Comprehensive IT for Business

Think your business's computers are protected with conventional passwords? Guess again. Too many of your staff count on simple passwords that are easy for hackers to figure out. Others use the same password for multiple Web sites, computers and mobile devices. Consequently once cyber criminals hack that password, they are able to easily gain access to numerous other sites and devices.

You would never open a phishing e-mail that asks you to deposit $1,000 to obtain $1 million, would you? And you would never open anything from a Nigerian prince trying to get the cash he needs to flee to the United States, right? But what about the most subtle of today's phishing e-mails? Think you would never be seduced by one of them? Think again.

Think your smart phone is protected simply because you make use of a passcode to stop others from logging onto its home screen? You better think again.

Do you have nightmares of your tablet falling into the hands of thieves? Maybe you worry that a hacker will break into your online bank account. These fears are warranted. It's increasingly challenging for all of us to guard our privacy in today's Internet age. But, there's good news.

We all save passwords and usernames on our web browsers. It's a way to quickly access the membership-based Web sites that we visit daily. Nevertheless, there's a security risk to this. If someone takes your laptop, this thief will have little trouble accessing your favorite sites. And if you've saved the password and username combination for your online bank account, then you might be in some very serious trouble.

Remember Stuxnet? Back in 2010, a new piece of malware corrupted multiple systems needed to access and control industrial equipment being used in Iran's nuclear program. The details of this malware remain fuzzy, but, as a recent story by the MIT Technology Review reports, Stuxnet is widely thought to be the work of the United States and Israeli governments. This makes Stuxnet particularly important: As the Technology Review story says, Stuxnet is among the most visible signs of a new form of warfare: government-controlled malware developed to attack the computers and security systems of other countries. And, like it or not, it appears that the United States is at the forefront of this phenomenon.

Do you think that malware is largely a problem for PCs and laptops, not your smartphone? Because most smartphone users get their apps from a centralized and safe source, such as Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store for Android, smartphone users in the US have, for the most part, been exempt from mobile malware attacks. Until now.

The vast majority of malware attacks still transpire on PCs, but cyber criminals are increasingly turning their attention to smart phones. And no wonder: Smart phones are getting to be miniature computers. Many people use smart phones to surf the net, read e-mail messages and do banking on the go. These devices, then, are ripe for attack. Fortunately, there are things you can do to protect your smartphone from hackers.

You may not know this but one of the simplest ways to safeguard your computers from hackers is to disable Java, software that runs interactive functions on web pages. Java has developed the reputation for being a backdoor for hackers to get into your system, for example Business Insider recently pointed to the 700,000 Apple computers that were infected earlier this year with the Flashback Trojan malware. These computers were all running an out-of-date add on that enabled their browser to run Java.

Seeing as how it's fall, and today is Halloween, we thought we would look at something a bit scary. Ransomware is a scary, and effective, new form of malware that is on the rise.