What if your password manager is infiltrated by attackers? The concern that attackers may steal your passwords is eclipsed by the concern that attackers might use the password manager to gain access and take control of your network.

What if attackers spread viruses into your computer, using your favorite music program? Or a game? Or an add-on for your browser?

Attackers already infected the program called C-Cleaner, used by millions. Unfortunately, this tool became a powerful attack tool when attackers poisoned the update server.

As another example, some people believe that there is evidence that Kaspersky anti-virus software has been used to infiltrate computers.

By their nature, anti-virus programs need to have access to the deepest parts of computers in order to function properly. That makes them an appealing target for attackers. When an attacker can take over an antivirus program, of any brand, the attacker will have the same deep access to the victim’s computer.

Some people use an add-on program to help check their grammar in documents. This week, a patch was released to fix a bug that made it possible for attackers to access users’ private documents. Although the problem was fixed quickly once discovered, how much sensitive data was stolen before the discovery?

Talk to your IT Professionals and remove all software that is not essential to your business. Each program is a potential vector for attackers. If you need a program, keep it. The concern is that a program can be used as a pathway into your organization’s sensitive information, and to even give attackers the ability to take full control of your network.

Please forward this to your friends so they can re-think having non-essential programs installed on their network. The problem, of attackers using trusted programs to access networks, is trending in 2018 and is a growing threat to the security of all organizations.

The post When Trusted Programs get Hacked: An Attacker May Be Putting Germs on Your Toothbrush appeared first on Foster Institute.

Intel advises that IT Professionals stop deploying the current versions of patches for the recently discovered security flaws in CPU chips. Find details, just updated, by searching:
Root Cause of Reboot Issue Identified Updated Guidance for Customers and Partners site:intel.com

Do not insert a space after the colon.

For most of you, deploying Microsoft patches is easy compared to managing Flash, Java, and browser updates. Oracle is releasing multiple security patches for Java SE. Additionally, if you are upgrading Chrome to the 64 bit version, Google is releasing new patches for that browser.

For executives wondering what to do at home, you may find it best to download fresh versions of any non-Microsoft browsers you use, and reinstall the most recent versions of Flash and Java, if you still use either, from https://get.adobe dot com/flashplayer/ or java dot com . Your Microsoft and/or Apple patches are likely configured to install automatically.

For both organizations and home office users, if you can remove Flash and/or Java from some or all of your computers, then you can forget about patching them. If you haven’t already, try it on a few computers. You may find that all of the websites essential to your business no longer require either. Worst case, you can re-install the most recent version.

Executives, please forward this to your IT Professionals. Be sure to, if you have not already, have a conversation with them about how aggressive you want them to be with patching. They can share the pros and cons with you. These days, an aggressive posture related to patches can increase your security dramatically, when handled properly. Provide them time to test the patches, test un-installing the patches, and then to deploy the patches in stages. They will also need to contact your cloud providers to discuss how they are handling the flaws and patches.

The post Patching Nightmare – Please Forward to Your IT Pros appeared first on Foster Institute.

Second, attackers will target, more than ever before, organizations who store protected health information. If you are in healthcare, or even if your company name makes it sound like you are in healthcare, ramp up security to unprecedented levels and have a plan of what to do when you are breached.

Third, more attackers will use trusted security software as a vector to infect networks. Attackers already infected the program called C-Cleaner, used by millions of people to, among other things, speed up slow Windows computers. C-Cleaner is a very useful, and trusted, security program. Unfortunately, this tool became a powerful attack tool when attackers took over the update server. What program, one that you trust, will attackers take over to use as a vector to hack your computer?

Please forward this to your friends who can be on the lookout too.

The post Three Serious Trends to Watch Out for in Cyber Security appeared first on Foster Institute.

A patch for Linux has been released and Microsoft plans to release a patch next Tuesday. Apple will release a patch for OSX.

For understandable reasons, many organizations are significantly behind schedule in applying patches. The patch won’t help protect your organization until the patch is applied to your computers.

A big concern is that the patch is predicted to have a major impact on performance. Estimates of the degradation in the performance range from 0% to 30%. If you have computers that are slow anyway, this will matter to you.

Additionally, this vulnerability affects computers in the cloud too. Amazon and Microsoft have announced that they are working on patching their cloud servers.

Ask IT what the status is of your patches for all of your operating systems, and make a plan for getting your patches up to date.

The post Major Flaw in Computer Processors Affects Security appeared first on Foster Institute.