LSeven Solutions Blog

A good business practices extreme caution when using the Internet, thanks to hackers using any means possible to unleash threats against organizations of all sizes. You teach your employees how to avoid threats and to avoid suspicious websites, but what if that’s not enough to keep hackers out of your network infrastructure?

There’s an intrusive malware on the Internet that locks a user out of their PC and directs them to a fake IT support phone number. In addition to being inconvenient, it can lead to the theft of sensitive information. If this happens to you, whatever you do, don’t call the fake phone number.

One of the most masterful arts of deception that hackers use is the phishing attack, which attempts steal sensitive credentials from unwary victims. The anonymity afforded to criminals on the Internet is what makes this possible. Using phishing attacks, hackers attempt to steal credentials or personal records by forging their identities. What’s the best way to protect your business from these attacks?

It’s natural to replace older technologies with better, more recent models. However, the future isn’t looking too bright for the world’s most common website encryption method, SHA1, which will soon be replaced by a more secure protocol. Pretty soon, browsers and devices may have some difficulty reading the latest security certificates, which could cause quite a problem if it’s not remedied.

Privacy Controversy
One of the biggest problems that most users have with Windows 10 is how the default settings are set to provide certain information to Cortana and Microsoft, in exchange for enhanced services and features. Granted, if you’re using the free versions of Gmail, Google Drive, or even Google Chrome, your information is already being collected by Google, so you’re no stranger to having your information collected as it is. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you want to expose this info to Microsoft. For reference, by default, it collects:

The Internet of Things can increase efficiency, but at what cost? The Internet of Things isn’t a phenomenon that’s exclusive to the business sector; rather, all users will probably take advantage of at least one Internet of Things device at some point or another. Considering the fact that Internet-connected cars, houses, thermostats, smart watches, fitness trackers, baby monitors, and other appliances are increasing in popularity, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that hackers can take advantage of these devices in order to mess with the lives of innocent people.

As mentioned, there are other types of malware that target ATMs almost exclusively, including a backdoor called Ploutus. Just like GreenDispenser, Ploutus originated in Mexico, and allowed criminals to steal money from ATMs by sending commands through the PIN pad or through a keyboard. Later versions allowed hackers to send a text message to the ATM to distribute cash. While this ATM malware originated in Mexico, it’s suggested by Ploutus’s English localization that it was designed for use in other countries.

The first step is to sign into your Google account. Hopefully, whoever is tampering with your account hasn’t changed your password on you. Click the grid-like icon in the top right corner of the screen that appears right next to your account name. Click on My Account.

Basically, when your accounts are hacked, criminals will often attempt to sell this information on the Dark Web; a place where only those on the anonymity network, Tor, can access. Most information that’s stolen consists of personal identifiable information and financial data, but hackers will often be content with making off with anything they possibly can. The most common industries targeted by these hackers are healthcare, government, retail, and education, but it should be mentioned that all businesses are susceptible to data theft of any kind.

With many organizations heavily relying on mobile computing, malicious operators have begun targeting the “low-lying fruit” of a business’ IT infrastructure, which is often a company’s mobile devices. Kemoge, a malicious adware strain designed to corrupt Android mobile operating systems, is the latest mobile threat that your business needs to protect itself against.

The chances are actually very high that your organization will be targeted if you don’t take action to stop it. Here are three reasons, according to StaySafeOnline.org, that the small business is a key component of a hacker’s hit list.

Small Businesses Are More Exposed
While large enterprises have the funds and personnel available to enact strict security protocol and regulations, the small business doesn’t. Instead, they rely on their staff’s limited knowledge of cybersecurity to protect their data. It’s reported that 71 percent of security breaches are small businesses, which you wouldn’t be able to tell from the attention given to recent high-profile hacks, like Target and Sony.

Small Businesses Have Sensitive Data
Believe it or not, it doesn’t take much to attract hackers to a business. They understand the true value of data, and even a few credentials or records are enough to attract unwanted attention from these criminals. The typical small business has employee records that hold personal information, financial records like credit card numbers, and some even have health records on file that are in high demand. Hackers take this information and sell it on the black market, which make it a lucrative source of revenue for criminals.

Small Businesses Are Vulnerable to Phishing Attacks
Hackers don’t want to take any risks that they don’t have to. Small businesses are often targeted by spear phishing tactics, which is when a hacker attempts to steal credentials by posing as someone with authority. Hackers will often take on the identity of an organization’s IT technician or vendor in order to acquire credentials for internal network access. This, in turn, leads to hacking activity that’s difficult to trace, and is ultimately much safer than other hacking methods.

The good news about these common weaknesses and shortcomings of small businesses is that it doesn’t have to be challenging to protect your business from hackers. All it takes is some proactive monitoring and a quality security solution from L7 Solutions. By actively monitoring your organization’s network for potential weaknesses in your infrastructure, it becomes much more plausible to keep threats out of your system. Hackers love to take advantage of weaknesses in the source code of operating systems and applications, but if you apply the proper patches, you can dramatically increase your network’s security presence.

Similarly, you want a quality security solution, like a Unified Threat Management (UTM), which can protect your network from all manners of threats found on the Internet. By blocking threats through a combination of a firewall, antivirus, spam blocker, and content filter, you can keep dangerous entities out of your network and destroy those that make it through your defenses. Give us a call at (954) 573-1300 to learn more.

If you feel that there’s an increase in ransomware activity, don’t worry; it’s not just you. Hackers are now taking greater advantage of ransomware, a threat that locks down files and returns them in exchange for a payment. This is wreaking havoc on the computing world. Even the FBI has acknowledged the threat, and has issued a warning that the most likely type of cyber extortion users will encounter is probably going to be DDoS attacks.

With so much nasty content just begging to get viewed on the Internet, it’s understandable why a content filter needs to be integrated into your company’s web viewing protocol. Still, it should be understood that your content filter isn’t going to keep all questionable content away from prying eyes. Therefore, the only way you can really know with certainty that your Internet users aren’t doing anything sketchy is to actively monitor their activity, and check for any suspicious websites.

For argument’s sake, do you think society today relies too much on technology? In the Information Age, both businesses and governments have to be more careful than ever about how they approach cybersecurity. However, what would happen if a massive cyber war were to render any and all computing systems in the United States inert? Granted, such a powerful, in-depth attack is unlikely, but it’s sometimes fun (and frightening) to examine the worst-case scenario.

Since the dawn of the computing age, hackers have taken advantage of all sorts of tactics in order to crack systems and ruin lives. With the Internet of Things bringing connected devices from all over the place into the mix, there are more opportunities than ever to take advantage of unsuspecting users. In fact, even car computers are capable of being hacked.

It looks like Mac users won't be getting a break from malware as another trojan is breaking out on OS X. In February, malware known as Flashback infected around 600,000 Macs. This month a new trojan called SabPub is making its rounds.

Most people might not realize this, but a Microsoft Word Doc can retain a lot of information pertaining to the history of the document, your personal information, annotations, and other invisible elements. This can be a huge security risk! Read on to learn how to remove that extra information.

When traveling with your trusty laptop or tablet, it's pretty common to find publicly accessible Wi-Fi networks that you can connect to, enabling you to surf the web. Where ever you are, whether it's a coffee shop, hotel, airport, or anywhere else, it's important to be safe about public surfing.

Does your Wi-Fi require a secure password to allow users to access your network with their mobile devices? And no, the word "password" is not a suitable password. If your wireless network is easy to gain access to, you are opening up your sensitive data to anyone within range.

Email has revolutionized the way we communicate, but in some cases it can be a dangerous distraction to productivity. This is especially true if your company is trying to maintain its own Exchange mail server. Does having email on the brain give you a headache? If so, you might consider looking into our hosted email Exchange solution.