Blog - Page 2 of 2 - IT Solutions & Small Business North Sydney

Security warning about Smart TVs

We've all survived the Black Friday and Cyber Monday super sales where some of the big-ticket items are Smart TVs. The FBI just released a warning that your new toy may be a cyber criminal's best friend. Smart TVs typically include internet streaming, cameras, microphones and other advanced technologies allowing the manufacturer or app developers to snoop on you. Malicious cyber actors may be able to take control of your unsecured TV. Low risk ac..

Cyber Monday Survival Guide

As night follows day, so Cyber Monday follows Black Friday in another US retailer-inspired sales push hanging on the coat-tails of Thanksgiving. Any excuse, eh? Of course, online retailers around the world have seized the opportunity to jump on the bandwagon - and where merchants lead, scammers are sure to "follow the money". For every reputable organisation coaxing you to part with cash for their unmissable, never to be repeated (this week!) bar...

International Computer Security Day

International Computer Security Day for 2019 falls on Saturday 30 th November – why not use it as a prompt to review the current state of your computer security. There are lots of things you can and should do to make sure you are protected from crippling and expensive data loss, system corruption, blackmail or loss of business. We've put together a brief outline of some of the positive actions you can take to improve the security of your computer...

Black Friday Scams

Black Friday sales may have originated in the United States as a way of kick-starting their Christmas trading push the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, but the global online shopping phenomenon has ensured that Black Friday sales have quickly spread to become standard worldwide. No doubt your social media, televisions and news outlets are full of adverts for Black Friday sales at this very moment. Retail outlets rely on everyone wanting to gra...

Spectre Meltdown Vulnerability

Spectre. Meltdown. You may have seen these words cropping up with increasing regularity recently. What do they mean? Are they something you should be taking an interest in? YES! A resounding yes, and here's why… Spectre and Meltdown are names applied to three variants of a known hardware vulnerability inherent in almost every computer chip created over the last 20 years. It's almost a certainty that you have one of these affected chips in ...

Phishing Email – Not Suncorp-Metway

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not from Suncorp-Metway'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: 1. Name of the sender is @suncorpgroup.com - this may be a real domain name 2. Dear 'email address' - what no Christian name but you're sending me a statement? 3. View your eStatement goes to this website ' somosamericadelsur.--- ' 4. Recipient is one of ...

Phishing Email – Not from AusPost

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not from AusPost'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: 1. Domain Name of the sender is shown as @victorb.net 2. Subject tell us the package is ' ready for pickup ' 3. But, the email says ' bring your packet to you ' 4. The verify address points to this website ' ---.victorb.net/analyticsiqpeze/redirect/--- ' 5. The ...

Notification of Data Breach / General Data Protection Regulation

Data Protection affects us all – whether we hold personal data, or it's our personal data being held – and 2018 is bringing with it some new government legislation to improve protection for individuals whose data is held by organisations: 22 February 2018 - the Australian Government's Notifiable Data Breach ( NDB ) commences 25 May 2018 – the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR ) comes into effect The NDB – or Privacy Am...

Phishing Email – Not from eFax

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not from eFax'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: Name of the sender is shown as eFax.com and the email address is shown as efax@ironrockcc.com The correct format for an efax email is your fax number then the efax domain, e.g. 0299999999@efaxsend,com Next, the email is flagged as 'Possible Spam' on ...

Phishing Email – Not the ANZ Bank

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not the ANZ Bank'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: Name of the sender is ANZ Internet Banking and the email address at the top of the page is shown as onlinehelpdesk@anzgroup.com.au Nothing here that helps identify it as a phishing email. However, if you hover over the 'Answer your challenge question' is display...

Phishing Email – Not the Commonwealth Bank

Today's Phishing experience is brought to you by 'Not the Commonwealth Bank'. Let's work through the highlighted fields to show why this is a 'fake' email and deserves nothing but the delete key: Name of the sender is Commonwealth Bank but the email address is tah204@montana.com Possible Spam pre-fixed to the subject Outlook has added a warning ' This message was identified as a phishing scam. ' If you hover over the ' Click here to...

Computer Security Day

Computer Security Day 30th of November 2017 Christmas is just around the corner which means our concentration levels are lower than normal. It's also the time of the year when holiday fraud increases. The main source of fraud is online scams via emails that attempt to fool you into believing you have a tax refund, or an unpaid invoice. These emails can also look like they are from a bank or a utility company. When you click on the link you downlo...

Business owners dont get held to ransom this Halloween

The IT Agency has switched to daylight-saving time, a sure sign that All Hallows' Eve – or, Halloween – is around the corner. A time when pranksters, trickery and scariness abound, and the IT world has endured more than its share of all of these - some of it benign, but much of it malign. Halloween in the digital age brings out the worst in the hacking and criminally-minded fraternity who, acting with malice aforethought, have launched a variety ...