The supply chain is an appealing target for cybercriminals. That’s because carrying out an attack on a vendor that serves dozens to thousands of companies is a highly effective way to ensure malware or another type of attack spreads as far — and as fast — as possible.
Supply chain security isn’t top of mind for every company today, yet businesses are taking steps towards interoperability and improving visibility to strengthen their supply chain strategies and improve resilience. These activities, such as implementing fully integrated ERP systems or customer relationship management (CRM) systems, aggregate valuable data in a central location, which has significant benefits for productivity, profitability, and more. However, without adequate security measures, they also can increase supply chain risk.
Employers often caution employees not to click on weird links that could invite malware into their business networks — but they also need to remind them to be careful about mixing their personal lives with their company laptops.
If you talk to enough IT experts, you quickly come to a conclusion: If you’re conducting your personal life on your business computer, there’s a good chance down the road that somebody’s going to see it.
So with that in mind, here are some of things that tend to turn up on company-owned laptops, and, well, probably on almost all computers and devices.
PCRx is a managed services technology company out of Midlothian, Virginia, providing computer networking and security installations, technology procurement and repair, cloud-based back-up services and more.
When their business was transforming to a managed services platform two years ago, they knew they needed a solution that would give them visibility and insight over their jobs, customers, and data. It was about being smarter and more efficient, which also made the search for a system that was scalable equally important. Read on below to see how they transitioned from spreadsheets to having a full-fledged solution. What they learned was that it wasn’t as scary as they had thought!
HANOVER, VA (WWBT) - Hanover County says credit card information used to make online utility and building inspection payments has been compromised.
“This has been problematic all over the nation. There have been many municipalities that have had this issue with the Click2Gov platform,” Owner of PCRX Computer Company Eric Strickler said.
Strickler described what happens during a data breach, and what can happen with the information.
“You can buy a credit card for around 10 dollars now. You can probably be able to charge $20 to $50 on the credit card before it is shut down,” Strickler said.
RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - A Richmond man will spend the next 20 years in prison after he used the app KIK to get a young girl to prostitute herself.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, 47-year-old Stephen Callis pretended to be a 15-year-old girl named Kayla to talk to a girl on KIK Messenger. "Kayla" then convinced the victim to prostitute herself to older men and said she would introduce her to a man named "Mark."
Mark was another alias Callis used.
RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - Mac users, take note: cyber experts say your computer could be vulnerable to a dangerous new bug.
If you use an Apple computer made before mid-2014, Eric Strickler with PCRX computers says your machine could be at risk and cyber crooks may be able to sneak their way onto your computer. "When the computer goes to sleep, when it wakes back up there is a small opportunity for a malicious bit of code or a hacker to gain access," he says.
A security researcher warned about the vulnerability on a blog -- Strickler says the threat should be taken seriously. "Right now, we don't have any confirmed cases that this is being exploited, it was just discovered by one of the good guys," Strickler says.
HENRICO, VA (WWBT) - According to the Virginia Attorney General's office the data breach at Anthem health insurance is one of the largest cyber attacks to hit the Commonwealth. Now members are being warned to be extra vigilant.
The nationwide breach affects the personal information of tens of millions of customers. In Virginia, the state attorney general says there are about 3-million Virginians using Anthem. A spokesperson for the Virginia Anthem office says they are still trying to pinpoint how many customers are affected by this hack.
Right now the health insurance company is contacting every customer they believe may be a victim.
RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - Consumer experts along with the FBI are warning about a new computer threat called CryptoLocker. The malicious programming allows cyber criminals to lock your computer files and make you pay if you want to gain access; we're talking pictures, videos, and important documents.
Eric Strickler, with PCRX Computers says once your computer is infected, you really don't have many options. "It is a very scary thing. The encryption is real and it is a real big threat, he says.