#1- Secure Workforce Awareness Training (SWAT) (also sometimes called Security Awareness Training) – 1 Month Free Trial Offer. 1^st rule, don’t pre-warn your users this is coming….Secure Workforce Awareness Training is a service where we send emails to your users that contain fake links to try to trick them into clicking on them….and then supply them with follow-up training on spotting such emails. It also includes videos and infographics for training your staff on this and many other types of topics. Again, don’t warn anyone this is happening, we want to collect legitimate data on who clicks these. We’re going to send your users a few(note I’m not telling you how many because you’re going to get them too) of these “trick” emails spaced out over the month and then perhaps a training video or two that we consider to be most relevant to your ”results”. We don’t want to send too many because then they get immune and don’t click on anything (which maybe isn’t the worst thing).

For our “Premier” (R-Premier) clients you’re getting this no matter what…unless you specifically request not to be included. If you’re a R-Essential client or subscribe only to a few select services (you too are Premier to me!) if you’d like to be included, just let me know. (Premier clients are those that subscribe to our Premier Support which includes unlimited remote support, R-Essential Clients have our tools (and likely other services), but pay for support based on an hourly rate).

#2- Cyber Security Assessments – As indicated in the emails, we are offering some free Cyber Security Assessments for our clients and prospective clients. The main one we will focus on at this time is a self-assessment, that focuses on policy/user centered areas and training. It will help us identify (based on NIST CyberSecurity Framework things we can work on over the next several months to help improve your internal IT policies, staff training, and overall cybersecurity “score”. This will help us, help you. We aren’t always involved in the day-to-day training of your staff and crafting of your policies so this will open up that conversation. This can be run periodically to see how you’re improving. A link to schedule this will be below. I’ll contact those that have already expressed an interest.

If necessary (and later), we will deploy a different assessment that will focus on hardware, software, and security risks based on the physical network rather than people and policies. This will come out in December or January probably as we need to switch to our new management software to deploy it easier. Much more information on the new management software and this assessment will be coming soon in subsequent emails.

#3- Dark Web Lookup – You send us your primary email domain (which we probably already know), any extra email domains you may own (which we may or may not know as well), and any personal email addresses for any of your team that you want us to lookup on the dark web to see if those email addresses have been involved in any major hacks and have their passwords listed on the dark web. We can hide the passwords or for max effect, leave them unmasked and we’ll send you a report with the information.

That’s enough for now. Wishing everyone a Happy and Un-Spooky Cyber Security Month (and a happy Halloween as well).

Please practice safe clicks!

-Josh and the team at Richline IT

To Schedule a Cyber Security Assessment or a dark web search, please use our Microsoft Booking link here:

Cyber Security

No, I’m not trying to trick you with this one. Yes, I’m aware that’s exactly what someone trying to trick you would say. Still don’t believe me, just call the office to schedule it. I tried to save you the time.

Does the Coronavirus and other recent events have you rethinking your current office environment?

Are Work from Home Solutions (WfH) actually working as you expected?

We can help you make the transition from a physical office with a physical network infrastructure to a Cloud Office/Virtual Office…with all of your systems and applications up in the Cloud and accessible from anywhere

Perhaps you’ve even made moves to get your office team working from home and it’s even working fairly well, and you’re thinking, like me, maybe we could actually make this a more permanent thing…or at least an optional thing several days a week.

Most of the apps in my office are already up in the cloud or in our own private cloud environment, but we’re using this time to go ahead and finish off making everything and everyone accessible from everywhere. Our last step being virtualizing or really just migrating our phone system from being hosted in our office to Mitel’s MiCloud Connect Hosted Platform….we were able to work from home pretty well with the current system, but this one jumps us up a few steps in functionality that our 10 year old+ phone system was just never going to achieve…like being able to text message (SMS) clients from our office extensions for one.

Depending on where you are in the process, just starting or just needing to get that last piece of the puzzle Richline IT Solutions has the expertise and works with Partners around the world with the experience and trust to get the right solution for your business needs.

We can take all the technology, the desktop, the phones, the servers, applications….and pretty much everything but your people and put them up in the cloud so your team can access their files, databases, phone calls, and video conferences from anywhere. We also have the security products and expertise to keep it safe from outside threats.

Think about it…paying half the rent for your office space? Sounds good to me. Or maybe getting out of that lease completely and going all virtual….the freedom for you to be able to work from anywhere finally achieved. The only question is where are you going to visit first?….maybe a staycation for a while until all of this blows over?

Call us or send us an email to learn more about virtual office solutions from Richline IT Solutions. The leader in IT Solutions in Corpus Christi, the Coastal Bend and all of Texas for almost 20 years.

I wanted to touch base on a couple of things. First, if you’re headed back to work or if you’ve been working the whole time…stay safe! And not sure if you caught it, but I have been making up some Anti-Virus “Solution” (IT for hand sanitizer) here at the office…If you’re local we can send some out if you’re having trouble finding it …my video about it is below. It’s using the recipe and guidelines from the WHO…I only have so much (due to shortage of spray bottles believe it or not)…but I can refill bottles until the rest of my supplies run out.

Link to video here: https://youtu.be/xfKutmyD7CA

Now the important one!

For those with employees working from home….

We moved very quickly into this situation and we did what we had to do, but once we sent people home we created security risks that are keeping me up at night. Rather than go in to risks and scare anyone too badly, I want to tell you what we’re doing about that.

For a while I’ve been looking for a high end security offering to bring to you guys. We didn’t want to build one, we wanted to be able to concentrate on providing support and consulting (what we do best) and let security guys work that angle. So, within our own existing partnerships we found a solution that checks all the boxes.

As a result, we now have access to security offerings that rival those at the biggest firms. From Endpoints (workstations and servers) to Network Equipment to Cloud Services we’ll be able to have unprecedented access to see what’s going on with your technology and stop threats before they occur…all backed by a 24×7 Security Operations Center (SOC) and further backed by a Ransomware guarantee. This is bigger than anything we could have hoped to build on our own and will give you the protection your firm needs in these strange and changing times while still giving you the support and customer service you expect and need for your business.

The Offer: So for starters we have access to 100 free licenses that are specifically earmarked as WfH (Work from Home). These are free, courtesy of our partner, until June 30, 2020 to help our clients stay safe while working from home. These are first come-first-served. Again, earmarked mainly for personal machines co-opted into service for working from home or machines that may not yet have our other tools installed/won’t be coming back to the office…talk to me if you’re unsure

After that, we are being given a discounted plan of licenses for the next 6 months. These will likely list at least at $10 per workstation and $20 per server but due to the discount we’re being given, we can offer them to our clients for $4/workstation and $10/server for the next 6 months (whereafter they’ll be $8/workstation and $16 per server…so still discounted because you got in early).

This is stage 1 of the new security offerings…we’re calling it R-Secure Sentinel Watch-Dog (a mouthful, but the analogy was this is like have a really scary looking watch dog keeping you safe 24×7)…we’ll have better material (graphics and such) soon as well as stage 2 and 3, but wanted to get this out to everyone quickly due to the conditions and the offers. Stage 2 and 3 will be more higher level security for those dealing with compliance issues (HIPPA, FTC, DHS, and others) as well as risk scoring, Security Awareness Training, SIEM services, dark web monitoring and more…like I said, some serious stuff.

Included in the Stage 1 offer will also be Office365 Watch Dog for those with Office 365 hosted email for no additional charge (except possibly an additional Office 365 user if we don’t already have one available).This will watch your Office 365 environment for anomalous activity (like someone logged in to your account simultaneously from Texas (you) and China (not you probably)).

I also have a video for this offer….this video is a walkthrough of the anatomy of a Ransomware attack and how this product (meaning R-Secure Sentinel Watch Dog) kills and repairs any damage caused….including the patented “roll-back” feature.

It’s 15 minutes and a little dry, but it gives insight into how some ransomware work (there are different varieties so this is just one flavor) so it’s actually quite interesting information.

Again, stay safe physically and stay safe technologically!

Cheers,

Josh

Good Day,

This is more a news then a blog, but it’s educational in nature and I think it would be wise for everyone to try it. Google subsidiary Jigsaw has created an online “quiz” to see if you can identify a regular email from a phishing email. Phishing emails are designed to steal your passwords to your accounts or other parts of your identity including bank accounts, paypal, and even social security numbers so it’s very important for your safety to be able to identify the difference between a fake email trying to steal your identity(or give you a virus) and your co-worker trying to share files with you (or kids trying to send you pics of your grandkids, etc…).

Try the quiz out. Let us know how you are your staff do. If you’d like follow-up training, let us know.

And if you’re concerned about clicking this link because we’ve made you paranoid then good, we’ve done our job, but you can also search “google phishing quiz” and it should be the first thing that comes up plus a bunch of articles talking about it.

https://phishingquiz.withgoogle.com/

Good Luck,

Josh Richline

Richline Technical Services

Richline Technical Services partnered with Cre8ive Culture, which is a new art supply and mural company located in the heart of downtown Corpus Christi. Jeremy Flores who is the lead mural designer at Cre8ive Culture hired an amazing team of artists to help bring this mural to Corpus Christi. Flores is also known for the Sea Turtle mural in downtown Corpus Christi that sits on a wall facing his newest creation. Flores’ and Cre8ive Culture are working hard to give back to the community in the Coastal Bend. They truly believe that art will be the platform that helps bring the city together and what better way to breathe life into our downtown than to bring more art to the Marina Arts District.

The Richline’s drew inspiration from their honeymoon trip to Chile. The town of Valparaiso on the coast is covered with murals as they are the best defense against the graffiti problem in the city. Graffiti artists see the murals and respect the artist’s work and do not tag the murals. This has left the city as a crazy, beautiful landscape of colorful houses and murals. The Richline’s wanted to bring a little of that color back to Corpus and add a little splash of color to downtown Corpus Christi. While considering options, they happened upon Jeremy painting the Sea Turtle mural on the Braswell Building. The collaborative effort brought this soon to be iconic “Welcome to” or “Greetings from” postcard mural that many cities have, but Corpus Christi was missing. “We also hope this will add fuel to the fire of the murals and art popping up around downtown Corpus Christi and we hope that all who see it will feel a sense of pride in Corpus Christi”, says owner Josh Richline.

The new mural is located on the North facing wall of Richline Technical Service headquarters building in Downtown Corpus Christi at 114 N Mesquite St. The best time for a photo opp would be after 6pm on weekdays or anytime on the weekends as the parking lot that is painted in front of is used during the weekdays. The mural faces the north as is visible driving south down Mesquite St .

Founded in 2001-Richline Technical Services is an IT (Information Technology) Service Provider located in Downtown Corpus Christi. They handle IT concerns for business of all sizes in the Coastal Bend and beyond. Their services include everything from an IT Helpdesk to Phone Systems to Offsite Backups and Cloud Solutions.  We are I.T.

Cre8ive Cultures is Corpus Christi’s first locally owned art supply store and learning center. Its main aim is to help bring art to the city in all forms from large scale mural projects to helping teach the youth the fundamentals of art. Cre8ive Culture houses the cities best artists in all fields including photography, videography, murals, painting, graphic design, screen printing, and audio production. Cre8ive Culture is here to show exactly what Corpus Christi artists are capable of with the main aim to be the premier resource and one stop shop for art in this city.

Just a quick note on the current round of Ransomware making the news:

I just wanted to drop everyone a personal note letting you know we are staying up to date and taking the WannaCry Ransomware/Virus threat seriously. We are making every possible effort to mitigate the impact on our customers. With that being said, the biggest thing we can’t control is the human factor. Be diligent out there guys and gals and don’t click on emails that contain links or attachments you aren’t expecting. This one is currently spread initially through email (and then once inside a network can potentially spread through other means) and that could mean your work email as well as any personal accounts so please be careful on those as well or just don’t check them at all from your work PC’s.

So what have we got to protect you:

1^st: Spam/Email Virus Filtration-if you have our SPAM protection it has built in virus filtration as well. It’s our first line for keeping you from even getting that email with the evil link or attachment to begin with.

2^nd: Open DNS Content Filtration-If you do happen to get the email and you do open it, OpenDNS should keep it from talking back to its “creator” and generating the encryption key that is required to encrypt or “scramble” all your files rendering it impotent (sorry, that word seemed to fit).

3^rd: Antivirus and Anti-ransomware- If you haven’t kept up, antivirus isn’t enough these days, we need antivirus, anti-malware, and now anti-ransomware. Each of these classifications of threats has unique qualities so believe it or not, we need software tuned to each different kind of threat. We’ve got that. So (hopefully) if you click on the link or attachment and before the ransomware encrypts all your files, anti-ransomware or antivirus should kick in and stop it before it does anything. We’ve made sure all anti-virus has been updated with the latest virus definitions including the latest version of this threat available.

4^th: Microsoft Patches- This may seem like it should be higher up the list, but yes, Microsoft has released patches for all supported (and even a few unsupported) Operating Systems including Windows 7, 8, 10, Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016 and they’ve even gone back and release patches for the versions of Windows they’ve stopped supporting in the last few years-Windows XP, Vista, and Server 2003. We’ve been working diligently to verify that this patch is applied to all of our client’s machines that have our R-Essential Apps in place.

5^th: Backups-If it just so happened that the virus was brand new (like newer than that day new) and it got through all of this AND you opened it! Well, that’s why we make sure and push everyone to have good backups that backup every few hours. The last line of defense is restoring your files from backup.

So there you go, our suite of product working together to keep you safe…now if you have a friend who lives life on the edge and doesn’t have R-Essential Apps in place and they do happen to get this virus…we know of a bitcoin ATM and can help them pay the ransom because that may be the last option available to them. I have a blog up about this (link below) if you want to know more. We have seen that paying the ransom on this one may not be as effective as previous versions so no warranties on that.

Now for my lawyer friends, we’re not necessarily guarantying anyone is safe from ever getting this or another virus or ransomware with our tools in place, we are simply highlighting the preventative measures we are taking to try to help keep you safe. As I listed above, the human factor still exists. We’ll try everything in our power, but we can’t anticipate every possibility either.

Blog here…I promise this link is safe(ish)

https://www.richline.cc/blog/musings-on-and-defining-ransomware-and-cryptolocker

Richline Technical Services is a Managed IT Services Provider headquartered in Corpus Christi, TX. We provide helpdesk and network management to small and medium businesses as well as consulting and network design services to large companies, city and county governments as well as school districts.

Josh Richline is one of the Owners of RTS and is certified by Microsoft, Citrix, ShoreTel, Sonicwall, Lifesize, Ruckus, US Sailing and others. He specializes in VoIP, large networking projects and sailing.

So what can you do about this? There are multiple options to protect against something like this. The first thing to realize, though, is that it isn’t your phone system. Your phone system is operating just fine…it’s your phone service. The phone lines feeding in to the phone system from a Spectrum, Centurylink, AT&T, etc… (your phone service provider) are the problem. These lines, while usually quite reliable, are susceptible to being dug up, cut, or (perhaps even worse) having an outage like yesterday which originated at the carrier’s “Central Office”– which is what they call the building or facility where your phone service comes from. That’s kinda what this outage was yesterday, only quite a bit worse. This one looked like a problem with their whole system rather than just one local Central Office.

So, (#1) you can have your phone company setup Emergency Call Routing to a designated phone number (like a cell phone) in case the phone lines fail–not a bad solution if you have low enough call volume. This involves simply calling your phone provider (or using their “portal”)(when your lines are up) and having them setup a point where your calls go should the lines go down.

Or (#2) you can get a 2nd set of phone lines coming from a completely separate phone company coming in to your phone system (not cheap, but a good option if you’re mission critical). We need to make sure your phone system has the capacity for this and find a phone company that is truly separate (not just reselling services from another phone company).

Or (#3) you could get SIP phone lines that come in via your Internet connection (less expensive and can some offer emergency use packages, but you need good internet). Again, we need to make sure your phone system can handle SIP phone lines (aka SIP trunks) and that your internet connection can support the additional traffic (and you may even want to have redundant internet connections).

Or (#4) you could get a Cloud Hosted Phone System so instead of your phone system being at your building and susceptible to these sort of outages, it’s hosted somewhere else off site and probably has built in redundancy to deal with issues like this. This is essentially subplanting your phone system with a Cloud model. Concerns here would be the monthly cost and making sure you have a redundant internet connection, but most cloud providers can direct calls to individual cell phones as well should your internet go down (or even you just happen to be away from your desk).

We’d be happy to explore any of these options with you and we can help with all of them. There is no one size fits all model here, we just want you to know there are options and we can help you find the option that fits your business needs the best.

Pyramid Communications is a Unified Communications Provider headquartered in Corpus Christi, TX. Pyramid deals primarily in ShoreTel Unified Communications systems, but can also service many other types of phone systems. We can also handle your structured cabling needs, Video Conferencing via LifeSize, Wireless, and most anything else communications related. Pyramid is a division of Richline Technical Services (RTS) which is a Managed IT Services Provider. We provide helpdesk and network management to small and medium businesses as well as consulting and network design services to large companies, city and county governments as well as school districts. Together we are your one stop shop for almost anything technology related.

Josh Richline is one of the Owners of RTS and is certified by Microsoft, Citrix, ShoreTel, Sonicwall, Lifesize, Ruckus, US Sailing and others. He specializes in VoIP, large networking projects and sailing.

For some of our customers their server “room” is a closet somewhere perhaps at the end of a dark hall where no one goes that looks something like this:

And don’t even ask what else is stored in there!

So we’re here to tell you, “It’s not your fault”

No, really, listen to me, “It’s not your fault”

Ok, it’s a little your fault.

But, it’s ok. We understand, and we can help.

Untangle the network spaghetti! Regain control of your server room! Remove and recycle that UPS! It’s spring time, time for a little spring cleaning!

Brennan, and Craig tackled this small job over the weekend and Brennan had the foresight to snap us some before and after pics for once (I can’t tell you how many times we’ve done these and said, “crap! I should have taken some pics before we started!”)

Does any of this look familiar? Server sitting on the floor cables running everywhere, battery backup facing backwards? I’m just glad the fire extinguisher is close…wait that hasn’t been checked this century?

So all the cables were replaced, just put the cover on the existing cable management and replaced the 2 low end TP-Link switches with a nice HP/Aruba 48 Port Gigabyte switch. Easy clean access to the Sonicwall Firewall and the modem! Down below we added a little rolling half rack and since the servers weren’t rack mounted, we just got a couple of trays for them to sit on and get off of the floor. The rack can be slid out of the way if we need to access something above it. All-in-all nothing fancy, but it sure does make thing a lot easier for the network guys to see what’s going on without worrying about accidently unplugging something.

So if your server room or server closet is in need of an extreme closet makeover! Give Brennan a call…he’ll weep a little, but he’ll get the job done.

Brennan (361)882-6297 x 2025

Richline Technical Services is a Managed IT Services Provider headquartered in Corpus Christi, TX. We provide helpdesk and network management to small and medium businesses as well as consulting and network design services to large companies, city and county governments as well as school districts.

Josh Richline is one of the Owners of RTS and is certified by Microsoft, Citrix, ShoreTel, Sonicwall, Lifesize, Ruckus, US Sailing and others. He specializes in VoIP, large networking projects and sailing.

The cloud is a concept not a place. The cloud is the idea that you can access your data, your applications, your whatever, from anywhere, anytime, as long as you have an internet connection.

There are several types of clouds. You can have large public clouds dispersed geographically (think itunes or your quickbooks online account). You may rent a private segment of a large public cloud for your company (your company contracts to Amazon to host their servers). Or you can build your own private cloud (you buy the servers, plug them in to your own Colo or your office and use Citrix or something to give everyone access). No matter what type of cloud you have, this data and your applications exist somewhere, physically on someone’s server(s). Maybe your servers or maybe someone’s you pay for the service. But it does exists somewhere or perhaps (and hopefully) multiple somewheres.

The concept of the cloud is about access. You’ve established where the data or applications are, then you have to give your users (or the public) access to that information or those applications from anywhere and preferably from any type of device. Once you’ve done that. Viola, you have a cloud.

This doesn’t need to be a mystery. It does however require planning and forethought to design the right solution for you and your business’s needs. There is no one size fits all/no product fits all no matter what you’ve been told. We have great products and great solutions, but even we’ll admit that we don’t fit everyone. Sometimes we all have to be big enough to admit that.

Have a great day and stay out of the fog….and especially the smog!

Richline Technical Services is a Managed IT Services Provider headquartered in Corpus Christi, TX. We provide helpdesk and network management to small and medium businesses as well as consulting and network design services to large companies, city and county governments as well as school districts.

Josh Richline is one of the Owners of RTS and is certified by Microsoft, Citrix, ShoreTel, Sonicwall, Lifesize, Ruckus, US Sailing and others. He specializes in VoIP, large networking projects and sailing.

The Cryptolocker Virus and its variants are awesome…from a design standpoint they really blow our minds. They suck, don’t get me wrong, but they are brilliantly designed, hyper anonymous and it seems fool proof and unstoppable. They’ve been tailored now to attack businesses because businesses have the capability and the need to pay their ransoms.

What is a Cryptolocker? The Cryptolocker virus and its subsequent variations are viruses (or more accurately “ransomware”) that silently execute on a user’s workstation. While running, they search the machine for any open file shares on servers (and workstations) on the network. They then take every MS Office, Open Office, Adobe, and AutoCad file, and encrypt them so that they are unreadable to everyone. Once they are done, they prompt the user that “All of your files are now encrypted. If you want them back, pay us a ransom.” If you pay the ransom, you get your files back (in all cases we’ve seen so far). If you don’t, you better have good backups or you better not need any of your old files because they are gone!

Here’s the funny part, and the part that even we have difficulty with. When you pay them, they actually follow through and give you back (decrypt) your files. Why? Well because if they didn’t, no one would pay the ransom and that would be bad business and believe me, this has become big business. Even the FBI recommends paying the ransom and, no, they haven’t been able localize these attacks contrary to what you might see on “CSI: Cyber”

The Catch: So that seems pretty evil, but not that hard, right? You just “pay the man” and get your files back, right? The catch is you have to pay in bitcoins. How many of you have bitcoin wallets just lying around? How many of you have a clue what a bitcoin is? Yeh that’s what we thought. I can’t fully sit here and explain what a bitcoin is. It would just take too long and I wouldn’t do it justice, but I’ll try to give you an overview.

Bitcoins: Essentially, a Bitcoin is a form of currency that only exists digitally (on and off the internet). No paper money, no country, just this unit of “money” that fluctuates in value and changes hands on the internet like a real currency only without the “paper trail” of banking. They are like cyber “cash”. You can purchase bitcoins with real money, but first you have to set up an online wallet (kinda like setting up a bank account), and then you have to transfer money to your wallet (usually via something like Western Union or a bitcoin ATM). The whole process is like setting up a stock market account or even purchasing a foreign currency as that’s pretty much what you are doing. You setup the wallet, and then you transfer or fund the wallet with cash.

Why Bitcoins:  Ahh this is where it gets even more fun. Bitcoins are essentially anonymous. Once you transfer your hard earned American Dollars into Bitcoins in your wallet they exist digitally in your wallet, and even though you may have used a form of ID to create your wallet, many people have not. So you pay the ransom, bitcoins transfer from your wallet to Joe Anonymous Bad Guy’s wallet…and they’re gone. Kinda like cash, once you pay for your hot dog, that dollar could then go to the hot dog supplier, then to the trucking company, to the trucker, to the waitress at the all night café, etc…Who knows where it goes? The difference is that the bitcoin can be transferred instantly across continents, across the globe, through a few various bitcoin wallets, and eventually even back in to cash via a bitcoin ATM.

So, Joe Bad Guy, encrypts your files, you pay him, he decrypts your files, he closes that wallet and cashes out and starts the whole process over again and again. It’s big business to the tune of $1 billion in 2016. So protect yourself and be safe out there.

Call us if you need some help!

Richline Technical Services is a Managed IT Services Provider headquartered in Corpus Christi, TX. We provide helpdesk and network management to small and medium businesses as well as consulting and network design services to large companies, city and county governments as well as school districts.

Josh Richline is one of the Owners of RTS and is certified by Microsoft, Citrix, ShoreTel, Sonicwall, Lifesize, Ruckus, US Sailing and others. He specializes in VoIP, large networking projects and sailing.