Silicon Prairie Cyber Services' Blog

    Have you noticed that in addition to sharing cybersecurity tips I also spend a like of time talking about spam and email?   Are you wondering why a cybersecurity expert is spending so much time talking about emails and spam?   Here's why...   Email offers TWO enormous opportunities. One for cyber criminals to wreak havoc and another for businesses to reach their clients.   You see, there are over 4 billion emails users across the globe, and 95% of them are checking their email EVERY DAY . This makes email a very effective tool to reach people. If you can get your message into the inbox, there is a prime chance that they will see you a...

Are you a list person?   Do you enjoy making to do lists?   Do you enjoy checking things off that list?   Or are lists your superpower to make sure nothing gets missed?   Me?   When it comes to travel, I AM THE QUEEN OF THE LISTS. Especially when I first started travelling.   You see, I didn’t want to miss a thing. Whether it was items I’d need on my journey or places to go - I had to have it all down. My packing list was embarrassingly long and listed everything out in painful detail. It didn’t list five shirts - it described each individual shirt on the list. [This was also before I learned the power of traveling with carry on luggage only so there was an outfit for each day!] I spent weeks and weeks researching places in guide books for THE things to see and do. I’d make lists and lists of the possibilities. Ranking my favorites as well. Then I’d organize the lists by location in to cram as much as possible into one visit. ...

The DarkSide takes down the Colonial Pipeline - could you be hit with Ransomware next? Yes. Yes, you could be. The DarkSide might not be coming for you, but another hacker is coming for you and your business. Especially if you're a small business. Here's the thing you need to know - hacking groups such as the DarkSide, REvil, and CLOP are opportunistic. That means they want to make an easy buck by attacking an easy target. Think of it as thieves looking for backdoors to houses that are unlocked and the residents are away. It's dark, no one's home, the door's unlocked, and the thief enters and snags everything valuable he can walk away with. All it takes is one click on one phishing emails and you could get a bad case of ransomware. Ransomware is more brutal than ever. Not only do you lose access to all your data because the bad guys encrypted it, they also stole a copy of all of your data. If you don’t pay up fast, they’ll leak your sensitive information. How ransom...

How do you feel about your passwords? Do you love them? Do you hate them? Are you always forgetting them? OR... Do you have ONE password that you absolutely love and use it everywhere?   I’ve got news for you… YOU’RE NOT ALONE.   78% of people have to reset their passwords regularly because they can’t remember them. 72% of people are reusing passwords. 91% of people understand the risks of password reuse. 59% admitted they do it anyway.   Those numbers are big reason why 80% of data breaches start with a compromised password. How can you do it better? Get a password keeper. Benefits of a password keeper. No more forgotten passwords Easily use stronger passwords and increases the security of your accounts Passwords are auto generated for you (that are strong and complex) Share passwords securely Save time. No more time wasted thinking of new and unique passwords.  No more time wasted resetting your passwords. If you’re not sure w...