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Category: Compliance

Zero Trust – Software Patching

This is the seventh in a series about the concept of Zero Trust, which means in the IT sense that you trust nothing and always verify everything surrounding and connected to your network. Today’s discussion will be on software patching. 

Software Patching

Software patching is a neccesity because no person who writes code is perfect and hackers are actively looking for these mistakes. The hackers find the mistakes and then develop ways of using these to exploit the software, computer, or whatever else they can gain access to. The only way to combat both the mistakes and the exploits is to discover them before the hackers do and patch the hole in the software. This patch can however lead to unforseen consequences to the software, so a plan for testing and deployment of patches is needed to avoid unexpected downtime to businesses.Here are some questions to ask:

  • Do you know all of the hardware and software on your network?
  • Do you check for hardware, operating system, and other software regularly?
  • How do you check for updates, patches, or upgrades to software?
  • How do you install these patches? Is it automated?
  • Are these patches tested before installation?
  • What happens if a patch causes problems?
  • Do you have a log of all installed updates?
  • Are any systems or software on your network no longer supported for updates?

If your company is going to use full disk encryption or has compliance requirements that you need consulting for, then contact us for assistance.

Zero Trust – Endpoint Security

Endpoint Security - Clackamas, OR

This is the sixth in a series about the concept of Zero Trust, which means in the IT sense that you trust nothing and always verify everything surrounding and connected to your network. Today’s discussion will be on endpoint security. 

Endpoint Security

Endpoint security is a fancy term used to describe how the computers on the network are protected. This used to be done by antivirus but due to the complexity of the attacks hackers are using to compromise networks these days, the definition has expanded greatly. This now includes things like Enhanced Detection & Response software, Security Operations Centers, DNS Filtering, employee train and more. Here are some questions that you should be asking yourself:

  • Are your endpoints protected by antivirus or enhanced detection & response?
  • Is website traffic being monitored? Restricted?
  • Are your employees being trained in cyber security?
  • Are computer logs being monitored for malicious activity?
  • Would unusual or suspicious activity on a computer be noticed? Alerted on?
  • Do you have security permissions set on all file shares?
  • Do you have least privileged access configured on those shares?
  • Do you keep track of what software is installed on all workstations?
  • Do you block access to unauthorized software?
  • Are files encrypted on servers and workstations?
  • Are your mobile devices managed? Can you wipe them remotely?
  • Are USB ports blocking removeable storage devices?
  • Are endpoints set to automatically log-out?

If your company is going to use full disk encryption or has compliance requirements that you need consulting for, then contact us for assistance.

Zero Trust – Trusted Vendors

This is the second in a series about the concept of Zero Trust, which means in the IT sense that you trust nothing and always verify everything surrounding and connected to your network. Today’s discussion will be on the vendors you purchase network equipment from. 

Trusted Vendors

Trusted vendors are those who supply workstations, servers, routers, switches, power protection, software, and anything else connected to your network. Here are some questions that you should be asking yourself:

  • Do you know who makes your network equipment, servers, computers, and software?
  • Do you know the way to contact their support and have current account access information?
  • Do you have current warranties / support contracts on hardware and software?
  • Is the hardware able to perform at the level needed?
  • Are you purchasing software from those who meets industry standards?
  • If a subscription, how much are you paying and are you on the correct plan for your needs?
  • When is the last time you upgraded your software and hardware?
  • Have you budgeted for the next upgrade?

Take time to think about these questions and decide where changes can be made to better protect your IT investments, or contact us to do the thinking for you.

Hackers Penetrate 93% of Company Networks

Hacked - Grants Pass, OR

Security researchers performed penetration testing on the networks of 45 various mid-sized companies and found that in real life scenarios 93% of those networks were able to be compromised to the point of business disruption. Here are the details:

The Target

The 45 companies were polled to determine what would be an unacceptable business interruption. They decided that the following met that criteria:

  • Disruption of production processes
  • Disruption of service delivery processes
  • Compromise of the digital identity of top management
  • Theft of funds
  • Theft of sensitive information
  • Fraud against users

These became the target for the penetration testers. 


The Process

In order for the penetration tester to achieve their target, they followed the following process:

  • Breach the network perimeter – This was done by the use of compromised passwords found on the Dark Web and know vulnerabilities on devices that were directly connected to the internet
  • Obtain maximum privileges – In 100% of the networks, once an attacker was inside the network
  •  Gaining access to key systems – With maximum privileges, the testers are able to gain access to other areas of the network including databases, executives computers, and production servers
  • Develop attacks on target systems – Once key systems are compromised the testers then figured out how to create the unacceptable business interruption. Although they could have created these interruptions, they only gathered proof that they could to present the data to the companies. 


How to Defend 

There are a couple main ways to defend against these kinds of attacks:

  • Security Controls / Segmentation – Creating least privileged access to key systems and segmenting the network will keep hackers from traversing the network once inside
  • Enhanced Network Monitoring – Modern cyber security tools watch activity and traffic on the network to find indicators of compromise. They pool this information into an attack history that can be used to remediate and further protect. 


Your company is not as safe as you think, so contact us for free initial cybersecurity evaluation and risk report.  .

Did I see your Indicators of Compromise?

Nobody wants to be hacked, breached, compromised, or whatever else they are calling it now. Here is a quick list of things to think about to keep your company safe:

Compromise Prevention

  • Keep track of your inventory, both software and hardware.
  • Make sure to properly dispose of these things (recycle or responsible destruction)
  • Scan your network for vulnerabilities
  • Patch or remediate everything you find
  • Manage your antivirus & keep it up-to-date
  • Keep your passwords complex & safely stored
  • Remove all users / accounts when no longer in use
  • Look at best practices to harden your computers / network to attacks
  • Monitor your network for strange activity (indicators of compromise)

If your company is concerned about security, then contact us to take care of it for you.

Never Negotiate with Terrorists

Hacked - Grants Pass, OR

There has been a recent trend for companies to “negotiate” with the criminal terrorists behind wave of ransomware attacks across the world by paying the ransom. In a recent study some alarming statistics have been released:

Current Ransomware Stats

If Ransom is Paid: The global findings also show that only 8% of organizations manage to get back all of their data after paying a ransom, with 29% getting back no more than half of their data.

Cost of Ransom: The average ransom paid was $170,404. While $3.2 million was the highest payment out of those surveyed, the most common payment was $10,000. Ten organizations paid ransoms of $1 million or more.

Who is Paying the Ransom: The number of organizations that paid the ransom increased from 26% in 2020 to 32% in 2021.

The Brighter Side: While the number of organizations that experienced a ransomware attack fell from 51% of respondents surveyed in 2020 to 37% in 2021, and fewer organizations suffered data encryption as the result of a significant attack (54% in 2021 compared to 73% in 2020).

What is Being Done

There are now organizations trying to create a common framework to address this threat. The Institute for Security and Technology has created a Ransomware Task Force. This task force has been working to develop this framework and has published some guidance. Even though this is just the foundation work, it is good to see that efforts are being made. 

If your company is worried about the threat of ransomware, then contact us for assistance setting up a multiple layer approach to security.

How is Malware Delivered?

Malware

Read a recent study on the origins of malicious software aka malware. Here are the highlights:

Current Malware Statistics

29% – Malware is previously unknown to security vendors due to the continued efforts of malware creators to hide the software or make it undetectable.

88% – Malware is delivered to people’s inboxes and some of it bypassing normal SPAM filters.

8.8 Days – Time before regular antivirus vendors have discovered the malware and added it to their lists for detection.

$50 – The cost of a pre-fabricated malware kit that can be bought currently on the dark web.

“The most common type of malicious attachments were: documents (Word – 31%), archive files (ZIP & RAR – 28%), spreadsheets (Excel – 19%) and executable files (EXE – 17%).”

What can be done?

A multi-tiered approach to security remains the best solution:

  • Moving from traditional antivirus to Enhanced Detection & Response (EDR) software to go beyond lists of know infections to behavior tracking of software
  • Moving from traditional SPAM filters to Email Advanced Threat Protection which scans each email and opens each attachment to see if there is any malicious activity cause by them
  • Moving from traditional router to a business class firewall with Intrusion Prevention System to monitor traffic for suspicious activity
  • Employee training is also key to keep your staff aware of immerging trends and threats 


If your company is looking to enhance your network security posture, then contact us for assistance.

Don’t You Hate Having All Those Passwords

Whether you are buying something from an online store, reading your email in the browser, checking your account balances, or uploading photos / videos to social media, most websites require an individual username and password when accessing their services. This raises various problems.

What’s with ALL the Passwords?

Using the same password for all the websites you access is a bad idea and horribly insecure. If we run a quick check on the “Dark Web” for your email address, it would likely show that hackers already know the one password you have been using forever. So the only other option is multiple passwords, which can easily go beyond the limits of our feeble human brains to keep track of OR people start creating a list that is typically typed up and saved on the computer – if a hacker gets into the computer then all the passwords are theirs too. So then the option is to find a secure way of storing and backing up these passwords, not to mention trying to make them easy to use. 

Rangle Them Passwords!

That is the job of Password Management done by a small piece of software known as a password manager. It takes the complexity down to remembering the one password to open the software, then it tracks the rest from there. The good ones have the ability to generate passwords for you, store them in connection with the website you are visiting, auto-filling the password fields on the websites when you visit them again, and backup your passwords to the cloud – all with strong security and encryption to keep the hackers out of your business. 

If your company is still typing passwords into a list, or worse have a paper list, then contact us for assistance migrating to a password manager.

HIPAA’s New Teeth – HR7898

On January 5, 2021, President Trump signed into law legislation approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee known as HR 7898. HR 7898, now law, requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to “incentivize” a covered entity’s or business associate’s cybersecurity best practices. 

How We Get Chewed

Now when a business is under a HIPAA audit the HSS will be looking at whether the company has been following cybersecurity best practices for not less than the past 12 months. Here are what HR7899 classifies as best practices:

  • Standards, guidelines, best practices, methodologies, procedures, and processes developed under the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (NIST Act).
  • The cybersecurity practices developed under section 405(d) of the Cybersecurity Act of 2015.
  • Programs and practices that are developed in, recognized by, or set forth in federal laws other than HIPAA. 

If these measures were in place, HHS can lower the amount of a fine and decrease the length and extent of an audit – aka if you are not doing these things your fine will be larger and your audit will be more intense for longer period of time.

If you do not already have a designated HIPAA compliance officer and ALL the proper documentation in place, then contact us for assistance.

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