Alvaka's Blog

Stay Informed And Up To Date On The Latest In Cyber Security

Alvaka Blog2026-03-11T18:09:45-07:00
1510, 2014

Key Questions to Answer After Getting CryptoWall or CryptoLocker

By |October 15th, 2014|IT Management, IT Planning, Security|Comments Off on Key Questions to Answer After Getting CryptoWall or CryptoLocker

1.       What date did you get infected? 

You might only have a few days to pay the ransom until it goes from $500 to $1000.  After 30 days you might not be able to decrypt the files at all.

2.       What type of files got infected and what do they mean to your business?

If the files are not worth $500 then don’t pay the ransom.  If the files are worth $5 million then you better be very careful and thoughtful about what you do.  The decryption process might not even work and if so....

1310, 2014

What Do I Do if I have CryptoWall or CryptoLocker?

By |October 13th, 2014|IT Management, IT Planning, Security|Comments Off on What Do I Do if I have CryptoWall or CryptoLocker?

I am surprised how many people are still calling with CryptoLocker problems.   I have gotten three calls in the past two days from people who have had infected/encrypted Cryptolocker files for as long as three months and they are just now dealing with the issue.  At this point in time I am not even sure paying the ransom will work for victims as the CryptoLocker network was taken down a couple of months ago by international law enforcement and with CryptoWall users only have 30 days to comply with the ransom demands.

So what options do you have if you are like these recent callers?

2509, 2014

How Do I Stop Being a Hostage to IT and the Six Reasons We Feel Like a Hostage?

By |September 25th, 2014|IT Management, IT Planning, Security|Comments Off on How Do I Stop Being a Hostage to IT and the Six Reasons We Feel Like a Hostage?

Over the years we have seen many new clients come to Alvaka Networks feeling like they are hostages to Information Technology.  These people feel this way for many different reasons.  Most often the person feeling this way is the CFO, Controller, CEO, COO, IT manager or an IT technician for the most part in that order in terms of frequency.

Why do they feel that way?

It is usually because their systems were:

1.       Poorly designed

2.       They don’t work right

3.       The system is insecure

4.       No one knows what the last guy...

1609, 2014

Technology advertisements that cross ethical, legal lines

By |September 16th, 2014|IT Management, IT Planning, Security|Comments Off on Technology advertisements that cross ethical, legal lines

It's hard to tell fact from fiction in technology advertisements, says technology and security consultant Kevin McDonald. These irresponsible claims about a product's compliance or security capabilities can have ethical and legal consequences. …I can't [...]

2907, 2014

Unclear HIPAA rules permit healthcare data offshoring … for now

By |July 29th, 2014|Healthcare, IT Management, IT Planning, Security|Comments Off on Unclear HIPAA rules permit healthcare data offshoring … for now

...Under the Final Rule, the OCR has the power to domestically deal out civil penalties, corrective actions and long-term monitoring, while the DOJ has the power to domestically deliver a criminal prosecution. Through enforcement under [...]

I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

Hello