Identity Thefts Had Huge Surge in 2020

 

Trends come and go in the hacking and cybersecurity world. A few years ago, stealing credit card numbers was the crime of choice for most of the hackers out there. They've since begin to gravitate toward health related information. The two big trends in 2020 were the rampant increase in ransomware attacks against companies of all shapes and sizes and the preference of hackers to focus on identity theft.

Both of these crimes saw huge increases last year, but the number of identities stolen last year reached a mind-boggling record of 1.4 million in 2020, which is more than double the number reported in 2019. While there are a number of different factors that have fed into this trend, the biggest and most influential one seems to be the ongoing pandemic, which has created a whole raft of opportunities for hackers to exploit.

The government's Paycheck Protection Program has created a confusing maze that can be hard for some out of work people to navigate. The hackers and scammers of the world are only too happy to insert themselves in the process, offering assistance as a ruse to gain personal information.

In a similar vein, with tens of millions of people out of work and state unemployment systems struggling under the strain, there have been delays in getting benefits that sometimes span months. Again, this raises legitimate questions which hackers and scammers are only to happy to pretend to answer. They use social engineering techniques and pretend to offer assistance in getting needed benefits more quickly, only to steal the target's identity.

Given this, the IRS has recommended that all taxpayers at least consider taking the time to establish an Identity Protection PIN when filing their taxes this year. This is essentially a form of two factor authentication that will help ensure that if you're due a refund from the IRS, someone who has stolen your identity won't file taxes on your behalf and steal it from you.

It's sound advice but sadly, this won't be the last threat we'll need to be mindful of in the months ahead. Stay vigilant out there. Work with professionals offering IT Services Wilmington NC.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our team of IT experts help protect your company and your clients from identity theft and other online threats. 

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

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

The Importance of General Software Patches and Updates

 

You’re most likely familiar with those small pop up windows. They let you know that there are available software updates for your mobile device, tablet, laptop, and computer. You may be tempted to just click on the button that says remind me later. But you must not do that. Or at least don’t delay the update for too long if you want to ensure computer security.

Software updates are crucial to your cybersecurity and digital safety. The sooner you do the update, then the sooner you will feel assured and confident that the device involved is secure until a new update comes.

Do you have any idea why these updates are so important? There are many reasons why and they are listed below.

They do a lot of things.

There are many benefits offered by software updates and they are all about the revisions. These may include fixing security holes that may have been discovered and repairing or getting rid of computer bugs. Updates could add brand new features to your device and get rid of outdated ones. If you don’t have an in house IT team or you prefer outsourcing, you can hire IT Services Wilmington NC.

It helps patch security flaws.

Hackers like security flaws or software vulnerabilities. These are security weaknesses or holes that are found in an operating system or software program. Hackers can make full use of the weakness by creating code that will target the vulnerability. The code will then be packed into a malware, which is also referred to as a malicious software.

An exploit may infect your device without doing anything on your part aside from checking out a rouge website, playing an infected media, or opening a message that has been compromised.

What will happen next?  The malware will steal the data on the device and the attacker will be allowed to get control of your computer and then encrypt your files. The software update will include the patches for the software. They will cover the security holes to make sure that hackers are kept out all the time.

Protect Your Data

You most likely have a lot of documents as well as personal information on all of your devices. Your PII or personally identifiable information from the email to the bank account is important for the cybercriminals.

They could use it to do crimes using your name or to sell them to the dark web to allow others to make crimes. In case it is a ransomware attack, they may encrypt your data. You may have to pay the ransom to get an encryption key if you want take back control of your device. Or worse, you may pay a ransom but still not get back control of your device. You have to update the operating system and the software if you want to keep hackers out of your system.

It is not just about you.

IT Support Wilmington NC may focus on you but you have to think about other people too. If your device gets infected with a virus, you may pass it on to your business associates, family, or friends. That is why you would like to keep your systems and software updated. You should use a trusted antivirus program to keep your computer and other devices safe and secure. However, you need to know that having an antivirus protection is not enough.

You deserve the best.

Updates will patch the security holes and they could also improve existing ones and add new features. You don’t want to keep yourself from using the latest and the best right? So, updates are about you. Your program will have a chance at becoming more stable and avoid crashing. An update may also boost the program performance and improve the speed because you deserve all of these things.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our team of IT experts help make sure that your apps, software, and operating systems are always updated to keep cybercriminals at bay.

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

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

The Difference Between Proactive And Reactive Cybersecurity

 

Most companies don’t make enough preparations against incidents until it is too late. Do not wait for a data breach to happen before your company takes action. Here are some tips that your team must do to come up with a cybersecurity approach that is proactive.

Why your business needs a proactive cybersecurity strategy?

A proactive cybersecurity strategy includes adding processes that will identify threats before they happen and pre-emptively identifying security weaknesses. Meanwhile a reactive approach includes responding to events such as data breaches and hacks after they happen.

Tasks involved in a reactive cybersecurity such as log monitoring, SIEM, and patch management are mainly focused on fixing immediate problems and incidents and stopping repeat attacks or technological disruptions from taking place later on. However, a proactive approach uses tasks that let your company to determine and prevent incidents from becoming a threat.

Why it’s better to have a proactive approach?

There many benefits to using proactive cybersecurity approaches. Cyberthreats are becoming more complex and smarter than ever, you have to be ahead of all these before they can cause damage to your company.

A proactive method will help define a baseline level of digital security that consist of the needed starting point wherein software, processes, as well as professionals are required to protect your company. When that is established, the reporting of possible threats as well as responding to incidents could be automated so that your IT support team would be notified right away and take the needed action in real time.

Aside from that, not boosting your technology defenses as the value of digital information and value of data to grow would cost you a lot.

How to establish a proactive cybersecurity defense?

Moving from a reactive to a proactive cybersecurity strategy will involve the gradual improvement of your existing strategy. Make sure that these important features are included in the managed IT services Wilmington NC.

Disk protection/encryption – encrypting hard drives will promote data security in case that you lose physical devices, or if they are misplaced or stolen.

Security awareness training – training internal employees will help keep your staff updated about the latest cybersecurity practices and what security threats they need to avoid.

Multifactor authentication – granting and identifying access only to your preferred group or individuals will help set in place data security, proper access control can be ensured with a multi step authentication.

Cybersecurity risk assessment – in the contemporary technology environment, companies must have an indepth plan for the management of all cybersecurity risks.

Vulnerability scanning – could help automate the tasks of checking and determining weaknesses and opening in your current cybersecurity defenses before a data breach happens.

Managed security operations center – with an IT servicesWilmington NC, you will have a soc or managed security operations center wherein a team of IT experts takes care of the essential monitoring and incident response tasks.

SpartanTec, Inc. provides quality IT support Wilmington NC to monitor and protect your company from cyberthreats.

 

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

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

How Does Ransomware Get Into Your Computer?

 

Today’s digital landscape is filled with various hazards such as identity theft, spyware, and viruses. There’s one particular threat that has become a virulent and common threat on the internet these days. It’s called ransomware. It is a software-based computer security threat that’s already wreak havoc on various industries. It has cost companies billions of dollars every year and that’s why IT services Wilmington NC is crucial.

What is ransomware?

The very first ransomware attack was reported back in 1989 through the AIDS Trojan horse. It was only in the early 2000s when the public knew about this threat. Since 2005, ransomware has evolved at a very alarming rate.

Ransomware is pretty simple. Rather than a virus that immediately replicates itself throughout the whole system, the modern day ransomware will attack by locking out the users from the system using a highly advanced encryption.

When it’s in place, the hackers will ask for a ransom if you want to regain control of your system. In some instances, access won’t be restored even if you paid the ransom and followed their demands. Ransomware is illegal and it is considered as digital extortion. Hackers who get caught will face serious consequences. Unfortunately, a lot of them are never tracked and arrested and that’s why you need to bolster your cybersecurity.

How does ransomware control your system?

Modern networks and computers are susceptible to this type of cyberattack. There are several methods for ransomware to control of your system, according to the experts in IT support Wilmington NC.

Suspicious email attachments

You must always be careful when it comes to opening attachments from your email even if you think that it’s from a reliable source. The computer of the original sender may be infected without them knowing. It makes them an effective host for the code of the ransomware.

Additionally, attachments that came from an unknown or suspicious email address must be ignored and deleted right away from your inbox.

Fraudulent websites

Hackers may also use websites to spread ransomware to networks and computers. If you want to protect yourself, you need to make sure that you download and install files that are from a secure and trusted website. In many instances, you must see https instead of http on the url address.

Fake software

Sneaky hackers are popular for creating fake apps that are just coverups for ransomware. Taking the needed precaution and downloading from apps or software from reliable and trustworthy sources is crucial if you want to avoid fraudulent and fake software.

User Installation

In some instances, when a disgruntled employee still has access to the network of your company, the employee could intentionally install the ransomware. The worker doesn’t have to make the ransomware. They just have to download and install the infected file and this will lock the whole network.

There are steps you can take to avoid the risks of your network getting infected with a ransomware. You must install a malware removal and antivirus system. You should also set up regular and automatic updates to your operating system. Reduce your risks by enlisting the help of an IT expert that offers managed IT services Wilmington NC.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our team of IT experts assist you in protecting your company and network against ransomware and other types of cyberattacks.

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

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

Why Does Your Company Need A Managed Firewall?

 

MSSPs or managed security service providers offer a managed firewall service that can help with your company’s firewall operation, monitoring, administration, and maintenance. The MSSP can assist in the establishment, maintenance, and modification of network firewall rules, monitoring of your network, as well as providing reports, feedback, and analysis.

Based on the service agreement’s extent, the MSSP can carry out firewall Wilmington NC installation, web content filtering, as well as application control, as they can help you determine which web content and applications to block. They will also assist in managing updates and patching.

Does your business need a managed firewall?

Firewalls are crucial in protecting the flow of confidential data and other network traffic. Firms that do not have the employee resources to manage security devices and firewall can close the data security gaps and help prevent data breaches through the use of a managed firewall service. Most of the firms that SpartanTec, Inc. work with have an internal IT personnel who will manage their firewalls. However, there are others that choose to use an experienced managed firewall service so that they could better concentrate on their core business goals.

Common Firewall Management Problems

IT support experts usually come across serious security problems in the field in relation to the right firewall configuration and management. The common issues they’ve encountered are as follows:

Multiple firewalls – serious security issues might overlooked if there are multiple firewalls but the staff is insufficient or lacks critical skills needed for their maintenance.

No Firewall Auditing – many companies don’t conduct firewall auditing. It is a process that involves checking and auditing the company’s firewall.

Wrong Understanding About Firewalls – not all IT personnel are familiar with the ins and outs of firewall management. This could create a problem as it could lead to firewall mismanagement.

Lack of Oversight – Some IT support personnel are expected to make things work. This could lead to risky or careless configurations, which will leave your company network vulnerable.

Security versus Access and Convenience – Some employees may change the rules once the security analyst leaves so that executives and other staff members get easier access to the network.

Not PCI Compliant – many companies don’t know that they should hire an IT support  provider that is PCI compliant and can offer you with a current AOC or Attestation of Compliance as proof.  

In order to protect the locations of your organizations effectively, you have to set a closely managed firewall. With SpartanTec, Inc. you will be informed when potential threats and risks are identified so you could remain secure at all of your locations, protect the data of your organization, and meet the compliance requirements.

Managed security for your extended company network, world class managed firewalls, top notch vulnerability scanning techniques, and a reliable managed firewall service to ensure the proper installation and maintenance of the firewalls.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our team of IT experts provide you with the reliable managed firewall service that you need.

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

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

Why CFOs Need to be Drivers of Security Stewardship

 When a natural disaster hits, communities are often caught off guard and have to rush to respond. More often than not, these communities didn’t anticipate the disaster and therefore are operating in reactive mode. If they had planned ahead, much of the trauma and impact of the disaster could have been mitigated and controlled more quickly.

The same challenge can apply to an organization that experiences a security breach. CFOs and Board members are always keeping an eye on costs and are focused on appropriate budgeting and spending to meet bottom-line targets.  However, if a meaningful security breach happens, expense controls can go out the window as companies desperately try to close the breach, bring systems back online, and beef up previously lacking security defenses. Even worse, the brand is affected and top-line sales are often lost.

The cost of cybercrime to corporations has skyrocketed, but investments in security simply haven’t kept up. The typical company only spends between 1-5% of revenue on IT security, which seems small when compared to the risk of lost sales, productivity, and brand damage associated with a breach.

 

 

Think of one of the most massive security breaches ever that happened a few years ago at a national retail chain. Following disclosure of their breach, the company’s sales declined, causing the company to miss their Q4 guidance. Customers were terrified about their financial privacy, the company’s stock fell, and the CEO was fired as a result.  There have been many since, from medical and government organizations, to all types of global businesses. Each time, valuable information is lost and C-level leaders often lose their jobs or face tough scrutiny.

Cost is not the only issue.  Another key concern is the current shortage of skilled security professionals, Cybersecurity has no national boundaries, and we are seeing increasing attacks targeted at emerging economies. In fact, two of the highest profile breaches of this past year were not because of their lack of security investment, but due to the lack of skilled professionals. In addition, new security regulations are being implemented, and companies including Board members - will be held accountable if they do not meet these new requirements.

Today, the reality is that when dealing with a security event, the majority of organizations continue to work in reactive mode. We need to step away from merely managing breaches and start working to develop a culture of security, moving out of reactive and into proactive mode.

One could argue that the role of the C-suite, and especially that of the CFO, has transformed with respect to this trend.  The CFO in particular could very well now be called the CPO – Chief Protection Officer. If you think about it, cybersecurity Wilmington NC potentially puts a company’s finances and value at risk, challenges compliance and regulatory strategies, and increases the need for mature policies and practices that safeguard a company’s data and overall security. A CFO as a strategic business and risk management executive should have significant oversight and guidance in these areas. They are no longer “IT only” considerations.

Not Just Responsibility But Stewardship

It has now become table stakes for the CFO and Board to be at the forefront of proactive approaches to security in modern organizations. Although there are ways that security staff and organizations can mitigate the damage resulting from increasingly frequent and sophisticated attacks, they don’t control the budget, and as the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

There are more than a few naysayers who claim that the cost of adequate security is more than the cost of recovering from a breach. This is not, however, a sustainable or responsible approach. All evidence indicates that breaches will become more frequent, attacks will become more persistent and sophisticated, and the costs of reacting to these breaches will continue to increase. Clearly, brands, jobs, and share prices are all at risk.

Why Security and Stewardship Go Hand In Hand

Stewardship goes far beyond making money or ensuring the financial success of an organization. It means caring for and protecting the long-term interests of the company, and thinking holistically about the diverse stakeholders touched by the business. However, when it comes to security, the traditional stewards of the organization are not always equipped with the necessary perspective, skills, or knowledge to do this. As a result, security often ends up being viewed as a cost center rather than an essential element of risk management.

But if stewardship is really about the protection and oversight of a company’s assets, both tangible and intangible, then the most critical assets are data, IP, reputation, customer trust, and loyalty. Which means security needs to be a central pillar of that stewardship. Because, as we have seen all too frequently, poor security can undermine or destroy all of these assets, and instead create a loss of value through unnecessary volatility.

More importantly, as stewards of their respective organizations, Boards and executives have a responsibility to their customers, their intellectual property, and their shareholders to ensure the safety and security of their data and systems. Again, this ultimately comes down to thinking about security as a stewardship issue to be addressed directly by the Board.

We Can Never Eliminate Risk

We can never entirely eliminate risk. It is inherent in everything we do. Given the low cost for cybercriminals to generate a data breach, the difficulty in locating and prosecuting them, and the lucrative reward of a successful breach, it’s safe to say there will always be attacks and attempts at data theft.

However, just because we can’t eliminate risk doesn’t mean that we can’t manage it. This has always been a key function of the Board – assess risk and make appropriate tradeoffs to manage it, while considering the impact across the organization.  Security is no different. IT departments can, and should, consider what innovation must be applied to protect the business – for example, pursuing the implementation of new, essential strategies, such as internal segmentation should be their area of expertise.  But prioritizing what business assets should be accessible by whom, both within and external to the business, must be the purview of the Board, and should be the determination that then leads to action by IT.

In conjunction with the CISO and the rest of the C-Suite, the Board must consider and proactively manage security versus many other factors, including cost, performance, agility, resource allocation (including talent), autonomy and empowerment, strategic initiatives, projects and planning, and go-to-market.

Out of IT and HR and into the Boardroom

Additionally, some of the most critical areas for consideration are policy and information governance. These are areas where the Board and senior leadership can really make a substantial contribution to an organization’s security. While the technical details can be worked out by a well-funded, savvy, and empowered IT department, and HR and other line of business staff can address specific elements of policy and procedure, high level decisions on policy and the organization’s approach to information security needs to come from the offices of C-level executives.

As the arms race among cybercriminals, nation-states, organizations, and the security community heats up, this fundamental shift in approach to cybersecurity will not only keep the good guys one step ahead, but also ensure that organizations can respond swiftly and appropriately when breaches occur. And if recent history has taught us anything, it’s not a matter of if but when they will occur.

 

*Originally published by American Security Today on August 4, 2016.

https://americansecuritytoday.com/cfos-need-drivers-security-stewardship/

 

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now to know more about our managed IT services and DarkWebID Monitoring Service.

 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 420-9760
https://www.spartantec.com/

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

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence

What is Cybersecurity and Why Do You Need It?

 

Manufacturing firms are becoming more interconnected and the risks to the production systems, supply chain, and confidential data are rising significantly. Cybersecurity must be an important concern or for all manufacturers.

Small and medium sized firms face greater risks to being attacked by cybercriminals because they have more digital assets to choose from compared to other individual consumers. But they also have less security compared to a bigger company that has a lot of resources.

However, what kind of cyberattacks should you be on the lookout for and how can you prevent them? In nearly all cases, the objective of cyberattack is to steal and use the sensitive data for their own gain. Hackers search for financial information, proprietary designs, employee records, and client data. Hackers may also target your company to use your systems for purposes of cyberblackmailing. Once they’re hacked, they would ask for big sums of money if you want your network to be released unharmed.

If you want to fight the threat from cybercriminals, the first thing you have to know is the kind of cyberthreats that are out there.

Common Cyberattacks against Manufacturers

Advance persistent threats – APT are cyberattacks that are long term. They break into your network in several phases so they could avoid detection.

Distributed Denial of Service – DdoS attacks happen when a server is overloaded intentionally with several requests, with the objective of shutting down the network system or website of their target.

Inside Attack – When somebody that has administrative privileges misuses their credentials intentionally to get access to a confidential information from the company.

Malware – A malicious software covers any kind of program that is introduced into the computer of their victims with the intention to gain unauthorized access or cause damage.

Password Attacks – Brute force, dictionary, and keylogging attacks are the three types of password attacks.

Phishing – It is the most common type of cyberattack, which involves gathering confidential information such as credit card information and login credentials through a real looking website, generally sent to unsuspecting people through an email.

How To Lessen The Odds of Getting Hacked

Protect your network against spyware, viruses, and other cyberthreats - Install antivirus and antispyware software on your computers and update them regularly.

Secure your networks – protect your internet connection by installing and setting up a firewall. All information must be encrypted, too. In case you have a Wi-Fi network, it must be hidden and secure. To conceal it, you have to set up the router or wireless access point so that it doesn’t broadcast the name of the network or the SSID. You should also password protect the router.

Set in place security policies and practices to safeguard sensitive information - Create policies on how your staff needs to deal with and protect PII or personally identifiable information as well as other confidential data. You have to outline what will happen if they violate the cybersecurity Wilmington NC policies of your company.

Educate your staff about cyberthreats – teach your employees about cyberthreats and how they can protect your business data.

Use strong passwords – implement multifactor authentication that needs more information than just a single password to gain access. Consult your vendors that deal with sensitive data like financial institutions to check if they can provide multifactor authentication for your account.

 

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let our team of IT experts set up the most effective cybersecurity strategies to protect your business from online threats.

 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
(843) 420-9760
https://www.spartantec.com/

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

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence