Airports, Wi-Fi and VPNs

Since most of us fly in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport, you might want to know that it’s ranked fifth on one list of airports where your phone is mostly likely to be hacked. Setting up a VPN (virtual private network) might not be your answer, either, because they are not always as reliable as you think for protecting privacy. Your best protection is your own cybersmarts.

Newark’s lack of security was highlighted in a recent article by Tech Republic about the 10 US airports where you’re most likely to be hacked. That article was based on a report by Coronet, an internet security provider, which looked at the 45 busiest airports in the country. The report applies mostly to businesses, but a lot of it can apply to all travelers.

Why are airport wi-fi systems vulnerable? Lax cybersecurity at most airports lets bad guys onto insecure public wi-fi to introduce a plethora of advanced network vulnerabilities, such as captive portals (AKA Wireless phishing), Evil Twins, ARP poisoning, VPN Gaps, Honeypots and compromised routers. Any one of these network vulnerabilities can empower an attacker to obtain access credentials to Microsoft Office 365, G-Suite, Dropbox and other popular cloud apps; deliver malware to the device and the cloud, and snoop and sniff device communications. Further, not all VPNs give you rock-solid protection against attacks, and USB charging stations are notorious being vulnerable to attack.

To be fair, the report puts the probability of connecting to a medium-risk network at 1 percent and the probability of connecting to high-risk network at 0.6 percent. The same numbers for the worst airport, John Wayne Airport-Orange County Airport are 26 and 7 percent, respectively.

But why take a chance when you can take steps to reduce even the slightest risk? Even at a 1 percent risk, you’re still gambling, and the cost of a breach could be more than the cost of more data on your cellular plan. To be safe, use cellular data in public places.

But let’s try to put all of this in perspective. If you’re checking your email or browsing the internet at the airport, you’re not using much cellular data. The heavy use comes in streaming movies or TV shows or in downloading content with a lot of pictures and video. To keep data use minimal, change your settings so you don’t download pictures and video. If you can, download and store reading and viewing material onto a device before you leave home. If not, buy a newspaper or carry a book to kill time at the airport.

When you’re at various locations – anywhere in the world – make sure you check that you are on a legitimate network. In Europe, for example, we found that the wi-fi networks were faster than data networks, and that made it better to use them to download email. But if speed is not an issue or if the wi-fi is slow, you’re safer on cellular.

We’d also like to add one more reminder: Although this article deals with airports, the same safety precautions apply to any public network. They’re all prime targets for hackers. The notorious bank robber Willie Sutton was once asked why he robbed banks. His answer: “That’s where the money is.” Today, data is where the money is; hence the hackers.

If you have any questions about securing your phones, devices and computers, call us – 973-433-6676 – and email us.

Tech Preps for Trips

For all the acclaim that Israel gets for technology, I was shocked at how slow the wi-fi service was while we visited there. With all the advanced security systems in place and all the tech startups and established R&D places there, I was expecting blazing internet service. Instead, I found internet service was based on DSL technology, and I had to ask why??? It was the slowest internet service I’ve experienced anywhere on the planet (though I’m sure I haven’t visited the places that are even slower).

While your experiences in Israel may differ from mine, the visit reinforced the need to plan for your tech needs as you plan your itinerary. In our case, I brought two phones, and we had Danit’s phone.

I ordered SIM cards for Israeli cellular service for my iPhone X and Danit’s iPhone before we left the US. They were ready for me at the airport, and using a little tool I carry, it was a simple matter to pop out our US SIM cards and install the Israeli cards. Our cost was $60 for the two cards, and we got 10 gigabytes each of data usage plus the ability to make unlimited calls worldwide. We also got the 4G cellular data service, and it was really fast.

Of course, that meant my iPhone X did not have my US phone number. That meant I lost access to voice mail for my number, and I lost the ability to receive text messages. The solution was to carry an old iPhone 5, which was activated for my US number. That gave me the ability to monitor US calls and texts and to use my “Israeli” phone to call and text as needed. The only issue with SIM cards in other countries is that you are likely to get text messages in the language of the country tied to the phone number. Along that line, if you are using your phone for GPS car navigation, you should check your settings to make sure you get displays and voice directions in English – and maybe in kilometers, too.

There are a number of workarounds for phone-number challenges. One is to get a Google Voice number through Google. You can then forward that to any phone number you want, such as the phone number tied to your SIM card in another country. I chose to get a US phone number in Israel for my Israeli phone, and people who needed to reach me immediately could use that number. That helped me balance time away while being accessible.

If you are averse to getting a SIM card and changing your phone number, you can arrange for international service with your cellular carrier. That can be expensive (“expensive” can be a relative term), and if you have an iPhone phone that you bought from a Verizon store, you’re stuck with just a CDMA radio in your phone. Without getting overly technical, CDMA is one of the two radio systems used in cell phones, and it’s used in the US. GSM is the other radio system, and it’s used worldwide.

Most Android-based phones, all iPhones sold in AT&T stores and iPhones sold in Apple stores have both radios built in, giving you seamless service if you decided to use an international phone plan from your carrier. If you are planning to buy a new iPhone and want to use Verizon as your carrier, we recommend buying it in the Apple store to get both radios and keep more options available.

If you opt not to have cellular service on your phone, you can still use wi-fi for email, browsing and making calls through various apps, such as WhatsApp, Viber, Skype and others. Just be aware of security needs when using public networks. You can also rent a cellphone in the country you are visiting.

We can help you plan for tech needs for travel. Give us a call – 973-433-6676 – or email us to talk about what’s available in the countries you’ll be visiting.

IoT and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

At a recent technology conference in Las Vegas, I was overwhelmed by how far technology has advanced in such a short time – and by how much faster the impact of technology on our lives will grow. We are in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Where are we headed? We’re headed for the clouds – the massive server and data storage networks make it possible to do everything imaginable from a phone or tablet from anyplace in the world where you can get an internet connection. This time-compressed evolution is the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Yes, it does seem strange to talk of an evolution, which is long-term movement, with the short burst of a revolution. But that’s just how fast technology moves.

In 1995, we were astounded that we had PCs on every desk. By 2005, we had democratized data in the sense that businesses of all sizes stored and sometimes shared data they gathered and used. That could be correspondence (email), financial records (banks, large retailers), or business info of all sorts, ranging from sales and inventory records to programming heavy industrial equipment. In 2015, society made a really big leap to the cloud to store and manage all the data we use for practically every aspect of our lives. Even people who never use the internet and pay cash for everything are affected by today’s technology if they drive or vote or pay taxes.

Some things I saw in Las Vegas give indications where we’re heading. Business is undergoing a digital transformation built around their customer experiences and new business models. Some one million digital devices come online every day, and by 2025, 60 percent of all computing will be in the cloud. While we each need to maintain our online security vigilance, the entire computing world needs to step its efforts because no bit of information ever goes away. Further, no matter how deeply hidden any information remains, the tools to find it and exploit it are constantly developing. The bad guys can build botnets (networks of electronic robots) to find IP addresses for any exposed device. The Boa open source server, which was used to automate a lot of web-related functions quickly and securely, was discontinued in 2005. But it’s still used in some devices, and with no technical support, bad guys are free to try to pick away at out-of-date defenses. Opening one door can lead to other doors that can be opened, and in some cases, the hackers who open the doors can’t be traced – or can’t be traced quickly enough.

It’s not just the bad guys using stealthy methods to find information. Anyone can use a Google search to find systems and get into them. Those systems can include security cameras and alarms and smart speakers. A Google search can also turn up expired security certificates, which can indicate vulnerabilities.

So, here’s some of what needs to happen:

  • The owners and operators of every server – from a single location to server farms with multiple links – must make sure their firewalls are “locked-down” and secure. That requires the installation of all security updates and patches as they become available and constant monitoring to make sure all ports are secure.
  • All device manufacturers must keep their firmware updated for maximum security. And, if the manufacturers can’t send you updates, you should get and install them on your own.
  • You need to make sure your firewalls and devices are secure through patches and strong passwords. You also should be running virus and malware scans regularly and frequently.
  • Be extremely careful and attentive when you click on a link. You can’t afford to let down your guard.

We also highly recommend an onsite security audit if you have any hint you may have an exposure. We can check all connections for everything on your network – home or office – and trace back anything that looks like a possible security issue, apply a fix and test it. Security issues never resolve themselves and fixing them involves looking at a variety of complexities.

If your computers or devices are running slowly, if you clicked on an email or link you think shouldn’t have, or if you think you’ve been hacked, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to set up a security audit. None of us wants to give up our technology; we just need to make it as safe as possible.

Advice from the FBI

If you’re a longtime client or reader of Technology Update, you can say the FBI has either listened to us or validated us with its recent call to restart your routers. Our national law enforcement agency says that routers can be vulnerable to hackers, and one of your best defenses is to restart them. There’s more you can do, but restarting a router is easy to do.

First, let’s look at the restart process, which clears out a lot of junk piles – junk piles that make great hiding places for the bad guys who want to use your network as the entrance to your entire computing world. Rebooting can also help your network’s performance, just like a reboot or restart helps your computer. All you need to do is:

  1. Unplug your router and modem – or combined gateway, which includes your router/modem and VOIP telephone – from the power source. If there is an adapter that plugs into your unit, you can usually do it right there. Do the same for any network switches you might have. If you have batteries for backup power in any equipment, make sure you pull them out.
  2. Wait at least 30 seconds. This is important to help junk clear out, and it signifies your system is offline. Waiting a minute wouldn’t hurt.
  3. Reconnect your system, starting with your modem if it’s a separate unit. If you have a gateway, connect that. If it doesn’t power on automatically, press the power button. Wait at least a minute to give your ISP time to authenticate your connection and assign a public IP address.
  4. Reconnect your router and wait two minutes. This gives your router time to boot back up and gives everything on your network time to get new private IP addresses assigned by the DHCP service in your router. If you removed the power from any switches or other network hardware, now is the time to power those back on. Just give them a minute or so, too. If you have several devices, be sure to power them on from the outside-in, based on your network map.

If you don’t understand anything in the fourth step, it’s a good idea to call us for help. We can follow the map and help you test everything on your network to make sure it’s all working properly. You can also reset your modem if you are concerned about security and/or performance, and that’s something we can help you with, too. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us with questions or to set up an appointment.

Who Really Sent That Email?

We’re seeing a pattern in security problems caused by “fake emails.” Although the pattern is not restricted to business emails, they seem to show up more frequently in offices. Here’s what’s happening.

Just like good marketers, email spoofers and hackers have noticed that Wednesdays and Thursdays are “light days” for email traffic. If someone who’s not overwhelmed by email gets no messages (OK, this might be theoretical), it doesn’t raise eyebrows because they’re not accustomed to a huge number of messages. When traffic gets back to its normal level on Friday, nobody bats an eye or says anything. That leaves the hackers free to move about.

What we’ve found when that happens is that a hacker has created a rule to move email messages to a place where they can do their dirty work. One of their tricks is to change a log-in to a fake website that looks like one you frequently visit. When your password is not accepted, you have them send you a link to change your password. When you sign into the fake site with the real password, they can use it to update your info on the real site and keep all of the function for themselves.

That “password” scenario is the one that seems to be most common way for hackers to gain their access, and as in most cases, the cybercriminals count on the fact that you’ll be too busy to notice anything unusual – and that you won’t say anything until well after the fact.

While offices – even SOHO businesses – seem more susceptible to this type of attack, anyone can be a victim. Here are a couple of telltale signs that you might be under attack.

The first is that you get an email that directs you to a website that you can’t log into because your password is invalid. If you use a “master password” application, that should tip you off right away. If you enter passwords for your sites and have them written down in a safe place, consult your records. If you can’t enter a password that you firmly believe is correct, that should be a tipoff, too.

The second telltale sign is that people got messages that looked like they were coming from their office’s email system. To see if something like that is a fake message, you have to find the IP address for the computer. If it didn’t come from your computer system, that could be the tipoff, but not always. In one case we had to solve, a New Jersey company was victimized by a New York IP address, but that didn’t raise any concerns at first because the company does a lot of business with New York IP addresses.

We can use a number of tools to help pin down the IP address from where the email originated, and the earlier we can get on the case, the better the chances of resolving your issue. If you want us to look at a message, you need to follow this procedure:

  1. Drag the message from your email inbox to your desktop. You’ll see it as an envelope.
  2. Email us that envelope as an attachment.

If you are convinced you have a threatening email, call us right away – 973-433-6676 – so that we can ask you a few “yes or no” questions and help you take appropriate steps before the consequences get really costly. If your questions aren’t urgent, email us for answers or to set up an appointment to talk. Email security problems will only get worse as time goes on.

Don’t Go to the Dark (Web) Side

The story of the hacking frenzy would be incomplete without mentioning the dark web. Some adventurous souls might think they can just drop in for a quick visit to see what’s it like and leave, but two thoughts come to mind: Trying to leave the Hotel California and a lamb sauntering into a lions’ den. Resist the temptation to take a peek.

Trying to poke around the dark web just for grins is the equivalent of going to a bad neighborhood at 2 a.m. just for sake of seeing what it’s like. It’s the place where stolen information, such as driver’s license numbers, credit card numbers, health records and the like are bought and sold. It’s no place for thrill seekers.

Yes, there are websites that will provide you with information on how to get to the dark web, and privacy is critical. Those who trade illicit information guard their privacy very tightly, and they use special VPNs (virtual private networks) to make sure they minimize detection by other criminals or law enforcement officials. And, you also want to minimize your exposure to other criminals who won’t think twice about stealing info and money from you.

Cybercriminals using the dark web never use any common ISPs (internet service providers) or browsers. That’s like walking into the bad neighborhood wearing a bright-colored reflective jacket. Rather, the dark web relies on special browsers designed to be undetectable. Users are advised to disconnect and/or disable recording devices such as microphones and cameras.

Dark web transactions are generally done using Bitcoin or some other form of cryptocurrency that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to trace the hands through which money passes. Users of the dark web generally use multiple aliases and anonymous email addresses to hide their identities and locations.

Criminals on the dark web know that other criminals and law enforcement agencies are marshaling all the tools they can to crack the dark webs, and the sophistication on both sides is constantly evolving. If you suspect some members of your family or employees might be thinking about taking a little peek at the dark web, let them know it can be an extremely dangerous undertaking. Once anyone wanders in, they’re prey for hardened criminals, and it’s unlikely they can wander back out.

If you’re concerned about whether someone in your home or office may have compromised your system’s security in some way, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us for a security audit. If there’s something going on, we can take steps to mitigate the effects.

Spoofs and Email Management

Spoofing email addresses is so common that you might as well accept the fact that you have to scrutinize every message you get. With our switch to a new Office 365 management portal, many clients have been getting emails allegedly from Microsoft, and some are more obvious spoofs than others. It might be time to look at your email management processes.

Hackers use spoofing as a way to get into your computer or network. They are relying on your carelessness to click a link that allows them to introduce some sort of malware that will give them access to your critical personal or corporate data and your address book or contact list. Once they get in there, they can replicate the same message that snared you and hope they get lucky with a few more careless people.

To clean out the malware, we need to isolate the message to see what the hacker is spreading through your system. We’ve received a number of calls from clients in the past few weeks about problems with spoofing, and our issue has been the size of clients’ email folders. Simply put, when there are 100,000 messages stored in the inbox, finding the spoofed message that caused the problem can be extremely time-consuming.

In all likelihood, you’ve run into a similar problem when trying to find a specific message. Outlook gives you some search parameters for finding any message you may have saved, but because of the way most people search, you get a lot more possibilities, and that still slows down your search. And, of course, the more messages you have stored in one place, the longer it takes your program and you to find the message you want.

Setting up an email management system can make your searches more efficient, and it can also help you or any IT support team isolate a message that might be causing a problem with your system. Again, Outlook has a few tools, but you might want to start by creating a system of subfolders within your inbox. For example, I file all emails by client, and within each client, I file them by the year. That makes it easy to get to a place to find a message I want to retrieve. It’s similar to the way most of you would set up folders for documents, photos and videos, and business records.

Of course, that system is only as good as the effort you put into moving messages to folders. If you suffer from a severe case of email overload, you may want to consider an archiving program that works on the back end of your email program. It can be especially helpful for a business, particularly where employees deal with multiple people from the same organization. For as little as $3 per month, it can set up and execute a system that even isolates people within a company, making it easier for you or anyone in your organization to get to a specific message to resolve any kind of problem – customer service or malware.

While home users may not be concerned with customer service issues, there are times when you need to find a message to resolve a problem, and good organization can make a busy life a little less hectic. We can help you set up set up Outlook folders or find and set up an archiving system that works best for your needs. Give us a call – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your email management issues and explore the most appropriate solutions.

Fraud’s Warning Signs

Anyone who tries to defraud you online – or even on the telephone – is literally banking your carelessness. Take a good look at emails and links and listen carefully on the phone. You can spot the fraud, and if you’re not sure, disengage and call the person you think contacted you – on the telephone – or send a new email, totally separate from the thread.

It’s important to be on “high alert” because the hackers and scammers are at the top of their game, and their targets include trusted advisors, such as accountants and tax preparers. We should state that these people should have secure systems in place and should know not to send or request sensitive, confidential information through email.

But at the end of the day, you need to take ownership of your privacy, so here are some tipoffs that a communication might not secure or might be out-and-out fraudulent.

First, does your accountant normally contact you by email? If not, that ought to raise a red flag. Second, can you absolutely verify that the email is from your accountant? While some email systems are good at spotting something fishy (or phishy), a scammer is betting that you’re not going to pay attention. Check the properties of an email address. It could very well be that cybercriminals were able to recreate the look and feel of an email from your accountant, but unless they actually got into the accountant’s server, a phony email will have a phony email address.

Attachments can be another tipoff to fraud. You should be suspicious if you get an email with attachments that are supposed to be forms, such as a tax form you need to fill out or a return to verify, are you being asked to provide your Social Security number and maybe your birthday? Can you open it without having to go to a secure website and enter a password? That doesn’t pass our initial smell test.

If your accountant does contact you about sensitive information or forms, are you referred to a secure website? Do you have that link with your access credentials safely stored? In a safe world, you can log into your account by entering the website address from your browser and entering your credentials.

If something doesn’t look right, you should always be able to call your accountant on the telephone.

And just to go one step farther this spring, here are some other things to be wary of.

Are you getting emails supposedly from someone you haven’t heard from in ages? And does have a short subject line, such as “hi”, with no message but a link? That’s a sign of fraud and clicking the link could open a breach in your system that can expose your sensitive data.

Are you getting Facebook friend requests from people who are already your friends? That’s generally a fraudulent request by someone looking to get into your system.

Anyone using fraudulent methods to get into your computer system may also be planting some kind of virus or malware to help infect other computers. If you think you may have clicked a link by mistake that could lead to a breach of your system, shut down your computer and disconnect it from the internet. Then call us – 973-433-6676 – so that we can apply our tools and expertise to minimize the damage and clean up your system.

Spectre and Meltdown Raise Need to Update

We’ve seen lots of patches from chip manufacturers and operating-system publishers trying to resolve the Spectre and Meltdown issues. Their effectiveness is mixed, but there are a couple of things you can do to help protect your systems: backup your files and update your software.

The patches came out quickly last month, and they kept on coming as chip manufacturers and publishers of apps and operating systems tried to close the open doors that Spectre and Meltdown use to get into a computer. If you installed all the updates, even multiple updates from chip manufacturers and software publishers, you did the best you could to mitigate problems.

If you haven’t installed updates for operating systems, applications, firmware, browsers and antivirus protection, do it NOW. If you have not set up your systems to automatically install updates, we suggest you do that now, too. Every supplier with a stake in your success is working ‘round the clock to shore up any weaknesses in their products. The faster you install them, the faster you’ll protect your systems and data.

Here is what you and the computer industry are up against:

Meltdown breaks the most fundamental isolation between user applications and the operating system. This attack allows a program to access the memory, and the secrets, of other programs and the operating system. If your computer has a vulnerable processor and runs an unpatched operating system, you risk leaking sensitive information. This applies both to personal computers as well as the cloud’s infrastructure.

Spectre also breaks the isolation between applications. It allows an attacker to trick error-free programs, which follow best practices, into leaking their secrets and may actually make applications more susceptible to attacks.

While Spectre and Meltdown affect chips, they resulted in computer failures that, in turn, resulted in the losses of apps and data files. In a number of cases in which our clients were affected, we found that Google Chrome was piece of every problem. We don’t say this to point a finger at Google; we note it to make sure you have the latest version of your browser installed.

In the more severe cases, we had to reinstall software systems – with all the cumulative patches – and data files because everything was wiped out. In the most extreme cases, we had to replace computers. This, of course, required that all data files were backed and that all software for operating systems and applications were licensed.

Using subscriptions for operating and application software can eliminate just about all problems associated with keeping your systems up-to-date and licensed. They also can provide access to backed-up data files to help restore your system. The bottom-line benefit is that if your system is struck by some disaster, which can include Spectre and Meltdown, a ransomware attack, or a virus or malware invasion, we can wipe your computers and servers of infections and initiate clean installations of your operating system, firmware, and application software and then restore settings and data.

Without the subscription, you may need to purchase software and then recreate all of your settings as best as possible. And if you don’t have data files in a separate, secure location, you’ll need to find the latest files you have and then restore them in your recreated system.

As we make these points, we are aware that everyone has budget restrictions. However, you need to look at the costs associated with an interruption due to an IT system failure. Any money you may have saved by hanging onto old equipment and software can be wiped by a single event.

By making smart investments to your system, you’ll be able to maximize your security and efficiency. That’s important for home use as well as a business. More and more, we have multiple users conducting some sort of transactions over the internet, and those activities can take place from remote locations. It’s a continuing trend in our use of technology. Subscriptions are a continuing trend, too, in the way we keep our systems ready to do all the things we do.

We can help you make the best decisions to balance your IT needs and available funds. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your update needs and develop a plan to meet them.

Tax Season: The Next Scam Season

I don’t know whether more money changes hands during the holiday shopping season or during tax season, but a lot is at stake between now and April 17 as people prepare tax returns. It’s a busy time of year for scammers, most of whom want to use fraudulent information to get your tax return money.

Probably one of the most common scams is someone calling from the IRS to say you owe back taxes. This happens every year and all year long, too. But there’s just one thing we want to remind you about, even if you know it: The IRS does not contact you by phone. Nor does the IRS contact you by email, a form of communications a scammer will use in a phishing expedition. The IRS sends you a letter.

The other scams you are likely to encounter are calls or emails from people or companies offering to prepare your tax returns and even provide you with an advance on your refund. The email scams are more insidious because if you click on a link, it could automatically trigger a breach of your computer that reveals sensitive information. If you follow through on a phone call or link, the scammer is going to request your Social Security number and other info that goes on a tax return. If the scammer is offering to advance you money from an expected refund, they’ll want your banking info, too. Once a scammer has this and other personal information, it’s easy to get credit cards and loans and commit crimes in your name.

From a computing point of view, we again remind you not to open emails from people you don’t know who offer help during the tax season. Delete them immediately. Do the same with an email from someone you know that seems out of context because it’s so easy to spoof an email address. For example, would you really expect Norman Rosenthal or Sterling Rose to prepare your taxes?

You can protect business and home networks and computers by making sure you have new, strong passwords for all networks and accounts. Strong passwords are long and contain a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, numerals and special characters. With the breach at Equifax, the risk of fraud is higher, and one of the problems it can lead to is that someone will file your tax return before you do.

With protection in place, you can use the internet for all of your tax-related activity, starting with IRS’s official website https://www.irs.gov/. In addition to being able to get tax forms and answers to questions, you’ll find links to help you find and verify information about tax preparers, including 10 tips for choosing one.

If you are preparing your own taxes, we recommend you use one of the established software providers to reduce your risk of a security breach, especially when you file online.

While we don’t prepare taxes, we can help you keep your networks and computers secure. Call us – 973-433-6676 – if you think your system may have been compromised. Call us or email us if you have any questions about system security or security settings for any software you use for tax preparation and filing.