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Would you use this phone charger if you saw it in a cafe?

August 22, 2025

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20 min read

Would you use this phone charger if you saw it in a cafe?

That innocent-looking public charger could be a cybercriminal’s bait — and it’s called Juice Jacking.

Here’s how it works:

Hackers leave tampered USB chargers or modify public ports in cafés, hotels, airports, and train stations.

The moment you plug in:

You think you’re charging your phone 📱
But in reality, you’re handing over your data, contacts, and credentials

What can they do?

Copy your personal files and photos
Steal your login details and financial info
Install malware that follows you home

And the worst part?

You won’t even know it happened.

🔒 How to protect yourself:

✅ Use your own charger — plug into a mains outlet only

✅ Carry a portable power bank

✅ If you must use a public USB port, use a USB data blocker (ask me how to get one for free from Gigabit Systems).

Cyber threats aren’t always flashy.

Sometimes, they’re disguised as convenience.

Stay alert. Stay charged — safely.

Technology

Mobile-Arena

Cybersecurity

Travel

The Rise of Mobile SMS Blaster Attacks

August 22, 2025

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20 min read

The Rise of Mobile SMS Blaster Attacks

Smishing is on the Move…

New cybercriminal tactics show that spam isn’t just digital anymore

Forget everything you know about SMS spam. Cybercriminals have upped the game—and they’re doing it from the back of a car.

A new scheme originating from China involves mobile smishing units: vehicles equipped with SMS blasters that broadcast phishing messages directly to nearby phones, completely bypassing traditional spam filters and carrier-level protections.

How It Works

Here’s how these smishing attacks are being deployed:

🚘 Drivers are paid ~$75/day to operate in 8-hour shifts.
📡 Each SMS blaster has a broadcast range of roughly 100 yards.
🛍️ Routes often target residential areas, shopping centers, and high-foot-traffic zones.
📍Vehicles are GPS-tracked to verify coverage and completion.

The result? Localized phishing attacks that don’t rely on email servers or spoofed numbers—just proximity.

Why This Is So Dangerous

Unlike traditional spam, which can be filtered out at the carrier or device level, these broadcast-style smishing messages are undetectable until they hit your phone.

They don’t need internet access.

They don’t need contact lists.

They just need to be nearby.

This is a physical + digital hybrid threat—and it’s forcing cybersecurity experts to think differently.

What You Can Do

For businesses and institutions (especially those managing sensitive data), here’s how to respond:

Educate employees to never click on links in unsolicited text messages—even if they seem local or urgent.
Implement mobile device management (MDM) tools that can flag or sandbox risky SMS content.
Harden Wi-Fi and guest network access, as attackers could also use proximity to stage broader attacks.
Report strange activity—especially clusters of smishing complaints in a geographic area—to law enforcement or mobile carriers.

This isn’t just spam.

It’s weaponized mobility.

And it’s only a matter of time before it spreads beyond China.

70% of all cyber attacks target small businesses. I can help protect yours.

#CyberSecurity

#Smishing

#MobileThreats

#MSP

#PhishingAttack

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Cybersecurity

Technology

Businesses running Windows 10 are on a ticking clock

August 15, 2025

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20 min read

⌛ Tick Tock: Windows 10 Support Ends October 2025

Businesses running Windows 10 are on a ticking clock

Microsoft has officially announced the end-of-servicing date for Windows 10, version 22H2 and other legacy builds:

🗓️ October 14, 2025.

This includes:

Windows 10 Home, Pro, Enterprise, Education (22H2)
Windows 10 IoT Enterprise (22H2)
Windows 10 2015 LTSB
Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB 2015

The October 2025 Patch Tuesday will be the final round of security updates, bug fixes, and support. After that—no more protection.

What This Means for Your Business

If you’re a school, healthcare provider, law firm, or SMB still running Windows 10, here’s what happens after October 14, 2025:

🚨 No more security patches—leaving systems vulnerable to cyber threats.
⚠️ Compliance risks—especially in HIPAA, FERPA, and client confidentiality contexts.
🐞 No bug fixes or technical support from Microsoft.
💸 Increased exposure to attacks from threat actors targeting outdated systems.

What You Should Do Now

Here’s how to protect your organization and stay compliant:

Inventory your devices — Identify all machines still running Windows 10 22H2, 2015 LTSB, or IoT Enterprise LTSB 2015.
Upgrade eligible devices to Windows 11 — Use tools like Microsoft Intune, Autopatch, or Autopilot.
Enroll in the ESU (Extended Security Updates) program — If you can’t upgrade in time, this will buy you a bit more runway with critical patches.

Delaying this process puts your entire network at risk.

Don’t wait until October 2025 to act. We can help you assess, upgrade, and secure every endpoint.

70% of all cyber attacks target small businesses. I can help protect yours.

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Cybersecurity

News

Must-Read

Is Apple dropping the ball

August 15, 2025

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20 min read

Is Apple dropping the ball? 🤔📱

Because lately, my iPhone’s talk-to-text has been straight-up chaos.

Mid-sentence—💥—it freezes.

Mic’s on. Nothing types.

The “solution”? Restart the whole phone like it’s 2007.

And when it does work? Buckle up.

I said: “Let’s touch base next week.”

It typed: “Let’s touch bass next week.” 🎸

I said: “Thanks for the quick update.”

It gave me: “Thanks for the thick cupcake.” 🧁

(Not mad about it… just confused.)

I said: “Let’s circle back.”

It heard: “Let’s twerk in the back.” 😳

(…Not the corporate vibe I was going for.)

Apple, you’re supposed to be the gold standard in UX.

How did one of your most helpful features turn into a glitchy improv show?

Anyone else experiencing this?

Drop your funniest talk-to-text fails below.

Let’s make some noise. 🗣💬

Technology

Must-Read

RANT TIME- Google, you broke Gomez superpower

August 15, 2025

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20 min read

RANT TIME: Google, you broke Gomez’s superpower. 😡

He used to be that guy — the one who could find any photo in seconds.

Birthday in 2017? Found.

Blurry shot of a weird sandwich from that road trip? Boom—3 seconds.

Then came the glorious update:

✨ Google Photos AI Search ✨

Oooh fancy. Sparkles and all.

Except now?

He can’t find anything.

type “wedding” → it shows a dog.

type “camp” → it gives snow.

And the best part? THERE’S. NO. WAY. TO. GO. BACK.

Already tried:

🔄 Deleting the app

🧹 Reinstalling

🛐 Praying

🧠 Even thinking like an AI

But nope. Still lost in the matrix.

Google forced the new AI search down our throats, and I went from search ninja 🥷 to flailing Luddite 📵.

Why do tech companies always “improve” the one thing that worked perfectly?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Google:

Not every upgrade is an improvement.

You overengineered the wheel and gave us a trapezoid.

Let. Me. Go. Back.

Sincerely,

A frustrated ex-photo-wizard who now can’t find his kid’s 3rd birthday pics.

#UXFail #GooglePhotos #AIOverreach #TechGoneWrong #BringBackClassic #UserExperience #TooSmartToBeUseful #SearchShouldJustWork #ProductivityKillers #ProductDesign #InnovationFail

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WhatsApp, I’ve got your next killer feature idea…

August 14, 2025

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20 min read

WhatsApp, I’ve got your next killer feature idea…

Imagine this:

You want to send a batch of photos the recipient can view once — and then poof, gone forever.

Perfect for:

• The vacation album that’s “fun” but maybe not HR-approved 🏖️😉

• The 1,000 baby pics your mom will screenshot… but now she can’t 🍼📵

• The “what happens in Vegas” shots that should stay in Vegas 🎲🍹

• The surprise gift pics you don’t want accidentally discovered 🎁🫢

Snapchat and Instagram figured it out.

Why not WhatsApp?

Messaging Apps Are the New Workspaces

With millions of professionals relying on messaging platforms for both personal and professional communication, feature innovation isn’t just about fun—it’s about trust and utility.

End-to-end encryption isn’t enough if the user experience is stuck in 2017.

Sometimes we want to share a moment, not create a permanent archive.

Sometimes we want temporary transparency, not lasting liability.

Sometimes we just want to send a pic without it becoming Exhibit A.

Why This Matters for Business

Think about it:

You’re previewing a confidential prototype.
You’re sending visual onboarding docs with sensitive info.
You’re sharing internal updates with the board, or vendor pricing.

Should that live forever in someone’s chat history?

Probably not.

Businesses today demand privacy settings that keep up with the pace of communication.

One-time view photos and expiring messages aren’t a gimmick — they’re a cyber hygiene necessity.

If WhatsApp wants to stay competitive, it has to evolve beyond “blue ticks” and “last seen.”

Would you use this feature?

Or is it just me trying to save my camera roll from becoming a subpoena?

Technology

Cybersecurity

News

AI tools like McDonald’s hiring bot are fast and frighteningly insecure

August 14, 2025

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20 min read

🤖 Would You Trust “Olivia” With Your Client Data?

AI tools like McDonald’s hiring bot are fast—and frighteningly insecure

In the race to automate hiring, McDonald’s deployed an AI chatbot named Olivia. She asks for your résumé, schedules interviews, and even makes small talk. But until last week, Olivia had a serious flaw:

Her admin password was “123456.”

Thanks to basic security failures by AI vendor Paradox.ai, the personal data of up to 64 million McDonald’s job applicants was potentially exposed. According to security researchers, anyone could have accessed applicant names, emails, phone numbers, and chat logs—simply by guessing that laughable password.

This Isn’t Just McDonald’s Problem

Think this can’t happen to your organization? Think again.

That AI assistant answering calls at your clinic? What happens if its admin panel is unsecured?
The chatbot handling admissions at your school? Could it be exposing student data?
That outsourced HR platform your firm uses? Is it storing résumés—and vulnerabilities?

When your SMB, healthcare practice, law firm, or school integrates third-party tech, you inherit their risks.

AI Isn’t the Problem—Negligence Is

The real danger isn’t artificial intelligence. It’s artificial confidence—believing that just because it’s automated, it’s secure. This breach highlights three crucial lessons:

Audit your third-party tools—especially those handling personal data.
Vet AI vendors for security history, bug bounty programs, and breach transparency.
Partner with an MSP that enforces cybersecurity best practices and performs vendor risk assessments.

Cyberattacks rarely start with complex code. They start with human laziness—like choosing “123456.”

70% of all cyber attacks target small businesses. I can help protect yours.

Cybersecurity

Technology

Must-Read

Chips Don’t Lie: How the U.S. Is Tracking AI Hardware

August 13, 2025

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20 min read

🎯 Chips Don’t Lie: How the U.S. Is Tracking AI Hardware

Hidden trackers in AI servers reveal a growing cyber-geopolitical chess match

What happens when cutting-edge AI chips meant for approved destinations mysteriously wind up in unauthorized Chinese facilities?

You track them.

That’s exactly what U.S. authorities are doing, embedding stealth tracking devices in select AI chip shipments to uncover illegal diversions. According to an exclusive Reuters report, the trackers have been found in Dell and Super Micro shipments containing chips from Nvidia and AMD, with some devices even hidden inside the servers themselves.

This isn’t science fiction. It’s the latest escalation in the battle over semiconductor dominance, and it’s already impacting global tech supply chains.

What This Means for U.S. Businesses

If you’re in healthcare, law, education, or running an SMB—you might think this has nothing to do with you.

Think again.

If your IT vendor cuts corners and sources from unauthorized resellers, you may unknowingly use compromised or illegal tech.
You’re now part of a supply chain under surveillance.
Devices in your server room might carry hidden government trackers — not because you’re guilty, but because the chip passed through a flagged reseller.

The line between global policy and local IT is blurring. You need a compliant, secure MSP who understands the legal, ethical, and cyber implications of your hardware sourcing.

What You Can Do Today

Verify your vendors. Know where your servers and components are coming from.
Document your hardware inventory and ensure nothing has been tampered with.
Work with cybersecurity and IT partners who follow export compliance best practices and don’t cut costs through shady resellers.
Ask questions about your servers and cloud systems. If your provider can’t give you clear sourcing answers, find one who can.

70% of all cyber attacks target small businesses. I can help protect yours.

#CyberSecurity #ITCompliance #ManagedServices #SupplyChainSecurity #MSP

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News

Must-Read

Elon Musk is stirring the pot again this time with some very difficult questions for Apple.

August 13, 2025

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20 min read

Elon Musk is stirring the pot again — and this time, Apple’s in the crosshairs.

Musk claims X is now the #1 news app globally, and his AI chatbot Grok is sitting at #5 among all apps. Yet, neither is featured in Apple’s coveted “Must Have” section of the App Store.

That section isn’t an algorithmic ranking — it’s handpicked by Apple’s editorial team. Which raises the question: if the #1 and #5 apps aren’t in there, what’s the real selection criteria?

Is Apple quietly protecting its brand image by keeping controversial figures and platforms off the list? Is this about politics? Or is it simply how App Store curation has always worked? The truth is, when companies like Apple hold this much influence over what billions of people see, the line between “editorial choice” and “business strategy” starts to blur.

And this isn’t just about Musk or X. It’s about whether tech giants — who act as the gatekeepers of the digital economy — have an ethical responsibility to make these processes transparent. When you control the world’s most valuable digital storefront, should personal bias or political considerations ever play a role?

Because here’s the thing: if being the top-ranked app in your category isn’t enough to secure a spot in “Must Have,” then maybe “Must Have” isn’t about the must-have apps at all. Maybe it’s about the must-have image Apple wants to project.

The bigger question for every business leader, entrepreneur, and innovator is this: if your growth can be stalled or your reach throttled simply because you don’t align with a curator’s values, how do you build a business in that environment? Is that just competition — or quiet censorship in disguise?

One thing’s for sure — this conversation is going to get louder. And how Apple responds (or doesn’t) could set a precedent for the future of app discovery.