IT Consulting

What You Need To Know When Hiring A New IT Consulting Company

Imagine this. You’ve been grounded a state of uncertainty when it comes to IT. During the evening and on weekends, a tech savvy friend helps you with your technological solutions. Or maybe you have your office manager does whatever he can to keep your technology working.

After some time, you finally realize that you require an IT consulting company to help diagnose issues and fix major problems. However, that IT provider has other accounts to deal with and not always there to help you whenever you have a request. You and your staff end up idle while the downtime negatively impacts your revenue and productivity.

You need to find a new IT partner. But how can you protect your company from the chaos and make sure that the change will run smoothly? How will you know if the new provider is going to keep your units running and your staff productive while the switch is taking place? Perhaps it is much better to just stick with your current lacklustre IT provider you know rather than risk all that you have now for a new company.

Over time, proactive IT services will cost a lot less than break/fix or reactive services. SpartanTec, Inc. understands that having a new IT provider could be a stressful process. It’s not as easy as changing your accountant. Your new IT company must bring about the same level of trust.

What Your New IT Consulting Firm Should Do?

Determine the high risk parts that need immediate attention. In case you backup drive has been working for several years but only creating backups for local directories, not all of the data, this crucial need have to addressed first to guarantee business continuity as well as stability of all systems. 

Offer Proactive Monitory Of Your Systems 24/7

Does your new IT consulting in Myrtle Beach specialize in a mix of preventative and proactive maintenance as well as 24/7 monitoring? Do they have access to a Network Operations Center that uses the knowledge and expertise of more than 200 technicians? In case you have an emergency, such resources must be available to fix any issue in a timely manner.

Implement Services That Suit Your Needs and Budget

Proactive IT consulting companies offer long term value compared to break/fix or reactive services. However, that does not mean that you do not have any budgetary constraints. Your IT provider should be able to understand them and determine the right course of action.

Create Long Term Plans Of Action For Software, Hardware, and Support Upgrades

No IT firm should suggest services your company does not need. They must, on the other hand, work closely with you to determine areas where upgrades and managed IT services are necessary so that your business runs smoothly.

Listen

This should flow from every point mentioned earlier. An IT consulting firm must serve as your trusted advisor that understands your business goals, listens to your concerns, asks you questions about your technology needs, and concentrates on ways to improve your company’s profitability and productivity. When you make a decision to upgrade your existing IT situation, your new IT provider must also work closely with your previous IT team to get all the needed information and make your IT transition as soon as possible.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you are looking for a reliable, trustworthy, and experienced IT consulting company that can help make sure that your technology works the way it should.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC  29577
843-418-4792
https://www.spartantec.com/

Hackers Now Can Access Data In Secure PDF Files

A team of six researchers from Ruhr-University Bouchum and Munster University, in Germany have discovered a critical flaw in the way that popular PDF viewers display data.

This makes it possible for an attacker to exfiltrate data from encrypted PDF files.

The researchers tested twenty-seven different desktop and web-based PDF viewer apps ranging from the ubiquitous Adobe Reader, to Foxit, and even the viewers built into both Chrome and Firefox. They found that every single one of them were vulnerable to the new attacks they engineered. The researchers developed two major lines of attacks with a few variants based on each type.

They had this to say about their findings:

"Our attacks allow the recovery of the entire plaintext of encrypted documents by using exfiltration channels, which are based on standard-compliant PDF properties...our evaluation shows that among 27 widely used PDF viewers, all of them are vulnerable to at least one of these attacks. These alarming results naturally raise the question of the root causes for practical decryption exfiltration attacks.  We identified two of them.

First, many data formats allow to encrypt only parts of the content.  This encryption flexibility is difficult to handle and allows an attacker to include their own content, which can lead to exfiltration channels.

Second, when it comes to encryption, AES-CBC--or encryption without integrity protection in general--is still widely supported.  Even the latest PDF 2.0 specification released in 2017 still relies on it.  This must be fixed in future PDF specifications."

This is an alarming discovery although these attacks have not yet been seen in the wild. Now that the word is out, it's just a matter of time.  Worse, there's no fix on the horizon, which means that the PDFs you may be relying on to help keep your data secure, simply aren't.

Given that even encrypted PDF files could now be accessed by hackers, you need to be more vigilant in keeping your files secure. Call SpartanTec, Inc. and let our team help you protect your data and sensitive personal and business information.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC  29577
843-418-4792
https://www.spartantec.com/

Cybersecurity Tips For Your Next Business Trip

It’s the time of the year when people rush to travel. With the busy travel season drawing near, it is crucial for travelers to be very careful.

Whether you travel just for the love of it or you have to because of your line of work, traveling especially when going abroad, presents a distinctive cyber security threat. Business travellers are vulnerable since they commonly take with them sensitive business and personal data, on different devices like tablets, laptops, and smartphones. Security isn’t something that can be provided to you by a single machine. You require a security suite that can help safeguard all of your devices, including your iPad, Android smartphone, Mac, and Windows PC.

Does that mean you cannot travel anymore? Of course not! Here are some of the most effective cybersecurity tips when you are traveling abroad.

Lock Down Your Devices

Laptops, tablets, and smartphones have security settings that will allow you to lock your device with a fingerprint ID or a pin. You must do this on all of your devices. Also, while you are traveling, don’t forget to change the PIN numbers. In case you misplaced any of your devices, your PIN will be your first line of defence against potential security breaches.

Public Wi-Fi Isn’t Always Safe

The regulations and laws that monitor cyber security in other nations are not the same as the ones implemented in the United States. It is undeniable that free Wi-Fi access could be appealing not only for leisure travellers but for business travellers as well. However, it also poses security risks. Don’t use unencrypted Wi-Fi networks, if you are at the hotel, ask about their security protocols before connecting to their Wi-Fi. You have to be extra cautious when using the internet at cafes and if possible, don’t use personal accounts or access sensitive data while you are connected to a public Wi-Fi.

Disable Auto-Connect

Most smartphones in the United States have a feature that lets a device to connect to Wi-Fi networks automatically as you go through them throughout the your daily activities. Although it is a nice feature when utilized at home, it is not a feature that you have to use when traveling abroad. Before you go traveling, you need to change this setting so that your laptop and smartphone need to be manually connected every time you want to access the internet.

Minimize Location Sharing

It is very common for business and leisure travellers to post on their social media accounts whenever they visit a new place. This main problem with this kind of excessive sharing is that it makes your home vulnerable. By posting that you are not at home, you are telling criminals that you are not home or in your hotel room. It is best to limit the information that you post online especially when it comes to your specific whereabouts.

Install Anti-Virus Software

The most effective and easiest to secure your personal information and company information while traveling is by installing an anti-virus protection. Apart from that, you need to update the program regularly whenever newer versions are available.

Update Your Operating System

Just like the anti-virus that you need to install in your devices, the operating system must also be kept up to date. This is applicable not only on your laptops or desktops but also on the apps of your phone.

Update Your Passwords

In case you are scheduled to travel, you have to change all of your passwords that you use regularly. If you need to create a PIN for a security box or safe in a hotel room, be sure that it is unique and not something that you use regularly.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. if you need the expert assistance of IT experts in securing your personal and business information.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC  29577
843-418-4792
https://www.spartantec.com/

New Adware Uses Interesting Technique To Avoid Detection

Being more of a nuisance than anything, adware doesn't see as many innovations as other forms of malware. Once in a while, an adware developer surprises the security researchers.

That happened recently when two researchers working for enSilo discovered an innovation in an adware strain, known as DealPly.

As Adi Zeligson and Rotem Kerner indicated in a recent blog post, DealPly has some interesting features bolted on, which make it much more adept than most other forms of adware at avoiding detection by antivirus programs.

The adware is typically installed on a target's machine by being bundled with a legitimate app.  Once it's installed, it will add itself to the Windows Task Scheduler and run every hour.  Each time it runs, it will contact its command and control server and request instructions.

Here's where things get interesting. DealPly was designed modularly and makes use of Virtual Machine Detection and Machine Fingerprinting techniques.

Microsoft SmartScreen is one of two major systems used to verify the risk of files and web addresses.  It's updated regularly with newly blacklisted sites.  Naturally, malware authors find this to be a problem because it only gives them a limited window of time before their code and malicious URLs wind up on the list.

DealPlay, however, contains code that seems to be based on a reverse-engineering of Microsoft SmartScreen. When it contacts its command and control server, it requests a list of hashes and URLs to query using the SmartScreen reputation server. Once it has its list of queries to make, it will send a JSON request to the SmartScreen API to see if the server will respond with any of the following:

• UNKN Unknown URL/File
• MLWR Malware related URL/File
• PHSH Phishing related URL/File

Essentially, this query allows DealPly to know whether it has been blacklisted.  If so, the software enters an idled state until it can be updated.  This allows DealPly's developers a something close to real-time mechanism to know when they need to update their code, allowing them to stay ahead of the curve.  Very clever.  Very clever indeed, and troubling to IT staff everywhere.  We can expect this technique to be copied by other malware developers, worldwide.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. and let our team of IT experts check your business' vulnerability to the most common online threats. We can help you protect your business from data breaches.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC  29577
843-418-4792
https://www.spartantec.com/

Ransomware Now Sends Malicious Texts Through Mobile Dev

If you own an Android device, there's a new threat to be at least moderately concerned about.  It takes the form of a new ransomware family that spreads from one victim to the next with text messages that contain poisoned links to every contact on an infected device.

The ESET research team that found the software had this to say about it:

"Due to narrow targeting and flaws in both execution of the campaign and implementation of its encryption, the impact of this new ransomware is limited.

If your system is infected, the first thing it will do is raid your contacts list and send SMS text messages to everyone on it.  Anybody who clicks on the link in the SMS message will also be infected.

After sending a flurry of messages, the malware will turn its attention to your device itself. It will then set about the task of encrypting most of the files on your device.  Fortunately, the people behind this new threat prove themselves to be new to the game."

ESET continues:

"After the ransomware sends out this batch of malicious SMSes, it encrypts most user files on the device and requests a ransom.  Due to flawed encryption, it is possible to decrypt the affected files without any assistance from the attacker."

All in all, this issue is only of minor concern.  It's annoying, and certainly time consuming to restore your files. However, it's not an especially dangerous malware strain - yet, and that's the problem.

Whomever is behind this new threat certainly has the right idea, even if they lack the technical chops to pull it off.  Skills, however, can be learned and honed.  As a first try, this effort is disturbing because it's clever.  The moment the people who wrote the code get the technical skills to pair with that cleverness, they're going to be genuinely dangerous.

Do you want to know if your business and client information are secured and protected? Call SpartanTec, Inc. now for more information. Let our team of IT experts perform a complete and thorough review of your network, employee practices, and safety measures and determine if it is enough to protect you from the most common online threats today.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC  29577
843-418-4792
https://www.spartantec.com/

Capital One Data Breach Puts Millions At Risk

Another week, another massive data breach.

In this case, Capital One was the target when an unknown individual gained access to the company's servers.

The breach was detected by an independent security researcher, who contacted Capital One on July 19th. Apparently, the hacker gained access via a server configuration vulnerability.

Upon being made aware of the issue, Capital One addressed it immediately, which cut the hacker off from the data. At this time, it is not believed that the hacker has sold the data he was able to collect, but the investigation is ongoing.

While this breach isn't the largest in American history, the scope and scale is still staggering.  More than one million Americans and six million Canadians have been impacted by it. That includes more than a million Canadians that saw their social insurance numbers accessed.

"This information included personal information Capital One routinely collects at the time it receives credit card applications, including names, addresses, zip codes/postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and self-reported income.  Beyond the credit card application data, the individual also obtained portions of credit card customer data, including: Customer status data, (e.g., credit scores, credit limits, balances, payment history, contact information, and fragments of transaction data) from a total of 23 days during 2016, 2017, and 2018."

In addition to more than a million Canadian social insurance numbers being exposed, the hacker also gained access to some 140,000 American social security numbers and over 80,000 bank account numbers.

If there's a silver lining here, it is the fact that the US Attorney's Office for the Western Distract of Washington said it had arrested a "former Seattle technology company software engineer" in relation to the breach.  If that proves to be true, then they apparently got him before he had time to post and sell the data on the Dark Web.

If you are a Capital One customer, or if you've applied for a Capital One card or loan between 2005 and 2019, know that your data may have been among the records compromised.

Is your customer data protected? Call SpartanTec, Inc. today at 843-561-9785 if there is any doubt.  Our IT Managed Services can do a complete review of your network, security measures and employee practices.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC  29577
843-418-4792
https://www.spartantec.com/

What Is A Spyware and How To Deal With It

A software that is installed on your computerwithout your knowledge or permission is called spyware. A software that is downloaded without your authorization is also considered as a spyware. This topic is controversial since even if it is installed for a seemingly harmless reason, it could violate the privacy of the end user and it can also be abused.

Spyware could be hard to detect; usually, the first sign a user has that his computer has a spyware installed is a significant reduction in the network connection or processor speeds and for mobile devices – a decrease in battery life and data usage. Anti-spyware tools could be used to stop or get rid of spyware. These tools could either offer real time protection by scanning the network data as well as blocking any malicious data, detect and get rid of spyware that is already installed through the execution of scans.

Users can prevent spyware by downloading software that comes from trusted sources, to read all the disclosures upon their installation, and never click on pop up ads as well as remain updated with patches and updates for browser, OS, as well as application software. To lower the possibility of infection, network administrators must practice the principle of least privilege and need remote workers to gain access to the network resources over a VPN or virtual private network.

Types of Spyware

Spyware isn’t just a single type of program. It’s a whole category of malicious software including keystroke, Trojans, loggers, and other programs that steal information.

Adware – this commonly comes with free shareware programs, software, and utilities that are downloaded from the net, or installed on the computer when the user goes to a site that is infected. Several internet users first encountered spyware in 1999 when Elf Bowling came with a tracking software.

Cookies – these track and record the personal information of users as well as their internet browsing habits. They are the most common kind of adware. An advertiser could use cookies to track the web pages that the user often visits so that it could target advertising in a campaign that involves contextual marketing.

Keyboard loggers – it is a kind of system monitor that are usually utilized by cyber criminals to steal PII or personally identifiable information, sensitive enterprise data, and login credentials. Keyloggers can be used by employers to monitor the computer activities of their employees or by parents who wish to supervise the internet usage of their kids.

Trojans – these are malicious programs that appear as legitimate programs. A user who falls victim to a Trojan will have malicious software that poses as a legitimate one. This will allow the Trojan to get access to their computer. The Trojan could then delete the user’s files or encrypt them so they could ask for a ransom.

Mobile Spyware – this is dangerous since it could be transferred using Short Message Services or SMS or MMS Multimedia Messaging Service text messages and doesn’t need user interaction to do the commands. If a tablet or smartphone becomes infected with mobile spyware that was side-loaded using a third-party app, the camera of the phones, as well as microphone could be used to spy on close by activity, browsing activity, record phone calls, as well as keystrokes.

SpartanTec, Inc. can help you protect your computer and network from getting infected with spyware. With our IT consulting services, you no longer have to worry about computer hackers, malware, spyware, or viruses from getting into your network. We offer computer data security as well as virus removal solutions to make sure that your private business information are protected against the various online threats that are out there.

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now and let ups help secure the business that you’ve worked so hard for to build.

SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC  29577
843-418-4792
https://www.spartantec.com/