LastPass experienced a second major data breach in December 2022.

New Email from our Service Group:

Description:

LastPass confirmed it was breached, a fallout of the August 2022 incident wherein portions of source code and proprietary LastPass technical information were compromised. The December breach came to light after the company noticed unusual activity in a third-party cloud storage service it shares with Go To, its parent company.

Safeguard yourself from the effects of the LastPass data breach.

Learn more: Visit this page for more details

Outlook Template Alternative using Signatures

Over the weekend I saw an interesting article about using email templates in Outlook to get repetitive messages out to people. One of the drawbacks that they talked about when using the Outlook desktop application was that you could only use templates when creating a brand-new message. When I saw this, I thought to myself, “Why would I do this what I can do the same thing using the signature function?”

To access signatures in Outlook, Select File>Options>Mail>Signatures

I typically will use Microsoft Word to actually create my signature lines because it gives me a easier review of what the final outcome will be and then I copy and paste the new signature into a new signature option. You have the ability to assign a signature line separately for both New Messages and Replies/Forwards.

When composing an email you have a signature menu item at the top of the screen that you can pick and quickly change to the signature line that you prefer. This will change out the current signature line for the new choice automatically without worry whether this is a new message or up reply. It will work either way. I find this a much simpler method of being able to have complete, prewritten answers to questions or supplying information to clients quickly and easily in a consistent manner.

I hope you find this useful.

Notes: Friday 2-24-2024

I’m celebrating my 69^th birthday today. Happy birthday to me! When I am asked whether I feel any older, I reply only that I’m one day older than yesterday.

Read an interesting article from the naked security website at Sophos, describing an admission by GoDaddy, that they were hit with malware that poisoned customers websites. This article is worth the time to learn about an issue that could cause problems for you if you are not careful.

The issue revolves around websites that are hosted on GoDaddy’s website hosting platforms, being redirected to malicious websites. They are still investigating the root cause of the incident. This attack occurred in December of 2022 and is still an issue.

We have several services that will help to mitigate this issue but if you have not yet taken advantage of one of them you will want to be extra careful with your website browsing until this issue has been fixed. But in general you hail 12 have a permanent fix by talking to one of our security experts to determine the best way for you to prevent an attack of this nature.

Boox Note 2 Plus-New Morning Routine

I had stopped bringing home my notebook quite a while ago so accessing information before leaving the house to go to the office had become very cumbersome. Now with my new Boox Note 2 Plus, I have been able to reestablish some of the routines that used to do when I had a working tablet computer in my hands.

I still like the android access to Outlook on my phone better than the town with even though they are very similar. Having color is that of just a black-and-white image is positive in this case. It’s also easier to differentiate what I’ve read an email not on the phone compared to reading it on the Note 2 Plus.

As I stated in an earlier article my primary notetaking application has become the Office 365 OneNote application. My main use for the OneNote application is daily task management and uses it throughout the day to keep track of what I need to do as well as what I have done. This makes it a very easy method for documenting things that I need to enter our ticketing program to support our customers. In conjunction with my workstation running the OneNote application I can easily move a task from one day to another as needed. I come here second because I will take any requests that come in through email and add them to my task list for the day at this time.

I like reading the newspaper digitally rather than the actual paper newspaper that my wife gets so I scan the paper for any new and interesting topics I need to be aware of in local, state, national and of course sports.

The last thing that I access is a program that consolidates my RSS feeds into a quick listing that I can grab for later reading. The program I use is called Feedly. And I capture those articles I want to read at a later time with a program called GetPocket. The thing I like about GetPocket is that it strips out all the advertising from the webpages makes it much easier to read. I can then share that information if I need to with other people through social media or emailing them the link to the article itself.

And that’s my daily routine that is changed because of this new device.

My journey to creating a digital document system that works for me. (Part 3)

In today’s article I will be discussing the Pros and Cons of these two devices, the Remarkable II and the Boox Note Air 2 Plus.

The base technology (E-Ink)

• Even though the technology is basically black-and-white, with some shades of gray thrown in, there are certain times when you miss having the addition of color as part of the display. For most of the things that I do though, I don’t have a problem with this feature.
• Refresh rate-while this is not a problem in most cases with the use model that this device was created for, any type of rapid motion does not work on this device. You are not going to use it to watch a video stream of any type, it just doesn’t work. Knowing that limitation upfront, you will not be disappointed.
• Reflectivity of the screen-this is one of the biggest benefits that I game with this type of device because of my use of them outdoors is imperative. During the spring, summer and fall months I spend a lot of time outside and I do use this device there quite often. Because both these devices lend themselves to reading documents and books you will want to do that everywhere that you can for convenience.
• Backlight-The Remarkable II does not have it. The Boox Note Air 2 Plus does. Why is this important? I also like to read in bed or in a dark room and without a light on the screen the Remarkable II cannot be read.

The Base Applications and File Management

• File Management-one of the things I liked about the Remarkable II was the ability for me to be able to put both documents and notes into the same folder. The benefit of this is having the information all in one location no matter the format of that data. You don’t have that with the Boox product.
• Note Taking-The Remarkable II is really focused on managing your handwriting as handwriting more so than allowing you to convert your handwriting, later, to text. While it does have those capabilities if you purchase the Connect subscription it is not billed in nor is it as useful as these functions are on the Boox.
• Book Reading-The Remarkable II supports ePub and PDF only. Because of the ability for the Boox product to have add-on applications it opens the capabilities of not only being able to do what the Remarkable II can do but also provide me with native Kindle and Audible book formats as well. The Boox has built in microphone and speakers, so I have the ability to dictate text for note taking as well as listen to Audio feeds from my Audible account and other sources.
• Bluetooth, Microphone Speaker-these three things at quite a few new features to this device because of the ability for it to interface with other applications and physically with input and output for more variety of functions.
• External File Management-what I mean by this is how easy it is for me to get information onto the device for my computer or other sources. They both come with applications that allow you to move your files onto the device in place and in file directories of your choosing. Because of the limitations of being able to place the notebooks and other documents into the same file folder on the Boox device I’ve had to make extensive use of cloud-based services and applications to me these types of capabilities on the Boox device. I am using OneDrive and SharePoint for my file storage which gives me unlimited storage capabilities, but I am using OneNote as my notetaking application rather than the note program that is built into the Boox unit. This turned out to work quite well because I am able to access the same note files on my computer, phone or any other device that is Android or iOS capable.

The big differentiator- Android Applications

So, what makes the Boox device so much more useful for me? The answer is the ability for me to add the android applications that complete the business use of this device for myself. What if I found useful?

• OneNote-I have talked about this application many times over the years and its usefulness is still as real today as it was before. A free format document system for note taking that is extremely compatible with handwriting as well as text entry and can be used in many platforms and shared easily between people. What else could you want?
• Adobe Acrobat-having the actual application from Adobe makes using PDFs even more functional on this device.
• Chrome-you do not have the ability to access the Internet with an Internet browser on the Remarkable II device. You can on the Boox.
• Connectwise-this is our application for accessing our client management system in our office. Because I have the chrome application this will give me access to Connectwise in a web browser environment.
• Edge-just another browser I can use to access the Internet.
• Feedly-this is an application that gives me access to RSS feeds. It allows me to be more up to date on new information being provided around the web.
• Gmail-direct access to my Gmail account.
• GetPocket-this is a product of used for years that strips out ads and makes not only web browser data more readable but also helps me to capture information from Feedly to make it also more readable.
• Microsoft 365 Admin-another application that gives me more capabilities to help manage our clients and their O365 accounts.
• OneDrive-direct access to my cloud-based storage which includes both our company SharePoint sites as well as my personal OneDrive storage.
• Excel-I can access and manipulate Excel workbooks which of course gives me more capabilities on the Boox device.
• PowerPoint-Great for doing a quick presentation to get some ideas across. Remember when creating the presentation that it will be in B/W.
• SharePoint-Connection back into our SharePoint sites
• Teams-This device only has a microphone and speaker, no camera, so I can still use it for general messaging and calls but I don’t have Video call capability. I have my phone that can do that if I need to have that capability on the road. Otherwise, you have the full capabilities of the application.
• Word-I have access to Word documents that I have stored online and can also use it for document creation as well.

As you can see, I have greatly expanded from a single function device to one that provides quite a few capabilities. I have lost the single focus workflow, which is what the Remarkable II provides, to a more flexible workflow that creates a better experience for me. I have found that I can leave my computer at my desk more often than before because the Note Air 2 Plus has given me access to the information that I need quite adequately. With the backlit screen and ability to provide a good viewing experience in direct sunlight I have increased the usability of the device in more situations. I think I’m there!

My journey to creating a digital document system that works for me. (Part 2)

In this segment I will talk about some of the devices that I have used over the years for creating and accessing documents on the fly. Some of them were only used for access but others had a dual purpose to create as well as access. Every time I acquire a new device data access is one of the primary options that I consider. So, let’s wind back the clock.

I’m not going to go too far back because who really cares about outdated equipment. So, I am not going to talk about the Apple iPads that I had, Lenovo Tabs that I used, Samsung Note phone that I worked through. The real start of the digital collection and use is with my MS Surface book I purchased 8 years ago. The ability to use the touchscreen as a digital writing pad was a real draw to me and sold me on it right away. I was a big user of the OneNote application, and this became the central point of my using my surface book as a digital writing device. The issue over time I found was that it was a real pain for me to disassemble the screen so that I may use it as a writing surface. I stopped using this device as my writing surface because of this and it became a part of my desktop computer equipment.

Another issue I had with the notebook was that it could not be used easily out of doors. It was very hard to view the screen during the summer months when I spent a lot of time outside. I needed a new solution. I started seeing advertisements about the Remarkable II which intrigued me because it was very similar to the technology of the Kindle e-reader that was very suitable for using out-of-doors. I finally made the leap a year ago and purchased it to see how it would work out for me.

Remarkable II’s simplicity is taunted as its most remarkable feature. Because of its limited feature set, you have more time to focus on what you are writing with less distraction in the process. With all the new features that were pouring in and upgrading the capabilities of the device, I was finding more and more ways to use it.

However, simplicity as a feature in this case was not a positive thing for me. I needed more capabilities. After about a year of use I decided after much research, to move on to a product by Boox called the Note Air 2 plus. The difference between them Remarkable II and the Note Air 2 Plus is that the Remarkable II product is based on a Linux operating system and the Boox Note Air 2 Plus is based on Android 11.

What does this mean to the average user? First, every application for the Remarkable II needs to be written by the manufacturer primarily. It is a closed system except for the widening cadre of people that are supporting. However, I am impatient and because Android 11 is available on millions of devices, there is a huge library of applications that are already written for the Android operating system.

While initially having a single focus or use device, on the surface seemed a positive situation, in the long run I found I was extremely handicapped. I was not able to use the same device to access information from the many sources I needed. This has allowed me to increase my productivity and for me, is more important than having a single function device that did not provide access to all my information.

Tomorrow I will talk about the comparisons between the two devices in more detail.

My journey to creating a digital document system that works for me. (Part 1)

For years I have been working towards creating a system in both my work and home environments that is completely digital and accessible from anywhere with any device of my choosing. Because of several technologies, software packages and cloud based services I believe that I have reached that goal very closely.

 In recent years Microsoft has provided a good bit of the technology and services that are helping me achieve this. Office 365 with both its Office Suite Products and Cloud Storage Services are keys in giving me access to and creation of a totally digital environment that help in the creation of digital documents, but also provides the access and ability to search for information as needed. These are important concepts to consider when moving into a complete digital environment.

Software I use to create my documents.

• ·         Microsoft Word – The creation of product sheets, manuals, knowledge base papers is only part of what is important for doing my job. Creating form documents or templates that help to collect data from clients is a big part of what we do and centralizing that data in SharePoint where many people can have access to these tools is important.
• ·         Microsoft Excel – I crunch numbers all the time and Excel is a great tool for doing so. It also provides a great platform to create parts lists, product pricing, or a very good form structure for collecting and using data.
• ·         PDF – While I use several programs to create, manipulate and view PDF files (Nitro Pro, Adobe Reader, Adobe Writer to name a few) most applications now allow you create PDF’s directly from the program with built in utilities or you can use the Microsoft Print to PDF printer option. PDFs provide a fixed format, shareable, low storage space solution to provide a standardized document format.
• ·         OneNote -This Microsoft program has been central in my life for years. This concept of a digital notebook that is freeform for data collection and is easily searchable both in typed characters but also for handwritten notes. This latter will become more important as I discuss more about this journey. OneNote gives you the ability to create multiple notebooks to separate purposes and access them but within each notebook you have many options you can use to group information to make access to it at a later date even easier.

Cloud Storage Services.

Over the years I have used four services for document storage through the internet until I finally settled with Microsoft. A lot of people I know use Google Documents and File Storage but this never really caught on for me. The Google Docs word processing program always came up short for my needs, so I always stayed with Word. One of the first cloud storage services I used was DropBox but with the advent of Microsoft’s OneDrive and SharePoint I was quickly converted to using Microsoft’s Services, especially because they were a part of the O365 product stack and didn’t cost extra.

• ·         OneDrive – Included with several of the Office 365 plans, you have 1TB of storage for personal use that you can increase in 100GB increments as necessary. For me, I use this space to store not only personal documents but also scanned documents to get rid of the paper clutter at home. Invoices, warranties, contracts, tax information, medical and more I have segmented by year so that I can easily access them. The only thing that I haven’t moved over to OneDrive are my pictures. I use SmugMug for that storage.
• ·         SharePoint – Included with several of the Office 365 plans as well, you have 1TB of storage that is shared within your organization.
• ·         SmugMug – this is a paid for service that is specific for storing photographs. The reason I use it is because you don’t lose ownership of the files and they are not converted to another format. Amazon, Google and more all will take ownership of your files and convert them to their own photo standard. With this service I have offsite storage of my photos as well as having them locally. You can also set the photos up in their own galleries to allow easy access to others that you share the site with.

All these services provide access control to the stored data and have IOS and Android apps that allow access to the data stored as well as PC access through browsers and other applications.

These services and software packages provide my current tool kit that I use for my digital document creation, storage and access. In Part 2 of this document series I will be discussing my choices of products that I have used in the past and what I am using now to create the different workflows for collecting new information, creating new documents and accessing them day to day.

Yammer is evolving to Viva Engage

There has been a lot of news this month about the plans that Microsoft has for converting its current Yammer platform over to Viva Engage.

Starting in March 2023, we should start seeing updates to the Communities app for Outlook and Yammer mobile apps for iOS and android. Other than branding changes, there are no changes to the features or capabilities. Microsoft states that they will continue to build new capabilities and realize the power of community, corporate communications at the organizational scale, and knowledge sharing. They are excited about how this change will create a unified Viva Engage experience throughout the web, mobile, and other endpoints and bring consistency for Yammer and Viva users.

New experiences rolling out for Viva engage

Leadership Corner provides a space for leaders to connect with employees, showcase employee resource groups, and foster culture through discussions, storyline posts, events, and more a new selection of intuitive dashboards track metrics and employee sentiment to help leadership teams keep a pulse on conversations and guide the discussion with their employees.

There is a new leadership corner event style in Viva engage called Ask Me Anything (AMA) Events to further drive engagement. AMA events create a town hall experience through up voting, Q&A, and engaging discussion features like GIFs and images. If your organization covers a wide territory than, this will help everyone to get an opportunity to ask questions, upvote others' questions, and get responses from their leaders.

Leaders in your organization can now create campaigns to drive key initiatives that support business goals or objectives. These campaigns are automatically pulled into Leadership Corner and include a dedicated campaign page, a Goal Tracker that will measure progress, and the ability to showcase key sponsors and recognize top contributors.

Hope is to make it easier for employees to be able to understand and see information in the corporate environment of the new Microsoft Viva and help people to see, evaluate and understand information being provided to match employee questions and answers from experts, bringing a collective knowledge to work for everyone.

There has been a lot of news this month about the plans that Microsoft has for converting its current Yammer platform over to Viva Engage.
Starting in March 2023, we should start seeing updates to the Communities app for Outlook and Yammer mobile apps for iOS and android. Other than branding changes, there are no changes to the features or capabilities. Microsoft states that they will continue to build new capabilities and realize the power of community, corporate communications at the organizational scale, and knowledge sharing. They are excited about how this change will create a unified Viva Engage experience throughout the web, mobile, and other endpoints and bring consistency for Yammer and Viva users.
New experiences rolling out for Viva Engage Leadership Corner provides a space for leaders to connect with employees, showcase employee resource groups, and foster culture through discussions, storyline posts, events, and more a new selection of intuitive dashboards track metrics and employee sentiment to help leadership teams keep a pulse on conversations and guide the discussion with their employees.There is a new leadership corner event style in Viva engage called Ask Me Anything (AMA) Events to further drive engagement. AMA events create a town hall experience through up voting, Q&A, and engaging discussion features like GIFs and images. If your organization covers a wide territory than, this will help everyone to get an opportunity to ask questions, upvote others' questions, and get responses from their leaders.Leaders in your organization can now create campaigns to drive key initiatives that support business goals or objectives. These campaigns are automatically pulled into Leadership Corner and include a dedicated campaign page, a Goal Tracker that will measure progress, and the ability to showcase key sponsors and recognize top contributors.Hope is to make it easier for employees to be able to understand and see information in the corporate environment of the new Microsoft Viva and help people to see, evaluate and understand information being provided to match employee questions and answers from experts, bringing a collective knowledge to work for everyone.

What’s New in SFOS v19.5 MR1

Support for New 5G Module for XGS 116(w), 126(w), 136(w)

We’re introducing a 5G cellular module for all XGS 116, 126, and 136 models (including w-models) which have a modular expansion bay.

The new global module enables 5G cellular network connections using the 5G Sub-6 bands, with download speeds of up to 4.5 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 660 Mbps (this may vary by carrier and region). The module also provides automatic fallback to 3G and 4G LTE (Cat-20) networks.

Our optional slot-in module becomes a fully supported, fully integrated part of the appliance, managed from your firewall console. This provides significantly better compatibility and interoperability than competitive external solutions.

We deliver the module with four cable-connected antennas to allow optimal coverage and performance.

Support for New 5G Module for XGS 116(w), 126(w), 136(w)We’re introducing a 5G cellular module for all XGS 116, 126, and 136 models (including w-models) which have a modular expansion bay.
The new global module enables 5G cellular network connections using the 5G Sub-6 bands, with download speeds of up to 4.5 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 660 Mbps (this may vary by carrier and region). The module also provides automatic fallback to 3G and 4G LTE (Cat-20) networks.
Our optional slot-in module becomes a fully supported, fully integrated part of the appliance, managed from your firewall console. This provides significantly better compatibility and interoperability than competitive external solutions.
We deliver the module with four cable-connected antennas to allow optimal coverage and performance.

Sophos Breach Protection Warranty Now Available on Monthly Billings

Breach Protection Warranty now included with all Sophos MDR Complete subscriptions, covering up to $1 million in response expenses.

Sophos announced that the Sophos Breach Protection Warranty is now included with all Sophos MDR Complete subscriptions. It's also applied with the purchase of any of Sophos popular Integration Packs that enable security analysists to leverage signals form third-party security technology to accelerate detection and response.

The Sophos Breach Protection Warranty covers up to $1 million in response expenses for qualifying customers. Reflecting the reality of today’s complex environments, the warranty covers Windows and macOS devices, endpoints and servers, and is available in all countries where we operate. There are no service tiers, minimum contract terms, or additional software requirements. For MSP Flex customers, warranty coverage will start from their next monthly subscription. 

The Sophos Breach Protection Warranty covers up to $1 million in response expenses for qualifying customers. Reflecting the reality of today’s complex environments, the warranty covers Windows and macOS devices, endpoints and servers, and is available in all countries where we operate. There are no service tiers, minimum contract terms, or additional software requirements. For MSP Flex customers, warranty coverage will start from their next monthly subscription.

Third-Party Telemetry Accelerates Threat Detection and Response

We’ve had a tremendous response to our updated MDR service offering that enables us to use telemetry from Sophos and third-party security tools to accelerate threat detection and response. The more we see, the faster we respond. Our growing customer base provides unparalleled threat telemetry, further accelerating incident investigation and response. Plus, it enables us to deliver ‘community immunity’, whereby an experience in one customer environment quickly becomes elevated protection for all.

The World’s Most Trusted MDR Service

With Sophos MDR, our global team of security operations specialists monitor and secure your customers’ environment 24/7/365. Leveraging signals from their existing endpoint, firewall, identity, email, and network security tools as well as Sophos X-Ops threat expertise, we detect, investigate, and remediate advanced human-led attacks before they can impact their business.

Sophos MDR brings together the expertise of over 500 security operations professionals, including malware experts, dedicated threat hunters, and attack neutralization specialists. With an average time from detection to resolution of just 38 minutes, we keep customers ahead of attackers and safe from devastating ransomware incidents and breaches.

Sophos MDR is the world’s most trusted managed detection and response service, securing more than 14,000 organizations worldwide. Demand for our market-leading service is growing rapidly with over one thousand new customers joining us in the last two months alone.

What is E-Ink

E-INK Devices

Amazon really helped to make E-Ink popular with their Kindle Readers but  E-Ink is really taking off with the advent of devices that allow you to use a pen to scribe notes onto the electronic paper screen and store your notes, drawings, etc.

What is E-Ink?

E-Ink is a display technology that simulates the appearance of printed ink on paper. The screens are basically a black and white display that can be used as a straight reading device or can have added attributes to give you more workflow-oriented capabilities.

It wasn’t until 2207 that E-Ink really took off. Amazon presented a device called a Kindle that had an 800 x 600-pixel display capable of showing four grayscale levels. The contrast wasn’t great, but it allowed you to carry an entire library of books wherever you go.

This technology has come a long way and is extremely popular for reading digital documents including books. Many companies came out with their own variation of this device so that they could sell the books (DRM’d of course) to all of us voracious readers.

E-Ink vs. E-Paper

Before I continue, I must tell you the difference between E-Ink and E-Paper. The two may sound the same, but there are some differences you should consider.

E-Paper is any type of display that emulates the appearance of paper. Typically, E-Paper displays are reflective rather than emissive, which means they rely on external light sources rather than emitting their own

A wonderful explanation of how E-Ink works can be found What Is E-Ink? How It Works & Why Every Ebook Fan Needs It

The reason I started this article was to give you a preview of what E-Ink technology so that when I begin comparing some of the digital paper device I have recently worked with that you will have some sense of what technology I am talking about.

Repost:Booking.com reservation data used to scam customers

This is a very well documented article describing a scam that has been going on for years. This is worth your time if you use this service. Read more...

A day after watching the Super Bowl ads I noticed Booking.com paid for a Super Bowl Ad so this all of a sudden becomes a little more important to consider.

Microsoft Teams Free(classic) vs. Microsoft Teams (free)

April 12th Is your deadline for the emergence of the new Microsoft teams (free) Is from Microsoft. If you currently using the previous version you are going to find out  that there is no automatic data transfer path between the two applications. 

If you want to have that free transfer you will have to pay for the $4 per month subscription of Microsoft Teams Essentials.

To see the new changes on this support page about the retirement of Microsoft Teams Free, now called Microsoft Teams Free (classic).

Microsoft's product page positions the new Microsoft Teams (free) tier as a product for home users and families, but the features it offers are pretty similar to the old classic tier overall. Video calls still top out at 100 participants and a one-hour runtime (one-on-one meetings can run for up to 30 hours). Each Teams (free) user gets 5GB of storage, while Teams Free (classic) users received 2GB each and a 10GB pool of shared storage. Both products offer unlimited chatting and access to shared files, task lists, and polls.

Add Cozi Gold to your school auction table

Cozi is a personal/group calendar/task/list management system that my wife and I could function without. One of the nice features is that it has the ability to work with Alexa to add both shopping and to do items into their ecosystem. Works quite well. Has both Android and IOS apps as well as working through a browser on your PC. So use this to get organized.

A new promotion for School Organizations to be able to schedule and coordinate tasks and lists is available from Cozi. This is available as a 3 year licnese for fundraising auctions. See promotion text in the next paragraph.

Add Cozi Gold to your school auction table

Learn more

Did you know that Cozi will donate a three-year subscription to Cozi Gold for fundraising auctions? If you’re in charge of planning or just a PTA parent in need of items, we’re here to help you tick something off your to-dos.

Notice of Recent Security Incident

Dear valued customer, In keeping with our commitment to transparency, we wanted to inform you of a security incident that our team is currently investigating. We recently detected unusual activity within a third-party cloud storage service, which is currently shared by both LastPass and its affiliate, GoTo. We immediately launched an investigation, engaged Mandiant, a leading security firm, and alerted law enforcement. We have determined that an unauthorized party, using information obtained in the August 2022 incident, was able to gain access to certain elements of our customers’ information. Our customers’ passwords remain safely encrypted due to LastPass's Zero Knowledge architecture. We are working diligently to understand the scope of the incident and identify what specific information has been accessed. As part of our efforts, we continue to deploy enhanced security measures and monitoring capabilities across our infrastructure to help detect and prevent further threat actor activity. In the meantime, we can confirm that LastPass products and services remain fully functional. As always, we recommend that you follow our best practices around the setup and configuration of LastPass, which can be found here. As is our practice, we will continue to provide updates as we learn more. Please visit the LastPass blog for the latest information related to the incident: https://blog.lastpass.com/2022/11/notice-of-recent-security-incident/. We thank you for your patience while we work through our investigation. Sincerely, The Team at LastPass

Sophos's Reflexion is reaching EOL 3/31/2023

If you are using either Reflections RTC or Encryption both products are reaching End of Life at the end of the first quarter next year (2023). 

Sophos Central Email Advanced has been created as the new email product to replace these two products at a much better price point. See Information below:

Sophos Central Email Advanced

• Product Description & Specs: Datasheet
• Sophos Email Tour (4 mins): Watch   Video Here
• Free Trial (part of Sophos Central): Sophos   Central Online Demo - including Email
• Sophos Central Email Advanced: Admin/Set-Up   Guide

Call us for either term or monthly support pricing. 

724-838-7526

or

email: bappleby@paconnect.com

Skype for Business online contacts retirement

MC349675 · PA COMPUTER CONNECTIONS INC1

With Skype for Business Online retired on July 31, 2021, Microsoft will soon be commencing the decommissioning process of the supporting infrastructure no sooner than June 30, 2022. Key points: Timing: June 30, 2022 Action: review and have upgraded users take action as appropriate How this affects your organization: Any users in your organization that were upgraded from Skype for Business (either online or on-premises), may need to take one or both of the following actions: Actions Required: If these upgraded users had contacts in Skype for Business Online and have not yet logged into Teams since being upgraded, they must log into Teams at least once before June 30, 2022, to ensure any contacts from Skype for Business are migrated to Teams. If these upgraded TeamsOnly users still have Skype for Business Online meetings that they organized before they were upgraded to TeamsOnly, then before June 30, 2022, these users must either reschedule their remaining Skype for Business Online meetings as Teams meeting, or an administrator in their organization must convert these meetings to Teams meetings using the Meeting Migration Service. After Microsoft removes the Skype for Business Online infrastructure for a given TeamsOnly user, any remaining Skype for Business Online meetings organized by that user will no longer exist and hence will not function. For additional information, please refer to the following documentation:   Skype for Business Online retirement View this message in the Microsoft 365 admin center

In July 2020, Sophos announced the End of Sale (EOS) and End of Life (EOL) dates for several products.

Updates since July 2020 include:

•  All those products have now reached End of Sale and can no longer be purchased by new customers
• Existing customers of these products can renew until the End of Life date
• Some products have already reached their End of Life date and are no longer supported or operational

For many of the remaining products, only 2 years remain until they reach their End of Life date. We strongly suggest you start planning a migration strategy and start your move to the recommended Sophos products.

Given the aggressive nature of attacks that we continue to see across the industry, along with the ever-increasing pace of cybersecurity, customers should ensure that they have regular patching and upgrade plans.

The list below details the products included in the announcement from July 2020 with a reminder of their End of Life date and migration path. 

Product	End of Life (EOL) date	Migration Path
Endpoint Products
Endpoint Protection, Server Protection and Enterprise Console products (managed on premises)	20-Jul-23	Intercept X Advanced or Intercept X Advanced for Server
Sophos Mobile as a Service	30-Sep-21	Sophos Mobile managed in Sophos Central
Sophos Mobile (managed on premises)	20-Jul-23	Sophos Mobile managed in Sophos Central
SafeGuard Enterprise	20-Jul-23	Sophos Central Device Encryption
Network Products
Remote Ethernet Device (RED) 15	31-Aug-23	SD-RED 20
Remote Ethernet Device (RED) 15w	31-Aug-23	SD-RED 20 plus Wi-Fi Module or APX
Remote Ethernet Device (RED) 50	31-Aug-23	SD-RED 60
Sophos Web Appliance	20-Jul-23	XG Firewall
Sophos Firewall Manager	30-Jul-21	Firewall Management in Sophos Central
Legacy SATC Client	31-Jul-21	XG Firewall and Intercept X for Server
Email
PureMessage for Exchange	20-Jul-23	No migration option
PureMessage for Unix	20-Jul-23	Sophos Email
Sophos Email Appliance	20-Jul-23	Sophos Email
Reflexion Total Control	31-Mar-23	Sophos Email
RTC Encrypt and Radar Lite	31-Mar-23	Sophos Email

In July 2020, Sophos announced the End of Sale (EOS) and End of Life (EOL) dates for several products.

Updates since July 2020 include:

•  All those products have now reached End of Sale and can no longer be purchased by new customers
• Existing customers of these products can renew until the End of Life date
• Some products have already reached their End of Life date and are no longer supported or operational

For many of the remaining products, only 2 years remain until they reach their End of Life date. We strongly suggest you start planning a migration strategy and start your move to the recommended Sophos products.

Given the aggressive nature of attacks that we continue to see across the industry, along with the ever-increasing pace of cybersecurity, customers should ensure that they have regular patching and upgrade plans.

The list below details the products included in the announcement from July 2020 with a reminder of their End of Life date and migration path. 

Product	End of Life (EOL) date	Migration Path
Endpoint Products
Endpoint Protection, Server Protection and Enterprise Console products (managed on premises)	20-Jul-23	Intercept X Advanced or Intercept X Advanced for Server
Sophos Mobile as a Service	30-Sep-21	Sophos Mobile managed in Sophos Central
Sophos Mobile (managed on premises)	20-Jul-23	Sophos Mobile managed in Sophos Central
SafeGuard Enterprise	20-Jul-23	Sophos Central Device Encryption
Network Products
Remote Ethernet Device (RED) 15	31-Aug-23	SD-RED 20
Remote Ethernet Device (RED) 15w	31-Aug-23	SD-RED 20 plus Wi-Fi Module or APX
Remote Ethernet Device (RED) 50	31-Aug-23	SD-RED 60
Sophos Web Appliance	20-Jul-23	XG Firewall
Sophos Firewall Manager	30-Jul-21	Firewall Management in Sophos Central
Legacy SATC Client	31-Jul-21	XG Firewall and Intercept X for Server
Email
PureMessage for Exchange	20-Jul-23	No migration option
PureMessage for Unix	20-Jul-23	Sophos Email
Sophos Email Appliance	20-Jul-23	Sophos Email
Reflexion Total Control	31-Mar-23	Sophos Email
RTC Encrypt and Radar Lite	31-Mar-23	Sophos Email

Sophos: EOL Products

The following products were included in the July 2020 announcement and have already reached their End of Life date. These products are no longer supported or operational. 

Product	End of Life (EOL) date	Migration Path
Cloud Web Gateway	30-Jun-20	Intercept X Advanced or XG Firewall
Cyberoam Central Management Console (CCMS)	31-Dec-20	Firewall Management in Sophos Central
Cyberoam iView NR	31-Dec-20	Central Firewall Reporting
Cloud Firewall Manager	31-Dec-20	Firewall Management in Sophos Central
iView	31-Dec-20	Central Firewall Reporting
Cyberoam Network Security Appliances	31-Mar-21	XG Firewall
Cyberoam Central Console (CCC)	31-Mar-21	Firewall Management in Sophos Central