Network Behavior Analysis (NBA), also known as “Behavior Monitoring” is the collection and analysis of internal network data to identify malicious or unusual activity. Behavioral monitoring tools analyze information from …
August 6th, 2020
A Blended Threat is a computer network attack that seeks to maximize the severity of damage and speed of contagion by combining methods—for example, using characteristics of both viruses and …
August 6th, 2020
Metadata is information that describes the characteristics of specific data file or data set. For example, photos often embed metadata within the photo file itself. Photo metadata includes things like …
August 4th, 2020
Garmin, like Twitter the week before, suffered a massive breach. For Garmin it was ransomware while Twitter saw 130 of its most influential accounts taken over by hackers. Both companies suffered at the hands of hackers who used social engineering attacks to get into the companies and cause their damage. Visit CyberHoot to learn how to protect yourself and your company from these attacks.
August 4th, 2020
Data Normalization is a process of reorganizing information in a database to meet two requirements: data is only stored in one place (reducing the data) and all related data items …
July 30th, 2020
Catfishing is a common technique used on social media sites to attack victims through fake personalities and accounts. This technique is also used on dating sites, playing on people’s emotions, …
July 29th, 2020
Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) have been around for more than 50 years. In that time, criminals have found many unique ways to steal the cash they contain. Physical security, network security, logical security all play roles in protecting these machines from compromise. Learn how banks are protecting the machines and what you can learn from ATM heists to protect your own business at CyberHoot.
July 28th, 2020
Identity Theft is when a hacker uses your personal identifying information and pretends to be you in order to commit fraud or to gain other financial benefits. Thieves look to …
July 27th, 2020
The world of big data swirls around all of us online today. Data Aggregation (DA) is how big data is analyses for meaningful relationships and then converted into actionable intelligence. Learn more at CyberHoot.
July 24th, 2020
A Threat Actor is a person or group performing malicious or hostile actions which cause harm to the victims computers, devices, systems, or networks. Threat Actors are categorized into groups …
July 23rd, 2020
JavaScript is a programming language developed by Netscape commonly used in web development; used to add dynamic and interactive elements to web pages. The coding language is a “client-side” language …
July 22nd, 2020
Cyberspace is the complex environment of interdependent networks of IT infrastructures including the public Internet, various private “Internets” such as Internet2 or the US military’s Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), telecommunications …
July 20th, 2020
JBOH (JavaScript-Binding-Over-HTTP) is a mobile device attack that enables an attacker to execute arbitrary code on a previously compromised device. These attacks are known to be deployed through malicious JBOH …
July 16th, 2020
Situational awareness is knowledge combined with attitudes and behaviors that work to protect our IT assets. Being aware in cybersecurity means you understand what the threats you face are and …
July 16th, 2020
Cryptanalysis is the decryption and analysis of codes, ciphers or encrypted text. Cryptanalysis uses mathematical formulas to search for algorithm vulnerabilities, attempting to break into a cryptographic system. The goal …
July 14th, 2020
Bloatware is software that comes pre-installed with the purchase of a new computer or device. Many vendors include dozens of “utilities” and sometimes even “3rd Party software solutions” which add …
July 13th, 2020
Trialware is software that can be used for a short period of time before it expires. In order to keep using the software, the user must purchase an authentication key …
July 9th, 2020
Piggybacking is a form of cyber attack where a hacker(s) gain access to an unauthorized network, computing resource, or even a physical building. They do this by leveraging an insecure …
July 9th, 2020
Adware makes the Internet go round. However, excessive adware and madware (mobile adware) can lead to productivity damage or worse, malware. Learn all about adware and how to avoid it at CyberHoot.
July 7th, 2020
Disinformation is closely aligned to social engineering. When combined the two can have very believable and devastating consequences. Develop a healthy skepticism towards online content. To avoid being taken advantage of, seek to validate sources, facts, and authors.
July 6th, 2020
A Cookie, or web cookie, is a small data file used by computers to track website communications and sessions. When you visit a website, it sends a cookie to your …
June 30th, 2020
reCAPTCHA is a (presently) free security tool from Google which helps separate automated Bots from real humans wanting to interact with your website whether to purchase, query, complete a form. or register for something. Enabling reCAPTCHA can greatly reduce nuisances in your website from hackers and provide SMBs peace-of-mind.
June 24th, 2020
A Patch is a software component that is installed onto a device that modifies files or device settings. Patches are typically done to fix an issue with a device or …
June 24th, 2020
When -planning for risks to your small to medium sized business, you need to include data backups and recovery processes. Test that these work at least annually and be aware that some new hacking attacks cannot be addressed by simply restoring data from a strong backup strategy because of threats to your data’s confidentiality.
June 24th, 2020
Eavesdropping in the cybersecurity world refers to the interception of communication between two parties by a malicious third party (hackers). Eavesdropping is similar to a sniffing attack, where software applications …
June 19th, 2020
A POS Intrusion is an attack that happens at the Point-of-Sale device. The POS device in retail stores process credit card transactions at check out. Newer devices allow you to …
June 19th, 2020
Cyber Espionage is a cyber attack that leads to stolen classified, sensitive, or critical data often in the form of intellectual property in order to gain a competitive advantage over …
June 17th, 2020
Examining the data you collect to run your business can lead to greater efficiency, shorter periods of down-time, and better predictive models surrounding demand for your products and services. This is known as data mining.
June 16th, 2020
Account Hijacking is where a hacker compromises a computer account that does not belong to them. Often these account hijackings are email accounts because they contain so much rich and …
June 10th, 2020
Password Sniffing is a hacking technique that uses a special software application that allows a hacker to steal usernames and passwords simply by observing and passively recording network traffic. This …
June 10th, 2020
A Cracker is an individual who breaks into a computer accounts, systems, or networks and intentionally causes harm. A cracker can be doing this for profit, for malicious reasons, for …
June 10th, 2020
An Influencer is someone who creates or promotes content on the Internet to a group of social media followers (subscribers) via a variety of websites. The term Influencer is a …
June 10th, 2020
Open source software (OSS), unlike proprietary software, is software that keeps the code open so IT professionals can alter, improve, and distribute it. Popular Open Source software examples include Mozilla’s …
June 3rd, 2020
Software development has come a long way from the days of mechanical switches, punch cards, and the potential for a moth (Bug) in your machine. Today development programs usually follow one of two methodologies: waterfall or agile development. This article provides a quick layman’s overview of Waterfall development methodology.
June 1st, 2020
The Agile Development Methodology refers to a practice that uses continuous improvement and testing in software application development processes. Within the Software Development Life Cycle, there are a couple methodologies …
June 1st, 2020
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is the process companies follow to produces quality software in an efficient, supportable, and timely way. SDLC has undergone as many changes over the last …
June 1st, 2020
Impersonation email phishing attacks are rampant online. Do not trust an External email from your CEO or CFO if it seems unexpected, urgently needs your attention, and seems off in some unexplainable way. Pick up the phone and call that person or send them a separate text message (not email) to confirm their request.
May 18th, 2020
Ransomware has been the scourge of businesses for many years. MSP’s and SMB’s have sought to protect themselves with strong backups rather than educating users in many cases. With the MAZE ransomware, hackers have upped the ante for SMB’s by exporting the data and threatening to release it to the public Internet exposing that data and breaching its confidentiality. Train employees to spot and avoid these attacks rather than rely on your backups or you will be paying these bitcoin ransom extortion requests.
May 14th, 2020
Wireshark is a powerful network analysis and packet assembly tool. It is used by Network Administrators and hackers alike to view data on the Local Area Network regardless of wired or wireless.
May 14th, 2020
Rainbow tables are mostly dead today, but not all dead. Salting and iterative hashing functions have made rainbow tables obsolete when used. However, there are hundreds of thousands of websites and password databases that do not use password salting and iterative hashing making a rainbow table useful for hackers in these situations.
May 14th, 2020
Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks are a hacker staple. They are commonly used on rogue WiFi networks where unsuspecting free WiFi users unencrypted traffic can be intercepted by these MITM attacks.
May 13th, 2020
Web applications are rapidly eclipsing desktop application installs. However, each web application has an exposure to Session Hijacking not present on a desktop installed software product. Learn all about this attack vector with online applications at CyberHoot.com.
May 13th, 2020
Online applications that allow for password logins, database searches, and forms completion will need to validate the input they allow to prevent excessive input data that could overflow the system buffers receiving such inputs. Otherwise, code can be injected to run on these systems through these missing input validation coding errors as buffers overflow.
May 13th, 2020
HMAC Authentication is short for Hash-Based Message Authentication Code, a strategy used to verify the integrity and authenticity of a message. This strategy is different from other authenticaton methods in …
May 13th, 2020
When hackers are in possession of a large set of usernames and passwords, they perform credential stuffing attacks on popular websites, slowly enough to evade failed password login monitoring solutions. Over time they will amass a treasure trove of compromised credentials which they can sell on the dark web for a tidy profit or they can use those credentials to cause significant damage to the original account holder.
May 7th, 2020
Passwords are toxic data. They require very careful handling to avoid a major security incident from taking your company down. Salting and hashing those passwords recursively is critical to your application authentication success. Learn more about this at CyberHoot.com.
May 6th, 2020
Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) in cybersecurity is a computer hardware or software product made for nearly any user because it is available to the general public for purchase. COTS products are …
May 5th, 2020
Anti-Malware is a solution that maintains computer security and protects sensitive data that is transmitted by a network or stored on local devices. Anti-malware tools employ signature based scanning strategies …
May 5th, 2020
Links in email can lead to malicious websites that push malware to your computer or attempt to steal your credentials when you visit a look-alike website that prompts for a familiar looking login. To address this risk, Anti=SPAM email security gateways and providers have implemented a URL rewrite technique to proxy connections to these websites after inspection by the Vendor reveals them to be safe. This technology is called by many different names including: Safe Links (Microsoft), URL Protection (Mimecast), and Link Protection (Great Horn).
April 22nd, 2020
End-of-Life (EOL)/End-of-Support(EOS) describe the final stage of a product’s lifecycle. Once a product reaches EOL/EOS, developers stop updating and patching the product and it is no longer maintained. Software development …
April 21st, 2020
