Walsh IT Group Blog

You’ve no doubt seen the concept of “streaming” online at some point or another, whether it’s consuming content on Netflix or Youtube. However, content creators with an established fan base can stream their content on Twitch to make a living. If you have ever wondered how much some of these creators make, well, a recent hack has exposed this information and created a whole kerfuffle that must be addressed by Amazon.

Yet another major vulnerability has been discovered, this time in Microsoft’s MSHTML browser engine. The vulnerability, discovered and tracked by Kaspersky, is currently being exploited all over the world. As such, it is critical that you know how to avoid vulnerabilities like this so that you do not inadvertently allow a hacker onto your network.

If we told you that it is possible for others to hire hackers to launch attacks against your business, would you believe it? Well, we hope so, because it is very possible and more common than you might think. Comparitech launched an investigation into the average prices of various hacking services on the Dark Web, and you might be surprised by how affordable and accessible they are. This is just more reason to take network security seriously.

Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is already used in certain industries, like cybersecurity and automation, but hackers have quickly found out that they too can leverage AI to their advantage. With cybercrime on the rise, it’s expected that AI will play a role in the cybersecurity landscape to come. Let’s take a closer look at some of these trends.

We know that cybersecurity isn’t the most interesting topic in the world, especially for a small business owner, this doesn’t diminish its importance. If you fail to adequately protect your business, even a low-profile SMB can fall victim to a cyber threat. It’s your job as the business owner and thought leader to make sure this doesn’t happen.

The cloud can be a huge part of any successful business, so long as you are able to keep control over it and utilize it to your business’ advantage. Centralized authority over your organization’s cloud access controls is critical to keeping it safe and functional. Let’s go over what this means and how you can achieve it.

Phishing emails have been around for quite some time, and for their entire existence they have gotten the better of even the most seasoned employees. What exactly contributes to their success? What kinds of subject lines go into creating a phishing email that users find to be convincing enough to actually want to click on and follow through on? Let’s take a look at a recent study that might glean some insights into this.

When it comes to network security, businesses need all the edges they can get, especially since cybersecurity as an industry is one which is rapidly adjusting and responding to various threats, as well as their responses to those security measures. One way in which security researchers have attempted to subvert this security rat race is through artificial intelligence measures, a trend that promises to change the way businesses protect themselves for the better.

In a zero trust network, you trust nobody, no matter how long they have been around or how invested they are in your organization’s future. Everyone’s identity on your network must be verified, a concept that has been quite helpful in limiting data breaches. Today, we are going to discuss the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s definition of zero trust and what they recommend to businesses wishing to implement it.

Authentication is one of the most important topics on the table for discussion this year, particularly in regards to how the need for secure data access has been increased considerably during the COVID-19 crisis. How can you make sure that your data is being accessed in a safe and secure manner while also verifying the identity of whoever accesses it? Voice-based authentication might be one option. 

The Internet of Things, a collective term for the countless connected devices out there that have traditionally not been connected to the Internet, is a vast and dangerous territory for businesses to cover, perhaps now more than ever before. Unfortunately, this massive group of connected devices also tends to make itself a target for hackers who want to leverage these devices to their advantage. A recent hack shows just how much hackers can stand to gain from infiltrating these connected devices.

The password has long been the first line of defense against security threats, but what would you say if we told you that the password could disappear entirely from your Microsoft account? Well, get ready, because boy do we have news for you. Let’s take a look at what it means to go “passwordless” and what it could mean for your account’s security.

It’s good to go about your business with an abundance of caution, but sometimes this abundance of caution can lead people to see threats where they simply do not exist. In cybersecurity, this is actually quite easy to see happening, as cybersecurity is such a multi-faceted topic. But how much do these false-positive security reports wind up costing organizations?

Email is a crucial part of any modern business, but it’s not always the most fun topic to cover. It’s more of a necessity than something super exciting, like machine learning or automation. Still, this does not make it any less important, so why don’t we discuss some of the ways you can make sure your organization’s email server is as secure as possible?

IT solutions have the potential to be major problem-solvers for your organization, but they are only as effective as the team members using them. This means that all employees must not only be trained on the solutions, but also must embrace them as the efficient solutions they are. Here are some ways that you can train your employees to make sure that your team is efficiently using new technology solutions.

The ransomware attack against Kaseya’s VSA servers for approximately 1,500 organizations was yet another major challenge for businesses to overcome, and while most of the affected companies did not give in to the hackers’ demands, others felt forced to pay the ransom. The problem, however, is that some of those who did pay the ransom are now having trouble decrypting their data, and with REvil MIA, they do not have the support needed to decrypt their data.

While there are plenty of ways for a business to secure its resources, there are just as many ways for your employees to undermine these protections… often without even realizing that they’re doing so. Let’s focus on some of the cognitive biases that you and your team members might experience when it comes to your security.

It seems like there is a new data breach every time we turn around, and in most cases, these breaches expose the personal data of many people. The most recent breach in this troubling trend is for the popular social media website LinkedIn. This breach exposed 700 million profiles, an event which led them to be sold on a popular hackers forum. The scary part? LinkedIn denies that there was any data breach.

New technology solutions are not always easy to implement, and the cloud in particular opens up a ton of opportunities for both great successes and agonizing failures. If you do not take certain issues seriously during your cloud implementation process, you might find yourself on the wrong end of this spectrum. Let’s examine some of the common pitfalls that some businesses encounter when it comes to implementing cloud solutions.

At this stage, you don’t need us to tell you that ransomware is bad. This threat has gone from being an emerging problem to one that is now sensationalized and commonplace in headlines and news stories around the world. According to a recent study, even organizations that do pay the ransom when they get infected by this threat are playing with fire.