The attack on SolarWinds earlier this year caused a lot of challenges, and now that time has passed and the dust has settled somewhat, Microsoft has uncovered another type of malware associated with the attack. This one is called FoggyWeb. What does this threat do and what can we learn about it?
If you use almost any Apple products, you’ll want to check for and apply an update that will prevent your devices from being spied on. Apple has just issued an emergency software update for a critical vulnerability that was recently discovered.
The new updates were pushed out on Monday, September 13th, 2021, and include a major security fix for the Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple Mac computers and laptops.
Ransomware has been a scourge to businesses for years now, with it unfortunately experiencing a renaissance of sorts as the COVID-19 pandemic came to the fore. With increased phishing attacks and other means of spreading ransomware now taking advantage of the ongoing situation, it is all the more important that these attempts can be identified and mitigated.
Countless high-profile ransomware attacks have surfaced over the past several years, all against targets like manufacturers, pipelines, hospitals, and utility companies. Obviously, these attacks are a cause for concern, but some small businesses might make the mistake of thinking themselves too small to target. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case; we’ll help you protect your business from these devastating cyberattacks.
Once again, ransomware strikes, this time targeting the world’s largest meat processor and distributor, JBS S.A. This disruptive cyberattack forced the company to suspend operations in both North America and Australia, a move which had devastating consequences to the supply chain. What can we learn from this situation?
Anyone who uses a computer regularly knows that software can be finicky. Developers continuously update their software to account for changes in security threats and to add new features. For the small business, integrating and developing software can be useful, but it can also be one of the most problematic issues you can face; and, oftentimes it can often go under the radar. Let’s look at a few ways that old software bugs can cause problems for your business.
Quick Marty! Hop into the DeLorean! Let’s time travel back to a simpler time, back in the late 90’s!
Back then, you could walk into any store that sold software and you’d see two types of antivirus protection - orange boxes that said Norton, and red boxes that said McAfee.
Today, like most things, life isn’t as simple. There are a lot of choices, and… well, you shouldn’t be going to a store to buy your antivirus these days. Let’s discuss!
Ransom: a sum of money is demanded in order for the release of goods.
Software: the programs and other operating information used by a computer.
What do you get when you combine the two? Ransomware.
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone nowadays who hasn’t heard of malware, although they may have difficulty identifying different threats as they encounter them. Does this sound like the people that you work with? We’re here with a simple solution to assist you and your team in spotting the different kinds of threats - a malware guide to distribute among your staff so they can better spot the usual suspects.
The most significant advantage technology brings to businesses (and the world, in general) is the ability to compensate for human error. As we have noted many times before, the most significant vulnerability to network security will always be the person at the keyboard, usually inadvertently. Hackers know this, which is the reason they choose to attack the areas where people interact with the system.
What’s a smartphone without some apps to download to it? With millions of apps to choose from, developers might often have less-than-virtuous motives that put their users at risk for their own benefit. Recently, Google has removed 22 apps from the Google Play Store that were found to contain automated click-fraud scripts. We’ll delve into what these developers were up to with these fraudulent applications, as well as how they would affect the two-million users that downloaded them.
It’s fair to say that today's organizations are faced with more online threats than ever before. To properly manage the information systems that they depend on for productivity, redundancy, and operational management, they need to ensure that they are doing what they need to do to mitigate problems stemming from the continuous flow of threats.
The latest malware threat that attacks IoT devices is called the VPNFilter. VPNFilter is malware which infects routers or NAS (network storage devices). These devices are primarily older consumer and SOHO (small office home office) grade level devices. When first discovered last May, VPNFilter had already hijacked half a million devices from a handful of vendors. However, as time has progressed, the malware had increased its reach, commandeering six new vendors and increasing the number of models it could infect.
At the time of this writing, it has only been about a half a year since the Meltdown and Spectre exploits became public knowledge. Fortunately, patches were swiftly rolled out to mitigate the problems that these exploits could cause, but that doesn’t mean that these exploits are dead and buried. Let’s look back at Meltdown and Spectre to help us establish where we stand today.
There is a famous thought experiment devised by physicist Erwin Schrödinger, describing a very particular paradox in quantum physics through the experience of a cat. While Schrödinger’s cat was initially intended to demonstrate a very different phenomenon, it can also be applied to something that all businesses need to consider: their email security.
Face it, the days of people sitting in the parking lot, hacking your WiFi to ‘share’ your bandwidth is gone. Today their goal is to co-op your technology for their own nefarious needs and use your own data against you.
A firewall’s essential function is to allow and deny data packets by determining the source IP address of incoming packets, the destination IP addresses, type of Internet Protocols (IP) the packet may contain and to provide various routing capabilities. Simply put, a firewall controls incoming and outgoing network traffic.
There is no shortage of threats on the Internet, from situational issues to deliberate attacks meant to damage your company or steal your valuable data. While new threats pop up almost every day, some have been around for some time--so long, that many seem to not consider them as viable threats.
How quickly could your business recover if it were suddenly hit by a Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS, attack? Are you protected against the effects they could have on your operations? If asked these questions, most businesses should want to say yes, but in reality, over half lack the means to defend against DDoS.
We have no problem going on the record as saying that there are more than enough strains of malware to go around. As such, it’s important that you know what to do if your workstation is struck by an infection.
