5 Warning Signs that Your Network Has Been Hacked

Cyber Security, Hackers, Hacking, Network, Ophtek, Security Threats, , , ,
11
Jun 2019

A hacked network spells trouble for any organization, so it’s crucial that you understand the warning signs which indicate your network has been hacked.

When it comes to reducing the damage caused by a hacked network then speed is of the essence. Hackers work quickly and even if you only shave a few minutes off the time taken to recognize an attack it can make a huge difference. However, the warning signs that accompany a network breach aren’t necessarily obvious due to the technology at play and the stealth tactics adopted by hackers. Thankfully, these indicators can easily be learned and it doesn’t have to be by going down the tough road of experience.

That’s why we’re going to help you get prepared a for damage limitation strategy by discussing five warning signs that your network has been hacked.

The 5 Signs of a Hacked Network

Vigilance is an essential part of keeping your network secure, but due to the complexities of IT it’s difficult to keep an eye on everything at all times. However, by understanding the following warning signs you’re putting yourself in a much better position to protect your network:

  1. Mouse Cursors Moving On Their Own: With a breached network comes the possibility that remote hackers will take control of your PC. Therefore, it’s possible for them to assume control of a desktop and being interacting with it. The most obvious sign of this is a mouse cursor moving around on its own and clicking on files/folders.
  1. Encrypted Files: Ransomware is a major problem for businesses due to the obstacles it throws up by encrypting files. And that’s why if you’re suddenly unable to open files or they’re displaying an unusual filename extension it’s quite possible you’ve been hacked. Naturally, due to the infectious nature of ransomware, you’ll want to identify this network hack before it spreads further into your organization and locks up even more files.
  1. Reports of Unusual Emails Being Sent: One of the most popular methods for spreading malware is through email. Taking advantage of contact lists in email clients, malware can soon spread itself around the world with relative ease. So, if you receive reports from contacts that your organization has been sending suspicious emails from genuine addresses then it’s time to investigate. 
  1. Increased Network Traffic: The amount of traffic that your network experiences will tend to ebb and flow depending on the time of day, but it should average itself out most days. However, when you’ve been hacked then there’s a good chance that your network traffic will skyrocket as your resources are used to power other hacks such as DDoS attacks. Therefore, keeping a close eye on your network traffic and identifying any unusual activity should be an integral part of your network security. 
  1. Security Software Disabled: Hackers like to make their attacks as easy as possible, so one of their first moves upon gaining access to a network is to disable any security software in place. This allows them to operate freely and reduce the chance of getting caught. If you notice that your anti-malware software, or indeed any application has become disabled, then it needs reporting immediately to identify who has done this and why.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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Why Are USB Flash Drives So Dangerous?

Ophtek, Safety, Security, Thumb Drive, , ,
04
Jun 2019

USB flash drives have been in use for two decades now and have proven highly popular due to their accessibility, but do you know how dangerous they can be?

Perfect for people on the move, flash drives allow people to carry data with them and, if necessary, they can be used to boot up PCs. As a result, even 20 years on from their initial launch, millions upon millions of flash drives are sold every year. However, this popularity has made them a target for hackers and allowed them to add yet another weapon to their arsenal.

Due to the debilitating effect that a rogue flash drive can have on your organization, we’re going to run through the dangers of USB flash drives.

Understanding the Danger

As we’ve already stated, USB flash drives can be used by hackers to help spread their chaotic attacks and that’s why you need to be aware of exactly how they do this. Here are some of the major ways they can utilize flash drives in their attacks:

  • Installing Malware: A USB flash drive is more than capable of holding various strains of the most dangerous malware currently available. Naturally, it only takes one of these to take down your IT infrastructure, so you need to be exceptionally careful when plugging a flash drive into your network. This threat is made much worse by the fact that flash drives are capable of automatically running their contents once plugged into a USB port, so proceeding with caution (and the advice of an IT professional) is crucial. 
  • Stealing Data: Although a flash drive may look insignificant, it’s still capable of running applications that can log keystrokes. While this may sound relatively simple, when you look a little deeper you’ll realize that this means everything you type is recorded. This includes login details, secure communications and customer data. This can either be saved back to the flash drive or transmitted to a remote server. Either way, the impact of data theft can have severe ramifications for your organization. 
  • Malicious Damage: Not every hacker is out to steal data or take over the processing power of your PC, but you can rest assured that they want to cause some form of damage to your business. And, sometimes, this can be as simple as damaging your PCs beyond all repair. Achieving this may sound dramatic, but the means are rather simple. It’s possible to buy devices such as the USB Killer which essentially fry the electrics of any PC it’s plugged into.

 

Are USB Flash Drives Safe to Use?

You’d be forgiven for thinking that flash drives are to be avoided at all costs, but the truth is that they are safe to use. However, it’s important that you always treat them as a potential security risk. Therefore, make sure that you only ever use trusted flash drives and, ideally, get these checked before installing them to your network. And, most importantly, if you find a flash drive out in the car park, make sure that it never goes anywhere near your network!

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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What Should You Do When Your Network is Hacked?

Hackers, Hacking, malware, Ophtek, Password Security, PC Security, Security, , , ,
28
May 2019

A hacked network is a disaster for any organization, so keeping things secure is vital. However, sometimes things go wrong and you need to know what to do.

Your IT operations are supported by your IT network, so, if it gets hacked, there’s every chance that all those PCs you have lined up in your offices will be unable to operate. Naturally, this means that productivity will drop off almost immediately and affect not just you, but also your customers. With good IT practices in place, you significantly reduce the risk of this happening. Mistakes, be they caused by hardware or human error, are inevitable, though, and it’s rare that a business can claim to have defenses which are 100% secure.

Therefore, it’s important that you know what to do when your network is hacked. Rather than have you learn the hard way, through experience, we’re going to save you some of the pain with a quick guide on how to cope.

Steps to Take When You’re Hacked

Most importantly, you need to take the following steps when you discover your network has been hacked:

  • Put Everything On Lock Down: The stealthy nature of hackers means that it’s difficult and time consuming to determine exactly how much of your network the hackers have breached. So, in order to preserve as much as your network as possible, you have to assume the worst: they’ve gained access to everything. And that’s why you need to lock down and change passwords on everything be it folders on a shared drive or your social media accounts. This is the only way to minimize damage. 
  • Learn from the Experience: As we’ve stated, it’s likely that your network will, at some point, experience a security disaster. However, while in the short term this may feel like nothing but non-stop chaos, there’s an important set of learning to be absorbed for the long term. Mistakes are what allow us to evolve and make better decisions in the future, so make sure you take the opportunity to analyze exactly what went wrong and the steps you can take to prevent it happening again. 

Final Thoughts

A hacked network represents every IT professional’s worst nightmare, but it’s important that you understand the best steps to take in this situation. Not only does it prevent network hacks from escalating into more devastating hacks, but there’s also the chance to learn and strengthen for the next time hacker aims an attack at your network.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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What are the Telltale Signs of a Phishing Email?

Ophtek, Phishing, Phishing Email, Security, Security Threats, , ,
21
May 2019

Email is an integral part of business communication for any organization with an IT structure, but there’s a significant danger posed by phishing emails.

When it comes to IT security, you want to make sure your defenses are as strong as possible in order to repel any hackers. However, human error will always play a factor in this and hackers are well aware of this vulnerability. Phishing emails are the latest evolution in the age old scenario of a confidence trick and present a major issue not just to individuals and businesses, but also political parties. Given the damage that phishing emails can cause to your data security and IT infrastructure, it’s important to understand the telltale signs of a fishing email, so let’s take a look.

Four Telltale Signs of a Phishing Email

If you know what you’re dealing with then a phishing email can be quickly identified and deleted from your server within a few seconds. However, understanding what does and doesn’t make a phishing email is a learning curve. In order to get up to speed on what constitutes a phishing email make sure you look out for the following:

  1. A Suspicious Email Address: Although it’s possible to mask the true identity of the original sender of a phishing email, the chances are that the hacker will instead use an email address that appears to be genuine but, upon investigation, is false. A good case in point is when the email address is clearly not official e.g. it’s common to find phishing emails pretending to be from Microsoft, but with a domain name which clearly isn’t Microsoft such as microsoft_support@yahoo.com 
  1. A Vague Greeting: Phishing emails are rarely sent to a single individual. Instead, hackers tend to send the same email to thousands upon thousands of different people. This approach ensures that there’s a higher chance of someone falling for the scam. However, addressing each email to each individual would be incredibly time consuming. Therefore, a sure sign of a phishing email is one that commences with a vague greeting such as “Dear Sir/Madam” or Dear Customer” 

  1. A Fake Link: Phishing emails almost always contain a link that takes users to either an infected website or downloads malicious software. And, often, these links will appear to be genuine. So, for example, there may be a phishing email that lands in your inbox from your bank that asks you to click a link to confirm some security details. However, while that link may read as bankofamerica.com it may be hiding a different destination. The only way to verify this without clicking is by hovering your mouse cursor over the link and verifying the address revealed in the popup box. 
  1. A Sense of Urgency: Hackers want you to click on the fake links contained within their phishing emails, so their approach tends to use fear to encourage clicking the link. Phishing emails, therefore, tend to carry some type of warning in order to trick you into thinking that it’s in your best interests to click the link. This can be as mundane as asking you to enter a survey to win a million dollars or more serious warnings such as the imminent closure of your bank account.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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How a Firewall Works and Why You Need One

firewall, Network, Ophtek, Safety, Security, , ,
14
May 2019

One of the most common ways to protect your PC is by working with a firewall, but what exactly is a firewall and what can it do to protect you?

Protecting your organization’s PC network should be one of your main priorities when it comes to IT due to not only the amount of data being transferred, but also the impact that a security breach could have on your productivity. Thankfully, there are many security options available to help strengthen your defenses and one of the oldest forms of security is a firewall. And, despite the traditional nature of this defense, it remains one of the most effective for stopping intruders accessing your network.

To help you understand this area of cyber-security in a little more depth, we’re going to take a quick look at how a firewall works and why you need one.

What is a Firewall?

The concept behind a firewall is a relatively simple one compared to other forms of cyber-defense with its main objective being to stop malware and malicious attacks penetrating a computer network. Essentially, a firewall is much like a content filter in that you’re able to define exactly what is allowed to both enter and leave your network. This filter is an automated process, so it’s possible to program the firewall to a highly tailored specification and then leave it to filter out anything deemed nonviable for the network.

What Exactly Can a Firewall Do?

A firewall, of course, is more than just a filter. In fact, fthere are a wide range of benefits that any organization can benefit from and these include:

  • Internal Safety: Many security lapses come from internal actions taken by staff such as accessing malicious websites or downloading malicious email attachments. While these are almost always innocent mistakes, the ramifications can be highly inconvenient. With a firewall in place, however, these concerns can be significantly reduced due to the level of control at your disposal which includes restricting outgoing connections to specific websites and receiving emails with attachments known to be malicious. 
  • External Protection: As information filters in from the internet, firewalls are able to analyze this data and verify whether the data is safe to enter your network. The firewall does this by determining the location and source of the data and then authenticating it against a set list of permissions. This verification is incredibly quick and will almost instantly confirm whether this data is allowed through or needs to be rejected. And, given the amount of headlines attributed to cyber-attacks on business, this provides some highly valuable peace of mind. 
  • Monitoring Outgoing Data: One of the main draws of using a firewall is that they’re capable of analyzing data that leaves your organization. In particular, this is very useful in the IT world to monitor any unusual activity on your network. If, for example, a larger than usual amount of data is being transmitted to unfamiliar sources then there’s a good chance that your network has been hacked and is being used to orchestrate bot attacks. With a firewall in place, though, you can identify this process early on and work on shutting it down.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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