Protecting your networks, devices, applications and data for attack, damage or unauthorized access.

Phishing Scams – How to Prevent a Disaster

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Imagine this. You’re scrolling the internet and your instant messaging pops up. It’s someone you talk to quite frequently, and they’ve sent you a link telling you to check it out. You click the link, and suddenly your files start changing and you can’t open anything. Suddenly you’ve become a victim of a phishing scam.

What just happened?

You sit there confused, but in the back of your mind you understand the link you clicked was not what it seemed to be, and are now wondering what it will take to get the information back?

Phishing is a common cyber crime that has hit many unsuspecting people, and sometimes the results are harmless. Sometimes you are only locked out of your online accounts for few minutes. But other times serious damage can begin the minute your mouse clicks the link.

Hackers target companies and individuals by email, and most people see a link in an email and don’t even consider it is going to be detrimental to click.

A good rule to follow is to limit the links you do click in email messages.  Remember, when protecting yourself from phishing scams, pay attention to the where the link is going to take you, be skeptical of email attachments and pay close attention to the sender email address.

If something looks suspicious, taking the time to check and be sure makes sense.

Getting to a place where you understand how to protect yourself takes effort and some training. This training has come a long way over the years.

Find out how a few quick and focused training sessions can help you and your team improve your skills.  Ask us about some options for effective cyber security training.

World Password Day 2018

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How secure are you?

Passwords are your first line of defense when it comes to protecting your private systems and information. Having a strong password in place leaves you just that much more secure.

On May 3, 2018, we celebrated World Password Day, and the facts are simple; most people either don’t understand the importance of a secure password, or don’t want to take the time to ensure information is protected in the simplest way.

I don’t know about you, but I’m just as guilty as the majority of the population for having the same password across the board, changing up one number or letter per platform. Just like you, I’ve left myself extremely vulnerable to hackers of any level.

With digital platforms filling up most of your spare time, it’s important to adhere to the rules and suggestions. Each of these platforms ask for a different sequence of characters, for good reason.

According to Entrepreneur Online, a survey was conducted by TeleSign a few years ago, which polled approximately 2,000 consumers throughout the U.S. and the U.K. The study concluded about 3 out of 4 people use duplicate passwords, some of which haven’t been changed in years.

Good to know I’m not the only one who could lose everything.

In the past year alone, about 40% of people received noticed of personal information being compromised, accounts being hacked, or have had a password stolen. Data breaches are inevitable. Therefore, why aren’t you taking better measures to protect your information.

When is the last time you changed your password? In the same survey, mentioned above, about 21% of people still use passwords they created 10 years ago. If you can’t remember the last time you changed your password, I highly suggest you take the time today to do so.

Keep them long, complicated, a sequence of numbers and letters. You can even generate up passwords for free online. Whatever you do, your password should not be something that can be guessed. No birthday’s please. Pet names are out too.

The next step you can take is to add another level of security. Two-factor authentication is a great way to significantly decrease the risk of any hacker. This method requires an additional type of identification, of which the user has on them at the time.

Passwords are inevitably a part of everyday life, and to be careless with them is simply asking for the worst to happen. Whatever method you use, being aware of how secure you are is detrimental for a future dealing with technology.

If you are curious as to how secure your password is visit www.howsecureismypassword.net. Enter in a password SIMILAR to the one you currently have and sit back and see how long it would take a hacker to enter your system.

 

Cyber Security for Marketers

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Cyber Security for Marketers: Four Tips to Get Started

Esther Jeohn, head of global marketing at Penta Security Systems Inc, gives information on how you can deflect or even block the cyber-breach blow. Reading these four tips will give you and your PR team ideas on how to stay protected when it comes to cyber security. With the majority of marketing work done on the go, many of the platforms used are Cloud-based.

“The myriad of platforms make my workflow a whole lot easier, but the lack of integrations into one seamless platform inevitably means that information is being distributed to multiple locations. That information could be anything from company financial figures to customer contact information—which, if it fell into the wrong hands, could mean bad business,” says Jeohn in the article, which can be found here.

What can you do, as a marketer, to keep yourself and your company protected?

How One Hacker Stole $226K Worth of Cryptocurrency from Oracle Servers

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According to a recent article published from Techrepublic, an Oracle vulnerability released in December allowed attackers to mine the Monero cryptocurrency.

One hacker was able to deploy a cryptocurrency miner and rake in 611 Monero coins worth roughly $226,000, according to a report from the SANS Institute.

“The good news is that Oracle patched the flaw last year. However, firms that aren’t regularly updating may still be at risk. According to the report, the vulnerability affects versions 10.3.6.0.0, 12.1.3.0.0, 12.2.1.1.0, 12.2.1.2.0, and 10.3.3.0,” stated writer Connor Forrest.

To read the full article, click here.

The 20 Worst Passwords of 2017

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Passwords are the first line of defense when it comes to protecting your vital information. Let the common phrases like “password” and “123456” go. It’s still surprising how many people use bad passwords.

Use a whimsical phrase you will remember, then add numbers and special characters. Protect yourself.

Read the article from Techrepublic here.

How Facebook’s Annual “Hacktober” Campaign Promotes Cybersecurity to Employees | hbr.org

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With a month of security competitions, games, and T-shirts. “Build and maintain a security conscious culture”.

Not only will it help train your employees on cyber security but it will also help with employee engagement. Engaged employee = more productivity. 

Most importantly, use an approach that fits your culture, recognize and reward engagement, run real-world security tests, bring people together, and keep it fun. See how Facebook does it.

Source: How Facebook’s Annual “Hacktober” Campaign Promotes Cybersecurity to Employees

5 Ways To Improve Your Small Business Cybersecurity

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Half of all small businesses experience a cyber attack. Use the 5 tips in this article to improve your business’s cybersecurity and protect yourself from threats.

The five tips are train employees, update computers, create backups, limit access, and secure your wi-fi.

Read the full article at Forbes.com.

Source: 5 Ways To Improve Your Small Business Cybersecurity

A fake Netflix email wants users’ billing information — don’t click it – National | Globalnews.ca

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Phishing emails are being sent to Netflix users worldwide. Do NOT click the link in the email. 

Instead, go to the company website and login. 

Source: A fake Netflix email wants users’ billing information — don’t click it – National | Globalnews.ca

Understand cyber security, don’t fear it, says NCSC head

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The head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has urged organisations to ensure they understand cyber risks as a survey reveals mid-sized firms have inadequate cyber protection.  MSP in the UK warning that investments in a security and information event management (Siem) system, without dedicated team to respond is inadequate.

Source: Understand cyber security, don’t fear it, says NCSC head

Cybersecurity is dead – long live cyber awareness | CSO Online

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Consider shifting the focus from exclusively on prevention and include a focus on recovery.

Ask youself, and your IT department:

  1. If you were hacked, what would you do?
  2. How frequently is your data backed up?
  3. Will you pay the ransom?
  4. What about the companies and people you work with?
  5. What’s your communication plan?

Read the full article from the link below.

Source: Cybersecurity is dead – long live cyber awareness | CSO Online