security · Page 10 of 12

How to Safely Use Any Internet Connection with a VPN

Whether you are working from home or in an office, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) has become the go-to option for many people who want to mask their current location. Most assume it’s because such individuals are doing some illegal activities. However, we live in a world where cyber criminals or hackers can quickly access your data just by using an internet connection. Furthermore, most of us love using public Wi-Fi hotspots without inspecting the network. As a result, our devices be it a laptop, or mobile phones are vulnerable to getting infected with malware and data theft.

Besides, most businesses have a remote or mobile workforce. As a result, they need to keep their data away from unwanted parties. This applies no matter the type of internet connection used. And that is where a good VPN comes in. Apart from enhancing security, a VPN increases productivity and allows you to access corporate resources remotely. With the availability of public Wi-Fi comes the need to know how to use any internet connection with a VPN safely. In this post, we will cover how a VPN works, how to use it to secure any internet connection, and the safest way to implement one.

How a VPN Works

When you use a VPN, your traffic and data are encrypted while in transit. This prevents any unwanted parties from accessing the data. Only people with approved devices will be able to access the data regardless of the remote location or the internet connection they are using. As a result, any device connected to your router will not see or access your web traffic. Since the traffic will appear as if it’s coming from the chosen VPN server, your IP address will also be hidden. Hiding your IP address will come in handy when you want to spoof your current geo-location.

How to Use VPN to Secure Any Internet

When you are working remotely, a VPN is the best way to protect your data and devices. We are constantly using the internet to communicate or send information via email, web, social media, and any other messaging app. We are sending all the data without any security or privacy whatsoever. This leaves internet users vulnerable to different types of criminals. You are even more vulnerable when using public internet or someone else’s Wi-Fi network.

With a VPN, you will have a private tunnel such that no matter which internet connection you use, anything that you send will be encrypted. While you might be tempted to use a proxy, what’s great about a VPN is that it covers all your internet activity. Which means you get total security.

VPN Implementation

There are various types of VPN. The best VPN should help you implement the right security strategy. It should also offer your business an affordable means of using any internet to access the company’s internal networks. With a reliable VPN, you will protect all your devices even when you are traveling. Remember, choose a VPN provider that has a server in the geo-location you prefer. The safest way to get a VPN that is right for you is to get it from a reputable provider whose specialty matches your goals.

Want to know more about the best VPN that meets your needs? Feel free to contact us anytime.

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Now Safely Use Any Internet Connection with a VPN

You may have already heard some of the hype about Virtual Private Networks. A VPN works by masking the user’s IP address so their true identity and location remain unknown. They permit anonymity and keep others from tracking web activities. The internet connection is rerouted through remote servers to accomplish this. Governmental and geographic boundaries can often be circumvented. These networks bring possibilities of avoiding censorship and allow anonymous material downloading or streaming.

For those in both the business and personal worlds, one of their greatest benefits is the ability they give to utilize public WiFi networks safely and securely. Rapid, secure, effective communications are now possible anywhere internet connections exist.

Public WiFi Use Risks

How many businesses have representatives who work out of the office in one capacity or another? The short answer is a substantial percentage, with the amount continuing to increase. Personal or business emails, phone communications, chat room conversations, and passwords were all at severe risk from hackers in public WiFi areas until the coming of VPNs. With a VPN, business can be conducted by company representatives anywhere without fear of these hackers stealing valuable information. And personal use is safe as well.

How VPNs Work

How does a VPN work? The Virtual Private Network not only masks your identity and location, it utilizes encryption to secure your data. This encryption can only be decrypted by legitimate recipients in the network. Think of it as a secure information passageway, accessible only to those with proper credentials and encryption. This secure information passageway makes any information virtually impossible to hack.

Business and Personal Benefits

Communicating important information more securely, quickly, and concisely has always been an advantage. In centuries past, distant armies sometimes waged war for extended periods after hostilities ceased because communications were so glacially slow. When the telephone was first invented, nobody had any idea how its vast communication networks would change the world. The same was true with computer technology. Advances in computer and communication technology tend to build on earlier technology, to be cumulative. VPNs are certainly another forward step that brings significant advantages to both business and personal computing.

Contact 4 Corner IT today to find out more about VPNs or IT support for the latest in computer technology.

Six Steps of a Cyber Security Assessment

Cyber security risk assessment is an essential element of any information security program. As the technology landscape continues to evolve, your company needs to take appropriate steps to make sure your data isn’t vulnerable to potential threats. A great resource for conducting risk assessments is the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments, often referred to by its publication number, NIST 800-30. The guide can be broken down into six steps.

Identify threat sources. The very first thing your organization needs to do is identify and characterize threats. Build a team to assess the various threats facing your company. Examples are divided into “Adversarial Threats” such as organized crime and hostile nation-states, and “Environmental Threats” such as earthquakes and tornadoes.

Identify threat events. This step requires identifying potential threat vectors, the relevance of those vectors, and correlating them with threat sources identified earlier. A good example would be a hostile nation-state running a brute-force dictionary attack on default SSH port 22 on your ISP’s subnet. A course of action could be to weigh whether enforcing good password practices is more or less important than running SSH on another port.

Identify vulnerabilities. It’s important to identify vulnerabilities and conditions affecting the likelihood that threats will result in loss of data, time, and revenue. For example, if your organization has chosen to run SSH on a non standard port, but users choose passwords vulnerable to a dictionary attack, what data can be lost via SSH?

Determine probable impact. Once an attacker is in via SSH, what can be lost? If your website’s users choose poor passwords, what data can be taken and what’s the worst-case scenario?

Calculate risk weighing both likelihood and impact. Will the cost of implementing a strategy to deal with the impact of an earthquake outweigh the additional operational expense during normal day-to-day operations?

Compliance with NIST 800-30 can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. For 17 years 4 Corner IT has been a premier IT services company. With over 60 employees, let us help you with your technology needs.

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Building a Solid Cyber Security Foundation – 6 Essential IT Security Services

As with any well-built system, effective cyber security begins with building a solid security foundation. Without thoughtful attention to building a good foundation, a business will remain vulnerable to hacks and breaches until they finally decide to face cyber security issues head on.

Assessment

When first addressing an issue, one must first assess all the security issues, both the obvious and the potential ones. Assessing a company’s technology vulnerabilities must be performed by someone with a high level of expertise in evaluating the company overall for sub-standard IT practices.

Planning

After determining all the holes that need attention, the next step is to create an pro-active plan that will address each potential threat. The plan should include both steps that can be taken in order to avoid a security problem altogether, as well as a solid recovery plan to initiate in the event the worst should happen and a breach is discovered.

A comprehensive security plan will consist of several key components, including:

Combating Intrusion

Sometimes there is a delicate balance between applying security measures to ward off the threats of intrusion, yet still providing enough openness in a computer system to allow employees to actually complete their daily tasks. A good security team will assess what their client needs in terms of effective security, but in a balanced manner, thus preventing their security efforts from hindering daily operations.

Addressing Mobile and Remote Access

Even if all employees in a given company work on-site, it is a rare company that does not allow at least some off-site mobile and/or remote access to corporate systems by their staff members. As work life becomes more and more intertwined with personal time, if not addressed, the security risks associated with off-site access means a company will remain vulnerable to hacks and data breaches.

Securing Endpoints

In the past, ensuring that all corporate PCs had anti-virus software installed might have been enough to combat threats. With every passing year however, hackers and data thieves become more ingenious in their behavior. A good security plan will include securing endpoints through configuration and patch management, solid firewalls, application controls, data loss protection, and in some areas, data encryption.

Enforcing Multi-Factor Authentication

More and more businesses are enacting multi-factor authentication in order for their employees to access corporate systems and data. Many breaches have occurred from the use of woefully inadequate passwords such as “1234567” or “ABC”. Of course, companies should also support their multi-factor authentication measures by enforcing the use of strong passwords.

If you would like to know more about how to build a good security foundation in order to protect your corporate IT assets, please contact us.

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The Newest Extortion Scams Are Using Your Own Passwords as Bait

Internet scams have become more and more sophisticated. Thus, extortion scammers have found a new piece of bait by which to hook internet users. The bait is their old passwords. These extortion schemes often claim that someone has the person’s compromising information. Then they say are happy to help get that information back if the person is willing to pay.

The person coughs up the cash, fearing that their information may be compromised. This is in order to protect information that the person claimed they should protect. The catch? The entity that they claim meant harm never had any of the person’s information in the first place. Then, people believe that scammers are burrowed deep in their computers. They believe they are getting a hold of the person’s private information. Many scammers even demand that the payments be made in Bitcoin. Otherwise they refuse to carry out “the job” of stopping hackers purportedly have the person’s personal information. (Really, they don’t have their information at all – the said person burrowing in the person’s computer doesn’t even exist).

What Can I Do To Avoid Extortion Scams?

We offer the following advice to people who have had issues with these kinds of scammers in the past. It is to help them avoid having issues with these same scammers in the future:

Scammers will generally want to rush the person into making hasty decisions. Thus, will pressure you to pay them immediately for their “services”. However, if you have any feelings that the person with whom you are talking is not for sure authentic, authorities encourage you not to give them any information as it encourages them to keep on scamming other people after they are successful with you.
Once you realize that you have been scammed, change your passwords immediately. Moreover, use different passwords for all online accounts and be sure to require Two-Factor Authorization when it’s an option.
Do not have any further communication with anyone who you think is a scammer.
Always update your antivirus software and other operating systems to give the scammers less of a chance at getting at your personal information.
Cover your webcam at all times when you are not using the device.

Remember, scammers only need to be successful with a fraction of the people with whom they engage in order to be successful at what they do. They will make this a lucrative process which will only continue encouraging them to scam more and more innocent, unassuming people into believing their lies.

In the end, the next scamming issue is the fact that these people claim to have your old passwords and will use that as bait to try to get you to pay them to help “protect your personal information” as they will claim. In these cases, these people don’t have any of your personal information in the first place. They are simply scammers out trying to get money off of you and they will do absolutely nothing for you in return.

For more information on the latest scams that you need to watch out for please feel free to contact us at 4 Corner IT for further assistance.

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