TechTidBit - Tips and advice for small business computing - Tech Experts™ - Monroe Michigan - Page 27 of 97

The Five Broad Categories Of The Cybersecurity Framework

March 27, 2020

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

One of the key methods that the NIST recommends businesses do on a continual basis is focus on these five categories as you assess your cybersecurity framework. These should be done regularly, and proactively, in order to be the most effective.

The categories are broad and cover a wide array of tools that businesses can use to build a cybersecurity framework that best supports their business security needs. They are: identify, protect, detect, respond and recover.

The first step you should take is to identify who should and should not have access to your business’s privileged information, and then maintain strict physical access rules for those personnel who don’t need that access.

NIST recommends that you do not allow cleaning and maintenance staff unsupervised access to rooms that contain computers or other technology that stores sensitive information.

Further recommendations include performing extensive background checks on all prospective employees, setting systems to lock down after several minutes of inactivity and maintaining separate accounts for each user. [Read more…] about The Five Broad Categories Of The Cybersecurity Framework

Windows 10 Issues Persist After Windows 7 Retires

March 27, 2020

Jason Cooley is Support Services Manager for Tech Experts.

January marked the end for Windows 7. After ten years and more than a few extensions, Microsoft finally made the cut-off and will no longer be updating what many would call its most reliable operating system ever.

Many businesses held out as long as possible, and some have even paid for privatized extended support.

Microsoft certainly had to split its focus while having more than one operating system in production, but with the end of Windows 7, one would assume that Windows 10 would have more developers working on the issues and updates as they arise.

It hasn’t been long, but so far, we have not seen anything to indicate a brighter future for Windows 10.

Now, Microsoft is no stranger to a failed OS. Who can forget Windows ME (Millennium Edition), Windows Vista, and even Windows 8? These were deemed failures and had a much shorter life span than favorites like Windows XP and Windows 7.

That said, Windows 10 won’t fall into the same category as ME, Vista, or Windows 8. Windows 10, when correctly functional, really is one of the better user experiences there has been. It has already proven commercially to be more successful with a larger market share than any of the failed systems.

Of course, that could also be attributed to the fact that there was another OS available at the times of ME, Vista, and Windows 8. Windows ME couldn’t break the grasp that Windows XP had. Vista was a victim of Windows XP and Windows 7. Windows 8 was decimated by Windows 7 and Windows 10.

Windows 10 from a user standpoint is not a failure, but there are a few ways that it exceeds the issues that some of these failed operating systems had.

Windows 10 has had some fairly widespread issues. The most recent problem? A majority of Windows 10 users found themselves unable to use the search feature in Windows. The start menu would allow you to open it, but the search never returned results.

Microsoft was able to fix the issue within a day or so, but what caused the issue?

The broken search was related to a broken link to Bing search. The search function is integrated with Bing, and the functionality of the feature was completely broken because of it.

There have been other issues as well. One of my favorite and most unique problems with Windows 10 was a few month span during an entire feature update where Microsoft had broken the ability to install Microsoft Office.

There was no fix. If the problem occurred, you had to either roll back to install Office or wait until the next feature update.

You almost expect there to be issues with third party software during a new update, but when it’s the company’s own product? It is definitely a headscratcher. Relatedly, there were frequent problems with Office activation and the Microsoft store being completely missing or broken.

While Windows 7 didn’t have all of the features that Windows 10 did, it seemed to be much more reliable.

We can only hope that Microsoft gets those extra developers working so Windows 10 can be as reliable as its predecessor. Despite these issues, the potential is there.

Ransomware Attacks On Healthcare Providers Rose 350% In Q4 2019

March 27, 2020

Ransomware assaults against healthcare providers expanded an astounding 350 percent during the last quarter of 2019 with the quick pace of assaults previously proceeding all through 2020.

Ransomware attacks dominated healthcare headlines during the later part of 2019 with attacks on IT vendors disrupting services on hundreds of dental and nursing facilities, while a number of hospitals, health systems, and other covered entities reported business disruptions from these targeted attacks.

Also, in December, Blackberry Cylance specialists revealed that another ransomware variation known as Zeppelin was spotted focusing on the human services division and tech associations through the supply chain.

IT research group Corvus broke down the ransomware attacks of the last few years to get a feeling of malware’s effect on the part and its assault surface and discovered there were in excess of 24 announced ransomware occurrences a year ago.

These findings mirror similar reports, which also noted that these numbers are likely lower than the actual number of attacks – as some ransomware victims do not report the incidents to the public.

In fact, Emsisoft research shows that more than 759 healthcare providers were hit with ransomware last year, reaching crisis levels.

Further, the trend has continued in 2020 with at least four healthcare covered entities reporting attacks in January alone. According to Corvus, the number is more than any other quarter in healthcare since Q3 2017. And if the rate continues, there will be at least 12 reported during Q1 2020.

The researchers also found that healthcare actually has a smaller attack surface, on average, than the web average. Those that have reduced their overall exposure, especially hospitals, have limited the risk of exposure.

But health services and medical groups are the most at risk in the sector, according to the data.

That’s not to say that healthcare is successfully securing its attack surface. For example, one of the most common exposure types is through the remote desktop protocol, which is associated with a 37 percent greater likelihood of a successful ransomware attack.

Healthcare is also struggling to secure its email security, overall. Eighty-six percent of healthcare covered entities don’t use scanning and filtering tools on their email platforms. Even hospitals, which typically leverage these services at a higher rate, are failing to deploy this tool at a successful rate (just 25 percent use the tech).

What’s more, health practitioners, such as dentists and physicians are 14 percent less likely on average to use the most basic form of email authentication, which are known to prevent suspicious emails from making it to the inbox.

It’s concerning, as Corvus showed that more than 91 percent of ransomware attacks are the result of phishing exploits.

“Hospitals use email scanning and filtering tools more than average, but the average is low,” researchers wrote. “These services are associated with a 33 percent reduction in the likelihood of a ransomware attack. All healthcare entities should strongly consider such services to help prevent phishing.”

Corvus also found that hospitals are six times more likely to internally host their own servers, instead of leaning on a third-party vendor. As a result, those entities have “the responsibility for maintaining some aspects of security in their court: keeping up with the everchanging threats rather than handing it off.”

“As commodity ransomware has become more readily available and examples of successful attacks on smaller organizations, like local governments, gain attention, attackers may well turn their attention to organizations like individual health practitioners or nursing/long-term care facilities,” researchers wrote.

“We can see that the security measures at these kinds of organizations are average at best, and in some areas worse,” they continued. “Healthcare organizations of all sizes are at risk… They should be taking advantage of opportunities to improve email security.”

As the number of successful ransomware attacks increased, several industry stakeholders released guidelines to help organizations shore up their defenses, including the Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft, NIST, and the Office for Civil Rights. Healthcare organizations, especially those with limited resources, should turned to these insights to bolster their defenses.

Lastly, the FBI has continually reminded organizations that they should not pay the ransom for a host reasons, including that there is no guarantee the hackers will unlock the data and the threat actor may launch a subsequent attack.

Ransomware attacks have cost the healthcare sector at least $160 million since 2016, according to Comparitech.
This article was adapted from research published by Health IT Security.

VoIP Poised To Replace Traditional Phone Lines

February 27, 2020

Jason Cooley is Support Services Manager for Tech Experts.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is not a new technology, although many of us are just learning of this internet-based communications protocol.

First used in 1970, VoIP uses your local area network (LAN) to send small digital packets over the internet to the recipient. Advances in the reliability and sound quality have encouraged end-users and businesses alike to cut the cord on the traditional phone-line and adopt the more versatile, and yes, less expensive telecom solution.

As we see it, there are nine reasons VoIP outperforms traditional phone lines aside from the cost. They are:

Scalability
Your business is not static. It is cyclical. Guessing each upgrade cycle how many lines you will need is frustrating and can be expensive. If you guess too high, you pay much more than you need to.

If you guess too low, you can stagnate your business growth. Additionally, legacy solutions have a limit as to how many phones can be connected – but VoIP does not. The possibilities are limitless when it comes to VoIP.

Agility
The key to gaining a competitive edge is moving faster than your competition. VoIP solutions can manage changes in volume and users within minutes and removes any ceiling that might affect your communications solution as you grow.

Mobility
In this modern work environment, employees are demanding more flexible work arrangements, including the ability to take and make calls from anywhere.

Statistics even show how flexible work arrangements also increase employee productivity, allowing workers to still connect even during a sick day or outside appointment. VoIP enables this type of mobility through a simple dashboard that allows you to choose which line will get the call.

Advanced features
VoIP is evergreen. Meaning it will always deploy the most advanced features on the market with no additional cost to you as the end-user.

Updates are automatically filtered and deployed to your location through the same lines the device uses to communicate.

Flexibility
Digital communications technologies like VoIP and Unified-Communications-as-a-Service have one huge distinctive advantage over copper lines: flexibility.

The phone number associated with the device is not tied to one particular device in one specific situation. Instead, several devices can be tied to the same extension, and you can decide which device should ring at which time.

Or, if you forgot to change your call flow and need your calls to reach you only on your cell phone and you have left the office, internet-based dashboards enable you to make those changes on the fly and from any internet-connected device.

Reduced complexity
In the golden days of business telephony, the effort and expense to install a PBX was costly – between paying for the certified individual to set up, install all devices, and do adds, moves, and changes throughout the span of the technology’s lifetime, to the simple cost of buying the equipment, paying for the electrical needs to run it and the space to house it.

Every interaction with the system required certified engineers. A new employee’s ability to communicate was dependent on the schedule of the technician to be able to add the user. But VoIP removes all of these complexities. The solution is mostly software-driven, instead of specialized hardware, and accessed with a simple graphical user interface (GUI).

Day to day management of the solution can be handled by administrative personnel, reserving your IT staff for the more complex needs of your business.

Security
A myth has surrounded VoIP and cloud solutions almost since inception. There has been a perceived security risk to a corporation’s data that has persisted, even though the myth has frequently been debunked. Recent studies have found that on-premise solutions are at the same amount of risk of a breach as cloud solutions, and sometimes even greater risk.

A survey by Alert Logic back in 2012 actually found that on-premise solutions were at a greater risk of compromise and data loss, with on-premise solutions being attacked 61.4% and cloud solutions only 27.8%. The fact is, as your service provider, we put your security at the top of our mind when devising and offering solutions such as VoIP and other cloud offerings. Our staff is certified and participates in frequent educational opportunities to learn about the latest cyber-security risks and protection strategies.

Quality
VoIP is not new and has been used in some form since the 1970s. It has recently gained popularity as the technology has grown and proven itself to be a serious competitor to the traditional telephone.

Because VoIP has been in use for almost 50 years, many of the original sound quality issues have been resolved. Thanks to innovations in sound compression and advancements in IP connections, VoIP actually provides superior sound quality as long as there is a high bandwidth and robust internet connection.

Business continuity
You may have heard horror stories about VoIP connections and outages. And while in those early years, these stories were warranted. Internet connections were wildly unreliable, and since VoIP ran over these connections, if they went down, so did your phone.

But now, internet providers have made considerable strides in the reliability and strength of their IP connections, making outages rare.

Add in cellular technologies as a failover, VoIP solutions can actually failback on the cellular 4G or 5G network and continue services in the event of an internet outage, meaning you remain connected regardless of the status of your internet connection.

It is no longer a matter of if, but when the copper lines that have serviced our telephones for generations will be phased out. Major carriers, such as AT&T and Verizon, have listed a sunset date for the maintenance of these copper wires to occur next year. Yes, in 2020, if a copper line goes down, the operator will not need to replace the line, but instead, transfer your service over to the digital solutions.

Start your migration today, and avoid the headache of a forced migration when you are least expecting it. Talk with one of our staff today to see how we can help you manage the transition and keep your business connected.

Most Small Business Breaches Could Be Prevented

February 27, 2020

The majority of breaches that affect small and medium businesses like yours could have been prevented through the use of today’s technology. Here are 14 ways you can protect your business:

Security assessment
Establish a baseline and determine when your last security assessment was.

Spam email
Most attacks occur from infected emails. Be sure you secure your accounts. We can help you determine the right level of protection for your business.

Passwords
Set company policies surrounding passwords and external devices in your business. Examples include restricting USB drive access, screen timeout limits, enhanced password policies, and limiting user access to certain files.

Security awareness
Educate, educate,and then educate some more. Employees are the single greatest risk to an organization of a cyber breach by employees inadvertently clicking on a link in an email or downloading a file that contains the virus or ransomware.

Advanced endpoint detection and response (EDR)
Technology advancements have enhanced the traditional methods of virus protection, adding protections for fileless and script-based attacks and can even roll back systems after an attack. Give us a call at (734) 457-5000 (or email at info@mytechexperts.com) to learn more about these features and how they can replace your current virus protection software.

Multi-factor authentication
Multi-Factor Authentication is the process of requiring two modes of identity checks when logging into accounts with sensitive and personal information, such as bank accounts or social media.

This additional layer of protection can be critical in ensuring your data does not become lost.

Computer updates
Automate key software, such as Microsoft Office and OS, Adobe, and Java, to protect your network from the latest attacks. We can provide “critical update” services to your business and help you keep your business protected from these malicious sources.

Dark web research
A little known secret is the reality that many users’ login credentials have been placed for sale on Dark Web sites. Continuously monitor these sites and update credentials as needed if you find your corporate credentials up for sale to the highest bidder.

SIEM/log management
SIEM, or Security Incident & Event Management, uses data engines to review all logs from all covered devices, protecting your systems from unauthorized access.

Web gateway security
New cloud-based security products can detect web and email threats and block them – before they reach your network and users.

Mobile device security
Don’t neglect to secure your employees’ mobile devices and tablets. Many attackers target these devices, believing them to be forgotten by most businesses.

Firewall
Advanced firewall technology today enables intrusion detection and intrusion protection features. Ensure these are enabled on your corporate firewalls, and if you don’t know how, call us today.

Encryption
Encrypt files both at rest and in motion, especially on mobile devices, laptops and tablets. Cell phones are an unexpected attack vector.

Backup
Utilize multiple forms of backup, from cloud backup to on-premise and offline, further reducing the risks of a ransomware attack preventing access to your data.

10 Most Important CyberAttacks Of The Last Decade

January 31, 2020

The only way to keep history from repeating itself is to learn from the mistakes of the past. The following is a list of the most significant cyberyattacks from the last decade, as compiled by TechTarget:

Yahoo – 2013
With the unfortunate legacy of being the largest breach in the history of the internet, all three billion Yahoo accounts were compromised. The organization took 3 years to notify the public of the breach and that every account’s name, email address, password, birthdate, phone numbers, and security answers had been sold on the dark web.

Equifax – 2017
Probably the most damaging attack occurred just 3 years ago with the hack of Equifax. The hackers were successful in gaining access to 143 million Equifax customers and information vital to the lives of all. [Read more…] about 10 Most Important CyberAttacks Of The Last Decade

Microsoft Starts Forcing November 2019 Update On Users

January 31, 2020

Jason Cooley is Support Services Manager for Tech Experts.

The Windows 10 November 2019 update (also known as Version 1909) is live and many users have moved to Microsoft’s latest feature update.

As an IT professional here at Tech Experts, it seems like these feature updates happen one right after another.

Although this is not the case as Microsoft only releases feature updates twice a year, the issues we encounter during each feature update’s life cycle make it seem that way. The only notable updates between these feature updates are ones that may fix an issue, which may or may not have been caused by the last feature update.

So what are updates like for someone who is not one of the Tech Experts?

As a user, you may or may not notice updates a lot more frequently, but those are smaller updates and may not fix anything at all. There are regular security updates made during each cycle, updates to Microsoft applications, important system files, drivers, and numerous other things.

The larger ‘feature updates’, while not intending to do so, are the most likely to cause system issues. Many users who are more tech savvy avoid installing these until they are certain it is stable. In some cases, users will try to avoid installing them at all.

Many people live under the “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. Minus security updates, I can see a strong case for this line of thinking.

For years, many users (myself included) could selectively manage their updates. I could avoid installing many updates and keep installing only security updates.

While there is still some ability to manage updates in Windows 10, it is also more limited. One way Windows 10 has made managing updates easier for everyday users is by having the option to pause updates altogether. There is even an option specifically allowing you to stop those feature updates, which is great if your system is running well and you don’t want to cause any issues.

There are also times where you may have a specific piece of software that is not compatible with the newest feature update and you need to avoid software incompatibility. That is when you are probably most grateful for the pause feature updates option.

Well, the time has come for Microsoft to go against your choices and decide that it knows what is best for you!

The November 2019 update is being pushed out to users, whether you want it or not. While it sounds deceitful, there is – as always with Microsoft – more to it.

Users who are currently on Version 1809, which is now two versions behind, are being pushed to the November update. There are new security updates for Version 1909, and they cannot be applied to 1809.

Microsoft is taking this precaution to make sure users stay protected. In the past, Microsoft typically reserved forced rollouts for Windows Home version, but these forced updates will also apply to all computers running Windows 10 Professional.

If you are on Version 1809 and want to avoid being updated to 1909, you may be able to delay the process by manually moving to Version 1903 instead. Just remember, Microsoft is prioritizing your security, not comfort.

Why Is Ryuk The Most Dangerous Ransomware?

January 31, 2020

Ryuk is one of the most prevalent ransomware variants in the threat landscape, with infections doubling from the second to the third quarter in 2019.

Ransomware infections continue to increase in tandem with overall impact and monetary demands.

Furthermore, Ryuk’s ability to delete shadow copies and backups makes Ryuk extremely costly and almost impossible to remediate.

For instance, Ryuk operators demanded nearly $600,000 from one government agency after successfully encrypting nearly all files on the network.

Ryuk uses encryption to block access to a system, device, or file until a ransom is paid. It is often dropped on a system by other malware (e.g., TrickBot) or delivered by cyber threat actors (CTAs) after gaining access to the system through compromising Remote Desktop Services.

Once on a system, CTAs deploy Ryuk through the network using PowerShell, PsExec, or Group Policy, with aim to infect as many systems as possible. The number of infected systems depends upon how the malware is deployed as well as the CTA’s access and privileges.

This may be a local subnet, the list of computers in active directory, or the entire organization depending on the variability and process specific nature of spreading the malware.

Once the malware is pushed out to the network, it targets backups and begins the encryption process.

Researchers have observed an increase in Emotet or TrickBot infections leading to a Ryuk infection.

For example, TrickBot disabled the organization’s endpoint antivirus application and spread throughout the network, infecting hundreds of endpoints and multiple servers.

Since TrickBot is a banking trojan, it likely harvested and exfiltrated financial and other sensitive information prior to deploying Ryuk.

Once Ryuk is deployed network-wide, the CTAs encrypted the organization’s data and backups, and left ransom notes on the machines.

Ryuk ransom notes once contained a message and a ransom amount, but have since evolved over time.

Throughout most of 2019, the ransom note did not list a ransom amount and only contained a message and email address. However, now Ryuk ransom notes are very simplistic, with no price or message, only containing an email address, the ransomware’s name, and the statement “balance of shadow universe.”

The CTAs demands payment via Bitcoin cryptocurrency and direct victims to deposit the ransom into specific Bitcoin wallets.

The ransom demand is typically between $100,000-$600,000, which as of 12/19/19 is 14-84 Bitcoins. Notably the ransom demand is determined by the organizations’ assessed ability to pay and the sensitivity of the data affected.

It is highly likely the CTAs account for characteristics like industry, solvency, subscription to cyber insurance, and network saturation when calculating ransom demands. Furthermore, the CTAs have been known to negotiate with victims and adjust the initial ransom amount.

Ryuk’s main infection method is to be dropped on a system by other malware. The file will have a five-letter random name that is usually generated by the srand1 and GetTickCount2 functions.

Persistence
Once executed, the main payload attempts to stop antivirus related processes and services. It uses a preconfigured list to kill more than 40 specific processes and 180 services with taskkill and net stop commands.

This preconfigured list includes antivirus processes, databases, backups, and document editing software. Additionally, the main payload establishes persistence in the registry and injects malicious payloads into several running processes.

To increase persistence, Ryuk makes changes to the registry allowing it to run the payload every time the user logs on.

Ryuk’s anti-recovery techniques are more extensive and sophisticated than most types of ransomware, making recovery almost impossible without restoring from clean external offline backups.

Ryuk’s process injection allows the malware to gain access to the volume shadow service and delete all shadow copies, including those used by third-party applications.

Encryption
Ryuk uses unbreakable RSA and AES encryption algorithms with three keys. The CTAs use a private global RSA key as their base encryption model. The second RSA key is delivered to the system via the main payload and is encrypted with the CTA’s private global RSA key.

Once the malware is ready for encryption, the final key is created in their three-key encryption model.

Ryuk scans the infected systems and encrypts almost every file, directory, drive, network share, and network resource.

Ryuk attempts to encrypt all mounted network drives. As long as the drives are not CD-ROM types, the files will be encrypted.

Finally, once the malware is finished with the encryption process, it will create the ransom note, “RyukReadMe.txt”, placing it in every folder on the system.

What Are The Advantages Of Office 2019?

December 20, 2019

As an IT service company, we get asked this question almost every day. Now that it’s available, everyone wants to know what Office 2019 is all about. Office 2019 provides a subset of features that Microsoft has been adding to Office 365 over the past three years.

Office 2019 is a local version of Office software, rather than cloud-based. It’s a perpetual release, meaning that you purchase the product once and own it forever instead of paying for a subscription or subscriptions to use it.

Who Will Benefit From Using Office 2019?

Although anyone can purchase Office 2019, this version has been designed for business users. It comes with volume licensing and is best for companies that don’t want to use the cloud-based version of Office. You can also install the Office 2019 app on all your mobile devices, where you’ll have access to its basic features. [Read more…] about What Are The Advantages Of Office 2019?

« Previous Page