Fred Rappuhn, Author at NuTech Services LLC

Mar, 2016

What’s the Best Way to Store Your Company’s Data? Find Out!

March 31st is World Backup Day! This occasion begs the question, “How much thought have you put into where your data is stored?” If you haven’t thought through your data storage options, then your files may be located in several different places. This could make accessing your data difficult, as well as jeopardize your network’s security. To get you started, let’s take a look at these four data storage options.

Storing Your Data Locally
The most common way for businesses to store their data is over their internal networks, like on in-house server units and workstations. Storing information locally offers companies the most control over their data, and with the right protections in place, it can be a very secure option. However, as is the case with every data storage scenario, if security isn’t given enough attention, then storing data locally can actually put your information at risk. One advantage of utilizing an internal network for data storage is a quick and reliable connection that’s not dependent upon the Internet. Although, this is at the financial expense of having to maintain your own IT infrastructure, which includes workstations, cables, server units, routers, and more.

Storing Your Data in the Cloud
Storing data in the cloud is an option that’s grown tremendously for businesses of all sizes. The advantage of the cloud is that it offers organizations anytime/anywhere access to their data, which is super convenient when dealing with multiple office locations and remote workers. Plus, the fact that you don’t have to maintain your own IT equipment will save you a boatload on your operating budget.

On the control side of things, storing your data in the cloud makes you dependent upon the policies of your cloud service provider. This is why it’s important to find a cloud provider that best suits your company’s data needs, instead of just going with the first provider that comes along. The same can be said of cloud security. If you’re dealing with sensitive information or data that requires strict security protocols, then you’re going to want to work closely with your cloud service provider to cover your bases.

Storing Your Data Off-Site
Off-site data storage is similar to storing your data in the cloud. You can access it from a remote computer, and with a reliable connection, it will be there when you need it. One of the most popular uses for off-site data storage is backing up data. For example, if a disaster strikes your company’s office and damages your in-house IT infrastructure, then you’re going to be glad that your data is off-site and safe.

Backup and Disaster Recovery
One great tool that takes advantage of storing your data both in the cloud and locally is a Backup and Disaster Recovery solution. BDR takes multiple snapshots of the data on your network and sends them to the cloud where they can be quickly retrieved, should you ever need it. Plus, if your server unit stopped working for any reason, BDR can then serve as a temporary replacement while the server issue gets resolved. This kind of convenience is possible thanks to BDR’s ability to securely store your backed up data off-site, and have it be available for when you need it the most.

For more information about data storage, the cloud, and BDR, give NuTech Services a call at 810.230.9455.

Mar, 2016

Tip of the Week: Do Your Eyes Hurt? Try Adjusting Your Screen’s Brightness

Computer monitors have been getting bigger and brighter for years; improving on picture quality, responsiveness, and energy efficiency. However, working in a dark room in front of a bright screen can lead to eye strain and even headaches. You can avoid these side effects by lowering the brightness on your screen. Furthermore, lowering your screen’s brightness can save you precious battery life on your laptop, so it’s worth keeping these tips in mind for that fact alone.

Adjust Screen Brightness on Your Laptop
Turning down the screen brightness on your laptop is simple, however, the process might be a little different depending on the make and model of your device.

Check out the line of F keys at the top of your keyboard; do any of them have a little icon that looks like a light bulb, a sun, or any other light source? Once you’ve found them, the one with more light around it increases your brightness, while the one with less light around it decreases the brightness. You may need to find your Fn or Function key, and hold it down to trigger the brightness options as well.

If you don’t see the brightness keys, it’s possible your laptop doesn’t have them, or has buttons on the front or side that control the brightness.

Manually Adjust Screen Brightness in Windows 10
Keep in mind that the aforementioned tip only applies to laptops. Therefore, if you want to decrease the brightness of your desktop PC, there are a few ways to do this. For one, you can click on the battery icon in Windows 10’s notification area, which lets you adjust the brightness. If you want to use the Settings app to do the same thing, that’s also an option. All you have to do is open Settings from the Start menu, select System, and choose Display. Then, it’s just a matter of adjusting the slider to what you want the brightness to be.

You can also click the search icon on your and simply type “brightness settings“.

If you’re using Windows 7 or 8, you can adjust your screen’s brightness by going through the Control Panel. Select Hardware and Sound, and select Power Options. A Screen brightness slider will be available at the bottom of the Power Plans window.

Automatically Adjust Brightness When Your Battery’s Low
You can set your Windows 10 PC’s brightness to automatically adjust in relation to your remaining battery life. Open Settings > System > Battery save, and select Battery saver settings. Make sure that the Lower screen brightness while in battery saver is checked, and you can use the adjustable bar to choose the percentage at which the screen will dim. By default, it will be set at 20 percent battery remaining.

Bonus Tip: Don’t Forget Your Monitor Settings
Although in our opinion, it’s usually more difficult to navigate through the monitor settings with the buttons on the front or the side of your computer monitor, but in extreme cases, it doesn’t hurt to check them if your eyes are experiencing fatigue. Most monitors have several different settings, including brightness, contrast, and color adjustments that you can tweak to make it easier on the eyes. We wish we could give you some tips for this, but virtually every monitor and manufacturer have slightly different configurations.

By effectively managing your screen’s brightness, you can help keep your eyes focused and in less pain. Plus, your battery will last longer, which is a win-win situation for both your work and your device.

For more great tips and tricks, subscribe to NuTech Services’s blog.

Mar, 2016

4 Ways Cloud Computing Can Benefit Any Business

Is your business using the cloud in 2016? If not, you should know that it’s a great tool that’s designed to help your business better manage its data and application deployment. However, the cloud can be used for so much more, and it’s quickly becoming an indispensible tool for SMBs.

Here are four ways that cloud computing is changing the way that small businesses handle their technology.

Data Storage
The cloud is a great way to share data amongst your entire organization, and deploy it on a per user basis. Businesses can store their information in a secure, off-site location, and the cloud allows them to access it through an Internet connection. This eliminates the need to host your data internally, and allows your employees to access information from any approved device through a secure connection, effectively allowing for enhanced productivity when out of the office.

Application Deployment
Your business relies on having various types of applications and software solutions available for use. If you lose access to these programs, you could be facing lost productivity and downtime, which could directly influence your bottom line. If you’re using the cloud to deploy your applications, any Internet-connected device can access the applications you need to keep work moving forward at a respectable pace. This opens up all sorts of opportunities for cost savings, including providing your team with the ability to work from anywhere.

Virtualization
The cloud can be an effective tool for virtualization, which is a great method for cutting costs for your business. By virtualizing physical IT components, you’re abstracting them for use in the cloud. This means that you’re storing them in the cloud. Businesses can virtualize servers, desktop infrastructures, and even entire networks for use in the cloud. Doing so eliminates the physical costs associated with operating equipment, allowing you to dodge unnecessary costs and limit the risk of hardware failure. For example, you can deploy all of your users’ desktops virtually from the cloud so you don’t need to rely heavily on more expensive workstation technology, and can instead use thin clients. Simply log into your company cloud and access all of your applications and data on virtually any Internet connected device.

Backup and Disaster Recovery
A BDR device relies on the cloud to ensure quick and speedy recovery deployment. The BDR takes snapshots of your data, which are sent to both a secure, off-site data center, and the cloud. From there, you can access your data or set a recovery into motion. If you experience hardware failure, the BDR can temporarily take the place of your server, allowing you ample time to find a more permanent solution. The cloud is crucial to the success of a BDR device, simply because the cloud is where the BDR stores an archive of its data.

With so many great uses for the cloud, only one question remains: how will your business use the cloud in 2016? NuTech Services can help you get started. To find out more about your options, give us a call at 810.230.9455.

Mar, 2016

Tip of the Week: How to Set Your Browser to Automatically Refresh Itself

Have you ever been in a situation where you have to continuously hit the refresh button in your browser? Maybe you’re waiting for an online sale to go live, or you’re waiting on an online forum for a critical response. Or, maybe you’re just waiting for an important email. Either way, manually refreshing your browser multiple times can be both annoying and inefficient. We’ll show you how you can refresh it automatically.

Install Super Auto Refresh
You can use the Super Auto Refresh Chrome extension to save yourself from brutally assaulting your browser’s refresh button. You can do so by following the above link in the Chrome Web Store, and selecting + ADD TO CHROME.

Once you’ve successfully downloaded and installed the extension, an icon will appear in the far-right side of Chrome’s address bar. Click it, and you’ll see a drop-down menu.

Next, you’ll need to select how often you want the page to be refreshed. You could have the page refresh as often as every two seconds, or as infrequently as every 60 minutes.

If you’ve reached the point where you don’t need the browser to refresh automatically anymore, you can stop Super Auto Refresh from doing so. Click the icon in the address bar, and select the red Stop tile.

One additional feature of Super Auto Refresh is that you can easily manage the tabs that you’ve enabled the extension on. Online Tech Tips explains how to do so:

If you click on the little green hamburger icon to the right of the word “Refresh,” a new tab will load that will list out all the pages that are currently set to refresh along with the set time intervals and the amount of time remaining before the next refresh. Note that if you close a tab and then reopen it later, the extension will remember and apply the same refresh settings.

We also want to mention that a page with Super Auto Refresh activated on it only applies to that particular tab. Other open tabs won’t automatically be refreshed. They will only do so if you activate the extension within the tab. You can easily open a new tab that’s unaffected by Super Auto Refresh by selecting the hamburger icon > New tab.

Please be aware that constantly refreshing a web page can eat up a significant amount of bandwidth, so make sure that you’re mindful of how you use Super Auto Refresh on your company network.

For more great tips and tricks, subscribe to NuTech Services’s blog.

Mar, 2016

How Today’s Teens React to Windows 95 [VIDEO]

Do you remember the good old days of Windows 95? The nostalgia factor might be one reason to bring this up again, but the fact remains that Windows has changed significantly over the past twenty years; so much so that teenagers who were born just twenty years ago, after the introduction of Windows 95, may have no clue what they’re looking at.

You can watch the video here:

Watching these teens react to Windows 95 is borderline painful. Some make comments that it looks “prehistoric,” “dull,” and “ancient,” while others remark on how it looks somewhat like the operating systems that they are familiar with today. While many teens are in total shock over what they see, you can tell that some of the older ones are more appreciative of what they’re looking at, despite agreeing that it’s a very primitive OS for today’s tech-centric world.

Here are some observations from this video:

“How do you turn this thing on?” Many of the teens were confused about how to power-on the PC and power it down. The large power button on the old CRT monitor drew a lot of attention, but the teens spent quite some time looking for the power button on the main component itself.
Windows has grown more refined and personal: Several of the teens who responded in the video mention that it’s a little rough around the edges, but that it still seems somewhat familiar to them due to Microsoft keeping largely the same interface. Today’s Windows operating system holds many of the features that were present in Windows 95, including the Start menu and several icons, like Internet Explorer (now Edge), and the Recycle Bin, but its graphics interface and usability is much better.
“Oh no, there’s no WiFi!” These teens open up Internet Explorer (some of them saying that it’s somehow even worse than it is today), but are shocked that the PC doesn’t have WiFi. It just goes to show that they’ve been spoiled by two decades of technological innovations. People now believe that the worst thing that can happen to them is not having WiFi.
Technology has grown much easier to use: When given an explanation of how DOS systems work, the teens are in shock over how complicated and impossible it sounds to use the technology. One girl even makes a solid statement, “If users of consumer technology, like iPhones or iPads, had to enter in commands to open apps, nobody would use them.” We’ve grown accustomed to simple, easy-to-use technology, to the point where it becomes a chore to use anything less than the most recent operating system.

Either way, it’s incredible to think about just how far technology has come in just a few decades. Where will technology be decades from now? Do you have any fond memories of Windows 95? Let us know in the comments.

Mar, 2016

The LG Rolling Bot Can Patrol Your Home or Office [VIDEO]

Consumer technology continues to grow more versatile and connected, allowing users to perform functions previously unheard of. One such piece of consumer tech is the latest in rolling security bots, the LG Rolling Bot. Basically, what you see is what you get; it’s a rolling security robot that can be controlled remotely through a smartphone.

The LG Rolling Bot can handle many small tasks with relative ease. The Bot connects to your home or office WiFi connection, and it’s controlled via a smartphone app. The Rolling Bot is equipped with a camera that lets you see what it sees on your smartphone screen, and the Bot’s microphone lets you listen to what’s going on at home through your phone’s speakers. You can also speak through the device if you’d like, allowing you to broadcast your voice through the Bot into the room it’s in. Furthermore, the LG Rolling Bot can connect to and interact with other smart home appliances via Bluetooth. In some instances, this can work to your advantage, such as for turning off appliances or other devices that you accidentally left operational, or turning up the heat before you head home.

Another feature that you might find fun with the LG Rolling Bot is the built-in laser pointer. While this might seem like a relatively useless feature, just think of how much fun it would be to mess with your pets while you’re not home. By wirelessly monitoring your cat, dog, goldfish, or other pet, you can help keep them entertained, even while you’re not there. Using the voiceover feature can let you communicate with them even when you’re not there, which might be fun for you, but confusing for them.

You can see the LG Rolling Bot in action in this video from DigitalTrends:

Granted, if you do choose to use this device, there’s always the issue of security. Many Internet of Things devices run into the same problem. Since you’re using your home or office WiFi connection, there’s always the possibility that your LG Rolling Bot could be hacked or infected with viruses or malware. If this happens, hackers might be able to commandeer your camera and spy on you through the device. Having a toy like this get hacked might seem like it holds little consequence, but considering how it has a camera, speaker, microphone, and can control Bluetooth-enabled devices, it could be more dangerous and unsettling than you might think.

Or, worse yet, what would happen if a hacker were to take control of your device? If this happens, they could perform any of the features that you would be able to. There’s a precedent set for this type of hacking activity; there are horror stories of devices like baby monitors, garage doors, and even Internet-connected vehicles being hacked. In general, however, the Internet of Things devices most likely to get hacked are the ones of very little consequence. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take precautions when working with web-connected devices, though.

Can you think of some less conventional ways you could use the LG Rolling Bot? Let us know in the comments!

Mar, 2016

Tip of the Week: 3 Ways to Be Productive When Your Internet Connection Fails

Modern businesses are reliant on certain parts of their infrastructure to keep operations functioning. For example, if your building’s electricity were to go down, what would you do? What about if you lost Internet access? Would your business be able to keep your employees busy, or would the downtime experienced be enough to cause panic?

One might understand why a lack of power could lead to downtime, but an Internet connection? Many modern organizations run their infrastructure out of the cloud, which requires an Internet connection to access. If this is the case, productivity grinds to a halt, and you won’t be able to access critical files or applications. The fact of the matter is that your business should be prepared to deal with worst-case scenarios like this, even if they’re unlikely. You should have a plan for how to handle a loss of an Internet connection.

So, what exactly can you do if your business’s office loses power or your Internet is down for a significant period of time? You only want to send your employees home for the day if they can’t get any work done at all. If you anticipate that the power outage or downed Internet will only last for an hour or two, that’s time that can be spent on other in-house tasks that you might put off from time to time.

Here are a few ideas that might help you get through the day without letting downtime kill your bottom line.

Hold Staff Meetings
If your staff meetings don’t require the use of technology, what better time to hold them than when the Internet or electricity is on the fritz? This way, you can address important initiatives, team building, or problems within the office, without allowing your team to waste time. Think of it as a really convenient inconvenience!

Organize or Clean the Office
You know what they say; if you have time to lean, you have time to clean! If you’ve been looking for an opportunity to organize files or clean up a certain part of your office, there’s no better time to do so than during downtime. If your team needs an excuse to stay in the office to make their rent, mortgage, car payment, etc, put them to work.

Perform Employee Evaluations
Similar to how you can hold staff meetings during an outage, you can also do employee evaluations. Take some time to critically evaluate your employees and let them know how they’re doing. Ask them what’s working for them, what can be improved upon, and why. By the time you’ve finished, you’ll have a better idea of how your team is doing, and what you can do to make it better.

When All Else Fails, Send Your Employees Home
If the downtime just seems like too much to bear, there’s always the option of having your employees go home for the day. However, this might not feel like an option, especially if you have important work that needs to be done. You need to ask yourself if letting them stick around is worth it or not. For some businesses, a workday without the Internet may be shot and calling it a day may make the most sense for your bottom line.

While making the best of downtime might be your only option, at NuTech Services, we consider downtime to be an emergency. If your network or a critical part of your IT infrastructure goes down, leaving your employees high and dry, our technicians go into emergency mode.

Want to learn how we can help your business prevent downtime? Give us a call at 810.230.9455 for an IT assessment and give us the opportunity to show you how to always be productive and profitable.

Mar, 2016

The Super-Creepy Reason Why You’ll Want to Secure Your Surveillance Camera

With approximately 5.5 million new devices being connected to the Internet everyday, the Internet of Things presents the biggest security challenge to date for IT professionals. Essentially, an IoT device that’s not secured can easily fall prey to hackers, and with so many different devices being connected, it’s easy to overlook a device or two, like your security cameras.

The creepy risk associated with not securing an Internet-connected security camera was recently reported on by Lisa Vaas of Naked Security. In her article, “DVR snaps stills from CCTV surveillance and sends them to China,” she presents findings from researchers at UK-based Pen Test Partners about the security holes found in the Internet of Things.

For the study, Pen Test Partners researchers analyzed data from Shodan, which is essentially a search engine for Internet-connected devices, like buildings, smart appliances, webcams, and much more. In particular, the researchers used Shodan to look at Internet-connected surveillance cameras.

Before we go into the technicalities of what they found, let’s take a step back and warn everybody who uses a webcam or Internet-connected surveillance camera that even a novice PC user can create a free account with Shodan and use it to search for, access, view, and even control unsecured cameras. We were skeptical of this claim when we first heard about it, but the proof is in the pudding. Check out these stills from random surveillance cameras we came across on Shodan:

These cameras are just random ones that we stumbled upon. However, Shodan has been criticized for giving its users easy access to cameras that are sensitive in nature. Vocativ cites findings by Ars Technica:

These webcams show feeds from sensitive locations like schools, banks, marijuana plantations, labs and babies’ rooms. Shodan members who pay the $49 monthly fee can search the full feed at images.shodan.io. A Vocativ search of some of the most recently added images shows offices, school, porches and the interior of people’s homes. Accompanying each of these grabs is a pinned map that shows the location of the device capturing that footage.

If that doesn’t creep you out, then lets go back and take a look at the even-more-in-depth findings of the first study we mentioned by Pen Test Partners. Vass reports:

The device also has no Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) protection, so attackers can trick users into clicking on links to carry out malicious actions; it has no lock-out, so attackers can guess as many passwords as they like; it sends communications without HTTPS that can be intercepted and tampered with; and there’s no firmware updates, so “you’re stuck with these issues,” Pen Test Partners said. But weirdest of all, the thing is capturing still images from video feeds and emailing them to an address that appears to be hosted in China.

As far as why surveillance images were being sent to China, that’s a mystery that Pen Test Partners was unable to get to the bottom of. We could speculate as to what’s going on here, but at the risk of letting our imaginations run wild and sounding like conspiracy nuts, we won’t. Instead of making wild speculations, we want to communicate that we’re here to help your company secure all of its Internet-connected devices from the prying eyes of everyone on the web.

Are you confident that all of your IOT devices are secure enough to keep hackers out of your network? Do you even know if you have IoT devices on your network transmitting data across the web? Or at the very least, are you sure that random Shodan users aren’t making a highlight reel from your surveillance camera footage? To get a grip on the security of every Internet-connected device on your company’s network, give NuTech Services a call at 810.230.9455.

Mar, 2016

Drugs, Assassins For Hire, Weapon Sales, and More: All Conveniently Found On the Web

The Internet is a fascinating and wonderful place full of great, informative resources and websites, but it’s also home to online markets for illegal and unethical practices. These hotbeds of criminal activity are a danger not only to your business, but to everyone who uses the Internet.

Specifically, the Internet (or what’s known as the “dark web”) is often used to anonymously distribute drugs, data, and other questionable activity. The Internet itself allows for anyone to take on a pseudo-anonymous nature, but there are other, much darker parts of the Internet that can only be accessed if you’re truly anonymous. Users who are using the anonymity browser Tor can go about their business on the dark web with little to fear. Many online black markets will only allow users to access them if they’re using Tor, primarily because they want to dodge law enforcement as much as possible.

Not all online black markets take this same precaution, though. Some illegal online markets don’t care about staying available to their buyers or hidden from the authorities, and will even sell to the common masses rather than hardened criminals. This sporadic and unpredictable behavior is one reason why everyone should be concerned about the dark web. Since these underground black markets are often available via the “surface web” (the part that the average user sees), this increases the range and scope of who criminals can target with their goods, which allows the cybercrime industry to thrive.

From Trend Micro via TechRepublic, here’s a chart detailing what the online crime market is primarily used for.

Drugs are one of the biggest components of the online cybercrime industry, but stolen data dumps and crimeware are the second and third largest threats, respectively. A surprising factor, however, is the presence of illegal online arms manufacturing, and even assassinations. When you consider the fact that anyone can access these assets through the surface web, it’s a frightening concept indeed.

The North American underground dark web network is generally considered what’s called a “glass tank.” It might be useful for its intended purpose, but it’s so transparent and fragile that it can shatter and break at any given moment. Trend Micro reports that the life cycle of most black market sites is very short. The sites could be available one moment, and gone the next.

If you take away anything from this blog article, it’s that cybercriminals are as resourceful as they are slippery, and that they’ll use any means necessary to make a quick buck. This includes selling information they’ve stolen from businesses just like yours on the black market, or selling malicious code to would-be hackers. Business owners need to be exceptionally cautious when dealing with criminals on the Internet, simply due to the fact that they’ll attack for no other purpose other than to cause a little bit of chaos and to throw your sensitive data in the “for sale” window. It’s important to remember that there is, in fact, a market for your stolen data, and that hackers will do whatever it takes to breach your systems and make money off of your misfortune.

NuTech Services knows how to handle the security threats that your business faces every day, and we can outfit your network with the solutions required to eliminate and detect issues before they become bigger problems. Furthermore, we can protect your organization’s end-users from accessing infected or suspicious sites, like potentially malicious web pages, or those designed to sell questionable goods. Perhaps the best way we can protect your business is by offering enterprise-level security solutions, like firewalls, antivirus, content filtering, and spam blocking solutions, effectively mitigating the odds of your business falling prey to a hacking attack.

For more information, give us a call at 810.230.9455.

Mar, 2016

Tip of the Week: How to Know When Your Technology Needs to Be Replaced

Your business takes advantage of several different types of technology every day, but there comes a time when your tech needs to either be upgraded or replaced with better tools. This is part of the natural order of things; no technology solution can (or should) last forever, but if you don’t catch issues before they become major problems, you could be putting your data at the risk of hardware failure, software hiccups, or even hacking attacks.

By keeping these questions in mind, and making common-sense decisions concerning your technology, you’ll never miss a critical upgrade again. By asking yourself these questions before you implement new tech upgrades, you can know with certainty that the solutions you implement will be beneficial for your organization.

Software
When considering changing your business’s software solution strategy, you should make sure to ask yourself the following questions about your organization’s infrastructure:

Is your current operating system supported? If your business’s servers and workstations aren’t receiving patches and security updates, you could be exposing your organization’s infrastructure and sensitive data to dangerous online threats like malware, viruses, and more.
Do you have any legacy software that’s dependant on specific operating systems? One primary reason that businesses don’t immediately upgrade to the latest tech is that many organizations still use legacy software that might not be compatible with the latest operating systems. When businesses go too long without making an effort to move to new technology solutions, it gradually becomes more difficult. Therefore, you need to ask yourself if there’s any legacy software holding you back, and what other reasons there are for you not being able to get on the latest version.

Upgrading Hardware
If you’re considering upgrading your business’s hardware solutions, consider the following before taking any drastic measures:

How old is your hardware? When was the last time your business performed a hardware refresh? If you haven’t recently replaced your equipment, you could be risking your networking infrastructure to a hardware failure, which could result in downtime and data loss. Older technology has been proven to fail more often than the latest tech. Many businesses choose to forsake the hardware refresh to save money, but in reality, this does nothing but prolong the inevitable and put your data on the line.
Are any of your workstations or servers operating below specifications? Contrary to popular belief, upgrading to a more recent operating system doesn’t always resolve complications with your business’s technology. If you’re experiencing problems like slow network speeds or other technical difficulties, you could be dealing with issues that may not necessarily need a hardware upgrade to resolve.
Has your business been experiencing growth? Fast-growing businesses often have trouble with their technology as the demands placed on their network expand. This makes perfect sense; a network’s hardware naturally must be upgraded as more strain is put on it. Otherwise, the network speed could slow to a halt, and your ability to access data and applications could be affected.

If you’re unsure of whether or not your business should be upgrading its technology, NuTech Services can help. We’re experienced with helping small businesses make conscious decisions about the future of their IT infrastructures. To learn more, give us a call at 810.230.9455.

Mar, 2016

Alert: New CryptoJoker Ransomware May Be the Worst Ransomware Yet

Modern ransomware is exceptionally dangerous, even by malware standards. Ransomware is capable of locking down important files on a victim’s computer, displaying a massive threat to both business professionals and their networks, as well as the average PC user. While other types of ransomware like CryptoLocker and CryptoWall are somewhat manageable, a new variant called CryptoJoker makes it borderline impossible to recover your files.

Similar to other types of ransomware, CryptoJoker locks down the victim’s files through encryption, and will only decrypt the files once the ransom has been paid to the hacker in full. The ransom is generally paid in Bitcoin to preserve the anonymity of the crook holding your data. The idea is to strike fear into the hearts of their victims, and play on this fear to extort money from them for the safe return of their files. Ransomware like CryptoJoker is typically spread through email phishing scams, but in this case, CryptoJoker infects users through a phony PDF file.

After the user has been infected by CryptoJoker and the ransomware has installed, it will scan all drives connected to the infected device. This includes all network drives connected to it. CryptoJoker then proceeds to encrypt specific file extensions, most of which are absolutely critical to your business’s continued functionality:

.txt
.doc
.docx
.xls
.xlsx
.ppt
.pptx
.odt
.jpg
.png
.csv
.sql
.mdb
.sln
.php
.asp
.aspx
.html
.xml
.psd
.java
.jpeg
.pptm
.pptx
.xlsb
.xlsm
.db
.docm
.sql
.pdf

CryptoJoker isn’t widely distributed, so you can breathe easy knowing that you probably won’t run into it anytime soon. Still, what would happen if you were to get infected? CryptoJoker isn’t something to laugh at; the quality of its encryption is military-grade AES-256 encryption, which makes it impossible, in most cases, to crack. Users are often left with no choice but to pay the ransom to CryptoJoker’s developers. Thus, the key to preventing ransomware from destroying your data is to prevent it from infiltrating your computer in the first place. If you do get infected by CryptoJoker, you better hope that you have a data backup solution that’s ready to work overtime.

If you don’t have a backup of your data available, you’re out of luck. Even in the worst case, though, you shouldn’t be paying criminals for the decryption key if you can help it. Just because they claim that they’ll give you the key in exchange for payment, doesn’t mean that they’ll stick to their word. There’s nothing stopping them from taking your money and leaving you high and dry. Other ransomware is notorious for taking payments and not decrypting your files, so it’s safe to say that you shouldn’t trust CryptoJoker either.

If you aren’t sure whether or not your security solution has what it takes to protect your organization from CryptoJoker, NuTech Services can help. We can arm your business with solutions that are designed to protect your systems from CryptoJoker and other ransomware before you get infected. In most cases, this is the best thing we can do for you; recovering your encrypted files is often borderline impossible.

For more information about cybersecurity best practices and how to protect your organization from ransomware, give NuTech Services a call at 810.230.9455.

Mar, 2016

Ready or Not, Self-Driving Cars Will Soon Be On the Roads [VIDEO]

Artificial intelligence might be quite a ways off, but despite this, the push continues to make driverless cars a regular occurrence on the roads. Just look at how Google has its driverless cars rolling across testing grounds in Mountain View, California, and if they have their way, we might see a lot more of these vehicles hitting the roads in the near future.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Google’s self-driving vehicles can be considered a driver. According to ZDNet, Google wanted to clarify how their driverless cars could meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. In order for Google’s cars to be seen as compliant with the safety standards, all they had to do was change the position of the brake pedal and sensors, after which the vehicles were declared safe enough.

For examples of how one of these automated cars views its surroundings, watch this video:

This declaration is a huge step forward for the artificial intelligence development endeavor, but it presents an intriguing concept. Who’s to blame for an automobile accident stemming from the incompetence of a self-driving vehicle? You can’t necessarily sue a vehicle for causing an accident, unless you want to blame the manufacturer for creating a faulty product. But, what if the manufacturer simply blames the passenger because they failed to properly “set up” the vehicle? How would something like this work?

As you can probably expect, liability is a major concern for any autonomous process. With autonomous technology, though, this is a blurred grey line at best. As the feds claimed in their letter to Google, “If no human occupant of the vehicle can actually drive the vehicle, it is more reasonable to identify the ‘driver’ as whatever (as opposed to whoever) is doing the driving.” If something goes wrong, people want to find out who (or what) is at fault, and having vehicles capable of driving themselves makes it more difficult to do so.

Another huge issue is just how well Google’s autonomous cars fit into the current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. In particular, the regulations mention specific actions taken by human anatomy which describe how a motor vehicle should be controlled. As reported by WIRED:

The rule regarding the car’s braking system, for example, says it “shall be activated by means of a foot control.” The rules around headlights and turn signals refer to hands. NHTSA can easily change how it interprets those rules, but there’s no reasonable way to define Google’s software—capable as it is—as having body parts. All of which means, the feds “would need to commence a rulemaking to consider how FMVSS No. 135 [the rule governing braking] might be amended in response to ‘changed circumstances,’” the letter says. Getting an exemption to one of these rules is a long and difficult process, Walker Smith says. But “the regular rulemaking process is even more onerous.”

While liability will remain a major problem for autonomous cars, it’s still a significant step in the right direction. What this approval means is that computers can be considered humans, or at least human-like. This acknowledgement means that developers of artificially intelligent entities will have an easier time with their goals; yet, the process will still likely be filled with all sorts of legal maneuvers and such. Though Google has slated its automated cars to be available to the public by 2020, we might have to wait just a little bit longer, even for the most basic form of AI.

Would you trust an autonomous car to get you from point A to point B safely? Let us know in the comments!

Mar, 2016

Tip of the Week: 5 Technical Tips to Troubleshoot a Troublesome Touchpad

Laptop touchpads can be rather fickle. You may have experienced the frustrating situation where you’re using the laptop and then an unexpected glitch causes the mouse to jump across the screen. This error can actually cause data loss if it happens at the worst possible time, but it’s also just plain unproductive. Here are five troubleshooting tips to keep your touchpad in good working order and prevent this all-too-common issue from happening.

Keep in mind, not all touchpads are created equal – some devices might have better, more calibrated touchpads than others. If yours has always been difficult to use, reach out. We might be able to help.

Be Aware of Your Hand Placement
This issue may be as easy to resolve as resting your hands differently on your laptop. If you’re not careful, it’s easy for your hand to brush the touchpad as you type, causing your cursor to suddenly jump. This can be a challenge if you’ve got large hands, or if you’re sitting in an odd position that causes your hands to type differently than what you’re used to. If you adjust your hand placement accordingly and this issue persists, then continue on to our next tip.

When’s the Last Time You Cleaned Your Touchpad?
You know full well how dirty hands can be. Now, try not to think too hard about how gross your touchpad might be after perhaps years of use. If it’s been awhile since you last cleaned your touchpad, then it’s likely accumulated a shiny layer of skin oil, dirt, and other tiny particles that would make you lose your lunch if you actually knew what they were (fact: keyboards are less sanitary than toilet seats). If your touchpad is too dirty, then it won’t read your fingers correctly. Therefore, give your touchpad a good wiping and see if that works.

Disconnect Other External Input Devices
Sometimes, an external input device like an external mouse, graphics tablet, or keypad may be interfering with your touchpad. It’s difficult to ascertain exactly as to what causes this interference, but it’s been known to happen. In fact, sometimes even having your laptop plugged into an electrical outlet or its docking station will interfere with a touchpad’s performance, depending on the device. Therefore, try unplugging everything from your laptop and see if that makes your touchpad more responsive. At least then, it’s easier to hone in on what the problem actually is.

Update Your Drivers
If you’ve got an older laptop, then perhaps the driver that controls the touchpad interface needs to be updated. Check with your laptop’s manufacturer to find out if your computer has the latest drivers. This can be accomplished by going to their website, calling their support hotline, or by contacting NuTech Services at 810.230.9455.

Replace the Touchpad
If all of these troubleshooting tips don’t work, then it may be that the touchpad hardware has gone bad and needs to be replaced. A procedure like this isn’t something that can be easily done by an amateur; we don’t recommend that you try it. NuTech Services’s IT technicians can take care of this for you, as well as troubleshoot other computer-related issues and annoyances that you may be experiencing.

Bonus Tip: Get a Wireless Mouse
Often forgotten as a mobile solution, a simple wireless mouse can be much more effective than a clumsy touchpad. Of course, this is based on your personal preferences, but if your laptop supports Bluetooth, you can pick up a wireless, battery-operated mouse. If your laptop doesn’t support Bluetooth, there are options that include wireless USB dongles.

Is this a common problem that has slowed you down? We hope that these troubleshooting tips will help. For more great technology-related tips and tricks, subscribe to NuTech Services’s blog and check back every week!

Feb, 2016

736 Million Records Were Exposed to Data Theft in 2015

2015 saw a significant increase in high-profile hacking attacks in organizations of all disciplines: healthcare, government, and even large entertainment companies all fell victim to data breaches. In light of these attacks, valuable lessons can be learned through analyzing the types of records that were stolen. In 2015, over half of all records exposed to hackers were passwords and email addresses.

Take a moment to consider the importance of such credentials; they’re used for accessing online accounts and mission-critical information that’s stored on company networks. If hackers and thieves gain access to them, they essentially acquire unrestricted access to certain accounts that may be critical to the functionality of your business. Plus, since many users use the same password across multiple accounts, having one set of credentials may give hackers a lot of access.

Here are some of the statistics revealed by the Risk Based Security report:

In 2015, there were 4,000 reported data breaches, which exposed 736 million records.
40.5 percent of reported incidents occurred in organizations within the United States, with the amount of data stolen totaling around 65 percent of the data stolen throughout the entire year.
238 million stolen data records came from just four huge data breaches.
142 organizations experienced multiple data breaches in 2015.
The US and UK combined made up 45 percent of all reported data breaches in 2015.

What You Can Do About It
If you want to keep your business safe from the seemingly endless horde of malware on the Internet, you need to be tirelessly working toward integrating proactive security solutions designed to protect your network from potential threats. One way that you can do so is by implementing powerful security measures that are designed to both prevent threats from accessing your network, and detect them from within before they cause unspoken amounts of damage. Enterprise-level firewall and antivirus solutions are great tools meant to prevent breaches, while content filtering and spam blocking solutions make your network even more resilient. These four technologies are what’s known as a Unified Threat Management solution, and it’s a critical investment for any security-minded SMB.

Another way that you can decrease the chances of being hacked is by using complex passwords that are difficult to guess, and to change these passwords consistently. Your passwords should always be long, utilizing lower and upper-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Never use the same password and usernames for multiple online accounts. Always use different credentials. If you have trouble remembering everything, an enterprise-level password manager is a great way to securely store your credentials.

In the end, it comes down to how well you protect your organization from threats. NuTech Services can educate your business on security best practices, while assisting you with the implementation of comprehensive security systems. Our solutions are designed to minimize the chances of data breaches, and to immediately resolve problems that might come up.

For more information, give us a call at 810.230.9455.

Feb, 2016

Why You Need to Think Through Which Employees Have Access to What Files

It’s clear that your IT department should have administrator privileges with your business’s technology, but the average employee is another story altogether. Administrator privileges provide users with the ability to do many things, such as install programs and access admin settings. Administrator privileges are exactly what you want to keep users away from, and it turns out that the majority of flaws in the Windows operating system depend on these privileges.

According to a report released by security firm Avecto, it’s estimated that a solid 85 percent of all critical flaws within an operating system can be plugged simply by removing administrator privileges. Most home and consumer-based PCs utilize administrator accounts by default without much thought, but this is a dangerous practice in a business. If hackers can gain access to administrator privileges, they can make changes to the core OS files and steal important information. Most businesses that prioritize security will have limited user privileges on their provided workstations, which help to keep malware and other threats out of central files imperative for the continued functionality of the machine.

As reported by ZDNet:

The report said that removing admin rights could have mitigated more than 99 percent of flaws affecting Internet Explorer, which had a critical-rated flaw almost every month; and mitigated 82 percent of all vulnerabilities affecting Office. The company analyzed the entire batch of vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s monthly security patch update, dubbed Patch Tuesday, to see which flaws would be less impacted whose logged-in accounts “are configured to have fewer user rights on the system.” Out of the entire batch of vulnerabilities reported, 63 percent would be mitigated or unexploitable if admin rights were removed.

User privileges are an easy topic to set on the back burner and forget about, especially if you’re a small business with a small workforce. You might like to think that there’s minimal chance for user error, but the cruel reality is that people make mistakes, be it accidentally misplacing files or allowing malware to run rampant throughout your business’s critical systems. Unfortunately, all it takes is one oversight to leave your entire business infrastructure vulnerable to damage caused by hackers who have administrator privileges.

Therefore, it’s recommended that your organization take full advantage of a user management solution that puts a lid on what the majority of your employees can access. Your users should only be accessing files and information that’s important for their daily duties. For example, the average employee doesn’t need access to personal employee records or client payment information.

Are you doing everything that you can to limit your mission-critical data’s exposure to threats? Security-minded businesses will be taking advantage of not just role-based user access, but also secondary security solutions like firewalls, antivirus, spam blocking, and content filtering solutions that are designed to prevent infiltration in the first place. These four features can be implemented in one comprehensive solution called a Unified Threat Management (UTM) tool.

For more information about proactive IT measures, remote monitoring and maintenance, or IT security, give NuTech Services a call at 810.230.9455.

Feb, 2016

Tip of the Week: 2 Ways Your Business Can Reduce Its Environmental Footprint

Technology has provided humanity with the ability to make stupendous advances in the way we live our lives. However, it has also given rise to a wasteful society that neglects old technology, tossing it to the side in favor of the latest and greatest gadgets. As you can imagine, considering the rate at which modern technology advances, this trend has proven especially difficult to break, and it’s having extremely negative effects on the environment.

We know what the solution looks like; a bunch of tech nerds talking about how to keep the environment clean. However, this situation isn’t just ironic. It’s also incredibly important to sustain the future of our planet, and to ensure that it continues to thrive for our loved ones in the future. Individually you might not feel like your actions are making a big deal, but if every business were to take green initiatives, it could make a significant difference.

To this end, here are two ways your business can reduce its environmental footprint:

Properly Recycle Unused Devices
With so many devices being manufactured every year, it’s only natural that some older devices get replaced by new ones. Normally, those who don’t know the proper way to dispose of a device will just throw it in the trash without a second thought. However, computers and other devices contain valuable metals and materials that, if not properly recycled, can have disastrous effects on the environment. These devices usually get shipped to developing countries that dismantle and acquire these materials with unsafe and unsanitary practices. This is why it’s so important to make sure that you’re properly recycling your old, dilapidated technology.

Another note on recycling your old technology: be absolutely sure that it’s been wiped of all data before committing to the recycling process. This includes hard drives in desktops, laptops, and storage in mobile devices that at one point contained sensitive information that can’t fall into the wrong hands. Simply deleting the data doesn’t cut it – there’s a chance the data could be recovered. NuTech Services can help with this by thoroughly wiping your unnecessary technology of any important data, and disposing of it in an environmentally friendly manner.

Reduce Printing Costs
One of the greatest ways you can reduce your carbon footprint is by limiting how much paper you waste printing documents out. Your business no-doubt prints several pages worth of documents on a daily basis, but recent innovations in technology have allowed for businesses to limit their printing and decrease their overall printing expenditures.

Limiting your printing costs also has a great benefit for your budget, considering that you don’t have to invest as heavily in paper, ink, and toner. With digital file storage and signature software, you don’t need to print out documents in order to store them in your office’s physical space. This leads to less clutter, and will ultimately lead to a more organized office with fewer resources wasted.

Doing business with the environment in mind has its benefits, but only if you approach it with the necessary knowledge. NuTech Services can help your organization approach green innovations in an organized, efficient manner. To learn more, give us a call at 810.230.9455.

Feb, 2016

5 Ways to Get a Grip on Mobile Devices in Your Office

Did you know that a whopping two-thirds of U.S. adults own a smartphone? This figure is still climbing and the presence of employee-owned smartphones has dramatically changed the face of office. Businesses that aren’t prepared for this major influx of devices are setting themselves up for some major problems.

Employees bringing their devices to work is an IT trend known as BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). In order to make mobile devices in the workplace work for you, you’re going to need to implement a comprehensive BYOD strategy. If you don’t, then your IT network will be a virtual Wild Wild West of sorts as different devices across the entire technology spectrum access your company’s sensitive data. If some of these devices contain malware or data is downloaded to an employee’s device, and the device becomes lost or stolen, you’d be toast. Crises like these can easily be prevented by having a solid BYOD strategy.

To be sure, the benefits of having mobile devices in the workplace make BYOD worth the effort; employees that use their own devices are more innovative, more productive, and are generally happier about their job. To take advantage of these benefits, you’re going to want to cover all of these bases with your company’s BYOD strategy.

Identify potential risks: Unsecured devices can easily contain viruses and malware, which can damage your system. Plus, an employee-owned device without privacy protections can pose the problem of hackers stealing the data on the device, which would essentially be stealing your data. By taking into account and protecting your network from every possible risk, you’ll be able to use mobile devices with confidence.
Define a clear BYOD policy: As is the case with any policy, the clearer you are, the better. A solid BYOD policy encompasses your entire IT infrastructure, along with every possible access point. Additionally, if you’re able to clarify your IT goals and what you’re looking to achieve with mobile devices, then you can draft a BYOD policy that can maximize these goals.
Consider regulations and compliance issues: If confidential information, like medical records, aren’t stored properly and get leaked by way of mobile devices, it can carry a hefty fine from laws like PCI and HIPAA. Concerning data of this sensitive nature, your BYOD policy needs to follow these laws down to the letter.
Keep track of used devices: Every device that accesses your network needs to be accounted for. For example, you can’t have random devices logging on, accessing files, and then disappearing with that information. If an employee loses a device with company information on it, or even sells it to a third party, then you would have no idea who would get to see your data.
Train your staff: When it comes to BYOD, educating your staff is key. If they’re on board with your BYOD policy and fully understand the ramifications of breaking it, then you will be able to rest assured that all of the devices popping up around the office are helping your organization, not hindering it.

As you can imagine, BYOD policies are not a one-size-fits-all policy for every business. Each business has different needs, IT goals, and security risks. Therefore, in order to get the most comprehensive BYOD strategy for your company, you’re going to want to consult with the IT professionals at NuTech Services. We know what questions to ask and what to look for in your IT network so that your organization can take full advantage of this trend.

Additionally, we have great tools at our disposal, like our mobile device management solution that can help you control what all of the devices are doing on your network, like adding permissions regarding which files these devices can access. To implement an airtight BYOD strategy for your business, call NuTech Services today at 810.230.9455.

Feb, 2016

The Strict Security Measures of Nuclear Power Plants Can Benefit Your Business Too

Technology, while a great asset that can be leveraged for your benefit, can also frighten businesses due to how unpredictable it can be at times. The constant threat of data loss, identity theft, and hardware failure can cripple your business’s ability to retain operations. Specifically, businesses can learn about risk management by analyzing the processes used by an industry where risk management is absolutely critical: nuclear power plants.

In the wake of two of the most destructive and violent nuclear disasters, nuclear power plants have begun to crack down on how they approach risk management. The Chernobyl incident of 1986, as well as the tsunami-induced disaster at Fukushima in 2011, are the only nuclear disasters to reach the peak of the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) at a rating of 7. This means that they had an immense impact on the immediate vicinity, as well as the environment on a worldwide scale.

The meltdown at Chernobyl was the result of an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction, ending in an enormous explosion that resulted in fire raining from the sky and radioactive core material being ejected into the vicinity. A closer inspection of the incident revealed that the explosion could have been prevented, had the plant practiced better safety measures and risk management, like having a containment system put in place for the worst-case scenario.

In comparison, the Fukushima plant was prepared to deal with a failure of operations. The problem that led to a disaster was one which couldn’t possibly have been prevented: the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and the resulting tsunami. The Fukushima plant had a contingency plan to shut down the plant in the event of a disaster, but of course, the tsunami prevented this from happening properly. Flooding damaged power lines and backup generators, which led to heat decay, meltdowns, and major reactor damage.

Disasters like these lead to professionals searching for ways to prevent emergency situations in the future. For example, the Fukushima incident kickstarted thought for how to prevent problems caused by the unexpected issues. In response to emergency power generators being flooded or destroyed, off-site power generation will be implemented as soon as November 2016.

One other way that nuclear plants have chosen to approach these new risks is by outsourcing this responsibility to third-party investigators, whose sole responsibility is to manage the reliability of backup solutions. In a way, these investigators function similar to a business’s outsourced IT management, limiting risk and ensuring that all operations are functioning as smoothly as possible.

What we want to emphasize to you is that businesses in industries of all kinds expect the worst to happen to them, and your business can’t afford to be any different. Taking a proactive stance on your technology maintenance is of critical importance. While your server that suffers from hardware failure might not explode and rain impending doom from the sky, or expel dangerous particulates into the atmosphere, it will lead to significant downtime and increased costs.

In order to ensure that your business continues to function in the future, NuTech Services suggests that you utilize a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solution that minimizes downtime and data loss risk. BDR is capable of taking several backups a day of your business’s data, and sending the backups to both the cloud and a secure off-site data center for easy access. In the event of a hardware failure or other disaster, the BDR device can act as a temporary replacement for your server. This lets your business continue to function while you implement a suitable replacement.

Plus, NuTech Services also offers a remote monitoring and maintenance solution that allows us to work just like the investigators who work for nuclear plants. We manage and maintain your IT in a way which is designed to detect and prevent major problems, allowing you to work unhindered. We can remotely administer patches and security updates to ensure the continued functionality of your hardware and software solutions.

For more information, give us a call at 810.230.9455.

Feb, 2016

Tip of the Week: 4 Google Chromecast Features that May Surprise You

Google is known for coming up with fun new technologies that change the way society consumes entertainment and performs their day-to-day responsibilities. One of Google’s best new gadgets is the Google Chromecast, which can change the way you view media and share content while both at home and in the office.

Google’s Chromecast is a neat device that allows you to turn your television into a smart TV. Chromecast uses your WiFi network to stream content from the Internet to your TV. You can then use a mobile device, or any laptop or desktop that’s connected to your WiFi, to control the Chromecast. A Chromecast can even be used in the office to add a sense of flair to any room with a TV, and to make collaboration easier for presentations and other media.

Without further ado, here are four great uses for your Chromecast device.

What a Chromecast Can Do

Stream music: If you’re hosting a get-together at your home, the Chromecast lets you stream music directly to your TV. Apps like Spotify now work seamlessly with Google Chromecast, making it a great way to lighten up any situation. Plus, some smooth jazz or soothing music might be just enough to calm your staff or impress a prospective client who wanders into your office.
Stream video: Whether you want to stream a simple YouTube video, watch television shows through Hulu or Netflix, or watch a movie, you can do so with Chromecast. There are plenty of entertainment apps that are ready to use through Chromecast, so it’s only a matter of finding one you want.
View pictures: If you want to liven up your TV when you’re not using it to stream media or content, you can have it display backdrops in between sessions. The Chromecast pulls images from all sorts of online libraries, including NASA, 500x, and several others.
Mirror your device’s browser: Whether you’re using your Chromecast for entertainment or work purposes, you can mirror your device’s screen to your TV. All you have to do is open your Chrome browser and use the Chromecast extension to cast the screen. This is particularly useful for sharing documents or presentations.

There are countless other uses for the Chromecast, but instead of spoiling everything about the device, we think it would be fun for you to find them out for yourself. With so much entertainment and content at your fingertips, you’ll be able to spice up both your home life and your office.

Bonus tip: One of our favorite Chromecast apps is VideoStream, an extremely simple app that lets you drag video files to your Chrome browser and play them on your Chromecast-connected TV.

Do you have a Chromecast? What’s your favorite use for it? Let us know in the comments, and subscribe to our blog for more great technology-related tips and tricks.

Feb, 2016

Man-In-the-Middle Attacks Find App Users Off Guard

The Internet of Things is practically omnipresent in today’s environment, and many commercial products not only connect to the Internet, but they also come with an app. Due to this type of integration growing more popular, the world is starting to see Internet-connected products that really don’t have much to gain from their connectivity.

One such device is BB-8, a Star Wars-based droid toy built by Sphero. The toy isn’t much different from your typical Sphero toy, with the primary difference being that it’s painted after the insanely popular BB-8 droid from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. It’s an app-controlled robotic ball that’s marketed to children who want to control their very own droid.

While this toy might seem to be irrelevant, it’s been reported that there’s an exploit which can hack into a BB-8 via its wireless communication systems. By injecting code into the smartphone controlling the droid, hackers can essentially control BB-8 through the phone, since it acts like a remote for the toy. This kind of hack is called a man-in-the-middle attack. In BB-8’s case, the hack is of little consequence, but man-in-the-middle attacks can be dangerous if targeting valuable information.

What Are Man-in-the-Middle Attacks?
In order to understand how a man-in-the-middle attacks works, let’s compare it to a traditional game that you may have played when you were a kid: “telephone.” One person sends a message and the recipient listens to it, but in the process of delivering the message, someone adds or omits an important part of the message. Just imagine that instead of the sentence, “Jane runs through the forest,” that the message that’s interrupted and manipulated is a customer’s credit card number.

Wireless systems have made it much easier to perform man-in-the-middle attacks, simply because wireless communications are subject to plenty of risk while in transit. This is why it’s especially important that your business implements security measures that can protect your data while it’s moving from one system to the next, be it from a smartphone to an in-house device, or an essential file from a PC to your server. You need to make sure that these commands are sent securely, and as accurately as the sender intended. Remote monitoring and management solutions can help your business by offering intrusion detection, along with several other protocols that work together to provide a comprehensive network security solution.

Attacks Require More Powerful Solutions
Wireless technology is extremely convenient at times, so much so that cumbersome, wired systems are waning in popularity. Despite this huge advantage, people still have to determine whether or not their wireless systems are secure from external threats. If their system security is subpar, there are plenty of solutions available that are capable of shoring up weaknesses for both mobile devices and PCs working on a wireless network. Unfortunately, all it takes is one seemingly inconsequential piece of technology to leave your entire network exposed.

This is where NuTech Services comes in. Our professional technicians can help your business improve its protection from Internet of Things threats. We can do this by performing a thorough analysis of your current IT infrastructure, your projected growth, and the current needs of your business. Together, we can keep your technology from going over to the dark side. To learn more, give us a call at 810.230.9455.

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