Data Net Blog

Data Net Blog

Data Net has been serving the California area since 1983, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Would You Pay $10 Grand To Keep Your Website Away From XXX Content?

Would You Pay $10 Grand To Keep Your Website Away From XXX Content?

Have you ever thought about what would happen if your IT administrator were to go rogue and create redirects on your website that take your visitors to inappropriate content? Well, it happened to one unfortunate company in Arizona, and it ended poorly for both parties involved. What started as a ransom ended up as four years of probation and a huge sum of cash paid in restitution.

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What Does a SMiShing Attempt Look Like?

What Does a SMiShing Attempt Look Like?

Phishing--it’s a threat that tells a tantalizing lie to entrap its target, and one that you’ve likely heard of before. However, as technology has advanced, so have the opportunities that cybercriminals have to leverage phishing attempts. Smartphones, for instance, make it so that you must be aware and on the lookout for SMiShing scams.

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PINs Distributed By Equifax Increases Risk

PINs Distributed By Equifax Increases Risk

By now, you’ve heard all about the Equifax data breach, which exposed sensitive information of 143 million individuals. To keep this from leading to identity theft and other challenges for these users, many professionals are encouraging them to freeze their credit lines. To do so, a PIN is required, which is something that a hacker can easily take advantage of.

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How Are We Still Unsure of What Makes a Data Breach?

How Are We Still Unsure of What Makes a Data Breach?

Since the first of July 2017, over 10 million records containing personal information have been stolen each day. Are you one of these people? If you’re not, you might know someone who has been affected by these data breaches. Considering how high this rate is, it’s natural that you would want to take steps to protect your personal information, as well as any data stored by your business.

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Cortana Toy Pulled Among Security Concerns

Cortana Toy Pulled Among Security Concerns

Smart technologies are becoming more and more prevalent in everyday life. As such, it may not be a bad idea to prepare today’s children for their technology-filled tomorrow. However, as Mattel discovered with their kid-targeted smarthome hub, Aristotle, it is important to make sure that these devices are secure enough to ensure the safety of their youthful users.

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A Thorough Cybersecurity Strategy Begins with Knowing What You Are up Against

A Thorough Cybersecurity Strategy Begins with Knowing What You Are up Against

Since many modern businesses rely on technology, it becomes mandatory that they have an idea on how to best protect themselves against the myriad of threats that can be found online. Knowing what kind of threats that you may encounter is key to concocting a thorough cybersecurity strategy.

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Who’s Responsible for Patches? Everyone!

Who’s Responsible for Patches? Everyone!

Applications and software solutions can be difficult to manage for some businesses. If you don’t have a dedicated IT department that is responsible for deploying patches and security updates, it’s not out of the ordinary to have software that’s not running the latest versions or updates. This presents a major problem in the form of security issues.

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Are You Guilty of These Careless Security Flaws?

Are You Guilty of These Careless Security Flaws?

Did you know that a surprising number of data breaches are the result of insider threats? Insider threats are defined as data exposure, either malicious by nature or unintentional, that results from the actions of an employee in your workforce. With so many threats out there, it’s easy to forget that some of the most dangerous are right within your walls. How can you keep insider threats from becoming a major problem for your organization?

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Are You Prepared for Cyber Threats? Many Businesses Aren’t

Are You Prepared for Cyber Threats? Many Businesses Aren’t

With so many breaches showing up in the headlines and their impact being felt across the world, one would think that businesses of all sizes would do more to protect their data against cybersecurity threats. A recent study has shown that this is unfortunately not the case.

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The Right Analogy Makes Hacking Make More Sense

The Right Analogy Makes Hacking Make More Sense

How often have you started to read something you thought may be valuable to you, only to put it down a few moments later, completely lost because of the use of technical language and industry jargon? The IT industry can be especially guilty of this. However, since this is need-to-know information, we’ve decided to go over a few crucial security concepts by representing your business security with a locked door.

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Which is Worse -- a Phishing Attack or a Data Breach?

Which is Worse -- a Phishing Attack or a Data Breach?

In the realm of cyberattacks, a data breach is perceived as one of, if not the biggest threat that a business can face. They are seen as so dangerous, in fact, that threats like phishing attacks are largely disregarded. However, data from a recent study suggests that this is the opposite of what should happen in a decision maker’s mind.

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Keep Online Shopping from Ruining Your Holidays

Keep Online Shopping from Ruining Your Holidays

Uh oh. It’s the big day, and you’ve just realized that you’ve forgotten to purchase a gift for a special someone (or twelve). Thank goodness for online shopping, right? However, you still need to keep your digital security in mind as you try to save the holiday--cybercriminals aren’t the type to take a break during one of the most potentially lucrative times of year.

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North Korea Suspected as Responsible for WannaCry Attack

North Korea Suspected as Responsible for WannaCry Attack

According to the homeland security adviser to the White House, Tom Bossert, international blame for the global WannaCry attack is being directed toward North Korea. Responsibility for the attack that spanned from May 12th to the 15th of 2017 has been firmly placed on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which Bossert says is in agreement with the conclusions of Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.

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Improperly Disposing of a Hard Drive Can Threaten Your Security

Improperly Disposing of a Hard Drive Can Threaten Your Security

No technology lasts forever. Your business will need to replace server hardware or workstations eventually, no matter how well you take care of it. However, what do you do with the hard drive of any device that you have to replace? If you don’t take action to destroy your old hard drive (after moving any data off of it as needed), you could be in violation of various compliance guidelines issued by HIPAA.

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Your Computer Might Be Sharing Data with its Manufacturer

Your Computer Might Be Sharing Data with its Manufacturer

It is our hope that you are aware of how much of a risk spyware can pose to your business. Your business generates, collects, and leverages truly considerable amounts of data each day that is intended for your business only. While spyware that is introduced by a hacker is clearly a bad thing, what if the manufacturer of the device installed a program that pulled data from your machine?

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Businesses Expected to Spend $96 Billion this Year on IT Security

Businesses Expected to Spend $96 Billion this Year on IT Security

A report by Gartner has provided evidence that security considerations are anticipated to see investments in 2018. So, if you were planning on focusing on your business’ information security this year, you certainly aren’t the only one.

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Ransomware Increasingly Targets Android Devices

Ransomware Increasingly Targets Android Devices

In recent years, how-to guides and YouTube videos have brought renewed enthusiasm for the phrase ‘Do It Yourself’. From services that will ship all the ingredients needed for a home-cooked meal right to your front door to a kit that contains all of the building materials one needs to make a fully functioning ‘tiny house’, DIY kits have made it easier for someone who is less than an expert to successfully complete a project or learn a skill. The Dark Web has taken this infatuation with ‘DIY’ to a whole new level with a rising increase in the sale of Ransomware kits.

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Tip of the Week: How Your Secrets Can be Spilled by a Jogging App

Tip of the Week: How Your Secrets Can be Spilled by a Jogging App

When considering your business’ security, it is only too easy to overlook how information of any kind might be compromised. Take, for example, the case study that is provided by the fitness application Strava, the jogging app that shares more data than many, including the United States military, would prefer.

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Without Data Backup, You’re at the Mercy of Malware

Without Data Backup, You’re at the Mercy of Malware

It’s no secret that a business relies on its data. Therefore, it only becomes more important that this data is protected, especially in light of the predictions that have been made for the rest of the year concerning ransomware. Read on for a closer examination of these predictions, and suggested actions that you can take to protect your business and its data.

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Password Security Needs to Be a Priority

Password Security Needs to Be a Priority

Passwords are everywhere. It seems that every account requires a password, in addition to the devices we use to access these accounts. This is a good thing, as it only helps to increase security - assuming that the password is strong. After all, a password that anyone can guess can hardly be called a password at all.

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