The holidays are right around the corner, which means many will be working remotely while traveling. Remote work already increases cybersecurity risks and traveling adds another dimension of threats. It’s important to keep your guard up and avoid taking security shortcuts while working remotely. According to venturebeat.com, here are a few cybersecurity practices you should consider implementing this holiday season:

• Backup all your devices. If traveling, leave the backup in the cloud or at home.
• Use a password protected, WPA-enabled Wi-Fi network
• Create strong and different passwords for each account
• Avoid storing passwords on your person or on your phone
• Update all devices, applications, and browsers

If you’re leaving the home office to work, whether at your local café or in another country, here are further security measures you can take:

• Leave unneeded devices at home
• Bring a laptop lock and invest in a physical one-time password authenticator
• Avoid taking devices that contain confidential company documents and information
• Use an RFID blocker(basically a card sleeve) to protect payment cards, room keys, and passports
• Use password-protected hotspot instead of hotel or public Wi-Fi
• Turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Near Field Communications (NFC) on your phone when in public areas such as airports or coffee shops
• Use a VPN

There are many cybersecurity improvements to consider making, whether you have big traveling plans or just like to work from outside the office on occasion. For more information on how to protect personal and company data, or for any other IT needs or questions you may have, please feel free to reach out to us at info@optfinity.com.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday are three of the busiest days of the year for shopping and donating. These days create the perfect opportunity for hackers and scammers to take advantage of the unwary. Thankfully, according to NBC there are measures you can take to avoid false advertisements, untrustworthy sellers, phishing attempts and more.

Cyber Monday

If a company is selling the hottest item of the season at a price that seems too good to be true, it likely is. Check prices across a few retailers to ensure the best deal is also a realistic one. Be aware of fake email offers and web addresses. Scammers will often attempt to craft sites and messages that look just like your favorite retailers. If shopping from a business for the first time, make sure to look over their reviews before entering your credit card information.

Make sure your antivirus software is fully up to date. Updated antivirus should help block pop-ups and spam, as well as warn you of potential threats. Use your credit card as opposed to a debit card. If any unwarranted charges show up, you’ll be able to contest them through your credit card company. Debit cards unfortunately don’t offer the same protection. Lastly, be on the lookout for phishing tactics. Emails, calls, and texts mentioning incredible deals, free gifts, and delivery problems should all arouse suspicion.

Giving Tuesday

Responsible charities will list their mission, programs, goals, and achievements on their website. Their financial information should also be readily available. You can check if organizations are tax exempt using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool.

Additionally, be wary of on-the-spot donations and the use of emotional appeals. Do some research before making your donation decisions to ensure your selected charity operates ethically. Lastly, it never hurts to check with state charity officials if you haven’t heard of a charity before. Charities often are required to register with the office of the attorney general before soliciting.

This giving time of year is wonderful, and it’s great to give thoughtful gifts to loved ones and charities. However, it’s wise to be cautious and ensure your money and personal information are safe. If you have any questions about Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, or general internet safety practices, feel free to reach out to us at info@optfinity.com.

LinkedIn has long had security issues such as fake and impersonated accounts, spam messaging, and phishing. However, according to an article on Tripware, LinkedIn is taking new measures to bolster their security and protect users from threats.

Some of these features include:

About This Profile
Every user will now have additional data points to assess how trustworthy a profile is. “About This Profile” will detail when each account was created, as well as if the account has a verified phone number or email address. This feature should be effective for identifying fake accounts and ensuring users are making safe connections. Initially only workers for select companies will be able to verify their email addresses, but LinkedIn will expand the feature over time.

Fake Account Detection
LinkedIn is also fighting against deepfake image generating technology. These artificially generated images are being utilized as profile photos to make fake accounts appear authentic. LinkedIn has implemented a deep-learning-based model to check uploaded profile photos to determine if they are artificially generated or not.

Suspicious Message Warnings
New warnings are being integrated into LinkedIn’s messaging system to help keep users safe. Warnings and safety tips will appear if users try to send links to external sites or apps. This will further protect users from threats such as phishing and viruses.

All these new measures will help to keep LinkedIn’s userbase safer. While improvements are being made, many threats still exist on LinkedIn and all other types of social media. To keep your personal information safe, it’s important to have up to date cybersecurity and follow best internet practices. For more information on how to how to identify digital threats and protect your data, please feel free to reach out to us at info@optfinity.com.

More information is available online than ever before, and with this rise in information comes an increase in the number of hackers and scammers looking to obtain your personal data. Protecting your computer with antivirus software is not just needed, it is essential.

In addition to removing viruses, antivirus software will help keep your personal information safe through features such as secure web browsing, monitored downloads, and alerts when your data is at risk. A good antivirus software will run scans for malware and viruses, offering instant protection for your computer. Additionally, it can monitor unexpected behavior on your computer and identify new threats before they become an issue.

The better antivirus products will even help protect against phishing by warning you about suspicious sites and automatically blocking emails from malicious senders. However, you still need to be able to identify phishing tactics on your own, as antivirus programs won’t be able to identify every threat.

For more information regarding the protection of your online information whether antivirus software or security awareness training, please feel free to reach out to us at info@optfinity.com.

Is now the time to go completely cloud based?

Have you been considering if now could be the right time to switch your small business completely to the cloud?  Cloud computing offers many advantages to small businesses and nonprofit organizations, but will it maintain the safety of private information for both your business and customer? The following are things to think about if you make the switch, according to an article from smallbiztechnology.com:

• Train workers to identify attacks by using Security Awareness training software
  • Teach staff to avoid using email links and instead go directly to a website
  • Ensure staff is aware of what phishing attacks may look like and how they work
• Install antivirus and XDR protection
  • Every company device should have the latest virus and malware protection
• Require strong passwords
  • A strong password would include uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as numbers and characters
• Implement password policies which require password changes and complexity requirements
• Set security policies
  • Clearly define protocols such as what to do with unneeded customer data, how often to change passwords, and who can access that data
• Make sure you are complying with the laws
  • Learn the rules regarding data protection based on your companies and your customer’s locations
• Budget
  • Set aside a percentage of your IT budget for security and adjust as needed

Cloud computing can be just as safe as any other form of digital data storage when the proper precautions are taken.

If you have any questions about cloud computing or how best to protect your organization, please contact us at info@optfinity.com.

Do you have an Amazon Alexa in each room too? She’s always there when we need her because she’s always listening. Do you ever wonder if she’s listening a little too much? Smart devices can be very useful, but they can also be really creepy. Can you imagine being woken up by your Amazon Alexa device laughing? There have been hundreds of reports of Alexa devices laughing for no reason. Amazon claims the device is misinterpreting other phases with “Alexa, laugh!” Amazon changed the command to “Alexa, can you laugh?” to avoid triggering the device to laugh. Amazon hopes adding a few extra words will reduce the confusion for Alexa and eliminate the eerie issue. Some customers have complained that they were woken up in the middle of the night by Alexa’s laugh even though no one was talking.

We all enjoy being a little spooked during Halloween time, but I think the Amazon Alexa took it a little too far.

For more information regarding online safety, reach out to us at info@optfinity.com.

Did you hear? Samsung is experiencing a cybersecurity incident. Although the company has informed the public that social security numbers as well as debit card numbers were not accessed, customer’s name, contact and demographic information, date of birth and project registration information have been.

Samsung claims someone gained unauthorized access to their systems in late July. In early August, it was determined that the attacker had obtained customer data, but consumer devices were not affected. Samsung has taken action to secure its systems.

Samsung does not believe it is necessary for customers to take immediate action based on their investigation although the company does suggest that individuals use caution if they receive unsolicited emails relating to Samsung products.

If you would like more information regarding online safety, reach out to us at info@optfinITy.com.

If you’re using Google Chrome, it’s time to check for a critical security update. Google released a Chrome update to patch a significant vulnerability that is actively being exploited in ongoing cyberattacks. Google urged users to update Chrome as soon as possible.

How to update Chrome on iPhone or iPad:

• Open the App Store app on your iPhone or iPad
• Tap Profile Properties in the top right corner. This will open a screen labelled Account. Scroll to Available Updates
• Search for Google Chrome. Tap Update to install the latest browser updates. (You may be asked to provide your Apple ID and password)

If Chrome isn’t listed under available updates, you can go to Google Chrome in the App Store. You may see an option to update Chrome appear, you can tap that button to begin updating.

How to update Chrome on a desktop

It doesn’t matter whether you are using MacOS or Windows, your google Chrome update process is the same.

• Open Google Chrome and click on the More menu (it’s located in the top right corner; it looks like three dots stacked vertically)
• Now you’ll see if an update has been recently released. A green icon means an update was released less than two days ago. An orange icon means there’s been a pending update for four days now. A red icon means an update has been available for at least a week
• Near the bottom of the More menu, click Help and then click About Google Chrome.
• In the new screen that opens, click the Update Google Chrome button (if you don’t see the button, it means you’re already up to date)
• After you’ve clicked the Update Google Chrome button, click Relaunch to finish the update

Chrome will now restart, and you’ll be up to date.

If you have any questions on updating Google Chrome or protecting yourself from security bugs, please contact us at info@optfinity.com.

Let’s be honest, our phones are constantly ringing but not because friends and family miss us and want to talk. It’s the “IRS” asking for money or “credit card companies” telling us we missed a payment, or our account was hacked. It’s telemarketers and scammers attempting to steal our personal information and hack into our accounts.

Americans are expected to get over 52 billion robocalls just within this year alone. I don’t know about you, but I don’t pick up the phone unless I recognize the number, I’d rather risk missing an important call than deal with a spam call.

Although companies like Apple have taken action to warn us about the “scam likely” calls, attackers are becoming more sophisticated. Attackers have been spoofing local numbers and those of popular companies to convince you that they are authentic. Recently, these attackers have been using SMS text messages that come from your own phone number.

Regardless of how the attackers are making their move, companies are trying to make it stop but here is what you can do:

• Don’t answer calls from blocked/unknown numbers
• Don’t answer calls from number you don’t recognize
• Don’t assume incoming calls are from a local number just because it looks like it
• Don’t respond to any questions that can be answered with “Yes”
• If someone calls claiming to be with a specific company, hang up and call that company using their official number from their website to be certain
• If you answer the phone and hear “Hello, can you hear me?” hang up
• If you receive a call requesting you to click a number before being connected to a representative, hang up

By interacting with a voice prompt, you’re verifying that your number is real. They can then sell your number to another company who will begin targeting your number more frequently. If you are an Apple user, Apple has an option to “Silence unknown callers.” This will add the option to route calls from numbers not found in your contacts, mail, or messages to your voicemail.

If you start receiving a lot of spam text messages, you can forward the message to number 7726 (this spells “spam”). This won’t stop the number from texting you, but it will notify your carrier to investigate it and hopefully put an end to it.

If you have any questions about receiving spam calls, please contact us at info@optfinity.com.

What do you do when you have a dumb question? You Google it, right? Just like when you’re sick and want to avoid going to the doctors, so you self-diagnose based off your Google results. I’m sure you have searched numerous odd things in Google throughout the years, I know I have. What if I told you someone could access all your Google searches? Is your face turning red yet? Don’t freak out just yet, there’s a way to keep your searches private.

So, what is Google tracking?

All the contents in your inbox from receipts to private messages including medical documents and bills are scanned by Google. There is a setting called “Smart Compose” that allows Google to scan your emails as you type them. Its purpose is to help you write faster by finishing common phrases.

Turn off Smart Compose

• Open Gmail
• Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner for settings
• Select see all settings
• Click general tab near top of page
• Go to the smart compose section
• Turn writing suggestions off by clicking on the circle next to it
• Click save changes at the bottom

Please note Google will still have access to all the content in your emails unless you switch to a privacy-based email inbox.

Switch to privacy-based email

• Click on the gear icon in top right corner of Gmail and click settings
• Scroll down to E-mail via Google+ option
• Click on the drop-down dialog box Anyone on Google+ set by default and change it to the degree of privacy you want
• Click save changes once you are finished

For more information regarding online safety, reach out to us at info@optfinity.com