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Cloud

Wi-fi In-flight a threat warns report

Technology News – The Guardian warns of possible security breech with the introduction of in-flight internet

Hackers on commercial flights could now bring down the plane they are on by using the on board Wi-Fi, a US government watchdog has warned.

wifi Coffee CupThe US Government Accountability Office (GAO) does not suggest it would be easy to do but it points out that as airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration attempt to modernise planes and flight tracking with internet-based technology, attackers have a new vulnerability they could exploit.

The GAO says: “Modern aircraft are increasingly connected to the internet. This interconnectedness can potentially provide unauthorized remote access to aircraft avionics systems.”

The report highlights the fact that cockpit electronics are indirectly connected to the passenger cabin through shared IP networks. The connection between passenger-accessible systems and the avionics of the plane is heavily moderated by firewalls, but information security experts have pointed out that firewalls, like all software, can never be assumed to be totally infallible.

“Four cybersecurity experts with whom we spoke discussed firewall vulnerabilities, and all four said that because firewalls are software components, they could be hacked like any other software and circumvented,” explains the office.

“According to cybersecurity experts we interviewed, internet connectivity in the cabin should be considered a direct link between the aircraft and the outside world, which includes potential malicious actors,” the report adds.

The Federal Aviation Administration does not currently verify the cybersecurity of a new airliner before certifying it for scope, although it “currently issues rules with limited scope, called Special Conditions, to aircraft manufacturers when aircraft employ new technologies where IP interconnectivity could present cybersecurity risks”.
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The report praises the FAA for the steps it has taken to get its cybersecurity policies in order, but says that “opportunity exists for further action”, and particularly highlights as a cause for concern the fact that cybersecurity responsibility is split over multiple FAA offices.

A worst case scenario is that a terrorist with a laptop would sit among the passengers and take control of the airplane using its passenger Wi-Fi, said Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who requested the investigation.

“That’s a serious vulnerability, and FAA should work quickly” to fix the problem, DeFazio said.

slidethreeThe GAO released a separate report last March that determined the FAA’s system for guiding planes and other aircraft also was at “increased and unnecessary risk” of being hacked.

One area of weakness is the ability to prevent and detect unauthorised access to the vast network of computer and communications systems the FAA uses to process and track flights around the world, the report said. The FAA relies on more than 100 of these air traffic systems to direct planes.

In January 2015, the GAO praised the FAA for taking steps to protect air-traffic controllers, but warned that “significant security control weaknesses remain that threaten the [FAA’s] ability to ensure the safe and uninterrupted operation of the national airspace system”.

Tip

Uk SMEs facing an unprecedented level of attempted online fraud

According to experts at smallbusiness.co.uk the Uk is experiencing an unprecedented level of attempted online fraud this month – the reason is a simple one as the article explains
slidetwoData from payment processing company Worldpay suggests instances of fraud could rocket by as much as 80 per cent in February as hackers start to capitalise on customer data harvested during a hectic Christmas shopping period.
Tim Lansdale, head of payment security at Worldpay says, ‘We see a dip in fraud around Christmas as hackers go on the hunt for information, using the online sales rush to stockpile thousands of customer card details.
‘It isn’t until February that they start cashing in on all the data they’ve collected. Other breaches can last much longer; attackers might decide to keep returning to their targets, sometimes for years.’
During 2011-2014, the average data breach exposed 284 days of card payments. Worldpay’s analysis shows breaches lasting from 11 days at the lowest end of the scale, to 1,723 days at the other extreme.
The company says small businesses are by far the biggest target for hackers, accounting for 85.7 per cent of UK data breaches. Virtually all data breaches (99.3 per cent) happened online, rather than at the point of sale, as the UK’s e-commerce market continues to boom.
SOSIn 2014, businesses in the entertainment, hobby and leisure industries accounted for 23.3 per cent of all card data breaches, followed by clothing and footwear stores (16.3 per cent) and jewellery, beauty and gifts (11.6 per cent).
Businesses in the entertainment industry, particularly online ticket booking systems, tend to make easy prey for hackers due to the high number of credit and debit card transactions they process online each day.
The clean-up costs of being targeted can run to tens of thousands of pounds, with a standard investigation costing £11,250 on average, and attracting at least a £8,000 penalty, not including the costs of lost goods and damage to reputation.
Lansdale says, ‘Data breaches can be ruinous, so its vital small business owners know the risks and take the necessary measures to protect themselves and their customers and employees.
‘You wouldn’t leave your store unlocked overnight, yet so few businesses are doing enough to protect their online shop fronts and keep hackers at bay.’
Worldpay advises taking measures such as changing all your default passwords, having a third party host your payment page, and testing your firewalls at least every three months,
NIgel_Mills_MBMSecurely destroying all card data records when no longer needed, and avoiding storing the three digits ‘CVC’ number on the back of the card, are also measures that should be observed.
At MBM we can help Small Business combat this fraud. We would love to speak to you about protecting your data.

Cloud , Tip

Don’t get caught out like celebrities

You’ll no doubt have seen the recent press coverage about personal photos of celebrities being accessed from their cloud storage. Whilst we hope that there aren’t any nude photos of you or your staff in the Cloud, how can you be sure that your cloud data is secure?

TabletCloud services, like so many other online services, are protected by nothing more than an email address and password. Mobile phones are inextricably linked to the Cloud services run by their manufacturers: Apple devices copy data across to iCloud, Windows devices copy to Microsoft OneDrive and so on. This data includes photos, videos, texts, address books, app data and settings. Clearly, this is very useful, but if someone guesses your password, they can have access to all of this from anywhere!

It is thought that a hacker gained access to one celebrity’s Cloud service and downloaded their address book. This then gave them the email addresses of several more high profile celebrities. Once you know a person’s email address, all you need to do is then guess their password.

How can you improve your security?

You can change the settings on your Smartphone so it does not back up to the Cloud. But as it’s a really useful feature, especially if you lose or break your phone, would you really want to disable that functionality?

You can enable a ‘two-factor authentication’ on your cloud services. This means that you need two pieces of information before you can sign in. The first is your regular password and the second is often a code that gets texted to you when you attempt to sign-in. Without both the password and the code from the text message, you can’t again access. Once authenticated, this will keep you connected for a day or so. Apple, Google and Microsoft support two-factor authentication for their Cloud services.

Want to find out more?

Call us on 01902 32 44 94 for a chat about Cloud or visit https://www.mbmltd.co.uk/Cloud-Services-Overview.asp

Data Backup , Tip

Why is Malware written?

Carrying on from last weeks Blog the answer to the “what is malware?” question cannot be complete without exploring the ‘why’ of its creation. By now, you should have a pretty clear idea of what type of damage can be done as a result of malware, but you might be wondering – why do programmers create malware in the first place?
Student Hackers and Cyber-crooks

MBM_42Emails_Blog_smallIn the early days of software, programmers wrote malware mostly to prank one another, or to show off their technical skills. These programmers, who were usually students had a great sense of humour but did not have much business sense. These students eventually graduated and got jobs. Their new motivation was now money, and how to make more of it using their skills. Some of these programmers learned that they can make thousands a day if they successfully exploit malware to their advantage.

These people went on to become cyber-crooks, defrauding individuals and organizations for financial gain. These criminals steal personal banking information to transfer money out of users’ bank accounts and into their own. They also launch distributed denial of service attacks against corporations and ask for money in exchange for an end to the attack.

Worms, zombies and distributed denial of service attacks are a good way to inflict mass damage on a global scale and are therefore very appealing to cyber-activists. These people want to get a message across and are ready to do so by utilizing any means necessary and this includes writing malware that causes damage, gets them noticed, and enables them to announce their messages and beliefs to a large audience.

Governments are also part of the game. A cyber-war between countries is raging. Some countries such as China, Syria, and America are rumoured to be state-sponsoring cyber-gangs whose only purpose is to research and develop new malware techniques capable of infiltrating government agencies and infrastructures. Malware has recently been spotted in the wild that was designed to infect SCADA systems with the scope of shutting down nuclear reactors. Some reports suggest that this worm, which might have been created by the Americans, was successful in shutting down several Iranian nuclear power plant coolers.

The malware problem is huge and is growing fast. By the end of 2010 the counter for unique malware programs stood at 14 million, with a staggering 60,000 pieces of new malicious code detected every day. Recently a worm called Koobface — which targeted people on social networks — netted its creators over 2 million dollars in just 12 months. Another worm, the Mariposa is said to have created the biggest network of zombie machines in the world. Experts could never determine its exact size, but estimated that over 12 million computers were infected. This worm dropped spyware capable of stealing sensitive information from victims, such as bank account numbers and credit card details. All this was created by a single hacker in Spain who fortunately made a mistake which exposed him and got him arrested.

The industry is fighting back. Numerous security solutions are available from many vendors that help stop malware infections. The threat however is a moving target. Hackers keep finding new ways to write bigger and better malware, the incentives are all there and the waging war is showing no signs of slowing down.

Worried that you might be exposed ? Speak to MBM

Cloud , Tip

Microsoft action interupts innocent users

Microsoft has obtained a court order to halt traffic to servers in order to halt the Cyber-criminal activity of some users. This has had the effect of interupting millions of innocent users. The giant has been accused of being’heavy-handed as in stopping the criminals it also interupted data to legitimate sites.

In a blogpost, Microsoft lawyer Richard Boscovich said it had taken the action against domain administration firm No-IP.com for its “roles in creating, controlling, and assisting in infecting millions of computers with malicious software”.

He said No-IP’s infrastructure had been used to spread the Bladabindi and Jenxcus family of malicious programs in 93% of the cases it had seen. Over the past 12 months, he said, Microsoft had detected variants of the two viruses more than 7.4 million times.

The thieves behind the malware could steal data from infected machines, record keystrokes and listen to any sounds taking place around a computer, he said.

officeMicrosoft had taken the legal step of making itself the controller of the 23 domains because No-IP had not done enough to police them, wrote Mr Boscovich. A federal court in Nevada granted Microsoft the right to take over the No-IP domains.

Once it had had control of the suspect domains, he said, Microsoft had applied filters so only “clean” data had got through and that helping the malware spread had been caught and discarded.

In response, No-IP said Microsoft’s action had been “draconian” and had wrongly “affected millions of innocent internet users”.

No-IP speculated that Microsoft had underestimated the amount of data traffic flowing towards the domains it was now administering, which had caused service disruptions for many legitimate customers.

“Millions of innocent users are experiencing outages to their services because of Microsoft’s attempt to remediate hostnames associated with a few bad actors,” wrote No-IP in a statement posted on its site.

Having problems – Call us at MBM and we will be happy to take a look

Office , Tip

How does your computer become infected ?

There are literally dozens of different ways a computer can become infected with spyware, viruses, and other malware. Below is a list of the most common ways a computer can contract these infections listed in the order we believe are most commonly done.

Please be aware –  everyone  who uses the computer should be aware of how to properly use it  and protect it from malicious software.

NIgel_Mills_MBMAccepting without reading

By far one of the most common ways a computer becomes infected is the user accepts what he or she sees on the screen without reading the prompt or understand what it’s asking.

Some common examples:

  1. Whilst browsing the Internet, an Internet advertisement or window appears that says your computer is infected or that a unique plug-in is required. Without fully understanding what it is you’re getting, you accept the prompt.
  2. When installing or updating a program, you’re prompted (often checkboxes already checked) if it’s ok to install additional programs that you may not want or are designed to monitor your usage of the program.

Opening e-mail attachments

Another very common way people become infected with viruses and other spyware is by opening e-mail attachments, even when from a colleague, friend, or family member. E-mail addresses can be made up and even when genuine your acquaintance may unsuspectingly be forwarding you an infected file.

When receiving an e-mail with an attachment, if the e-mail was not expected or from someone you don’t know delete it. If the e-mail is from someone you know still be cautious when opening the attachment.

Not running the latest updates

Many of the updates, especially those associated with Microsoft Windows and other operating systems and programs, are security updates. Running a program or operating system that is not up-to-date with the latest updates can be a big security risk and can be a way your computer becomes infected.

In addition to running operating system updates, the plugins associated with your browser can often contain security vulnerabilities. Make sure you have the latest versions of plugins. Contact MBM for details of the latest updates.

Pirating software, music, or movies

If you or someone on your computer is participating in underground places on the Internet where you’re downloading copyrighted music, movies, software, etc. for free, often many of the files can contain viruses, spyware or malicious software. This is a highly dangerous practice and you should have procedures in place to stop users doing this.

No antivirus spyware scanner

If you’re running a computer with Microsoft Windows it’s highly recommended you have some form of antivirus and spyware protection on that computer to help clean it from any infections currently on the computer and to help prevent any future infections.

Downloading infected software

Finally, downloading any other software from the Internet can also contain viruses and other malware. When downloading any software (programs, utilities, games, updates, demos, etc.), make sure you’re downloading the software from a reliable source and while installing it you’re reading all prompts about what the program is putting on your computer.

Where can I find out more?

We are happy to advise on your business protection at MBM. We are your IT department at the end of a phone – keeping your business – in business.

Data Backup , Tip

What are Trojans ?

Looking at common terms within the IT world we look today at Trojans.

Trojans are malicious programs that perform actions that have not been authorised by the user. These actions can include:

Blocking data deleting data modifying data copying data disrupting the performance of computers or computer networks

Unlike computer viruses and worms, Trojans are not able to self-replicate.

How Trojans can impact you

Trojans are classified according to the type of actions that they can perform on your computer:

  • Backdoor
    A backdoor Trojan gives malicious users remote control over the infected computer. They enable the author to do anything they wish on the infected computer – including sending, receiving, launching and deleting files, displaying data and rebooting the computer. Backdoor Trojans are often used to unite a group of victim computers to form a botnet or zombie network that can be used for criminal purposes.
  • Exploit
    Exploits are programs that contain data or code that takes advantage of a vulnerability within application software that’s running on your computer.
  • Rootkit
    Rootkits are designed to conceal certain objects or activities in your system. Often their main purpose is to prevent malicious programs being detected – in order to extend the period in which programs can run on an infected computer.
  • Trojan-Banker
    Trojan-Banker programs are designed to steal your account data for online banking systems, e-payment systems and credit or debit cards.
  • Trojan-DDoS
    These programs conduct DoS (Denial of Service) attacks against a targeted web address. By sending multiple requests – from your computer and several other infected computers – the attack can overwhelm the target address… leading to a denial of service.
  • Trojan-Downloader
    Trojan-Downloaders can download and install new versions of malicious programs onto your computer – including Trojans and adware.
  • Trojan-Dropper
    These programs are used by hackers in order to install Trojans and / or viruses – or to prevent the detection of malicious programs. Not all antivirus programs are capable of scanning all of the components inside this type of Trojan.
  • Trojan-FakeAV
    Trojan-FakeAV programs simulate the activity of antivirus software. They are designed to extort money from you – in return for the detection and removal of threats… even though the threats that they report are actually non-existent.
  • Trojan-GameThief
    This type of program steals user account information from online gamers.
  • Trojan-IM
    Trojan-IM programs steal your logins and passwords for instant messaging programs – such as ICQ, MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Pager, Skype and many more.
  • Trojan-Ransom
    This type of Trojan can modify data on your computer – so that your computer doesn’t run correctly or you can no longer use specific data. The criminal will only restore your computer’s performance or unblock your data, after you have paid them the ransom money that they demand.
  • Trojan-SMS
    These programs can cost you money – by sending text messages from your mobile device to premium rate phone numbers.
  • Trojan-Spy
    Trojan-Spy programs can spy on how you’re using your computer – for example, by tracking the data you enter via your keyboard, taking screen shots or getting a list of running applications.
  • Trojan-Mailfinder
    These programs can harvest email addresses from your computer.
  • Other types of Trojans include:
    • Trojan-ArcBomb
    • Trojan-Clicker
    • Trojan-Notifier
    • Trojan-Proxy
    • Trojan-PSW

How to protect yourself against Trojans

SOSBy installing effective anti-malware software, you can defend your devices – including PCs, laptops, Macs, tablets and smartphones – against Trojans. A rigorous anti-malware solution will detect and prevent Trojan attacks on your PC anti-malware products that defend the following devices against Trojans:

  • Windows PCs
  • Linux computers
  • Apple Macs
  • Smartphones
  • Tablets

We can advise on and install anti-malware products at MBM

Cloud , Tip

New labelling System helps IT Support Customers

MBM is rolling out a new system for managing customers’ devices which are included in their IT Support contract with MBM. The new labels, which are easily identifiable, will be placed on all equipment covered by MBM.

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The labels include a unique QR Code which provides MBM with all the information we need about the hardware including: device type, age, owner, location and support history.

Jason Timmins, technical director at MBM, explains: “It’s important for both our customers and our support team that we can easily identify a device when there is a problem. The new asset labels will help to provide us with a more streamlined process for repair, maintenance and inventory.”

The new labels will be rolled out during planned site visits. For more information contact jason@mbmltd.co.uk

Cloud , Data Backup , Office , Online Backup , Tip

Three Reasons why you should use an IT Support Company

As a small business, your resources are undoubtedly limited. Many small businesses attempt to make due with an in-house IT person, however, this arrangement rarely works out for long. There are many reasons businesses have begun opting for IT support services instead of keeping an IT person on staff.

1: Managing costs

Payroll is probably one of your biggest expenses, if not the biggest. Keeping an IT professional on staff may not be cost-effective because that person’s salary is most likely much higher than the salaries of your other employees. Even larger corporations have discovered the value of outsourcing their IT needs to save money in this area. You’ll find that you’re able to save a great deal of money in your budget by only paying for IT support when you need it, as opposed to keeping someone on staff strictly for that purpose.

2: Freeing up your resources

Once you make the switch to outsourcing, you’re going to find that a great deal of your financial resources are freed up, and able to be utilised in other areas of your business. This money can be used to expand your business, offer a new product, or even build upon your current facility. Regardless of where you redirect those funds, you can find ways of better using them to help grow your business.

3: Focus on your business

In addition to the money you’ll save by outsourcing your IT support needs, you’ll also find that you’re able to focus on your business even more. Even with an IT professional on staff, when you’re handling your own IT in-house, it takes up a great deal of your time and energy.

SOSAccording to Heidi Murphy, a blogger for the Huffington Post, “When you’re handling all of your IT support internally, your focus is often divided by a bunch of different technical priorities to keep your site, product and/or application up and running. Outsourcing IT lets you focus on what matters: growing and supporting your business – not troubleshooting software, hardware and user issues.”

Above all, managing your own IT in-house is a lot of hard work and expenses that you don’t have to have. If you’re looking for an IT solution that will allow you to save money and grow your business, we can help. Contact us for more information.

Like to take it a stage further ? Speak to Micro Business Machines without obligation

Office , Tip

Before you use the Sledgehammer

Have you found that your computer is running a little on the slow side recently? Been tempted to take a sledgehammer to it? Before you do that, you might want to see if we can help you!

Over time a PC will build up unwanted registry entries, unused programs and general clutter, which are the biggest contributing factors in reducing the speed at which systems run.

MBM_42Emails_Blog_smallTo help resolve these problems – and rescue you from the verge of insanity here are some tips for giving your computer a clean up to help it run more efficiently:

1. Review your programs

With so much free software available to download, it’s easy to start accumulating unwanted programs that you rarely use. We recommend that you review and uninstall any programs that you don’t use.

2. Clear out temporary files

When you visit a website, some files are saved to your computer to make it faster when visiting that site again.

3. Update anti-virus & anti-spyware software

If you’re using the internet or email we highly recommend that you have anti-virus, anti-spyware and malware software loaded onto your computer. It is important that you keep these updated and run them regularly.

4. Run Windows Update

It is important that you install the latest security updates otherwise you are open to hackers.

5. Duplication of information

If you save files to your computer to work on, plus you also have the same document saved as an attachment in an email, you’re doubling the amount of storage space taken up.

6. Add more hardware

There are many options available should you need more space.Typically you could install an external hard drive.

7. Compressing pictures

Digital pictures can take up vast amounts of storage space on your hard drive or memory card.

8. Upgrading RAM

If memory is a problem, your computer will be slow whenever you start a new application. Talk to your IT expert about installing more RAM

SOS9. Give your computer a physical clean inside and out!

lots of Products are available to do this but dust clogging cooling grills even your mouse will hinder performance.

We at MBM are happy to discuss your needs from one laptop to a hundred seats we can help you keep on top of your computer maintenance Contact MBM today.

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