The Basics of NIST Cybersecurity Framework

 

Have you ever come across the terms NIST Cybersecurity Framework? Do you know what it is? How is it applicable to your business?

NIST is the abbreviation for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. It’s under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework can assist companies of different sizes. It helps them get a good understanding, management, and reduction of cybersecurity risks to safeguard data and network.

All these are voluntary. It provides your business a clear outline of the best practices, which you can use to decide in what particular area you have to focus your money and time on to boost your company’s cybersecurity protection. Fortunately, you can count on IT services  Columbia SC providers to assist you with this.

There are five areas where the NIST Cybersecurity Framework can be used on.

• Identify
• Protect
• Detect
• Respond
• Recover

Identify

• With the help of experts in managed IT services Columbia SC, come up with a complete list of all the data, software, and equipment you use. Some examples are point of sale devices, tablets, smartphones, laptops, and desktops.
• Clearly identify the responsibilities and the roles for vendors, staff, and everyone else with access to confidential data.
• Determine the steps that you have to take in order to protect your company against cyberattacks and limit the damage it causes in case it happens.

Protect

• To boost your computer security, you should have full control on the people who are allowed to log on to the network and use devices such as the computer.
• You must use effective security software to protect all your data.
• You must encrypt sensitive data, in transit and at rest.
• You must conduct regular data backups.
• You must regularly, if possible, automate, the software updates.
• You must set formal policies about how to properly dispose old devices and electronic files properly.
• You must set a regular training schedule for everyone who uses your computers, network, and devices. Talk about cybersecurity so your employees know their personal risks and the roles they play in the workplace. 

Detect

• You have to keep track of your computers for any unauthorized access using software and hardware such as USB drives.
• You must inspect your network for unauthorized connections or users.
• Investigate all unusual activities by your staff or within your network.

Respond

• You must set a plan in place on how to inform your clients, employees, and others involved whose data may be at risk.
• You need a plan on how you can keep your business up and running.
• You should create a plan on how to report the cyberattack to the authorities.
• Know how to investigate as well as contain the cyberattack.
• Your cybersecurity policy must be updated regularly. Create a plan that factors in all the takeaways from your experience.
• You must prepare your company for any unexpected event such as calamities that may put your business and client data at risk.
• Don’t forget to test all of your plans on a regular basis.

Recover

• If your company suffered a cyberattack, you have to know how to help your business bounce back.
• You must fix and restore the areas of the network or devices that were affected.
• You must constantly keep your employees and clients up to date about your response to the attack and what steps are being taken to recover from it.

 

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our team of IT experts assist you in protecting your company and your data against cybersecurity threats.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Columbia, SC 29201
(803) 408-7166
http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

Understanding the Basics of Cybersecurity

 

By understanding the basics of cybersecurity and implementing them in your business will help you protect your company and lower its risk of falling victim to cyberattacks. Always remember that cybercriminals don’t discriminate. They will attack small, medium, and even large enterprises when given a chance.

Computer Security Tips: Protect Your Devices and Files

Update your software – You need to set automatic updates for your operating systems, web browsers, and apps.

Secure your files – Store all of your files in a secure location. Don’t forget to back them up on an external hard drive, offline, or in the cloud.

Use strong passwords – Never leave your devices unattended and unlocked whether you’re in your office or in public spaces.

Encrypt your devices – You must encrypt all media and devices that contain confidential information. It applies to your tablet, laptop, smartphones, backup tapes, cloud storage solutions, and removable devices.

Use multi-factor authentication – Set up multi-factor authentication for restricted areas or parts of your network that contain confidential information. Aside from logging in using a password, you may require a temporary code or a passkey that needs to be inserted into the computer.

How to create a strong password?

Experts at managed IT services Columbia SC says a strong password contains at least 12 characters that are a combination of symbols, numbers, and lower and capital letters. Don’t reuse passwords. It’s also not advisable to share them by email, text, or phone. You should also set a limit in the number of log-in attempts to restrict password guessing cyberattacks.

Don’t forget to train your staff

You must develop a culture of security by setting up a regular schedule for training employees. You must update your employees when you find out about new vulnerabilities and risks. In case your staff don’t attend, you should impose a consequence such as rejecting their access to your network.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our IT services Columbia SC specialists help keep your business safe and protected against online threats. 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Columbia, SC 29201
(803) 408-7166
http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

5 Strategies To A Secure Work At Home Environment

Work at home has changed the American industry especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Millennials is by far the largest demographic in the labor force of the country and they have varying expectations when it comes to the flexibility an employer should offer their staff.

Apart from the evolving expectations of employees, there are many businesses as well as social drivers that help make integrating WAH or work at home strategy more attractive to employers.

Why Work At Home is Beneficial For Employers?

Many work at home employees report reduced stressed levels and higher productivity rates. Employers could access bigger labor force along with a deeper talent pool and extremely specialized skills. Studies have also shown that remote workers are more engaged with their employer and their job.

About 45% of the workforce in the US are now remote workers, c-suite execs are now starting to realize the advantages of having a work at home workforce. But, among the main concerns for every company thinking of this option is cybersecurity.

Over the last two decades, technological advancements have changed companies’ ability to hire and train employees and keeping those employees as well as the business setting safe and secure. When correctly integrated, the following five strategies can help make sure that your remote workers are secure while working at home.

Strategies To Secure Your Work At Home Employees

PCI Complaint

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is applicable to firms of all size that are accepting credit card payments. You have to plan how your IT system keeps customer data, how you protect that data form different kinds of security threats and how the firewall would secure remote access. There are 12 main areas on the security standards and offering a complex security framework must be your baseline.

Use Biometrics Or Multi-Factor Authentication

When it comes to making sure that authorized individuals are the only ones who will access a controlled system is multifactor authentication or MFA. A system that has MFA provides another level of authentication that needs to be met before the network can be accessed. Biometrics is another option thanks to the lowcost biometric scanning devices that are available in the market today. Biometric tests can be used in addition to passwords.

Protect Financial and Personal Information With Automation

You could protect your employees and your clients using automated systems to take care of personal financial information like taking payment from a client. The human agent could pass the client over to an automated Interactive Voice Response system when they need to give out their payment card details. When the info has been captured and processed, the client will then be returned to your agent. Automating the capture of the personal or financial information makes sure that your agent won’t hear or get access to your client’s sensitive data.

Lock The PC Desktop

Minimum computer security standards like firewall need to be installed for basic protection. All other personality should be locked down and made unavailable when the unit isn’t being used for your business.

Encrypt The Calls

Calls must be encypted. Also, all forms of communication taken by your work at home employee should use similar encryption levels so in case their connection is hacked, it would be impossible to decrypt the data transfer.

Fortunately, you no longer have to worry about home security solutions. SpartanTec,Inc. in Columbia offers such services including help desk support. With the help of our IT experts, you can focus your effort on more important business operations while we handle the online security of your work at home employees.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you wish to know more about our home security solutions.

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

Computer Security Tips For Working From Home

Employees who are new to working from home will require extra help as well as a no-blame policy form employers if things go wrong. One of the most important methods of cutting back the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus is social distancing. Because of this, a growing number of companies are asking their employees to work from home. But, the move to remote working could lead to more cybersecurity threats and that's why computer security is paramount.

SpartanTec, Inc. published guidance on how to protect data when employees are working outside their typical office environment. The staff that requires new accounts or access to the systems will need strong passwords and if possible, two factor authentication as well.

Employers also have to take into account new applications that their workers may require to work like new collaboration tools like the ones used for document sharing, videoconferencing, and chatrooms.

SpartanTec, Inc.’s General Recommendations For Improved Computer Security

Write how to documents and guides for brand new software that employees will use or existing apps that would be used in a new way or even basic components such as how they should log into and make use of an online collaboration tool.

Be sure that the devices will encrypt data at rest, in order to protect data on the device in case it is stolen or lost. Although most modern gadgets and devices have built in encryption, it might need to be configured or switched on.

Make use of MDM or mobile device management tools to set up the devices using standard configuration, and remotely lock the devices, erase the data, and retrieve the backup.

VPNs have to be patched. Always remember that extra license, bandwidth or capacity might be needed if your business typically has a restricted number of remote users.

Be sure that the employees know what needs to be done if the device is stolen or lost. That includes who needs to know, staff who are afraid of getting into trouble are much less likely to report devices that may have been lost right away. So be sure that they can do this in a way that the employee who reported the incident wont’ be blamed.

USB drives usually contain sensitive data, however, they can also be lost easily. Plus, they could be infiltrated by malware easily. You can reduce security risks if you:

• -       Disable any removable device using an MDM settings
• -       Use antivirus tools when needed and make sure that you run a full scan.
• -       Only allow products that are supplied by the company
• -       Protect data at rest especially on removable media
• -       Ask employees to transfer files through alternative methods like collaboration tools or cloud storage.

Cybercriminals and hackers are preying on your fears of the pandemic. Many of them send phishing emails that will try to trick you to click on a suspicious link. If you have installed an antivirus software, make sure that you run a full scan. Follow all the instructions. If you have been tricked into giving out your password, you must change your passwords on all of your accounts. In case you are using a device for work, call your IT expert right away.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Columbia for help if you need to set up computer security measures for your employers who are working from home.

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

American Express Employee Compromises Customer Information

American Express has been quietly contacting some of its customers with a tersely worded communication that reads, in part, as follows:

"It was brought to our attention that personal information related to your American Express Card account listed above, may have been wrongfully accessed by one of our employees in an attempt to conduct fraudulent activity, including potentially opening accounts at other financial institutions.  In response, we immediately launched an investigation and are fully cooperating with law enforcement agencies to further their investigation."

There are a couple of noteworthy things about this.  First, it's American Express, one of the Titans of the Financial industry.  While it's true that AMEX has been compromised before and certainly will be in the future, it underscores the fact that it doesn't matter who you are or how big your company, you are not safe.

Second, it highlights a problem that seldom gets mentioned when we talk about data breaches.  This one came from the inside.

Your employees are simultaneously your greatest asset and your company's biggest point of weakness, as this incident reveals.  It doesn't matter how much you spend on information security. An employee working from the inside can circumvent every security measure you have in place.

Worse, there are no good solutions to this issue.  Obviously, your employees need access to data in order to do the job you hired them to do, and often that data is of a sensitive nature.  Even if your hiring practices are quite robust and do a generally good job of weeding out potentially weak links in the chain, there's simply no good way to guarantee that any employee you take a chance on hiring won't ultimately be the one to betray your trust and the trust of your customers.  That's terrifying, but that's the reality.

It does not really matter if your company is a startup or an established company that's been in business for decades, no one is safe when it security breaches. The threat may come inside or outside your firm and that's why you always need to be vigilant. Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Columbia and let our team help secure every aspect of your business. 

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

Malware Now Hiding Inside Fake Copies Of Online Books

Kaspersky Lab has recently issued a warning that should alarm and dismay students around the world.  Based on the findings of some of the company's researchers, they've discovered a new surge in malware masquerading as legitimate digital textbooks. Given the staggering price of physical textbooks, many students have changed to acquiring digital copies of the books they need.

While the price difference is considerable between the digital and physical copies, penny-pinching students often shop for the best deals possible on the digital copies of the books they're buying.  Unfortunately, a disturbing percentage of bargain-priced texts are poisoned and used to infect the devices of the students downloading them with a variety of malicious payloads.

Based on Kaspersky's research, there were in excess of 365,000 attacks last year that relied on malicious documents with educational-related filenames.  Of those, 233,000 of the cases involved poisoned documents downloaded by more than 74,000 people and blocked by the company's software.

According to a Kaspersky spokesperson, about a third of those files were malware disguised as textbooks, and more than 30,000 users attempted to open them.

The company was able to block an impressive percentage of those types of attacks. However, based on their own numbers, that still means that more than 132,000 infection attempts were successful.  While the attacks were made using a staggering array of malware, the most commonly employed were identified as:

• MediaGet
• Agent.gen & Win32.Agent.ifdx
• The Stalk worm

Of the 'Big Three,' the MediaGet downloader is the least harmful, designed to simply download an unnecessary torrent client.  Unfortunately, the other two downloaders, WinLNK.Agent.gen and Win32.Agent.ifdx are capable of dropping all manner of nasty malware onto an infected device.
Stalk is different from these others, being classified as a worm.  Its main goal in life is to spread itself to as many machines as it can and will merrily mail and text itself to the entire contacts list on any infected machine.

The bottom line from Kaspersky is simply this:  Bargain priced digital texts very often have a high hidden cost.  It pays to be wary.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Columbia to know more about our hosted anti-virus service. Keep your computer and important files safe and protected against common security issues like malware, spyware, and viruses. Let our team create and implement and effective anti-virus solution for you. 

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

How To Protect Your PC From Ransomware

Ransomware encrypts your files and ask for payment in return for a key to unlock your files. However, there is no guarantee that the said key will work. Can your files survive an infection? Yes, provided that you have the right backup strategy.

A Brief Overview

Ransomware is a type of malware that can lock you out of your computer unless payment has been made. Although most criminals consider an attack much like a typical transaction, there are a few ransomware authors who seem to enjoy in making their victims suffer. There are victims who made the payment but have nothing to decrypt since their files were already go to begin with.

These days, there is an increasing number in attack vectors. Plus, many criminals now disguise the ransomware in unvetted software and apps. Sometimes, they are transmitted through spear-phishing attacks, wherein they target people within an organization particularly those who have higher chances of clicking on suspicious links.

Protect Your Backups

When your system has been compromised with ransomware, you have the option to pay the ransom and cross your fingers that you can get your files back. Or, you can also not pay and find ways to reconstruct your computerfrom your backups. The first option is a bit problematic due to logical, financial, ethical, and moral reasons. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to help make sure that you can recover effortlessly from a ransomware attack.

Three Guiding Principles

Always assume that ransomware will delete or encrypt everything you can access from your PC.

In case you back up to an external or internal hard drive that is always connected to your computer, or the cloud, think that those files are dead. They are just of value for a more conventional or old fashioned disaster such as a hard drive failure. There is nothing wrong with this kind of back up for conventional threats, however, it should not be your only line of defence to help you protect your data.

Disconnect your backup from your network.

A great weapon that you can use against ransomware is to use a backup media that you could air gap, which means it is totally disconnected from the internet and the computer. For instance, in case you back up to an external hard drive, just connect it during your regular scheduled back up. Once done, disconnect it again right away. Your local storage drive must not be kept attached to the network. By doing so, your backups will unlikely be encrypted once the ransomware executable is loaded to the network.

Rely on the versioning.

Even if you immediately disconnect the external drive, there is still no guarantee that it will be protected. It’s because your system may already have an infection with malware if you run a backup. Versioning is an important method that you can use to make sure that you can recover from a ransomware attack. It is helpful to use a backup tool that works by saving several timestamped versions of your many files. Once you restore your computer, you will have the option of going back as far as possible, at a time before your files were infected.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Columbia and let our team set up a comprehensive data backup and recovery strategy for your business.

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

How Can Power Outages Affect Your Computer

Are you one of those who do not turn off or unplug their computers during severe storms? If yes, then you might want to start doing it now.

It’s long been revealed that regular power outages and electrical storms could damage or even destroy electronic devices and that includes computers. Anybody who says otherwise is either misguided or lying. What’s worse is that there are other concerns aside from power outages.

What are the risks associated with electrical failure? How do they affect your computer? What can you do to protect your unit from getting fried?

Various Types of Electrical Anomalies

The electrical current that is flowing through your house isn’t constant. Generally speaking it should be, but the truth is that electricity could ebb and flow, in some cases dropping in voltage and sometimes surging with more power. All of these could have unwanted effects.

If power totally shuts off, it’s called a blackout. These happen because of problems beyond your control. However, they could also be self-inflicted.

And then there is another issue referred to as brownout, which is when the electrical voltage experiences a short term drop without going to a total blackout. In case you have ever seen the lights dim for some unknown reason, it was maybe due to a brownout. Brownouts could be intentional as a way to lower electrical loads and prevent blackouts, although they could also be intentional.

On a different note, there is the power surge, which is when an electrical device gets more electricity than intended for a minimum of three nanoseconds. Power surges could be brought on by several factors like electrical line malfunctions and short circuits. When the electrical voltage last for only one or maybe two seconds, then it is called a power spike, which is caused by lighting.

Why Surges and Blackouts Are Dangerous

Unexpected computer shutdown is the real danger linked to brownouts and blackouts. Operating systems are complicated and they should go through a shutdown sequence to ensure that all running processes have accurately shut down before it turns off. A sudden electricity loss could interrupt essential threads and leave your unit in an inoperable state.

The largest concern are the system files. Think about what takes place when the hard drive is writing data to the disk when suddenly it is forced to shut down right in the middle of the process. Let’s say the file that’s being written was a system file needed for the booting process. Now that file is going to be corrupted and you cannot boot up your computer without having to go through an involved recovery procedure.

Apart from that, regular power outages could reduce the physical lifespan of the hard drive. The read and write head, that is hovering over the platters that are spinning during operation, will snap back to its former position during the power loss. This unexpected movement could lead to small imperfections that build up over time, boosting the chances of a head crash, which is a malfunction that happens once the head touches and then scrapes the surfaces of the platter, which leads to the destruction of the hard drive.

How To Protect Your Computer Against Power Outages

The foolproof method to safeguard your computer against such electrical anomalies is to unplug your unit totally until the danger has passed. It needs to be physically disconnected. Turning off the power switch will not do any good. This is the only way to protect the unit with a 100% success rate against power surges and power outages.

Having said that, many of you will probably ignore the storm and keep your computer plugged in anyway. Even though it is not the smartest move, it is still understandable. So, there are a few alternative ways that can still help you protect your computer. Use a surge protector or invest in an interruptible power supply.

If you are running a business, you can afford any form of interruption to your operation. Call SpartanTec, Inc. and know more about our business continuity planning and disaster recovery services.

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

Devices Attached To Corporate Networks Are Being Targeted

Grim news comes out of Russia, as reported by Microsoft.  The tech giant has been tracking the activities of a Russian hacking group that goes by the name of Strontium. Their other names include APT28 and Fancy Bear.

Microsoft has confirmed that the group was behind a new attack that took place in April of this year (2019).

This is the group that claimed responsibility for both the attack on the Democratic National Committee during the run up to the 2016 election and the NotPeya attacks against the Ukraine in 2017.

In addition to targeting political groups in Europe and North America, Strontium members have been upping the stakes by compromising large numbers of popular IoT devices such as VOIP phones, printers, security cameras and the like. They have been using those devices to breach corporate networks.

The company had this to say about their recent findings:

"The investigation uncovered that an actor had used these devices to gain initial access to corporate networks.  In two of the cases, the passwords for the devices were deployed without changing the default manufacturer's passwords, and in the third instance the latest security update had not been applied to the device.

Once the actor had successfully established access to the network, a simple network scan to look for other insecure devices allowed them to discover and move across the network in search of higher-privileged accounts that would grant access to higher-value data."

Fortunately, Microsoft was able to stop this attack in its tracks early on, but the motives behind it remain cloudy and uncertain.  Even so, Microsoft has committed itself to closely monitoring the activity of this group in particular. In the past year, they have sent out more than 1,400 notifications to global corporations and nation states about the activities of the group.

It is incredibly likely that this group will be at the forefront of whatever attacks the Russians have planned to influence the outcome of the 2020 US Presidential election.

Keep your corporate network safe from possible online breaches. Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Columbia to identify vulnerabilities and help you secure your network.

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

Bluetooth Security Issue Could Affect Most Devices

Recently, researchers from Boston University published a paper called "Tracking Anonymized Bluetooth Devices". The paper detailed a flaw in the ubiquitous Bluetooth communication protocol that could expose device users to tracking and even leak their IDs. As explained in the paper, many Bluetooth devices announce their presence by using their MAC addresses as the basis to generate a random number in order to prevent long-term tracking.

The team discovered a flaw in the system, and identified tokens that exist alongside MAC addresses. The researchers created what they're calling an address-carryover algorithm that is able to "exploit the asynchronous nature of payload and address changes to achieve tracking beyond the address randomization of a device. The algorithm does not require message decryption or breaking Bluetooth security in any way, as it is based entirely on public, unencrypted advertising traffic."

At the center of this flaw is Bluetooth BLE, which stands for Low Energy Specification).  Introduced in 2010, it really came to the fore with the release of Bluetooth 5.  The research team discovered it when they began investigating BLE advertising channels and "advertising events" within standard Bluetooth proximities.

"Most computer and smartphone operating systems do implement address randomizations by default as a means to prevent long-term passive tracking, as permanent identifiers are not broadcasted.  However, we identified that devices running Windows 10, iOS or mac OS regularly transmit advertising events containing custom data structures which are used to enable certain platform-specific interaction with other devices within BLE range."

Although this technique works on any Windows, iOS, and macOS system, Android devices are completely immune. That is because the Android OS doesn't continually send out advertising messages, and instead takes the approach of scanning for advertising messages being transmitted nearby.

If all of that makes your head spin, consider this:  The number of Bluetooth devices is projected to grow from 4.2 to 5.2 billion between 2019 and 2022. So this is a significant issue, deserving of attention.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you would like to reduce the vulnerabilities of your bluetooth devices and to make sure that your computer network is safe from the most common online threats.

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

Google Home Device Recordings May Not Be Private

Do you own a Google Home?  If so, you probably find it to be indispensable.  It's a powerful, genuinely helpful piece of technology, but there's a catch.  It's so good and so useful because it listens constantly for voice commands from you.  Those commands get recorded. Recently, Google acknowledged that it hires third-party contractors to listen to and transcribe recordings made by the devices.

The stated purpose of the transcription is to help the company improve Google Home's speech recognition.  That's certainly valid, but the company found itself in hot water when a whistle-blower who works for a Dutch subcontractor came forward with some disturbing information.

According to the whistle blower, he heard a wide range of things on the recordings, including a variety of personal information including addresses, bedroom talk, business calls, domestic violence and conversations between parents and children.

Even worse, in a survey of a thousand recordings, it was discovered that 153 of them should never have been recorded at all because the "Ok Google" prefix command was never spoken.

Google has responded to the revelation, saying that only about 0.2 percent of all audio clips recorded by Google Home's smart speakers are reviewed by third party partners. They also added:

"We partner with language experts around the world to improve speech technology by transcribing a small set of queries.  This work is critical to developing technology that powers products like Google Assistant.

We just learned that one of these reviewers had violated our data security policies by leaking confidential Dutch audio data.  Our Security and Privacy Response teams have been activated on this issue, are investigating, and we will take action.  We are conducting a full review of our safeguards in this space to prevent misconduct like this from happening again."

Blaming the whistle blower is a curious response, but this is an admittedly thorny issue with multiple angles to consider.  Perhaps the most straightforward approach would be to keep such analysis in-house, and get to the bottom of why more than 150 recordings that weren't triggered by the "Okay Google activation phrase" were made in the first place.

In any case, if you use the technology, be aware.  Someone is or may be listening.

Find out if your information security is at risk. Call SpartanTec, Inc. now.

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

Hackers Target Larger Companies For Bigger Payday

If you’re running a large company that has an entire workforce of computers, there’s something that you need to know. Hackers that run ransomwares are targeting bigger companies with the goal of getting a bigger payday. The GrandCrab ransomware strain, which became a potential threat last year, is something that business owners alike should look into. As a precaution, companies must have managed IT services working in the background to protect themselves against ransomware attacks.

Since last year, the developers of the said ransomware strain continued to improve the code, pushing the latest iteration, GrandCrab 5.2. The latest version of the ransomware was discovered earlier this year. Crowdstrike researchers have been looking into how the group behind the malicious software operate as well as dissecting the inner works of the ransomware.

According to research findings, the creators of GrandCrab work with other hackers through an affiliate scheme. GrandCrab operators launch the software on behalf of other hackers then split the profit for any successful attacks. The developers of the ransomware have also been advertising their scheme onto the Dark Web in attempts to lure in more hackers. In addition to boosting their efforts, they have also been focusing more on higher value targets and ignoring smaller businesses. With this threat in mind, computer security should be on the top of the list for businesses.

In a rather simplified explanation, the hackers’ primary objective is to get inside a corporate network. Once inside the network, the hackers don’t attack just yet. They wait until they find out just how many computers they can take hold. The goal now is to maximize the breach by infecting as many computers as possible in one go. This then results into a massive data encryption, most likely affecting all computers in the network.

Ransomware developers have grown quite sophisticated over the years, pushing more dangerous software. This highlights the urgency for businesses to have managed IT services Columbia in order to protect against malicious attacks and preserve company data.

Don’t leave your company vulnerable against hackers. Call SpartanTec, Inc. today.

 

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

Hackers Sweep Through And Destroys All Data From E-mail Provider VFEmail

It’s terrible news for VFEmail and its users. The e-mail provider has recently been the target of hacking attacks that had all of its data destroyed. All of the company’s data from its servers in the US were wiped clean. The recent attack not only is a huge blow for VFEmail, but for the information security of its users as well.

If you’re among the users of VFEmail, expect all your data is lost. Everything from your recent e-mails to archived information has been undermined. The company spokesman confirmed that all the disks on the servers were formatted and that no trace of data could be recovered. Backups were also wiped clean, leaving the information security Columbia of its users on the edge.

There were no signs of the hackers locking files and asking ransom. They went straight for the files and deleted everything, inflicting total damage. They were successful at it too. Despite efforts of the company in attempting to retrieve the lost data, things aren’t quite looking so good. And even if they do manage to recover some data, it won’t be enough to do a complete restoration. Users would end up with little to no data back after this incident.

The company’s main website is currently up and running. However, some of its other domains remain inactive. Users that try to login to their e-mail will be greeted with an empty account like it was newly created.

This hacking incident is not the first time the company experienced attacks. Back in late 2015, the company had a major DDoS attack where the hackers, Armada Collective, asked for ransom in exchange for stopping the attacks. However, this time, the hackers weren’t keen on gaining money but simply to wreak havoc.

The attacks on the company signifies the utter need for information and computer security within companies regardless of size.

Want to protect your company from hackers and online intruders? Call SpartanTec, Inc. today to get full protection.

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

Average Ransomware Attack Payments Total $6,700 Per Incident

The cost that a victim of a successful ransomware attack need to pay on average is terrifying.
According to the most recent statistics gathered by Coveware, every case of a compromised computer will cost a significant amount, at about $6,733, a huge 13% increase from the previous quarter.

The increase was partly attributed to the fact that there is an increase in the number of strains that are demanding higher than average payments. Among the most common ones are the Ryuk and SamSam families of ransomware. There is another good reason that is driving the increase. It is the fact that following the first wave of attack, the hackers will gather characteristics that allows them to focus on firms that are much easier to breach and convince to pay. If you combine these two, they will have a surefire low risk and high profit enterprise.

Coveware CEO, Bill Siegel, said that the Q4 data gathered by his company is based on 226 varying ransomware attacks that were reported to as well as triaged by his firm. He gave the warning to companies that opt to pay the ransom that they have no guarantee that they will get an unlock key they can use to decrypt their files and get their files back. There is so much more than a bit of risk involved in providing the hackers what they want.

Unfortunately, several firms do not have a strong computer backup practices, and when they do not pay, their files are going to be lost forever. That is definitely an awful place for a company to be in, but, there is one simple fix for that problem.

With the trend of increasing ransomware attacks expected to continue this year, you need to make sure that you have a reliable backup system in place. Afterall, $6,733 per attack will quickly add up, and it is indeed a punishing price that any firm have to pay. Obviously, the amount is costlier than having a reliable backup system set in place.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you need professional help in setting up a strong backup system.

 

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove

Adware Continues To Be A Major Issue On Android Devices

Over the past few weeks, Google has been busy sifting through apps on their Play Store. The tech giant took out 85 apps after finding out that they contained aggressive adware, affecting users who downloaded them.

The apps were from different categories, ranging from games, simulators, video streaming services, and more. Although some of the apps did have some functionality to them, however, they did have more intrusive ads and pop-ups than users would have liked.

Google, with its computer security army, is quite prepared for these kind of scenarios. Although, even with a robust system in place, some malicious apps do manage to find their way in from time to time. There were also instances wherein Google overlooked such apps. Trend Micro researchers even spotted these apps, notifying Google about it.

Despite the oversight, Google was quick to respond. The company removed the apps immediately. However, damage has been done. Overall, the total download count of the apps in question exceeded nine million before they were shut down from the system.

After their discovery, Trend Micro continued app testing, finding out that the apps were pushed into the system by different developers. Although a variety of developers were seen to publish such apps, they had similar source code if not the same entirely.

Staying away from malicious apps wouldn’t require you to have a fancy IT security degree. The steps are quite simple. Here’s what you need to do:

·         Make sure to check out reviews and ratings as this is would be your primary source of relatively useful information.

·         Take advantage of anti virus applications that come with an ad blocking functionality

If in the event that you still find yourself plagued with obtrusive ads, your last option is to uninstall the app entirely.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you need more information about adware. 

SpartanTec, Inc. Columbia, SC 29201 (803) 408-7166 http://manageditservicescolumbia.com/

cities served:
Columbia, West Columbia, Cayce, St Andrews, Lexington, Oak Grove