People are the weakest link
This sounds like a nightmare too impossible to happen. US soldiers 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. Even worse, their settings were on ‘public’ not ‘private’
It’s 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 new KARE for Security S2 plan helps identify use of these sites in your organisation.
US Soldiers Accidentally Leaked Nuclear Weapons Secrets: Report (gizmodo.com)
Shadow IT
Shadow IT is one of the largest threats to data privacy in organisations today.
It’s not necessarily because these sites are going to be hacked, although that’s always possible, but just because if you don’t know the tools are in use, then there is no way that you can manage them!
The first step to maintaining this data is to identify it! That’s why you need new tools that are cloud focused. If you’re still using the same old security tools that you used to use prior to the cloud, then you are not keeping up and we need to talk!
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...
Bigger than Texas?
Its easy to think of security as something that’s only for larger organisations. They can afford the fancy systems that lock down networks, wireless connections and endpoint PCs & mobile devices. After all, aren't they the only organisations that hackers target?...
Compare two (near) identical Word files, without going insane
Of course, in a modern cloud world, this shouldn’t happen! We should share a link to a file and use versions to maintain it’s history. But we’re not in a perfect work, and we often get multiple people updating copies of the same file. Its all good until we have to...
Scamming your payroll
Keep an eye on your payroll! We're hearing about a bold new scam in the US, but it's bound to come to our shores soon. It's probably more likely to be effective in larger businesses or ones with an outsourced payroll. Essentially, the scammers try to intercept staff...