Tag Archive for: security

Watering hole attacks are on the rise, but many businesses are still unprepared against it. To avoid falling victim to a watering hole attack, it is crucial to know what it is, understand the risks, and take steps to defend your business.

How watering hole attacks work

The term “watering hole” colloquially refers to a social gathering place where a particular group of people often go to. As internet users, we all have unique “watering holes” or websites that we frequently visit. For example, a financial analyst is likely to visit websites related to financial investments and market trends.

In a watering hole attack, cybercriminals observe the watering holes of a specific demographic and infect their targets’ most visited websites with malware. A user who has the misfortune of visiting any of these compromised sites will then have their device automatically loaded with malware.

The malware used in these attacks usually collects the victim’s personal information and sends it back to the hacker’s server. In extreme cases, the hacker will also actively take control of the infected device.

But how does a cybercriminal choose which websites to hack?

With internet tracking tools, hackers find out which websites companies and individual users visit the most. Hackers then attempt to find vulnerabilities in those websites and embed them with malicious software.

Tips to defend against this threat

Hackers these days are so highly skilled that they can exploit any website using a watering hole attack. Even specific ethnic communities and demographics have become targets of this scheme.

Protect yourself and your business from watering hole attacks by doing the following:

Update your software
Watering hole attacks often exploit security gaps and vulnerabilities to infiltrate computers and networks. You can significantly reduce the risk of an attack by regularly updating all of your software and browsers. Make it a habit to check the software developer’s website for any security patches. Better yet, hire a managed IT services provider to keep your system up to date.

Closely monitor your network
Regularly conduct security checks using network security tools like intrusion prevention systems that detect and contain suspicious or malicious network activities before they cause problems. Consider using bandwidth management software to enable you to observe user behavior and detect abnormalities that could indicate an attack, such as large data transfers or a high number of downloads.

Hide your online activities
Use a VPN and your browser’s private browsing feature to hide you and your team’s online activities. You can also block social media sites from your office network, as these are often used as share points of links to infected sites.

Watering hole attacks can be devastating to businesses of all sizes. By staying informed and taking steps to protect your business, you can minimize the risk of becoming a victim. Contact us today to learn more ways to keep your business safe from watering hole attacks and other cyberthreats.

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

The jargon around cybersecurity is cryptic and confusing, which is exactly what criminals want. But understanding these terms can help you keep safe.

The cyberspace is filled with terms that either look the same, sound the same, or mean the same (but are not identical).

Knowing the difference between these similar terms can be tricky, especially when you’ve to keep up with all the common terminologies and principles used in the security domain. Add to it the constant innovation and change happening within cybersecurity, and you’ve got a whole set of complex terms that you need to understand and constantly learn about.

So, here are some similar security terms that are often confused and misused.

Security vs. Privacy

Online security and privacy go hand-in-hand. They are used interchangeably during discussions because they sometimes overlap in today’s connected world.

But there are some key differences between the terms when used in the cybersecurity context.

  • Security: Security refers to the protection of your personal information from malicious threats. It can include any information that can be used to determine your identity.
  • Privacy: Privacy refers to the rights or control you have on your information and the way it’s used.

While security is concerned with preventing unauthorized access to data, privacy focuses on ensuring that personal information is collected, processed, and transmitted compliantly and with the owner’s consent. In simple terms, security protects your data while privacy protects your identity.

To achieve security and privacy, organizations use tools and techniques such as firewalls, encryption protocols, network limitations, and different authentication and authorization techniques.

Authentication vs. Authorization

Authentication and authorization are similar-sounding security concepts within the scope of user identity and access management. Here’s how the two differ.

  • Authentication: User authentication is the process of verifying that users are who they claim to be. It relates to identifying users’ identity.
  • Authorization: Authorization is an act of establishing a user’s rights and privileges. It verifies what specific files, applications, and resources a user has access to.

Authentication is achieved using passwords, PINs, fingerprints, facial recognition, or other forms of biometric information. It’s visible and can be partially changed by the user.

Authorization, on the other hand, works through access management settings implemented and maintained by an organization. They aren’t visible and can’t be changed by the end user.

In a secure environment, authorization always takes place after user authentication. Once a user is verified, they can access different resources based on the permissions set by the organization.

Data Breach vs. Identity Theft

It’s easy to get confused between a data breach and identity theft, as the two are closely connected. The threat for users and the outcome is the same either way; that is, sensitive information is compromised. But there are some differences.

  • Data Breach: A data breach refers to a security incident where confidential data is accessed without authorization of the owner.
  • Identity Theft: When a cybercriminal uses your personal information, such as ID or social security number, without your permission, it constitutes an identity theft.

A data breach occurs when a cybercriminal hacks into a system you’ve entrusted with your information or a company that has your personal information anyway. Once a breach occurs, criminals can use your private information to open an account or commit financial fraud in your name.

The main difference between a data breach and theft is in terms of the damage caused by the incidents. The implications of a breach are usually far more damning compared to an identity theft. According to a report by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, 60 percent of small businesses don’t survive a breach.

However, the damages caused by identity theft can be highly consequential too. The impact of misusing identity go beyond forged checks, fake credit cards, and insurance frauds, and can even endanger national security.

Encryption vs. Encoding vs. Hashing

Encryption, encoding, and hashing are data security terms often used interchangeably and incorrectly. There’s a lot of difference between these terms and it’s important to know these differences.

  • Encryption: It’s a process used to convert readable data, also called plain text, into unreadable data, called cipher text. The data can only be decrypted back to plain text using the appropriate encryption key.
  • Encoding: Encoding is a process in which data is changed from one format to another using an algorithm. The aim is to transform data into a form that is readable by most of the systems.
  • Hashing: Hashing is an irreversible cryptographic process used to convert input data of any length into a fixed size string of text using a mathematical function.

This means that any text can be converted into an array of letters and numbers through an algorithm. The data to be hashed is called input, the algorithm used in the process is called a hash function, and the result is a hash value.

Encryption, encoding, and hashing differ in terms of functionality and purpose. While encryption is meant to ensure confidentiality, encoding focuses on data usability. Hashing, on the other hand, ensures authenticity by verifying that a piece of data hasn’t been altered.

VPN vs. Proxy

VPNs and proxies are both used to change your online location and stay private. They have some overlap, but the differences are quite apparent.

  • VPN: A VPN, short for Virtual Private Network, is a discrete program that changes your geo-location and reroutes your entire internet traffic through servers run by the VPN provider.
  • Proxy: A proxy server is a browser extension that changes your IP address to unblock geo-restricted web pages, but doesn’t offer the extra protection of a VPN.

The main difference between a proxy and VPN is that a proxy server only changes your IP address and doesn’t encrypt your web activities. Secondly, unlike a VPN, a proxy only redirects traffic within the browser. Data from other applications connected to the internet won’t be routed through the proxy.

Spam vs. Phishing vs. Spoofing

Spam, phishing, and spoofing are social engineering tactics used to lure users into revealing personal information.

  • Spam: Spam is any unwanted junk emails, instant messages, or social media messages sent out to a wholesale recipient list. Spam is usually sent for commercial purposes and can be damaging if you open or respond to it.
  • Phishing: Phishing is an unsolicited email designed to harm users by obtaining personal information like usernames, passwords, and even bank details. A phishing email looks like it comes from a legitimate source, but is intended to trick users into clicking on a link containing malware.
  • Spoofing: Spoofing is a subset of phishing attacks in which the attacker impersonates an individual or organization with the intent to gain personal and business information.

Phishing aims to gain personal information by convincing users to provide it directly while spoofing disguises an identity to steal information. The two are closely paired as both involve a level of misrepresentation and masquerading.

Better Understanding, Better Protection

Cybersecurity terminologies and concepts evolve almost as rapidly as memes on the internet. A lot of these terms sound similar but mean something different when you dig a little deeper.

Learning the key terms and their differences will help you better understand and effectively communicate your cybersecurity needs.

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 makeuseof.com SOURCE

If you’re struggling to juggle your passwords, the solution to your woes is a password manager. See our recommendations.

Password managers are a safe, secure way of logging into your various online accounts. In fact, they’re vastly preferable to the alternatives of either trying to remember multiple unique passwords or re-using the same password over and over.

According to Pew Research Centre, half of users have up to 25 password-protected accounts online. That’s far too many for the average person to remember, making it hard to stay secure. A secure password manager will automatically store all your logins, meaning that you’ll never have to remember one ever again, and can even generate passwords for you.

Given that even industry-leader LastPass was once the victim of a hack, concerns remain over using password managers. Besides, you may be questioning the wisdom of storing all your passwords in one place. These are legitimate concerns, but research has shown that using a password manager is far more secure than not using one. The risk of your business getting hacked is high, particularly during the pandemic, so we’d strongly recommend getting one yourself.

As for which password manager you should choose? We’ve tested some of the best password managers around, and while they’re all safe and secure, the best on test was LastPass. This stands out thanks to a simple interface, secure setup, and brilliant family-sharing options. Plus, you can try LastPass for free to see if you like it.

Is it Safe to Use a Password Manager?

Yes – a good quality password manager is a safe, trustworthy and highly recommended security tool. In fact, security experts almost uniformly believe that password managers are infinitely safer than virtually every alternative there is, for businesses and individuals alike.

Top password managers, such as 1PasswordDashlane or LastPass, can be trusted to protect your account logins thanks to secure encryption that keeps your passwords secret.

Here’s how it works in practice. You create an account with a password manager, then create a single “master password” to log into it. To keep your password manager safe to use, it’s essential that your master password isn’t anything obvious. So that’s no to “12345,” “qwerty,” or “passwd.” Instead, pick a longer phrase or mix and match cases and special characters – just ensure it’s unique and memorable.

Then, the password manager can get to work automatically generating complex, unique passwords for every service you log into online – one for your Amazon account, email account, Facebook account and so on. You won’t need to memorize these – whenever you login in, the password manager will automatically apply the password (and you enable the password manager via that single master password).

This entire process is far more secure than re-using the same password over and over on multiple sites – the single biggest risk you can take with you and your business’ online security. It’s also far easier than attempting to remember multiple unique passwords.

So, if it’s all win, why are there any questions around password manager safety? Largely, these come down to an understandable concern over the security of handing over your logins to a third-party service. That’s why we’d recommend only using a trustworthy, well-rated password manager. So which ones would we recommend?

Most Secure Password Manager

If you want a secure password manager, you should opt for a paid one. Free password managers tend to be restricted in some way, and are usually supported with adverts. Additionally, free password managers are simply not set up to handle a full business’ security needs, which means paid for is always the way to go.

In our testing, we found LastPass to be the most secure password manager. For a few dollars a month, it could save you a lot of headaches, as well as time spent waiting for password reminder emails to drop into your inbox.

Do Password Managers Get Hacked?

No online system is infallible. Password managers – just like any other online service you use, such as Amazon, Twitter or Facebook – run the risk of being hacked. In fact, some have been.

The best password managers, however, will take your security very seriously – after all, you’re paying for the service. If you lose trust in them, they lose your patronage, and with it, your payment.

When LastPass was hacked in 2015, users were right to be concerned – after all, if a hacker could get into the system, they could, in theory, have access to every password that LastPass users had stored there. However, even though its security was breached, hackers were unable to steal any information – all of the passwords were protected by the users’ Master Password, which is not stored on the LastPass servers. This meant that the encryption on the passwords stored by LastPass was unable to be cracked. And that is why you should pay for a password manager.

Password managers are also a common target for ‘ethical hackers’ — those who like to test the security of online systems to flex their coding muscles. Password managers are their white whale – crack one of these open, and they’ll win the acclaim of the industry.

This isn’t as scary as it sounds though. In fact, ethical hackers are offering a great service, finding exploits in online systems before more nefarious people do. Once they’ve found a vulnerability, these hacklers will make contact with the service and let them know, allowing the provider to then fix the issue.

Verdict – Should You Use a Password Manager?

We can’t state this clearly enough – a password manager is a safe, recommended way to secure your online logins. The alternatives are far, far riskier – in particular, that old habit of re-using the same old password again and again across multiple websites (please, just don’t).

No system is guaranteed bullet-proof, and as the LastPass hack showed, even password managers can be vulnerable. However, as that very incident showed, there are serious protections in place, and these prevented the LastPass hack from being a disaster for any customers.

In the age of hybrid work and vast security breaches, we’d strongly recommend getting up and running with a password manager for proper online peace of mind.

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 Tech.co SOURCE

When people think of monitoring employees’ online activities, they typically imagine tyrannical bosses who want to make sure their subordinates are working during their shift. However, there is much more to monitoring their activities than that — doing so can actually help increase productivity and protect the business in the process. Find out the pros and cons of monitoring your employees’ online behavior by reading this blog.

The case for monitoring

Monitoring your employees’ activities on company devices can be beneficial, as it helps:

  • Protect your organization from data theft or harm since careless or disgruntled employees may leak or steal your data.
  • Ensure members of your staff comply with policies such as not downloading illegal programs or visiting websites with illegal or hostile content.
  • Provide evidence in case of a lawsuit should an employee participate in illegal activities using your business’s computers.

Arguments against employee monitoring

Of course, you should also be aware of the potential downsides to monitoring. These include:

  • Reduced productivity, as monitoring can put a damper on employee morale and the perceived distrust may make your employees less driven to perform well.
  • Privacy or discrimination issues that may stem from you being privy to personal details about your employees that you would’ve never known about had you not monitored them. For example, you may discover their political or religious views, sexual orientation, or medical problems. This subjects your business to potential privacy or discrimination issues if you or your management team acts negatively based on any of this information.

Monitoring guidelines to follow

If you decide to monitor your employees, here are a few tips you should follow.

1. Create written policies
When you monitor your employees, ask yourself, “Am I doing this for security purposes? Is it to ensure my employees aren’t wasting time on games or social media?” Monitoring policies that are too strict could create an atmosphere of distrust.

Set guidelines for acceptable use of email and social media, web browsing, instant messaging, and downloading software and apps. Also, make sure to include how monitoring will be carried out and how data will be used, secured, and destroyed.

2. Inform your employees
It’s important to inform your employees about the scope of your monitoring policies. If they find out you’re doing it secretly, you could face legal issues.

Explain to your employees why you’re monitoring them and the risks your business faces from misuse of digital assets. Reassure them you’re not doing it to spy on their personal lives, but to create a compliant and law-abiding workplace. Because their activities will now be less private, encourage your staff to use their smartphones for personal matters. Also, provide your employees with a copy of your written policy for them to read and sign.

If implemented correctly, employee monitoring makes your business more secure and productive. For more information about security and other IT support tools, get in touch with us today.

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