As our society leans more on technology, the opportunities for threats to interfere continue to increase. Safe computing requires more user awareness than ever before as well as maintenance of passwords and data security.
Here are a few tips on how you can keep your information safe online:
Secure your passwords.
Password hacking is the easiest way for anyone to access your information and cause damage. Switch up your password on each website you use, store them in a safe place, and be sure to change them frequently for the most security. Include both uppercase and lowercase, symbols, and numbers for the most difficult-to-guess passwords.
Automatically download important updates.
Updates such as MacOS are critical to the integrity of your computer and should therefore be completed as soon as they become available. Adjust your updates in settings to download automatically.
Never access sensitive websites on public WiFi.
Your data could be easily copied or stolen on a sensitive network. In addition, do not access or share sensitive data on unreliable networks.
Be aware of phishing attempts.
Never open an email from someone you do not know. If there is a link or document attached in the email, absolutely do not open it. Hackers often use this to automatically download malware onto your computer when opened and to access your information or ruin it altogether.
Back up your important information onto an external drive.
Whether it be a full backup hard drive or a flash drive, secure sensitive data onto a protected drive in case of emergency and for extra protection.
Don’t let yourself become the next hacked credit card or identity theft. Practice safe computing and protect your valuable information with the security it deserves. WesTec Services is a trusted and experienced IT services provider located in the Houston area. Allow us to keep your data safe by giving us a call today or visiting our website.
With the rise of COVID-19, cloud-based remote work has become increasingly popular and necessary. With new and emerging cloud-based technology comes new cybersecurity threats, like “cloud jacking.”
What is cloud jacking?
Cloud jacking occurs when a hacker steals the information of a cloud account holder and gains access to the server. Hackers often use this act as a means to conduct criminal activities, such as identity theft.
Because businesses often store confidential, sensitive information on cloud servers, they are major targets for cloud jacking. When it relates to sensitive information, these kinds of security breaches can be devastating for a business’ clients, partners, and reputation. Cloud jacking is not simply a one-time offense, as it creates a web of victims.
How do I protect myself against cloud jacking?
There are several things you can do to protect your business, clients, and partners from falling victim:
Require strict, multi-factor user authentication
Limit internal access to your cloud server
Perform background checks before granting anyone access to your cloud server
Backup all data stored on the server, in the event that there is data loss
Use encryption to secure all data before storing on your server
Require all users to create strong, secure passwords
Here are the properties of a strong password:
The longer, the better
A combination of lowercase and uppercase letters
Numbers and symbols
Avoid words or terms that could be easily linked to your identity
The professionals at WesTec Services want to help you protect your network and business. We provide vital business technology and consulting services that can be tailored to your needs and budget. Interested in learning more? Contact us today!
Asecurity threat of any kind can disrupt productivity and impact business.What precautions are you taking to ensure your company does not fall victim to these disruptions? Here are 3 security solutions you should employ as a business owner:
Backup Disaster/Recovery
System failure can occur for a variety of reasons, such as virus infection, human error, and natural disaster. Regardless, system failure occurs without warning and could easily put you out of business if you are not prepared. Therefore, it is crucial you implement some sort of backup and data recovery software to protect your network. If you store important or confidential files on your computers, you simply cannot afford to be without backup and data recovery.
Access Control Systems
Another way to protect your business against security threats would be to implement an access control system. With access control systems, facility owners may install security technology such asID key entries and finger-printing scanners in order to track who enters the building. This technology can also record the time and date guests arrive and leave.
CCTV or IP Security System
Video surveillance is another great solution for businesses looking to increase security efforts, especially when paired with access control systems. Installing cameras at key entrances and exits will allow a facility owner to better monitor who enters the building. Unlike backup disaster/recovery, access control systems and CCTV protect against external security threats.Why wait until you need a solution in order to implement preventative measures? Most IT consultants simply react to problems instead of looking for ways to prevent them from happening in the first place. At WesTec Services, we believe prevention is better than a cure; prevention is key to maintaining productivity and cash flow. Protect your assets – call WesTec Services and schedule a meeting with one of our IT professionals to discuss what security solutions are best suited for your business!
As business continues to shift towards long term remote work practices, our tendency to fall for phishing scams has risen exponentially. While many businesses used to have one or two locations, workers are now spread out all over the country, working from their home phones and computers. While we now see more screen sharing services and video conferencing, a lot of these newer services are still perfecting their security measures. Here are a few changes businesses can make to protect company security during remote work conditions:
Use video conferencing passwords
Video conferencing apps such as Zoom or WebEx have had security breaches in the past, random people joining a call without invitation and “bombing” it. Many of these services have already made improvements to prevent this, but when possible, enable a meeting password and share it only with those welcome on the call.
When possible, protect equipment and increase security
Many employees do not have the necessary equipment at home, such as computers and monitors, to work as efficiently in the office. By allowing employees to bring home computers from the office or providing them with security for their home computers, the business can feel more confident in the security of their data. It is also common that home computers lack the security measures of work equipment, making them easier for hackers to access and leak valuable information. Whether you are using company equipment or your own, talk to your company and discuss how to best protect sensitive company data from your home.
Be cautious opening emails
With basically all office communication occurring now through email, employees are much more active, and most likely responsive, on their inboxes. This provides more opportunities for phishing scams to sneak in and imitate legitimate people or companies.Use caution when opening emails from unknown addresses, and if it seems unsafe, never click on a link or download. While transitioning to remote work may be difficult, the security of your data does not have to be. WesTec Services have been providing technology services for over 20 years. To discuss your IT, business telephone, or video security needs, contact WesTec today.
A Password meter is an indicator of the strength of a password entered by a user on a website. In most cases, meters estimate the amount of tries necessary for your password to be guessed by an attacker by factoring in password length and complexity. A University of Plymouth study tested 16 of the most encountered password meters on the internet to test their effectiveness. Based on the results, here are a few tips on how to keep your passwords secure, regardless of an “approval” given by the password meter:
Do not always trust the password meter
Just because a password meter says “strong password” does not mean it is. The meters can be helpful but are also extremely flawed, giving you a sense of false security. When deciding on a password, do not base it solely on the rating given by the website.
Avoid using keyboard patterns
On many password meters, passwords such as “querty”, “abc123”, and “Password” sometimes cannot be detected as problematic. Common letter combinations, such as going down a row of the keyword or commonly used words, are easily guessed and not always flagged on the meters.
Make passwords complicated and personal
The most secure passwords are those with a combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. Choose combinations that seem difficult to guess by an outside person or computer. The more complicated and seemingly random the password, the stronger it will be.In addition to character variation, do not use the same password for all of your accounts. Change up your passwords so that if one is discovered, not all of your information is at risk. Secure your valuable data with the protection it deserves. Do you part to protect your information with a strong password, WesTec is here to do the rest. WesTec Services is dedicated to providing the highest quality of IT consulting as well as backup disaster and recovery planning. Give WesTecCall a call today to discover more about our available services.
Have you ever accidentally deleted a file and then realized you need it back? Unfortunately, it’s happened to most of us at least once–and we’ve all experienced the headache that follows.
Here are a few tips that can help you try to recover a deleted file from your device:
Make sure the file is really deleted – If you’re not sure whether you permanently deleted a file, be sure to look for it before making an assumption. When attempting to recover deleted files, check the Recycle Bin or Trash on your computer. Typically, you can choose the filter “Date Deleted” to make your search easier. If your file was stored in a cloud storage like Dropbox or Google Drive, check your deleted files there–it may still be recoverable.
Check your backups– Making regular backups of your most important files on your device can prevent you from losing critical data when you need it. If you do have a backup, you may be able to recover your deleted files. if you don’t have a backup, now may be the time to implement one.
Try to recover the file– If you deleted a file on a magnetic hard drive, shut down the computer immediately. With the computer shut down, you should remove the hard drive from the computer entirely and place it in another computer as a secondary drive. Use file-recovery software to scan the drive. If you deleted the file recently and haven’t written to the drive much, you have a fairly good chance of recovering it.
Professionally recover the file– If all other methods were not successful in recovering the deleted files, you may want to consider a professional data recovery service. Professional data recovery services deal with everything from deleted and overwritten files to dying hard drives that need to be disassembled and repaired.
To continually ensure the security of business data and important files, it is recommended to perform regular data backups to your computer. If you feel that you don’t have the time or expertise, WesTec Services performs data backup and recovery services provided by our expert IT consultants.
For more information on our data backup or recovery services, contact the experts at WesTec today.
As we discussed in a previous article, phishing is an attack that uses disguised emails as weapons aimed at masses of people. However, spear-phishing is a targeted attempt to steal sensitive information from a specific victim, such as account credentials or financial information.
During a spear-phishing attack, the perpetrator attempts to acquire personal details on the victim’s friends, hometown, employer, hang-outs, and their recent online purchases. This is typically done by disguising themselves as a trustworthy friend or entity through email, social media, phone calls, or text messages.
Because spear-phishing is the most successful form of acquiring confidential information online, it is important to practice how to avoid an attack. 1. Beware what you post: Review your online profiles. How much personal information is available for potential attackers to view? If there is something you do not want the public to see, delete it, or ensure your privacy settings are properly configured. 2. Use smart passwords: It is not wise to use the password for every account you own. In this case, if an attacker has access to one account, they effectively have access to all of your accounts. Passwords with random phrases, letters, and numbers are secure. 3. Use logic with emails: If an organization sends you a link in an email requesting a specific action or sort of personal information, go directly to the organization’s site rather than clicking on the link. Calling the organization can also help clarify the issue. Real businesses will not email you asking for your username and password. 4. Update your software: Software systems include security updates that should help protect you from spear-phishing attacks, as well as others. If you receive notice of a new update, be sure to take advantage, or enable automatic updates.
To learn more about how you can protect your data or sensitive information, contact the experts at WesTec.
We place our information online every day. We’re more than happy to hand over our email, phone number, address and credit card information to purchase a product on the internet. In a world where ecommerce is becoming the standard, businesses must do what they can to protect customer data.
Follow Current Encryption Practices
Encryption practices change regularly to evolve and combat cybercriminals. Often, organizations who failed to stay up-to-date with the latest data protection trends fall victim to cyberattacks. To help protect customer data, create a recurring reminder to analyze your company’s security practices and make updates as necessary.
Limit Access to Customer Information
For additional protection, limit who within your business can view customer data. Not every employee needs access to customers’ personal information. When only necessary employees have access to customer information, hackers have a harder time finding a weak point to break into company databases.
Don’t Ask for Unnecessary Information
As a company, it is important to only collect the information you need to complete a transaction or service to your customer. Customers get weary when a business asks for unnecessary information. By only collecting necessary information, there is less for a hacker to steal. This protects customers and their livelihoods.
Educate All Employees on Security Policy
While you may limit who can view customer data, make sure every employee knows and understands the company security policy. Even though an employee may not have access to the customer database, their actions could affect the privacy of customers. For example, if someone were to take a company laptop to a coffee shop and used the open wifi, a nearby hacker could potentially break into the company’s database through the network and steal personal information.
Let Consumers Know Their Information is Protected
The best way to build consumer trust is transparency. Let customers know you value their privacy. Take it one step further by detailing how you work to keep customer information stored safely in a privacy policy.If you’re unsure of how your business should protect customer data, or if your company wants information on the latest encryption practices, contact the experts at WesTec Services. We can help you create strong security protocols and install encryption software for data security.
Have you ever been the victim of a cyber attack? Do you use the same password for all of your accounts? Follow our guide to outsmart the hackers with increased password security.
How Hackers Get Your Passwords
Before you can better protect your accounts, you must understand how cybercriminals access steal your information. Typically, a hacker will compromise your account in one of three ways.
Personal attack: Hackers target your account specifically. They will typically guess your email password and use password recovery options to access other accounts.
Brute-Force attack: Hackers systematically check all possible passwords until the correct one is found.
Data Breach: Hackers attack large companies, resulting in millions of compromised accounts.
What Makes a Good Password?
Ideally, your password should be at least 16 letters and contain a combination of numbers, symbols, uppercase and lowercase letters. Passwords should not include any repetition, dictionary words, usernames, pronouns or IDs. Make a strong password by thinking of a phrase and then use the initials of each word, as well as the numbers and symbols, to combat potential attacks. For example, if your phrase is “Do you think a hacker will guess my 16 character password for Facebook?!”, your password might be: Dytahwgm16cp4F?!
Enable Two-Step Authentication When Possible
If any sites or accounts offer two-factor authentication, take advantage of it. This system works to limit hacking attempts by making a user authenticate their identity with a second method of verification. Check out our recent blog post about two-factor authentication for more information.
Use a Password Manager
The best thing you can do for your accounts is have a different password for each one. However, if you follow this one cardinal rule of password security, keeping up with all passwords can be difficult. Using a password manager allows you to save all of your passwords in a secure spot with a strong master password. WesTec offers consulting for any individuals or businesses wanting more information about password security, network installation, or managed IT services. Contact us for more information.
Threats to a company’s data come in many forms. Cyber-attacks like malware, spyware and viruses attack valuable data from companies each day. While anti-malware and anti-virus can help prevent breaches, these softwares can’t protect data from physical disasters. Data backup is imperative for a company’s continued success.
Local and Network Backups
Storing information on-site is one of the easiest ways to backup data. It can be stored on hard drives, tape drives, or other storage systems connected to a company’s network. Copying files to USB drives or external drives also provide an easily accessible copy of files. However, this should not be the sole method of data backup. Physical disaster, theft and ransomware all pose threats to local backups.
Cloud Backups
Cloud backups are quickly being integrated into businesses looking for added protection. This method of data backup allows copies of data to be stored on remote servers and accessed by internet connection. Unlike other methods, the cloud allows for automated backup of data to provide up-to-date copies of files.
Online File Storage
Similar to cloud backup, online file storage stores files on the internet. Sites like Dropbox and Google Drive allow businesses to store and share files off-site. While online file storage works well as an additional backup method, it also comes with limitations. Depending on the files, backup can cost time and bandwidth.The experts at WesTec Services recommend a business keep at least three copies of data in different places and on two different formats for proper data backup. Our team can help protect your data from threats. Contact us to get started.
Mission: WesTec will be a “turn-key” solution for all of its clients’ business connectivity needs. It will offer efficient and effective solutions, directly and with strategic partners, that create tangible value for its clients at every point of contact. Westec will serve all people and entities with a servant’s heart.
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2916 West TC Jester Blvd.,
Suite 104
Houston, TX 77018
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CCTV or IP Security System
Make sure the file is really deleted – If you’re not sure whether you permanently deleted a file, be sure to look for it before making an assumption. When attempting to recover deleted files, check the Recycle Bin or Trash on your computer. Typically, you can choose the filter “Date Deleted” to make your search easier. If your file was stored in a cloud storage like Dropbox or Google Drive, check your deleted files there–it may still be recoverable.
1. Beware what you post: Review your online profiles. How much personal information is available for potential attackers to view? If there is something you do not want the public to see, delete it, or ensure your privacy settings are properly configured.
Educate All Employees on Security Policy
Have you ever been the victim of a cyber attack? Do you use the same password for all of your accounts? Follow our guide to outsmart the hackers with increased password security.
Local and Network Backups
Online File Storage 
2916 West TC Jester Blvd.,
Suite 104
sales@westecservices.net