As if malware isn't bad enough on the computer, new spyware has been found that, if downloaded, conferences your phone calls to malicious sources who can listen in for sensitive or vital information to use for their own purposes. Another piece of malware can transmit data from your phone to a remote server where it will be scoured for any logins to financial or other business related services.

As a small business, you have many functions that need to be run, but oftentimes technology takes a back seat, when it should be one of the critical aspects to secure. Do you have a backup procedure for your files and network? Do you have anti-virus protection and patch your systems on a consistent basis? Do you have a friend of a friend running your IT or do you have a professional group that is insured handling your sensitive data and knows what to do if your systems go down? 

A recent report about HP laptops was scathing about their Wi-Fi software spiking the laptops usage. A simple program that merely checks if a Wi-Fi adapter was turned on or off was causing the issue of spiking the CPU usage to 99% and killing the laptop's performance. A fix has been issued but is not automatically updated on laptops that have been affected.

Attending a security conference yesterday, I was stunned to see that statistic. From the Risk Management Association, 87% is the approximate percentage of Fortune 1000 companies that have computers that are infected with viruses, malware, and/or botnets. With malicious content like that on a network, it is an open door for cyber criminals to siphon intellectual content, financial data, and personnel records easily. In addition, these infected systems can be used to harm other computers out on the internet. 

The last of current internet addresses has been allocated, and there will be no more of Version 4 (IPv4) of Internet addresses. Do not fret, as Version 6 (IPv6) is already in place. However, is your company IP Version 6 compliant? Why is this a big deal? Imagine your current phone number (123) 456-7890. Let's suppose that there are no more numbers that can be given out. The government starts issuing numbers like (1234) 567890 – 123456 to new customers? How do you talk to these new numbers and, if you are new customer, how do you talk to people on old phone numbers? There has been a system in place for a few years to prep for this, BUT this means you need to make sure your network is capable of talking to both types of addresses.