security Archives - Page 3 of 48

Microsoft Teams at Risk of Letting Malware In

install updates, malware, Microsoft Teams, Ophtek, Phishing, securitymalware, Microsoft Teams, Ophtek, phishing, security, updatesOphtek, LLC

Aug 2023

Microsoft Teams has experienced a surge in popularity among businesses since the pandemic, and this makes it a highly prized target for hackers.

Businesses find Microsoft Teams a powerful tool as it allows employees to work remotely, communicate and be productive. And it’s all through one app. This is why it’s a fantastic business solution and used by 280 million people. Naturally, the size of this audience is going to turn a threat actor’s head. Where there are high numbers of users, there’s an opportunity for malware to be successful. And that’s why the discovery of a vulnerability in Teams has caused so much concern.

The Vulnerability Lying Within Microsoft Teams

One of the main uses of Teams is as a communication tool, a nd this means that the potential for spreading malware via file transfers and linked hard drives is high. But this newly discovered vulnerability is very different. Therefore, it’s important you understand the threat it poses.

Now, Microsoft Teams allows you to communicate with a wide range of people within your organization. It also allows you to communicate with external parties e.g. subcontractors, clients and facility management teams. Usually, these external users are unable to transmit files to other organizations through Teams. And this is a good thing, as it lowers the risk of malware being sent between businesses.

However, the security protocols which are in place to stop unauthorized file sending can, it turns out, be compromised. Once this vulnerability is exploited, a threat actor can start sending malware direct to the Teams inbox of staff within that business. Often, the threat actors are increasing the chances of their attack being successful by setting up similar email addresses to that of their target. All it takes is for one employee to open the malware and it can start to spread.

While the incoming message will still be tagged as “External”, the busy nature of many employees’ days means that it’s likely this message will be ignored. Also, this method of attack is relatively new. Users are well drilled in the telltale signs of a phishing email, but a Teams instant message is very different. Accordingly, the risk of falling victim to this attack is concerning.

Staying Safe on Microsoft Teams

Curiously, Microsoft has advised that this vulnerability doesn’t, at present, warrant fixing. No doubt, at some point, it will be patched, but for now you should remain cautious. To help strengthen your defenses, make sure you practice the following:

Always update: there’s never an excuse for not carrying out software updates once they are available. It’s the quickest and simplest way to plug weak points in your cyber defenses, so, if they are not already in place, setting up automatic updates should be your priority.

Warn your staff: make sure that your staff are aware of this new threat to minimize the risk of your business falling victim. You can achieve this by sending out email updates to your staff and also updating your IT induction process to cover this new form of attack.

Reduce your availability: it’s possible to limit your communication through Teams to specific domains only. Again, this reduces your risk by ensuring that your staff can only communicate with trusted sources and not threat actors operating from similar, yet malicious domains.

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

Every business wants their IT infrastructure to be secure, so it’s crucial that you understand all your options. And two of the best are an SOC and an NOC.

A Security Operations Center (SOC) and a Network Operations Center (NOC) are exciting options for your defenses, but not everyone knows what they are. The good news is that both of these options, which can be based in-house or outsourced to external contractors, are here to protect your IT operations. And they both do this with a high level of sophistication, which ensures that cybersecurity threats are quickly identified and nullified.

How Does an SOC Protect Your IT Infrastructure?

Integrating an SOC into your cybersecurity strategies is one of the quickest ways to enhance your defenses. In short, an SOC is a dedicated team of professionals who can provide 24/7 monitoring of your IT systems. Their main duties include:

Maintenance: one of the surest ways to keep any system operating effectively is through routine and preventative maintenance. And this is a duty which an SOC will take in its stride. From initiating and installing updates through to updating firewalls and managing backup protocols, a dedicated SOC will ensure that none of these vital tasks are missed.
Creating response plans: in the case of a security incident, your organization needs to have a solid response plan ready to go. This could involve restoring data from backups, partitioning your networks, or even shutting your entire IT infrastructure down. Regardless of the strategy, you need to make sure that the perfect response plan has been formulated. And, thanks to the experience of those employed in an SOC, you can rest assured that your response minimizes disruption.
Monitoring: security incidents can strike your organization at any time of day, so it’s important that you have round-the-clock monitoring to flag up any attacks. An SOC can take care of this by not only monitoring network activity, but also analyzing it to provide a strong determination as to the threat level posed. This allows the SOC team to quickly identify potential threats and react accordingly.

Why Does Your Organization Need an NOC?

IT networks are complex, highly complex. This means that monitoring them effectively is difficult, but crucial when it comes to securing them. It’s difficult for your standard IT team to dedicate themselves to this task, so this is why the emergence of NOCs is so exciting for organizations. With an NOC supporting your IT infrastructure, you can expect 24/7 coverage in the following areas:

Network monitoring: an NOC can provide your organization with constant network monitoring and surveillance. This monitoring will cover all of the most common elements found in a network such as servers, routers, and switches. It’s an approach which is not only comprehensive, but also allows the NOC team to minimize any disruptions to your network.
Enhanced security: the main aim of a threat actor is to bypass the security of your network, and it’s very easy for them to sneak in when a vulnerability is in place. However, the presence of an NOC team means that not only will updates and patches be installed quickly, but their constant monitoring of your network will allow them to identify any unauthorized access.
Performance monitoring: given the level of competition within business in the 21^st century, your organization’s network needs to perform at a high level. Monitoring the complexities of an IT network, though, is a tough ask. But the experience of an NOC team means they can easily analyze your network performance, and then suggest plans for improving and maximizing its output.

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

Netgear RAX30 Routers Rocked by 5 Security Flaws

login credentials, Netgear RAX30, Ophtek, router, router firmware update, Security, WPA2 encryptionFirmware update, Login credentials, Netgear RAX30, Ophtek, router, security, vulnerability, WPA2 encryptionOphtek, LLC

Jul 2023

Routers are an essential part of any modern business which uses IT systems. But what happens when you’re working with a compromised router?

Routers are devices which help to connect different networks together. They receive data packets from one network, analyze the destination address, and then forward the data to the relevant destination network. Essentially, a router is used to facilitate communication between different devices and networks. The internet, of course, is crucial to directing this data and this makes routers highly attractive targets for threat actors.

Therefore, the discovery of a vulnerability within a router presents a significant threat to your cybersecurity. But, when there are five vulnerabilities within the same router, you have a disaster on your hands.

A Quick Guide to the 5 Vulnerabilities

Netgear has had to concede that their Netgear RAX30 routers have been exposed as lacking that seal of quality when it comes to security. A router, after all, is your gateway to the internet, the place where all your communication begins. If this is compromised, then a whole world of trouble is just waiting to take advantage. The five vulnerabilities picked up for the Netgear RAX30 routers are:

CVE-2023-27357: this security flaw allows external attackers to identify and record sensitive information passing through Netgear RAX30 routers.
CVE-2023-27368: an attacker can use this vulnerability to execute malicious code on the compromised routers. And, as user data is not being correctly validated by the Netgear RAX30 router, threat actors are able to avoid having to authenticate their access.
CVE-2023-27369: much like the previous vulnerability, this specific flaw allows attackers to run malicious code, or indeed any code they like, on affected systems.
CVE-2023-27370: unfortunately, for users of the Netgear RAX30 router, sensitive configuration data is stored in plaintext on the router. This allows attackers, who can easily bypass the authentication mechanisms, to steal system credentials with ease.
CVE-2023-27367: the final vulnerability known to be affecting the Netgear RAX30 router is, again, one which allows attackers to exploit it and run malicious code through it.

With all five vulnerabilities scoring highly on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) – with three of them gaining a CVSS of 8 or above – Netgear has a big problem on their hands.

How Do You Safely Secure Your Router?

Netgear has been quick to address the five vulnerabilities, with an updated firmware version released on April 7, 2023. However, it’s important that you always make sure your router is as secure as possible. And you can do that by putting the following into action:

Always change default login credentials: some routers are shipped with default login credentials, but this makes them incredibly easy to guess. In fact, many lists of default credentials can quickly be found online. Accordingly, make sure you always change your router’s login credentials before going online with it.
Enable WPA2 encryption: Another way to protect your router is to enable WPA2 encryption. This will secure the wireless network and prevent unauthorized access. Make sure to use a strong encryption key and avoid using common words or phrases that can be easily guessed.

Always update your router: regular firmware updates and patches ensure that your router remains as safe as possible. However, it’s crucial that you install these as soon as possible. Sometimes it can be time consuming to go through the update process, but it can save you major headaches further down the line.

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

RapperBot Malware Develops New Distribution Tricks

IoT Attacks, malware, Ophtek, RapperBot, Security, strong passwords, UpdatesIoT Attacks, malware, Ophtek, RapperBot, security, strong passwords, updatesOphtek, LLC

Jun 2023

Malware constantly evolves, and that’s why it’s a constant thorn in the side of PC users. The ever-changing RapperBot malware is a perfect example of this.

If malware was boring and lacked innovation, it wouldn’t last very long or infect many computers. It would make our lives a lot easier, but it would defeat the main objective of malware. And that is to cause chaos. Repeatedly. Therefore, malware developers are keen to extend the lifespan of their creations. This is why malware is regularly developed, to keep one step ahead. It’s the digital example of a game of cat and mouse. But the good news is that you don’t have to be the mouse.

The Lowdown on RapperBot and Its Evolution

First discovered in 2022, RapperBot started its malware career in the Internet of Things (IoT) niche. Most notably, RapperBot was observed to be using parts of the Mirai botnet code. However, RapperBot was much more than just another take on Mirai. It was much more sophisticated. Not only had its remote access capabilities been upgraded, but it could now also brute force SSH servers – these allow two PCs to communicate with each other.

This evolution has continued at pace, with security experts Fortinet and Kaspersky detecting the following changes:

After infection, further code was added into RapperBot by the developers to avoid detection. A situation which persisted even after rebooting. A remote binary downloader was later added to allow self-propagation of the malware.

The self-propagation capabilities of RapperBot were later changed to allow the malware to gain constant remote access to SSH servers which had been brute forced.

Finally, RapperBot moved its aim away from SSH servers and targeted telnet servers. Cleverly, RapperBot sidestepped the traditional technique of using huge data lists and, instead, monitored telnet prompts to determine the target device. This allowed the threat actors to identify IoT devices and quickly try their default credentials.

The Best Tips for Tackling RapperBot

IoT devices are plentiful in the modern age, and we certainly couldn’t be without them. Accordingly, we need to protect them from threats such as RapperBot and BotenaGo. You can do this by following these best tips:

Keep devices up to date: it’s crucial that you regularly update the firmware and software which supports your IoT devices. Few, if any, pieces of hardware reach consumers without some form of security flaw present. Once these flaws are detected, the manufacturer will usually release a patch or update to remove this vulnerability. Therefore, you need to install these as soon as possible, a strategy which is made easy by allowing automatic updates.

Change default passwords: Many IoT devices come with default usernames and passwords, these are often the same across every single version of that device. As such, they represent an incredible risk. This means you need to change these default credentials to strong, unique usernames and passwords before they are connected to your IT infrastructure. Additionally, enable two-factor authentication, wherever possible, to add an extra layer of security.

Network segmentation: ideally, separate networks should be created to house your IoT devices and isolate them from your core network. As IoT devices carry a certain amount of risk, it makes sense to keep them away from the majority of your IT infrastructure. This ensures that, if an IoT device does become infected, the malware can only spread so far.

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

Malware Makes Its Way into Search Engine Ads

Google, google ads, malware, Online Security, Ophtekgoogle, Google ads, malware, Ophtek, securityOphtek, LLC

Apr 2023

Search engines are the gateway to the internet, but there’s a very real chance they may just be serving up malware each time you use them.

We all use search engines on a daily basis – with Google being the most popular choice – and, to be honest, we probably take them for granted in terms of security. However, the FBI is now warning that search engine results may represent a significant threat to the security of your PC. As with most security threats, this new technique relies on deception; in this instance, the threat actors are harnessing the power of search engine advertisements.

Due to our reliance on search engines, it’s important we understand the nature of this latest threat. And, to help you protect your IT infrastructure, we’re going to take you through the basics of this attack.

Malware by Advertising

Whenever you put a search request into, for example, Google, you will receive a long list of search results. The higher a result is, the more clicks it’s likely to get from people searching for that term. Search engines understand the importance of ranking high in their results and, therefore, they make it possible for people to pay to advertise at the very top of the search results. These advertisements look almost identical to the organic search results, with only a small “Ad” tag next to them. Accordingly, these can easily be mistaken for organic search results.

Despite many of these advertisements being legitimate, and merely paying to skip to the top of the search results page, the FBI has discovered many of these advertisements are linked to malware. Threat actors are purchasing advertising space which appears to be for genuine companies, such as finance platforms, and using very similar URLs to tempt people into clicking their link. However, these links are simply a way to redirect people to sites looking to distribute malware. Worse still, the advertisements used will often display a URL to a genuine site, but redirect you to an altogether different site.

Stay Safe from Fake Ads

The last thing you want to do is fall victim to a fake ad, after all you may simply be searching for somewhere to go and have lunch. Therefore, it pays to stay safe and know how to protect yourself from fake search engine ads. You can do this by practicing the following:

Check that top result: remember, it’s important you know what you’re clicking on, so make sure you double check any results at the top of Google. While, for example, it may look like a search result for Bank of America, the actual URL within the result may be slightly different e.g bank0famerica.com. And, if you click on it, you could quickly find yourself on a malicious site.

Always hover: the simplest way to determine the true destination of a link within search engine results is by hovering your mouse cursor over it. This will bring up a pop-up message which displays exactly where the link is going to take you.

Block Google ads: it’s possible to block Google ads from appearing in the search engine results page, all you have to do is install an ad-blocker such as Blockzilla. These apps filter incoming web pages – including search engines – and ensure any intrusive ads or promoted posts are blocked.

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

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