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With the increasing use of technology, there has been a rise in problems such as cyberbullying. Cyberbullying also known as cyber-harassment & online bullying, is the display of inappropriate behavior or influence in written, verbal or physical form with an intent to intimidate, threaten, harass & embarrass someone over internet.

Cyberbullying is usually common between teens, however adults are equally vulnerable to it. Following are the most common forms of cyberbullying:

• Outing: It is a deliberate act to embarrass or harass someone publically by posting his confidential & private information online without his consent. Revelation of personal information by someone can have a major impact on the victim. 

• Fraping: In this form of cyberbullying, your social media account is hacked by someone. They log into your account and post inappropriate content by impersonating you. Posing as someone and posting unsuitable content online can have a serious impact as it ruins the reputation of the victim. 

• Dissing: It is the act of posting or sending information about a person with an intent to criticize him, damage his reputation, hamper his relationships, etc. It can be done by posting personal pictures & videos or sharing certain screenshots to put the other person down. Dissing is usually done by a victim’s friend or acquaintance. 

• Trolling: It is a deliberate act of insulting someone on social media & other online platforms. A troll usually posts unwanted comments & material to incite the victim for a response. Trolling attacks are usually personal and are carried to instigate anger among the victims in order to make them lash out & behave improperly.

• Trickery: Cyberbully often pretends to be the victim’s confidant by giving him a false sense of security. They gain the victim’s trust to an extent that the victim reveals his secrets & private information to them. They trick the victim and gather sensitive information about them which is then posted on social platforms to embarrass him publically or is either sent to a third party.

• Cyberstalking: It can have serious effect on a person’s emotional, mental & physical well-being. Stalkers make use of the internet or electronic media to gather information for the purpose of harassing an individual or group.

• Catfishing: A catfish is a person who wants to hide his identity. They usually steal the victim’s information available online such as photos to create a fake profile. This could be used for deceptive purposes where the impersonator might post rude or hurtful comments, indulge in sexual and racist activities, chat with other people while posing as the victim, etc.

It is important to know about different forms of cyberbullying in order to avoid falling prey to them.

For more information, contact Centex Technologies at (972) 375 - 9654.

Deep web comprises of uncatalogued sub-pages of domains, encrypted networks, password-protected data, private databases etc. The content in this invisible web cannot be indexed by the search engines and so it is generally hard to keep a track of it. Although there is no accurate estimate, but deep web is considered to be 400 to 500 times bigger than the surface web which is a part of World Wide Web that is available to general public and can be indexed by search engines.

Web, in general, can be compared to an iceberg where surface web resembles the visible tip and the huge part hidden below the surface forms the deep web.

What Can Be Found On The Deep Web?

A search engine, by crawling from one page to another, creates an index of pages that are linked to one another. However, the page that could not be linked to another page or could not be found by the spiders or crawlers of a search engine comes under the ambit of deep web. It could be an unpublished or unlisted blog post, file directory, picture and/or the content which the search engine cannot see.

You are most likely to find a record of following things on the deep web:

• Personal email accounts
• Social media accounts
• Online banking accounts
• Medical records
• Legal records
• Academic records
• Data stored on private databases

Who Uses The Deep Web?

• Journalists
• Police and military
• Whistleblowers
• Political protesters

Common Misconceptions About Deep Web?

• Deep web is illegal
• It can be accessed by experts only
• It cannot be searched at all
• It is the same as ‘dark web’
• It is smaller or equivalent to surface web in terms of size
• It is run by criminals

Difference Between Deep & Dark Web?

The terms often used interchangeably are however, quite different from each other. The former is the pool of information on the web that cannot be accessed by search engines, but can be retrieved if you have an address. Whereas, the information on dark web is kept secretive purposely. It is often linked to criminal & illegal activity.  

In the absence of deep web, it would have been difficult in maintaining privacy as in that scenario anybody could access your accounts by searching you on google. Since, this information is private so deep web helps in preventing it from being misused.

For more information on deep web, contact Centex Technologies at (972) 375 - 9654.

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Our world has witnessed a revolution brought by the ever evolving technology. From smartphones, smartwatches and other such equipment, the market today is full of tech- savvy products we could have never even dreamt of. However, with each passing day the reports of increasing cyberattacks is taking over the world by storm. As per a study by Juniper Research, cybercrimes shall cost businesses over $2 trillion by 2019.

Modern technology has not been able to combat cyberattacks completely as such attacks are consistent with the growth of technology. Whenever a new technology is launched to overcome a cyber threat, attackers too come up with a new virus or ransomware to counterfeit it. Here are some ways in which evolving technology affects cybersecurity –

• IoT – Internet of Things is a prevalent concept that has made its way into our lives. However, it stands the risk of cyberattacks. If the security measures are weak then it may allow hackers to gain access to the entire network. Attackers might hack the software within the device or apps interface. This might impact the functionality of the device.

• Artificial Intelligence – AI technology being used by numerous businesses working in various sectors today. However, it poses a serious cyber threat. It automates the discovery of critical software bugs. Hackers might use this to attack insecure networks. It can also be used to launch a social engineering attack by using a Facebook style algorithm to lure users to click on a malicious link that might infect their system with virus. 

• 5G Technology – While we are on the brink of welcoming 5G, cybersecurity is still a question. With increased data speed, hackers will able to regulate malicious activities easily as the number of connected devices is quite high. Data piracy would be a serious issue as cybercriminals will be able to upload online content rapidly.

• Social Media Breaches – Social media has enabled people to connect with their friends and family residing all across the globe. However, people post even minutest details such as the places they check-in, personal information such as mobile number, address etc. on their social media accounts thus giving hackers a sneak peek into their lives.

• Mobile Security Breaches – Smartphones are the new cool, but with it there has been a rise in mobile security threats. From mobile phishing, ad and click fraud, dead apps etc. mobile security threats are something that technological growth has brought along.

• Digital Information – Everything is computerized today and most information is stored on a shared network. Even though it is secured with passwords it is not really difficult for hackers to gain access to valuable business information.

• Cloud Computing – More & more firms are shifting to cloud as it is a convenient method of saving & storing information. However, they must take stringent precautions to protect the information stored on cloud or else it might be misused by hackers thus leaving the company information vulnerable.

For more information, contact Centex Technologies at (972) 375 - 9654.

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Today, companies are increasingly adopting innovative cybersecurity and privacy safeguards. They make every possible attempt to safeguard the sensitive information on the company’s network and as a result every year billions of dollars are spent on upgrading and installing latest security systems across US. Though, efforts are made to circumvent security threats but the fear of Cyber-attack still haunts even the largest firms that use sophisticated security solution. What could the reason probably be???

According to a 2017 Insider Threat Report, 74 percent of companies feel that they are vulnerable to insider threats, with 7 percent reporting extreme vulnerability. This clearly means that human error is one of the leading causes for IT security breach.  Laxity on the part of employees can pose serious threat to company’s databases and digital information. Here are some common information security mistakes that employees often make.

• Common Passwords – The most common mistake the employees make is use of very simple and predictable passwords. Employees often set passwords like ‘password123’, ‘name. birthdate’ that can be guessed without much effort. Malevolent attackers can gain access to sensitive information of the organizations that use a single sign-on system. This makes meticulous password protection indispensable, as a strong, unusual password can deter attacks to some extent. Also, there should be different passwords for different login credentials.

• Using Insecure Devices & Networks – With the proliferating BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) culture, devices are increasingly being connected to networks of the company. Often, employees neglect the company’s security measures and go ahead with downloading stuff and applications. It becomes easier for the third parties to exploit the company’s sensitive information when insecure applications are introduced into the company’s network. Also using unknown network sources and Wi-Fi connections is a serious threat to information.  These risks can be extenuated by adhering to minimum security standards on all devices connected to the company’s network.

• Opening Junk E-mails – Email attachments sent by people you don’t recognize and have an illegitimate domain are more likely to be a spam or malware. To prevent any information loss, immediately send the email to your email administrator for verification. Also do not forward the email to anyone else in the organization as that may increase the chance of a malicious attachment being clicked accidently.

• Unnecessary Users – More the number of users who have access to sensitive information, more are the chances of security breach. User privileges should be given to few trusted members only. 

• Negligence in handling Sensitive Information – Employees are unable to remember passwords and login credentials for various programs, and delinquency in handling them can pose serious threat to company’s informational sources. Having no passcodes or same passcodes that pass on for years is risky. Printing sensitive information, writing down passwords on sheets, whiteboards or Sticky notes can cause a serious Security Havoc.

• Disabling Security Features – Some employees intentionally disable the security features. If these employees have access to administrative privileges, then it can be deleterious to the crucial information on the company’s network. To prevent this, it is important to educate users about security measures, their purpose as well as the terms and conditions.

• Clicking on Advertizements – It is an Ad-Mad world, but in the plethora of online advertizements, not all ads are harmless. Clickbait advertizements often lead to a site with malware, making it easier for the attacker to access sensitive information and database. Educate your employees about how to identify ads which have dubious content.

• Phishing Bait – Phishing is done to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising as a trustworthy site. Employees must be vigilant and should open only those links and attachments that come from a trusted sender. One can also check URL of a webpage before entering any login credentials.

Follow these simple security hacks as a part of cyber security defense mechanism -

• Imparting data security training and awareness to employees.
• Installing data loss prevention software.
• Full encryption of devices.
• Minimizing Access rights and privileges

We, at Centex Technologies, provide IT security solutions to all types of business firms. For more information, call us at (972) 375 – 9654.