Cambridge Computer Support

10/08/2026

Eggs in one basket. Today I received a notification that Microsoft will retire their SMS and telephone 2FA and they're doing it on Feb 1st 2027. In its place we will be forced to use "Passkeys". Passkeys are public and private key cryptography. A far more robust security solution than username and password pairs - especially given the massive volume of these that leak onto Dark Web stores. Call me cynical but I'm still uncomfortable with this. Passkeys are stored on your device's storage. Encrypted while not in use but de-crypted when used. So not as robust as I'd like. It moves the "multi" part of multi-factor authentication onto your device. Taking it away from the territory of sysadmins who're supposed to know how to keep this stuff safe. Much like the CPU migration to PCs in the 80's and back to the sysadmins in the cloud from 2010 I wonder if we're witnessing a new migration. This time its security accountability. Mercifully we still have MFA authenticator apps by Google and Microsoft and nowadays these can restore to new devices quite reliably. Finally Apple and password vault users will find the Passkeys, usernames and passwords all kept in the same place... Eggs in one basket...

22/07/2026

How did they get into our computer stuff and rob us? The same way over ¼ of a million attacks were launched against the NHS in the first six months of 2026.

Botnets are the things. Globally the use of over three million hijacked devices is sold on the dark web sometimes in groups of 10,000 allowing an attacker's location to be effectively invisible and giving them the facility to launch thousands of attacks on a single target simultaneously.

Increasingly devices are compromised by AI discovered "zero day vulnerabilities". This sort of vulnerability doesn't need one of us to click on something by accident or open an infected email attachment. The hackers can just connect and take over.

Top Compromised Devices
Attackers target hardware that is "plugged in and forgotten". In the UK, the most commonly conscripted devices include:
Consumer and small-business routers
Webcams and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras
Digital video recorders (DVRs) and set-top boxes
Unpatched Voice over IP (VoIP) enterprise phone systems

All these devices are tiny Linux computers often internet facing so you can have remote access to them. But so can the hackers.

ref: National Cyber Security Centre

How to stay safe? Read our one page guide here https://tinyurl.com/2t4zczha

08/07/2026

Feeling privileged to support our splendid client Tracy McBride at the Kindred Open Studios, Kensington. Here I am at the beginning of the video pictured against a backdrop of her excellent work.

And what a great day out! Attention art lovers. They will be back with more open studios in September 2026. I have never seen such a diversity of top-quality artwork across the whole spectrum for sale in one place. Painting, sculpture, pottery, multimedia, couture, textiles and multidisciplinary objets. Prices to suit all purses though not so large as my adorable friends with Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst in their collections. Nonetheless – something for everyone. At our end of the price scale 😉 we were gifted a piece of embroidery that’s going to the framers as soon as they’re back from holiday.

And free performance art, live music and workshops for kids of all ages. With a balcony terrace bar and a ground floor vegetarian café it really is a “must go”. Watch this space for the dates.
Now this is in a place supposedly reserved for computer issues. My experience of artists is that they are largely a less technical group. Tracy the artist and techie is something of an exception but for those trading artists who could use a bit of free advice click https://tinyurl.com/2t4zczha for a one-page help sheet in absolute lay terms about keeping your business safe in what is now very a hostile cyber space. Expect to be terrified and secured simultaneously!

08/06/2026

Proud to be helping Tim and wishing the best of luck with the new book here

Timothy Mathews, 2026 NEW CHRONICLES OF ART AND HOPE. WRITING IN TIMES OF DEMAGOGUERY Memoir, notes from…, letters to…, fiction and fictions,...

20/05/2026

I was asked for a precis of the security work we do today. I thought I'd post my answer here:
1. Bring in support staff for some situations
2. Educate and support existing staff on procedure in the moment and good practice going forward
3. Work in highly sensitive most secure environments
4. Design systems for highly sensitive most secure environments
5. Prioritise the most effective investment in cyber security. I wrote this a few years ago. It’s still bang on the money https://cambridge-computer.com/cyber-security/ Scroll down or click the red “Find out more” button
6. Lots of simple stuff like disinfecting networks, securing devices and building resilience
7. I’ve read the actual ISO27001 /2 documents instead of joining to a webinar or reading a book about them
8. Prepare security policy or guideline documents and advise on computer use related clauses in employment contracts et al
9. Correct other cyber security experts when they get it wrong …

Mitigating the Cyber Security Threat

04/05/2026

CVE-2026-31431 Kernel vulnerability
Update your devices. NAS, routers, WiFi APs, anything IoT and your Linux machines of course

01/04/2026

Imunify360 replaces PHP based scan engine with new Rust based engine in a standard update. Wildcard paths no longer supported in case you we're wondering while your weekly scan just failed! This has brought Rust closer to the mission critical aspects of our systems helping to improve performance and reliability but a message to all "big stack" suppliers - give us a heads up before you deprecate something massive like a wildcard!

30/03/2026

In his cyber security podcast https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/171/ Jack Rhysider and guest tell the story of how fake artists and music streams are being manipulated to launder money and deliver it to any location in the world. That's right. Spotify is a money laundering agent. This was happening 15 years ago when the industry insider estimated only 15% of streamed music was genuine and not stolen and/or submitted by a bot. 15% genuine - NOT 15% dodgy. Today, The deep view https://thedeepview.co says Reddit claims they are removing 100K bots daily. We say good luck to them. Nuff internet crime already!

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21/01/2026

Generally we like Google. But their anti-spam policies have become intolerable. Anyone who needs an email service for two or more mailboxes that actually receives their customer's, family or friend's messages please contact us here [email protected]