Chicago IT Support & Cyber Security | Forward Technologies
Chicago-based Forward Technologies delivers IT support and cyber security to businesses in the Chicago area and nationwide.
For years, the security advice was simple: turn on multifactor authentication.
IT people repeated it endlessly. Microsoft pushed it. Insurance companies started requiring it. Cybersecurity audits looked for it. Eventually, most businesses got the message.
Users learned the routine. Enter the password. Wait for the text message. Type in the 6-digit code. Get back to work.
Now Microsoft is changing all of that. [Read more…]
You click a link. It takes you to a site that looks exactly right. The logo matches, the name checks out, and everything feels familiar. But something’s off. And before you realize what it is, you’ve handed over your login, your credit card, or worse, your network credentials. The trick wasn’t in the layout or the content. It was in the letters.
Cybercriminals are using homoglyphs—lookalike characters from other alphabets—to build fake domains that mimic real ones down to the pixel. A Cyrillic “а” is nearly identical to the Latin “a” your eyes expect to see. To a browser, they’re completely different. To a person, they’re the same. That’s the whole con. [Read more…]
Microsoft is shifting new account signups away from passwords and toward passkeys. It’s part of a broader industry effort, with companies like Google and Apple also pushing for a future where stolen credentials are no longer a threat. This move sounds like progress, but there’s more going on beneath the surface.
Going forward, anyone creating a new Microsoft account will be guided to set up a passkey. Existing users will also see prompts asking them to make the switch. The goal is simple: reduce the security risks and user frustration tied to traditional passwords. Most people reuse weak logins. That leads to leaks, breaches, and a lot of expensive damage.
