There is much to unpack here, but we will try to keep it as short and easy-to-understand as possible. Information technology (IT) security encompasses a large area, making it somewhat confusing for those of us who don't know what it implies.
As hackers are becoming ever more numerous and diverse, it also becomes increasingly important for not so tech-savvy business people to know what are the different branches of IT security and how they work together to keep us safe.
IT security is like a series of link-parts of a chain network. The reason for this is the digital space is already constructed on a system with elements such as databases, cloud-based servers, APIs, and all sorts of mobile applications, etc.
These many elements also provide more opportunities for hackers to find a way in, meaning that each one of these components needs a set of security measures. What's more, these security measures often work together, somewhat similar to how the network components do.
One thing that we need to clarify right off the bat is that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to IT security. Every network is comprised of different elements, which means that security measures also need to be different.
IT security and information security are often used interchangeably, but they do, however, differ from one another. When we talk about information security, we are referring to data protection, be it digital or physical. IT security, on the other hand, is only focusing on digital information security. In short, IT security covers all aspects of security that fall within a network.
Lastly, information assurance refers to various preventive measures that help safeguard data from all sorts of natural disasters and theft. Among these, we have things like data backup or offsite backup databases, among others.
Network security has to do with everything that's related to the network, including both hardware and software. Network administrators have to make sure that the reliability, usability, and integrity of the system remains intact. Hackers can infiltrate the network, restrict your access, and demand a ransom.
Endpoint security is in charge of both ends of the network - where data enter and leaves. But probably the weakest link in the security chain is the users, themselves. Whether it's a lack of proper education on the nature of IT security and cyber threats, weak passwords, phishing campaigns, downloading malware, and so on, end users pose a security risk for the network, and this is why endpoint security is crucial.
Also known as cybersecurity, internet security deals primarily with data that is sent to and from your browser, as well as how networks interact with web applications. The importance of this cybersecurity comes into focus when we realize that the entire internet is nothing more than an unsecured network.
Without going into any technical detail, we've presented to you the basics of IT security and how it works to keep yourself and your business secure. It is for this reason why IT security experts are probably the most critical team members that you need to hire. Contact us today to ensure the safety and security of your hardware, software, and other assets.
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Cyber attacks are all too frequent nowadays. In 2010, there were roughly 3.8 million breached records. 2016 saw that number balloon to 3.1 billion. What's more, there are numerous types of cyber attacks, some more complicated than others.
The difference between each of these types of cyber attacks is mostly dependent on what the hackers want to achieve with them. They could wish to obtain your data, or maybe they are interested in taking control of your device and demand a ransom for its release.
The most common of these cyber attacks, however, are vectors and malware. Here is a short rundown of these common types of cyber attacks.
In short, malware is a piece of software designed to disrupt and gain access to a computer system. Listed below are the most common types of malware.
A virus is a piece of malicious code. It gets downloaded onto a computer without the user's knowledge or consent and can replicate itself and spread to other networks by attaching to various files.
Like its name would suggest, ransomware translates to a particular type of malicious software that, once installed on the computer, will begin demanding ransom. There are different types of ransomware, particularly concerning their complexity. While tech-savvy individuals can reverse some simple ransomware, others encrypt the victim's files, which make them completely inaccessible.
Worms work more or less the same as computer viruses in that they are self-replicating. The significant difference is they do not require attachment to a program. What they do, however, is to look for vulnerabilities in the security system and report them back to the hacker.
Trojans viruses are programs that may appear like any other program that performs specific functions but in reality, its purpose is to perform all sorts of malicious activity. Trojans typically disguise as all sorts of virus removing software.
Spyware and adware can get installed on your computer without your knowledge, either by opening various attachments, clicking on links, or downloading infected software. These types of malware will monitor your computer's activity and collect personal information from wherever it can.
Deriving their name from biology; attack vectors is the method used by malware and viruses to propagate themselves and infect computers. The vectors come in three primary forms.
Social engineering, in the context of IT security, refers to the psychological manipulation of people in performing various actions like clicking on malicious links, downloading malicious software, or divulging personal information.
Phishing, for instance, is the attempt to access sensitive information like passwords or bank information, via email or other forms of digital communication. The Nigerian Prince scam is an example. Pharming, on the other hand, is an attempt to guide people to access a fake website. It is where people will input sensitive information by pretending to be a bank or other such organization.
It is a sort of attack where the attacker manages to take control of the communication between two people, impersonating them and asking each to divulge their information. While each of the two users is under the impression that they are talking to each other, they are communicating with the hacker.
It is a type of cyber attack that installs malware on a computer as soon as the user visits an infected website. These websites can belong to the hackers, themselves, or it can be a legitimate website that's been compromised.
Each of these cyber attacks can be easily implemented within a company if it doesn't have the necessary IT security set in place. It is vital for every organization to evaluate the level of its security and educate its personnel about the dangers they are faced with online. If you don't feel up to the task, contact us today to see how we can help.
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Today's society is more connected than ever before. No other time in human history could someone in India conduct a video call with someone from the United States while walking down the street. But this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to 21st-century connectivity.
Driven in large part by a phenomenon known as the Internet of Things (IoT), we are now in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution - aptly called Industry 4.0. In short, IoT is, more or less, a network of devices, vehicles, appliances, and all sorts of other objects fitted with software, sensors, and other technologies that enable them to connect to each other and exchange data. They talk to each other.
The smart devices create all sorts of opportunities that improve efficiency, provide economic benefits, and significantly reduce human effort. There are figures to prove this, as well. If in 2017 there were roughly 8.4 billion such devices, that number is expected to reach 30 billion by 2020. The IoT market value is set to reach $7.1 trillion by 2020.
But as good as all of these sounds, there is also another, more worrying trend that's developing right alongside IoT. Cybercrime is at an all-time high, particularly regarding data breaches. Ever since experts began monitoring the situation, data breaches were always on the rise. But it seems that this increase is not consistent - it's accelerating faster.
Statistics show there was a 29% increase in data breaches in the first quarter of 2017 as opposed to 2016, and a total, annual growth of 37%. The business sector is still the most affected, making up 54.7% of all these breaches. The healthcare industry follows it with 22.6%, education with 11%, and finally, the financial and military sectors, each with 5.8 and 5.6 percent, respectively. What's particularly troubling here is that criminals highly seek Social Security numbers, and it's these SSNs that are being exposed in most of these data breaches.
Worse yet; the majority of industries are not required to provide detailed reports about the exact number and the type of information stolen during a breach. 67% of breach notices didn't mention the number of compromised records. However, with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other privacy laws coming into play, this will be required to report.
Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said that “People who are left in the dark about the details of a data breach cannot effectively protect themselves and this can have serious consequences. Breach notifications need to help, not hinder, solving the problems that data breaches can bring."
It comes at a time when committing these sorts of attacks is relatively simple and straightforward.
“It doesn’t require a tremendous amount of sophistication or technical savvy to commit this type of fraud,” said Eva Velasquez, the Identity Theft Resource Center president, and CEO. “Criminals can simply purchase some malware through the fraud ecosystem and then do some spam, do some phishing and boom — they have all the materials they need to commit identity theft.”
The fact of the matter is that data breaches are now a common occurrence and many governments and business organizations are not taking all the necessary steps to prevent them from happening, placing citizens at high risk of identity theft.
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1. Deceptive Phishing:
As some of the most common scams on the internet, deceptive phishing refers to attacks where the fraudster will try to impersonate a legitimate company or organization in an attempt to steal your personal and financial information, as well as any passwords or confidential material.
You should always scrutinize the email's address, as well as the URL of the link that's in the email. Grammar or spelling mistakes, as well as generic greetings, are all indicative of a phishing email.
2. Spear Phishing
Just like with deceptive phishing, spear phishing aims to get any sensitive information from you by using, more or less the same tactics. The most significant difference between the two, however, comes in the form of personalization.
While the first is more generic and avoids mentioning any details about you, spear phishing will use your name, position, company, work phone number, and any other information they may have about you. Scammers get your information from social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn to craft a well-targeted attack. Limit the number of personal details you share online.
3. Pharming
As some of the more tech-savvy users are becoming immune to the traditional phishing, scammers are now turning to pharming to get the information that they require. Instead of baiting people, pharming targets a DNS server and changes the IP address associated with a website. It means that, even if you entered the correct website name into your browser, you would still be redirected to the malicious site.
To protect yourself from these attacks you should only input information on HTTPS-protected sites (websites that have "https://" at the beginning of their address.) Using up-to-date anti-virus software is also essential.
4. Dropbox Phishing
Millions of people around the world use Dropbox as a means to back up, share, and access information. Several years ago, one such attack lured users into entering their login credentials on a fake Dropbox sign-in page. This page was unknowingly hosted by none other than Dropbox, itself. To protect yourself from these attacks, you should implement a two-step verification (2SV) of their accounts.
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This legislation establishes itself across the entirety of the European Union but also applies to companies doing business within the member states. It means that the GDPR extends further than the border of the EU, to every international organization that has any sort of activity on "EU soil."
The hope is that, by having a single supervisory authority on data legislation across all EU member states, it will make it much cheaper and more accessible for businesses to operate within the region. The European Commission claims that the GDPR will, indeed, save 2.3 bn. Euros per year all across Europe.
"By unifying Europe's rules on data protection, lawmakers are creating a business opportunity and encouraging innovation," the Commission says.
In theory, the GDPR guarantees that data protection safeguards will be built into all products and services at their inception, providing a so-called 'data protection by design'in all new technologies, going forward. Pseudonymization is also encouraged as a means to collect and analyze data, all the while keeping the users' identity protected at the same time.
As of May 25, 2018, the GDPR came into force, and all organizations are now obliged to report data breaches that revolve around unauthorized access or loss of personal data. In some cases, companies also need to inform private citizens affected by the breach.
The most significant concern revolves around data breaches that could result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals and could lead to discrimination, financial loss, damaged reputations, loss of confidentiality, or any other sort of social or economic disadvantage. The data can include anything derived from names, addresses, dates of birth, bank details, health records, etc.
In the event of such a breach, the company needs to inform the relevant regulatory body, as well as all of those affected by the incident.
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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The security protocol that isvused to protect the vast majority of wifi connections has been broken, potentially exposing wireless internet traffic to malicious eavesdroppers and attacks, according to the researcher who discovered the weakness.
Mathy Vanhoef, a security expert at Belgian university KU Leuven, discovered the weakness in the wireless security protocol WPA2, and published details of the flaw on Monday morning.
“Attackers can use this novel attack technique to read information that was previously assumed to be safely encrypted,” Vanhoef’s report said. “This can be abused to steal sensitive information such as credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails, photos and so on.
Vanhoef emphasised that “the attack works against all modern protected wifi networks. Depending on the network configuration, it is also possible to inject and manipulate data. For example, an attacker might be able to inject ransomware or other malware into websites.”
The vulnerability affects a number of operating systems and devices, the report said, including Android, Linux, Apple, Windows, OpenBSD, MediaTek, Linksys and others.
“If your device supports wifi, it is most likely affected,” Vanhoef wrote. “In general, any data or information that the victim transmits can be decrypted … Additionally, depending on the device being used and the network setup, it is also possible to decrypt data sent towards the victim (e.g. the content of a website).”
Vanhoef gave the weakness the codename Krack, short for Key Reinstallation AttaCK.
Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre said in a statement it was examining the vulnerability. “Research has been published today into potential global weaknesses to wifi systems. The attacker would have to be physically close to the target and the potential weaknesses would not compromise connections to secure websites, such as banking services or online shopping.
“We are examining the research and will be providing guidance if required. Internet security is a key NCSC priority and we continuously update our advice on issues such as wifi safety, device management and browser security.”
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (Cert) issued a warning on Sunday in response to the vulnerability.
“The impact of exploiting these vulnerabilities includes decryption, packet replay, TCP connection hijacking, HTTP content injection and others,” the alert says, detailing a number of potential attacks. It adds that, since the vulnerability is in the protocol itself, rather than any specific device or software, “most or all correct implementations of the standard will be affected”.
The development is significant because the compromised security protocol is the most secure in general use to encrypt wifi connections. Older security standards have been broken in the past, but on those occasions a successor was available and in widespread use.
Crucially, the attack is unlikely to affect the security of information sent over the network that is protected in addition to the standard WPA2 encryption. This means connections to secure websites are still safe, as are other encrypted connections such as virtual private networks (VPN) and SSH communications.
However, insecure connections to websites – those which do not display a padlock icon in the address bar, indicating their support for HTTPS – should be considered public, and viewable to any other user on the network, until the vulnerability is fixed.
Equally, home internet connections will remain difficult to fully secure for quite some time. Many wireless routers are infrequently if ever updated, meaning that they will continue to communicate in an insecure manner. However, Vanhoef says, if the fix is installed on a phone or computer, that device will still be able to communicate with an insecure router. That means even users with an unpatched router should still fix as many devices as they can, to ensure security on other networks.
Alex Hudson, the chief technical officer of subscription service Iron, said that it is important to “keep calm”.
“There is a limited amount of physical security already on offer by wifi: an attack needs to be in proximity,” Hudson wrote. “So, you’re not suddenly vulnerable to everyone on the internet. It’s very weak protection, but this is important when reviewing your threat level.
“Additionally, it’s likely that you don’t have too many protocols relying on WPA2 security. Every time you access an HTTPS site … your browser is negotiating a separate layer of encryption. Accessing secure websites over wifi is still totally safe. Hopefully – but there is no guarantee – you don’t have much information going over your network that requires the encryption WPA2 provides.”
There’s likely to be a delay before the vulnerability is used to actually attack networks in the wild, says Symantec researcher Candid Wuest. “It’s quite a complex attack to carry out in practice, but we’ve seen similar before, so we know it’s possible to automate.
“Small businesses and people at home should be concerned, but not too worried,” Wuest added, advising most users to simply apply the updates to their software as and when it becomes available.
The most important lesson from the weakness, he said, was that relying on any one security feature is risky. “You shouldn’t be trusting one single point of failure for all your security. Don’t rely on just your wifi, use a VPN or secure connection for anything important.”
Different devices and operating systems are impacted to differing degrees based on how they implement the WPA2 protocol. Among the worst hit are Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and Linux, due to a further bug that results in the encryption key being rewritten to all-zeros; iOS and Windows, meanwhile, are among the most secure, since they don’t fully implement the WPA2 protocol. No tested device or piece of software was fully immune to the weakness, however.
The international Cert group, based at Carnegie Mellon University, informed technology companies of the flaw on 28 August, meaning that most have had around a month and a half to implement a fix. The Guardian has asked Apple, Google, Microsoft and Linksys the status of their patches. Google said: “We’re aware of the issue, and we will be patching any affected devices in the coming weeks.” Microsoft said: “We have released a security update to address this issue. Customers who apply the update, or have automatic updates enabled, will be protected.” No other vendor has replied at press time.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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