Archives for April 2016

It’s that time of the year again when we clean old clothes out of the closet, scoop the dead leaves out of the gutters, dust the tops of our bookshelves and vacuum the rarely-seen floor behind the oven. It’s time to spring clean!

Better Business Bureau and the National Cyber Security Alliance also want you to add some items to your checklist: digital spring cleaning. Add the following important tasks to your annual ritual of cleaning house. Then step back and admire your work of a clean house and a secure digital world.

BBB and NCSA have outlined a four-week program. Here are the highlights:

Week 1: Keep Clean Machines

Keep your software up-to-date on all of your internet-connected devices: PCs, tablets, phones, printers, etc. Delete unused apps and review the permissions on the ones you use frequently.

Week 2: Make Sure You’re Secure

Make sure you’re using two-factor authentication for critical accounts. Secure your router with a strong password. Improve passwords by using upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. Don’t use the same password for all accounts, especially the critical ones like email, banking and healthcare.

Week 3: Digital File Purge and Protection

Clean out old email. Unsubscribe to emails you no longer read. Update your online photos by backing up important ones and deleting less flattering pictures. Update online relationships by reviewing social media connections. Store important data on a secure cloud site. Permanently delete old files.

Week 4: Clean Up Your Online Reputation

Review privacy and security settings for your online accounts. Delete old photos that no longer represent you on your social media accounts. Review the information for your online self and update where needed.

Now get outside and enjoy the flowers in bloom! Or perhaps, call your mom and take her to Lilac Sunday here in the Boston area!

Did you know, “90% of organizations lack full confidence” in the security of their IoT devices, according to the 2015 AT&T State of IoT Security survey? Chances are pretty high that you’re one of those organizations!

AT&T’s study found that in the last two years, vulnerability scans of IoT devices have increased 458%! There may be a ton of potential benefits from implementing connected devices, but with reward comes high risk. Have you implemented a security strategy with your IoT plan?

Follow these basic requirements, as outlined in the report, to secure a foundation of security for your connected devices:

Be up to date. Every device needs a way for you to ensure that its software and firmware are up to date. The ideal process is automated (e.g. software-over-the-air/SOTA and firmware-over-the-air/FOTA) and allows updates from an authorized source such as your IT department.

It can be reset. Every device must have a way to reset it to system default if necessary.

Do not allow default passwords. Default passwords are easy to hack and should not be permitted. Require your user to define a unique and secure password on their device in order to be granted access to the network.

Core services only. Do not accept services from a device that are not defined as required to support core functions.

Shut the back doors. Ensure that devices do not have entries that could be exploited by a vendor or others to gain access.

Get support. The device makers should provide good online support that includes manuals, updated instructions and access to updates. There should also be contact information in order to report any problems.

Label it. Put a basic label on each device that includes support information and information about the authorized operator.

Organizations in every industry are reaping the benefits of the new world of IoT implementations, but they come with risks. Make sure you’ve assessed these risks and are taking the best approach to securing devices, so you can see new business value while feeling confident about keeping potential risks in check.

A few decades ago, not many people had more than one PC. Today, how many devices in your home connect to the internet? And what speed is your internet connection?

The growth of the internet has been extreme. And that’s an understatement. A few decades ago, the thought of running out of IP addresses was only a theoretical concern. Today, it’s very real and in need of solutions. Check out these numbers concerning internet usage:

• 40% of the world population has an internet connection today.

• 1% of the world population had an internet connection in 1995.

• There are an estimated 3.4 billion internet users.

• 48% of those come from Asia.

• 22% from North and South America.

• China alone has more users than the United States, Japan and India combined.

There simply weren’t enough IP addresses to support this exponential growth. Network Address Translation (NAT) to the rescue! This temporary technological hero keeps the internet up and running for the billions demanding it while the future of IP addresses is in the works: IPv6 (uses 128 bit addresses instead of 32 like IPv4).

NAT connects your private world to the public network. For all of the devices on your network, you need a single public IP to access the internet. Within your network, your router assigns private IP addresses from a designated range. The same functionality works for business networks as well.

Think of it like an office receptionist, a great example from Jeff Tyson. You have given a client your main office number, the only one that they know, and when they call the receptionist, you’ve asked that this specific client be forwarded to you. Any other calls are not sent to your extension as you’ve only requested this important client be connected. When the client calls, the receptionist checks a table for your extension and forwards the call to you.

Two benefits of NAT are security and network administration. We can explain it with the receptionist example again. Just like the receptionist doesn’t send you calls from sales reps, your router won’t send your PC traffic where you haven’t initiated the request. And when you get a new office extension, clients can still contact you because the receptionist is given the updated number. If you update FTP or web servers, you won’t bring down your website because you update the information with the router instead of updating each link on each page.

NAT may not provide a stable, long-term solution, but its conservation of IP addresses has sustained the network and internet access we currently demand. It also provides security, which is an incredibly important benefit as we continue to see increasing cyber security threats.