October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month Are You Prepared?

Get the resources you need to help your users defend against cybercrime from anywhere.

In today's hybrid work environment, your users are more susceptible than ever to attacks like phishing and social engineering. Cybercriminals know this and are constantly changing tactics to exploit new vulnerabilities. We've put together these resources so you can keep your users on their toes with security top of mind. Request your kit now to help your users defend against cybercrime whether they are fully remote, back in the office, or a combination of both.

Here is what you'll get: 

• Access to free resources for you including our most popular on-demand webinar and whitepaper

• Resources to help you plan your activities, including your Cybersecurity Awareness Month Guide and Cybersecurity Awareness Weekly Planner

• New featured interactive training module for your users: "2022 Social Engineering Red Flags," plus 3 additional interactive training modules, all available in multiple languages

• Resources to share with your users including training videos, security docs, tip sheets, security hints and tips newsletters, plus posters and digital signage assets, all available in multiple languages

• All assets are printable and available digitally, so they can be delivered to your users no matter where they are working from

Request Your Free Resources

Kanguru Wins Security Today, Govies 2019 - Government Security Platinum Award

Kanguru is proud to be awarded the Security Today, Govies - Government Security Award 2019. Kanguru’s flagship, the Defender 3000 hardware encrypted USB flash drive, was bestowed the Platinum Government Security Award in April of 2019 for its superb encryption standards.  The Defender 3000 is Kanguru’s top-of-the-line security flash drive, with FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Certification, brute-force protection, waterproof housing and remote management;  ideal data protection for any high-security environment.

“Kanguru has been a leading provider of secure USB storage devices to the government sector for over 25 years,” states Nate Cote, Executive VP of Kanguru. “We are proud to be recognised with the Govies security award for this long-time commitment to our government customers.”

The award honours outstanding government security products in a variety of categories, and is chosen by an independent panel of judges from the security industry.  Along with 1105 Media’s Security Today and GovSec, the top entries and named winners are selected using criteria including Features, Innovation, User Friendliness, Interoperability, Quality, Design, Market Opportunity, and Impact in the Security Industry, Technical Advances, and Scalability.

The Kanguru Defender 3000 is the ultimate data solution for high-security organisations, offering a variety of military grade security features:

• AES 256-Bit hardware encryption (XTS Mode)

• RSA-2048 Digitally-Signed, Secure Firmware

• FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Certification

• Remote Management with the Kanguru Remote Management Console™ (KRMC™)

• Onboard Anti-Virus Protection

• TAA Compliance

• Waterproof

Kanguru Solutions is a global leader in manufacturing high-quality data storage products, providing the very best in military-grade, FIPS 140-2 Certified, hardware encrypted, secure USB drives and fully-integrated remote management security applications.  Kanguru also manufactures non-encrypted flash drives with a physical write protect switch, duplication equipment for cloning hard drives, SSDs, blu-ray, DVDs and more.

WetStone Technologies, Inc. Selects Kanguru as USB Hardware Partner for new Forensics Solution

 Kanguru is proud to partner with WetStone Technologies, Inc. to provide a customised, USB flash drive platform with physical write protect switch to deliver WetStone’s forensic malware discovery and investigation application.  WetStone’s G-Flash MP is pre-loaded on a Kanguru USB flash drive, and is utilised for forensic, investigative, and law enforcement analysis.

G-Flash MP is the newest generation of WetStone’s premier malware discovery solution, Gargoyle Investigator™. Gargoyle is used by forensic labs, law enforcement, field investigators, private investigators, and incident response teams to efficiently search for malicious applications. Gargoyle performs a rapid search for known contraband, lost or leaked corporate assets, and hostile programs.

Accessing information about the intent, sophistication, capabilities and communications of cyber criminals is critical to a complete understanding of the factors at play in an investigation. Gargoyle is designed to simplify investigations and incident response activities.

“Our users demand a durable, high-capacity, and high-performance G-FLASH platform for their field investigations,” states Carlton Jeffcoat, Senior Vice President, WetStone Technologies. “We are pleased to partner with Kanguru to meet those expectations using Kanguru’s high-quality, small form-factor flash drive solutions.”

With Kanguru’s excellence in manufacturing standards, Kanguru has developed a trusted reputation for providing secure, virus-free USB products with write protection capabilities that customers have relied on for over 27 years. 

“Working with partners and clients to meet their requirements is what we do best,” Says Nate Cote, Executive Vice President of Kanguru. “We are happy to continue supporting WetStone with a quality hardware platform for their unique applications.”

WetStone Technologies, Inc. WetStone is a market leader in solutions for malware discovery and Identification, steganography investigation, and live digital investigation. WetStone is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allen Corporation of America.

Kanguru Solutions is a global leader in manufacturing high-quality data storage products, providing the very best in military-grade, FIPS 140-2 Certified, hardware encrypted, secure USB drives and fully-integrated remote management security applications.  Kanguru also manufactures non-encrypted flash drives with a physical write protect switch, duplication equipment for cloning hard drives, SSDs, blu-ray, DVDs and more.

Shaping Knowledge Management for Employee Self-Service

With the goal of increasing business agility and user satisfaction, organisations are incorporating more employee self-service (ESS) and self-help technologies into business operations and have reaped tremendous benefits.

HDI’s 2018 Practices & Salary Report shows that “14% of support organisations saw a decrease in ticket volume over the past year” and attributed self-help as the number one factor.

Discover 7 tips for getting knowledge management right for self-service.

However, even though the implementation of ESS technologies is increasing, organisations still struggle to get employees to use them, especially when they are not being integrated with self-help technologies. In order to deliver better knowledge with these tools, you should start by understanding why users are not using them in the first place.

In the next sections we will explain some of the challenges of knowledge base software usage, including knowledge being irrelevant, hard to find and even hard to understand. We will also outline how ESS paired with self-help technologies can reshape the way you deliver knowledge and get employees to actually use these tools.

When Knowledge is not Relevant…

Make it more contextual. Users want to solve problems quickly so if they get overwhelmed with information that is not relevant to them, they are more likely to step away from the knowledge base and try to reach out to the help desk directly. But there are many ways to make knowledge more searchable and relevant to the user.

By integrating knowledge into existing chatbot technology through your self-help tool, for example, users can interact with it in a more conversational way. Chatbots use natural processing language (NPL) which helps them interpret what users are looking for and identify the right knowledge to deliver while improving the search results.

There are also ways to enable knowledge to become more pervasive, that is, when relevant content finds the user instead. For example, a user that needs to understand the right steps of a business process can be led to directly access the information from the internal system with the integration of a self-help application. This allows external updates to the information without having to go into the application each time.

When Knowledge is Hard to Find…

Focus on the overall experience of the users and not just the knowledge articles themselves.

Let’s start with the example of a user looking for information on how to place a video call. Traditionally, users would search for what they are looking for, and most likely be directed to a lengthy knowledge article. The knowledge article may contain all sorts of information, including topics that are not of interest to the user or written in a simple way. This can be overwhelming and reduces the chances of the users finding the solutions. Using a self-help tool can help create information that users can easily interact with, such as guiding the user to the solution rather than throwing it all at them at once.

Through ESS and self-help technologies you can also provide rich interactive multimedia content, such as­­ embedding video guides directly into the knowledge procedure. This is an essential part of what we call intelligent knowledge flows, which are an automated way to transfer and deliver knowledge, much like interactive decision trees.

Intelligent knowledge flows help service desk agents streamline user interactions. For example, traditionally, if a user calls the IT service desk due to an email issue, the service desk agent would have a detailed diagnostic overview with every possible way they could tackle the issue. This could lead to inconsistent and unpredictable results. Intelligent knowledge flows can help the technicians narrow down solutions by using a programmatic approach. This would not only be advantageous when onboarding new technicians in order to maintain process consistency , but additionally, many operations could be completed by level 1 support instead of escalating (resulting in reduced costs and shift left).

When Knowledge is Hard to Understand…

Offer interactive knowledge that fits the user’s needs­–it’s all in how you deliver knowledge. While traditional, long-format knowledge articles are a way to deliver information, they might not be effective in guiding people to the answers they need.

ESS and self-help tools with functions that allow your users to interact with each other or IT agents and technicians can also encourage them to provide feedback to content creators and subject matter experts. This will help the knowledge management creators to tailor the content as needed.

Knowledge managers can also benefit from specific analytics on users, including where people are spending their time and how, or what types of searches need to be improved. Leveraging this information can help reduce the knowledge gaps between the users and the creators.

Managing and maintaining knowledge and knowledge quality can be a challenge. An ESS platform integrated with self-help can allow for quick and easy content modification and can integrate with other applications to import your existing knowledge flow so it will be instantly available. Also, managers can delegate authority of specific types of content to specific subject matter experts to take some of the weight from the site managers or developers. This ensures users always have the most complete and relevant knowledge available, according to their unique role.

The HDI 2018 Practices & Salary Report states that “61% of support organisations saw an increase in ticket volume over the last year”­­, compared to 55% on 2017. Don’t be one of those organisations. Integrating your ESS with self-help technologies will encourage employees to use them more, increasing productivity and reducing costs.

Kanguru Recognised Among Top Ten Encryption Solution Providers By Enterprise Security

Kanguru is proud to be named among the Top Ten Encryption Solution Providers by Enterprise Security Magazine for 2018.  Kanguru provides unparalleled data encryption products to help ease the security concerns of organisations around the world, offering complete military grade protection.     

Kanguru is a U.S.-based manufacturer of military grade, Defender® AES 256-Bit, hardware encrypted USB data storage drives that can be configured, deployed and remotely managed by organisations to maintain the highest level of security. Kanguru is the only source for a one-stop solution of fully-integrated hardware encrypted USB drives with the option of cloud-based, enterprise-level remote management. Kanguru Remote Management Console (KRMC™) is a robust remote management solution for which organisations can monitor, manage, and report on their deployed Kanguru Defender encrypted flash drives, hard drives and SSDs.  There is even an option to remotely wipe or disable drives in the event they are ever lost or stolen.

“Our goal is to provide convenient and easy-to-use solutions” says Don Brown, CEO of Kanguru. We pay very close attention to the market needs… to secure data and protect information.”

Security-conscious organisations around the world trust Kanguru’s encryption products to secure their data and meet industry regulations. Standards in healthcare such as HIPAA, and other regulations like GDPR, Sarbanes Oxley and GLBA are met with Kanguru’s robust, easy-to-use solutions. 

“Top 10 Encryption Solution Providers – 2018” by Enterprise Security Magazine

Kanguru Solves Data Duplication Needs for Growing Organisations

Kanguru takes data duplication to a whole new level, with a flexible range of scalable duplicators to fit any budget, helping growing organisations achieve their data duplication goals. 

Kanguru manufactures high-quality, TAA Compliant duplication systems, and has been a driving force for the market for over 20 years. Clients have learned to trust Kanguru Duplicators for their data cloning needs because of their convenience and quality. Whether it be simple one-offs for back-up purposes, a few cloned devices for small business needs, or thousands of peripherals for enterprise, Kanguru’s wide-variety of high-speed duplicators maximises duplication jobs for CD, DVD, Blu-ray, hard drives, solid state drives, USB flash drives and other needs.  

Several key features of Kanguru Duplicators are:

• Create multiple duplicates simultaneously

• Easy-to-use LCD display

• Ultra-fast copy speeds

• Multiple copy modes depending on duplicator type (Disk mode, Brief Copy, Resize, Smart Copy, Synchronous, Asynchronous)

• Secure Data Wiping / Erase

• Stand-alone operation – no need for a computer

• Daisy-chain connectivity (select models)

• Built-in Internal hard drive (select models)

• TAA Compliant

Daisy-Chain Connectivity

More recently Kanguru has expanded its line of duplicators with the KanguruClone™ PRO series, offering convenient daisy-chain connectivity for mass reproduction at staggering quantities. For example, with the KanguruClone 23HDS-PRO, up to 23 hard drives or solid state drives could be reproduced simultaneously. If an organisation had stronger needs, another KanguruClone 23HDS-Pro could be daisy-chain connected, providing up to 46 duplications at one time. Linking up to 4 systems together (max) renders an impressive 92 simultaneous duplications simultaneously - at up to 12GB per minute.

Even more remarkable is the daisy-chain connectivity of the 15 Target, 24x DVD Duplicator with built-in hard drive, which can support up to a colossal 60,000 connected Kanguru 15 Target, DVD duplicators at once, for a mind-blowing potential of 900,000 cloned DVDs simultaneously.

Migrate from HDD to SSD with Resize Copy

The updated Resize Copy mode on the KanguruClone HD SATA Pro Duplicators make it possible to clone a hard drive (HD) to a solid state drive (SSD) for better OS performance. Solid State Drives offer great performance benefits, but can be more expensive than traditional hard drives. Organisations looking to migrate their hard drives to more efficient, faster SSDs can do so quickly and easily with the KanguruClone HD Pro series.

Duplicators with built-in Internal Hard Drive

Certain Kanguru Duplicators even come with built-in internal hard drives with up to 500GB of space for superior performance of multiple, repeat jobs. With the job counter, custom production runs are a breeze.

To learn more about the Kanguru’s line of Blu-ray, DVD, Hard Drive, and USB Duplicators, call Bellridge at 02 8904 0172 or visit kanguruaustralia.com.au.

2018 Christmas Holiday Office Closure

From all the team at Bellridge we would like to thank you for your continued support throughout the year - we greatly value your business. We extend our warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy & prosperous New Year!

Our office will close on Friday 21st December 2018 and will reopen on Monday 7th January 2019

To avoid any licensing delays or disruptions to your services during our closure period, please ensure you have your orders submitted to us by the below deadline:

• All hardware orders must be received by
  Friday 14th December 2018

• All software orders must be received by Wednesday 19th December 2018

Need help placing an order or have any other questions? Please contact our team on 02 8904 0172 or jon@bellridge.com.au

Kanguru Offers A Unique Hybrid Approach To Data Security With KRMC™

Ask any security-conscious organisation what their biggest challenge is, and most will likely admit securing data in today’s digital world.  Ensuring that private data is safe should be a top priority for every organisation given present online threats, but with many options to choose from, how do organisations know what the best choice is for keeping data secure?  Data is the most important asset for any organisation as it drives business and is a key part of its infrastructure.  Hackers know this, and may stop at nothing to break in and steal valuable data.  As a result, government is cracking down with tougher regulations on organisations to protect the private data of its customers and citizens, with some steep fines for violating compliance. On top of that, citizens are being empowered with many rights to file lawsuits if one feels their private records have been compromised in any way.  Organisations need to consider not only what’s convenient for their business, but what is the best security option to protect both the data of their customers, and to protect themselves.

Cloud Storage VS Local Storage

Over the last decade or so, organisations have been making tremendous shifts to store their data in the cloud. There are advantages; convenience being the most prominent, with other benefits like backing up data to an offsite location in case of disaster. Popular cloud storage services, however, have seen some major data breaches over the last few years, prompting many organisations to wonder just how safe they really are.  The convenience of having access to your data from any internet connection anywhere in the world could also unfortunately be its security downfall, as others might find ways to gain unauthorised access to it as well.

Local storage like encrypted USB flash drives, hard drives and solid state drives on the other hand, cannot be compromised when closely guarded in the hands of the owner under password protection. In contrast to cloud storage, its usage is solely limited to the person holding the device under password protection- disconnected from the internet and the rest of the world. The very nature of its restrictive intent makes it the securest way to protect data, but it can be challenging if an organisation needs to use that closely-guarded information in a variety of locations around the globe. The danger is reversed if an untrustworthy individual with a USB device suddenly chooses to unlawfully use a device to remove private information from an organisation.   Without being able to monitor such data loss, the damage control could be enormous unless there was a way to remotely wipe and destroy the stolen drive.  The logic behind Kanguru Defender’s encrypted USB drives with fully-integrated Remote Management is precisely for administrators to have the ability to remotely manage their encrypted drives.

A Hybrid Approach To Secure Data Storage

Kanguru offers a unique hybrid solution which combines the outstanding security of local secure USB storage, with the convenience of management through the cloud, KRMC-Cloud™, (Kanguru Remote Management Console).  Enterprise and security-conscious organisations around the world have been using KRMC for many years to successfully protect their data. By storing sensitive information on local USB encryption, and using the cloud to manage their drives around the globe, IT Administrators can monitor their data assets without compromise.

This fully-integrated, hybrid approach offers a robust, secure, two-fold process of checks and balances for organisations, putting tremendous safeguards in place for Administrators and sensitive data that is unparalleled by cloud storage. Since data is stored solely on the local secure USB drive under strong AES 256-Bit hardware encryption and not in a cloud interface, it cannot be compromised through internet connections.  Simply put, Administrators manage the security perimeters of the drives while the users manage the sensitive data separately. The authorised user holds the information confidential and is able to use the drive under the permissions provided by the organisation.  The Administrator or Sub-Administrators use the convenience of the cloud to remotely manage the security, monitor and grant permissions, ensure the integrity of the secure USB drive’s security and report on any concerning activity.

The IT Administrator can configure and deploy a fleet of Kanguru Defender® hardware encrypted USB drives beforehand with specific permissions or restrictions accordingly, manage password guidelines, set a master password, and more, based on the security policies of the organisation. Then with KRMC Cloud, remotely manage the location, permissions, rules and security of the drives anywhere in the world.

Encrypted USB drives can be closely monitored, with specific permissions or restrictions. If a user forgets a password, Administrators can reset it remotely. If a user loses a drive, or it is stolen, the admin can remotely disable, delete or even wipe the drive.  Administrators can provide reports, schedule actions, and even send a message to drives, making quick policy changes.

This safeguard system can even be ideal for use in different departments, with sub-administrators managing silos of information to end-users of specific sectors, and one super-administrator managing the big picture. 

KRMC and Kanguru Defender hardware encrypted USB drives is a robust, hybrid system that helps organisations maintain full security of their data with the freedom to use it wherever it is needed around the world, while keeping an administrative check on the location of the data at all times.

Ten Superhero Ways To Protect Your Data From Getting Hacked

Data-greedy villains are constantly lurking in the shadows, ready to take full advantage of their next victim.  They prey on every opportunity they can find to get their hands on personal and sensitive data for their own personal gain. Though online hacking is today’s “Gotham City,” criminals have used similar tactics to breach personal information and scam people and organisations for centuries.

The good news is that with a little education, awareness, and some savvy sleuthing, you can be a superhero to protect yourself, your family, and your organization from these scoundrels and their vicious, evil tricks and deceptive tactics.  Never let your guard down, especially when your emotions are about to override - be wise, use your instincts and always be one step ahead of their evil tricks. 

Here are a few evil tricks villains use, and the Superhero counter punches you can utilise to thwart their evil ways.

Evil Trick #1: Deceiving You With Fake Emails

I received an email just the other day in my personal email box that looked very much like it was from my bank, telling me that my online account had been compromised and locked out, so I needed to login with “this link” to reinstate my account. It looked official, with the bank’s logo, bank address and even branded graphics and colors.  In a brief moment of blind shock and anger that came over me thinking that my account had been compromised, I almost clicked on the link, but something didn’t feel right. I hovered over the link instead without clicking to see where it would go, and sure enough the link was an unusual, false link that would have taken me far away from my bank’s secure domain.  When I typed in my bank’s URL directly into a browser and logged in to my account, there was no issue, no lockout, no compromise. I compared the email to other emails I had received in the past, and only then it became quite clear that it was a fake email.

These email tactics are becoming more and more popular, and hackers are getting better at their evil deceptions with them. The malevolent trick here is to get you to override your intuition by giving you an emotional situation that will make you blind to your own instincts. 

They also try to blanket as many people as possible, by sending emails that look like they are from large accounts or big name brands- like large banks, retail brands, or popular social media sites to try to ensnare as many people as possible.

They send emails that claim an attached invoice is in severe default and you are being demanded upon for immediate payment, or your paypal account has “expired” and needs to be renewed, or your bank is asking for verification of your login information, or your grandmother is stuck in Cuba and is in desperate need of immediate cash. Clicking on links in these emails can lead to downloading viruses, loss of money, gaining access to your accounts, or even downloading malware, which could get into your computer and wreak havoc on your system and network.

Superhero Power Punch #1:

• Be scrupulous with emails using X-ray vision. Always scrutinize an email first – even ones that look official from your bank or favorite retailer, by taking a closer look at it. True we really don't have x-ray vision, but you can examine an email first with a level of scrutiny that will protect yourself from clicking on something malevolent. Don’t click on any links unless you have fully assessed the email to ensure it is from a trusted organization. Don’t let your initial emotions of an email draw you in to clicking right away on a link. Instead, if you have an account, go directly to the website URL of your account in a browser and login from there.  Even something as simple as a Facebook notification could be counterfeit, and clicking on a link could lead you to a malicious website. If you have questions about an email, call the organization directly.
  

• Watch for bad English or grammar. If you find grammatical, punctuation and spelling mistakes, chances are it is fake. Hackers are getting better at this, but still they will often leave something out, or misspell words that can be a vital clue or a red flag. 
  

• Watch for strange or unusual hyperlinks. If the text appears to be legitimate, double-check the link by hovering over it (without clicking on them), the hyperlink on the word should reveal as a popup with the first part of the link being the secure domain of your account like www.yourbank.com.  If it looks nothing like the domain of your account, or looks weird, DO NOT click on it. Also watch for links that look official, but aren’t. Links like Amaz0n.com or linkedn.com may look legitimate, but a misplaced zero for an “o” or a missing "i" could make all the difference in the world.
  

• Look at the recipients. The recipients of an email can often be a clue also as to the validity of an email. If an email was sent to “undisclosed-recipients”, instead of just you, consider moving it immediately to your spam folder.
  

• There are often other clues as well to watch out for. Always question the validity of the email. Sometimes subtle clues can tip you off that something is wrong. For example, an email you receive on a regular basis may suddenly be missing key brand elements or something doesn't look right. If the subject seems suspicious, delete it. If the sender is suspicious, delete it. If it seems too good to be true, delete it. If it’s from someone or an organization you know, but only has a hyperlink in it with no message, delete it.  Your instincts are vital for discerning valid email from the bad. 
  
  

Evil Trick #2: Stealing Your Precious Jewels

It’s no secret that the crown jewels of hackers are credit card numbers, bank account numbers, retail account numbers, passwords, birth dates, addresses and social security numbers, yet it is still surprising how many individuals pass out this information to anyone like it were free cheese samples.  Keep this information protected at all times and never freely share it with anyone- either online, over the phone, or in person.  Often times though, websites or organizations you are affiliated with might ask you to verify this information, and you will have to use your good instincts.  If your conversation is with a legitimate account you have worked with in the past, they should have this information already. If you can pass on providing this information again, avoid doing so, otherwise, challenge them, and ensure first that the person you are verifying this information with is a trusted employee of the organization you called, and/or that the website is secured with “https” and is a legitimate website of the organization.  Often times though when challenged, an organization may ask for a PIN number instead to validate whether you are the right person.

Superhero Power Punch #2:

• Never give out this information freely to someone who has cold-called you or sent an email to you, as this could be an attempt to steal your information. Legitimate organizations will not cold-call you and ask you for this information over the phone. They may ask you only if you called them directly, in order to verify if it is you. Hackers are using this trick all the time to prey on the elderly by calling them and pretending to be something that they are not. Never give out any information to someone who has called you directly no matter how legitimate it sounds.
  

• Protect your personal information at all times. Be very meticulous with whom you share your account numbers, social security number, password, birth date, and address by checking and verifying with whom you are talking to. Challenge those who ask you for this information, and if a PIN number is acceptable for verification, go that route instead.
  

• Carrying a hardware encrypted flash drive containing your personal information is ideal for this purpose. Your files are password protected, preventing any unauthorized access to your files, even if you lose it (have a secure backup somewhere else just in case). Kanguru has a number of flexible options in the Kanguru Defender® Family of hardware encrypted drives. 
  

• Keep personal tabs on where your personal information might be, and be watchful. It’s unfortunate, but in today’s hacker-hungry society, it is important that we are conscientious wardens of where our own personal information is stored. Your doctor’s office, last hospital visit, banks, mortgage lender, tax preparer, employer, cable company, government, registry, utilities, credit cards and favorite retailers all keep personal information on you. If you notice a security breach, a move, an office/store closing, or even a death, be proactive and ensure that your data is protected. Watch your online accounts, and bank statements carefully and often for any suspicious activity. Report it immediately if you see activity that you are not familiar with.
  

• Never give out personal information to someone that sent you an email or cold-called you. This could be a malicious attempt to steal your data. If you must, hang up, and call the organization back with a phone number you already have in your own directory or from the official website. Verify that the phone number you are calling, or the website you are visiting is legitimate, secure, and trusted.  This simple procedure can help you be in control of your data.

Evil Trick #3: Your Trash Is Their Treasure

We throw away tons of paper each day with account numbers, passwords, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses and even scribbled passwords on them. Hackers know this and will stop at nothing to get this information. Dumpster diving, trash-picking, and even dump-sifting is a real problem.

It’s not just paper though, individuals get a new iPhone and throw the old one away, or they buy a new computer and toss out the old one without a thought. Even worse, people sell it or give it away without wiping their personal information off of the devices.

With technology changing almost daily, a device used to store data yesterday can be quite different from the device used to store data today, and even more different than the device we will use for tomorrow- leading to forgotten devices, lost devices, thrown away devices and even stolen devices.  Kanguru provides encrypted flash drives and hard drives that not only encrypt your personal data today, but keep it encrypted for the future.  If you forget your device, lose it, or it gets stolen, a password-protected device is the perfect solution for protecting your data not just for today, but for all time.

Superhero Power Punch #3:

• After you pay your bills, shred them, or store them in a safe place until you can shred them.

• Be meticulous with the information you throw away or recycle. If it contains any personal information, shred it first- Better to be safe than sorry.
  

• Be mindful of old CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, videotapes, cassettes, hard drives, computers, mobile phones, and flash drives. Do not throw them away without ensuring that your data has been verifiably wiped. Then destroy them. Never leave even as much as an old floppy disk or zip drive available to be found and rummaged through. If your organization has a lot of hard drives that you want to wipe clean of sensitive data, Kanguru Duplicators have secure wiping functions that will permanently delete personal data. This is especially ideal for meeting the new GDPR requirements - (right to be forgotten).
  

• Store sensitive data on password-protected devices. Protect data on Kanguru hardware encrypted flash drives and hard drives.

Evil Trick #4: Phishing Your Online Profiles (FaceBook, Linkedin, Instagram, etc.)

Another evil trick that villainous hackers will use is to study public online profiles for juicy information they can use to get access to other things in the future.  If your Facebook profile is not private, and contains personal information about you, hackers can use this information to gain knowledge about you, and use it to access other things.  Your posted email address can be used to drive Evil Trick #1.  Profile photos could be used to create fake profiles that could lead to disastrous results and identity theft.

Facebook is always trying to get me to confirm specific personal information like “where I went to school”, “where I live”, etc. It even wants me to confirm that certain people are family like an Aunt or Uncle in my account. This may seem innocent enough, but any hacker who searches this information would see personal data, which might often be used as security questions for personal accounts.

Facebook has also recently been under scrutiny in the news for allegedly selling personal information. Whether it is true or not, why provide more detailed information to something that is only going to use it to advertise to you?

Facebook is also notorious for obscure surveys, and cute cat videos.  Though they may seem harmless, fun and adorable, they could be evil ticking bombs placed by villains, and clicking on them could expose you to harmful scams, viruses and phishing.  Hackers could use them to gather intuitive information about you to ascertain account information, or even help guess passwords.  For example, if a survey reveals that your favorite color is red and you love fast cars, chances are good that you might have a souped up car in your garage, take risks, and have a password with “racer” in it.

Superhero Power Punch #4:

• Keep and maintain strong privacy settings on your online social media accounts. Check that your settings are private, and only share information that you are comfortable with.
  

• Don’t allow social media accounts to confirm your personal information. Why do they need to know? There is enough information already searchable on Google without providing even more juicy data for hackers.
  

• Never post personal information that you do not want the world to see. Stay away from providing more details than you have to. 
  

• Be meticulous with what you click on. Stay away from online surveys and clicking on suggested videos or advertisements.
  

• Stay away from a new profile that wants to connect with you from a friend or colleague you are already connected with. This could be a sure sign that someone has hacked that person’s profile, and is trying to connect with you.

Evil Trick #5: Compromising Your Passwords

Strong passwords are great for protecting personal data and accounts, but far too many individuals are careless with them. Lazy passwords are a villain’s specialty.  If your password is “password1” or “Me123”, you might as well hand over the keys and pull out the welcome mat for hackers for full access to your accounts.

Sending passwords online through email or instant messaging communications is another way to open the door to hackers. If you email passwords, or send them through instant messaging, you may have just provided a hacker with the very keys they are looking for. Never assume these communications are secure.

Since the average person has over 25 different accounts, it’s often surprising how many individuals store passwords under unprotected means.  This could be a non-password protected spreadsheet or Word document, a careless piece of paper at your desk, or a post-it note on your computer screen.

Also, if you click on the box in the login window that says “Remember me”, you are providing every person behind you an open door to access your account if they can get onto your computer.

Superhero Power Punch #5:

• Always protect your passwords. Never send passwords over online email or instant messaging communications. If you must provide a password to someone for a shared account for some particular reason, it’s best to deliver it orally, and as privately as possible.  Don’t forget to ensure that they will protect the password as well.
  

• Never store your passwords by unprotected means. If you have your passwords on a spreadsheet, make sure that spreadsheet is password protected with a good password you will never forget. You can also carry an encrypted flash drive which would require a password to access all of your files. Kanguru Defender Elite30 is perfect for this.
  

• Do not store passwords on a paper or post-it note near your computer.
  

• Change your passwords often. This helps you keep one step ahead of any hackers who may be following you.
  

• Never click the box in the password login window of your online accounts that says “remember me”. Although it makes it convenient, you are allowing the computer to save your password, which gives anyone full access if they are able to get onto your computer. Typing in your password each time only takes a few seconds, and can help you remember your password better anyway.
  

• Don’t be lazy. Make your password something difficult to hack. If you have trouble remembering passwords or coming up with new ones, make up a system that only you can understand- like your favorite exotic foods, family events, or obscure cartoon characters with number/letter schemes mixed in that no one would ever know.

Evil Trick #6: Eavesdropping On Publicly-Accessible WiFi

We’ve all used them, but hotel, restaurant, and transportation public wi-fi network access is dangerous and should be avoided if possible.  Although eavesdropping goes all the way back to the old days of telephone operators, hackers snooping on today’s online activities could be far more destructive.

Superhero Power Punch #6:

• Try to avoid using publicly-accessible WiFi networks if possible. At the very least, do not conduct financial transactions, credit card transactions, or provide personal information over these networks. 
  

• If you must use public WiFi, check first to ensure that the network you are selecting is the legitimate one, by asking the front desk or receptionist what the correct setting is. Don’t select any settings that are similar which could be used by hackers as a trick to make you think you’ve accessed the service.

Evil Trick #7: Sending Fake Apps and Bogus Software Updates

It’s sad, but hackers may try to use opportunities where we usually trust the expertise of others, to hack and destroy.  Downloading apps on your iphone, or making software updates are no exception. 

Superhero Power Punch #7:

• Before you trust those updates, it’s always best to check the original secure website first for more information. If there are ways to verify that the update is real, follow your instincts. If you don’t trust it, hold off.
  

• Be aware that if you download an app, it most likely will gather information from you or gain access in one way or another. Be aware of dangers, understand what you are about to download, and always read the fine print.

Evil Trick #8: Decoy Links to Fake Websites

The internet is constantly changing to make transactions more secure with browser updates and security, and one particular area is the “https” or “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure”.  Websites that conduct confidential transactions are required to use the HTTPS extension, along with SSL certificates in order to verify the website.  This “handshake” between the SSL certificate, the secure domain, and the security of the browser verifies that a website has been vetted and is secure.  If you are conducting transactions on a website that does not show the HTTPS extension, you are doing so at great risk.

Superhero Power Punch #8:

• Never conduct any transaction over a website that has “HTTP” or indicates an unsecure connection.Ensure that a secure lock icon shows in the URL, and that the URL begins with the “HTTPS” extension. These are standard browser configurations and are regulated for valid ecommerce. 
  

• Again as in Trick #1, watch for strange hyperlinks that pose as a legitimate hyperlink. Double-check them first by hovering over links (without clicking on them.)  The hyperlink on a word should reveal a legitimate hyperlink, like www.yourbank.com.  If it looks nothing like the domain, or looks weird, DO NOT click on it. Also watch for links that look official, but aren’t. Links like Amaz0n.com may look legitimate, but a misplaced zero for an “o” could make all the difference in the world.
  

• If you can type the URL directly into the URL window, do so. It may take longer, but that simple step could protect you from a lifetime of grief.

Evil Trick #9: "The "FREE!” Lure

One of the oldest tricks in the book are goods and services that are offered for “FREE”.  When a company or service wants to provide something for free, it is most often to get something in return.  If it is a legitimate free offer, they want your business in the future.  However, most “free” things nowadays in today’s digital age could potentially download surfing software, spyware, keylogging, or at its worst, load damaging viruses or malware.

On the soft side, advertisers use this technique to provide more targeted services, advertisements, or coupons by enticing you to buy into something free, and in turn you provide them with your name, email, phone number, address, and they can spy on your buying habits.

On the criminal side, free software downloads, apps, and “free offers” can lead you down the path of destruction with a malicious download.

Hackers could even go so far as to try to infiltrate an organization by manipulating a cheap thumb drive’s firmware and hijacking it with malware.  Then all they have to do is leave it precariously on a sidewalk or bench outside of an organization, and curiosity takes over. An employee, a student, or a staff member will pick it up, bring the rogue thumb drive inside and plug it in to see what’s on it. Voilà, the organization’s network is compromised.

Superhero Power Punch #9:

• Be very cautious with free stuff. Do not give away personal information to “win a prize”.
  

• Do not be immediately enticed by free offers. Test them first, check for legitimacy and ensure that your personal data will not be compromised, or you will be taken advantage of.
  

• Do not be enticed to plug in just any cheap thumb drive - even if it’s just to find the owner. For organizations that have real concerns about a “badUSB” attack or malware, Kanguru Defender hardware encrypted drives contain digitally-signed, RSA-2048 secure firmware that protects from firmware-tampering, and can be whitelisted on a network or infrastructure with Endpoint Security, to fully protect the infrastructure.

Evil Trick #10: Finding The Unlocked Door To Your Data

And finally, storing personal data by unsecured means is by far the easiest way for hackers to steal your information. Storing personal data in the cloud with very little password protection is the first ticking time bomb, and storing it on an un-password protected computer or storage device is another.

Superhero Power Punch #10:

• If you store personal sensitive information, be sure to store it using encrypted password protection. Kanguru Defender hardware encrypted flash drives and hard drives are ideal for data storage protection, and even include on-board anti-virus protection. By encrypting the data, you automatically prevent any unauthorised access to your sensitive data- and not just for today, but for tomorrow, and forever- even it is lost or stolen because only you have the password.
  

• If your organization is concerned with monitoring the location of particular data on secure flash drives and data storage drives, Kanguru offers Remote Management for secure USB drives. Administrators can use remote management to set security policies, delete or disable lost or stolen drives, report on the location of drives, and even schedule password changes.