Tag: ransomware

IT Support in Santa Ana: 3 Easy Ways to Avoid Ransomware

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IT support Santa AnaRansomware is a significant threat to any business. Many times these cyber attacks try to infiltrate your computers through malicious emails that contain attached documents or embedded links. Ransomware will lock your entire computer system and attempt to force you into paying cryptocurrency to regain access to your workstation. However, many cyber experts warn against giving in to the demands of cybercriminals, as it only encourages these attacks, and there is no guarantee that you will unlock your computer by paying a specific ransom. Here are just a few tips advises by IT support experts in Santa Ana to help your business avoid ransomware attacks in the workplace:

1. Back Up Data Always

Companies should always back up important data on a daily basis for maximum protection against ransomware attacks. These data backups can be automatically uploaded onto a cloud server as that is more convenient compared to creating manual backups each day on thumb drives or external hard drives. Cloud computing allows you to easily store data backups and makes your information safe and secure from the threat of ransomware.

2. Download Anti-Virus Software

Another way to avoid ransomware is to always download the latest anti-virus software for each computer. IT support experts in Santa Ana can provide you with up-to-date anti-virus software and help scan your computer system on a routine basis. Anti-virus software will immediately notify you of any potential threats in the workplace; it plays an essential role in keeping your computers protected from ransomware and other types of malware.

3. IT Security Training

Well-educated employees are much less likely to make mistakes that can cause cybersecurity incidents in the workplace. An IT service provider can offer employee training courses that focus on ways to reduce the chance of ransomware attacks. Never downloading attachment files from unknown senders and always scanning each document are just a few ways to avoid ransomware. These IT security training sessions can be scheduled on a regular basis to keep employees well-prepared at all times.

Ransomware will only continue to grow in complexity, but with IT support in Santa Ana, your business will be protected from these threats. Advanced Networks is an IT support provider that has extensive experience in helping clients avoid cyber threats by creating data backups, downloading anti-virus software, offering employee security training sessions, and many other IT services.

Feel free to reach out to us at any time to schedule a no-cost consultation and learn about the many benefits of cybersecurity in the workplace.

LA IT Support: Suggestions Regarding Ransomware Recovery

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LA IT supportLA IT support can be integral in helping your business recover sensitive data after cybercriminal intrusion. While there are things you can do to recover some data if you don’t have a program of recovery in place already, you’ll be better situated if you put together a strategy beforehand. Following are several areas worth concentrating on in order to best secure your operation:

  • Configuration control
  • Regular backup conduction
  • Monitoring of personal activity
  • Continual network monitoring
  • Monitoring of physical environment

Configuration Control

The way in which your network is configured could increase or decrease vulnerabilities. For example, if you’ve got multiple operating systems rigged together in an improvised solution, you’re going to have instances of vulnerability which may not even be detectable through traditional monitoring because of how such disparate operating systems interact. It is advisable to configure systems in as secure a way as possible, and LA IT support can be instrumental in this task.

Regular Backup Conduction

You want to have backups that are conducted at regular intervals. If possible, it would make sense to conduct a full backup during times of low traffic, and then have continual backup in place after that. That is, whenever new data is entered into your network, it is backed up. However, such a paradigm can be difficult for larger networks, which may predicate a backup at areas of low traffic during the day or evening, depending on the operation. Generally, as often as you can back up your network, you should.

Monitoring of Personal Activity

The personal activity of both employees and management should be continuously monitored as possible. This can help identify patterns of use that represent security threats or open wide vulnerabilities to be exploited by cybercriminals.

Continual Network Monitoring

The entire network should be monitored as continuously as possible for greatest security. Again, working with an MSP can be instrumental here. Such organizations have greater resources and knowledge from which to draw, allowing them to more swiftly design, isolate, and prevent anomalous activities from threatening operations.

Monitoring of Physical Environment

Threats to your network can result from seemingly innocuous things, like leaving an entry password on a sticky note near an end user portal. The right MSP can help you design a physical environment that is most conducive to secure operations.

Upgrading Your Business’s Security

LA IT support through Advanced Networks can help your business survive even the most pernicious cybersecurity threats. 2017’s WannaCry attack was launched by North Korea, meaning some threats aren’t just garage-based hackers. Contact us now to ensure your business is properly safeguarded against intrusion.

How IT Support in LA Can Beat Ransomware

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IT support LARansomware has been around most of this decade and still presents challenges to businesses without effective IT support in LA. Like a never-ending riddle, it’s a form of malicious software that keeps growing in sophistication. But that doesn’t mean you have to operate your company in constant fear. Working with an experienced IT provider that stays up-to-date with new technology is the key to a safe and sound network.

Why Ransomware is a Serious Threat

The biggest reason why you need to guard against ransomware is that it can put vulnerable firms out of business quickly. Small startups that try to cut corners on costs without some type of IT support in LA run the greatest risk of collapsing overnight. Attackers prey upon businesses using old technology that’s no longer supported with upgrades. They also try to fool untrained employees with phishing emails that masquerade as trusted colleagues.

A worst-case scenario is when a careless business never bothers to back up data and has no disaster recovery plan because it has nothing to turn to for maintaining business continuity in a cyber attack or natural disaster. That’s a major catastrophe that can lead to a future of big lawsuits if confidential information is breached.

Ransomware is a potential nightmare because it can lock up computers, denying users access until they comply with the attacker’s demand to make a ransom payment with cryptocurrency. Since hackers are con artists, following their orders does not mean they will unlock your computer as the meaner ones might destroy your data anyway.

How IT Services Block Hackers

Just because a company conducts backups regularly and has a disaster recovery plan doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safe from harm. You also need to outsmart hackers in the first place by implementing strong security measures. Antivirus software alone is no longer good enough to shield a business from cyber attacks.

Several strategies can make hackers give up and move on, but in general, the key is to implement a multi-layered security strategy. Just like a chess game, you have to think several moves ahead of your opponent. Here are practical steps for your IT team to take to minimize the risk of an attack:

  • Be proactive by training employees how to spot suspicious emails
  • Back up your data in at least three places including an offsite location
  • Use firewalls, virtualization, or both to make your system harder to penetrate

Due to the rising threat of ransomware, it’s advantageous to partner with an IT support provider in LA. Contact us now at Advanced Networks to learn more about how we can monitor your network and block unwelcome intruders.

IT Consulting In Los Angeles: 4 Ways to Prevent Ransomware

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IT consultants Los AngelesIT consulting firms in Los Angeles help safeguard businesses against ransomware. If you’re not familiar, ransomware is a kind of viral programming which is used to lock you out of your files unless you pay a ransom. It usually comes in the form of an email, hiding a Trojan program of some variety. Phishing scams can also become ransomware threats as hackers log into systems and restrict primary users from using them unless those users pay a fee. Even more frightening are ransomware attacks which are successful regardless of user error due to an exploitation of inbuilt vulnerabilities, such as backdoors through SMB ports which were used to ransom companies across 150+ countries due to the WannaCry attack. With that in mind, four steps your company can take, and which an IT provider can help you to employ, include:

1. Training Users

IT consulting firms in Los Angeles understand the risks and common entry points which characterize most ransomware attacks. You can work with such MSP organizations to help train your employees so that they don’t accidentally compromise your business due to online activity. Checking emails for signs of phishing and other red flags is key here. Only use secure or approved WiFi networks. The right tech agency can seriously help you reduce operational risk in this regard.

2. Management Of Patches

WannaCry was mentioned, and you’ll find a lot of writing about this on the web because it represents such a valuable case study. The truth is, many businesses that were undermined by WannaCry would have been entirely safe if they had simply instituted a practice of automatic patching. You want an IT provider that can provide such security solutions, and you should employ them. This is one of the surest ways to safeguard your business against ransomware in a comprehensive manner.

4. Business Continuity And Disaster Recovery Solutions

You’ve got to have a plan in place if the worst case scenario manifest. Furthermore, that plan will best be designed if you an IT provider to get it “up to speed”. Basically, you want something that can maintain operations when systems are compromised, such as a mirrored data solution as provided through the cloud. You also want recovery tactics that can be swiftly deployed in the wake of a disaster. An IT provider is absolutely fundamental to properly design either contingency.

4. Planning Against Known Risks

There are exigencies you can’t predict, but those, you can. Help users avoid known questionable networks and practices. Having certain firewalls in place which restrict certain websites is advisable. There are many things which are avoidable and foreseeable. You want to barricade against those first, education is a great way to do so. From there, you want to work with an IT provider to design protections against that which can’t be predicted.

A Comprehensive Support Package

Advanced Networks is one of the best IT consulting firms in Los Angeles that can help you plan against known and unknown risks through comprehensive support solutions which train users, help them avoid known areas of compromise, employ patches, and design disaster recovery solutions for when all else fails. Contact us now and let us protect your business from a ransomware attack.

Why You Need to Have IT Support in LA to Contend With Ransomware

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Having IT support in LA is fundamental in helping you avoid fallout from ransomware incursion. You’re likely going to deal with this eventually–even if you’re just an individual user. Here’s how ransomware works: it’s “broadcast” as widely as possible. That is to say, there are multiple channels on which ransomware is “spread”. Email, viruses, even in-built vulnerabilities like SMB ports with backdoor access designed by the NSA to spy on people. And even if you’re able to protect against these exigencies, you’re still likely to be undermined by a future ransomware attack exploiting new vulnerabilities with more advanced technology.

If you’re unfamiliar, ransomware basically holds your files for ransom against a payment in bitcoin or some other cryptocurrency that can’t be traced. If you don’t pay, the encrypted files could–and likely will–be deleted. Ransomware is often incidentally invited into computers and networks unintentionally. Following are several ways to help keep this from happening, and to help you handle the fallout if it does:

  • Acquire professional security services
  • Educate your employees
  • Ensure regular backup

Acquire Professional Security Services

IT support in LA is going to be one of your first lines of defense. Continuous updates, proactive monitoring and support, and the latest antivirus programs can all be instrumental in assisting you here.

Educate Your Employees

Employee education is a big part of security. The truth is, the vast majority of security threats develop internally, and this is especially true with ransomware. Say you’ve got an employee on the late-night shift, and they average one call per eight-hour shift. That individual is definitely going to dawdle on the web, and it’s just possible they’ll try to stream a free movie and incidentally download ransomware onto the network. So, outlaw that kind of behavior, or at the very least, find certain sites where such things can be safely done for your late-night employees.

Ensure Regular Backup

You want backup solutions which derive from regular, continuous backup paradigms you can institute. A worst-case scenario is data being entirely frozen and you not having the budget to pay the ransom. But with backups, you can just initialize the system and reboot without the virus. You’ll need recovery protocols in place, and again, working with an MSP is one of the best ways to effect this protection.

Protecting Your Interests

An IT support provider in LA can help you acquire the most professional security services, ensure your employees are properly educated and institute effective regular backups, as well as recovery protocols. Contact us at Advanced Networks to determine what the best security options are for your business and how to implement them.