Tips For Detecting and Avoiding Malware

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Malware, also known as malicious software, is a program that are used to crash mobile devices and computers, capture personal data, spy on users, and commit fraud.

Cyber thieves and hackers use different methods to install malware, which include spyware and viruses, on mobile devices and computers without the consent of the user.

Preventing malware from getting installed is the best way to combat this cybersecurity threat. Also, there are ways to detect the problem early in case cybercriminals manage to infect your system.

Tips to Keep Your Computer and Mobile Devices Safe From Malware

Update Your Computer’s Security

• -       Protect your mobile devices and computer using an anti-virus software or anti-malware software. Don’t forget to set up the firewall, too.
• -       Updates and patches of your security software, operating system, and browsers, should be downloaded automatically. So be sure that all of them are set to make automatic updates.
• -       You should never forget to back up your files on a regular basis.

Be Careful Of What You Download and Install

• -       You should verify any software that you need to install. Make sure that they come from trusted and known websites.
• -       The security settings of your browsers must be high enough to detect unauthorized or automatic downloads.

Check Your Emails

• -       Even if the email you receive is from a company that you trust, you still need to be careful. Phishing emails are very common and you don’t want to be one of its many victims.
• -       Never click on a link within an email. If you have to do so, it’s better to type the address in a separate browser window.
• -       Don’t open any attachments unless you are sure that it comes from a legitimate company or a person you know.
•      Be Careful of Popups
• -       Install a popup blocker.
• -       If you don’t want to install a popup blocker, avoid clicking on links that appear in popup windows.
• -       Never purchase anything that appears in a popup.

There are instances when even your most vigilant efforts fail to protect you. Here are a few tips to help you determine if your system has been infected.

• -       Check for any unusual behaviour in your computer like crashing, repeated error messages, and crashing.
• -       Look for an increase in popup advertisements.
• -       Look for new icons or toolbars that you never installed.
• -       Check if your system keeps on sending you to unexpected homepages or websites.

If you’ve determined that your system has been infected with malware, here are a few things you need to do.

• -       Don’t use the computer for banking, shopping, or any other purpose that requires you to use your passwords or other personal information.
• -       Check if your security software is up to date.
• -       Scan your system using your security software to look for and get rid of malware and viruses. Restart your system.
• -       Hire an IT consulting expert if the system is still infected.
• -       If your employer owns the system, don’t forget to inform the company’s IT experts.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let us help protect your system against viruses, malware, and other threats to your cybersecurity.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Wilmington, NC 28412
(910) 218-9255
http://manageditserviceswilmington.com

Cities Served:
Wilmington, Silver Lake, Sea Breeze, Carolina Beach, Eagle Island, Leland, Wrightsboro

How to Identify Phishing Scams?

Scammers use text messages or email to trick you into providing them your personal details. However, there are several things you can do to protect yourself against cybercriminals.

How To Identify Phishing

Scammers use text messages or emails to trick you to giving out your personal information. They may attempt to steal crucial passwords, Social Security numbers, or account numbers. In case they obtain those details, they can get access to your bank, email, or other important accounts. Scammers launch countless phishing attacks such as these on a daily basis and in most cases, they are successful. A report from the FBI’sInternet Crime Complaint Center said that people have lost $57 million to phishing scams in a single year.

Scammers tend to update their methods however, there are signs that can help you identify if it is a phishing text message or email.

Phishing textmessages and emails may appear like they are from a firm that you know and trust. They may appear like they are from a credit card company, a bank, a social networking site, an online store, an app, or even an online payment website.

Phishing text messages and emails often tell a story so that you can be tricked into opening an attachment or clicking a link. They may do the following:

1.    Say that they noticed suspicious log in attempts or activities.

2.    Claim that there is an issue with your payment information or your account.

3.    Say that you should confirm some of your personal details.

4.    Include a fake invoice.

5.    Want you to make a payment by clicking on a link.

6.    Say that you are eligible to register for a refund from the government.

7.    Offer a coupon that you can use to claim free items.

At first look, the email or text message appear like it is real, it is not, actually. The scammers who send these emails are not connected to the real company that they pretend to be. Phishing emails could have consequences for individuals who provide their information to these scammers unknowingly. And they could harm the reputation of the businesses that they are spoofing.

Protect Yourself From Phishing Attacks

Your email spam filter an keep several phishing emails out of your inbox. However, scammers will always try to outsmart these spam filters. Therefore, it is a good idea to add more layers of protection. Here are some tips that can help you protect yourself.

1.    Use a computer software and make sure to update it automatically so it could deal with all security threats.

2.    Set up a software on your mobile phone and set it to update automatically. This will provide critical protection against various security threats.

3.    Use multi factor authentication as it offers extra security. It will need at least two credentials to log in to your personal account.

4.    Back your data regularly. But you need to make sure that these backups are not connected to your home network. You can store it in a cloud storage or in an external hard drive.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you want to protect your business against phishing attacks.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Wilmington, NC 28412
(910) 218-9255
http://manageditserviceswilmington.com

Cities Served:
Wilmington, Silver Lake, Sea Breeze, Carolina Beach, Eagle Island, Leland, Wrightsboro

What are the effects of phishing on business?

Protect Your Company Data Webinar
June 25  1:00 EST
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In today’s modern time, companies need to have robust cybersecurity measures because they have become the primary targets of many criminals. Different attack methods are used but the easiest and most successful one to undertake is phishing.

Companies must be able to defend themselves against phishing and other types of online threats. In order to do that, you need to have a good understanding of how it works and how it affects your business.

What is phishing?

Phishing is a cyberattack that uses fraudulent websites and email to deceive individuals into downloading malware or giving away sensitive and confidential information, or both. It relies on the complacency and carelessness of people. A phishing attack is usually classified as a social attack or social engineering. Employees are being targeted by all sorts of phishing attacks everyday.

Phishing attacks continue to rise all over the world and they become more complicated. Even the largest firms in the world are not immune to such attacks and experience over 1,000 phishing attacks every month. Here are a few things you need to know.

• -       64% of companies have faced a phishing attack last year
• -       30% of messages used for phishing attacks were opened by targeted users
• -       32% of data breaches in the year 2018
• -       78% of cyberespionage incidents involved phishing
• -       51% of the phishing attacks had links to malware

How does phishing work?

Becoming a victim of a phishing campaign is easy. The “You have a FedEx package” is a good example. A person will get a message that appears to be from the legitimate email address of FedEx. In itself, the email is a customized message that instructs recipient to click on a link that says “package tracking,” but it will actually launch a malware. A lot of phishing attacks follow this same technique or pattern.

Spoofing is another method of phishing. In this hacking technique, there is a link in the email message that leads to a website that has been “spoofed.” The website is fraudulent as it is made to appear like the true website of a legitimate company. It will trick the careless or busy employee to key in the credentials into this spoofed website. When they enter the fake page, the phisher will then load the malware into the device of the user without the knowledge of the latter.

What are the costs?

Several data breaches have been caused by phishing attacks. A data breach costs an average of $3.86 million, as per the figures released by IBM. But these numbers alone is not enough to demonstrate the results of a phishing attack. So, here are a few things you need to know.

Reputation

Companies need trust in order to establish trust. The brand can be tarnished if it has been involved with a serious breach. It will greatly alter the brand’s perception into one that is unreliable for customers, partners, and employees. The foundation of the market capitalization of your company is your brand. Millions in market capitalization can be sabotaged because of the negative effects of a phishing attack.

Intellectual property

Intellectualproperty theft can be devastating. Phishing could compromise recipes, customer lists, research, formulas, and trade secrets. For companies in technology, food, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing, one patent or design that is stolen amounts to hundreds of millions in wasted research investment.

Direct Costs

The direct costs from phishing are well reported and documented. A 2018 Internet Crime report from the FBI said phishing as well as other types of email fraud come first in internet crimes in terms of the cost.

• -       BEC or business email compromise attacks has cost businesses in the United States more than $1.2 billion
• -       Gift card scams have cost the country $70 million
• -       Direct deposit phishing cost US companies more than $100 million

You also have to pay fines if your company suffers phishing attacks. You’ll have to pay to regulatory bodies like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability. Checking the incident and giving compensation to victims whose data have been stolen can reach millions.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. and let us help you protect your business, staff, and clients from phishing attacks.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Wilmington, NC 28412
(910) 218-9255
http://manageditserviceswilmington.com

Cities Served:
Wilmington, Silver Lake, Sea Breeze, Carolina Beach, Eagle Island, Leland, Wrightsboro

Monetary Demands Are Skyrocketing For Ransomware Decryptions

Ransomware attacks have evolved quite a lot over the course of the past year, and have become one of the most visible threats organizations of all sizes face.

That is, based on recently published research conducted by Group-IB, which analyzed the rapidly changing threat landscape. Their findings should disturb every business owner.

Here's a quick overview:

First and foremost, ransomware attacks have become much more commonplace. The year 2019 saw a 40 percent increase over 2018, which is a clear indication that hackers around the world are increasingly seeing ransomware strains as their preferred vehicle for attacking organizations.

Second, the average size of the ransom demanded has been steadily increasing, moving from just $6,000 to a staggering $84,000. The focus is on large corporations and government agencies being the driving factor behind the dramatic increase.

In terms of tactics, far and away, the most common means of gaining an initial foothold onto a corporate or government network is RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). RDP serves as the point of entry for 70 percent-80 percent of the attacks.

Aside from this, incident response teams report that exploit kits and spear phishing campaigns were also used regularly, though these were vastly overshadowed by RDP. The teams responding to Group-IB's information requests also noted that more advanced ransomware actors relied on advanced methods that gave them access to more valuable targets.

The methods the hackers used include:

• Compromising MSP's (Managed Service Providers)
• Exploiting un-patched vulnerabilities in applications
• Compromising supply chains

The bottom line is that no one is safe, and the price of a successful breach has increased dramatically. Worse, an increasing percentage of hackers are now demanding not one, but two ransoms from each target they hit. The initial payment to unlock encrypted files and a second payment to delete their copies of stolen files, rather than publishing them for all to see.

The best way to keep your company safe from this particular threat is to minimize your reliance on RDP and to make sure you've got a robust backup plan in place. If you haven't yet taken both steps, the time to do so is now.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our IT team help keep your company safe by setting up the most effective cybersecurity strategies to protect your business against online threats. 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Wilmington, NC 28412
(910) 218-9255
http://manageditserviceswilmington.com

Cities Served:
Wilmington, Silver Lake, Sea Breeze, Carolina Beach, Eagle Island, Leland, Wrightsboro

Phishing Attacks Increase As Pandemic Scams Flourish

Phishing attacks increase around the world as scammers exploit COVID-19 uncertainty. 

Pandemic scammers are pulling out all the stops as phishing attacks increase in both frequency and creativity. In the wake of COVID-19 and the changes that it wrought including an increasing reliance on a remote workforce and virtual meetings plus cloud-based operations and storage, bad actors are scrambling to profit.

Get tips to help secure a remote workforce fast and insight into the unexpected risks that remote operations bring in our Remote Working Cybersecurity resource package.

With an over 600% increase, phishing attacks are a plague on cybersecurity teams around the world. UN cybersecurity officials estimate that a new phishing attack happens every 39 seconds. Most people are aware of phishing and know that they should be suspicious of fake-looking email. But they’re still falling for them. What can businesses do to combat this phishing attack increase and keep their data and systems safe?

One word: training. It’s something you hear about frequently in cybersecurity circles, and it’s always at the forefront of the conversation because it works. As cybersecurity professionals including CISA  sound the alarm about the precipitous increase in phishing, companies should immediately start refreshing their phishing training. Well-trained staffers are the first and best line of defense that an organization can deploy to stop phishing attacks.

Download our eBook “One Phish, Two Phish” to get the facts on phishing and actionable intelligence about steps that companies can take immediately to defend against phishing attacks.

We’re passionate about the training and testing tools that we’ve created for BullPhish ID. We know that frequent, up-to-date training and testing works, and we want to help companies resist phishing attacks and protect their data. We never stop innovating to make sure that every staffer is ready to face the latest threats.

Take a look at what BullPhish ID has to offer by the numbers:

• Over 80 phishing kits (including test email, related landing page, and reply email) 
• 50 security video campaigns (short animated video with test and reply email)  
• 27 training videos in 8 languages 
• Training and testing materials available in 8 languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish (Iberian/European), and Spanish (Latin) 
• 6 new kits and 4 new courses added every month including COVID-19 scam kits 
• Take a look at BullPhish ID’s state-of-the-art training and testing in this 10-minute video demo. 

It’s clear that we’ve created a dynamic phishing training and testing solution that’s ready to address the complexities of today’s phishing attacks – at a price that fits into any cybersecurity budget. And beefing up phishing defense training is always going to be more affordable than cleaning up the mess after a data breach or ransomware disaster.

As cybercriminals have pursued exceedingly more sophisticated vectors of attack, we’ve matched them by providing increasingly more sophisticated training to empower staffers at any organization to stay vigilant against their tricks. Contact ID Agent to get started with BullPhish ID now and save headaches later.

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Call SpartanTec Inc. today for a review of your companies security.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Wilmington, NC 28412
(910) 218-9255
http://manageditserviceswilmington.com

Cities Served:
Wilmington, Silver Lake, Sea Breeze, Carolina Beach, Eagle Island, Leland, Wrightsboro