The Connection, Inc Blog

The Connection, Inc has been serving the New Jersey area since 1992, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

As if We All Didn’t Have Enough to Worry About: Let’s Look At Killware

As if We All Didn’t Have Enough to Worry About: Let’s Look At Killware

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but when it comes to cybersecurity threats it’s kind of hard not to be. I used to look at it from two sides; one side is fascinated at the innovation and intensely brutal ways that high-end cyberattacks work, and the other side of me loses sleep at night worrying about these risks affecting our clients, prospects, and even my own business. This one particular classification of cyberattack, however, takes the cake for being especially frightening.

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4 Ways Hackers Can Take Advantage of Your Business Technology

4 Ways Hackers Can Take Advantage of Your Business Technology

Cybercriminals fight dirty, whether it’s attacking small businesses, large enterprises, or individuals who just want to watch Netflix. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do for the community; you’ll always be a target for hacking attacks. To save time and effort, hackers will use low-tech attacks and social engineering attacks to target individuals. Hackers aren’t developing new threats all the time; if anything, they largely use existing exploits, purchasable software, and social engineering to take advantage of people.

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Just Wish Ransomware Would Go Away? We Have Bad News…

Just Wish Ransomware Would Go Away? We Have Bad News…

Ransomware has rapidly climbed to be one of the most dangerous and feared malware attacks that is used nowadays. It’s gotten to the point that, if you wish they would just stop, we can hardly blame you.

Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that ransomware is going anywhere.

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3 Scary Things About Ransomware That You Should be Wary Of

3 Scary Things About Ransomware That You Should be Wary Of

Ransomware is one of the more dangerous threats out there for businesses of all industries and sizes. To help emphasize just how dangerous it is, however, you have to look past the initial threat of having to pay a ransom and look at the other risks associated with it. We’re here to try to get the point across that ransomware is something your business should absolutely be taking seriously.

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Ask a Tech: All Your Questions About Ransomware, Decrypted

Ask a Tech: All Your Questions About Ransomware, Decrypted

Ransomware is such a common occurrence these days that it has entered the public discourse, but we also want to note that it’s such an important topic to discuss with your team that you can never talk about it enough. We want to address some of the most common questions we get asked about ransomware and what can be done about it.

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A Look at Ransomware and What to Do About It

A Look at Ransomware and What to Do About It

There is a lot made about ransomware, for good reason. It is quite simply one of the nastiest cyberattacks out there and it demands your attention. A lot of people understand what exactly ransomware sets out to do, but they don’t understand how it got that far and how to address the situation if they have the misfortune of being put in that position. 

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Tip of the Week: 3 Steps to Avoiding a Ransomware Infection

Tip of the Week: 3 Steps to Avoiding a Ransomware Infection

We talk a lot (and we mean a lot) about cybersecurity, with ransomware getting a lot of our focus…and for very good reason. Ransomware is a huge threat that today’s businesses need to be prepared to deal with. In light of this, we wanted to share a few tips to help you avoid the negative ramifications of ransomware.

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The FBI is Looking to Talk to Businesses Affected by Ransomware

The FBI is Looking to Talk to Businesses Affected by Ransomware

This past January, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued an announcement that they had targeted and taken down the servers for a Dark Web organization responsible for the Hive ransomware group. While there is certainly cause for celebration here, one major statistic is enough reason to continue being concerned.

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“No More Ransom” is Leading the Fight Against Ransomware Abroad

“No More Ransom” is Leading the Fight Against Ransomware Abroad

Ransomware is one of the more dangerous threats out there today, and since it is so prominent and dangerous, it is a popular choice amongst hackers. To combat this threat, a community has formed around the cause, encouraging users to not pay the ransom by providing free malware removal tools for the most popular ransomware threats.

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Educators Having Increased Exposure to Ransomware

Educators Having Increased Exposure to Ransomware

Ransomware is devastating as a cyberthreat, but some industries are hurt by it more than others. One such industry is education, and universities and schools are struggling to keep up with these cyberthreats. Most even do the unthinkable in response to attacks: they pay the ransom.

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Ransomware Costs May Surprise You

Ransomware Costs May Surprise You

Did you know that the United States is the leader in ransomware payments? According to a survey from Mimecast titled “The State of Ransomware Readiness,” the U.S. has the highest average payment for ransomware out of the entire world at more than $6 million per victim. These shocking numbers likely stem from high-profile ransomware attacks, but they are also indicative of a larger problem, that being people who still pay the ransom.

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What Happens When You Get Ransomware?

What Happens When You Get Ransomware?

We often discuss how your business can avoid the impact of ransomware, but what we don’t often discuss is what happens to businesses that do, in fact, suffer from such a devastating attack. We want to use today’s blog as an opportunity to share what your business should (and should not) do in the event of a ransomware attack, as well as measures you can take to avoid suffering from yet another in the future.

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New Study Finds That Paying Off Your Ransomware Attackers Has Some Severe Consequences

New Study Finds That Paying Off Your Ransomware Attackers Has Some Severe Consequences

We know, we know; you’re probably sick of seeing ransomware in headlines, and so are we, but we cannot stress enough how important having an awareness of it is for any business owner. A new study has found that businesses infected by ransomware who choose to pay up experience a different type of fallout--one that is a major cause for concern and a stark reminder that there are no guarantees with ransomware. Ever.

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Ransomware Is Tricky, So Strategize Against It

Ransomware Is Tricky, So Strategize Against It

What if I told you that 92 percent of all organizations that are hit by a ransomware attack and agree to settle with the scammers, don’t ever see their data again? You’d probably say that you would never, ever pay and those that do, don’t make sense. Most people keep that stance until their choices are to pay for the data in the hopes of getting it back, or lose it completely. Let’s unpack ransomware and the strategy that hackers most utilize to deploy it: Phishing.

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Bad Situations Can Come Down On Your Business Through Phishing

Bad Situations Can Come Down On Your Business Through Phishing

For the past several years, ransomware has been a major thorn in the sides of businesses. Hackers that were once known for “hacking” into networks, changed tactics when encryption just got too strong. Today, these “hackers” use confidence tactics to gain access to accounts. Once they’re in, their strongest tool is ransomware. Let’s look at what makes ransomware so dangerous and how your company can combat the constant attacks that come your way. 

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Ransomware: A Hated Malware With an Intriguing Past

Ransomware: A Hated Malware With an Intriguing Past

The short, yet devastating, history of ransomware is littered with what amounts to individual horror stories. As you may well know, ransomware, is a particularly devious and potentially devastating strain of malware that, when enacted, locks a computer’s files down so that the user can’t access them. In their stead, a message is relayed that instructs them to contact a third party to pay a ransom for access to the files. This is where the threat gets its name.

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Some Evil Genius Just Combined the Pyramid Scheme With Ransomware

Some Evil Genius Just Combined the Pyramid Scheme With Ransomware

The ransomware machine keeps moving forward, despite significant opposition. In particular, the ransomware tag-team duo of Petya and Mischa have steamrolled most attempts to block them from accessing critical systems, always finding ways to outsmart security professionals. Now, these ransomwares have adopted a Ransomware as a Service model, which has made significant changes to the way that this ransomware is distributed.

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A Look Back at 2016’s Biggest Cyber Security Stories

A Look Back at 2016’s Biggest Cyber Security Stories

2016 saw many notorious data breaches, along with developments in malware and other threats to security. It’s always helpful to reflect on these developments so that the knowledge can be used in the future to aid in developing new strategies for taking on the latest threats. How will your business learn from the mistakes of others in 2017?


Let’s take a look back at some of the major revelations from this past year.

The Internet of Things is Vulnerable
Thousands of devices are infected with malware, which can lead them to form a massive botnet, hackers are then able to utilize this infected swarm to cause havoc. The Mirai botnet, which targets Internet of Things devices, infects smart devices and uses them for various purposes. One of the most notorious recent attacks was on the DNS provider Dyn, which resulted in issues with domain name resolution for several hours last year. Major websites were unable to function properly, and it’s safe to say that the IoT will be yet another major mode of attack for hackers in 2017. Whether or not device manufacturers will continue to see security as an afterthought has yet to be seen.

Ransomware is Becoming More Powerful
2016 certainly had no shortage of ransomware attacks, with many new types of ransomware cropping up practically overnight. The scariest part of this development is that these ransomware attacks seem to be improving in both sophistication and threat level. Take, for example, the Petya ransomware, which encrypts not only the victim’s files, but also their master boot record. Ransomware as a Service offerings also appeared, allowing even more people of varying skill levels to execute these attacks. Nobody is safe; businesses, private users, and even hospitals all have crosshairs fixed to themselves. This means that businesses need to take extra precaution when dealing with spam emails, with the ideal solution being to prevent them altogether.

Governments Can Be Hacked
Two major hacks of the United States showed the world that even large government agencies can be hacked. The two events were a breach at the Internal Revenue Service, while the other had to do with the Democratic National Committee. Over 101,000 PINs were swiped via an e-file PIN reset function, and the data from the DNC breach, perhaps inevitably, wound up on Wikileaks. There were also attacks on voting systems in Illinois and Arizona.

The lesson learned: the United States government isn’t prepared to deal with cyber warfare, and if a government can be hit by hacking attacks, so can your business.

Yahoo’s User Accounts
Yahoo experienced not just one data breach, but two, with the second only coming to light just a few months ago. The first data breach, which happened in 2014 and reported in 2016, exposed more than 500 million user accounts. In December 2016, Yahoo announced that it had been hacked in a separate incident in August 2013. That’s three years between the attack and informing users that their accounts have been compromised. This gives Yahoo the “honor” of being the source of the largest hack of user data ever.

How do you plan on taking the fight to security threats in 2017? We hope you’ll do it with The Connection, Inc by your side. To learn more about what we can do for your business’s network security, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938.

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Software Patches Take on New Importance After the WannaCry Ransomware Fiasco

Software Patches Take on New Importance After the WannaCry Ransomware Fiasco

On May 11th, 2017, the world was introduced to the WannaCry ransomware. The ransomware spread around the globe like wildfire, infecting hundreds of thousands of devices and catching many major organizations and businesses by surprise. The full extent of the ransomware’s damage is still being assessed, yet, one thing we do know: this whole fiasco was preventable.

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ALERT: Massive Ransomware Attack is the Biggest Ever

ALERT: Massive Ransomware Attack is the Biggest Ever

Run your Windows Updates and be very skeptical about opening unsolicited emails. Failure to do so may result in a very dangerous strain of ransomware that could infect your entire network and spread to your clients, partners, and prospects.


Microsoft has even released patches for some older, unsupported versions of Windows to combat the threat that infected PCs all over the world over the weekend.

What’s Going On?
A ransomware worm variant dubbed ‘WannaCry’ struck critical systems all around the world. While the attack has been addressed by Microsoft and halted for the time being, the threat is far from over, especially for users who don’t keep their computers updated.

Discovered early in the morning hours of Friday, May 12, WannaCry spread at a startling rate, reaching victims in 11 countries within its first few hours, and over 45,000 attacks (spread through 99 countries) after a few more hours. By Monday, over 150 countries had been hit by this global cyberattack.

There’s No Specific Target
The victims included many companies that provide utilities, like telecommunications, electrical, and gas companies. Even more frightening, WannaCry caused serious trouble in England’s healthcare systems, leading to massive numbers of non-critical patients being sent home or turned away at hospital doors. Russia found that thousands of its interior ministry computers had been infected. In the United States, the ransomware managed to infect FedEx’s systems, and these are just the big highlights. Businesses everywhere went dark as a result of this attack.

However, WannaCry did not target businesses of any specific industry. This particular ransomware worm is a threat to essentially any PC, old and new.

WannaCry was first discovered by security company Malwarebytes, whose director of malware intelligence, Adam Kujawa, had a few choice words to describe the malware, “The spread is immense. I’ve never seen anything before like this. This is nuts.” This opinion was repeated by many others in the industry.

How Do I Prevent WannaCry?
WannaCry relies on a security vulnerability in Windows. Microsoft deployed a security patch on March 14, so it is critical that users run the update, especially before putting themselves at risk and opening unsolicited emails. Computers that are patched face a significantly smaller risk of getting the ransomware. Key words here; significantly smaller, as in not totally in the clear.

To run your Windows Updates in Windows 10, open up your Start Menu and type “updates” in the search box and choose Check for Updates - system settings from the results. A window titled Windows Update should appear. From there, click the Check for updates button. If it says your device is up to date, you have the latest update. If not, you’ll need to allow your PC to install them.

Evaluating your computer and network security would be a good step in the right direction, as well as educating employees on some basic best practices like not downloading and opening unsolicited attachments.

It’s also critical that your files are backed up securely. If ransomware infects your network, it makes your files inaccessible unless you pay the ransom which only feeds into the problem. Utilizing an offsite backup solution that can easily be restored is the only way to go.

I’m Updated, am I Still at Risk?
There is also the risk that WannaCry is still waiting on some systems that have not been used since the attack began, so this initial attack is still far from over. Any PC on your network that gets infected could infect the rest. Plus, even with the patch, a user could still accidentally download an infected file. It’s also possible that those behind WannaCry will devise a workaround to the patch. Therefore, you should always be mindful as you review your incoming email and do your best to protect your network with managed IT security solutions and backing up your files.

Events like these are why we always encourage timely updates to your systems. WannaCry depended on a vulnerability in Windows, and will continue to infect outdated, unpatched PCs to be effective, and so your first defense against it is to make sure yours has the most recent security patches from Microsoft.

As Microsoft's president and chief legal officer Brad Smith said, “The governments of the world should treat this attack as a wake-up call.”

What If I’ve Been Infected By WannaCry?
Contact us at (732) 291-5938 immediately. Under no circumstance should you attempt to pay the ransom.

If you haven’t been targeted, count your blessings. That said, it’s time to start thinking about having your IT managed and maintained to prevent issues like this. Contact The Connection, Inc at (732) 291-5938 and ask how we can help prevent business-crippling issues and security threats like WannaCry.

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The Connection, Inc. Celebrates 32 Years as a Trusted Technology Provider!   Since our founding in 1992, technology and the way we operate and do business has changed a lot. Companies that have adapted and aligned themselves with ...

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The Connection, Inc
51 Village CT
Hazlet, New Jersey 07730