Tag Archive for: consultant

Common Cybersecurity Threats and How an Online Security Consultant Can Help

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Protecting your online safety has never been more crucial in today’s digital age, where cybercriminals and hackers lurk around every virtual corner. The reality of cybersecurity threats, ranging from identity theft to malicious software attacks, can leave us feeling vulnerable and exposed. However, there is hope! In this blog post, we will explore some of the common cyber threats you may encounter and delve into the crucial role that online security consultants play in safeguarding your digital life. With their expertise, you can fortify your defenses and regain control over your online presence, as these modern-day guardians protect our cyberspace.

 

Common Cybersecurity Threats

In the modern business landscape, numerous cybersecurity threats pose risks to organizations. These threats can stem from various sources, including employees, customers, and hackers. Here are some of the most prevalent cybersecurity threats:

Phishing Attacks: Phishing involves sending fraudulent emails or messages to deceive users into providing sensitive information such as passwords or credit card numbers.

Malware: Malware is malicious software designed to harm or disable computers and other devices.

Denial-of-Service Attacks: These attacks aim to make a website or online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources.

SQL Injection Attacks: In this type of attack, malicious code is inserted into a database to extract data or cause damage.

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Attacks: Hackers inject malicious code into a web page to execute it on unsuspecting users who visit the site.

Password Spraying: Hackers attempt to gain access to accounts by using common passwords across multiple accounts and services.

 

The Role of an Online Security Consultant

As cyberattacks continue to rise, the demand for online security consultants has never been greater. These consultants provide invaluable services to businesses by helping them identify and mitigate…

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Suffolk cyberattack: County consultant also lobbies for vendor hired to fortify system

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A consulting firm hired to help manage Suffolk County’s response to a ransomware attack also has served as a lobbyist for the computer security company brought in more than three years ago to analyze and fortify Suffolk’s networks, according to a Newsday analysis of records.

Computer security experts and a government watchdog group said consulting firm RedLand Strategies and founder Michael Balboni’s roles as state lobbyist for the company — and consultant to Suffolk County — could present potential conflicts of interest in the cleanup of the Sept. 8 cyberattack.

Separately, computer experts raised concerns that Palo Alto Networks, the company that provided the front-line firewall of Suffolk’s defense against cyberattacks, is acting as the primary forensic auditor to analyze what happened when the county’s system was breached.

RedLand and Palo Alto, both responsible for helping safeguard Suffolk’s computer system since 2019, recently were awarded new contracts to manage the county’s response to the attack, determine how the breach occurred and to help fix it.

WHAT TO KNOW

  • A consultant brought in to help manage Suffolk’s response to the Sept. 8 ransomware attack also has served as a lobbyist for a security system vendor that provided Suffolk’s front line of defense. 
  • Good government experts say the roles could present a conflict, but others say the current state of emergency and continuing impacts warrant the measures. 
  • An annual computer network risk-assessment report required by 2018 legislation has been finished only once, and a top recommendation to hire a cybersecurity chief wasn’t followed.
  • Experts say the county should look to independent forensic auditors to conduct a thorough investigation of the cyber breach, rather than use an arm of the firewall company. 

Suffolk has yet to publicly say how ransomware attackers infiltrated its system — potentially hundreds of times in the days and weeks leading up to the attack — but no one is blaming RedLand or Palo Alto. The attack has hobbled telephone and email systems and impacted the police department, Department of Health Services, and the Traffic and Parking Violations Agency as the…

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Consultant, school system officials say hackers pose common woes for institutions

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Jul. 16—While Joplin officials continue to mostly remain mum, a failure of the city government’s computer and telephone systems more than a week ago could have been the result of a ransom demand, a Joplin information technology expert says.

City systems seemed to be operating July 6, but city officials announced July 7 that the city’s computer systems were down. That interrupted the city’s internet-based telephone system and its online capabilities.

In a statement, the city called it a “network security incident” and said it was reported to a law enforcement agency.

There has since been no explanation of the cause and not much word on the status of the investigation. City officials did cite phone system restoration, but nothing about the computer systems. In recent days, the city has not made further statements or answered Globe questions sent to officials about the situation.

Ransomware attack?

John Motazedi, the owner of a local IT consulting firm, SNC Squared, speculated that the city might have been hit by ransomware, a malware program used to encrypt computer systems. Motazedi said his opinion is conjecture but that the failures reported by the city resemble what happens when hackers disable a system to demand a ransom payment.

Motazedi said there are several ways to infect a computer system with crippling software. It can be done by sending a coded program through an email that can unleash encryption through the system, downloading a malicious program without knowing it is infected, or by going into the system’s servers, the central brain of a computer system, to implant the encryption.

“Typically they get in through some administrative account because that account can get into other machines that are connected together,” Motazedi said. An administrative account is used by IT technicians to oversee computer operations and make changes to the system.

Once a system is overtaken by encryption of its programs, the user cannot operate the computer or the system but will instead receive a pop-up message to pay a certain amount of money to receive a code that can be used for decryption. Typically, internet criminals demand payment in bitcoins, a kind of online currency difficult to…

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Security consultant hired by Foreign Office linked to string of hacking complaints

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A British private investigator and security consultant whose company has just completed a four-year contract to protect the UK’s embassy in Tel Aviv is linked to a string of telecommunications hacking complaints dating back more than 20 years, according to high court judgments.



a car stopped at a traffic light on a city street: Photograph: Michael Jacobs/Alamy

© Provided by The Guardian
Photograph: Michael Jacobs/Alamy

A court judgment that touches on the career history of Stuart Page – the 69-year-old founder of the private security and intelligence firm Page Group – noted last May that the businessman “operates in a world of covert surveillance in which agents acquire confidential information unlawfully”.

The judgment explores how Page, who was appearing in the case as a witness, was linked to hacking allegations stretching back to 1998, where the businessman is said to have received stolen materials and passed them to clients. The judge concluded that the allegations did not establish that Page had ever carried out or authorised hacking himself.

Page Group’s alleged role in passing illegally obtained materials to clients raises questions about the use of stolen personal information within UK civil court proceedings, as well as the company being awarded a £1m Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) contract to protect one of the UK’s most sensitive embassies – a deal that concluded in December after almost four years.



a car stopped at a traffic light on a city street: The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Tel Aviv, Israel

© Photograph: Michael Jacobs/Alamy
The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Tel Aviv, Israel

The FCDO’s Supply Partner Code of Conduct states: “Supply partners and their delivery chain partners must declare to FCDO where there may be instances or allegations of previous unethical behaviour by an existing or potential staff member or where there is a known or suspected conflict of interest.”

Neither Page Group nor the FCDO would say if the company had highlighted the historical allegations to the government.

Video: Full statement (Birmingham Mail)

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Lawyers for Page, whose companies have also worked guarding EU diplomats and on intelligence engagements for Middle Eastern rulers, told the Guardian: “No findings of hacking…

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