Tag: harder | Page 2

Phones May Become Harder to Hack ButTotal Security is a Myth

September 15, 2022/in Internet Security

Let’s just get things out of the way. There is no such thing as a secure, hundred-percent hack-proof network device. At least, not yet. However, that did not stop Apple from testing this theory most recently. The tech giant announced a specialized additional protection layer for its customers who are worried about cyberattacks.

Particularly customers who are worried about state-sponsored cyberattack software such as Pegasus. Apple calls it Lockdown Mode. In short, it is an added layer of protection that turns off possible points of invasion, but it seriously limits the device’s usability.

Let’s see where the supposed future of total digital security is faring.

What is Lockdown Mode?

Lockdown Mode is a feature on the newest iPhones that will be released this fall with the new iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura. According to Apple, Lockdown Mode is an extreme, optional security layer for specific users whose digital privacy needs extra protection.

Apple itself cited the NSO Group, which developed Pegasus, as an example. The company mentioned that these users could feel threatened because of the work they do or the kind of life they lead, which will cause them to be targeted by state-sponsored spyware.

Think, journalists, and political and human rights workers that have been targets of state-sponsored attacks and violence across the world.

The feature is essentially a more simplified operating system and needs to be turned onmanually from the phone’s settings. Once selected, a reboot initiates the device in Lockdown Mode.

But this added simplicity comes at a cost, namely, convenience and performance. Navigating webpages with Lockdown Mode turned on feels drastically slower and janky as per initial hands-on reviews on the feature.

Preemptive compilation of webpages with the help of Just In Time JavaScript is turned off in Lockdown Mode, making webpages load much slower. However, this exception can be manually deselected for trusted websites.

Certain Apple services will be restricted too such as incoming invites and service requests for FaceTime calls unless the receiver initiated the call or sends a request. Messages will block link previews and will block…

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Three Steps To Make Your Small Business Harder To Hack

April 26, 2022/in Internet Security

Doug Howard is CEO of Pondurance.

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The U.S. Small Business Administration recently launched a new pilot program to help small businesses improve their cybersecurity infrastructure. As business owners everywhere face increasing cyber risks and challenges that could cripple their operations, the SBA has committed to awarding millions in grants to help entrepreneurs defend against cyberthreats.

The program should also serve as a wake-up call for small-business operators across the country, many of whom think they are simply not big enough or visible enough to be victimized by cybercriminals. This is not true. Small businesses are just as likely to be targeted by cybercriminals as large enterprises.

Of course, a lot of small-business owners do understand the threat they’re up against. But many of them don’t know where to begin when it comes to building an effective and practical cybersecurity program. If that describes you, here are three easy steps your company can take to better defend your business.

1. Prioritize your risk areas.

No organization in the world has enough money or expertise to eliminate every single cyberthreat. That’s why it’s so important, especially for small businesses, to prioritize risk areas. For example, is there a risk to human life if your business is attacked? For most small businesses, the answer is no. But if you run a small healthcare company such as a hospital, you might have internet-connected health-monitoring devices that, if tampered with, could cause direct harm to your patients. If this is the case, then those systems must be prioritized. You must protect the health and safety of your patients first and foremost.

Another priority risk, which is shared by all small businesses, is revenue risk. If cybercriminals attack your e-commerce site or your point-of-sale systems, for instance, that can devastate your business. So it’s important to focus on protecting those assets before almost anything else.

Other high-priority risks include reputational risk and regulatory risk. If you experience a breach, are you capable of taking all the necessary steps required by state and federal regulatory rules? If you…

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Paying Hackers’ Ransom Demands Is Getting Harder

September 26, 2021/in Internet Security

If your data center’s ransomware recovery plan is to pay off the hackers with cryptocurrency, it’s time to rethink your strategy as regulators crack down.

Today, every data center manager should be aware of the dangers of ransomware and have a disaster recovery plan that doesn’t involve paying hackers’ ransomware demands.

But, according to a ransomware survey report released in June by Keeper Security, 49% of companies hit by ransomware paid the ransom — and another 22% declined to say whether they paid or not. Part of the reason why so many companies are paying hackers is the lack of usable backups.

It’s not enough just to have tape backups of key databases in an offsite location somewhere. Yes, they’re going to be safe from attackers, but restoration is going to take time and money. Often, paying the ransoms is cheaper and quicker.

That strategy might not fly for much longer.

Ransomware Payment Sanctions

Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a cryptocurrency exchange for its role in facilitating ransomware payments and issued an advisory to private companies making such payments that they might be facing sanctions risks.

According to the Treasury, ransomware payments reached $400 million — four times higher than in 2019. And that number is just a fraction of the total economic cost of ransomware.

“The new designations means that U.S. entities and citizens will be banned from performing transactions with sanctioned entities and could themselves face sanctions or enforcement actions for doing business with them,” said John LaCour, founder and CEO at PhishLabs, a cybersecurity firm. “No board will want to take on that personal risk.”

Companies should change their mindsets, he added, to one where paying hackers is not an option.

“It can be a good exercise for companies,” he told Data Center Knowledge. “Which data or systems would they have been willing to pay ransom for? And what additional protections do they need to apply to those systems so as not to find themselves in that position?”

The U.S. isn’t the only country starting to crack down on crypto payments. On Friday, China announced a ban on all…

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