WatchPoint Solutions Blog

The 2020 hack of SolarWinds saw a major disruption of the supply chain for many organizations around the world, including the U.S. government, but a recent survey shows that these organizations have felt varying degrees of effects from the hack itself. Furthermore, many have taken the hack as evidence that further information sharing must occur if we are to ever take the fight to cyberthreats.

Would you believe us if we told you that the maps we have grown up looking at are remarkably skewed? That pull-down map in the front of every elementary school classroom probably wasn’t to scale, for one reason or another. Modern technology can make it possible for hackers to skew satellite imaging, and this could very well be used in the cybercrime avenue in the future. The developing technology of deepfake images could bring about a whole new type of threat.

Here’s the thing: even if your password policy is airtight and perfectly followed, relying on passwords alone isn’t enough anymore to secure your business. Some of today’s threats are just too capable of cracking them. In order to really preserve your business’ security, most security professionals (like us) recommend implementing two-factor authentication—however, it pays off to consider your options, and how much (if any) added security each has to offer.

Data is one of—if not the—most essential resources a business has, which means it is essential that you take the steps to protect it in every way possible from every potential threat. This includes those that could originate from within your own organization. Let’s consider the case of Xiaorong You, who was recently convicted of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft by a federal jury.

For a considerably long time—over 40 years—Apple has staked the claim that their devices are pretty much hack-proof, that most hackers wouldn’t even try breaking into their security measures. Law enforcement was so repeatedly rebuffed by the company as they sought workarounds to get into their devices, that these law enforcement agencies figured it out for themselves.

In doing so, they uncovered a few things that even the most ardent Apple fans may be surprised to hear.

We’ve all received those emails that have some level of sensitive data in them, and we’ve all sent our fair share of them as well. However, one almost has to wonder—how secure is this data as it sits around in someone’s inbox?

When most of us think of cybercrime, we’re thinking about a lone hacker in a dimly lit room—or, at most, a few hackers hunched over their computers in a dimly lit room. However, to remain restricted to this impression would be inaccurate—particularly when you consider the very real threat that state-sponsored cyberattacks can just as easily pose.

Most businesses fall under some type of regulation that demands compliance. This will be especially true as data privacy concerns turn into further regulations. Most of today’s compliance standards are centered around data security, so you’d figure that if a company is compliant with the regulations their operations fall under, that would mean their business is secure. Unfortunately, the two terms aren’t always synonymous. Today, we will discuss the difference between security and compliance. 

Preserving cybersecurity requires the person responsible for doing so to consider every component and connection associated with their technology, down to the smallest minutiae. Let’s consider a sizable example that comes from a narrowly avoided disaster in the Democratic Republic of Congo, that could have potentially left millions of Internet users exposed to serious threats.

There are dozens of Internet browsers on the market. They are typically all free and when they come stock, are pretty much all the same. Most of the most popular ones come with an app store where users can download useful apps to make their experience better. Unfortunately, there are times that malicious code gets in there. Security firm Avast recently found 28 third-party extensions that are extraordinarily popular that had malicious code found in them.

It’s 2021! We made it! 

A lot of us look at a new year as an opportunity to greatly improve our lives. Maybe your resolution is to hit the gym regularly or commit to fewer processed foods—regardless, there are endeavours that take serious commitment, and others that take just a few minutes to accomplish. A really simple, really beneficial task you should add to your 2021 to-do list is to lock down some of your most important online accounts—and we’re going to walk you through it.

When was the last time you intentionally and systematically changed your passwords?

It’s a good practice, even though it can be a huge pain. For many of us, Google is a huge central hub that is tied to a lot of our data. With all of the cybersecurity issues and data breaches, it’s just a good idea to keep your Google account in check.

2020 has brought us a lot of news that we’d rather not hear. Just days before the end of what may be regarded as one of the worst years on record, there is more. One of the largest hacks in the history of the Internet happened earlier this year and more is being learned about it each day. Today, we will tell you what we know, who it affected, and what your business needs to do to secure itself. 

Around this time each year, there’s a tradition of people telling stories that have been passed down for years. We wanted to participate this year, so we’ve decided to reimagine a true holiday classic: Die Hard.

Let’s consider how the action may have played out differently if the movie’s events were to take place today…

In March, when the stay-at-home orders first came down, and businesses started asking their employees to work from home, it was obvious that many of them were not prepared for this contingency. As the pandemic has gone on, however, businesses have had to adapt. Today, we thought we would look at some of the solutions and strategies that are being used by businesses to secure their endpoints with most of their workforce out of the office. 

Unfortunately, this season’s holiday is going to be much like the rest of 2020: risky. With many people taking the necessary precautions to not contract or spread the coronavirus, a lot of people are doing most of their shopping online. By distancing from others and using the Internet to do the lion’s share of your holiday shopping, you take on different risks. Let’s go through some of them today.

The Department of Homeland Security has issued an alert over several zero-day exploits found in the world’s most popular Internet browser, Google Chrome. Google has since patched this software and we would like to remind you that you need to do so on all of your devices that feature the Chrome browser. 

Cyberattacks continue to be a major problem as scammers send out billions of phishing messages a day. While it doesn’t really sound that nefarious it can be a major problem for a lot of people. One version of phishing, the absurdly labeled smishing, is gaining traction and presents another avenue of attack for hackers. 

With so many companies pivoting to remote operations this year, strategies to keep your data and infrastructure secure have had to pivot as well. Today, we’ll go through some important variables that you need to address to maintain a secure and reliable computing environment when you are supporting a remote workforce. 

Despite what detractors say, regulations are in place for good reason. They typically protect individuals from organizational malfeasance. Many of these regulations are actual laws passed by a governing body and cover the entire spectrum of the issue, not just the data involved. The ones that have data protection regulations written into them mostly deal with the handling and protection of sensitive information. For organizations that work in industries covered by these regulations there are very visible costs that go into compliance. Today, we look at the costs incurred by these organizations as a result of these regulations, and how to ascertain how they affect your business.