Microsoft Removes Driver Updates

Here we go again.

Recently, the press was filled with headlines about Microsoft removing driver updates from the Windows Device Manager.

Windows 10 Device Manager loses the ability to search online for driver updates

Microsoft has removed a useful driver updating feature from Windows 10 

Microsoft removes driver updates via Windows 10 Device Manager 

So when is the last time YOU went to the Device Manager and searched for a driver?

Did Microsoft really do this? Yes. Does it matter? Not really. Did they actually make an improvement? Probably.

What they did is they moved the driver updates to the Windows Update process that most everybody uses.

Here's a comment from one of the above articles:

The new method via Windows Update seems to work great though, but you can't search specifically for that device/part. But i guess if nothing shows up, it means you're already up to date.

And they didn't (yet) push them on you.

Here's how it looks now in Windows Update:

I think that's an improvement.

Remote File Manager for iOS

I still wrestle with how to backup photos from my iOS devices. In a recent post, I discussed how I use OneDrive for daily backup.

But sometimes you want to backup photos en masse.

The best thing I've found is Remote File Manager from Jane Zhang.

While Remote File Manager is not for the novice, it is an extraordinarily capable app.

I use it to copy photos from my iOS devices to my NAS storage, e.g. Drobo.

Click on the +.

And chose to create a new network connection.

Notice you can also specify various cloud services.

Select the NAS device.

Navigate to the destination folder you want.

Click on "Edit" then "Upload".

Pick the Photo Library on the iOS device and then the album you want.

Select the pictures you want and then click on "Save".

Sit back and watch.

Copy-Paste Grows Up

We all know how valuable the copy-paste capability is. Even the iPhone added copy-paste in iOS 4.

On Windows, select an object, press CTRL+C, navigate to a new location, press CTRL+V and there it is!

Oh, you need to paste something you copied earlier? Tough. Go back and find it again (if it still exists), and CTRL+C it again.

Until now.

Recent updates to Windows 10 have added a built-in clipboard history.

Go to Windows 10's Settings > System > Clipboard to enable clipboard history.

Then when you want to paste next time, press Windows Key+V.

Here's what you'll see.

Enjoy!

WFH Risks

This pandemic has popularized a new acronym - WFH - Work From Home.

That scares me. I worry that WFH security is not what it should be.

IBM published a Work From Home Study. Here are their Key Points:

1. 93% of those newly working from home are confident in their company’s ability to keep personal identifiable information (PII) secure while working remotely, yet 52% are using their personal laptops for work – often with no new tools to secure it, and 45% haven’t received any new training.
2. More than half have yet to be given any new security policies on how to securely work from home, leaving 47% concerned about impending cybersecurity risks
3. 53% of employees are using their personal laptops and computers for business operations while WFH, however 61% also say their employer hasn't provided tools to properly secure those devices.
4. More than half have not been provided with new guidelines on how to handle PII while working from home, despite more than 42% newly being required to do so as consumers lean on customer service representatives for a variety of services. 
5. 66% have not been provided with new password management guidelines, which could be why 35% are still reusing passwords for business accounts.

Wow!

WFH scares me to death. What does this look like in another year?

Total Cost of Ransomware

So you think that the ransom payment is the biggest cost of a ransomware attack?

Not even close.

A recent article by Decrypt covers the costs of ransomware.

Cybersecurity company Emsisoft estimated that total ransom payments that were demanded in 2019 was $25 billion.

That's bad enough. But Emsisoft estimated that the total cost was as much as seven times this, as much as $170 billion.

Most of the difference results from downtime and from dealing with the attack.

Coveware reports that it takes victims of a ransomware attack 16 days to restore their network. Think about your network being down 16 days.

Gartner suggests that the average cost per minute is $5,600. Tick-tock.

That's why 1 out of 3 companies just pay the ransom.

Don't be in that group.

Worry. React. Invest.