately, there are ways to beat back SAD while at work.
Manage your stress. Stress management is a natural treatment option for SAD.
Catch some rays. Get outside breath in some fresh air every day. Studies confirm that spending time outside can relieve stress and fight SAD. At the office. open the shades and let as much sunlight in as possible.
Clean your cube. Give your workspace a thorough cleaning. Getting rid of things you don’t need. Straightening up your everyday items can give your space a more peaceful feeling. A fresh desk can be what you need to help keep SAD at bay.
Get a desk plant. Instead of waiting around for Spring to roll around to experience signs of life, take matters into your own hands and invest in a plant for your desk.
Cut carbs. Avoid slurping on comfort foods like chips and cake. Carbohydrate-rich foods can actually be counterproductive for fighting the blues. The happiness delivered is short-lived, as the spike in blood sugar levels will leave you feeling worse after.
Eat asparagus. Use your lunch break to help combat SAD. Add asparagus to a salad or use it as a side to reap the benefits. Asparagus has heaps of tryptophan, an amino acid that is essential to producing serotonin.
Eat dark chocolate. Keep a bar of dark chocolate at your desk. It can do more than satisfy your sweet tooth. It can also elevate your mood. Studies show that dark chocolate promotes the release of endorphins that give an instant boost to happiness. Dark chocolate is also rich in serotonin.
Try some tech. Use technology to block blue light. Blue light suppresses serotonin making it harder to fall asleep. Of course, there is an app for that. You can try Night Shift on your Apple (AAPL) product, Twilight on your Google (GOOG) Android or f.lux on your PC to cut blue light. Or try blue light blocking glasses.
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Of course, I’m no doctor so consult with a health care professional. But it is nice to know you can manage your SAD symptoms by eating chocolate-dipped asparagus at your sunny clean desk.
Related articles
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Health care |
Tags: 2019, Asparagus, Blue light, Chocolate, Circadian rhythms, Cubicle, Depression, iPhone, Melatonin, Plants, SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Serotonin
Zix Buys AppRiver – Bolsters Email Security
Competition in the email security market is intense. Most of the major endpoint security companies, Barracuda, Cisco (CSCO) Fortinet (FTNT), Mimecast (MIME), and Proofpoint (PFPT), have moved into email security — emphasizing training services to mitigate rising phishing threats. Plus, Microsoft (MSFT) has pushed into email security services that wrap around its core business productivity software Office 365.
The global email security market is expected to reach $18 billion by 2023, expanding at 22% from 2016, this report asserts. This growth has drawn the attention of venture capitalists. The latest VC deal is unique in that the smaller company is buying the larger firm.
Publicly traded Zix (ZIXI) is acquiring AppRiver for $275 million in cash. Zix is a Dallas-based maker of email archiving and security products including ZixMail which manages the key management to provide end-to-end email encryption that protects messages and attachments.
AppRiver is a privately held Florida-based MSP-friendly cybersecurity and Microsoft Office 365 cloud solutions provider specialist. AppRiver, founded in 2002, supports more than 60,000 companies globally in 2019.
Zix and AppRiver each have about 260 employees. As part of the M&A plan, Zix expects to generate about $8 million in cost synergies — which typically means that layoffs are coming. AppRiver CEO Michael Murdoch is exiting the combined firm. Zix CEO David Wagner would not rule out further job cuts.
CEO Wagner has lined up financial backers to help finance the AppRiver deal. Among the financial players are:
True Wind Capital will make a $100 million equity investment with the closing of the AppRiver acquisition.
SunTrust Bank and KeyBanc Capital Markets committed to a new five-year $175 million term loan and a $25 million revolving credit line.
The combined company, known as Zix, expects to generate roughly $200 – $207 million in annual recurring revenue in fiscal 2019, up 11% – 15% year over year. The deal is expected to close by March 31, 2019. Bu purchasing AppRiver, the new Zix will grow its channel from about 400 to 4,000 partners and its customer base will go from 20,000 to 60,000.
AppRiver is no stranger to acquisitions as it worked to position itself as a one-stop-shop for commercial cybersecurity services.
In October 2017, VC firm Marlin Equity Partners purchased a majority stake in AppRiver with intention of expanding its global footprint.
In March 2018, AppRiver acquired Canadian company Roaring Penguin for its anti-spam and machine learning technologies. In October of 2018, AppRiver acquired Total Defense, a provider of subscription-based endpoint security for consumers and small businesses.
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The last three places I have worked were AppRiver or Zix shops. It makes sense email is the gateway to the cloud for many firms. Email is mission-critical and complicated to secure so it gets moved to the cloud.
My experience with both firms was OK. We were an earlier adopter of hosted Exchange from AppRiver and then at a re-seller. In keeping with industry trends, my current employer moved from Zix as we moved to O365, maybe this deal is a year too late.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Uncategorized |
Tags: 2019, AppRiver, Cisco, CSCO, email, Encryption, Fortinet, Microsoft, Mimecast, MSFT, Office 365, Proofpoint, Security, Venture Capital, Zix