When someone asks you to troubleshoot a problem, it’s because there is something that is preventing their solutions from working properly, which they need them to do. In business, this happens all the time. This is why every business provides some semblance of support with their product or service. What happens, however, when the act of troubleshooting makes something worse. One security analyst came across this problem in an unlikely place: Microsoft’s newest desktop operating systems, Windows 10.

It goes without saying that having to rely on a pacemaker isn’t an ideal circumstance for anyone, even considering that the device allows the patient to continue living a fulfilling life. This is why a particular discovery of a European-based research team becomes a shade or two darker: the team has concluded that it’s possible for a novice to send life-threatening signals to the device.

Passwords are a critical security component of any online account. In many cases, they’re the fine line of defense against the horde of threats that exist on the Internet. The problem that many users have with passwords, however, is that good passwords are difficult to remember, and on their own, aren’t necessarily the most secure option. So, how can you make passwords both easier to use and more secure?

There are benefits to being a small business. Being small provides all sorts of flexibility, including the ability to make decisions quickly and without having to go through so many hoops. Plus, you have a smaller workforce, which makes for a more personal experience. However, this also leads to a rather unfortunate side-effect of believing that you’re immune to being hacked.

USB is a popular technology in all modes of today’s society. You’d be hard-pressed to find a modern piece of technology that’s not compatible in some way, shape or form with USB. Thumb drives, chargers, and even portable drives all use this common technology. However, this also means that hackers can take advantage of its popularity to spread malware and other problems.

Has this ever happened to you? You come across a free app online that seems interesting, entertaining, or helpful so you decide to download it? However, as soon as you click the download button you regret it as it begins to install browser toolbars, adware, and other annoying (and potentially dangerous) software onto your device? How can you keep this “crapware” from getting too out of hand, and why is it so popular in the first place?

Hackers are always trying to come up with new ways to steal or corrupt sensitive data. If you don’t take the opportunity to protect your systems, you could be staring down a major data loss incident or security discrepancy. Here are five ways that you can protect your business’s infrastructure from hackers waiting to steal your data.

Tomorrow is the big day--the day when the American people cast their votes for the next President of the United States. While there may still be a few undecided voters out there, something that they may not be considering includes the machines that they will be using to cast their ballots. It turns out that there may be a major problem with some voting systems in the form of weak cyber security.

Halloween is a time when we celebrate what scares us, like ghosts, goblins, ghouls, and the like. For adults, the holiday becomes more lighthearted with each passing year, due to the understanding that such monsters are fictional. Yet, there exists real monsters who know how to play on people’s fears, namely, hackers.

Granted, it’s highly unlikely that a child will visit your front door this Halloween dressed as a hacker. Nevertheless, the digital doors of your business, i.e., your website and network, are very likely to be visited on Halloween--and every day following. While many of these threats aren’t all that scary and are easily thwarted by security tools like a managed firewall and spam-blocking solution, a threat that’s specifically targeting a user has a greater chance of getting through. If such a hacker successfully breaches your security system, that’s when the nightmare of cyber extortion begins.

Cyber extortion comes in many different forms, and it can be very effective when executed properly. The hackers behind cyber extortion prefer using fear to incite unreasonable action from their victims, even if it means using frightful tactics like blackmail and deception.

Many of these methods work similarly to ransomware. Most ransomware will encrypt the files stored on a victim’s computer, and they will only provide a decryption key if the victim pays a fee. The idea here is to use fear to get users to hand over money (often in the form of untraceable cryptocurrency) in exchange for their precious files. This can be particularly devastating for businesses, as it means they could potentially lose access to all of their mission-critical data.

In the majority of ransomware cases, unless an organization has their data backed up, they’re out of luck and won’t be able to retrieve their data without paying the fine. Now that’s scary!

In an even scarier twist on an already sick scam, there are hackers who will steal information from businesses or individuals, and then offer an ultimatum; either pay up, or the sensitive data gets leaked to the Internet. This may be a worse fate because it allows other, more dangerous hackers to access the data and use it for nefarious purposes. This variety of hackers tend to ask somewhere between $250 to $1,200 for the safe return of the victim's data.

IC3, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, received a significant number of reports indicating that users who had data stolen through high-profile data breaches received extortion emails demanding that they pay a fee, or suffer the consequences. This data could be anything from personally identifiable information, like Social Security numbers, to financial information, like credit card numbers. In some cases, hackers would claim to have information that could cause catastrophic damage to victims’ personal lives, like personal photos and correspondences.

Although, we should point out that there’s virtually no way of guaranteeing that these hackers actually have the files they claim to have. They could just be blowing hot air and fishing for a response, hoping that you’ll be gullible enough to give in to their outlandish requests. However, for this same reason, it’s important that you don’t immediately pay the ransom. What guarantee do you have that they’ll give you the decryption key? The answer: none.

Basically, you should never, under any circumstances, give in to fear and pay the ransom offered by the hackers. Doing so doesn’t necessarily save your information (if they even have it) from being posted on the Internet. All it does is give in to the hacker’s demands by providing them with exactly what they want. Why should you give them this satisfaction, especially after the scare they’ve given you?

Instead, to prevent finding yourself at the mercy of a malicious hacker who’s extorting you for everything you’ve got, then we recommend giving Techworks Consulting, Inc. a call at (631) 285-1527 to get the proactive support your company can use to keep from paying the price. We can calmly walk you through the steps of dealing with a devious hacker, as well as offer ways you can shore up your network security in order to prevent any further data breaches.

This Halloween, be safe and make sure to celebrate what looks scary (but really isn’t), instead of finding yourself in a situation that’s actually scary, like being blackmailed by a hacker.

Security is one of the most important parts of running a business, especially today when organizations rely so heavily on their technology solutions. Some of the most dangerous threats lurk on a business’s network, watching and waiting for an opportunity to do some real damage. With the right preventative measures, your business can catch these threats in the act before they can accomplish their goals.

Wireless Internet signals, referred to most commonly as Wi-Fi, are commonplace in every office. Even organizations that don’t often need access to the Internet, like restaurants and coffee shops, have wireless connections available for customers to use. However, just because you can connect to free Wi-Fi, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.

In response to the increasing danger of cyber attacks against computerized cars that are currently in production, Volkswagen has partnered up with three Israeli experts in cybersecurity to form a brand new cybersecurity company dedicated to designing solutions intended to protect such advanced cars and their passengers.

Disasters are an unfortunate part of doing business in a technology-heavy workplace environment. You need to expect the worst, but it’s often difficult to predict what types of disasters your organization will have to endure. There are a few universal disasters that you’ll encounter, regardless of where in the world your business operates.

Windows is perhaps the most widely-used computing tool in the workplace, and as such, it remains a huge target for hackers of all kinds. Criminals are always trying to uncover vulnerabilities in the operating system, but this time around, Microsoft has truly outdone themselves. Windows 10’s built-in security, according to hackers at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, allows for the most secure Windows operating system in several years.

Security professionals have been at war with hackers ever since the Internet was created, but a recent NATO decision has affirmed the fact that cybersecurity is a real-world problem, and one that needs to be fixed. Just like land, air, and sea, cyberspace has become a battlefield, albeit a very different kind of battlefield.

Augmented reality is a growing trend in the technology industry, and perhaps one of the best known uses of it today can be found in the extremely popular mobile device app, Pokemon Go. However, hackers have seized the opportunity to infect players who want to “catch ‘em all” with a backdoor called DroidJack - something that certainly won’t help gamers “be the very best.”

Verizon has taken to publishing a compilation report analyzing data breach statistics with the help of industry partners, a report that is widely regarded as a must-read for the industry. A brief review of the latest edition’s executive summary revealed where information security vulnerabilities lie in industries worldwide and, even more helpfully, what shape those vulnerabilities took. The Data Breach Investigations Report, or DBIR, pulled no punches in outlining what kind of attacks happened in the past year, and how.

Twitter recently experienced a major hack where it saw 33 million user login credentials stolen. What may be more alarming than the hack itself is what the stash of stolen credentials reveal about users’ password security habits. Or, to put it more accurately, the lack thereof.

It’s important that your business uses the most recent version of any operating systems and software solutions used by your workforce, but Internet Explorer “fans” have had a rough start to 2016. Nearly a quarter of all Windows PCs are still using unsupported versions of Internet Explorer, half of which are still running Windows XP.

Hackers have always gone after industries that are profitable, or hold sensitive information that can be lucrative when sold under the table. As such, retailers that accumulate financial credentials are often hit by hacks. The entertainment industry is no different, and hackers continue to grow craftier in their pursuit of wealth and power. Not even Steam, the PC gamer’s most valuable software solution, is safe from the dangers of hacking attacks.