security

Due to the current situation, employees find themselves working from home, and students are finding themselves attending class online. Zoom has become the go-to method of video and audio communication among employees, students, teachers, etc. because they are able to access Zoom on almost any device from anywhere, anytime. With Zoom comes a new trend, Zoom Bombing.

What is Zoom Bombing?

Zoom Bombing occurs when uninvited guests, otherwise known as hijackers, guess the correct URL or meeting id for a public Zoom session, giving them access to the feed/meeting. These hijackers cause disruptions by releasing personal information or simply yelling profanities in the meeting. This new trend has people asking how to prevent zoom bombing from happening.

Here are ten ways to prevent Zoom bombing:

(As recommended by the Better Business Bureau)

1. REQUIRE A PASSWORD TO JOIN YOUR MEETING

One of the easiest ways to prevent Zoom bombing from happening to you is to require a password to join your meeting. Requiring a password provides extra security against hijackers because not only would they have to guess the correct URL/meeting id, but they would have to guess the correct password as well, which is unlikely to happen.

2. USE A UNIQUE ID FOR LARGE OR PUBLIC ZOOM CALLS

Whenever you create a Zoom meeting, you are required to either create an id for the meeting or generate a random id. Generating a random id will always give you the more unique and secure id, but creating your own id will work as well, as long you…

3. DON’T SHARE THE UNIQUE ID’s PUBLICLY

Another trend that has come with Zoom is taking a screenshot of your Zoom meeting and sharing it on a social media website. This makes your meeting EXTREMELY public and allows for hijackers to get in much easier. If the meeting is private, keep it private.

4. ONLY ALLOW HOSTS TO SHARE THEIR SCREEN

This is also a simple yet effective way to keep the hijackers out is to only allow the host(s) to share their screen. Giving anyone in a Zoom meeting the ability to take control of the screen is an easy way for guests, whether invited or uninvited, to share unwanted content.

5. CREATE A WAITING ROOM

A Zoom waiting room works just like any other waiting room. A waiting room stops guests from joining the meeting until the host(s) is ready for them to join. It’s a way to make sure that no uninvited guests are waiting to get into the meeting, kind of like a bouncer at a club.

6. CREATE AN INVITE-ONLY MEETING

An invite-only meeting is just like it sounds. Nobody can enter this meeting unless they have been invited by the host(s). Nobody likes it when an uninvited guest shows up to a party, so don’t allow it to happen here either.

7. LOCK THE MEETING ONCE IT STARTS

Once the meeting starts, the host has an option to lock it. Locking your zoom meeting will not allow any new members to join the meeting, even if they have the correct id and password. It’s better to be safe than sorry when locking your car or the doors in your house, so do the same with your Zoom meeting.

8. REMOVE ATTENDEES OR PUT THEM ON HOLD IF THEY BECOME DISRUPTIVE

Anytime someone in your meeting is being disruptive or distracting other attendees, just remove them from the meeting. If you remove someone from the meeting, they are not allowed to rejoin.

9. DISABLE THE UNRUY PARTICIPANT’S CAMERA OR ALL CAMERAS

Assuming this is an option, hosts are allowed to disable the camera of any and all members of the meeting. This will allow any unwanted, inappropriate gesture to be blocked for everyone in the group.

10. MAKE SURE THE DISABLE FILE TRANSFER SETTING IS ACTIVE

Once in a meeting, if file transfer is not turned off, it is common for hijackers to spam the chat with memes, GIF’s, and inappropriate language/photos. Turning this setting off will stop each and every one of those things from happening before it even happens.

Now that you have learned 10 EASY ways to prevent Zoom bombing from happening in your next or all future Zoom meetings, take action. Zoom bombing may seem harmless, but people are having to get used to working and going to school remotely and need each and every minute to learn and concentrate on their work without any disruptions.

Don’t let this happen to you!

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There’s NO Time for DOWNTIME

When it comes to business continuity, there’s no time for downtime. Without top-tier security, even the best IT can be quickly rendered useless. Cyber-criminals use sophisticated tools to scan the internet looking for opportunities. Right now, as businesses scramble to make it work from remote home offices and reduced on-site teams, the internet is teeming with insidious opportunity.

32% of all businesses with 11-49 employees have reported a cyber attack within the last 12 months. - 2017 State of Cybersecurity, Better Business Bureau

Cyber-criminals don’t discriminate. Anyone can be a target. It doesn’t matter if you’re a non-profit, small business, or larger enterprise. if your business depends on technology to run smoothly (and nowadays, whose doesn’t?), it only makes sense to secure it properly.

Will IT Security Slow My Business Down?

“Thanks to the knowledgeable support team at ThrottleNet, our network is running faster and more efficient than ever before.” – Dr. Richard Goldberg

Having strong IT security doesn’t mean making every internal transaction require 2-factor authentication or that you need to install retina scanning to access your server. It means finding the right software and protocols for your needs and implementing them in smart ways that work for you. Often it simply requires that your staff and your policies follow some simple best practices, and your software is properly protected. ThrottleNet’s Custom IT Security Solutions Are the Perfect Fit

IT Security = Business Continuity

65% of all businesses could not remain profitable for more than three months if they permanently lost access to essential data. - 2017 State of Cybersecurity, Better Business Bureau

You’re in the business of staying in business. Do you have a business continuity plan? Is security is included? You know how much productivity is affected when your email goes down (we make sure it doesn’t). Now imagine not having access to your server or your essential files and data for a day. For a week? What if your data is held hostage with ransomware by someone demanding payment in bitcoin; would your business survive?

According to the Ponemon Institute, a leading private research organization that conducts independent research on privacy, data protection and information security policy, the average cost of cleaning up after being hacked stands at $690,000 for small businesses and over $1 million for mid-market companies. Most businesses can’t afford that kind of expense, especially in the faltering economy and uncertain future of COVID-19.

How Does IT Security Help You Keep the Lights On?

60% of small companies are unable to sustain their businesses over six months after a cyber attack. - U.S. National Cyber Security Alliance

The first key to IT security is prevention. Every network in the world shares a common weakest link – its users. Keeping your staff keenly trained on best practices and on the lookout for threats is your number one defense against cyber crime. Don’t overlook this crucial element in your IT security strategy!

The next key is protection. Getting targeted by a cyberattack might be inevitable, but getting penetrated is not. A proactive cyber defense plan will not only engage your employees as a security force, but use technology solutions to shield your network, databases, and communication systems from viruses, phishing, ransomware, malware, and all other tools criminals use attack your business.

Must-have IT security technologies include:

Firewalls
Offsite backups with cloud replication

Threat monitoring
Virus/malware/adware detection and removal

Software patches
Heuristic Threat Detecting Software

Don’t forget about your policies and procedures! Tools are only effective if you use them correctly.

The third key is planning. In the event of a cyber-attack, you need your business to be part of the 40 percent that survives. This means having a complete disaster recovery and business continuity plan in place with technology at its core. In the old days, of paper and physical theft and destruction, what was lost was lost forever and there was no going back. But we live in the future now, and technology has mitigated that risk. Play your security strategy right, and your business can be back up, running, and recovering in no time.

ThrottleNet Keeps the Lights on For You

“Ultimately, ThrottleNet’s quick response and expertise has been crucial in supporting our infrastructure at RBO PrintLogistix.” – Jim Riley, CEO and President of RBO PrintLogistix

Backing up data is one thing; testing the backups is another. What good is a backup file if it’s infected with the same ransomware that’s holding your data hostage? The time to plan is before there’s an emergency; redundancies are now essential. By working together, we’ll make sure your business has a plan to stay up and running.

Explore a Managed IT Security Solution for Your Business

How to Avoid COVID-19 Cybersecurity Scams

LAUNCH DATE: 4/2/2020

Secure Remote Access

LAUNCH DATE: 4/16/2020

Shopping online has increasingly become the main method of buying for many people. Not only are we now able to conveniently make purchases by the touch of your fingers, but we have also become familiar with next day delivery, better deals, and more items to choose from. It is no surprise that online shopping has become so popular. But how do you know if the site you are shopping on is selling you what you think you are buying? How can we protect ourselves from online shopping security issues?

It is important to make sure to take all the proper precautions when purchasing any type of product online. Since shopping online has become the main way to buy for many, this leads to more shoppers falling victim to cybercrime or scam.

Be On The Lookout

How to make sure the retailer is legitimate before making a purchase:

Be sure to check out online reviews through the Better Business Bureau
○ Look for negative reports or complaints about the online retailer
Search the domain name through Whois.net
○ Look for the date when the website was registered
Conduct a Google search to read both positive and negative reviews or news stories about the business
○ Some positive reviews can be easily faked
○ Too many negative reviews is a red flag

Search For Clues

Most websites have an “about us” or “contact us” page. For most legitimate sites, they will have their physical address and phone number included. To take it a step further, enter the address provided on the retailer’s website on Google Maps to make sure the location looks like a business would operate there, as opposed to a house.
Call the phone number to see if anyone will answer. You can also do a reverse phone lookup to see if the business is who they say they are.
Examine the writing and URL included in the retailer’s website. The URL is important because, in a type of online shopping scams, cybercriminals will make exact copies of legit websites with a slightly different address. Make sure the business name is spelled correctly and there aren’t any extra characters. The URL should not be too long or complicated.
Look for seals of approval. Some retailers may have seals of approval on their homepage to exemplify their reputation or responsible data collection practices. Some seals of approval include the Better Business Bureau seal, the TRUSTe Certified seal, or the Norton secured seal.

Staying Secure When Making The Purchase

Look for the padlock symbol to the left of the URL. This indicates that the site securely protects your payment information. This should only be trusted when the padlock is in the same field as the URL, which should begin with https.

Online shopping has clear advantages, but it consistently tends to create issues for people who don’t really know who they are buying from. To learn more about ways to protect yourself and personal information when shopping online, contact ThrottleNet today!

According to a recent study done by Ivanti, in many cases, network access is not always removed when an employee is terminated or leaves the company. This can cause concerns with the high risk of both data theft, and sabotage.

Many times, previous employees of a company take sensitive data from the previous employer to a new employer and conduct malicious attacks once they are terminated. With regard to new employee onboarding, approximately 85% reported not having access to all the proper resources needed to complete their work when first joining the company.

Access Rights

Compliance with employee’s access rights also can cause trouble with the on-boarding or off-boarding process of a company. Access rights to secured data and applications tend to take a while to be removed, leaving the terminated employee left with what has the potential to be sensitive data. Changes of access rights also tend to be slow to apply, if they are applied at all. This can make it difficult for new employees getting their daily tasks completed.

When a group of individuals was asked if they knew a former employee that still has access to company systems, over 50 percent said yes. This leads to risks of data leakage, cyberattacks through unmanaged accounts, and malicious data theft. Some of the reported causes of these IT issues were due to poorly defined processes, such as automation problems and a lack of resources.

Helpful Tips to Avoid Any Issues

Make sure your company has a specific process to handle employee changes, such as when employees are terminated, leave the company, or are newly hired
Document workstation requirements
Develop a detailed process for handling security access to internal systems to ensure the process is as timely as possible
Partner with IT professionals who can provide you and your company the resources and processes you need to avoid any issues

Working with IT professionals can make your life much easier when dealing with new and old employees. ThrottleNet can help ensure your company’s sensitive data isn’t going to be taken with the employee being terminated. Contact ThrottleNet today to keep your company’s data and applications secured!

What is Zoom Bombing?

Here are ten ways to prevent Zoom bombing:

1. REQUIRE A PASSWORD TO JOIN YOUR MEETING