Cybersecurity Tips, Trends, and Helps from Guardian Forensics
Your most prized possessions don’t just sit out for everyone to see and touch. Anything that’s valuable is cared for, cleaned regularly, stored in a safe place and secure. Valuable objects are preserved because they are just that—valuable. The same goes for your electronics.
Cybersecurity is essential to every network—personal, work, enterprise-level—every electronic device that logs on or hooks up to your network needs the proper protection.
With all the talk of cybersecurity it’s hard to know exactly where to start, what are the best methods of protection, or the newest security trends.
One way to approach security is to be proactive about viruses and the rapid growth of ransomware. Simple antivirus can’t always protect, and acting is more effective than reacting. Keeping systems updated, upgrading protective systems along with regular data back-ups are the best defense especially when it comes to business networks. If your system has been attacked, hiring a cyber forensics team can help you find where the malicious files came from and whether legal actions will be needed.
The rapidly growing use of “smart” or machine learning (think artificial intelligence) will create better real-time threat detection and protection. Smart programs that learn from their cyber environment will be better able to combat computer crime and create a faster response, identification, and elimination of malicious files and cyber-attacks.
Having the right skills to set up and maintain your security is a major player in cybersecurity.
On a personal level, finding an adequate service that knows what they are doing can be a challenge, but they are out there. Do your homework and ask lots of questions.
On a business scale, while the boss wants to save a few dollars, he should do it somewhere other than IT security support.
A good cybersecurity tech is worth the paycheck. They are the ones keeping the bad guys out and commerce flowing.
If you do find your system under attack it’s important to not panic and have a plan. If a data breach has happened you will need the help of a digital forensics expert, like Guardian-Forensics.com, to help restore your system and find out how, where and most importantly, who set up the attack.
Don’t wait until it’s too late to protect your valuable network.
Digital Forensics Experts – Cell Phones and Secrets
Apple, Android, or other—it doesn’t matter the operating system, smartphones have lightning fast processing that lets us do almost anything. Today’s smartphones are so sophisticated that using them to call people seems archaic.
Numberless apps, virtual assistants, schedules and payment systems allow us to traverse daily life with ease and relative security.
However wonderful cell phones may be, they can hold secrets and evidence of misdeeds.
In many cases, when the law gets involved, cell phone forensics becomes exhibit A. with the help of Guardian digital forensics experts, no secret stays locked away forever.
In many legal cases, smartphone usage is scrutinized to find out any information that can be used to further legal actions.
Things like:
* Pictures
* Videos
* Texts
* Emails
* Contacts and Call logs
* Social Media Activity
* Internet browsing history…
can all be used in court cases whether for the defendant or the plaintiff. Dependence on smart devices leads us to record or use our phones to the point where they become a necessity. This necessity has also become a huge liability where the law and unsavory activities are involved.
In short, if you are facing a legal battle, you will want a digital media exploitation expert who can dig into smartphone history to support your case.
Many times, guilty parties will try to delete, cleanse, or find other ways to hide their cell phone activity to protect themselves. However, with the right documentation and the right software, a digital forensics expert will be able to conduct forensics and behavioral analysis on the cell phone in question and extract even the most carefully hidden activity.
Discovered cellphone Information can be especially damning when it comes to divorce, custody battles, distracted driving accident cases and a variety of court cases examining questionable activities.
Using a cell phone makes life more convenient, but it can also leave a trail to other hidden patterns of life activities. Be careful what you put on your phone, and if facing a legal battle, be sure to investigate what the other party has on their phone. The secrets can be shocking and win the legal battle for you.
Our Digital Behavior – From A Computer Forensic Investigator Perspective
The digital world is taking over and for many, this is a good thing. Shopping, shipping, communicating and sharing ideas or messages has never been easier or faster.
In fact, the average adult spends around twenty hours online per week.
Yes, the digital world is really taking over. But with every good advancement in technology, there will always be a way to exploit it for less than ideal purposes.
Cyberspace is only limited by storage capacity which can be updated at any time. It’s no wonder those seeking to hide illicit information or seeking to do harm turn to the ever-expanding digital horizon to serve their purposes.
Many times, a person’s activities online can determine a criminal act has or will take place. In these cases, a computer forensic investigator is needed to investigate and determine user patterns and characteristics.
Why is digital forensics important?
Every criminal—past, present or future–who stores any amount of information online leaves a trail. More often than not, these criminals or pre-criminals are good at hiding their cyber tracks. If there is nothing to follow, crimes can be committed without any chance to stop the crime or the offender.
Developing a digital behavior analysis will help law enforcement pinpoint persons of interest, criminal activity and hopefully stop future crimes. This is a specialty handled by a digital forensics investigator.
Where would a digital behavior analysis be used?
A digital behavior analysis can be used in a multitude of ways to further legal cases. For instance, if a business is suspicious of a former employee, maybe one who was fired for unsavory activities, holds a grudge against their former employee and has made threats, a computer forensic investigator can be utilized to perform a behavior analysis to see if this person is a true threat. In the case of a crime that has been committed, when the evidence is short, a digital behavioral analysis is performed to not only find hidden or abnormal digital behavioral patterns, but to determine if the alleged perpetrator should be further prosecuted.
While most of online activity are normal patterns of life and conducive to a productive business day, there will always be those who will use technology to further their own illegal agendas.
With the help of digital forensic experts, these individuals can be found, brought to justice or stopped before a crime has been committed.
No one gets married with the hopes of an amicable divorce in the future. We go into marriage with love and expectations of a forever companionship.
Since this is an imperfect world and we are imperfect people, divorce is sometimes the end result of a once happy union. After years of marriage wealth and possessions can be easily divided, but when it comes to children, that division becomes complicated.
Many times, a child custody battle can be won not just by who is the fittest parent, but by what kind of cyber footprint they have.
A cyber footprint is basically everything a person does online.
Though easy to erase from your view, digital footprints are not beyond reach when searched for by professionals. Call logs, social media posts, downloads, and correspondence is all useable in court if it is collected by the right digital forensics professionals.
When deciding who is the best custodial parent, an in-depth digital footprint will be created, reviewed by computer forensics experts, and critiqued by the courts.
Things like:
· Abusive comments via social media
· Adultery
· High-risk digital behaviors
· Hacking
· Cyber-stalking
· Child endangerment and/or abuse
· Financial dishonesty
· Lies and deceit
· Lewd or illegal activities
..can all be collected and presented to the court. Damaging cyber information can do a great deal to sway a judge. While each parent is trying to show their best, if their digital footprint doesn’t match their real-life persona, a more in-depth investigation is in order.
Here’s some advice…
For individuals:
If facing a custody battle, keep your digital footprint clean. Refrain from any online activities that can be used against you. For example, no matter how bad you may want to rant on social media platforms, log out and walk away. It’s not worth losing a custody case just to air grievances.
The best thing a lawyer can do is find a quality digital forensics company that specializes computer forensics and identifying the indicators of abnormal digital behaviors.
Finding online information can be tricky, and cyber professionals can find the information to help your client build a case in their favor.
In the end, the only thing that matters is the child’s best interest. In order to protect that interest, keep your footprint clean and seek the right help.
It’s a brief list of people who haven’t benefited in some way from the rise of the personal computer. And even PC’s have been replaced by more sleek, powerful and portable devices like tablets and laptops that deliver all the abilities without the need for constant connection to a power source.
The quick rise in home-based technology has also, sadly, led to the meteoric rise in computer crime or cybercrime. And while the persona of cybercrime has many faces, one of the costly aspects of computer crime is the data breach and all the havoc they can cause.
In 2016, cyber theft cost the global economy more than 450 billion dollars and it was found that 53 percent of businesses in the U.S., U.K., and Germany were just ill-prepared. Could you have been apart of that statistic? If you’re not taking steps to protect your business…absolutely.
What is a data breach?
A data breach is a security incident when sensitive or otherwise personal data is exposed to unauthorized viewing, copying or leaking onto the internet. In short, it’s stealing confidential information.
Data breaches come in many forms. Sometimes it’s a trusted employee who changes jobs, but their file access is still active when it should be terminated. Such cases are considered non-malicious breaches; no data is stolen, and the incident is quickly remedied. Other times, human error leaves sensitive data exposed. However, the most dangerous data breach is the external threat posed by vengeful groups or criminals seeking to steal information.
Who is causing these breaches?
As mentioned before, many times human error is the cause of data breaches. While these are upsetting, they usually pose little harm to the unprotected information. Criminal organizations, state-sponsored or individual hackers, on the other hand, pose the biggest threat. These individuals and organizations are out to steal data and information for financial, or political gain or to cause chaos.
What can I do about data breaches?
As a consumer:
Keeping up-to-date firewalls, antivirus and malware protection are the best lines of defense on your private systems.
For the business owner:
If you are a business owner who has faced a data breach you will need expert digital forensic help to ensure that your information is recovered, and future attacks are thwarted. Do some research and find a reputable company that will help you protect your business and information.
As long as technology keeps growing, so to will the criminals who prey on it. Be cautious and educated about the dangers of data breaches. For businesses, get the right assistance from professionals trained in dealing with or preventing computer crime to assure your information stays safe online.
Guardian Forensics is on the cutting edge when it comes to keeping data safe, we have a very informative email list that keeps you aware of news, trends and important information. Sign up here if you want to be on that list.
