Ferrum Technology Services Blog

Cybersecurity needs to be a priority to any business that wants to continue their operations in the long-term. One threat that is very common today is the phishing attack.

Let’s run through a quick scenario: your company’s computing infrastructure is infected with ransomware. Fortunately, you have an offsite backup, so you are able to restore your systems without too much trouble, other than the time you’ve lost. As you investigate the root cause, you discover that one of your employees allowed the ransomware in by falling for a phishing email. So, do you fire them?

Social media has overtaken both the professional and personal aspects of online communication and connection, and while it might provide a considerable boon for both, it increases the odds of being contacted by scams and other malicious attempts. The best way to make sure you don’t fall prey to a scam is to remain vigilant. Today we’ll discuss the various scams that are created for use with social media.

Phishing attacks are the bane of modern businesses, and any organization’s employees need to be cognizant of the threat they pose. Unfortunately, no matter how much you protect against them, hackers are usually crafty enough to work their way around even the most well-defended security measures. However, not even the best security measures can keep your employees from making a split-second decision to click on a link or download an infected attachment.

What has proven to be one of the more effective ways of preventing phishing attacks may be under fire from more advanced threats designed specifically to penetrate the defenses of two-factor authentication. This means that users need to be more cognizant of avoiding these attacks, but how can you help them make educated decisions about this? Let’s start by discussing the phishing attacks that can beat 2FA.

In today’s modern business environment, your organization faces untold danger. There are several threats out there that your organization’s users could fall prey to. We’ve put together a list of some of the most dangerous ones out there, as well as how your business can respond to them.

It’s nice to get away every now and then, but if you have stayed at any property under the Marriott umbrella, including St. Regis, Westin, Sheraton, or W hotel since 2014, there is a good chance that your personal information has been leaked, a spokesperson from parent company Marriott has said. They said the multinational hotel corporation will begin emailing users impacted by the leak in the coming days.

For twenty years, hackers have tried to breach organization’s networks by finding or breaking holes in the network’s perimeter, or in exposed servers. This led to the cybersecurity industry creating software designed specifically to stop these threat actors in the act. This, in essence, created a situation where the perimeter of an organization’s network was extremely hard to breach. The problem was that as soon as something was able to get through the outer defenses, there was no end to the devastation a hacker could cause inside a network.

Ransomware has been far from low-profile since its inception several years ago. Everyone knows what the file-encrypting malware does, and they all know that paying the ransom can make the nightmare go away by decrypting the files located on their computer. As if the threat of losing data forever wasn’t enough, you’re staring down a ticking clock while this is going on. Nowadays, ransomware is becoming more difficult to manage through various tactics.

Modern businesses rely on email as a central part of their communications infrastructure, but this comes with its own set of threats and issues that can derail operations. Spam in particular is troublesome for organizations to deal with, as it wastes time and exposes your users to danger. While spam can be blocked, more dangerous types of messages can make their way past your defenses. These types of threats are known as phishing scams, and they present a considerable threat to your organization.

Social engineering is one of the trickiest parts of protecting your organization. It might sound like something out of a science fiction flick, but it’s one of the most dangerous attacks that a hacker can use against your business. Social engineering attempts to manipulate the target into giving away sensitive credentials or personal information for the purpose of stealing identities and other malicious intentions.

Phishing--it’s a threat that tells a tantalizing lie to entrap its target, and one that you’ve likely heard of before. However, as technology has advanced, so have the opportunities that cybercriminals have to leverage phishing attempts. Smartphones, for instance, make it so that you must be aware and on the lookout for SMiShing scams.

Back in 1995, scammers pulled the first phishing attack. They took the identity of AOL employees and requested the billing information of users through instant messaging. More sophisticated phishing attempts have evolved over the years, culminating in the commonly-seen email phishing attack, which tricks users into handing over personal or sensitive information. Phishing attacks can be seen through, so we’ll show you how you can identify threats before they become a problem.

Phishing attacks grow more common every day, particularly because it’s so challenging to know who’s for real and who’s a fake on the Internet. The anonymity of the Internet has fostered an environment where hackers can extort money with little fear of getting caught, under the right circumstances. How can you protect yourself and your business from being targeted by phishing attacks?

The online world is full of threats that are waiting for you to let your system's guard down. Thanks to powerful security measures, you might not be worried enough to consider that hackers have found ways to get around your defenses. If you’ve grown complacent, you might be in for a rude awakening when a hacker’s phishing scam works on you.

With spring arriving, “winter is coming” as the new season of the critically-acclaimed television series Game of Thrones returns to millions of viewers worldwide. Ironically, there’s also a type of malware gaining traction in the online community that matches its bark with its bite, aptly dubbed Dyre Wolf. This threat has the potential to cost businesses as much as $1.5 million per hack, and takes advantage of the ever-common spear phishing tactic.