Another Reason Why Hackers Hate Us!

The Word “Honeypot”

When most people hear the word “honeypot,” they imagine a classic spy scenario—a Mata Hari-type seductress luring unsuspecting targets into revealing top-secret war plans over a little pillow talk.

In cybersecurity, however, a honeypot (or as we call it, HackBait) serves a different purpose. It’s a carefully crafted decoy designed to attract hackers—an irresistible, all-you-can-eat buffet for cybercriminals looking to steal your data. But here’s the twist: once they step in, HackBait alerts you to their presence.

Instead of immediately kicking them out, you let them settle in. They think they’ve hit the jackpot, setting up admin access and getting to work. But in reality, we’re the ones watching and learning.

Why?

Because Hack-Baiting helps us stay ahead of cybercriminals by studying their latest techniques, tools, and exploits. Hackers are always evolving—by the time we figure out how they breached a system, they’ve already moved on to a new, more sophisticated method. HackBait lets us detect emerging threats before they can be used against real systems.

Even better, it identifies vulnerabilities in your security stack and gives you a chance to patch them before they become an actual risk.

And perhaps the best part? It keeps hackers distracted—busy as a cat with a ball of yarn—while your real network stays safe and secure.

Another reason why hackers hate us!

If you’d like to learn more about HackBait, Contact us!

The post “Honeypot” Another reason why hackers hate us! first appeared on ControlAltProtect.

How often do you receive a call from someone wanting to discuss your IT security strategy? Do you brush them off immediately, saying, “We’re all set”—because you truly believe it, or simply because you’re too busy? Maybe cybersecurity isn’t a priority right now, or perhaps you feel uncomfortable discussing technical details. But do you really know if your IT provider has security completely handled?

Many business owners and executives assume their IT provider—whether an in-house “IT guy” or an outsourced Managed IT Services Provider (MSP)—is fully equipped to manage both IT operations and cybersecurity. However, what many don’t realize is that IT network management and cybersecurity are not the same thing.

The Evolving Cybersecurity Landscape

There was a time when a good firewall and antivirus software were enough to keep businesses protected. Unfortunately, cybercriminals have become far more sophisticated, using phishing, ransomware, and social engineering attacks to breach networks. Yet, one thing hasn’t changed—hackers still go for the easiest targets: businesses with the least security measures in place.

That’s why many companies now separate IT operations from IT security—because managing daily IT support is entirely different from proactively defending against cyber threats.

Can Your IT Provider Handle a Cyber Incident?

Even if your IT provider has a security stack in place, do they know how to use it effectively? Security tools require constant monitoring, management, and expertise. If your IT team is also responsible for help desk support, software updates, and infrastructure management, how much time can they realistically dedicate to cybersecurity threats and prevention?

And what happens if you suffer a ransomware attack or a data breach?

• Does your IT provider have incident response experience?
• Can they contain and mitigate the damage before data is lost?
• Do they know how to preserve forensic evidence in case of legal or compliance concerns?

If the answer is no, your business could be at serious risk—not just from hackers, but from the consequences of an ineffective response.

Time for a Second Opinion?

The next time someone offers to discuss your IT security needs, don’t dismiss them right away. Instead, take a moment to ask yourself:

Has my IT provider performed a recent security audit?
Are they proactively monitoring threats, or just reacting to issues?
Do they have cybersecurity certifications or incident response experience?
Would I bet my company’s data and reputation on their security expertise?

Cyber threats are constantly evolving, and assuming your IT provider has security fully covered could be a costly mistake. Taking a few minutes to evaluate your security posture today might save your business from a devastating cyberattack tomorrow.

For a Free Hack Analysis Contact us.

For information about this article contact Lesilie Leonard.

The post No Thank You, My IT Provider Has Security Covered—Are You Sure? first appeared on ControlAltProtect.

In January of 2024, we forecasted the areas of attack or items that would be targeted by nefarious criminal hackers or major topics for cyber in general:

• Passwords – Password Management and associated security, usage of PassKeys would be imperative and more widely used. Stats have proved this to be true.
• AI Phishing – We witnessed generative AI improving and eliminating the “misspelled” words so commonly used to spot phishing emails.
• Deep Fakes – Throughout 2024, Deep Fakes were successfully used to “create credibility” and impersonate CEO’s and executives, resulting in millions of dollars in losses.
• AI leveraged in cyber security – Hacking incident response is being leveraged globally to aid with consistency and info sharing among cyber security teams. Unfortunately, AI is also being used to quickly survey victim environments, websites, etc. As predicted, governing Artificial Intelligence will prove to be a tall task, given every tech CEO who hosts an agent, reports… “our AI is doing things we don’t understand.” It’s imperative that we proceed with caution in using AI until we firmly grasp the associated security and blocking/governance associated with each instance.

2025 Cyber Predictions By ControlAltProtect
For 2025, we predict the following areas will be primary cyber focuses globally:

• Artificial Intelligence – We will find many benefits to this powerful technology, but the risks will outweigh the gains this year. Shadow AI will likely be a significant source of global data leaks.
  • Deep Fake technology will broadly impact governments, large cap, as well as and small to mid-cap businesses.  Expect interesting legal implications to flood the headlines this year.
  • Exploits with Generative AI – AI is already building malware or exploitable code and will be utilized to discover vulnerabilities and generate “Zero Day” attacks. The past six months data are very concerning, and we will likely see companies who lack detection experience major incidents. Utilizing AI in networks, significantly broadens the “attack surface” and when these tools are attacked, the operational impacts are unpredictable. Sadly, the IT team remediation efforts will be preemptively blocked by hackers and well thought through by these stealth criminals.
  • Prompt Injection Attacks – Generative AI in many instances, is be used by hackers to write code and infect victim digital and web-based assets. This includes major technical resources used by IT companies globally. In other words, hackers quickly find holes in trusted tech tools and command them to perform nefarious actions never planned or coded by the original software developers.
  • Biometric exploits – data sets that have already been gathered by various breaches and social media outlets, will be leveraged to steal identities and wreak havoc on high profile government individuals, institutions, corporations, and their supporting executives.

• Quantum Computing – At some point in the near future, this technology will break the encryption that we so commonly depend on to protect sensitive data. Those who do not properly prepare, will suffer.
• Email Phishing – this will remain the method of choice for criminal hackers. Those who do not invest in laser focused phishing detection, are highly likely to fall victim.
• Malware expansions – Fake encrypted messages, encompassing “secure links” via Dropbox, Microsoft, Amazon, USPS, Fed Ex, DocuSign, Google, Zix, etc. will be cited as the vectors of malware injections. Hackers are successfully taking advantage of organizations who do not properly train associates and configure their environments. Software libraries and files commonly downloaded from GitHub among other “trusted” sites are getting hit. Strict governance on who can download files and controlling user permissions, will become commonplace by December of this year.
• Multifactor Authentication – Sadly, so many Americans still do not have MFA enforced in their personal lives. From Facebook/Meta and other social media platforms to personal emails, hackers will continue jumping from organizational associates to the business networks.  The unsettling statistics from Q4, 2024 will continue throughout this year.  It’s imperative that all associates of your organizations take cyber security personal hygiene seriously. Very seriously!  To pour salt in the wound, the “workaround” techniques that bypass login credentials and MFA are growing.
• Inadequate IT Companies – Our country is plagued with IT companies who are simply not trained nor prepared to protect those that trust them. We have already served as expert witnesses in countless negligence cases between cyber security victims and their respective IT providers. We founded our sister company and IT division, Client Secure IT Partners in 2022, due to our disappointment in IT companies overall. This area will continue to be leveraged by hackers, given many IT providers do not invest in cyber security.

Conclusion

Our predictions take into account the lack of focused and customized risk analysis and threat modeling so commonly discovered with American associations. Our cyber consultancy experience, hacking incident response cases, and Dark Web bragging from hacking groups, tell a sobering story. Corporations have invested billions in cyber security detection over the past decade. Yet, the attacks and victims keep stacking. Why? Today’s novice to sophisticated actors have one major common denominator….”Humans.” Human error and the lack of quality training, accounts for so many incidents. In our world of hustle and bustle, all hackers need is time. Time is their ace in the hole. Historically, criminal hackers have been inside the victim’s digital assets/infrastructure/network for 200 days or more. Patience has been the key to success among the world’s notorious hacking groups. Artificial Intelligence will speed up the enumeration (surveying) actions of hackers going forward, and in many cases provide them with solid footholds or persistence. Ungoverned AI will make todays hacking incidents look miniscule and challenge forensic tracing capabilities after the asteroid impact.

So how should Americans respond?  First, we must adopt a totally different mentality if we are to have a chance at winning the global cyber war. We cannot continue putting cyber budgets at the middle or bottom portion of our annual capital allocations. WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR DATA and how many days can you afford to be out of business?” Find a victim and ask them if they now invest heavily in cyber security?  Ask them if they trust their IT teams to do it? They shouldn’t IF they want to avoid hitting the windshield again.

Furthermore, we cannot task our talented IT professionals with performing heart surgery. Your “IT guy or girl” is likely very knowledgeable and capable of keeping your systems up and running. But the fact is, case after case we witness corporations over trusting IT engineers against scientific scam artists and digital hacking masterminds. The results are catastrophic, reputationally damaging, and often put thousands if not millions of Americans at risk. How many national level breaches and ransomware attacks must occur before we change the “American way,” relative to cyber security prevention? Without “cyber nerds,” layered detection, and laser focused monitoring, the future is grim.

Article by: Brent Panell, CEO & Co-Founder of ControlAltProtect & Hans Lemons, CTO & Co-Founder, ControlAltProtect. To learn more about winning the war on cybercriminals, Contact us.

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You Protect Their Teeth. Are You Protecting Their Data?

The secret to success for most dentists lies in years of hard work and building a solid reputation. Caring for patients, maintaining professionalism, and demonstrating honesty are the hallmarks of a thriving dental practice. But amidst the daily hustle of back-to-back appointments, managing vendors, and juggling operational costs, one critical area often gets overlooked: data security.

Unfortunately, many dental practices neglect their IT security until it’s too late. Waiting until your data is hacked, ransomed, or compromised is akin to ignoring tooth decay — the consequences can be painful and costly. A significant reason for this oversight is denial. It’s easy to convince yourself that everything is fine because you “have a person” handling it, but this mindset leaves your practice vulnerable. Ensuring your data is compliant and secure requires honesty and proactive measures.

Why Data Security Matters

Did you know that if your practice’s data is stolen, compromised, or ransomed, you are legally required to report the breach to the FBI? Additionally, you must notify your patients that sensitive information, such as social security numbers, has likely been stolen and could end up for sale on the Dark Web. This not only disrupts your cash flow due to downtime but also risks hefty regulatory fines and severe damage to your reputation.

The Myth of “My IT Guy Has It Handled”

Time and again, we hear dentists say, “My IT guy has data security handled.” However, most managed service providers (MSPs) offer only a standard level of cyber protection. When cybercriminals bypass their defenses, these providers often lack the expertise to conduct thorough forensic investigations, remediate the breach, and implement measures to prevent future attacks. Instead of simply rebooting the system, we take a proactive approach with our CyberSeal solution, designed specifically for dental practices.

Protect Your Practice in 2025

As we enter a new year, resolve to prioritize your data security. Protect your patient’s data and ensure your business continuity by partnering with a security-focused provider who understands the unique needs of dental practices.

Contact us today to learn more and get pricing on our CyberSeal solution. Don’t wait until it’s too late — take control of your data security now.

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Are Your Data Backups on the Back Burner?

What’s the Worst-Case Scenario?

Your network backups are your last line of defense when data is lost or corrupted by malware, viruses, or ransomware. Consider this scenario: an IT manager sits down to perform server backups but gets interrupted by a call from the CEO regarding Outlook email issues. Meanwhile, a support ticket comes in from an employee unable to access a critical application. The IT manager shifts focus to these pressing problems, promising to revisit the backups later.

However, he’s unaware that yesterday’s local backups didn’t sync to the cloud. As the day progresses, he becomes increasingly busy, telling himself he’ll just stay late to check the backups. By the end of the day, two full business days have passed without monitoring the backups—two days during which vital data, including purchasing records, sales orders, invoices, payroll, and customer service records, have gone unprotected.

Then disaster strikes: Before the day is finished, a fire engulfs the building. The local backups, stored on-site, are destroyed. In a typical hybrid cloud setup, the IT manager could rely on off-site backups, but now he’s left wondering whether those backups even synced properly. Did today’s backups make it to the cloud?

With 48 hours of unmonitored backups, the consequences can be catastrophic. Even with a robust backup system in place, neglecting monitoring can lead to disaster. Most technology failures result not from the technology itself but from human oversight. As busy as we can get, backing up our data must remain a top priority.

Ask your IT Department where backups fall on their list of priorities. If you’re informed that they are automated, it may be time to have a serious conversation.

If you’re concerned about your backups and the continuity of your business, and would like to have a conversation with a specialist, Contact us.

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In our last blog post, we touched on the importance of security awareness training for employees. Here at ControlAltProtect, we’ve recently introduced a new training system, so we thought it would be worthwhile to delve deeper into the topic.

Our CTO rolled out an internal test of a new email security training program. There were a few reasons behind this decision. First, it’s always important to innovate and improve. Second, he wanted our feedback on the delivery method, visual appeal, and overall effectiveness of the program. Finally, he wanted to assess whether this tool would be beneficial for our clients’ training needs.

When we first accessed the module, we were surprised by its cartoonish appearance. Our initial reaction was that it seemed designed for children. However, the training quickly engaged us with a compelling story about a disgruntled customer seeking revenge on a retail outlet. The customer felt mistreated after waiting in the wrong area overnight and missing out on purchasing a hot new tech item. The story drew us in, but halfway through, it paused to ask if we were paying attention, catching me off guard. I quickly realized I needed to focus, as there was likely a test at the end.

As the narrative unfolded, it became even more intriguing. The disgruntled customer, through a phishing email, tricked the retailer into placing a massive order for the hot new product. The email was convincing. It seemed as if the CEO was thrilled with the sales of the new item and eager to stock up. However, the bogus email led to a colossal order being placed. When the shipment and invoice arrived, the purchasing department faced tough questions. The excessive inventory and associated costs threatened the business’s cash flow. Throughout the story, the training highlighted several ways to avoid such situations. And indeed, there was a quiz at the end, with grades sent to our administrator. If we didn’t pass, we had to retake the test.

Initially, the program seemed unremarkable, but each new training module unveiled intriguing insights into the world of cybercrime. If you’re interested in the effectiveness of animated videos, we discovered an enlightening article that explains their powerful impact. The article summarizes a study on how humans process and retain information and why our brains respond so positively to cartoons.

Ultimately, we agreed that this animated style of security awareness training was highly effective. If it could help our team, we were confident it would also protect our clients. While we’ve tested many options, this one emerged as the clear winner for us!

If you’d like more information on how to get this training for your team, feel free to contact us.

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We often hear and say, “Something is better than nothing.” This sentiment holds true, especially in the realm of IT security. Ensuring your network is secure while maintaining operational efficiency can be challenging, particularly when you have compliance needs that seem comparable to Berkshire Hathaway but operate on a small business budget.

Fortunately, many products on the market can meet your needs while protecting your cash flow. The key is selecting the right combination of products and services to ensure comprehensive security. However, caution is necessary. Even the best products can fail if the person or firm managing them lacks expertise.

Here are some tips for finding a reliable vendor to secure your IT environment:

Product Updates and Threat Management: Ensure your vendor’s product stack stays updated and can handle emerging threats.

Scalability: Verify that your vendor can scale the security solution as your company grows. Share your growth plans with them.

Endpoint Identification: Your vendor should identify all endpoints, including personal devices used across your network, especially those of remote employees.

Compliance Requirements: Ensure your vendor understands the specific compliance requirements of your industry.

Multi-Factor Authentication: Each application should require multi-factor authentication.

Microsoft Office Security: If you use Microsoft Office, consider upgrading to a premium subscription which has built-in security features.

Training and Simulation: Human error accounts for 88 percent of cyber-attacks. Choose a vendor that offers mandatory, ongoing training and email phishing simulations.

Balanced Protection and Budgeting: Avoid vendors who suggest cutting essential protection layers to save money. Start with essential protections and build on that.

Cyber-Security Specialists: Ensure the vendor employs cyber-security specialists, such as Certified Ethical Hackers and forensic experts, who can identify and mitigate risks more effectively than average IT professionals.

Breach Remediation: Inquire if the vendor has in-house capabilities to remediate breaches to get you back online.

Backup Monitoring: Confirm that a real human monitors your backups daily.

Responsive Support: Choose a vendor who is readily available and answers the phone. Understand upfront the level of response you’re purchasing.

Integrity and Compliance: Select a vendor that is willing to decline your business if you refuse to follow their recommended solutions. A good vendor prioritizes effective security over acquiring clients.

By following these guidelines, you can find a reliable IT vendor who will not only secure your network but also support your growth and compliance needs.

Contact us for more information info@controlaltprotect.com, or schedule a Free Hack Analysis.

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