I thought it was an excellent time to have a discussion about IT safety - whether during regular times when working in the office or in totally abnormal days when working from home, like during this event. And let's face it working from home could become the new normal once we come out of lockdown whether that is full time or a couple of days a week.
Regardless, the threat landscape is not getting any less challenging. In fact, hackers and fraudsters are becoming more and more skilled and are harder to detect than ever. They are also leveraging new technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence to strengthen their nefarious arsenals. It's a veritable arms race, and you need to ensure you stay ahead of the bad guys.
I was on a Security Webinar, this morning, and one example showed just how we face new and often unseen threats in our everyday lives. The story was about a famous hotel chain that was recently hacked, and a substantial amount of client data along with credit card details were stolen. How did the hackers get in? - through the aquarium heater no less! The heater, as it turns out, was connected to the internet so it could be controlled and monitored remotely. Its poor security allowed the hackers onto the network and the rest, as they say, is history.
We live in a world of incredible technology. With a multitude of devices called IOT (Internet of Things) allowing us to remotely control our smart tech, from thermostats to light bulbs, to smart speakers. Still, each one of these devices is a potential hole in your defences. Most, if not all of us, bring our personal smartphones to work and log on to the company WiFi - a potential risk. When friends and family come to visit us at home (remember those days), we'd happily give them the security code to our WiFi - a security risk.
So let's take some time to look at each of these potential risks and see how to best protect ourselves (let's face it time is not in short supply at present).
IOT - all devices from your internet router to your Alexa come with a preset password - a lot of the times this is simply 'Password'. If we leave the default password unchanged, then we are inviting trouble. We have all read the scary stories of strangers voices being heard on baby monitors. The first thing on your to-do list is to change all of those passwords. Oh and don't use the same one for everything or just add 123 at the end of the existing ones! Get a password manager to help you generate secure passwords and remember them for you.
It can be easy to overlook a device that is connected to your WiFi or network, especially if it has been set up for some time. Here is a list of the ones I am guilty of installing in my home to illustrate the sheer number of devices we now have in our homes:
Thermostats, Smoke Alarms, WiFi Access points, a router, a network switch, IP telephones, power line adapters, Echo Dots, Bulbs, CCTV outside, internal cameras, IP TV, Smart TV, Apple TV, iPads, iPhones, Music server, network streamer, wireless printer, laptops, PC's, server, NAS (Network Attached Storage) 27 in total!
Work computers at home - many companies have set up secure office environments where the computers are protected from attack from the outside with products such as Forseti. But when we bring our laptops or PC's home, we are no longer protected. Each PC/Mac must be protected whether working in the office or at home. Firstly you must have a good quality Anti-Virus on your computer like this one. You also need to protect against the malware that the anti-virus can't see. One of the best solutions I have found for this is Heimdal Thor Foresight.
Administrator rights - on your PC, you can probably install software and make changes to settings. This makes you an Administrator.
93% of all attacks on PC's need to have Administrator rights to infect and steal data / encrypt your files etc. If you don't need to be an Administrator, then it is safer not to be one - your IT department/company can sort this for you. There is a fantastic tool that allows IT departments to change a user's priveledges remotely. They can turn it on when you need to install something and turn it off to protect you. More information here.
Home WiFi - All internet routers come with a default WiFi name and a default password - change them, and set up a Guest Network (this feature is on many Routers). When people come to your home give them a guest WiFi password, this allows them onto the internet but not on to your home network.
Think of it as WiFi social distancing.