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By BECKY RUTHERFORD

Los Alamos

It can cripple global businesses, governments, schools, hospitals, and more; ransomware attacks are on the rise. Read on to learn more about this cyber threat and how you can protect yourself.

According to a recent study by Emsisoft, a security firm that helps companies hit by ransomware, in 2019, there were 205,280 organizations they assisted with recovery from ransomware infections. This is a 41% increase from the year before. Average payments to recover from ransomware (for businesses, not consumers) jumped up to $84,116- more than double what it was the previous quarter, according to Coveware, another security firm.

Recent victims of ransomware include the US Coast Guard, city of New Orleans, city of Baltimore, Travelex, and many more. Ransomware doesnt just go after large companies and municipalities; it can target anyone, including you. Nobody is too small to be beyond their notice; anyone can be a customer, and this is something you want to avoid at all costs.

What is ransomware? Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts (translates all the data into random ciphertext) all of your files, making them completely inaccessible unless you shell out the cash for the decryption key. Ironically, ransomware has some of the best customer service you will find anywhere. Users are shown detailed instructions on how to pay the fee to get the decryption key, almost always in Bitcoin. Dont know how to do this? There is usually a customer service email or number you can call to get assistance. So helpful!

There are many different kinds of ransomware in the wild. Some of them have decryption keys publicly available; others do not. Ransomware families include; Locky, Cerber, DMA Locker, REvil, Crysis, SamSam, and many more. Some varieties of ransomware are evolving to target ICS (Industrial Control Systems); other types of ransomware seek out data for exfiltration before encryption. The biggest new trend is the threat of publicly releasing your sensitive data if you dont pay up. So even if you have backups you can depend on, if you dont pay up all your sensitive files will be released on the internet for all to see.

How do you get a ransomware infection? There are many ways you can be exposed to this. One of the most common ways to deliver the ransomware is via a phishing email with malicious attachments. Once you open the attachments and enable macros, you are opening up your system to the attacker to take over your computer. Other types of ransomware, like NotPetya, exploit security holes to infect computers without the need for any user interaction. This is just one more reason to keep your system up to date, and not to open attachments from unknown senders. Another way is via a drive-by download; you might visit a legitimate website, but the ads on the website may have been compromised and contain links to malicious sites, or malicious software downloads. Avoid clicking online ads; they could be malicious.

To prevent ransomware at home or work, follow these steps:

What to do if you are the victim of a ransomware attack? Try to contain the infection; disconnect the computer from any networks and the internet. This will minimize the chance of the infection spreading to other computers. Dont pay the ransom, paying the ransom does not guarantee the return of your data. In some cases, even if you get the key, your unencrypted data will be so badly damaged it will be useless. Contact a computer repair professional and see if they can work on your machine, there might be a free decryptor available online for the ransomware. If nothing else works, if you have good backups, you should be able to get your computer reimaged and restored with your backed up data. If you arent a techie, its best to pay someone else to take care of this for you.

Ransomware is an evolving threat, and it will likely get worse before it gets better. Be aware, be safe online, and dont become a victim.

Editors note: Becky Rutherford works in information technology at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

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Catch Of The Week: Ransomware On The Rise - Los Alamos Daily Post

PHOTO:Indi Samarajiva

Office 365 for business is a Microsoft subscription service that includes access to Office applications and online productivity services, as well as business services such as web conferencing, hosted email, and online storage. However, Microsoft keeps adding new tools and services in response to enterprise need, but are workers using all of them? We talked to several enterprises to see what part of Office 365 is working for them, and, in some cases what they would like to see added to the productivity suite in the future.

For Jovan Milenkovic, co-founder of KommandoTech based in the Czech Republic, One Drive is one of the most underrated productivity tools included in Office 365. It allows users real-time access to edit, share and to keep their work safely stored on Microsoft's servers. With a basic Office 365 package, each user is capped at a whopping tera-byte, which should be plenty for most small businesses. OneDrive enables teams to collaborate on projects using Office 365 tools quickly and efficiently from anywhere in the world. "With data stored on the Microsoft cloud, your work is secure and accessible from any device while you're on the move. It increases productivity by keeping all files neatly stored on a shared cloud, saving the hassle of downloading endless attachments or having to sift through your mailbox to find important files," he said.

Everything is on the cloud and two-clicks away from a shareable link that your co-workers can quickly access shared files and get work done more efficiently.

Norhanie Pangulima is anoutreach consultant at Kansas City, Miss.-based Centriq. He cites two tools in Office 365 as being particularly useful. Office 365, he said, is equipped with Microsoft Teams, which you can use to host online meetings and video calls. It acts as a communication tool that doubles as a collaboration tool, which is needed for a fluid interaction between employees in a workplace who dont always get to work in the same physical location.

As such, Teams provides users with a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines persistent workplace chat, video meetings, file storage (including collaboration on files), and application integration. Teams is a competitor to services such as Slack and is the evolution and upgrade path from Microsoft Skype for Business.

Related Article:Don't Know Which Microsoft Collaboration Tool to Use? You're Not Alone

Citing the fact that 95% of organizations use email as their way of communicating internally, he said that a digital workplace is not going to work if there is no email system in place to provide a venue for the exchange of formal communication. Office 365 has this as well, through Outlook. Primarily an email application, Outlook also includes a calendar, task manager, contact manager, note taking, journal, and web browsing.

Hunter Willis, product marketing manager atJersey City-based AvePointshared that traditionally Exchange and One Drive have been very important, but as Microsoft continues to roll out features in Office 365, SharePoint and the Power Platform along with Teams have become increasingly important for productivity. Demand for mobile accessibility and enabling the modern digital workplace has shifted the focus and nature of collaboration to be much more reliant on chat interfaces.

'Power Platform' is a collective term for three Microsoft products: Power BI, PowerApps and Flow. They provide the means to help people easily manipulate, surface, automate and analyze data and can be used with Office 365 and Dynamics 365.

In addition, the speed and pace that is required by less structured work processes and the diversification of workforce talents require a faster pace of productivity. The power of chat-based collaboration coupled with the search and data organization tools that come with SharePoint are extremely enabling when it comes to rapid collaboration productivity.

Related Article:10 Keys to Microsoft Teams Governance Success

In addition, Microsoft Graph and its AI engine proactively surface documents that users may have been unaware of but may be interested or could be useful to them. This is extremely powerful when it comes to optimizing collaboration. Office 365 enables not even IT pros or tech junkies, but any passionate worker to automate processes, build apps, collaborate in chat, email and document sharing, all from one interface.

The stack of Teams, SharePoint/ (One Drive) and the Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate and Power BI) are the future of digital workplace collaboration productivity, Willis said.

Andreea Zorz, an online marketer at Canada-basedDistantjob pointed out that she, like many people, is just looking for the basics. She said that Word, Excel, and Outlook are the most used tools by desk-workers. Skype is a great tool if you often need to have extensive online meetings with distributed team members, but its chat features leave something to be desired, She also said that she finds the support offered for Skype annoying. If you create a ticket, you get numerous emails and calls, and the calls always come in the evening, long after I've finished work, she said.

Reuben Yonatan is CEO of Fresh Meadows, New York-based GetVoIP. He said that when it comes to productivity tools, the ones that help us collaborate over a distance are the most helpful. Yammer (found within Office 365) is a great example of that. It enables workers to brainstorm with each other, share information, and come up with solid ideas. It also provides usage stats that help us really hone-in on how we work best as a team and which tools help us the most, he said.

Yammer is a social networking service designed with enterprise communication in mind. Created by a company called Geni and launched in 2008, it was acquired by Microsoft in 2012. Microsoft rolled the new product into their Office 365 suite in 2014, and today it is used by 85% of fortune 500 companies worldwide, according to Microsoft.

Other than Outlook, Word and Excel, Cira Apps CTO and founder Vern Weitzman said that his favorite Office 365 app is To Do. I have tried Asana, Trello, Todoist and a few others. Microsoft To Do app is hands down the easiest to get my thoughts into a checklist, he said.

To-Do is an intelligent task management app that makes it easy to plan and manage your day.Microsoft To-Do delivers a smart, more personal and intuitive way to help people stay organized. Powered by Office 365 integration and an intelligent algorithm, it is part of Microsofts objective to simplify task management and help you to achieve more.

But there are holes and as they become more apparent, other third-party vendors are going to step up to the mark. Joe Ferdinando is president of HotHeadTech, an IT support company. He told us that the biggest thing Office 365 is missing in his opinion is file recovery.

There's no way that office 365 can recover the lost data which can lead to confusion, and ultimately, frustration if your employees are using Office 365 to get their work done. Make sure you have proper backups in place or and saving your work to the cloud because if not, you may end up paying the consequences, said Ferdinando.

For Sarah Franklin of Blue Tree AIin Ottawa, some of the most effective productivity tools in digital workplaces include time trackers to set deadlines, dashboard organizers to clean up your business, new tech applications, and a platform that allows all the employees and leaders to communicate in the same area and share work/ideas so there is no confusion about what is to be done. Office 365 is a great service to use for improving productivity, but I do believe there are better options available that provide more detailed help to create a very personal space for a business, she said.

This leads to a more effective way of growing and maintaining success to increase financial gain. Office 365 provides a very general service which is great for newer businesses but can lack authenticity as a business begins to grow larger.

Excerpt from:
Office 365: 9 Baked-In Productivity Tools Built That Workers Are Using - CMSWire

Stay safe online with these tips from the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and cyber security firms Akamai, Check Point and HackerOne.

To avoid falling victim to phishing attacks, do not carelessly open links or files sent via e-mail or social media.

Examine the URL of links to ensure they are legitimate before clicking on them. Be extra cautious if an offer or deal sounds too good to be true. Never reply with personal information such as passwords or bank account details.

Strong passwords have a mix of random alphanumeric characters and symbols that are harder to crack by brute-force attacks.

However, they can be difficult to remember. This is especially so if you follow what experts recommend and do not reuse passwords for your different accounts.

The solution is to use a password manager to generate and automatically fill in the passwords for your accounts. All you need is to remember a master password.

Google's Chrome browser, for instance, comes with a built-in password manager. It even has a Password Checkup feature - launched last year for Android and the Web - that can check saved passwords to see if they had been leaked or compromised in past breaches.

Alternatively, choose biometric authentication methods such as facial recognition or fingerprint if available.

Turn on two-factor authentication - an extra layer of identity verification through a one-time password or biometric authentication - to secure your online accounts.

For those who are at greater risk of being targeted by cyber criminals - journalists, activists and business leaders, for instance - Google has an Advanced Protection Program that offers enhanced security for personal Google accounts.

For instance, users must use a physical security token - on top of a password - to sign in to their Google accounts.

Google also limits access to Gmail and Google Drive files to its own apps and select third-party apps, thus reducing the chance of a malicious app gaining access.

Prevent cyber attacks that exploit software bugs by keeping your apps and software updated with the latest patches.

Turn on automatic updates, which are usually scheduled to occur in the middle of the night to avoid disruption.

Malware may disguise itself as legitimate apps to get past your defences. Hence, avoid downloading apps via links in e-mails or social media.

Use the Apple App Store or Google Play Store instead of unofficial third-party stores or websites.

Although the vast majority of apps from the official app stores are safe, there have been cases where malware have got past Apple and Google's checks.

To mitigate the harm that could be done by such apps, scrutinise the permissions requested by a new app and deny unnecessary ones. For instance, a weather app should not need access to your photos or phone call function.

It may also be helpful to check the number of times the app has been downloaded before you get it, though this is not a fool-proof method.

A virtual private network (VPN) creates a secure, encrypted connection over the Internet. It is handy if you are using a public or unsecured Wi-Fi connection.

While most VPNs are not free, there are decent free ones around, albeit with limitations, such as data quota. For infrequent users who do not need unlimited data, check out free VPNs such as ProtonVPN, hide.me and TunnelBear.

Several PC makers have added physical privacy shutters to the front camera of laptops to block prying eyes in the event of the computer being compromised by malware. Or you could simply paste a sticky tape over the camera.

To disable the microphone in Windows 10 PCs, go to Device Manager, Audio inputs and outputs, right-click Microphone and select Disable. For Mac computers, go to System Preferences, Security & Privacy, click Privacy. Select Microphone to change an app's access to it.

Apple's Safari browser for iOS 13 also lets you control the camera and microphone permissions for each website.

Even if you take all conceivable precautions, it is still possible for your devices to suffer from a ransomware attack that locks their contents unless a ransom is paid.

Thus, it is important you back up your data regularly to multiple locations to mitigate data loss. Consider using a reputable cloud storage vendor, such as Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive, on top of an external storage device.

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Eight ways to stay safe online, Tech News & Top Stories - The Straits Times