Holding a person's or business's data for profit has been wildly successful in the most recent years. The cybersecurity world may seem complicated for many non-IT experts to understand; however, the act is pure and shares a common goal. Ransomware is a form of malware that locks a person or business's out of their hard drive, preventing the owner from accessing the files, and demanding payment for the release of the data.  No business is immune to a malware attack, and an attack can be costly. Did you know that the average cost of a ransomware attack can cost well over $133,000 per attack? When your digital systems come under attack, it can be extremely stressful can put your business [...]

February 5, 2018 – Think you’ve received an email from a company you know?  Maybe not. Cyber attackers often use a fake email that appears to be legit to trick you into sending them money.  Maybe you received an email from a familiar company, stating that there has been a last-minute change.  They say their bank has a provided them with a new wire transfer number and they're asking you to wire the money to this new number. Unfortunately, if you wire money to a scammer, there’s a good chance you will never see that money again. Sometimes cyber criminals will send an email trying to trick you into providing login credentials to popular websites like Amazon and banking sites [...]

January 29, 2018 – As an IT support company, we spend a lot of time obsessing about the technology we use to keep our customers’ data safe and secure from cyber criminals.  But if you’re not into all that tech detail, what steps can you take on your own to protect your data? Are there non-technical security measures you can take? Absolutely.  When we implement a data security solution we think about a multi-layered approach that goes beyond the technology. In fact, one of the most critical elements is the people factor.  Careless behavior by employees is a leading cause of data breaches.  And while not malicious or intentional, the security breach is still a very painful reality for small [...]

January 15, 2018 -- Data security continues to be a top concern for small and midsized businesses...as it should be. According to the Verizon Data Breach Investigation report, 61% of breaches hit smaller businesses. And while data security might be a top concern, too many small businesses don’t take action. 90% of small businesses aren’t using any sort of data protection according to UPS Capital. In order to protect your business, there are some critical questions you should be asking your IT Security provider. (Don’t have one? Contact Us.) IT Security Question #1 – How Often Do We Back Up Our Data? Your business changes by the minute. Backing up your data only once per day or just weekly isn't enough. [...]

January 8, 2018 - It’s that time of year again. HR administrators and payroll teams are coming out of their holiday haze. And now it's time to focus on everyone’s second favorite time of year…tax time.  Jokes aside, this time of year provides a fresh opportunity for cyber criminals to target small and midsized businesses.  Cyber criminals will use sophisticated W2 phishing scams to trick payroll departments, accountants, and HR teams into providing W2 data on company employees. This type of business email compromise is big money, and small-to-midsized businesses are a prime target. How W2 Phishing Scams Work With phishing schemes, the cyber criminal sends an email from a fraudulent account. But the email appears at first glance to [...]

November 13, 2017 - It’s November of 2017 and we honestly can’t believe we’re writing a blog post about spam.  Yet spam-related issues are still a major problem...and it feels like it's coming back in full force.  Is it our imagination?  Unfortunately not.  Back in 2010 spam was hitting its peak.  It was all over your inbox, and incredibly annoying.  But for the most part it was simply that…annoying.  The bulk of it just delivered ads you didn’t want.  And occasionally you would hear about spam delivering viruses, and people got used to the idea of installing anti-virus programs on their machines.  For users, you cleared out your inbox and moved on. And over the past few years, we’ve all [...]

November 6, 2017 - What are Social Engineering Scams? Social engineering scams are tactics that allows hackers to access your systems through direct manipulation of your employees.  This is taking cyber-attacks to a whole new level. And it is challenging because it can be extremely difficult to prevent. With social engineering, the hacker will focus themselves on a specific target. They will try to fool their target into clicking on a link and downloading a file. Or they'll try to get them to reveal personal and confidential information like usernames and passwords. What are the main Social Engineering Scams to watch out for? There are 5 main social engineering scams.  Read below to find out how to spot them before [...]

October 20, 2017 - Earlier this week, security researchers announced a WPA2 security flaw.  WPA2 is the main encryption used to secure the majority of Wi-Fi networks.  This technology encrypts the connection between the wireless device (tablet, mobile phone, printer, etc.) and the wireless access point.  Up until a few days ago it was thought to be a very secure encryption technology.  This newly-discovered vulnerability, called KRACK could change all that. Android and Linux devices are particularly susceptible to the vulnerability. How Will the WPA2 Security Flaw Affect Me? This will primarily affect you if you are using public WiFi.  We recommend that you avoid sending any secure, sensitive, or personally identifiable information over public WiFi at all times.  However, [...]