According to this article on ThreatPost, Microsoft has released an out-of-band patch to resolve an issue that could allow a remote attacker to gain full access to a vulnerable system by tricking the user into opening a malicious document or visit an infected website.  I do not (yet) have confirmation, but no additional user interaction seems to be required (i.e., if you visit an infected site, it won't prompt you).  Some important notes: Allows a remote attacker to consistently exploit the vulnerable system. Affects all support versions of Windows. Windows Server 2003 is not being updated.  Support for Windows Server 2003 died last Tuesday and Microsoft is making it clear that there will be no more support. For those keeping score at home, this is not CVE-2015-2387 (a vulnerability in the…

The fake tech support calls have been making the rounds again and we have seen countless cases where the victims realize that they're being scammed only after it's too late.  Today though, that wasn't the case.  Today, there was no victim.  I wanted to briefly share what happened in hopes that others may benefit from this fast-thinking would-be victim. I received an email from a long time client with the subject 'Windows Emergency'.  My heart sank for a moment, fearing the worst, until I read the message.  It was very short but the client had received a telephone call from 'tech support' warning that they [the 'tech support'] had identified a Windows Emergency.  The client's response was perfect.  Rather than letting the 'tech support' onto their computers or discussing the matter further with the fake…

.:12 September 2015 : HPD v2.0:.     The date for the next Hacker Playdate has been set for 12 September 2015.  This will be right after Defcon 23, so there's sure to be a lot to talk about and demo.  If you are interested or know someone that may be interested in doing a demo or presentation, let us know as soon as possible.  If there's a specific demo that you'd like to see, let us know.  Keep an eye on our Website, Facebook Page and Twitter feed for more info.   Where, When and How Much? When - Saturday, 12 September 2015 Where - Cyber Tech Cafe & Primo's Cantina, 148 West Main Street, right across from Findley's Butcher Shop on Main Street.  We will be using the meeting room at…

We are replacing one of the proxy servers on our network that handles traffic to and from https://helpdesk.cybertechcafe.net .  During the process, we have a temporary proxy in place using a self-signed SSL certificate.  The net result is that visitors to https://helpdesk.cybertechcafe.net will receive an SSL error, stating that the certificate is not valid.  We apologize for any inconvenience and expect to have the new proxy server in place soon.

First Hacker Playdate This Saturday Cyber Tech Cafe and Piratica are co-hosting the first Hacker Playdate on Saturday, 20 June 2015 from 10:00am EDT until 6:00pm EDT.  There will be (audience participation) discussions, demonstrations and events throughout the day as well as three main demonstrations at 12:00pm EDT, 2:00pm EDT and 4:00pm EDT.  There is no-cost to attend and audience participation for all of the events is welcome and encouraged.  Drop by for the demonstrations or stay the whole day. Where, When and How Much? When - Saturday, 20 June 2015 from 10:00am EDT until 6:00pm EDT.  Drop by for the main demonstrations or stay all day! Where - Cyber Tech Cafe, 148 West Main Street, right across from Findley's Butcher Shop on Main Street beside Primo's Mexican Restaurant. How Much…

Kaspersky is an antivirus company out of Russia that develops and maintains the Kaspersky antivirus product as well as a number of popular post-infection clean-up tools.  Kaspersky has been in the news a good bit for their research into viruses, malware and various attack / exploit kits.  As a high-value target, their network was breached at least once several years ago and it appears that they were hit again sometime last year. According to this article on Wired, the Antivirus company Kaspersky suffered a significant data breach 'sometime last year' and, as far as they know thus far, the attackers only stole data but they also indicate that they aren't 100% sure *what* all was taken.   Some important things to take from this: If you're using Kaspersky antivirus and plan to…