Month: July 2018

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Casserly Consulting Blog

5G is Still Going to Take A While

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As technology has improved in function and convenience, we seem to demand more and more of it at an increasing pace. Take mobile data as an example: 4G was introduced in 2009, and less than a decade later, there is high demand for 5G. Unfortunately, while 5G has been worked on for some time already, it isn’t likely that it will be commonly available anytime soon.

The technology being touted as the driving force behind 5G has quite a few practical issues, many of which may prove to be too much for the anticipated improvements to offset. Many of these issues are rooted in the proposed use of enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) via millimeter wave (mmWave) and the inherent issues with this plan.

Range
A big problem comes from the range of mmWave. Currently, 4G signals can reach anywhere between three and thirty miles, while mmWave can only reach a third of a mile – one ninth of its range now, under ideal circumstances. In order for 5G through mmWave to be successful, there would need to be some major infrastructure updates.

This has been addressed in the planning processes, as it is likely that the cell towers we are accustomed to today would instead be replaced by shorter-range femtocells. These femtocells would be approximately the size of a microwave oven, and could be added to existing pieces of infrastructure, like light poles, traffic signs, and even public transportation vehicles like buses. However, these open up the idea of implementing 5G to more complications.

Connectivity
For example, mmWave signals are incredibly easy to block, which is why there would need to be so many femtocells added to the existing infrastructure. When something as simple as an unfortunately positioned traffic sign can block a signal, signals need to be coming from more than one direction.

There is also the matter of bandwidth that needs to be addressed. Consider how much usage each femtocell would see – they just wouldn’t be able to network as efficiently as necessary for proper use. This would mean that the entire network of femtocells would also need to be connected via costly high-speed fiber cabling, which would be an expensive and time-consuming endeavor.

Cloud Confusion
With cloud computing having become such a widely utilized tool, it only makes sense that the femtocell network would be managed via the cloud. By creating a virtual network in the cloud, software-defined networks (SDNs) and network function virtualization (NFV) could be leveraged to manage the 5G network. Trouble is, there are various kinds of SDNs and NFV, with no one standard. The Linux Foundation is working to change this, but this still isn’t an issue that will likely be resolved in the near future.

Regardless, 5G is going to happen – femtocells are inexpensive and, for all their faults, a potentially beneficial way to make it possible. Furthermore, people want better mobile bandwidth. The technology is just going to take some time to develop.

However, if you want to improve your business’ connectivity now, we can help. Give COMPANYNAME a call at PHONENUMBER.

Categories
Casserly Consulting Blog

Know Your Tech: Safe Mode

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If you are trying to identify a specific issue with your PC, it can be difficult to do so due to the fact that there are so many moving parts in an operating system. Still, you want a secure way to find the problem and diagnose it. Thankfully, Safe Mode allows you to take a look at your computer in its most basic form to see what the root of the issue is.

What Safe Mode Does
Chances are that your business’ computers have a lot of extra drivers and features on them that make things a little more difficult for your organization. When you boot up a device in Safe Mode, you make it much easier to diagnose problems since you’re booting it up in its bare minimum state. If the issue persists even in Safe Mode, for example, you know that it’s a problem with the core functions of your PC, whereas the opposite means that it’s a more specific issue with something you’ve installed.

There are two major ways that you can access Safe Mode on your PC. The first is the one that we just outlined. The other can include your network drivers and devices, but this sometimes isn’t what you are looking to do.

Follow these directions to implement Safe Mode on startup.

From the Start Menu:

  • Select the Start button in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  • Select Settings (the gear icon)
  • Click on Update & Security
  • Go to Recover in the left-hand column
  • Go to Advanced Startup and select Restart Now
  • When the device restarts, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup > Settings > Restart
  • Upon startup, hit F4 or the number 4 for Safe Mode. Hit F5 or the number 5 for Safe Mode with Networking

From the Sign-in Screen:

  • Restart your PC. Hold down the Shift key while you’re selecting Restart.
  • When the device restarts, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup > Settings > Restart
  • Upon startup, hit F4 or the number 4 for Safe Mode. Hit F5 or the number 5 for Safe Mode with Networking

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Categories
Casserly Consulting Blog

Cryptomining is Inspiring Cybercrime

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Blockchain technology is mainly known for its use with cryptocurrencies. Even though the values of cryptocurrencies have leveled off after the incredible growth it has sustained over the past few months, users are still attempting to use cryptocurrencies to make a little bit of extra cash on the side. Of course, if there is money involved, you can bet that there will also be criminals and shady activity surrounding it.

Criminals love to take advantage of cryptocurrencies due to how much they value anonymity. Unfortunately for hackers, mining cryptocurrency legitimately can be expensive and take a long time. You even need dedicated computer hardware in order to do it, which creates substantial costs, like an increase in your power bill.

Due to how difficult it can be to mine cryptocurrency, a new threat called crypto-jacking has popped up. This type of malware hides on a user’s device and steals its resources for the purposes of mining cryptocurrency. This can lead to devastating results–a higher electric bill, lower device performance as a whole, and more wear and tear on your device’s components. This type of malware only works if the device accesses a compromised website. In the past, this threat would only work if the device remained on the website during the duration of the attack, but hackers have since found ways around this. Some infected websites have gotten so crafty that they can hide a pop-up behind the computer’s task bar, where it can remain for as long as the hacker needs it to.

Crypto-miners are also known for spreading this hidden code to all kinds of websites themselves, as well as through malicious browser extensions. This type of malware is has been found on a broad variety of different websites, like the United States Courts, the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, and the Australian state governments of Victoria and Queensland. It was found in a text-to-speech translation plugin used on these sites. Consequently, the developer of this plugin removed it from all sites as soon as it was discovered.

It’s incredibly important that your business pays attention to these kinds of events and trends, as they could create considerable issues for your organization’s operations. If you’re paying a lot of money for your business’ Internet solution, then hackers are taking advantage of all your bandwidth to pull a fast one on you. Cryptocurrency mining is one of those tasks that takes its toll on even the most powerful hardware, making it likely to shorten your technology’s lifespan. This ultimately costs your business in more ways than one.

Thankfully, there are ways that you can combat these attacks. Some browsers are incorporating anti-cryptocurrency measures, and some antivirus programs are making strides toward straight-up blocking crypto-jacking attempts in the first place. Furthermore, there are some extensions that also block crypto-mining and crypto-jacking scripts entirely.

COMPANYNAME can help you make sure that your IT solutions are running optimally, as well as securing your organization’s network from potential attacks. To learn more, reach out to us at PHONENUMBER.