Tag Archive for: minnesota small business association

Ostra Cybersecurity

There are 15 Billion Stolen Logins on the Dark Web

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A new report found the true number of stolen account logins that are currently circulating around the dark web. After auditing dark web forums and marketplaces for 18 months, the report found a 300% increase in the number of stolen account logins since 2018. Now there are 15 billion stolen usernames and passwords from over 100 thousand data breaches.

What happens to the account logins?

With 15 billion login credentials many are just given away for free, but more valuable ones can be worth a lot of money. The average price for online banking and other financial account logins is $70.91 each. Some banking accounts are reported to sell for upward of $500. Anti-virus and security program logins sell for an average price of $21.67. Many social media, music, and video streaming accounts sell for under $10 on the dark web.

The real money comes from domain administrator accounts that can give hackers access to the business network. These account logins sell in auction-style for cybercriminals who will pay up to $120,000. The price depends on the access privileges of the account. Account logins like these are stolen through phishing emails and other social engineering campaigns on employees.

Protect your employee’s logins

Protecting your passwords is extremely important. Especially since most compromised credentials belong to consumers. It is necessary to avoid re-using passwords and to use two-factor authentications if possible. One compromised employee login could lead to a lot of damage for your business.

Ostra Cyber Security eliminates the human errors that can lead to stolen logins by preventing the phishing emails, suspect inquiries, and social engineering campaigns from reaching employees. Ostra will help you keep your employee’s credentials out of the hands of cybercriminals.

Want to find out more? Visit Ostra.net or contact us today at protection@ostra.net

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Ostra Cybersecurity

Number of Coronavirus-Related Scams Jump

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The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has noted a large increase in cyber threat complaints per day. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, they were receiving around 1,000 complaints daily. Now, they receive 4,000 complaints a day.

These cyber threats are foreign groups trying to steal COVID-19 related information. As well as cybercriminals trying to exploit users working from home. Health agencies have reported an increase in cyber threats as well, as they are a very profitable target for cyber criminals.

“Near the start of the epidemic, researchers at the cybersecurity company Barracuda Networks reported a 667 percent increase in “phishing” emails.”

These emails are sent with the purpose of downloading viruses onto the recipient’s computers. With the increase in reported phishing scams, it is important to understand and identify possible scams when going through your emails.

Protect your business and your employees

Numbers don’t lie, and the possibility of your business falling victim to a cyber attack has never been higher. Protecting your business and sensitive data is a priority in the era of cybercrime.

Ostra Cyber Security offers a total solution for cybersecurity that combines Fortune 100 tools and is easy to deploy without needing to purchase any hardware. Ostra Cyber Security is perfect for those who do not want to put a lot of time into their cybersecurity program. Just set it up and forget about it. It requires no IT support, it is budget friendly, and Ostra does all the work to stop threats before they reach you.

Want to find out more? Contact us today!

Ostra Cybersecurity

Experts Say the Largest Cyberattack in History is Coming Soon

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Experts are predicting the largest cyberattack ever in the next 6 months. Here’s Why.

When the coronavirus pandemic started, many people were only worried about how to keep working from home. Nobody was thinking about how businesses and their virtual security defenses were about to be exposed. Exposed to many more cyberthreats due to an increased “attack surface”.

 

Businesses are More Vulnerable Than Ever Before

Usually, if a company has their employees doing remote work, they provide them with a secure work laptop. The employees must go through many security measures to access their work material. Usually, a secure wi-fi connection is also required.

However, since the beginning of the pandemic, millions of Americans were forced to quickly switch to remote work. Without time to set up secure systems, many companies were left with only one option. Letting their employees work from their personal laptop, on their unsecured home network.

This is the perfect scenario for cybercriminals. All it takes is one entry point to take over the whole network. Every employee working from home, is one more entry point that cybercriminals can target. This creates a larger attack surface for every business with remote workers.

More remote workers than ever before mean that businesses are more vulnerable than ever before. Therefore, the possibility of a cyberattack bigger than ever seen before is dangerously high.

 

“Hackers broke into the networks of America’s largest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin, by targeting remote workers. If they can infiltrate this system, you best believe remote workers with little security are easy pickings.”

Smaller Attack Surface = Smaller Risk

How can businesses protect against the increased risk of a cyberattack during the pandemic? Decrease the attack surface.

Businesses with remote workers need to protect and secure the networks that their employees are using. It is important to decrease the number of entry points available. Ostra Cyber Security has a solution that will help decrease your attack surface.

The Ostra solution provides 360-degree 24/7 proactive protection to all employees, regardless of where they are located. What that means is that Ostra becomes a secure ISP for remote employees working on a home or public Wi-Fi connections. Ostra extends multiple layers of protection around the Internet Service Provider hardening the defenses and creating active barriers preventing criminals’ access to employee’s hardware and company data.

Want to find out more? Visit Ostra.net or contact us today at protection@ostra.net

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Ostra Cybersecurity

With cyberattacks up during COVID-19, Ostra offers free cybersecurity solution for local businesses

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For Immediate Release

Ostra protects vulnerable businesses from cyberthreats while employees work remotely

WAYZATA, Minn. – April 16, 2020 – In response to the more vulnerable remote working situations that businesses are experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wayzata-based cybersecurity company Ostra today announced that it is offering its proprietary cybersecurity solution free of charge to all Minnesota businesses. The solution can be activated quickly and virtually and is proven to protect data and devices no matter where they are or how they are connecting. Ostra is offering this solution at no cost for two months with no obligations as companies navigate the turbulent economy and their newly remote workforces.

“Companies everywhere are adapting to huge changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and many have launched work-from-home setups with little planning or preparation,” said Ostra Founder Michael Kennedy. “We all have to rally as a community to do our part right now. We want to help protect businesses during this volatile time so that they can focus on the things that matter.”

Today’s environment lends itself to an increase in malicious digital attacks, with remote work environments, personal devices and home routers putting sensitive business data at risk. According to a report from Google, phishing attacks have increased 350% since the coronavirus pandemic began. Experts also report an increase in cyberattacks ranging from credential phishing to fake landing pages to malware, ransomware strains and more. Data breaches can take businesses offline quickly – sometimes for several days – resulting in significant financial and reputational costs that many businesses never recover from.

“Cyber attackers are targeting smaller businesses who may not have the same extensive protection as large corporations,” said Kennedy. “Businesses must enhance their preventative measures because if they are forced to react, it’s already too late.”

Firewalls and antivirus software only cover about 20% of incoming cyberattacks. Ostra utilizes robust technology typically only available to Fortune 100 companies to bring comprehensive, affordable cybersecurity service to businesses of all sizes. The enterprise-grade software is a simple download, paired with remote personal support which immediately protects sensitive information and devices. Ostra provides a 24/7 proactive defense without requiring additional bandwidth or resources.

Contact protection@ostra.net to learn more.

About Ostra

At Ostra, our mission is to provide the world’s best-in-class Internet protection for our customers against known and unknown threats. Ostra is the pre-eminent digital security platform that safeguards your entire business by proactively mitigating threats before they become issues. Find out more about our tools and services at Ostra.net.

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Contact: Madeleine Rush | 651-214-6937 | madeleine@goffpublic.com

Ostra Cybersecurity, Inc.
6101 Baker Rd, Suite 202
Minnetonka, MN 55345
contact@ostra.net
(866) 336-7872

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