Cyber Security

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The Threat of Email Phishing Attacks and the Latest Phishing Prevention Technology

Phishing could be defined as the attacker’s attempt to steal your important and private information for malicious use. Phishing comes in various forms. There are malwares that could disguise as useful tools or as software updates in your browser. They can copy the physical look of a legit corporate website (a bank’s website would be a good example) to lure you into providing your bank account details and password only to know afterwards that you have become a victim of cyber-hacking. Sometimes they also come to you through an email with attached link pretending to be coming from a trusted website saying that you have been chosen or have won something from their raffle promos. Once clicked and after having provided your personal information, it redirects you to the hacker’s server instead of taking you to a legit website. This activity has become prevalent in cyberspace wherein millions of people usually upload their sensitive information via the internet. To cyber-attackers, the cyberspace is simply a vast ocean full of valuable resources and information to catch and pilfer. Phishing, therefore, is tantamount to online robbery, wherein these online robbers could make millions of dollars without the risk of getting caught.

With a growing number of email phishing attacks, a leading company of its kind, which is engaged in online security, has developed a Threat Isolation Platform to prevent phishing and to secure every browsing activity as well as email activities within any network. This platform is capable of isolating the links from phishing sites that are received via email, and can block the end-point users in sending out sensitive information such as those of corporate passwords to a malicious website. The malicious website is usually identified as a non-corporate website pretending to be a corporate one.

This isolation platform can also read the attachments even without downloading them. It can convert the attachment into a temporary file (referred to as visual streams), and prevent the actual attachment from reaching the endpoint. Only the visual streams will be accessed by the user. The idea behind this solution or platform is to block all possible threats by assuming that all emails and web links are malicious.

Another feature of this platform is that it has a unique technology called “Transparent Client Rendering (TCR) technology” which allows the application to run independently, and it does not require installation into your computer terminals. It is the latest online security technology today which supports all operating systems, browsers, email platforms, and different devices. This technology is designed to run in real time both in order to prevent phishing attacks from the web, since the interaction between the endpoints and the internet is in real time. A delay in running any anti-threat solutions, even by a single second, will only give attackers a chance to penetrate or breach the endpoints by simply luring the users into their traps.

Compare to prior technologies introduced in the market during the previous years, the integration of this technology is making other online security platforms obsolete, for this isolation platform has so many unique features that other anti-phishing software do not possess. We could even say that this is the future of online security—milestone in computer technology.

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Phishing Prevention and Cybersecurity

The administration of a business organization also requires the administration and management of the network security of the business organization. This is necessary because any business organization always has sensitive data and information that have to be protected from pilfering by any unauthorized person. Likewise, these sensitive data and information, if accessed by cyber-attackers, for example, can be a cause of great problems to a business organization. To clarify this point, it would be good to consider a banking institution that has thrived in protecting the sensitive bank account information of their clients. If, by design, a cyber-hacker was able to make an intrusion into the network of that banking institution, the cyber-hacker might be able to access the sensitive information of the clients of the bank, and eventually, tamper on their accounts. The adverse effects of this cyber-hacking can be far-reaching and can even cause the loss of clients’ trust. In some cases, clients whose accounts were hacked may file legal charges against the said banking institution, eventually entangling the institution into a protracted legal imbroglio. 

The security network of an organization is of paramount importance to any business organization that harbors great amount of sensitive data in its network. If the network security of a business organization is breached, the adverse consequences could be tremendous on the part of the organization. Hence, it is always imperative for business administrators to ensure that their network security measures are invulnerable to breaches. Yet, malware are evolving and the hacking styles of cyber-attackers are also evolving. Some groups of hackers are likewise well-funded, meaning they can engage in their craft even for a very long period of time. In fact, many of them have made hacking their very own everyday jobs. Hence, if the cyber-attacks are evolving, the network security measures should also be evolving to cope with the ever-evolving tactics and strategies of cyber-attackers.

Network security usually consists of the different practices adopted by network administrators to prevent online attacks and to monitor any unauthorized access into their networks. Network security is definitely very essential to any business organization that relies heavily on electronics and World Wide Web for the performance and fulfilment of its transaction.

The cyberspace is a very helpful space to work with, but it is also a very dangerous place to get involved, considering the fact that it is filled with cyber-hackers who want to hack into the sensitive files of unwary organizations. These hackers thrive in deception and in exploiting the vulnerabilities within networks by using various tactics like phishing emails and other insidious tactics and strategies. They also thrive in exploiting the vulnerabilities inherent in most commonly-used browsers. Hence, if the networks’ end-users are using these browsers, these networks are in great danger of being targets of cyber-attacks.

To prevent cyber-attacks via the vulnerabilities of browsers, network administrators usually avail of some innovative security measures such as the use of deception technology and isolation browsers. The isolation browser is one of the best phishing prevention techniques that can be used by network security managers on their networks because it prevents attacks that makes use of phishing emails by isolating all browsing actions within a network.

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Isolation Platform and Malware Prevention

There are various tips on how to remove and prevent malware attacks on your computers and network. One of these tips advises that you purchase an antivirus software as your first line of defense against malware attacks. Second, you should make use of firewalls to diminish successful malware attacks. You can ask your internet provider about which antivirus software and firewall that you can install on your network. Third, you should keep your antivirus software up-to-date. Moreover, you should keep your other applications updated to ensure that they would never be used as avenues for malware attacks. Other network security pundits would readily advise you to steer away from high-risk sites because these sites surely contain malicious codes that could infect your network or any of the computers in your network. Fourth, you should steer away from file-sharing sites that could be harboring programs that are malicious. Fifth, you should advise the end-users within your network to be aware of malicious emails. There are phishing emails that could look innocently harmless, but are harboring malicious codes that could compromise the integrity of your network. The above mentioned simple malware prevention measures can definitely save your network from the hassles concomitant with malware attacks.

The above mentioned tips, however, are tips that could greatly help network managers in preventing malware attacks, and these tips are proven to be very effective in mitigating the onset of malware attacks. Yet, the above mentioned tips are passive security measures that are designed to preclude cyber-attacks without meeting the cyber-attackers head-on. To ensure that the security measures that you employ on your network are really effective, you need to employ proactive security measures that are designed to hound cyber-attackers and to diminish the points of contact or surface contacts between your network and the outside of your network. These proactive measures are necessary, especially, if you are harboring or protecting sensitive information that may compromise the accounts and important information of your business or organization and of your clients and customers.

Malware Isolation Through the Use of Decoy Network

Malware isolation can be easily achieved via the employment of decoy technologies that are designed to deceive cyber-attackers into believing that they are attacking the real network. In real life, no war is won without the use of some elements of deception. Similarly, in cyberwar, you will never win any battle against cyber-attackers if you are not employing deception technology. Deception technology makes use of decoy networks that seem to appear as the real networks to cyber-attackers. Cyber-attackers may eventually reveal their very nature by attacking these decoy networks.

Malware Isolation through the Employment of Isolation Platform  

Via the use of isolation platform located in the cloud, malware isolation can also be achieved. Isolation platform is very effective because it reduces the contact surface between malware and the network. Since all browsing are done via the isolation platform, the network will definitely not fall victim to cyber-hackers via the natural vulnerabilities of browsers. It is a known fact that browsers have inherent vulnerabilities and these vulnerabilities can be readily exploited by cyber-hackers to infiltrate networks. However, if all browsing are done within the isolation platform located in the cloud, there would surely be no chance for malware to exploit the vulnerabilities of browsers.  

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Employing the Use of Remote Browser to Reduce the Point of Contact between the Network and Malware

No network owners would peremptorily dismiss the possibility of malware attacks, for obviously, malware attacks are always potentially present anytime. If a network has important documents and data to guard against intrusion, then the owner of that network can never really play down the prospect of malware intrusion, for certainly, any successful malware intrusion can surely pull down any organization, and can jeopardize the integrity and trustworthiness of the organization system. Hackers design malware that can gain access into any network, and malware are evolving at a very fast pace; hence, the security system of every network should also be evolving to cope with the ever evolving variety of malware. Malware can also insidiously compromise sensitive information if they gain a foothold inside a particular network, and for sure, no network owners would surely desire any malware intrusion into their networks. Hence, they have to spend hundreds of dollars just to keep their network well-guarded and free from vulnerabilities. The Emergent Network Security Measures and Technologies More often, network security technologies need a push from great minds who could devise and concoct new programs and measures on how to prevent malware attacks. The cyberwars are obviously a prolonged war and as long as there are hackers and malware that prowl like roaring lions on the web, network security managers would surely be hard-pressed to devise new ways of protecting their networks from intrusions and malware attacks. Firewalls may not be enough to protect a huge network from malware attacks, although such measures can surely mitigate or lessen the vulnerabilities of networks to malware intrusions. Security experts, for example, have devised deception technologies that make use of decoy networks to hoodwink hackers into believing that what they are attacking are the real networks. Decoy network may work well in isolating a malware attack and nipping the attack while it is still not yet inflicting heavy damage to the network; yet, it may not be enough to really rule out malware attacks. Hence, there is a need to engage in “out-of-the-box” thinking, wherein new and novel ways of precluding cyber-attacks should be thought of. As long as there are employees, for example, within a network that make use of browsers, malware attacks are still possible, because there are inherent browser vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. Moreover, as long as the point of contact between malware and the network is not yet eradicated, then malware attacks will always be a lingering possibility. The Isolation Technologies Network security experts believe that the contact between the network and the outside of the network is the main reason why malware attacks happen. If this contact can be prevented, then malware attacks can be totally prevented. However, this is easier said than done, for end-users within any network will surely access contents that are external to the network either via the browsers or by various means. Hence, if browsing can be isolated (like people who are quarantined), then malware attacks can be totally prevented. This problem about contact points is greatly resolved by employing the use of isolation technologies, wherein browsing are wrought via a virtualized browser. This virtualized browser is like a virtual bubble, distinct and separate from the network, wherein all browsing and contact with the external of the network are wrought, and thus negating any point of contact between malware and the network.

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Virtualized Browser and Isolation Platform

Many of us occasionally or often use browsers to access files and websites on the internet. However, without our knowing, browsers are fraught with vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers to breach the network in which we belong as end-users. These browser vulnerabilities, once exploited, can allow malware to infiltrate any network.

Operating system, for example, can be breached, allowing malware to modify the memory space of the browser. Operating system likewise can have malware that runs in the background process, and this malware may already be modifying the memory space of the browser. Main browser executable and the browser components likewise can be hacked. Moreover, browser plugins can also be hacked. These possibilities can greatly compromise our use of browsers and may lead to the breach of the network security. At the same time, browsers may be oblivious to the fact that breaches had already occurred. Through these vulnerabilities of any browser, hackers can gain privileged access into the system of the end-users. These breaches of browsers can usually allow hackers to bypass network protections, collect identifiable information, install adware and other malware, and gain access to the users’ computers.  

To remedy such vulnerabilities, network security managers make use of various means and methods to limit and patch up browser’s vulnerabilities. Likewise, they have devised ingenious methods to overcome the susceptibility of networks for malware attacks via the browser’s vulnerabilities. Yet, it is definitely impossible to limit the susceptibility inherent in the use of browsers as long as browsing by end-users are done using browsers that are fraught with vulnerabilities. Hence, to minimize the contact of networks with browsers and to minimize the occasions of malware attacks via the exploitation of browsers’ vulnerabilities, security experts have proffered the use of isolation technology. This isolation technology allows for the use of an isolated platform that acts like a bubble wherein all the browsing within a network is remotely done. This remote browser platform minimizes, if not eradicates, all contacts with any malicious software that is imbedded in any packet of data or in any website that is visited. This security measure, using isolation platform, does not require any installation at the endpoints of the users. Moreover, it can support all browsers, devices, and operating systems. This isolation platform technology likewise can be seamlessly integrated into the existing security measures and solutions of a network. Hence, with this isolation platform at hand, browsing immediately becomes safe and secure. Unlike any other security measure—that focuses on securing the perimeters of the network by setting up inspection points within the network that sift through all the packets of data that run through the Firewall—isolation platform virtually isolates all the browsing processes, preventing completely any contact with malware that are imbedded in sites and browsers. For this reason, isolation platform is not a remedial security measure like those antivirus programs that are used to detect malware within the system; it is in fact a preventive security measure that prevent the onset of malware attack.

There are other security measures that are often used by security managers to protect their networks from malware attacks, and such measures usually pale in comparison to the ingenious way in which the isolation platform prevents malware attacks.

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Phishing and How to Prevent Malware Attacks ‎

Cyber-hackers are definitely prodigious creatures of the darker side of the cyberwars, who have the knowhow on how to breach security protocols. They are not ordinary guys with average intelligence. They are definitely endowed with higher intelligence; however, they are using their intelligence to breach networks and pilfer information and data from those networks. Hence, if they are intelligent beings, they also understand exactly the psychological behavior of the common users of computers. They know exactly that there is an inherent propensity in every man for being curious about anything that is unusual. This inherent tendency to be curious is usually exploited by cyber-hackers to gain access into huge networks.

If you would take into considerations some of the most successful malware attacks in the past, you would readily see that most successful malware attacks happened because some ordinary end-users within the networks inadvertently clicked on a phishing email. Out of curiosity, an ignorant employee—just like in the case of Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) case of malware attack—clicked on a file ignorantly, and inadvertently unleash a malware attack into the BWL network. In most successful malware attacks, phishing threats are the most common denominators behind the success of such attacks.

How to Absolutely Prevent Malware Attacks?

It may seem impossible to absolutely prevent malware attacks as long as browsers have their own vulnerabilities. Malware are evolving in the same way that cyber-attacks are evolving. Hence, if you want to employ a phishing protection system that would absolutely prevent any malware intrusion, you should make your network totally free of any malicious emails and files. However, making your network absolutely invulnerable to malware attacks is almost impossible as long as your employees are using browsers and opening emails and files. Yet, you can minimize the possibility of malware attacks by minimizing the contacts between your network and malware. This can be done by employing the use of an isolation platform or isolation technology.

What is Isolation Technology?

There are some innovative security experts who have devised newer ways of containing malware. Some of them made use of deception technology to trick cyber-attackers into attacking a decoy network. This decoy network is littered with traps, designed to lure the cyber-attackers and eventually reveal the very nature of these cyber-attackers. On the other hand, some more enterprising network security experts make use of isolation technology to absolutely prevent the network from having any contact with malware. Isolation technology becomes possible due to the onset of cloud technology. In the case of the isolation technology, an isolation platform is created in the cloud wherein all the browsing and surfing within a network are done. This isolation platform is like a bubble wherein all surfing and browsing are safely done. Lastly, this platform is seamlessly integrated into the network as if the end-users within the network are really doing their browsing not in the virtual platform.

The use of isolation technologies has concomitant advantages. First, it virtually isolate malicious web content. Second, it is cost-effective. Third, it is definitely manageable. Lastly, it can completely secure your network from malware attacks.

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How to Absolutely Prevent Any Phishing Email Threat?‎

Wars are won by winning battles, and battles are won using great military strategies and tactics. The history of humanity is littered with great battles that were won using ingenious strategies and tactics. Hence, if you want to engage in a war, you need to devise and employ great strategies and tactics to expand your strategic and tactical superiority over your enemies.

The contemporary setup of the world is definitely designed for cyberwar. With the onset of the World Wide Web and the ever-expanding number of networks that litter the cyberspace, it is not a farfetched idea that the next big war would be a cyberwar. If you are going to consider, for example, the networks of ballistic missiles of every superpower in the world, each of these networks have security codes that—if breached, can readily compromise the peace and security of nations and the world—then, you would immediately understand why cyberwar would be the next big war in this world. This is also the main reason why superpowers employ groups of cyberspace hackers to ensure that they would win the cyberwar.

Intelligent and well-funded hackers nowadays can greatly compromise the integrity of the military security of superpowers, and for this reason, countries and governments are employing group of hackers to breach the websites of other nations. However, it is not only among nations that the cyberwar is being waged. Hackers are also intent on breaching huge networks that contain sensitive and valuable information. These hackers are waging a continuous cyberwar against these networks with the view in mind of breaching and compromising the sensitive information and data of these networks. Hence, huge and even medium and small-sized businesses are also desirous of making their networks invulnerable to cyber-threats. Yet, the question remains as to whether it is possible to really make networks totally invulnerable to cyber-threats like mail phishing, malware attacks, and any other form of cyber-threats.  

Is it Possible to Absolutely Prevent Malware Attacks?

This question often lingers in the mind of cybersecurity officers and managers, for it seems that—with the present security measures at hand—it is quite impossible to absolutely do away with malware attacks like email phishing attacks. Most networks nowadays only employ passive and static cybersecurity measures like those of the use of antivirus software, firewall, and secure gateways. However, not many of these network managers dare to employ offensive and proactive measures like those of deception technology using decoy networks and isolation technology. In fact, many of the network owners and security managers are still unaware of these two latest technologies in cybersecurity.

Deceptions using phishing emails, for example, are the number one tools of effective cyber-attacks. Hence, if you want effective security defenses and measures, you need to totally prevent phishing emails from even touching your network. But how can this be done? More often, these phishing emails are clicked upon unwittingly by an unwary employee, and more often, via this malicious emails, the whole system is compromised. To remedy these problems with phishing emails, some cybersecurity experts have devised an isolation platform wherein all the access to the outside of the network would be done by the end-users within the confines of the isolated network. Lastly, various tests on the use of these isolated platforms have revealed that the use of isolated platforms can absolutely prevent malware attacks.

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How to Win The Cyberwar and Prevent any Phishing Threat ‎from Gaining Access into your Network?‎

Wars are not won by being having a passive defense and an army that does not engage the enemies head-on. However, some battles were won by employing effective and well-thought war strategies and tactics. If you would take a look, for example, at some of the military maneuvers that had won battles in the past, you would readily see that one of the most effective military maneuvers is that of the pincer movement, pincer attack, or double envelopment. Great generals and military commanders in the past had effective used the pincer attack in some battles that left their enemies totally vanquished. The pincer movement is basically a maneuver that surrounds the enemies and forces the enemies into submission.

Nowadays, however, wars are not much fought in the terrains and plains. Contemporary wars are mostly waged in cyberspace, and these cyberwars are virulent and protracted likewise. These wars are waged between cyber-hackers and organizational networks, the former trying to breach the defenses of the latter, while the latter waits patiently for the next attack. Yet, this should not be the case, for if cyberwars are real wars, the network owners and security officers should engage the enemies head-on, without any qualm and hesitation in order to win more battles and eventually win the cyberwar. But this is not always the case, for most network security officers only employ passive defenses against malware and phishing threats, and do not engage the enemies using proactive and offensive measures.

The Employment of Pincer Movement in Cyberwars

If cyberwars are real wars, they should also utilize the different military maneuvers that had won battles in the past. They should, for example, simulate the pincer movement of real war, isolating and encircling malwares to submission. The topography of cyberwars are almost similar to real wars, and most networks employ defensive strategies and tactics to ward off any cyber-attack. Networks, for examphttntivirus, antimalware, firewalls, and other defense-oriented measures. Yet, they haven’t totally come up with offensive measures similar to that of counter-deception and pincer movement. It is a good thing however, that there are some security experts who are willing to expand cyberwar strategies and tactics to include offensive thrusts against cyber-attackers.

If you want to win a cyberwar, you need to employ deception. Since most cyber-attackers thrive in using deceptions like those of phishing emails, it is but proper and wise for network owners to also employ deception such as the use of decoy networks to trick and bait cyber-attackers into revealing their nature and behavior. Additionally, network owners should also employ the use of isolation technology, like a pincer attack, that is capable of encircling and containing the enemies within a constraint and limited space. The isolation technology, for example, makes use of isolation platform that enables web users to browse and access their emails, documents, and applications via the isolated platform, thus containing and limiting the striking capability of malware. Just like in the pincer movement which were once used by great generals like Alexander the Great and Khalid Ibn al-Walid, who both never lost a single battle in their lifetime, modern cyberwar generals should also make use of isolation platform to engulf their enemies right at the very onset of the attack.  

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Network security managers are always on a lookout for possible cyber-attacks on their networks. They are wary of the fact that anytime, their networks will be subject to a perilous cyber-attack that may compromise the important information of their networks. There are millions of malwares that prowls the cyberspace looking for a network that they can attack and breach.

There are many cyber-attackers who are well-funded. These cyber-attackers are always devising new ways to breach the perimeters of networks to steal important information. Cyber-attackers have varied reasons, but they generally have the same goals—to breach the perimeter defenses of networks so that they could get valuable information. They often use phishing emails that have malware attachments to deceive unscrupulous end-users into clicking on these emails. Employees are the number one targets of these phishing attacks because employees are the ones who usually share a lot of information in cyberspace. Cyber-attackers likewise use web browser attacks that target the weakest links in the organizations. They exploit these weakest points in the network to gain access into the important data of the system network.  They are so adept in finding these weak points, and they can easily capitalize and exploit the holes in most programming languages and software. Java exploits, for example, are attacks that focus on exploiting the vulnerabilities in Oracle Java. To protect themselves from these types of web browser attacks, network security managers and computer owners usually create a virtual browser that is physically or logically isolated from the operating system of the computer. This ensure that an end-users will have a secure internet access to websites without compromising their computer or system network.

How Does Web Isolation Eliminate Cyber-threats?

There are many threats to networks in cyberspace, some of these threats include advanced threats, malware, and phishing attacks. It is previously difficult for networks and end-users to prevent these attacks. However, there are security network experts that can isolate these attacks. They have created a virtual browser wherein they can isolate and execute all the contents in an isolated environment to prevent these malicious contents from infecting the network or the computer of the end-users. This environment is an isolated platform wherein contents are executed without affecting the system or network.

Phishing attacks, for example, deceive end-users into compromising their corporate passwords to websites that are not parts of their corporate websites. Once these passwords are compromised, the defenses of a network can be easily breached. Via the use of web isolation, employees are prevented from compromising the security and integrity of their corporate network. Moreover, employees are prevented from sharing their sensitive data and information with the use of web isolation. This security strategy likewise can differentiate malicious traffic from lawful and legitimate traffic. Lastly, the end-users casually experience seamless browsing of websites that they want to access; yet, these browsing happen in an isolated platform wherein the contents that they browse are isolated and executed. The good thing about this website isolation platform is that it can readily and seamlessly integrate itself with any existing security measure and solution.