Have you a smart internet connected (IoT) device in your home?

If so, you may be an unwilling accomplice to the evil doers who are attempting to disrupt the internet.

Do you have any one or more of the following Internet of Things (IoT) devices which you can access from outside the home, over the internet:

• Security Cameras or Digital Video Recorders (DVRs)
• Baby monitor
• Smart sockets
• Smart light bulbs
• Smart Thermostat
• Energy usage monitor
• Smart fridge
• Media Server

Using the Internet Safely. Training from L2 Cyber Security Solutions.

Human Error

Did you know that evil software gets past commercial anti-virus and e-mail filtering products on a worryingly regular basis.

Firewalls and Anti-virus packages lure people into a false sense of security. While they do provide protection up to a point, if somebody opens an e-mail attachment that contains new Malware, these protections are effectively useless.

Cyber incidents, most notably Ransomware attacks have seen massive increases recently. 93% of phishing e-mails in Quarter 1 2016 have carried a Ransomware payload (source - PhishMe Q1 2016 Malware review). 30% of people that receive phishing e-mails open them and 12% of those that do, then open attachments or click on links (source - Verizon 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report).

These statistics highlight the fact that a significant weak link in any organisation, where it comes to using the internet and e-mail, are THE STAFF, but it's not their fault.

The best protection to cover this gap are staff that are aware of what the threats are and how they manifest themselves. Once they are armed with the knowledge of what to look out for, they will be much less likely to cause a security breach.

The training that L2 Cyber Security Solutions delivers is comprehensive, yet simple for all to follow.

Using the Internet Safely

Course Outline

Lecture / Workshop

Duration:

1 day

Audience:

People who have access to and utilise the internet and e-mail, whether for personal or business purposes, as part of their day. 

Prerequisites:

A basic understanding of internet browsing and e-mail usage is a prerequisite.

Programme Aim:

This training will give the attendees an understanding of the risks and threats associated with using the internet and e-mail.

Learning Outcome:

The participants will know how they can take some simple steps to avoid being adversely affected by the various risks presented to them. They will also learn how to create unique and strong passwords.

Course Content:

1. Malware (incl. Ransomware)
2. Spam
3. Social Engineering
4. Phishing and Spear-Phishing (incl. CEO Fraud)
5. Safe Web Browsing
6. Good Security Practices
7. Mobile Security
8. Creating a unique and strong password

Call us on 087-436-2675 or e-mail info@L2CyberSecurity.com to discuss your requirements and get a quotation.

Here is a worrying aspect of the Yahoo breach.

Everyone has heard about the personal information related to 500 million Yahoo accounts being stolen from Yahoo in 2014. There's lots of helpful tips out there (and some here too), but some people may not realise that they have a Yahoo account.

Yahoo provides e-mail services to some big internet service providers (ISPs), over in the US AT&T, Rogers and Frontier.com. Over on this side of the Atlantic Sky and BT are large ISPs operating in Ireland and the UK. Their e-mail services are powered by Yahoo.

Snail mail delivers USB keys ... WTF?

I find I'm writing a second article about Evil USBs within a week. At least these ones don't destroy your equipment, but they might infect you with nasty software that does things that you really wouldn't want it doing.

In this case, in Victoria, Australia, Evil Doers were dropping USB drives into people's mailboxes. The report from Victoria Police stated:

Upon inserting the USB drives into their computers victims have experienced fraudulent media streaming service offers, as well as other serious issues.

The USB drives are believed to be extremely harmful and members of the public are urged to avoid plugging them into their computers or other devices.

A desktop/laptop killing device is on sale for €50.

As I'd mentioned in the detail section of a previous blog post there was a prototype USB memory stick that is designed to fry the electronics on a laptop or desktop, the instant it gets plugged into it.

Well it's now something you can buy for as little as €50. The worrying thing is, as of today (16th September 2016) they are out of stock!

What purpose does this device serve? 

According to their website "The USB Kill 2.0 is a testing device created to test USB ports against power surge attacks. The USB Kill 2.0 tests your device's resistance against this attack." Unfortunately in testing your device, this stick literally kills it!

Protect your on-line accounts, but not with text messages.

As I outlined here, if you are using an on-line account for e-mail, social media, etc. then one of the strongest means of protecting yourself from the evil doers is to use, what is called, two factor authentication. If you are not doing this now, you really should be as it improves your protection massively.

This is where you can set your on-line account to not only request your user ID and password (something you know) but also using your phone (something you have) by way of an app or sending you a text message with a code that you enter on the site to confirm you are you. 

If you have this set-up to authenticate by a SMS Text message, then a bad guy who has access to your LinkedIn details from the 2012 hack should not be able to access your e-mail account using the password that they have recovered from there, because as soon as they try to access your e-mail account, you will be sent a text message. So you're safe ... right?