Coleman Technologies Blog

The Basics: Viruses and Malware
Your computer depends on software to run, whether it’s the operating system or the software solutions on the device itself. Viruses are created to make changes to this code, and the results can vary in scope and scale. They can go from being minor annoyances to major time wasters. Malware is a bit more dangerous in scope. It stands for “malicious software,” and its intentions are right in the name. Hackers develop malware for various purposes, but for the most part, it’s with the intention of stealing, altering, or destroying data, depending on what nefarious plot the hacker is using it for.

The More Dangerous: Ransomware and Spyware
There are other more specialized types of malware that are designed for specific purposes. Ransomware, for instance, is designed to extort money from unsuspecting victims. It encrypts files located on the infected device, only decrypting them when a ransom has been paid to the hacker responsible. These kinds of threats are quite popular with hackers as they can be used to target a considerable number of victims in a short amount of time. Spyware is also a popular threat that allows hackers to steal information in a covert manner through various means, including backdoor infiltrations, keyloggers, and so much more. This is particularly dangerous to your business’ intellectual property.

The Vehicle: Spam and Phishing Attacks
Cybersecurity threats are the most dangerous when they can be concealed. After all, you never hear in the news about how a brute-force attack exposed millions of health records or passwords to the world. No, the most devastating data breaches are typically those that occur over an extended period of time, shielded from the eyes of security professionals and network administrators. Spam and phishing attacks that deceive users into clicking on links or downloading suspicious files play a key role in allowing threats into a network. It’s more important than ever before to be cautious while online, as there is no telling who might try to trick you into exposing your network to threats.

Protect Your Business with Proactive Tools and Best Practices
Thankfully, while it’s easier for threats to make their way through your defenses, the defenses put into place by businesses are much more substantial than in previous years. A Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution is easily the most comprehensive security tool on the market today, combining well-known methods of cybersecurity into an easy and accessible package. This includes a firewall, antivirus, spam blocker, and content filter to minimize the chances of threats manifesting on your network in the first place, as well as solutions to mitigate threats that do make it through your defenses. This can be further augmented through industry best practices that dictate how and when to share data.

To learn more about how your organization can take advantage of security solutions, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

Of course, it’s not entirely the fault of the user, even if they do represent part of the blame for this. Internet of Things devices are well-known security threats, but it’s largely because of the way they are designed and developed. Even if the user was aware of the security issues presented by these devices, the truth is that there isn’t anything they can do about it barring just not using them outright.

This is due to the fact that the security issues found in Internet of Things devices are built into them, particularly because the developers of the devices don’t build them with security in mind. If you think about it in terms of what they are used to building--devices that don’t have any kind of connectivity--it all begins to make sense. A manufacturer who produces a smart blender isn’t a software engineer or a security professional. Up until that point, they just made blenders, so they had no need for software development or security. Unfortunately, this creates a device that is made with functionality in mind over security, much to the detriment of businesses.

These devices are most vulnerable to threats that could be patched, if only the Internet of Things devices were easily patched by the developer and the user. This isn’t currently the case. It’s practically impossible to distribute patches to all Internet of Things devices manually, so if the developer hasn’t enabled automatic updates, you can forget about the user actually doing it, unless it gets in the way of the core functionality of the device. While this responsibility would fall on the developer, some have also suggested the implementation of unique default passwords, as users often see no need to change the default password on their new device before putting it to work.

To counteract these threats, businesses have to implement measures to keep their networks safe from the wave of additional devices entering the office. Whether you’re aware of it or not, it’s likely that employees are bringing new devices to work every day, whether it’s a tablet or a smart watch. A Bring Your Own Device policy with clear-cut rules on what’s allowed and what’s not will go a long way toward keeping unwanted devices in the workplace, and it can help to provide a general outline for how these devices should be used in the office as well. Remember, it’s about the future of your business, not about inconveniencing anyone.

If your business could use a hand with implementing a BYOD policy, Coleman Technologies can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

The Good
Let’s start with the resoundingly positive attributes of the Internet. Firstly, it makes life extraordinarily easier. Banking, shopping, and direct communication with other individuals and businesses are all simpler and faster. People can get more done in a shorter amount of time. It makes people smarter by providing them access to a knowledge base unprecedented in human history. It provides the opportunity to connect with like-minded people from anywhere in the world at minimal cost, giving people the ability to do wonderful things for others whom they may have never met. It provides businesses and individuals, alike, the access to better opportunities, more knowledge, and interactions with people that matter to them.

Speaking of business, it has changed things for entrepreneurs precipitously. Data storage and retrieval is faster. Cloud platforms of all types offer software, hardware, security, and development platforms that reduces the enormous capital costs many organizations were spending on their IT. It gives organizations access to a glut of resources, no more important than a growing mobile workforce that is available around the clock, promoting better productivity. It provides the opportunity to streamline all types of work, whether it be reducing face-to-face interactions with your vendors, or utilizing tracking software that helps administrators build more efficient business practices.

The Internet has provided a social outlet to people who didn’t have one. The use of social media has revolutionized the way people share and communicate. Each person has the freedom to do whatever they choose online, and often this results in positive action. Many important groups that have been marginalized for one reason or another are now able to promote their platforms thoroughly.

The Bad
There are some things about the Internet that many people can give or take. In fact, for every benefit listed above, there is a drawback. The easier access to information opens the door for more misinformation. For all the ease of banking, shopping, and communication there are threat actors looking to steal resources and personal information for profit. For every like-minded person that you meet, you meet all manners of Internet trolls and other unattractive people.

Social media has had an amazing amount of influence, but for all the good that it does, it also promotes individual freedom from convention, sure, but also creates what is known as a “toxic mirror” effect. This is the concept of making people feel bad about themselves by constantly being exposed to information that would make them create negative opinions about themselves. The toxic mirror makes anything that isn’t physical, emotional, and mental perfection, ugly and bad.

Beyond the toxic mirror, many people use social media in ways that hurt the people around them. The manifestation of a social persona can often present the opportunity for a user to put out very public misinformation. This break from reality, further muddies people’s ability to properly identify risk, putting them in harmful situations. The Internet is filled with trolls, stalkers, and bullies. These groups are allowed to run rampant, as people don’t have a lot of resources to ward against them. These individuals hide behind their Internet persona, making civil action against them extremely difficult. Cyberbullying, specifically, can cause great harm to people of all ages.

For the business, the Internet is a true double-edged sword. On one hand if you don’t utilize its features, you could be hindering the manner in which you conduct business, since more people are exposed to your business on the Internet than in any other place. A problem with this is that you then have to spend a lot of advertising capital to try and get your business exposed to potential customers. For some businesses this may be advantageous, but for the lion’s share of businesses, it increases the capital that is required without any assurance that it will provide additional sales.

The Ugly
The Internet is actually a pretty dangerous place; and, it’s a lot bigger than people think. While the usable part of the Internet is catalogued by most of the major search engines, there is a massive part of the Internet that is filled to the brim with risky behaviors. The deep web, and more specifically, the dark web, is filled with problematic content. While users can’t just access this part of the Internet, the people that do are often the hackers and dissidents of the world. Some are evil, some just unfortunate, but most of the dark web is filled with a black market that makes available goods and services that the average person has no use for. Murder for hire? Check. Drug catalogues? Check. Hacking resources? Check. It’s essentially an anti-social person’s playground filled with hate, and illegal material. Think of the dark web as a city. It just so happens that some places in that city (like many other cities) are very dangerous, and while you may just find something you can’t find anywhere else, staying far away is a good way to avoid the negatives altogether.

For the business, the ugliest part of the Internet are the countless hacking collectives and individual hackers that are almost constantly trying to gain access to their network. Computer viruses and other malware, including ransomware are such a big threat that businesses spend billions and billions of dollars a year trying to protect themselves and their clients from people looking to steal their data and sell it off.

The Internet is a lot of good to a lot of people, but as more derision, more hate, more criminal behavior, and more strategic subversion happen on the Internet, the more it becomes something it was never intended to be. The saving grace is the hundreds of millions of users that still use the Internet to make their lives, and the lives of people around them, better.

The IT professionals at Coleman Technologies are serious about making others’ lives better. If your business wants to utilize the good and secure itself against the bad and the ugly, contact us today at (604) 513-9428. We can help your organization protect your data and scan the dark web to see if any of your accounts (or your employees’ accounts) were already stolen and leaked on the dark web.

VoIP, either hosted locally or in the cloud, can bring any business a solid ROI because you use a resource that your company already has in place, your Internet connection to send and receive calls.

Out With the Old
If you’re still relying on the traditional telephone system of yesteryear, you could be making your job more difficult than it needs to be. Businesses that still use traditional telephone systems have limited ability to grow and expand. Adding new users can mean adding new telephone lines and extensions--a process that’s not necessarily easy.

The most logical course of action is to figure out how your business can get away from traditional telephone providers. After all, these are the same organizations that are known to provide bundles filled with services you don’t need. Plus, running telephone wires and adding new users or phone numbers can be quite the hassle, and one that you don’t have to worry about with a more dynamic solution.

In With the New
With great new features that put traditional telephony to shame, VoIP is a sustainable and investment-worthy technology for any business, small or large. VoIP uses your Internet connection rather than a traditional telephone line to function, giving any device with a VoIP application and an Internet connection the ability to work like a phone. Since VoIP only needs your Internet connection, you’re essentially eliminating an expense from your budget.

To learn more about how your organization can benefit from VoIP, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

The Internet of Things Shapes Security Policies
Connected devices are now commonplace in both the personal lives of users and offices all over the world. The Internet of Things typically consists of devices that can connect to the Internet, but aren’t traditionally connected devices, like home appliances and other objects. To protect themselves from the security issues related to these devices, businesses have implemented solutions and tried to control devices brought to the office by their employees. Basically, you need to determine if the measures you are taking are adequate to ensure IoT devices aren’t going to become a problem for your organization. If you take action now, you decrease the risk of these devices compromising your security.

Ransomware Decreases in Usage, But It’s Still Dangerous
As of last December, Malwarebytes indicates that the rate of direct ransomware infection has dropped to about 10%. This is a major change compared to the ransomware spike that occurred in 2017. Of course, it’s still important to ensure that you are protecting yourself from this dangerous malware, as well as have plans in place to recover from an encounter with ransomware.

Cryptomining is More Popular than Ever
One big development in 2018 is an increase in cryptomining threats that can install themselves on devices and covertly mine Bitcoin without the user’s knowledge. These kinds of threats can have side-effects on your computers that can slow down the device or create more work for the device than usual. You definitely don’t want cryptomining software on your device, so be sure to protect it from these threats as well with a comprehensive security solution and active resource monitoring.

Proactive Security is Still the Best Option
Thankfully, more organizations are seeing the benefit of actively preventing security threats from becoming an issue by implementing proactive solutions on their infrastructure. This includes patching vulnerabilities and updating software as soon as new fixes are issued, as well as seeking out threats on a regular basis to eliminate anything that has potentially installed on their devices. This basically takes a reactive approach that some businesses still rely on--resolving issues as they pop up rather than preventing them entirely--and converts it to a proactive stance.

IDG has released a new survey that reveals the security priorities of many businesses. These respondents found that the following aspects of network security were priorities:

• 74%: Best practices
• 69%: Compliance mandates
• 36%: Responding to a security incident that occurred in their own organization
• 33%: Mandates from the board of directors
• 29%: Responding to a security incident that occurred in another organization

Cybersecurity is more important than ever before, so how is your organization working to keep itself safe? Coleman Technologies can help. To learn more, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.