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Showing posts with label Information Security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Information Security. Show all posts

06 August 2015

What is Backup and Recovery

Overview

In a nutshell, data loss is inevitable and can strike unexpectedly, resulting in losing your precious personal files, documents, or photographs. Such scenarios can occur due to accidental deletions, hardware failures, or computer infections, among others. During such troublesome times, backups act as a lifeline to reconstruct your digital world. 

CSITechLK will guide you to understand different concepts of backups and guide you to  have a proper understanding of how to backup your valuable data.





What to Back Up and When


Backups refer to creating copies of your crucial information that are stored in a different location. They come to your rescue when you encounter data loss, and you can easily recover the lost information from the backups. The unfortunate fact is that most individuals tend to overlook the importance of backups, despite being simple and economical. There are two ways to go about deciding what to back up 

  1. Specific data that holds utmost importance to you

  2. Everything, including your entire operating system. 


Opting for the first approach can streamline your backup process and save hard drive space, while the latter is more comprehensive and straightforward. It is good practice to do a full back of all data if it's not possible to identify what is important and what is not.


Choosing how regularly to backup your data is your next choice. The usual choices are hourly, daily, weekly, etc. You can set up a "set it and forget it" automatic backup routine for your house using personal backup software like Apple's Time Machine or Microsoft's Windows Backup and Restore. While you are working on your computer or away from it, these solutions quietly backup your data throughout the day. Other solutions provide "continuous protection," which backs up newly created or modified files as soon as they are closed. We advise you to backup at least once every day. At the end of the day, you should ask yourself, "How much information could I afford to lose?" case I needed to revert to a backup.





How to Back Up


Your data can be backed up on hard media or on cloud storage, respectively. Any type of hardware, including DVDs, USB drives, and external hard drives, is considered physical media. Never back up your files to the device that contains the original files, regardless of the media you select. The issue with physical media is that in the event of a crisis at your location (such a fire or theft), you could lose both your computer and its backups. Therefore, you should have a strategy for storing copies of your backup off-site in a safe place. Make sure to label them with what was backed up and when you decide to store them off-site. Backups should be encrypted for added security.



Alternatives based on the cloud exist. Your data are stored using this service someplace on the Internet. This may be a chargeable service depending on how much data you wish to back up. It functions by setting up a computer application that regularly backs up your files for you. The benefit of using this method is that since your backups are stored in the Cloud, they will remain safe even if your home suffers a disaster. Additionally, you can access your backups from virtually anywhere, including while traveling, or frequently just specific files. The drawback of cloud-based backups and recovery is that they can take longer, especially if you have a lot of data.If you're unsure of whether physical media or the cloud is the best backup choice for you.Always remember that you can do both.


Last but not least, remember your mobile devices. The benefit of using mobile devices is that the majority of your data, including your email, calendar events, and contacts, is already stored on the Cloud. Your system choices, recent images, and the settings for your mobile apps are some examples of information that you might have but isn't kept in the cloud. In addition to protecting this information, backing up your mobile device makes it simpler to reconstruct it in the event of a device upgrade. Automatic backups to Apple's iCloud are available for iPhones and iPads. Depending on the manufacturer or service provider, Android or other mobile devices may be used. In some circumstances, you might need to buy mobile applications made expressly for backups.

Recovery


Only half the battle is won by backing up your data. The other half is making sure you can  recover it. Every month, recover a file and validate its contents to make sure your backups are effective. Additionally, make sure to backup your entire system and check that it can be restored before making any major repairs or upgrades, like switching to a new computer or mobile device.



02 July 2015

Social Media Security

Social Media


Overview
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are incredible tools that let you connect with, communicate with, and share with people all over the world. All of this power, though, also entails danger for you, your household, social circle, and employer. In this blog from CSITechLK, we explain what these dangers are and how to use these sites securely and safely.




Privacy
Social media users frequently worry about securing their personal data. Possible risks include:

  • Impacting Your Future: Only a few businesses regularly examine social media platforms. No matter how old they are, embarrassing or damning images or postings may keep you from being employed or promoted. In addition, a lot of colleges do comparable checks on applications from new students. Your privacy may not be protected by privacy settings since these organizations may invite you to "Like" or join their pages, and certain posts could be preserved across numerous websites.
  • Attacks Against You: Cyber criminals can examine your posts and utilize them to get information about you or your company. For instance, they could use the information you offer to send you targeted emails (a practice known as spearfishing), try to figure out the answers to the questions you use to reset your online passwords, or phone a coworker while posing as you. Finding out where you live or work is one way that these assaults might have an impact on the outside world.
  • Accidently Harming Your Employer: Any sensitive information you share about your corporation online might be used against you by criminals or rival businesses. Additionally, the reputation of your company might be harmed by your posts. Before publishing anything about your position, make sure to verify your company's regulations. Additionally, some of the social media postings you make could be watched.
Limiting what you post is the greatest kind of defense. Yes, privacy settings can offer some degree of security. But they frequently confuse you and alter without your awareness. For a variety of reasons, what you believed was private might abruptly become public. Your posts' privacy is also just as safe as the individuals you share them with. It is more probable that information you provide will become public the more friends or connections you have. You should consider whatever you upload as having the potential to become a permanent, public part of the Internet.

Finally, keep an eye out for what your pals are saying online. Ask them to remove whatever they publish if it makes you uncomfortable. Contact the social media platform and request that it take down the post on your behalf if they refuse or ignore you. Respect people' privacy while posting information about them.



Social Media Security


Security
Here are some things to do in order to safeguard your social media accounts and online activity in addition to privacy issues:

  • Login: Never share your passwords with anybody else and use strong, unique passwords to protect each of your accounts. Many social networking platforms also enable two-step verification for enhanced authentication. Always use these more powerful authentication techniques. Last but not least, avoid using your social networking account to access other websites; if it is compromised, all of your accounts are at risk.
  • Privacy Settings: If you do utilize privacy settings, be careful to routinely check and test them. Privacy settings on social networking platforms are often changed, and mistakes are simple to make. Additionally, many applications and services allow you to geotag (or add your location information to) material that you share. If you want to protect the privacy of your whereabouts, make sure you often check these settings.
  • Encryption: Online connections to social networking platforms are protected by HTTPS encryption. This is enabled by default on some websites (like Twitter and Google+), but you have to actively activate HTTPS on others. Verify the settings for your social network accounts and, whenever feasible, select HTTPS as the default connection.
  • Email: Be wary of emails claiming to be from social media platforms. Cybercriminals may simply send faked attacks using them. The best approach to respond to such communications is to read and respond to any messages or notifications from the social networking website after logging in directly, maybe using a bookmark you've stored.
  • Malicious Links/Scams: Be careful of any suspicious links or potential frauds that may be placed on social media platforms. Social media is used by bad guys to disseminate their own assaults. A message may not actually be from a buddy just because they submitted it; their account may have been hijacked. Call the person on their cell phone or get in touch with them in some other way to make sure the message is indeed from them if a family member or friend posts a strange message that you are unable to verify (for example, they were robbed and need money from you).
  • Mobile Apps: The majority of social networking platforms provide mobile applications that let you access your internet accounts. Make sure your smartphone is secured with a strong password and that you download these mobile apps from a reputable website. When you lose your smartphone, if it is unlocked, anyone may use it to access your social media accounts and start posting as you.
Resources
Passphrases: http://www.securingthehuman.org/ouch/2015#april2015
Two-Step Verification: http://www.securingthehuman.org/ouch/2013#august2013
Securely Using Mobile Apps: http://www.securingthehuman.org/ouch/2015#january2015
Educating Kids on Cyber Safety: http://www.securingthehuman.org/ouch/2015#june2015
Facebook Security: https://www.facebook.com/safety

05 September 2014

World wide cyber attacks

Do you believe that using the internet is safe? Internet security is a fallacy. No matter how hard you work to secure yourself with firewalls, security software, and numerous antivirus guards, you still run the danger of being attacked since new attack types emerge daily.

Every second, millions of cyberattacks take place worldwide. Everybody has to pay a hefty price to defend themselves against such attacks.

An very fascinating live interactive real time map of cyberattacks has been released by the security company Norse. This real-time map displays the attack's origin and the area it was intended to target.

One can quickly determine which nations are targets or aggressors at the present.

The Chrome browser is compatible with these maps. Firefox can be a little sluggish at times.


http://map.ipviking.com



Kaspersky also have a interesting 3D interactive map

http://cybermap.kaspersky.com/


More than 300,000 harmful items are found daily by Kaspersky Lab, which has more than 60 million users. On its cyber danger map, threats are displayed that have been identified in real time "with various diagnostic tools, including On-Access Scan, On-Demand Scan, Web and Mail Anti-Viruses, as well as the Vulnerability Scan and Intrusion Detection System."




30 June 2014

What to do after Windows XP end of support on 8th April 2014


Support for Windows XP ended on April 8, 2014
what are my options. What should you do.
Follow these tips so you can continue for few more moths till your next upgrade.

වින්ඩොව්ස් XP support අවසන් වීමෙන් පසු අපට තව කෙටිකලක් XP පාවිචි කිරීම සඳහා ගතහැකි ක්‍රියා මාර්ග හා වෙනත් විකල්ප මොනවද යන්න සාකච්චා කර බලමු.

XP ආරක්ෂා කරගැනීමට කලයුතු දේවල්.

  • admin rights සහිත user account එකක් එදිනදා කටයුතුවලට බවිතා නොකිරීම.
  • අන්තර්ජාලයේ සැරිසැරීම සඳහා internet explore බාවිතයෙන් වැළකී ඒසඳහා firefox වැනි බ්රෝව්සරයක් බාවිතා කිරීම.
  • C: Drive එකේ හොඳ image backup එකක් අරගන්න.
  • MS Office වලින් Open Office වලට මාරුවෙන්න.
  • හොඳ antivirus software එකක් බාවිතා කරන්න.
  • අන්තර්ජාල සැරිසැරීමට Java disable කරන්න.
  • නවතම device drivers install කරගන්න.
  • CD ROM USB Pen drive වලට Auto Run disable කරන්න.




Things to do to protect XP
  • Remove admin rights.
  • Install FireFox.
  • Install FireFox noscript plugin
  • Create a backup image of XP using clonezilla.
  • Use office package such as Open Office. 
  • Install good anitvirus and antimalware. 
  • Disable Java from web browsin.g 
  • Do not use Intrenet Explore.
  • Update Device Drivers. 
  • Turn off automatic opening of files on a USB stick.





URLS
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/end-of-support.aspx
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-support-help
http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/technology-others/windows-xp-end-of-support-today/

Antivirus
http://www.avast.com
http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/anti-virus-spyware-free-download.htm
http://free.avg.com/ww-en/homepage
http://www.cloudantivirus.com/en/

To update device drivers
http://devicedoctor.com/

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