You may have noticed a lot of articles about Ransomware filling this space over the last several months. That’s because Ransomware is becoming increasingly damaging to all kinds of organizations, from small businesses up to medium and large government entities.
If you read about cyber security at all, you have seen articles that claim that you are being hacked today -- even right now. To demonstrate the point, companies like SonicWall and FireEye put up global cyber-attack threat maps, showing how many hacks are happening right now, where the hacks originate, and where the targets are.
In the wake of some very high profile ransomware attacks on state and local governments, healthcare companies, transportation companies, and even IT companies, the FBI recently issued a public service announcement about the growing ransomware threat.
During a time in which hacks, breaches and ransomware attacks are growing at an alarming rate, Microsoft says that successful attacks on systems that use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) are so rare, they don’t even have statistics on them. In an article on ZDnet, Microsoft also says only about 10 percent of their enterprise customers have implemented MFA, which points to a very large missed opportunity to instantly secure corporate data and IT resources.
Managed Server Providers (MSPs) provide IT and security services on a subscription model. Their great benefit is that they allow their clients to enjoy proactive management and protection while still having the ability to control IT costs. An ounce of prevention, the old saying goes, is worth a pound of cure.
Google and Apple may be competing with each other for the best devices and market share, but they are allies in the war against cybercrime. Proof of that was revealed when Google's Project Zero security research team informed Apple that they had discovered an iPhone hack and had identified 14 security flaws in iOS versions 10 through 12. These hacks gave the attackers access to almost every level of the iPhone’s software.
Recently, Equifax announced a settlement with the FTC regarding the breach of its corporate network in 2017. We wrote about this in January of 2018 and described this breach as “one of the most extensive and intrusive data breaches in history” and we asked the question “Could it happen again?” As we’ve seen over the last 18 months, the answer is Yes, with large and small companies having to shell out huge sums in fines, penalties and damages.
How thoroughly did you investigate the vendors for your IT resources? You’ve more than likely reviewed them for what their product does:
Does the VOIP system make calling easier? Yes! You made sure it does before you bought it.
Does the new software help you do you work 30% or 50% faster? Yes, You researched this thoroughly and even spoke with current users.
There are fewer things more certain in business than this: someone is trying to hack into your office computer network and devices every day. And for most businesses, these criminals (or hackers, cyber-criminals, cyber-terrorists, virus writers, or ransomware pirates) will one day be successful.
Microsoft has announced that they will no longer be supporting a long list of their software. On that list could be many programs you might have been depending on for years, which leaves you wondering what you should do about Microsoft ending support for your software.
