In 2012, LinkedIn suffered a data breach of six million user account names and passwords. Apparently, that breach is extremely larger than originally reported. A Russian hacker going by the name of “Peace” has claimed responsibility for the 2012 hack. This...
Portland IT Support Articles & Business Tech News
Cybersecurity, M365, Managed IT Services, AI, & Technology Trends for Portland Businesses
How Office 365 will save your business money
Moving into the cloud can be a daunting task, but if your company is looking to update from a legacy version of Microsoft Office then Office 365 will almost always be the most cost effective upgrade route. SpireTech can help make the transition painless. The biggest...
How to work from home and look good doing it
In the last decade, the mobile workforce has increased by more than 100 percent—not that surprising when we consider the abundant improvement in technology over that same time period. Telecommuting offers wonderful benefits to companies and workers alike, with an...
Critical Vulnerabilities Affecting QuickTime for Windows
Two zero-day vulnerabilities showed up recently that could spell trouble for those who use QuickTime for Windows. The ZDI-16-241 and ZDI-16-242 vulnerabilities allow an attacker to run malware or malicious code remotely. It gains access to a computer when a user is...
What is Grayware, Adware, and Madware?
If you're like most Internet users, you've never even heard of grayware, adware or madware. That's because these are all lower on the threat scale in the world of malicious programming. What's more, they toe the line between legitimate programs and actively harmful...
What Are Some of the Laws Regarding Internet and Data Security?
Numerous laws in the U.S. cover Internet, data security, and privacy in the United States, with the 1974 Privacy Act arguably being the foundation for it all. The Privacy Act passed to establish control over the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of...
Who’s afraid of IPv6? You shouldn’t be!
Are you ready for IPv6? With the Internet running out of IPv4 addresses, the time is now, ready or not. What is it and what do you have to do to make the transition. 2015 will go down in history as the year the Internet ran out of addresses. Again. Maybe. A little...
Why you should (or shouldn’t) adopt SaaS
It wasn't long ago that businesses only had two options when it came to purchasing software: purchasing the product off the shelf or purchasing a license agreement for the software. Even with available on-site maintenance and management services, the costs would vary...
Sneaky Spammer Tactics and How to Avoid Them
Spam is a problem on the Internet, coming at us from just about every angle of the online space. Some spammers develop sophisticated, well-planned strategies, while others can be sloppy and still drive results. Either way, spam tactics come in a variety of shades, and...
Biometrics: How Do They Work? Are They Safe?
Biometrics are part of the cutting edge of technology. Put simply, biometrics are any metrics related to human features. Fingerprinting is a very early and simple version of biometrics, like when you login to your phone using your fingerprint. As with any emerging...
How long before you step into a driverless vehicle?
Used with the permission of http://thenetwork.cisco.com, by Jason Deign From the trucking industry to Uber, the automotive industry is alive with talk about letting robots take the wheel. There's a scene missing from all those flash auto ads parading across our...
Technology Usage and the Physical Effects on Your Body
used with permission from Norton by Symantec, by Nadia Kovacs Sure, there are plenty of amazing positives to technology but, as with most things, a fair share of negatives exists as well. One of the negatives technology presents is the physical effect on the body,...
How to Keep Your Personal Information Safe on Social Media
Social media runs a significant portion of people's social lives. We use it to connect with far-flung friends and family, send quick messages to co-workers, and announce major (and minor) events in our lives. Many businesses use social media sites to collaborate or...
Happy 23rd birthday to Spire!
Yes - Spire turns 23 today. We'll be celebrating a bit today during the lunch hour! Thanks for your support all these years!
Save the date!
Spire Technologies is a Bronze Sponsor at this year's INTERFACE Portland Join us on March 10th for this invite-only conference for IT professionals hosted at the Oregon Convention Center. With a "by invitation-only" format, cutting-edge content, interactive labs...
Quickly insert a screenshot in Microsoft Word
If you need to insert a screenshot into your Word document quickly, without memorizing keyboard shortcuts, here’s how! This is a little-known feature of Word, but incredibly easy. Go to the Insert tab on the Ribbon. In the Illustrations group, click on the Screenshot...
