April 2017 – Page 2 – Casserly Consulting

Tip of the Week: How to Be Active and Proactive With Your Network Security

Security troubles have many causes, but the only way to protect your business from any of them is to implement a comprehensive enterprise-level security solution. There are two other ways that you can work to protect your business, implementing software patches, and avoiding social engineering attempts.

Applying Software Patches
It should be clear that software patches are designed to fix security problems and improve the functionality of the software, but some organizations simply don’t have time to implement them manually, or they simply don’t understand the purpose for them. Part of the problem is that sometimes the developers aren’t necessarily clear that patches are available, while other times those within your organization may not even know how to administer them. Regardless of the reason, there are usually problems on a network that will go unattended for extended periods of time.

Most hackers only want to take advantage of the issues they can detect. Thus, there could be countless threats out there designed to target countless unpatched vulnerabilities on your network that not even the hackers can know about. It makes sense for a hacker to use just one exploit to target a handful of vulnerabilities. Therefore, it’s important to make sure that all software that you use is updated and patched.

Additionally, your systems shouldn’t be running unused programs. The more software you have, the more ways hackers can take advantage of your organization’s network vulnerabilities. Moreover, you might even be wasting revenue on renewing software licenses that you don’t even need, so it’s best perform a network audit from time to time to get the worthless software off your infrastructure.

Dodging Social Engineering Attempts
Social engineering is broadly categorized as any method that takes advantage of unprepared users or those who are ignorant of solid network security practices. Examples include a phone call or email message claiming that the network has been breached by a foreign entity and that “tech support” needs to remote into the computer and resolve the issue. There are other, more subtle methods as well, such as targeted spear phishing attacks that go after specific users with personal information that convince them that the hacker is someone in authority.

These types of attacks vary in sophistication, but they can range anywhere from an employee receiving a message claiming that they’ve won a prize, to the intruder physically following your employees into the office and stealing sensitive data manually. In instances like these, a little bit of employee training can go a long way. Teach them to look for anything suspicious, and inform them that vigilance is incredibly important in the workplace.

These two security improvements barely scratch the surface of what your organization should be focusing on for network security. If you want to fully protect your business to the best of your ability, give us a call at PHONENUMBER.

Alert: 33.7 Millions Records Released to Public Due to Leak of Massive Marketing Database

In recent news, millions of records containing personal information were made available to the public in a sizable data leak, providing potential scammers with plenty of information to utilize in their schemes. These records were all part of a 53 GB database that was available for purchase from Dun & Bradstreet, a business service firm.

The database contained information that could be of great use to hackers and marketers alike, as it outlined corporate data for businesses within the United States, providing professional details and contact information for members at every level of the businesses included.

Dun & Bradstreet released a statement via email in an attempt to remove the firm from any responsibility. According to the firm, there was no evidence of a breach on their systems. The email also pointed out that the leaked data was sold to “thousands” of other companies, and that the leaked data seemed to be six months old. In essence, Dun & Bradstreet’s position was “not our fault.,” and that there was little cause for worry, as the list only contained “generally publicly available business contact data.”

However, not everyone feels that the responsibility for this event can be passed off so easily, especially considering the nature of the data found on the database.

Troy Hunt manages Have I Been Pwned, a data leak alert site that allows a user to reference one of their accounts to determine if their credentials have been compromised. He offered up his own take after reviewing the database for himself. Hunt’s analysis revealed that the organizations with the most records in the database were:

The United States Department Of Defense: 101,013
The United States Postal Service: 88,153
AT&T Inc.: 67,382
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.: 55,421
CVS Health Corporation: 40,739
The Ohio State University: 38,705
Citigroup Inc.: 35,292
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association: 34,928
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals: 34,805
International Business Machines Corporation: 33,412

If this list alarms you, you have the right idea. In his comments, Hunt brought up a few concerns that he had with the contents of the database out in public.

First of all, this list is essentially a guidebook for someone running a phishing campaign. A resourceful scammer could easily use the information contained in this list (including names, titles, and contact information) to create a very convincing and effective campaign. Furthermore, the most common records in the leaked database were those of government officials and employees. Hunt went so far as to mention which personnel records could be found in the database for the Department of Defense: while “Soldier” was the most common, the list also included “Chemical Engineer” and “Intelligence Analyst” entries.

In his response, Hunt asked a very important question: “How would the U.S. military feel about this data – complete with PII [personally identifiable information] and job title – being circulated?” With the very real threat of state-sponsored hacking and other international cyber threats in mind, Hunt brought up the value this list would have to a foreign power that isn’t fond of the U.S.

Finally, Hunt cited the chances of this data being recovered to be at a firm “zero” percent.

In short, despite the reassurances from Dun & Bradstreet, this database going public could present some very real dangers to any businesses included in it.

If you’re worried that your business may be vulnerable, there are two things you should do. First, you should see if your data has been exposed by checking Hunt’s site, Have I Been Pwned . Second, you should reach out to us at COMPANYNAME, so we can help keep you secured against threats like this and others. Give us a call at PHONENUMBER.