Sources of Data Breaches

Data breaches can come from various sources. If you want to protect yourself against data breaches, you will need to put plans in place to prevent and combat each one of these.

• Hackers – When most people think of fraud and data breaches, their mind goes to the stereotype of the shady hacker, typing away in a dark basement. Hackers are not inherently bad or suspicious, but they do tend to be behind most cyber attacks.

• Current Employees – No one wants to think about their employees betraying them. However, while employees do sometimes willingly cause data breaches for financial gain or a sense of revenge, many times it’s accidental. Employees are vulnerable to phishing, use weak passwords, and sometimes lose important information. In fact, employee negligence, not sabotage, is the main cause of data breaches.

• Past Employees – Past employees can cause data breaches either intentionally (by stealing data or giving away key information to a hacker) or unintentionally (by accidentally giving away such information to someone with bad intentions, or unknowingly taking company data home with them). In a 2017 survey, 20 percent of companies had experienced a data breach by an ex-employee.

• Anyone Else With Key Information – This includes friends and family members of employees, contractors, or anyone who could access sensitive information.

Sometimes, an attack or breach can be a combination of several of these factors. For instance, a hacker may be the one behind the attack, but they are using information carelessly shared by a current employee, or the culprit may be a former employee themselves.

Bear in mind that, according to the 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report by Verizon, 73 percent of cyber attacks were perpetrated by an outsider. This means the chances of one of your employees being behind the attack are low, but it’s not entirely impossible.

Types of Cyber Attack (and How to Prevent Them)

There are many ways that a cyber attacker could attempt a data breach on a small business. Each comes with its own complications and challenges, and many can cause other problems such as incapacitating your service entirely.

Social Engineering – Social engineering encompasses various types of attack that involve fraud and manipulation to obtain company data. This includes things like phishing (trying to get someone to click on a harmful link), ransomware (holding your data ransom), or lying to get someone to reveal security credentials. The experts at Digital Guardian offer some great advice on how you can prevent these types of attacks from affecting your business.

Man in the Middle – A type of attack that essentially boils down to someone intercepting key information over a network. This can easily be used to steal data and, when carried out correctly, will probably not be noticed for a while. Encryption and authentication methods can be used to counter this, but hackers are always finding new ways to break encryption.

SQL Injection – SQL stands for Structured Query Language, a type of programming language used in databases. SQL injection involves introducing malicious code into a database in order to extract, reveal, modify, delete or corrupt your data. Because many companies use SQL databases, this is one of the easiest and most common forms of attack. Protecting yourself against them involves some specific coding — you can find out more about it here.

Cross-Site Scripting – This is another injection attack, but it’s one that targets your customers’ data rather than your company’s. This can destroy your reputation, as well as ruin the trust your customers place in you. This is most common on websites that encourage user content, such as social media platforms or pages with comment sections. A web application firewall is the best way to prevent this sort of attack.

Password Cracking – We all know that secure passwords are important, but most of us are still guilty of poor password etiquette. Attackers can obtain passwords in a variety of ways, from brute force scripts to simply rummaging in office bins. In all cases, complex passwords are the first step, preferably ones using a password generator.

Why Are Small Businesses Particularly Vulnerable?

Larger companies may have huge amounts of appealing data for hackers to steal, but they also have the resources to protect it extremely well. This doesn’t mean that data breaches don’t happen to large businesses, but it is much easier to attack a small one.

Overall, 43 percent of cyber attacks target small businesses, but 61 percent of small- to medium-sized business had experienced a cyber attack. Attacks on small businesses are on the rise, as hackers realize the potential for smaller attacks on more vulnerable companies.

The truth is that protecting yourself from a cyber attack or data breach costs a lot of money, and that’s money that most small businesses don’t have. You can practice common sense, hire reliable coders for your website, and train your staff to be IT-savvy, but aside from this, it’s mostly a matter of hoping you aren’t targeted by criminals. This is why you need to know how to recover if a data breach happens to you.

How to Recover from a Data Breach

As established previously, most small businesses struggle to recover. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything. Here are the main steps you will have to take.

• Assemble a Team – Bring in any experts you can find or afford to investigate the breach. A data forensics team is desirable but often prohibitively expensive for small business. Realistically speaking, for most small businesses, your “team” will be your IT team.

• Identify the Source – Find the source of the breach and the extent of it. If you have an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), this will be a lot easier. 

• Damage Control – The exact nature of this will depend on the attack. If an employee account was used, block this right away. If your website has been compromised, shut it down to the public until you have dealt with it.

• Contact Authorities – Report the crime, being as helpful and compliant with their requests as possible. They may give you further instructions for limiting the damage and complying to post-breach regulations.

• Contact Affected Customers – Unfortunately, you can’t skip this part. Be upfront and honest with your customers and reassure them you are doing all you can. Let them know what information was compromised and what measures they may have to take to protect against fraud. The quicker you are, the better, and make sure the information reaches them by using several communication channels (email, text, phone call, etc.) This guide from CyberScout has some good advice on drafting this message.

• Implement New Security Measures – Reinforce security in any way you can, especially if the breach was due to human error. Re-train employees in cybersecurity measures and look into affordable security software for small businesses.

Know How to Maintain SOX Compliance

Every public business is required by law to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), which enforces protection against fraudulent practices and accounting errors, requires companies to accurately disclose all information in their reports, and states that the IT department must save all corporate electronic records for at least five years. If a data breach occurs, it can affect SOX compliance. The best way to maintain compliance is to utilize proper security controls, such as using data-classification tools that spot and tag the data as confidential, and encrypting the sensitive data so that unauthorized users can’t access it. Make sure that the security software solution that you choose logs every action made by users so that you have evidence supporting your compliance with SOX.

Data breaches can happen to anyone and are not necessarily your fault. The best you can do is prepare and prevent as much as you can, even if it’s just by making sure your employees use strong passwords and know how to spot phishing attempts. If you do fall victim to an attack, react quickly and focus on keeping your customers and employees informed and satisfied throughout the process. Hopefully, you will be able to mitigate the damage and move on.

The post A Guide to Data Breaches for Small Businesses appeared first on Dhaval Parikh - Wordpress Expert and Support Specialist.

I aced the interview but still got rejected even though I was the top candidate.

I later learned the person hired was a friend of my boss.

I got tired of the office politics and started applying to other companies, and within 1 months I got a much better job.

Someone asked me to come back for the same promotion.

I told him, thanks but no thanks.

Lessons learned:

1. You can be the best candidate and still not get selected.

2. If you didn’t get the job, it was never meant for you.

3. You weren’t rejected, you were re-directed.

4. Your value does not decrease based upon someone’s inability to see your worth.

5. Believe in yourself and keep trying, the right door will open for you.

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1. Work is a never ending process – It’s fact and we may as well get used to it, therefore stop focusing on 1 day or 1 week and start planning for a career. So harness the skills of time management and stop trying to get everything done in a day!
2. Interest of a client is important, so is your family – Honestly I scoff at the remark from those who think 2 hours in the evening is enough for your family, it’s really not. They will always enrich your life more than a client ever can, give them the time they deserve.
3. If you fall in life neither your client or boss will lend you a helping hand, your family will – Don’t get me wrong I was conflicted with this as I try to be a good boss and always try to be there, but I try, families always will, no questions asked.
4. Life is not only about work, office, and client – I love the people and industry I work within and man when we celebrate it’s fantastic but do you know what, that’s one moment. With friends and family, it’s continuous and without expectation. Cherish your moments with family/friends and experience new adventures with them as well.
5. A person who stays late at the office is not a hardworking person – This raised a lot of dispute on my original post and I understand why people would disagree but I have a different view. I have learnt in 10 years of recruitment that those who are able to work effectively in the time provided they are hugely successful and enjoy a great work life balance. If you are working 10-12 hours I beg you to look at what you are trying achieve and question whether they are genuinely adding benefit. Plan your day before you start your day, don’t do it at 8am or 8.30am when your day has started as your already chasing your tail. Don’t be a fool.
6. You did not study hard or struggle in life to become a machine – Nail on head, machines can operate 24 hours a day with the right fuel. You cannot, balance your life, remember you have 24 hours a day, 8 hours to sleep, 8 hours to work, 8 hours of your own!
7. If your boss forces you to work late – You know what I am a boss. If I have to ask anyone to work late or work late myself I am a fool. To date, I have never asked anyone to work late, I never will. Practice what you preach.

I could go on for hours as this is a subject dear to me. I’ve seen families torn apart because parents put work before family. I’ve heard of young fathers passing away because of stress at work and working 16 hours a day.

ALWAYS LEAVE THE OFFICE ON TIME.

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The good plugins can scan your WordPress website and identify and delete WordPress malware and other malicious code. They also find vulnerabilities in your site and give you options to harden your security.

However, you do not want to use just any plugin for this purpose. If you are trying to rid your site of malware or establish ongoing protection, you want to use plugins that have a record of being effective.

We thus decided to do a review of the best WordPress malware removal plugins, and we arrived at a shortlist of 5. Learn how to remove malware from your WordPress site using these plugins.

When Can You Use WordPress Malware Removal Plugins?

If your site is hacked or infected with malware, but you can still login and access your WordPress admin area, then any of the WordPress plugins on this list can help you scan your site and restore site health.

Note though that malware infection is a very serious issue. If not dealt with correctly, malware infection can lead to loss of data, corruption of site files, loss of secret customer information, loss of traffic, and a host of other problems.

Thus, we recommend you have a security expert take care of cleaning up your site. You may request our WordPress malware removal service for this purpose.

If you have some technical knowledge, however, you may go ahead and do this yourself. But ensure you back up your site before attempting to remove malware.

Best Performing WordPress Malware Removal Plugins

1. MalCare

MalCare is a comprehensive WordPress security plugin with impressive cleaning features.

This plugin cleans up a hacked site, and also protects it from future security breaches. MalCare was developed after analyzing over 240,000 WordPress sites. It uses this collective intelligence to offer layered protection to websites.

If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you to:

1. Run a Scan that detects not just existing but new and hard-to-find malware.
2. Clean your site and remove all malware.
3. Enable Firewall protection that blocks bad IP addresses and malicious login attempts.
4. Harden your site and prevent unauthorized personnel from making changes to it.
5. Access regular backups that you can use for up to 365 days.

Plugin Effectiveness

MalCare’s deep scanning technology enables it to find new and complex malware that other security plugins may miss. With the 1-Click Auto Cleaner, you can clean and secure your site with very little effort.

In addition, MalCare comes packed with many other facilities like Site Management which enables you to update outdated plugins, themes, and even the WP core; User Management that allows you to add new users, delete users, etc.; and the handy White-Labeling and Client Reporting features!

2. WordFence

WordFence is by far the most popular WordPress security plugin. With over 2 million installs, there are good reasons why so many people trust this plugin.

WordFence comes packed with a complete suite of features to enable you to maintain your site security and prevent attacks.

And for our main concern on this review, it provides a powerful WordPress malware scanner. The definitions used by this scanner are regularly updated to detect the latest threats. WordFence scans your WordPress themes, plugins, content, and core files.

If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you:

1. Scan your files to identify malware, malicious code, Back-doors, code injections, URL redirects, etc.
2. Identify files that don’t belong in WordPress and give you the option to delete them.
3. Replace all infected WordPress files with original versions from WordPress.org.
4. Check your content (pictures, videos, etc.) to ensure none is infected with malware.
5. Provide a suite of features to harden your security going forward, such as real-time scanning, anti-brute force attack, etc.

WordFence Plugin Effectiveness

WordFence malware definitions update daily (on the paid version, and monthly on free). With these regular updates, you can be sure it will scan your site for the latest threats and clean it.

They also use other proven methods to guarantee a good scan. For example, each file is compared against a pristine copy from WordPress.org, meaning all variations are identified and flagged.

With WordFence security, rest assured you get a good scan each time.

3. Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall

This WordPress malware protection & removal plugin was designed with one goal, which is to get you out of a messy malware situation.

Unlike most other plugins that identify threats and ask you what to do, Anti-malware security and brute force firewall plugin automatically deletes confirmed malware. It only requires your input for those that are potentially malware but not confirmed, and you can decide to delete or keep the identified codes.

If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you to:

1. Run a thorough scan of your site to identify malware and malicious code
2. Auto delete all confirmed malware, thus restoring site health with little user input
3. Firewall block attackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities
4. Update anti-malware definitions and provide ongoing protection

Plugin Effectiveness

Many users of this plugin report that it was able to thoroughly clean their site of malware.

Since this plugin is primarily for malware identification and deletion (it doesn’t come with a lot more features), the developers have been able to focus their efforts on this aspect. It has thus turned out to be one of the best for malware removal.

Functionally, this WordPress antivirus plugin works very similarly to the antivirus you install on your computer. It uses a set of updated definitions to identify and delete malware. It also puts up a firewall against further attacks.

4. Sucuri Security

Sucuri is another great plugin for malware cleanup.

This plugin provides effective scanning and cleaning tools. These can help you rid your site of malware and malicious code. Used by over 400k site owners, Sucuri has a record of helping to keep WordPress clean and secure.

If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you:

1. Run an effective scan of your website for malware and malicious code (on the free version, only a remote scan is available).
2. Run a file integrity check. All WordPress files will be checked against original copies from WordPress.org and any variations flagged. This helps you easily identify and delete malware and malicious code.
3. Check if your site is blacklisted by search engines or antivirus programs.
4. Harden your site to prevent infections and attacks in the future.
5. Get dashboard notifications when anything malicious is observed.

Sucuri Plugin Effectiveness

Sucuri WordPress plugin uses a mix of malware definition and file integrity scanning. Together, these features enable the plugin to detect malware and malicious programs with good accuracy. With Sucuri, you can be fairly certain any malware in your site will be detected.

5. Security and Malware Scan by CleanTalk

This WordPress malware removal plugin is fairly new to the game but no less effective. CleanTalk enables you detect and remove malware from your WordPress site.

One feature that CleanTalk brings to the table is heuristic scanning. Heuristics can flag even unknown malware by considering the code and behavior of a script and comparing it to what you would expect from malware. This gives added protection.

If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you:

1. Scan, identify and delete known malware
2. Identify and delete unknown malware using heuristics
3. Scan your database for SQL injection
4. Harden your security to prevent further attacks and infections

CleanTalk Plugin Effectiveness

CleanTalk provides effective scanning and malware identification. This scanning is mainly based on the signature of known malware, but CleanTalk adds another level.  Using heuristics, unknown malware can be identified as well. This guarantees better malware identification and removal.

Also, with the SQL injection scanner, you can detect and delete scripts written to inject malware into your database. In all, CleanTalk provides powerful, complete scanning features to clean up your site.

6. Quttera Web Malware Scanner

Quttera malware scanner identifies and deletes malware in all its forms. Whether you are trying to get rid of trojans, spyware, worms, shells, etc., Quttera WordPress malware scan plugin is able to detect and easily delete malware.

If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you:

1. Scan for all variations of malware and malicious code, and enable you to delete them
2. Detect files and shells injected by malware
3. Detect unknown malware, evidently using heuristics
4. Check if your site is blacklisted by Google and other authorities

Plugin Effectiveness

Quttera scanner does the job and does it well. They mention several variations of malware in the plugin page, which means the team behind Quttera have been thorough. You can expect great malware identification and deletion with this plugin.

In addtion, the plugin is able to delete unknown malware (likely using heuristics). This may enable Quttera to detect malware that others miss.

Our Mailware Removal Service.

If you still facing malware in your site. We take our job very seriously! We know how important your website is to you and realize that for many people it is their life. That is why I offer a 100% money back guarantee on my services! That means if I cannot find and remove the malware from your site I will refund your money, no questions asked.

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