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New Virulent, Wide-Spread and Expensive Ransomware Outbreak Coming to You Soon
Orange County, CA - We have seen a surge in ransomware attacks in the past week. While only two Alvaka clients have gotten hit, they are a tale of different system administration acumen.
1. A multi-state firm got hit with the latest breed of ransomware on Friday. Where an otherwise non-event for the most part went wrong was that a key user insisted on having elevated administrative rights for their IT infrastructure. Instead of using a regular user account, with very limited user rights for day-to-day activities, this more powerful account, when struck by the ransomware, infected all the important file shares of the firm, including the branch location file stores. Fortunately they had good backups, but because of poor folder naming conventions and structures it took the guys in our Alvaka Networks’ Network Operations Center about 28 hours straight to get all the user permissions back in order for client to get back to work. The lack of least-permissions as used by this client goes in direct opposition to what we recommend at Alvaka. Least-permissions is the practice of using accounts that grant the user to only the locations on the network for which they have a business need to access.
2. In another example, that struck today, a $200m manufacturer/distributor got hit by the same ransomware. This time it was a Jr executive. He saw some problems with his system, but did not report the problem not knowing what it was and went home. The problem was detected after he left, but the outcome was very different than the prior scenario. Why? Because this user only...
Do you have Cisco ASA firewalls and VPNs? “…this is as bad as it gets.”
If you have Cisco ASA firewalls and VPNs you better assess your patching on these devices. Click here to read the story: Firewalls running Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software can be compromised remotely with malformed [...]
Where’s the Beef?
Irvine - I want to let everyone know that we are embarking on some new messaging at Alvaka Networks. Our new home page (www.alvaka.net) features some new messaging and calls-to-action centered on statements that are common amongst our new clientele followed-up with the phrase “What do I do now?”
This new marketing effort has its genesis in our new marketing consultant, John Pietro. You won’t recognize Pietro’s name, but you will recognize his work. He is most famous for his Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” campaign. His work is not limited to that one campaign, but is likely his most famous and arguably the most famous, memorable and successful campaign in fast food history. How is coaching will serve us in the tech services business remains to be seen, but I like where he is taking us....
Can IT Staffers Really Help Marketing?
Arcadia, CA - One of my favorite authors to follow is Dave Berkus. He has been a great mentor of mine for about 20 years. I am on his Berkonomics blog list. Weekly, with Berkonomics, he [...]
10 days to Save Big on Taxes for Equipment Purchases
Orange County, CA - You have Less Than 10 Days to Save Big on Tax Write-offs for Equipment Purchases. You need to act now.
The Section 179 deduction, named for a provision in the federal tax law, allows a small business to deduct -up front- the entire cost of equipment ranging from computers to furniture to vehicles and machinery. The deduction is normally $25,000, but for the past years our lawmakers in DC have increased that amount substantially.
I have some great news for you. Here is an excerpt an article on The Hill regarding Section 179 updates. It says recent legislation was passed to raise the instant depreciation level to $500,000.
Could Your Computer Breach Have Lasted Three Years?
Irvine, CA - Juniper had a flaw in their networking equipment that may have allowed breaches in government networks for as long as three years. I would presume the same risk applies to Juniper users [...]