Blogs

Archive for September, 2021

4 Tips for Protection Against Unsafe Emails

Posted on September 27th, 2021 by admin@mismo2023

Earlier, the spotting of malicious content in emails was quite an easy task. However, due to the rise in technology, it has become increasingly difficult to detect this malware. One of the primary reasons for it is that nowadays, these cyber-attacks are planned and executed by professionals, who make it seem like they have been sent from a known contact– might be a friend, your work colleague or from your bank.

Now, the question arises- what are the various ways to avoid such emails from infiltrating your system and threatening your data? Keep reading to learn more!

Keeping your IT security system up to date:

If someone in your organization accidentally opens a malicious email, then the chances of your data being attacked are reduced if the following layers of security are already present in your system: firewall, antivirus, spam filtering, web protection, backup, and patch management. However, it is integral to remember that these programmes need to be constantly maintained and updated. Every day, the world of cyber-security gets to witness a new malware that is attacking companies around the globe. For example, in May 2021, a group that goes by the name of ‘Nobelium’, launched a global attack in which more than 3000 email accounts across 150 organizations were affected.

Adding a Layer of Protection to Microsoft Advanced Threat Detection:

By using Microsoft Exchange Online or Office 365 for your emails, you get to add an extra layer of security on Microsoft’s inexpensive Advanced Threat Detection software. This provides real-time protection against unfamiliar attacks. All the suspicious content must go through a routine behavioural malware analysis that uses Machine Learning (ML) techniques for evaluation. Any data that seems unsafe is sandboxed in a detonation chamber before being sent to its intended recipient(s).

Overall, it is considered a very useful tool as it rules out the factor of human error.

Using Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA):

The MFA is a simple, yet effective method of verifying your identity. It incorporates two different methods for authentication, the first one is usually entering a password, followed by entering a code sent to your phone via text message. Many applications, like Twitter, have a two-factor authentication system which is like an additional layer of security to your Twitter account.

You can ask your IT administrator to set up an MFA for Office 365 so that all the members of your organization can utilize it.

The backup tools for your data must be of premium quality:

Imagine, if all the important apps and data of your company get affected by malware. How will you manage it? The answer to this question is, having an outstanding backup and recovery strategy.

Now, how can an organization assess that they have a well-performing backup and recovery system? The following points can be considered:

Your service must provide the provision of at least one off-site cloud backup. The company must try to make it as isolated and protected as possible.

Consider the following questions:

  • Does your service provider frequently back up your critical data and applications? If yes, then is the process continuous or not? Can you afford to lose your most critical data and applications for even a brief period, without adversely affecting your company’s revenue and profitability?
  • What is the threshold of productivity that you are comfortable in losing, if you are unable to access your core business applications? The duration of restoring your entire data may take anywhere between half a day to an entire week, depending solely upon the size and complexity of the backup. This means that it might take a while before you can resume your work, which could really stir up your schedule.
  • Do your backups undergo regular testing? If not, then your organization is under a significant risk of having a backup that fails to restore when needed the most. Any leading backup service will always include the automated testing of your backups in its package.

The above-mentioned list might not cover all the aspects, but it certainly covers the most critical ones to protect your organization’s system and data. The rule of thumb is, the more you automate the process of handling malicious content, the better it is for your company. Contact us today to get the best assistance for protection against cyber-attacks!

How is hybrid cloud useful for midsize/large businesses?

Posted on September 24th, 2021 by admin@mismo2023

A hybrid cloud can be defined as a cloud computing environment that utilizes a combination of on-premises private cloud and third-party public cloud services with instrumentation between the two. Cloud service providers offer services such as data storage, work environments & security. Businesses can customize their experience to meet their demands and objectives.

If we compare the hybrid cloud market to other cloud services in the past few years, we can notice a staggering growth in the former. This is because of the additional benefits that the hybrid cloud market provides, which any data-driven organization demands.

It permits companies to scale computing resources and assists in the eradication of investment in a massive chunk of its capital in handling short-term spikes in demand. It is also useful in cases where the organization has to free up local resources to make room for more sensitive data and/or applications.

The benefits of Hybrid cloud

Data Backup and Business Continuity

Hybrid clouds are much better in backing up and restoration of data. For IT companies, data is everything and that is why mitigating data loss is of greatest importance.

Companies can save not only money but also their time and resources, instead of employing DIY disaster management and recovery measures. And what’s more – the downtime is negligible because retrieving lost or misplaced data has never been easier and faster.

Data Privacy and Security

One of the biggest benefits of choosing a hybrid cloud is the choice of data location based on its usage. This is because in some cases, the public cloud is not suitable to store certain types of business data. On the other hand, the public cloud offers a lot of compliance offerings, making it a choice to easily achieve compliance certification.

Scalability

It is important to note that the scalability offered by private clouds is quite limited. On the other hand, the scalability offered by the Hybrid cloud is virtually unlimited. But, shifting from an in-house cloud infra to public cloud servers is not cost-effective always, however, the Return on Investment (ROI) makes up for it.

Save your money!

Cost can be an alarming factor for companies that are running private clouds on-premises. A huge chunk of the company’s IT budgeting is often spent on overhead costs, investment of the infrastructure, and maintenance. However, it doesn’t have to!

The entry of hybrid cloud solutions has clearly helped companies in significant cost savings, and because these hybrid cloud solutions are essential, a link between public and private clouds there is no compromise whatsoever when it comes to the security and sanctity of the data as well as the infrastructure.

Choice of Public Cloud

Certain companies may choose a service from Amazon Web Services due to its wide & flexible offerings; others might choose from Google Cloud Platform for its open-source support, and ease of use from Microsoft Azure. Ultimately, such flexibility allows a company to have the best services from the cloud provider that meet their needs.

Companies choose hybrid cloud over private cloud because of these great benefits! Shift to a hybrid cloud system & see it yourself. Mismo Systems helps companies to get the best hybrid cloud solution based on their needs and goals. Contact us today!

How to Protect Your Data from a Ransomware Attack

Posted on September 22nd, 2021 by admin@mismo2023

What is a Ransomware attack?

It can be defined as a malware attack that is carried out deliberately to encrypt your data and/or the whole system. In most cases, a ransom is demanded by the assailant to decrypt your data, so that you can access it again. Lately, there has been a surge in the demand for cryptocurrency as a form of payment since it is less traceable. The amount of ransom demanded can be small or large, depending on the importance of the data as well as the financial status of the victim.

How to build an effective Ransomware Data Recovery Strategy?

1) Protection of backups—Your backups are useful only if they are safe as well as accessible. It must be ensured that the backups created are as protected as your data so that data can be recovered quickly and safely.

2) Formulate your recovery plan—An efficient and effective ransomware data recovery plan for all assets and data must be formulated, with special emphasis on the mission-critical ones. Even if there is an attack, a master backup or image must be present to restore and/or rebuild all the data.

3) Create offsite copies of your data—Anyone who is dealing with data must store a copy of it either offsite, online, or in fact, both. It is an integral step in data protection as it safeguards your data even if your on-site backups are under attack. While you are storing these copies, remember to secure the data just as you would for the primary copy.

4) Categorize your data—Start by building an inventory of your data. This step is done to determine how your data should be categorized and stored. These categories might be: regulated, proprietary, critical, or valuable. Once the inventory is set up, how data needs to be protected can be finalized. Plus, data backup can also be initiated.

5) Identify the endpoints—You must be aware of all the data endpoints to identify where these ransomware infections might come from. Categorization of these endpoints can also be done to determine high-value endpoints so that they can be protected.

How can an attack be prevented?

A) Do not click on unsafe links: Most browsers display a warning if you try to open an unsafe link. Do not go forward unless and until you are sure that the given website/link is safe. In most cases, an automatic download may be initiated when you open the link, which could potentially lead to a ransomware infection.

B) Do not disclose personal information: It should be noted that personal information should never be disclosed in a text, e-mail message, or voice call from an untrusted source. Usually, these ransomware attackers try to collect personal information in advance, so that they can design customized phishing messages specifically for you.

C) Suspicious email attachments should not be opened: E-mail attachments are one of the most common forms of a Ransomware attack. You should avoid opening e-mail attachments from unknown sources. To check whether the e-mail is trustworthy, verify the sender and their e-mail address. Do not open files that prompt you to run macros to view them, because an infectious file will run a malicious macro that will give the control of your data and/or system to the attacker.

D) Don’t insert unknown USB sticks into your system: USB sticks/Hard disks/CDs from unknown sources may contain ransomware.

E) Always keep your programs and operating system up to date: Regular updates can be very useful in protecting your operating system from malware, as it contains the latest security patches.

F) Download files only from reliable sources: Never use unknown sites to download software or media files. Many people, especially youngsters tend to download free but plagiarized content from websites that often contain viruses and malware.

G) Always use a VPN if you are on a public Wi-Fi network: Public Wi-Fi should never be used for making sensitive transactions. If it is unavoidable, then remember to use a good-quality VPN service with it.

Switch to Azure Cloud & help your organization avoid any ransomware attack. Protect your progress without excessive storage costs & pay only for what you use with Azure’s PAYG (Pay-as-you-go) model. To know more about Azure cloud solutions, contact us.