Top Practices for Cyber- Security with Antivirus Software

 Top Practices for Cyber- Security with

Antivirus Software

According to various studies in the last four years, attacks to steal information from companies have increased 46%, and in Mexico 60% of companies have problems due to internal information leaks. With these figures, without a doubt, one of the main concerns of owners, investors, directors and employees of companies is to take the appropriate computer security measures to protect business data.

Here is a list of the best computer security practices that every company should follow:

·         Employee awareness and training. One of the main risks for companies' information is the careless practices of their workers when using the Internet. These practices include opening emails with malicious programs, use of free WiFi that can compromise the transfer of information and even the loss of storage devices, smartphones or tablets that contain relevant information or company passwords. For this reason, it is important to sensitize and train them on good practices in the use of the Internet and devices.

·    Make reliable backup copies of all relevant information. The information of companies can not only be threatened by theft or malware, but also by events such as floods or fires, in either case it is advisable to have backup and a recovery plan. These backups can be done on external devices, from hard drives to specialized servers.

·     Have your own server. It is recommended if more than five computers are used in the company, as it reduces the risk of file loss.

·      Installation of antivirus and antispam. Depending on the size of the company, there are different products on the market that are adapted to the needs and budget of each one. These serve to prevent malware that can delete or damage files, phishing or theft of access codes, among others. Its installation is recommended on all computers that contain or send information.

·       Encrypt information. It is quite common for smartphones or tablets to be lost or stolen and, so that the information they contain is not accessed, it is important that it is encrypted.

·  Set strong passwords and change them regularly. The passwords to access computers, emails or files must be strong passwords, that is, they must be difficult to decrypt. The use of common names, relevant dates or birthdays should be avoided, preferably they should be alphanumeric and be changed periodically.

·         Risk analysis and creation of contingency plan. Before any emergency happens, it is best to carry out a risk and vulnerability analysis, know the strengths and weaknesses of the equipment, the internal network, the servers, the Internet connections, etc. Knowing the risks and weaknesses, it is easier to make decisions regarding the security measures to be implemented and the protocols to follow in the event that company information is compromised.

·   Protecting the information of a business means protecting the operation of the business. Its protection also allows you to avoid or reduce financial losses that can take years to recover, or the damage can be so serious that it causes your total disappearance.

 

Every day we like to buy online more. Probably these days many of us make an online purchase. Taking advantage of the discounts we will sit down with our good morning coffee and just when we enter our favorite e-commerce boom! we find that it is blocked: it does not open, it cannot be bought, the prices do not keep any logic. What happened? They have probably hacked the online store where we wanted to make our purchases. Precisely today? It is no coincidence, cyber criminals know the importance of these dates, and they take advantage of it to carry out their threats more effectively.

 

This situation, which could be experienced by all companies that sell online, is also applicable to other companies, since they may find themselves blocked without knowing what to produce, where to invoice or where to send orders.

 

The Internet security worries me how can I protect my company?

From O ller Brokers we would like to recommend a series of good practices that should help reduce the chances of impact of an attack and increase the security of your company on the Internet. IMPORTANT, the involvement in this belongs to ALL team members.

 

We rely on 3 basic aspects:

 

1. Organization and Team: the human factor is decisive in the majority of claims and that is why the entire staff, including external parties, must be trained in good practices to guarantee Internet security. These should be:

·      Strong passwords, of at least 8 characters combining uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols.

·      Do not leave passwords in sight written in a post it on the screen; that happens more than we think.

·         Keep antivirus and programs updated.

·         Do not open unknown attachments.

·         Caution when using USB and other storage devices.

·        Be wary of emails that suggest a change in a provider's current account, or requests for transfers from our General or Financial Director. Do a double check with a phone call.

·     Avoid connecting to public wireless networks with work devices. If you ever transmit confidential information, or do it via vpn.

 

2. Technology: luckily we have a range of tools that help us to be less vulnerable:

·         Antivirus and firewall.

·         Filtering tools.

·         Analysis of downloads and other suspicious actions.

·         Use an information encryption tool to exchange confidential information with customers or suppliers.

·         Use a secure erase application when disposing of old computers.

 

3. Recovery capacity: it is essential to strengthen it to return to full rhythm in the shortest possible time:

·         Daily and independent backups.

·         Periodically check the proper functioning of these backup copies.

·         Continuity plan including a crisis management procedure.

In this last point, the insurance sector can help increase the resilience of the company. Basically the sector has responded to the current threat with a cyber risk insurance that includes a fantastic crisis management system in which by contacting a 24 × 7 line, a team of experts (computer forensics, legal team, communication and PR, etc) that together with your IT staff will resolve the situation in the shortest possible time to return to the scene immediately before the attack. Read our latest post on cyber insurance to find out what they are and what they cover. 

 

 

Concept After Removal of Computer Viruses by Antivirus Software

 Concept After Removal of Computer Viruses by Antivirus Software

Information is part of the assets of a company and must be protected. In this instalment we will talk about antivirus, its evolution and its main characteristics, and which one we should choose in our business to feel as safe as possible.

And why “as safe as possible? Am I never going to be totally sure of being protected? No, unfortunately the answer is no. The protection of computers is a competition between two sides: those who try to use our computers to do harm and those who try to defend us. Unfortunately for us, those who protect us are almost always one step behind those who try to harm us. Although ANTIVIRUS companies have their research department to develop a cure before someone realizes that the vulnerability exists, most of the time they act reactively: once the difficulty is raised, they look for a way to solve it.

Starting at the beginning: What is a virus?

Those who had to name the malicious programs that try to get into our computers used an analogy of something everyone knows: a disease. Diseases that are transmitted by contact between humans are carried by "viruses", hence the common way of knowing them. Although at first they were ways of making jokes or gaining popularity for having managed to enter some difficult site, later they sought to do even more damage or steal sensitive information.

Evolution of viruses

The first known virus dates from 1987 and was called BRAIN. All it did was modify the index of the hard drive, making the system unusable. The first Antivirus Software was released in 1988, aimed purely at disinfecting and protecting systems from BRAIN and other similar threats. From here it may get complicated, but I will try to be as clear as possible.

At the beginning, all viruses came directly in an executable file (ending in ".exe") and by double clicking on our desktop we installed it. They came in the form of email attachments with messages like "Pay attention to this" or "Open immediately." They generally came from known senders, appealing to user trust to install new programs on computers. If we did so, it would forward that same email to our entire address book with the same original attachment and thus it was continuously replicated.

Fortunately, it was easy to correct. A small cultural change and this form of infection practically disappeared. At this time almost all of us instinctively repeat the phrase "I should never open files from people I don't know", but even without knowing this, Windows has a protection so that no program is installed without the double authorization system. First I have to click on the program to install and then give it administrator authorization to do it.

Additionally, Antivirus Software have a constantly changing list that filters potentially dangerous files by name and extension. Modern antivirus also analyze the lines of code of the programs that we will install and will allow or not allow us to complete the process if they do not find anything suspicious.

Complicating things: worms, polymorphs, and Trojans

As you can imagine and may even have suffered, hackers and malware generators did not sit still and began looking for more creative ways to infect computers. The "worms" ("worms", as they are known in English) are programs that are installed surreptitiously and do not generate any noticeable change, but if they leave an "open door" for the hacker to have access to our computer or can use it as a springboard to attack other systems. Then came the "polymorphic" versions, which changed as they infected systems, making their filtration or deactivation much more difficult.

And as in the Trojan Horse metaphor, viruses known as "Trojans" are programs that mask another program inside. They arrive in a familiar format, generally from people we know or in programs that have minimal but often imperceptible alterations, and they install two things instead of one when we run them.

There are more types of viruses such as "hijackers", "zombies" and "macro viruses", all with the intention of giving access and control to another person on our team and who can use it as a dissemination or attack tool.

How do we protect ourselves?

There are different types of Antivirus Software, the main difference we could make is that some are free and others are paid. In the case of the free ones, the best known of this time are Avast, Avira, Bitdefender and AVG. While they use the same search engine as their paid version, they cut back on functionality and have a lot of trouble detecting new or variable threats (such as polymorphic viruses).

Generally, the changes are made "in cascade": companies will first update their database of paying customers and then that of free customers, giving priority to those who pay for the service.

To buy or not to buy the Antivirus?

First of all it is good that they know that although a few years ago it was enough to install a single program, today it is necessary to combine three functions: antivirus + anti-spyware (spyware that will send our data and preferences to whoever created it) + anti-trojans. So we have to analyze which brand offers us more features or complement it with additional programs.

In the case of a personal computer, where perhaps the most we can lose is program reinstallation time and a few photos from this year's vacation, it usually makes no difference. We must be careful with the pages we visit and emails with links that we do not know, but otherwise we will be well protected.

Very different is the case in our company. Here we not only have to protect business continuity and avoid unnecessary reinstallations and failures, but information is important and we must keep it as secure as possible. As we already said, you have to install several Antivirus Software (one with a paid search engine is suggested) and some complementary programs to complete the missing functions.

In addition, it would be logical to add perimeter security to the network with a firewall ("firewall", as it is known in Spanish). These programs can be installed on our own computers, be part of the antivirus that we hire or directly purchased as additional hardware. Its main function is to filter the traffic that enters and leaves our network, guaranteeing a wide level of effectiveness in the early detection of threats.

As I mentioned earlier, there may be paid versions of antivirus that have a firewall. It is a matter of analyzing the prices and services offered and making a decision according to the benchmarks (specialized analysis) that can be found on the internet.

Advantages of having an Antivirus

·         We will be almost completely insured against potential threats to our equipment, our network, and our information, which will improve our productivity by eliminating service calls for equipment failure.

·         By protecting our information, that of our company and our customers, we can guarantee that no one can use it to commit illegal acts or scams on our behalf.

·         We will avoid providing our personal data to dangerous pages, which would lead to unwanted electronic purchases and problems with our lines of credit.

Some useful tips and recommendations

·         Antivirus: Always use recognized brands. Evaluate if you are going to install a free or paid antivirus and do a Google search to analyze its performance on computers similar to yours and see if it is necessary to complement it with some other software to close a door that the main program does not close. The main antivirus brands are (in alphabetical order and not personal preference): 360, Avast !, AVG, Avira, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton and Panda.

·     Anti-spyware: Generally, paid antivirus has this option active, but if it doesn't exist, they must choose a complementary option.

·         Deleting cookies and security: There are programs that delete personal information from our PC that can be used to generate user profiles. The best known is CC Cleaner, and it is recommended to install it.

·         In any case, it is advisable to consult a specialist who will advise you on the best option based on your equipment, its use and the information to be protected.

 

 

Necessity of Using An Antivirus Software

 Necessity of Using An Antivirus Software

Computer viruses have lived between us and our computers for more than 40 years. These malicious programs that seek to access our data to damage, steal, or simply annoy us; they have remained an immovable threat in the world of computing, becoming increasingly complex. It's not just viruses that are a threat. The malware is any kind of software malware that infiltrates computers without our consent, and can take many forms: viruses, worms, Trojans, root kits , spyware , adware , etc. So if there are hundreds of thousands of threats waiting to infect and destroy us, doesn't the question we ask ourselves in the title of this article answer itself?

Yes and no.

We know that the operating system that is most affected by these threats is Windows, but this fact is not completely linked to the operating system itself, but to its users. The fact that Windows has been the most popular system on computers for decades has motivated malicious software creators to attack it heavily and take advantage of its many weaknesses.

One of the reasons why Windows became so popular is its ease of use and focus on the common user with little or no computer literacy. This feature has always been a double-edged sword, as it is precisely one of the reasons why these users are easy victims of malware. When the user acquires a minimum of knowledge about the proper use of a computer, these types of threats can be almost completely neutralized. It is not about closing the bridge, but about preventing people from jumping off it.

IS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO USE AN ANTIVIRUS?

The answer depends on the case. And to better answer it, we are going to individualize the possible scenarios. In the case of a personal computer that is only used by its owner, and no one else has access to it. Antivirus protection will only be necessary if the user's usage habits require it. By this I mean, that if the user does not know how to use their computer, that is: they have irresponsible browsing habits, they open any email without suspecting that this prize of one million pounds may not be true, they click on any banner have the free word written; he enjoys the free pornography offered by the Internet, on sites full of disreputable advertising whereby he is tricked and taken through a loop infinity of erotic offers that hide "locked cat", and so on.

So you not only need an antivirus, you need someone to teach you how to use the computer, and soon. In the case of a shared computer, antivirus is almost always the rule, unless all users are fully competent beings with minimal knowledge of computer security, the more users touch a machine, the more risks.

The truth is that if we follow some practical advice to defend ourselves from malware, and as long as no one else has access to our computer than we do, the use of an antivirus running permanently on our system, consuming resources, can become completely unnecessary.

LIVING WITHOUT ANTIVIRUS

In my case, I have not installed an antivirus on my computer since approximately 2009-2010. Why? Because I don't need it. Antiviruses are heavy, costly and system-intensive software tools , because they remain vigilant by running all the time in the background. By following some of these tips below, you can also start your new life without antivirus, and use that extra memory for something more productive.

Don't be a "happy trigger”: you don't need to click on everything we see when we surf the Internet. In 99% of the cases when a banner ad says that something is "free", it is not. Do not download how much program offers you to solve problems on your computer, improve your Internet speed, free up space on your hard drive, get rid of phantom threats, scan your system for errors, add a screensaver with little fish, save a kitten in danger, achieve world peace, etc.

No, the answer is no. All these "wonderful offers" are just waiting for you to accept to infect yourself, through deceptive strategies, offering lies to access your computer and harm you.

Be suspicious - Email is one of the main gateways for malware. Do not open emails from unknown senders, especially when the email in question does not make sense to you. Banks never, ever request personal information in this way. Nobody gives money away on the Internet. You are not so lucky, the lotteries you never participated in will never send you thousands of dollars. If you don't know about it, don't click on that link. If you didn't request it, don't even look at it.

If you know the sender and the email asks you to download attachments, be sure to verify that the person actually sent you those files. Many times our acquaintances are infected with malware that sends emails with malicious content to all their contacts, to spread quickly. If you have no idea why Maria or Pedro would be sending you links to marketing courses, ask them before opening the email.

Promiscuity: if your computer is going to have relationships with other users, the ideal is to use protection. If you find yourself in the situation that a friend or colleague passes you some information on a removable storage medium, such as a pen drive, a SD card, or an external hard drive; you must bear in mind that these devices may be infected with some type of malware, which will pass to your computer as soon as you open it.

In these cases, having an antimalware tool to scan the device before opening it would be ideal. I recommend Spybot Search & Destroy. But there are tools to scan files online for viruses, like the great Total Virus, so you don't have to install anything on your computer.

Another incredibly simple way to remove infections from removable media is to open it from a Linux distribution. If you happen to have a dual-boot boot and you have a Linux distro installed on your computer, the best thing you can do is always open external devices from it. Simply deleting suspicious files, whose names do not make sense to the owner of the removable memory, is enough to get rid of them.

Maintenance : it can happen that no matter how much we protect ourselves, how good browsing habits we have, how ninjas we have become over time to find the tiny real download button on a site with 9 different buttons, our system is still infected . The malware has evolved so much that sometimes it is impossible to avoid it all. Therefore, although we can live life without an antivirus monitoring all the time, we cannot spend eternity without doing maintenance on our computer. The preventive maintenance can help in this case. And the combination of antimalware tools like Spybot Search & Destroy and Malwarebytes; they can clean our computer from bad bugs in a few minutes. In addition to offering immunization against thousands of other threats.

Questions To Ask About Kids Internet Safety- Parental Controls

 Questions To Ask About Kids

Internet Safety- Parental Controls

What are parental controls?

Parental controls are tools that allow parents to manage their children's Internet use. There are many types, but most include functions such as website and content filters or time management in front of the screen, among many others.

 

Some of your child's favourite devices, apps, and websites have built-in parental controls, but it's important to know what you can do to decide if you need a more secure solution. But first of all, it is advisable to assess your child's age and level of maturity to help you decide what you should or should not access.  

Why is Internet safety important for children?

When it comes to the safety of your children, you may be wondering if it is a good idea to even let them connect to the Internet. But the statistics are there: According to a study by the Pew Research Center , children ages eight to twelve spend about six hours online every day, while teens spend an average of nine hours on the Internet each day. And even if you restrict access at home, kids are sure to spend time online from school or at their friends' house.

Since your child has many ways to access the Internet, it is important to ask yourself the following questions before helping you safely navigate today's interconnected world.

At what age should a child have access to the Internet?

Before continuing, assess whether your child is ready to go online. There is no magic number to know at what age your child will be ready to use the Internet, but according to the Child Trends research centre , 41% of children between 3 and 5 years old and 57% of children between 6 and 11 years old They use the Internet at home. And even if you limit access at home, they will likely start connecting at school.

But the fact that your child can access the Internet does not mean that they should access all its contents. It is important to research which apps and websites are appropriate for their age to determine when your child may be ready to use them and to assess whether they are mature enough to do so.

Luckily, many websites and apps, especially social media, have age restrictions that can help you navigate. Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube require users to be at least 13 years old. But it's just guidelines - it's up to you as the parent to determine if your 13-year-old is ready to access these apps.

 websites.

If you decide that your child is ready to set up accounts and apps, or to have a phone or device of their own, there are a few ways to help stay protected.

How do I protect my child on the Internet?

 

Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, children can accidentally stumble upon dangerous websites and content. For that reason, it's a good idea to set up child safety measures with some free tools on some of your child's favourite devices, apps, and websites.

·       iPhone parental controls:  restrict certain content and apps, and set screen time limits. If your child has their own iPhone, add your child's device to their "family" and set the phone usage time. From there, even if you share a device, you can configure various controls. 

·       Google Family Link (for Android devices):  Set screen time limits and controls remotely, from your device. To get started, search for Google Family Link on Google Play.

·       YouTube Restricted Mode:  Block adult content. On any YouTube page, click on your profile picture in the upper right corner. Go to the bottom of the drop-down menu and click "Restricted Mode" to enable or disable this feature.  

·       Google Safe Search:  Filter sexually explicit content in Google search results. Check the search settings to configure or enable it for all users under 13 through the Google Family Link app. 

·       Social media privacy settings:  Keep your child's activity and information restricted to friends only, and control who can follow you. Check your child's account settings on social media to define who can find them. 

These tools will not block all malicious websites on the Internet, so you may need to consider an additional parental control solution to strengthen your children's digital safety.

Are parental controls effective?

If you ask yourself this question, you should know that you are not alone. According to a 2019 study conducted by the Pew Research Center , 52% of parents use parental controls to restrict access to certain websites.

And there's good reason for it: When these controls are coupled with parental guidance, they can help encourage healthy habits in your child and help protect your home network and devices. Parental controls can not only limit screen time and restrict explicit content, but also help prevent cybercrime and data theft by keeping your child away from dangerous behaviours that can lead to security breaches .

That's why it's a great idea to consider combining your parental control and computer security apps so that they can work together to keep you and your family safe from the dangers of the Internet. McAfee ^® Total Protection comes with McAfee ^® Safe Family , a tool that gives you many of the parental control features we've discussed here, as well as award-winning antivirus to help protect your network and home devices.

But even reinforcing their protection at home, at some point your child will connect, perhaps with one of their friends, from other devices or networks that do not have defined parental controls. That's where education comes in.

How do I teach my child about Internet safety?

The secret to success in raising your children in the digital age is to be open when you talk to them and take the time to give them essential Internet safety tips, like these basic rules that we indicate below: 

·       Do not give your personal information on the Internet, such as your name, address or telephone number, without first talking to your parents.  

·       Don't share your passwords with anyone, not even your friends.  

·       Don't say anything online that you wouldn't say in person, and if you receive malicious messages or comments, tell your parents.  

·       Don't upload photos or download files without talking to their parents.  

·       Do not talk to anyone on the Internet that you do not know and do not meet anyone in person that you have met on the Internet.  

·       If you find something on the Internet that makes you feel uncomfortable, don't hide it. Talk to your parents about how you found it, how you can avoid it in the future, and ask them any questions you may have about the content.  

 

 

In some cases, your children may know more about the Internet than you do, so it is important to keep the lines of communication open. The more open you are, the more willing they are to talk about their lives online and the easier it will be for you to install good habits in them.