Cyber Attacks

It’s just over a week since the largest cyber attack ever. That knocked Twitter, Spotify and CNN off the internet by targeting Dyn, who look after their DNS. It’s about two weeks since the second largest attack, and the odds are there’ll be an even bigger attack soon.

This attack was based around hundreds of thousands of webcams and DVRs infected by the Mirai botnet sending vast quantities of DNS requests. It’s a simple botnet, as it controls simple things, so it can’t do that much damage. Unless you’re Twitter, Spotify, CNN, or Dyn. Right now, it seems to focus on damaging other people’s networks rather than yours. Next week it might do something else.

Insecure by design and usage

One manufacturer (Hangzhou Xiongmai) has admitted to problems in the way their products are typically set up and they’ve issued software updates and a product recall. Unfortunately, Hangzhou Xiangmai Technology don’t sell to consumers. All their stuff is rebranded and sold on by someone else.

They’ve urged owners to change usernames and passwords. It’s a start I suppose, but your DVR/Webcam won’t have their label, even if they made it.

Unfortunately, you can’t easily find something with a CE mark or Kitemark to denote “this device is designed to be secure”, as sadly, there isn’t such a thing.

Improve Your Own Security

You can make your own devices more secure by:

• resetting them to factory defaults.
• changing the username and password – DON’T REUSE THESE CREDENTIALS
• applying any patches or updates from the manufacturer.

However, that may not address all the vulnerabilities in your device. Some of these things are awesomely badly designed.

If you’re not sure what to do with the webcam, the DVR and all the other IoT stuff, speak to your IT people, or us.

We’ll be posting more blogs about ‘The Internet of Things’ and DDOS attacks so please keep tuned in.

Any doubts or questions, please call and we’ll be delighted to help.

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What Services Can A Computing Company Offer A Small Venture Owner

Handling customers as well as employees in a small business can be quite overwhelming sometimes. In today’s modern society, with so much dependence on computers and technical systems to complete pretty much everything, the challenge is only heightened. A lone computer problem can instantly affect your whole business, putting relationships very much in jeopardy. You can help protect your business by understanding the services that a computing company can offer. That way, you can avoid any imminent problems and find the best solutions for your small business.

Information technology and support are the main two services that computing companies provide to business owners. Granted many people are not aware of the fact, but this type of support is key to solving many of the computer-related issues which arise, problems which will continue to arise. In addition, such a service will assist a business to restore lost information due to a computer system crash, or at least to provide a suitable solution to restore the lost information.

Besides IT services, computing companies have also started providing cloud storage services to small businesses. Assisting you in storing your business information in the cloud is a task that a computing company will help you with, provided you have opted for a company which offers such a service to their clients. Cloud services are protected by encryption so you can rest assured that your information is secure. Another advantage of storing your files on the cloud is the ability to access your files on the go, in your home or in your office. Additionally, if your computer system crashes, you can rest assured that you will be able to quickly and easily restore your files on your system once it is up and running. This service can help protect your business in the event of a computer system failure.

It can be difficult to connect all of your computers together onto a single network; however, a computer service company will be able to integrate your computer system so that they can communicate with one another and access your website efficiently. If your small business is an e-commerce site, this is especially important because each of your workers can easily get the necessary information with the click of the mouse.

Operating a small business is not just a tough way to make a living, it can also be a very satisfying and rewarding endeavour. They will work with you to ensure that your system runs smoothly and efficiently. Additionally, should an emergency or a system crash happen, they will be able to get you back up and running. Once informed of such services, it is possible for a business to delegate a large chunk of the IT Services to the correct partner, and invest time, energy and resources into the core goals of the company.

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