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How to Secure Your Mobile Device in 5 Steps

by | Nov 1, 2018 | How To, Mobile Devices, Security

The rapidly changing of technology and portability of mobile devices, have forced people to heavily rely on these products. With these increased functionalities, mobile devices carry out several our day-to-day activities, like: surfing the web, booking appointments, setting up reminders, sharing files, instant messaging, video calling, and mobile banking. Given all these applications, mobile devices are vulnerable to online threats and are also susceptible to physical attacks due to their portability. Some of the security threats include malware specifically designed for mobile devices: worms, spyware, unauthorized access, phishing, and theft. Here are some steps that will help you minimize the exposure of your mobile device to digital threats. USE STRONG PASSWORDS Strong passwords coupled with biometric features, such as fingerprint authenticators, make unauthorized access nearly impossible. Your passwords should be eight or more characters long and contain alphanumeric characters. If your mobile device allows two-factor authentication, don’t hesitate to use it. You don’t want to be subject to unforeseen attacks. Add a passcode, PIN, or pattern lock. This helps protect your data from an attacker who gets ahold of your phone, even if the app developer didn’t properly secure the data. Use different passwords for sites and apps. If you use the same passwords for banking, social media, email, etc., then a hacker only needs to figure out one password to gain access to your identity. You can choose when you want to change your password, but don’t forget to change your password at least every 90 days, three months … ENSURE PUBLIC OR FREE WI-FI IS PROTECTED Everybody loves free Wi-Fi, but free could turn expensive in a...

Security improvements in Windows 10

by | May 13, 2018 | Antivirus, Information Security, MATC Information Technology Certificates, Security, Windows

Security Improvements in ransomware protection in Windows 10 Ransomware is the most extensive digital danger to safety and productivity now a day. Its impact is touched everywhere around the world. No computer user is safe, from the average home users that they could lose the ability to perform daily Internet activities, and all the way to organizations whose business operations can be toothless by ransomware infection are affected. Many high-profile events have demonstrated that ransomware can have shattering effects on all of the desktop users. Microsoft upgrades their Windows 10 to be more secure because they recognize that the threat to output that shameless modern cybercrime represents and capitalizes significantly in a thoughtful and simple strategy that is showing to be effective as new attacks arise. Microsoft has observed that extremely skilled and well-funded attackers can find unexpected paths to their aims. So, they detect and help avoid these threats with advanced defence services such as Windows Defender Antivirus and Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection.   Microsoft’s Windows Defender AV on Windows 10 controls the power of the cloud and artificial intelligence built on top of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph to quickly identify new threats, this include ransomware, as it first sees anywhere around the globe. In the Windows 10 Creators Upgrade, they significantly improved the ability of Windows Defender AV to recognize and stop ransomware more efficiently and faster than ever. With the Windows 10 Creator update, it will have a deeper level of the technical details on the ransomware detailed investments in Windows 10 Creators Update.   Security structures built in Windows 10 reflect their next-gen,...

How to validate that your home router is not compromised

by | May 13, 2018 | computer education, How To, Information Security, Network, Networking, Security

The wireless router can be the easiest target for hackers to compromise your network, if configured improperly. Hackers will employ many different methods to attempt to hack your router. Some of these methods that I will be talking about include Wi-Fi hacking and DNS hijacking. There are many different preventative measures than can be taken to ensure that you have a secure router. Setting up a secure router is very important because not only can your network and personal information be compromised, but you may be held legally responsible for all of the potentially illegal traffic that goes through your network. Validate that your router is secure A popular method for hackers to compromise all devices in DNS hijacking; DNS hijacking is when a hacker subverts the resolution of DNS queries. In other words, they can direct you to malicious websites even when you try to visit a known secure website such as your online banking website. This can be done to a personal computer within a network, or even the router if a router has vulnerabilities within its firmware. There are tools that exist to test if you are a victim of DNS hijacking. One such tool is F-Secure, you can check your security with this tool by visiting f-secure.com/router-checker/. What this tool does is analyze your own router’s DNS requests to see if they are being redirected to a third-party rogue DNS, or if the DNS requests are acting as they should.   Hackers may also try to gain access to your router by cracking your Wi-Fi password or simply joining your network if it is left...

How to setup and configure a wireless network in a secure manner

by | May 13, 2018 | computer science, How To, Information, Information Security, Network, Security, Tips and Tricks, Wireless

An improperly configured wireless network can present massive consequences for anyone. Consequences can range from freeloaders using your internet – to malware, data theft, and liability for illegal activity. If your network is left open and unsecured, you are practically inviting freeloaders to use your internet; you wouldn’t leave your doors open and unlocked at night, would you? You might know your neighbors well, but you do not want to be responsible for them or their kids downloading movies on your network. More dedicated hackers would prey on networks might prey on wireless networks using old weak encryption or might even try to guess weak and common passwords regardless of what kind of encryption you are using. Methods of Attack You should not only worry about those who live around you, there is a method called ‘wardriving’ that hackers use to prey on wireless networks. Wardriving involves people driving around, searching for and trying to gain access to networks while in a vehicle. Obviously open networks can be joined with ease, however there are more complex methods for more knowledgeable hackers. They use software such as Aircrack to obtain a handshake with a wireless network. The handshake is the exchange of the encrypted key between the client and the wireless router. The handshake is retrieved by sending de-authentication packets to disconnect devices from the wireless network; they then wait for a device to reconnect (most will automatically). Once a device attempts to reconnect, Aircrack captures the handshake as a .CAP file. The .CAP file can then be cracked with Aircrack using the CPU or converted to another format to...

Options Available for Data Encryption in Windows 10

by | Apr 25, 2018 | How To, Microsoft, Security

Data encryption is very important in todays day and age. Security on all our devices must be implemented to its full extent. Online thieves have been getting more and more tricky with stealing user information for their own benefit. Taking the wrong steps with protecting your data on your PC could result in thieves stealing your identity. Here are options available for data encryption in Windows 10. Data encryption takes data and translates it into another form of code so the only way of reading the data is with a decryption key. This is the most popular and secure way of handling the protection of data. There are two main types of data encryption, asymmetric encryption and symmetric encryption. Asymmetric encryption is also known as public key encryption because it uses public and private keys to encrypt or decrypt data. Symmetric encryption is the same, but it uses one single key to encrypt and decrypt the data. This would mean that the sender and receiver must know the key to able to read the message. Sending the secret key over the network could cause issues if the key falls into the wrong hands. That person would be able to read every message that was encrypted with symmetric encryption. The way asymmetric encryption uses its keys is that they are in a key pair. One key is public, so anyone could send you a message while the other private secret key is kept just for you. When sending a message, the only way to view it is by having both the public key and the private key. This method is...

How to Validate That Your Home Router Is Not Compromised

by | Apr 25, 2018 | How To, Security

Not keeping your home router secure is the same as not having a front door on your house. Your router delivers the internet to your house and it’s important to protect that entry way. Hackers are very malicious and will cause havoc for you if your home router is not properly secured. Hackers could cause many threats to your system and understanding how they do this can help you understand how to protect your home router. By taking simple steps you can stop anyone from causing damage to your life on the internet. Here is how to validate that your home router is not compromised. One threat that hackers use is called DNS hijacking. DNS stands for Domain Name System and its role is to act as a phonebook for the internet. DNS is what helps you reach a website. When you type in a website in your browser the browser checks the DNS and keeps hopping around to finally locate the server that is hosting the website. When DNS servers locate the website, they translate the domain name to an IP address to help the server that hosts the website find you. Hijacking the DNS could result in routing you to an unknown server without you even knowing. Hackers could redirect you to fake looking websites that you wouldn’t even know are fake. For example, you try to reach your banking website but instead someone redirects you to a fake banking website that looks exactly like the website you normally use. You type in your credentials and just like that the hacker has your banking information. With this...