In our constantly connected world, staying focused can feel like a superpower. Cal Newport’s “Deep Work” dives into the concept of deep work: the ability to concentrate without distraction on cognitively demanding tasks. Newport argues that deep work is a critical skill for achieving professional success and personal fulfillment in today’s information overload. Summary The…
Before I begin I want to clarify one important item, only your processor(s), acquiring bank(s), and/or card brand(s) can give you a definitive answer regarding your merchant level. I originally published this article in 2020 but I have updated with the latest level information and included UnionPay. Compliance with PCI DSS is crucial for any…
With so many people working remotely now I thought I would share some more tips I have learned by trial and error. I have used Zoom for many years now and below are some tips you might want to consider when having meeting. Enable Waiting Rooms: Control who can join the meeting. Users wait in a virtual…
In today’s dynamic, multi-vendor network environments, usually having tens or hundreds of firewalls running thousands of rules, a manual security audit was performed which now borders on the impossible. Firewall administrators must rely on their own experience and skills to manually perform the audit process to decide if a given firewall rule should or should…
Summary Tim Ferriss’ provocative book, “The 4-Hour Workweek,” throws a wrench into the traditional work-life balance paradigm. Questioning that success necessitates a 40-hour workweek grind, Ferriss proposes a radical approach to design a life of freedom and financial independence. The book unfolds in four parts: 7 Key Takeaways: Why You Should Read It “The 4-Hour…
One of the cheapest and most commonly used hacker tools relies more on psychology than software skill. This method of attack is known as spear fishing (“phishing” as hackers spell it). Spear fishing is a fishing operation where targets are carefully chosen and researched before putting together the attack (in the form of a personalized…
It looks like the Feds might not need a backdoor to your iphone because the apps you have on your phone might already provide a backdoor for hackers. Risk assessment: we’re not even safe in the air anymore. Every time you log into a device and have it connected to the space we call the…
What is the Problem? Microsoft has informed us of a potentially catastrophic vulnerability in all versions of Windows. What is being done? The issue has to do with Secure Web Browsing, which is not so secure unless you install a patch that was released Tuesday. Who is affected? Everyone running the Windows Operating System. Don’t…
Adobe and Microsoft today each issued security updates to fix critical vulnerabilities in their software. Microsoft pushed 14 patches to address problems in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer and .NET, among other products. Separately, Adobe issued an update for its Flash Player software that corrects at least 18 security issues. Microsoft announced 16 bulletins, but curiously two…
It appears that consumers are certainly becoming more proactive about protecting themselves from identity theft. But small business owners don’t seem to share their concern. According to a recent survey, small business owners are victims of fraud at a rate of 15 percent more than the general population. In 2010, small business owners lost about…
