For some NBA fans, the Milwaukee Bucks have long been a laughingstock on court. However, their most recent loss is no laughing matter. According to Yahoo! Sports, last month a team employee unknowingly sent out names, addresses, Social Security numbers, compensation information and dates of birth of players to a spoofed email account operated by a hacker. However, the Bucks are simply the latest victim in what is a threat to businesses of all sizes. We’ve come up with some pointers on how to protect your business from spoofed emails.

Education is key There are countless cliches out there promoting the importance of education, but when it comes to cyber security, you might as well embrace them all. In the case of spoofed emails, you need to make sure your employees know what these are and how they can harm your company. They can come in several forms and look to attack your organization in a number of different ways. A good defense starts with trained employees using best security practices when it comes to emails. Knowledge isn’t just the key to success, it’s the building block of a comprehensive email security plan.

Check the sender The easiest way to determine a real email from a spoofed one is to view who is sending it. While your basic junk mail folder will screen the really lazy attempts at spoofing, you and your employees can’t rely on it to weed out everything. A lot of cybercriminals have gotten skilled at mimicking the look and feel of companies through professional looking graphics and signatures. For starters, you are going to want to ignore email display names as these can be deceptive. The domain name provides the best clues as to who the sender really is. For instance, if an email requesting your company’s financial documents claims to be from the IRS but the domain reads IRSgov.com, it’s a spoof email since that domain is not what the IRS uses. If you ever spot an email containing a domain you consider to be suspicious, delete it immediately. If it is from a legitimate sender, they will send you a follow up email in a couple of days.

Embrace DMARC Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) can help reduce the risk of spoofed emails being sent internally. For businesses that do not set this up, it is possible for someone to spoof an email account that looks like it is from your business or a current employee and send it from a different server. As we saw in the case with the Bucks, these can appear legitimate to employees who will then in turn do what is requested such as turn off security settings or handover sensitive data. With DMARC in place you can prevent spoofed emails from utilizing your domains by requiring any email sent by your domain to come from your server. This greatly reduces the risk of an internal spoofed email showing up in the inbox of your employees.

Utilize email protections A lot of companies believe they can get by with the simple protections that come standard with an email client. However, doing the bare minimum is rarely enough to stop spoofed emails, not to mention all of the other threats lurking in your inbox, and high-powered email and spam protection will give your organization the added layer of security it needs. Much like elite-level basketball players need the best coaching and equipment to succeed, the only way to truly reduce the risk of falling victim of a spoofed email is to educate your staff properly and then equip them with email filtering. This ensures they aren’t wasting their time constantly trying to identify legitimate emails from fake ones but are prepared when the situation presents itself.

When it comes to email security, working with us is a slam dunk. We may not have the skills of Steph Curry on the basketball court but when in the realm of IT, competitors say they want to be like us. Give us a call today to find out more.

ESPN recently reported that a laptop containing the medical records of thousands of NFL players was stolen from the car of a Washington Redskins’ trainer. And while the team released a statement saying no health information protected under HIPAA guidelines was at risk, the incident shows that EMRs are vulnerable no matter the size of your company. That’s why you need to have all medical records completely protected no matter where they are being stored.

And while the Redskins’ situation was bad, an NFL spokesperson did state that the NFL EMR system was not compromised and the league believes the thief was unable to gain access to the intercepted computer or its files. However, this does not mean the situation is resolved and the team is now in the process of informing every person who could be affected.

Not only is this embarrassing but the Redskins could also be vulnerable to civil lawsuits from players affected even if no HIPAA protected information was accessed. If this sensitive data had been breached the team would have faced a significant fine from the federal government in addition to these lawsuits.

According to Bloomberg Business News, a Massachusetts hospital was required to pay the federal government $850,000 for HIPAA violations last year after a laptop containing private health information was stolen. This event triggered a system-wide analysis which revealed several other areas of non-compliance. Not only was the hospital required to pay the fine, but it also had to invest heavily to upgrade their technology systems.

These two stories can serve as a valuable learning tool for any organization that stores documents or files that are regulated under HIPAA guidelines. For starters, it is important to understand that while email threats like phishing are very real and dangerous, the easiest way for a person to gain access to medical records is to simply take the device they are physically stored on.

That is why it is absolutely vital to have any device, be it a smartphone, a computer or tablet, password protected and encrypted should it store or transmit medical information of any sort. This, however, is simply the bare minimum and you might want to consider additional security measures such as two-factor authentication to add an extra level of protection to your devices.

Another thing to consider is storing your EMR using the cloud. When files are stored on the cloud, it means you have complete control over who is able to access these documents and where they can be accessed from. In the case of a missing laptop, once it has been reported as lost, you can immediately block it from retrieving any files and perform a remote wipe which will erase anything currently stored on it.

It is important to remember that every device, even those at companies that use the cloud for document access and storage, still need to have strong passwords and encryption in place. Also, it should be noted that transferring HIPAA-protected data to the cloud is a process that must be handled with care. There are several things which must be addressed to ensure your data is protected in line with all government regulations. Bringing in a cloud service provider who specializes in HIPAA storage can make this process a smooth one for you, your staff, and your patients.

Need help protecting your EMR? Interested in learning more about utilizing the cloud to store your documents? Contact us today. We’re experts in HIPAA-related matters and will guarantee your information remains safe and compliant.

The worrisome rise of ransomware doesn’t seem to be slowing as Microsoft recently announced the detection of self-propagating iterations of the malware. With this evolution, it is essential for SMBs to update their understanding of this security threat in order to properly protect themselves. Keep reading to learn how ransomware is continuing to extend its reach.

Ransomware, the malware that locks up infected systems and demands payment to return access to users, has been steadily increasing its infection rate over the course of this year. Enigma Software reported that, “After staying steady for the last six months of 2015, ransomware detection has begun to climb; February saw a 19 percent increase over January, while March had almost a 10 percent increase over February. Then, in April, infections more than doubled.”

And as if that wasn’t frightening enough, Microsoft announced last week that a recently detected ransomware software was found copying itself onto USB and network drives. The ransomware, titled ZCryptor, disguises itself as either an Adobe Flash installer or a Microsoft Office file to trick users into opening it.

Once opened, it displays a prompt that says “There is no disk in the drive. Please insert a disk into drive D:”. If you see this after opening a suspicious file, it is most likely ZCryptor trying to distract you while it works in the background to add a registry key that buries itself deep in your system and begins to encrypt your files.

Although previous ransomware iterations like Alpha Ransomware had the ability to find and encrypt files on shared network drives, security experts believe this is the first time a ransomware variant has included self-replication via removable drives into its framework.

When it was first detected in May, Microsoft found ZCryptor singling out 88 different file types for encryption. However, later on a security expert analyzed the ransomware and found 121 targeted file types -- inferring that creators of the malware were continuing to develop its source code.

It’s commonplace for ransomware to demand payment to be made in Bitcoins as they’re an almost totally untraceable online currency. ZCryptor is no different, demanding 1.2 Bitcoins (500 USD) unless payment is more than four days after infection -- then it increases to five Bitcoins (2,700 USD).

Compared to other more complex security threats, ransomware is still relatively easy to avoid. Always verify the source of email attachments and website downloads before opening files, disable macros in Microsoft Office programs, maintain regular backups and update your security software.

Still concerned about security at your SMB? It doesn’t have to be as difficult and draining as you may think. Contact us today for advice on keeping your network protected around the clock.