Throughout 2015, there have been numerous reports regarding different health care companies being compromised and losing personally identifiable information (PII). Over the summer, one particular company reportedly lost data such as names, email addresses, phone numbers and health care subscriber numbers - payment and medical data were not believed to be taken. Unfortunately, we are getting used to this kind of news when we wake up in the morning. As we scan these articles, we peek to see if we are going to receive a new credit card or have to check our statements for fraudulent charges. So no payment information…
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Mobility is here to stay. Like it or not, there are 4.9 billion connected devices in the world today and that number is set to increase to 25 billion by 2020. Mobile use spans generations and is being applied in new and creative ways daily. My phone is the most efficient piece of equipment in my life. It connects me to my friends, my family, my work, the world. I don’t get out of bed in the morning until my mobile tells me to! But are businesses taking advantage and integrating mobile effectively? Well, according to IDC, the global mobile workforce will…
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A few weeks ago I posted an article about password vigilance and why it's important to maintain a healthy portfolio of different and complex passwords for your various accounts. That way if one system was hacked and usernames/passwords were stolen then only that system's data would be at risk. In the event of a compromised password you can easily change it and not worry about other accounts that perhaps share that same username. Simply update the account and your password manager. Case closed. Move on. I also mentioned that you should use two factor authentication if an application offers it.…
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These words represent a common mindset we hear from owners and IT professionals in small to medium sized business. It is troublesome, to say the least. It is easy to fall into a false sense of security with all of the high-profile news about big companies being compromised. But we at Alpine Cyber Solutions want to remind everyone that there are very important reasons to be vigilant in the defense of your network, no matter your size. A primary attack vector for intrusion into a larger company is to take advantage of smaller partner companies that may not have the same standards as…
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This is the first in Alpine's series on the modern security stack. Over the next few weeks, we will delve more deeply into each of the technologies that form a proper layered defense strategy. Do you have good security? Of course! We have the best anti-virus money can buy... Those of us in the security services and architecture arena have seen this conversation time and time again. And it makes us cringe every time. Sure, there was a time when a solid anti-virus would prevent the lion's share of problems that the young malware authors presented. But that time has passed.…
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