Technology Advisor Blog

Let’s set the stage: It’s a Tuesday, still the beginning of your workweek and you notice 3 separate phone calls from an unknown number within the last 2 hours. For us in MA, these phone numbers commonly begin with (855), (866), (844) and sometimes even (774) which is a common area code in central MA. It seems like these spoofing spam calls are trying to reach you more than your friends and family. It’s distracting to receive these during the workday, and sometimes frustrating when trying to figure out the overall cause. You begin to block these unknown numbers, leading to even more calls causing you to wonder if your information has been leaked online somewhere. For iPhone, MAC, and Android users the uptick in spam calls is a nuisance.

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Tags: spam filtering, spam, Wireless, cybersecurity, spoofing

Free public Wi-Fi networks are popping up everywhere - at the airport, Starbucks, your local music school...  These networks are a big convenience, but you should be aware of your security settings so you don't put your computer and data at risk.  When you connect to a network, there may be a firewall protecting you from the outside world and everyone else on the Internet, but when you connect to a local network, you're basically putting your trust in that network and everyone else on it - not a good idea in public!  In addition to file sharing, many of these wireless hot spots are unencrypted to make it easy for people to connect, but this could leave you vulnerable to malicious users in the coffee shop who could monitor your keystrokes!

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Tags: Security, Encryption, Wi-Fi, Wireless