Hackers, Hackers EVERYWHERE!

Personal information is constantly at risk at any given time. We often get discouraged by the fact that usernames and passwords are being stolen, codes are being cracked, viruses are spreading, and spam is out of control. Everyone has been a victim to at least one of these internet hassles, the most common being spam. Hackers look for vulnerable users and corporate networks to attack.

Security and Privacy are top concerns for everyone in the technology world. Google, in general, and Google Apps specifically, takes these two concerns as a top priority. Google builds its business with user's trust as the main focus. User's trust Google's ability to completely secure the data that users are storing and sharing; and in Google's commitment to respecting the privacy of the information that is placed in its systems.

Your data belongs to you.

A common misperception with the Google Cloud is that it is not secure enough to hold personal or private information such as medical issues, social security numbers, bank information, etc.. But there is a reason why the city of Los Angeles, Washington D.C and 4 million other businesses trust Google with their information, Google Apps has dozens of security features that are put in place to ensure that your data is safe and confidential. You control what you share and whom you share it with. Your work is automatically backed up and always available no matter where you are. Google stores its information in data centers around the world making along it nearly impossible to hack. So if your computer is stolen or crashes, you can be up and running again within seconds (on a different computer, of course!).

Google Apps includes two layers of security with authentication, which protects your data from hackers that can steal your username and passwords. Another misunderstanding about file security is that it is safer to have files on an external drive than in the cloud, this is incorrect because it is much easier to get information stolen if it is in physical form whereas it is nearly impossible for a hacker to steal from the heavily guarded and extremely secure cloud network. Google's security team does not rest, they have employees working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Google is constantly improving ways to better security. It doesn't get any better than that!

Place Your Trust in Google!

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Hackers On The Move: Is My Tablet Vulnerable?

The concept on which hacking is done does not change with the tablets since they are also gadgets that run on systems and software which are used in computers. This also translates to the fact that internet security will apply for the tablets as well. Tablet security, like smartphone security, is an area which has been focused on due to the increase in hacker activity directed at these gadgets. The security challenges can now be seen mostly with the operating systems which are used with the gadgets. The operating systems have formed a platform which is getting exploited by hackers just like it has been exploited by the application developers. The platforms have allowed for extensive work by application developers as they go about their trade. Unfortunately, this opening has been exploited by a whole lot of devious people out to steal data and utilize it unfairly to swindle unsuspecting users of the tablets and smart phones.

Tablet security has been a challenge due to the nature of the distribution system which does not tie the tablets to networks or systems. This kind of model makes it very difficult to create security measures aimed for the tablets especially when they are used in a network. In the scenario of companies, employees will come to the workplace with individual tablets whose use is not guided in any way by corporate procedures. Then this becomes the second way which tablets become avenues for compromised security. Companies are therefore forced to find ways and means to make sure that security of company data is not compromised in any way. Best practices guidelines is one of the ways through which the companies get to protect their networks. Another way is through finding tools which are now coming up that work to secure the tablets themselves. This becomes a good solution to secure individual tablets before solutions are found to secure networks on which the smart phones and the tablets are used.

Internet security has shifted from the preserve of companies and has become the concern of individuals as well. No better evidence can be placed to this than tablet security which has become the responsibility of individual users of the tablets. Tablets have grown very popular in recent times and their use extends to access of information from the internet and even for business. With such advanced use, tablet security becomes a priority just like it happens with the personal computers. The biggest caveat in the use of the tablets like the iPad and the tablet PCs has become their security. Many people are unaware of the fact that the tablets should be installed with security measures. Specifically, the security of the tablet is to be looked at since these are devices which utilize wireless networks.

The importance of tablet security becomes an issue that leads to appreciation of the fact that the tablet and other mobile devices are not really an easy target for hackers due to flaws in their operating systems or hardware. Tablet security deals with the problems presented by applications which are becoming a big threat. There has no such thing as a secure tablet that has been produced since there has been nothing very wrong with the tablet itself. Security measures have been aimed at what the tablet handles and what it is capable of achieving. Hence it therefore goes without doubt that tablet security is aimed at protecting sensitive information and data as well as important applications from getting accessed by the hackers.

The use of tablet security will allow companies to feel free to the level of allowing their employees to use their tablets and smart phones for business and all other operations that can get accomplished on the company network. It is with confidence that this is allowed due to the knowledge that information and data will remain secure. Tablet security alongside other measures like the rules to govern the use of the tablets is a perfect combination that works and will definitely protect information and data on a network until better solutions are discovered and developed.

The other benefit of tablet security would be that of filtering through content to only allow access to appropriate or security passed information. The tablet security measure adopted will be one that corresponds to the activities of a firewall. In this way, the tablet becomes a useful device that can be appropriately used even by children without fear of them getting exposed to material and information which is out of the scope of their tender ages.

Further the importance of security gets realized through the protection of data packages and the communication channels utilized irrespective of whether the network into which the tablet is connected is secure or not. This makes the usage of the tablet whether for personal or business and company use secure for whatever interests getting pursued or any information that is of value. The tablet security is therefore emphasized more than it is done with the Smartphone due to the reason that the tablets become more vulnerable from handling more data. The tablets also have many access routes to internet connectivity which become yet another risk area.

Rather than restriction of access and use of tablets to a public network, tablet security enhances safe use of these devices without consideration of whether the network is secured or not. Having a security solution for the tablet does not in any way limit the impact that they have been currently making in the information world. Instead, it expands the scope to which the tablet together with all applications and software developed to work on it can impact on everyday life.

It becomes necessary to find tablet security solutions which are going to ensure that as more and more tablets find users who want to benefit from the much functionality that they offer. What concerns many individual users and the companies is that the tablets will be in a position to handle sensitive information and data without the danger of the information landing into the wrong hands. So efforts have been directed into finding an out of the box or encompassing security solution both by the manufacturers as well as stakeholders within the internet security sector. Such a security solution traversing different platforms will be welcome in the face of the rising popularity of the tablets and the increased use in transacting business. So for the moment there is no such thing as an entirely secure tablet; efforts go towards users getting vigilant in their use of these gadgets.

Guardian Network Solutions or GNS is an IT solutions value-added reseller that specializes in providing tablet security for businesses, government, and education organizations as well as home users. GNS Solutions Professionals work with manufacturers and businesses of various sizes to find secure, cost-effective solutions, and currently provide the fastest and easiest transactions for users of all sizes.

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Hackers Causing Train Wrecks - So Much for Government Mandated High Speed Rail?

Do you remember when Y2K came along, and everyone was counting down the New Year's, half expecting all the lights to go out and the power to go off, and utter chaos to ensue throughout our society and civilization? As you know, nothing happened, but in the back of everyone's mind, it was as if they were wondering if the catastrophic failure of our infrastructure and all of our computer networks which run everything would actually collapse. Okay so, let's talk about this for second.

There was an interesting article in Government Executive on January 23, 2012 titled; "Hackers manipulated railway computers, TSA memo says," by Aliya Sternstein.

The article stated; "Hackers, possibly from abroad, executed a targeted attack on a Northwest rail company's computers that disrupted railway signals for two days in December, according to a government memo recapping outreach with the transportation sector during the emergency."

Ouch! Now that's scary indeed, if hackers are able to get into our rail system they could cause trains to derail, collide with one another, and create terrible accidents. As you know chemicals, gases, and other things which are very detrimental for the environment are moved by train. If our rail infrastructure stops, so does the supply line, and whereas there are other distribution and transportation methods, they would be stressed to the maximum, and we'd soon see shortages on the shelves.

Worse, we also know that there are passenger trains, and we are busy trying to figure out how to build high-speed rail throughout our country. It gets rather serious when you have a train moving at over 150 miles an hour, and someone hacks the system, if that's not an action drama genre ready for the big screen, I don't know what would be. Does this mean that all of our new government mandated high-speed rail projects must also come with a cyber defense system? If so, that will raise the cost of such projects to even a greater extent - not to mention insurance - thus, ticket prices too.

We are already worried about the return on investment of public funding for such projects, and this will just add more cost, and vulnerability. That will cause riders to not wish to partake or use high-speed rail because they do not trust it. Without that trust and the ridership, the economies of scale cannot work, and let's not forget government projects like this such as Amtrak have never really made any money anyway.

It appears as if there is a cold war going on behind the scenes between governments and hacker networks. Unfortunately for our infrastructure, and the various targets of cyber hacking, it looks as if the hackers are winning. And whereas corporations, governments, and the military have thousands of hacking attempts per day, with very few ever getting in, the reality is that some are getting through. That's a scary thought if you are going down the track in 150 miles per hour in a high-speed train with your family. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Internet Security. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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Social Engineering and Hackers - Mobile Apps and Cyber Attacks

As any computer security consultant will tell you that one of the biggest challenges are insiders being duped by social engineering tactics, and once the hackers get in, well, then it's very difficult to prevent them from doing real damage or infiltrating data, or collecting boatloads of proprietary information. The other day, I was discussing all this with an acquaintance, after I explained why I could not open a file which was sent to me.

At first, he thought I was a bit paranoid, although I just consider it to be disciplined, as it only takes one mistake and that's easy to do. Eventually he saw my point, and I stated; yes, well, I guess we can't be too careful, the hackers are just as smart as we are, and "social engineering" is pretty easy to do, especially living in such a great country and free society.

He also asked why we didn't have web forms on our website. Well, we removed the web-forms after the massive bot attacks by hackers, mostly Russian and Eastern Europe, then the spam bots, it became almost impossible to deal with, 100s per day at one point, and we added "captcha" and still had folks entering by hand I am guessing, amazing the trouble they went to, including attempts at denial of service trying to overload us.

So, what's the answer, do we cut off or curtail communication to the point where we limit ourselves, do we take more risks, less risks, give up, or just stop communication? Well, perhaps, it is similar to the security settings on your web browser, you have many choices, many of which totally limit your ability to adequately surf online. Meanwhile, perhaps the biggest recent problem is all these apps available now for mobile communication, and all the tracking software to deliver appropriate advertising and marketing.

Too many of these apps, allow tracking too far deep into the users activities, meanwhile if the user is interfacing with secure websites, using temporary secure access certificates the app allows it to ride along and infiltrate, causing massive chaos considering how many apps there are and how many users are using so many various mobile devices out there these days. Combine that with careless users with ridiculously easy passwords and social engineering, and what you have is a recipe for disaster to the hackers delight.

Maybe it's time you became better educated on computer safety online, and with your own software programs so that you understand your vulnerabilities out there. Please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Future Internet Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

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