XFER Blog

One of the most enticing credentials that hackers desire is your credit card number, along with its expiration date and the code on the back. Hackers are also willing to go great lengths to achieve their goal of stealing these credentials, even so far as to make physical changes to automatic teller machines (ATMs) to do so. In fact, hackers will often install skimming devices on ATMs that are so subtle that they can be difficult to detect.

While many youngsters enjoy it when their school shuts down, this was likely not the case in Flathead Valley, Montana, where the cybercriminal group ‘TheDarkOverlord Solutions’ targeted the entire Columbia Falls school district. This attack caused the three-day closure and otherwise disrupted over 30 schools, and the personal information of teachers, students, and school administrators was supposedly to be released if the group didn’t receive a ransom payment.

Man matching wits with computer isn’t new territory. In 1830, a locomotive raced a horse to see which was superior in terms of speed and distance. 1956 saw the first time a human played chess against a computer. Today, the time has come when an artificial intelligence has begun to break into a new territory that was dominated by humans for thousands of years: crime.

The holidays are approaching, whether we are ready for them or not. With the holidays comes time off, which means that it’s awfully easy to fall behind post-vacation. Another concern is the amount of identity theft and credit card fraud that comes about during this time of year. We’ll discuss some of the many ways that your organization can take advantage of technology this holiday season without putting yourself in harm’s way.

The use of mobile and personal devices for work purposes can be beneficial to your business operations. When handled, and supported properly, they have been shown to improve communication methods and increase productivity. However, the popularity of mobile computing, as well as the Internet of Things’ rapid expansion, means it’s more important than ever to make sure that you don’t allow dangerous devices to access your network. To keep your network safe, there are a few Mobile Device Management best practices that you should begin enforcing.

Chances are that you’ve seen quite a lot of stories on the Internet, or in the news, about the many security threats out there. Some of these, including ransomware, exploits, and reluctance to update software, might fly over your head if they’re not part of your everyday business vocabulary. Knowing what these terms mean is of the utmost importance in today’s workplace. We’re here to help you understand what some of these security terms mean for your organization.

Spam. It’s detrimental and all businesses have to deal with it. But many don’t know the first thing about how to identify it, or how to work around it. The truth of the matter is that spam can be dangerous for your organization if it’s not dealt with properly, but dealing with it can also be a major waste of resources. We’ll walk you through what constitutes spam, and how you can identify it from legitimate messages in your inbox.

When implementing a new project, expectations run high and deadlines must be met. The temptation is to feel so pressured to get the project finished that the planning phase is rushed. If even a small detail is overlooked and a shortcut is taken in this early stage, it can come back to bite you in a major way--perhaps even derailing the project altogether. This is especially the case for an IT project.

More businesses than ever before have been falling victim to the various threats found on the Internet, which has provided a valuable opportunity to learn more about how to protect your business and ensure its survivability in the face of data breaches. However, even your employees are a valuable method of securing your business, especially if you take the time to explain to them the important role they play in security.

It can be challenging and costly to maintain your business’ network system, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. A managed service provider can help your business achieve all of its technology-related goals, including regular network maintenance. You might be surprised by how many benefits proactive network maintenance can provide for your organization.

While the Internet of Things has made many common tasks much easier through automation, it has also increased the potency of particular cybersecurity threats. For an excellent example, one only has to turn to the increasing prevalence of botnets that are powered by IoT technology.

Run your Windows Updates and be very skeptical about opening unsolicited emails. Failure to do so may result in a very dangerous strain of ransomware that could infect your entire network and spread to your clients, partners, and prospects.

If your business hasn’t dealt with a phishing attack before, you need to understand what kind of threat they present. To steal credentials, personally identifiable information, or other data, hackers will target people by creating messages that entice users to interact with them. This then leads to malware or spyware being deployed on the computing system. Once hackers are in, they can look around and take whatever they are looking for.

All across the United States, banks are rolling out ATM improvements to help boost the security of their members by utilizing mobile devices. While these measures will undoubtedly help, they aren’t enough to fix all of the vulnerabilities that ATMs suffer from without some vigilance on the user’s part.

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.

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.

Generally speaking, when people think about security, they only think about it in terms of internet protection.
When it comes to securing your business, there is a much broader horizon to view. While internet security is critical to protecting your network and data, that only scratches the surface of what real security is all about.
Real security encompasses holistic protection of your organization from what happens on your network to who enters your building, who’s listening to your conversations to the proper training of your entire staff. 

How much has your business invested in its communications technologies? If your business is like many others, it relies heavily on the functionality of its organization’s communications platforms. You might have a VoIP system filled with features, but are you taking full advantage of them? Here are three ways you can get the most out of your VoIP solution.

If your business is using the latest technology solutions, then you know how advantageous they are. Yet, a step in the right direction can often feel like two steps backward. This sometimes happens when businesses implement new technology solutions without considering the ramifications that they may cause for their other technology. Here are two ways that your new technology might be holding your organization back, or even putting your network at risk.

One of the ways which businesses benefit most from technology is through using Internet-connected devices. Yet, the Internet is a dangerous place filled to the brim with threats and security concerns. Considering how diverse online threats can be, there’s something to be said about having enterprise-level security protocols put into place.