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Month: June 2023

[Portland Tribune] What can hackers do with stolen DMV information?

Farmhouse Networking was recently approached by the Portland Tribune for comment on the hack of the DMV. We were quoted in their article published yesterday. Here is our full advice:

What to do post DMV hack?


The breach that effected the Oregon DMV was part of a larger hack of the software known as MOVEit. The exploit of the vulnerability in this software was used to gain access to over 3.5 million Oregonians information including:

  • Name
  • Home and mailing address
  • License or ID number
  • Last four digits of Social Security number

This information can be used by hackers and other darkweb criminals to assume the identity of those whose information has been compromised and perform identitiy theft activities like applying for credit cards or tax fraud. Anyone with an active Oregon ID card or driver’s license should begin monitoring their credit report and look for any suspicious activity. If suspicious activity is found they should immediately call the following to freeze their credit and take actions to reverse the damages done:

Equifax: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services or 1-800-685-1111
Experian: experian.com/help or 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion: transunion.com/credit-help or 1-888-909-8872

If your company is concerned about the possibility of a similar breach, then contact us for assistance.

Basic Setup of Ubiquiti Wireless Controller on Synology NAS

This is the third in a series that documents the Tier 3 / Co-Managed IT work we did to setup a wireless test bed for a Linux based scientific device. The testing environment included two different wireless network hardware types (Ubiquiti and Cisco). There was also a Synology device used for various purposes including hosting the Ubiquiti controller inside a Kubernetes container, providing certificate services, providing LDAP authentication, and providing RADIUS authentication. Each article will detail a separate piece of the project. This article shows the basic setup of Ubiquiti Wireless Controller as a Docker instance on the Synology.

Setup Synology for Docker Container

  1. Login to Synology via HTTP
  2. Open Package Manager
  3. Search for Docker & InstallSynology Docker Package
  4. Open Docker
  5. Click on Container tab
    • Click Create
    • Select the image just downloaded and click Next
    • Select Use the same network as Docker Host and click Next
    • Give the container a name
    • Enable resource limitations (increase memory for larger installations)
    • Enable auto-restart then click nextSynology Docker General Settings
    • Click on Advanced Settings
    • Add environment variables
      • BIND_PRIV = false
      • RUNAS_UID0 = falseSynology Docker Advanced Settings
  6. Click Add Folder
    • Highlight the Docker folder and click Create folder then create a Unifi folder and then highlight it and click Select Synology Docker Add Volume
    • Change Mount path to /unifi then Next
    • Click Done

Configure Ubiquiti Controller

  1. Login to new controller – https://[IPAddressofSynology]:8443/manage
  2. Name the Ubiquiti Controller and Check the agree to terms box then click Next
  3. Change to Advanced settings
  4. Turn off remote and Ubiquiti account
  5. Create administrator user
  6. Create password
  7. Create admin email then click Next
  8. Enable Auto Backup and click Next
  9. Skip device setup by clicking Next
  10. Skip Wifi setup by clicking Skip
  11. Change time zone if needed and Click Finish

Setup Wireless Access Point

  1. Connect access point to same network
  2. Adopt in controller
    • Find IP address of access point
    • SSH into access point
    • Login with defaults ubnt / ubnt
    • Type: set-inform https://[IPAddressofSynology]:8080/inform
  3. Login to Controller – https://[IPAddressofSynology]:8443/manage
    • Click on Devices on the left
    • Click on access point and choose Adopt

If your company has highly customized setup requirements that you need consulting for, then contact us for assistance.

The Negative Effects of Repeated Power Outages on Computer Hardware

Power outages are a common occurrence in our area. While they may seem like a minor inconvenience, they can actually have a significant impact on your computer hardware. In this article, we will explore the negative effects of repeated power outages on computer hardware.

Hard Drive Failure

One of the most common negative effects of power outages on computer hardware is hard drive failure. When the power goes out, it can cause the hard drive to stop spinning abruptly. This sudden stop can cause the read/write head to crash into the disk platter, resulting in physical damage to the hard drive. In some cases, the hard drive may become completely unusable, leading to data loss.

Data Corruption

Power outages can also lead to data corruption. When the power goes out, any unsaved data in your computer’s memory is lost. This can cause files to become corrupted or damaged. In some cases, the entire operating system may become corrupted, making it impossible to boot up your computer.

Power Supply Damage

Finally, power outages can cause damage to your computer’s power supply. When the power goes out, it can cause a surge when the power comes back on. This surge can overload your computer’s power supply, causing it to fail. In some cases, the power supply may even catch fire, leading to a potentially dangerous situation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, power outages can have a significant negative impact on your computer hardware. From hard drive failure to data corruption, and power supply damage, there are many potential consequences of repeated power outages. To protect your computer from these negative effects, it’s important to invest in a high-quality uninterruptible power supply (UPS). These devices can help protect your computer from power surges and other electrical disturbances, ensuring that your hardware remains safe and functional.

If your company is not protecting its computers from the damaging effects of power outages , then contact us for assistance.

Our New Email Analysis and Education Tools Helps Keep Your Employees Safe

Phishing-Scams

As you know, we take cybersecurity and the protection of your accounts and data very seriously. That’s why we are always striving to provide you with tools and resources to help keep you and your employees safe from cybercrime.

The most common threat we are seeing is phishing messages delivering malware or stealing credentials. Even though your company might be protected with spam filtering, there are instances where these malicious messages could still appear in your employee’s inboxes. And it’s important we both arm them with as much education and resources as possible to understand and identify these phishes.

We have a new tool that we’d love to demonstrate for your or talk more about. It’s called Catch Phish, and it’s an email analysis and training tool. It connects right to your employee’s Outlook as a clickable application on every message. When clicked, the tool quickly, but safely, scans the important details of the message to find potential threats such as suspicious links or attachments, sender details, or message details such as threatening language or deactivation scares.

This tool is included in our cybersecurity training packages and can help provide the much needed cybersecurity education to all levels of staff.
 
Do you have 30 minutes to talk about reducing your risks with Catch Phish and our other cybersecurity awareness training tools, then contact us for assistance.

Basic Setup of Synology NAS

This is the second in a series that documents the Tier 3 / Co-Managed IT work we did to setup a wireless test bed for a Linux based scientific device. The testing environment included two different wireless network hardware types (Ubiquiti and Cisco). There was also a Synology device used for various purposes including hosting the Ubiquiti controller inside a Kubernetes container, providing certificate services, providing LDAP authentication, and providing RADIUS authentication. Each article will detail a separate piece of the project. This article shows the basic setup of Cisco Wireless Controller.

Setup of Synology NAS

  1. Physically install hard drives into bays
  2. Plug into network
  3. Plug into power
  4. Find IP address by pinging ‘Diskstation’ on network
  5. Start web browser and connect to IP address
  6. Run Setup Wizard
  7. Install Synology OS on drives
  8. Wait for reboot
  9. Start setup
    • Give it a name
    • Create admin account / password
    • Install only important updates automatically
    • Sign-In to or Create Synology Account
    • Create quickconnect ID
    • Enable DSM backups
  10. Create storage pool
    • If it states that no drives are available – check under HDD/SSD to see if there are required firmware updates. Install all available.
    • Use SHR-2 RAID
    • Choose all drives to be in the RAID (not m.2 cache drive)
    • Use Max Allocated size
    • Use Btrfs file system
    • Click Apply
    • Click OK to erase all drives
  11. Open Package Center App
    • Accept terms of service
    • Update any Installed
    • Install LDAP Server and RADIUS Server
    • Close Package Manager

If your company has highly customized setup requirements that you need consulting for, then contact us for assistance.

Two Great Tastes That Go Great Together

We have decided to make a business change that includes no longer directly selling phone services, but instead we are moving our clients to RingCentral. They are the industry leaders in this type of service and their rates are very competitive. One of their killer features is the Teams integration

RingCentral for Teams – Embedded App

RingCentral for Teams embedded app enables calling from the Teams app to both internal extensions and external numbers. It’s the simplest way to supercharge the phone experience for both end users and IT admins without having to deploy a new app to end users. Most importantly, there’s no need for an added Microsoft calling or E5 license to capture this value. This solution is ideal for organizations that want to:

  • leverage RingCentral’s superior telephony while maximizing the value of their Teams investment
  • avoid the added cost of Microsoft’s calling license

With the RingCentral for Teams embedded app, users access an icon presented in Microsoft Teams. They can then place and receive calls, access voicemails and voicemail transcriptions, and send or receive an SMS or fax. These tools fill critical gaps in Microsoft Teams, transforming it from messaging and video meeting tool to a communications powerhouse. This approach is also a money saver, as it doesn’t require the added cost of a Teams Phone or E5 license.

If your company is currently using Microsoft Teams for communications and want to add the incredible functionality that RingCentral brings, then contact us for assistance.

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“They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. - 2 Corinthians 9:8-10