Thoughts From My Inbox

July 16th, 2021

Something About…

Does anybody reading this know what a Managed Services Provider (MSP) is? That’s one reason why Ashton is moving away from the term.  In any case, MSPs are under attack (see the Kaseya ransomware event from July 2nd, mentioned here last week), and you need to make sure that your MSP is taking every possible precaution to protect their network AND yours. You can also ask them these nine questions to confirm their stance on security.

The federal government has announced the launch of a new website (which I’m sure cost millions) aimed at stopping ransomware.  From training, what to do if you’ve been hit, and how to avoid it, the site seems to have everything.  But when I saw the link about anti-virus, I was a little concerned that  A. it was last updated in fall of 2019, and B.  it’s referred to as “anti-virus” rather than “endpoint protection”.  

Sure enough, the piece states that “Anti-virus software (sometimes more broadly referred to as anti-malware software) looks for patterns based on the signatures or definitions of known malware (emphasis mine).”  That’s older than 2019.  Modern day measures look for behaviors rather than defined malware. Many ransomware attacks involve zero day measures, which means there’s been no time to define them. That’s why looking for behaviors is the better way to protect yourself. There are definitely some good ideas in these documents, but when in doubt, trust Ashton before you trust the government.   

.

Venture capitalists are now investing in ransomware.  Is anybody surprised?

 I don’t believe that any Ashton clients are still running anything from Sonicwall, but this is a good reminder, regardless.  There’s a vulnerability for their Secure Remote Access and Secure Mobile access devices. The key is that this effects unpatched and end of life (EOL) devices.  Regardless of the device, if its patches aren’t up to date, or if it’s reached EOL (think Windows 7 PCs), it’s putting you at risk of being hacked.

I went to college (and high school, and middle school) with Ashton President/Founder Jim Millican, which is probably the only reason I’ve ever paid attention to The Tour.  While the rest of us were drinking beer or watching sports on tv (I’m referring to our college days), he used to get out his bike and trainer, pop in a VHS cassette, and watch “Tour tapes”.  Recordings of prior years’ Tours de France.  He’d pretend he was climbing the Alps or riding the cobblestones, while we just rolled our eyes and grabbed another beer.  Anyhow, he still rides and I still pay some attention to the race, so the news about an ‘alt-Tour’ caught my eye.  An Aussie rider decided to ride the entire length of the course, by himself, with no support crews or masseuses.  And did it five days faster than the peloton did. Pretty impressive.

If you use Adobe products (according to my research, Adobe Reader is on over a billion devices, globally), there are a lot of new patches out as of this past Tuesday. Make sure you’re up to date.