Tag: data breach

  • Your Information Was Leaked in a Major Breach, Now What?

    Your Information Was Leaked in a Major Breach, Now What?

    In what seemed to be major news for only a brief period of time, over 500 million Facebook account details were leaked last week. The data included things like profile names, Facebook ID numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers. While this data may be online in other forms the combined data together makes it a treasure trove for phishers and scammers.

    The colossal total of 533 million accounts was accessed by hackers exploiting a bug in a Facebook address book contacts import feature. It was confirmed by Facebook that the exploit was patched in August 2019, but it is unclear how many times the bug was used before then. The information featured users from 106 different countries. News Tip About Hackers

    It’s clear from Facebook’s response that this data has been out there for a while, and no one knows how it’s currently being utilized by bad actors to phish and scam people. It hasn’t been released that password data was a part of the breach, but it’s still our recommendation that you change your password any time you hear news of a major breach from a service you utilize. As well as making sure you use different passwords for different sites (if you don’t already).

    But what else can you do? Here are our 5 tips to protect yourself after a breach occurs with a service you use or have used in the past.

    1. Keep an Eye Out for An Alert from The Company Affected. We feel companies should be duty bound to let their users know if a breach has occurred. You should keep an eye out for an email detailing the steps they have taken to protect your data after a breach, what may have been compromised, and what you should do to protect yourself.
    2. Monitor Your Financials. If the breach happened within a financial institution you utilize, or even one we all utilize by default (such as the Equifax breach) you want to take the time to monitor your financials for suspicious activity. Many banking and credit card issuers offer free credit reporting as part of their services now. You can even freeze your credit to be extra sure but keep in mind if you do try to open a new credit card or loan the freeze will affect you as well.
    3. Change Your Passwords. We recommend changing passwords if a major breach has occurred even if the business confirms no password data was leaked, you really can never be too careful. If you need help remembering your passwords for various sites as well as creating stronger passwords, we recommend our article on the top 3 password managers we recommend.
    4. Be Extra Wary of Suspicious Emails. Following a data leak, phishers and scammers will use this newly obtained information to try and reach out and trick you into handing over your financial or other personal information. They may have names of relatives or other people you know to utilize and try to get you to send them money. If you receive a suspicious email it is best to report it to your email provider.
    5. File Your Taxes Early. If your social security number was stolen as part of a breach, you may want to be prepared to file your taxes as soon as possible to avoid having your tax refund stolen by scammers.

    In addition to these five tips if the company that was breached offers assistance in the form of either monitoring your credit or tips on how to safeguard your account, we recommend accepting their offer. Data breaches occur so often now that the public is desensitized but they are still a threat that should be treated seriously.

    Data breaches that affect businesses are a different animal entirely. There is much more to monitor and safeguard and it is not something you should try to tackle alone. Valley Techlogic is experienced in helping businesses recover from data breaches and we can help you recover your data and protect it from further attacks. Visit here to schedule a free consultation to learn more.

    Looking for more to read? We suggest these tech articles from the last week.

    This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.

  • Is Your Internet Provider Keeping You Safe?

    Is Your Internet Provider Keeping You Safe?

    In terms of internet security, we often think of what we as individuals can do, like good password security or not opening email attachments. Or what companies who hold our data can do, like notifying us of a breach or having their own measures in place to avoid one in the first place. When it comes to our internet providers, we often think about the internet speeds they provide us and having consistent uptime.

    What about security though? What measures are in places (or not) to keep us safe while using the very thing that connects us all together?

    At the beginning of April, sites like Facebook and Google came to a grinding halt for hours. It wasn’t a hack or a bug, it was a problem with the internet data routing standard known as Border Gateway Protocol, or BGP.

    BGP disruptions usually happen by accident, but they can also be caused by large-scale spying or data interception. Denial of service attacks can be another culprit.

    BGP is like the map the internet uses to connect everything. All our traffic is routed through gateways to various hubs around the world. Or it should be that straightforward. In reality, every ISP provider can decide which routes to take, and not all of them are good.

    Cloudflare, who specializes in Internet Security among other things, has launched the website ISBGPSafeYet. Using this website will test your ISP by offering a legitimate route and an invalid route to load two pages.

    If it catches the invalid route and only loads the page offered by the legitimate route, then your ISP has BGP protections in place. If it loads both they fail.

    While we can’t change the problems with BGP overnight, public awareness is always a good thing. If your ISP fails the test, reach out to them and give them your opinion! Together we can make the internet a safer place for us all to use.

    This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.

  • Tips for Using Zoom Safely

    Tips for Using Zoom Safely

    Dogs on ZoomMost of us are finding ourselves working from home either altogether or at least part of the time, and with that change also comes conducting work meetings from home. While we all probably had at least an awareness of video client tools such as Microsoft Teams and Skype, a new contender came through and became the working from home meeting tool du jour – I’m talking of course about Zoom.

    Zoom has added 2.22 million users so far in 2020 (the previous year they gained 1.99 million for the entire year). Unfortunately, with such unprecedent growth also comes growing pains in the form of unauthorized users jumping onto calls and even cyber security issues. So how can you use Zoom safely, and what led to it becoming such a popular option in the first place?

    Unlike many of its competitors Zoom allows you to see multiple participants at once, rather than one at a time while they’re talking. It also has the unique functionality of allowing users to join from a browser which lets participants avoid downloading the client if they don’t wish to or are unable to.

    You can also host an unlimited number of meetings with up to 100 participants with only the free client (up to 500 participants and concurrent meetings being paid features). Screensharing is also possible and a nice feature.

    With that said there have been some draw backs, call quality may be somewhat unpredictable compared to more seasoned products in this arena (although I think it would suffice to say they’ve all had some troubles in these heretofore unheard-of times). Users have also reported issues with scheduling and adding meetings to their calendars. The biggest issues though, have been in the avenue of security.

    Starting with so called “Zoom Bombers” – which have been one of the most publicized issues – it is described as having uninvited users join your private video call and start spamming unsavory materials either in the chat or via voice and/or video.

    Many of these intruders gained access via businesses posting the video chat link to their public social media accounts. The best method of protection against this by far is adding a password to your Zoom chats and not posting them publicly.

    It’s also come to light that there are some critical cyber security issues with Zoom, especially regarding user data.  500,000 Zoom user accounts and passwords were recently found for sale on the dark web due to a data breach by a cyber security firm.

    This serves as a good reminder to keep your passwords varied, change them periodically and use a password manager. You can check the whimsically named site https://haveibeenpwned.com/ to see if you’ve been a victim to this breach or any others.

    Suffice to say despite its faults Zoom is probably here to stay for the foreseeable future, especially as the country’s workforce continues to work from home. Taking some necessary steps will keep your work meetings intruder free and safe.

    This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on X at https://x.com/valleytechlogic.

  • 2020 is Here – Here’s your Technology and Cybersecurity Forecast

    2020 is Here – Here’s your Technology and Cybersecurity Forecast

    It’s 2020 and the start of a new decade. Technology has changed a lot since the beginning of the last decade. Inexpensive computer options like Raspberry Pi and Chromebook became available, the first iPad was released.

    Computing also got a lot faster, the first 8 core processors were released, solid state drives became a lot more widespread, and graphic cards reached new heights for computer gamers shattering the previously achievable FPS (frames per second) and ushering in a new era of high-end gaming.

    The previous decade also brought new records on cybersecurity issues but unfortunately not in a positive light. Malware became more sophisticated and harder to track, ransomware became widespread (it’s estimated it cost the US $7.5 billion in 2019). So, what’s on the horizon for 2020 and beyond in the realms of technology and cybersecurity?

    As wearable technology advances increase, we will see even more of it aimed at integrating tech with the world around us. Augmented reality devices will probably become more accessible and affordable. Sensor technology will continue to increase which will have a positive effect on healthcare and our ability to detect health scares before they advance to something serious (see watches now aimed at keeping track of our blood pressure and heart rate).

    Needless to say it will be something to look out for as our society becomes more dependent on the IoT (Internet of Things), for good and for bad.

    What about the field of cybersecurity? While it’s probably true hackers won’t stop trying to gain access to our private information – especially as it pertains to our financials – even the most layman user of technology is becoming keen to protecting their privacy.

    Consumers will demand corporations be made accountable for leaks of private data and businesses not wanting to shoulder the financial burden of an attack (or the bad press) will utilize the tools available to thwart would be bad actors in their tracks.

    On that front we can help. At Valley Techlogic we are on a mission to have the most comprehensive and effective cybersecurity tools available to protect our clients. We also offer 24/7 help desk so no matter when you have a problem, we’re on it.

    If you’re in the Central Valley or surrounding area reach out today for a free security audit and begin this new decade tackling your business’s technology needs.

    This article was powered by Valley TechLogic, an IT provider in Atwater, CA. You can visit us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/valleytechlogic.