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Category: Network Security

Cost of Insuring Your “Digital” Employees

We were discussing the price customers paid for their monthly maintenance of computers and the comparison was brought up about insurance costs. As a business owner with employees, it is necessary these days to offer health insurance as part of their compensation package. If the company has vehicles that are used for business, then the government mandates that they be covered by minimum amounts of insurance. These costs are then built into the price the business owner then charges their clients for products or services.

Insurance Statistics: 

  • According to Business.com, the average cost of health insurance for a single employee was $645 per month and $1,850 per month for a family.
  • According to NerdWallet.com, the average cost of car insurance was $179 per vehicle per month. 

Questions:

So what about the “digital” employees of the company, aka the computers and network equipment that make business possible. How much are business owners paying to “insure” these assets? What are businesses willing to pay to make sure that their computers and network don’t have a sick day? Does the cost of insuring them include preventative care? Who does the business call in case of an accident or breakdown in the middle of the day? Does the cost of insuring include on-site service or transport to a service center?

If your company wants to keep their digital employees healthy and insure them from accidents, then contact us for assistance.

What every business has in common?

Every modern business has one thing in common – the internet.

Businesses are using computers, smart phones, tablets, etc. to connect to the internet for research, shopping, advertising, or any number of things. With a connection to the internet comes the need for routers, switches, wireless, and other network hardware to distribute internet connectivity across the company. There are malicious people on the internet that are setting traps and trying to break into companies which necessitate the use of tools like antivirus, internet filtering, spam filtering, and other protective measures. There are also people who work from their homes and need to have a way of tunneling safely into the network to use the resources there. 

All of this has to be managed by someone in the company or you can contract with a managed IT service provider. 

If your company needs help managing all the things connected to your internet, then contact us for assistance.

Zero Trust – Cyber Security Audit

Security Audit - Grants Pass, OR

This is the tenth and finale 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 Cyber Security Audit. 
 

Cyber Security Audit

Cyber Security Audit is a process where both internal and external systems are tested for their ability and susceptibility to being successfully attacked by hackers. This usually involves an inventory of current systems, research into known vulnerabilities, and testing of those found to see what information can be accessed. Once this process is complete a report is generated to detail both what is found and how those vulnerabilities can be addressed to protect the business’ most valuable commodity – information (intellectual property and client data). Here are some questions to ask:

  • Do you have an inventory of all assets in your organization? Is it up to date?
  • Have you tested your internal network for vulnerabilities?
  • Have you had a penetration test performed on your external network?
  • Do you know what compliance standards apply?
  • How do you document policies and procedures? Who oversees that?

If your company is wanting to have a free cyber security audit, then contact us for assistance.

Facts vs. Feelings in Online Scams

When you think of cybersecurity, love and emotions are likely some of the last words that come to mind. However, scammers regularly depend on emotional connection to achieve their devious goals. According to the FBI, romance scams are at an all-time high, and accounted for the third highest internet crime loss in 2021.

Here at Farmhouse Networking, we account for human nature, and specifically gear our trainings towards helping people separate facts from feelings. When it comes to online romances, here are our top 3 red flags to look out for:

  1. Things are intense: Online scammers want to act quickly before you suspect anything. They may profess their love for or even propose marriage after just a few months of talking.
  2. Promises are broken: Since there is often an element of catfishing in romance scams, scammers may make plans to meet over video or in-person, but come up with last minute excuses to cancel.
  3. They are far away: Similarly to #2, posing as a member of the military or international business person are common profiles of scammers, since they can easily avoid having to meet in-person.

Thanks to feelings of loneliness and isolation that often accompany winter, December through February is peak season for romance scams. Farmhouse Networking’s goal is for your employees to always feel confident and empowered to see through all kinds of phishing attempts. Thank you for being a valued customer, and know that we are always here to support you.

Protect Yourself from Social Media Scams: The Top 5 to Watch Out For

In today’s social media age, we are more interconnected than ever before. While this can be great for keeping up with loved ones and shedding light on current events, it also opens a new door for scammers.
Last year, annual reported losses from social media scams hit $1.1 billion. Here are the five most common types and our recommendations for protecting yourself, and your business, from them:

  1. Phishing Scams: Scammers attempt to trick you into revealing personal information by posing as a trustworthy source in an email or message. To avoid these scams, never click on links from unknown sources and always verify the sender’s identity.
  2. Impersonation Scams: Scammers create fake profiles and impersonate others to deceive and scam others. To avoid these scams, check profiles for authenticity by verifying their information, friends, and photos.
  3. Giveaway Scams: Scammers promise a prize or giveaway in exchange for personal information or a payment. To avoid these scams, never give out personal information, and only participate in giveaways from reputable sources.
  4. Investment Scams: Scammers promise high returns on investments, but it is just a trick to steal your money. To avoid these scams, do thorough research before investing, be cautious of unrealistic returns, and don’t fall for pressure tactics.
  5. Malware Scams: Scammers use social media to spread malicious software that can harm your device or steal personal information. To avoid these scams, don’t download anything from untrusted sources and keep your device’s security software up-to-date.
    Our goal at (Company Name) is to keep you safe while you’re scrolling. Speaking of social media, feel free to follow us @[handle] on Facebook and @[handle] on Instagram for more security tips and product updates.

Our goal at Farmhouse Networking is to keep you safe while you’re scrolling. Speaking of social media, feel free to follow us on LinkedIn for more security tips and product updates.

Zero Trust – Network Security

This is the ninth 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 Network Security. 

Network Security

Network Security is having the proper hardware and configuration of that hardware in place to protect the business network. This configuration includes segmenting network traffic to keep specific types of traffic, like guest devices, separate from traffic of business devices. It also includes keeping outsiders out of the network and detecting when they have breached security measures. Here are some questions to ask:

  • Do you have a business class router / firewall?
  • Do you have business class switches and access points that support segmentation?
  • Is your network configured to segment business traffic from guest traffic?
  • Are devices like VoIP phones and network cameras on their own network?
  • Is geo-location blocking turned on for non-essential countries?
  • Is network traffic being analyzed for suspicious activity?
  • Do you filter internet traffic?
  • Can your network detect and respond to a breach?

If your company is wanting to lock down network security, then contact us for assistance.

Benefits of Wi-Fi 6e 

VoIP Telephone System - Grants Pass, OR

Wi-Fi technology is ingrained into our everyday lives WE COLLECTIVELY STREAM more movies and TV shows, play more online games, and make more video calls than ever before, and all this activity puts a serious strain on our Wi-Fi networks. Wi-Fi 6e has various features to improve the efficiency and data of your wireless network and reduce latency. the latest Wi-Fi 6e standards offers a range of benefits, including faster and more reliable access. So, what is Wi-Fi 6e and what are some of the benefits?

Wi-Fi 6e explained 

Existing technologies operate on two frequencies 2.4 GHz and 5GHz which have become more congested over time; Wi-Fi 6e adds access to a third frequency, 6GHz. now wireless devices can also use the 6GHz band. And the 6GHz band opens up the opportunity for higher transfer speeds. On top of that, currently there are about four 160 MHz-wide channels with normal Wi-Fi this 6GHz band brings with it seven 160 MHz-wide channels, More available channels mean more available spectrum for Wi-Fi service “and less overlap between networks in crowded areas like apartment complexes or offices,”. with less overlap and congestion you are able to connect more devices with the same efficiency expectation. Additionally there have been security improvements with Wi-Fi 6E that puts the burden on the router, rather than you, to secure connections between your devices. WPA3 is mandatory for all Wi-Fi 6 certified devices, which provides the latest security and authentication protocols. 

Summary of Benefits 

  • Faster, more reliable connection
  • Transmits data faster with less interference. 
  • You don’t have to compete with traffic from other devices or networks.
  • Security improvements making it more secure and harder to hack 
  • Accommodates more connected devices

If your company is looking to upgrade the wireless coverage in your office, whole building, or entire business complex, then contact us to evaluate your WiFi needs.

RMM Automation: Credential Manager Empty After Reboot

As our business continues to focus on providing white labeled Tier 3 IT support services, RMM as a service, and co-managed IT services this blog will be highlighting tips for using Powershell to fix Credential Manager empty after reboot. There has been several users at a bunch of clients recently that have lost access to a network share due to saved passwords and we found Credential Manager empty after reboot. It was easy enough to re-add their password to Credential Manager, but it was not sticking around. This sounds like a job for automation, so we created a script to clear the errant Credential Manger files and create a new entry for the user to connect to file shares.

Variables

$user = username to add to Credential Manager of network share connection

$pass = password to add to same

Script Snippet

### Remove file folder associated with Credential Manager
Remove-Item -Path %localappdata%\Microsoft\Vault -Recurse

### Install Credential Manager Powershell Module
Import-Module -Name CredentialManager -Force

### Convert password to Secure String and create credential
$password = ConvertTo-SecureString -string $pass -AsPlainText -Force
$Credential = new-object -typename System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -argumentlist $user, $password

# Save the credential object directly without unwrapping it:
New-StoredCredential -Credentials $Credential -Target 'Share Credentials' -Persist Enterprise -Comment "Share Credentials for $($Credential.UserName)" > $null

This script will need to be run in the context of the user who needs the credential created. Please use caution with this script as it will empty Credential Manager completely for the user context run with. Also it is advised to run a full CHKDSK /R on the root (C:\ usually) directory to make sure that nothing else is corrupt on the drive.

If your company is a MSP or wants to become one and automation just seems out of reach, then contact us to run your RMM for you.

Zero Trust – Application Whitelisting

This is the eighth 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 Application Whitelisting. 

Application Whitelisting

Application Whitelisting is a process of determining which software programs the company absolutely needs to do business, marking them as safe, and blocking any other program that tries to run on company computers. This methodology has the distinct advantage of blocking almost all forms of malware on computers. Pairing this with a good next-gen antivirus creates an impenetrable wall against malware threats. It also prevents users from accidentally or intentionally running something that should not be on company computers. Here are some questions to ask:

  • Do you know all software on your computers?
  • Do your users spend time on company computers listening to music?
  • Have any of your users ever downloaded software without asking?
  • Do you have a computer use policy? How is that enforced?

If your company is wanting to lock down what is running on company computers, then contact us for assistance.

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.

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