Grove Networks Blog

The scariest online threats are the ones you don't even see coming. Picture this: a hacker tricks one of your employees with a sneaky phishing email, steals their username and password, and just walks right into your network. No alarms, no warning. 

The really good news is there's a simple fix that can make a huge difference: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Just setting this up is one of the biggest steps you can take to make your business much safer and a lot less likely to suffer a nasty cybersecurity breach.

From the classic Nigerian Prince emails to the cleverly crafted fake invoice, malicious digital correspondence is a constant threat to a business. It's not just about losing a few bucks, either. A successful phishing attack can cripple your operations, compromise sensitive data, and even lead to your company's demise.

Let's be real: email attachments are a huge part of your digital life. They're also a favorite sneaky entry point for hackers, viruses, and scams. We've all been there, a quick click before we even think. That split second of laziness can turn into a massive headache for you and your whole job.

Before you tap that little paperclip and potentially wreck your day (or your company's network), you need to take a beat. This is your essential checklist for safely opening files sent via email.

Your business’ relationship with IT has a direct correlation to how well it operates. If your technology fails, your business suffers productivity losses, as well as financial ones due to decreased reliability in the eyes of customers and clients. One of the best ways to ensure you’re following through on the promises you make to your customers is to implement a proactive IT strategy to replace the reactive approaches seen in the past.

Cyberscams can be incredibly well-crafted and dangerous, and a significant portion of this danger stems from the scammer's ability to effectively utilize the psychological triggers that we all possess to some degree. Modern security training tends to focus on what signs we all need to keep an eye out for—and for good reason—but it does little to explore why modern scams are as effective as they are.

Let’s fix that by taking a moment to examine the tricks the scammers play so you can be that much more prepared to stop them by understanding how they work.

Nowadays, few things are as universally annoying as the constant stream of spam emails. From ludicrous pharmaceutical offers to urgent pleas for financial assistance from other nations’ royalty, our inboxes can often be likened to a digital landfill. What many people don't realize, however, is that behind this persistent nuisance lies a huge, and shockingly lucrative, industry.

You open your email and you have a message claiming your bank account has been compromised. You click the link, log in, and, whoops, you just handed your credentials to a cybercriminal. You’ve been a victim of phishing, where scammers bait you with fake messages and reel you in like an unsuspecting fish. You don’t have to be their next catch. Here’s how to recognize and fight back against phishing attempts.

If it feels like scammers are everywhere, it’s largely because they are. Every day, they’re cooking up new ways to trick people into giving up money, data, or access to their accounts. One of the biggest problems we run into is that we’re bombarded with so many scam warnings that we start tuning them out. That’s called threat fatigue, the phenomenon when you get so tired of hearing about security risks that you stop paying attention. That’s exactly what scammers want.

Phishing is one of the most prevalent issues individuals and businesses must confront when operating online. This is because there are literally billions of these scam attempts sent each day. That’s right, billions. With over a hundred billion scam attempts sent every year, your business is already getting phished, it’s just a matter of time before someone falls for it.

Amazon Prime subscribers recently received an email from the online marketplace, warning them of the prevalence of scams that took advantage of their offerings and brand recognition. Let’s go through the advice that this email shared, and compare it to the best practices we recommend for avoiding scams.

Phishing attacks have consistently been prominent in cybercrime throughout the past few years, not only due to their efficacy but also because there are so many avenues wherein phishing can be attempted. The first that comes to mind is email, of course, but you and your team need to keep these others in mind.

Take, for instance, a phishing voicemail…dubbed, naturally, a “phoicemail.”

Phishing is one of those threats that has been around for a long time, and as time passes by, these threats only become more difficult to identify. Some businesses can’t tell the difference between phishing scams and actual emails. Here’s how your company can take steps toward properly identifying and responding to phishing emails.

Out of all the email messages you get throughout the workday, how many of them are spam messages or malicious emails from hackers trying to get at your credentials? You don’t need us to tell you that spam and phishing emails are a serious problem, but sometimes they can be a bit difficult to identify—especially to the untrained or uninformed eye. Let’s go over some of the telltale signs of spam and phishing emails, as well as how you should react to them.

With email being such a huge part of doing business, phishing has become a favorite tool of many scammers. To fight back, it is key that you know how to recognize a phishing email, so we’re dedicating some time to doing just that.

Having success in business often relies on developing trustworthy relationships. You have to trust your vendors and suppliers to get you the resources you need, you need to trust your staff to complete their tasks without putting your business in harm's way, and you need to trust your customers to buy the products and services that you offer. Running counter to these necessary bonds of trust are people actively soliciting people’s time, energy, money, and attention for their own selfish purposes.

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you’ve seen us reference a phishing attack. Whether you are being asked by some supposed Nigerian prince to fork over money or you are getting an email by what seems to be your bank that directs you to download an attachment, you are probably a potential victim of a phishing scam. The difference between being a potential victim and a victim is knowing how to identify it. Today, we’ll give you five ways to identify a phishing message so that you—or your company—won’t be scammed.

When people talk about cybersecurity nowadays, there certainly seems to be a lot of emphasis put on phishing attacks and ransomware. This is for good reason. Not only can either of these attack vectors create significant difficulties for a business, they are often used in tandem. Let’s discuss why these threats are so potent, and why they so often show up together.

Think of how easy it is to trick a human. Entire industries are centered around it. Just think about the flashy magazines at the checkout counter promising us perfect summer bodies if we just follow Channing Tatum’s simple 30-step breakfast routine. These magazines sell. They wouldn’t exist if they didn’t work. Phishing works for hackers, and it works extremely well, and they are constantly making it harder to not get tricked.

While modern security solutions have made great strides to protect businesses, there are still a lot of threats out there that can create problems for your organization. If you don’t take a proactive stance on security, you could potentially expose your network to incoming threats of all kinds. We’ll help your business understand what threats are out there, why they are dangerous, and what you can do to keep your organization secure.

Ransomware has now been a major threat to businesses and other organizations for a couple of years, and 2018 is no different. For those who don’t know, ransomware is a form of malicious software (malware) that threatens the elimination of hijacked and encrypted data if a user doesn’t pay a ransom. It is known to be one of the most prolific and pervasive threats seen on the Internet today. We will take a look at how ransomware has evolved over the past several years, what the future of ransomware looks like, and what you can do to protect yourself against it.