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Threat Spotlight: How to Stop Brute Force Attacks

Threat Spotlight: How to Stop Brute Force Attacks
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Hackers of all shapes and sizes use brute force attacks to gain access into accounts and infrastructures, but do you know how they work and what your business can do to protect against them? Failing to understand brute force attacks could put sensitive information in the crosshairs of hackers, and leave it vulnerable to ongoing attacks.

What Are Brute Force Attacks?
A brute force attack consists of a hacker repeatedly assaulting a login form with credentials at an incredible rate, hoping to crack the code and gain access without knowing the password to the account or system login. Most brute force attacks are performed by an algorithm that’s designed to rapidly input thousands upon thousands of credentials every second, hence the term “brute force.” Since it takes a more deliberate and frontal assault, rather than using a discrete or intellectual path, it’s considered more straightforward and forceful. Though there are many types of brute force attacks, one of the most common is called a dictionary attack, where password attempts are systematically generated with popular words pulled from the dictionary in order to access the system.

Why They’re a Problem
McAfee Security reports that in 2015, brute force attacks accounted for about 25 percent of all online hacks, second only to Denial of Service attacks. Perhaps this is due to how straightforward these attacks are, since they are deliberate attacks that don’t require skirting around security measures. Those behind brute force attacks know that they will be caught, which makes them particularly dangerous, since all caution is thrown to the wind and forgotten. These types of attacks are used to access accounts or system infrastructures in order to steal credentials like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and other data.

Plus, brute force attacks can be used to install a rootkit on a device, or turn a PC into a zombie bot. It’s not uncommon for brute force attacks to be used as a jumping-off point for other major threats.

What to Do
A security solution that can lock out users based on IP location or failed login attempts is one way to protect your business from brute force attacks, but if the attacker is executing the campaign with a botnet, these measures will be limited in their ability to protect you. Botnets consist of several infected computers with various IP addresses, acting as individual users, thus rendering your security measures useless.

One other technology that can be effective at eliminating brute force attacks is two-factor authentication. In addition to your password, two-factor authentication provides an extra layer of security. Basically, if hackers don’t have access to your physical device or a secondary email account, they won’t be able to get the second code required to access your account or infrastructure. Two-factor authentication is a great asset in general, so it’s worth taking into consideration regardless of what type of business you’re running.

Your business should be equipped to handle all types of online threats, particularly those which are dangerous and present a significant threat. Infradapt can help your business integrate solutions designed to maximize your organization’s security and continuity. To learn more, give us a call at 800.394.2301.

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Do You Agree with BYOD? 72 Percent of Businesses Do

Do You Agree with BYOD? 72 Percent of Businesses Do

Mobile devices have grown extraordinarily popular in the workplace. Organizations find them to be of considerable value for staying connected and getting work done while outside the office. This trend has presented a serious risk in the form of network and data security. How can businesses support mobile devices in the workplace, without compromising on the security of the device and the data it holds?

Data leakage is one of the major pain points of businesses that allow employee-owned mobile devices in the workplace. Every business has sensitive information that needs to be secured from malicious entities, no matter how benign it seems. As the business owner, it’s your responsibility to ensure that you have a policy put into place to protect your data. In the case of mobile devices, you need a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy that dictates how an employee uses their mobile devices for work purposes.

A recent study by Bitglass shows that 72 percent of various organizations, including financial, technology, healthcare, government, and education, feel that BYOD should be supported for at least some of their employees. As for mobile device management, which is an organization’s control over devices used by employees, only 14 percent of organizations used solutions that protect data with device encryption. This is a significant difference that reveals a tricky situation: company’s like the idea of BYOD, but don’t (or aren’t able to) implement a mobile device management solution.

Naturally, you can’t let your business be the next to lose information due to mobile security threats. Implementing a mobile device management solution from Infradapt can help your business retain complete control over the data that’s stored on your employees’ mobile devices. You can restrict access to data based on work role, whitelist and blacklist app data, and even remotely wipe devices:

  • Whitelisting and blacklisting apps: Some applications will request access to information stored on a mobile device, but some won’t have any real reason to have access. For example, a flashlight app has no business accessing your phone’s contacts or geographical location. By whitelisting and blacklisting apps, you can minimize your data’s exposure to threats.
  • Role-based user access: One of the easiest ways to minimize danger to your organization’s data is to limit who has access to it. By integrating role-based user access, you can allow your team to access data that they need to do their jobs properly, and keep them from accessing that which they don’t.
  • Remote wiping: Sometimes the best way to prevent a data breach is by remotely wiping data from a lost or stolen device. You shouldn’t rely on a lost device showing back up, especially if it were left in a public place like a bus or subway station. You should always be prepared for a worst-case scenario like this.

For more information about BYOD and mobile device management solutions, reach out to Infradapt at 800.394.2301.

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Researchers From MIT May Have Found the Holy Grail of Network Security

Researchers From MIT May Have Found the Holy Grail of Network Security

b2ap3_thumbnail_ai_human_security_400.jpgWhen it comes to cybersecurity, maintenance is key. Whether you choose human-based security or an automated security solution, running into shortcomings is still possible. Human security tends to rely on the word of experts, and anything that doesn’t fit into the guidelines is missed and may therefore get through and wreak havoc. Network security can be a touch overzealous, in a way “crying wolf,” with an excess of false positives that ultimately require human analysis, leading to human frustration.

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Chances Are, Your Employees Care More for Convenience Than Network Security

Chances Are, Your Employees Care More for Convenience Than Network Security

b2ap3_thumbnail_network_security_failure_400.jpgSecurity is a top concern for anyone that utilizes the Internet. The problem for businesses is that the average employee probably doesn’t care much for your security practices, and it can be challenging to get them to comply without upsetting them.


Employees tend not to follow security practices that they find inconvenient, unnecessary, or time-consuming. The issue here is that the best solutions are often designed to keep data secure, while also making it somewhat more difficult to access crucial accounts. A good example of how security is undermined by employee indifference can be seen in a Bring Your Own Device policy. While it might make it more difficult for hackers to access your data, your employees might not want to go through the process of setting up BYOD on their own devices, which can put your data at risk.

Ultimately, it becomes a question of freedom vs security. Your employees want to use their own mobile devices and be free to work how they want, but this cannot happen without sacrificing security oversight. Unfortunately, this is a point that you have to insist on if you want to ensure maximum security for your critical data. It’s your responsibility to make sure that your team is following proper best practices in order to facilitate the further functionality of your organization.

If your team tends to dodge following best practices, this is even more important and necessary. Many outside threats understand that your employees are likely the weakest link in your business’s security, making them big targets for the likes of hackers and scammers. Unlike security patches and updates, this is a vulnerability that won’t go away with a software update. You have to educate your staff on the following best practices:

  • Regularly changing passwords: All of your employees should be using complex passwords, which include lower and upper-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Changing your passwords frequently is also important, but if you’re always changing to complex passwords, you’re sure to forget them once in a while. An enterprise-level password manager can be exceptionally beneficial to securely store and retrieve passwords when they’re needed.
  • Stopping phishing scams: Employees need to know how to look for phishing scams that may hit their inbox. This includes educating your team members on how phishing scams work, and what the telltale signs are for them. Infradapt can help your employees understand how best to avoid and detect phishing scams.
  • Using two-factor authentication: Accounts that have access to important information need to be using secondary security features, like two-factor authentication, in order to best protect your data. This makes it more difficult for hackers to access accounts remotely. Many two-factor authentication procedures require physical access to devices, which makes it much more difficult for hackers to compromise an account.

If you think you’re at risk of hacking attacks due to lack of adherence to security measures, you should implement a Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. With a firewall, antivirus, spam blocking, and content filtering solution, your business will experience minimal exposure to threats, and promptly eliminate those that do manage to get into your systems.

For more information about cybersecurity and other data security best practices, give Infradapt a call at 800.394.2301.

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Think You’ve Been Hacked? Here’s What to Do Next!

Think You’ve Been Hacked? Here’s What to Do Next!

b2ap3_thumbnail_employees_make_computing_mistakes_400.jpgYou implement technology solutions to keep your network safe from hackers, but what would you do if your systems were bypassed and infiltrated? Every business owner needs to consider this scenario, because even the best of us can fall victim to hacking attacks when we least expect them. Approaching such an event in a reasonable way is your best chance of making it through in one piece.


First of all, don’t panic. You need to remain calm and make rational decisions concerning the state of your systems. If you can avoid it, try not to let the occurrence immediately go public. You want to know the extent of the attack before informing anyone of what has happened. You also need to determine how much data was stolen or destroyed, and if your systems are still under the influence of the attacker.

Fully Understand the Scope of the Attack
The first thing that you should do is assess what the exact problem is with your IT systems. Was it actually a data breach, and if so, how did your assailants infiltrate your system? Did they worm their way in through a spam email, or did they steal credentials to your network? Was it a case of user error, or the result of a vulnerability in your software? Be sure to ask all of these important questions so that you can understand the full extent of the attack before doing anything about it.

Know What Data, if Any, Was Stolen
Next, you want to assess which types of data has been stolen, if at all. Did the hacker take data like Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, account usernames, passwords, etc? If you know what parts of your business were infiltrated, then you probably have a good idea of the extent of the damage. It’s especially important to know if you have other data, like health records or personal information, that may have been exposed to the data breach. If so, you may be subject to some serious fines.

Give Your IT Department Time to Clean Up
Your business should be looking into the hacking attack as soon as you know it’s occurred. This helps you to mitigate the damage and contain the problem before it becomes even bigger. You need to make sure that there’s an environment available to work with while your IT department is investigating the issue. Also, make sure that you have the resources available to ensure that your team can stay productive in the interim.

Identify the Real Problem
Hackers frequently use small hacking attacks to cover up other major issues. For example, a virus could be nothing but a distraction to hide a trojan, which would be a much bigger issue that could lead to future data breaches. You need to identify the source of the problem in order to resolve it. Otherwise, you’re just opening up more opportunities for hackers to infiltrate your systems, which could be both counterproductive and costly.

It’s important to remember that in some cases, your business might not necessarily be the target of some mastermind hacking attack, but rather, you may just be a random victim. This could happen when your business falls prey to phishing attacks, malware, and other threats that spread between contacts and unsafe websites.

Understand Your Compliance Liability
Depending on which information was exposed to hackers, you could have a full-on violation of compliance laws on the table. You could be dealing with expensive fines that are more than capable of breaking your budget. Knowing what your stance on compliance is could help you prepare for the oncoming storm, and is a crucial step toward putting a data breach behind you.

Last but not least, you need to make sure that your data breach disaster is your last. Infradapt can help your business prepare its infrastructure for any type of disaster. To learn more, give us a call at 800.394.2301.

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