Life Happens 365 - Are You Managing the Risk?

  By Diane Tait Image courtesy Pixabay If your business uses Microsoft Exchange, you may have a problem. That’s because in February 2021, a Chinese hacking group called Hafnium exploited flaws in Exchange to gain access to email accounts.   This allowed the state-sponsored hackers to install malware that could ultimately let them take control of affected systems.   The estimated number of compromised accounts is more than 100,000. So flagrant was this attack that the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Agency, issued a warning along with appropriate steps to take to mitigate the attack.   The Hafnium exploit can allow hackers to steal data, encrypt existing data, delete data or even hold data for ransom.  

  By Diane Tait Image courtesy Pixabay Nobody likes to be duped, bamboozled, or scammed.   Yet the trend online and off shows that fraud is at an all-time high.   Why not?   Where scammers of yesteryear had to show their faces to their victims to perpetrate fraud, today all it takes is a click of a mouse or smartphone key to fleece people out of their hard-earned money.   So pervasive and widespread is fraud today that the insurance industry instituted what they call the Insurance Fraud Hall of Shame to educate the public on the ever more sophisticated methods being used to defraud the public.   In today’s blog, I will share some of the more outrageous frauds from the 2020 list as well as giving you 10-tips on how to keep from being victimized.

  By Diane Tait Image courtesy Pixabay It’s that time of year again in Florida when the skies suddenly darken midday and it sounds like an artillery barrage.   I’m talking about thunderstorms, which occur with regularity in the Sunshine State from April through September.   While pop-up storms are an all too frequent fact of life during the spring and summer, what’s scary about the flash, bang, boom of lightning is the damage it can do to people, places, and things.   Like it or not, a bolt from the blue can travel up to ten miles to deliver as much as a billion volts from cloud to ground.   Lightning strikes have been known to set a house ablaze or cut a tree in two in a split second.   A single bolt can damage or destroy your car or kill you in an instant.   If you’ve ever wondered what can happen if your home or vehicle is struck by lightning, here’s what you need to know.

  By Diane Tait Image courtesy Pixabay You may have noticed that the grass is growing, the flowers are blooming and the birds are chirping in the trees.   Signs that spring has sprung in north Florida are abundant.   But what’s not so obvious is the toll that winter has taken.   That’s why many homeowners reassess what’s what at this time of year.   Spring cleaning is a great way to review, reorganize, and rejuvenate your home and yard.   Whether it’s mowing the lawn, pressure washing the deck, organizing your garage, or cleaning the barbecue, spring cleaning is going to save you tons of time during the dog days of summer.   It can also save you is money on your insurance if you know where to look.