Business Solutions & Software Group Blog

First hackers created a formidable ransomware. Then, when word got out about how to avoid this ransomware, they began to bundle a second ransomware to create an encryption catch-22. Now, the developers of the Petya and Mischa ransomware have adopted a Ransomware-as-a-Service model and have opened their nefarious malware up to distribution.

Healthcare organizations are a hot topic when it comes to cybersecurity, as even a small data breach could turn into a goldmine for hackers. Recently, IBM’s 2016 Cyber Security Intelligence Index has reported a data breach that exposed more than 10 million medical records, which shows us just how scary a breach of this kind can be. The secret weapon, in many cases, is a threat called ransomware.

If your employees are given an Android device to use for work, or if they bring in their own as a part of a Bring Your Own Device strategy, you may want to pay special attention to what follows.

As the world of technology grows increasingly mobile, emojis are appearing in the most unlikely of places, like business communications. Even though emojis may seem rather cute and innocent, their use by employees may cause more problems than they’re worth. :-O

Cybersecurity for business contains many complexities that are often difficult to keep track of. If your organization takes a proactive approach to understanding and implementing cybersecurity best practices, you can dramatically increase the security of your organization’s network.

While it’s not particularly common for hackers to attack physical infrastructure, the few that have occurred have been known to be quite catastrophic. For example, the Ukrainian power infrastructure was taken out by hackers just last year, leaving hundreds of thousands of citizens without power for several hours. In fact, now western countries are believed to be threatened by similar attacks.

Unfortunately, stories of major data breaches are the norm in today’s news cycle. However, what often gets left out of the story is how the hacker profits from the stolen data. In the case of a recent major hack in Russia of more than one billion credentials, what the hacker did with all of this data has us scratching our heads.

Businesses that have online dealings should always be aware of how much danger their operations are in, especially with the omnipresent threat of hackers. Depending on the severity of the hacking attack, some organizations might not even know they’ve been hacked until it’s far too late. It’s critical that your business is able to identify potential threats before they’ve caused irreparable damage to your infrastructure.

In 2015, there was an incredible amount of information stolen from organizations all over the world. From healthcare companies to government institutions, nobody was safe from the endless onslaught of hacking attacks. Now, in the wake of these hackers’ destruction, it seems that most of the incidents in question exposed passwords and email address; important credentials that put many users’ security in jeopardy.

Cyber security continues to be a major pain point for small and medium-sized businesses, even if they’re taking the fight to the latest threats with solutions like antivirus and firewalls. Significant progress has been made, yet new threats are born every day. In fact, you might be surprised to find out that a monstrous 27.3 percent of all malware in the world was created just last year. 

The number of high-profile hacks that have occurred over the past several years continues to climb, and it won’t let up anytime soon. Now, another incident involving Time Warner Cable, a large ISP in the United States, shows that even large companies that deal with sensitive information aren’t invincible from data breaches.

Have you ever been the target of an email spoofer? This can be a difficult question to answer, especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Email spoofing can appear to be from legitimate sources, but the most important indicator is if the message looks like spam or fishy in general. If you ever receive a message like this, you might wonder why your spam filter didn’t catch such an obvious trap.

In 2015, we saw countless hacking attacks against major corporations, from health insurance providers like Blue Cross Blue Shield and Anthem, to government offices, like the United States Office of Personnel. Due to the stigma associated with hacking, we often forget that there are a lot of hackers out there who try to use their skills for good--or, at least, less awful purposes.

More often than not, it’s always recommended that you use a solid password to optimize your online accounts. However, just because passwords are critical, doesn’t mean that you should put all your eggs in one basket. Passwords should only be the start of a comprehensive online account security setup.

With so many great mobile devices at your team’s disposal, it’d be a shame to not allow them to use their devices in the workplace. This trend, known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), has been taking the workplace by storm, and offers a great way to enhance productivity both in and out of the office. BYOD, while a great asset, should only be approached with caution, as the slightest oversight could expose sensitive information to the world.

Many computer users make use of security tools that limit their exposure to hackers, and they generally understand that hacks are something that can realistically happen to them. On the other hand, there are plenty of other folks out there who don’t worry enough. They might think their PC holds no value to the average hacker, but they’re wrong.

Any business worth their gigabytes will practice extreme caution when surfing the Internet. Hackers tend to make users’ lives more difficult, even for those who are part of a small or medium-sized business. Teaching your employees security best practices in hopes that they’ll avoid suspicious websites isn’t a foolproof strategy, and thanks to malvertising, ensuring that your organization stays secure is more difficult.

Network security is more important today than it’s ever been before, especially in light of several concerning developments in targeted hacking attacks. Unfortunately, many employees (and even some employers) don’t know or understand how to follow various security best practices. By ensuring that every single one of your employees understands the importance of cybersecurity, you can exponentially increase your organization's network security.

Eventually, one technology gets replaced by another and users of the older technology must upgrade, or else risk running an inefficient operation. This upgrade-or-be-obsolete scenario plays out most often with software, like with SHA1, the Internet’s most popular encryption protocol, slated to have its SSL certificates expire on January 1, 2017.

ATMs are probably everyone’s favorite kind of computer. You swipe your card, enter in your PIN, and withdraw cash immediately. Many people forget that an ATM is simply a computer in disguise, though; one that can be infected with malware just as easily as any old PC can. A new type of ATM malware, GreenDispenser, is making its rounds in Mexico, and could potentially make its way to other countries if left unchecked.