Insights

Holidays are fast approaching, which means online shopping and scams are going to be on the rise. Here are a few ways to stay as safe as possible. 1.  Know the red flags. The most common types of scams will target you through fake emails (a technique known as phishing), text messages (SMSishing or smishing) voice calls (vishing), letters or even someone who shows up at your front door unexpectedly. No matter which technique the criminal uses these are the common things they try: Pressure you to send money Threaten you with law enforcement action Tell you to purchase gift cards and provide codes as a form of payment Ask you to cash a check for them or send money via wire transfer Ask you to deposit a check that overpays for something you're selling, and then send the difference elsewhere 2. Don’t provide account or personal information via email…

“We're seeing these attacks really, really rising,” said Tech Expert Jeff Barron with Critical Path Security. Criminals will pick their victim, then pick apart their lives after conning cell phone carriers. From there, they can control your bank accounts or other accounts operated through a cell phone. You can also fall victim if you lose your phone. “Make sure you have a pin on cellphone account. Have your phone company add a note to your account to only make changes in person,” Barron said. But even then, he said the move may or may not work. “I don’t know how effective it is. Because sometimes they don't read the note,” he said referring to call center representatives. Watch the video!

So what is a SIM swap attack?  A SIM swap attack is when a criminal tricks a customer service representative at a cellular service provider into reassigning the victim’s phone number to a phone that the criminal has.  After they successfully get the SIM swapped to their phone they are able to receive the text messages used as a second form of verification to reset passwords for many online services and apps.  Then they can login to your bank accounts, email and social media. Who should be concerned? Everyone.  Recently, Jack Dorsey the CEO of Twitter was a victim so it can happen to anyone! What can I do to protect myself? The first thing you should do is contact your service provider and add a PIN to your account, this is to prevent a criminal from masquerading as you and changing devices or even who can access your account. …

On September 4 of this year, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition released its draft of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) for public comment. The CMMC was created in response to growing concerns by Congress and the Department of Defense (DoD) over the increased presence of cyber threats and intrusions aimed at the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and its supply chains. The increase of successful Cybersecurity attacks against Defense Contractors and Subcontractors has been on a steady climb over the past years, leading to direct intervention and the creation of the CMMC. It is the duty of the manufacturer to monitor their environment, implement effective security controls, and ensure that critical systems are protected from malicious activities, such as ransomware, malware, etc. The protection of intellectual property associated with government projects is of most importance. Unfortunately, a recent investigation into Boeing's infrastructure has illuminated vulnerabilities…