InfoSphere™ Business Alerts And Intelligence: Vulnerability (computing)

Showing posts with label Vulnerability (computing). Show all posts

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

5 Ways To Keep Your Most Important Data Safe!

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With the widespread acceptance of cloud computing, mobile device uplink and download access, and other publicly shared resources and potentially interceptable means of storing, accessing, transferring or working on critical data, there are some very dangerous dependencies and vulnerabilities emerging which could wreak havoc with your business and your life.

Shared services may be economically viable and highly advantageous, but they don't provide a foolproof method of keeping your most important data (we old-schoolers like to refer to this as hard drive material and computer desktop material -- I love the icons I've put on my computer screen...they comfort me) readily available for your use (in a comfortable format), or safe from unauthorized sharing or loss.

The problems and risks with dependency upon the cloud (software as a service) or even partial integration of cloud services are many. To cite just several:

1) The cloud can be pierced or intercepted and data or files either seen, stolen or eradicated;

2) The cloud is still based upon a platform (with servers and such) and can either be hacked into (as stated above), or can be infested with malware, viruses and a variety of other cybercritters [a friendly and cute lingovation , rather like calling a cancer a "multiplicative cellular overachiever"], any of which can infest every single user's files and devices with the dizzying speed and lethality of a pandemic - an illustration of the areas of vulnerability follows - simply multiply a problem with a server, infrastructure, the platform and the application by the number of clients and you've done a preliminary assessment of the first bout of the 'theoretical' pandemic...

3) There has been far too little discussion of the effects of a microwave and electromagnetic bursts upon the viability or integrity of any cloud-based system. These forces, either in general or as short, deliberate bursts, could disrupt or destroy cloud service.
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Here Are The Five Ways To Keep Your Most Important Data Safe:

1) Always keep your most important hard drive data (images, correspondence, audio and video files) on a back-up hard drive storage device which is unhooked (unless it is being updated) to any of your computer or electronic connections. Keep it in a very safe, fireproof and waterproof, antimagnetic place;

2) Using powerful encryption, attach these files to emails and store them on a web-based email service such as Gmail or Yahoo!. This is more for disaster recovery contingencies than for privacy purposes. Do not store this data on any web-based email service which is affiliated with your cloud host provider;

3) Be certain to double up on your anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-malware protection which you use on your own personal computing or mobile device;

4) Do not open inbound emails or attachments or download any files or applications on the same apparatus you use for storing your most important data. Use a second device for that specific purpose;

5) In case you need to access your important data or to save all or part of it from some site other than your own (i.e., when you're traveling), get a virtual desktop program, and travel with a storage drive or similar apparatus.

Please download the following white paper. It is free, there are no subscription fields to fill out, it is printable and can easily be shared with your colleagues and contacts in all of your social media groups. It is wonderfully informative and it cites "5 Ways To Virtualize Desktops.":

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?2zzdlm5y9tcf4ox

Just For Fun: If you need to, always have a high-powered, thorough file shredder and eraser program installed on any computer which you have which your fear that someone is going to access without your consent. At the time of this particular writing, there is no application quite as suitable for eradicating all traces of important data and files from your mobile devices. A colleague laughingly said that the best way to obliterate all discernible or re-constructable traces of files from a mobile device is to stomp on it, pull out any SIM card or other bit of chippery, and take the demolished remnants and immerse them in a solution of sulfuric acid, nitric acid (or if you are opposed to acid, as were my parents when I was growing up - kidding...) drop the pieces to macerate in a container of Liquid Plumr.

Thank you, as always for reading me.

Douglas E. Castle for The InfoSphere Business Alerts And Intelligence Blog, The CrowdFunding Incubator Blog, The Taking Command Blog and The Sending Signals Blog.

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Monday, November 7, 2011

Stuxnet's Spawn Increases Widespread Cyberthreat - Viral Adaptation And Accelerated Evolution

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Increasingly sophisticated malware (mostly of the trojan horse and worm varieties) is propagating and evolving in terms of sophistication at an incredible rate. These forms of malware are increasingly targeting small to middle-sized businesses which might be more vulnerable to attacks. Many of these are designed specifically to commandeer all of the systems and functions which are subject to the infected computer's control, including utilities (like HVAC, lighting, auto-locking physical security doors and zones, tracking of personnel, communications with other data systems and the like).

The following common sense precautions might prove helpful, but (lamentably) offer no certain guarantees:

1) Thoroughly screen any surfing activity, email and downloads with anti-viral and anti-malware defense sytems.

2) Do not install any new computers, peripherals, components, drives or programs which have not been thoroughly virus and malware tested. The items are frequently infected before they have even been packaged for sale. Don't be given a false sense of security because of unbroken shrinkwrap.

3) Run systemwide anti-viral and anti-malware checks with increasing frequency.

4) Maintain vigorous controls over employee outside access to internal systems.

5) Password-protect all computer access. Passwords must be algorithmically changed periodically.

6) Sensitive data should be encrypted.

7) Important information should be backed-up off-site with increased frequency.

8) For key physical security functions, manual override systems must be put into place, with their keys, codes and protocols kept in the hands of a limited number of very trustworthy individuals.

9) Limit access to critical data via mobile applications - they have increasingly become the targets (and portals) of malware and spyware attacks.
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The excerpt which follows comes to us courtesy of a ZDNet newsletter, and it makes for excellent reading.

Stuxnet 2.0? Researchers find new 'cyber-surveillance' malware threat
Symantec warns of a new high-end Trojan that's "nearly identical to Stuxnet" but notes that the malware has a completely different goal.
READ FULL STORY |

More coverage:
Which is the most popular malware propagation tactic?
The greatest security vulnerability: You

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Increased vigilance is the Human key to the threat of data dnd communications breaches by ever-more-sophisticated forms of subtle, but incredibly powerful malware. Computer dependencies must also be counter-balanced with manual systems having the potential to override computer controls which may be subject to hijacking.

Douglas E Castle

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