NSN Management Blog

This past May, Ireland’s Health Service Executive—the organization responsible for providing healthcare and social services to the country’s residents—was successfully targeted by a major ransomware attack. Unfortunately, we are still talking about it now because the entire situation has forced us to acknowledge the aftereffects of such an event.

Once again, ransomware strikes, this time targeting the world’s largest meat processor and distributor, JBS S.A. This disruptive cyberattack forced the company to suspend operations in both North America and Australia, a move which had devastating consequences to the supply chain. What can we learn from this situation?

Hackers are always taking advantage of others’ misfortunes, and they have even gone so far as to leverage the COVID-19 pandemic in efforts to launch phishing attacks. How have hackers utilized this worldwide disaster to their benefit, and what can we do to keep our organizations secure in this troubling time? Let’s find out.

Anyone who uses a computer regularly knows that software can be finicky. Developers continuously update their software to account for changes in security threats and to add new features. For the small business, integrating and developing software can be useful, but it can also be one of the most problematic issues you can face; and, oftentimes it can often go under the radar. Let’s look at a few ways that old software bugs can cause problems for your business.

In what sounds like a positive shift, cybersecurity experts have announced their research has found that cyberattacks are spending less time on the networks they infiltrate. Unfortunately, this isn’t such a clear-cut positive. Today, we’ll discuss “dwell time” and how less of it is a problem. 

We will never pass up the opportunity to draw attention to the importance of cybersecurity awareness, as it is a crucial element for any business to consider. One serious issue that has caused significant stress amongst businesses is phishing. Let’s consider some recent statistics to evaluate where we stand right now, specifically in terms of the prevalence of phishing attacks.

Cyberattacks have been carried out by nations for decades, but for whatever reason, our minds still build the hoodie-wearing cyberpunk sitting at a laptop in a dimly-lit room. This often isn’t the case. Today, we thought we would shine a light on state-sponsored hacking, starting with the attack carried out recently against the U.S.-based cybersecurity company FireEye.

During the COVID-19 pandemic there have been quite a few different types of scams. At first, most of the scams centered around economic relief money that was doled out to people to help prop up the fledgling economy. More recently however, scammers have focused on vaccines. Today, we will take a closer look at some of these scams, as they are growing in sophistication. 

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.

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.

When you hear the term “hacker,” what do you imagine? You likely see what many see, a lone user hunched over a computer, creating chaos for chaos’ sake. However, this is a dangerously narrow view of those who qualify as “hackers.”

Hackers have proven that they will do whatever it takes to get to your valuable assets, even if it means taking advantage of physical objects that work alongside a specific frequency. As it turns out, this is exactly how hacking a garage door works, and all it takes is a decade-old communications device to capture the frequency and unlock any garage door that utilizes it.

The Internet is a fantastic tool that has ushered in an era of productivity and connectivity that we could only previously have dreamed of. Unfortunately, like every great tool, it can be used for darker, malicious purposes. In the Internet’s case, it’s used for anonymous illegal activity, like drug trafficking or selling data on the black market.

Whenever hackers show themselves, they always spell trouble. Whether it’s stealing credentials or completely taking over someone’s computer, a hacker has a plethora of targets and methods that can be irritating for the average PC user, or business executive. In fact, hackers are so crafty that they can even hack into hospital equipment.

One minute you’re browsing trusted sites on the Internet, the next, your PC freezes up and displays the dreaded blue screen of death, along with a fake tech support message. This strain of malware is duping plenty of computer users into calling the provided phone number, which only makes the situation worse.