Just one month after the WannaCry outbreak, the new Petya ransomware is the latest cybercriminal attack impacting small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
- Regular maintenance of your antivirus and other endpoint protection tools
- Reinforced threat prevention through additional security solutions
- Regular employee training
- Reliable backup and disaster recovery (BDR) with online and offline backup solutions as the ultimate failsafe against successful attacks
Our client experienced a significant fire that completely engulfed their warehouse and office, giving staff about 30 seconds to exit the building and completely destroyed their property including everything within the premises. This devastating fire consumed all of the inventory, computers, phone systems, server, etc. Everything one would need to operate their business. Luckily they had engaged the services of Newport Solutions prior to this fire and not only was everything backed-up, but we were available to restore everything and get their business operational the next business day. With our remote monitoring in place we received an alert that their server was offline, when we spoke to the client they then informed us their building was on fire. Within minutes we were able to pull up their account and confirm that we had a recent copy of their data from a backup that ran only an hour ago. Less than an hour of data was lost in this devastating fire. With Hybrid Cloud Backup Service, we schedule backups every hour, and offer continuous restore feature for business continuity. This also means they could operate from current data, not a backup from the previous night, week, or archived data that was months old. Once we downloaded a copy of their encrypted data from our certified data center, we had their internal line of business software running that same night. Their phone system was hosted voip and with our systems call continuity calls were instantly routed to their cell phones. We had their network running in their 2nd building the very next business day! Despite the disaster, there was little interruption to their operations. New desktop phones were setup accepting calls from the main number and their software was fully functional. Disaster planning and back-up systems should be regularly tested, using the most reliable systems and services. We at Newport Solutions take this very seriously. If you would like a free consultation please contact our office at 714-660-1811 or email jeff@newport-solutions.com
05.25.2017
Threat Update – WannaCry Ransomware
| As of this writing, the WannaCry ransomware outbreak infected 350,000 victims in more than 150 countries. As a customer, we want to keep you up-to-date on the latest information about the threat and our response. |
| What makes WannaCry unique? WannaCry is a unique ransomware strain that exploits a critical Microsoft Windows Server Message Block (SMB) vulnerability to spread like a worm, lending to its rapid propagation after just a few hours of initial detection. The SMB exploit spreads across network shares, so the effect of the attack was minimal to consumers.The unique trifecta of a broadly available vulnerability with a working exploit and the ability for execution without human intervention created the perfect environment for a “wormable” ransomware attack. Since the WannaCry attack, another attack called Adylkuzz has surfaced that takes advantage of the same Windows vulnerability, emphasizing the need for action. |
| What was McAfee’s response? Over the course of Friday, May 12, McAfee received multiple reports of the attack. By Friday afternoon, the McAfee® Global Threat Intelligence system was updated to identify all known WannaCry samples, and McAfee had delivered DAT signature updates to all its customers.Our enterprise endpoint products provide zero-day protection against the attack as outlined below. As new variants of this ransomware arise, we will continuously update our software to keep our users protected. |
You may have heard about the massive international cyberattack of a recent strain of ransomware called WannaCry on the news recently. Hold your breath... there's more coming. On May 12, 2017, businesses, hospitals, governments in over 150 countries woke up to the alarming news that their computer systems had been attacked by ransomware which demanded payment in order to get their files back. You can read the details on Wikipedia and on many news sites. The attack exploited machines that used outdated Windows software or Windows systems that did not have the latest security patches. This means that new threats could be looming. If your computer systems aren't upgraded and patched, or if you don't have business-grade reliable backups in place, you are at risk of being a victim of the next attack. Our clients benefit from our expertise and responsiveness in software patch management, data backup and other strategies that keep them safe. Contact us for a network assessment to learn how "at risk" you are and for guidance on what you can do to make sure that you stay safe, too.
Ransomeware is back in the mainstream news with the newest strain WannaCry. Over 74 countries have been infected. 1. Understand the threat. Crypto ransomware works by encrypting data, 2. Educate users. It only takes one bad decision by a user to unleash a costly ransomware attached. Once installed the ransomware software can infect a computer and worse yet the entire network and servers in seconds!
Don't Let Ransomware Hold You Hostage
Grow Your Business
Are you always looking for new ways to grow your business and reach new clients? A managed service provider can be the perfect solution to meet all your business needs. Newport Solutions is a managed service provider that offers dependable IT support for businesses in Orange County, CA. Whether you need the latest technology, or need to reduce costs, a managed service provider can help your company reach new heights. Here are a few ways that your business can grow with the support of our team at Newport Solutions, Inc: Increase Production Companies are always looking for ways to improve and become more productive. With the use of managed services, your business will benefit from the latest technology to help your staff reach their goals. At Newport Solutions, our computer technicians work around the clock to ensure that our network is stable and secure. With a stable network, your employees will be able to work without experiencing any downtime. Employees will also experience less stress, as they can get more work done in a shorter amount of time. Overall, the company significantly benefits with increased employee production through the use of the latest technology. Reduce IT Budget A managed service provider will meet all of your IT needs and costs less than an IT department.Check all of your emails carefully before opening them! Keeping your business secure.
A client received a piece of spam, opened the attachment which turned out to be ransomware. This locked her computer, and infected the server. Fortunately they had our backup solution in place and we were able to restore to a backup before the infection occurred. Had they not had a firewall, Anti-Virus, backups or known about the infection things could have been a lot worse. 
Here is a safety checklist:
How the IoT Revolution Threatens Your Small Business Network The Internet of Things (IoT) is exploding. Billions of devices are online and many more are coming. Tech fans are happy. Hackers are even happier. Email us to request how to uncover how IoT devices threaten your network security. You’ll see how hackers are exploiting this fast-growing technology and how to stay safe. Use this contact for to email us and request of copy of this report. http://www.newport-solutions.com/orange-county-it-support-contact/
Our smart phones and computers hold almost everything we do throughout our day, both at work and at home. With such a wealth of personal and professional information at our (and at hackers’) fingertips, it’s important to keep ourselves and our employees aware of online security practices. There's a number of simple ways, but you'd be surprised how many become ignored. 1. Hire Professionals As a small or medium sized business you may not an an internal IT manager, but that doesn't mean you are alone to be your own IT support. You best option is outsourcing to a managed IT service provide, for a fixed fee you can can have IT resources for generally much less than hiring staff. 2. Stop using easy passwords. One of the most overlooked online security habits is creating stronger passwords. 123456 is still the most common used and most hacked. Passwords should be lengthily and complicated, especially for your email and
Malwarebytes recently released a security research report on the top malware threats for 2016. Here's a few headlines of what you need to know. Ransomware grabbed headlines and became the favorite attack methodology used against businesses, particularly in North America and Europe.
- Ransomware distribution between January 2016 and November 2016 increased by 267 percent.
- In the fourth quarter of 2016 alone, we catalogued nearly 400 variants of ransomware.
- Ransomware detections accounted for 12.3 percent of all enterprise threats, but only 1.8 percent of consumer threats.
- 81 percent of ransomware detected in corporate environments occurred in North America.
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