online security

Virtual Private Networks: What, Who And Why

March 6, 2017

jared-stemeye — Jared Stemeye is a Help Desk Technician at Tech Experts.

In our modern world, it is tough to come by anyone born within the last two generations who doesn’t use a smart phone, tablet, or other personal computing device daily.

With the ongoing tech revolution comes continuous news of hacked users, mass data collection, and online tracking reported by mainstream news outlets.

This is the reason Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are becoming a necessity as computer users conduct more and more of their day-to-day lives online.

What Is A Virtual Private Network?
A VPN is a group of computers or networks linked together over an Internet connection. All the information sent or received over the Internet is automatically encrypted when connected to a VPN.

Typically, VPN services offer the highest forms of encryption to protect said data, providing peace of mind for anyone conducting personal or business-related tasks where sensitive information may be present.

As the technology has evolved, VPN applications have become very easy to install and operate. Many of the popular personal-use VPN software developers have made it as simple as installing the app and turning the VPN service on.

Premium VPN services even allow users to choose to mask their IP address, making it appear as though you are accessing the Internet from an entirely different country, which can be quite useful if you do not like your web activity tracked by ad-targeting websites like Facebook or YouTube or your Internet Service Provider.

Who Most Commonly Uses VPNs?
Many different individuals and organizations use VPNs for varying reasons, but the need for a strong layer of security is the fundamental purpose for everyone.

From a business standpoint, VPNs can be easily set up and maintained so that employees can securely access company resources and tools from anywhere on any network or Internet connection without the fear of having sensitive information intercepted.

Further, this encompasses all aspects of a business’ need for security of payroll information, employee and customer information, scheduling, and any other confidential company documentation.

The population of personal VPN users has expanded dramatically in the past year. VPNs are the perfect solution for frequent travelers and those who value their privacy, which has become increasingly difficult to maintain.

Why Should You Use a VPN?
Most of us consider ourselves law-abiding “digizens,” using networks for entertainment, communication and knowledge – but other net users may not be so nice or trustworthy.

A VPN can protect you by concealing your web activities from those with prying eyes under layers of encryption that makes all of your web traffic nearly impossible to intercept or track.

This is especially relevant if you are a frequent user of public Wi-Fi networks, such as your favorite lunch spot or coffee shop. The act of accessing vital information on your devices through a public network is easier than most realize.

Given this, I highly recommend the use of a VPN for your daily Internet use, whether it is personal or professional.

Joining the privatized world of VPNs is an easy and extremely beneficial process.

VPN providers are generally friendly and typically on hand to help should a problem arise.

If you are just getting started with VPNs, consider acquainting yourself more in-depth through a Google search of the top VPN applications and their different features.

What Makes For A Good Password?

October 25, 2016

Luke Gruden is a help desk technician for Tech Experts.

It seems like every week we need to make a new password for a new account. When making a password, there is usually some colored bar letting you know if your password is strong or weak.

It is very important that we maintain strong passwords for our accounts, so no one uses a password generator to guess the password and gain access to our private information.

What actually makes a good password? Length is one of the best methods to making a stronger password as it’s harder for a computer to hack a longer password. For the length, it’s recommended to have at least 12 characters.

If your password consists of basic words, it’s recommend the password be even longer as a lot of password crackers out there auto-search dictionary words.

You can even make a sentence or sentences. There is no rule against something like this: “Hello! I am Luke with Tech Experts and I work on computers!” That was about 60 characters and would take significantly longer to crack than a simple 12 character password.

The next best factor to making a good password is complexity. Complexity is when a password uses special characters, numbers, random capitals, and contains few or no dictionary words. The more complex a password is, the far harder it is for a computer to crack the password. “s5df1K51lj!@# ^k5$#1#!!2 @” would be a really good password, but good luck remembering it. Too complex and it’s hard to remember, too short and it’s easy to crack.

However, using length and complexity, we can make a strong password that we can remember.

Adding a number and special character to each word you use will drastically increase the strength of the password without making it too complex “Hello$1 my$2 name$3 is$4 Luke!$5” is most likely a stronger password than the one I used earlier that contained 60 characters simply because the special characters aren’t in the dictionary.

Another important note about passwords is that you should keep every password different for each profile. It can be tempting to use the same password for every account online, but at least try to make variations of your passwords.

The main reason why is that if a website is leaked or hacked, your password can be out there in the public and can be attempted on your other accounts, so even if you have the best password in the world, using the same password for every account can make your accounts vulnerable.

The last good practice for passwords is to change your password every 6 months or so, so even if your password was leaked without your knowledge, changing the password would end the issue. Also, some computers will try to crack a password 24/7 and, with enough time, it will eventually guess the right password. Changing your password every so often will thwart those computers that endlessly guess at your password.

Another way to ensure you have different strong passwords is to use a password manager. A password manager is a type of program that stores your different passwords for different accounts, but that itself still needs a good password to protect your collection. With a password manager, you can use a generator to create very long complex passwords and not have to worry about remembering them as long as you have accesses to your manager.

If you need any help with passwords or with setting up a password manager, you can count on your Tech Experts to help you on your way. Contact us with any questions at (734) 457-5000.

Five Tips For Staying Ahead Of Malware

October 25, 2016

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

Malicious software has become an everyday issue for many computer users, and it can have serious implications for your finances. To keep your information, data, and finances safe, you need to be aware of the common threats to your online security that exist and how you can protect yourself against fraudulent activity.

According to research from Kaspersky Security, malicious software, which is also commonly referred to as malware, impacted as many as 34.2% of computer users in 2015. But what is malware and how does it work?

Malware is somewhat different than computer viruses because instead of completely stopping your computer from operating, it sits quietly in your system stealing important and sensitive information.

It is estimated that over 1 million new forms of malware are released on a daily basis in the form of spyware, Trojan horses, phishing links, and ransomware. [Read more…] about Five Tips For Staying Ahead Of Malware

Go Phish: Keeping An Eye On Your Email

July 28, 2016

Brian Bronikowski is a field service technician for Tech Experts.

Email phishing scams are nothing new in the IT world. There are always new messages coming through that seem more and more realistic. When you add this to your messages from princes, lottery winners, and investment requests, your inbox can grow rapidly.

There are a few ideas that phishing scams use, but there are also ways to look out for them.

There are a few different types of phishing on the Internet. Some will focus specifically on an organization or group.

Others are more generic. Some will take an idea that could apply to those with a certain attribute of family or business life. There are even attempts that pinpoint the “higher ups” in certain organizations and businesses.

So what are ways to notice these scams? A largely common way to decipher what’s real and what is not is the sense of urgency that these messages will have.

They require important personal information as quick as possible. This urgency is used to put your caution aside so you don’t lose out on whatever they are threatening.

These will also be very broad so it seems you’re not the only one receiving this message – and of course, you aren’t.

Either way if someone states they are deleting your emails, suing for some unknown offense, or offering part in a larger grouping of people, it’s likely that you need to take a minute and think about what’s really going on.

Another easy method that cannot be stated enough is the amount of spelling and grammatical errors.

Professional emails are generally well-groomed and checked over by the sender. Phishing scams, however, seem to have a commonality in that they never seem to read properly. These will have easily noticeable spelling errors.

You can also notice that sentence structure is off and it is very broken in general. While people can make spelling mistakes and others may not be the best proofreaders, there is always a need to be on the lookout for errors. In the scenarios where a business or group is targeted, there may be a few other steps to take.

Emails may be sent that were not expected by the receiver. Perhaps it is an event you did not hear about beforehand. Other times, and commonly as of late, there will be a document that the receiver was allegedly “expecting.”

Other times, they will use the tactics mentioned previously such as the urgency or broadness. While none of these are good to open, it is especially dangerous to open any attachments that are in the spam messages.

These can lead to ransomware and cryptoware infections that cost a lot more than the annoyance of seeing the messages.

Luckily, for all of these issues, there are ways to prevent the messages as a whole. Most large email providers will have some level of protection.

The messages will instead be directed towards your junk folder in hopes you won’t accidentally click on them.

For those that use hosted services, providers are likely taking further steps to prevent these messages. Tech Experts is one of these providers; we are able to host email and protect against a large majority of these threats.

Regardless of what you use for email services, it is always important to keep in mind what’s real and what’s too good to be true.

Keeping that in mind can be the deciding factor between infections, data loss, or identity theft.

Don’t Pay A Ransom To Get Your Data Back

January 15, 2016

Michael Menor is Vice President of Support Services for Tech Experts.

Requesting a ransom from victims is an unfortunate trend gaining momentum in the hacking world. This is typically done using ransomware (where hackers encrypt data and request money for the key) and distributed denial of service attacks (where hackers threaten to overwhelm a system with traffic, thus knocking it offline).

In both scenarios, hackers are looking for the victim to pay up…or else. Should they?

The answer should be obvious: absolutely not.

However, when a person’s valuable data becomes encrypted or they receive a legitimate threat to take down their servers, emotions often get in the way and they’ll end up “paying the piper.” Hackers know this, which is why their ransom methods employ fear tactics.

For example, ransomware like CryptoLocker will lock the user out of their computer while the screen displays a countdown to when their data will be deleted.

With DDoS attacks, a hacker may contact the victim mid-attack and promise to cease the attack for a fee. Both of these situations play straight into a person’s irrational fear, causing them to cough up cash.

Before reaching for your credit card to pay a hacker’s demands… stop, take a deep breath, and think objectively about the situation.

What guarantee do you have that these hackers will actually make good on their promise to turn over your data or cease the attack?

This guarantee is only as good as a hacker’s word, which is pretty worthless seeing as they’re, you know, criminals. Therefore, whatever you do, DON’T GIVE MONEY TO A HACKER!

By paying hackers money, you’ll only add fuel to the fire and help fund the spread of their devious acts.

Plus, there are several reported cases where a victim pays the ransom, only to still have their data deleted or the attacks on their site continue.

What’s it to them if they go ahead and follow through with the attack? They have your money, so who cares? It’s a classic case of adding insult to injury.

Need proof? There’s a recent example of this happening to ProtonMail, a Switzerland-based email encryption service.

On November 3rd, ProtonMail was threatened with a DDoS attack by the hacking group Armada Collective.

Like many companies would do, they ignored the threat, deeming it to not be credible. Soon afterward, their servers became overloaded to the point where they had to cease operations. After paying the ransom, the hackers continued the attack.

Now, consider your own situation. How much would it cost your company if you lost revenue for a full day of work, and you still had to make payroll?

For a medium-to-large sized company, losing a full day’s work would likely come to much more than a few thousand dollars. In fact, hackers understand how downtime can be so costly, which is why they feel justified asking for such an exorbitant fee.

What are you supposed to do if you were asked to pay a ransom by a hacker? The first thing you’ll want to do is contact the IT professionals at Tech Experts. We’re able to take an assessment of the attack to determine how bad it is and restore your data to a backed up version that’s not infected with malware.

When facing a hack attack, we can present you with all the options you can take – none of which will include paying a hacker money.

Yes, You Can Still Get Infected – Even With Anti-Virus

January 15, 2016

Scott Blake is a Senior Network Engineer with Tech Experts.

With the sudden release of a new variants of malware and ransomware such as CryptoWall, users are wondering why their anti-virus programs are not blocking the ransomware infection from infecting their computer.

As with many other forms of malware, the infection needs to exist before a cure or way to detect the threat can be created. This takes time and during this period of R&D, the malware spreads like wildfire.

While there are several forms and classifications of infections, there are basically only two different methods in which infections are released into your system: User Initiated and Self Extraction.

User Initiated infections are caused by a user clicking on a link within a webpage or email or by opening infected email attachment. Once opened, the malware is released and quickly spreads throughout your system.

Because the user manually clicked on or opened the link/document, most anti-virus programs receive this as an authorized override by the user and either internally whitelists the link/document or skips the scan.

CryptoWall is spread through this method, usually contained within an infected Word, Excel or PDF document. The creators of these programs take advantage of the programming of the document to hide the infection.

With the world becoming a paperless society, we are becoming more and more accepting of receiving and opening attachments sent to us through email. It has practically become second nature to just click and open anything we receive, regardless of any warning.

Self-Extracting infections are exactly what they’re named. These infections require no outside assistance to worm their way through your system, infecting as they go.

The number one method creators of this form use to place their software on your system is through “piggy back” downloads.

Piggy back downloads occur when you authorize the download and install of one program and other programs (related or unrelated to the original program) are automatically downloaded and installed with it. The most common way is by downloading programs promising to speed up your computer.

Infections can also exist on your system and lay dormant for long periods of time, waiting for the computer to reach a certain calendar day or time. These infections are called “time bomb” infections. Just like piggy back infections, they require no outside assistance to infect your system.

They are mostly found buried in the registry of the system or deep within the system folders. Because they are not active on the time of placement, most anti-virus programs will not detect them. Active reporting through toolbars is another means of becoming infected over time.

When a user downloads and installs a toolbar for their browser, they authorize at the time of install that it is okay to install and all of its actions are safe. However, most toolbars are actively scanning, recording, and reporting back to the creator. They also act have conduits for installations of other unwanted programs behind the scene.

If left unchecked, those additional programs can become gateways for hackers to gain access to your system and spread even more infections.

To help stop the spread of malware/ransomware such as CryptoWall and its variants, we need to become more vigilant in our actions when either surfing the Internet or opening email and attachments.

The best rule of thumb to follow for email is: if you don’t know the sender, or you didn’t ask for the attachment, delete it. As for websites, read carefully before you download anything and avoid adding toolbars.

The Three Scariest Threats To Small Business Networks

October 27, 2015

While spam, pop-ups, and hackers are a real threat to any small business network, there are three security measures that you should be focusing on first before you do anything else.

Worry About E-mail Attachments, Not Spam
Sure, spam is annoying and wastes your time, but the real danger with spam is in the attachments.

Viruses and worms are malicious programs that are spread primarily through cleverly disguised attachments to messages that trick you (or your employees) into opening them.

Another huge threat is phishing e-mails that trick the user by appearing to be legitimate e-mails from your bank, eBay, or other financial accounts.

Here are three things you must have in place to avoid this nightmare: [Read more…] about The Three Scariest Threats To Small Business Networks

Beware The Fake Microsoft Cold Calls

October 27, 2015

The phone rings and you don’t recognize the number or name on the caller ID. You pick up anyway and the caller tells you that they work for Windows Support or Windows Service Center and they are a Microsoft Certified Technician.

They go on to say they have received log files or have determined that your computer is infected and causing corruption throughout your Windows operating system.

They ask if you’re at your computer now and, if not, to go there. Once there, they walk you through how to open your Event Viewer and show you the Administrative Events under the Custom Views folder.

They are quick to point out all of the red circles labeled “Error” are all Malware infections. They then ask you to look at the number of events listed and they go on to advise this is the total number of infections currently on your computer.

The caller then says they can clean your system of all infections, but they will need to have remote access to the computer.

At this point in the call, most people have been thoroughly convinced by the voice on the other end of the phone that their system is indeed infected and needs to be cleaned. After all, the caller knew where to look for the so-called infections and they do sound like they truly want to help.

The Microsoft “employee” will even tell you that if you don’t let them remove the infections, the “hackers” that placed the malware on your system will have complete access to all of your information.

They warn that your identity is in jeopardy of being stolen. You must give them remote access to your computer. They are your only hope and you must trust them. After all, they say they work for Microsoft.

The fact of the matter is that the caller does not work for Microsoft in any capacity. They don’t work for any of their third party vendors nor any security firm that has been retained by Microsoft.

They are in fact the “hackers” attempting to convince you to give them access to your computer to infect your system and steal your data.

If you allow them remote access, they will start to install malicious programs on your computer. They’ll copy all of your information and, in some cases, encrypt your data.

They will tell you that that the infection is too severe for a “standardized” cleaning and you will need to pay money to have them install removal programs to clean the system.

In mid-2013, NBC News Technology reporter Frank Catalano, reported on receiving one such phone call himself.

After his ordeal with the fake Microsoft, Mr. Catalano contacted the real Microsoft. He received the following reply:

“In 2010, Microsoft began receiving reports of scammers making phone calls or sending emails to people,” replied a spokesperson for Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit. They advised that they had referred the cases to the Federal Trade Commission.

One very important thing to remember is that Microsoft (or any of its partners) will never cold call you. They will never ask for remote assistance. They will never ask for usernames and passwords.

If you have fallen victim to such a scam, disconnect your network cable and take your computer to a trusted service center or repair facility and explain in detail what happened as soon as possible.

For questions or advice on what to do about cold call scammers, contact Tech Experts at (734) 457-5000, or by email at info@mytechexperts.com.

Internet Security: Beware Of “Malvertising”

July 27, 2015

As if Internet use wasn’t already troubled with cyber perils, users now have to add “malvertising” to the list of things from which they need to protect themselves.

“Malvertising,” like the name suggests, means “ads that contain malware.” Some mal-ads aren’t dangerous unless you click on them – but others can do “drive-by downloads,” sneaking their malware onto your computer simply because you’re viewing the page on which the ad appears.

While most malvertising is on websites, it can also show up on other ad-displaying apps, such as Facebook, Skype, some email programs, and many games.

The reason that malvertising is more of a problem than other malware approaches is that it can be spread through online advertising delivery networks like Google DoubleClick to legitimate sites that users routinely visit, like the New York Times, Huffington Post, and Yahoo, as well as routinely-used mobile apps that show ads. Malware-bearing ads can be “injected” either by hacking ads at the provider end or by buying and providing mal-ads. In most cases, there’s no way for a user to tell just by looking that an ad has been compromised.

The Potential Damage
The dangers of advertising-delivered malware are the same as those from malware you get any other way. Malware can steal account usernames and passwords, bank and credit card information, and other sensitive data.

It can encrypt your data and “hold it for ransom.” It can, in turn, infect other computers on your network and turn your computer into a “zombie,” spewing out spam and malware to the Internet.

Like other viruses and malware, malvertisements take advantage of security vulnerabilities on users’ computers and mobile devices. These may be anywhere from the operating system, to web browsers and other applications, to add-ons and extensions like Java, JavaScript, and Flash.

How do you know if your computer has been infected by malware? One sign is that your web browser shows unexpected pop-ups or seems to be running slower. But many malware infections remain “stealthy,” possibly even eluding anti-malware scans.

Legitimate ad creators and ad delivery networks are working on ways to detect and prevent malware from getting into the digital ads they serve. Otherwise, people have even more reason to not look at ads or block ads entirely.

But, assuming it can be done, this won’t happen for a year or more. The burden is on companies and individuals to do their best to protect their networks, computers, and devices.

What Can Companies and Users Do?
Although malvertising is a relatively new vector, the best security practices still apply; if you’re already doing things right, keep doing them. But what does “doing things right” look like?

Avoid clicking on those ads, even accidentally.
Maintain strong network security measures. Next generation firewalls at the gateway can often detect malware payloads delivered by ads, block the ads entirely, and/or detect communication from already-infected devices.
Regularly backup systems and critical files so you can quickly restore to a pre-infected state if your systems and data are compromised.
Deploy endpoint security software on every device so that it’s protected on and off the network.
Ensure that all operating systems and client software (especially web browsers) are fully patched and up to date.
If you suspect a computer has been infected, stop using it for sensitive activities until it’s been “disinfected.” Again, many security appliances can help you identify and quarantine infected devices.

It’s unfortunate that even more of everyday Internet use is potentially unsafe, but the steps to fend off malvertising are essentially security precautions that companies and individuals should already be following.

Online Safety: Is Your Website Secure?

March 26, 2015

For all too many companies, it’s not until after a breach has occurred that web security becomes a priority.

While more than a few examples of recent breaches may leap to mind, know that these aren’t exclusive to big name retailers who accept credit cards. If you have a website for your business, you may be at risk.

As more and more business is done using the World Wide Web, websites themselves have become increasingly attractive to cybercriminals.

Websites are such a lucrative target for an attack because not only are there so many sites to attack, but an overwhelming majority of all websites can be easily exploited by some of the most common vulnerabilities.

Attackers, no longer driven by notoriety and ideology, have focused more on techniques that allow them to profit from their illegal activities.

Exploited sites allow the theft of credit card data, financial information, identities, intellectual property, and anything else cyber criminals can get their hands on.

The integrity of the company’s internal network can be affected as well if the website provides access to it.

There are many online services that allow anyone to create a webpage in under ten minutes.

Unfortunately, these quick solutions also make it easier for attackers. Without proper training and knowledge, many of these sites are left with multiple vulnerabilities. A few of these vulnerabilities will be discussed.

The Heartbleed Bug is a vulnerability that allows attackers to obtain confidential data such as usernames, passwords, emails, and even proprietary company data and communications.

Even if you think you might be protected because you use encrypted forms of communication, you’re not safe. Attackers will be able to eavesdrop into your communications and steal data from beneath you.

Like Heartbleed, one of the most prominent vulnerabilities affecting web applications is cross site scripting (XSS).

This vulnerability can allow an attacker to hijack web communications. The attacker may target a vulnerable website by tricking the user into submitting sensitive information or performing a privileged action within the target website’s web controls.

Application Denial of Service attacks have rapidly become a commonplace threat for doing business on the Internet — more proof that Web application security is now more critical than ever. Denial of Service attacks can result in significant loss of service, money and reputation for organizations.

Typically, the loss of service is the inability of a particular network service, such as e-mail, to be available or the temporary loss of all network connectivity and services.

Denial of Service attacks are centered on the concept that by overloading a target’s resources, the system will ultimately crash.

An HTTP Denial of Service attack can also destroy programming and files in affected computer systems.

In some cases, HTTP DoS attacks have forced Web sites accessed by millions of people to temporarily cease operation.

Websites that can be compromised pose a serious risk and thus serious preventative measures should be taken to combat it.

Scrambling to fix the problem after the fact is costly, stressful, and can potentially result in legal action. Breaches also cause damage to your company’s image and brand, which may be permanent.

Know your vulnerabilities and don’t rely on ten-minute-or-less website creators to keep you safe.

If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

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