Category Archives: Blog

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Multi-Factor Authentication 101

Multi-Factor Authentication 101

You have probably already come across the term multi-factor authentication. The concept is not new, but has caught on really quick of late. In this post, we will discuss what multi-factor authentication is and why you should be adopting it.

What is multi-factor authentication?
Multi-factor authentication is basically the use of more than one credential to gain access to data. It is a combination of multiple access credential types. For example, instead of gaining access to an email account by just typing your username and password, you will be asked to further verify your identity by entering some other information, such as a pin or a one-time password (OTP) that was sent to the phone number linked with the email address you are trying to log into.

Why do you need multi-factor authentication?
Multi-factor authentication offers an additional layer of security. Simple access control measures such as logging in with user ID and password are increasingly being breached by cybercriminals because no matter how much we condition ourselves to follow good password hygiene, sometimes, we slip up. Have you ever been guilty of

  • Writing down your password so you don’t forget it
  • Sharing your password with someone just to get the work done faster
  • Used the same password for multiple accounts just because it is easier to remember
  • Creating a password that was obvious/easy to figure out. Examples include your date of birth, numbers or letters in sequence, your name, etc.,

Multi-factor authentication can help prevent cybercrimes that happen due to leaked/hacked passwords.

How does multi-factor authentication work?
The working of multi-factor authentication depends on a combination of the following 3 elements.

  • What you know
  • What you have
  • Who you are

The user has to prove their identity by answering the questions related to each of these 3 elements. User IDs, passwords, secret questions, date of birth, etc., fall in the first category (What you know), while OTPs sent to your smartphone, a physical token or an access card belong to the second category (What you have) and the third category (Who you are) includes biometric authentication such as retina scan, fingerprint or voice recognition.

Multi-factor authentication is no guarantee of data safety, but it certainly reinforces your data security. While there are tools available in the market that you can purchase and deploy, you could also connect with an MSP to help you implement multi-factor authentication across your network smoothly.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Some AMD Ryzen CPU Users Experiencing Windows 11 Issues

Do you have a PC with an AMD Ryzen CPU?  If so, be aware that AMD has found an issue which causes “temporary pauses in system interactivity or responsiveness.”

The issue affects some Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems with the Firmware Trusted Platform Module (fTPM) enabled.

If you’re not familiar with it, the fTPM handles cryptographic operations and is one of several minimum hardware requirements systems need to have in order to get support for Windows 11 installations.  In other words, you can’t get support for your OS unless you are hardware compliant, and you can’t be hardware compliant unless you’ve got fTPM enabled.

Apparently, users have been complaining about these issues since January but it has taken some time for AMD to research a proper explanation for why it is happening.

Apparently, the root cause can be traced back to the following.

The Company States:

“Select AMD Ryzen system configurations may intermittently perform extended fTPM-related memory transactions in SPI flash memory (“SPIROM”) located on the motherboard.”

And this can lead to what the company is describing as “a performance stutter.”

Reddit users who have been tracking the issue say that it happens 3-4 times a day, regardless of what programs are running and tends to last about 2 seconds.

Now for the good news.  The company has a temporary workaround you can make use of which is detailed on their site.

AMD had this to say about a BIOS update that will fix the issue once and for all:

“AMD expects that flashable customer sBIOS files to be available starting in early May, 2022. Exact BIOS availability timing for a specific motherboard depends on the testing and integration schedule of your manufacturer. Flashable updates for motherboards will be based on AMD AGESA 1207 (or newer).”

In the larger scheme of things, a two second stutter isn’t the end of the world, but it is annoying.  If it’s happening to you, either head to the AMD website for the workaround or hang on until late May.  A fix is coming.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

New Archive Feature Helps Mobile Users Save Space

The problem with smartphones is that they eventually run out of room.  Honestly it’s a wonder the issue isn’t even bigger than it is.  After all, miniaturization isn’t cheap but smartphone manufacturers have been able to cram incredible amounts of storage into tiny spaces.

The day is coming when you’re going to run out of room on your trusty Android phone and Google knows it.

That’s why they’ve been working hard to come up with a solution. A few years ago, Google made a change to their Android OS and the OS began making helpful suggestions regarding apps you almost never use.  If you get rid of those you save some space, and that helped.

Unfortunately, some apps are important even if you don’t use them a lot and it forces users into a bit of a tricky spot. Uninstalling apps is a good start but it’s far from a perfect solution.

The good news is that Google has another idea that will be making its way to the Android OS in the months ahead.  They’re testing out a new feature called ‘Archiving’ where apps are only partially uninstalled rather than completely uninstalled.

Archiving keeps the user’s data intact and gets rid of everything but that.  Then if the user decides they need to run that app again they can restore the app and continue on with minimal fuss.

That combined with linking your phone to your cloud account and offloading your pictures and videos at regular intervals will go a long way toward freeing up space on your phone.

We’re not saying you’ll never have space issues again. However, if you do all three (uninstall apps you’re not using, archive apps you use infrequently, and regularly offload your photos and videos), you’ll get a lot more mileage out of your phone.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Hackers Get Source Code During Data Breach At Samsung

Samsung’s corporate network was breached recently.  That’s bad news all by itself. The company has recently confirmed that in addition to the confidential customer information that was stolen, the hackers also made off with the source code for the software used in the company’s Galaxy smartphones.

The hackers responsible for the attack call themselves “Lapsus$.”  Not long after their attack, they disclosed that they had made off with almost 190GB of archives.

Disturbingly, this group has been exceedingly busy so far in 2022 and extremely successful.  Just a week prior to the announcement regarding Samsung’s data, the same group released a 20GB sample of documents stolen from Nvidia.  The group claims that this sample is part of a collection of stolen documents more than 1TB in size.

Aside from the aforementioned source code at this point, we do not know exactly what sorts of data the group of hackers may have compromised when they successfully breached Samsung’s network.

For that matter, we do not yet know the full extent of the contents of the 1TB cache documents stolen from Nvidia because as members of Lapsus$ explained, they are currently in negotiations for the sale of that data.

This is the world we live in.  This is the shape of 2022 and years to come.  What the long-term implications might be are anyone’s guess but fortunately, the advice for guarding against such attacks remains largely the same.

Be sure the software you use is updated with the latest security patches and constantly educate and reeducate your employees about the dangers of phishing campaigns to minimize your risk.

Failing that, take regular backups and have a rapid response team standing by that can spring into action if your defenses fail.  That’s by no means a perfect solution, but it will make you a significantly harder target and there’s value in that.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Hackers Are Increasingly Targeting Mobile Devices

Here’s a statistic you’re not going to like.  Based on research conducted by cybersecurity researchers at Proofpoint, there has been a staggering 500 percent increase in malware attacks against mobile devices during the opening months of 2022. The most significant peak so far this year occurred at the end of February.

Most of the malware that targets mobile devices tends to be relatively benign.  It’s unlikely to encrypt all the files on your phone and demand a ransom. Although there are admittedly some malware strains that do that,  if your phone is infected with malware, it will likely be of the variety that quietly roots through your phone and steals usernames and passwords.

In some cases, you may get infected with a malware strain designed to take screenshots or track your location over time. Again, these are exceptions and not the rule. Even so, malware that steals your account information can be devastating in the longer term. Hackers can use that information to steal your identity, drain your accounts, max out your credit cards, and more.

There are three primary paths hackers use to get malware onto a target Android or iOS device.

The first and the most common is to poison an app and get it placed on either the Apple Store or the Google Play Store.  From there, users will download and install it while completely unaware that they have also installed malware.

SMS texts are another popular avenue of attack, which is why security professionals warn users against tapping links in text messages.  These may be harmless from a dear friend of yours or may have been put there by a hacker pretending to be your friend. When you tap the link, you’re taken to a poisoned website which installs malware in the background.

Finally, there’s email.  By now everyone has heard the dire warnings against clicking on links embedded in email messages or opening file attachments.  This applies whether you’re reading your mail on your phone or your PC.

The bottom line is that you are increasingly a target whether you’re on your PC or your phone.  Be careful.

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