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The Ransomware Threat: A Guide to Detecting an Attack Before It's Too Late

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Ransomware attacks against organizations are just starting to ramp up. In the first quarter of 2016, a spate of attacks hit hospitals and other healthcare operators across the U.S. Cybersecurity experts expect the situation to get far worse. Because these attacks are so lucrative for the perpetrators, they are certain to become more common, more damaging, and more expensive. What's more, almost every organization — large or small — is vulnerable to a ransomware attack.

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SIEM's Total Cost of Ownership - Key Considerations

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As organizations evolve their Security Intelligence maturity, the realized reduction in MTTD and MTTR significantly reduces the risk of experiencing a damaging cyber incident. Of course, each organization needs to assess for itself the appropriate level of maturity based on its own risk tolerances.

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Implementing a User Activity and Behavior Monitoring Program

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Security & Risk professionals recognize the value and benefits of analyzing user behavior and monitoring user activity. At times, legal and HR staff have questions that must be addressed prior to implementation. This document is intended to assist company executives determining how to best implement a user activity monitoring and / or user behavior analytics program.



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Space Weather Outlook October 31, 2016 at 02:04AM

Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Boulder, Colorado, USA SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY OUTLOOK #16-44 2016 October 30 at 11:50 p.m. MDT (2016 October 31 0550 UTC) **** SPACE WEATHER OUTLOOK **** Summary For October 24-30 G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels were observed on 25-27 and 29 October with G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels on 25-26 October and G3 (Strong) geomagnetic storm levels on 25 October due to recurrent coronal hole high speed stream activity. Outlook For October 31-November 6 No space weather storms are expected for the forecast period. Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA, USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services and other observatories, universities, and institutions. More information is available at SWPC's Web site http://swpc.noaa.gov Thank you for using the Product Subscription Service. If you would like to remove a product subscription or update the personal information in your account, go to the Product Subscription Site. Please do not use the from address for correspondence, as it is not monitored. For comments or help, please contact SWPC Help.

XGen Endpoint Security Spotlight: PDF Document Exploits

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PDF exploits enable malware to be delivered in PDF documents. These can evade some threat detection techniques.

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What's Your XGen Security Explained

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How are you protecting your enterprise? Whether your "X" is a click-happy user, ransomware, zero-day or other threat, XGen™, a unique blend of cross-generational threat protection techniques and market-leading global threat intelligence, can offer you more effective and efficient protection against a full range of threats.

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Keeping Hires From Starting Fires

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The fact that trusted employees or contractors often create problems for the organizations they work for, is unfortunate, but remains a fact. But why? Companies take steps to protect themselves against the risks that are inherent when bringing in new people. Interviews, background checks, reference checks, etc., are all designed to mitigate risk. Unfortunately, it’s never enough. This White Paper will present some common sense suggestions for improving the “beginning of the life cycle” risk mitigation process.



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Monitoring Employee Productivity in a Roaming Workplace

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Many companies today are allowing employees to work remotely. A full third of companies allow some employees to work from home, with up to 25% of Americans telecommuting at least once a week. With technologies such as cloud-based applications, video conferencing, VoIP calling and others in play, remote employees are fully enabled to get their job done, no matter where they are.

Allowing employees to work remotely o ers additional bene ts such as improved employee satisfaction, reduced attrition, reduced unscheduled absences, and an expanded potential talent pool.

Even with those benefits, there are some challenges. 



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4 Steps to Reduce the Risk of Malicious Insider Activity

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End users today access, process, and manage privileged data more than ever as part of their job. This need for employees to use privileged data puts the organization at risk of malicious actions that include data theft, destruction, manipulation, and ransom. And it’s not just theory, a full one third of reported insider incidents in 2015 involved end users who access sensitive data as a requirement to do their jobs.

So, how do you tell in whose interests they are working - the organizations or their own? Find out more by downloading the Whitepaper.



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3 Steps to Protect Your Data During The High Risk Exit Period

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This Whitepaper will discuss how organizations can improve their security stance during the high risk period by taking a few steps that work to both protect against and prevent risky exit behavior.



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The Five New PCI Compliance Rules You Need to Know

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As someone whose business deals in credit cards, you likely know that new PCI DSS updates are on the way for Oct. 31, 2016.

In addition, a number of “recommended best practices” became requirements last July. Those new requirements from last year included:

  • Penetration testing
  • System inventory
  • Strong authentication
  • Antimalware enforcement
  • Stronger password rules

The latter is especially appropriate, since 63% of confirmed data breaches in 2015 involved weak, default or stolen passwords.*

Take a look at this tech brief, “The Five New PCI Compliance Rules You Need to Know,” to review your compliance status and make sure it’s up to date.

If you have questions about how to implement authentication systems for your business, contact Total Tech for an assessment. As a provider of IT solutions and services and a value-added distributor for ESET, we make sure your business and customers stay protected.

*Source: Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, 2016.



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Data Protection and the Insider Threat

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User and Entity Behavior Analytics has emerged as a critical part of a robust information security strategy, enabling the detection of threats that would otherwise go undetected. Gain understanding of the UEBA marketplace, and of the Veriato approach and how it can benefit your organization.



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Conversational User Behavior Analytics

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What is User Behavior Analytics? Shortly after the dawn of shared computing, User Behavior Analytics, another interesting phenomenon developed: insider threats. New defenses have evolved to help combat the danger within the perimeter. 



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Data Protection: Quality Plus Fast ROI

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Protect your data wherever it resides, and bank a quick ROI as well. Too many organizations today struggle with backup and recovery solutions that not only fail in their primary mission of reducing the risk of data loss but also cost far too much — in wasted IT staff time, reduced employee productivity, monthly fees and ever-growing storage requirements. You need reliable, automated backups and impact-free replication to ensure your data is there when you need it, without tying up your skilled (and expensive) IT professionals. Dell offers a broad array of data protection software and appliances that protect virtual, physical and cloud environments — while saving you money. Powerful deduplication slashes storage requirements and associated power and cooling costs. And quick, granular recovery enables all employees to be more effective and better serve your customers … and your business. On the following pages, explore how organizations like yours have used Dell’s data protection products not only to safeguard their critical digital assets, but also to dramatically reduce costs and improve productivity.



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Space Weather Outlook October 24, 2016 at 01:18AM

Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Boulder, Colorado, USA SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY OUTLOOK #16-43 2016 October 23 at 11:04 p.m. MDT (2016 October 24 0504 UTC) **** SPACE WEATHER OUTLOOK **** Summary For October 17-23 No significant space weather was observed during the summary period. Outlook For October 24-30 G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) geomagnetic storms are likely on 24-26 Oct due to effects from a recurrent CH HSS. G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms are likely on 27-29 Oct as effects from the CH HSS slowly wane. No other significant space weather is expected during the outlook period. Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA, USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services and other observatories, universities, and institutions. More information is available at SWPC's Web site http://swpc.noaa.gov Thank you for using the Product Subscription Service. If you would like to remove a product subscription or update the personal information in your account, go to the Product Subscription Site. Please do not use the from address for correspondence, as it is not monitored. For comments or help, please contact SWPC Help.

ESET Secure Authentication Solution Overview

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If you or your customers accept payments over a network, implementing safety measures like two-factor authentication can keep you compliant and sensitive data out of the hands of cyber criminals.

Designed to be mobile-friendly, ESET Secure Authentication is approved by PCI DSS so you don’t have to worry about compromising sensitive information. And, as a value-added distributor for ESET, we provide license discounts and installation support so you can get up and running in no time. 

Download this solution overview to read key benefits and features of ESET Secure Authentication.



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How to Make Your Employees the CEO of Every Customer Moment

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The “Experience Generation” is changing the game for customer service organizations to deliver a new “ideal” customer experience. Today's tech savvy customers are dictating the terms of engagement and employees are faced with increasing pressures to rise to the occasion.

Your contact center workforce needs the right tools, training, information, and support to deliver great customer experiences. After all, you want them to be the “CEO” of every customer moment and improve customer lifetime value.

Register now. This session will address:
  • Changing dynamics of not just customer expectations, but expectations of a younger generation of employees as well
  • Moving beyond traditional workforce optimization initiatives to employee engagement strategies
  • 7 ways technology can boost employee engagement and empower them to be the CEO of every customer moment
This is a Global Webinar presented Live in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Register now for a session that works best for you!

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PCI Security Checklist

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New PCI DSS regulations are coming at the end of October. These updates will address growing threats to customer payment information and provide greater clarity for implementing and maintaining PCI DSS controls.

Fortunately, ESET has created a new step-by-step PCI security checklist to help you through the process of understanding, coming into and documenting compliance as described in the new regulations.

The new PCI DSS version 3.2 will replace the current version on Oct. 31, 2016.  All PCI DSS assessments taken on or after Nov. 1 must evaluate compliance against version 3.2. (The new requirements will be considered best practices until Feb. 1, 2018, when they become compulsory.).

Use this checklist to help you document what’s already in place and what measures you’ll need to implement.

As a value-added ESET distributor, Total Tech provides IT security and solutions for organizations who want to gain peace of mind that their data and network stays protected. Contact us for ESET product discounts. 



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Best Practices for Dealing With Phishing and Ransomware

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Both ransomware and phishing are increasingly common and are having devastating impacts on businesses of all sizes. The FBI estimates that ransomware alone cost organizations $209 million in just the first three months of 2016!

This new Osterman Research white paper gives you a variety of best practices that you should follow in order to minimize your potential for becoming a victim of phishing and ransomware. Among these best practices are implementing security awareness training as your first line of defense.

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Space Weather Outlook October 17, 2016 at 12:23AM

Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Boulder, Colorado, USA SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY OUTLOOK #16-42 2016 October 16 at 10:06 p.m. MDT (2016 October 17 0406 UTC) **** SPACE WEATHER OUTLOOK **** Summary For October 10-16 Occasional G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) geomagnetic storms were observed on 13-14 Oct from CME effects. An isolated period of G1 (Minor) storming was observed on 16 Oct due to influence from a negative polarity coronal hole. No other significant space weather was observed during the summary period. Outlook For October 17-23 G1-G2 (Minor-Moderate) geomagnetic storms are likely on 16 Oct due to effects from a recurrent, negative polarity CH HSS. G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms are likely on 23 Oct due to the anticipated onset of a recurrent, positive polarity CH HSS. No other significant space weather is expected during the outlook period. Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA, USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services and other observatories, universities, and institutions. More information is available at SWPC's Web site http://swpc.noaa.gov Thank you for using the Product Subscription Service. If you would like to remove a product subscription or update the personal information in your account, go to the Product Subscription Site. Please do not use the from address for correspondence, as it is not monitored. For comments or help, please contact SWPC Help.

Penetration Testing Methodologies Training Course (a $99 value!) FREE

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In this course we'll explain the types of pen–testing techniques being used and how to build a complete Penetration Testing Strategy. If you are looking to become a professional pen–tester or build a penetration testing team, this course is a great start!
  • Learn Penetration Testing Techniques with 13 classes, 2 hours of content, and quizzes to test your skills
  • Pen-Testing Methodologies List
  • The difference between Blue Teaming and Red Teaming
  • Hiring and Profiling a Pen-Tester
  • ROI of Pen-Testing
  • Pen-Testing vs. Vulnerability Testing


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IIA: Stronger Cybersecurity Starts with Data Management

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Keeping the bad guys out is still important, but cybercriminals are increasingly able to bypass even the most sophisticated network defenses. Once they're inside, you've got to find them fast – before they've had a chance to hide – with security analytics. This International Institute for Analytics paper summarizes a discussion with two experts from SAS: Christopher Smith, Director of Cybersecurity Strategy; and Evan Levy, Vice President of Business Consulting for Data Management. They describe how security analytics and proper data management help organizations quickly identify and investigate abnormal network behavior.

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Space Weather Outlook October 09, 2016 at 09:28PM

Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Boulder, Colorado, USA SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY OUTLOOK #16-41 2016 October 9 at 7:14 p.m. MDT (2016 October 10 0114 UTC) **** SPACE WEATHER OUTLOOK **** Summary For October 3-9 Isolated G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms were observed early on 04 Oct due to effects from a recurrent, positive polarity CH HSS coupled with weak CME effects. No other significant space weather was observed during the summary period. Outlook For October 10-16 G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms are anticipated on 13-15 Oct due to effects from a recurrent, negative polarity CH HSS coupled with weak CME effects on 13-14 Oct. No other significant space weather is expected during the outlook period. Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA, USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services and other observatories, universities, and institutions. More information is available at SWPC's Web site http://swpc.noaa.gov Thank you for using the Product Subscription Service. If you would like to remove a product subscription or update the personal information in your account, go to the Product Subscription Site. Please do not use the from address for correspondence, as it is not monitored. For comments or help, please contact SWPC Help.

5 Ways to Encrypt Email for Linux

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Email, though an aging technology, is still as relevant as ever. For as much as people like to do most of their communication on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone willing to do any sort of professional work outside of email.



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The Antivirus Hacker's Handbook (a $29.99 value) FREE for a limited time

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The Antivirus Hacker's Handbook guides you through the process of reverse engineering antivirus software. You explore how to detect and exploit vulnerabilities that can be leveraged to improve future software design, protect your network, and anticipate attacks that may sneak through your antivirus' line of defense. You'll begin building your knowledge by diving into the reverse engineering process, which details how to start from a finished antivirus software program and work your way back through its development using the functions and other key elements of the software. Next, you leverage your new knowledge about software development to evade, attack, and exploit antivirus software—all of which can help you strengthen your network and protect your data.

While not all viruses are damaging, understanding how to better protect your computer against them can help you maintain the integrity of your network.

  • Discover how to reverse engineer your antivirus software
  • Explore methods of antivirus software evasion
  • Consider different ways to attack and exploit antivirus software
  • Understand the current state of the antivirus software market, and get recommendations for users and vendors who are leveraging this software

Offer expires October 19, 2016



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5 vragen die leidinggevenden moeten stellen aan hun beveiligingsteams

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Deze vragen moet je jouw beveiligingsteam stellen:
  • Voel je je beperkt door het budget of het personeel dat beschikbaar is?
  • Hoe vaak wordt er gebruikgemaakt van cloudservices die niet zijn goedgekeurd door de organisatie?
  • Hoe staat het met de beveiliging tegen bedreigingen van binnenuit?
  • Heeft jouw organisatie een cybersecurity-taskforce?
  • Is jouw 'Bring-Your-Own-Device'-beleid veilig?


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Space Weather Outlook October 02, 2016 at 10:38PM

Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Boulder, Colorado, USA SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY OUTLOOK #16-40 2016 October 2 at 8:20 p.m. MDT (2016 October 3 0220 UTC) **** SPACE WEATHER OUTLOOK **** Summary For September 26-October 2 G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms were observed on 27 Sep through 02 Oct while G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storms were observed on 27 Sep and 28 Sep. This activity was due to the influence of a recurrent, positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream. No other significant space weather was observed. Outlook For October 3-9 No significant space weather is expected during the outlook period. Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA, USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services and other observatories, universities, and institutions. More information is available at SWPC's Web site http://swpc.noaa.gov Thank you for using the Product Subscription Service. If you would like to remove a product subscription or update the personal information in your account, go to the Product Subscription Site. Please do not use the from address for correspondence, as it is not monitored. For comments or help, please contact SWPC Help.