Holmes and Associates, Inc.

09/10/2025

Big news! Kirk Holmes, CEO of Holmes and Associates, Inc. is speaking at the 2025 NMSDC Annual Conference & Exchange in Miami! This year’s event is all about navigating our new economy.

Let’s connect, learn, and lead the way forward together.

🔗 Register now: nmsdcconference.org

07/07/2025

Do you use Google Chrome? IMMEDIATELY make sure that your browser is up to date. There is an active malware threat that Google just released an updated browser for. If you end up landing on a site that either intentionally carries the malware or has been unknowingly infected, you will be exploited WITHOUT EVEN CLICKING ON ANYTHING. That's right. If you just land on such a site with a Chrome browser your system can be compromised.

THE ONLY OPTION IS TO UPDATE CHROME IMMEDIATELY. Please note that even if you have automatic updates enabled (like me), the updates may not install automatically until you close Chrome and reopen it.

Here is the short version about updating. You have to navigate to the "About Chrome" on your browser (different for Windows and Mac). Once on that screen, it will check your version and either tell you to update or install the update automatically (requiring a quit and restart). You can read more instructions courtesy of Malwarebytes.com. https://lnkd.in/erdU7tPx

DO NOT DELAY. This is important.

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

11/06/2024

Beware of "Vishing", a rising cybersecurity threat targeting mobile devices through voice calling technology. A new variant of the malware called FakeCall has been discovered, specifically attacking Android phone users who download software via APK rather than Google Play.

FakeCall tricks users into installation and then hijacks the device, posing as the user's financial institution to extract sensitive information. The malware intercepts calls to the bank, displaying a fake interface to deceive users into revealing confidential data, granting scammers access to financial accounts unnoticed.

Scammers have evolved their tactics to avoid detection, such as employing encrypted packages that get installed through backdoor retrieval after the initial malware is installed. To minimize your risks, continue to exercise extreme caution when installing software from unofficial sources such as outside of the Google Play store. Stay vigilant and prioritize your digital security.

04/05/2021

https://www.entrepreneur.com/amphtml/345866

A new age of startup investing has arisen amid the demands of entrepreneurs, and it is altering the traditional venture capital model as we know it.

02/14/2021

A Florida water utility got hacked. This was cyber risk as a potential weapon of mass destruction. These threats are so real. IT organizations and the non-IT side need to really take these threats even more seriously. Preventing risks is a tough decision for some people because until you get hit by the risk, it’s not clear to most outsiders that you aren’t doing enough. However, these Cybersecurity risks are not just IT challenges. Yes, many IT and cyber shops must do a better job of risk management and business case analysis and in communications to the enterprise. Also, many non-IT enterprise executives must accept the need to make investment choices based on something other than minimizing costs. You must work together to take a holistic approach that incorporates people, process, technology, culture, partnerships.

A hacker broke into a Florida water treatment plant and ordered it to increase the amount of lye to extremely dangerous levels, officials said.

01/16/2020

Hackers Are Breaking Directly Into Telecom Companies to Take Over Customer Phone Numbers - VICE

SIM swappers have escalated from bribing employees to using remote desktop software to get direct access to internal T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint tools.

10/03/2019

While 5G mobile service gets all the hype, this other new mobile thing called CBRS may have a transformational impact. CBRS is a mechanism that enables creation of LTE wireless networks that are not owned by the giant wireless carriers, i.e. it offers a chance to receive a little bit of "owners economics" for limited use cases. Managed services providers who are not macro carriers are already getting in on it (this article talks about Charter Communications), as well as enterprises, schools, and governments.

I wonder if the long-term impact might be similar to the impact on adoption of the Internet when dial-up ISPs and enterprises discovered that they could get into the data networking business using the telephone lines and modems instead of relying only on telephone company circuits (ISDN and T1 lines). Might we see something similar for wireless? Now is the time to experiment.

Charter's Craig Cowden expands on the MSO's interests and intentions involving the CBRS band and provides updates on the company's recent set of fixed wireless, mobile-facing 'dual-SIM' market trials.

09/11/2019

If you haven’t heard, there is something transformational about to happen other than 5G. The CBRS wireless technology does not get as much public hype as 5G does but I think it will have a wider and more immediate impact across the nation. The potential may be analogous to the birth of broadband Internet, especially when coupled with 5G.

We will see a proliferation of wireless connectivity and innovation on private LTE networks that takes far beyond what WiFi has done (which itself was a giant leap forward).

As soon as the FCC issues its public notice of approval, Federated Wireless will immediately initiate services in the Citizens Broadband Radio Services (CBRS) band for more than 20 customers in both urban and rural markets across 36 states.

08/30/2019

Comcast's lobby failed to stop launch of Fort Collins municipal broadband.