Posts Tagged ‘data security’

Keep Your Website Safe from Heartbleed Virus

Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

NO HEARTBLEED 02The Heartbleed Bug is quite possibly the biggest security threat that the Internet has ever seen due to the fact that anyone who has logged on to any of the affected sites within the last two years is at risk, and could have had any of their private information – from passwords to credit card information – compromised by cybercriminals.o

Click here and find out why Prestige Technologies is preferred by many websites that require sophisticated levels of security.

The scary part about the Heartbleed Bug is that it was completely out of the user’s hands; it didn’t matter if the user kept all of his software patched, used a strong antivirus suite, regularly changed passwords, and avoided shady websites – he or she may still be affected because the problem is in the open source set of libraries for encrypting online services, OpenSSL, which is used by many secure websites (ones that use “https” in the URL.) Big name sites like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Pinterest, Instagram, OKCupid and many more were affected by this bug so chances are if you’ve been actively using the Internet for the past couple of years, your private information was left vulnerable by the bug.

How Do I Keep My Website Safe from Heartbleed?

Since the Heartbleed Bug is not really a virus, there’s nothing you can do from an end user standpoint to keep your website safe. It’s the responsibility of companies and services that were affected by the bug to deal with Heartbleed, and reports point to the fact that they have already patched things on their end.

The good news is that cybercriminals probably failed to discover the heartbleed bug before it was discovered by Google’s security team and the software firm named Codenomicon, so if your accounts have not been hacked yet, chances are it’s safe for now. The bad news is the fact that the bug allowed attackers to infiltrate servers and copy private information without leaving any trace, so there is no way to know if your account was already compromised and the hackers are just biding their time before they use it.

The best course of action? Now that services have already patched things, it is time to change your passwords. It may be a lot of hard work but you need to be thorough. The fact that services these days are interconnected means that you can’t leave one password unchanged – email accounts for instance can be used to gain access to other online accounts, as password resets usually send the new passwords to the email used for registration.

Besides, it’s good practice to regularly change your passwords so you’ll only be doing what you should already be doing religiously in the first place.

Will These Really Threaten Our Online Security?

Friday, February 21st, 2014


When it comes to online security, one would imagine that the rapid advancements in both hardware and software would lead to increased protection and less risk as the years go by. Unfortunately, those same advancements are also available to cyber criminals so what we are seeing is actually a rising trend among cyber attacks, as the methods get more sophisticated and the platforms become even less segmented. With the rise in popularity of mobile computing devices that use a single open source OS, the targets for cyber-attacks have only increased.

There are a number of new online security risks that have surfaced these past few years, and one would wonder if they will really threaten our online security for the long term or will they get addressed this year? These new online security threats include:

Ransomware

Last year saw the discovery of a new type of malware called Cryptolocker, which encrypts files it finds on an infected host and stores the decryption key on their own C & C server network. It uses a different encryption key for each new infection so the only ones who can decrypt the files are the makers of Cryptolocker themselves. The catch is that they ask people to pay them a ransom in exchange for the decryption key, which costs around $300 and should be settled within 72 hours or they will destroy the decryption key.

Cryptolocker’s targets were mostly individual users, who were most likely content with just reformatting their drives instead of paying the ransom, as their data usually isn’t worth hundreds of dollars. But do you know which ones do have data that are worth thousands, if not millions of dollars? Enterprises and businesses. It’s only a matter of time before Cryptolocker or new variations of it start to target large enterprises and businesses that handle so much data that it is usually more cost-effective to just pay the ransom than go through all the trouble of temporarily stopping operations just to rebuild their database.

Compromised Clouds

The cloud infrastructure has been around for quite some time, and most recently saw its popularity and use rise as companies start to realize its benefits in terms of cost savings and increased efficiency. However, it is still true that there are security risks involved, especially since not all clouds are equally well maintained and supported. If a company decides to go with a public cloud infrastructure with poor security, chances are they are merely extending the vulnerable space, which means they are increasing the number of areas that can be attacked while also limiting their ability to prevent or handle the attack immediately. Technically, the solution is to opt for a private cloud, but these types of clouds can be too expensive for most small to medium enterprises that they start to negate the benefits.

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Difference Between Differential and Incremental Backup Strategies

Friday, December 6th, 2013

These days, the possibility of a cyber attack affecting your files – whether they are on a remote network or a local workstation – is no longer a matter of IF, but WHEN. You can keep your OS and softwares perfectly up to date and install the best anti-malware available, but you’re still not safe from hardware crashes and physical media corruption. If you really value your data, you need to have a regularly updated backup of your sensitive and mission-critical data.

However, regular backups can be time consuming especially if you have gigabytes of data to back up, which is especially made worse by the fact that large organizations will have accumulated terabytes of data throughout the years. With conventional methods of backing up files, the backup you have created will already be obsolete by the time you have finished, as new sets of data has probably already appeared. In order to solve this conundrum, there are so-called “smart” backups that save both time and disk space by only backing up modified and new files. There are currently two types of smart backups – Differential and Incremental.

The fundamental difference between differential and incremental backup strategies lie not in their overall efficiencies, as they are both viable strategies, but in their respective strengths and weaknesses. Choosing one over the other will depend on your needs and requirements as an organization, as well as your capabilities. But first, let us define the two backup strategies.

Click here to learn more about Prestige Technologies’ redundant security system. (more…)

How To Find a Secure Web Host

Wednesday, November 20th, 2013

Web Hosting Security Issues and Prevention GuideBeing a webmaster isn’t all about web design and content creation. While both design and content creation are very important and easily make up majority of the duties of a webmaster, there is one other responsibility that is usually neglected yet important enough to a website that its neglect could ruin everything: Web Hosting Security.

Hackers these days have more tools at their disposal and more unpatched exploits and soon to be discovered vulnerabilities at their disposal, and now that the Internet has become an important aspect of businesses, the profit-oriented motivation has also solidified, which means your website getting hacked is no longer a matter of IF, but WHEN.

Granted that the web hosting companies are already doing their able best in order to ensure the security of their servers, and that security is technically their responsibility, but it’s still important to remember that webmasters themselves need to take precautions on their end. After all, it is their personal info and precious data that’s at risk.

All Web Hosting plans of Prestige Technologies provides redundant security measures. Click here and check out the different plans. (more…)

3 Most Common Ways Hackers Get You

Tuesday, November 12th, 2013

Common Ways Hackers Get YouNow that computers and the Internet have become indispensable parts of people’s lives in most parts of the world, the issue of cyber security has become important. It is crucial that you learn the most common ways hackers get you, so that you can avoid being targeted, or at least know what to do if you ever get hacked.


Phishing


Phishing is one of the most common – and dangerous methods hackers employ to get your personal details, as it preys on people who are not paying too much attention to what they are doing or have below average experience with computers, which means security software tools are usually not effective in preventing them (because there’s no software-based exploit or vulnerability being used.)

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With PRISM, It’s Now Up to Web Hosting Companies to Protect Its Customers

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

Google has formally denied that it provides NSA a backdoor to its data but also admitted that it provided NSA information about its users in compliance with NSA’s request that was upheld by the court. Along with Google, Microsoft and other internet giants have all provided NSA with their data. Many critics have been questioning whether this move violates the right of people to privacy.

There is, however, a more interesting angle to all these. That is the fact that there little to no talk or buzz about the whole issue. No major new agency has put serious time into the issue and no one has clearly explained why.

The answer may be intertwined with how people perceive the internet, the cloud and their rights.


Everyone knows this is possible and probable


The government and the courts have been able to obtain confidential information phone calls, bank activities, properties and other confidential information about a person’s identity. That is not news. It has happened and will most likely continue happening for as long as there is reason for them to do so. NSA’s step was not unprecedented and won’t be the last. It’s not news.

The business world, particularly the stock market, seems to echo the sentiment that there is nothing to worry about.

Click here to know more about Prestige Technologies’ security features.

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