Considering how often hackers target financial credentials like credit card numbers and expiration dates, it?s not surprising that ATMs can provide a wealth of information to them. Hackers are willing to go exceedingly far just to get their hands on these credentials–including physically altering the devices themselves to install skimmers and other technology on them. Unless you know what to look for, it can be difficult to tell if a machine has been tampered with. For example, this news article from this past July shows a rather troublesome case of ATM skimming. The device used is a piece of plastic that slips right over the ATM card reader, and it?s designed to do so without being seen by the user. If you?re not paying attention, you could accidentally expose your credentials directly to the hacker. There are a considerable amount of cases that involve a hacker installing custom hardware onto ATMs that can wirelessly transmit credentials, who might be lurking somewhere nearby. They can then harvest credentials at their leisure. What would you do if you took a look at your bank account and found that you no longer have a balance in your checking account? What if you wound up going into debt because of this? What if someone has stolen your identity and is making purchases in foreign countries? The best way to keep this from happening is to be careful of ATM skimmers in the first place. Keep the following tips in mind when using an ATM. Cameras surrounding the ATM: Before you stick your card in the ATM, make sure that there are several cameras pointing directly at the machine. This usually means that a hacker likely won?t try to mess with the device. ATMs usually have built-in cameras anyway, but it can never hurt to take another look around. Tampering with the device: Give the device a once-over before you try to use it. Are any faceplates removed, or devices sticking out of it? If there is anything that doesn?t look natural, chances are that it?s been tampered with by a hacker. Additional testing: Before you place your card in the device, take a look at the insert slot. Has it been placed on artificially? Just look for anything that?s out of place. Remember, it?s better to be safe than sorry. What do you think about ATM skimmers? Do you think you can identify threats to your financial credentials? To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
The Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Improvements Act, also known as Bill 2763, could provide small businesses with the most beneficial positioning they’ve had in decades in terms of securing government contracts. As stated in the bill, the Small Business Administration would be required to provide Congress with detailed reports of their many programs, a clear shift in transparency that could only work to help small businesses. Additionally, under this proposed legislation the Department of Defense would have to consider (and select) small businesses for their contracted work more than they have in recent years. Bill 2763 was authored by Steve Knight, representative of California?s 25th congressional district. According to Knight, not only do programs like these improve safety and economic stability, but also ?give the opportunity for America?s small businesses to participate in the national security needs for innovation in our country.? Knight also said, ?These programs sponsor developments that allow us to compete in the international marketplace and provide innovative tools supported and created by local entrepreneurs that contribute to American security.? The Chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, Representative Lamar Smith from Texas? 21st district, provided some background in a statement. ?The SBIR [Small Business Innovation Research] and STTR [Small Business Technology Transfer] programs, through their $3 billion in annual awards to small businesses, spur many innovations and create thousands of jobs. This legislation updates these crucial programs.? At White Mountain IT Services, we understand how important the right technology works for small businesses and can help your organization get the most out of your technology investments. For more information, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
If you author a long document, having a table of contents can help your readers get the information they need fast. Here is how to insert a table of contents into a Google Doc. In order to use the Table of Contents feature, you need utilize the preset heading and title formatting option. This can be found next to the font on the dashboard. Note: Anything formatted as ?Title? will not be included in your table of contents. Heading 1 is used for major topic changes or phases, like chapters and sections. Even though they are set to be a commonly used heading size and font, you have the opportunity to update the size and header to whatever you want to use for your document by selecting to update heading. After updating the heading information, you?ll notice that the drop down menu has also updated the heading options to your selected format. You?ll want to repeat the two previous steps for the other subheadings. When you?ve finished setting your headers, you can now tell Google Docs to generate a table of contents. Select Insert > Table of contents then select the table style you like the best. You can select from a table with page numbers: Or one with hyperlinks: Whichever option you choose, you will now have a tiered, easy-to-navigate table of contents in your document. For more great tips and tricks that you can use to gain productivity, visit White Mountain IT Services?s blog regularly.
Google intends to provide the most likely targets of hacking attacks and cyber surveillance with the Advanced Protection Program. This includes election and campaign officials, victims of domestic violence, and other individuals who may be targeted for various reasons. For the loss of some of the convenience that Google usually packs into their programs and services, those who use the Advanced Protection Program can have their information protected by increased security measures. This program will affect many of the services that most people use in one form or another almost every day, including Google Drive, Gmail, and YouTube. After an individual has been brought onto the program, their accounts are automatically equipped with Google?s best security solutions. The Advanced Protection Program is largely in response to the high-profile attacks that were leveraged against officials throughout the United States presidential election of 2016. Google was caught up in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding John Podesta and his Gmail account, which was breached in a phishing attack. By implementing the Advanced Protection Program, Google is working to ensure that this backlash isn?t repeated in the future. The Advanced Protection Program relies on a security key, as well as a Bluetooth key verification process for use with a smartphone or laptop. The Advanced Protection Program does not allow any program that isn?t developed by Google itself to access the information on your Google account. It also features a more hacker-resistant, slower account recovery process. While this admittedly makes the process more arduous for the user, it provides the more secure experience that the audience described above needs. If you were in a position to use the Advanced Protection Program, would you? Sound off in the comments section with your answer.
Does your business use Google?s line of Android devices for business purposes? Well, you might be happy to hear about Google?s new zero-touch solution for enterprises for their Pixel line of smartphones. If you provide smartphones for your business? employees, you know how much of a hassle it is to set up these devices. This new zero-touch policy attempts to make a change to this. Google often targets businesses like this with specialized devices designed to make onboarding easier. Examples of these attempts include specialized versions of the Google Play store, additional security features, and even management dashboards to add a high level of customization for their clients. Due to this high level of customization, though, many businesses are finding that it takes quite a lot of time to configure each and every device that they are going to use for their organization. Thus, the need for zero-touch devices becomes quite apparent. When we talk about zero-touch, we mean devices that are already pre-configured so that your organization doesn?t necessarily have to do as much work to get them ready for action. However, while this might sound like the best way to approach devices, you might find yourself held back at first. For one, zero-touch is a concept that?s only available through certain carrier opt-ins (like Verizon). Another restriction is that it?s only available on Google Pixel devices in the United States. However, other providers like AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile plan on implementing these services soon. Additionally, third-party Android device manufacturers are willing to go the distance for these solutions. Samsung, HTC, Huawei, Sony, LG, Blackberry, and Motorola all want to bring zero-touch to devices in the coming months. Despite all of its restrictions, zero-touch solves one of the most difficult parts of managing mobile devices for your organization: multiple devices with different operating systems. You can be confident that there is a uniform OS being used on all of your devices, mainly because there is only one available at this moment. If nothing else, this is something that you can look forward to, along with the time saved by eliminating the time needed to set up each device. If your business needs mobile devices or mobile device management, reach out to White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800.
