Ferrum Technology Services Blog

I think most business owners would be kind of surprised to find out that the biggest threat to their business wasn’t hackers or natural disasters, it was coming from the same people they depend on the most: their employees. 

While phishing awareness is an important practice to teach to a business’ employees, some methods are better than others, as GoDaddy—the domain registrar and web-hosting company notorious for its run of risqué ads—is learning the hard way. On December 14, GoDaddy’s employees received an email that seemed to be a holiday bonus from the company… only to find out (the hard way) that it was a phishing test that their employer had run.

We’ve become aware of a concerning phenomenon: the perception that a business that has already been targeted by a cyberattack, won’t be attacked again. We here to tell you that this is decidedly not the case—in fact, according to cybersecurity solutions provider Crowdstrike, there’s a 68 percent chance a targeted business will see another attack within a year.

There has been a massive increase in online shopping since the start of 2020 and it is important that consumers do their best to understand the potential security risks associated with ecommerce, and how to navigate around them. This month, we discuss some of the best practices that consumers can follow when shopping online. 

The holidays are a great time to give technology to your loved ones. One of the most popular smart devices for each of the past few years is the smart watch. While they are extremely useful and make great gifts, they may have an effect on an organization’s cybersecurity.  Let’s take a look at some of the possible threats smartwatches may present for IT administrators.

Despite all the attention we try to direct toward cybercrime and awareness of the risks out there today, hacks and scams are still impacting businesses. With so many professional duties and activities carried out online, your business’ cybersecurity needs to be considered paramount. Here, we’ve listed six things to prioritize in your business to help protect it from such activities.

Honestly, it shouldn’t be surprising that 2020 has come to an end with news of a massive cyberespionage attack—the biggest ever, as a matter of fact. Let’s dive into what we know, and what it signifies.

Phishing attacks are growing in number and it presents a major challenge for businesses. The many different forms that these attacks come in just exacerbates the problem. Today, we will take a brief look at phishing to help you educate your staff on what they entail and how to mitigate the massive risk that comes with them. 

2020’s holiday season is going to be much like the rest of 2020: distanced. Most people are taking precautions and therefore have put the kibosh on much of their holiday shopping trips, choosing instead to do a majority of their shopping online. By avoiding one risk, people take on others. Today, we thought we’d outline some of the problems people may experience when shopping online and what to do to reduce your risk.

Every so often, we come across a bit of news that helps to teach not one, but two cybersecurity best practices at the same time. With the recent news of a cache of hacked Spotify accounts, we find just such an opportunity. Let’s review the two lessons to be learned.

Look, we get it… it’s one thing to hear it from “those IT guys” about how important software updates are. We’re into this stuff, after all, so we worry about things like that more. However, we’re hoping that a warning from Homeland Security to update Google Chrome will have a little more weight.

Considering the current popularity of remote operations, the security of your business’ resources should be one of your greatest concerns. While this process isn’t necessarily easy, it isn’t something you can afford to neglect. Let’s take a few moments and walk through some of the most critical considerations to your office and its data security.

Despite all that has gone on, many businesses have managed to stay open by embracing the remote capabilities of today’s technology. This is undeniably fortunate… however, it is crucial that we also acknowledge the importance of cybersecurity as these actions are taken.

Business success is often tied to the quality of your business relationships. There are a lot of people you need to trust: your vendors to get you whatever supplies you need, your team to complete their responsibilities without letting in threats, and your customers to turn to you for what they need. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are willing to take advantage of such trust to accomplish their own ends.

Data is one of the most valuable assets there is today, which is why any business should consider its security a prerogative. This can admittedly be a lot, which is why we’ve taken the liberty of preparing a few tips to help you get started on the right path. These may also help those in the middle of the process who need a little reminder.

With the 2020 U.S. Election under a month away, there has been a lot of concern that outside interests would try to influence the results. Microsoft has recently disrupted a huge coordinated hacking effort that had designs of altering the election infrastructure needed for a fair and secure election. Let’s take a look at the effort and Microsoft’s response in today’s blog.

Phishing attacks are a very common threat nowadays. Between the classic message from a supposed Nigerian Prince to a sudden and urgent email from the bank with attachment in tow, we’ve all seen our share of them. That’s the trick to stopping them—being able to spot them. Let’s go over five signals that a message may be a phishing attempt.

Security has to be a priority for your business. Oftentimes there is a disconnect between those aims and the practices used by businesses. This gap in vigilance can be just the place that hackers and other scammers look to as they attempt to steal what you have. This month, we thought it was important to provide you a few best practices to follow to keep your data and infrastructure safe. 

Weak passwords are a huge problem, one that almost everyone is guilty of. Even if you think of yourself as being a diligent, security-minded person, you probably have at least one or two passwords that are common words, followed by a digit or two, followed by an exclamation point.

I’d be willing to bet that the digits in your password represent either your birthday, your anniversary, or your favorite football player’s jersey. With a little time, anyone could gain access to your account. That’s where two-factor authentication comes in.

Security is always a business priority, and with so many business needs now fulfilled digitally, it is critical that cybersecurity has a strong presence in organizations big and small. Nowadays, collaboration solutions have also had even greater importance in the workplace, making tools like email completely essential. Unfortunately, this gives cybercriminals an increased opportunity to use it as a means of attack.