Levels of hacking and phishing predicted to increase in 2019

2018 brought with it many major cyber-crime attacks over the year.

A number of global businesses and industries fell victim to data breaches including the likes of Facebook, Under Armour, MyHeritage and the Marriott Hotel Group – even the French President, Emmanuel Macron, had his emails hacked!

Together with increasing levels of ransomware and malware attacks, cyber security is rightly at the top of many business agendas in 2019. Here are what some of the world’s top experts are predicting for the year ahead.

McAfee

Leading software experts McAfee have warned that businesses may well find themselves ‘under siege’ from threats like malware, ransomware and over attacks in the coming months. They predict that criminals will turn to social media, cloud technologies and mobile phones as key windows for attacks and ‘upscale’ their efforts to bypass security controls.

6 ways to protect your business from ransomware attacks

A recent report from cyber security company Sophos has uncovered some disturbing trends in the advancement of online crime. The report found that teams of online criminals are now turning to targeted ransomware attacks as a means of earning millions of dollars from businesses and high-value individuals.

The report by SophosLabs also suggested that cyber criminals are manipulating flaws in Windows systems admin tools as a means of stealing sensitive information and of delivering ransomware. Once activated, the ransomware will cut off access either to the entire system or specific files until the user delivers a ransom payment – usually paid for in untraceable currency such as BitCoin. However, there are no guarantees that a payment will mean your data will be restored.

Following a string of worrying malware strains released last year such as Meltdown, Spectre, Foreshadow, Petya, NotPetya, X-bash and WannaCry, it is important that businesses have protocols in place to defend against and minimise damage carried out by a ransomware attack. Here are just a few things that you can do.

What are the benefits of VDI for businesses?

Virtual desktop infrastructure. Even the name itself can sound confusing. But the benefits of VDI are well worth the small amount of time it takes to understand what it is and how it works. Read on to find out more.

What is VDI?

VDI can be simply described as a type of technology that detaches the application processing from the physical computer in front of you. Rather than running applications on the computer under your desk, you will instead run them from a server that mirrors them on to your PC.

What is X-bash? A look at the all-in-one malware threat

Following on from headline claiming malware like Petya, NotPetya and WannaCry, a new threat to computer users has emerged in the form of an all-in-one malware called X-bash.

What is X-Bash?

Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have named this new form of malware X-bash. They claim it combines bot net, cryptocurrency mining software and ransomware in one singular worm that specifically targets users of Linux and Windows.

Who created it?

The researchers, named ‘Unit 42’, have claimed that the malware can be tied to a collective known as the Iron Group (aka Rocke), who are known to be behind numerous other ransomware attacks.

How to protect you PC from the Foreshadow Intel flaw

Along with threats like Meltdown and Spectre, Foreshadow has been in the news recently, described as a worrying threat for PC’s with intel processors.

Meltdown and Spectre, which were first publicly disclosed in January, were a widespread problem and some of the aftermath is still being cleaned up. However, the discovery prompted researchers to do further studies into possible weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and in doing so discovered a weakness similar to Spectre in Intel processors.

Fake News Virus Warnings

Businesses are encouraging staff to be extra-vigilant after an increase in malicious content distributed through social media.

Social media websites are documenting a rise in falsified articles that use notable fake news stories to encourage people to click. Once they land on the website however, they can be susceptible to a whole range of malicious content like malware and viruses.

Two recent examples of these hoax-type stories include an article purporting the death of popular Mr. Bean actor Rowan Atkinson and an article reporting US President Trump had suffered a stroke. The news articles are spread through social media and encourage visitors to click through to their websites. Once there, visitors can inadvertently download malware, ransomware and other dangerous viruses.

How to transform your workforce in one easy step

Technology is rapidly changing the way that we work. From industry giants to young and hungry start-ups, modern devices, programs, tools, systems and support is enabling businesses to thrive in an ever-changing market place.

One of the biggest changes has come in the form of not only how we work but also the way we work. While many businesses have traditionally operated out of office-style set ups, following the usual 9-5, Monday to Friday shift patterns, over the past decade a radical shift has begun to take place.