The General Data Protection Regulation enacted by the European Union is scheduled to go into effect on May 25. The effect of this regulatory framework will differ across European jurisdictions; in the United Kingdom, for example, companies will only have to follow GDPR guidelines until Brexit is formalized. As for Ireland and other EU member states, the GDPR is not exactly a rigid proposition.
The Seanad opted to adopt some of the flexibility offered by the GDPR when it passed the Irish Data Protection Bill earlier this year. This new law is filled with complexities for government and public entities, but the situation is not as strict for private companies.
Article 37 of the new law directs certain companies to appoint a data protection officer; specifically, business enterprises that collect, store and process large amounts of sensitive data will be expected to appoint a DPO. Some examples of sensitive digital information include: health records and data that can reveal the political and religious inclinations of Irish or European citizens. With this in mind, it is safe to assume that certain barristers and solicitors offices will have to abide by this article; moreover, private hospitals, insurance offices, and psychologists may have to do so as well. Banks and private funds can also expect to be subject to GDPR compliance.
Larger business enterprises in Ireland have more at stake under the new laws, but small companies should not believe that they will be impervious to the expensive penalties that can be imposed under GDPR. The reality of personal information stored in digital records these days is that it must be protected, and not just because of GDPR. If anything, the enactment of the Irish Data Protection Bill should prompt company owners to look at how their office network is protected.
Any company that has been managing its own server on premises should strongly consider migrating its data infrastructure to the cloud. The security advantage in this regard is that cloud technology has become very competitive, which means that providers are mindful about using secure and GDPR compliant options. There is more than compliance to consider when choosing cloud solutions; the ability to automate the data backup process and ease of recovery should also be factored in.
In the end, GDPR may become a wake-up call for Irish companies that have neglected the overall security of their office networks and the integrity of their data.
Did you know that over 13% of Irish internet users have experienced fraud of some description, while 16% of them had reported having their social media or email accounts hacked? The Irish Times surveyed over 1,000 Irish men and women and found that anti-virus use in Ireland is well below the EU’s 61%.
If you manage a website using the popular WordPress software, you are a sitting duck waiting for hackers to breach your site if you do not follow these simple tips.
1. Keep your WordPress installation up-to-date.
WordPress powers over 50% of the websites on the internet, which makes it a prime target for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities. Automattic, the company that develops WordPress, works tirelessly to fix any identified exploits by issuing updates with fixes frequently. If you are not keeping your WordPress installation up-to-date, then you are not getting these critical fixes.
2. Don’t use extensions unless you trust the author.
It can be tempting to customize your WordPress installation with thousands of plugins available on the WordPress Plugins page, but unless you trust the author, you should think twice about installing these extensions.
Popular extensions can introduce vulnerabilities that can be identified by hackers that will then target any websites or blogs that use the same installation. This common vulnerability allows hackers to focus on targetting thousands of different blogs with the extension installed.
3. Change your default login details.
When setting up your WordPress installation, you are provided with a default account with the username ‘admin.’ Because WordPress is so used by thousands of websites all over the globe, hackers will try to guess the admin password to be admitted access to your site.
Change this immediately to something more secure that you have never used on another site to prevent this standard method of attack.
4. Know the tell-tale signs of hacking.
You should maintain constant vigilance with your WordPress installation so you can quickly identify signs of hacking. Most hackers will not take your site offline immediately. Instead, they will insert malicious links to their content, or they will attempt to steal the personal information of your site’s visitors.
If you conduct sales on your site, you should take extra steps to remain aware of your site’s security.
5. Set up website lockdown to prevent brute force attacks.
Sometimes your moderators or other admins get careless and re-use login details or only change one or two characters in their passwords. To prevent brute force attacks on these accounts, you should enable the WordPress feature that locks out users after a certain number of wrong attempts.
Allowing three to five attempts to get a password correct is generous and should prevent you from running into problems with people who have legitimately forgotten their password.
Conclusion
If you follow this small handful of tips for your WordPress blog, you should be reasonably safe from hackers looking to exploit your site. The most important tip is to keep your site and any plugins you use up-to-date, since most updates are to fix known security issues that have been discovered.
A recent warning issued by An Garda Síochána about a callback scam targeting Irish users of WhatsApp should serve as a reminder to company owners that their business networks, including their mobile messaging platforms, face a variety of risks.
In early March 2018, a news story published by the Mirror explained that Gardai received many complaints from WhatsApp users who received a message from an unknown number and the subject line “Martineilli.” Users who opened the message were later targeted by missed VoIP calls from numbers starting with the 087 country code, which would suggest calls originated within Ireland. The idea is to ensnare WhatsApp users into a callback scam.
Gardai detectives have determined that the 087 numbers are spoofed, and that the calls are actually made from Bosnia. When the callers return the call, they unknowingly activate a special charge to their monthly bill. Some callers report that this has happened to them various times in a single month.
The lesson for business owners to learn in this case is that their mobile messaging apps can be vulnerable to external attacks. Even dedicated business messaging networks such as Slack are not as safe as many people wish for; furthermore, micro-companies that decide to use WhatsApp for business use just because it is already installed in the personal smartphones of most employees are opening their companies to greater risk.
In the past, information security researchers combing through code posted on the popular online development platform known as GitHub have discovered Slack tokens with login credentials that could be used to spy on corporate chats, projects and conversation threads.
Companies that choose to implement mobile messaging apps as part of their networks should first conduct a security audit. Even though apps such as Telegram offer strong end-to-end data encryption, company owners should not assume that they will be impervious to phishing attacks or social engineering.
A mobile messaging app can only be as secure as the business network and security policies of the company. Any digital communications solution can be hacked; the idea is to enact preventive measures to avoid data breaches and network intrusion situations.
The 2018 update of the Oxford English Dictionary will include ransomware as a new entry, and this announcement just happens to coincide with a new zero-day exploit that bypasses security measures of popular cloud computing services such as Office 365 and Google Drive.
“Shurl0ckr” is the name of the new ransomware strain detected on February 7 by cyber security experts at Bitglass Threat Research Team. Out of 67 antivirus software suites, only five of them identified Shurl0ckr as a threat.
Ransomware attacks are very much on the minds of Irish information security specialists. In May 2017, IT administrators at the Health Service Executive moved quickly to protect its vast network from the WannaCry ransomware attack that greatly impacted the operations of the NHS in the United Kingdom. At the time, the HSE operated 2,350 servers and more than 25,000 clients, many of them running Windows XP. Technicians rushed to install emergency patches and update antivirus software on all machines; three instances of WannaCry were initially detected but later dismissed when found to be vestiges of a previous infection by different malware.
In the end, HSE was not targeted by the hackers behind the WannaCry ransomware; however, an internal assessment published in January 2018 indicated that the Executive lacks a defined strategy for business continuity in case of future attacks. HSE is not certainly not alone in this predicament; in June 2017, Irish broadcasting giant Kantar Media was dealt an embarrassing blow as its servers were came under a ransomware attack at a time when the company was negotiating an important merger.
Ransomware attacks are particularly devastating due to their particular mechanism; once a system is infected, malicious code proceeds to apply a layer of encryption to all data it can find with the exception of system files it needs to display a ransom demand, which typically directs victims to transfer cryptocurrency or enter a bank card number so that a key can be received to remove the encryption and access files. The Garda Cyber Crime Bureau tells business owners to not pay these ransom demands; however, this is often the only way to unlock sensitive data needed to unlock information. In America, more than $206 million in ransomware payments were made just in the first quarter of 2016; in the most critical cases, business owners have had to bite the bullet and reformat their hard drives or reset their servers and start over, thereby losing crucial company information.
While keeping antivirus software and operating systems up-to-date can certainly help to protect against ransomware, the best strategy will always be to install and maintain a solid data backup system that adheres to business continuity guidelines. In case of a severe ransomware attack, servers or clients can be completely restored without having to meet any ransom demands. Comprehensive data backup strategies will completely workstations; another option is to mirror virtual workstations in the cloud so that they can be booted from just about anywhere in Ireland or even abroad.
Proper data backup systems are also crucial for disaster recovery planning, and they may be a matter of compliance for businesses operating in certain sectors. Business owners who install reliable backup solutions for their company networks will always have peace of mind in terms of never having to worry about ransomware attacks.
Over past few weeks we have been inundated with calls in relation to search not working.
After trying all these updates:
- Rebuilt the index
- Deleted the index file and rebuilt
- renamed and copied the .pst file
- Tried a lot of “solutions” from forums
Ms have finally fixed issue:
Check for Windows update to see if there are any improvements. Please go to Start > Setting icon > Update and Security >Windows Update
Everyone should be on watch out for a very realistic email is sent to most eir customers with Refund Notification. That when you click link it brings you thought to another very well crafted website that give you are asked for bank details. They then ask for confirmation bank card details.
Be aware.
While using their WordPress sites, all the sudden the user sees something pop up. A notice to download some plugin in order to continue using their WordPress site. No problem. Just one simple plugin, right? Wrong. That simple plugin just got their site hacked as soon as it was downloaded. It could even be in a form of an ad on their site. If the hackers get a hold of an important file called the “wp-config file”, the person using their WordPress site is basically going to be in a world of nightmare. People would think that after years and years of these sites being hacked, security would try to make some better improvements. However, the hackers are still getting through.
With today’s sites, the key to keeping sites from being attacked is being cautionate. This is still applied to WordPress as well. Keep updating the password every now and then. The password should be something that can be remembered but also something difficult for someone to figure out. Make sure the right plugin or firewall is installed. The hackers scan what sites are vulnerable and find out which of them are the easiest to be attacked. Those failed login attempts that people get emailed about that they know they didn’t do, that is proof when someone is trying to hack the site. WordPress seems to be on the top of the list for hackers.
For a business WordPress site, it could be extra stressful cleaning out their malicious site, especially the impact it makes on their business. If this is the case, then the main focus would be the security. The slip up catastrophe could lead business reputation into a downfall and at the hands of the hackers, the site could be turned into something that nobody wants to see when they visit a business site- most commonly redirected as a porn site. A professional is needed to be hired for a top-notch secure site.
Even if people think that their WordPress site is very protected and top-notch secured, they can never tell if they will be the next victim. According to US National Vulnerable Database, the top security vulnerability has been with plugins avaliable in the directory as well as from outsite sources. If one WordPress site is hacked, it could lead to other sites being infected, causing that dramatic spike of hacked WordPress sites.
The Dell XPS 13 is slim computer with excellent performance as wel as modern design. In addition, the computer has a bright HD-touch screen. A bright and clear screen is a definite plus with any computer. You will never experience glare of any kind with the new Dell XPS 13. 
The Dell XPS 13 has a much longer battery life in comparision with other similar notebooks. The aluminum and carbon fiber body is almost identical to the previous models. The Quad HD-infinity display certainly adds a nice touch to the Dell XPS 13.
When watching movies you receive excellent contrast and you can adjust the screen to full mode if desired. In addition, the volume control can be easily adjusted. The sound is clear and concise along with a fabulous picture.
The XPS 13 comes with a backlit keyboard with two levels of lighting. The lighting may be easily adjusted to suit your needs. The computer touchpad is approximately 4.1 x 2.3 inches and it has a smooth matte type finish.
The touch screen was created with wide viewing angles as well as spectacular color range. Actually, the color range on the Dell XPS 13 is far superior to the full-HD version of this notebook.
Color range was of great importance with the XPS 13 computer. Color range was right on target covering roughly 103.6 percent of the SRGB spectrum. When comparing the XPS 13 to Macbook the color range was much more limited.
The XPS 13 has excellent sound and has better than average bass and volume. It seems that the crisp clear sound was a definite selling point when it came to this computer. In addition, another appealing feature of the XPS 13 was the reversible USB C-port. The reversible USB C- port provides support for the Thunderbolt 3.
Keep in mind, the C-port does not in any way charge the laptop. However the C-port does transfer data up to 40 Gbps to multiple displays over a single cord. This information can be quite useful when using the webcam. The webcam is located beneath the main display.
The built in camera can be quite useful. The camera comes with dual mics which enable better audio reception during video calls. However, in some cases shadows may be visible on some of the photos.
The Dell XPS 13 appears to be at the top of the list when it comes to graphic performance. In addition, brightness and color accuracy are exceptional in comparison with other similar type computers.
The Dell XPS 13 can be easily purchased for under $800.00. However, cost may vary depending upon where you purchase the Dell XPS 13. This unique computer can be purchased from a variety of Internet based retailers. A simple and very basic Google search should provide a wealth of information on availability and price.
It is Coming Windows 10 Will be Automatically Pushed Through Windows Update
Much to the dismay of some users Windows 10 is scheduled to be pushed through as a recommended update in Windows. It may be the windows update that you are looking forward to. It is simply one of the ways you can get the best of what Microsoft has to offer. The reason that Microsoft has decided to do this as they were dissatisfied with the number of users that were downloading windows 10. However, the new update is a problem with those who have metered connections.Users who have metered connections may wish to turn off their recommended updates settings or disable automatic updates altogether. At 6GB there might be a bit of problems staying within monthly limits. This is may be difficult, but another process to skip Windows 10 being downloaded will be explained a bit later.
Windows 10 does have some interesting features like the windows assistant and Edge the cutting edge search engine, as well as turbo multi tasking and in depth Cortana. It can be one of the windows programs you need. Many people like the Edge browser as a cutting edge tool to surf the internet. This is one of the things that users have noticed about Windows 10. One thing that users may like about 10 is that new updates to the Edge browser are available in the windows store. It may just the thing that you choose to use. Make certain that you get all you have coming to you with windows 10.
However, as mentioned, Windows 10 is a real problem for those that may have metered usage. There is no way to really opt out of getting the Windows 10 update however you can control when he updates are put on your computer,and you may be able to avoid windows 10 sucking up all of your bandwidth. It is just one of the things that users should be able to control.
There are options for those who are happy to stick with versions 7 or 8.1 of windows and they can avoid the update by using A GWX version of a control panel that can allow them to find the type of blocking options they need. Consumers who don’t want windows 10 and haven’t been able to block it can use removal tools to get it off the computer.
Time: Wednesday 20th October from 9.30-10.45am
Every business, big or small, is totally reliant on technology. Christian Kortenhorst, will talk about some simple, cheap and easy IT solutions for small/medium size companies like ours to use in their every-day business. He will introduce us to some useful and cost-effective applications. He will also show us how to spend less time on our computers trying to solve those frustrating recurring problems that annoy us so much!
Some of the topics Christian will explore:
- Email, IMAP VS Pop3
- Online services VS Desktop applications
- Document-sharing
- Dropbox
- Calendars
- Multiple computer setup
- Using what you have
- Mobile devices
- Hardware recommendations
- Online backups
- Open source software
If you have a specific IT topic that you would like Christian to address, you can email your request to Christian@cksolutions.ie .
After the session you should have a better understanding of how a small to medium size business should ideally be set-up for managing files and documents, coordinating email and backing up your data.
Christian Kortenhorst is based in Dublin, Ireland. He has over 10 years’ broad-ranging technical experience, for example in setting up servers, network environments, and backup systems. Christian offers consulting and hands-on solutions in these and many other technical areas. He set up his business – CK Computer Solutions – in 2008 having completed 4 years in Computer Science in DIT.
Christian’s mission is to provide a quality and creative IT service to small and medium sized businesses. “We strive to advise and provide the best product and services that fits a company’s needs. With our constant research and testing of products and services we are able to keep our clients up-to-date with the best possible products and services that are tried and tested. We select products and services objectively based on a company’s needs and wants.”