Tag: Cyber Security Page 35 of 48

Protecting Yourself Against Cyberstalking

On April 26, 2017

26th April, 2017

Cyberstalking is a common type of cyber crime that involves using electronic means of communication, such as IMs, emails or social media, to stalk the victim. The stalker may send threatening messages, make false accusations, spy the victim’s internet activities, steal his identity or simply make unwanted advances to stay in contact.

Given here are some tips that should be followed to protect yourself against cyberstalking:

Be Careful While Sharing Information Online

It is important to be cautious when you post anything on social media or share information through emails or IMs. It is very easy for the hackers to gather details about you such as name, residence, places of interests, friends and likes/dislikes.

Google Yourself

Search your name on Google to see what results are being displayed. It is quite possible that hackers have created fake profiles in your name. You can also search your phone number to detect any unwanted information about you. Delete or report all the incorrect or unauthorized information you find about yourself on the internet.

Password Protect All Accounts

Create strong passwords for all your online accounts specifically online banking, email and social networking profiles. The security questions you choose should be complex so that the correct answers cannot be guessed by the stalker. Avoid using your name, date of birth, phone number or other such trivial details in your password.

Stay Vigilant

In some cases, the cyberstalker may attach a web-enabled device to the victim’s computer system to monitor his activities. A software program or application may also be installed that transmits all your sensitive information to the stalker. Therefore, make sure you stay vigilant and perform a regular check to identify any such threats. Always log out of the computer system and lock the screen when you are away.

Review Your Privacy Settings

Social networking websites constantly keep on changing their privacy policies so you should keep a check on your account settings. Limit the number of people with whom you are sharing your information. You can even block some people from seeing your posts or photos. Accept friend requests from only those people whom you personally know and trust.

For more information on how to safeguard your identity over the web, please contact us at Centex Technologies (855) 375 – 9654.

What Is Synthetic Monitoring And Why Do You Need It

By centexitguy

On April 10, 2017

In Security

10th April, 2017

Synthetic monitoring, or active monitoring, is a technique used to test the performance of a website or application by analyzing its interaction with simulated users. It provides insights about downtime during the critical business transactions and issues being faced in navigation paths that a real user is expected to follow. This type of testing is usually performed by businesses who are expecting to receive huge website traffic during an upcoming sale or holiday season. Synthetic monitoring allows them to estimate the amount of traffic and HTTP requests the existing website or application can process efficiently.

How Does Synthetic Monitoring Work?

In synthetic monitoring, the tester creates scripts simulating a navigational path or action that has to be followed by a robot user. The script defines the activity to be performed during the test, i.e. log in to the website, visit a specific page or carry out a specific transaction. The test is executed through a pre-decided browser, server and geographical location. The script makes an HTTP request to the website just like an actual visitor would have made. When this occurs, the tester records the response time of the website and any other issues encountered such as increased load time or server error. The data obtained is then analyzed and evaluated.

A typical synthetic monitoring test answers the following questions:

Is the website performing well?
What is the average load time?
Are all transactions being carried out smoothly?
In case there is a website downtime or slowdown, what is the reason?
Is the website ok to go live?

Why Do You Need Synthetic Monitoring?

Identify and detect issues beforehand

With synthetic monitoring, you can simulate user interactions with your website and identify the performance issues well before they impact the user experience. You can easily find the root cause and fix it beforehand.

Prepare for peak traffic

If you are launching a new feature in the application or a section in the website, you can proactively test the way it will respond to multiple user requests. This will help to ensure optimal website performance.

Test from the end users perspective

By testing your website and applications from different browsers, geographical locations and internet service providers, you are better able to evaluate realistic user experience. It provides insights into the critical performance parameters that prepare your website for diverse user scenarios.

For more information on synthetic monitoring and its benefits, feel free to contact Centex Technologies at (855) 375 – 9654.

Cyber Security Threats To The Finance Sector

By centexitguy

On March 14, 2017

In Security

14th March, 2017

Cyber security has always been a major concern for the finance sector. With the extensive use of computers and innovative technology in carrying out financial transactions, hackers are looking for ways to breach the security of the organization’s internal network. Their purpose may be to inject a malware laden code, steal account credentials, perform unauthorized money transfers etc.

In the present times, cyber attacks are not only becoming more sophisticated but also quite hard to detect. Therefore, it is important for the IT professionals to formulate a coherent strategy to protect the financial institution against different forms of online attacks.

Listed below are some of the major cyber security threats to the finance sector:

Data Breach

Security flaws in the computer’s operating system and software applications provide a backdoor for the hackers to gain access to the network. Once successful, they may be able to store customers’ financial information such as credit card numbers, ATM pins, user IDs, passwords etc., even if they are stored in an encrypted format. Lack of proper security measures, unsecure network configuration and reckless data storage practices can make a financial organization vulnerable to data breach.

Spear Phishing And Whaling

In a spear phishing attack, the hackers send out spam emails that have been disguised to have come from a genuine source. The email is usually crafted in a way that the users are tricked into providing sensitive information to the hacker, such as internet banking password or credit card number. Often, these emails create a sense of urgency and contain an embedded link or attachment.

Taking spear phishing a step further, whaling attacks involve sending emails in the name of the executives and CEOs to trick the finance officials into transferring money to fraudulent accounts.

DDoS Attacks

A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is carried out to make a corporate network unavailable to the users. The hackers identify an unpatched vulnerability in the computer to infect it as well as the devices that connect to the system. These computers, also known as bots, are used as a part of the botnet to flood the target system with unauthorized requests, causing it to crash and inaccessible by the genuine users.

For more information on cyber security threats to the finance sector, contact Centex Technologies at (855) 375 – 9654.

Common Misconceptions About Wi-Fi Security

By centexitguy

On March 7, 2017

In Security

7 March, 2017

It is a well-known fact that unsecured Wi-Fi networks are quite unsecure, particularly for banking, online shopping, social networking and other sensitive web browsing. As open wireless hotspots are easily available at restaurants, hotels, coffee shops etc., hackers have found an easy way to breach the security of the network to track the users’ online activities, record information being transmitted and manipulate data.
With multiple security risks associated with Wi-Fi access, there are some common misconceptions that need to be steered clear of in order to stay safe:

Not broadcasting SSID hides your wireless network

A lot of people believe that if they hide their Service Set Identifier (SSID), the hackers would not be able to find and connect to their Wi-Fi network. However, this is not absolutely true. Computer systems that operate on Windows 7 and newer versions display all the wireless networks that are in range, even the ones that do not have an assigned SSID. Additionally, hackers have various tools to acquire a network’s SSID.

MAC address filtering keeps your network secure

Media Access Control (MAC) address filtering is also a common technique of keeping a Wi-Fi network secure. The user can create a white list comprising the MAC addresses of all the computers that are authorized to access the network. Though it does provide security to some extent, hackers can easily spoof the MAC address of the computer systems. With the use of wireless analyzers, they can view the list of all devices in your white list, modify the MAC address of their own device and gain access to the network.

Strong authentication and encryption provide complete protection

Encryption and WPA2 authentication are recommended to prevent hackers from viewing, stealing or manipulating the data being shared on your Wi-Fi network. However, this does not mean that you can completely rely on them. If the administrator does not validate the security certificate while configuring a wireless device, it can leave your network open to several vulnerabilities.

You should disable your router’s DHCP server

Disabling the router’s Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) server that assigns an IP address to all the devices connected to your network, is also believed to protect against attacks. However, if a hacker has already penetrated your wireless network, he can easily determine the IP addresses that you have assigned. Thereafter, he may create a compatible IP address to gain access to the network.

For more tips and information on Wi-Fi security, you can contact Centex Technologies at (855) 375 – 9654.

How To Manage DDoS Attacks Against Your Organization

By centexitguy

On February 14, 2017

In Security

14 February, 2017

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are becoming increasingly common and one of the major concerns for most business organizations. There are thousands of ways in which these attacks may be carried out, the basic intent is the same, i.e. to cease the functioning of the target internet network. Safeguarding your corporate network against a DDoS attack requires a well-planned crisis management program. For this, you must need to understand how a DDoS attack is launched and the potential harm it can cause to your organization.

What Is A DDoS Attack?

A DDoS attack mainly involves flooding an IP address with traffic from unidentified sources. This, in turn, results in an overloading of the web server which makes it unable to respond to ‘genuine requests’ in a timely manner. The hacker may create a network of multiple computers, termed as a botnet, and use it as a vector for the attack. Due to overflow of data packets received at the same time, your website becomes unavailable to be accessed by the users.

Certain DDoS attacks may also be initiated on your company’s virtual private network (VPN) which prevents employees from logging into their email accounts when they are out of the office. If your organization has been a victim of DDoS attack, here are some steps that you need to take in order to minimize its consequences:

Identify A DDoS Attack At The Onset

Firstly, it is important to identify a DDoS attack in its initial stages, particularly if you manage your own web servers. You should have a fair idea about how much traffic you usually receive and from which IP addresses. When you detect a steep increase in the amount of traffic, it may be due to a DDoS attack.

Get Extended Bandwidth

Another useful step can be getting more bandwidth for your web server than you actually require to handle the traffic. This way, even if a DDoS attack is launched, you would be able to manage the sudden upsurge of traffic before the resources get completely exhausted.

Identify The Source

If possible, try to identify the source of the DDoS attack. When you know the computers that are sending the fake requests, the IP addresses can be easily blocked. You can also form a cyber security strategy to protect yourself against such attacks in future.

For more tips on how to prevent and manage DDoS attacks against your organization, you can contact Centex Technologies at (855) 375 – 9654.