Silicon Prairie Cyber Services' Blog

I don't know about you, but to me, summer means fun in the sun, lazy days, and ice cream. Summer also means  it's ransomware season . It seems cybercriminals look forward to this season as much as I look forward to ice cream. Have you been keeping up with what ransomware has been up to this summer? If not, here's what you missed... RANSOMWARE ATTACKS SINCE MAY 2021 "DarkSide  ransomware being used to disrupt a major U.S. pipeline that transports almost half of all fuel consumed on the East Coast of the United States The claimed theft of 3 terabytes of sensitive data from part of the Asian operations of a global insurance subsidiary in attacks using  Avaddon  ransomware The shutting down of the IT systems of Ireland’s Health Service Executive — another victim of a  DarkSide  attack — disrupting patient care throughout the country The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) alerting of a spate of  Conti  ransomware attacks targeting American hea...

LET'S TALK PRIVACY.   Privacy. It’s been on my mind.   Has it been on yours?   Even if it’s not top of mind for you I bet you’ve been hearing about it and thinking about it without even realizing it, and I’ve got TWO words for you.   AMAZON. APPLE.   Why these two words?   Amazon : head over to last week’s blog post and read the Top 3 Things You Need to Know about Amazon Sidewalk.   Apple : People who use Apple Mail are rejoicing in the added privacy coming in the next major operating system releases for all Apple products. Why? No longer can the bad guys discover if you opened their email. On the flip side, businesses with an email list are freaking out as their open rates will become unreliable with this same privacy feature.   How can this new privacy feature be good and bad at the same time? Keep reading for answers.   2020 THE SUMMER OF THE TIKTOK PANIC Do you remember last summer when everyone was freaking out about TikTok? I know it w...

Today was an exciting day for me because I had my first guest spot on a radio show. If you're following me on   Facebook  or you live in the Rochester, NY area you might have caught me on 98.9 The Buzz. I have to tell you it was a lot of fun, and I was honored to be brought in to talk about Amazon's new sidewalk project, ransomware, and what the average Jane can do to stay safe. If you missed it, you can watch it now. TOP 3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AMAZON SIDEWALK Your Amazon devices automatically opted in. If you want out, you have to take action. You'll be sending even more data to Amazon if you're part of the Sidewalk. No, your neighbor can't see what’s happening on your network, nor can you see what's on theirs. Do you have any Amazon devices? Are you opting out of the Sidewalk? Drop your comments below. Are you ready to reduce the risk of Ransomware attacks? Let's chat.  Book a complementary discovery session today.

I don’t know about you, but it feels like summer is here. The weather is warm, the sky is blue, the days are finally longer, and ice cream would really hit the spot right about now. The other thing that announced the arrival of summer was the airports. I just got back from my first trip since COVID shut things down, and let me tell you the airports were packed. I saw full airport parking lots, long lines at check-in counters, and even longer lines to get through security - it seems people are ready to get out and about once again.   If you’re thinking about stretching your legs this summer, here are 3 tips for a cyber secure summer.   Skip the free Wi-Fi. Whether you’re hitting the coffee shop, the airport, or a hotel, stay safe and skip the free Wi-Fi. Here’s the thing about that free Wi-Fi - you really don’t know what or who is lurking around. They could look over your virtual shoulder, try to steal your passwords, or any number of other bad things. BUT… i...