All of us have a home/business router that we use to connect to the internet.  A security company tested many popular brands (Netgear, DLink, TP-Link, Linksys, ASUS, etc.) for security vulnerabilities.  The results were not encouraging as almost all the routers had major security holes.  There are actions you can take to reduce your network from being hacked:

• Disable remote management
• Upgrade to the latest firmware
• Change the default admin password
• (Wireless only) Turn off broadcasting your wireless network id (SSID)

This will continue to be an issue until the router vendors place an emphasis on securing their devices and our home/business networks.

Apple did hold their annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) virtually due to the pandemic.  There were numerous announcements, including new versions of Apple operating system software (MacOS, iOS for iPhones, iPadOS for iPads, watchOS for Apple watches and tvOS for Apple TV hardware).  Apple has begun merging the look and feel of iPadOS/iOS into MacOS for a more consistent customer experience.  The company also announced a subsystem to allow Mac users to run iOS/iPadOS applications on your Mac computer.  This is to prepare Apple’s customer base for the biggest change in Apple computers in over a decade: Apple is moving from Intel based processors (used in Windows PCs) to their own A series processors (currently used in iPhones and iPads).  The transition to Apple’s own silicon will take approximately 2 years, and will be the catalyst for Apple to release new designs for their laptops and desktops.  Apple will include emulation software to allow existing MacOS applications to run on the A series processors, but emulation software tends to be slow and buggy.  Although the move will result in Apple unifying their major product lines on a single processor architecture with longer battery life and enhanced performance, it also means that Windows will no longer run natively on Mac computers.  There are many Windows users who buy Apple products to run the Microsoft operating system.  Stay tuned for more information on how Apple intends to handle this processor shift over the coming year, with the first Apple A series computers expected by the end of this year.

This past Tuesday Microsoft released its July 2020 patches/updates which includes a security fix for the Internet’s “address book”, DNS.  The DNS security hole that is plugged by the July 2020 update prevents hackers from being able to remotely access your Windows files.  Normally I advise people to hold off installing the patches, but in this situation, you should update to the July 2020 patches immediately.  Please remember to backup your Windows computer first if you can, and to create a System Restore point before installing the July 2020 patches.