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Amazing!
Zack is amazing! I have gone to him with computer issues for the past few years now and he always finds a way to fix… Read more “Amazing!”
Professional, smart & sensitive
Cannot say enough good things about Zack Rahhal and his team. Professional, smart, sensitive to small biz budgets and a helluva good guy. Could not… Read more “Professional, smart & sensitive”
AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL STAFF
stars indeed. So reliable and helpful and kind and smart. We call Al and he is “on it” immediately and such a FABULOUS teacher, patient… Read more “AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL STAFF”
Whatever my need, unfailingly helpful
I’ve been a customer of the staff at Advantage for many years now. They have never let me down! Whatever my need, however big or… Read more “Whatever my need, unfailingly helpful”
Best Kept Secret
I’ve known the Advantage Team for years. They are the absolute best techs in the field, bar none. I couldn’t tell you how many tens… Read more “Best Kept Secret”
Excellent Experience
I had an excellent experience with Advantage. Aside from being extremely professional and pleasant generally, Zack was incredibly responsive and helpful, even before and after… Read more “Excellent Experience”
Simply The Best!
Simply The Best! Our company has been working with Advantage Computer Solutions for a few years, Zack and his Team are AWESOME! They are super… Read more “Simply The Best!”
Awesome
The engineering team at Advantage Computers is the best in the business. They are nothing short of technical… Read more “Awesome”
It’s like having a cousin in the business.
Al, Nasser and Zack have been keeping our operations going for over a decade, taking care of our regular upgrades and our emergency system problems.… Read more “It’s like having a cousin in the business.”
Exceptional People
In many cases, exceptional people do not receive recognition for their hard work and superior customer service. We do not want this to be one of those… Read more “Exceptional People”
Highly Recommended
I became a customer about 6-7 months and I can say nothing but great things about this business. Zack takes care of me. I am… Read more “Highly Recommended”
Life Savers
THANK GOD for this local computer repair business who saved me hundreds, my hard drive was messed up, i called the company with warranty they… Read more “Life Savers”
I don’t have enough words to express my appreciation
I don’t have enough words to express my appreciation for Nassar and Paul, and the other members of Advantage Computer Solutions. I live in Bergen… Read more “I don’t have enough words to express my appreciation”
Minuteman Press Newark
Advantage Computer Solutions is absolutely great. They show up, do what they say they are going to, complete the job without issues (my other computer… Read more “Minuteman Press Newark”
Knowledgeable, Reliable, Reasonable
Knowledgeable, Reliable, Reasonable Working with Advantage Computers since 1997 for both personal and business tech support has been a rewarding and enjoyable experience. Rewarding, in… Read more “Knowledgeable, Reliable, Reasonable”
Excellent service!
Excellent service! I am the administrator for a busy medical office which relies heavily on our computer system. We have used Advantage Computer Solutions for… Read more “Excellent service!”
Great Advice and Service
Advantage offers great advice and service I bought parts for my gaming pc online and they put it together in a day for a great… Read more “Great Advice and Service”
Great Service, Support and Sales
Our company has been using the services of Advantage Computers since 2006. It was important to find a reliable company to provide us with the technical… Read more “Great Service, Support and Sales”
Extremely Professional and Passionate
Our company has been working with Advantage since the 1990’s and have been a loyal client ever since. Advantage does not make it very difficult… Read more “Extremely Professional and Passionate”
Handles all our Office IT
Advantage Computer Solutions has handled all of our computer and IT needs for the past 2 years. The staff is always professional and the service… Read more “Handles all our Office IT”
Passaic Housing Authority
Since 1996 the Housing Authority of the City of Passaic has been a client of Advantage Computer Solutions. Our Agency has utilized their outstanding services… Read more “Passaic Housing Authority”
They made sure EVERYTHING was working
“When the computer I use to run my photography business started acting erratically and kept shutting down, I was in a panic. I depend on… Read more “They made sure EVERYTHING was working”
APTs target MSP access to customer networks – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
The recent compromise of the networks of several companies via the abuse of a remote access tool used by MSPs exemplifies why state-aligned threat actors should be on the radars of IT service providers
The post APTs target MSP access to customer networks – Week in security with Tony Anscombe appeared first on WeLiveSecurity
Creating strong, yet user‑friendly passwords: Tips for your business password policy
Don’t torture people with exceedingly complex password composition rules but do blacklist commonly used passwords, plus other ways to help people help themselves – and your entire organization
The post Creating strong, yet user‑friendly passwords: Tips for your business password policy appeared first on WeLiveSecurity
So long passwords, thanks for all the phish
By: Arnar Birgisson and Diana K Smetters, Identity Ecosystems and Google Account Security and Safety teams
Starting today, you can create and use passkeys on your personal Google Account. When you do, Google will not ask for your password or 2-Step Verification (2SV) when you sign in.
Passkeys are a more convenient and safer alternative to passwords. They work on all major platforms and browsers, and allow users to sign in by unlocking their computer or mobile device with their fingerprint, face recognition or a local PIN.
Using passwords puts a lot of responsibility on users. Choosing strong passwords and remembering them across various accounts can be hard. In addition, even the most savvy users are often misled into giving them up during phishing attempts. 2SV (2FA/MFA) helps, but again puts strain on the user with additional, unwanted friction and still doesn’t fully protect against phishing attacks and targeted attacks like “SIM swaps” for SMS verification. Passkeys help address all these issues.
Creating passkeys on your Google Account
When you add a passkey to your Google Account, we will start asking for it when you sign in or perform sensitive actions on your account. The passkey itself is stored on your local computer or mobile device, which will ask for your screen lock biometrics or PIN to confirm it’s really you. Biometric data is never shared with Google or any other third party – the screen lock only unlocks the passkey locally.
Unlike passwords, passkeys can only exist on your devices. They cannot be written down or accidentally given to a bad actor. When you use a passkey to sign in to your Google Account, it proves to Google that you have access to your device and are able to unlock it. Together, this means that passkeys protect you against phishing and any accidental mishandling that passwords are prone to, such as being reused or exposed in a data breach. This is stronger protection than most 2SV (2FA/MFA) methods offer today, which is why we allow you to skip not only the password but also 2SV when you use a passkey. In fact, passkeys are strong enough that they can stand in for security keys for users enrolled in our Advanced Protection Program.
Creating a passkey on your Google Account makes it an option for sign-in. Existing methods, including your password, will still work in case you need them, for example when using devices that don’t support passkeys yet. Passkeys are still new and it will take some time before they work everywhere. However, creating a passkey today still comes with security benefits as it allows us to pay closer attention to the sign-ins that fall back to passwords. Over time, we’ll increasingly scrutinize these as passkeys gain broader support and familiarity.
Using passkeys to sign in to your Google Account
Using passkeys does not mean that you have to use your phone every time you sign in. If you use multiple devices, e.g. a laptop, a PC or a tablet, you can create a passkey for each one. In addition, some platforms securely back your passkeys up and sync them to other devices you own. For example, if you create a passkey on your iPhone, that passkey will also be available on your other Apple devices if they are signed in to the same iCloud account. This protects you from being locked out of your account in case you lose your devices, and makes it easier for you to upgrade from one device to another.
If you want to sign in on a new device for the first time, or temporarily use someone else’s device, you can use a passkey stored on your phone to do so. On the new device, you’d just select the option to “use a passkey from another device” and follow the prompts. This does not automatically transfer the passkey to the new device, it only uses your phone’s screen lock and proximity to approve a one-time sign-in. If the new device supports storing its own passkeys, we will ask separately if you want to create one there.
In fact, if you sign in on a device shared with others, you should not create a passkey there. When you create a passkey on a device, anyone with access to that device and the ability to unlock it, can sign in to your Google Account. While that might sound a bit alarming, most people will find it easier to control access to their devices rather than maintaining good security posture with passwords and having to be on constant lookout for phishing attempts.
If you lose a device with a passkey for your Google Account and believe someone else can unlock it, you can immediately revoke the passkey in your account settings. If your device supports the option to remotely wipe it, consider doing that as well, especially if it also has passkeys for other services. We always recommend having a recovery phone and email on your account, as it increases your chance of recovering it in case someone gains access.
To start using passkeys on your personal Google Account today, visit g.co/passkeys.
How does this work under the hood?
The main ingredient of a passkey is a cryptographic private key – this is what is stored on your devices. When you create one, the corresponding public key is uploaded to Google. When you sign in, we ask your device to sign a unique challenge with the private key. Your device only does so if you approve this, which requires unlocking the device. We then verify the signature with your public key.
Your device also ensures the signature can only be shared with Google websites and apps, and not with malicious phishing intermediaries. This means you don’t have to be as watchful with where you use passkeys as you would with passwords, SMS verification codes, etc. The signature proves to us that the device is yours since it has the private key, that you were there to unlock it, and that you are actually trying to sign in to Google and not some intermediary phishing site. The only data shared with Google for this to work is the public key and the signature. Neither contains any information about your biometrics.
The private key behind the passkey lives on your devices and in some cases, it stays only on the device it was created on. In other cases, your operating system or an app similar to a password manager may sync it to other devices you own. Passkey sync providers like the Google Password Manager and iCloud Keychain use end-to-end encryption to keep your passkeys private.
Since each passkey can only be used for a single account, there is no risk of reusing them across services. This means that your Google Account is safe from data breaches across your other accounts, and vice versa.
When you do need to use a passkey from your phone to sign in on another device, the first step is usually to scan a QR code displayed by that device. The device then verifies that your phone is in proximity using a small anonymous Bluetooth message and sets up an end-to-end encrypted connection to the phone through the internet. The phone uses this connection to deliver your one-time passkey signature, which requires your approval and the biometric or screen lock step on the phone. Neither the passkey itself nor the screen lock information is sent to the new device. The Bluetooth proximity check ensures remote attackers can’t trick you into releasing a passkey signature, for example by sending you a screenshot of a QR code from their own device.
Passkeys are built on the protocols and standards Google helped create in the FIDO Alliance and W3C WebAuthn working group. This means passkey support works across all platforms and browsers that adopt these standards. You can store the passkeys for your Google Account on any compatible device or service.
The same standards and protocols power security keys, our strongest offering for high risk accounts. Passkeys inherit many of their strong account protections from security keys, but with convenience that is suitable for everyone.
Today’s launch is a big step in a cross-industry effort that we helped start more than 10 years ago, and we are committed to passkeys as the future of secure sign-in, for everyone. We hope that other web and app developers adopt passkeys and are able to use our deployment as a model. Developers can learn more about passkey support on our Chrome and Android platforms here.
Using Discord? Don’t play down its privacy and security risks
It’s all fun and games until someone gets hacked – here’s what to know about, and how to avoid, threats lurking on the social media juggernaut
The post Using Discord? Don’t play down its privacy and security risks appeared first on WeLiveSecurity
Google and Apple lead initiative for an industry specification to address unwanted tracking
Companies welcome input from industry participants and advocacy groups on a draft specification to alert users in the event of suspected unwanted tracking
Location-tracking devices help users find personal items like their keys, purse, luggage, and more through crowdsourced finding networks. However, they can also be misused for unwanted tracking of individuals.
Today Google and Apple jointly submitted a proposed industry specification to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth location-tracking devices for unwanted tracking. The first-of-its-kind specification will allow Bluetooth location-tracking devices to be compatible with unauthorized tracking detection and alerts across Android and iOS platforms. Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security, and Pebblebee have expressed support for the draft specification, which offers best practices and instructions for manufacturers, should they choose to build these capabilities into their products.
“Bluetooth trackers have created tremendous user benefits but also bring the potential of unwanted tracking, which requires industry-wide action to solve,” said Dave Burke, Google’s vice president of Engineering for Android. “Android has an unwavering commitment to protecting users and will continue to develop strong safeguards and collaborate with the industry to help combat the misuse of Bluetooth tracking devices.”
“Apple launched AirTag to give users the peace of mind knowing where to find their most important items,” said Ron Huang, Apple’s vice president of Sensing and Connectivity. “We built AirTag and the Find My network with a set of proactive features to discourage unwanted tracking, a first in the industry, and we continue to make improvements to help ensure the technology is being used as intended. “This new industry specification builds upon the AirTag protections, and through collaboration with Google, results in a critical step forward to help combat unwanted tracking across iOS and Android.”
In addition to incorporating feedback from device manufacturers, input from various safety and advocacy groups has been integrated into the development of the specification.
“The National Network to End Domestic Violence has been advocating for universal standards to protect survivors – and all people – from the misuse of bluetooth tracking devices. This collaboration and the resulting standards are a significant step forward. NNEDV is encouraged by this progress,” said Erica Olsen, the National Network to End Domestic Violence’s senior director of its Safety Net Project. “These new standards will minimize opportunities for abuse of this technology and decrease burdens on survivors in detecting unwanted trackers. We are grateful for these efforts and look forward to continuing to work together to address unwanted tracking and misuse.”
“Today’s release of a draft specification is a welcome step to confront harmful misuses of Bluetooth location trackers,” said Alexandra Reeve Givens, the Center for Democracy & Technology’s president and CEO. “CDT continues to focus on ways to make these devices more detectable and reduce the likelihood that they will be used to track people. A key element to reducing misuse is a universal, OS-level solution that is able to detect trackers made by different companies on the variety of smartphones that people use every day. We commend Apple and Google for their partnership and dedication to developing a uniform solution to improve detectability. We look forward to the specification moving through the standardization process and to further engagement on ways to reduce the risk of Bluetooth location trackers being misused.”
The specification has been submitted as an Internet-Draft via the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a leading standards development organization. Interested parties are invited and encouraged to review and comment over the next three months. Following the comment period, Google and Apple will partner to address feedback and will release a production implementation of the specification for unwanted tracking alerts by the end of 2023 that will then be supported in future versions of Android and iOS.
Google will share more on how we’re combating unwanted tracking at I/O 2023.
APT groups muddying the waters for MSPs
A quick dive into the murky world of cyberespionage and other growing threats facing managed service providers – and their customers
The post APT groups muddying the waters for MSPs appeared first on WeLiveSecurity
Secure mobile payment transactions enabled by Android Protected Confirmation
Posted by Rae Wang, Director of Product Management (Android Security and Privacy Team)
Unlike other mobile OSes, Android is built with a transparent, open-source architecture. We firmly believe that our users and the mobile ecosystem at-large should be able to verify Android’s security and safety and not just take our word for it.
We’ve demonstrated our deep belief in security transparency by investing in features that enable users to confirm that what they expect is happening on their device is actually happening.
The Assurance of Android Protected Confirmation
One of those features is Android Protected Confirmation, an API that enables developers to utilize Android hardware to provide users even more assurance that a critical action has been executed securely. Using a hardware-protected user interface, Android Protected Confirmation can help developers verify a user’s action intent with a very high degree of confidence. This can be especially useful in a number of user moments – like during mobile payment transactions – that greatly benefit from additional verification and security.
We’re excited to see that Android Protected Confirmation is now gaining ecosystem attention as an industry-leading method for confirming critical user actions via hardware. Recently, UBS Group AG and the Bern University of Applied Sciences, co-financed by Innosuisse and UBS Next, announced they’re working with Google on a pilot project to establish Protected Confirmation as a common application programmable interface standard. In a pilot planned for 2023, UBS online banking customers with Pixel 6 or 7 devices can use Android Protected Confirmation backed by StrongBox, a certified hardware vault with physical attack protections, to confirm payments and verify online purchases through a hardware-based confirmation in their UBS Access App.
Demonstrating Real-World Use for Android Protection Confirmation
We’ve been working closely with UBS to bring this pilot to life and ensure they’re able to test it on Google Pixel devices. Demonstrating real-world use cases that are enabled by Android Protected Confirmation unlocks the promise of this technology by delivering improved and innovative experiences for our users. We’re seeing interest in Android Protected Confirmation across the industry and OEMs are increasingly looking at how to build even more hardware-based confirmation into critical security user moments. We look forward to forming an industry alliance that will work together to strengthen mobile security and home in on protecting confirmation support.
What was hot at RSA Conference 2023? – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
The importance of understanding – and prioritizing – the privacy and security implications of large language models like ChatGPT cannot be overstated
The post What was hot at RSA Conference 2023? – Week in security with Tony Anscombe appeared first on WeLiveSecurity
How we fought bad apps and bad actors in 2022
Posted by Anu Yamunan and Khawaja Shams (Android Security and Privacy Team), and Mohet Saxena (Compute Trust and Safety)
Keeping Google Play safe for users and developers remains a top priority for Google. Google Play Protect continues to scan billions of installed apps each day across billions of Android devices to keep users safe from threats like malware and unwanted software.
In 2022, we prevented 1.43 million policy-violating apps from being published on Google Play in part due to new and improved security features and policy enhancements — in combination with our continuous investments in machine learning systems and app review processes. We also continued to combat malicious developers and fraud rings, banning 173K bad accounts, and preventing over $2 billion in fraudulent and abusive transactions. We’ve raised the bar for new developers to join the Play ecosystem with phone, email, and other identity verification methods, which contributed to a reduction in accounts used to publish violative apps. We continued to partner with SDK providers to limit sensitive data access and sharing, enhancing the privacy posture for over one million apps on Google Play.
With strengthened Android platform protections and policies, and developer outreach and education, we prevented about 500K submitted apps from unnecessarily accessing sensitive permissions over the past 3 years.
Developer Support and Collaboration to Help Keep Apps Safe
As the Android ecosystem expands, it’s critical for us to work closely with the developer community to ensure they have the tools, knowledge, and support to build secure and trustworthy apps that respect user data security and privacy.
In 2022, the App Security Improvements program helped developers fix ~500K security weaknesses affecting ~300K apps with a combined install base of approximately 250B installs. We also launched the Google Play SDK Index to help developers evaluate an SDK’s reliability and safety and make informed decisions about whether an SDK is right for their business and their users. We will keep working closely with SDK providers to improve app and SDK safety, limit how user data is shared, and improve lines of communication with app developers.
We also recently launched new features and resources to give developers a better policy experience. We’ve expanded our Helpline pilot to give more developers direct policy phone support. And we piloted the Google Play Developer Community so more developers can discuss policy questions and exchange best practices on how to build safe apps.
More Stringent App Requirements and Guidelines
In addition to the Google Play features and policies that are central to providing a safe experience for users, each Android OS update brings privacy, security, and user experience improvements. To ensure users realize the full benefits of these advances — and to maintain the trusted experience people expect on Google Play — we collaborate with developers to ensure their apps work seamlessly on newer Android versions. With the new Target API Level policy, we’re strengthening user security and privacy by protecting users from installing apps that may not have the full set of privacy and security features offered by the latest versions of Android.
This past year, we rolled out new license requirements for personal loan apps in key geographies – Kenya, Nigeria, and Philippines – with more stringent requirements for loan facilitator apps in India to combat fraud. We also clarified that our impersonation policy prohibits the impersonation of an entity or organization – helping to give users more peace of mind that they are downloading the app they’re looking for.
We are also working to help fight fraudulent and malicious ads on Google Play. With an updated ads policy for developers, we are providing key guidelines that will improve the in-app user experience and prohibit unexpected full screen interstitial ads. This update is inspired by the Mobile Apps Experiences – Better Ads Standards.
Improving Data Transparency, Security Controls and Tools
We launched the Data safety section in Google Play last year to give users more clarity on how their app data is being collected, shared, and protected. We’re excited to work with developers on enhancing the Data safety section to share their data collection, sharing, and safety practices with their users.
In 2022, the Google Play Store was the first commercial app store to recognize and display a badge for any app that has completed an independent security review through App Defense Alliance’s Mobile App Security Assessment (MASA). The badge is displayed within an app’s respective Data Safety section. MASA leverages OWASP’s Mobile Application Security Verification Standard, which is the most widely adopted set of security requirements for mobile applications. We’re seeing strong developer interest in MASA with widely used apps across major app categories, e.g., Roblox, Uber, PayPal, Threema, YouTube, and many more.
This past year, we also expanded the App Defense Alliance, an alliance of partners with a mission to protect Android users from bad apps through shared intelligence and coordinated detection. McAfee and Trend Micro joined Google, ESET, Lookout, and Zimperium, to reduce the risk of app-based malware and better protect Android users.
We’ve also continued to enhance protections for developers and their apps, such as hardening Play Integrity API with KeyMint and Remote Key Provisioning.
Bringing Continuous Security and Privacy Enhancements to Pixel Users
For Pixel users, we added more powerful features to help keep our users safe. The new security and privacy settings have been launched to all Pixel devices running Android 13, improving the security and privacy posture for millions of users’ around the world every month. Private Compute Core also allows Pixel phones to detect harmful apps in a privacy preserving way.
Looking Ahead
We remain committed to keeping Google Play and our ecosystem of users and developers safe, and we look forward to many exciting security and safety announcements in 2023.
Celebrating SLSA v1.0: securing the software supply chain for everyone
Bob Callaway, Staff Security Engineer, Google Open Source Security team
Last week the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) announced the release of SLSA v1.0, a framework that helps secure the software supply chain. Ten years of using an internal version of SLSA at Google has shown that it’s crucial to warding off tampering and keeping software secure. It’s especially gratifying to see SLSA reaching v1.0 as an open source project—contributors have come together to produce solutions that will benefit everyone.
SLSA for safer supply chains
Developers and organizations that adopt SLSA will be protecting themselves against a variety of supply chain attacks, which have continued rising since Google first donated SLSA to OpenSSF in 2021. In that time, the industry has also seen a U.S. Executive Order on Cybersecurity and the associated NIST Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF) to guide national standards for software used by the U.S. government, as well as the Network and Information Security (NIS2) Directive in the European Union. SLSA offers not only an onramp to meeting these standards, but also a way to prepare for a climate of increased scrutiny on software development practices.
As organizations benefit from using SLSA, it’s also up to them to shoulder part of the burden of spreading these benefits to open source projects. Many maintainers of the critical open source projects that underpin the internet are volunteers; they cannot be expected to do all the work when so many of the rewards of adopting SLSA roll out across the supply chain to benefit everyone.
Supply chain security for all
That’s why beyond contributing to SLSA, we’ve also been laying the foundation to integrate supply chain solutions directly into the ecosystems and platforms used to create open source projects. We’re also directly supporting open source maintainers, who often cite lack of time or resources as limiting factors when making security improvements to their projects.
Our Open Source Security Upstream Team consists of developers who spend 100% of their time contributing to critical open source projects to make security improvements. For open source developers who choose to adopt SLSA on their own, we’ve funded the Secure Open Source Rewards Program, which pays developers directly for these types of security improvements.
Currently, open source developers who want to secure their builds can use the free SLSA L3 GitHub Builder, which requires only a one-time adjustment to the traditional build process implemented through GitHub actions. There’s also the SLSA Verifier tool for software consumers. Users of npm—or Node Package Manager, the world’s largest software repository—can take advantage of their recently released beta SLSA integration, which streamlines the process of creating and verifying SLSA provenance through the npm command line interface. We’re also supporting the integration of Sigstore into many major package ecosystems, meaning that users can sign and verify artifacts directly from package management tooling, without having to manage keys. Our intention is to continue to expand these types of integrations across open source ecosystems so supply chain security solutions are universal and easily accessible.
We’re also making it easier for everyone to understand their dependencies. Vulnerabilities like Log4Shell have shown the importance (and difficulty) of knowing what projects you depend on and where their security weaknesses might be. Developers can use the deps.dev API to generate real dependency graphs, with OpenSSF Scorecard security scores and other security metadata for each dependency they use. They can also use OSV-Scanner to generate a high quality list of actionable vulnerabilities in those dependencies. In the future, we hope to support automatic remediation and patching through the OSV database service, minimizing the effort that open source developers spend on securing their projects.
Continued community contributions
Ultimately, our goal is to make supply chain security invisible and available to everyone, built directly into each ecosystem for frictionless adoption. To get there, we’ll continue contributing to these efforts and encouraging other organizations who rely on open source to similarly dedicate developers to upstream support. The internet as we know it today wouldn’t be available without open source software, and it’s in everyone’s best interests to give back to the communities that make modern software development possible.