This sounds like a nightmare that could never happen.
US soldiers have been putting sensitive information online in non-secure third party websites. It defies belief, yet we’re reading that it happened. The story popped up on ‘Gizmodo’ .
It is alleged that US Soldiers were saving sensitive information on a couple of common flashcard sites, presumably of things they were trying to memorise and learn. It seems these are common learning tools used in universities to help students memorise facts. That works well so long as the facts aren’t top secret! Even worse, their settings were on ‘public’ not ‘private’!
It is a classic warning about the risk of people, however well intentioned, saving critical data online in places the organisation is unaware of, and can’t control. That’s why our KARE FOUNDATION proactive cyber-security plan helps identify use of these sites in your organisation.
Shadow IT is part of our 10-point cyber-security check list
While there is no single layer of technology that can guarantee you will be safe from hackers, you can reduce your risk by adding layers of protection. How many of our 10-point check list are in place for you?
How FlightPlan helped a leading legal firm
Overview Every year, premier Kiwi law firm Mayne Wetherell takes on up to 8 graduates and summer clerks as part of its popular recruitment programme. But on-premise hardware and perpetually licensed software are not by their nature made for rapidly scaling services...
Excel’s Best Ideas
Have you noticed the ‘IDEAS’ icon in Excel? (It used to be called ‘Insights’ ). It’s Excel’s attempt to make you look smarter and more thoughtful. Simply start with a table (not a pivot table) of data, and hit the idea’s button and see what comes. Based on my...
Security, Security, Security
Security, Security, Security.The theme of the latest “IT Nation” Conference in Florida was firmly on security. This is an important conference for us and we now go each year to what is possibly the biggest gathering of IT firms like Kinetics, to learn the latest...
When you DON’T buy some thing on TradeMe
Its hard not to be impressed by this beauty of a phishing mail - but DON'T BE FOOLED! The item link goes to a genuine item on TradeMe, but when you look closely The email came from mailer@traderme.co.nz - that's right... traderme (not trademe) If you hover the mouse...
Do you know anyone trying to get a career underway in IT?
Here at Kinetics we encourage young people that want a career in IT. And we know that getting started is always the hard part. To help, we run an intern program and encouraged senior staff in mentoring new comers to IT. Kinetics know that starting a career can...
Windows 10 1909 – what’s in the latest update?
At last – Windows 10 1909 – the long awaited second Windows 10 update for 2019. Were you waiting for it? Actually it’s unlikely! In fact the first update, from March, is only just rolling out now, so it will be some time before this version hits your PC or laptop....
“Request for Information” warning
A recently released report on the Botnet 'MasterMana' has highlighted a simple but effective social engineering technique. MasterMana has been spreading via emails requesting information on products or services offered by the target company. The email is...
Eliot Sinclair Case study – FlightPlan (Best Practice Review)
Overview Eliot Sinclair & Partners (ESP) provide surveying, engineering, planning, landscape architecture and urban design consulting. Headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand, Eliot Sinclair have provided consultancy services across South Pacific and Asia with...
Those scamming so and so’s
In September, Kinetics held a lunchtime IT security event focused around a presentation by our CTO Bill Lunam. After taking us though an abridged history of the internet, and an update on the current status of Internet crime, Bill explained some specific’s around the...
Microsoft Update – Backup Authenticator (Two-factor authentication tool) and Window 10 1909 ?
Firstly, unless you just delete our emails, or ignore what we (and every other tech professional) have been saying, you should now be using 2FA (two factor authentication) on pretty much everything, especially your Office365. The downside is that you don’t want to...