Reduce Human Error in your business

Human Error: Understand the IT Threat

With over 90% of all cyber security breaches due to human error, it’s safe to say that mistakes in the workplace are more than costly. So what mishaps are your end users making, and what exactly are the repercussions to your organization? 

 

Many of the successful security attacks from external attackers who are preying on human weakness, waiting patiently for employees to be lured into providing access to sensitive information. Their human errors can be incredibly costly, especially since the insiders involved have access to a host of sensitive data.

One of the greatest impacts of a successful security breach is the exposure of this kind of information, loss of intellectual property and the infection of malware.

The Threat of Human Error

 

One of the most common mistakes made by employees, is sending sensitive documents to unintended recipients. This is relatively easy to solve when deploying security controls to monitor sensitive information being leaked from your organization.

These controls were once considered complex to deploy, but have now been made considerably easier to implement by vendors in recent years. This has dramatically reduced the level of user involvement required and increased the use of such controls.

These tools can also:

  • Prevent users from engaging in inappropriate behavior
  • Eliminate sending documents home via email, placing them on file-sharing sites or removable media such as USB sticks

See how the growing culture of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) exposes additional major concerns, especially with the risk of lost or stolen mobile devices. Again, technology vendors are available to help companies control what happens to data stored on such devices, even allowing sensitive data to be remotely wiped – so that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Even the most trusted and highly skilled employees run major risks of human error. System and network administrators are commonly guilty of incorrect system configurations, poor patch management practices and the use of default names and passwords. There are numerous security controls that organizations can explore to guard against these types of threats.

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KRACK Wifi

KRACK Wi-Fi Attack Threatens All Networks

With the KRACK vulnerability publicized, anyone who uses Wi-Fi-enabled devices may be at risk for sharing unencrypted traffic with potential attackers who bypass WPA2 network security. The WPA2 security protocol is used by routers and devices to encrypt people’s activity. Attackers who want to exploit the newly revealed weakness could steal sensitive data passing over the network including passwords, credit card numbers, chat messages, emails, photos, and the list goes on.

What devices are affected by KRACK?

If your device uses Wi-Fi, it’s likely vulnerable to the KRACK Wi-Fi security flaw to some degree, though some get it worse than others.

How to protect yourself from KRACK’s Wi-Fi flaw?
  • Keep your devices up-to-date – That means that your device can download an update that protects against KRACK and still communicate with unpatched hardware while being protected from the security flaw.
  • Be careful using public Wi-Fi hotspots – even one that’s password protected—stick to websites that use HTTPS encryption. Secure websites are still secure even with Wi-Fi security broken. The URLs of encrypted websites will start with “HTTPS,” while unsecured websites are prefaced by “HTTP.”
  • Use VPN (Virtual Private Network) – VPNs help hide all of your network traffic. Although, don’t trust random free VPNs; they could be after your data as well.
  • Keep Antivirus Software up-to-date – Help protect against potential code injected malware.

In closing, there is no evidence that the vulnerability has been exploited maliciously, and Wi-Fi Alliance has taken immediate steps to ensure users can continue to count on Wi-Fi to deliver strong security protections,” reads a statement published by a Wi-Fi industry trade group. “This issue can be resolved through straightforward software updates, and the Wi-Fi industry, including major platform providers, has already started deploying patches to Wi-Fi users. Users can expect all their Wi-Fi devices, whether patched or unpatched, to continue working well together.”

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5 Things you need to know about IT Data Security

5 Things You Need To Know About Data IT Security

Over the past year, 4,149 data breaches compromised more than 4.2 billion records, shattering the previous all-time high of about 1 billion exposed records. This assessment comes from the 2016 Year End Data Breach QuickView Report.

Too many companies are failing to implement basic data IT security controls

Its extremely important that companies follow the basic data security needs. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that there remains a disconnect between the realities of the breach threat and the practicalities of defending against it. Businesses must understand the risks, and how to best protect themselves and their clients against a potential breach.

At the end of the day a Ransomware outbreak or data breach will strain the relationship between you and your clients, so you need to focus on delivering consistent, quality service and limiting the possibility of a breach.

Here are five things you definitely need to think about when it comes to IT Data Security:

  1. Always make sure your data is stored properly in an encrypted database.
  2. Develop an organization-wide data security plan
  3. Remove unnecessary data from your electronic devices and keep tabs on what data remains.
  4. Hire professionals to completely clear all electronics of unnecessary sensitive data.
  5. When upgrading or disposing of devices with sensitive data, contact a professional for physical destruction of the data-containing component of the device. Deleting files from your hard drive isn’t enough. Data can still be recovered if not correctly destroyed.

Furthermore, dealing with breaches will never be an easy task and that’s why you must protect yourself before they become an issue. Understand what data can be compromised and how. Search the internet for tips, documents and case studies. If you still feel like your business is “at-risk” call the managed IT professionals, SecurityRI.com.

Also, we can assess your network at no charge. If you need additional information regarding why to outsource your IT department, please check out our white paper on improving your security technology today.

 

 

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Rhode Island’s Mandatory Identity Theft Protection Act

Is your business compliant with Rhode Island’s Mandatory Identity Theft Protection Act?

On June 26th, Governor Gina Raimondo signed the New Rhode Island Identity Theft Protection Act of 2015.  Although, are you aware that updated provisions have been made, and businesses must comply?

You’re probably thinking if the act applies to your business?

It does apply for anyone or entity who or that “stores, collects, processes, maintains, acquires, owns, uses, or licenses personal information about a Rhode Island resident.”  This act has no exclusions based upon an organization’s size or number of employees.

(more…)

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