Hackers Are Now Targeting Macs

Until recently, MacIntosh computer users have long enjoyed relative freedom from hacker attacks; however, researchers at Symantec Corporation say online criminals are now setting their sites on Mac users.

   Online porn hunters are the latest target. Visitors to certain web sites are led to believe they can download a free video player when in fact they are installing malicious code onto their Macs.

   Once the users authorize the transaction, the hackers can redirect the users future browsing to fraudulent web sites and possibly steal the user's information or passwords. Sometimes they simply send ads for other pornographic web sites. This results in thousands of dollars in income for the criminals.

   While you may think that Macs are essentially more secure than PCs because they are built better, security experts would argue differently. They believe that the Mac is actually no more secure than a PC. In fact, they note that the relatively low number of viruses, exploits and other cyber attacks directed at Mac users is due to Apple's relatively small share of the computer market.

"I don't think that the Mac OS is more secure than Windows -- I think it is safer than Windows because there are less people trying to attack it. There is a big difference," Natalie Lambert, a senior analyst at Forrester Research recently shared with MacNewsWorld.

   With that said, the fact remains that for every single attack on a Mac, there are at least 100 attacks on Windows-based systems.

   So what should you do if you own a Mac? Use the same safe online surfing practices as PC users, keep your anti-virus software up-to-date, never open strange e-mails from unknown sources, and only verify user names and passwords by phone with your bank or other financial institutions.

Shiny New Gadget

First there were smart phones. Now, there are smart pens.

The new smart pen by Livescribe (called the “Pulse”) electronically records all the words you write and simultaneously records the audio as well. Here’s how it works…

While you’re taking notes on its special dot matrix paper, the Pulse’s microphone records the presentation or speech going on in the room. If you want to review a section of your notes, simply hold the pen over that area of the paper and the smart pen will replay the section of the audio recording that coincides with those notes.

The pens cost around $200. The paper can be printed for free from a Color LaserJet Printer that is Adobe PostScript compatible and can print at 600 dpi or higher. You can also purchase the dot paper notebooks for around $14. Now there are no excuses for missing any part of a presentation!

Attention Facebook & Twitter Users: Hackers Are Now Using Your Friends Accounts To Transmit Viruses

“Hey, I have this hilarious video of you dancing. Your face is so red. You should check it out!” If you've received a message like that through a Facebook or MySpace friend, you may have been exposed to the "Koobface" virus. Here’s what’s going on…

    Hackers have now made a new cozy home for themselves on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Disguised as one of your friends, they’ll send you a direct message with a video link attached. If you click on the link, you’re prompted to update your Flash player to see the video, and therein lies the virus, cloaked in a "flash_player.exe" file. Once installed, this  worm transforms your computer into a Zombie machine as part of a botnet (a network of computers that are controlled and used by the originator of the worm for unscrupulous purposes).

Are You Really At Risk?

     Unless you are aware of these scams, it is very easy to become infected. Some of the direct messages and tweets have titles that are very deceptive. Some of the more common messages will say, “Here’s the video I mentioned…", or "LOL," or "My friend caught you on hidden cam," or "My home video :)” These messages are followed by a link directing you to a page to watch the video. These seemingly harmless messages can quickly infect your entire office network, allowing hackers a free pass in. In addition, they can block you from accessing important security updates, making your network even more susceptible to hacker attacks. In some cases, they use their free access to your computer to steal bank account information, credit card numbers, social security numbers and other confidential data.

How To Protect Yourself

     Awareness is the first step to protecting yourself. Make a copy of this newsletter and hand it out to all your coworkers and your friends and family so they don’t get infected or infect you. Next, follow these three simple steps:

1)    Frequently Change Your Password And Don’t Use Easy To Guess Combinations. I know, it’s a pain in the neck to change your password frequently, especially when you have dozens to keep track of. But this really is one of the best ways to avoid compromising your account on social media sites. Additionally, don’t use simple passwords like “password” or “123abc.” Include lower case and capital letters, as well as numbers. If a hacker is trying to crack your password and you never change it (or if it’s super easy to guess), you make your account a prime target.

2)    Avoid Downloads. Avoid downloading anything from messages on Twitter or Facebook, even if the message is from someone you know. As a general rule, never download any file if you are not 100% certain it is secure and virus free.

3)    Get A Beefy Firewall. If you or your employees are using any social media sites for personal or business connections, a strong firewall will protect you from getting infected. That way, even if you or your staff inadvertently opens a dangerous message from one of these sites, your firewall can prevent it from bringing your whole network to a grinding halt.

If you’d like more information on the importance of securing your network against social media threats, please e-mail us at support@thinktechonline.com or call us at 508-992-2541.

Could You Be Arrested For NOT Using Twitter?

Still not using social media like Facebook and Twitter? Turns out not doing so could be a crime.

     In late November, police arrested James A. Roppo, senior vice president of Island Def Jam Records. His crime? Not sending a “tweet.” Roppo was representing one of his teenage recording artist clients who was scheduled to do an album signing at a local mall.

     When the crowd of 3,000 hysterical teeny-bopper fans got out of control, police asked Roppo to send a “tweet” telling the crowd that the signing was cancelled.

     Since most of the fans see these tweets right on their cell phones, police felt it was the safest (and quickest) way to communicate to the audience and get everyone to calm down. But when Roppo refused to communicate to the crowd by using Twitter, police arrested him for “reckless behavior”.

This Small Business Intruder Is Stealing Your Money And Ruining The Environment!

Spam. Everyone knows what a pain it is but few truly understand the costly impact it has on their business and the environment. The average employee spends up to15 minutes per day cleaning out the e-mails on Viagra; if you have 25 employees earning an average of $45K per year, that means you are paying them approximately $2,200 per month to press the delete key. 

     According to Ferris Research, spam cost businesses more than $30 billion dollars last year in lost productivity, IT costs, and spam control software—that’s more than $4.48 for every man, woman, and child on the planet!

     To top it off, spam also has an environmental impact. The “Yale Environment 360” report cited that transmitting, deleting, and reading spam wasted enough electricity to power 2.4 million American homes and created greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 3.1 million cars. The majority of the electricity used (80%) was from sifting through and deleting junk mail.

3 Ways To Stop The Spam Invasion!

     Check out these 3 ways you can reduce this costly and time-sucking e-mail pest from hindering your company’s productivity.

1) Don’t Respond To Or Opt Out Of Spam E-mails

Don’t assume these are legitimate communications! If you try and opt out of these lists, you are basically verifying your e-mail address to the spammers, ensuring even MORE junk e-mail than before. And you certainly don’t want to respond; that will make you an even bigger target!

2) Use Your Junk Mail Folder

 Microsoft Outlook  will automatically separate spam into your junk mail folder so you can spend less time sorting through your inbox. It also reduces your chances of opening a malicious junk message which may contain a virus or worm.  The downside of this folder: you might have to periodically check it to make sure no “good” messages are sitting in there.

3) Get A Spam Filter – Whether the spam filter you choose is a hardware appliance, software you install locally on your network, or a third-party spam filter that cleans and captures messages before they arrive on your network, having one is important. Over time, you can “train” these filters to know which messages to block and which to keep.

The Absolutely Best Spam Filter We’ve Found

     After looking at dozens of spam filters, we’ve discovered a solution that is by far the best there is. Not only will it rid your inbox of those annoying, time-consuming, and unsolicited junk messages finally and forever, but it also will scan your e-mail for viruses and hold onto all of your e-mail in case your e-mail server goes down.

     For as little as $3.95 per user, our spam filter is easy to use, simple to set up and is guaranteed to reduce your spam by 98% - or your money back.

     And, during the month of January, we’ll sweeten the pot even more by waiving our set-up fee ($99) AND giving you our 27-Point Problem Prevention Audit ($540 Value) FREE. Call us now to get started:

Call: 508-992-2541

  

Are Social Media Web Sites Helping Or HURTING Your Business?

Seems like all you hear about these days are social media web sites and how businesses are using them to communicate with customers; but what you don’t hear (as often) are some of the downsides of this new and vastly popular media as it pertains to protecting your online reputation, employee productivity and confidentiality.

    In the US alone, the average time spent on social media sites has increased by 700%. If you are using these sites for marketing purposes, it may be GOOD news, especially if these social media junkies are spending some of that time reading your Twitter posts or becoming fans of your Facebook page. However, if your employees are spending hours online chatting with their friends or goofing off, it can mean thousands of dollars in lost productivity. Plus, let’s not overlook the risk of them posting confidential information online or “jokes” or comments that could be offensive to customers.

     Here are 3 quick tips that every business owner should have in place:

1.   Have a signed social media policy in place for your employees – and enforce it. This should be added on to your acceptable use policy for online usage. Outline what web site they can go to, when and what they can (and cannot post) online.

2. Sign up for “Google Alerts” on your company at www.google.com/alerts. This service will send you an e-mail alert whenever someone posts something regarding a keyword you specify. We recommend setting up alerts for your name and company name at a minimum.

3. Install and use content filtering software for all employee PCs. This will automatically police employees’ online usage and enforce your policies. Of course, if you need help in setting up any of these policies or content filtering software, give us a call!

508-992-2541

Technology Over The Last Decade

Can you believe that we've already reached the end of the decade? It seems like only a short time ago we were all worried about Y2K. Since 2000 we've been given a lot to reflect upon, and in the spirit of the season, we've compiled a list of some of the technological consumer innovations over the last decade. You'd be suprised at how many things we take for granted that are fairly recent developments in the technology scene. Enjoy!


Top Consumer Technology Advances Over The Last Decade

• Sites like Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter have revolutionized the way we interact with our families, friends, and coworkers. Most of these sites provide a plethora of games, music, photos, videos and fan pages where a user can spend hours submitting comments, browsing and chatting with other members.

• In addition to the social networking site phenomena, blogs and Skype (a free video chat service) have changed how we communicate via the web.

• Cell phones have also become an inevitable part of everyday life including texting, email, and even the internet on smart phones. The 3G, and newly emerging 4G, wireless networks enable us to download web pages on our phones faster than ever before. With the advent of "apps" for practically every purpose, we have the world at our fingertips with the latest touch technology in phones like the iPhone.

• When was the last time you went to drop off a roll of film? Exactly. Digital cameras became the norm in the last decade as well as built-in cameras and video recorders in items like cell phones and iPods.

• Digital music also saw a boost with the introduction of the iPod and numerous other MP3 players.

• We saw the slow decline of retail video/game rental outlets with the advent of services like Netflix (which also can stream directly to your living room with the proper devices), RedBox and Gamefly.

• We can now rewind live TV and fast forward through commercials in recorded programs with DVR boxes and services like TiVo.

• Flat screen TV's have replaced the older tube TV models and the newest LCD TV's average only 1" thick. HDTV is also the norm with advancements like Blu-Ray discs that make the movies come to life like never before.

• E-readers like Amazon's Kindle, Barnes and Noble's Nook, and the Sony Reader series are beginning to edge in on the print publication market. These devices allow avid readers access to the daily paper, games and thousands of books anywhere in the world instantly.

• Video games have evolved tremendously over the last decade with advancements in motion technology on systems like Nintendo's Wii console. Microsoft's Xbox 360 console is not far behind Wii with its "Project Natal", but has yet to discuss an official release date. The Playstation 3 is billed as an entire home entertainment system, boasting a Blu-Ray player in addition to its solid gaming platform.

• Sirius and XM have changed the way some of us listen to radio. As a subscription service, satellite radio broadcasts commercial free on the same channels, coast to coast.

• Flash memory has made data transport the easiest it's ever been. With storage capacities upwards of 64GB, some have been compared to external hard drives.

• Cloud Computing is catching on. Internet based use of programs and file sharing will soon replace the need for multiple servers and heavy duty workstations. Bulky desktops with massive amounts of storage will give way to "thin clients" - basic workstations to access the "cloud".

• Hybrid cars are on the rise and practically every major manufacturer has their version on the market. The advances in green automobile technology over the last decade have given us a strong foothold for the future of hybrid and electric automobiles.

• GPS systems have now become easily accessible to consumers and have simple interfaces that any novice can figure out. Whether you are getting directions on your iPhone or using a portable GPS in your vehicle like a Garmin or Tom-Tom, getting where you need to go has never been easier.

• More and more states are passing laws regarding hands-free cell phone use. Bluetooth technology has made the "10 and 2" rule a breeze with their hands-free earpieces and other products. Some vehicle manufactures have even started to include Bluetooth technology in their products, allowing drivers to access their cell phones through a button on their steering wheel rather than fumbling around for their phone and being distracted from the road.

Happy New Year!

It's New Year's Resolution time - have you made yours yet?

Some of us will hit the gym, others may quit smoking, but according to surveys 92% of Americans fail to obtain their goals throughout the year and almost half of them fail within the first month!

Have you ever thought about resolving your computer network issues for the New Year? I've included an article below to alert you to some of the threats that may be attacking your network as well as a FREE 27-Point Problem Prevention Audit offer to ensure that your network is as secure as possible. Having a secure network is an easy resolution to make and keep when you have a company like ThinkTech  that will take care of it for you...

Top 4 Threats Attacking Your Network And What To Do About Them

 #1 Overconfidence
User overconfidence in security products is the top threat to your network.  Failure to "practice safe software" results in nuisance attacks like porn storms (unstoppable rapid fire pornographic pop-ups) and more subtle keyloggers that steal passwords.  Surveys promising free stuff, result in theft of information like your mother's maiden name, high school, etc. used to answer common security questions leading to theft of otherwise secure data.  Think before you click!

#2 Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites like Facebook are exploding in popularity.  Threats range from malware (eg. viruses, worms, spyware) to scammers trying to steal your identity, information and money.  Many businesses and government agencies are using these sites to communicate with clients and constituents, so simply blocking access is no longer reasonable.  Defending your company while allowing employee access requires social network education for your employees and the enforcement of strong acceptable use policies.  We can help you develop a policy, then monitor compliance using a Unified Threat Management device that controls and reports on network access.

#3 Attacks On Mobile Devices
Everyone is going mobile these days not just the "road warriors."  Once limited to laptop computers, mobile network devices now include PDAs, handheld computers and smart phones, with new appliances appearing in the stores every month.  Mobile devices often contain sensitive data yet they are easily lost or stolen.  Be sure to password protect and encrypt data on all mobile devices whenever possible.  Include mobile devices in your acceptable use policy.

#4 Cloud Computing
"The Cloud," in its most simple form, involves using the Internet to access and store your data.  When you access email using a web browser, you are working in "the cloud."  Using the cloud for automated off site backup is rapidly gaining popularity and is just the beginning.  Companies like Microsoft, IBM and Google envision the day when we will use inexpensive terminals instead of computers to run programs and access data located somewhere on the Internet.  You need to be sure that any data you store and access across the Internet is secure not just where it is stored, but during the trip to and from the Internet.

Want More Information?

If you'd like to take advantage of our FREE 27-Point Problem Prevention Audit call us at 508-992-2541. Your Audit will include:

• -  A check on your networks security against hackers and viruses
• -  Verification of network backups to make sure they are working properly
• -  Recommendations to make your systems run more smoothly
• -  Initial network documentation that is yours to KEEP

So call us and schedule your FREE 27-Point Problem Prevention Audit today!

508-992-2541