XFER Blog

Blockchain technology is all the rage these days. Business owners are going to start hearing this buzzword as a bullet point in software solutions. Developers from all over the world are trying to harness the power of encrypted, distributed data, mainly due to the reputation that blockchain has regarding the “unhackable” permanence of the data stored upon it. However, it as powerful as blockchain is purported to be, it isn’t totally infallible.

Chances are, you’ve heard of “phishing” - a cybercriminal’s scam that steals data, access credentials, and other sensitive information by fooling a user into thinking they are providing this information to someone who is supposed to have access to it. However, there are a few different kinds of phishing, based on how it is carried out. Here, we’ll discuss the realities of spear phishing, and the risks it poses to your business.

If you’re like most people nowadays, your mobile phone is currently well within your reach (and that’s assuming you aren’t reading this blog on it). The fact that most people keep their phone on them at all times has greatly contributed to these devices becoming a part of any given work-related process. One major way is the implementation of two-factor authentication, which we’ll discuss as a part of this week’s tip.

With over 90 percent of people in the United States feeling as though their data is out of their hands, it should come as little surprise that many are looking towards the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation as inspiration. However, how close is the United States to passing this kind of legislation… and how will smaller businesses fare if (or when) some is passed?

Colleges and universities are part-time homes to more than 16 million people, and employ over 1.5 million more. Most of them utilize the networks set up by the college’s bevy of IT administrators. If you consider that most people have difficulty keeping viruses and other malware off of their personal computers, opening up networks that facilitate this kind of user demand can be tricky. Today, we ask: can a campus’ network every truly be secure?

There’s a big reason why phishing is a primary threat to businesses, and it’s because this method gives hackers a relatively risk-free way of gaining access to a network or other resources. Even being aware of the issue is often not enough to prevent it, as hackers are known to get quite aggressive and crafty with their phishing campaigns. If only a fraction of the 57 billion phishing emails that go out every year are taken seriously, hackers make quite a bit of profit off of users.

Biometrics are a common sight in futuristic or science-fiction settings, but they are increasingly entering the real world in practical ways. In fact, similar technologies are being implemented every day for businesses all over the world. Let’s take a look at some of them, as well as what benefits they provide these organizations.

Microsoft has been at the forefront of security through their numerous operating systems for decades. As the security of computing systems and communication gets more important, and with threats to that security growing exponentially, the world’s leading software company has made it a point to introduce a new security platform to help people in many walks of life keep their endeavors secure. Today we’ll look at the new security & compliance services that are bundled with the Microsoft 365 cloud platform.

Cryptojacking is one of the upcoming threats that your business should have on its radar in the upcoming years. This process involves a malicious entity installed cryptomining malware on a device without the user’s permission. What this provides the hacker with is a steady stream of income at the expense of the victim’s device. What can you do to keep your business’ devices from falling prey to this?

You hear about encryption being used all the time, almost to the point of it being synonymous with security, but what does it really mean to have encryption on your business’ data and devices? We’ll walk you through how encryption can help you in your day-to-day struggle to secure the integrity of your organization’s communication and infrastructure.

Bar none, cybersecurity has to be a major consideration for every business owner or manager in business today. The prevalence of people looking to rip your company off has never been higher; and that is the truth for nearly every company that uses the Internet for anything. Today, we take a look at some of the most serious cybersecurity threats that everyone should be cognizant of right now.

Smartwatches might be great tools for keeping yourself connected to important information, but they bring with them a considerable amount of security threats. Vulnerabilities can make using smartwatches and other wearable technology dangerous. We’ll examine some of the major features of the modern smartwatch, how hackers can use them to cause trouble, and what you can do about it.

Data security isn’t the easiest thing in the world to plan for, especially if your organization doesn’t have any dedicated security professionals on-hand. While protecting your data with traditional methods, like passwords, firewalls, and antivirus, is important, what measures are you taking to make sure a thief or hacker isn’t just walking into your office and making off with your technology?

Computer users today more than likely have a Google account, either for business or personal use. Not only is it accessible and convenient, it offers a versatile assortment of features. Regardless, no amount of accessibility, convenience, or versatility are worth your security. However, many users put precisely that, their security, at risk… often without even realizing it, or why this is such a big deal.

We all download apps. There are literally millions of apps to choose from and sometimes nefarious developers can get their application published with ulterior motives. A situation has just happened as Google has removed twenty-two apps that were found to contain automated click-fraud scripts from the Google Play Store. We’ll take a short look at what these developers were up to, and how the fraudster would affect you if you were one of the two million users that happened to download these apps.

Mobile devices have made conducting business much more convenient, as the right application can allow transactions to be made from anywhere you may be reading this blog. However, this increased accessibility has come with a price - threats to mobile security - which requires any business to be aware of the state of cybersecurity, especially concerning mobile devices, now and in the foreseeable future.

While many of us rely on phones to remain productive during the day, too often are we now picking up the phone to a spammer’s snake-oil sale: “Hello, we are reaching out to inform you that there has been an issue with your account” or similar nonsense. While this is enough of an irritant in our daily lives, it isn’t as though a business can wait for a call to go to voicemail to find out if it was legitimate or not.

With Google Chrome as its major competition, Bing needs all the help it can get just to claim a market share of the web browsing industry. Despite this, Microsoft’s search engine has encountered problems in the past with some of its top searches, including some that have caused data breaches.

Election Day for the United States is November 6th, and regardless of your feelings regarding U.S. politics, the fact of the matter is that millions of Americans will soon go to the polls and cast their ballots. Unfortunately, what many of them don’t realize is how insecure their voting machines actually are, and how they are potentially putting their vote at risk.

Network security is a crucial consideration for every contemporary business owner, as there are just too many threats that originate from an Internet connection to be overlooked. One only has to look at what businesses of all sizes have dealt with, even within this calendar year, to gain an appreciation for how crucial it is that every business owner consider their cybersecurity.