Malware And Viruses On Apple/Mac Systems Are On The Rise

For most of Apple's history, the company has been able to cast itself as a safer alternative to Windows-based computers. Hackers tended to focus the bulk of their efforts on Wintel boxes (Windows processors), rather than Apple machines. That has been changing in recent months. According to research conducted by Malwarebytes, over the past twelve months, there has been a significant upsurge in the number of attacks made against Macs.

To give you a sense of the scope and scale of the increase, in prior years, the average number of detections per Mac clocked in at 4.8, while the number of detections per Windows-based PC was 5.8. In 2019, the average number of detections per Windows-based PC remained unchanged, while the average number of detections per Mac spiked to 11, more than doubling in a single year.

The researchers note, however, that the types of threats Mac users face are very different from the threats presented against Windows-based PCs, and are generally not dangerous. For instance, the most common infections Mac users suffer from are adware programs that display unwanted ads to infected recipients.

Naturally, there are cases of ransomware, keyloggers and banking trojans that target Macs. However, they are relatively less common than similar infections on Windows-based PCs.
If you're a Mac user, don't breathe a sigh of relief just yet though. The Malwarebytes
research team concludes by warning us. They say although the attacks against Macs are currently less destructive than the attacks made against Windows-based PCs, that could change at any moment. There's nothing whatsoever keeping the hackers from swapping out adware in preference for a much more threatening piece of code.

All that to say, whatever type of computer you use day to day, it pays to keep your guard up. Nobody is truly safe.

Keep your devices, systems, and networks from malware, viruses, and other types of online threats. Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Greenville and let our team of IT experts help you.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

Reasons Why Your Business Needs IT Support

Many people think that IT support is only for big companies. That is not true. There are several benefits to having an on-site IT support for your business regardless of what industry you are in and how big your company is. It can keep your business competitive, help you save money over time, and allow you to streamline your company goals.

Why Every Company Needs IT Support?

Increase ROI and Cut Costs

Hiring an IT support is a wise investment. It helps bring higher ROI and cut back on company costs. With managed IT services, you no longer have to worry about regular expensive repairs and shady software investments. You will never come across fees and unforeseen costs and you are going to pay a flat rate that’s suits your budget. Investing in IT support means going for financial security in an area that’s becoming an expensive component of businesses these days. Although IT spending usually relates to the size of the company, working with an IT company will help maximize your ROI for all the tech costs.

Improve Overall Security

No matter what kind of business you operate, your data is essential. It is crucial to support your company data with a reliable backups system and top rated cybersecurity.

A technology support team will make sure that these are met. With IT services, you will be able to keep sensitive employee, customer, and company data safe against cyberattacks. In case any data will be lost for some reason, your IT support team have set in place a recover system that will retrieve any lost file and make sure that your company’s technological integrity is maintained.

Give Clients The Service They Need

Your customers should receive top quality service. Nothing will compromise a client relationship more than technology that does not meet the standards. With an IT support team, you will make sure that your customers are getting the service that they need and expect seamless wirelessinternet connection, hassle free software use, and more. Having IT assistance also lets you streamline any client communication.

Advance Company Goals Using New Technologies

Your business may already be updated when it comes to tech that’s suited for your company. But, an IT support team can offer much newer, more advanced technologies to the fore that could maximize the potential of your company. You will be spending less of your valuable personal time studying new technologies to apply into your company and much more time working with the ones that’s already been selected for you by an expert, outsourced team.

Use these tech to advance your company goals and find other areas for growth and expansion. Furthermore, you will be able to maintain a competitive area in the market by depending on the technology that’s taking the most successful businesses to the next level.

 

More Time Managing and Less Time Worrying

Nobody wants to deal with the hassle of dealing with computerproblems. You can avoid all that by investing in a reliable IT support. Let the experts handle any IT problems that come up so you could concentrate on important internal work like employee management and strategy building.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you are looking for a company that provides top notch IT support services.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

The Basics Of IT Support

Information Technology or IT involves everything that has something to do with computer based information technology. IT support is sometimes referred to as technical support. It is also a service offered by an IT company to businesses or individuals that need it.

Generally speaking, IT support solves specific issues a company or a person may be encountering, instead of providing any training, courses, or qualifications. However, you could study this at college in case you are really interested.

There are a lot of ways for you to find IT support and to be more specific, various kinds of support. Listed below are more information to give you a better understanding of IT support, who it is for and how to get it.

It Support: Who Is It For?

Generally, when someone purchases a laptop or a computer, a guarantee is provided which provides the individual free IT support Greenville for a specific duration. But, even when there’s no guarantee is given, there are different firms that provide personal IT support for all those who requires it for a specific fee.

Firms also require IT support to make sure that their systems will continue to work efficiently and without any glitches. Firms that depend heavily on IT tend to have a certain IT support team that work constantly, ready with backup plans just in case something wrong happens.

How To Get IT Support?

There are three types of IT support – Managed IT services, Block Hours, as well as Time and Material.

Time and material is just like what its name suggests. Clients will pay for the materials needed and prearranged date for the duration it requires the technician to deal with it. This is exactly how the majority of IT support firms operate.

Block Hours are for businesses that are willing to pay discounted fees for a number of hours, which they could utilize at their discretion, over a specific duration like for a month or year.

Managed IT services are used by companies that negotiate a price for certain requirements like round the clock IT support for their clients or perhaps a visit from an IT expert in case a problem can’t be fixed remotely.

Conclusion:

The information provided above offers you a brief look into what IT support is. With so much professional assistance on offer, you will find it easy to find an IT professional who can fix your problem. This means you will no longer be stuck, having no clue what you need to do.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you need the help of professionals for IT support. 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

Top Security Predictions For 2020

The WatchGuard Threat Lab has provided a list of cyberattacks that will be prevalent during the year of 2020. Tips are also given to help avoid these threats. Although the threats coming at you this year won’t be any less complicated, intense, or difficult to deal with, this year will be the time of simplified security.

Ransomware Eyes The Cloud

 Ransomware is an industry that’s worth billions. Although the overall volume is down, targeted ransomware against the vertical industries is increasing. This year, targeted ransomware will try to infect file stores, virtual environments, S3 buckets, and other consolidated cloud assets.

If you have cloud security whether virtual or cloud UTM, you should use advanced malware protection to identify any evasive malware. You should also think about new security models that will let you execute security controls such as advanced malware protection. You should also harden your workload.

GDPR Will Be In The United States

General Data Protection Regulation was implemented two years ago. GDPR protects the data and privacy rights of citizens on the European Union. As of today, only a few places outside the European Union have implemented a similar law. However, the United States may finally have law that could match the one that EU has this year.

There is no security tip for this particular prediction, but that does not mean there’s nothing you can do about it. Get in touch with your local congressperson. Tell them what you think about the regulations that could help protect your privacy.

Voter Registration Systems Will Be At Risk

There will be an external threat targeting state and local voter databases during the upcoming 2020 U.S. presidential elections. The goal of these threat actors is to trigger voting havoc and start voter fraud alerts at this time.

There’s also no specific tip for this particular prediction. However, there are some tips to make sure that voters are prepared in case this prediction comes true. Check the status of your voter registration before the election. You should also check for updates regarding hacking incidents about the voter registration database. Make sure that you get in touch your local state voter authority in case you are worried. Don’t forget to print the result that you’ve successfully registered as a voter and bring your ID once Election Day comes even if it is not needed.

25% Of Overall Breaches Take Place Outside The Perimeter

Working remotely can help improve productivity and lessen stress. However, it also comes with a lot of security risks. About 25% of all the network compromises as well as data breaches will have something to do with off-network assets.

Stay diligent in applying off network protection for your staff just like for perimeter protection. Any device that is brought out of the office should have a full suite of computer security services including a DNS filtering, advanced malware protection, local firewall, multifactor authentication, and more.

Cybersecurity Skills Gap Grows

This year, the cybersecurity skill gap widens by 15%. Schools and cybersecurity trade firms aren’t producing enough qualified candidates who could fill the demand for new IT personnel.

Although the required cybersecurity workforce will not appear right away, there options to help you make and manage a good cyber defence. A short term solution is to concentrate on solutions that offer layered security in a certain solution. You can also work with managed IT services provider or perhaps a managed security services provider where you could outsource your security requirements.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you need the help of IT professionals to strengthen your company's cybersecurity.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

New Hacking Method Looks Like A Locked Computer

Scammers have breathed new life into an old scam.

For years, the old 'Law Enforcement Lock' trick has been used to cheat unsuspecting victims of their hard-earned money. The new wrinkle works like this:

Scammers will redirect users using the Chrome web browser to sites that host a full-screen image of a Windows 10 desktop with a notice that appears to come from local law enforcement agencies. This pages informs the user that their computer has been locked for some unspecified illegal activity.

The groups running this sort of scam make sure to display a legitimate government URL in order to make it look more convincing. Victims of this scam are informed that they can unlock their computer again by paying the fine via credit card, right then and there.

Of course, the computer actually isn't locked at all. However, this scam has taken in a surprising percentage of users who aren't paying close attention.

A typical lock screen from the scammers will bear a message that closely follows this script:

"Your browser has been locked due to viewing and dissemination of materials forbidden by law of (country name), namely pornography with pedophilia, rape and zoophilia. In order to unlocking you should (amount and currency type) fine with Visa or MasterCard. Your browser will be unlocked automatically after the fine payment.

Attention! In case of non-payment of the fine, or your attempts to unlock the device independently, case materials will be transferred to (name of local law enforcement agency) for the institution of criminal proceedings against you due to commitment of a crime."

As you can see from the grammatical errors in the script, this is by no means an official announcement, but it looks real enough that it sends people into a panic, causing them to enter credit card information without thinking.

Naturally, this information is harvested and resold on the Dark Web, putting money in the scammers' pockets. Make sure your employees are aware of it, and stay vigilant.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Greenville if you want to make sure that your computers and your networks are safe from hackers and scammers. 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

A Guide To Managed IT Services

In order to boost your operations while cutting back on your expenses, several organizations these days would rather outsource the daily management and implementation of their technological resources. IT can drain your time and money. As we all know, time is an extremely precious commodity especially in today’s business environment, which is extremely competitive these days. It’s not surprising for most executives who handles IT in their respective companies to look for a qualified IT services partner to deal with their IT management needs.

Whether your business needs a complete managed IT support package or only a few services, SpartanTec, Inc. offers a range of options to take IT off your hands.

Managed ITServices include:

•       24/7 remote management
•       24/7 live help desk
•       Reporting
•       Asset management
•       Incident and alert prioritization
•       Cloud services
•       Hosting services
•       Nightly notification, management, backup monitoring
•       CTO services

Most people think about offshoring whenever outsourcing is mentioned. With SpartanTec,Inc. in Greenville, you can rest easy knowing that the support you’ll get comes locally. Using our systems of prioritizations, alerts, and various help desk options, you’ll feel like your IT is being managed in-house even though it’s actually being outsourced.

Our House or Your House

We maintain, manage, and support your whole IT infrastructure, whether the equipment is within your office or hosted by SpartanTec, Inc. Our team could also provide a hybrid approach, which means a few of your servers or equipment in our data centers while managing some of the equipment in your location.

One Service For All

We know that every business is unique. It has its own set of resources and needs. Our team will help you regardless of how many IT services you require. This may include database, backup and disaster recovery, collaboration and communication, network infrastructure, servers, compliance and security, storage, and servers.

Schedule a systems assessment for free with SpartanTec, Inc. in Greenville and our team will provide you the most suitable path to take to make your IT life more dependable, simpler, and secure.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

Phishing Emails Are Becoming Even Harder To Identify

According to data collected by Microsoft, phishing emails accounted for 0.62 percent of all inbox receipts in September 2019.

That's up from 0.31 percent just one year prior to that. The increase is alarming of course, but at first glance, these look like fairly harmless numbers.

Unfortunately, last year, phishing emails targeting business owners (BEC, or Business Email Compromise) cost companies around the world more than a billion dollars last year.  That fact makes the year over year increase terrifying.

The reason BEC campaigns are so successful and so expensive for businesses is that the scammers tend to impersonate CEOs and other high-ranking corporate officials.  When you get an email that by all outward appearances comes from your boss, and it's marked urgent, you tend to respond right away.  That's exactly what the scammers are counting on.

Even worse, scammers have gotten increasingly good at crafting their emails.  It has reached the point that even IT professionals have been taken in by them in some cases. They've been unable to spot the subtle differences between a scammer's email impersonating a CEO and an email from the CEO himself.  If an IT professional gets taken in, what hope is there for a busy HR employee or someone from the accounting office who doesn't face those types of threats on a daily basis?

Given the rapid increase in the number of well-crafted phishing emails, this is a serious, legitimate concern. Unfortunately, bolstered by their own success, you can bet the scammers will be even more prolific.

If there's a silver lining here it is this:  Microsoft reports that taking the simple step of enabling two-factor authentication across the board is an effective countermeasure.  Phishing attacks tend to be automated, and 2FA blocks 99.9 percent of automated attacks. If you're not currently using it everywhere, you're putting yourself at unnecessary risk.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Greenville for expert assistance in making sure that your network is protected against phishing emails. 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

Benefits Of Outsourcing Cybersecurity

Among the most important services that firms benefit from is the protection as well as the monitoring of servers and networks by cybersecurity firms. If a company chooses to outsource any work, they will have the chance to get the best work quality from other industry professionals. If it comes to outsourcing cybersecurity, there must be no hesitation.

Reasons To Outsource Cybersecurity

Cost Efficiency

You may believe that outsourcing work would cost you more than looking for a way to doing it in house, when it involves protecting crucial information within your network of devices, the way to go is to outsource it to a cybersecurity firm. In case you are thinking of building your very own SOC in house, you must know that it could be very costly. Rather than hiring a team of security analysts, training them, having to go through the turnover, and even with the installation of different security solutions, you could turn to a dependable cybersecurity company for a few thousand dollars every month.

The Work Of Professionals

Not only is depending on the service of a cybersecurity firm cost efficient it is also much more effective once it comes to reading as well as creating IT security solutions. A few companies depend on software to safeguard their information, however, that is not enough because you should have a group of human analysists who work alongside the software. Cyberthreats are always evolving and security analysts are equipped with deep knowledge to fight off such attacks. .They are always reading complex reports, looking for problems and finding the right solutions. In case that doesn’t sound all that difficult, just consider the fact that individuals can now earn their college degrees in cybersecurity.

Instant Analysis and Real Time Monitoring

With the work of real security analysts and top rated software that you receive from a cybersecurity company, you will have the chance to detect possible network breaches as soon as they take place rather than days, weeks, or even months later on.

Advanced Monitoring

You also have to know what the different software can do of you and your company when managed correctly. There are software that let you customize your security defence to search for specific threats that are very common in the line of work that you are in. With regular updates in the services, devices, computers, as well as other electronics, you could have a team of professionals manage your SOC and prepare you network for newer threats. They will also be able to determine possible issues and threats once they become dangerous.

Time Efficiency

Just like with other service that you outsource, if you get rid of one task or line of work, you just free up time so you can be able to focus on more crucial matters. The company that you work with is most probably not a cybersecurity company and most likely have other things the need to worry about.

Outsourcing your cybersecurity will make sure that you adhere to the compliance guidelines and receive the protection you require. These five benefits will make a huge difference for your company.

In case you are looking for a dependable cybersecurity company, look to us at SpartanTec, Inc. in Greenville. We can offer you all the benefits that are listed on this post.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

Hackers Are Imitating Government Agencies To Spread Malware

Researchers at Proofpoint have found evidence of a new threat actor who has been sending out convincing looking emails.

They are claiming to come from several government agencies.

These include the Italian Revenue Agency, the German Federal Ministry of Finance, and the United States Postal Service.

This is all part of a malicious campaign designed to infect targeted recipients with a variety of malware.

The bulletin Proofpoint released on matter reads, in part, as follows:

"Between October 16 and November 12, 2019, Proofpoint researchers observed the actor sending malicious email messages to organizations in Germany, Italy, and the United States, targeting no particular vertical but with recipients that were heavily weighted towards business and IT services, manufacturing, and healthcare.

These spoofs are notable for using convincing stolen branding and lookalike domains of European taxation agencies and other public-facing entities such as Internet service providers.  Most recently, the actor has attacked US organizations spoofing the United States Postal Service.  The increasing sophistication of these lures mirrors improved social engineering and a focus on effectiveness over quantity appearing in many campaigns globally across the email threat landscape."

In the US, emails claiming to be from the post office come with an attached Word Document called "USPS_Delivery.doc."  If a recipient clicks on the document to open it, they'll receive a message that the file has been encrypted for additional security and in order to view it, they'll be required to "enable content."

Naturally, clicking on the "enable content" button does nothing of the sort.  Instead, it installs whatever malware the senders have associated with the email in question.
The identity of the threat actor is not known at this time, but this is a serious issue that you should immediately alert all employees about in order to minimize the risk to your company.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. in Greenville and let our team set up the most suitable internet security protocols for your company to make sure that your network is protected from online threats.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

Importance Of Backup and Recovery Plans

In the past, backup was made to deal with prolonged outages, equipment failure, occasional virus, and natural disasters. What would it cost your business if you go to work one day and all the computers have been encrypted? Or the server that is responsible for your order processing system is down for five days and the hackers are demanding 50k to get it back up and running once again? 

What do you think your customers will feel if they can’t get in touch with you for a week? As a business owner, when you look at your company, it’s crucial to consider technology not only as your revenue enabler but also as a risk. Breaches, IP theft, and cyberattacks are not just geek issues. They are can easily become your worst nightmares. Small business comprise 58% of malware attack victims and cyber attacks cost a small medium businesses a whopping $22 million on average. Disaster recovery and business continuity is taking on a whole new meaning in the world of ransomware.

Although the cloud offers wonderful opportunities for cloudbased applications, offsite backups, and more, the cloud cannot solve everything. Most companies are not even aware that Microsoft does nto backup their calendars or mailboxes.

These days, MSPs will take the principles behind SOC II and cybersecurity framework into account as he works with you and your business to come up with a straightforward, practical, and real backup as well as disaster recovery plans for not just the conventional physical threats of outages and availability, but the new world of cloud scale and cyber security. The results of a well made and tested business continuity plan takes into account the inevitability of non technical workaround, breach, as well as independent software solutions that will make sure that you are among the 40% that makes it beyond the inevitable.

Training and Compliance

Although there’s some level of mystery linked to the word hacker, hacking a system isn’t rocket science. It can even be done by just an email. The shift from conventional to modern msp involves not only securing systems but also training and teaching end users. Any business’ weakest link is its people. It doesn’t matter how good your email and spam filtering solutions are or your perimeter systems, the threats will continue to evolve and people are going to be the main target to override your security system. Technology service providers and managed IT services could help test, validate, and train your employees so that they understand the risks involved and make sure that the integrity of your safeguards are maintained.

MSPs will provide dark web monitoring as well as automate testing for easily compromised and weak passwords. Credential sharing and phishing will be tested at random and staff trained, scored, and counselled not by the human resource department but by the IT department.

Support From The Cost Center To The Differentiator

Some things will never change, computers fail to boot, printers are going to jam, files will inadvertently disappear, and some power point presentation doesn’t display correctly. You and your business always needs support. A good IT department is results driven and customer focused. Support will not just be about tech geeks fixing issues, it will be about getting the problem fixed as soon as possible on your terms.

Call SpartanTec Inc. in Greenville if you want to know more about business continuity planning, IT consulting, or managed IT services.

Learn more about managed services by clicking on the links below:

https://www.spartantec.com/2019/10/31/what-you-need-to-know-about-managed-it-services/
https://spartantecfayetteville.blogspot.com/2019/11/why-should-businesses-get-managed_1.html
https://spartanteccolumbia.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-look-at-msps-today.html

https://spartan-tec.blogspot.com/2019/11/putting-together-effective-it-strategy.html

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

Browser Update Warnings May Actually Be Malicious Hackers

Researchers at FireEye have recently unearthed a particularly nasty new campaign that is both multi-faceted and dangerous.

At the heart of the attack are hacked websites which display seemingly innocuous popup message informing the site visitor that their browser is out of date.

It will helpfully provide a one-touch solution to the non-existent problem via a button that promises to download the latest version of the browser in question.

Naturally, it does no such thing.  Instead, it uses a series of JavaScripts to gather information about the target computer and send the details back to the command and control server.

The server then responds to the findings reported by the initial script by uploading the initial payload.  This varies based on the details gleaned, but generally includes some type of banking trojan malware and a backdoor such as Dridex, NetSupport Manager RAT, or similar.  If the initial scan reveals that the target computer is part of a corporate network, then an additional payload is also injected onto the target machine, but we'll get to that in a moment.

The first part of the payload will busily ferret out login credentials and other sensitive information, exfiltrating any files of value back to the command and control server.

Only when this operation has been completed and if the computer is part of a corporate network will the second stage we referenced earlier trigger, which is a strain of ransomware, normally BitPaymer or DoppelPaymer. The ransomware spreads through the network as far as it is able, encrypting files network wide.

These two ransomware strains are known for their hefty ransom demands, which often run into the hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars.

This multi-stage approach is dreadfully effective.  It not only allows the hackers to squeeze a wide range of sensitive data from infected systems, but then, locks them down hard and demands a hefty payment.  Be sure your staff is aware.  This one's about as dangerous as they come.

Nowadays, whether you own a startup or established company, you need to be cautious, aware, and proactive when it comes to online security. Let SpartanTec Inc. in Greenville help you secure your computers and networks against various types of online threats. 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC  29601
(864) 326-5914

https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

Google Adds Several New Password Features To Help Users

Google is taking additional steps to provide a safer and more secure environment for their massive user base.  Chrome is the most widely used browser in the world. In recent months, Google has made moves to provide better password security. Most recently, they released a Chrome Extension called Password Checkup that scans all of your stored login credentials to see if they've been found in data breaches. If they have been breached, it prompts you to change them.

As good and helpful as that is, the company has taken an additional step and has now integrated the Password Checkup tool directly into Google's Password Manager.

Here's how it works:

• Open your Google Password Manager, which you can access via https://passwords.google.com.
• When the page displays, you'll see a new link labelled "Check Passwords." Click that.
• Google will then proceed to check your stored login credentials to see:
  • If any of your passwords have been exposed via a third-party data breach
  • If the password in question is being reused among multiple sites
  • Assess the relative strength of all of your stored passwords.

Once this check is complete, it will display the results in different categories that show you exactly which passwords are at risk, and why they were flagged.  From there, you'll be able to change any problematic passwords and re-run the check to give yourself a clean bill of health.

This is a fantastic move, but the company isn't stopping there.  Ultimately, the company plans to have Chrome automatically alert you when your saved passwords were discovered in a breach and allow you to act immediately to change them and keep your accounts safe.

When the plan is fully realized, Google's password security feature built into Chrome will rival the capabilities of many paid password management offerings, and that's a very good thing indeed.
Kudos to Google for raising the bar.

Online security is an integral part of any company these days. If Google is taking steps to help their users secure their passwords, you should also do you part. Call SpartanTec Inc. now if you want to know how to keep your personal or business information secure.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC  29601
(864) 326-5914

https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Android Malware Can Replace Real Apps With Fake Apps

Security researchers at Check Point have discovered a disturbing new strain of Android malware that's as ingenious as it is disturbing. It is effective because it is designed to replace a rapidly expanding number of apps with poisoned copies.

The app copies still retain their core functionality, making the malware notoriously difficult to detect.

After all, if you downloaded JioTV, a photo editing app of some kind, or a game, and the app works as you expect it to, why would you even suspect that it was malware?  Unfortunately, that's exactly what this new malware strain does.

Dubbed 'Agent Smith,' the malware takes advantage of different android vulnerabilities and injects malicious code into the APK files of targeted apps defined by a list inside the code. They then automatically update and re-install them without the device owner's knowledge or consent.

The Check Point researchers had this to say about the new strain:

"It's not enough for this malware family to swap just one innocent application with an infected double.  It does so for each and every app on the device, as long as the package names are on its prey list.

Over time, this campaign will also infect the same device repeatedly, with the latest malicious patches.  This leads us to estimate there are to be over 2.8 billion infections in total, on around 25 million unique devices, meaning that on average, each victim would have suffered roughly 112 swaps of innocent applications."

Of course, the last thing the malware's creators want is for the app to be legitimately updated. So part of the strain's design is to disable that functionality from inside the app so the hackers can control the updates.

If there's a silver lining, it is that to date, the malware doesn't contain any data siphoning or data destroying code.  All it does is display ads.  Unfortunately, the malware strain's owners can easily shift gears any time they want to.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. for details on how to keep your information safe.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC  29601
(864) 326-5914

https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

Tips To Avoid The Most Common Computer Security Threats

Computer security threats constantly evolve. These threats are masters of manipulation and disguise will always try to find brand new methods not just to annoy online users but also to steal and even harm them. You should arm yourself with resources and information for protection against the growing and complex computer security threats and improve your computer security as well as information security.

Common Cybersecurity Threats

Computer Viruses

Maybe the most popular computer security threat is a computer virus. It is a program that is written to change how a computer works, without the knowledge or permission of the user. A virus will replicate and execute itself, which leads to computer damage during the process. Be sure to evaluate free software carefully, download that come from peer to peer file sharing websites, as well as emails from unknown sources. All these re crucial in avoiding computer viruses. The majority of web browsers these days have security settings that can be improved for the best defence against various online threats. However, the single most efficient method of avoiding viruses is to install and keep your anti-virus software updated.

Spyware Threats

Another serious security threat is spyware. It is a program that will monitor your online activities. It can also install programs without your permission either to get personal information or for profit. Today, there are several ways to help you fight spyware threats and stay safe online. Although several users don’t want to hear about it, reading terms and conditions is important and a good practice as it will give you the knowledge you need to understand how your online activities are being tracked. Of course, when a firm that you don’t recognize is advertising a deal that is too good to be true then it probably is. You need to have an internet security solution set up right away and be careful when go online.

Hackers and Predators

People create these malware and computer threats. Predators and hackers are programmers who victimize others for their personal interest by breaking into computers to change, steal, or destroy pertinent details as a kind of cyber terrorism. These online predators will compromise your credit cart information, steal your identity, and won’t let you use your data. As you may have known, online security tools that comes with identity theft protection are among the best methods to protect yourself from this kind of cybercriminal.

Phishing

Phishers pretend as trustworthy business or person so they can steal personal or sensitive details through instant messages or fraudulent emails. Phishing attacks are among the most successful ways for cybercriminals to conduct a data breach Anti-virus programs with identity theft protection could be taught to identify phishing threats.

Do you want to know if your computer or network is at risk? Call SpartanTec, Inc. now.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC  29601
(864) 326-5914

https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

What You Need To Know About Managed IT Services

The term used to relate to IT support is referred to as managed IT services and every day, an increasing number of businesses are using it. However, what does it really mean and how can you tell if an IT support company isn’t only using the word as a tool for marketing, but is really providing flat rate services that are presented as managed services.

Managed IT servicesGreenville lets businesses to offload IT tasks to a service provider, referred to as managed services provider, which takes on the responsibility to monitor, manage, and solve problems related to the IT systems of a business round the clock.

History of Managed IT Services

Managed services started with break fix services. The firms that helped service small networks before have been hamstrung by the insufficiency of tools to fix the problem. The networks they service developed as basic systems, typically made by a self-taught network amateur turned professional. The maintenance was break fix only, which means if something is broken, the company calls and they come running to repair it, hopefully.

As time went by, the people who provided this support came up with programs and procedures to visit the site regularly to perform a system review of the user information and logs searching for indications of issues well before they turn into big problems. In some instances, a complex checklist was utilized to monitor processor usage, disk usage, and more.

The issue was that the support people can only see what was taking place on that specific day. In case something happened later on, they will never know about it unless the customer calls and informs them about it.

Backup Issues and other Errors Continue To Happen

The professional test of the back up unit was on the visit, which often resulted in at least a few days of missed backups. The unit was prone to other human mistakes when the on site tech support, trying to be as accommodating as possible, would handle the end user symptoms and won’t have time to deal with the real issues. This resulted to a constant battle for the support people as they tried to persuade customers that they were just causing themselves more dangerous issues later on by not being proactive.

It Paved The Way For Fortune 500 Companies As Well As Their Huge Networks

Meanwhile, the software and hardware vendors have added new and better methods for the systems to signal issues as soon as possible. Simple Network Management Protocol had started to be developed since the 1990s and was being integrated to personal computers. The first systems that can watch these tools and convert all of the data into usable details were complex to manage, were geared only to huge networks, and were prohibitively costly for small firms. In 2005, systems began to mature that led smaller firms to make the most out of the same features and advantages just like the large companies. This triggered the Managed Services movement.

Managed Services Were Finally Made Available For Small and Medium Sized Companies

Today’s managed services software lets provides work towards two primary goals"

1.     All the things on the network that will lead to a user symptom or risk will trigger an alert before or when it occurs, and the managed service provider will be informed about it.

2.     Every alert they obtain is something crucial and requires to be dealt with.

3

      The more closely a managed services provider can get these two objectives, the more perfectly they could accomplish a truly managed service and the more they could get away from “everything becoming an emergency” situation.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC  29601
(864) 326-5914

https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

New Security Vulnerabilities Found In Intel Processors

Remember the Spectre and Meltdown CPU vulnerabilities discovered early last year?  Well, hold onto your hat, because they've got company.

Recently, researchers discovered a new class of side-channel vulnerabilities in Intel processors that impact every modern chipset the company makes, including those used in Apple devices.

The new vulnerabilities exploit weaknesses in something called 'speculative execution' which is a core design feature of modern processors. This feature allows them to speculatively execute instructions based on conditions the system has 'learned' are likely to be true.  If those assumptions are proved to be valid, then the execution continues.  If not, it is discarded. The net effect of this design is to increase overall system performance speed, but it also opens up the door for additional risk.

The researchers had this to say about their latest discoveries:

"The new vulnerabilities can be used by motivated hackers to lead privileged information data from an area of the memory that hardware safeguards deem off-limits.  It can be weaponized in highly targeted attacks that would normally require system-wide privileges or deep subversion of the operating system."

Collectively, these new vulnerabilities are being referred to as 'MDS speculative execution' flaws, and have been identified as follows:

• CVE-2019-11091 - Microarchitectural Data Sampling Uncacheable Memory (MDSUM), part of the RIDL class of attacks.
• CVE-2018-12127 - Microarchitectural Load Port Data Sampling (MLPDS), also part of the RIDL class of attacks.
• CVE-2018-12130 - Microarchitectural Fill Buffer Data Sampling (MFBDS), also called 'Zombieload' or RIDL (Rogue In-Flight Data Load).
• CVE-2018-12126 - Microarchitectural Store Buffer Data Sampling (MSBDS), also known as a Fallout

Of these, the ZombieLoad attacks seem to be the most worrisome of the lot.  They impact the largest number of chips, encompassing everything Intel has produced from 2011 onwards, but all of these are considered serious security flaws.  Worse, there are no fixes yet, and no word yet on when a fix might be forthcoming.

Safeguard your network and information by working only with the best IT consultants. Call SpartanTec, Inc. now

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer

New Malware Hidden In Emails About Flu Protection

Fear is a fantastic way to spread malware, which is why hackers around the world are using the fear of a flu pandemic as a hook to install a nasty strain of ransomware. It is one of the many reasons why companies employ managed IT services to prevent such malicious software from taking over.

Researchers at MyOnlineSecurity have detected a cunning email campaign which spoofs the Centers for Disease Control and bears headlines warning of a Flu Pandemic.

The message is short and to the point, explaining that a flu pandemic has been detected and urges recipients to read the attached document for further instructions to protect their families and help keep it from spreading.  The instructions also helpfully include the note that in order to view the document properly you'll need to click the 'Enable Editing' button.

The attachment bears the name "Flu Pandemic Warning," which reinforces the message itself. It's an excellent choice from the perspective of the hackers, because they know that a relatively high percentage of those who receive this message from what appears to be a trusted agency will open it. This tactic will likely have a higher victim count and could affect businesses severely, which is why it is important to have managed IT services Greenville in place.

Unfortunately, the moment they open the file and click to enable editing, they doom themselves.  The word document is poisoned and contains scripts that will install the GrandCrab v5.2 ransomware on the victim's machine, which will promptly lock their files and demand a hefty payment.

While this is a nasty and especially effective campaign, it's not the only one that the creators of Grand Crab are engaged in.  Recently, the Chinese government issued their own alert, stating that beginning on March 11, various government departments were bombarded with phishing-style emails intent on installing ransomware on their servers. The incident highlights the need for a more comprehensive computer security system that prevents such cases from happening.

All that to say, vigilance is more important now than ever.  There's no telling how long this campaign will run, or what may come after it, but one thing you can be sure of.  They're not going to stop.

Does your company need a complete technology solution provider? Call SpartanTec, Inc. today.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Greenville, SC 29601
(864) 326-5914
https://spartantec-greenville.business.site/

Cities Served
Greenville, Spartansburg, Mauldin, East Park, Overbrook, West Greenville, Greer