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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 2016)
Saturday, May 7, 2016 BUSINESS & TECH East Oregonian Why you should care about cyber security BRIEFLY Free seminar on social media A s we have become email, or click on a link. more connected Any of those actions can through e-mail, social give the bad guys your media, and now through password or download the “Internet of Things” spyware onto your computer. (devices that talk to each Ransomware attacks other without human are becoming interaction), we more and more have become more common as well. vulnerable than we Cyber-criminals gain ever imagined. access to a business Hacktivists, nation or individual’s data state sponsored and encrypt it so entities and cyber- that you can’t access criminals are actively your data. They’ll Joseph targeting individuals, unencrypt it only Franell after you pay them businesses and Comment governments. Who a ransom. Cyber- are these criminals, criminals mostly how do they attack us, focused this kind of attack and how do we defend on individuals but are more ourselves? often beginning to target Threats come in three enterprises. The Board of general forms. Hacktivists Water and Light in Lansing, are focused on digital Michigan, was a victim of vigilante justice. Examples a ransomware attack last are the group Anonymous month, and they had to lock and the Islamic Jihad. down their entire network Anonymous is a loosely for more than a week while associated group of hackers they purged and restored all who attack government, of the impacted data. religious, and corporate Why should you care? websites, mostly through Here are my top two distributed denial of service reasons. attacks (DDoS). In recent First, cyber-attacks cost years, they are famous for money and we all bear the targeting Israel, al-Qaeda additional burden of those and Donald Trump. The costs. For example, we pay Islamic Jihad is famous for more credit card overhead hacking Israeli surveillance (interest and fees) on drones, allowing them to see every transaction because what the drones saw for at companies have to recoup least two years before being their losses. Secondly, discovered. cyber-threats to utilities and Nation state sponsored national security put our way entities’ main focus is of life at risk. twofold: espionage and I’ve recently attended causing physical damage. two brieings by leaders It is assumed that most in this ield, and both left governments participate me feeling nauseous and in this against other vulnerable. The bad news governments. Just last is that there is no way to year, ISIS (a nation state absolutely protect yourself sponsored entity) was or your company. And many credited with attacks against people and organizations do the U.S. Central Command, little or nothing to secure Mountain View Telegraph, themselves, which makes Newsweek, 54,000 Twitter them the easy and obvious accounts, France, and targets for the criminals. Global French TV network A long time ago, a friend TV5Monde. told me a joke that went Finally, and perhaps of something like this: “You most concern to the majority and a friend are walking in of us, are cyber-criminals. the woods when suddenly These are the people and you are confronted by an organizations that engage angry bear. How fast do you in identity theft, credit card have to run to get away?” fraud, tax return fraud, The answer was: “You medical fraud, and corporate just have to run faster than fraud. your friend.” Protecting For businesses, cyber- yourself from hackers and criminals are not just bad cyber-criminals is much like guys from Ukraine, Russia, that. You just need to make and China; they may be it dificult enough for them members of the janitorial that they move on and attack staff, vendors, visitors, someone else. and employees. Often, How do you accomplish cyber-attacks begin with a that? Here are some physical breach either by an practical tips that will help: insider stealing information • Immediately change from the company’s default passwords on computers or a visitor/ wireless devices. vendor installing a keystroke • Use strong passwords. reading program or device Strong passwords are not on speciic computers. easily recognizable words. Keystroke readers allow They use a combination of the criminal to see every upper- and lowercase letters, keystroke you make on your and special characters. Also, keyboard. This allows them they are long. I am told that to get login and password attackers, with all of the information for various power of cloud computing systems and websites. at their disposal, can crack Wireless keyboards can be encrypted passwords of eight fairly easily hacked remotely (8) characters in a matter of (from just outside a building) minutes (depending on the which makes it even easier complexity of the password). to get keystroke information. • Change passwords Another common regularly. attack approach is social • Use good virus, engineering, either in person spyware, and irewall or over the phone. Social protection. engineers often pose as • DON’T EVER open computer or IT support emails from people or technicians and convince organizations that you don’t you to reveal your login know. credentials or give them • DON’T EVER click remote access to your links in emails or on social computer. Cyber-criminals media if you are unsure of also exploit known the origin. weaknesses in software • If a bank or other conigurations or software entity asks you to update that has not been “patched” information, don’t use a link or updated. in an email to get there. Go Most home cyber-attacks to the company’s website come from wireless devices directly to do the updates. that still have their default At your place of work, passwords and through make sure you have good “phishing” emails. When policies in place and enforce you buy a wireless router or them. Keep all of your home automation device, software patched/updated. it comes with a default Limit access to your systems password. Sadly, most people and educate your employees never change the default on cyber-security. after they install the device. I liken the above to Default passwords are widely learning as a child to look known and make it simple both ways before crossing the for hackers to access your street. Cyber vulnerability is home computer and network. just part of the world we live Criminals have found ways in. Taking steps to stay safe to turn off alarm systems and should become as natural as even unlock doors. looking both ways before Phishing emails look like entering a crosswalk. they come from someone ■ you do business with (bank, Joseph Franell is the internet company, retail CEO of Eastern Oregon store, etc.) and often ask Telecom, an internet and you to validate account phone company based in Hermiston. information, change your Page 9A AP Photo/Matt York, File Electricians install solar panels on a roof for Arizona Public Service company in Goodyear, Ariz. GOP states beneit from shift to wind, solar energy WASHINGTON (AP) — If there’s a War on Coal, it’s increasingly clear which side is winning. Wind turbines and solar panels accounted for more than two-thirds of all new electric generation capacity added to the nation’s grid in 2015, according to a recent analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy. The remaining third was largely new power plants fueled by natural gas, which has become cheap and plentiful as a result of hydraulic fracturing. It was the second straight year U.S. investment in renewable energy projects has outpaced that of fossil fuels. Robust growth is once again predicted for this year. And while Republican lawmakers in Washington have fought to protect coal- ired power plants, opposing President Barack Obama’s efforts to curtail climate- warming carbon emissions, data show their home states are often the ones beneiting most from the nation’s accelerating shift to renewable energy. Leading the way in new wind projects are GOP strongholds Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, home to some of the leading critics of climate science and renewable energy incentives in Congress. Republi- can-dominated North Carolina trails only California in new solar farms, thanks largely to pro-renewables polices enacted years ago under a Democratic legislature. The most dramatic change has been seen in the plummeting cost of emissions-free wind energy, which has declined by two-thirds in the last six years thanks to the availability of cheaper, more eficient turbines. An annual analysis by the investment irm Lazard deter- mined that wind energy is now the lowest-cost energy source, even before federal green-en- ergy tax incentives are factored in. “We are entering the era of renew- ables,” former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday at the Climate Action 2016 conference in Washington. “It’s a very exciting new reality.” Billions of dollars in private equity are going to construct massive new renewables projects, especially in the Sun Belt and Great Plains. Thousands of miles of new high-voltage transmission lines are also under construction to send power from the wind and sun from the sparsely populated areas where it is collected to the urban centers where it’s needed. Even with the surge in new projects, energy from such renewable sources as wind, solar and water accounted for only about a tenth of total U.S. power genera- tion last year. Still, the U.S. leads the world in wind energy with about 48,800 utility-scale turbines operating across the country, generating enough electricity to power about 20 million homes. By 2030, the Energy Department estimates wind will provide a ifth of the nation’s electricity. HERMISTON — Business owners looking to improve their presence on social media are encouraged to take a class offered through the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce. Take Your Social Media Marketing to the Next Level is Monday from 3-5 p.m. at the Hermiston Conference Center, 415 S. Highway 395. The free seminar will provide tips on using photos and videos, what type of content to create and examples of how other organizations are utilizing social media for marketing. To pre-register or for more information, contact kelly@hermistonchamber. com or 541-567-6151. Mittelsdorf to speak at chamber IRRIGON — Lisa Mittelsdorf, economic development director at the Port of Morrow, is the featured speaker during the upcoming Irrigon Chamber of Commerce meeting. The no-host luncheon is Wednesday at 11:45 a.m. at Stokes Landing Senior Center, 195 N.W. Opal Place, Irrigon. The cost is $8 for chamber members and $10 for non-members. For more information, contact 541-922-3857 or irrigonchamber@ irrigonchamber.com. U.S. hiring slowed amid tepid growth WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers pulled back on hiring in April, adding 160,000 jobs, the fewest in seven months, after a streak of robust monthly gains. The unemployment rate remained at a low 5 percent, roughly where it has been since fall. Last month’s hiring gain marked a drop from the average increase of 200,000 over the past three months.