Malware Turns PCs into Eavesdropping Devices

Cadamier Network Security in Denver has recently learned that malware turns PCs into eavesdropping devices even without a microphone according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). If you’re concerned about this news (and you should be), our experts can make sure this is not happening to you. We are committed to network security protection, detection, and enforcement. We’ve been in business since 2001 and our job is to help business, governments, and organizations keep their information network safe and that includes protecting you from malware. 

According to Science Daily, which reports on research news, the new research paper titled, SPEAKE(a)R: Turn Speakers to Microphones for Fun and Profit, details and demonstrates how most PCs and laptops are vulnerable to this type of malware attack, which lets hackers change your headphones into a microphone and listen to your conversations.

An article in Daily Mail explains researchers have designed a code called 'Speake(a)r, which retasks a computer's outputs to inputs. This means it allows them without your knowledge to record audio even when your headphones are in the output-only jack.

Amazingly, the Ben Guiron University research team used a pair of headphones to capture vibrations in the air and convert them to electromagnetic signals in order to record audio from 20 feet across the room.

With malware, the research team used a common feature in most computers—RealTek audio codec chips. This allows them to get inside the computer and reverse its output function to input, which lets them to secretly hear your conversations.

According to an article at Cornell University Library, the malware can use a computer as an eavesdropping device, even when a microphone is not present, muted, taped, or turned off. A typical computer chassis has a number of audio jacks, in the front panel or in the rear panel or both. The jack is used for input, or for output. The audio chipsets in today’s motherboards and sound cards have an option for changing the function of an audio port with software, sort of like an audio port programming which is called jack retasking or jack remapping.

Professor Yuval Elovici is the director of the BGU Cyber Security Research Center (CSRC) and he is a member of BGU's Department of Information Systems Engineering. Elovici points out that since headphones, earphones, and speakers are physically built like microphones, the audio port in the PC and laptops can be reprogrammed from output to input allowing hackers to gain access to private information without your knowledge.

Several software countermeasures have been suggested, including disabling the audio hardware, using an HD audio driver to let the user know when microphones are being secretly accessed, and creating a rejacking policy within the industry. Another consideration is developing anti-malware and intrusion detection systems to monitor and detect unauthorized speaker-to-mic retasking operations and the block them.

In just another example of how malware can create dangerous information leaks and privacy invasion, researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have shown how malware turns PCs into eavesdropping devices even without a microphone. Cadamier Network Security in Denver can help protect you and your business. Cadamier has provided Security Services for a wide range of clients including the DOD and the FBI and have been instrumental in providing network security reviews to organizations of all sizes. Cadamier continues to work closely with both state and federal regulatory authorities including the NCUA, FFIEC, and the DHHS in order to ensure that our clients are implementing the latest technologies and services to best protect their interests. 

All About Adware and the Dangers it Poses to Your Business

We all know what adware is. But at Cadamier Security Network in Denver, we believe you should know all about adware and the dangers it poses to your business. Many don’t realize that his software that displays advertising online has become very aggressive. Now, adware companies add more applications and often install whatever they want onto your system.

If you’re like many of our customers, you may just tolerate it instead of fighting it. Here’s the problem. Adware can install additional software without a user’s knowledge or consent and often is a risk for causing information leakage.

So, what type of information is leaked and how is privacy is being compromised? The main adware categories are ad-injectors, browser hijackers, and utilities that can change your system settings and lead to insecure configurations.

Sometimes it’s in-browser ad-injection, pop-ups, word highlights, or offering fake services with the goal of redirecting users traffic to their own websites for profit. They are distributed through software bundles. What happens is the user installs what they think is a legitimate application, but other applications are installed as well. Often the user can’t refuse the installation.

Let’s break these down a bit further.

Browser Hijackers

This kind of adware makes more modifications to the system than traditional ad-injectors, highlighting words, changing the default search engine, showing pop-ups outside the browser.

Utilities

Another kind of adware, utilities applications are shown as system optimizers and software removal tools. They trick you by showing fake problems on the system, such as an infection or poor system performance, in order to get you to subscribe to their service. But the problems simply do not exist.

Ad-Injectors

This type of adware modifies the content of the browser in order to display advertising that wouldn’t be there if you visited the website. The majority of ad-injectors are browser-based infections in the form of malicious browser extensions.

What happens is that once an ad-injector is installed on your system it will start injecting code in the visited websites which will load and display the desired advertising.

They will try to inject advertising into all the pages opened in your browser and the malicious browser extensions will monitor every page you visit. The applications will put many pieces of advertising on every page you visit. Critical information may be leaked about the user, such as visited news sites, intranet sites of an organization, username, activities, personal preferences, location, political ideology, and even more.

Leaked information can create many problems. There are three main problems associated with this information leakage that makes it even more critical:

Historical Visibility 

If you don’t stop adware, their servers are able to store your leaked browsing information for a long time. This can give them an accurate profile of your online behavior and activities.

No Encryption 

Your leaked information is sent through plain HTTP to the ad-injector servers. This not only exposes your information to them but to anyone that is watching your traffic.

Redundancy

Multiple ad-injection servers are storing your information in multiple malicious locations and that increases the opportunity for misuse by malicious actors.

The objections to ad-injector adware aren’t just about the advertising, although that’s annoying enough. More importantly, ad-injectors can leak information about the online behavior of your business activities and your company's personal preferences. The concern is these third parties receiving this information can misuse it and put your business’ security in danger.

If you use an ad-blocker or a script blocker it might help prevent the advertising to load and will protect users from the risks of the injected advertising. But here’s the problem – if you don’t see the advertising, you won’t know the infection is even there. You need to remove it, not hide it.

We believe you should know all about adware and the dangers it poses to your business. At Cadamier Network Security Corporation in Denver, we’ve been in business since 2001 and we are committed to network security protection, detection, and enforcement. If you have or suspect adware issues in any or all of your company’s computers or network, give us a call and let us help you protect your business. 

Affordable 10 Gigabit Ethernet for Small and Midsize Business

When it comes to your business, it’s important that your network keeps up. Luckily, an affordable 10 Gigabit Ethernet for small and midsize business is now available and our experts at Cadamier Network Security in Denver can get you all setup. With this development and our help, migrating to 10 gigabits is easy on you and your budget. Soon, you’ll be on the fast track to growing your business!

To get you up to speed, let’s start with a quick definition that will provide deeper insight into 10 Gigabit Ethernet. This is information that you can also check out over at PC Magazine.

In simpler terms, we’re talking about an Ethernet standard that transmits 10 gigabits per second (10 Gbps). It was introduced in 2002 and is also be known as 10 GbE, 10GE or 10G Ethernet. This standard extended Gigabit Ethernet ten times for enterprise backbones, high-speed storage networks (SANs), as well as wide area, and metropolitan area networks.

Ten Gigabit Ethernet only works in full-duplex mode and does not support CSMA/CD, the usual Ethernet collision method utilized to gain access to the physical medium. A WAN interface sublayer (WIS) makes 10G Ethernet compatible with the SONET transport at 10 Gbps (OC-192). The 10GBASE-LX4 carries four wavelengths of light on one pair of fibers. Ten Gigabit Ethernet over copper wire was introduced in 2004 for short distances between data center switches and storage devices.

No matter what your business is, it requires a fast and reliable network. Your digital network needs to keep increasing from technologies like 802.11ac wireless, server virtualization, IP convergence, Cloud, and the Internet.

The key to taking advantage of affordable 10 Gigabit Ethernet for small and midsize business is to anticipate your growing network needs. A 10G network core will help improve employee productivity, allow faster customer response time, avoid network congestion, and introduce new products and services to the market faster.

According to a Computer Weekly article, if you have lots of gigabit connects to your desktops and laptops on your network, then you probably need something larger than a gigabit core backbone and server connections.

There are three components needed to upgrade your network to a 10G network. Those are access switches with 10G uplinks, 10G core switches, and 10G network interface cards for servers and storage devices. You can start by upgrading the core switches that you use to connect all your access switches together and connect your servers and storage devices. You may want two core switches stacked together to give redundancy and improve performance.

Now that your core switches are upgraded to 10G, you can migrate your key access switches and servers to 10G and connect to your new core switches. You should see an immediate performance gain in your network. You can upgrade the rest of your network to 10G whenever you’re ready or in step-up phases.

An affordable 10 Gigabit Ethernet for a small and midsize business network can be yours. Your company’s growing, why shouldn’t your network? Of course, if some of this technical jargon was a bit too much to digest, you can trust that our network experts at Cadamier Network Security in Denver are ready to upgrade your network to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Contact us today to get started.

Russian Hackers Exploit a Windows Flaw

We’ve heard a lot lately about Russian hackers. The CIA and the FBI said they were responsible for many of the election hacks. But how are they doing it? It’s suspected that the Russian hackers exploit a Windows flaw, as well as one in Adobe Flash. Our security experts at Cadamier Network Security in Denver stay on top of these concerns so we can protect our clients against hacking.

According to a CIO-Today article, Microsoft reported that a group they call Stronium has been linked to the Russian state-sponsored hacking and specifically the theft of Democratic National Committee emails during the election, and was behind recent cyberattacks targeting Windows users.

Microsoft security researchers didn’t directly connect Stronium to Russian state hacking, but the hacking group is also known in the security community as Fancy Bear or APT 28 and has been linked by others to Russian state hacking.

The Redmond company has identified a hacking campaign that exploited previously unknown vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Windows operating system and Adobe's Flash in a bold attempt to gain control of computers. The group behind the attacks are thought to have targeted a specific set of customers, according to Microsoft who would not identify the victims of the hack.

Microsoft has been relatively quiet, releasing only a blog post detailing the attacks. In November, Microsoft hustled to fix the Windows vulnerability in a patch. Adobe patched its flaw in Flash in October.

U.S. intelligence agencies are accusing Russia of hacking American political sites to try to interfere with the U.S. presidential election. After the DNC was hacked and 20,000 emails were stolen and released by WikiLeaks, they hired CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm. CrowdStrike confirmed Stronium was among the intruders into the DNC's computer systems. The group's cyber theft was thought to fit the pattern of Russian state-sponsored hacking, according to CrowdStrike.

Microsoft reported Stronium aims primarily at government bodies, diplomatic institutions, and military forces in NATO-member nations and Eastern European countries. Microsoft hasn't named Russia for the hacking attacks, but the listed targets line up with Russian state hacking.

Google disclosed the software flaws under attack. Their security researchers contacted Adobe and Microsoft in October to inform them of the flaws in their software. According to a Google blog post from security researchers, they stated that this vulnerability is particularly serious because it is being actively exploited. Their policy is to publicly disclose critical security flaws if there is no fix a week after informing the company that makes the software.

Window and Devices Executive Vice President Terry Myerson was mad at Google for disclosing the Windows flaws. He said, "We believe responsible technology industry participation puts the customer first and requires coordinated vulnerability disclosure. Google's decision to disclose these vulnerabilities before patches are broadly available and tested is disappointing and puts customers at increased risk.”

Myerson explained that Windows users running the latest version of Windows 10 and Microsoft's Edge browser were protected from versions of the attacks Google had observed. Microsoft said the flaws disclosed recently were targeted in spear-phishing attacks which are designed to fool an email user into clicking on a malicious link or opening an attachment that grants the attacker access to the computer's functions.

Your company or organization might not be a target when Russian hackers exploit a Windows flaw, but other hackers may want to steal your information. Our security experts at Cadamier Network Security in Denver know what’s going on so we can protect our clients from cyber attacks. You need to make sure you can defend against all intrusions.

How to Increase Network Security with Remote Employees

Thanks to technology, the old business model where everyone was required to work in one location is changing. Many businesses now give employees the option to work from home and other locations. But with this new flexibility comes the concern of how to increase network security with remote employees. Cadamier Network Security in Denver can help your company or organization protect your information with advanced security management and network design strategies.

Allowing remote employees to have location flexibility can help keep business costs down, increase overall productivity, and even boost morale. But cyber dangers remain and remote locations are often points of increased vulnerability. Many companies are struggling to effectively communicate the need for network security and vigilance to keep company and customer data protected.

Remote and mobile employees often don’t realize that cyber threats are lurking everywhere, such as hotels, conferences, airports, and shared computers. But this extends beyond computers and includes possible attacks on company smartphones, tablets, laptops and storage devices like USB drives.

In addition, thefts of computers, tablets, or phones with company information or access are a real and growing threat now. Never let your information devices out of your sight.

According to a Business 2 Community article, as more and more employees work remotely, a company should consider several things when developing your strategic information security plans. Let’s review.

Provide Clear Objectives and Boundaries

The first step in how to increase network security with remote employees is to openly communicate the company’s objectives and rules for cyber security. Remote employees need to be aware of the dangers and understand that just because they are not in the corporate office, they are still responsible for their actions. There should be strict boundaries and accountability for a breach. Remote employees must be aware of the risks and proactively protect company and client information, both personal and business.

Consider Going Cloud-Based

You may want to consider using a cloud-based system where information is stored on an off-site server with advanced security. Instead of important company or client information being kept on a laptop that can be stolen, it’s securely saved in the cloud where remote employees can access it on-demand. Your employees should be reminded that public wi-fi networks can be easily hacked and shouldn’t be used.

Prohibit Unsecured Wireless Networks

The danger of using unsecured wireless networks should be communicated and reiterated to all remote employees. Unsecured wi-fi at coffee shops, restaurants or airports provide convenience, but they leave your company susceptible to attacks and breaches. They should never be used.

Change Passwords and Make Them Unique

One thing your employees can do to enhance security is to create secure passwords that don’t contain their personal information such as their birth date, pet’s name or child’s name. Passwords should always be unique, with at least 12 characters, including a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. Don’t forget to tell your employees to change their password often and ask them not to use the same password for different websites, applications, and corporate systems.

Protect Email Access

Guarding email access is crucial in providing network security, not only from direct attacks but from hacker phishing emails as well. Your employees should always use a secure webmail program that encrypts messages before they are sent. Your company should also update virus protection regularly since viruses and malware still pose a serious security risk.

Keep an Eye on Your Equipment

And of course, remind employees to be aware of their surroundings. When traveling or at offsite meetings, making sure their laptop and phone never leave their sight is an easy way to prevent theft.

The old office structure is out. Virtual offices are in. But the convenience and cost savings should never outweigh the concern of how to increase network security with remote employees. Our cyber experts at Cadamier Network Security in Denver can help your company or organization develop objectives and strategies to keep employee equipment safe and ensure the privacy of client and company data. Call or contact us today and let’s put the right plan in place for maximum protection.

DU Program Tackles Lack of Cybersecurity Experts Amid Rise in Computer Hacking Attacks

High profile hacking events against Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Democratic National Committee, major stores, banks and hospitals has increased the need for anti-hackers. According to an article from the Denver Post, a new DU program tackles the lack of cyber security experts amid a rise in computer hacking attacks. Of course, security experts at Cadamier Network Security in Denver are already available to help your company or organization keep your network safe.

According to the article, The new University of Denver (DU) fast-track program’s goal is to train more people to meet the demand for cyber security jobs in order to stop cyber attacks. The leading states for cyber hiring are Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, and Colorado. For Colorado, the jobs are focused in Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs. In fact, Colorado Springs will be the home of a new National Cybersecurity Intelligence Center.

Today’s cyber hacking has the ability to go beyond just stealing information and can result in physical injury. According to the Denver Post, a laptop was used by cybersecurity experts to gain control of a 2014 Jeep Cherokee. They were able to slam on the brakes, as well as increase speed. The laptop was connected to a USB port under the dashboard, but their research indicates hackers could carry out a similar attack remotely. After informing Jeep of their ability to hack the vehicle, the manufacturer sent owners a software patch to block remote access and updated software to stop this type of hack.

Beyond cars, there are millions of dollars at stake in a variety of key industries. The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently warned banks to look out for a group of hackers that took $81 million from the central bank of Bangladesh. Data breaches in stores have also exposed credit card numbers and other crucial information of millions of retail customers.

These increased threats from hackers in Russia, China, and North Korea have created the need for cyber security experts.

DU is only one of five schools in Colorado with cyber education programs and has earned a designation from the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security, as a Center of Academic Excellence. The other four Colorado schools with similar programs are the U.S. Air Force Academy, Regis University, Colorado Technical University, and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

Students don’t need an undergraduate degree in computer science to participate in DU’s masters level cyber security program. You can have a degree in other majors unrelated to computers if you do well on a test known as the Graduate Record Examination, specifically a portion of the test focusing on math knowledge and reasoning skills. If you have a computer background, you can complete the program in nine months. If not, you will get three extra months of instruction and finish in 12 months.

The increasing need for security experts has encouraged the creation of this special DU program that tackles the lack of cyber security experts amid a rise in computer hacking attacks. But security experts at Cadamier Network Security in Denver are ready today to help keep your network safe from hackers. If you need help or have concerns about your own business, feel free to get in touch with our team.

Network Security Consultant Denver

You need an experienced computer network security consultant in Denver who knows how to protect your information and keep your network safe. We can do that for you. We're Cadamier Network Security Corporation.

You focus a lot of resources on the security of your computer network but you can't do it alone. It's important to find a company with extensive knowledge to help you.

We've been in business since 2001 and our computer network security consultant in Denver has provided equipment and services to hundreds of customers in the financial, healthcare, manufacturing, and government sectors, as well as many others. 

Cadamier, a network security consultant in Denver, installs and manages complete network security protection for businesses, organizations and governments with dedicated high-speed connections to the Internet. This is vital to the safety of your network information. You need to feel completely secure in your network. It's too important to your business or organization.

Cadamier keeps your network safe and prevents your information from getting into the wrong hands. With Cadamier your number one concern will be handled competently.

When you need the best protection available for your network, come to us.

For more information about Cadamier Network Security, visit our website at www.cadamier.com.