Business Solutions & Software Group Blog

The following story and events are true, however, to protect the families of the innocent, all names have been changed. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or businesses, is purely coincidental. Enjoy and happy Halloween!

What was the name of your first pet? What is your favorite TV show? What was your mother’s maiden name?

Here’s the real question: what do you think questions like these are actually going to do to help secure your important accounts?

Cyberthreats are difficult enough when they aren’t trying to steal your hard-earned capital, and with digital payments making up about 41.8% of all payments made worldwide, you bet there are plenty of opportunities for fraud to occur. Let’s take a look at how you can ensure that your payment cards are protected.

The hard but honest truth is that every network has some level of vulnerability. Having said that, there are ways that you can reduce these vulnerabilities so that your business and its network are relatively safe. Let’s go over some of these methods now.

It isn’t a secret that cybersecurity is critical for businesses today, at every level of their infrastructure. However, some recent data has been shared that very clearly outlines just how important visibility into your infrastructure really is. In case you hadn’t picked up on this, it’s very important.

How often do you find random USB flash drives while you’re cleaning up your office? Even with cloud storage as common as it is, there are still times and places for USB drives, so it’s not uncommon to find them out and about. The problem, however, is that you don’t know what’s on them until you plug them in… and depending on the contents, you might be in for a world of trouble.

We know we hype up multi-factor authentication, or MFA, quite a bit on this blog, and for good reason. When implemented correctly, it can be an effective deterrent for many cyberthreats out there. However, as they often do, hackers have found ways around MFA. Let’s take a look at how hackers find ways around MFA protection.

We don’t often talk about mobile malware, but that doesn’t make it any less scary! An Android banking malware called Sova has once again been making the rounds, this time complete with additional features that make it scarier than the last time. What can you do to protect yourself from this threat?

You might see articles on the Internet discussing “patches” and “updates,” and you might even be forgiven for thinking that they are the same thing when they are, in fact, not. There is indeed a difference, and it’s a big one. Let’s talk about how you might think about patches and security updates so that you might best deploy them month after month.

Malware is a common enough issue that it’s pretty well established in the public lexicon, and much more pertinently, the most dangerous malware has seen an increase of 86% year over year. Worse, this kind of malware is largely the variety that takes users by surprise… making it all the more important that your team members are defended against them. To accomplish this, artificial intelligence could be an essential tool.

Let’s say, hypothetically speaking, your business was infected with ransomware, and—despite our advice not to—you decided to pay the ransom. Once the money’s handed over, that’s the biggest cost that you might be subjected to, right?

Not so fast. Ransomware has many more impacts than that, each of which come with their own costs as well. Let’s dive into some of the other factors that also contribute to the cost of ransomware.

For years now, cybersecurity experts have reiterated time and again that it was only a matter of time before smartphones would become a target for major cyberattacks like ransomware. The facts are that most people use smartphones and most of these devices aren’t really protected with active antivirus software. It stands to reason that ransomware is developing into a major trend in mobile cybercrime. Since ransomware is the grand-daddy of threats, keeping it off your systems is essential.

It always helps to be a little skeptical of any new USB drives appearing in the workplace, especially if you are security-minded. Distributing threats via USB drives is a common practice amongst hackers, and a new threat called Raspberry Robin has the potential to be a serious problem for unsecured businesses with poor security hygiene.

If there was a specific form of cyberattack that was responsible for a quarter of all data breaches, how seriously would you take it? Hopefully, pretty seriously, as this form of cyberattack exists. Phishing attacks, the infamous means of hacking an end user, remains a considerable threat to this day.

Reflecting on this, it seems prudent to review what phishing is and, crucially, how to avoid it.

You invest in the things you care about, things like your business. You want to make sure that you are doing all that you can to protect it from harm. Let’s take a look at some of the approaches you might take to secure your business from threats, as well as what you should look for in each solution that you might consider.

Botnets, or massive numbers of connected devices all infected by the same malware, can be used in devastating attacks against networks, bringing down services of businesses, organizations, and governments alike. One such botnet was recently halted thanks to the efforts of the United States Department of Justice and various law enforcement agencies throughout Europe.

Do you remember the good old days when you could go down to the store and purchase antivirus software that you installed off of a CD-ROM? It used to be the case that this would be enough, but if you think that’s going to cut it these days, think again. Businesses have so much more to worry about in the realm of cybersecurity.

Most of us all work on laptops or desktops everyday. It’s pretty easy to assume that cybersecurity generally stops there. You’ve got your secure passwords, your antivirus, and that little icon on the bottom right telling you that you are secure—you should be good to go then, right?

Unfortunately, it’s more complex than that.

How do you know what will happen if you become the target of a hacking attack? How will you respond, and how will your network hold up to the assault? These are questions that you need answers to, and perhaps the best way to get them is through what is called a penetration test, or pen test. What are these tests, and what can you expect from them?

You know the term “ransomware.” It’s all over the news, and it’s because it’s a huge threat to all types of businesses, regardless of size or industry. If you want to protect your business’ future, you have to implement security measures that will allow you to not only address ransomware but prevent these attacks altogether. Depending on the type of data you store, you might find yourself more susceptible to ransomware attacks.