Category Archives: "News & Events"

  Notification of Phishing Email Scam — Termination of HUB Certification Dear HUB/CMBL Participant: The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has been notified by several participants in our HUB/CMBL programs that they have received a phishing email that appears to have been sent by our agency informing the recipient that the State of Texas Historically

HCFCD Citizen Participation Opportunities for Flood Risk Reduction The Harris County Flood Control District can facilitate communication with our partner organizations to promote citizen-based flood risk reduction strategies and assist in organizing community events for wider implementation. These partner organizations can direct prompt and effective public outreach that is targeted toward flood risk reduction strategies

Deloitte report on printer security Estimates a 15% increase in sales of desktop printer/MFPs in 2020 due to increase in employees working from home and needing device to complete work Many retail stores seeing massive increases in sales Depletion of inventory of devices 62% of US households had a printer/MFP before COVID-19 pandemic, so actual

Langenhagen, Germany, 14 September 2020 Konica Minolta wins the BLI PaceSetter Award for Serviceability and Support 2020-2021 in Western Europe awarded by Keypoint Intelligence for the second time. The recognition honours the OEM that offers the best-designed tools, programs and trainings to enhance the serviceability of its products and services. With its “shift left” approach,

Konica Minolta Welcomes New Vice President, Dealer Sales South Posted on September 14, 2020 by IA Staff Tweet Share Share Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), is pleased to announce Phil Boatman has joined the company as Vice President, Dealer Sales South. Phil Boatman was at Lexmark International for 16 years, most recently serving as Director for

Konica Minolta Expands bizhub® i-Series Line with New Monochrome Devices Posted on September 14, 2020 by IA Staff Tweet Share Share Six Multifunctional Printers Round Out Award-winning Portfolio Ramsey, NJ — Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), a leader in world-class printing technology, has expanded its bizhub® i-Series with the launch of six new black and white

HIPAA & Cybersecurity Updates Adobe notified customers that it has fixed 5 critical flaws that would allow hackers to run JavaScript in browers Would allow hackers to steal info, and move laterally through network Microsoft notified users that specially crafted Windows 10 themes and theme packs could be used in “Pass-the-Hash” hacking incidents Could steal

Quote from “The Cure of Troy” by the Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney. One paragraph.  History says, don’t hope On this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme. The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes is a

HIPAA & Cybersecurity Updates Advocate Aurora Health of Wisconsin & Illinois notified 1,907 patients that their PHI was exposed after a mailing error by Diamond Healthcare Communications. The Idaho Board of Nursing reported a potential breach exposing info on nurses in the state, being used by a hacking group to extort funds. The Philadelphia Archdiocese

Okidata to get out of printer/MFP business Reported its last quarter’s earnings Net sales down 24.4% to 81.4 billion yen ($756.5 million) Operating income was a loss of 1.1 billion yen (-$10.2 million) Components & Platforms (includes printers and MFPs) division net sales down 25.1% to 40 billion yen ($371.7 million) Reported a loss of

TIPS TO LIVE BY How Sweat Works: Why We Sweat When We’re Hot, as Well as When We’re Not Aug. 19, 2020 – Katie McCallum Did you know that there are only two mammals capable of long-distance running — and that humans are one of them? (Horses are the other, since I’m sure you were curious). While

Community: The Harris County Sheriff’s Office Announces Multi-Agency Partnership for DWI Initiative Ahead of Labor Day Weekend HOUSTON – (September 3, 2020) – The Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety are joining forces ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend to crack down on

HP reported its last quarter earnings net revenue down 2.1% to $14.3 billion earnings per share was $0.52, down from $0.78 for third-quarter 2019 Net earnings down 37.7% to $0.7 billion Printer/MPF division net revenue down 20% to $3.933 billion 2% operating margin Total hardware units were down 2% Commercial hardware units down 32% Consumer

By: Key Kain on August 11th, 2020 What are the Security Risks Associated with the use of Unmanaged Print Devices? Are thousands of work-from-home employees from across the United States tempted to introduce unmanaged technology (and the associated cyber threats) through a personal printer to their workplace network? I had never thought of this. Until one day…

 Important Information Regarding Hurricane Laura As you may know, Hurricane Laura is expected to make landfall late this evening or early tomorrow as a Category 4 Hurricane. While the path of the storm is difficult to predict, the National Weather Service is warning that strong winds, rain, and storm surges can still affect those not

Laura has prompted hurricane and storm surge warnings for the northwest Gulf Coast. A storm surge warning is in effect from Freeport, Texas, to the mouth of the Mississippi River in southeast Louisiana, including Galveston Bay and areas inside the Port Arthur, Texas, hurricane flood protection system. This means a life-threatening storm surge is expected. Residents in

Microsoft to roll out new security protocol announced that the Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 protocol is now enabled by default in Windows 10 Insider Preview builds will be rolled out to all Windows 10 systems. latest version of the traffic encryption protocol was approved and published in 2018, providing improved communication security compared to

Fujifilm admits issues with Ripple20 Fujifilm makes most of the current Xerox branded printers, MFPs and PPS In a notice to its customers, “Recently we have found that potential security risks may exist (Ripple20: CVE-2020-11896, etc.) for some of our multi-function and office printers” “We are in the process of preparing new firmware, and plan

All Houston-area tolls waived ahead of Hurricane Laura, Gov. Abbott says – All tolls on Houston-area toll roads will be temporarily waived to help those evacuating as a result of Hurricane Laura, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday evening. The Texas Department of Transportation is waiving all tolls along the agency’s portion of SH 99/Grand Parkway

Weather Update #2 – Tracking Laura   Klein ISD will be closed Wednesday, August 26, 2020, and Thursday, August 27, 2020, out of an abundance of caution. Buildings will be closed and campus services will be suspended. Emergency personnel will be notified by their supervisor if they are to report. Klein ISD will reassess conditions

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bkDjVJoJQ-Wx-GRZLTyUyg September 1 from 11;30 am – 1 pm, The Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce is presenting “The State of Higher Education as part of their “KEYNOTE SERIES”. The four speakers include Dr. Shah Ardalan of Lone Star College, Melinda Kirtley of Our Lady of the Lake University, Dr. Tyrone Tanner of Prairie View University

According to research recently published by Victoria University of Australia Claims it was cause millions of dollars to be wiped from the economy data suggested that productivity losses were between 1% and 3% equivalent to between 5 and 15 minutes of an 8-hour workday  school and childcare closures only worsened productivity levels, with parents distracted

Our message to residents in the Cypress Creek Watershed from cycreekstoptheflooding.com Developing Problem It’s late August – the heart of the storm season.  It’s going to be an interesting next several weeks as we look toward the sea.  Buy flood insurance.  ANY place in Harris County can flood, don’t be another surprised flooding victim.  “I’ve

Direct mail volumes decline during COVID Report published by U.S. Postal Service Marketing mail down 30-40%, and estimates that 20-25% of this volume may be lost for good 58% of catalog mailers reduced circulation

 Protect Yourself Against COVID-19 Fraud Recently, the IRS Criminal Investigation Unit has seen an uptick in scam cases related to COVID-19 and Economic Impact Payments (EIP). This attempted scam may be in the form of phone calls or emails by individuals posing as the IRS attempting to gather sensitive personal information. While members of the IRS Wage

Canon ransomware attack update Bank Info Security magazine published article with update on recent event According to Emsisoft Security, the Maze ransomware group has posted on its Dark Web website some of the data is claims it stole from Canon USA Claims it posted only 5%, or 2.5GB of the data it now has possession

Toshiba officially out of laptop business confirmed that it has sold the remaining stake in its laptop business to Hon Hai Precision of Taiwan (aka Sharp, Foxconn) formally exiting the PC market.

Ricoh posts last quarter’s earnings Total sales down 26.2% to 352.2 billion yen ($3.3 billion) Gross profit down 33.8% to 122 billion yen Operating profit was a loss of 21.2 billion yen Profit attributable to owners of parent was a loss of 18.6 billion yen Office Printing division hardware sales down 32.1% to 174.7 billion

Xerox downgraded the Fitch Ratings credit-rating agency announced that it revised its Rating Outlook for Xerox from Stable to Negative firm said its rating actions followed Xerox’s second-quarter revenue decline of 35% noted that lost post-sale revenue (such as toner cartridges, paper, etc.), which declined 34%, will likely not be recovered. Xerox’s business “has also

Canon confirms major ransomware attack has taken down its systems By Joel Khalili 3 days ago Canon ransomware attack takes down website, email and various other services (Image credit: Canon) Update: An internal memo delivered to Canon staff has confirmed the company is suffering the effects of a ransomware attack. “Canon U.S.A, Inc. and its subsidiaries understand the