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How to Set a Custom Background Picture in Chrome

When you open a new tab in Chrome, there are several different ways you can configure what appears. You can have it show you frequently visited sites, news headlines, or maybe you prefer to keep things simple and leave it plain. But if you enjoy images, Chrome allows...

November 2018: Most Wanted Malware Exposed

Check Point has published its latest Global Threat Index for November 2018. The index reveals that the Emotet botnet has entered the Index’s top 10 ranking after researchers saw it spread through several campaigns, including a Thanksgiving-themed campaign. This...

Dell Will Be Publicly Traded Again in December

Dell Technologies will become a public company again December 28. The company said it received shareholder approval to buy back a tracking stock that’s linked to its stake in VMware. In a nutshell, Dell will close the deal December 28 and its C shares will trade...

Using A Password Manager: 7 Pros And Cons

Source: CSO from IDG Author: Roger A. Grimes I’ve written about what I consider the best current password advice for websites and services you need to keep secure. In a nutshell, here’s the advice again: – Use multi-factor authentication (MFA). – Where MFA...

GDPR Could Lead to Greater Risk of Breaches

Almost a quarter of UK and German businesses (23%) believe the GDPR may have resulted in a greater risk of data breaches, six months after the legislation was introduced. The findings come from a new survey by Thales eSecurity which polled 1000 combined UK and German...

Skype Calling Is Now Available On Alexa

Two months after Amazon announced that Skype video calling would become available on its Echo Show smart display, Microsoft has brought Skype calling—audio and video—to the Alexa platform. “Use Alexa to call friends and family on Skype or call mobiles and landlines in...

How Email Fraud Tactics Continue To Find New Life

Almost as soon as email became widely used, crooks and scammers began using it as a means to defraud people. In today’s world, malicious fake emails continue to be a huge problem for individuals and businesses. Businesses make lucrative targets Losses due to Business...

Laziness Is A Wonderful Motivator In Security

At a high level, our goal in security is to manage, mitigate, and minimise risk. In an ideal world, we would enumerate the list of risks and threats we are concerned about and allocate the necessary resources to properly address them. Of course, we don’t live in an...

Four Steps To Firewall Automation Success

Firewall automation projects are seemingly all the rage these days, with everyone looking to automate at least some portion of the process. Usually, the goal is to save time and money by automating firewall administration and policy management. However, these two...

3 Public Cloud Security Myths Debunked

As more and more organizations embrace the migration to the cloud, there are the inevitable questions that arise around its safety. Specifically, enterprises need to know that their data is going to be secure if they choose to embrace a cloud-based model, particularly...

How To Avoid An Insider Threat Nightmare

As Halloween looms, it would certainly feel like the right time to think of our favourite horror stories. From an enterprise IT perspective, there are too many to keep up with these days. From the constant threat of cyber attacks from external hackers, to the rise of...

Seven Security Activities You Should Automate

Organisations across all industries are recognizing the value of automation, and the necessity of implementing it in their security infrastructure. However, beyond the simple promise of being able to act faster and save your employees’ time, the extent of automation’s...

Hook, Line and Sinker: After Phish Get Caught

Phishing is nearly as old as email, but it is still a major attack vector for cybercriminals. Some of the most prominent cyber incidents of the past few years are the result of phishing attempts. Despite the maturity of this problem, the solutions proposed by the...

MacOS Mojave – New Features

Software updates can seem like a chore, but they’re really an underrated perk of the gadget world. New hardware, like phones, cost money to upgrade. But new software is typically free, and ideally makes your device, or even just your web browser, better. Apple has...

The Double-Edged Sword of Open-Source Code

While open code repositories can increase efficiency in R&D, they also raise issues of security vulnerabilities. Today’s developers are under pressure to deliver new software at an increasingly rapid pace, leading to the more frequent use of open source code,...

You Should Prepare For The Next Mega Data Breach

As of September 2018, it’s been one year since the historical Equifax mega data breach that impacted nearly half of all consumers in the U.S. Since this monumental invasion of personal data, fraudsters have shown little to no notion of slowing down as evident by the...

Security-Minded Employees Still Pose Risks

Despite their training and best intentions, even the most security-minded employees behave in ways that put the enterprise at risk, according to The Security Culture Report 2018. The report, which covered eight industry sectors, surveyed more than 21,000 employees who...

How To Spot A Phishing Email

Phishing emails are the most common way for criminals to distribute malicious software or obtain sensitive information. Is your business safe from these attacks? We have some tips that you can follow to make sure your business doesn’t become a victim! In a previous...

SMBs Fear Phishing, Fall Short On Cyber Training

In surveying 500 small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the US, Webroot discovered that many fail to recognize the many cybersecurity threats their businesses face, in large part because they lack in-house security expertise. According to The 2018 Webroot SMB...

New Xbash Malware A Cocktail Of Malicious Functions

The new malware tool targeting Windows and Linux systems combines cryptomining, ransomware, botnet, and self-propagation capabilities. Adding to the rapidly growing list of multi-functional malware, a particularly nasty – and unique — data-destroying malware tool has...

Tor Browser 8 Is Out: What’s New?

Version 8 of Tor Browser, the multi-platform browser that routes traffic through the Tor anonymity network, has been released this week. About the Tor Browser and this latest version The Tor Browser is based on a modified Mozilla Firefox ESR web browser and includes...

APIs: The Trojan Horses Of Security

At the moment, within the cybersecurity industry the emphasis tends to be on securing networks with perimeter-based protection, however, leaving an application endpoint unsecured means an application programming interface (API) can serve as a gateway to the data...

Microsoft Starts Rolling Out New Office Online UI

Microsoft seems to be toying with two different versions of the simplified ribbon. On the picture above, for example, Word Online has the more modern looking UI for the ribbon, while PowerPoint Online and Word Online below has a different, slightly modern ribbon UI....

62% Of UK firms Lack Full Cybersecurity Insurance

The number of UK firms with cybersecurity insurance has risen in the past year — but less than half say their cyber insurance covers all risks. The second annual cybersecurity survey from research and consultancy firm Ovum, for Silicon Valley analytics firm FICO,...

The FBI Warns About Compromised IoT Devices

The FBI is instructing users on how to recognize when their IoT devices have been compromised and advising them on how to keep them secure. “Compromised devices may be difficult to detect but some potential indicators include: a major spike in monthly Internet usage;...

Examples Of Malware

We’ve already discussed some of the current malware threats looming large today. But there is a long, storied history of malware, dating back to infected floppy disks swapped by Apple II hobbyists in the 1980s and the Morris Worm spreading across Unix machines...

How To Detect Malware

It’s fully possible—and perhaps even likely—that your system will be infected by malware at some point despite your best efforts. How can you tell for sure? When you get to the level of corporate IT, there are also more advanced visibility tools you can use to...

Malware Protection

Antivirus software is the most widely known product in the category of malware protection products; despite “virus” being in the name, most offerings take on all forms of malware. While high-end security pros dismiss it as obsolete, it’s still the...

How To Prevent Malware

With spam and phishing email being the primary vector by which malware infects computers, the best way to prevent malware is make sure your email systems are locked down tight—and your users know how to spot danger. We recommend a combination of carefully checking...

Types Of Malware

This means that the question of, say, what the difference is between malware and a virus misses the point a bit: a virus is a type of malware, so all viruses are malware (but not every piece of malware is a virus). There are a number of different ways of categorizing...

What is Malware?

Malware—a blanket term for viruses, worms, trojans, and other harmful computer programs—has been with us since the early days of computing. But malware is constantly evolving and hackers use it to wreak destruction and gain access to sensitive information; fighting...

You Should Still Care About GDPR

In the days leading up to May 25, email inboxes were filled with updated privacy notices and requests for marketing consent. Web browsers saw more banners about “cookies” than they had since broadband became ubiquitous, and businesses began to consider how they were...

Outlook.com Gets New Dark Mode

Microsoft has launched the new dark mode for Outlook.com. The company teased the new dark experience for Outlook on the web earlier this month, and it’s now bringing the experience for everyone after multiple prototypes and iterations. Outlook.com’s new dark mode is...

Tools for Enforcing Password Policies – 3

Enterprise Password Managers Since secure passwords are practically impossible to remember, the use of a password manager such as Lastpass Enterprise or Roboform Enterprise can make secure passwords much easier for staff to handle. Essentially a password manager...

Tools for Enforcing Password Policies – 2

Cloud-Based Single Sign-On Tools One solution is to use a cloud-based single sign-on service. What services like OneLogin and Okta do is become the authentication provider for a cloud application like Salesforce.com. The cloud single sign-on service then links to...

Tools for Enforcing Password Policies

Recent corporate security breaches have taught us something important: The average computer user is spectacularly bad at choosing good passwords. The most popular passwords turn out to be simple, easy-to-remember ones, like “password,”...

Get Microsoft Teams For Free

Microsoft Teams can now compete directly with Slack with a free tier that startups not in Microsoft’s ecosystem can use for any user. This means you don’t need an Office 365 login to use Teams. With the free access tier, Microsoft Teams is now positioned...

Half Of Businesses Ignore Future Cyber Threats

Businesses are too busy fighting current cyber-threats to focus on what might be around the corner, new research has claimed. Findings from Accenture discovered that 51 per cent of businesses and their CSOs are under increasing pressure. Half of them are saying they...

How To Spot A Fake, Spoof Or Phishing Email

What makes it so easy to fall prey to phishing emails is that they look perfectly legitimate–official-looking emails from reputable companies getting in touch for seemingly reasonable purposes. It could be Apple, PayPal, or your bank. No matter how shrewd you are, it...

Office 365 Is Coming To The Mac App Store

Apple have announced that Microsoft has agreed to offer Office 365 for download from the Mac App Store, which is being revamped for macOS Mojave. “We’ve talked to some developers [about the new Mac App Store] already, and they’re really excited to,” Apple’s Ann Thai...

Phishing Techniques To Look Out For – Links

Knowing that many security systems scan links within emails to determine if they’re hacking, hackers often embed phishing links within clean attachments. As there is no malware in the attachment, the message won’t trigger ‘sandboxing’ technologies; and...

Compliance Is Not Synonymous With Security

While the upcoming GDPR compliance deadline will mark an unprecedented milestone in security, it should also serve as a crucial reminder that compliance does not equal security. Along with the clear benefits to be gained from upholding the standards enforced by GDPR,...

What Is A Data Protection Officer?

It’s almost 25th May, and if you’re like a lot of other companies around the world, you’re doing everything you can to get your GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) ducks in a row. As a refresher, GDPR is the new privacy protection act taking effect in the EU...

The Importance Of Cybersecurity And GDPR

When you hear the term cybersecurity, you would be forgiven if your mind wandered to an image of a Hollywood-style hacker, frantically typing away in front of multiple monitors, with lines of code pouring down the screens. This is the impression put upon us by shows...

What Is The Best Form Of Cyber Defence?

Undoubtedly, the biggest threat that businesses have to deal with today is cyber-attacks. From having files and systems locked by ransomware, through to denial-of-service attacks bringing down entire services, there’s never a long time between stories about yet...

What You Can Expect After The GDPR Deadline – 5

The most important thing to remember about the GDPR is that it’s not a one-off compliance effort like the rush to fix the Y2K Millennium Bug. On the contrary, it’s a continuous process that will need to be constantly evaluated and evolved over time. That’s good news...

What You Can Expect After The GDPR Deadline – 4

Not Telling The Whole Truth Despite the threat of fines, reputational damage and major service interruptions, some companies may still be tempted to keep serious breaches of the regulation quiet. In fact, the role of the data protection officer (DPO) as an independent...

What You Can Expect After The GDPR Deadline – 3

A Supplier Related Incident The GDPR will force a step-change in the way organisations manage their third-party suppliers and partners. In fact, under the new regulation, data processors such as cloud service providers are equally liable for breaches along with the...

What You Can Expect After The GDPR Deadline – 2

Cybercriminals are nothing if not resourceful. We’ve seen extortion tactics become increasingly popular, most notably in the huge uptick in ransomware over the past few years — whereby the victim is forced to pay up or else lose access to their files forever. It’s...

What You Can Expect After The GDPR Deadline – 1

No Big Fines…For Now The GDPR gives regulators the power to hit firms with a maximum fine of 4% of global annual turnover, or €20 million, whichever is higher. But contrary to many headline-grabbing predictions and FUD-led marketing, it’s unlikely that they will...

Android Trojan Spreads Via DNS Hijacking

An Android Trojan masquerading as popular mobile applications is propagating via smartphones roaming between Wi-Fi networks, Kaspersky Lab warns. Over the span of two months, the Moscow-based security firm observed the malware mainly targeting users in Asia. As part...

Key GDPR Terms & Definitions

Please note this blog post does not constitute legal advice and is intended, and should be used, for general information purposes only. Controller — “the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines...

Does Patching Make Perfect?

We’ve heard it time and time again: patches and updates are the key to mitigating vulnerabilities that lead to epic Equifax-sized breaches. The logic goes that security incidents can be avoided if you just update and patch your OS and applications as instructed. Is it...

How To Secure Your Facebook Account

Over the past few days, it’s likely that you’ve heard about Cambridge Analytica. The market research firm stands accused of developing an app to harvest the personal data of more than 50 million Facebook users. It then allegedly used this data to influence...

Apple Is Trying to Make its Own Displays

Apple’s laptops, smartphones, tablets and watches rely on hundreds of parts, most of which Apple sources from other companies around the world. But the more of those parts Apple can make itself, the more profit it can generate as well as making its supply chain...

What Is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR applies to all 28 European Union (EU) member nations as well as Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein, non-EU nations that are part of the European Economic Area (EEA). For now, the...

Microsoft Details Teams Feature Roadmap

Microsoft’s Teams platform is turning one this week and with more than 200,000 businesses using the software, it’s fair to say that it has been a successful first year for the product. But, more importantly for those that are using the software, the company is sharing...

What is a BotNet?

Botnets act as a force multiplier for individual attackers, cyber-criminal groups and nation-states looking to disrupt or break into their targets’ systems. By definition, they are a collection of any type of internet-connected device that an attacker has compromised....

Apple may debut a cheaper MacBook Air this spring

The ultra-thin, ultra-light MacBook Air has been one of Apple’s most ignored products over the last several years, with the company instead focusing on MacBook Pro updates and the newer 12-inch MacBook. The MacBook Air is available and sells reasonably well but not...

Work with guests in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft are rolling out the ability to add anyone as a guest in Microsoft Teams. Previously, only those with an Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) account could be added as a guest. Starting next week, anyone with a business or consumer email address (including...

Craft compelling CV’s in Microsoft Word

Last November, Microsoft announced Resume Assistant, a new AI feature in Microsoft Word to help you craft a compelling CV with personalised insights powered by LinkedIn. This month, Resume Assistant began rolling out to Office 365 consumer and commercial subscribers...

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 10

Last but not least, make sure that you are communicating with business leaders and end users about any changes to your firewall rules. Getting input from the business can help make sure that your firewall configuration is meeting end users’ needs. Having open...

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 9

It goes without saying, but as you update your firewall rules, it’s also a good time to make sure that you have installed all the latest patches to your firewall. The greatest list of firewall rules in the world won’t stop an attack if your firewall has a...

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 8

Another way to improve the performance of your firewall is to use your routers to handle some of the traffic-blocking activities. By offloading some work from your firewall, you may be able to eliminate some firewall rules and improve throughput for your network. As...

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 7

It isn’t true of every firewall, but most apply rules in the order that they are listed in your firewall configuration software or rule base. In other words, the firewall will start at the top of the list and keep going down until it reaches rule that would...

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 6

Every firewall comes with built-in reporting tools that provide details about your traffic. Another firewall rules best practice is to audit those logs regularly to look for changes or anomalies that might suggest modifications to your firewall settings. This log data...

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 5

As you go through your list of firewall rules and update your documentation, you may find that you have more than one rule serving the same purpose. If you can eliminate one of those rules or combine some rules to be more effective, that can speed up your network....

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 4

Your network is always changing. You are gaining new users and new devices. Those users and devices are accessing new applications and new services. And applications and devices that once accounted for a high percentage of network traffic may become far less popular...

Office 2019 will be for Windows 10 users only

The next major upgrade to its Office productivity suite, Office 2019, will be available to Windows 10 users only – leaving Mac users and users of Windows 7 out in the cold, or forcing users to upgrade to the cloud-based version, Office 365. The vast majority of...

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 3

One way to make sure that you are following your change procedures is to use an automation solution for any firewall configuration updates. Automation can also help prevent mistakes in the firewall setup process. As 99 percent of firewall breaches are caused by errors...

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 2

Before you begin changing any of your existing firewall rules, you should establish a formal process that you will use for any modifications, if you don’t already have such a process. A typical change procedure might involve the following steps: A change request...

Fine Tune Your Firewall Rules – 1

Document your firewall rules Anyone who works on your IT security team should be able to tell very quickly what each of your firewall rules was intended to do by looking at your documentation. At a minimum, you need to keep track of the following data: – The...

Cloud Security Is a Moving Target

Cloud risks have filled the news cycle of late, but the real cloud security landscape is nothing like the headlines would have you believe. For example, serverside ransomware attacks, despite their high public profile, account for only about 2 percent of recorded...

Windows 10 finally catches up with Windows 7

Windows 10 installations have finally overtaken Windows 7 installations – two-and-a-half years after it was released. That’s according to StatCounter, which regularly provides figures and research covering the desktop operating system sector. Its latest...

Widespread API Use Heightens Cybersecurity Risks

A new Imperva survey showed a heightened concern for CyberSecurity risk related to API use. Specifically, 63 percent of respondents are most worried about DDoS threats, bot attacks and authentication enforcement for APIs. APIs power the interactive digital experiences...

Hover Card – OneDrive For Business

Hover Card is a new OneDrive for Business File Office 365 feature. Basically now as soon as you hover your mouse over a file you will be able to see file details including access stats (number of views, who viewed and who modified). In SharePoint Online document and...

Kaspersky warning over electric car charging

Electric cars may be growing in popularity, but cyber security giant Kaspersky has warned drivers to be wary of chargers. According to Kaspersky, car manufacturers may be investing heavily into electric vehicles, expecting a market shift from petrol and diesel any...

Apple Mac Operating System DNS Hijack Malware

Apple’s macOS is reportedly the target of a new DNS hijacking exploit. The malware is being likened to the DNSChange trojan that affected over four million computers in 2011… This sort of malware works by changing DNS server settings on affected computers, thus...

Ransomware Tactics

Ransomware has been getting a lot of press lately, and understandably so. In recent months, there has been a tidal wave of ransomware attacks targeting numerous well-known businesses, and the threat is expected to continue to wreak havoc across the world in the...

Dropbox are going public

The file-storage company filed papers confidentially to go public, a source close to the company said, for a much-delayed and much-anticipated IPO later this year. The listing, first reported by Bloomberg, will test Dropbox’s most recent valuation, $10 billion, which...

Chrome is turning into the new Internet Explorer 6

Chrome is now the most popular browser across all devices, thanks to Android’s popularity and the rise of Chrome on Windows PCs and Mac computers. As Google continues to dominate our access to the web, information through its search engine, and services like Gmail or...