Jacob Acker, Author at icsdata.com

Top Cyberattacks in 2021

by Jacob Acker | Jun 24, 2021 | Cyberattacks, Security Services

EMAIL THREATS

SPOOFING

One of the top cyberattacks right now comes from bad actors attempting to impersonate your co-workers and employers. If you’re suspicious of a scammer, don’t reply! They’ll do anything they can to trick you into believing that you’re talking to someone you know and trust, through email and web threats.

Emails contain information that a lot of people don’t pay close attention to. One specific item is the “From” email address. Anther is the email address communicating with your email server where to send your “Reply” to. Both of these can be entirely different, and can alter the state of the “From” field to fool you.

Fortunately, MailShield and The Email Laundry protect you from impersonation attempts where the scammer actually uses the email address they are impersonating in the From field. An example of what that might look like is My Boss<myboss@mycompany.com></myboss@mycompany.com>. When you click Reply, it gets sent to the hidden Reply-To item.

Tip! If you create a new email and type in the To field myboss@mycompany.com, it will go to your boss!

Slightly less dangerous is when they don’t hide their sending address, such as My Boss<scammer@iamafake.com></scammer@iamafake.com>. If you receive an email from a coworker that just doesn’t seem right, look for that give away!

SECURE YOUR BUSINESS

PHISHING

Phishing is a very wide spread threat today. There are many types including spear phishing and whaling. Phishing attacks take many forms, but most of them involve posing as someone you know and trust. This can be a person or a company.

A common form of this is an email that claims to be from your server administrator stating that you have emails being held and to click a link and log in to claim them. When you click the link, you may be taken to a site that is made to look like the one you expect and be prompted to log in. You will have just given away your email password.

There are a number of account types that are targeted in this way. Imagine if your bank sends you an email saying click here to handle this urgent matter! You might think, “Uh Oh! I better do it right away!”. This is how your accounts can become compromised. Don’t trust the link, and don’t trust the button!

SPEAR PHISHING

Spear phishing is targeted phishing. This is when a specific individual, or a whole company, is targeted by phishing emails. Generally, the bad actors will start by obtaining as much information from the company’s website as they can. This includes any email addresses listed, as well as the names of any contacts that arelisted on the site. Once this is done, they often implement spoofing techniques.

WHALING

Whaling is the term used when the phishing methods are targeting the senior executives and other high profile targets. It is a specialized form of spear phishing. Generally, once the scammers have obtained enough information about a company, they will pose as the CEO and request a purchase, or a funds transfer. Usually, the purchase will be some kind of gift card and they will ask for the numbers once the purchase has been made.

WHAN YOU CAN DO!

There are some basics things that will help keep you safe from many, if not all, email threats. The first is to utilize an anti-spam service. There are some habits that you should get into that will also help keep you safe.

AS AN INDIVIDUAL…

Remember the From field of an email doesn’t always show who actually sent it or who will get the Reply!
Remember the Reply-To hidden item? Click New or Compose instead of Reply if you are suspicious. Then you know who you are sending to!
If anything about an email seems out of place, be suspicious!
If a known and trusted contact sends an attachment or shares a document that seems unusual, DON’T OPEN IT! Find an alternative method to confirm they sent it. Phone or face to face is best.
Only use the method of logging in to online accounts that you normally use. If there is an issue, there should be a notification waiting for you. If you get an email saying there is an issue with your account, don’t click the link.
Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) when possible! MFA makes logging a little more of a hassle but the security benefit is enormous!

AS A COMPANY…

Establish policies! Set and follow rules on fund transfer and purchase requests via email. Phone or face to face confirmation is best, but even clicking New can help here. Except if the requesting email address was compromised…
Establish protocols. When you begin doing business with another company ask them if, and how, they send documents via email. Include
- Is it an attachment? Or a shared online document?
- What type of document?
- What email address will it arrive from?
- Are they sent on a schedule?

WEB THREATS

PHONE SCAMS

There are two ways you might be targeted by a phone scam. You might get a call from someone claiming to be a Tech working for Microsoft, or perhaps another well known maker of software. The Tech will then tell you they have detected that there is a problem with your computer and that you need to give them remote access to fix it. Hang up!

You may also suddenly receive a pop up while browsing the internet. The pop up will claim that a virus, or other “Urgent” problem has been detected and you will be urged to call a number provided so that you can be assisted.

The results of allowing a remote connection are usually, but not limited to:

Installation of malicious software that can steal sensitive data. This includes passwords, credit card information, email information, and any other confidential information stored on your device.
Permanent lock out from your device making future data access impossible without reinstalling the operating system. Worse yet, they may encrypt the data.
Inevitably, they will charge exorbitant amounts to “fix” the problems that they just caused.

The pop up may sometimes lock up your browser and prevent you from closing the page. In this case, you can:

1. Press CTRL , ALT , and the DELETE keys on your keyboard.

2. Select ‘Task Manager’

3. You will see a list of running applications. Select the browser you are using and press the DELETE key, or click the ‘End Task’ button.

(Case Study) West Michigan Dental Company Leverages Technology

by Jacob Acker | Jun 16, 2021 | Cloud Services, IT Services, Testimonial, VoIP

“[ICS Data], and working with Blake and the whole team has allowed us to hit the easy button. We needed a company that allowed us to do everything comprehensively, and leverage technology, from A to Z, and also make it very simple.”

– Jared Van Ittersum, Infinity Dental Co-Owner

SEE HOW WE CAN HELP YOU

Dr. Jared Van Ittersum & Dr. Elias Achey are business partners at Infinity Dental, a privately-held, West Michigan-based Dental company with four locations.

Being innovative, they’ve known that their goal has always been to provide the ultimate patient experience, and they wanted to innovate in a new way for their latest location, Spring Lake.

They needed a way to leverage technology, and also needed a company to help bring these ideas to life. Queue in, ICS Data.

WHY THEY REACHED OUT

We take pride in our 30+ years of experience, knowledge, and quality service to deliver solutions that tailor to our client’s needs. We understand that IT can be difficult, but we strive to make it as easy as possible so that conversations are smooth.

Whether we’re running cable, setting up networks, or managing your businesses IT, we’re in it because we value the relationships we have with our clients, and we believe that’s most important.

When Infinity reached out about mounting TVs on the ceiling so that their patients could have a better experience, we put on our thinking caps and got the job done.

HOW WE SOLVED THEIR ISSUE

By understanding that individuals aren’t naturally excited to go to the dentist, we [ICS] were able to quickly find technological solutions that worked to help meet Infinity’s patients needs.

So, what’d we do?

We took a holistic approach, like we would with any of our clients. First, we knew that they needed a number of computers and systems with a great network so that we were able to support their idea of patients experiencing the dentist in the utmost positive way.

WHERE THEY WERE LOOKING FOR SUPPORT

The Top 5 Benefits of Hiring a Managed IT Service Provider

by Jacob Acker | Jun 7, 2021 | IT Services

1. YOU CONTROL COSTS

Looking for way to control your IT costs? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered…

Many small-to-medium sized businesses in West Michigan haven’t lived their best life in the past year, but we’re here to help make that change. We exist to show and prove to you how managing your IT costs is actually A LOT EASIER than you think: hire an IT Managed Service Provider.

Here’s our point — we offer customized IT solutions based on your perceived value. You may ask yourself, “what does that mean?!” It’s not as subjective as you think – it’s purely based on crafting a plan that suits your needs. Managed IT Service Providers have an extreme impact on ROI for your business!

The best part? A Managed IT Service Provider allows your company to have a low cost solution for a dedicated virtual IT department. We are with you every step of the way and are on call 24/7. By customizing an IT solution that fits your needs, we expand the definition of IT costs. Rolling IT needs into an ongoing predictable monthly payment allows IT to become an operational expense versus have unpredictable capital expenditures. Put simply, Managed Services allows for much easier budgeting and predicted expenses. You get enterprise-level knowledge and service for small-to-medium-sized business costs.

2. YOU GET EXCLUSIVE ACCESS TO EXPERIENCED, CERTIFIED IT PROFESSIONALS

There’s one common mistake we see when business owners request their internal teams to solve larger IT issues. They lose a ton of time.

We know how technology works, and we’ve created solutions to ensure that you (and our clients) have no delays during business hours.

This allows your team to work on things that’ll keep you moving forward each and every day – not worrying about larger issues that may be out of your control.

With a Managed IT Service Provider, you have access to a trained group of IT experts with qualifications, certifications, and experience. You are guaranteed high level IT admins with specific skillsets for whatever needs you have. Technology has become more demanding and it’s hard to keep pace. Let us help you pave your path forward.

See what our clients are saying:

“ICS has been invaluable to our business. Anytime we have an issue, they are always there to help us resolve it in a timely manner. Carol is knowledgeable and so very easy to work with.“

– Brandon Baker

ICS Data - Top 5 Benefits of Hiring a Managed IT Service Provider

3. YOU’RE ABLE TO FOCUS ON YOUR BUSINESS

IT is definitely interesting, but if you can’t show ROI by ensuring that your systems and processes consistently work, then it’s more of a hassle and less of a strategic plan to be profitable.

As mentioned above, freeing up your staffs time is huge – it’s the purpose of focusing on your business. We allow you to do just that. We also allow you to free up your in-house employees and let them focus on the core of your business, not the IT problems. Being a business owner, you already feel the stress and weight of the day-to-day responsibilities, so why let another department add to that?

We take care of the ongoing management and day-to-day maintenance and free-up your in-house experts time to work on processes and more demanding projects.

4. WE OFFER PROACTIVE SOLUTIONS AND HELP YOU KEEP PACE

Successful businesses do a lot of things right, but in the end, it comes down to a couple things that they do well: they’re proactive and communicate.

How do we help you keep pace?

We provide you with proactive solutions that keep you up-to-date and continue your path forward to profitability. These solutions monitor and manage your IT to catch problems before they escalate into serious issues.

Proactive monitoring and management combined with our professional service will minimize your IT downtime and risk.

Downtime can be catastrophic to a company financially. In serious situations, a company can be down for days if not weeks if no plan is in place. We can help you keep pace with the ongoing demands of technology and help you implement new technology more quickly.

5. WE HELP YOU REDUCE RISK

All in all, managed security services can help fill your organization’s security gaps.

For example, they help improve your endpoint security and implement tools to detect threats outside of and within your network. Managed services, with cybersecurity rolled in, means your infrastructure has constant monitoring, management, and updates that are critical to reducing your risk of attacks, breaches, etc.

IN CONCLUSION

Technology is unpredictable. We’re the helper, role keeper, and guide. Shoot us a message today – we’d love to help YOU. Contact us!

5 Things to do Right Now to Prevent a Ransomware Attack

by Jacob Acker | May 11, 2021 | Cyberattacks, Email, Ransomware

1. GET A BACKUP AND DISASTER RECOVERY SOLUTION

In today’s world, backing up your data may seem easy, but if you attempt to restore it yourself, you may risk downtime, man hours, resources, and many other factors. By creating a disaster recovery plan, you have a concrete solution in place to ensure these negative situations don’t occur.

If a ransomware attack does occurs, but you’ve backed up your data, you’ll rest easy knowing that there’s a solution moving forward.

You may run into situations like Colonial Pipeline Co.’s (CPC) recent ransomware attack. Cyber criminals locked everything, threatened to leak it to the internet, and shut their entire business down. They requested a ransom of $200,000 to $2 million.

👉 Need your data backed up? We’re here to help.

2. INVEST IN SECURITY AWARENESS TRAINING

Ultimately, hackers rely on the “human element” more than any other factor to gain access to your information. Meaning, when one of your employees clicks on a link they shouldn’t, that’s the best time for hackers to act.

Of course, no one has the intention of doing so; however, they probably don’t think as seriously about IT security as you may.

Investing in security awareness training will help create a culture of vigilant employees working to identify and avoid malicious links, phishing emails, and dangerous behavior.

ICS Data - Computer Hygiene and Maintenance

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM RANSOMWARE

3. FILTER YOUR EMAILS

Learning to prevent phishing is one of the most important ways to protect yourself from a ransomware attack since most ransomware is distributed through email.

Implementing an anti-spam filter is one of the most efficient ways of filtering out any potential unsafe and unwanted emails.

Watch out for business email compromise, don’t click ads, keep an eye out, and always check the sender’s domain.

ICS Data - 5 Ways to Prevent a Ransomware Attack

4. INSTALL ANTIVIRUS AND NEXT GENERATION FIREWALL

Installing an antivirus protects your endpoints (computers, servers, etc.) and your firewall protects your entire network by filtering incoming and outgoing network traffic based on your organization’s security policies. Having these pieces in place will prevent your risk of ransomware attack.

5. TAKE YOUR PROTECTION AGAINST RANSOMWARE TO THE NEXT LEVEL

If you want to make sure that your disaster recovery plan is correct, that your firewall is top-of-the-line, and that your employees are well-trained to avoid getting phished in the first place, then you should consider working with a proven IT security company.

We’ll help you find the solutions that match your budget and requirements – ensuring you pay for the correct amount of security you need. Then, we’ll analyze your current security measures and suggest ways of improving.