Tag Archive for: hacking

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Protect your business printers from cyberattacks

Protecting your business printers from malicious cyberattacks may be the last thing on your mind, but it should definitely not be. Hackers are always looking for new vulnerabilities to exploit, and, if left unprotected, printer systems can offer a trouble-free gateway into vast troves of sensitive data. To help safeguard against unforeseen risks, take these key steps to secure your company’s printers now.

Vulnerabilities of business printers

Printers are considered indispensable business tools, but their core functions can make them irresistible targets for cybercriminals. These devices process a plethora of valuable data such as tax forms, employee information, financial statements, medical records, and the like. And did you know? Even if you cancel print jobs, these data are still stored within printer hard drives. Without proper security measures, valuable data can fall into the wrong hands.

Organizations also need to take a closer look at their network printers since these are connected to the web. With the right tools and opportunities, hackers can easily intercept sensitive data traveling through open network ports. Printer vulnerabilities can open unknown backdoors that can give criminals an opportunity to launch far-reaching cyberattacks from within your network. Such attacks are difficult to stop once they’ve been launched.

Ways to protect your business printers

Keeping business printers secure should be an essential step when developing a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. To ensure your print devices aren’t vulnerable to attacks, following these best practices will safeguard them from potential threats.

  1. Keep an eye on your network and make sure to install printer software updates and patches right away.
  2. Update printers with web management capabilities by modifying their default passwords and administrator login credentials.
  3. Only company-owned devices should be permitted to connect to your printing network.
  4. Always use secure connections and avoid accessing your printer through a public internet connection.
  5. Maximize your network security by using a firewall to limit printer access.
  6. For improved security and to prevent unauthorized access, activate the PIN/password feature of your wireless printer to ensure that only authorized users are able to print documents on your device.
  7. Disconnect the printer from its main network and turn off out-of-network printing if you don’t use it for faxing or email purposes.
  8. Protect classified data by connecting printers directly to computers or using a thumb drive.
  9. Use your printer’s manual feed settings. This feature allows you to feed paper into printers manually, making sure that printed materials don’t end up in the wrong hands or left lying around for anyone to see.

Furthermore, working with an IT specialist can provide peace of mind when it comes to managing your printers. Trusted IT experts can make sure that any potential attack vectors are closed off while also helping you lower management costs and keep your devices at peak performance.

If you have any questions about securing your business printers, don’t hesitate to contact us.

If you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment

Published with consideration from TechAdvisory.org SOURCE

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FBI says business email compromise is a $43 billion scam

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said today that the amount of money lost to business email compromise (BEC) scams continues to grow each year, with a 65% increase in the identified global exposed losses between July 2019 and December 2021.

From June 2016 until July 2019, IC3 received victim complaints regarding 241,206 domestic and international incidents, with a total exposed dollar loss of $43,312,749,946.

“Based on the financial data reported to the IC3 for 2021, banks located in Thailand and Hong Kong were the primary international destinations of fraudulent funds,” the FBI said.

“China, which ranked in the top two destinations in previous years, ranked third in 2021 followed by Mexico and Singapore.”

This was revealed in a new public service announcement published on the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) site as an update to a previous PSA from September 2019, when the FBI said losses to BEC attacks reported by victims between June 2016 and July 2019 reached a total of over $26 billion.

According to the IC3 2021 Internet Crime Report [PDF], BEC scams were the cybercrime type with the highest reported total victim losses last year.

Victims reported losses of almost $2.4 billion in 2021, based on 19,954 recorded complaints linked to BEC attacks targeting individuals and businesses.

BEC scam?

BEC scammers are employing various tactics — including social engineering, phishing, and hacking — to compromise business email accounts which will get used to redirect payments to attacker-controlled bank accounts.

In this type of scam (also known as EAC or Email Account Compromise), the crooks will commonly target small, medium, and large businesses. Still, they’re also attacking individuals if the payout is worth it.

Their success rate is also very high, given that they generally impersonate someone who has the target’s trust, such as business partners or company executives.

However, “the scam is not always associated with a transfer-of-funds request,” as the FBI explained in the PSA alert.

“One variation involves compromising legitimate business email accounts and requesting employees’ Personally Identifiable Information, Wage and Tax Statement (W-2) forms, or even crypto currency wallets.”

BEC defense guidance

The FBI also provided guidance on how to defend against BEC scam attempts:

  • Use secondary channels or two-factor authentication to verify requests for changes in account information.
  • Ensure the URL in emails is associated with the business/individual it claims to be from.
  • Be alert to hyperlinks that may contain misspellings of the actual domain name.
  • Refrain from supplying login credentials or PII of any sort via email. Be aware that many emails requesting your personal information may appear to be legitimate.
  • Verify the email address used to send emails, especially when using a mobile or handheld device, by ensuring the sender’s address appears to match who it is coming from.
  • Ensure the settings in employees’ computers are enabled to allow full email extensions to be viewed.
  • Monitor your personal financial accounts on a regular basis for irregularities, such as missing deposits.

The federal law enforcement agency advises those who fall victim to BEC fraud to immediately reach out to their bank to request a recall of funds.

They’re also urged to file a complaint with the FBI at BEC.ic3.gov, regardless of the lost amount, and as soon as possible.

Published with consideration from BleepingComputer  SOURCE

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Prevent hackers from exploiting your business printers with these tips

Can business printers get hacked? The short answer is yes. Anything that connects to your business network can be exploited by malicious actors on the internet, even innocuous machines like your printers. These can be exploited to steal data and/or create entry points into your system to launch larger attacks. So make sure you follow these tips to protect your work printer environment.

What makes business printers vulnerable to cyberattacks?

When assessing network security threats, companies primarily focus on servers and computers not only because these are the most exposed to external threats, but also because they get the bulk of cyberattacks. Printers are often at the bottom of the list since they are not prime targets. What’s more, their functions seem to be internal at first glance, as they don’t interact with external systems.

But it’s exactly because of their primary functions, namely printing and scanning, that make print devices perfect cybercriminal targets. Businesses run important documents such as tax forms, employee information, medical records, and financial statements through print devices — information that hackers would definitely love to get their hands on.

And they can, easily.

Network printers store previous print jobs in their hard drive, sometimes including those that have been canceled. If anyone accesses the printer — even remotely — they may be able to see those documents by hacking into the printer using a specialized tool.

Files can also be intercepted during wireless transmission, as modern printers can now be connected to the web. Not only can hackers exploit printers’ open network ports to view data, but they can also take over vulnerable printers and transmit their own data through these machines.

Lastly, hackers can exploit vulnerable printers to bypass your cybersecurity system. Once they find a way in through your printers, crooks can then launch broader cyberattacks from within your network, which can be difficult to contain.

What can you do to protect your business printers?

Business printers should not be disregarded when planning a cybersecurity strategy. Keep your print devices secure by following these best practices:

  1. Monitor your network surreptitiously and always promptly install printer software updates and patches. Printer manufacturers often release software support or updates, so always be on the lookout for those.
  2. Change the default password and administrator login credentials of printers with web management capabilities.
  3. Allow only company-owned devices to connect to your printers.
  4. Always connect to your printers using secure connections. Conversely, avoid accessing your printers through a public internet connection.
  5. Restrict printer access by using a firewall.
  6. If your wireless printer has a feature that requires users to enter a PIN before they can print documents, enable it to prevent unauthorized access.
  7. If you don’t use your printer for fax and email, isolate your printer from your main company network and disable out-of-network printing.
  8. If you handle classified data, do not connect your printer to any network. Instead, connect it directly to your computer using data cables or print from a thumb drive.
  9. Secure your printouts by enabling manual feed. This setting requires a user to manually input paper (or any material to be printed on), reducing the risks of the printed document getting stolen or being left in the printing area.

Another way to secure your printers is by partnering with an IT company that can take care of your printer-related worries. From thwarting attacks to reducing management costs to keeping your printer at optimal functionality, our experts can help.

Are you interested in learning more about cybersecurity? Call us today and discover how our wide array of tech services can safeguard your business.

If you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment

Published with consideration from TechAdvisory.org SOURCE

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Office 365 hacking: What you need to know

There really is an app for almost everything — including one that cyber-criminals use to hack into businesses’ systems. Cyberattacks have become so advanced that they are now aided by an app, like this one that poses serious threats to Office 365 users. If you’re using Office 365, here’s what you need to know.

A phishing scam that harvests users’ credentials

The latest cyberattack on Microsoft Office 365 involves harvesting users’ credentials. Scammers use this previously unseen tactic by launching a phishing message to users, asking them to click on an embedded link. What makes this scam more insidious than traditional phishing scams is that the URL within the message links to a real Microsoft login page.

How does it work?

The phishing message resembles a legitimate SharePoint and OneDrive file-share that prompts users to click on it. Once they do, they are taken to an Office 365 login page where they will be asked to log in if they haven’t already.

After they’ve logged in, they’ll be prompted to grant permission to an app called “0365 Access.” Users who grant permission effectively give the app — and the hackers behind it — complete access to their Office 365 files, contacts, and inbox.

This technique can easily trick lots of users since the app that requests access is integrated with the Office 365 Add-ins feature. That means that Microsoft essentially generates the request for permission. No, Microsoft is not aiding hackers to breach systems. Rather, the scam is made possible by a feature that allows users to install apps that are not from the official Office Store.

Ways to protect your Office 365 account — and your business

Given their fairly advanced approach, these scammers could effortlessly prey on careless employees. There are ways to make sure that doesn’t happen.

  • Always check the email’s sender account before clicking on any link or granting apps access.
  • Implement a policy that prevents staff from downloading and installing apps that are not from the Office Store.
  • Regularly conduct security awareness training that covers essential cybersecurity topics. Educate employees on how to spot phishing scam red flags (e.g., unknown senders, grammatical and typographical errors, suspicious requests, and the like). Increase their knowledge about more sophisticated attacks and keep everyone informed about current and future cybersecurity risks.

Successful attacks could result in an unimaginable catastrophe to your company. For tips on how to spot this and other nefarious scams and how to plan thorough security practices, contact our experts today.

To learn more about how to safeguard your business, or if you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment.

Published with consideration from TechAdvisory.org SOURCE

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