ZR Systems Blog

Full disclosure: we don’t recommend doing anything important, or really anything at all, on a public computer. However, we understand that sometimes life works out in an unideal fashion, and sometimes you can be stuck doing something you shouldn’t, and otherwise wouldn’t. Even in these cases, there are steps you can take to preserve your security.

Data breaches are common problems for businesses of all shapes and sizes. In fact, they often have huge repercussions that aren’t initially seen in the heat of the moment. How can you make sure that a data breach won’t negatively impact your business, even well after you’ve fixed the initial problem?

Today’s headlines are peppered with stories of major companies and institutions falling victim to a cyberattack. As a business owner, what’s your response to these gut-wrenching stories? If you write them off as fear mongering and believe that these attacks can never happen to your SMB, well, you’re wrong. They can and it’s up to you to prevent such a disaster.

It would be an understatement to say that security, particularly encryption, is important while browsing the web. Though it was only recently that encryption became a major pain point for government regulation, encryption has been around for a very long time. The average user can get a taste of online encryption through the average website security certificate.

The challenge for business owners is that there are so many different types of online threats, it borders on impossible to protect themselves from all of them. All of these threats hold limitless possibility to ruin your organization’s operations, either short-term or long-term. One of the most common threats out there is called a rootkit hack, and it’s one that you certainly don’t want to mess around with.

Medical technology has allowed for vast improvements in the way that conditions are treated. For example, the pacemaker allows some people with heart conditions to live longer and more comfortably. However, a European research team has concluded that even pacemakers are susceptible to being hacked, with deadly results.

One of the main benefits of a small business is that it’s small. You can make decisions quickly regarding all sorts of matters. Your workforce isn’t nearly as large as other organizations, meaning that you’re a closer, tight-knit group. However, one of the misconceptions of small business is that they’re not as susceptible to hacking attacks, which can be a dangerous assumption to make.

Usually, when a troubleshooting feature is put in place, it is meant to assist the user in resolving an issue. However, one such feature in Windows 10 could ultimately lead to more problems, as it also can serve as a free-ride vulnerability for an opportunist bystander.

Passwords are important for any online account (and for most accounts in general). Sometimes they might feel like inconveniences, but it’s crucial to remember that these passwords are often the first line of defense, if not the only line of defense, that stands between your data and hackers. We’ll discuss ways that you can augment password security with other powerful measures.

It seems like everything available today can function with a USB connection, be it a thumb drive, device charger, or a desktop device--there are even USB-powered mini fridges meant for a single soda can. Unfortunately, “everything” includes malicious devices and malware.

Security is a critical part of running your business, especially in a world where organizations require technology for most any task. In fact, some of the most dangerous threats are known to hide within a company’s network, waiting for any opportunity to strike. With the right preventative measures, you can keep your network safe from catching threats before they hit your network in the first place.

Today’s cars are equipped with more complicated computer systems that allow users access to cutting-edge technology and services. Due to the increasing number of cyber attacks on computerized cars, Volkswagen has chosen to team up with three Israeli cybersecurity experts to equip advanced vehicles with the proper security solutions.

Halloween is a time when creatures like ghosts and goblins are celebrated rather than feared. Even adults use the holiday to lighten up and enjoy themselves, as they’re well aware that the monsters so often seen and heard about in stories are fictional. Unfortunately, the fact remains that there are monsters hiding in plain sight all around us, playing on the fears and misfortune of others--namely, hackers.

As the U.S. election rapidly approaches, many citizens are strongly concerned with who they’ll vote for. Unfortunately, not enough of these same citizens are nearly as concerned with what they’ll vote on, as the electronic voting machines utilized in many polling places are notoriously insecure to breaches.

Windows is perhaps the most common workplace computing tool, and hackers have been trying for decades to uncover holes in its security. In some cases, like with unsupported operating systems, they’ve succeeded. However, Microsoft’s latest addition to their OS family, Windows 10, seems to have exceptionally potent built-in security measures, many of which have the hackers at the Black Hat conference scratching their heads and scrambling to find threats to talk about.

There’s an ongoing debate concerning whether the United States Constitution gives the American government the right to access data held on electronic devices by its citizens. In case they didn’t make themselves heard clearly enough, the director of the FBI, James Comey, has released a statement at Symantec’s Annual Government Symposium. You might not like his answer.

In a recent hack attack, Twitter had 33 million user login credentials stolen. This is unfortunate, but not surprising; an incident like this routinely makes the headlines. Although, what is surprising is what this hack reveals about people’s poor password security habits.

A vulnerability has been discovered that affects all versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system, including the long-unsupported Windows XP, going all the way back to Windows 95. The vulnerability, called BadTunnel, allows attackers to directly bypass system defenses and initiate a man-in-the-middle attack. The vulnerability isn’t limited to just Windows, either; it also affects Internet Explorer, Edge, and other Microsoft software.

“What’re you in for?” a prison inmate asks. “I shared my Netflix password with my sister,” you say. This conversation might be absurd, but according to a recent ruling in accordance with the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, it’s one that could actually happen. Now, sharing your Netflix password to let someone catch up on their favorite TV show can be considered a federal offense.

There’s a new augmented reality game on the market these days. Perhaps you’ve heard of it - a title called Pokemon Go, which lets you capture virtual monsters that “appear” on your smartphone’s camera. However, hackers have seized this opportunity to infect players’ mobile devices with a backdoor called DroidJack, which uses the mobile app’s immense popularity to its advantage.