Tag: safety

Are law firms high value target for hackers?

May 20, 2021 /

New York-based law firm fell victim to a cyber attack. That wasn’t only unfortunate for the firm alone, but for the countless celebrity clients, they represent. Their client list comprises many A-level celebrities.

All these people fell victim to hackers.

The hacker group that carried out the attack remained unnamed. It got dubbed REvil because that’s the ransomware used by the group.

The cybercriminals targeted the law firm’s internal data systems. They managed to get away with 756 gigabytes of data, which they deemed was worth $21 million in ransom. When the law firm stated they had no intention of paying a dime in ransom, the criminals released a statement that they’re doubling their ransom request to the staggering $42 million.

After the firm refused to comply with the ransom demand, the hackers released an astonishing 2.4 gigabyte batch of data. It included private files and all sorts of sensitive information: contracts, non-disclosure agreements, promotional agreements, and expense sheets, among others.

The data dump wasn’t the only bombshell the cybercriminals dropped. They claimed to have an ace up their sleeve. They had private documents belonging to the American President. The law firm was quick to deny having any business dealings with the President. They only claimed that his name only got mentioned in some of their documents connected to their other clients.

Due to the hack’s success and the massive breach of privacy, the FBI got involved. They advised against paying the ransom as, in most such cases, payment doesn’t do much besides cost the victim money.

If you’re a victim of cybercriminals, you’re in a lose-lose situation. If you refuse to pay them, they can release the information they stole if that’s what they wish, and the victims get left to deal with the consequences. To pay the ransom they demand means you’re accepting their promise to destroy the data they stole.

You can see a standard distribution for malware types on the diagram and how the malware authors target their victims. In the case of organizations, the main approaches for crime making are data steal and ransomware

Can you trust the word of hackers? No, you can’t. However, it is essential to know that if the criminals do not hold their word, no one will pay the ransom to have this final option. Unfortunately, paying the ransom usually motivates more and more criminal groups to execute such operations.

This hack wasn’t their first attempt to score big. The attackers carried an attack on a foreign currency dealer as well. However, the ransom demand they went with paled compared to the $42, or even $21, million they demanded from the law firm. In this case, they asked for $6 million under threat to delete customer data. After a few weeks of having their services kept offline, the dealer caved and coughed up $2.3 million as payment.

Especially with COVID-19, more and more law and financial companies can become a target to attackers. It is essential to understand that blind fate into your cloud provider is only part of the equation. Every organization must take care of its defenses and upgrade them as much as it can. Only doing this can make attackers’ life harder.

Why You [Don’t] Need a VPN in 2021?

May 13, 2021 /

In 2021, the VPN users are in their billions, with an average user growth of 8%. According to a recent study conducted in early 2021, 50% of the respondents claimed to be using a VPN regularly to access usually restricted entertainment content. These VPN users were predominantly younger, and 62% identified as male by gender. Geographically users in the Asia-Pacific region make up a majority of all those who access a VPN with 30%, compared with Europe and North America, who combined made up 32% of those accessing a VPN worldwide.

VPNs are getting pushed as a must-have multi-service product. Are they?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and it gets used for a variety of things. It can protect your online privacy by hiding your traffic and location. It masks your IP address making it easier to bypass censorship and geo-blocks. But its primary purpose is to provide your organization an encrypted tunnel to your enterprise network.

On the diagram, you can see how different users connect to a VPN (black is for the local user network, and red is for the connection to the VPN). After that, the VPN server redirects your connection to the website you want to use. The website will see your IP as the VPN’s IP (blue connections).

A remote-access VPN creates a connection between individual users and a remote network.

Remote access VPNs use two key components: Network Access Server (NAS), a dedicated server, or a software application on a shared server connected to the business’s internal network. And the second component is VPN client – software installed on a user’s computer or mobile device.

VPN protocol secures the data you input when registering on websites and creating accounts. It ensures that even if attackers manage to sniff data from you, they will need more resources to decrypt it. Some VPNs even block malicious ads, trackers, and websites that stealthily download malware on your device without you even realizing it. That’s how VPNs get advertised, and on the surface, all that sounds useful, right? The critical thing is, you don’t need a VPN to do everything listed above.

With all that they do, many people wonder if VPNs are even legal. VPNs are legal in most countries, with only a few exceptions. Places that either regulate or outright ban VPNs are China, Iraq, North Korea, Oman, Russia, and the UAE, to name a few. A downfall of using a VPN is that your connection speed will suffer slightly. Many will also admit that setting up a VPN, especially for some specific business needs, could be time-consuming and may challenge your tenacity.

A negative aspect of VPNs is that while you may be keeping your data encrypted and safe from hackers, that doesn’t apply to the VPN company. Whichever provider you’re using, it has access to all of your information – location, IP address, which sites you frequent, all manner of sensitive data. Do you think it wise to trust a company with such private information?

You can ensure your online security without turning to the services of a VPN. There are a few key steps to follow.

As already mentioned, make sure only to visit secure websites – starting with HTTPS:// instead of HTTP://. Next, two-factor authentication is your best friend when logging into a site. Add an extra layer of protection. Physical keys are an excellent option for that task. They vary in price, but there are affordable options. If you can’t manage to get one, use an SMS or email authentication. Use whatever you can to ensure a two-step verification when accessing sites. It can save you a ton of trouble. A username and password aren’t enough.

Another helpful step to ensure security is not to use shared devices. Sharing a laptop or a PC with a third party is a terrible idea as it can open the floodgates to malware, keyloggers, and who knows what else. And, lastly, update regularly. That may sound like a no-brainer, but people tend to postpone updates indefinitely. Don’t do that. Timely updates go a long way.

But, if you want to use VPN, please use providers, which offer VPN over Tor and anonymous registration. They must take payments in cryptocurrencies as well. This setup provides you some privacy and a way to avoid firewalls. However, this setup can be categorized as a grey or black hat technique in many countries and could bring you troubles.

Does Your VPN Protect From Cybercriminals, or Invite Them In?

May 6, 2021 /

The Coronavirus pandemic forced a variety of new adjustments on people. Most offices had to close down, and workers had to turn to their home offices to do work. Schools, universities, most places of education did the same and introduced home learning. Most entertainment outlets were no longer accessible either – the movies, theatres, concerts, everything got canceled or delayed. Home computers and laptops became an essential piece of technology at home. We use them for work, study, and fun. But can you trust them to be secure enough not to lead to trouble? You might be thinking, ”Well, I have a VPN, I’m safe.” But are you?
What is a VPN, and what does it do? VPN stands for virtual private network, and its general role boils down to two words – connectivity and security. A VPN extends a private network across a public network and allows users to exchange data across shared or public networks as though their devices connect directly to the private network. VPNs shield your original IP address and protect your data. If you join a VPN to your router, it covers all your devices connected to said router. Like, phone, PC, laptop, gaming console, smart TV, and other IoT devices.

On the diagram, you can see a standard VPN network configuration. The blue lines represent encrypted tunnels from different networks to your company infrastructure. After packet inspection with the red line, your Firewall sends the traffic to your VPN server. Finally, the VPN server decrypts the traffic and sends it to your local corporate network.


In Corona-times, VPNs are a godsend for employees who aim to reach and use corporate resources. They connect to the company VPN and go about their daily business. The question is, do they use a company device to do their work, as a company PC or laptop, or do they use a home one? That makes all the difference. If you connect the company VPN on your home network, you expose your company to malware. Think about it. What if you, or a family member, carelessly clicked on something they shouldn’t have, and now malware lurks on the PC that you’re connecting to your corporate network?
Another issue with that scenario is what type of VPN the home-office employee turns to exactly? Is it a consumer VPN server based in a different country? That’s risky.
Employees find themselves in a completely new situation, unique to both them and their employer. What had previously gotten used only on rare occasions or emergencies is now used on a regular day-to-day basis, given that 100% of the workload gets done from home. That makes workers vulnerable to targeted attacks. There are already examples of that. According to Sultan Meghji, CEO of Neocova (a cloud-based suite of banking solutions company), several bank CFOs became victims of criminals and state-based attackers.
Cybercriminals are on the lookout for easy targets. They search for open WiFi and encryption that they can break easily. Don’t be that easy target! An excellent way to up your home cybersecurity is to update your router. Ask yourself whether the router you use daily is older than your phone. If yes, replace it ASAP.
Another way to keep the office and home systems safe is education. Employers should educate their employees on cybersecurity and the best practices to implement for the most protection.

Cybersecurity tactics for small teams – Physical Security – part 1

May 1, 2021 /

In the next couple of months, I shall write series of articles covering the topic of cybersecurity on a limited budget. The idea is to show you different methodologies for how to keep you safe without spending too much. The articles will cover various topics such as physical, computer, and mobile security. Additionally, as part of this series, I shall publish two articles covering business security and public image preservation. A final overview article will summarize all written and consist of a sample budget to cover your cybersecurity needs. It will be a good reference for startup and SME organizations. They can use it to establish or upgrade their cybersecurity defenses.

Different authors wrote many books and articles on keeping your computer and mobile phone safe for the past couple of years. Unfortunately, most of these writings ignored one fundament of cybersecurity. Without properly secured hardware devices, all of your defenses are meaningless. Of course, other authors wrote whole books on physical security, but no one covered it from a cybersecurity perspective. This article aims to cover this perspective and give an exemplary workflow of achieving adequate protection on a tight budget.

You can see a sample dependency graph of how an organization must structure its cybersecurity defenses on the diagram. As you can see, everything starts with physical security, and after that, you build more pieces on this fundament.

So let’s start it. 

There are multiple online threats to your security, and let’s start with them. During my time working in different companies, I saw many people neglecting these threats. Fortunately, these mistakes did not lead to escalation. But let me list them and give a short explanation of how they can affect you.

  • Social Platforms: Sharing your life is an excellent way to keep in touch with your friends and relatives. At the same time, it opens possibilities for hackers to monitor you. Monitoring is essential for other types of attacks. Usually, hackers execute these attacks in the following phases.
  • Shared Travel: Shared travel is a new way of traveling around. It increases comfort and lowers down the price of travel. At the same time, travelers organize the travel in public social media groups. Everyone can join this group and monitor when you travel. Such information is valuable, mainly if attackers target your home or office space.
  • Cyberstalking: Your online persona can trigger destructive emotions, and usually, this evolves into cyberstalking. It is essential to limit down exposure to such threats because they can end up into physical ones.
  • Navigation Devices: Using online navigation is lovely in terms of comfort, but most navigation software collects a considerable amount of data. Hackers can correlate this data to your real persona and monitor your life and travel plans.

As you can see from the list, different parties can monitor a good number of your online activities. With enough time and resources, these parties can execute future attacks on you. For real estates, we can create a similar list:

  • Social platforms: The situation is the same as in the previous paragraph. Attackers can execute multiple attacks using the information gathered by your social media accounts.
  • Smart Home Assistants: Smart assistants are hardware devices placed in your home. Usually, they have always turned on microphones to catch your commands and execute different orders regarding your house. At the same time, they can be hacked and used to monitor your activities.
  • Camera arrays and sensors: These days, many people install cameras and sensors attached to the Internet. Without proper cybersecurity protection, attackers can use these hardware devices to monitor your activities.
  • Laptop and smartphones: Same is true for laptops and smartphones without a proper security defense. Hackers can use them for monitoring your activities.

Intruders can use all of the upper threats to execute next-stage attacks on your real estate. Another aspect of your physical security is the security of your vehicle (car, truck, and other vehicles). As vehicles become more and more intelligent and automated, their vulnerability to hacks increases. Next are the common threats you can face with intelligent vehicles:

  • WiFi Access Points: Modern cars have WiFi access points in them. Or in simple words, this is a network router, which is part of your car’s computer. This router can be hacked and used for malicious activities.
  • Smart Locks: The current trend in the automotive industry is making cars more and more intelligent, including their locks. Of course, this is a wrong decision in cybersecurity because the makers increase the penetration surface with new functions and capabilities. Some of these locks use older encryption protocols, not updated with years.
  • Autopilot: Most modern e-cars support autopilot as a feature. Autopilot is a fancy name for a sophisticated computer program, which drives the car for you. And being a program, autopilot runs on a computer, and this computer can be hacked and used for malicious activities.
  • Real-time Updates: Newer car models receive constant updates on the fly. They follow the process your operating system uses to update itself. How secure this process is rarely publicly disclosed.

Next part is – here.

Simple Ways to Ensure Your Children’s Safety Online

April 29, 2021 /

Today, cybercrime is rampant. That presents a unique problem to parents in deciding how to approach ‘online safety’ with their children.

In the World, about 4000 cybercrime attacks occur each day, and, in fact, every 32 seconds, a hacker attacks someone online. To use the Internet safely and securely, you must know what to do and not do and distinguish between safe and unsafe.

Awareness and personal responsibility are vital components in surfing the web safely. Children should become aware of that as soon as possible.

Child-proofing the Internet is not as viable an option as some parents may hope it is. Yes, there are ways to block websites, keeping your children off of them. But it’s still preferable to educate them on the dangers the web presents.

Teach them how to keep themselves safe online. That includes what sites to avoid, links not to click, files not to download, emails to ignore, and so on. Education on the topic of cybercrime is a must.

Above all, children must learn against sharing personal information of any kind. Teach them young that giving out your full name, phone number, home address through any medium (email, Facebook, gaming platforms) is wrong.

Teach them to be cautious. Sometimes a string of innocent-seeming questions may pose a grave danger. It can start with your name, where you go to school, your postcode, and the child might not realize the escalation. Ensure it can recognize it.

As a parent, you must always keep your devices up to date with security installed on them – antivirus programs, anti-malware software, and other security software. Create unique passwords for your different accounts, and teach your children to do the same. Or use passwordless based authentication.

There are varying parenting styles. Some deem the act of monitoring their child’s online activity as an intrusion of privacy. Others perceive it as a given. Regardless of your parental views, it’s good to keep aware of what your child does on the Internet and encourage appropriate behaviors while discouraging inappropriate ones.

On the diagram, you can see a standard hacking workflow. Usually, hackers use this workflow to execute attacks. You can see that the first stage of attacks usually involves message-based fraud or social engineering.

‘Stranger danger’ has evolved beyond an in-person possibility of peril. It now lurks online, as well. Teach your children that not all online strangers are friendships waiting to happen – some are dangerous and look to cause mayhem and harm, i.e., hackers.

Make sure children realize that what goes on on the Internet stays on the Internet. If they upload a picture, it will forever be there. If they share their private details, they cannot merely ‘take them back.’

There are consequences to interacting with the web, and it’s your responsibility as a parent to teach them that valuable lesson.

In summary:

  • Stay updated: Always install updates when needed, and ensure your devices are protected.
  • Do not overshare: Be wary of sharing private details with people online. Sharing personal information can backfire. Ensure your children know this.
  •  Have a conversation with your child: Explain the many dangers that lurk online. Yes, children may be won’t ‘get it’ right away. But if that’s the case, talk to them again. 
  •  Use unique passwords: Ensure your child knows the importance of a strong password and the perils of using the same one for every account.
  • Keep an eye on their online activities: Be sure to monitor your child’s online activities to the extent that you know what they’re ‘up to’ online. Still, over monitoring is not good, so please use it carefully.

Educate your children, and make sure they know of the dangers the Internet presents and what they can do to minimize them