Hurricane Preparedness Checklist

As Hurricane Irma makes its way towards Florida and the Southeast U.S., now is the time to take action and be prepared to protect your computers, printers, files and data.

1. ENSURE YOU HAVE A BACKUP

• Don't wait until the day before a hurricane to backup your files! It's good practice to frequently backup your data files. We recommend a hybrid-cloud image-based backup that can be used to restore data and applications even if your server is destroyed, and that can restore data from different points in time.
• Print a copy of your important/emergency contacts and take them with you if you do not have access to them from your phone or computer, you'll have them available to use via a landline.
• RealTime Clients: Everyone who is on our Business Continuity Service – Your servers are backed up and replicated offsite daily. If there is a problem, we correct that as part of the service. As hurricanes approach your physical location, we’ll be talking with you and confirm things are backed up and replicated prior to you shutting your operations down as part of your storm prep.

2. SECURE YOUR EQUIPMENT

• COMPUTERS
  • Shutdown the operating system.
  • If connected to a surge protector or UPS - unplug from the wall outlet (or unplug power cables from the surge protector or UPS if wall outlet isn't accessible).
  • Unplug Ethernet cable from the back of computer or docking station.
• PRINTERS
  • Power off the printer.
  • If connected to a surge protector - unplug as described above.
  • Unplug the Ethernet cable from the back of the printer.
  • Unplug the phone cable from the back of the printer (if a fax line is connected).
• SERVERS AND NETWORK EQUIPMENT
  • Perform a normal shutdown of the servers. RealTime clients: Please coordinate with RealTime service desk. 
  • Unplug all connections - Take photos to document how things were prior to the event. 
  • Firewalls, Switches, Access Points - unplug them from power. Unplug the firewall from the internet connection as well. Ideally, unplug all the network connections (surges can travel through the network cabling).
  • Battery backups - power these off and then unplug them.
  • Phone systems - Check with your vendor to see what steps you can take to protect it.
     

3. PROTECT FROM WATER/WIND

When a major storm is predicted, elevate your CPUs, printers, servers, and other network devices, as well as other electrical appliances like space heaters, off of the floor.  For high winds, move computers away from windows.  If there is a possibility of water leakage, cover computer equipment with plastic.

4. CONTINUING OPERATIONS AFTER THE STORM

• If you are in the path, power and internet connectivity may be hard to come by for a few days. Generators can provide enough power to run your critical computer equipment – just be sure you are connecting up to something that can deal w/ the power fluctuations many generators have. Please ask RealTime before connecting things up to generators as they can damage sensitive equipment. Modern battery backups may have the capability to condition the power off of a generator – check with the manufacturer to confirm before trying this.
• 4G USB modems or Mifi can get you connected in an emergency. Everything you do may not work, but basic web browsing.
• Forward your phones – If the office is expected to be out a few days, most phone service providers have a way for you to forward calls to your business to a cell phone or alternate number. Get the steps now, before you need them.

5. BE PREPARED

Knowing what steps to take ahead of time will help you be prepared in the worst-case scenario. RealTime is committed to ensuring our clients are prepared with the proper technology to meet their current/future needs as well as advising them about safeguarding their business from weather-related, cyber and other disasters. 

If you would like further information about RealTime managing Information Technology for your business, contact us at info@realtime-it.com.

TECHNOLOGY SCAMS IN YOUR MAILBOX

DID I FORGET TO PAY AN INVOICE?

To the unsuspecting, the above image looks like a legitimate invoice. You probably don’t remember signing up, but it’s just one of a hundred and ten things related to technology you probably don’t think about too often. This letter is designed to trick you into parting with some money, in this case, $228.00.  

WHAT EXACTLY ARE THEY SELLING?

Just what they say, a website listing service. If you pay them, they will list your business on their own website. That’s it. This has no value for any business but theirs.

If you read this letter carefully, they do clearly state that you don’t have to do this, but most everything else is geared towards convincing you into sending them a check. We saw a rash of these misleading business practices a few years ago and just got wind of one today that we wanted to share as a reminder to be on your toes. I note that the wording has changed a bit since the last time I encountered this, probably due to lawsuits. It even says that this is a solicitation, something new for this year.

I logged onto the website and while a legitimate website and business (albeit worthless,) it is unfortunate that close to 10,000 businesses have fallen for this, which comes to close to 3 million dollars – I can see why this unsavory business is still around and still hunting suckers.

A WORD OF ADVICE

Our advice to our clients regarding any solicitations regarding their domain name, website, internet marketing, social media, computers, technology support, and the like, that you are not 100% sure is legitimate is to contact us before you commit to anything so that we can make sure someone isn’t trying to scam you.

*Some older versions even say that they are Accredited by the Better Business Bureau, but they aren’t.

Masked Email Targets CEO

It seems as if every week, sometimes every day, we hear about a data breach somewhere.  I had an attempted breach hit really close to home just recently.  Here’s what happened:

Our controller received an email that she had every reason to believe was from me.  My email address was spelled properly and the extension was correct.  Inside the email, the request was short and straightforward; the sender asked what information was needed to initiate a wire transfer and it was signed with my first name.  The controller did note that there was no email signature as we sometimes use, but internally I don’t always include that on my emails to her.

She responded to the request and very shortly received a second email instructing her to proceed with the sizeable wire transfer.  I was out of the office that day so she assumed that I was in a rush for the money.  However, at the very last minute, as she thought about the wording in the email, she said that it “just didn’t sound like me.”  The wording was too terse, too abrupt and there were no “please” or “thank you’s” as she and I usually include in our requests to one another.  She picked up the phone and called me.  The wire transfer was stopped.

The sender had masked his/her email address so that it appeared as an email from me.  Had our recipient hovered over the address, she might have been able to see the actual sender’s address.  In this case, however, this employee listening to that tiny voice in her mind saying that something wasn’t quite right is what saved the day.  This is the level of vigilance we must all maintain to keep our environments safe.

When in doubt, no matter how small, check it out.

-Elaine Taylor, RealTime CEO

DEFEND YOURSELF WITH AN UNHACKABLE PASSWORD

One of the easiest ways to protect yourself from hackers is to use a strong password. Human nature tells us to use the same or similar passwords across different applications; and given a choice, most of use would use something very simple that we could easily remember.  

This, however, leaves you open to attacks. Hackers like to use "guessing" - a technique in which they repeatedly guess words or phrases using your children's names, sports teams, etc. There is also an automated program that hackers use called an Online Dictionary Attack. Here, the program attempts to log on using a different word from the text file on each try. These are only two ways that hackers attack your system but there are many, many more. The best method of defense is to learn to create a password that is safe and you can remember.

THINGS NOT TO USE IN YOUR PASSWORD

• Your Birthday
• Any part of your name
• Your mother's maiden name
• Names of your children or pets
• City where you were born
• Local sports teams
• Any part of your address

TIPS ON CREATING A SECURE PASSWORD

• Replace a letter with the same character every time you make a password. EXAMPLE: Use % instead of an A
• Use a minimum of 9 characters 
• Make sure to include upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.

Attacks can be slowed down significantly through the use of strong passwords. 

"WannaCry" RANSOMWARE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF WINDOWS VULNERABILITY

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

The ransomware, called "WannaCry," locks down all the files on an infected computer and asks the computer's administrator to pay in order to regain control of them. The exploit was leaked last month as part of a trove of NSA spy tools. 

The ransomware is spread by taking advantage of a Windows vulnerability that Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) released a security patch for in March. But computers and networks that hadn't updated their systems were still at risk. 

In the wake of the attack, Microsoft said it had taken the "highly unusual step" of releasing a patch for computers running older operating systems including Windows XP, Windows 8 and Windows Server 2003. 

"Affected machines have six hours to pay up and every few hours the ransom goes up," said Kurt Baumgartner, the principal security researcher at security firm Kaspersky Lab. "Most folks that have paid up appear to have paid the initial $300 in the first few hours."

Sixteen National Health Service (NHS) organizations in the UK have been hit, and some of those hospitals have canceled outpatient appointments and told people to avoid emergency departments if possible.

When CNNTech first reported the Microsoft vulnerabilities leaked in April, Hickey said they were the "most damaging" he'd seen in several years, and warned that businesses would be most at risk. 

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

Consumers who have up-to-date software are protected from this ransomware. Here's how to turn automatic updates on.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

*This blog post is excerpts from the original article on money.cnn.com