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IT Security Services

April 10, 2018

The Cisco Vulnerability Requires Multiple Patches

Virtual private networks are vulnerable to an exploit that was recently brought to light. Cisco has announced that this exploit undermines its ASA, or Adaptive Security Appliance tool. If this issue isn’t patched immediately, you could find your organization vulnerable through remote code exploitation.

This VPN bug can leverage the ASA operating system to enable hackers to breach Cisco security devices. According to Cisco, this Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) can “allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a reload of the affected system or to remotely execute code.” This means that an attacker could hypothetically gain complete access to a system and control it – a prospect that any business should see the threat in, especially where their physical security is concerned. In fact, this vulnerability has been ranked as a 10 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Score System, making it one of the top vulnerabilities ranked.

Granted, this vulnerability only goes into effect if WebVPN has been enabled, but that doesn’t mean that you can overlook this threat. ZDNet provides the following list of affected devices:

  • 3000 Series Industrial Security Appliance (ISA)
  • ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances
  • ASA 5500-X Series Next-Generation Firewalls
  • ASA Services Module for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches and Cisco 7600 Series Routers
  • ASA 1000V Cloud Firewall
  • Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance (ASAv)
  • Firepower 2100 Series Security Appliance
  • Firepower 4110 Security Appliance
  • Firepower 9300 ASA Security Module
  • Firepower Threat Defense Software (FTD).

When it was first discovered, this bug had yet to be used “in the wild,” but Cisco was aware of some attempts to change that. This exploit targeted a bug from seven years ago, with a proof of concept demonstrating the use of the exploit – or at least trying to. The proof of concept only resulted in a system crash, but that doesn’t change the fact that this vulnerability can be exploited in other ways, too.

Unfortunately, this vulnerability has now been observed in use, and worse, Cisco’s first attempt to patch it didn’t see to all considerations. As it turned out, there were more attack vectors and features that were not yet identified, as so were not addressed by the patch.

However, Cisco has now released an updated patch, which you need to implement as soon as possible. Otherwise, you are opening up your business security to greater risk. It is always a better practice to attend to known vulnerabilities post haste, as the longer your business is vulnerable, the more likely it is that someone will take advantage of that.

Furthermore, it is also crucial that you stay cognizant of any and all vulnerabilities that are present in your mission-critical software and hardware solutions. This bug is not an isolated case. Others like it have been found before, and more will certainly pop up in the future. Hackers and cybercriminals are constantly working to overcome the security features that software developers implement. It is your responsibility to ensure that you protect your business by implementing security patches and updates promptly.

The technicians at Net Activity are here to assist you with that. We can help you ensure that your patches and updates are up-to-date, often without needing to take the time needed for an on-site visit and handling it all remotely. For more information, give us a call at 216-503-5150.

 

 

By admin
November 30, 2017

US Government’s Revelations Against North Korea Cyber Attacks

Recently, the FBI and The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued alerts to warn people of two types of malicious software or malware that the North Korean hackers are using to attack telecom, media, aviation, and finance industries.

One of the malwares is known as FALLCHILL and has been in use since 2016. It facilitates hackers to get access of and monitor infected computers remotely. The malware spreads when users accidentally download it by visiting infected websites. The DHS and FBI also mentioned that FALLCHILL uses multiple layers of ‘proxy malware’ to conceal its origin and makes it even more difficult to trace the hackers.

Cyber Attack

Another type of malware introduced by the North Korean hackers, named VOLGMER uses a spear phishing technique to infect computers. It sends a legitimate-looking email with a link that spreads the virus when clicked on. The US authorities say that North Korean computer hackers have been using this malware since 2013.

According to the DHS and FBI identified both the above mentioned malwares to be in association with HIDDEN COBRA, a term used by the US government to refer to the “suspicious & malicious cyber activity by the North Korean government.” In the recent years, North Korea has been linked to a few of the most high-profile, destructive cyber attacks that includes a $101 million theft from Bangladesh’s Central Bank in the year 2016, an attack on movie studio – Sony Pictures in 2014 and several disruptions to its neighbor South Korea’s systems. These hackers also have been accused of being the mind behind Wannacry Ransomware attack in May 2017 that caused a terrible loss to hundreds and thousands of computers across the world.

The North Korean cyber attacks have been making headlines for quite some time. However, the countries that are capable of doing so are constantly tracking, watching and spying on the capabilities of other countries. They usually attack the countries that fall beyond its immediate borders with cyber intrusions or missiles.

Net Activity, Inc. is protecting businesses of such kind of malware attacks since 2002 and has proven the competence of its IT Managed Services at the time of cyber attacks. Secure your network and hardware system before a malware takes its control. Contact Net Activity today at 216-503-5150 to learn how to protect your business from these malicious attacks.

By admin
April 7, 2017

Why Cyber Security Should Be Your No. 1 Business Priority for 2017?

A significant number of CEOs along with their executives and managers have reported that their technology budget will see a considerable increase in 2017 – a recent survey report from Mondo read. According to one of the Business Insider’s reports, it is estimated that nearly $655 billion will be spent on cyber-security initiatives for protecting mobile devices, PCs, and IoTs between 2015 & 2020.

Cyber security is at the top of all the IT spending priorities as companies are more concerned about their network and data due to increasing threats and hackers on the market. President Trump also said (cnet.com) in one of his pre-election speeches that the only way to keep America safe is to make cyber-security a major priority.

Cyber criminals are evolving at a very aggressive pace as they intelligently utilize the opportunity of being anonymous and spontaneous. They are developing new, innovative modes of attack every day. They study an individual’s or an organization’s cyber behavior and intervene instantly wherever they find a loose string. Companies must start being prepared for potential cyber-attack as otherwise they might face heavy data losses, disruption of operations, or loss of customers’ trust.

Despite the efforts put in by the cyber security experts and government agencies, cyber-crime is likely to increase in the coming years. Technical innovation and use of smart phones invite more online dangers. Moreover, the development of Internet of Things has made machines more vulnerable attack points for hackers.

Malware protection must be a key concern rather than just having policies for securing emails, web browsing data, and personal devices. Cyber security can be strengthened with the right measures and by collaborating with the right Managed Service Provider (MSP). We, the Net Activity, Inc. team have been consistently serving businesses across Ohio by securing their networks and data from any possible discrepancies since 2002. We are also Microsoft partners which strengthens our identity as a reliable Managed Service Provider in Ohio. If you wish to gather more details, please visit https://www.netactivity.us/services/it-managed-services or you can contact Harry Bhatia at 888-545-5346.

By admin
March 18, 2017

The Next Generation Ransomware Detector & Virus Cleaner Sophos Intercept X

 

Sophos has always deployed intelligent security solutions to businesses and with the introduction of Sophos Intercept X users can be extra careful with the malicious attacks on their systems. The Intercept X uses big data analytics in addition to a deep understanding of attack vectors, threat patterns, and criminal motives much sooner without needing any updates or signatures. The Sophos Intercept X is a combination of several techniques for faster identification and response that does not require specialized security staff.

The Sophos Intercept X has already been in the headlines for detecting and protecting computer systems from ransomware attacks. Sophos ransomware protection and advanced anti-exploit has the capability to block zero-day threats. Unlike other threat management systems, Sophos Intercept X features root cause analysis and automated forensic reporting that pinpoints infection points and offers a detailed guidance for strengthening an organization’s security position.

It observes the actual behavior of the process in a signature less manner and understands whether the process is malicious or not, rather than acting at a later time when the damage is done. Sophos Intercept X goes down to identify the source of attack and responses with a deep cleaning of all the harmful attackers. The product can be easily installed and managed through the Sophos Central cloud based management console. The Sophos virus removal tool closes many of the security gaps that existed for organizations all around the globe.

The Intercept X features the Anti-exploit technology as studies revealed that almost 90% of the breaches are due to exploits and most of the exploited vulnerabilities are already known. Sophos has diagnosed 24 different techniques used within the exploits rather than tackling the exploits directly. The Intercept X gives a meaningful response to the possible attacks while providing both cleanup and forensics. The Sophos Intercept X displays the what, where, when, how, and by whom of the virus attacks and also guides a novice user to the list of next steps. It can be installed as a standalone product or can be merged with the Sophos Central endpoint product for better results.

If you have any further queries about network security and virus cleaners, please visit https://www.netactivity.us/contact-us Harry Bhatia at 888-545-5346.

By admin
September 23, 2016

Look Where the Future of Internet Security is Heading to…

Hackers are getting more sophisticated and it has become tough for businesses to survive their attacks. Today, internet means a lot, rather everything to us. Things are changing at a faster rate and so will the internet. Consequently, the new interfaces will bring in unique security challenges. On the other hand, there will be a major shift in the devices used for surfing the internet.

internet security

The future On the other hand, there will be a major shift in the devices used for surfing the internet. The future locality of internet connections would no longer be restricted to businesses; it will be embedded into cars, everyday appliances, clothing, and even disposable packaging. It’s going to be everywhere, making security more challenging than ever.

centralized management

Thinking of the wildest guesses as to how the internet will grow, our focus should now be directed at thinking about how it can be safeguarded in the future.

centralized visibility

Some of the precise questions to be seriously thought upon are: How important will then security be? What will it cost – as an individual & an organization? What will the unseen threats look like? How will we defend against their attacks? Let us first look at the existing elements of the internet network security. Five elements of internet security are practiced today – Architectural, Technological, Psychosociological, Procedural and Existential elements. But the question remains – Will this state of affairs last?

next generation firewall

Though simple, internet-based attacks will prevail and some hackers will continue using the traditional means of attack, the huge leap of technological transformations invites the need of precise and advanced security procedures. Many of the common characteristics will be transcended by tomorrow’s attacks and most of them will:

  • Be untraceable
  • Survive on the Net as self-multiplying software entities
  • Not be controllable or stoppable
  • Have no discrete beginning or end
  • Persist for years, even decades, in a longitudinal attack

unified threat management

The ultimate problem persists – how are we going to deal with these? How will we defend against the threats and secure the data that is most important to us? Active search has already been initiated by major organizations and if they perform well on board, the networks themselves may help to improve their own immune systems. Then, destiny would be survival of the fittest networks. To avail their Internet Security,visit https://www.netactivity.us/contact-us or call Harry Bhatia at 2165035150 X 206.

 

By admin
July 12, 2016

How to Verify the Effectiveness of Your IT Managed Services

Congratulations! You have finally found your IT partner. However, have you verified their services? Psst… Don’t say you haven’t! Obviously, you don’t wish to face a terrible IT crisis after paying huge sums of money to your Managed Service Provider (MSP). It’s important to verify the effectiveness of your IT managers as they are the ones who you rely upon for your network security.

So, how will you verify the efficiency of your IT Managed Network Security Service Provider? It is essential to understand a raw fact that for vendors, an extra margin (profit) rests in professional services, software licenses and maintenance – NOT the hardware. Therefore, vigilance on these parameters can be dangerous if ignored. You must analyze some critical points at your end before hiring a Managed IT Service Provider for your business:

  • Does your service provider have positive customer references? Irrespective of the lucrative offers and services they boast of, you must ensure whether they are practically delivered.
  • Is the team equipped with the latest competitive infrastructure to support your network needs? It is important to confirm this because it is they who are going to support your network requirements in case any emergencies occur.
  • Have you got the terms & conditions verified by an expert? The undertakings must be clearly mentioned and communicated.
  • Are there penalties for non-performance?
  • Are the service level requirements clearly mentioned?

Next, here are some points to observe after you have hired the services of the MSP:

  • Is your provider proactively taking necessary steps to avoid break-offs?
  • Is your IT service provider able to resolve unexpectedly arisen issues?
  • Is the MSP keeping your data secure & taking measures to prevent hacking episodes?
  • Is the team you hired available for a 24×7 service?
  • Do the network security providers show patience while solving your issues?
  • Do they have the necessary knowledge and expertise to handle the complexities of your data and other related issues?
  • Do they understand your network and data related problems well?
  • Do you have any clause to escape the agreement if there is any mishandling or loss to the business?

Trust, but Verify – an excellent phrase that explains almost everything very simply. Net Activity, Inc. is a trusted team of professionals doing just what you were looking out for – Securing your data physically as well as on the cloud. We have helped many businesses survive through the major IT breakdowns and excel in monitoring data for smooth and secure operations. For further discussion on how we have been able to maintain authenticity from our clients, visit https://www.netactivity.us/services/it-managed-services or call Harry Bhatia at 2165035150 X 206.

Thanks for visiting us.

By admin
June 29, 2016

How to Aggregate Multiple Links for Better Internet Connectivity?

While most of us struggle every day to connect to the highest internet speed, it is really important to look out for ways that will help extract the best usage of internet speed. Increasing the internet connection bandwidth depends on what you actually mean by it. Consider a single LAN user making only one TCP connection; In this case, he will a get a traffic flow from a single gateway and won’t be able to benefit from balanced connections. On the other hand, if the LAN is crowded with multiple users who execute multiple requests at the same time, their individual connections will have access to a higher bandwidth.

Cyberoam Firewall Addresses the Problem – Let’s see how

It simply focuses on ‘more management’ than ‘more bandwidth’ that is a logical solution. With Cyberoam, you are able to evaluate the traffic and regulate the flow, strictly adhering to the pre-established network policies. In the corporate scenario, users expect to have access to myriad applications. However, not all of those applications are related to business activities. Here, it is necessary to control user access to irrelevant applications, which would definitely invite resistance from the users. But what we are concerned more about is, distributing an optimum bandwidth to all the users so that they don’t get frustrated due to slower loading times.

Cyberoam is a bandwidth usage monitor and allocates it dynamically ensuring that every individual user and application receives a guaranteed bandwidth along with a share of excessive bandwidth based on priority. When the priority is configured, Cyberoam uses the Hierarchical Token Bucket to queuing discipline coupled with triple control like:

  • Guaranteed bandwidth: A minimum bandwidth that is reserved for a user or application
  • Burstable bandwidth: Borrowable bandwidth from the excess bandwidth
  • Priority: This refers to the excess bandwidth access priority. There are eight priority levels ranging from 0(highest) to 7(lowest).

Although Cyberoam provides result-oriented solutions to management of bandwidth, there are certain challenges that will have to be faced while its implementation.

  • Allocating required bandwidth to business-critical users every time
  • Restricting internet access and controlling bandwidth of users other than the business-critical users during the peak hours
  • Blocking the non-business related traffic during business hours

Implementing these policies to control internet usage for increasing internet speed is not an easy task. It requires strategic planning and implementation but once practiced, can result in reducing non-business network traffic and resultantly providing the expected efficiency to business-critical users.

To help you experience a speedy internet connection, Net Activity, Inc. can help you manage and gain a control using its proven Unified Threat Management (UTM) done by the award winning Cyberoam products. We offer Intrusion Prevention System, Bandwidth Management, Multiple Link Load Balancing & Gateway Failover, Content & Application Filtering and many more just from one device.

We have been in business since 2002 and use our knowledge and expertise to strengthen your internet network security and bandwidth. To know further details contact Harry Bhatia at 2165035150 X 206 or visit our website https://www.netactivity.us/contact-us  & fill in the contact form so that we can assist you.

By admin
June 15, 2016

What Is The Private Use Of Your Internet Pipe Costing You?

Internet Pipe Costing

Employees spend more than half a day’s time at their workplaces and consequently struggle to find time to pursue their own interests. Here, our major discussion is based on the use of office internet lines for personal use. At their desks, employees apparently consider the computer systems as their individual property and naturally, use the internet lines too.

However, with the surprising survey results after monitoring the network usage of employees at work, business owners realized the necessity to keep a watch on the online activity of its staff. Creating an internet policy for controlling the net activity of employees often invites resistance. But here is why you need to have an internet security policy:

Loss of productive time

– When an employee spends his office time for personal tasks, your business loses on many of the productive hours collectively. This doesn’t mean that employers must expect the staff to work every single minute, but definitely misuse of considerable productive hours must not be acceptable.

Virus attacks

– Surfing the internet for unauthenticated websites may make them prone to virus and malware attacks. This may cause serious problems if certain important files get corrupted. It would cost a huge loss of data which might also be irrecoverable at times.

Hackers’ trap

– The internet’s vulnerability to hacker’s intelligence can destroy your complete business if not secured properly. Hackers are constantly watching your business and jump in as soon as they find an entry that is missed to be secured by you.

Of course, there is no permanent solution to saving personal intervention while performing online official tasks. However, implementing the acceptable internet use policy strategically and thoughtfully can lead you nearer to the safe zone. Company internet usage policy is meant to monitor the acceptable use of internet while at work and is a measure to minimize loss of productivity as well as data.

Staying alert and proactive is often a better solution. Net Activity, Inc. offers internet network security solutions, web filtering, content management, daily/weekly reports on usage. Net Activity also provides comprehensive proactive maintenance program that covers 24x7x365 server monitoring, Spyware detection and removal, Spam and Antivirus Management, backup management, online asset and vendor management, patch and service pack management, and service pack installation along with unlimited telephone support to our Support Desk. You can fetch more details here: https://www.netactivity.us/services/it-managed-services. For further discussions, please contact Harry Bhatia at 2165035150 X 206.

By admin
March 3, 2016

Security Issues: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid Cloud Computing. How to Overcome?

Cloud storage has become immensely popular among the businesses (small, mid-sized or big) and has been positively being adopted across the globe. Depending upon the features and approved budget, organizations choose a cloud computing service that serves their purpose in the best possible manner.

Here is a quick list of characteristics summarized by cloud computing storage providers to help you decide the best one for you:

Characteristic

Public cloud storagePrivate cloud storageHybrid cloud storage
SecurityGood. Depends on the security measures of the service providerMost secure as all storage is on-premisesVery secure. Integration options add an additional layer of security
PerformanceLow to mediumVery goodGood, as active content is cached on-premises
ScalabilityVery highLimitedVery high
ReliabilityMedium. Depends on Internet connectivity and service provider
availability		High, as all equipment is on-premisesMedium to high, as cached content is kept on-premises. Also depends on connectivity and service provider availability

Although the cloud computing solutions have witnessed a remarkable growth in the past few decades, many organizations are skeptical about accepting it due to the security issues associated with it. Sharing your valuable private data with some other company’s storage systems is undoubtedly daunting and leads to an open invitation to data breaches.

What are the security challenges you must be aware of before moving to the cloud?

  1. Loss of Governance: Ideally, you have very less control over your data when you delegate the authority to a private cloud computing solutions provider. So, it is better to be knowledgeable about the level of security training their personnel receive, their security infrastructure and policies, their patch management, logging policies and vulnerability assessment and intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS).
  2. Loss of Data: Despite of the security measures taken by the cloud service providers, there have been cases in the past to make you feel insecure about the attack of hackers and data loss. Examples include a group of hackers that could obtain e-mail addresses and SIM card numbers for over 100,000 iPad users from the AT&T website.
  3. Threat from a shared infrastructure: The cloud offers a multitenant storage system which makes it difficult to locate who you are sharing the infrastructure with. They may possibly be hackers! & you might be risking your critical data to them.Vulnerability in your neighbor’s web application could mean the loss of your sensitive data, if all customers share the same backend database.

How to overcome security challenges of the cloud storage?

Regardless of the above risks, a critical and thoughtful proactive approach can lead you to a smooth functioning of the cloud computing solutions. Here are three steps to help you overcome cloud security challenges:

  1. Establish criteria to evaluate public cloud vendors:
  • Perform pre-employment checks
  • Change control and remote access policies, backup procedures, patch management, log retention and review policies, isolation technologies &application security
  • Business Continuity Management: recovery and failover procedures, customer communication processes
  • Define strict escalation procedures, security monitoring infrastructure, documentation, metrics
  1. Develop your internal infrastructure into a private cloud: Building a private cloud is similar to building a virtual network. This would save you time as well as monetary resources. But be careful to maintain security & make sure you see the blind spots.
  2. Sequence your migration to the cloud: Your management might be encouraging you to establish a cloud storage network to increase agility and reduce costs. Starting with low risk applications, you can demonstrate to management the inherent risks of cloud computing while not sacrificing your critical data, reputation, and potentially incurring legal or financial risk.

Net Activity, Inc. a certified Microsoft Cloud Provider, we can provide you Cloud, On premise or Hybrid solutions.   Contact us on (216) 503-5150 ext 206 or write to us at https://www.netactivity.us/contact-us. For more about our Cloud Offerings please refer to https://www.netactivity.us/services/cloud-computing-services.

By admin
March 2, 2016

Key Role of Firewalls In Network Security : How It Works?

Firewalls & network security services are known to all those who use the internet and stands important as a protective shield to your network. Today, internet is a basic necessity of computer (or any digital media) users. However, it also invites invader’s attack on the network security which can lead to build up a malicious traffic on your system by encouraging unauthorized access to and from a network.

How does a firewall network security plan works:

A firewall is responsible for bringing in only safe and relevant traffic to your private network or computer system. It keeps a check on any unauthorized access to your computer and automatically refuses and decrypt’s unwanted information through the network.

It uses one or a combination of the following three methods to monitor traffic flowing in and out of the network.

Packet Filtering

This is the earliest and very basic type of firewall protection that inspects packets of information and flags inappropriate content or suspicious files. It uses a pre-defined set of rules to detect the packet’s source and destination address, protocol, and destination port number.Although the transport layer is used to obtain the source and destination port numbers, the packet filter firewalls mainly work on the first three layers of the OSI reference model.

Stateful Inspection

Introduced in 1994, the Stateful Packet Inspection provided additional information about the origin of a packet – whether it is a part of an existing connection or not. This eventually led to speeding up of packet processing. Stateful firewalls,without further analysis, allow packets that are part of an existing connection and evaluate others according to the rules set for new connections.

Application Filtering

With the increasing web server attacks, application-layer firewalls emerged in 1999 to protect servers as well as the applications. This enabled the firewalls to filter packets on any OSI layer up to the application layer. The advantage of application layer filtering is that it lets you block specific content like malware or certain websites and recognize when certain protocols such as HTTP, FTP & DNS are being misused.

Proxy Service

It acts as an intermediary between systems. The proxy firewall prevents establishing direct connections between both the sides; they are forced to conduct a session through the proxy, which can block or allow traffic according to the pre-defined set of rules.

Firewalls are an inseparable part of the packages provided by managed IT support services providers (MSSPs). Net Activity, Inc. a leading provider of internet security services, Cleveland includes firewall security as a service with management of threats from the network operational center.

Contact us on (216) 503-5150 ext 206 or write to us at https://www.netactivity.us/contact-us/.

By admin

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