Hackers have stolen more than $40 million from U.S. and U.K. victims using a new strain of Dridex. Here is how you can protect your business from this malware.

A new spin on an old hacker favorite might be lurking in your email inbox. Hackers released a new strain of the Dridex malware as part of a large phishing campaign that was discovered in October 2015. The phishing emails try to lure you into opening an attached file. If you do, the malware-laden file will attempt to infect your computer if it is running Microsoft Windows. Once infected, hackers will try to get your banking credentials so that they can steal money from your bank accounts. Hackers have already stolen more than $40 million from U.S. and U.K. victims using this new Dridex strain, according to Tripwire.

A successor to the Cridex banking malware, Dridex was first discovered in July 2014. Dridex creates HTML fields that ask you to enter additional personal information when you log into an online bank account. The July 2014 version usually hid the malicious code that creates these fields in executable (EXE) files. In fall 2014, hackers started hiding the malicious code in macros in Microsoft Word files. Hackers made even more changes to the malware in fall 2015, making it harder for anti-virus software to catch it.

Once a computer is infected with Dridex, hackers can use it for more than just obtaining banking credentials. They can also use the computer to send spam or partake in attacks designed to shut down websites or web services. If you suspect your computer is infected, you should use an anti-malware tool to try to remove it. There are many free tools that identify and remove malware, such as Trend Micro’s HouseCall and Microsoft’s Safety Scanner. You should also change your passwords, including your banking credentials.

To help prevent a Dridex infection, you can take several measures:

• Disable Word macros. Since Dridex uses Word macros to deliver its malicious code, disabling them can help defend against it. If these macros are disabled and you open a Dridex-ridden Word file, Word will display a message telling you that they must be enabled to open the file. The malicious code cannot run until you do so. If Word macros are enabled and you open a Dridex-ridden Word file, the malicious code will run without any notification from Word. In most versions of Word, macros are disabled by default.
• Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date. Anti-virus software providers constantly update their software to thwart threats like Dridex. Thus, you need to make sure that your anti-virus software is always up-to-date.
• Keep your applications and operating system software up-to-date. It is important to install application and operating system patches. That way, hackers cannot take advantage of known problems and vulnerabilities.

For more advice on how to prevent Dridex and other types of malware infections, talk to your IT service provider.

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http://archives.infostructures.com/a/simple-email-mistakes-that-can-cause-serious-data-security-breaches http://archives.infostructures.com/a/simple-email-mistakes-that-can-cause-serious-data-security-breaches
Tue, 24 Nov 2015 07:31:35 -0500 Major Examples of Email Mistakes One notable example of an email mistake that caused a data breach involved the Goldman Sachs investment management firm. In June 2014, a Goldman Sachs contractor accidentally sent a message to a gmail.com email address instead of the corresponding gs.com email address. The latter email address is connected to the company’s in-house email network. The email contained a confidential document, and the mistake sent Goldman Sachs scrambling for a solution. To prevent the gmail.com recipient from opening the message, Goldman Sachs took Google to the New York State Supreme Court. In its petition, the investment management firm said that the message contained "highly confidential brokerage account information" and asked Google to help it prevent a "needless and massive" data breach. The case was unprecedented, in that Goldman Sachs argued that email senders should have the right to "unsend" an email if it was sent by mistake. In the end, however, the court did not have to rule on the case, since Google voluntarily blocked the recipient’s access to the email. Another noteworthy email mistake occurred in April 2014. An employee at the risk advisor and insurance brokerage firm Willis North America accidentally sent a spreadsheet to a group of employees enrolled in the company medical plan’s Healthy Rewards Program. The spreadsheet contained confidential information, including employees’ names, email addresses, birthdates, Social Security numbers, employee ID numbers, office locations, and the details of their medical insurance plans. Willis North America agreed to pay for 2 years of identity theft protection for the 4,830 people affected by the breach. Although the leaked information did not include details about the victims’ health conditions or the health information of their dependents, Willis North America was still cited for violating the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

The Costs of Email Mistakes

Avoiding Careless Mistakes

http://archives.infostructures.com/a/how-to-connect-to-your-computers-using-windows-remote-desktop http://archives.infostructures.com/a/how-to-connect-to-your-computers-using-windows-remote-desktop
Thu, 29 Oct 2015 11:40:11 -0400 <![CDATA[

Since Windows XP, the Windows operating system has included an application known as Remote Desktop. Remote Desktop lets you remotely control Windows computers through a local area network or the Internet. With Remote Desktop you can run programs, access files, and even manage network resources on any Windows computer.

To get started, you’ll need to set up the computers you want to remotely control. Remote Desktop requires your user account to have a password, so you’ll want to do that first. Click the Windows “Start” button and select “Control Panel.” Click the “User Accounts” option and then click “Change your password.” Enter a password for your account. From this point on, your computer will prompt you for a username and password at login time, whether the computer is accessed locally or remotely through Remote Desktop.

Next, you’ll need to enable access for Remote Desktop. Click the Windows “Start” button and right-click “Computer.” A drop-down menu appears. Click the “Properties” option. In the window that opens, click “Remote Settings.”

You’ll probably want to check the box labeled “Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop.” This option is convenient if you have multiple versions of Windows running in your home or office, as each version of Windows is slightly different in handling Remote Desktop connections.

Finally, you need to choose which users you’ll allow to connect via Remote Desktop. Administrative users automatically have access to Remote Desktop. If you want to give other users access, click the “Select Users” button, select the users in the following window and then click “OK.”

After you’ve set up Remote Desktop on your computers, you can connect to them from anywhere in your home or office.

Click the Windows “Start” button and type “remote desktop” in the search text box. Type the name or IP address of the remote computer and click “Connect.” Your computer will connect to the Remote Desktop computer, and you’ll be prompted for the appropriate username and password. Correctly entering the username and password will give you access to control the computer.

Connecting to your Remote Desktop computer through the Internet is also possible, but extra settings are needed on your router. You’ll want to Google specific instructions for your router in order to get things working, but it’s usually a straightforward process.

The U.S. government recently announced that 5.6 million fingerprint records were stolen along with other valuable data from the breach they publicized earlier this year. Since many of your clients have iPhones that use fingerprint scanning for security, they may be wondering what could happen if their fingerprint data was stolen.

With fingerprint authentication, you do not need to remember and enter a password to access a device. You just place your finger on a fingerprint scanner. If your fingerprint matches the scanned image on file, you gain access.

More and more devices are using fingerprint authentication, including smartphones and notebooks. But is using fingerprint authentication a good idea? To answer this question, you need to know how fingerprint scanners work, along with their advantages and disadvantages.

How Fingerprint Scanners Work

No two people have the same fingerprint. Even identical twins have different fingerprints. Thus, fingerprints can be used for identification purposes.

There are two main types of fingerprint scanners: optical and capacitance. Optical scanners use charge-coupled devices (CCDs) to get a fingerprint image. They work a lot like traditional scanners. Capacitance scanners use electrical current to obtain fingerprint images. Their images have a higher degree of fidelity than the images made with an optical scanner. Plus, capacitance scanners require an actual fingerprint shape to work, making it harder to fake fingerprints.

Most optical and capacitance fingerprint scanning systems do not compare the entire fingerprint when checking a fingerprint against the scanned image on file. They compare specific features of the fingerprint, which are known as minutiae. They use complex algorithms to recognize and analyze minutiae patterns.

All the minutiae patterns in the fingerprint and in the scanned image on file do not have to match for fingerprint scanning systems to allow access to devices. They simply have to find a sufficient number of minutiae patterns in common. The exact number depends on the programming in the fingerprint scanning system.

The Advantages of Fingerprint Authentication

Fingerprint authentication has several advantages over authentication systems that use passwords, personal identification numbers, or access cards. Here are some of the most noteworthy advantages:

• Users cannot create weak fingerprints or forget them.
• Users cannot misplace their fingerprints.
• Criminals cannot guess a fingerprint pattern.
• If a mobile device using fingerprint authentication is lost or stolen, its contents cannot be easily accessed.

Because fingerprint authentication is convenient for users but not criminals, many device manufacturers are beginning to use this type of authentication. For example, the iPhone 5S and newer models use capacitance scanning to provide fingerprint authentication.

The Disadvantages of Fingerprint Authentication

Fingerprint scanning systems are not infallible. Optical scanners cannot always distinguish between a high-resolution picture of a finger and the finger itself. Even capacitive scanners can sometimes be fooled by an artificial fingerprint. There are documented cases where fingerprint scanners have been duped with fingerprints lifted from glasses, CDs, and other items. The process is time-consuming and requires a lot of expertise. You first need to enhance the fingerprint and get a high-quality digital image of it. You then need to turn the image into a mold in which you can pour gelatin or silicon to make the fake fingerprint.

Already having a digital scan of a fingerprint would make the process easier and less time-consuming, potentially making it more lucrative to criminals. In September 2015, they learned that their fingerprint scans were stolen during the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach that occurred earlier in the year. The OPM data breach was massive.

Federal experts believe that the ability to misuse fingerprint data is currently limited, but this could change over time as technology evolves, according OPM Press Secretary Sam Schumach. A group with expertise in this area will be reviewing the potential ways adversaries could misuse fingerprint data now and in the future.

This group’s activities will likely give little comfort to the 5.6 million federal employees who had their fingerprint scans stolen. While passwords, personal identification numbers, and access cards can be changed, fingerprints cannot be. As a result, they will likely have to worry about becoming victims the rest of their lives.

“While cybercriminals may not be positioned to leverage stolen biometrics now, that will change as these types of authentication are more widespread,” said Tim Erlin in an eSecurity Planet interview. Erlin is the director of IT security and risk strategy at Tripwire. “Most iPhones can use a fingerprint for authentication these days, and criminals always look for the most profitable targets.”

One way the 5.6 million federal employees can protect themselves at home is to use more than one type of authentication to access their devices. This is referred to as multifactor authentication.

Using Multifactor Authentication Is Best

With multifactor authentication, you use two or more types of credentials to access a device. The main types of credentials are often described as:

• Something you know. Examples include passwords and personal identification numbers.
• Something you have. Examples include access cards and fobs.
• Something you are. Examples include fingerprint and retinal scans.

Using fingerprint authentication with another type of authentication can provide a high degree of security. For more information about using multifactor authentication, talk to your IT service provider.