Computer Network Security

Protect your computers, your data, your identity and your money from online criminals   1. Have computer security programs running and regularly updated to defend from  the latest threats. Consider using  a firewall to prevent unauthorized access to your computer, and install antivirus software to protect against malware that can take your data hostage (ransomware), […]

Whether your team works remotely or in an office, the line between personal and work tasks can become blurred when working on a business computer. If they are in front of a monitor screen for most of the workday,  it’s not unusual for them to push boundaries when using the company’s computer. Chances are, most

The security company SonicWall has reported just about 500 million ransomware attacks through September 2021 – a 148% increase compared to the data from the same time period last year. It is very alarming that approximately 714 million attempted ransomware attacks are expected by the end of 2021, a 134% surge overall of 2020. This

COVID-19 pandemic made working remotely the new norm. Because of advances in mobile and networking technologies, employees are increasingly working from various locations, connecting to their offices online. This ability to work from anywhere can be a great benefit for employees who are looking for work-life balance as well as organizations that are committed to

If you want to run commercial transactions, or process your website’s data online securely, you need an SSL certificate for your website. Basically, it gives you the valid encryption for the website – and if you ever wondered what is the difference between domains that have http:// or https:// in the URL, this is it:

Mass hijackings of network traffic and it’s abuse is not new, but with the evolution of technology, so do Man-in-the-Middle type of attacks. A man-in-the-middle attack is an exploit that occurs when an outside attacker intercepts communications between two parties, often a website and an end user. The intruder will usually use the information to

As a small/medium business owner, patch management may be a somewhat foreign topic reserved for your IT personnel. The following provides a summary-level background of patching, which is relevant to business owners in maintaining appropriate security disciplines in their companies. What is a patch? A patch is a set of changes to a computer program

Communication is one of the most important key aspects of any properly functioning company or organization, and businesses today rely on email as a principal method of communicating with staff members, partners, and clients. While your email infrastructure plays a critical role in the operation of your business, it is also a gateway that can allow

As a small/medium business owner or manager, it is imperative that you have an awareness of cybersecurity related-risks and implement infrastructure and processes to mitigate those risks.  According to Verizon’s 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report, 58% of breach victims are categorized as small businesses.  Roughly 75% of these breaches are perpetrated by outsiders, while approximately

There are 12,000 or so laptops found in US airports each week and 62,000 lost electronic devices recovered from New York’s metropolitan buses, taxis, trains, and stations each year!  The bottom line is no matter how careful you are with your laptop, mistakes occur and losing a laptop (or having one stolen) is likely to

It’s easy to overlook printers when planning for cybersecurity for your business. Consider this: In 2016, HP reported that 18% of respondents to their survey reported security issues associated with printing devices, while 91% associated the risk with PC devices, 77% – with Mobile devices, and 77% with server devices. However, in reality 64% printers had

Cybercriminals are always looking for the weakest link in a network to crack the security of your business, hack your systems, and get confidential information. Some hackers do it because they can – and enjoy – spreading malware and damaging systems and data, while others do it for bragging rights, or to demand ransom. Regardless of

In May of 2017, a WannaCry Ransomware – a malicious computer virus – affected over 200,000 systems in 150 countries all over the globe. A type of virus such as WannaCry blocks access to files on a computer while cybercriminals demand a monetary ransom to decrypt the files and grant access to user data. On June

On May 11, 2017, President Trump issued an Presidential Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure designed to bolster security associated with the U.S. federal government’s information technology. Abdul Hammad, powersolution.com’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and a member of the U.S. Secret Service New York Electronic Crimes Task Force,

There are a lot of totally different ways in which cyber attackers can get to their victims however Netgear may be making it even simpler for them. For over a year now (from August 2016 and January 2017 and forward) there were some vulnerabilities in some Netgear routers. While routers may not seem to be

With all the hacking virus threats we see in the news feeds today, internal threats seem to have fallen off the list of priorities for many business owners. If you watch industry development trends and recent studies on insider threats, many companies are unaware of or underestimate corporate data leaks – the most dangerous threat

Earlier this year, President Obama submitted a proposed budget increase of 35% to $19 billion of Federal resources as part of the  Cybersecurity National Action Plan. The administration’s comments included stating that cyberthreats “could lead to widespread vulnerabilities in civilian infrastructures and U.S. government systems.” The Pentagon is looking for $34.7 billion for the period

As most of you know, the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, 45 CFR §§ 164.400-414, requires HIPAA covered entities and their business associates to provide notification following a breach of unsecured protected health information. Similar rules apply to vendors of personal health records and their third party service providers, pursuant to section 13407 of the HITECH

Securing small or medium business data has become increasingly challenging as malicious cybercriminals and hackers have become more sophisticated and ubiquitous.  Routinely, press articles are releasing stories of data breaches, lost customer records, financial losses due to cyberattacks, and company embarrassment.  Additionally, hacking techniques have evolved to multi-stage techniques.  This means that an initial system

Just in the recent days, I have received a large number of emails (most are not even addressed to me) that represents a small drop in millions of fraudulent, phishing emails that are circulating the web, hitting unsuspecting users’ email inboxes. I have inquired with few of my friends and colleagues, and searched the interned

The Exploit Comcast, a large internet provider for many home and business users, was the target of a sophisticated social engineering / malware attack. The new tech support threat, outlined by MalwareBytes, tricks users into thinking they have an infection on their computer and that they should call a fake Comcast tech support number to

A new rise of IT risks are on the loose, an email scam requesting a fake wire transfer and a new variant of CryptoWall. It is estimated that the fake wire transfer scam has stolen around $1.2 billion and CrytpoWall 3.0, a CryptoWall variant released in January 2015, has already extorted an estimated $325 million.

A team of hackers has managed to crack more than 14,800 supposedly random hashed (encrypted) passwords -90% from a list of 16,449. This act was part of a hacking experiment for a technology website Ars Technica. So, you think you have a strong password? The success rate for each hacker ranged from 62% to 90%,

Here is a perfect illustration to Mistake #5 from our previously published Are You Too Trusting? 5 Common Computer Security Mistakes every SMB owner makes blog article. For those of us who think that small business owners should not worry about becoming cyber-crime victims, a news comes from Marysville, Ohio: a report from a private

Privacy day is here! Here is you homework for today: When signing up or using any sites that store any of your data – READ the privacy policy. Most places share your data with their “affiliates” and if you did not read fine print, it can have some undesirable consequence. Check privacy and location data

Ransomware (also known as cryptoviruses, cryptotrojans or cryptoworms) comprises a class of malware, or a virus which restricts access to the computer system that it infects. In addition it demands a  payment, which is basically a ransom in order for the restriction to be resolved. Complexity of ransomware varies:  from basic HTML pages acting as

As you may have heard/read by now, Chrome fixed 20 security vulnerabilities for it’s 20.0 version. 20/20, if you will. But wait! Aren’t you  amazed (I know I am) that one-digit decimal is no longer heard of when it comes to new releases of software. As consumers, we are used to things that can be