Tech news you may have missed: Oct. 8 – 13

In a week of phishing attacks and virtualization tips, these are the top stories you may have missed on TechRepublic for Oct. 8-13, 2022.

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2022 State of the Threat: Ransomware is still hitting companies hard

The overall number of ransomware threats has not changed significantly over the course of 2022, but as the 2022 State of the Threat report shows, the targets and speed have shifted. Cedric Pernet’s analysis of the threat points out that smaller businesses and individuals are at a higher risk of ransomware, and threat actors have reduced the amount of time between a breach and action.

SEE: The COVID-19 gender gap: Why women are leaving their jobs and how to get them back to work (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

TL;DR: Despite the dissolution of major ransomware groups and better awareness on the part of security professionals, today’s threats are harder to detect and act faster than ever before.

Read the full analysis here.

How to choose the best Anker power station for remote work

Choosing the right power station to power your work during a power outage or out on the road is crucial to maintaining a continual connection. But Patrick Gray gives us some simple calculations and usage considerations to help you pick the right model to keep you going.

TL;DR: Consider the capacity, AC output and number of connection points in your research. Anker power stations have a variety of options for many use cases.

Read the full article here.

9 things you shouldn’t virtualize

Planning on diving into virtual machines? Not so fast, says TechRepublic Lead Writer for Edge, Megan Crouse. VMs aren’t helpful for every IT department or every situation. Considering your resources, the use cases and ultimately the ecosystem of your organization is key to getting virtualization right.

TL;DR: Carefully consider the problem you’re hoping to solve before virtualizing yourself into a security, redundancy or efficiency hole.

Read the full article here.

Phishing attack spoofs Zoom to steal Microsoft user credentials

Attackers are attempting to steal Microsoft user credentials by sending emails from a Zoom domain. The emails ask targets to enter their Microsoft credentials to retrieve messages that are waiting for them on Zoom. Once the target enters their credentials, the attacker can then use them to access key accounts.

TL;DR: Lance Whitney covers several ways companies and employees can guard against these sorts of phishing scams, including using 2-factor authentication for all accounts, which will render attacks of this form useless.

Read the full article here.

The 5 steps of project management

Lack of resources? Too many requests? Not enough time? These problems could spell doom for any project, but your next project might be hamstringed by a threat you didn’t expect: poor management. Instead of firing your project manager (in this economy?), ensure that they’ve got things under control with this checklist.

TL;DR: Madeline Clarke reminds us that a well-planned project that moves stepwise through each phase ensures that all stakeholders collaborate on expectations and agree on outcomes.

Read the full article here.