Category Archives: Blog

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Tax Time Brings Out the Hackers

It’s tax season once again! That, among other things, means that hackers and scammers are out in force, so beware!

As in years past, the primary vehicle hackers and scammers use to run their various tax scams are phishing emails. They’re usually designed to appear as though they come from the IRS, and generally indicating that there’s some type of problem with your tax record which will delay your refund.

The idea, of course, is to get you worried enough that you’ll click on one of the links embedded in the email. The link may look like it’s taking you to a page on the IRS.gov website, but is actually a cleverly disguised malicious site controlled by the hackers. Therefore, any information you enter on capture boxes on that site will be given to the hackers themselves.

This year’s wrinkle is that some hackers are also poisoning their sites and embedding them with malware that gets loaded onto a target’s computer in the background. This allows the hackers nearly complete access to whatever system the RAT malware strain winds up on.

One other additional concerned this tax season lies in the fact that the IRS recently announced an extension. In normal years, the deadline for tax filing is April 15th. This year, the IRS has extended it to May 17th, which gives the hackers and scammers an even larger window in which to attempt to take advantage of people.

All of the usual safety precautions apply here. Remember that the IRS will never ask you for any personal information via email and if you suspect that there’s a problem with your account, or with the taxes you may have already filed. The best approach is to manually type in the IRS’ web address, rather than clicking on any link embedded in an email. Even better, pick up the phone and speak with someone at the IRS directly.

0
Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Study Shows Working From Home Could Be Here To Stay

It goes without saying that the pandemic has changed a great many things about life, as well as the world we live and work in. One significant change on the work front has, of course, been the dramatic rise in the number of people working from home.

We’re reaching a point now where, although we haven’t quite turned a corner where the pandemic is concerned, we’re clearly fast approaching that point.

Many planners and strategic thinkers are looking ahead and wondering what the future of work will be. Will everyone simply pack up their gear and head back into the office, or will we see a permanent shift to working from home for some portion of the workforce?

The short answer is that it’s probably going to wind up being a bit of both. Recently, Verizon conducted an in-depth study in an attempt to gauge the longer-term effects of the pandemic and based on the survey data they collected, fully 7 in 10 Americans prefer working remotely or in some hybrid remote/in-office capacity.

Additionally, 69 percent of survey respondents said that they expect to work remotely at least 1-2 days per week a year from now, and 54 percent said they expect that remote work will be a regular feature of work life going forward. Employers, eager to keep their star performers happy, will no doubt take heed and respond accordingly.

In addition to the points above, the survey revealed a few additional points of interest including:

  • 31 percent of respondents said they spend 3 hours a week or more on mobile devices.
  • 32 percent of respondents have either upgraded or considered upgrading their Internet bandwidth.
  • 42 percent of adults anticipate that a year from now they will be shopping in person and online equally.
  • 47 percent of adults have subscribed to a new streaming service.
  • 67 percent of adults are spending at least 3 hours per week watching live TV with 59 percent watch content through a streaming service.

Intriguing findings. If you haven’t made any specific post pandemic plans either way, these statistics certainly bear thinking about.

0
Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Hackers Seeking Big Ransomware Payday By Attacking Acer Computers

Taiwanese tech giant Acer is the latest company to fall victim to relentless hackers. What makes the Acer breach especially noteworthy is the fact that the group behind the attack is demanding a fifty-million-dollar ransom, which is the highest figure any group has ever demanded. The only thing that even comes close was another REvil attack, this one against a Dairy Farm, where the hackers demanded a hefty thirty million dollar ransom.

The company was struck with the REvil ransomware. It is increasingly common among these types of attacks that prior to encrypting the company’s files, the group makes off with a wide range of sensitive company data. As proof of their misdeeds, they published a small fraction of it and threatened to release the rest if their demands aren’t met. Based on the sample, it appears that the group made off with a variety of financial spreadsheets, bank balance information and assorted banking communications.

In addition to the sheer size of the ransom, another point of interest where this attack is concerned is that the group behind it seems to have exploited recently reported Microsoft Exchange Server vulnerabilities to execute the attack and successfully breach Acer’s defenses. If indeed this proves to be the case, it marks the first time one of the “big game-hunting” ransomware groups has utilized that particular exploit.

Acer’s formal response to the incident, which is still under investigation, reads as follows:

“Acer routinely monitors its IT systems, and most cyberattacks are well defensed. Companies like us are constantly under attack, and we have reported recent abnormal situations observed to the relevant law enforcement and data protection authorities in multiple countries.

We have been continuously enhancing our cybersecurity infrastructure to protect business continuity and our information integrity. We urge all companies and organizations to adhere to cyber security disciplines and best practices, and be vigilant to any network activity abnormalities.”

Dark days for Acer, and it should put everyone in the IT field on notice. No one is safe.

0
Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

New Malware Takes Aim At Apple Developers

If you don’t spend much time in the Apple ecosystem, you may not realize that Xcode is a completely legitimate tool used in macOS for developing a wide range of software and applications.

Recently, based on research conducted by SentinelLabs, it has come to light that hackers are abusing Xcode via malware that has been dubbed XcodeSpy. It is being used to deploy the EggShell backdoor.

The SentinelLabs researchers discovered the malicious code attacked to a legitimate project on GitHub called “TabBarInteraction,” which does not seem to have been compromised when the XcodeSpy code was bolted on. The hackers quietly modified the run script such that it attaches to a command and control server that the hackers control which is used to install the aforementioned back door. From there, the sky is the limit as far as the hackers are concerned.

The researchers themselves had this to say about their recent discovery:

“While XcodeSpy appears to be directly targeted at the developers themselves rather than developers’ products or clients, it’s a short step from backdooring a developer’s working environment to delivering malware to users of that developer’s software. Consequently, all Apple developers are cautioned to check for the presence of malicious Run scripts whenever adopting third-party Xcode projects.”

A short step indeed, and one that makes this particular malware strain doubly worrisome. Whether you’re an Apple developer, or a member of an IT team that works in the Apple product ecosystem, XcodeSpy and the EggShell backdoor are certainly two threats well worth keeping on your radar. At present, there’s only hard evidence of one US firm and a handful of Asian companies that have fallen victim to the XcodeSpy campaign, but that could change at any moment. Stay vigilant. It’s going to be a long year.

0
Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Massive Security Camera Hack Hits Some Corporate Businesses

A large US hacker collective claimed credit for something you may not have heard of yet called “#OperationPanopticon.” According to the group behind the attack, they compromised a high level administrator account at a Silicon Valley firm called Verkada, which runs a platform for security systems online. This enabled them to gain access to video feeds from more than 150,000 security cameras around the country.

These include, but are not limited to cameras inside:

  • Tesla
  • Various Prisons
  • An assortment of banks
  • Schools
  • More

Worse, as proof, they began posting images captured from various camera feeds, tweeting out “ever wondered what an @Tesla warehouse looked like?” along with an image from one of Tesla’s cameras.

For their part, Verkada moved quickly and part of the company’s initial response to the breach reads as follows:

“We have disabled all internal administrator accounts to prevent any unauthorized access….Our internal security team and external security firm are investigating the scale and scope of this issue, and we have notified law enforcement.”

The company has also notified all of the firms, government agencies and other organizations that use their services. If you happen to be one of them, then you’ve probably already received a notification. If you’re not a Verkada customer, then there’s nothing for you to do, except be aware of the fact that the incident is still under investigation.

It also underscores the potential dangers associated with outsourcing security. While something like this could have easily happened at any individual company, the fact that Verkada has made a business of security and provides secure camera feeds and other services to a variety of clients has made them an almost irresistible target for hackers around the world.

After all, breach Tesla’s security and (assuming they handled their camera and other security in house), you’d gain access to Tesla’s camera feeds. In this case though, breaching Verkada’s network gave them access to literally scores of feeds across a wide range of industries and government agencies and that is cause for concern indeed.

0
1 … 104 105 106 107 108 … 236