Starting last week, Google Chrome browsers begin flagging every
website that doesn't have "HTTPS" in their URL as "Site Not Secure".
With about 60% of all Internet traffic utilized through Google
Chrome, a change like can affect almost every website on the Internet.
This is the latest in the web’s massive shift from non-secure HTTP to the more secure, encrypted HTTPS protocol. All web servers use one of these two protocols to get web pages from the server to your browser. HTTP has problems that make it vulnerable to eavesdropping and content hijacking. HTTPS fixes most of these problems.
Avoiding this alert and enabling HTTPS is easily done by adding a trusted SSL certificate to your site. To
help small business owners get up to speed, IES is offering some
great pricing on this product along with our years of experience. If you host your site with us, your SSL certificate can be up and running within hours.
Contact us today for assistance.
iesAdvisors.com
781-816-9437
Showing posts with label hacker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hacker. Show all posts
Thursday, August 2, 2018
Thursday, April 5, 2018
PSA: That Facebook quiz may be hackers mining your personal information.
Social media quizzes – especially popular on Facebook – seem innocent
enough. But taking the quiz might mean you are giving away more about
yourself than you originally thought, and may extend to your friends as
well.
These quizzes ask seemingly silly or useless questions, but hackers can use that information to penetrate your social accounts and gain access to your personal information or the information of your friends and family.
Some quizzes are designed to steal your data in an outright scam. Once answered, hackers can easily hijack personal accounts and use them to lure in more victims. The hackers will include links embedded in the quiz that can cause a security breach of your personal accounts.
But the latest news shows that it isn’t just scammers who are interested in your quiz answers. It turns out, your personal information is big business.
Not all social media quizzes are about unprincipled data collection, but the Better Business Bureau cautions users to be careful about what they share online. Profile data, quiz answers, and more can be used to used to steal your money, or let a scammer pretend to be you in order to steal someone else’s money.
These quizzes ask seemingly silly or useless questions, but hackers can use that information to penetrate your social accounts and gain access to your personal information or the information of your friends and family.
Some quizzes are designed to steal your data in an outright scam. Once answered, hackers can easily hijack personal accounts and use them to lure in more victims. The hackers will include links embedded in the quiz that can cause a security breach of your personal accounts.
But the latest news shows that it isn’t just scammers who are interested in your quiz answers. It turns out, your personal information is big business.
Not all social media quizzes are about unprincipled data collection, but the Better Business Bureau cautions users to be careful about what they share online. Profile data, quiz answers, and more can be used to used to steal your money, or let a scammer pretend to be you in order to steal someone else’s money.
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Welcome to 2017 where hacking is what seems like an everyday occurrence. Cough, cough - Equifax.
Target, CNN, HBO, Chipotle, Gamestop, Equifax - what do all these companies have in common? They have all been hacked this year.
But why, in our opinion, is the Equifax hack the worst? Well, many know Equifax as one of the top three credit reporting agencies. Ever applies for a home loan or an auto loan? Chances are the bank you are using has run your credit through Equifax. Equifax is reporting that sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers and addresses, of up to 143 million Americans has been exposed. The data breach is among the worst ever because of the amount of people affected and the sensitive type of information exposed.
Unlike other data breaches, those affected by the breach may not even know they're customers of the company, as the company gets its data from credit card companies, banks, retailers and lenders - sometimes without you knowing.
When did this happen?
Equifax said the breach happened between mid-May and July. It discovered the hack on July 29. It informed the public on September 7.
How did this happen?
Equifax said criminals "exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files."
Am I at risk, and what is Equifax doing to help?
Equifax is proposing that customers sign up for credit file monitoring and identity theft protection. It is giving free service for one year through its TrustedID Premier business, regardless of whether you've been impacted by the hack.
To enroll and / or check whether you were affected, visit www.equifaxsecurity2017.com and click on the Check Potential Impact tab. You'll need to provide your last name and the last six digits of your social security number. Once submitted, you will receive a message indicating whether you've been affected. (Giving your personal information to a company that was just hacked...ironic, we know). Then, you have the option to enroll in the program, but you can't actually sign up for the service until next week. Each customer is provided an enrollment date starting earliest on Monday.
Can I sue Equifax?
If you sign up for Equifax's offer of free identity theft protection and credit file monitoring, you may be limiting your rights to sue and be forced to take disputes to arbitration. But you can opt out of that provision if you notify the company in writing within 30 days. In addition, some attorneys argue that even if you don't opt out, the arbitration provision does not cover suits related to this breach.
It seems like companies are getting hacked a lot. Is this the biggest ever?
The Equifax breach is one of the largest breaches ever. Another high-profile examples include two breaches at Yahoo - the bigger one involved 1 billion accounts, the lesser impacted 500 million.
But why, in our opinion, is the Equifax hack the worst? Well, many know Equifax as one of the top three credit reporting agencies. Ever applies for a home loan or an auto loan? Chances are the bank you are using has run your credit through Equifax. Equifax is reporting that sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers and addresses, of up to 143 million Americans has been exposed. The data breach is among the worst ever because of the amount of people affected and the sensitive type of information exposed.
Unlike other data breaches, those affected by the breach may not even know they're customers of the company, as the company gets its data from credit card companies, banks, retailers and lenders - sometimes without you knowing.
When did this happen?
Equifax said the breach happened between mid-May and July. It discovered the hack on July 29. It informed the public on September 7.
How did this happen?
Equifax said criminals "exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files."
Am I at risk, and what is Equifax doing to help?
Equifax is proposing that customers sign up for credit file monitoring and identity theft protection. It is giving free service for one year through its TrustedID Premier business, regardless of whether you've been impacted by the hack.
To enroll and / or check whether you were affected, visit www.equifaxsecurity2017.com and click on the Check Potential Impact tab. You'll need to provide your last name and the last six digits of your social security number. Once submitted, you will receive a message indicating whether you've been affected. (Giving your personal information to a company that was just hacked...ironic, we know). Then, you have the option to enroll in the program, but you can't actually sign up for the service until next week. Each customer is provided an enrollment date starting earliest on Monday.
Can I sue Equifax?
If you sign up for Equifax's offer of free identity theft protection and credit file monitoring, you may be limiting your rights to sue and be forced to take disputes to arbitration. But you can opt out of that provision if you notify the company in writing within 30 days. In addition, some attorneys argue that even if you don't opt out, the arbitration provision does not cover suits related to this breach.
It seems like companies are getting hacked a lot. Is this the biggest ever?
The Equifax breach is one of the largest breaches ever. Another high-profile examples include two breaches at Yahoo - the bigger one involved 1 billion accounts, the lesser impacted 500 million.
Monday, June 1, 2015
The hackers are coming! The hackers are coming!
Hacking: it’s not just for Anonymous and the U.S. government anymore.
Cybercrime is ever-encroaching and can happen to anyone.
Including you and your business. In fact, it’s cost the global economy
more than $400 billion, and it’s increasingly hurting smaller operations.
The problem goes far beyond the leaking of sensitive emails and sexy selfies. Targeted attacks against small businesses nearly doubled in 2013. And of the one in five that experience a cyber attack annually, 60% will close their doors within six months as a result (source: Symantec).
But not you. Protect your business with these three tips:
1. Be password savvy. If your password is
still “Password123,” it’s time to get serious. Create unique codes for
each of your accounts, and make sure they’re at least 8 characters long
(with a few special ones thrown in). Use password managers like LastPass 3.0 or Dashlane 3 to keep track.
2. Encrypt emails and valuable information. If a hacker does breach your system, encryption makes it that much harder to get away with critical data. Voltage, DataMotion, and Proofpoint are industry leaders worth checking out.
3. Back up your data. Copying your key company data onto a cloud based system, such as Dropbox or Carbonite, or a USB hard drive takes minutes, and will save you time and anxiety if your system is ever compromised.
For professional help, call IES today at 781-816-9437. We can have you safe and secure in hours, not days!
For professional help, call IES today at 781-816-9437. We can have you safe and secure in hours, not days!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
If it can happen to the government, it can certainly happen to you! Hackers have attacked the US Department of Energy.
"The Department of Energy has just confirmed a recent cyber incident that
occurred in mid-January which targeted the Headquarters' network and
resulted in the unauthorized disclosure of employee and contractor
Personally Identifiable Information".
The agency said that it is working to figure out the "nature and scope of the incident" but that so far it believes no classified data was compromised. It's currently unclear which divisions within the Department of Energy were attacked or who was behind the hack.
Source: CNET
The agency said that it is working to figure out the "nature and scope of the incident" but that so far it believes no classified data was compromised. It's currently unclear which divisions within the Department of Energy were attacked or who was behind the hack.
Source: CNET
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