Archive for the ‘Press’ Category

Petronella Technology Group Still Open During COVID-19

Friday, March 20th, 2020

Right now, in this time of utter uncertainty, there is a lot of anxiety going around and a lot of questions that just can’t be answered yet: “Can I still work?” “Will I have enough supplies to survive?” “Am I going to be able to keep my home office safe from hackers?” One thing you […]

The Importance of Working Remotely During Global Pandemic

Tuesday, March 17th, 2020

Working from home right now in the early days of a pandemic is the best case scenario for attempting to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.  A lot of people think this is just another flu, but it’s not, and the differences between COVID-19 and the flu or the common cold are important in understanding […]

Coronavirus: Working from Home

Friday, March 13th, 2020

There are a myriad of reasons not to allow workers to work remotely… From security concerns to productivity issues, it’s hard to give up the ability to monitor what your staff is doing. But there are certain times when it is the only real option you have.  One of the biggest advantages to being able […]

Congressional Report Shows US is Woefully Unprepared for Cyberattacks

Friday, March 13th, 2020

After a year-long study of the US’s cyberdefense abilities, a bipartisan congressional committee has concluded in a 122-page report, that we are not properly prepared for cyberattacks from adversaries, including Russia, N. Korea and Iran and in fact is calling for a complete overhaul of both offensive and defensive cybersecurity actions including, but not limited […]

Mozilla’s Firefox’s Default DoH

Wednesday, February 26th, 2020

Beginning today, February 25, 2020, Mozilla will now automatically send all of their US-based customers’ DNS queries to Cloudflare DNS servers, as opposed to the default DNS servers set by their users via their new feature, DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH). DoH executes DNS look-ups over an encrypted server instead of just sending them over plaintext, making it […]

Former Head of NSA Left Retirement to Help Cybersecurity Shortfall

Wednesday, February 26th, 2020

There is a national shortage of cybersecurity specialists, and the former head of the NSA, Mike McConnell, is actively trying to fix that issue. McConnell is a DC professional but is now splitting his time between there and the University of South Florida, in an attempt to fill in this gap of about 500,000 professionals […]

Hackers Have Started Ransoming Patient Data… to the Patients

Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020

As if having your medical data compromised wasn’t bad enough… Now your medical secrets are being held hostage! It’s a breezy but sunny afternoon.  You’re going about your day, minding your own business when you receive a random text message from an unknown number saying that they have personal medical information about you that they will […]

Was Your Data Compromised by Equifax? Better Act Fast!

Friday, January 17th, 2020

Two billion dollars sure does sound like a lot of money for a class action lawsuit, but when you are a major credit reporting agency whose negligence compromised over 147 million people’s personal information? It’s really not.  Click here to file a claim free, online, if you were a potential victim of the massive Equifax […]

Microsoft’s Comprehensive End of Support List for 2020

Tuesday, January 14th, 2020

I know you are all aware of what I’m about to tell you, but just in case you momentarily forgot, I’m going to refresh your memory… Every year, Microsoft stops supporting select versions of its software.  What this means is that they discontinue any sort of security updates or patches.   What does this mean for […]

HIPAA Violations Top $100 Billion

Wednesday, November 13th, 2019

HIPAA Violations have been making headlines recently, and for good reason. Fines for violations can be crippling to companies, and the more mobile our data becomes, the greater the risk for security breech. According to the Health and Human Services website, as of September 30, 2019 the OCR has settled or imposed a civil money […]

“Project Nightingale” Raises Data Security Concerns

Wednesday, November 13th, 2019

Ascension is sharing private healthcare information with Google.  The project, dubbed “Project Nightingale,” was put into play to help Ascension centralize its patient database for the over 2600 hospitals in its healthcare system.  Patient information, including names, test results, and dates of birth are also being collected by Google to help develop a new software […]

Wake County leaders trying to get out in front of wave of ransomware attacks

Tuesday, April 9th, 2019

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – As hackers’ attacks impact local governments and other entities across the country, Wake County leaders took a closer look Monday at efforts to detect threats and mitigate their effects. Bill Greeves, the county’s chief information and innovation officer, told county commissioners about training employees receive in identifying risks and how his […]

A Conversation With NCBA’s Privacy & Data Security Committee Chair

Tuesday, February 26th, 2019

I sat down with Alex Pearce of Ellis & Winters LLP, the current chair of North Carolina Bar Association’s Privacy & Data Security Committee to discuss the current trends he sees in security for lawyers.  PETRONELLA: What is the biggest threat to firms that already have cybersecurity systems in place? PEARCE: One of the biggest threats is […]

Experts worried high-tech cars more open to hackers

Wednesday, February 6th, 2019

Original story at CBS17.com RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – As automakers add more high-tech features to vehicles, a new report says those features are making cars more and more vulnerable to hijacking. Consider this scenario: You’re on your way to someplace, and you’re ready to jump into our car, except you can’t open it because you’re locked […]

Data-collecting cars can be a convenience, but they also raise privacy concerns

Monday, February 4th, 2019

Originally posted on CBS17.com. RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Your car is spying on you and you probably don’t even know it. Late-model vehicles generate tons of data and automakers are now finding ways to collect and sell that data to third parties — but who really owns that information and should it be sold? For […]

Your Car is Spying on You

Sunday, February 3rd, 2019

Did you know your car is spying on you? It knows where you’re going, how fast you’re going there, what you’re listening to, and more! Where is your personal data going and who’s getting it? Tune in to CBS 17 after Superbowl LIII to learn more.

Facebook may be gathering data thanks to popular ’10-year challenge’

Thursday, January 17th, 2019

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Facebook users are being swept up in the latest on-line trend called the “10-year challenge.” People will post side-by-side then-and-now photos, but some say there’s a dark side to it. Facebook is the ultimate “Big Brother” surveillance device. Those using it readily participate in feeding its enormous appetite for data without realizing […]

Unsecured Webcams Leave Open Door for Criminals

Thursday, October 4th, 2018

Security expert Craig Petronella of Petronella Technology Group said you shouldn’t just take a camera out of the box and use it with its factory settings intact. “You have to configure it,’’ he said. “It has a default user name and password and after you get it all set up, you want to change the password to something […]

Craig Petronella, Raleigh, NC Top Cybersecurity Expert And IT Authority Alerts All Business Owners To the Danger Of Massive Cyberattacks

Tuesday, May 16th, 2017

Craig Petronella, NC Top Cybersecurity Expert And IT Authority has put out a major alert to the immediate threat of massive cyberattacks for all businesses. Recent attacks have spread to more than 200,000 businesses in 150 countries in the last two days. Craig Petronella has issued the following warning. “As you probably heard in the […]

Why Cybercriminals Attack Law Firms

Monday, March 6th, 2017

Last December, Chinese hackers tried to breach the computer systems at several big law firms including Cravath Swaine & Moore and Weil, Gotshal & Manges looking for data to exploit insider trading deals, according to the The Wall Street Journal.The alleged attackers attempted and succeeded in accessing data over 100,000 times and were never detected. […]