Posted on Monday February 15, 2021
Many successful business owners throw around the phrase "make your own luck," but what do these words truly mean? Partly, it means not being deterred by terrible circumstances but rather learning from these setbacks to gain better opportunities in the future. Microsoft's Power BI puts that principle into practice: with predictive forecasting based on previous data, it helps you better prepare for future business challenges.
Posted on Friday February 12, 2021
Cloud computing has become a staple in business strategy and IT architecture over the past years. It provides the simplest and quickest access to myriad hardware and software over the internet. Compared to traditional on-premises infrastructures, cloud-based solutions such as SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS offer a host of benefits. Let's take a look at these and find out which cloud computing service is best for your business.
Posted on Thursday February 11, 2021
On February 5, 2021, unidentified cyber actors obtained unauthorized access to the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system at a U.S. drinking water treatment facility. The unidentified actors used the SCADA system's software to increase the amount of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, a caustic chemical, as part of the water treatment process. Water treatment plant personnel immediately noticed the change in dosing amounts and corrected the issue before the SCADA system's software detected the manipulation and alarmed due to the unauthorized change. As a result, the water treatment process remained unaffected and continued to operate as normal. The cyber actors likely accessed the system by exploiting cybersecurity weaknesses, including poor password security, and an outdated operating system. Early information indicates it is possible that a desktop sharing software, such as TeamViewer, may have been used to gain unauthorized access to the system, although this cannot be confirmed at present date. Onsite response to the incident included Pinellas County Sheriff Office (PCSO), U.S. Secret Service (USSS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Posted on Wednesday February 10, 2021
Wondering how to get into the 2021 MSRC Most Valuable Security Researcher list and get recognized during the Black Hat USA this August? Read on to learn more about the different paths you can take to get into the top researcher tiers. The MSRC Most Valuable Security Researcher (MVR) and MSRC Contributor are tiers in...
Posted on Wednesday February 10, 2021
Data is valuable to business, so it's bizarre that some companies don't have a proper data backup strategy in place. Organizations of all sizes - including yours - need to be proactive when backing up their data. Here are four of the best backup solutions in the market for your consideration.
Posted on Tuesday February 09, 2021
According to a researcher, favicons can be a security vulnerability that could let websites track your movement and bypass VPNs, incognito browsing status, and other traditional methods of cloaking your movement online. From a report: The tracking method is called a Supercookie, and it's the work of German software designer Jonas Strehle. "Supercookie uses favicons to assign a unique identifier to website visitors. Unlike traditional tracking methods, this ID can be stored almost persistently and cannot be easily cleared by the user," Strehle said on his Github. "The tracking method works even in the browser's incognito mode and is not cleared by flushing the cache, closing the browser or restarting the system, using a VPN or installing AdBlockers." Strehle's Github explained that he became interested in the idea of using favicons to track users after reading a research paper [PDF] on the topic from the University of Illinois at Chicago. "The complexity and feature-rich nature of modern browsers often lead to the deployment of seemingly innocuous functionality that can be readily abused by adversaries," the paper explained. "In this paper we introduce a novel tracking mechanism that misuses a simple yet ubiquitous browser feature: favicons." To be clear, this is a proof-of-concept and not something that Strehle has found out in the wild.