Silicon Prairie Cyber Services' Blog

  Have you ever tried to find any information on ‘how to stop saying no?’ There’s not a lot out there. Most of the information out there is about the exact opposite problem – 'how to stop saying yes to everything.'   Cybersecurity departments often have a ‘No’ problem. Why? In my experience, we’re a suspicious and risk adverse group. Our knee jerk reaction is always to answer ‘No’. Always saying no creates adversity. When faced with constant adversity, people can suffer from tunnel vision, toxic stress, and rash decisions.   HOW DO WE STOP SAYING NO?   LISTEN TWICE AS MUCH AS YOU TALK People want to be heard People want to be understood People need to know that they're heard and understood When it’s time to talk, summarize what you’re hearing Ask open-ended questions to identify their pain Discover their why Why do they need it? What is the impact if approved? What is the impact if denied?   RELATE TO THE STAKEHOLDERS Don’t fake it Feel their pain Empathy is a p...

Have you heard of the Department of No ? Depending on where you’ve worked, your company probably had a Department of No. What is the Department of No? It’s the Cybersecurity Department. When cybersecurity says ‘NO’ to anything and everything the business wants, they quickly get a reputation, and become known as the Department of No. The business wants to do things faster and easier. Cybersecurity wants to eliminate risk and be secure. Often these two agendas go head-to-head, and it ends with frustration. What’s the risk of always saying no? People stop asking Cybersecurity loses the opportunity to help the business reduce risk A culture of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ builds What’s that saying?  Where there’s a will, there’s a way . Truer words have never been spoken when it comes to the Department of No and employees. I saw it all the time when I worked in Data Loss Prevention at GE. Employees need to get their work done, interact with customers, and collaborate with vendors. If there’s not...

When I say ‘FlyTrap’ what comes to mind? A venus fly trap? ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’? A bug zapper? A strip of sticky tape with a bunch of flies stuck to it? Malware?   I hope you were thinking about malware because there’s some FlyTrap malware taking over Facebook Accounts, and it's been around since March.   How are they doing it? Social Engineering .   The bad guys have placed malicious apps in Google Play and other Android stores to lure you in with offers for free Netflix coupon codes and voting for your favorite soccer player or team. These apps look legit. They are high quality, use great graphics, and are free from grammar and spelling errors.   To get the code or to vote, you have to log in with your Facebook username and password. You are actually using Facebook to login, but unknown to the victim, there is something nefarious going on in the background, and it’s stealing their sensitive info.   WHAT TO DO IF THIS HAS ...

Did you know Bitcoin increased in value by almost 400% between October 2020 and April 2021? Fraudsters follow the money, and with the recent spikes in value and popularity of cryptocurrency it is no surprise that crypto currency email scams are flooding inboxes. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW… WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY? It’s a digital currency, and it doesn’t exist in a physical form. There's no central control – there isn't a central bank of digital currency. Bitcoin was the first. Ransomware tends to demand payment in Bitcoins. TOP 3 CRYPTOCURRENCY SCAMS TO WATCH OUT FOR Emails from businesses and government agencies asking for payment in cryptocurrency A person, website, or social media ad that only accepts payment via cryptocurrency Cryptocurrency investment opportunities TOP 3 TERMS USED IN CRYPTOCURRENCY SCAMS Urgently today Nearest bitcoin machine Day Runs Have you received any cryptocurrency scam emails? What happened? What did you do? Drop a comment below and share your sto...