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The Anatomy Of Social Engineering Attacks “Social engineering attacks” refers to tricking people into giving up sensitive information or access to systems. In many cases, social engineering attacks are far more successful than traditional hacking techniques because they exploit human weaknesses instead of technical vulnerabilities. This is because while more organizations are aware of the numerous threats posed by hacking, they’ve mostly upgraded their systems ? i.e., the technical aspect, and forgotten about the key and most vulnerable factor, humans?the most crucial cog in any enterprise or organization. Unlike computer hardware/software, humans have emotions that greatly influence their actions. For instance, a policy may prohibit downloading or opening attachments on company computers. However, the urge to follow instructions from superiors may compel junior staff to download an attachment, even when they know organizational policy. In most cases, there’s the fear of being reprimanded for insubordination or the assumption that superiors know better and that their instructions/orders override standing policy. This is the gap/weakness attackers know and exploit. Attackers often use various forms of deception to gain their victim’s trust. They may pose as a customer service representative, for example, or pretend to be someone from the victim’s company. Once they’ve gained sufficient trust, they can start collecting sensitive information or gain access to an organization’s systems. Whereas soft-handed tactics have been the norm, attackers are getting bolder. They may employ brutal tactics like blackmail to force or manipulate victims into providing information or granting access to an organization’s systems. All types of social engineering attacks share one common goal: trick or manipulate victims into knowingly or unknowingly revealing information or granting access that they would not typically give. Types Of Social Engineering Attacks They can broadly be categorized into four main types: Phishing attacks Vishing attacks Smishing attacks Impersonation attacks Each type of attack has its unique characteristics. Still, all are designed to trick victims into providing compromising information or carrying out an action that would grant the attacker access to an organization’s data or systems. Phishing attacks are the most prevalent social engineering attacks. They typically involve attackers sending out mass emails that look like they’re from a legitimate company or organization. Such emails usually contain malicious links that direct victims to login into what they believe are genuine sites, but in essence, the code would direct their login credentials to the attacker’s server. Vishing attacks are similar to phishing attacks, but instead of using email, attackers will use phone calls to try and trick victims. They might pose as a customer service representative from a bank, credit card company, or IT support firm associated with the victim’s organization. Smishing attacks are social engineering attacks that use text messages instead of email. The ploy is that the message is from a trusted organization like a bank or government agency, and they usually contain a link that leads to a fake website. Impersonation attacks are more targeted than phishing or smishing attacks. In these attacks, attackers will pose as a trusted individual, like a co-worker or friend, and try to manipulate the victim into divulging privileged information or carrying out an action, i.e., clicking on a malicious link. Similarly, attackers may disguise themselves as IT support staff or maintenance crew to gain physical access to a company’s systems. […]
What Used to Be: Break-Fix IT Businesses that struggle with technology management often cite a lack of resources or a lack of time as the cause. They might not have the funds to hire an in-house IT department or even a dedicated technician, and even if they do, they might not have the time to spend with general upkeep or the implementation of new solutions. And when general maintenance doesn?t happen, downtime is inevitable. It used to be the case that businesses would wait until their technology broke down and created downtime before problems were addressed, simply because it was not feasible for them to address them beforehand. The downtime caused by break-fix IT is staggering and unnecessary. Instead, you can opt for the preventative and proactive nature of managed IT services, which ultimately saves your organization time and money that it would normally be spending on recovering from problems like hardware failure or security breaches. What Should Be: Managed IT Services The rise of the managed service model has allowed organizations to take advantage of technology management and maintenance services that were previously unavailable to them. Essentially, a managed service provider and a business will work together to establish a service level agreement. This service agreement determines what the MSP is responsible for, how much they are compensated for their services, and the timeline expected for services rendered. Basically, a managed IT provider can do just about anything you would expect an in-house IT department to do, but instead of paying multiple salaries, you pay a monthly fee. Managed IT services can be used even if your business already has an established in-house IT department. If you ask anyone on your IT staff if they could use an extra pair of hands or someone to help out with their various tasks, they would probably thank you for thinking to ask them about it. Long story short, IT maintenance and management is an involved process with many moving parts, and it?s likely that even the most accomplished IT administrator is overwhelmed with work. You can make their life easier by bringing a managed service provider on board for routine maintenance or upkeep, if nothing else. White Mountain IT Services can help you get started with managed IT services by providing a comprehensive network audit to help you determine where our services can be best utilized. With this type of information at your disposal, you can then make educated decisions about the future of your technology infrastructure. To learn more about what we can do for your business, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
For quite some time, managed IT services have been the answer to many small and mid-sized businesses? attempts at keeping their operational downtime to a minimum. Today, we will go through some of the most valuable parts of utilizing managed services and how the value you get from it goes beyond just capital cost. More Uptime One of the biggest benefits of utilizing managed IT services is the boost in technology uptime your business will see. Any business owner understands just how costly downtime can be. Not only is nothing getting done, but if you have to wait for your technology to get fixed before normal business resumes, you are looking at quite a spell without meaningful productivity. The managed service provider (MSP) can do quite a few things designed to keep your technology working for you, the most important of which is to monitor and manage all of your essential hardware. This service brings value by having certified and knowledgeable technicians use state-of-the-art technology that provides a look into the effectiveness of all of your business? technology. With their training and tools, they can adjust your technology if it is running inefficiently and therefore provide your organization with optimally-running technology. By fixing issues before they can become downtime-causing problems, your business? technology runs better and gives your employees the reliable tools they need to maximize their own productivity. Better Security If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know that cybercrime is a big deal and has to be a major consideration for any business that relies on IT. Our technicians not only are versed in the myriad of threats that a business like yours faces, we also work with other New Hampshire businesses to impart our knowledge on how to steer their business clear of those threats. This perspective is indispensable when it comes to keeping your business? technology free from threats. To accomplish this ever-growing task of maintaining cybersecurity, we employ several strategies. The first is to completely assess your network and infrastructure for possible vulnerabilities. We then deploy cutting-edge software that can help us stay on top of the network traffic by comprehensively monitoring it. Beyond that, we ensure that all software, including the security software you need, is patched and up-to-date with the latest threat definitions. Finally, we have quarterly business reviews in which we outline how your business is doing in terms of cybersecurity and what you can do better to protect your resources. This includes expanding your employee training regimen, undertaking penetration testing to find vulnerabilities in your network and infrastructure, and deploying new tools designed to keep your business safe from cyberthreats. Establishing Continuity One of the most underappreciated values that an MSP can bring to your company is in the way your business bounces back after operational problems. One of the first things an MSP can provide for your business is a comprehensive data backup and recovery service. This effectively backs up all of your business? applications and data, clearing the way for you to restore these systems if they are to be corrupted or taken down at some point. There are a lot of threats out there that can derail a business? ability to conduct business, and the MSP provides tools and resources to mitigate long outages. Getting your […]
Automation?s Origins Manufacturing was a major industry in the 1970s, so it makes sense that resource planning software would be developed during this time. German software developer SAP did just that, engineering an application that helped to boost efficiency at all stages of production by standardizing processes. Enterprises quickly embraced this software, but often needed to hire software developers to ensure it was compatible with their equipment. This might have increased costs, but it also made the operational processes these enterprises followed more effective. It wasn?t long before IBM took their place as the world?s leader in process automation through their development of automated data collection and document sharing?something that would continue for a few years before SAP developed the first enterprise resource planning (ERP) application as the culmination of two decades of work. This application allowed data from all aspects of a business to be processed easily?from accounting, maintenance, human resources, and customer resource management. By distilling these tools into a single application, workflows (particularly those implemented by manufacturers) could be streamlined considerably. The advent of the Internet and cloud computing elevated process automation even further, with data now available from any device, anywhere. Mobile devices made this even more accessible, allowing all businesses to embrace the benefits. Internal Process Automation and Software as a Service For most of the time that process automation has been available, it has required significant and dedicated technology integration. This is a costly prospect while hosting your own hardware, as you need to both keep up on hardware and software trends while also investing in some significant upkeep and management. Today, however, businesses have an alternative for their process automation/workflow automation needs in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Basically, instead of paying for a stagnant version of the software that (while it may work just fine for some time) will eventually need replacement, SaaS gives you access to a fully updated version of the software, for each user that needs it, for a monthly fee. This also takes the responsibility of maintenance off the business, as the provider is responsible for maintaining the host infrastructure. Team Development Today?s businesses need to stretch every dollar of their budget as much as possible, due to the rising costs that we?re experiencing now, which is something that process automation can facilitate. Known as ?no-code automation,? it is now possible for even an employee with minimal technology skills to create a tool that improves efficiency?kind of amazing when you think about it. This has other benefits beyond cost reduction, too, such as: Enhanced collaboration: An employee-developed application can be customized to precisely match the needs of your team, making it a more valuable tool for your collaboration. Improved efficiency: With business process automation, your team has a say in how the application is shaped. This means that your business can shape the app to fit their needs precisely and speed up processes as a result. Scalability: The cloud?s scalability?including that of process management software–allows you to obtain the software that your team members need, in the precise amounts that they are needed. Process automation can greatly benefit your business? productivity and efficiency. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more about it.
What is Zero-Trust, Exactly? Zero-trust is generally what it sounds like: the default for every organization or business being to put zero trust in anything?any user, any piece of hardware, any network connection?until it has been verified as trustworthy and secure through rigorous authentication. Adopting a zero-trust policy is, and will be, a lengthy process that will take some time. It will take ongoing work to maintain its efficacy, with numerous aspects to see to before it will be as effective as it needs to be. Your zero-trust policy needs to take everything into consideration in order to effectively protect your operations. However, Zero-Trust is Relatively Simple to Implement When planning to adopt a zero-trust process, it is important to involve a few steps: Establish Your Goals for Your Zero-Trust Processes According to NIST?the National Institute of Standards and Technology?there are two goals behind zero-trust: preventing unauthorized access to your business? data and resources, and that access control measures remain as granular as possible. Naturally, these goals should be considered in addition to what you want for your organization. Establish Your Most Important Data Quick?think about what data your business couldn?t operate without, and how this data could be accessed. This information will be crucial to ensuring that your zero-trust strategy addresses the biggest and most egregious vulnerabilities that you?ll likely face. Establish How Prepared You are for Zero-Trust On a similar point, you also need to evaluate your network?s preparedness to follow the tenets of zero-trust. Is your network equipped with the appropriate safeguards? Are your endpoints sufficiently secured? Are your users abiding by the standards and policies you?ve dictated to them? Figuring out where your IT falls short will be key to your ultimate success. Establish What You Need to Do to Improve Once you know where you need to improve, you?re in a position to do just that as you implement the necessary protections and network changes to support zero trust. As a general rule, this means that nothing should be trusted without being authenticated first, with real-time monitoring implemented. Establish Monitoring Practices This real-time monitoring should continue into perpetuity, so that future threats and issues can be more effectively caught and mitigated. When all is said and done, a zero-trust policy is simply a more secure way to approach your business? network and resources. We can help you put it into practice. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.
