Does your company provide Guest Wi-Fi for visitors, vendors, consultants, or others? If so, how secure are you from prying eyes on your corporate network?

You might be surprised to learn – not very.

Many of the companies we visit provide wi-fi access for visitors. Very convenient and thoughtful. However, often not safe

It is Easy to Hack Your Computer on Public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi is a major cyber security risk. Imagine you are in the Coffee Shop, ready to partake of free Wi-Fi. Did you notice the nice young man sitting in the corner sipping his Grande Caramel Macchiato? He might be hacking into your laptop.

You might ask, how could that be?

• You use complex passwords.
• You use Privacy mode on my browser.
• You use HTTPS

Sorry Homer. Anywhere that you use public Wi-Fi, your network security is at risk.

Microsoft is accelerating their Windows 10 update schedule. This includes

• Routine Windows updates, including security patches
• Features update. For 2017, Microsoft calls this the “Creators Update” for Windows 10

This blog article describes known issues and provides best practices for managing Windows 10 Creators updates.

Recent Issues with Sage 300 and the Windows 10 Update

Ever had a legitimate need (or desire) to google a topic anonymously?

Private Browsing enhances anonymity and cyber security.

Did you know that in normal mode your browser would typically record a history of every site you visit?

Private Browsing hides browsing history.

Ever wonder why advertisements start appearing on your web pages -- based on searches you performed days or weeks ago?
Private Browsing limits this invasive remarketing.

In normal mode, the browser records every website you use into the browser’s history, along with other tracking information. Browsers can also remember login credentials and passwords for sites you visit. This can be convenient for pages you visit frequently and other uses. However, one tradeoff to this convenience is privacy.

To limit tracking of your searches, you can use the “Private Browsing” feature of your internet browser. Popular browsers have various names for this feature.

Westlake Village, CA. We are pleased to announce that Richard Randle has joined the Executive Team of MBSG as a shareholder.

Richard leads our IT Systems and Security practice.

With cyber security and ransomware much in the news, Richard has performed Systems and Security Assessments for many organizations -- to identify vulnerabilities and shore up defenses. Richard also serves as outsourced CIO (Chief Information Officer) for several clients.

Uh-oh. A missing smartphone can escalate from minor inconvenience to identity and financial risk — if not resolved. How to find your lost phone?

First, there are the obvious places to check: on the charger, buried in a purse, between the couch cushions, in the cup holder of your car. The next step is often to call your phone. But what if the ringer is turned off?

With a little foresight, you can increase your odds of recovery. The major mobile platforms (iPhone and Android) have anti-loss/anti-theft utilities built in to the current versions. These utilities differ slightly by phone.

Petya, a new cyber security virus is in the news. Petya comes on the heels of the WannaCry ransomware attacks in May.

Both viruses are very dangerous and indiscriminate to company size. Beyond big companies, your computer and your company are targets too. Both viruses lock your computers. They also encrypt your data, making data retrieval problematic or impossible.

Petya hit parts of Eastern Europe including US Pharmaceutical giant Merck. WannaCry, a ransomware virus infected 250,000 PC’s including numerous PCs at the NMS in the UK.

Are you protected?

Cyber Security for your email is a critical defense against crooks and ransomware. Per recent studies, over 80% of Cyber attacks start with email.

Even with the best technology defenses on your network, you are at risk. If a human clicks on a malicious email, the cyber crooks can steal or ‘lock up’ your data to hold you ransom. Standard Anti-virus software will only catch a small fraction of malicious emails that target users.

To add an important layer of protection, we recommend that our clients deploy email filtering software.