WannaCry And HummingWhale: Keep Yourself Protected
WannaCry
The WannaCry virus made quite an impact this month, but the U.S. was less affected than other countries. Over 90% of WannaCry’s victims were running Windows 7, an older operating system, making it particularly vulnerable to threats. The spread of this virus was for the most part preventable, as doing frequent updates (patch management) protects Windows systems from the latest threats. Decypher is proud to say that we successfully protected all of our clients from this virus by using frequent patch management and updates. Please contact us immediately if you have not updated your Windows software recently and need assistance, and read more about WannaCry here.
HummingWhale
The latest virus to target mobile devices is called “HummingWhale.” Known as “HummingBad” last year, the new iteration, HummingWhale, is Android-specific, very sophisticated, and installed through fake or malicious apps. The Google Play store was infected with the virus, but has since been cleaned up. We always recommend using caution when downloading new apps that may not be trustworthy, and always recommend backing up your phone frequently. Our mobile device management service takes care of this automatically, while also providing a high level of protection for your phone.
Net Neutrality
Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers should provide the same quality connection to all content available on the internet, instead of favoring one site over the other. The FCC is proposing changes to net neutrality rules, which could theoretically allow certain companies to pay for a faster connection to their websites, while negatively impacting other sites. You can make your opinion about net neutrality heard by commenting on the FCC’s website. Click on “express” in the top right corner of this page to leave a comment.
Office 365
Resetting an Office 365 user’s expired password via the administrative portal is not recommended due to some buggy outcomes. We’ve noticed that some devices (smart phones/tablets) don’t do this correctly, and the account has to be removed and re-added. The preferred method is to log in as the user via the web portal through a web browser and change the password. You will be prompted to enter the old password and be required to create a new one.
If you have any questions about how to protect your devices from viruses, or anything else related to your technology, please don’t hesitate to call us at 970.373.5428.
May 2017 Edition