January 2022 - Page 3 of 17 - Dr. Ware Technology Services

Apple Releases Security Updates for Multiple Products

by Scott Muniz | Jan 27, 2022 | Security, Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Conned on social media? It’s not just you

by Scott Muniz | Jan 27, 2022 | Security

This article was originally posted by the FTC. See the original article here.

In 2021, more than 95,000 people told the FTC that they’d been scammed with a con that started on social media. In fact, more than one in four people who reported to the FTC that they lost money to any scam said the transaction started with a post, an ad, or a message on a social media platform. And the losses amount to about $770 million.

Today’s Data Spotlight gives us insights into how scammers use social media to con people. Reports point to rampant investment, romance, and online shopping scams on social. People reported losing the most money to investment scams (particularly those involving bogus cryptocurrency investments) and romance scams. More than a third of the people who lost money to romance scams said it started on Facebook or Instagram.

The largest number of reports came from people who lost money trying to buy something they saw marketed on social media. Most said they didn’t get the stuff they paid for, while some reported ads that impersonated a real online retailer. Reports of social media fraud increased for all age groups in 2021, but people 18 to 39 were more than twice as likely to report losing money than older adults.

Scammers trying to get your money are always looking for new ways to reach people. And they’ll use whatever they know about you to target their pitch. Here are some things to do to protect yourself, no matter which social media platform you use:

Try to limit who can see your posts and information on social media. Of course, all platforms collect information about you from your activities on social media, but visit your privacy settings to set some restrictions.
Check if you can opt out of targeted advertising. Some platforms let you do that.
If you see urgent messages from a “friend” asking for money, stop. It could be a hacker behind that post pretending to be your friend.
Check out a company before you buy. Read Shopping Online for advice.
Don’t deal with a vendor that requires payment by cryptocurrency, gift card, or wire transfer. That’s sure to be a scam.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Windows Server End of Support: Key Dates

by Contributed | Jan 27, 2022 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

We’re energized to hear of customers already using Windows Server 2022 to power their apps, data, and infrastructure. We also understand that some customers need more time to modernize as support for older versions of Windows Server will eventually end. The purpose of this blog is to remind customers of the key dates and options for Windows Server 2008/R2 and 2012/R2 versions.

As outlined in this blog, there are several options to continue to run and protect Windows Server workloads. Customers can migrate to Azure to get free Extended Security Updates (ESUs) to protect their workloads while they are planning their upgrade to the latest version of Windows Server. They can also combine Extended Security Updates (ESUs) with Azure Hybrid Benefit to further increase savings on Azure. If customers need to remain on-premises for regulatory or compliance reasons, they can purchase Extended Security Updates (ESUs) for their on-premises servers, more about that below. For their on-premises servers, customers can use Azure Arc to take advantage of automated/scheduled ESU updates and installation as well as the security and governance capabilities in Azure.

Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 end of Year 2 of Extended Security Updates

For Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 customers, the end date for Year 2 of Extended Security Updates (ESUs) was January 11^th, 2022. End of Support for the third year of ESUs will be January 10^th, 2023 for Windows Server licenses.

Customers can get an additional fourth year of free ESUs only on Azure (including Azure Stack HCI, Azure Stack Hub, and other Azure products). With this, customers will have until January 9^th, 2024 for Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 to upgrade to a supported release.

Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 End of Support

For Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 customers, the end of support date is October 10^th, 2023. These Extended Security Updates will be available for purchase no later than October 2022, but available for installation after the EOS date, October 10, 2023. ESUs will continue for three years, renewable on an annual basis, until the final date on October 13^th, 2026.

Purchasing Extended Security Updates

For customers that cannot meet the end of support deadline and have Software Assurance or subscription licenses under an enterprise agreement enrollment, and they cannot migrate their Windows Server to Azure, they will have the option to buy Extended Security Updates. For detailed instructions on how to purchase and activate Windows Server 2008/R2 Extended Security Updates, please see this blog post on Tech Community. More details about the purchase of Windows Server 2012/R2 Extended Security Updates will be published closer to the End of Support date.

Learn more about End of Support options