Executive Summary
- A remote attacker was able to breach a water treatment facility in an attempt to poison the water supply. The facility was running Windows 7, using shared passwords, Teamviewer for remote access and had no firewall in place. Thankfully, the attack was thwarted. Additional information is available here and here.
- We are excited to announce that we will be looking into more / different / better ways to interact with you over the coming weeks and months. I don’t have a lot of details available to share at the moment but announcements will be made on our website and mailing list as we’re able to share more.
- Quite a few of you noticed some changes that we’re making to the MyIT systems including the ability to push critical updates (like the patch for the Microsoft zero-day and Adobe Acrobat vulnerabilities) and the ability to remove known vulnerable software (like older versions of TeamViewer and Adobe Flash Player). We take the security of your environment very seriously and are always looking for ways to keep your systems functional and secure so that you can focus on running your business.
Updates
Microsoft released updates to address 56 vulnerabilities this month including nine that are considered critical, meaning that an attacker could exploit the vulnerability remotely with no user interaction required. At least six of the vulnerabilities had already been reported prior to the updates and at least one (CVE-2021-1732) is being actively exploited in the wild.
Microsoft releases regular updates the second Tuesday of each month, often referred to as ‘Patch Tuesday’. These updates are categorized as Low, Moderate, Important or Critical. Details on the categories are available here. The updates can include any supported Microsoft product from Windows to Office to Internet Explorer and server products like Exchange and SQL Server. If you have one or more of these products installed, especially if the update is listed as Important or Critcial, it’s important that the updates are installed.
Additional details on this months Microsoft updates are available from Microsoft, Brian Krebs, SANS (who note 11 of the updates as critical) and ZDNet.
Adobe patched several critical vulnerabilities this month including one zero day in Acrobat and Reader. Many of the vulnerabilities require no user interaction.
Like Microsoft, Adobe now releases updates to their products on the second Tuesday of each month. Adobe will also release ‘out of band’ updates if necessary to address critical vulnerabilities in their products. Adobe products include Adobe Reader (for viewing PDF files), Adobe Flash Player (often used to watch videos, for interactive content like games, etc.), Adobe Shockwave and the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Lightroom, etc.).
Additional details are available from Adobe Here and Here including links to download the update(s) and instructions for installation.
Are you a small to medium sized business looking to leverage technology and enable your business and workforce to work smarter and more efficiently? Do you already have computers, servers, firewalls, VPNs or other technology that you’re not taking full advantage of? Are you looking for an IT Service Provider who understands small to medium sized businesses needs and the challenges that we face that can work with you to grow your business rather than just sell you time?
Cyber Tech Cafe an IT Service Company with a focus on helping small to medium business get the most out of their technology investment. As a small business ourselves, we understand the challenges you face and have designed our service offerings to help you get the most out of your technology dollar. We offer on-call, as needed support if you just need a quick fix or extra set of hands right now. We also offer maintenance plans that we call “MyIT” that are designed to address the most common concerns (patch management, disaster recovery / backup, log review, etc.) that are based on the number of workstations and servers that you have and have no term contract. We believe that, if you find value in what we’re doing, you’ll find a way to keep us around without contract saying that you have to.
If you have questions about the MyIT plans or have an IT need that you need addressed right now, let us know. We look forward to the opportunity to earn your business.