Tag Archives: security

What Should You Do If You Think You Have Been Hacked?

Malware, Security, ,
Small business owner upset over being hacked in the workplace. Leaning head on crossed arms over a laptop

Being a small business and being hacked can put you out of business if your not prepared

There are a couple of questions many business owners ask when it comes to hacking, and those two questions are:

  • How can I tell if I have been hacked?
  • What steps do I take if someone has hacked my business?

Unfortunately, many small business owners do not know they have been hacked. Apart from ransomware, there are many cybersecurity events that go unnoticed. Can you believe that many small businesses and medium-sized businesses can have data breaches that go unnoticed for a significant period of time, including several years? The breaches that are noticed are eventually noticed by someone outside the business, including law enforcement officials.

Can you imagine being breached and not knowing this has occurred until a third-party notifies you? If you data breach occurs and it goes undetected for a substantial period of time, you may never identify what actually caused the breach to occur in the first place. When you do not know how, why, or where the data breach took place, you may start questioning if all of your company’s data has been compromised.

How Do You Know If You Have Been Hacked?

When you have a full understanding of the different types of hackers and what their intentions are, you will be able to understand how anyone can be hacked. There are different businesses, small, medium, and large, that can all become a target for hacking. Hackers look for sensitive data that has not been carefully protected.

What Type Of Hacks Are More Common?

It does not matter if a hack is basic or advanced because even a basic hack can cause severe damage to a business. A small or basic hack can result in your computers or any devices doing things that they should not be doing. Some of the common hacker techniques include the following,

  • viruses
  • Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) or Denial-Of-Service attack (DoS attack)
  • fake Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
  • phishing attacks
  • in-house attacks

What Should You Do After A Hack Takes Place?

Do you have a plan in place if a hack does take place in your workplace? Your employees need to be trained well enough so they will be able to identify an attack on the business. When your employees are trained, they will be able to help your business get back to operating at its normal pace. Your business needs to get back to business as soon as possible after an attack has been identified.

If you have noticed that your system is behaving unusually and if you notice suspicious files that seem to be harmful, an attack has likely taken place. Professional and experienced hackers know how to carefully cover all their tracks. We suggest that you look carefully at your systems’ log files.The hackers also know how to delete those log files as well.

After you have identified you have been hacked, you should make sure the attack has been confirmed. Once there has been confirmation of the attack, you should check your computers, devices, and your networks to determine if anything else has been compromised. You will need to identify how much information the hackers have obtained.

When security breaches occur, critical data and information can be lost when your systems are down, include your network connections and content that is stored in your RAM. You will need to consult a professional so you can fully understand the options you have at this point.

It is extremely critical that you have the proper backups in place. It is also important that you have the right Managed Service Provider (MSP) that will provide you with the tools and resources you need to conduct business as usual after an attack has taken place. Contact us today for more information on how you can protect your business from hackers.

What Malware Is and How to Avoid It

Malware,
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One of the most nefarious types of malware is spyware, which can result in a stolen credit card, or even a stolen identity

Malware can be a bit of a pain, can’t it?  Nobody really likes malware.  It is malicious software, after all.  It comes in many forms, but it doesn’t encompass all viruses.  Generally speaking, malware does one of a few things.

The first type of thing it does is destroy your system.  None of your information will get sent to the people who made the virus, but your computer can’t be used afterwards without a ton of work or, sometimes, an entire re-install of your Operating System.  These tend to be a pain, but are mostly harmless after a couple of weeks.  There are other viruses that aren’t so forgiving, though.

Those types of viruses are Spyware.  These are usually hard to notice, and they gather your information and send it back to the developers of the virus.  These are the kinds that will do lasting damage to you, usually resulting in a stolen credit card, or maybe even a stolen identity.  The damage done by these forms of viruses can be very difficult to repair.

Credit card companies have gotten better about spyware in recent years, and have made it easier to spot when this happens.  This usually comes in the form of a text message to your phone saying that it’s amazing how you went from California to Italy in 5 seconds, and blocking your card’s use until further notice.

In all of these cases, viruses can often be preventable.  Using an advertising blocker on websites you’re not familiar with can stop viruses leaking through advertisements, and running regular virus scans can help remove any unnoticed viruses before they do too much damage.  If you’d like to figure out more, you can contact us.

Password Importance and Ones to Avoid

Security, ,

password securityCyber-crime is a common occurrence in the world today. There are countless stories involving passwords that have been cracked or hackers that have broken down security walls.

For example, Zappos.com, a shoe store, was hacked and 24 million customers had their personal details exposed. If we look at the PlayStation Network back in 2011, 77 million passwords were stolen.

The most common type of attack by far is discovering someone’s password and using it to access a computer system or database. We will discuss the importance of a password and the ones to stay away from.

Why is a Password so Important?

To put it simply, it’s the one area where an anti-virus can’t reach. If you know someone’s password, their level of security doesn’t matter. All you have to do is type the password in and you’re through every single security wall in place. It’s the master key, and if someone gains access to it, you’re in trouble.

What Type of Password is the Best?

Deloitte released a report from its Canadian branch that revealed 90% of passwords today are vulnerable in some way to hackers. Now, most hackers aren’t interested in finding out about your latest blog. They want to turn their hacking into a profit, which is why most computers are safe by virtue of being irrelevant to the people behind these major attacks.

A standard eight-character password with numbers and uppercase letters isn’t safe and it will leave you vulnerable. Let’s take a look at some of the passwords you should avoid.

Passwords to Avoid

The problem with secure passwords is they’re often so secure we can’t remember them. This is where hackers start to use psychology. In a bid to remember these passwords, users will choose common subsets of characters, such as the ‘@’ and ‘%’ signs. These can be guessed and narrowed down.

With 6.1 quadrillion combinations on a standard 94-character keyboard, hackers have to spend a year on a fast computer attempting to guess it. If they narrow it down into a subset, this time is cut dramatically.

Passwords to avoid include:

  • Any relation to personal information.
  • Common strings like 12345.
  • Actual English words.

Change Regularly

The real way to get an advantage over the hackers is to change your password once every few months. Most hackers will attempt to break the lock to your computer by using software to guess your password over and over again. It isn’t particularly sophisticated, but it works.

Eventually, they’re going to find your password, but if you change it regularly, the job becomes impossible. Each time you change your password, the potential hackers has to start over again.

Now, they might get unbelievably unlucky and their software does guess your password randomly. There’s little you can do about this, but the odds are so low that it’s not something you should concern yourself over. No password is 100% fool proof, but if you use a strong password and change it regularly there’s no reason why you should ever become the victim of a Cyber-crime password attack.

Contact Us for more information on how we can help your business.

 

 

 

Why a Hardware-based BDR System Could Save Your Business

Security, , , ,

bdr backup recoveryThe Backup & Disaster Recovery Solution (BDR) is something every business should have. You never know when the worst could happen and your data could crash into the void. If you have a hardware-based BDR solution in place, you’ll be able to return to a point in the past before your data disappeared.

Now the unrecoverable is recoverable. BDR solutions come in two forms; online and hardware-based. We’re going to discuss some of the reasons why you should search for something hardware-based, as well as why a good BDR solution can save money.

Additional Safety

Online BDR solutions are still vulnerable. A hacker can attack the BDR solution itself and take it offline. If this happens, you’ll have no way of retrieving your files. Hardware-based solutions don’t have the same problems. In many cases, your files can be transferred to a piece of hardware not connected to the Internet.

Sharing the Servers

If you’re operating with an online BDR, you’re sharing the server with everyone else. In the event of a major problem that affects multiple users, expect to have to deal with slow retrievals. Hardware-based solutions will retrieve your data in a matter of hours, as opposed to a matter of days.

And this is essential. A business that goes offline for a few days is liable to file for bankruptcy. 50% of businesses will file for bankruptcy immediately, according to the National Archives & Records Administration in Washington.

Cheap Solution Expensive Solution

The cheaper BDR solution will not be as effective as a more expensive BDR solution. This doesn’t mean a company should opt for the most expensive solution available. It means price shouldn’t become the main consideration. Opt for quality over everything else.

Quality means you’ll have your data back and your site online as soon as possible. In terms of business, this can save you thousands. Customers who can’t find your website immediately will turn away forever.

Your regular customers might also become disillusioned if your website disappears for a few days. They might think you’ve closed your doors.

And if you have employees, they won’t be able to do their jobs, but you’ll still have to give them a salary. So, you have no money coming in, you still have to pay for the upkeep of your company, and this could last for days. These reasons alone are why it’s worth spending more on a hardware-based solution.

Pay Now Profit Later

Always start by paying more for a better hardware-based solution now. With an investment like this, you have to look at the potential long-term circumstances. For the vast majority of companies, they’ll get value for money over the length of a few months and years.