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Stay Vigilant… 5 Techniques Bad Guys are Using to Breach Your IT

While we all know security is important, sometimes day-to-day operations overwhelm our good intentions to keep up with fast-moving technology threats. Staying safe means being continually aware and taking precautions against the more common techniques bad guys are using to breach businesses every day:

1. Spoofing – Email spoofing is when the sender address is forged to make it appear that their email comes from a trusted source, such as your bank. The email can send you to a bogus website where your account details can be stolen. Or it appears to come from inside your own organization, asking you to change your password or confirm your details.

2. Phishing – Often posing as a request for data from a trusted source, this attack is launched via email and asks users to click on a link. Over time, phishing has evolved to include Spear Phishing (targeted attempts highly personalized for a specific individual) and Whaling (phishing scams that target high-profile users and decision makers).

3. Hijacking – This attack changes a computer’s settings to either ignore DNS or use a DNS server that is controlled by malicious hackers. The attackers then redirect communication to fraudulent sites. Website hijacking is commonly used to redirect users to fake login pages for banks and other online services in order to steal their login credentials. It can also be used to redirect security sites to non-existent servers to prevent affected users from updating their security software.

4. Malware Insertion – This refers to a variety of cyber threats including Trojans, viruses and worms which typically steal data or destroy key computer functions; usually introduced through email attachments, website visits, software downloads, or operating system vulnerabilities.

5. Ransomware – This is a specific type of malware that requires some sort of ransom payment to either remove it or to retrieve files that had been encrypted. Ransomware has been around for a long time, but it made news in recent years when payments started to be demanded in Bitcoin, making this activity virtually risk-free for cyber criminals.

IT security is a big challenge. TCI security experts can help keep your business safe. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.