LeadingIT November 2019 Newsletter

NEXT Generation Technology Support

November 2019

Why Back-up and Disaster Recovery is Simply the Last Ditch Effort WeeklyST Friends Don’t Let Friends Have Bad IT LeadingIT Culture: Celebrations If You Connect You Must Protect: Security Tips for Using Public Wi-Fi

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No Ransom Payment Necessary

Why Back-up and Disaster Recovery is Simply the Last Ditch Effort You may be seeing MANY cities across the country victim to ransomware attacks.

Ransomware is a form of malware* that encrypts a victim’s files.

The attacker then demands a ransom from the victim to restore access to the data upon or after payment (but many times they do not even give access back even after payment). Then victims are shown instructions to how they can pay a fee to get their data back. The costs have ranged but municipalities lately have been paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars.

To learn more about how businesses, organizations and municipalities have gotten to the point of ransomware attacks, check out my last blog post. "3 Simple Mistakes That Will Lead your Business to a Ransomware Attack" at goleadingit.com/blog.

But something that many may not know is that cyber crime is surprisingly very human. It starts with the employees of your organization.

commonly believed. HOWEVER, education and awareness is the simple first step in keeping your network protected. A back-up and recovery system, of course, should be in place for your organization.

But something that many may not know is that cyber crime is surprisingly very human. It starts with the employees of your organization.

Is your IT provider educating you on how to decipher a spoof/phishing email? Does your IT provider take a proactive approach to ever-changing cybersecurity issues? One cannot assume. The cities and businesses that have been attacked had IT providers or even in-house IT professionals. This goes to show not every IT provider is proactive in keeping your network up-to-date.

If you are unsure if your provider is monitoring your network 24/7-365 to prevent issues with your networkcheck out these questions to ask your current or potential IT service provider. *Malware is a piece of software that is written with the intent of doing harm to data, devices or to people.

Originally published via LinkedIn Articles on 7/17/2019

So why is back-up and disaster recovery a “last ditch effort”? Shouldn’t it be the first thing to fall on when someone hacks into your information? This is what is

WEEKLYST Stephen Taylor’s weekly video series.

Stephen (CEO of LeadingIT) invites you to join him every week as he gives you a behind-the-scenes look at our growing, Chicagoland IT support company and cybersecurity firm.

Get the scoop on cybersecurity, business and personal every Wednesday here: goleadingit.com/weeklyst/.

Friends Don’t Let Friends Have Bad IT You may have just made the switch over, or have been with us since the beginning but do you remember the days you had bad IT? Whether you were being nickle and dimed, waiting days for a phone call back from your “IT guy” or just hoping that your data is safe and secure? Thank goodness those days are over!

There are still so many people out there with bad IT support.

Lead a referral over to us! When they sign-up with LeadingIT, you receive a $500 AMEX gift card. It is that simple.

Call 815-308-2095 with your referral’s information today!

Alternatively, email Stephen at Stephen@goleadingit.com.

LEADINGIT CULTURE

Laura Piekos

CELEBRATIONS

Happy Birthday!

November 26th

If You Connect You Must Protect: Security Tips for Using Public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi spots are convenient especially when free.

However, there are risks to using these networks. Be sure to use the following security tips when using public wi-fi’s the next time. It can be the difference between safe surfing and identify theft/data-loss.

Are you in a restaurant or hotel and using their complementary Wi-Fi hotspot? Be sure to connect to the correct network. Just like identifying red flags for phishing emails, you want to look for identifiers of suspicion such as incorrect spelling. Are you eating at McDonald’s? Be sure you are connecting to “McDonald’s” Wi-Fi rather than “McDonaldss” Wi-Fi. Subtle spelling errors could be the detriment to your personal information.

Be sure to pick a secure network. A secure network is a network with an added layer of security such as requiring a password. Most times, you will be able to indicate it is a secure network by a lock icon next to the Wi-Fi name. A secured network will have a password that will be given by a hotel front desk or a server at the restaurant you are dining at.

Set the “Ask to Join” Network option in your Settings.

When you select this option will be prompted to think

twice before connecting to a network, which is a good thing. Sometimes automatically connecting to the fastest internet is not always a good thing. The network can be completely insecure although it is a fast connection.

If at all possible, avoid doing more serious tasks on public Wi-Fi. When you connect to a public Wi-Fi, our suggestion is to NOT sign into accounts such as your credit card or bank. This is probably one of the easiest ways to share your information with the “bad guys” or cyber criminals as they are waiting for these kinds of opportunities to get your information.

Along with our last tip, it is important to avoid using your passwords when using public Wi-Fi networks. The sad reality is that anything you type in a public Wi-Fi can be compromised and passwords are exactly what cyber criminals are looking for. What you CAN do is use a password manager to login to your accounts as the passwords are encrypted (even on mobile apps).

Originally published 9/30/2019 via goleadingit.com/blog