Author: Stuart Crawford

What You Can Do to Prevent Cyber Attacks Targeting Employee Data

Threat actors are targeting companies to obtain personal information about employees to use for tax fraud and filing false returns.  

Your company stores all sorts of personally-identifiable data about your employees. Birth dates, social security numbers, health information, and bank account numbers are all on the shopping lists for hackers who can sell the information they steal or use it for malicious acts. One of the most sought-after documents by bad guys is tax records and tax forms.

These threat actors use that information to steal identities and file fake tax returns. Tax identity theft is the biggest type of ID theft reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) each year. The FTC estimates the fraud at more than $5 billion annually.

Often, the victims aren’t aware anything has happened until they go to file their personal tax returns. They may try to file electronically, and have it rejected as a duplicate, or get a notice from the IRS saying there’s a problem. By then, the fraudsters are long gone.

How Do Hackers Steal Employee Data?

The most common way your employee data is breached is via phishing emails. Nearly a third of all data breaches and 78% of cyber-attacks started with a phishing email.

Hackers use email as a weapon to gain access to your systems. It may be as simple as sending an email asking employees to update their payroll information. Clicking on a malicious link can send that info to the wrong people. That’s exactly what happened to employees at the University of Kansas who soon found the direct deposit of their paychecks had been re-routed.

Other phishing emails may be targeted at individual employees using a variety of schemes to trick employees into giving up login credentials allowing cybercriminals to have access to company records. Other schemes may install malicious code when clicked and set up backdoors for hackers to access company computer networks. HR employees are also being targeted. A forged email may appear to come from a company executive or a third-party payroll processor asking for verification of information.

In an increasingly mobile society, hackers are gaining access to sensitive data when employees are connecting remotely to company servers without using proper security practices. When employees use public Wi-Fi, for example, they are vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks where threat actors intercept data as it’s being transmitted back and forth.

How To Prevent Becoming A Victim

Educating your employees about the dangers of phishing emails is a good place to start. One trillion phishing emails are being sent every year. While your company’s spam filters catch many of them, a significant number can slip through. Employees need to recognize the warning signs and everybody within your organization needs to take precautions to safeguard your data:

• Install anti-virus and anti-malware software on all devices
• Use strong passwords of 8 or more characters, numbers, and alphanumeric characters. Force changes regularly.
• Encrypt all sensitive information
• Back up sensitive information to a secure external source
• Limit access to employee data with escalating security procedures
• Require employees to install security software on all devices that access company data, including personal devices
• Use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to encrypt data accessed remotely

It’s also important to keep all your software up-to-date. Hackers exploit what’s known as zero-day vulnerabilities in outdated software. These are known security problems that have been patched by the company. If the patches haven’t been applied by those using the software, hackers can exploit this known problem. That’s what happened to credit reporting agency Equifax, which saw hundreds of millions of records stolen when the company had failed to apply patches to known security issues.

Consider A Managed Service Provider

Even the best IT teams can be overwhelmed by managing all the various devices and entry points to their networks. They may not have the expertise needed to stay on top of constantly evolving threats and security practices.

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) can actively monitor a company’s servers, exchange servers, active directory servers, firewalls, routers, switches, and platforms remotely. This ensures software is always up-to-date and breaches are identified immediately.

An MSP will monitor your network traffic and incursion points 24/7 in a cost-effective way. In case there is a cyber-attack, an MSP can be your best weapon in identifying the threat, shutting it down, and building additional security walls to prevent future breaches.

Quick Tips to Save Your Computer from Ransomware

Are you struggling to remove vicious ransomware from your computer? These quick tips will help you (safely!) access information on your computer and get back online in no time.  

You’ve heard about ransomware attacks, but never thought it could happen to you. That’s the beginning of the story that IT professionals around the world are hearing from users — business users, individuals, schools — there are no “safe spaces” when it comes to the ability of cybercriminals to wreak havoc on your technology. There’s always the option of paying the ransom, but this path is fraught with dangers. If the attacker doesn’t issue you the unlock code for your files, there’s no Better Business Bureau to report them, you lose the money you paid and will still need to work with professionals for ransomware removal. Understanding the three key variants of ransomware is the first step to potentially rescue your computer.

Three Main Variants of Ransomware

Ransomware is often classified into three main types:

• Scareware, when a bogus antivirus screen pops up on your computer, letting you know that there are “many issues” and demanding money to remove the detrimental files. This is the easiest variant to resolve.
• Lock-screen viruses are a more advanced attack and can be quite frightening. With this type of ransomware, you might be presented with an official-looking screen that you cannot navigate away from with details on sending money securely to remove the lock.
• Advanced ransomware physically encrypts your files as well as locking access to them. It can be significantly more challenging to remove this type of ransomware without paying the fine. One example is Ryuk, where data recovery by professionals has only been successful approximately 3% of the time.

PC Rescue and Recovery Tips

While the other sure path to success is to work with a local technical professional to get everything up and running securely, you may be able to run through these tips and release your PC from the hostage situation.

1. Enter Windows’ Safe Mode and utilize on-demand anti-malware scanning software such as Malwarebytes.
2. If your anti-malware software isn’t successful, your next option is to attempt to restore to a point in time when your computer was safe and free from infection. You can complete this task by shutting down your PC completely. For Windows 7: Restart your computer, pressing the F8 key repeatedly and then selecting “Repair Your Computer”, log on and select System Restore. For Windows 8, 8.1 or 10: Hold down the Shift key, select Restart which will reboot your computer to the recovery screen. From there, you will select “Troubleshoot” “Advanced Options” “System Restore”.
3. If your system restore attempt is unsuccessful, your next option is to attempt running anti-malware software from a USB drive or bootable disk. The following trusted vendors have solutions available: Bitdefender, Avast, Kaspersky, Norton and Sophos.

The final step in the recovery process often involves finding your lost files and attempting to restore any additional systems settings that were lost during the process.

Ransomware recovery is a pain at best and very expensive at worst. A strong defense is your best option and installing a strong anti-malware and antivirus software package will help repel the vast majority of attacks before they can take hold. However, the only sure-fire method of ensuring you don’t lose anything in a ransomware attack is to create full and complete external backups. With ransomware attacks surging 77% in 2019, there’s always the possibility that you will never retrieve your priceless memories and private files without a solid backup plan in place.

Juice Jacking is another creative way that cyber attackers are accessing your data. Learn more about the concept and how to prevent it.  

The public must be on guard for any cyberattack that comes their way; however, attackers are creative and are constantly innovating towards the next type of cyber-attack to catch unsuspecting people. Most recently, the concept of “Juice Jacking” has made its way into public attention.

Juice Jacking is a type of attack that uses a charging port, infected cable, or portable battery to access available data on a connected device such as a smartphone or a laptop. Once a device has been infected, attackers can export your data, steal passwords and other personal information, or lock your device entirely making it unusable.

How Juice Jacking works

A conventional USB cable is not only useful for charging your device, but its primary use is to transfer information from one device to another. As soon as a device is connected to a USB outlet, this allows attackers access to devices.

We have all heard of identity thieves putting on card-reading devices, skimmers, or camera on ATMs and other card readers such as at a gas station pump, but attackers are also able to change out USB hardware for another USB port that allows them access to any who connect to the port. Typically, we see threats to our devices in public such as hotels, public kiosks, and airports.

Juice Jacking and Travel

For those people who travel regularly, they rely on the public charging kiosks to keep them connected to family, loved ones, and work while out and about. But USB public charging stations are a prime target for those people seeking to steal and use your personal information.

Attackers can use not only a public kiosk as a way to gain access to your devices, but they can also use an infected cable. Beware to not use cables that are found already plugged into charging stations or you could already have one in your possession as a free gift. It is very easy to mask a cable to look like a brand name item, and most people believe that cables are not capable of holding information maliciously.

Another method to get victims to connect to a power source is to infect portable batteries, and with the rise of shared or rented portable batteries that you can purchase in airports, it has become easier for attackers to gain their victim’s data and move on to the next airport, making pinpointing the problem harder for those trying to stop the attacks.

Preventing Juice Jacking

The easiest way to prevent Juice Jacking is to plug your devices in via your power adapter that normally comes with your device. Another option is to carry your own power bank. A personal power bank can hold enough power for several recharges. Finally, a product that has been developed to combat the threat of Juice Jacking is a USB data blocker, a small adapter that you attach to the end of the USB cable you would like to use that prevents the transfer of data.

Prevent Hackers from Stealing Your VoiP and Costing You Money

Best ways to prevent your business from losing money because of hackers stealing your VoIP service.

In 2017, telecom fraud amounted to $29.2 billion in losses to organizations and carriers, according to No Jitter. One form of telecom fraud is theft of service, which is obtaining service through an individual or company without payment. VoIP is much more prone to theft of service than traditional telephony services. Service can be stolen through hackers stealing user names, passwords, and other account information. Hackers also can introduce malware into the system to more easily enable theft. Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission has not issued any regulations on VoIP fraud, which means that businesses are still liable for any hacked calls. Fortunately, businesses can take some precautions to prevent theft.

Protect Passwords

When businesses buy a new phone, they should always change the password from the factory settings. Some phones use different passwords for the phone interface and web interface. In this case, unique passwords should be used for each interface. Passwords should be made secure by changing them every six months and requiring at least 12 characters including upper and lower case letters, symbols and numbers. Businesses also should regularly update the admin portal password for the VoIP provider.

Limit Physical Access

VoiP phones and other instruments should be kept in a locked space to prevent unauthorized access. The environment of the space should be maintained within the limits set by the equipment manufacturer. Secure access panels to the air conditioning and power.

Build Security in Layers

To prevent attacks and service theft, an organization should plan its VoIP system as carefully as it does its data network. One way is to plan security in layers.

• The first layer of security is preventing intrusions on the network. To secure the network, use VoIP-aware firewalls and shut down ports at any sign of malicious behavior, according to Tech Target.
• The second layer of security is phone authentication. The phone will not be authorized to the network or to the IP PBX unless a mutual certificate exchange or a certificate and dongle architecture have authenticated it, according to Tech Target.
• The third layer involves encryption or authentication between the media and various channels. This means media gateways, ALGs, firewalls and NAT devices, and SBCs, according to Tech Target.
• Finally, the fourth layer is user authentication. Only users authenticated via a user name and password or token device or mutual swap should be allowed to make or receive phone calls, according to Tech Target.

Disable International Calling

Most hackers go after the more expensive international phone numbers. Businesses that don’t need to regularly make international calls can disable international calling, using an international calling card when necessary. If regular international calling is required, businesses should carefully check invoices to be sure all calls made are legitimate.

BEC Scam Helps Hackers Steal Over $46M from Company

How fast could your company lose $46M? BEC Scams do it in minutes. Find out how criminals hack CEO emails to earn themselves a huge payday at your expense.  

Sometimes criminals hide in the shadows and sometimes they hide behind technology, waiting, ready to strike at the most vulnerable. You know this, so you’ve invested in employee education. Employees are aware of common cybersecurity threats and email scams. But the BEC scam turns everything on its head.

It does so by hijacking the CEO’s most important business communication tool, email.

What Is a BEC Scam?

A cybersecurity-aware employee would always check to see where an email is coming from if that email asks them to do something like send millions to a strange account. But what if that email looks like it comes from you?

A Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam is conducted via your CEO’s own business email account. The hackers monitor your email for days or months undetected before sending an email from you to one or more of your employees, asking them to do something like:

• Wire money from the company accounts
• Share their login to company programs

If an employee got an email from you, would they question it? In a modern workplace, you’ve built a team around you who would ask “why”. But what if the person receiving the email is not in your trusted circle?

Scammers often target those who report to them, and don’t know you as well, instead.

Hackers take it a step further. They use automation tools found on your email account to instantly identify and delete any emails questioning your instructions or warning you that you’ve been hacked.

Real World BEC Attacks

This attack isn’t uncommon and the results are costly. Here are just a few medium-sized businesses that paid the price.

• Xoom Corporation – BEC scammers emailed an employee from the CEO’s account and convinced them to wire $30M to a business overseas under the disguise of a business deal
• Scoular Corporation – Employees wired an undisclosed amount to China for a fake acquisition deal. The email said, “We need the company to be funded properly and to show sufficient strength to the Chinese… I will not forget your professionalism in this deal, and I will show you my appreciation very shortly.”
• Ubiquiti Networks – This San Jose company’s employee wired $46M at the “CEO’s” instruction. They were only able to recover $8M.

How to Protect Your Company from BEC Cybersecurity Threats

First of all, know that the CEO may not be the only target. It could be the CFO, CMO or even middle management.

They often attack companies using Office 365, which is relatively easy to breach if extra precautions aren’t taken. They gain access to your email via simple tricks like getting you to share your password on a spoofed 365 website.

Deploy education and technology to both prevent someone hacking a CEO email and to quickly identify when you or someone in the company has been compromised. This might include:

• Powerful spam filters
• Monitoring software
• Malware protection and firewall
• Security awareness training
• Other customized solutions to maximize security

Above all, stay informed. Follow our blog to learn more about keeping your company safe from very real and sneaky cybersecurity threats like these.