Washington Works Blog

Let’s be honest; when was the last time you seriously went out of your way to take a day off from work? The corporate business environment often leads both business owners and normal office workers to overindulge themselves in their work. Plus, the mobile-first business model isn’t making it any easier to take time off, as you’re connected to the office no matter what. However, science is proving that it’s not just beneficial, but practically necessary, to take time off on occasion.

Over the past year, Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10, has gained a massive user base. With over 300 million devices worldwide running it, it’s safe to say that Windows 10 has, thus far, been a commercial success. However, the biggest reason for upgrading to Windows 10 (the free upgrade) will soon expire. So, are you going to take advantage of this, or wait until later?

When you’re managing your business’s technology, you want to limit access to time-wasting applications and keep your employees from accessing the Windows Store. It just makes sense. Yet, for the businesses that want to restrict access to the Windows Store on Windows 10 devices, well, that’s too bad; Windows 10 Pro version 1511 just made your life a whole lot more difficult, unless you’re willing to pay extra for Windows 10 Enterprise edition.

You might know your Wi-Fi password, but can you tell your new staff members, guests, and clients, what it is off the top of your head? If you don’t write your password down, or store it somewhere that’s easily accessible, it can be difficult to remember; especially if it’s long and complex like it should be. Thankfully, if you already have a computer connected to the network, you can easily find out what your Wi-Fi password is.

Users of Acer’s online store between May 12th, 2015, and April 28th, 2016, may be in for a rude awakening. Acer may be attempting to contact you to relay that your credit card’s credentials have been lifted by hackers. The breach in question resulted in 34,500 customers having their credentials stolen, including the user’s name, address, credit card number, expiration date, and security code.

Cloud computing may be a great asset to your business, but there are still plenty of executives that remain quite reluctant about implementing it. One of the big reasons is that security breaches are often covered with high exposure on the news, and this makes it seem like the cloud isn’t a good way to store sensitive data. Now, however, cloud computing security has reached a high point, and you can bet that the cloud has ways of enhancing IT security for your business, too.

Have you ever encountered something that you thought was interesting on social media, and you wanted to share it with your friends? Before, sharing a link or a story would also slap a status update on your Facebook profile, for all of the world to see. Now, however, Facebook offers an alternative, in the form of sharing a post on the News Feed without also posting it to your timeline.

Cyber security professionals and Internet users rejoice, for the “Spam King,” Sanford Wallace, has finally been sentenced for his longtime use of stolen Facebook credentials to spam other users. Between 2008 and 2009, he had stolen credentials for Facebook accounts, and then used the accounts to send credential-stealing web links. Now, he gets to spend the next two and a half years in prison, and pay an oddly-specific fine of $310,629.

The short, yet devastating, history of ransomware is littered with what amounts to individual horror stories. As you may well know, ransomware, is a particularly devious and potentially devastating strain of malware that, when enacted, locks a computer’s files down so that the user can’t access them. In their stead, a message is relayed that instructs them to contact a third party to pay a ransom for access to the files. This is where the threat gets its name.

There’s a special kind of frustration that accompanies a dropped Internet connection. In such dire times, try these four troubleshooting tips before hitting the panic button.